(Heart of the Dragon) Blood

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan was going to have to pull her punches, or throws, on this one. It wouldn't do for the guy to die before talking. Hopefully she could just cripple him quick and get him to surrender. But if she started getting hurt, all bets were off, she'd just start aiming for his head.

  Initiative 12 +2 Leaf Token+8 Attribute

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-17 10:24:31		Morgan Bellanar rolls 1 die for initiative		2

To cripple him, she could go for the elbow or the knee. Depends on what the guy was using. She'd save her hidden knives for later. Currently she withdrew a throwing knife from the holster and set her feet to moving about in case he tried something.

Morgan's first actions will be to use Athletic Dodge, adding her Athletics of 6 to her Defense rating, bringing Defense up to 9, and draw a throwing knife. Her armor is currently 1. If she has any preparation time beforehand, she will use glamour for Favored Fate.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

So Morgan would fight.

Mhairi nods, she didn't name Morgan her Paladin just because they were friends, the Autumn Queen trusted her Paladin's skill at arms.

Turning her attention to the gathered crowd, Mhairi had her own work to do.

  1 suxx Work the Crowd!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-17 10:38:26		Mhairi Ankaa rolls 5 to Work the crowd! (Wits 3 + Streetwise 2) (10 Again)		6, 4, 8, 3, 3		1 success

[Cayce]

In the Pit Origins

The two combatants were brought to a pair of ladders that lead down into the Pit itself, the rungs made from well worn bones that were held together with fraying, dessicated intestines. Nevertheless, the ladders held as Morgan and the hob climbed down some twenty feet to the blood stained sand floor of their arena. The vicious hob crowd screamed their excitment, and bits of gore were lobbed like rotten fruit down upon the contestants until the massive, four armed thug once more waved them to a dull roar.

The rules were outlined once again: no leaving the pit until victory, death, or surrendering to the crowd. Otherwise, everything was fair game, and with a toothy, fang filled smile, the four armed beast allowed the combatants a few moments to prepare themselves.

The Hob, for his part, shouted up at a group in the crowd, and after a moment, the group threw down a set of armor, and a shield, which the hob quickly donned. And it was only after the dread armor was put in place, with helm over its head, and its shield raised high on its arm that the Autumn courtiers realized who Morgan had inadvertantly challenged: The Grub.

He was the leader of the Grub Legion, a hob band whose ruthlessness was as famous as their love of blood money. And, suddenly it made sense why he had claimed to have fought against Jenny and her Blackhats.

But, first, Morgan would have to test the Grub's mettle.

With a deafening cry from the crowd, the four armed Master of Ceremonies chopped down with its hands, and suddenly the fight was on. The Grub, infamous, gore splattered sheild raised, and terrifying, pus dripping sword held ready, ran across the sandy Pit, and struck out at Morgan with a brutal efficiency she had never seen matched.

The sword scored a clean cut through her armor, and the flesh immediately began to burn as the flesh became diseased and swollen from the touch of that accursed blade.

  Init 14

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-17 23:54:05		The Grub rolls 1 die for initiative		4

  2 Lethal, defense included

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-18 00:03:21		The Grub rolls 7 to Choke on 3 pounds of diseased steel (str+weap+dmg-9) (10 Again)		8, 5, 4, 6, 8, 2, 1		2 successes

Morgan takes 2 lethal

Among the Crowd Mhairi Ankaa

Out among the crowd, the seething, deafening mass of Hobs, Mhairi spotted several hobs standing near the banner poles, and realized after a moment that they were taking bets, and that the banners' positions represented the odds the bookies were giving.

Surely, if anyone knew People Who Knew Things, that would be the bookies.

In the Booth Malcolm Green

The robe swathed figure leading Green did a surprisingly good job of cutting the way through the crowd. Either that, or Green's size helped clear the way, and soon the massive Spy was brought to a special booth above the Pit, the best seats in the house, where surely only the most important people would be. There were perhaps ten hobs and Lost seated in the space, but three thrones were set out front, and it was to this that the robed agent lead Green.

On the middle throne sat a gigantic mass of rippling lard covered in a glistening sheen of foul sweat. Arms and legs like fat barrels protruded from the corpulent mass of its torso, and a comparatively tiny, bald head perched atop it.

Beside the mass of fat and sweat, sat a far more slender figure, but who, unlike the corpulent hob, was covered head to toe in a shimmering, polychromatic robe.

The agent now that they'd arrive, scurried over and whispered in the gargantuan slobs ear. A tidal wave swept across the bulk of the huge hobs belly as it raised a tubby hand and waved to beckon Green over, droplets of slime flying from the tips of its fingers and almost...almost splattering Green.

[Malcolm Green]

The Pit.

Green had never ventured there before, figuring that he could get the information he sought more easily from the kitchens, caravanserai and chattering merchants of the Flesh Market. That and because the mountain suspected a bit of blood sport might rouse his old back room desires, when fists flew and spoke more than words. He knew the rage that sat like sealed, simmering magma, in his heart. He really didn't want it roused...

