The Champion’s Tournament [Offices & Bosses]

Game master Kliats escorts two individuals down a dark, narrow corridor. A tall hobgoblin woman, her hair is a deep crimson with streaks of orange. Beneath the infrequently placed torches, a faint shimmer of glitter can be seen in her hair. She wears black leather undergarments with ornate red armor pieces stylized in the shape of flames. Across her shoulders is a heavy, red cloak. Her Blackwood staff echoes against the rough-hewn stone of the hallway.

She speaks animatedly to the two individuals with her.

“I’m just so excited for you two! In the final four of the champions tournament, I feel like I’m with heroes already.” Her arms flail about her as she speaks. As she gestures, the ruby at the end of her staff pulses with light. “This last phase is my favorite part. It’s where we really get to see what you’re made of.”

Kliats turns and gestures into a room. “We can’t exactly have the crowd favorites fighting to the death. Anymore at least.“ Kliats looks into the distance, momentarily distracted. “What was I saying? Right! We can’t have you all battling to the death, so we’ve got a challenge that will test all the other skills a would-be adventurer would need.”

“Strength, courage, teamwork, wit, you name it!” Kliats begins poking and prodding the two individuals, pinching their arms and holding their hair up against the light. “And of course my lovelies will put on a marvelous show while your at it, won’t you?”

“Uh, sure.” Krolm says, pulling his arm from her hands. “So what exactly is it that we’ll be doing?”

“Well, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. But I can tell you that this last round will be a team event!” She snaps and a 7 foot long chain appears attaching Krolm’s wrist to that of the burly individual next to him.

“What’s this?” Direcris exclaims as he steps backwards.

“Not to worry, lovely. It’s just to make things a little bit more exciting! You can take the manacles off any time if you press your thumb against the wrist. Of course, if you do then you’ll be disqualified!

“What if we break them without opening them?” Direcris asks as he strains against the manacles to no avail.

“I don’t think we need to worry about that, I enchanted these manacles myself” Kliats winks. “Anyways, as I was saying this will be a team event. The two of you are racing against the other two finalists. Whoever completes the obstacles and retrieves the chalice of victory first will be the winner.”

“So we win… together?” Direcris asks.

“Well of course! Great adventurers need comrades after all.” A bracelet on Kliats wrist begins to glow. “Well then, it looks like we’re about to get started! I need to go kick things off. If you have any further questions, the guard here can answer them. Good luck!” She turns and leaves the room.

“Oh! One last thing.” Kliats pokes her head back in. “We can’t have any of that.” She snaps and Direcris’ long sword disappears from his hands. She snaps again and another sword appears, this one with a blunted edge. “You’ll get your sword back after the contest. But for now we don’t want you cutting anyone to ribbons! Fun as that used to be.“ Kliats sighs as she disappears out the door again.

Direcris and Krolm alternate between looking at one another and at the floor. After a few moments of silence Krolm offers, “I guess we have to work together.”

“Are you strong?” Direcris asks, looking Krolm’s slender frame up and down.

Krolm holds up his hands “I can do a lot with these. How about you?”

Direcris rolls his shoulders under his long, heavy coat. “I think we’ll be OK.”

A few more moments pass before the guard’s bracelet begins to glow like Kliats’. He stands and walks to a doorway opposite the one they came in from. “Time for you two to go.”

The door opens and Krolm and Direcris make their way through another corridor before stepping out into a bright light.

As Krolm and Direcris step out of the corridor, they’re hit by a wave of cheers from the audience above. In front of them is a large room, 30 feet by 50 feet. Cutting across the room, separating them from the opposite side is a 10 foot wide chasm. 20 feet up, the wall ends without a ceiling. Through the missing ceiling, bleachers can be seen lining the walls of the stadium. The broader stadium is a circle hundreds of feet wide. The ceiling vaults several stories above.

“HELLO MY LOVELIES!” Kliats’ voice booms from all around. “WELCOME TO TERMINUS, AND TO THE FINALS OF OUR CHAMPION’S TOURNAMENT. YOU ALL KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT. WHO WILL FIND THEIR WAY TO THE CHALICE FIRST? WHO WILL BE OUR CHAMPIONS? THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT. GO!”

Krolm and Direcris hesitate for a moment, until a wave of cheers from the other side of the arena makes them start.

“I guess the other two started?”

