[33] "I give you now, the beast! The legend! JORGMUNGAND THE EVERLIVING!"

[Merc]

<Merc> As the group make their way into the coliseum with the rest of the crowd gathering by the gates, Louie makes sure to keep them all together. "Alright, once we're inside, follow me and I'll show you where you can place bets if that's what you want," he mentions.
<Maya> "Sure," Maya smiled, walking along, figuring they might make a fair penny betting on themselves.
<Merc> "If you still feel like fighting, I'll see about getting a nice fight set up for you as well, still don't think it's worth possibility of harming your pretty bodies though," the rogue adds.
<Aleph> "Eh, Pretty sure it's nothing too bad." Aleph replies.  "Compared to what we've fought, at least."
<Merc> "Oh and watch your pockets in these crowds, bump here, bump there, suddenly no money on you. Keep that in mind, alright?" he also adds as a warning.
<Merc> Louie moves deeper into the crowd, motioning for the group to follow as he leads you in, wading a path through, apparently not having any difficulty with moving through, and though it takes a while you're all soon inside, and a bit more free to move as the crowds part into the various sides looking for seats. "Everyone's pockets good?" Louie asks.
* Maya smiles, "I'm used to folks trying to grab, so don't worry about that," Maya seemed to bear that out, despite her skimpy outfit it was quite difficult for anyone to lay a touch on her.
* Anassia glances toward their guide at his advice as she follows behind, glancing toward the building.  She does, however, pay attention to her pockets even moreso than normal in the city.
<Aleph> "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Aleph offhandedly comments.
<Merc> "Alright then! No mishaps for my group, excellent!" Louie says cheerfully as he leaps in one direction, his hands stuck in his pockets, a soft jingle of coins coming from him as he lands and starts heading in one direction. "Let's go get some seats then!"
<Merc> "Oh wait, right, bets first," he amends as he halts his steps and swerves off in the opposite directions. "Hopefully one of them will know what beastie's getting fought too and resolve all the mystery, eh?"
<Maya> "No, no bets today.  Tomorrow, when we can get a fight we'll bet.  It's no fun betting on unknowns."
<Aleph> "Aw, but what if we got a dark horse victory?"
<Merc> Louie takes a glance at Anassia and Brina, looking for an opinion on betting. Brina just shrugs though.
<Maya> "Well, you can bet Aleph," Maya smirked, "It's really disappointing that we can't get a fight with interesting folks until tomorrow."
* Anassia shrugs as well.  "I think I'll have to sit out fighting, Maya," she notes, glancing toward the Gypsy.
<Merc> "Hey, I'm sure there's plenty of interesting fights...If nothing else, you've got a shot to win 'em then!" Louie says with a snort.
<Merc> "Oh, I bet we have a good shot at beating those elites," Brina chips in. "And if they can beat the rest, then Maya's right, the rest isn't gonna be that interesting."
* Aleph looks to be a bit in thought about something, staying near Maya. "...Yeah, guess I'll save my money for that fight, then."
<Maya> "Bigger bets on longer odds are more fun," She smiled, flouncing ahead into the arena to take a look.
<Merc> Louie just shakes his head at the cockiness. "Well, since nobody wants to place bets anymore, let's get seats after all," he says, turning yet again. The group walks for a few minutes as he circles them around towards what he calls are the 'good seats'.
* Aleph quickly follows Maya and her flouncing. "Bet there'll be more bets if you can make a show out of it."
<Anassia> "I can't see why she wouldn't," Anassia notes, "given she makes a show of everything she does."
<Aleph> "Wonder what it'd look like if you made more of a show..." Aleph off-handedly comments to Maya
<Merc> As the group chats, Louie finally leads them deeper into the stadium and towards some seats. A lot of the seats on this side of the large stadium seem empty even though the other side seems full! "Lazy people, gotta love 'em. View is just as good from over here, and no need to fight for the good seats," Louie says with a grin.
<Maya> "What's the difference, just a longer walk from the entrance?" Maya wondered.
* Aleph opts to sit next to Maya. "Eh, I admit that if they were open, I'd have picked the nearer seats."
<Merc> "Pretty much. And it's thinking like that which makes these seats so nice. Given we've already been walking halfway around the city though, I figured nobody would mind a bit of extra walking here," Louie says, still grinning. "Anyway, looks like they're about to start, so let's sit down and watch."
