Adventure Log XVII

BLOOD PIG

The 20th of Gozran continued as it had begun: The Flowers of Korvosa making their way through dangerous streets looking for answers that eluded them. The weather was clear, but smoke was still thick in the air from the burnt out dwellings they passed. They heard occasional cries of despair, screams of pain, and sometimes laughter, creating a haunting atmosphere. They left the hovel of Salvator Scream with Laori in tow, keeping wary eyes out for whatever their next challenge might be. They stepped cautiously through the muddy streets, trying to avoid excess noise and keep out of sight.

In contrast, Laori strolled along in her dark spiked armor without a care in the world. She spun her chain as she whistled a jaunty tune, making their efforts at stealth a pointless exercise, so they abandoned the attempts and instead made conversation with the Elf, trying to learn more about the paradoxical woman. She admitted to being from Nidal, but managed to slip answering anything more like a monk would slip a punch. Calliandra and Nightingale recognized the name of the ancient nation, also known as The Land of Shadows. It was notable in it’s unchanging devotion to Zon-Kuthon over thousands of years, a wicked and dark place.

Instead Laori seemed genuinely interested in learning more about them. The group did their best to answer as their false priest personas, devotees of The Faith of the Sword. Taylan slipped by mentioning he’d recently been married, but managed to recover that he meant ‘married to the sword.’ The friendly interrogation was interrupted at the sound of determined footsteps running up behind them.

The Flowers turned, braced for battle. The culprit was a Human man wearing badly fitted armor and carrying a sword. Travis recognized his face, but it was Taylan who could name him as Tesh Zobbadin, a local of a good family- by Old Korvosan standards. He seemed in intense distress. Taylan stepped in his path, and the man looked around almost surprised to see anyone, so focused had he been in pursuit.

“Where ya headed, Tesh,” Taylan asked kindly.

“I’m going to kill the Emperor. Out of my way!”

The group exchanged glances. This man was clearly not a warrior, and only marched to his own doom. Travis chimed in with a friendly demeanour, “Easy there… we can see you’re upset. We know the Emperor’s a bit of a cunt, what's he done?”

"My whole family went to the tall knife,” his voice was choked with emotion. “He had them executed for holding back food stores we didn't have, and now I'm going to kill the man." Tesh nodded to himself, trying to convince himself as much as the rest of them.

"Now, you’re not going to get anywhere near him all worked up like this. But if you're smart and play it cool, you might be able to get in to see him," the Half-Orc used his years of experience as a bouncer, years of talking down upset patrons and avoiding drunken pub-brawls before they could begin, to try and stop Tesh from his rash mission.

Tesh considered Travis’ words for a moment, but tried once more to get around them. “I don’t care if I die, I have to try!”

"If it's futile gesture that means nothing to you go for it, otherwise play it smart," Byron chided, before stepping aside.

Tesh looked between them, tears in his eyes. “I can’t do nothing. I have nothing left…” But the big men had gotten through to him, and he stood there helplessly.

Laori’s voice was a template of sympathy, "You're in pain, right? Tell me about that." Her interest was unnerving. She was doing and saying the right things to seem concerned, but they could see she was enjoying it.

Tesh explained he’d been out trying to find supplies for the family, but he returned to an empty house. "I was told the clown faces came with a mob, and didn't listen when they were told we had nothing left. They took them all away to the tall knife… they’d been killed before I could get to them to even say goodbye."

Travis asked what they’d all been thinking, “What's the tall knife?”

Tesh looked at him, puzzled. "You must know, it’s the executioner's tool."

Remembering her fly-over earlier that day she thought of the strange figure that had been sat with the self-proclaimed ‘emperor.’ "That small man with the one-eyed hood?"

“Yes, that’s the crazy gnome, Jabbier,” Tesh confirmed.

“Tell me about the tall knife.” Laori asked.

“Tall contraption from Galt-” he began.

“Oh! A guillotine.” Calli surmised, and Tesh inclined his head in confirmation.

Nightingale saw the man’s grief and remembered exactly how it felt. There were no words that would take the pain away, but maybe he could console him enough to keep him from being the next victim. “Here, let me give you a blessing of our faith.” He went to the rubble of a nearby burned out cottage, and wetting his fingers he rubbed them against a charred beam. He returned to Tesh and made two marks on his forehead: one long crossed by a shorter mark one forth of the way down. “The ash sword, for those who strike after tragedy.”

“I’m not familiar with that, what religion is it you all are from?”

“We here in robes are of The Faith of the Sword. We believe in the blade, and in those who wield them. But to strike true one must have a steady hand and a steady head,” Gale improvised.

Travis joined in, “Which means you gotta be ice cold, like winter. Can’t just go running in. Gotta stay cool!”

Tesh took a deep, calming breath. “So if I can stay cool, you'll get me in, and then I can kill him?”

Apologetically Calli held up a hand, “We need info from him first.”

“You want to talk to the person who killed my family?” Tesh was scandalized.

“We have people to save, and he has info we need. But here,” she took one of his hands gently in her own and cast resilience on him, “A small boost to show we’re on your side. You can understand, right?”

The man looked into Calli’s earnest face, then around at the rest of the party. He weighed their advice in his heart, and knew it to be good. He agreed.

————————————————————

Suddenly Calli was overcome with a bolt of pain, a sharp stabbing feeling in her teeth… no… her ears! As if hearing an incredibly loud harsh noise, but there was nothing to have caused it. Everyone watched her as she clutched at her pointed ears, but no one else could sense anything amiss.

In looking around for anything that might be magically targeting her, they hear more running feet heading in their direction and again brace themselves. From one of the side roads a pair of young people emerged; one male and one female, both in their late teens. Running gleefully down street, hand in hand, wearing celebratory garb in bright colors, they seemed entirely out of place in the grim setting.

"Hurry, hurry! We don't want to be late for the fair,” the boy called out to them as he ran.

“Yes, the nightly revel, the Emperor's revel, it's going to be so joyful," the woman added. Their glee seemed frantic, and they passed the group without stopping to run off ahead.

The couple had run towards the docks, and as the Emperor was in that direction, there was nothing for them to do but follow. The Flowers, Laori, and Tesh continued moving. Tesh asked about the Faith of the Sword, and after hearing more about it asked how he could go about joining up. They demurred, but gave enough of a noncommittal answer that he was undeterred, and they dubbed him Accolyte Tesh.

