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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 25, 2023 10:31:45 GMT -5
It was the final match of the day at the infamous fight pits of Gazablaak. The entire day had been filled with fighters from all across Tyvat coming to show their fighting spirit and battle prowess. Despite the dirt and the blood, this altar of violence was Shaa’s church. The one place he could come in all the world and do what came naturally and not have to worry about getting arrested or having to pay for something getting broken. Everyone who stepped in the circle of pain and broken bones knew what the deal was and that was just fine by him. Today, the deal was a very ugly barghest and it’s goblin rider Mal the Mighty.
The whole thing had started in the local bar the day before when Shaa, totally in jest, referred to him as Mal the Tiny instead of Mal the Mighty and Mal didn’t think the nickname was funny at all. Neither did the unruly horde of crusty goblin fan boys that he was traveling with who had come down to watch Mal fight. Despite some half hearted apologies and initial attempts to make amends, Mal was determined to have satisfaction for the insult to his pride and stature. After several hours of taunts and insults between them, Shaa had enough and they decided to settle their differences in the pit.
You will fear Minotaur. All wills know of Mal the Mighty. I is greatest of the Gobo warriors. You pay now for insulting!
Shaa looked around the pit at the squished faces in the crowd. The clamorous unwashed masses begging for the spilling of blood and viscera. He could hear the sounds of scraping metal and shady side bets as the fight was about to begin. Shaa wiped some of the arena dirt from his massive hands, dirt which seemed to get into everything, onto his hairy leg and yawned loudly. Even astride the mangy barghest, Mal was still outmatched as Shaa stood several heads taller than the mouthy fighter and took the taunts unconcerned. You can still back out of this man. It doesn’t have to be this way. Oh but it does! Die!
With that, the crazed goblin spurs his steed straight at him. Spear in his tiny hand, Mal points it at Shaa’s heart, intending to skewer him like a pig on a spit. All was going according to his devious plan to be a goblin hero. He knew of the Minotaurs reputation in the fight pits. Killing him here would cement his fame amongst goblins forever. As he drew close, Shaa stamped on the ground, causing tremors to ripple through the rough brown dirt and surrounding audience. Several people in the stands became nervous and started to bail hastily over the sides. The sudden instability causes the charging barghest to stumble awkwardly, launching Mal like an arrow, through the air and right at Shaa. With a quick flash of his hands, Shaa snags him out of the air and slams him roughly into the ground. Now stay there…Mal? Mal? Hey….mighty man…oh… Thinking he was only unconscious, Shaa attempts to rouse the mouthy goblin. After several failed attempts, a pit official runs over to check. Looking over his parts, he shakes his head. Its over. This goblin is dead.
Rumbling Tremors
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 25, 2023 16:07:33 GMT -5
Gerhart wasn't much for participating or watching fighting pits, but today was different. Today he had heard through whispers that a mountain of a minotaur was going to compete. Following up on these rumors, the description he got could be no one but Shaa. He had to be there to see this.
He would try to blend into the crowd so as not to distract Shaa or make him think he had to over perform because a friend was here. The subtlety didn't last long though as he was probably one of the few people to offer the minotaur such enthusiastic support.
Whoops and hollers of excitement came out with reckless abandon as he watched his friend fight. There were also a few winces and groans when he thought a finisher was a bit brutal or Shaa took a hit. He knew the minotaur was essentially made of rock, but if you don't get a little weird when a friend gets clubbed in the knee something is weird about you.
Gerhart does push through the crowd as everyone clears out with the fights over, looking a bit concerned. He wasn't sure if this was a to the death fight or if he and Shaa were about to need to do one of those cool escapes while fighting through guards.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 26, 2023 8:58:33 GMT -5
As the officials finished their field examination and made the announcement, a loud unhappy roar erupted from the unruly crowd. Some where unhappy the fight was over so fast. Others, particularly the goblins and slaad’s were unhappy that their champion was now halfway buried in the arena floor. Still others were livid they lost their money so quickly. Then a small section was laughing their heads off at the ridiculousness of the situation. One man in a trench coat started calling out the fight was rigged.
