IC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux, Part VI

[Dichotomy]

Nethezar shrugs. "Maybe. He did say, though, that those manager licenses are expensive. He might not have the coin. Or he might need some collateral. Oh, not because he doesn't trust us, but so that he has something in case we don't actually win."[sblock=OOC]As requested, here's another primer. Really, I just copied and pasted from prior posts. I don't THINK I missed anything.

There are 24 Teams

• There are typically two-dozen teams of adventurers/warbands/etc. that enter the games; they typically having varying talents (magic, ranged, melee all allowed), and some vary in size from merely two fighters to five or more
• Over a period of five days, those two-dozen will be whittled down by single-elimination contests with the other groups; early battles typically involve multiple teams where only the last team standing advances; later battles are one team against another
• Only one battle occurs for each team each day
• While battles can be lethal, competitors can always surrender
• The spectators you meet know there are rules about flying, though they don't know the specifics
• While gladiators CAN be killed, participants can surrender (either individually, or as an entire team) by dropping weapons, kneeling, and raising both hands in the air. Anyone attacking a surrendering foe is immediately disqualified from the entire games (and would face criminal sanctions for assault or murder), and anyone giving a fake surrender (i.e. surrendering and then attacking a foe) is also immediately disqualified.
• Gladiators can fly or levitate, but only up to 40 feet off the ground. Going higher results in disqualification. Burrowing into the ground is not allowed.
• Matches continue until death or surrender of all opposing teams.
Gladiators do not keep the spoils of victory, which also means that you don't lose your equipment if you lose.
• Tactics that endanger the spectators are forbidden and result in disqualification. This is judged on an ad hoc basis.
• If an individual is disqualified, he must immediately move to the edge of the battlefield and take no further part. Failure to comply results in the entire team being disqualified.
The total payout of 40,000 is broken up into segments for each battle you win. Winning the first battle nets 2,000. The second nets 5,000. Then 10. Then 20. Plus some trophies and such that are worth some gold. So, while there aren't 'runner-up' awards, if you make it all the way to the end before losing, you'll still keep whatever you earned on the way.[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

"That's right... Maybe we can promise him our first round winnings and something in case we lose as collateral. I'd offer my sword perhaps, primarily because I don't think we'll lose."[sblock=oc]After the wagers, we have 641.5 liquid and the sword is worth 2315. So we could potentially hit up Ekyam for 2000 and then pay him back after the match. I suppose he'd want to hold the collateral during the match huh? I'm all for seeing if Nethezar can convince him that we'll just give it to him if we lose. If not, Erd will probably be avoiding close combat at all costs so we might be fine giving it over to him anyway. I feel like she has a better backup option than Nethezar does (as he'll also be avoiding close quarters.)[/sblock]

 

[o3caudata]

"I can provide collateral equipment as well."

[sblock=oc]OHHAI GUYS!

I've re-reread the summaries and am mostly up to speed i think.

Re: the betting money thing. If we can use equipment as collateral, we might as well take that avenue. Tirra mentioned we managed to negotiate better odds for the 1st round, which leads me to believe we should find those people and bet as much as they're willing to back and then dump the 2000 on Tirra.

I specifically have a mithral shirt that i won't need as well as a haversack we could do without for a few days i think. That should get us ~3000 ish if it works that way.

Glad to be back.
[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

Erdolliel shrugs as she considers the situation some more. "Well Nethezar, I think we can all agree that if Kushnak or I go and ask Ekyam we're far more likely to fail than if you give it a go. I'd say hit him up for Kushnak's collateral first and then use mine as a last ditch effort. And if we can keep the goods in our hands and turn it over if we lose, all the better."

 

[Dichotomy]

[sblock=OOC]Have to remember how this works...

Also, some reminders:
Re: the "normal" wagers:
You find 4 bookies who are each able to handle a wager of up to 250 gold. Assuming that you win your first fight, you can either (a) ask Ekaym to cash you out, or (b) continue to let a wager of up to 250 ride. (None of the bookies can finance wagers of more than 250, so they can't let your whole amount ride. Mostly, this is because I realized that you guys would have the potential of winning WAY too much gold... like several hundred thousand gold.) Bottom line, you could toss a total of 1,000 gold out there; if you win, you'll get 10,000 back (this time), of which you could re-bet 1,000 on the next fight.

These "normal" wagers only go on a bout-to-bout basis. Depending upon how well you guys perform (including winning bouts, but also things like landing critical hits) your fictional "rank" will go up. As your rank goes up, the suspected odds of you winning increase, and wagers in your favor become less profitable. It is possible (though not VERY likely) that, if you make it to the final bout, payouts on bets for you to win could be as crappy as 1:10.

