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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2022 23:40:48 GMT
Bharnag answers the trainer. "Rock and Stone have failed me. Blood and Bone are my trade now. Perhaps, with the right training, I may be able to earn my freedom in these pits. Regardless, it is now my way."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2022 23:47:53 GMT
This draws out a low chuckle. "Pity this is not Tyr. That old wretch, Kalak, would have you shipped to the iron mines in a heartbeat--but your odds of surviving there would be just as low. Perhaps worse. There are no iron mines in Nibenay--but we have plenty of copper for you to dig up. If fortune favors you, you may find yourself transferred there, instead."
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Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Mar 17, 2022 7:57:09 GMT
After the trainer and the psions have left Ylonis sets herself against a wall doing a slow breathing exercise and then investigating both the stretch of cloth she got from Kharam and the cloak from Yag. She starts unravelling a bit here and there from each piece and begins making strings of knots over the next couple of hours until tired and needing to sleep. In effect she is recreating a small part of her lost spellbook. She will start making swirling patterns of them on the trimming of the clothes looking like some sort of seamstress' prettying up of slave's garb and functional use of not fraying the thread ends of the cloth.
Ylonis will make an offer for anyone's tattered clothing to make sure it doesn't fall apart using this same technique. Obviously she won't spellweave stuff onto others, but it does make her behavior stand out less.
(OOC: I use the NWP Spellweaving for this. Each spell level costs me 2 hours. I've rolled 4 times just now but please let me know how much I can do. I'll work on it several hours each day over the next few days. Roll results: 11 3 19 9, meaning that 3 iterations have been successful and one block of 2 hours didn't get me a result. That'd mean I would have restored 3 first level spells into a format from which I can study which I will also do of course making sure to focus on Shield and Color Spray first.)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 9:12:55 GMT
Though, for a moment, a brief spark of rebellion flew in the air as the armed group of a dozen slaves were confronted with an open door, it was thoroughly snuffed by the presence of the chief trainer--a famously powerful fighter--and five deadly Psionicists. Now thoroughly immersed in hopelessness, the party's partners in bondage begin to lament their miserable fate, barely audible over the deafening cheers of the crowd outside.
"We're never going to get out of here, are we?"
"You don't know that. Plenty of people have escaped from arenas before."
"Not from Nibenay's. The city's quiet on Blood Day, but the arena's teeming--we can't escape now. Tomorrow, this place will be nearly empty--but the city itself is active around the clock! The markets stay open all night, and so do the Templars!"
His partner, one of the Elves, shushes him. "Keep your voice down. It will take the Templars a few minutes to react, and that's all we need. Give it a couple of weeks, and we'll get out of here--you didn't hear it from me, but one of the scholar-slaves I passed on my way in here told me that once you get out of the arena, if you take the first street to the right, make it about twenty-six paces at running stride, slip into the fourth alleyway--the one with the indigo carpet--then take the second left, the first right, and the fifth right, then go straight from there, you'll run into this passage that another slave named Shuno used to escape!"
"Mekillot dung's what that is."
"Maybe so, but you know what they say--when in Tyr..."
"I won't pin my hopes on such fanciful nonsense."
"Escaping slaves are given public executions--they tell me that a group of the Templars' courtesans disappeared and was never heard from again a few months ago! They must have used the passage!"
"By the Dragon's breath, if you don't shut your yap I'll do it myself."
Chastised into silence, this fading conversation allows another, more distant one to come to prominence.
"...wonder whose bones made this sword. Who were they? What were they like? Male? Female? Elf? Dwarf? Human?"
A more crude companion replies, quipping "The balance in mine is off. Must have been an elf."
While someone else cackles, the original speaker does not seem amused. "If I were you, I'd be thinking about who's gonna be swingin' ME around in a few months."
"Maybe if you stopped focusing on rot that don't matter to none of us and instead kept your mind on winnin' next month's matinee, y'wouldn't have to worry about endin' up someone else's calhuaks!"
When this conversation dies down, it, too, is replaced by another from another part of the room. "Strange they sent Templars in to heal us after the battle. I thought we were nothing to them?"
"We were," replies the human shopkeep that did little besides hide behind his sword the entire match. "But now, after we've put on a good show for them, they want to reward us, so we do it again."
"Mmm." The original speaker, a Half-Elf, rubs his chin slowly. "I wonder just how much they'll do for us if we continue performing well?"