Of all of the disappointed people, Shaa himself was probably the most disappointed. Goblins were actually pretty resilient for their size and killing one when he hadn’t actually intended to left him feeling anxious. He would never announce it, but more often than not, Shaa pulled punches in most of his fights. Not only did it put on a better show to watch, but it made sure that there were more fights in the future. If he went around punching holes into his opponents, no one would eventually want to fight him which would just be sad for everyone.
The barghest walked over to its former master and nudged his corpse with his nose and sniffed around him. Letting out a horrible wail as if to make the final call on the tiny warriors demise, the scene was downright pathetic. Mal’s entourage jumped out of the stands and rushed the body. You kills him? You kills Mal, he very dead! Shaa wrinkles his brow in a quizzical way and holds out his hands to the fight pit as if to say “No duh, it’s the fight pit”. Still upset, the troupe circles around Mal, each grabbing a green limb and drags his body through the dirt and out of the pit.
Deaths in the pit were not illegal. It was a natural hazard to participating in such a violent activity. But in all actuality, like Shaa, most fighters avoided killing their non bestial opponents as much as possible for lots of reasons. Killing the wrong person could get a grumpy rich uncle or lover upset enough to get a contract hit put on you. People could extort you for burial expenses. Most people also just straight up didn’t have the stomach for it. Feeling a bit underwhelmed at this point about the whole situation, Shaa took his leave from the pit and headed towards the exit.
On his way out he looked up into the stands and, to his surprise, he saw his friend Gerhart looking around nervously at the situation. Hey man! He called up. It’s a bit of a story but the pits are a bummer today. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink. Shaa motions to Gerhart to follow him back to town and to the tavern.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 26, 2023 16:33:16 GMT -5
"Seems like it." Gerhart surveys the field on last time before following Shaa. He was certainly a lot less nervous seeing that this was part of the risk and Shaa wouldn't be in any trouble. He could tell his friend was a bit disappointed at everything. Everyone in the fighting pits seemed a bit disappointed actually. Did people actually think that goblin was going to stand up against Shaa? They must not know much about the minotaur if that was the case.
"So...is this like a bad day of drinking gone wrong? Letting off some steam? Just bored?" He looks up to the minotaur as they walk. "Should've brought you along last time I ended up here....I haven't told you about that time have I? Bunch of owlbears, giant druid lady, a small woman with a bunch of these like...metal guys, but they moved all on their own. It was quite a scene!" He grins, hoping a story of a big fight would cheer up the big minotaur if he seemed a little down. If nothing else, who doesn't love hearing a good fighting story? Whenever they arrived at the tavern, Gerhart was happy to buy them both a round first and settle in to catch up.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 26, 2023 20:11:53 GMT -5
Shaa listened intently as Gerhart poured out tales of adventure and battle. Admittedly it did make him feel a bit better after what had been several days of unending disappointment. But between the stories and some particularly strong drinks, Shaa got over his melancholy and tried to enjoy the rest of the evening.
The drinking didn’t stop until the early hours of the next morning. Yawning a big yawn and laughing way too loudly, the two walk out into the street and into the cool night air. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the streets due to the early hours which was just fine by Shaa. He was pretty hammered and couldn’t say with certainty he wouldn’t yak all over an innocent bystander. He just needed to get back to his camp site.
As the two started down the road, Shaa heard a noise from down a dark alleyway. Shaa’s night vision allowed him to see but his drunkenness made things more blurry than usual. The more that he tried to focus, the more nauseated he felt. Hey! Noisy thing! Who goes here?…I mean there. …I mean…SHUT UP! He continued to peer down the dark alley, the noises of the swamp could be heard chirping in the background. Hello? Heeelllooooooo.