<Merc> First up seem to be a group of ten men, all coming from different entrances down on the lower stage, armed and fitted with loose armor as they walk warily towards the center, though they stop some distance apart from the center, warily staring at each other. From one side of the coliseum, a man emerges and loudly bellows.
<Merc> "Today's events will begin with a free for all battle amongst these ten contestants! Fill the arena with the blood of the others, and fight for the right to be amongst those challenging a beast of legends!"
<Anassia> "That is because you are lazy," Anassia notes toward Aleph as she sits, before turning her attention toward the center of the ampitheatre
* Maya watches lazily, wondering what the beast would be anyhow.
* Aleph snrks as he pays attention, curious as to what the Mystery Beast of Legends will be
<Merc> The fight starts off slowly as the ten gladiators continue to warily stare each other until finally one of them takes the initiative and rushes towards the opponent to his left. The others quickly dive into the fray against an opponent of their choosing, and a chaotic mess arises from that, no clear winner distinguishable for much of the fight until only two are left.
<Merc> One of them is a blonde youth with a longsword and shield while the other is a bald fellow twirling a pair of daggers with a grin on his face.
<Merc> Around the stage, the audience is cheering and calling out for their champion, switching to one of the survivors as the numbers diminish without a pause, and now across the coliseum cries for "Blondie!" and "Baldie!" ring out. An unfortunate part of not being well known enough to have their names engraved in the hearts of the people.
* Aleph is cheering for the blonde dude!
<Merc> This fight lasts almost as long as the free-for-all had, the two having seen a lot of what the other had to offer, and their abilities apparently close in skill level. The blonde youth seems to have the advantage for a brief period, but with a flick of his foot, sand goes flying and suddenly the tide turns as his bald
<Merc> opponent uses his dirty tactic to disarm the youth and knock him into the ground. "And Derek Lockwood wins!" the announcer bellows as the winner grins even amongst the booing drowning the cheers, even as he offers a hand to the defeated blonde who smacks the hand away and angrily stomps away.
<Merc> Soon, Derek is joined by four other warriors, and the booing vanishes, replaced by cheers for the newcomers even as the announcer introduces them.
<Merc> "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! THE BEAST! Something none of you have ever seen before, I promise! It was found only a day ago wandering outside the city walls and it took many men to bring it in so you can enjoy this strange creature and see it face off against your champions! I give you now, the beast! The legend! JORGMUNGAND THE EVERLIVING!"
<Merc> A large gate opens as trembling men move away from the gates, and a roar rings out from within the gates as a skeletal beast makes its way into the light! It's Coily! With...armored plates around his skeletal frame!
<Maya> "Anassia...Did you lose your pet?" Maya eyed over at her.
<Aleph> "..."
<Merc> The crowd is all murmuring, many pointing, children sounding excited, and mothers fearful! Louie himself whistles at the sight of the beast. "Wonder where they dug that thing up! Outside the city gates? Can't believe -that-!"
<Anassia> "..."  Anassia sits up straighter.  "I don't think they dug it up."
<Aleph> "Anassia, I think you're about to lose a pet."
<Merc> Coily doesn't seem to be taking the initiative, just sitting coiled near the entrance, staring at the gladiators packed around the center with a wary look...well, as wary as an undead giant snake can be? It doesn't seem to notice your group so far either.
* Anassia stands up casually, making her way toward the colloseum with a faint "excuse me,".
<Merc> The gladiators themselves seem to for now be staring warily themselves, their weapons at the ready. Derek doesn't seem to look like he's enjoying himself quite as much, and is very visibly trembling as he holds up his two daggers.
* Maya whistles, "I guess we should keep Anassia from getting stabbed, come on," She pulled Aleph along, dashing after her.
<Aleph> "Oh HELL!"  Aleph frantically dashes in an attempt to keep up with the much faster gypsy pulling him along.
<Anassia> "I doubt they would be willing to attack me," Anassia notes, glancing back to the others as they catch up.
<Merc> "Hey wait, where are you lot going?" Louie asks, confused as he also stands up. Brina just shakes her head at him. "Wait here," she says as she chases after the others, leaving behind their confused guide.
* Anassia makes her way toward the railing of the colloseum, glancing down to see how far down it would be.
<Merc> It looks to be about 25-30ft at a glance?
<Aleph> "Hey, it -is- an arena.  The crowd might mistake it for part of the show."
<Anassia> "Yeah, I suppose," Anassia, says before looking toward the snake, lifting her hand to her mouth to let out a shrill whistle to try and get its attention.