Calli once more gripped her head in pain, but this time Travis also began hearing a strange sound. Something trumpety, but somehow wrong. When asked, Lil Focker admitted he can hear it as well, but wasn’t sure what it could be. The closer they get, the louder it becomes, until the whole party can hear a warped band of unrecognizable instruments playing somewhere ahead of them.

More people began appearing, running past and crying out about the night market. The sun had only just begun it’s descent when they finally got close enough to begin seeing the crowds up ahead that people were rushing to. Travis was good with crowds, experienced at how to move through and manipulate them, and he could see this was no normal gathering. People were moving strangely, stumbling into each other, some laughing, some crying. It was more like a crazed mob.

The throng of people moved between market stalls that seemed to lead right up to the weird painted building the Emperor had taken over. It was only a few streets away, now, but they had to get through the madness, first. They kept close together and stepped into the flow of bodies. It was tightly packed, slowing their progress to a crawl. In spite of the erratic nature of their surroundings, or perhaps because of it, they stood out like a sore thumb. Byron began picking up on faces watching them, and warned the others they were standing out in their sanity. He affected strange jerking motions as he moved, trying to match the crowd’s level, and Travis joined in by echoing some of the bizarre things he’d been hearing people saying and cheering the fair. Taylan asked Travis to slap him, which he immediately did, to the cheers of those closest. Anyone bumping into Laori’s spiked armour laughed at the pain, to her delight.

The stalls themselves were as unnerving as the citizens. There seemed to be little coherence to what was being sold: stalls offered broken junk, tarnished jewelry stained with blood, threadbare clothes, and even burnt chunks of wood taken from elsewhere on the island. Regardless of the wares, every stand was crowded with people who wanted them. And it wasn’t just things for sale- there were just as many stalls offering games of chance. As they passed one of the game stalls they hear the barker calling out for one more player. His table was simple, with a line of seven teacups full of an unlabeled liquid. Taylan’s curiosity wins out, and he joins in.

The barker, a tall gaunt man wearing brightly coloured, yet faded, carnival duds, smiled widely at him. “Excellent! We can begin! Now, good sir, you were last to join so you shall be first to drink! That’s the way of things, after all!”

Taylan began inspecting the drinks, but Nightingale took in the giddy faces of those watching and got a bad feeling. “Wouldn’t it be more fun if you drank what he chooses?”

“Why, yes, yes that does add another level of excitement! I shall!”

Their sorcerer made his selection, handing one of the delicate cups to the waiting man. In turn six other people made their choices, until with a toast to the Emperor, they all drank as one. For a few moments nothing happened, only for one of the onlookers to suddenly double over with a cry of pain. “I got the poison,” he croaked as he fell to his knees, “I have been blessed!” The crowd around him cheered as his mouth began foaming and he collapsed to move no more.

Calli and Taylan began to move towards the fallen in concern, but knew they had nothing at their disposal to save the unlucky chap. Gale ushered them away from the scene and the party continued on. While shepherding the younger Half-Elves, Nightingale noticed a small child off to the side pointing at Taylan. When he mentions it, Taylan looks but the child has gone.

“He might’ve marked me for pick-pocketing. We’ll have to keep our wits about us,” Taylan warned. “I never expected to be on this side of it!”

They reached a large bandstand, and it was here they found the source of the unsettling music. A number of people were playing broken instruments to the applause of onlookers. Their mangled cacophony finishes, and the band stop and move back as one. Six people without instruments step forward, and the audience becomes a sea of hissing as everyone begins shushing each other and sitting down to watch. The entire market seemed to still, and once everyone had settled, the six performers opened their mouths. It looked to most of the party an exaggerated mime of singing, but no sound at all came out. For Calli her world exploded in pain. Her teeth were on edge, her ears felt like they’d had ice picks plunged into them, the back of her eyes burned, and her whole brain felt like it was on fire. Gale wrapped a protective arm around her as she cowered against the pain. When the ghastly performance had finished the crowd, in awe, burst into applause, and everyone returns to their previous chaos. Slowly the pain receeded once more, and Calli explained to the others what she now knew to be the cause. “It was a bardic counterspell… if anyone were to try anything sonic-based, it would be cancelled out in an instant.” She looked meaningfully at the other Flowers. Her own powers would be greatly hampered here with that choir around.

Taylan then spotted another two children in the market pointing at him, and thinks he recognizes them from his own time on the streets. He tried to wave, but as quickly as he’d seen them appear, they were gone again. The group agreed to keep moving and not get distracted by anything else at the bizarre bazaar. They passed tents of oddities and deformities, a stall where you could throw a ball and drop someone into a vat of boiling water if you hit the target, more trinkets for sale, and more gambling tables with bloody forfeits. And everywhere people laughing, cheering, crying, often all at once. They looked tired and half starved, many showing signs of turning to the many drugs available in Old Korvosa to deal with their living nightmare. With every new horror, they were more determined to to anything they could to help.

As The Flowers weave through, Calli noticed they were having mixed results attempting to blend in. Gale and Tesh were doing a marvelous job, the others not as much, and as before Laori was standing out from the pack, not attempting at all. She gave them pointers that Laori and Taylan improved with, but just made it worse for Byron and Travis, who began overthinking it.

Moving in such crowded spaces they were able to overhear the gossip that was being passed around. Byron overheard that the last hero who tried to battle the Emperor was sent to the tall knife, and now that hero was not so tall. Nightingale heard that the Emperor had a scepter he could cast anything from. A powerful object, if real. Taylan heard that the clowns guard him fiercely, but you could get an audience with the Emperor if you entertain him well enough in a game of Blood Pig. Travis hears hushed whispers that the Red Mantis assassins are in town, and anyone who has rich enemies may be in trouble. He smirked and remembered the quick work they’d made of those earlier opponents. His smirk froze when he heard what Calli passed on, though.