And now he was here. He could feel the change already. A bit of shove, a bit of push - and the mountain was suddenly using his size and weight to fight his way, unrepentant, through the pressing crowd. And relishing it. For a moment it was hard to see his guide in the seething press - but then they were through and into the box seat.

He still couldn't tell who was fighting while he waited. Some thuggish hobs were lobbing arms and armour into the depths. The crowd roared. He eyed one of the minor bosses as they squirmed with glee in their seat behind the thrones.

And then he was summoned. The mountain moved forward with ponderous tread, the boards creaking as they took his weight. Head bowed so he could fit, he filled the space with his presence if not his bulk. He saw the figures limbering up in the pit for the first time...

Morgan.

Green's mouth firmed into a line. If he had fleshy nostrils they would have flared. His eyes grew wide. A fist clenched as the hob warrior stormed in for his first strike. Green froze. Breathed.

Morgan was motley. But they had no Oath.

The mountain grunted sourly. His mouth flexed, becoming a grimace and then turning on itself as it warped into a neutral line. Green gave the pair of enthroned nabobs a sidelong look before turning to face them. The flecks of matter spilling from the gargantuan blob passed unheeded as he approached.

"Sal." Green's thick, heavy, voice rumbled. The Iceclad Armiger bowed his head to the bloated creature and its prismatic companion. One or both could be Sal - and for all he knew it could the slender and shrouded being who was the true ruler here; it was the kind of deception the Onyx traded in.

"I'm Green, called the mountain. I hope we can trade information and, yeah, maybe share some counsel and stuff. I got you a drink from the flesh lands beyond if you... uh... fancy a drop. May I sit and watch the... fun and games with you?"

Hide your love and hate.

The mountain smiled and let his anger rise; his lips curled with the cruelty of pure rage as he fed off the frenzied atmosphere.

[Morgan Bellanar]

"Crud," was what Morgan said upon realizing whom she was up against. And then came the pain as her dodging didn't work completely and her sleeve didn't hold out, "Fuck!" She hopped back away from him quickly. Morgan scrambled away from the Grub to try to get some distance between them because, "Fuck melee!" She hoped the Grub was much slower then her.

Glamour flowed as Morgan got desperate, Favored Fate aiding her throw to a weak spot on the Grub's arm. Maybe if she got really lucky, he'd drop his sword. She let the blade fly and kept scrambling away with greater fervor. She really wanted to maintain the distance, "Fuck melee fuck melee!" so she kept her legs moving. Maybe she should try climbing the walls?

  Going for his sword hand

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-19 08:25:26		Morgan Bellanar rolls 13 to Dex + Athletics + Equipment + Favor Fate - 4 Hand target (9 Again)		7, 10, 1, 7, 7, 5, 2, 8, 2, 9, 2, 3, 1, 8, 10, 7		5 successes

Morgan has a speed of 13 and will try to maintain distance away from the Grub.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

As Mhairi moves through the gathered crowd, she realizes the Fear is back. Once the chortling hobs had dispersed, moving to the Pit, the Spokesperson - the Grub, facing Morgan with that disgusting sword, there was no one left who saw past the Wyrd gifted Bearing.

Which could only help her information gathering.

They thought her as one of Them...fell-flames flicker as she eyes the Bookies. Surely They'd place a bet, or at least appear to do so.

"Lips have spoken of the Grub's exploits." though only the set belonging to the Grub, and of only his encounter with Jenny and her Blackhats. "And word whispers of the scavenger being a Paladin to a Castoff Queen."

Mhairi really didn't know what she was doing, but she's doing something.

"I will return home with the scavenger." said like it was a declaration, and it was. Mhairi and Morgan would go home to Edna's. "But, tell me more of the one who lived through an encounter of the Unicorn girl and her minions who's hats are black. Then tell me of the girl and her minions." a command, and this time Mhairi dearly wished that this Wyrd gifted Bearing wouldn't be seen through again.

[Cayce]

In the Pit @Morgan

The Pit was not gigantic, perhaps only 60 feet across, and yet the master traceur was able to clear a huge gap between her and her opponent...Though just as she ran, he ran after, the sinewy threads of his armor pumping along with his legs as though they were muscles lending him even greater speed. And, as his knife hurled through the air, the Grub merely raised his infamous shield and the weapon clanged off, falling to the sand.

And then another blazing line of pain lanced across the Paladin's body, the grubs infested blade scoring a much deeper gouge.

  5 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-19 23:56:27		The Grub rolls 16 to Die, maggot! (str+weaponry+spec+dmg) (10 Again)		8, 10, 4, 2, 8, 7, 2, 9, 1, 1, 5, 1, 4, 9, 6, 5, 6		5 successes

The Grub has a combined defense and armor of 15, so the knife fails. The Grub's attack, after Morgan's defense and armor, deals 4 more lethal, or if Morgan dodges, 3 more Lethal

By the Banners! Mhairi Ankaa

The hobs parted way as the Autumnal Queen approached, and though there was fear in their eyes, it was not because of her title, but rather because of the Thing they mistook her for...