In the darkness came a pair of bright yellow eyes. From behind a garbage can came a glowing creature who was staring right at him. It’s visage was dark and carried a glowing green hew. For some reason, the creature seemed vaguely familiar to Shaa. His eyes go wide. Mal? Is that….you? The creature just screams and starts flying straight up into the air. Upon reaching about 20 feet, he takes the spear in his hand and lobs it at Shaa’s head. Too drunk to doge, the spear strafes Shaa’s left cheek, leaving a bloody gash behind. A moment later, Shaa reacts and grabs the open air. Looking at his empty hand confused about how he missed catching the spear, he calls back to the apparition. Hey, if that’s you Mal. Get down here so I can kill you on purpose, not on accident. Imma fessional! Suddenly the glowing being disappeared into the night. Shaa looks over at Gerhart. Apparently he was only mostly dead.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 26, 2023 22:45:04 GMT -5
Gerhart brightened up seeing how Shaa responded and would happily share stories between the two of them over drinks. It had been awhile since they had been in the same place. After the winter party at the Fighter's Guild everyone sort of parted again, so now it seemed he was making the rounds finding everyone again.
The young knight did his best to prop up the minotaur on their walk back to the camp, but neither of them having the strongest of knees at the moment and the size difference made it hard. Gerhart spins and fumbles trying to get a sword when Shaa whips around. He grumbles as his lack of darkvision means he sees nothing but a weird creepy alleyway.
"Hey man...shhh there's *hic* there's nothing there. Ya *hic* scared me." He lets out a burbling little drunk laugh. Gerhart pats Shaa on the back before taking a few more steps towards the camp.
The assertion that it is Mal and the spear that goes whizzing past his head, Gerhart slowly turns with a look of pure confusion. "What in *hic* Ginma's fuzzy horse *hic* ass do you mean 'mostly dead'?" .....His voice lowers to a whisper, "Issit a ghoust?" *hic*
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 27, 2023 8:48:44 GMT -5
Shaa considered the question of a spectral haunting as best that he could. He had seen a lot of really weird things in his adventures so he couldn’t really discount the possibility that one of the many many beings he had put down over the years may be angry enough to come back to haunt him. Even more so, someone who died in such an unceremonious manner might have a reason to want revenge against him. On the other hand, Shaa had fought more than one necromancer and there was a large possibility that this was one of those guys who was using Mal’s corpse to mess with him. The problem with that though is that zombies don’t glow or fly in the air. Or, he could just be really drunk.
Shaa looked back down the alleyway. There were no signs of ghosts, zombies or whatever may be happening. Looking back at Gerhart, who seemed to be doing just as well as he was, he shrugs his shoulders in defeat. Itsss noisy whatever is it. Yeah. Hmmmm. Shaa looks back and gives the alley a final warning to be quiet and starts trudging back to camp. The jaunt back doesn’t take very long. After stoking a new fire in a spot just outside of town, Shaa unceremoniously crashes to the ground falls asleep, thoughts of the events of the last few days thoroughly ensconced in his sudsy brain.
The next morning, Shaa wakes up to the sounds of loud swamp bugs and a Minotaur sized head ache. The taste of stale drinks and bar snacks is still with him. He hauls himself up slowly from the ground and restarts the fire. As he slowly pokes at the embers with a large stick, he ponders the events of the evening as he got back to camp. What was that floating thing? Had he dreamed it? Touching his face gingerly, the gash from the spear was certainly real. Shaa pulled out his med kit, cleaned the wound out the best he could, stitching up the gash in the process. He certainly had gotten his monies worth from the kit over the years. Gerhart was here too, so that was real enough. He whispers lowly. Hey bro, you awake?
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 27, 2023 15:57:21 GMT -5
"Get outta here!" He drunkenly yells at the empty alley way before following after Shaa. Back at the camp, Gerhart does his best to make sure that Shaa doesn't fall asleep too close to the campfire and catch fire. He then turns and slumps over the fallen log to sleep.
Thank Ginma for his youth because otherwise he would be immobile when he work up. Slowly, he roll over onto his back, falling off with a light thud. The breath that escaped him was basically just one long and tired groan.
"Yeah...I think I am." The only surefire way to get Gerhart to sound grumpy was to make him hung over. The young knight sits up rubbing his eyes, free hand fishing around for his water skin. He sounds much more relieved after sucking down about half of what he had.