Her less optimistic partner replies rather curtly. "We are not likely to live long enough to find out."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 12:33:02 GMT
Bharnag waits for most of the conversation to die down before speaking up. "Whether we get free today or 2 years hence, we could all stand to be better fighters.
My suggestion is that we train. Yes. Here. No. We don't need weapons. Bare fists should suffice.
I will heal any serious injuries and we will stop training a few days prior to blood day so that we can all be at peak performance.
What say you?"
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Post by ascieszl on Mar 17, 2022 13:27:40 GMT
Some time after the team's weapons and armor are taken, Rimir wanders by the window. He does a sloppy double take, and then leans in closely. You see a barrel of broy in his hand, and his breath *reeks* of drink.
"Hey! Come her! You liddle folks fight good, we shud do that again shum time!"
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Post by Niachi on Mar 17, 2022 14:32:43 GMT
Yag complies, realizing he has nothing to gain by resisting. He keeps his mind calm and filled with thoughts of arena glory.
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Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Mar 17, 2022 16:45:23 GMT
His partner, one of the Elves, shushes him. "Keep your voice down. It will take the Templars a few minutes to react, and that's all we need. Give it a couple of weeks, and we'll get out of here--you didn't hear it from me, but one of the scholar-slaves I passed on my way in here told me that once you get out of the arena, if you take the first street to the right, make it about twenty-six paces at running stride, slip into the fourth alleyway--the one with the indigo carpet--then take the second left, the first right, and the fifth right, then go straight from there, you'll run into this passage that another slave named Shuno used to escape!" Ylonis, overhearing the elf's directions, will follow this up and make sure he repeats it. With the shopkeep she will try and verify all of this and get him to fill in details and to get a global direction and distance guestimate. Ylonis will try and scan for that location in the following days using Clairvoyance.
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Post by Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP] on Mar 17, 2022 17:48:50 GMT
- Nadiya starts to undo the armor, using that time to keep and use that snapped bowstring as a decorative bracelet, and leaving the other half attached to the bow. She then leaves the armor, dagger and shortbow nearby the entrance, like everyone did. Once all is collected, she looks to the others as they speak - Sand moves at its own pace, it does not stop but if not careful it can become a trap, a mudslide that creates disruption, a torrent that escape any confinement - She makes a stop - Training will be good with me, and in relation to the templars, we can be a box of surprises, as we are still new they don't know if we were lucky or skilled. They are just keeping an eye on us, after winning, everyone will do
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 18:24:08 GMT
Some of the more dedicated-looking Gladiators--the Thri-Kreen and Mul among them--immediately seem warm to Bharnag's suggestion. The elves remain where they are, glancing at one another as if only somewhat sure denying it is such a good idea. "Well...I suppose it couldn't *hurt,* could it?" Kharam rolls his shoulders. "You can count me in, I suppose. I've never fought with my bare hands in my life." As a whole, the group seems plenty willing to give Bharnag's idea a try, especially with the promise of on-the-spot healing. Ylonis, in the meantime, finds the elf very eager to share more about his prospective escape route--the details change once or twice, but eventually he gets back on track as Ylonis reminds him of his original story. The merchant is not familiar with the area, but mentions he has passed through the region once or twice, and tentatively vouches for what the elf says. Several attempts by Ylonis to use Clairvoyance to scout out the route fail, but only because she doesn't know the exact location--if she continued to persevere, she would eventually find that the Way allows her to glean the supposed escape route--at the spot the directions seem to lead, a tight alleyway ends in a small corridor, at the end of which stands a small, magical portal, showing what would appear to be the Verdant Belt. A group of hooded figures seem to be maintaining a large garden in this area, occasionally whispering to one another and glancing or gesturing at the portal.
((Assuming you guys pass the time training one another from here?))