Re: Tirra's offer:
You can give Tirra 2,500, and if you win the whole thing, the guild will give you 7,500 and the guild's "gratitude."

I THINK that Ti figured out that you have 641.5 on hand AFTER you through the max 1,000 at the "normal" bookies. Right? So then you'd only need to get just under 2,000 in collateral to cover Tirra's offer.[/sblock]
Nethezar nods. "I'll talk to him. You'd best just let me work." The scholar wanders away, apparently aimlessly, but he comes back in short order.

"He's pretty strapped, but he's sure that we can win at least one bought. With the winnings we can make on the initial bets, he knows we can pay him back right away. So he'll front the money. He doesn't need anything now but... well, if we don't win the first round, he wants both the sword and the mithral shirt. That's the deal."

 

[TiCaudata]

"Both?! That greedy, bug bear buggering, little..." Erdolliel's mutters become a muffled and suppressed scream of frustration. After which, she seems much more in command of her temper. "Yikes. Well, I guess I need to wean myself off of my melee crutches if I'm going to not be wearing armor anymore anyway. And if we end up sucking wind that badly on the first bout, we'll likely be needing to switch professions anyway.

"Let's go tell Tirra." With that she heads towards the beverage table before non-chalantly finding the guild's representative.

 

[o3caudata]

"Melee crutches, hah" Kushnak guffaws.


"Let's be done with this." Kushnak says, standing and looking for Tirra.

[sblock=oc]. Sounds good (and arbitrary but fair) to me.

Also, posting from the iPad is hard[/sblock]

 

[Dichotomy]

[sblock=OOC]So... it's working again?[/sblock]The trio easily find Tirra. While the elf has quite a ring of admirers around her, once her eye catches the trio, she politely, but quickly, extracts herself.

While the elf's smile stays on her lips, the flash in her eye tells you she's all business.

"You've decided, then?"

In short order, the arrangements are made, and Ekaym provides the actual funds. With the remaining cash on hand, the trio finds the bookies they met before and takes advantage of the group's currently-poor chances of success.

The night wears on with more meandering, and food, and drink. The evening's festivities top with an impressive dance around the central bonfire in the arena, with the lithe dancers seeming as shadows moving in front of the flames. As the drum beat accelerates, the dancing almost literally bursts as impressive explosions and arcs of fire and lightning burst from the bonfire.

The drums, dancing, and explosions stop simultaneously, and for a beat, there is only silence.

Raknian's booming voice announces from the stage, "The Champion's Games have begun!"[sblock=OOC]This is your last chance to take care of any business before you get "quarantined" for the games.[/sblock]

 

[TiCaudata]

[sblock=oc]looks like it is, although the message saying it might be touch and go hasn't been removed so who knows.[/sblock]As the night grinds on, Erdolliel tries to keep a surreptitious eye out to see if Raknian takes any interest in any of the other groups or if anyone else seems particular interested in Raknian or the three Salamanders. "No sense getting gutted by another team unawares." she mumbles, mostly to herself.[sblock=oc]I think I was doing this before, but wanted to re-post it just to make sure we don't forget to keep an eye out. Spot +14 Listen +14 Gather Information +0... It probably wouldn't hurt to chat some groups up either but she definitely won't say anything suspicious! Just keep an eye and ear out for anything unusual.

Oh and I also read back and re-checked our battle strategies. Good reading, it goes back to page 4 or 5 or so. Finally, I went and fixed my spellbook, so I should be ready to go for a battle now.[/sblock]

 

[o3caudata]

"We may play coy tonight, but after tomorrow we won't be able to act the lesser." Kushnak smiles nefariously before emptying his near full mug in 2 long gulps. He burps wettly and settles into his chair with a suspicous smirk.

[sblock=oc]

I'm with Ti, i'd like to listen/watch peop for anything that might help in the fights.

Spot 15/Listen 15/GI -2 (hahaha)

I also reread the tactics blocks. Are we all square with what we want to happen?

For Kushnak:

Stoneskin(Erd) - sometime during 'announcements'
Aid(Kush) - sometime during the announcements
Fly(Kush) - sometime during the announcements
Bears Endurance(Kush) - Sometime during the announcements
Rage(Neth)+Extend - If he can wait until just before the battle we'll be good.

Once the battle is set kush will hit righteous might(or move closer to people) then righteous might. This makes Kush large. Which means reach. Stoneskin will help protect him a LOT.

Other things. DR from stoneskin doesn't stack with righteous might. If dr completely stops an attack, any affects of that attack are also negated. DR

I'll leave divine power and divine favor for later, depending on the durability of the long-lifers as necessary.

Does it make more sense to you guys for him to start with the closest people? or should he try to get at the ranged/casters first?

[/sblock]