Secrets revealed...

The young child looked up into the dark eyes of the old ashik with the kind of enthusiasm that is absent in most adults due to the harsh realities of life. The old man could tell that the child was burning up inside with the question that she wanted to ask but didn’t know if she would offend by asking it. With a simple inclination of his head the old ashik encouraged the child to ask her question, the words burst from her mouth; WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE THE ARENA?

Kollus Half-elven knew what they had to do, they had been tasked with getting into the arena and identifying, and holding an exit route to safely evacuate the crowd when the inevitable happened. He had a small team, but he trusted them all to get the job done or die trying. He had been joined by his usual companions Marista the Mul and To-Gahl the Human, but his small team had been bolstered by the mighty Nordin Far, a Mul earth priest and the mysterious Elf, Babinette.

They arrived early at the arena and spent much of the day casually walking around inside to discover where they could, and could not, go. Early on they settled on holding one of the main entrance doors, but they knew that it would be difficult because it looked like they were going to be sealed with a six foot thick stone block. The large stone blocks looked like they were dragged into position using apparatus, and the strength of Half-giants, positioned in well guarded rooms next to each portal. The group took turns in moving through the lower corridor near these gatehouses to catch a glimpse of what lay within.

Luck was on the side of the mighty Nordin Far and he was just passing the door to one of the gatehouses as it was opened and inside he caught sight of two Half-giants leaning against a large piece of machinery that was all ropes and bone, as well as a Templar keeping an eye on proceedings. Nordin Far returns back to the others in their seats in the top tier of the arena to inform them of what he has observed. Once Nordin Far has relayed his information, Kollus gets up and paces out the distance from their seats to the nearest of the gatehouses. He calculates that they are three hundred and sixty foot from the room and that is down two steep flights of stairs and involves passing two guards and a Half-giant as they exit the top tier of the arena and being very near other guards in the gatehouse corridor.

Kollus returns to his seat just in time to see the first of the Games, single combat between multiple warriors using bone clubs. To-Gahl pointed out a pair of combatants on the far side of the arena floor all turned to where he was pointing and saw Marvek, the Mul from the Village of The Free, easily floor his opponent with gladiatorial flair and make it through to the second round of fights. The next round sees the gladiators fight with spears, Marvek faces off against a Thri-kreen holding two spears in his four insectoid hands. But once again the Mul fighter progresses through to the next round having dispatched his opponent with a backwards thrust of his spear.

Round three and the remaining warriors team up into pairs using weapons of their choice, they prowl around the arena eyeing up the other teams until several doors around the edge of the stadium open and beasts of the Athasian desert spill into the gladiatorial arena. Marvek and his fighting partner both receive minor injuries but successfully achieve the next round. But the real favourites of the arena are a male Mul called Rikus and a Human female by the name of Neeva, the crowd chant their names as the pair fight like a single minded force of violence.

Next the pairs face off against more formidable foes, with Marvek and his teammate fighting against a trio of Cyclops. The fighting is fierce and bloody, and eventually Marvek and his partner are knocked out when his partner is decapitated. Marvek goes berserk and kills all three of the cyclops single handedly but he is still out of the Games. But the crowd favourites Rikus and Neeva make it through when they overcome a team of B’Rohg with the grace of dancers.

A hush comes over the arena as the remaining teams catch their breath and the dead are removed. A large section of the sand covered arena floor drops as a set of giant doors yawn open, and from a space beneath the arena floor rises a large onyx stepped pyramid. Atop the pyramid is perched a creature from the darkest nightmares, Babinette leans forwards and says;

By the desert winds, they have captured a Gaj!

The sharp eyed To-Gahl points to several places around the arena where Templars can be seen concentrating intently upon the pyramid as they raise it with the combined power of their telekinesis. A loud voice booms across the stadium telling everyone that the victors will be the final pair of gladiators standing on the summit of the pyramid, a roar goes up around the arena and the pairs of warriors charge towards their goal.

Kollus’ Half-elven ears pick up a low rumbling sound beneath the cheer of the crowd, he looks around and can see that Nordin Far and Babinette have heard it too. There is a final boom as the giant stones barring the stadiums portals slam into place.

The fighting in the gladiatorial arena is ferocious and soon there are only two teams remaining, Rikus and Neeva are left battling a particularly massive Half-giant and a teleporting Elf. The mismatched pair of Half-giant and Elf make it to the summit of the pyramid first and the mighty Half-giant manhandles the Gaj into the air and throws it at Rikus and Neeva. The crowd favourites slay the Gaj, but Neeva is injured in the process and she limps after Rikus as he sprints towards the pyramid and starts to climb towards his final opponents.

