<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=329779.msg15755936#msg15755936">Quote from: Zaer Darkwail on 16-02-2021, 21:23:31</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Aran once gathered details, it sounds like magic is not technically forbidden from grand melee technically but grand melee clearly had a strong team presence and he has no place there going alone face a bunch of minotaurs and shield and spear users. Monster fight again he would be comfortable with a team, ideally with his slave but all competitions will start same time. The only difference is the obstacle course, not the chariot race, which would run longest cause absence of competitors for the obstacle course and lack of interest. The biggest crowd was in the chariot race which was more prestigious while the monster battle had fewer competitors and thus a greater number of prizes and point spread.<br/><br/>So the course of elimination, chariot race he can do alone by himself and he has some idea how to drive chariots. So he registers for the chariot race (and asks besides javelins are other ranged attacks allowed), careful and clear when it starts so he gets time to get into a quiet corner in the waiting lobby to read his tome and meditate and mumble on ritual from it, a one which helps him commune with animals. As he is not that competent handling animals but hopes with ability to speak he can compensate for it or perhaps perform better than someone who merely commands animals traditional manner.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>You are informed that other ranged weapons are allowed but everyone is provided with javelins as well.  For the convenience of competitors there are rooms for preparation and respite.  A slave is offered to take you to one such room and bring a pale of cool water from cisterns as well.  Being underground with only a small window for light to come in it is at least cooler than being outside and sparsely appointed.  Competitors are expected to bring everything they might need or call upon slaves working in the arena for anything missed or needed such as medical attention or sexual relief.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=329779.msg15755941#msg15755941">Quote from: Miroque on 16-02-2021, 21:27:16</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">In the gambling den, Mizerial kept watching, as she knew if she played, odds were against her. She had no professional skill in gambling, but wisdom not to participate on rigged games, but as the locals were gamblers, they hold information she needed so she went to work. Talking and drinking mild ciders, she started to do groundwork for her investigations. Place was ripe for first wave. Who was Who among the city and the games. Who were the names to bet for, and Who were the masters behind them.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Action</div><div class="spoiler_body"> Trying to gather information about the games and who's who in the city, and WHAT the hell is the new continent.<br/>Investigation +4, Passive Investigation 14<br/>Persuation +6, Passive Persuation 16</div></div></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>People at the bar were most open to discussing the happenings of the city, three names stood out as the dominant figures.  Chatar was the Emperor and held supreme mortal power in the city, Kuetey was high priest of Maighastar and Uetey was high priestess of Alaya, in theory Kuetey and Uetey were in some form equals in rank but Uetey was Kuetey's slave so was expected to follow his command while she proselytized how to serve as a proper slave.  The balance of power was difficult to know due to secrecy.  Few petitioners got very far past the first ranks of government or cult workers.  The other powerful figures of the city were their subordinates in the cults, the wealthiest merchants, and military leadership.<br/><br/>As to who to bet on there was quite a few thoughts.  Bets to have one person sweep the grand melee were up against fierce odds.  From the announcement most people expected several still on the field and most bets were about if someone would still be standing at the end or not.  In the grand melee Drazhoa was the favorite to still be standing at the end, a towering minotaur he fought with two of his comrades Ruka and Kada.  They weren't from Ithur and instead came down from the far north and were said to be experienced monster hunters from the mountains there.  Next was the human Ravidak and the elites of his mercenary band.  Around a dozen men and women were fighting with him, the rest of his command was not competing except for a few unnoteworthy scouts attempting the obstacle course.  They were a solid and capable group who had both been approached by various other competitors but while it was believed both had refused most alliance offers it was naturally unknown for sure.  The third was the elven huntress Monadire, another norther she was a city elf who had struck out to find fortune in the woods and made some name for herself in tracking.  Rumor was that she was fast, nimble, and a sure shot with a bow.  Since the grand melee wasn't about winning fights but surviving she had picked up a core group of supporters.<br/><br/>In obstacle course the betting was lower and only two figures had come out with an prominence, the arch-thief Kurdie and the wizard Ostati.  Kurdie was a female tabaxi banished by her own kind for her actions and was wanted for high crimes in many cities.  In Zakar she had only been able to enter the competition under a commuted sentence.  Rumor was that failure to place in the competition meant slavery and branding, such were levels of thievery that it was expected that should she attempt to break out of servitude she would be hung or placed under magical compulsion.  Neither fate was one desired but it was even said that the bodies of those executed were shipped east to land controlled by undead, another layer of punishment to dissuade those who had performed high crimes.  Ostati meanwhile was a female human who was supposed to be some sort of wandering wizard who had crossed through sphinx territory long ago.  She had first drawn attention with her multi-hued hair and had garnered some betting by showing significant magical prowess.  Her physical capabilities seemed lacking but the obstacle course was supposed to require magic.<br/><br/>The fight against the monster had a large amount of betting on what sort of monster would be unleashed.  The smart money was said to be on a hydra but dragon had a substantial sum riding on it as well.  For competitors there was Matsse, Tskheni, and Sasulair.  Matsse was a gnoll mercenary who commonly sold his skills as a bodyguard earning a solid reputation for his capability.  He was well armed and armored and had fought large beasts in the past so had experience on his side.  Tskheni was a centaur raider who had made a name for himself across many conflicts and even helped to instigate some.  His fearsome glaive was rumored to be magical in nature but there were numerous stories as to where he got it from making it difficult to pin down fact from fiction.  It was just said to cleave through armor without difficult, which skeptics instead attributed to a well muscled centaur hitting a sapient at full gallop.  Sasulair was an elf and bit of a mercenary but of a different kind than most, he instead lead a small cadre of elemental clerics.  They asked for little to no payment from the poor and supposedly used their money from mercenary work to fund research into the lost healing arts.  The fight was said to award points based on performance so Sasulair and Matsse were the general favorites but the damage that Tskheni could put out had made him unmissable.<br/><br/>The race had drawn the largest bets and the biggest wagers were on Vitalias, he was a human and local professional charioteer who had won accolades in several other cities.  It was difficult to bet against him given some of his past performances.  Of all the names being bet on his was the only one assumed to have some other backers to it but nobody could agree on who it might be.  The man had never showed the kind of drive to want to leave and go make his own city but at the same time there was no way to bind someone in this competition to you.  Even slaves competed on their own merit for themselves giving them a chance to free themselves for those that desired it.  Other competitors of note included Gadatai, a fearsome dragonborn from the mountains her entry into this competition was surprising but it was said she was capable with steeds and had fought as a mercenary and bodyguard on many occasions and some had witnessed her split a target with a javelin.  Several who had opted to bet on her jested that the clerics would earn their wages tonight if anyone attempted to block her lane.  The final big competitor was Kut the Aasmir, attractive but androgynous and from Phalee there was shockingly little known about them, including what they kept in their pants, but had garnered supporters after it was found they were a druid.  The people of Phalee were known to have skilled charioteers and a druid of those wastes would surely known how to use an animal most thought.