She’d overheard multiple people discuss their fears that The Cannibal of Wayden Street might return. Wayden Street, the location of The Cracked Weasel. There hadn’t been such a rumour before the bridges were destroyed. That was new. He and Byron exchanged looks and thought back to their last visit. They’d made a daring rescue during the plague, fighting their way out of Old Korvosa with those closest to them in tow. Facing a clown-faced gang trying to bar their flight, Travis- when he was still Shiv- had growled, ‘Fuck off or I’ll eat you!’ It had been a brutal warning, one that those left behind seemed to take seriously.

They shrugged and thought no more of it, for they had arrived. Across the street there were a row of buildings that had destroyed ground floors. Some to fire, but many seemed to be other sorts of destruction. Walls that had spilled their guts outward, hinting at mighty blows from ax and hammer. There was no immediately obvious way up to where they needed to go. The upper floors were connected by rope bridges and catwalks, creating an intricate network of rat-runs. The outer walls that remained were graffittied in garish colors that further separated it from the surroundings. The sun had dipped enough that they stood in the shadows of the makeshift sky-block. As if on cue, spotlights were lit, some illuminating the passages, some pointed up at the sky. This was the twisted palace that the weird ‘emperor’ ruled his delirious populace from.

————————————————————

As they stared up at the building an unnatural silence settled in, until finally The Flowers looked around to see what was going on. The gruel-thick crowd melted away from them, leaving three children- each pointing at them in stoic determination. The citizens left a wide empty circle around the adventurers, but remained to watch what might happen next. Pushing past into the clearing were a motley crew of eight thugs armed with clubs, followed by two more distinct figures in white clown paint. The clowns carried long staves with broken bits of glass embedded in end. In eerie unison they began thumping them on the cobbled street. Their paint marked them as guards of the so-called ‘emperor.’ Their appearance sent shivers down Byron and Travis' back, and an instant visceral hate overwhelmed the barbarians. They'd almost lost all those he held dear because of these painted faced devils. The battle of Wyndon Street still haunted their darker moments. Neither would forget, or forgive, being run out of their own homes.

In the midst of this new threat, Byron spotted a familiar figure watching with the sea of faces. Miss Cooper, Greta’s missing school teacher, was alive. The time trapped in Old Korvosa hadn’t been easy, though. She looked ragged and unkempt, with crazed eyes. As desperate as he was to secure her safely, he had to deal with the more pressing issue first.

"Surrender all weapons. You're being taken to the Emperor!," barked one of the clowns.

Byron immediately puts up his hands, “I have no weapons.”

“The Brotherhood of the Sword does not relinquish weapons,” Travis calmly refused.

“No one sees the Emperor without handing over their weapons, and he’s expecting you lot,” the clown sneered, “You wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”

Hoping to be unnoticed in the exchange, Nightingale made a series of subtle gestures that caused one of his rapiers to be absorbed into his arm. Unfortunately the second clown had been keeping an eye out for such attempts, and pointed him out. "A cheat! A cheat! I spy a cheat!" The clown giggled in delight.

Travis stood firm, "If he already expects us, then he knows what to expect!"

"You should expect to behave for the emperor," the first clown repeated his original command, “surrender your weapons!”

With a grin and a growl, the Half-Orc replied, "We're not giving up our weapons. Because that would show weakness and the Emperor doesn't care for weak fools. So how about I use my axe and bring your head in a bag instead. I'm sure he'd appreciate that." The onlookers closest to the clowns moved even further away, not wanting to be anywhere near the target of his ire.

The lead clown looked delighted, "A challenge! Get him, boys!"

Byron and Travis wasted no time, having fought side-by-side numerous times before, they in tandem rushed forward and unleashed ferocious blows on the two nearest thugs.

Calli’s urge to sing was great, but between the desire to keep her disguise intact and the knowledge that the silent choir might still be nearby, she knew she had to lay low. She instead drew the dagger she’d claimed off Gaedren's body as her reminder that all foes can be felled, and readied herself to swipe at anyone who came near in a crouch Nightingale had taught her. She had her chance right away as two of the crew rushed up to her on either side. She managed to slash the side of one attacker before they each got solid hits in with their clubs, causing her to cry out in unaccustomed pain.

Two of the gang flanked Travis, but his large frame was deceptively nimble and they both missed. Two others targeted Taylan, who was not so lucky, and he felt their blows as keenly as Calli. The one Byron had struck tried to return the favour and failed to get through the solid breastplate hidden beneath his priestly robe. The final goon squared up against Tesh, catching him solid across the jaw, and sending a bloody tooth flying in a spray of spit. The crowd erupted into cheers at the displays of pain and power.

Nightingale eyed up the situation, swiftly stepped forward to his young charge Calli, dropped down low, and punched forward to release a mighty flash of electricity from the rapier he still held. The well-aimed lightning bolt traveled through all four attackers on Calli and Taylan, making their flesh sizzle.

Taylan moved himself away from the men who’d hit him and sent his own magical retort in the form of a flurry of snowballs. Shards of ice buried themselves in the smoking wounds Gale had left behind, but they were still standing.

Little Focker, hovering near Byron, asked, “Are we attached to the new guy, boss?” The drake wanted to know if he needed to be concerned with healing the older man.

"Heal Calli. She's more important," he’d heard her taking damage, and couldn’t afford to be worrying about her.

“Got it, boss!” He arced up and backwards to fly over the heads of the skirmishes taking place and alighted behind her, reaching out with a claw to send a soft glow of healing energy into her.

Laori, cleric of pain, lived up to her vocation. She raised a spiked hand and a massive column of fire dropped from the sky. The pillar of flame turned the combatants on Taylan to ash, and one of those fighting Calli now had red and blistered flesh. The air had already smelt of smoke, but now it also had a smell of barbecue. The blood lust of the crowd had now become an almost palpable thing, a madness made manifest. Indeed many of the appreciative onlookers began to make bets, and shout more encouragement and advice, their cheers growing in intensity, as did the crowd which was now swelling in numbers attracted to the improvised gladiatorial spectacle.

The two Clowns casually walked closer to the fighting, making observations on fighters to each other. They hit their staves together once as they moved.

The hopeful acolyte swung his sword at his foe, but Tesh overbalanced and fell prone at his feet.