“Yea, we need to hurry!” Krolm says as he makes his way into the room. Taking a closer look he sees that across the chasm on the far wall is a single door with a prominent lock in the center. Inscribed above the door are the words A test of courage.

As Direcris and Krolm come to stand at the edge of the chasm, they see that it extends down further than either can see. A faint mist begins to swirl 30 feet down. On the opposite wall of the chasm, 10 feet down, hangs a key.

Nodding, the two take a few steps back, then take a running leap. As they reach the ledge, Krolm’s foot slips in the dust, shortening the length of his jump. Direcris lands easily on the other side, but Krolm comes up short, landing right on the edge.

As Direcris sees Krolm begin to fall backwards, he quickly wraps the chain between them several times around his arm, yanking backwards away from the pit. The extra pull gives Krolm just enough momentum to right himself.

“Thanks.” Krolm says, looking uneasily down the chasm.

“Sure.” Direcris looks around. “I don’t see much else in the room, and this chain seems conveniently the right length to reach that key down there.” He looks between his own large frame and Krolm’s more slender build. “I think maybe you should go down?”

Krolm nods and begins to lower himself, hanging from the chain between them. He makes it down without much incident, but as he reaches the bottom and grabs the key, a couple things happen at once.

First, the lock behind Direcris pops loose and the door swings open. Second, all along the walls of the room glowing blue runes appear and begin to hum with arcane electrical energy.

“Shit. Need to hurry up!” Direcris calls down to Krolm. As he looks down between his feet, he notices a wide ring of what looks distinctly like dried blood under the dirt where he’s standing.

Krolm, realizing the increased need for urgency, begins to climb back up the chain. At the same time, Direcris pulls backwards and to the side, looking for a way to get out of range of the runes. As he moves, runes appear and begin to glow along the walls nearer him. The only safe zone seems to be making it out of the room.

Krolm nears the top of the pit and makes a leap for the edge of the chasm. At the same time, Direcris makes a sharp tug on the chain, trying to pull Krolm over the edge. The lack of coordination disrupts Krolm’s lunge and drops him down a few feet.

The runes shift to an ominous red. Direcris looks between the door to safety and Krolm hanging just below the edge of the chasm. He looks at the chain around his wrist. Then he squares his feet and braces for the impact of the lightning trap.

The runes flare and Direcris feels a brief surge of electricity through his body, causing a brief jolt of pain. He opens his eyes, looking around, confused. The crowd above begins to cheer wildly as Krolm pulls himself up from the chasm.

“Thanks… again.” The two stand around for a moment, catching their breath, but a sound of cheering from the other side of the stadium spurs them on.

They run from the room and follow a hallway up to a set of 4 vertical bars blocking their path forward. Next to the bars is a pedestal with a large sapphire embedded in it. As Direcris approaches the bars to peer through, Krolm sees the sapphire pulse dully.

Looking into the room, Direcris sees a large nest in the far corner. Crouched in the nest and growling faintly is a giant badger. Around the badger’s neck is a silver key. Next to the nest is another locked door with words inscribed above: A test of strength.

“Strength…” Direcris grabs the bars in front of him and begins to strain against them, the muscles on his arms popping. As he does this, Krolm sees the gem pulse gently again. The bars don’t budge.

“What should we do?” Direcris asks as he examines the bars and the podium. As he does this, Krolm makes his way to the bars, peering at the badger. He stretches his hand out, palm upturned. The badger recoils backwards.

“Shhhh.” Krolm lowers to his knees and pulls some of his rations from his belt. He holds the rations out enticingly. After a tense moment the badger blinks and begins to sniff the air. It moves forward hesitantly, eventually reaching Krolm’s hand. Delicately, it pulls the rations from Krolm’s hand.

Seeing the badger nearby, Direcris reaches out for the key. As his hand approaches, the badger jumps back, hissing. Krolm shoots Direcris a look and motions him back. Returning his hand beyond the bars with more rations, he motions to the badger again.

As the badger returns, Krolm sets the rations down and begins to stroke the badger’s head. After a moment, the badger drops to it’s belly and begins to hum happily. Krolm plucks the key from it’s neck as he continues to scratch behind the badger’s ears.

The crowd cheers, though in a slightly confused tone at the unconventional solution.

With the key acquired the pair struggles to find a way past the metal bars. They continue inspecting the area until Direcris finally slaps his hand against the sapphire on the pedestal. The bars instantly slide down and the badger sidles up to Krolm.