<Merc> The gladiators don't turn to look, though some of the nearby audience turns to look at her, though their eyes quickly divert towards Coily as the snake apparently hears the call, or maybe it just spots Anassia and the others given the sparse audience on their side of the coliseum, and begins slithering towards them...of course, it has to go through the
<Merc> center where the gladiators are, so that provokes reactions from them! Derek squeals and flings one of his daggers at Coily before running off to one side, while the other gladiators wait for it to get closer until finally one of them charges at the snake, his sword clanging on the armored plates that have been placed on Coily. Coily just ignores all this as he slithers closer and closer to Anassia!
<Merc> ooc: he's probably close enough that you can yell commands to him without it being drowned by the other side's audience.
* Anassia will wait for it to continue to approach her, adjusting her hair slightly.  "I shouldn't have worn a dress today," she comments to noone in particular.
* Aleph has, at this point, caught up to Anassia.
<Maya> "Aleph, could you convince those two to leave Anassia's pet alone?"  Maya asked meaningfully as she walked near the edge, calling out.  "Hey...stop it.  That's our mage's pet."  She leaned over the edge, "This is a bit of a mistake."
<Aleph> "Could try.  What do you have in mind, warning shots?"
<Merc> "That's a -pet-?" the panicked Derek cries out. "Are you kidding?" The other gladiators don't seem to pay Maya any mind as they keep trying to pummel on Coily, but apparently he was armored too well or something, and just seems to be shrugging off the attacks for the most part or they just don't do enough damage as the snake slithers closer and closer.
<Aleph> "Anassia has a very fun taste in pets, yes."
<Merc> Coily is now almost to the other side of the stadium, though it pauses to roar at the gladiators as some hits apparently do get through the armor and a piece of bone breaks off from one of it's back bones. Derek squeals again and runs off in the opposite direction, flinging his last dagger towards Coily's head, where the dagger digs itself into the empty left eye socket of the snake.
<Aleph> "...he scared the bald guy off, at least."
* Aleph then turns toward the arena, however, firing off an arrow at the ground in front of one of the gladiators that didn't run away just yet. "Oi! Stop the fight, now! This 'legendary beast' is actually someone's pet, so put down your weapons and step away, or I'll shoot!"
<Anassia> "Looks like he's the smart one," ANassia comments towards Aleph, watching the Gladiators' reactions to the arrow.
<Merc> The gladiators scowl at Aleph and the one who was nearly shot (in his opinion) raises his sword towards Aleph. "Audience members should stay back lest they get hurt! If the beast belonged to someone it would have been claimed before all this!" he calls out, his eyes flickering between the undead snake and Aleph. There does seem to be a -bit- of doubt in his
<Merc> eyes, particularly given that the snake has pretty much headed for your group...but it is still just doubt.
<Merc> On the opposite side of the coliseum, the audience is murmuring over this development, and the announcer seems to have vanished with Aleph bringing out his bow...
<Aleph> "Don't say I didn't warn you..." Aleph growls at the gladiators as he jumps down into the arena, ready to fire another shot.
<Anassia> "Oh, well, if you are going to threaten us then I might just have to take offence," Anassia comments, amused.
<Aleph> roll 1d20+14
<Penuche> Aleph invokes Penuche's magic: < 32 > [d20=18]
<Merc> ooc: Ironically, you don't need to actually roll since DC to reduce damage is 15 apparently, so you'd pass even on a 1. Go figure.
<Merc> roll 2d6 falling damage
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 7 > [d6=4,3]
<Maya> "Hey, the announcer left.  Alright then..." She breathed in, shouting as loud as she could, "And now it seems that gladiators are unsatisfied with simply driving off the beast...these bloodthirsty cretins will stop at nothing to bully a lost pet.  Nevermind that the punishment for pet damage is death, they're going to brave it all the way...  Don't take your eyes off the field as Blondie attempts to fight off Coily...while being shot with arrows to the death!"
<Aleph> roll 1d3+2 armor
<Penuche> Aleph invokes Penuche's magic: < 3 > [d3=1]
<Aleph> "So, how about it?"
<Merc> The crowd near Maya roars with her words, though the audience on the opposite side seem to just cheer at the appearance of a new combatant, not apparently realizing he's on the side of the snake. The gladiators themselves just color red. "Hey, don't mess with our livelihood! 