Byron himself was not immune to the fervour that seemed to be infecting this moment as instinctually he picked up on the crowd's growing demand for blood. His opponent was a massive bulky individual with a face full of scars, a bald head and very few teeth screamed his anger at the barbarian, the moment completely overwhelming his senses. His makeshift club, looking like it might’ve once been a bedpost, came crashing down at the barbarian, aiming to cave in his skull. His one mistake was assuming that Byron was unarmed and that the extended reach of his bludgeon gave him an advantage. Byron quickly dis -abused him of this notion with fatal consequences as he ducked under the wood, closing the distance and smashing a gauntlet-ed hand into his assailants chin. Byron heard and felt the sound of breaking bone and so quickly followed his assault with three more strikes, the second a left hand cross that completely smashed the man's jaw. His third strike grasped 'bulky scarred face' by his head, and locking eyes with the lead clown he promised through gritted teeth, “This is fucking you,” before his fourth strike grasped the man's jaw and wrenched it free from the rest of his face ripping the sinews, cartlidge and tendons clear and with a flourish threw the man's mandible into the crowd. Momentarily stunned the crowd whooped in feral delight in response to the grisly gift. Byron almost negligently allowed the rest of his bloodied dying opponent to fall to the ground.

Travis, too, fed on the encouragement of the spectators, and he gave a mighty swing of his axe that entirely bisected one of his opponents. He followed the momentum around to bury it deep into the ribs of the other, whose agonized wail was quickly reduced to gurgling sputters as his lungs filled with blood and he fell to the ground. The crowd cheered each act of slaughter, the more grisly and gross the act the greater the mob's reaction.

While the twice-burned thug reeled from the pain, Calli ended his suffering with a clean stab directly to his heart. As she pulled it out, she spun it round in her hand and slashed at the remaining goon, leaving a new gash in his crispy flesh.

The thug stood over Tesh raised his cudgel above his head with both hands and swung it down, but the man got his blade up in time and deflected what would’ve been a killing blow.

The crispy goon made a clumsy swing towards Nightingale, but his flesh no longer had the same elasticity and he had to use more of his torso in the attempt than he expected. Gale calmly stepped out of the path, and again lined up a lightning bolt that went through the unlucky attacker and into one of the distant clown-faces.

Seeing Calli and Gale have their attacker well in hand, Taylan fired beams of burning light from his eyes and struck the man attacking Tesh with magic missiles.

Focker thought there couldn’t be much left in the now thrice-burned man and got into flanking with Gale to bite and pierce at the man with his tail. He clung to life stubbornly.

Laori strolled forward towards the approaching clowns, intentionally stabbing her hand on her spiked armor, which shimmered with magic in response. She shivered in delight and murmered, "Ooh that feels good."

Tesh, muttering a mantra of “Winter... winter… winter,” chopped into the thug standing over him’s legs. Byron stepped over his fallen adversary already looking for the next challenge. and seeing Tesh down, ran up behind him, punching the goon solidly in the back with a fist empowered with ice and flame. The goon doubled over from the massive damage while doing little hops to try and avoid Tesh’s sword, before he proclaimed that he gave up and ran off through the crowd.

Travis turned and charged at the clown faces, swinging his bloodied axe at the one he’d threatened. It connected with a loud clank but couldn’t get through the strange patchwork metal armor they wore. Face to face, he caught scent of something oily and unnatural. He couldn’t put a name to it, but remembered there was an enhancement drug he’d encountered before, and knew they’d take a bit more effort than the underlings did.

The fighter between Calli, Focker, and Gale was on his last legs. Calli stepped in and plunged her dagger up into his throat where the head connected. He looked at her with bulging eyes before they finally rolled back in his head. She withdrew it with a sharp downward flick, keeping a sword-fighter’s pose to show Nightingale what she’d learned under his tutelage. He gave an approving nod as the body collapsed in a heap.

With Calli no longer in immediate danger, Nightingale rushed forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Byron facing the approaching clowns. Taylan remained further back, but directed a magical blast at the duo that didn’t manage to find purchase. Seeing Taylan had taken damage as Calli had, the drake flapped over and gave him a healing touch as well.

Laori got within range and lashed out with her wickedly spiked chain, which wrapped around the clown Travis had engaged. She twisted the handle, and the length of it shone bright in a sudden burst of power that seared into the clown where he was held, before she recalled the length of it.

The secondary clown circled Byron and Gale, “Eenie meenie minie… MOE,” swinging his staff at Nightingale and striking him hard on the arm he tried to deflect with. The leader began attempting to batter Travis with his own weapon, the first two hits going wide before he got a hit into the Half-Orc’s bicep, the glass shards drawing blood where they connected.

Seeing the fighting going on above him, Tesh rolled out from under Byron and finally made it back to his feet. Byron’s bone claws erupted from his fists as he jabbed at the clown who’d struck Nightingale, but the giggling madman used the butt of his staff to catch him in the gut, throwing his aim.

Before the leader could fully recover from Laori’s attack, Travis caught the clown’s arm with his axe, bleeding him in the same place he’d taken damage himself.

Looking to hem in the laughing clown, Calli ran up to flank with Byron. She drew her rapier as she ran, but was unable to pierce the lively opponent. Gale also attacked with a series of rapier thrusts, and on his third attack managed to stick flesh, allowing him to pump a shocking grasp down his weapon and begin cooking his insides.

The clown’s eyes blazed with fury, “That wasn’t funny.”

Taylan, not wanting to injure his comrades in the close combat, instead retrieved one of their healing wands and used the opportunity to begin curing Gale of some damage he’d taken. Focker followed along, healing Taylan again for a less potent, but still appreciated, amount. It was just in time, as the clown focused entirely on Gale, getting in three more violent strikes.

Laori used her chain to cleverly trip their clown, and as he stood back up Travis took another chunk out of him. The leader returned the blow, making contact with the side of his thigh and dragging the shards of glass across the flesh.

Having taken a moment to watch the ongoing chaos, Tesh rejoined the fray. He flanked with Gale, so that the clown was closed in on all four sides. He attempted a slash of his sword, but had no luck. Byron continued punching the clown in an unrelenting barrage, but the clown ducked all but one, which connected in the join between neck and collarbone with an audible snap.

Travis buried his axe twice more into his clown, bits of the patchwork armor started to come apart under the relentless violence.