“Oh. We were probably supposed to do that a bit earlier…” After a few more scratches for the badger, the party makes their way to the far door and unlocks it with the key, moving into another hallway.

The hallway is wider than the previous corridors, which immediately arouses suspicions. They begin to scan around, but again the reactions of the crowd across the stadium motivate them to faster action. The pair begins to run forward, with Krolm in front of Direcris. They make it a few feet forward before Krolm hears a snick followed by a long vertical pole flipping up from the ground and racing straight towards them.

They manage to leap out of the way of the pole, but Krolm jumps right while Direcris jumps left, stretching the chain taught between them. The pole snags the chain and drags them roughly backwards, leaving them in a heap 10 feet back. The crowd winces collectively.

“Right. So, both left next time?” Direcris asks, getting to his feet. Krolm nods and they get ready to run forward again. “Oh, and if a pole comes in some other direction, let’s go down?” Krolm runs forward.

This time, they’re ready for the first pole and dodge easily to the left. They continue onward, ducking underneath a horizontal pole that slides out. Next, two vertical polls launch forward, one in front of Krolm and the other to his left. Thankfully, Krolm is able to throw his hand backwards, stopping Direcris from jumping too far. They pass successfully between the two polls.

“Why don’t we do the next one side by side so I can see a bit more clearly when these polls come?” Direcris suggests. The two run forward shoulder to shoulder.

As they approach the final span of 10 feet, another set of poles appear. Two X’s, one centered in front of each of them. Direcris jumps into the space between the X’s, while Krolm tries to dive beneath his X. The poles drag them mercilessly backwards.

A quick coordination session and the pair is able to surmount the final obstacle. They round the corner onto their final challenge.

Krolm and Direcris find themselves standing in a large room, 80 feet to a side. In the center of the room is a dais raised 10 feet around the surrounding area. Atop the dais rests a large, ornamental chalice. A hobgoblin in full armor stands next to the chalice, one hand resting next to it.

At the opposite end of the room is a second dais with an identical pedestal, but no chalice. Next to the empty pedestal is Kliats who perks up at the sight of Krolm and Direcris.

“WELL WELL LOVELIES. IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE OUR FIRST CONTESTANTS TO ENTER THE FINAL CHALLENGE. CAN THEY BRING ME THE CHALLICE BEFORE THEIR COMPETITORS ARRIVE? BETTER HURRY UP B TEAM.”

The Hobgoblin steps forward and roars. Krolm roars back and begins to charge, forgetting that he’s anchored to Direcris, who’s pulled forward onto his face. Direcris stands up only to be pulled forward again as Krolm continues his charge. But this time he’s ready to move alongside Krolm.

Krolm reaches the dais, but the Hobgoblin has had a chance to prepare, swinging with his blunted sword the minute Krolm gets within range. Krolm takes the strike across his shoulder, lunging in to grab the hobgoblin’s foot and pull him off the dais. He succeeds, pulling the hobgoblin down and causing him to hit his head on the dais as he falls. But the hobgoblin shifts his weight and manages to fall on top of Krolm, pinning him.

Still stunned from hitting his head during the fall, the hobgoblin is short work for Direcris, who fells him with a single two-handed slash across the back.

Krolm extricates himself from the now-unconscious hobgoblin and the pair make their way to the chalice. But just as they grab their prize, the other pair of contestants comes spilling out into the arena – a drow and a halfling. The two look particularly haggard, covered in claw marks.

The way is clear for them to run towards Kliats, but Direcris bellows a challenge to the new contestants, much like Krolm before. The pair runs towards their new foes. Direcris sheaths his sword and crashes into the drow. He slams the chalice into her face and drops her, stunned, to the ground. Krolm follows suit with a precision strike into the faceplate of the halfling and in an instant the two stand victorious.

“WELL. CERTAINLY NOT WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE, BUT I THINK WE HAVE OUR WINNERS!”

Krolm and Direcris make their way to the podium, where a gnome has joined Kliats. “Very impressive. Courageous, improvisational, loyal. I see two great adventurers here. How would you two feel about doing some work for the Korranberg Chronicles?”

Kliats shoots a burst of flame into the air in final celebration. Krolm pumps his fists into the air and does a nimble backflip. Then they all begin to walk out of the arena.

“Oh, by the way” Krolm turns to Direcris. “What was your name again?”