<Merc> If the snake's yours, then prove it!" one of them calls out above. One of the gladiators is facing Aleph, but so far, nobody is attacking anybody, even Coily seems to be enjoying a respite in the mostly senseless attacks as it coils near the wall under Anassia and the others, waiting for commands or more attacks to deal with.
<Anassia> "Oh?"  Anassia asks, before glancing down to the snake. "Rise," she says, intending to use it to lower herself down to the floor of the colloseum.
<Merc> At Anassia's word, Coily does just that, stretching itself upwards! As it reaches it's full height, its head rests against the side of the wall. It doesn't quite reach the top, but Anassia could probably drop on his head without taking much, if any, damage if she drops herself carefully. The audience on your side of the coliseum is murmuring at this,
<Merc> while on the other side there is a mix of bored booing and some people starting to move closer, leaving their seats and walking around the stage.
* Anassia will do so, carefully due to her unhelpful attire.  "Now, then," she asks the gladiators as she balances atop the undead serpant.  "Are we going to have any problems?"
<Merc> ooc: You can take either d6 damage or roll jump/tumble dc 15 to not take anything and land on his head without problems
<Maya> "And now reclaiming her pet, the mage decides it deserves a snack for behaving so well!  First gladiator to want to offer, slather yourself with sauce and move to engage the snake."
<Anassia> roll 1d20+2
<Penuche> Anassia invokes Penuche's magic: < 12 > [d20=10]
<Merc> roll d6
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 2 > [d6=2]
<Merc> Anassia slips and falls on the snake's head with a thud! Coily keeps still otherwise though, as the gladiators frown at Maya's words. "...if the snake belongs to her and it tries to eat us, we're taking her out too!" one of the gladiators says with a careful growl. The others nod their agreement with those words!
* Anassia does glance upward to Maya at her announcement.  "You're hardly helping the situation," she comments toward the gypsy levelly.
<Maya> "Ah, but little rats should run from snakes," Maya smirked.
<Anassia> "When I get out of here, Maya, we're going to have a talk," Anassia remarks flatly, before glancing toward the gladiators.  "Don't mind her."
<Aleph> "...That aside, we can either have you put down your weapons, and everyone walks away fine, or we can have a little fight and have this go beyond words," Aleph offers the now-frustrated gladiators.  "Yeah, we know there's your livelihoods, but killing someone's loved one isn't a good thing to base such a thing off of, is it?"
<Merc> The gladiators seem to be scowling at Maya, but hesitantly nod to Anassia. "So...is the fight over?" One of them murmurs and the others shrug unsure. The decision seems to move out of their hands though as the announcer seems to be stomping down towards Maya and the silent Brina, who seems unsure if she's amused, worried, or battle-ready.
<Merc>  "What the hell is going on in MY ARENA?!?" he bellows out, giving Maya and Brina a headache as nearby audience members scoot out of the way, rubbing their ears.
<Anassia> "Just a simple misunderstanding," Anassia comments, glancing back up.  "Which way to the door?"
<Maya> "Well, you stole Annassia's pet...so we're just taking him back so he doesn't get hurt by your strong gladiators," Maya pouted.
<Merc> The man frowns as he makes a set of gestures. His voice comes off at a MUCH more manageable volume then. "What the hell do you mean stole? That creature was wandering outside of town where it could have hurt someone! You're lucky we didn't just kill it since I saw a purpose for it!" the man exclaims angrily as he crosses his arms.
<Merc> "Even spent money armoring it up to make it more interesting...and you mean to tell me you're going to just take it away?!? Who's the thief here now!"
<Anassia> "Hurt someone?" Anassia asks, glancing up to the monstrous being.  "Why would it do that?"
<Merc> Nearby, Louie seems to be sneaking closer to get a better idea of just what's going on, having heard -some- of it, but not quite enough to really satiate his curiosity. The announcer meanwhile just gapes towards the stage where the barely visible Anassia is speaking. "Are you kidding? Just look at that beast!
<Merc> It's a killing machine! Look at those teeth, all those pointy bits, how it roars and hisses! I mean, seriously! Sure it wasn't -that- hard to take down and bring in, but that's what the armor was for!"
<Aleph> "Yes, it was such a killing machine but so easy to take down and so unwilling to actually try and kill anything in here unprovoked." Aleph comments, rolling his eyes
<Maya> "Oh, it's just a harmless snake.  You really shouldn't overreact so much.  I mean, I was told here in Vyrdam people get excited about things more, but truly...  is a farmpet the best thing you can do for an exciting event?  Not even skilled combatants?"