Calli missed twice more, but there were too many attacking now to dodge all of them, and Nightingale got two perfect strikes. His first went low, opening a line of fire across his belly that he filled with more electricity, and as the no-longer laughing clown clutched at the wound Gale lunged with his blade almost vertical, spearing through the underside of his jaw and up through his skull.

Taylan turned his attention to the final combatant, channeling his eye beams to send more magic missiles into the lead clown. Focker swooped over to Travis, giving him some of the much-needed healing.

The spiked cleric made another attack at the clown. Laori missed catching his arm, but managed to entangle his staff instead, and yanked it out of his hands.

Undeterred, the leader with no crew stepped back and began hurling flat fist-sized copper discs, mangled to have multiple jagged edges, from his belt at Travis.

Tesh, high on the adrenaline, ran screaming to the remaining clown, but still wasn’t able to get his blade through the janky armor. Flanking, Byron charged straight into the vile clown his bone claws full extended, his hate driving both those bone serrated knives into the leering vagabonds chest. The piercing strike drove the mad clown to his knees, the enraged warrior ripped his claws free tearing the man monster apart. He watched the beast die with it's blood dripping from his hands onto the dirty street. The crowd went wild. It was clear they had not expected the newcomers to succeed. Seeing the disappointment in Tesh’s face that he’d been unable to contribute, he pointed at the fallen foe, "That was all you, Tesh! You drew his focus for me!" The older man perked up at this encouragement.

With no one left to fight, the Flowers moved together to regroup and heal. Breathing heavily they noticed for the first time that Travis’ disguise had been completely ruined in the battle, the putty hung from his face, and as his wiped blood off his face the makeup came with it. Around them some of the applause turned to shocked whispers that rippled through the audience. A voice shouted out, “It’s him! It’s the cannibal of Wayden street!”

Another citizen called out, "You cheeky fucker, we liked you!” and then to the person next to him, “I can’t believe he was evil all the time.”

Someone else followed up, “What’d it taste like, Trevor? Eating the guard? We found the body when you left!” The Flowers looked at Travis with a mixture of emotions. Wide eyed shock, confusion, and in Laori’s case: delighted interest. For Byron it was just a raised eyebrow, as he knew the true story of what happened the night that body was placed into the salt barrel. He waited to see how Travis wanted to play it.

Travis took in the situation, the mad carnival, the demented citizens, and the appraising look from Laori. He ripped off his robes and roared, "It tasted like VICTORY!"

————————————————————

Not wanting her to slip through his grasp again, Byron made haste to intercept Miss Cooper before he lost sight of her in the milling crowd. "Miss Cooper, you’re needed, Greta needs you."

The young woman’s eyes struggled to focus, and she replied dreamily, "Greta? Oh I'm not sure I remember her… but I know I don’t know you."

"My name is Byron, you didn't like me coming to the class because of the dragon," he gave a sharp whistle and Lil’ Focker was hovering by his side in an instant. The drake made a polite little bow with his head.

She stepped back, uncertain, but the appearance of the creature seemed to make her more curious, and she studded Byron’s disguised face more closely. "I don't remember you. Did I teach you?"

He could see now it wasn’t just weariness causing her to forget, but that she must’ve turned to some drug or another to escape the horrors of Old Korvosa. He made his voice softer, keeping his tone kind. "Not me, but you must remember the little half orc girl?"

"No…"

"Well, stay with us and we can take you to her and get you off this island." ‘And off the drugs,’ he finished silently to himself.

At this her reluctance vanished. The promise of an escape from the twisted hell she’d been in reached through her haze, "If a child needs my help, I will come with you."

Meanwhile the rest of the party continued with their recovery. Calli and Taylan got everyone back to full health while Nightingale kept an eye out for any other threats.

Laori had been grinning at Travis with new interest, “Heeey, a cannibal? Okay!” He thumbed his nose and shrugged, and she pressed on, “I’d love to hear about it.” He launched into a summary of how he’s always felt like he had two sides at war within him, and she was eagerly listening, when Gale made everyone aware of a new painted clown approached from the direction of the Emperor’s palace.

The lanky jester stopped, stomped his staff, and bowed low to Travis, “The Emperor wishes to welcome you to his quarters, oh Cannibal of Wayden Street. You and your attendants are to follow me.”

“Yeah, yeah, we need a few minutes to recover, chuckles, you just wait right there.” Travis turned back to Laori and picked back up his tale of his personal experiences with pain exactly where he’d left off.

Byron returned to the group with Miss Cooper in tow, and Nightingale swiftly came up with a plan. He turned to Tesh, opened his arms, and with all of his most regal bearing proclaimed, "After your bravery in battle, you are now officially an acolyte of the sword." He dipped his fingers in the cooling blood of the nearest corpse, and traced over his earlier ash markings on Tesh’s forehead. "You are now Brother Winter." Byron, Calli, and Taylan congratulated him on the promotion.

The new convert stood proudly at attention, and Gale continued, gesturing at Miss Cooper. “For your first holy pilgrimage you must prove your self-control by protecting this woman while we deal with the Emperor."

Tesh deflated slightly. "Your orders are hard. He killed my whole family!"

Byron placed a large hand on his shoulder, "If we win the head of the Emperor, it’s yours."

They watched his internal struggle, but finally he turned to the school teacher and raised a fist to his heart, "My lady, it's my holy vow to protect you with my life."

After a brief discussion, they decide to send them to their hidden boats where they could take one to the other side, hopefully avoiding detection, and claim sanctuary at Carowyn Manor. Nightingale whispered arcane words and touched them gently on their shoulders, which imparted invisibility on to the both of them. "This Blessing of the Blade will protect you for three minutes, so use it wisely." They hoped they’d see each other again.

Laori and Travis were still deep in conversation throughout, speaking on duality and the struggle of existence, when Calli overheard the elf asking if he’d heard of the battle between the goddess Shelyn and her brother Zon-Kuthon. Travis said he didn’t know of it, but he’d love for her to tell him more.

Calli had been debating joining in, wondering what Zon-Kuthon’s cleric would say about the goddess Calli worshiped, but she was halted when Byron cleared his throat next to her.

“Nightingale tells me you fought with a blade?”

“I did.” She wasn’t used to him being the one to initiate conversation.

“And you killed someone?”