"You all right? I lost count of how many mugs deep we went." Gerhart pushes himself to his feet to start stretching himself out. As foggy as his head was he vaguely remembers some sort of confrontation last night. Did they fight a ghost? Or did they just yell at a cat? He vaguely remembers a spear, but where did that come from? The fighting pit?
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 27, 2023 21:37:30 GMT -5
After clearing their heads with some water and breakfast they managed to scrounge up from a local trader, Shaa and Gerhart took some time to clear up the events of the evening.
Shaa chewed slowly on the last piece of bread and jam, thinking hard about the evening. So we left the bar. But something caught my attention. I just can’t remember what it was. Swallowing the last bit of bread, he racked his brain for a clue. As he pondered, a small green bug crawled across the table towards some of the leftover crumbs. Green… The green on the bug reminded him of the green he saw last night. A glowing green…. MAL! I remember. I saw Mal. At least I think it was Mal. He was the goblin from the pit that I accidentally….cut short. A look of calm passed over his face as if a great burden has been lifted.
But how could he have seen Mal? The officials at the pit weren’t good at a lot of things but they knew a dead body when they saw one. They were the ones in charge of burial so if there was any chance of getting out of work, they were on it. If it was Mal, could he have come back for revenge for his ignominious death? Gerhart…do you believe in…ghosts?
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 28, 2023 10:57:46 GMT -5
"I dont remember much to be honest." Gerhart yawned, slowly turning a sausage over in the fire getting a nice little char on it. "I couldn't see much with how dark it was....and how drunk I was." He gives a little snort.
He takes a bit of his breakfast, watching Shaa slowly start to process things. Thankfully something clicked for the minotaur or this was going to be a long morning trying to piece together the tatters of their memories of the previous night.
An eyebrow is raised in confusion at Shaa's questions. "Of course, doesn't everyone? Dad tells plenty of ghost stories.....Madam Eva and my sister say they can even talk to spirits sometimes.....You don't think it's.....no! It can't be! That would be like the quickest a ghost has ever come back for revenge."
This was quite the unique situation. Gerhart had never heard of a ghost coming back to haunt someone less than 24 hours after death....That said it's not like he knew if there was some whole process to this. Do ghosts have to like apply to be ghosts after they die? Is there a cool down period like, you're supposed to wait a certain amount of time before you can come back as a ghost?
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 28, 2023 12:18:43 GMT -5
Considering the reply, Shaa was a bit taken aback by Gerhart’s candor concerning ghosts. The more that he thought about it, Shaa fought demons, vampires, werewolves and all sorts of otherworldly creatures all the time. Was a ghost all that unbelievable? What probability bothered him the most is that Shaa had taken out a lot of beings over the years. And in all of that time, not one had ever come back from the grave to haunt him. Most of the time, they were put in the grave in the first place for that very reason. Why was some loud mouthed goblin the exception to the rule?
I’m not sure. To be honest, I’ve never been haunted before. Tracked, hunted, followed, stalked yeah, but haunted? By a goblin of all things. This is a new one. Shaa got up and raised his muscled arms to the sky to stretch them out and think. I just don’t know. Something about the whole thing stinks to the sky. Something tells me we shouldn’t just ignore it though. What do you say? Want to do some ghost hunting? Shaa picked up a stick and started to swish it around as if he was swashbuckling some invisible foe. Granted I’m not sure what we would do if we found it, but I’m sure we can figure it out.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 28, 2023 14:56:02 GMT -5
"I think magic is still good against ghosts...I'm not entirely sure though. I mostly know about beasts and werecreatures." He shrugs and stretches in his seat before standing up. He cracks his neck and then his knuckles. "We should at least see if they gave him a proper warrior's burial...That could be why he's mad...mad he lost to you, then mad the others didn't give him a good funeral, ya know? Madam Eva said mosts ghosts only hang around because they got some sort of unfinished business.....Maybe we help him finish it and he'll go off."