Nevertheless, once she reached the bookie, a feathered, oily looking thing, she knew that this conversation would fare far better than her last one. The bookie nodded along nervously as she spoke, it's feathered throat gulping visibly as she laid her demand.

"Aye, that's the Grub, milady! A more ruthless or greedy mercenary there never was! Not even the Unicorn girl, Blackhat Jenny. Why, she has a nasty temper that one, and will do anything to settle a grudge. But not the Grub! Nay, milady, he wouldn't raise a finger against the killer of his own mum unless the rest of his family paid him to! But the Grub ain't never fought none of your most Gentle Folk! Legend has it that ol' Jenny made a deal with some ought Lord or Lady and got her old Master evicted! Then she tracked 'em down, and put her horn through his chest, so they say. So they say, not me milady, I would'st never believe such tripe!"

...and so the Hob rambled, eager to appease the f(F)ay Creature before him.

In the Booth Malcolm Green

The pile of fat in the vague shape of a human body considered for a moment, and then nodded, waving Green towards the free chair.

"Sit with Us," it weezed. "Share drink and we'll share words."

A sudden cry temporarily drowned out any further words, however, as another blow was struck in the arena...

[Malcolm Green]

"Now that... Was a hit!" Emotion leached into the mountain's voice as he hammered down an urge to leap into the pit and smash the Grub to flinders with his fists.

He turned away - fortunately he could turn this movement into a nod and he joined the nabobs of the Flesh Market as they watched their blood sport.

Green curled his fist and pounded his knee. He hoped it was taken for a gesture of pleasure.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-20 04:02:53		Green to hide his emotions rolls 7 to Manipulation + Subterfuge (10 Again, WillPower)		3, 2, 8, 1, 4, 8, 2		2 successes

He sat and dug into his bag, drawing forth the Single Malt Whiskey, aged 25 Years.

"Glenlivet Whiskey, aged 25 years in cellars deep in the earth. Liquid fire, if you have never tasted the like before. A good burn, yeah? Do you have some cups... Or shall we drink from the bottle?"

He paused briefly for Sal to respond.

Once the pleasantries are out of the way, Green gets to it:

"Yeah. I'll cut to the chase. You must know by now that the Old Wyrm, Baron Fairweather has been lurking in these parts for many a year. I bet you know he had a cult following - hobs, loyalists and privateers bound to him. I'll even bet you knew he rested and recovered his wounds out at The Spire, yeah? And I'm guessing that a Merchant of calibre like yourself would know whats recently happened to Fairweather's cults; and that he has... whatshername... Unicorn Jenny? Leader of that band of black hatted mercenaries? Yeah One Horn Jenny and the Black Hats - that band is now now in the Baron's employ."

He paused for effect (and so he didn't have to battle with the roar of the crowd).

"But did you know she got her own plans for this part of the Hedge. And they involve your Market? The big Old Wyrm don't know about that."

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan, hadn't broken her manta, "Fuck melee," right up until the blade cut her again. This caused her to cry out in pain once more, despite her best efforts at dodging it. She wasn't going to be able to use this jacket much longer. And the knives were useless in this fight. She'd see two options. And she really didn't want to use her ace but fleeing wouldn't look good for Mhairi.

She couldn't dodge and she couldn't break his defense. So, ace it was. "Next time, I stay shut up. Fuck fair fight!"

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-03-20 09:02:20		Morgan Bellanar rolls 9 to Become the Primal Foundation (10 Again, WillPower)		3, 6, 7, 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 9		1 success

The Grub was no longer fighting a bug eyed ninja. Morgan's eyes burst into flame as the fire quickly spread across her body. She dropped down onto all fours as the flames consumed her. Quickly her flesh disappeared and all that was left was flame. A bushy tail of fire flowed out from behind her. So the Grub now found himself facing a snarling raccoon made of flickering flames.

Not that Morgan wasn't going to keep avoiding his swings on basic principle, moving much faster around the Grub then before, keeping an even greater distance from him.

-1 Willpower too. As per the wiki Morgan's speed triples to 39.

As there is no fire in the Arena, Elements Five takes -1, per pg 142, and so the Contract gutters and dies

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Mhairi's fell-flames are locked onto the action in the Pit, the blood-Morgan's blood spattering on the ground. Boiling as the Steepscramble's engulfed in flames.

The Feathered Oily Hob receives a Look from the Queen once his words come to a halt. "But you just said it. Even if you haven't." there. That sounds enough like Them, didn't it? "Yes. I've heard of the Unicorn girl's temper. Seen some of her artistic works. It would be enjoyable to see her in the Pit." it was good to know that Jenny wasn't loyal to her contract, and definitely not to the Dragon, they could use this. The Grub, however was loyal to the letter of his contract. If he lives, when Morgan's through with him, they should have a Pledgesmith look over any deals made with that hob, because a loophole, Mhairi suspected was just another word for the Grub to stab you in the back.

"Where can the Unicorn girl be found?" Mhairi tries for a wicked smirk, "And does she sleep with all her minions?" they did need to know if Jenny where she could be found and they needed to know if she'd be alone.