She thought of the bulging eyes of her victim and her stomach turned. She pushed the feeling back down. It was getting easier. Instead, she smiled. “I did.”

He looked at the woman who continued to surprise him with a newfound respect. “Well done.”

Laori thought about the carefully altered story Travis had told about his time as the ‘cannibal.’ "So you were in disguise?"

Taylan, whose mind had been wandering, piped up, "No.. this is a disguise." The other Flowers looked at him with concern, but he couldn’t see the harm. She’d been nothing but nice to them, and fought by their side.

Laori tilted her head at Travis, "So you're not Brother Bloodstone?"

"Yeah I am, but I'm also this. You're a disciple and also a person, it's that."

Satisfied with this reply, but noticing the Emperor’s messenger getting increasingly more impatient, she says, “I look forward to talking more with you later.” She walked ahead, and Travis watched her go, a tusky grin on his face.

Clownface lead the group around the side of the painted building to a door marked with crude smiling faces painted in blood. Rickity wooden stairs lead up to a rope bridge that curved upwards to the attic of another building. Inside the sparsely decorated space are another eight thugs forming two rows of four and one more clown guarding the far door. The Flowers are made to pass between the ranks, and do so tensely, expecting it to be an ambush, but they move on unmolested. Out the next door is a further rope bridge connecting to and extraordinary area. An open air balcony looked over a vast area, a large flat roof of a long building that had been altered to resemble a field marked up for the strange sporting event Calli had witnessed. On the balcony a bright red canvas hung, roof-like, from wooden framework in a half dome, painted up with gruesome depictions of fights. Under this was a high-backed imitation of the Crimson Throne of Korvosa. A tall guillotine of wood and bone, carved with demonic feet and leering face, was constructed to the side in view of the throne. The little Gnome executioner, Jabbyr, with the one-eyed hood stood by. Stairs lead from the balcony to the field-roof, and on either side are peaked rooves of two more buildings that held benches full of people waving red pennants and flags all over.

Several more clowns were in attendance, and seated in the throne is an ugly man covered in badly healed pocked marks: signs he’d survived Bloodveil, but only just. Byron, Taylan, and Travis recognized him as Pilts Swastel, who’d been an actor of a local theatre before the plague cut off their small island. He wore threadbare, ratty clothes with delusions of grandeur. It was a costume that might’ve been used for royalty on a stage, but not all for the same person, and as a result was mismatched and ill-fitting. He held a staff with a simple orb at the top, and wore a comically tall crown. He, and the clothes, were unwashed. Seeing them lead in, he addressed them, but his voice was projected out into the arena for all to hear. He spoke flawlessly, with an almost hypnotically beautiful voice that did not match his appearance. "Come to me, crawling subjects, talk as if we're friends."

The clown that had brought them in went up to Swastel and whispered in his ear before standing back to one side of the chair.

Delighted Pilts proclaimed,"We have brought you the Cannibal of Wayden Street, ladies and gentlemen!" The bleachers full of people cheered as if on cue.

Travis waved to the stands before addressing the Emperor, "You have something I need: A seneschal and a painter."

"I don't think I have a seneschal, but I do have a Salvator Scream," he confirmed to just them in the balcony.

“Yeah, him.”

Pilts replied with his projected voice again. "Oh they want something! Come closer so I may embrace you as brothers."

"I'm happy where I am, besides with your beautiful voice we can all hear you, can't we ya cunt?"

The room froze for a moment before Pilts burst into laughter, but warned, "You can do it because you're The Cannibal, but if anyone else does it I'll eat ya."

"That's my job," Travis chuckled.

This made him laugh even harder, "He'll eat you! Okay, you want something, what have you for me?"

Calli reached into one of the pouches at her waist and removed a gold bar. She delicately stepped forward, moving as close to him as she dared, gave a precise curtsy, and then passed it to him. “We bring you gold stamped with the seal of that lesser monarch over the bridge, so that you may delight in defacing it, oh mighty Emperor.”

Pilts leaned forward to take it from her hand, and as he does she sees his eyes change color, and he whispers in a scared, frantic voice, "There are creatures here, I'm in the dark place, help!" His eyes return and as if nothing had happened he smiles and broadcasts his voice again, “Thank you for this gold from the False Queen! But what we really need is Entertainment!"

The crowd began chanting, “Blood pig, blood pig, blood pig…” Calli glanced around the room, but no one else seemed to have noticed, or at least no one let on they had, the change in the Emperor. Instead of returning to her place, she crouched forward until she was sat next on the floor to the Emperor, under pretense of basking in his glory.

Travis began a negotiation with the Emperor. He fought hard to gain Scream’s freedom, but the Emperor was unwilling to let him go, saying he likes him far too much to lose him. He offered instead to bring out Salvator and they could chat with him in his presence for an hour.

As the debate went on, Calli pressed her luck further and leaned on the Emperor’s leg. Still no clowns moved to stop her, and the Emperor didn’t seem to mind. She whispered up to him, "How can I help?"

Pilts looked down at her in confusion, "Help?" Then his eyes changed again, "I don't know," before he returned to debating the terms of their potential Blood Pig victory with Travis.

As they all spoke, Nightingale had been detecting magic on Emperor, getting a feel for what they might be up against, but he detected nothing changing during these strange moments.

Feeling the negotiations had hit a stalemate, with the Emperor only willing to let them speak with Salvator for an hour, Byron decided to up the entertainment value of their offer. "You won't only get The Cannibal, you’d also be getting," he paused dramatically to rip off his own prosthetic makeup and priest robe before shouting out to the stands, "the Korvosan BEAR!"

The stands loved this, and the cheers became more eager, but Pilts only relented enough to let them have privacy for the hour. The Flowers then introduce him to Laori, a fellow fan of both Scream’s work and pain in general, offering him a kindred spirit to revel in the agony with, and she agrees that she’d be happy to spend time with him discussing the finer points of her vocation. But it’s not enough.

The negotiations seemed as if they would fall through entirely, but when The Flowers threatened to leave- Cannibal and Bear with them, without giving a show at all, The Emperor finally budged a bit. He would give them two hours, in private, to have their conversation with the painter. They accepted, sensing this was the best offer they’d get.

The agreement made, they were instructed to go down the stairs to the field. Unsure how to even play, and everything on the line, the group felt more than the stares of crazed fans weighing on them.

