Aria 'hopped aboard', noting with interest the way Rose's features shifted, this time in a qualitatively different way rather than a scaling up of dimensions. That, and the tigrish coloration she'd first noticed in the arena, had Aria wondering just what the heritage of her new compatriot was, perhaps a weretigress or something else feline like those rumored New World catfolk showing up Athkatla and the other parts of Amn of late. Or perhaps she instead possessed some druid-like magic.  Useful in any case.<br/><br/>With her arms around Rose (and free of any weapons of course), and her red hair flowing up and back, Aria laughed aloud into the rushing air as Rose leaped a random barrel and later crate as they went back up the avenue. Usually the streets of the quarter were relatively well-kept, despite it being a chaotic plane, but in this instance the fleeing of many denizens before the hellhounds and goblins had left a littering of random things dropped from hands or rolled off carts with frightened beasts of burden.<br/><br/>In but a few moments Rose had covered their block and then the next two, with no more screams issuing in the interim. They came o the intersection where the avenue met another which circled around the Circus of Chance Eternal, as well as the archway leading into it.<br/><br/>To their left, the next intersection of the circling avenue hosted another archway into the Circus, as well as its own terminating 'spoke' avenue. A motley band of nine stood in this intersection, making a smaller square of their own. These worthies stood man-sized, but were dressed about like the two goblins, with white ruffled shirts, excruciatingly tight black leather pants , and many colorful skullcaps, scarves, crevasses, and loopy bits of jewelry. Most also bore not-quite-human adornments of the flesh itself: curling rams horns breaching from reddish-hued skin of foreheads, distended fingernails and teeth which flashed as they laughed with sadistic mirth, and even a few swishing red tails sprouting from above the backs of their ill-advised choices of pantswear.<br/><br/>The five around the front and sides of the band were strapped about with bandoleers, and a few were hurling knives or alchemical-fire flasks. The fellow in their middle, one of the more genuinely human-looking, beat a set of bongo drums hanging about his chest while he belted out a bawdy chanty.<br/><br/>Behind his right, one other scallywag swept his gaze about and a drawn arrow with it. Another rearward fellow did likewise with a leveled crossbow whose stock was ticked with the purple-flaming dark skull of Cyric, Prince of Lies and one of the Realms' most recently ascended yet dangerous deities.<br/><br/>The ninth, in between these two archers, likewise swept about with his gaze and a wielded weapon - a wand stylized like the head and neck of a red dragon.<br/><br/>Laughing crazily, this last ram-horned fellow pointed the wand skywards, just as a winged and metallic-sized fellow with a sword flew out from the stadium and above the intersection. A small red globe shot from the wand, and just before it met the flyer, exploded in a sphere of bright flame likely visible for many blocks.<br/><br/>A hunk of ash fell to the cobbles, joining several others - no source of screaming was now visible, but the other hunks of ash were apparently the source of the smoke plumes Aria and rose had seen earlier.<br/><br/><br/><br/>I think taking 10 takes the normal time (which in this case is 1 minute for binding someone, which maybe is what you meant); taking 20 takes 20x the normal time (the expected amount of time until the first 20 would appear).<br/><br/>Aria meant putting the dead goblin in the haversack (but a perfectly realistic miscommunication in-character, and of no consequence), a la 'take the body, loot it at leisure later'.<br/><br/>You're probably right that we do have time for all the looting, esp. given the speed of Rose beating Garland, DDing to these guys, and that fight too (the events were actually designed with an objective time scale, although some things like the interrogation are rather subjective in their time consumption relative to that). And you'd think Rose's Large would somehow help with looting the Large hell hounds of their barding aror.<br/><br/>lol, the jumping. Yes, very nice mobility options. It's been very nice to Rose to have them, esp. with a low magic party.<br/><br/>We came up a T junction (which also leads into an arena archway), and to out left (the left of the T), one more block away, is the scene at the end of the post. The nine scallywags form a 25' square, and Rose is 160' from them.<br/><br/>(If you do something, consider it a surprise round, although if they still fail to notice Rose or Aria after that, it's like we stay in surprise rounds or rather pre-initiative. That's actually something I haven't dug up an explanation on yet - the distinction between surprise and pre-initative in certain cases, like where your surprise round action maintains the other side's unawareness. Although AFAICT it's equivalent as long as pre-initiative actions are broken into single-action chunks. Rose can act before Aria - Aria will happily hang on for 'free movement' for the moment).<br/><br/>General environs:<br/><br/>The field is 200' across, the circus stands are 50' deep, with 70' diagonal distance up the side to top edges (where Rose is from what I can tell) 50' above street level. The street ringing the circus is 35' wide, which includes a 5' sideway on either side.<br/><br/>The 'spoke' avenues (the one Rose just carries Aria back down, and the next one clockwise where the pirates are) are also 35' wide.<br/>Each block along them is 120', plus narrow 15' streets in between (which connect the two avenues - if we'd been right at an intersection we might've been able to see the pirates advancing along theirs, not that it'd matter much except where we end up encountering them).<br/><br/>The outer diameter of the Circus (including its stands) is 300'. There are six archways, evenly spaced around it, each with a similar 'spoke' avenue that (like the archways) is 35' wide. The archways are about 120' from each other, and the avenues are about 160' from each other (the difference being due to the width and curve of the ringing avenue).<br/><br/>A = archer scallywag<br/>B = bongo beater<br/>C = crossbow Cyricist<br/>W = wand wielder<br/>S = other scallywag<br/>R = Rose (Aria is 'on' her, I would guess Aria can let go and 'fall' as a free action, or Rose can 'drop' her as a free action)<br/><br/>(Archway) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Archway)<br/><br/>S S S<br/><br/>S B S<br/><br/>C W A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -RR<br/>RR<br/>(Avenue) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Avenue)