<Anassia> "Come now.  Just because it it capable of rending a man in two in a single bite doesn't mean it does at every available opportunity.  Of course, if you wish for it to do so I am sure your gladiators wouldn't mine demonstrating the lethality of it.  After which, perhaps you would like to?"
<Merc> One of the gladiators snorts at Aleph's words while the others just raise a glance in the direction of Maya and then towards Anassia, mouthing off silently "farmpet? is she -serious- with that?" The announcer meanwhile keeps his arms crossed with a scowl on his face.
<Merc> ooc: intimidate or bluff check for anassia. Aleph and maya can roll aid
<Anassia> roll 1d20+14
<Penuche> Anassia invokes Penuche's magic: < 31 > [d20=17]
<Merc> ooc: maya gets a -3 for farmpet btw
<Merc> ooc: because seriously, farmpet? =p
<Anassia> ooc: Maybe if the farm was run by an Abyssal.  In the underworld.
<Aleph> roll 1d20+3 aid intimidate.  Yay for Bluff synergy~
<Penuche> Aleph invokes Penuche's magic: < 18 > [d20=15]
<Maya> roll 1d20+12 aid
<Penuche> Maya invokes Penuche's magic: < 27 > [d20=15]
<Maya> OOC: 24 with the minus
<Merc> The announcer keeps scowling, but takes a glance down at the stage and then back towards the slightly visible magician. "...the armor cost me money. As did setting up this whole event. A lot of it. A cost inccured only because you'd left your...'farmpet' out of the city gates unmanaged..." he says in a slow steady manner.
<Merc> "I would need -some- recompense in this matter, or lose too much face otherwise."
<Anassia> "What of my recompense for having it used in such of a way?  I would have no problem returning your armor to you if you insist..." she pauses.  "Perhaps we can discuss this somewhere that's not inside of a colloseum.
<Aleph> "Heh...though I'm pretty sure I know what Maya's thinking of."
<Maya> "Ah, I see, I see...  The 'Man, I'm an idiot and setup one dumb fight, and now everyone is going to be asking for their money back..."  She smirked, walking over, "Now then...no, we're not going to pay you for the free armor, but why not win the money back yourself with an event people would want to see.  Your two best...versus ours.  The heroes of Adalla versus the best and brightest of Vyrdam in an exhibition bout."
<Merc> "...An exhibition bout could be interesting," the announcer allows, though he narrows his eyes at the mention of the armor going unpaid. "As for the armor...that would depend on how much money I made out of such an exhibition fight. As I said, I am losing a lot of money on this event...and I would need to invest some more in setting up such an exhibition fight.
<Merc> "
<Merc> "...Heroes of Adallia, you say?" he adds curiously after a bit of thought, his brow tight in thought.
<Maya> "Well, of course," She smirked, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm Maya...if you have any wits in that head, you may have heard of us.  If you actually deserve business, you shouldn't have a problem filling every seat for double," She leaned over, her teasing clear, "But if you're blind to opportunity, we'll just leave here and let you cry over your losses."
<Merc> roll d20+11
<Penuche> Merc invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d20=5]
* Anassia can't help but grimace slightly at Maya.  Who elected her to be the one in a discussion?
* Aleph quirks an eyebrow
<Merc> The announcer narrows his eyes a bit more at the name as he glances around and nods slowly, though he quirks his head a bit at the silent Brina, uncertain if she's part of the group or not before nodding again to Maya. "I see. I am...agreeable to this, and can probably set something up for tomorrow. I would see the snake kept here meanwhile,
<Merc> both as insurance that you won't flee leaving me high and dry, as well as for it's own safety and those of the city guards. Is this agreeable to your group?"
<Maya> "oh, how generous...I see, you're throwing in keeping Coily safe here for our time in Vyrdam.  I see you clearly are ready to make a good deal of money."  She smirked.
<Maya> roll 1d20+14 diplo
<Penuche> Maya invokes Penuche's magic: < 16 > [d20=2]
<Merc> The man snorts. "Coily? You call the beast...Coily? Okay, I'm beginning to buy that you might consider it a farm pet, with a name like that. Lord, downgraded from beast of legends Jormungund to...Coily," the man mutters, snorting again. Making a few gestures ending with a snap of his fingers, he clears his throat and bellows out to his antsy audience the details of just what is going to happen tomorrow...
<Merc> ***