————————————————————

(trigger warning: animal cruelty)

As the seven of them descended, the silken voice of the pretend Emperor boomed out the rules of the game: Winner is the first team to five points. Putting a pig into the team's pit is a point. Game starts within the marked central square, one team on each side of the centre line. No weapons or magic, or you’ll lose points. It seems simple enough. They take their place, and another team files in to the field. Eight of them, mean looking brutes covered in fresh scars and bruises, wearing plain jerkins with numbers helpfully painted on the back. They took up the opposing side and began taunting the ‘fresh meat.’ The Emperor called out, “Game On!” and the first piglet was raised into a pen on the Flowers’ side of the field.

It had begun.

The first opponent broke into surprising speed past everyone to take up a position next to the Flowers’ pit.

Byron was next to act, running to the piglet and picking it up. It initially puts up a fight, not wanting to be so far from the comfort of the ground, but the barbarian was surprisingly soothing and gentle with it, allowing it to relax into his arms.

Calli decided to test the limits of the ‘no weapons’ rule and chucks an alchemist’s fire into the opposing square, setting one athlete alight and singing two others. She then joins the first opponent at their pit on the opposite side. The Emperor’s laughter rang out over the field, allowing the assault. The people in the stands, hearing his laughter, all then laughed as well.

Laori gave a determined scream and ran directly into the opponent’s square, wrapping her arms around one of their team and pulling him into a tight grapple against her spiked armor. The Emperor approved it as a cunning move, and the crowd dutifully applauded.

An uninjured member of their rivals stepped in to swing a fist at Travis, but Travis sees it coming and stomps on his foot, throwing his aim wide.

The poor soul within Laori’s grasp struggled in vain to get free.

The man on fire dropped to the ground, rolling about to smother the flames.

Nightingale takes Calli’s action a step further, and pitches a potion with force at a cluster of the opposing team. A ten foot radius of blue liquid exploded out, covering three of them- including the man who’d just been on fire- before the liquid hardened completely. It captured them inside like a bug in amber. The stands went quiet, looking to the Emperor for his reaction. The Emperor seemed less pleased with this, calling out, “Rules Violation! Point to the home team!” It seemed with no points yet for The Flowers to lose, the Emperor would simply reward his own team instead. The crowds showered loud ‘boo’s and hisses at The Flowers.

One of the singed players rushed Gale, striking him on the jaw. Gale noticed he seemed to be pulling his punch, he wasn’t looking to truly damage.

Taylan attempted to bull-rush the opponent stood guarding The Flowers’ pit, but isn’t able to move him an inch.

One of the enemy team who had narrowly evaded Nightingale’s attack ran around the morbid statue towards the pit everyone was gathering at.

At that hole Focker flew into the first opponent’s face, but only succeeded in being annoying for the player.

Instead of joining those clustering up on The Flowers’ end, Travis thought ahead, and ran to the pit of the other team, pouring out an alchemists fire around the rim.

The final opponent to move chose to attack Travis and secure their pit, but the larger half-orc was too quick for him.

The first player tried in vain to swat the drake out of his face, which kept him distracted while Byron ran up with his subdued piglet and tossed it down into the hole, scoring the first point for The Flowers and tying the score. The stands, caught up in the action, again began warming to their side, applauding at the point.

Byron, Calli, Focker, and Taylan all looked down through the barred opening of the pit at the small animal who squealed in pain, no doubt having been terribly injured in the fall. The pain didn’t last long, however, as a large furred shape was soon upon it from a cave out of sight. Teeth and claws consumed the fresh snack, and then the wolverine looked up at the teams for more, reflective eyes glinting in the light from above.

Calli joined Focker and delivered a straight punch into the shoulder of the first opponent, but her untrained fist hit thick muscle and he didn’t seem to notice at all.

The cleric of pain suplexed her struggling captive into the hardening goo, leaving him frozen upside down next to his suffocating team mates.

Gale swept the legs from under the foe who’d struck him, who tried to hop back up, but Nightingale kicked him over again.

A new piglet rose into place in the opposing side’s pen.

Taylan joins Calli and Focker in targeting the first opponent, kicking the side of his knee causing him to lose balance and topple over. On his way down, he strikes out and repays the smaller man with a punch to the face.

The player who had been running towards the Flowers’ pit skidded to a halt and began running back towards their own pen. Unfortunately for him he had to pass Nightingale, Who neatly closelined him, and he landed hard on his back.

Focker, freed up from his previous task, looked across the field and saw their new target. He flew half the length of the field, and called out to Travis, “I’m open!”

Travis spun past his opponent, quickly reaching the pen and scooping up the piglet. He launched it into the air in a beautiful ark directly at the drake, and it continued sailing right through his tiny arms. Gale dove to the ground underneath just in time, catching the small pig. The audience who had audibly let out ‘oooo’s at the miss, then cheered for the last-minute save.

The enemy player turned and struck Travis from behind, a brutal uppercut into his lower back.

The first player to move rolled over and got up on his hands and knees to stand, but as a team Calli and Taylan grabbed one of his arms each and flipped him back across the bars over the pit.

Byron stomped on the downed man’s stomach, and Calli booted him in the ribs.

Laori snuck up behind one of the players attempting to stand next to Nightingale. Taking the band of his trousers and the collar of his jerkin in her hands, she heaved him into the deadly concoction with a strength that belied her svelte form. Within, the players struggled to break free, panic obvious on their face as they slowly suffocated.

The small creature squealed and kicked in Gale’s arms, and lacking the same way with animals that Byron displayed, his solution was to knock it out by striking it’s delicate skull against the hard roof that was their field. It went limp, and he rushed over to the pit to drop it in. The score was now Flowers 2 - Emperor’s team 1. The cheering gained strength, the people seemed excited to see a team holding their own against the Emperor’s men.

A new pig appeared again in the home pen of the Emperor’s team.

Taylan turned to face it and readied to catch the next flying pig.

The player being ganged up on at their pit tried to back off of the grate, but Byron, Gale, and even the readied Taylan managed to get more savage kicks in. Calli had tried, as well, but she rolled her supporting ankle and missed. She wasn’t needed, though. The player no longer moved. Either dead or unconscious, they didn’t have time to check.