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Post by Skrye [AC3; 48/48HP] on Mar 17, 2022 18:47:14 GMT
- Nadiya trains when need it, looking to everyone present, she is not paranoid but she doesn't disregard the thought of the Templars having a physical pair of eyes and ears in this cell. She works out and plays every one and then some short silly plays to relax the mood of the presents
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Post by Quila Oris (John M.) on Mar 17, 2022 19:57:05 GMT
Ylonis, in the meantime, finds the elf very eager to share more about his prospective escape route--the details change once or twice, but eventually he gets back on track as Ylonis reminds him of his original story. The merchant is not familiar with the area, but mentions he has passed through the region once or twice, and tentatively vouches for what the elf says. Several attempts by Ylonis to use Clairvoyance to scout out the route fail, but only because she doesn't know the exact location--if she continued to persevere, she would eventually find that the Way allows her to glean the supposed escape route--at the spot the directions seem to lead, a tight alleyway ends in a small corridor, at the end of which stands a small, magical portal, showing what would appear to be the Verdant Belt. A group of hooded figures seem to be maintaining a large garden in this area, occasionally whispering to one another and glancing or gesturing at the portal. If I see those figures through the portal in the Verdant Belt, I will use Clairvoyance on that location. In essence the difficulty would increase if the distance is really far away and I'd notice that when trying to activate. Upon successful activation I will put my sensor really close to the whispering folks and also try and manipulate my powers of Clairvoyance to also overhear them. (OOC: I use my Power Manipulation NWP, I roll a 15 vs 18, success - meaning for 5 psp's extra I get the Power Score result of Clairvoyance, which is Clairaudience as extra effect.)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 20:19:30 GMT
The rest of the day passes mostly uneventfully--the Templars are busy with the crowd, and Blood Day's festivities seem to stretch on into the night. Only at dawn of the next day does the crowd finally fall silent and the arena seem to empty. In the weeks afterward, the party's only lifeline to the outside world is a bored-looking Templar who brings the party extraordinarily bland-tasting food of some sort--seemingly gruel made from some kind of bitter grain and odd-tasting water. The Templar that comes to feed and water them is different each time--the only thing that remains constant between them is that they wear a great deal of clothing in comparison to other Templars the party saw during their time in the arena. These ones wear a great deal of ornamental beads in smocks and kilts, just barely conforming to 'decency' standards as imposed in other city states. The days pass slowly and miserably, and several times some of the slaves would have died from heatstroke if not for the fact a Psionicist with healing capability were among them. Ylonis finds her attempts to use Clairvoyance to determine what is on the other end of the portal fail for some reason--it is as if when she reaches out to the area, her mind finds nothing. Perhaps the portal is blocking it somehow? The days pass mostly in silence, with the only sound carrying far enough to be heard inside the arena being the occasional whoop or holler from a merchant, and these come at all times of the day, even in the middle of the night. Buying and selling must be a twenty-four/seven affair in Nibenay. Eventually, however, the noise begins to crescendo--it would appear that the people are enjoying a grand festival outside. As a matter of fact, the guards grumble loudly about how they're having to miss all the fun. Hours grind by, and the partying outside only grows more intense until, at last, something happens--a lightning bolt of unprecedented size lances out of somewhere the party can't see (those familiar with Nibenay outside of the arena would recognize the direction as coming from the Naggarmakam, the inner city and palace reserved for the King of Nibenay)and flying out of the city, splitting the sky in two for a moment as the deafening crash of thunder threatens to deafen the entire city. The partying falls silent for several seconds as the enormous thunderbolt fades from the sky, then the voices of the people again rise in exultation.
"The king is alive! He shows us his power!"
"Long live the king! Long live the king!"
"O Nibenay, let your enemies tremble before ye!"
This soon comes to an end, however, as the ground begins to violently shake! It must be some kind of earthquake! The ground heaves and bucks, and a spiderweb of cracks appear across the earth! The praise from outside cuts out, replaced by screams of terror. The guards glance at one another, then turn to the party. "Uhh....stay here!" The two of them then bolt for the door, leaving the party alone, enclosed in their little box as the very world itself seems to be attempting to hurl them from its back! The shopkeep from earlier begins to cry out in despair. "It is the end of days! The end of all things is upon us!"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 20:25:40 GMT
Bharnag inspects the cracks in the stonework of their walls and floor. How badly is this earthquake damaging the structure they are in?
Stonemasonry NWP check: 9 (Target 13) PASS
"We're safe enough here for now. If anyone is thinking of making a break for it, I think these door can be forced with enough might. It wouldn't be hard to blend in with the chaos out there."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2022 20:27:48 GMT
This building, ancient and formidable, is unlikely to be badly damaged by the earthquake, but the rest of the city...? This might be the end. An earthquake of this magnitude could wipe it off the map if it goes on for long enough. The doors to this room were not part of the original structure--they and their hinges are not nearly so well-made. With the proper application of force...
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