As Rikus clambers halfway up the pyramid all of the eyes of the crowd are drawn towards the section of the arena where the nobles are seated as loud bang sounds and a bolt of lightning flies from the back of that section towards Kalak, the bolt seems to strike a shimmering magical shield and the shield dissipates under its force. Rikus leaps the final distance to the top of the pyramid and launches himself off of the Half-giants thigh and throws his spear at King Kalak.

The crowd is frozen with fear as the image of a monstrous dragon appears looming above the stadium poised as if to strike. The spear flies with unerring accuracy towards King Kalak but at the last second seems to change course and strikes a large black orb on a plinth before him, there is a terrific explosion and for the group of freed slaves time snaps back into reality. The group leap from their seats and rush towards the stairs and the soldiers guarding it.

Marista arrives first and finds that the guards are still stunned by the events unfurling before them, she rips her dagger from beneath her cloak and slams it into the side of one of the human guards' heads, killing him instantly. Kollus buries his dagger deep into the other guards stomach and the man doubles over onto the floor. Babinette leaps at the Half-giant and slashes it’s left arm deeply with her iron dagger, rendering the limb useless. The fierce Elf then strikes again with her second iron dagger, the blade hamstrings the large humanoid and he falls to the floor bleeding to death.

As burgundy flames burst from the summit of King Kalak’s ziggurat the group rush down the curving stairs towards the ground floor and the gatehouse that is their target. As they reach the concourse at the back of the first floor there is a powerful wave of force that rolls across the whole arena and everyone staggers as it feels like their life force is being sucked out of them. The group continues onwards as the air around them takes on a yellow tinge as if filled by mist.

When they arrive in the ground floor concourse they come up against a sea of people trying to escape from the stadium, but trapped inside by the massive stone slabs. The group start to force their way through the crowd but Babinette, Kollus and To-Gahl make little headway. Marista and Nordin Far gain the door to the gatehouse and Marista throws the door open and steps into the room shouting;

Open the gates! Let us all out!

She was playing for time as she took in what she was facing, inside the room she could see two towering Half-giants and a Templar stood beside two huge capstans. Nordin Far stepped into the room behind Marista as the Half-giants moved towards her. The Templar stepped backwards and began a low chant. Babinette arrives at the doorway and begins to cast a spell of her own as the Templar casts yet another spell in the direction of one of the Half-giants.

Babinette thrusts her open palm in the direction of the Templar and a blast of cold air strikes the Templar, ice crystals momentarily form on his flesh before melting away in the oppressive heat. One of the Half-giants swings his huge bone maul at Marista but the blow goes wild, the other Half-giant swings at Nordin Far but the mighty Mul ducks beneath the swing and his powerful legs propel him high in the air as he swings his dagger into the side of the Half-giants head. Before the massive humanoid collapses to the floor twitching, the mighty Nordin Far is already moving towards the Templar with Babinette close behind him.

Kollus rushes into the room in time to see Marista’s foe smash his bone maul into her leg, there is the sound of breaking bone and Marista cries out as she falls to the floor, Kollus leaps forwards and slashes his blade at the Half-giant but his blade is turn away by the Half-giants bone weapon. Babinette stabs at the Templar but the priest side steps the attack, he doesn’t manage to avoid the second of Babinette’s iron daggers which lodges itself deep in the Templar’s chest. The light goes out of the priest's eyes as he falls to the floor.

The yellow mist seeps into the gatehouse and all begin to feel it’s effects once more, in the concourse outside, the screams of the crowd who are trapped in the leeching fog can be heard. To-Gahl finally manages to force his way to the gatehouse doorway, stepping over the dieing, and steps into the fight. The remaining Half-giant swings at Kollus and the Half-elf is forced to dodge out of the way, he slashes back with his dagger and slices the tendon in the Half-giants right arm forcing him to drop his bone maul. To-Gahl steps in and stabs his blade deep into the Half-giants thigh, but the massive humanoid continues to fight. That is until the mighty Nordin Far steps up behind it and stabs it deep in the back.

Kollus closes the door to the gatehouse, and leaving the injured Marista to guard the portal, the group try and work out how to open the main exit using the mechanism. They soon realise that they are not strong enough without Marista to turn the wheels and so Nordin Far calls upon the power of the gnomes of the earth to grant a couple of them enhanced strength. With their extra power the wheels slowly turn and the massive stone slab blocking the arena exit is slowly drawn back into the gatehouse. Once the slab has dropped into it housing Babinette cuts the ropes with her iron daggers so that the exit cannot be blocked again.

They pick up Marista and head for the exit, as soon as they are on the concourse they are swept along by the tide of people rushing for the only open portal in the arena. As they pass through the doorway they discover that the insidious yellow mist is hanging over the entire city, and the streets are full of bodies who have been overcome by the effects. The group are also feeling the effects and are staggering towards their wagon in an attempt to escape the fog when all of a sudden the mist suddenly disappears. The group manage to get back to their wagon and grab the rest of their gear hoping that the other teams have been as successful.