The clotheslined opponent caught his breath, and made it back to his feet, running downfield to their pen and the waiting piglet.

Focker, watching the chaos unfold beneath him, called out again, “Try again! I’ll get it this time!”

Travis shoved his opponents aside and beat them to the pig, again sending it sailing across the field with expert accuracy. Focker flexed his claws and reached out, finding only air. The piglet grunted in panic as it passed, and it landed in the deadly goo that had thus far claimed five of the players. The people in the stands laughed and jeered at the house drake’s second failure.

The player that had punched Travis took another swing at the ribs exposed by his pig-toss, but Travis was ready for him, and brought his elbow down sharply- knocking the blow aside just in time.

Byron ran over to goo and prepared to defend whichever of his team was able to rescue the sticky creature.

Calli took one of the motionless body’s legs and pulled him off the grate, clearing the opening for future points.

The spiked cleric reached into the strange mixture without hesitation, and was able to yank the piglet free before it sunk to far within. She passed it to Gale at their hole, who held it by the legs and swung it into the wall behind to knock it out before dropping it into the pit. Flowers 3 - Emperor’s team 1. The crowd’s approval was picking up power, as it was becoming more and more likely The Cannibal and The Bear’s team was going to be triumphant.

One of the players Laori had deposited into the goo had begun to pull out of it. He got his mouth free and took a deep gasp of air, before seeing he was face-to-face with the Korvosan Bear. Byron coldly pushed the man’s head back into the muck and held him there until it had solidified upon the doomed man.

The next pig appeared predictably in the opposing team’s pen.

Taylan wanted to help Travis even the odds, and joined him and the two enemy players at the pen.

The player who hadn’t attacked Travis met Taylan with a sharp jab to the nose, causing blood to burst from his nostrils.

The stubborn drake, still hovering, pleaded, “One more try, I’ll catch it, I’ve got this!” Voices from the crowd mocked his plea.

Travis, having faith in their small companion, repeats his winning performance of scooping and chucking the piglet in spite of the opposite player trying desperately to interfere. His aim is perfect, and this time Focker’s catch is perfect, as well. He stung the tiny thing with his barbed tail and it stopped squirming, allowing him to fly over the pit and drop it within himself. Pleased he’d gotten it right, he held up a clawed hand to Calli in celebration, who returned his ‘high three.’ The score was now Flowers 4, Emperor’s team 1. It was almost over. The previously mocking audience applauded twice as hard at Focker’s success, and anticipation was thick in the air as everyone waited to see the increasingly inevitable outcome.

Once more a piglet is raised into place in the opponent’s pen.

Travis’ opponent, desperate to stop his domination of the game, tried to grapple his throwing arm, but the Half-Orc shook him off with disdain.

Byron converged upon the enemy pen and attacked the player who’d busted Taylan’s nose by driving a Dragon’s Tooth Strike into his temple. The fist is held such that the knuckle of the thumb juts out, making it shaped just right to pinpoint the soft spot with vicious force.

Calli ran to midfield to replace Focker in position next to Laori. The cleric, having seen the ‘high three’ put up her own hand and Calli obliged with a ‘high five.’ Focusing slightly more on watching the trapped players struggle than the game itself, Laori exclaimed, “This is brilliant!”

Taylan repeated his trip attack that he’d done with the first player, and just like before the player manages to land a solid punch on him on their way down.

Focker and Gale also joined the women at midfield, and all four readied to catch an incoming piglet.

Travis picked up the makeshift ball, but this pig fought back and bit him as it was thrown, causing the pass to fumble to the side. His opponent made a break for it, taking an attack of opportunity from Travis as he went. He took the hit and reached the pig, finally managing to claim one for himself.

His joy was short-lived. Byron chased after him and delivered a savage blow to the back of his skull that caused his vision to blur and he dropped the piglet.

Calli scrambled to recover it, plucking it off the ground, and felt guilty as the little bundle squirmed in her arms.

Laori joined them, trying to pull the player Byron had hit into one of her iron maiden hugs, but he slipped from her grasp.

Nightingale charged forward midway between Calli and the pit and indicated she should throw it his way.

Back at the opponent’s pen, Taylan pulled back his leg and drove his foot between the legs of the player at his feet, who immediately curled up in pain.

Focker returned to hover over the Flowers’ hole and also confirmed he was ready for the play.

Picking him up with ease, Travis relocated the player clutching his crotch onto the opponent’s grate. Within a hungry wolverine had been pacing, waiting for pigs that never came. It lept up at this offering, and reaching through the bars with claws like daggers, began savaging the man. It ripped and tore, raining blood on to the animal, until the body came apart in pieces that fell through to feed it.

The last player standing wrestled with the still-disguised Calli, attempting to regain the piglet, but Byron unleashed a full round of blows into him with sudden fury. He punctuated his hits with warnings, “You Don’t, Hit the, Blonde Girl!”

Thanks to his support, Calli was able to throw the pig to Gale, who instantly turned and passed it to Focker, who spiked it into their grate. Point and match. The cheers of their team, and those of the spectator stands, were deafening. Everyone was on their feet stomping and clapping, and it created a low vibration throughout the structure.

Pilts jumped to his feet and bellowed, “Best two of three!”

But the state of the field was a mess, and there was only one player left living on his side, and even that one was badly injured. He looked to be building to a rage, when Gale gave a deep bow and called up, “Great Emperor, we hope you are entertained, and we have created a sculpture for you to commemorate this act in your honour!”

The Emperor paused, caught off guard at this appeasement to his ego. He regained his composure, and with a regal nod conceded, "I accept."

The seven of them met up at the stairs and began climbing back up to the balcony, soaking up the praise radiating from the stands. Some of the party had loved the experience, and some had not, but they all were grateful they’d not just won- they’d dominated. The adrenaline pumped through their blood and they breathed heavily from the exertion. In many ways though, that had been the easy part. They had two hours to talk to the captive painter, hopefully get information on where to find Orisini, figure out how they were going to dethrone the false Emperor, before needing to retrieve the hidden Noble within the Arkona compound, and somehow get the whole crowd back across the waters into the city without being spotted by the evil Queen’s loyal Maidens. No small task after an already long day.

But they were getting used to overcoming long odds.