He looked towards Shaa, offering out these ideas. It also could just be some sort of elaborate prank being pulled on the minotaur, but some sort of ghost or ghoul seems much more reasonable this early and this hungover. Gerhart cinches the last strap of his armor on tightly before giving another little yawn.
"In any case, boss, I'm ready whenever you are." One final stretch of the arms as Gerhart would follow wherever the minotaur thought to lead them that morning. There were plenty of options ahead of them as to where to start....really no direction was the wrong direction. So long as they started moving.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 28, 2023 15:29:37 GMT -5
A proper burial….The phrase gave Shaa an idea. You know what? I think that you are right. We haven’t seen Mal since his buddies dragged him out of the pit. Who knows what they actually did with him. Knowing goblins they probably looted this pockets and tossed him into a ditch somewhere. I think that our first step is to find the little poopers corpse to make sure it’s actually buried. Or at the least that it hasn’t been dug up by some creepy Necromancer with a grudge. And I know just who to ask.
After cleaning up breakfast, the two head off back towards the fight pits. Shaa knew the guys in charge of cleaning up the pits better than most. The called themselves “The bone crew” and he had a very complicated relationship with them. On the one side, they hated him for causing so much mayhem and extra work every time he stepped into the pit. Sometimes rebuilding walls, sometimes burning and burying bodies. On the other side, Shaa directly contributed to their ongoing cash flow so they tolerated him better than most. The crew lived in a small set of apartments in an underground section of the pit.
It did take them long to arrive. Shaa found one of the crew, a grumpy halfling named Dedrick, picking teeth out of the pit walks with a small dagger. Bunch of inconsiderate, swamp gas sniffing… He didn’t finish the comment as he saw Shaa and Gerhart approaching from the outside. Oh…it’s you two.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 28, 2023 20:54:54 GMT -5
"I didn't know him well....or at all, but he seemed like a good fighter. Only right to give him those honors." He gives Shaa a pat on the shoulder. "Always count on you to have a plan."
Gerhart grins widely as they start to head off. Along the walk he was a bit more distracted looking around the village. He could still see the faintest of scars from the owlbear fight in the trunks of trees or patchwork jobs on the furniture. The town had recovered well and it seemed many of the people were back to normal. The young knight is even pulled aside for a thank you or check-in on people he remembers saving. Quickly though he pulls himself away and jogs to catch up with Shaa. "Sorry about that."
He looks over the so-called bone crew with a curious eye. The sense of dislike isn't hard to pick up on when they arrive at the pits. He gives a grin up to Dedrick giving a little wave, "If it makes you feel better, we don't have plans on fighting today. Save you a bit of trouble!" He holds the grin to hopefully disarm the halfling with a bit of himbo charm.
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Post by Shaa Rhunn on Jan 28, 2023 22:40:43 GMT -5
Dedrick looks the two of them up and down, spits at their feet and continues digging teeth out of the crevices. Hey man, that’s just rude. Giving, if possible, an even more sour look, Dedrick grunts and continues to work. Rude? You want to know what’s rude? Spending 6 hours with horse glue and plywood only to have some testosterone fueled rage monster turn it into toothpicks 5 minutes after you finish. Ruuuuddddeeee. Shaa wondered if he might be referring to him. It was probably best not to ask. Sooo anywho, it looks like your super busy. Does it? I didn’t realize it was “ state the annoyingly obvious” day. Catches up to me every year. Hazza. Shaa looks at Gerhart. He was drowning.
Look man, stow the attitude. We are just here to find out what happened to the goblin fighter from yesterday. The one that you turned into a pancake? The one that had a death squeal like a mouse being squeezed out through a wine press? The one who walked out with less bones than he started with? That one? Ummm yeah. Dedrick thought for a moment. I imagine he is still dead somewhere. What do you mean, you imagine? Didn’t you bury him? Nope, didn’t get a chance to. Those goblin friends of his drug him right out of the arena. We tried to stop em but they were insistent. One less hole for me to dig, no sweat off my nose.
The goblins took the body. Now the only question was, was it still walking around somewhere.
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