Blood spatters onto the sand floor of the dimly-lit arena as the crowd roars. One of two half-naked brawlers, his knuckles bleeding, kicks his fallen opponent in the stomach. "Get up!" he shouts.

Missing teeth, blood trickling down his chin, the prone fighter rolls onto all fours and starts to do just that. But, the other combatant isn't about to let him get to his feet. Instead, he delivers a resounding kick to his face, sending another shower of blood into the air. This time, the man is knocked cold, his broken face buried in the sand.

To the deafening cheer of those circling the pit, the triumphant warrior raises both fists in victory.

An ogre jumps down into the pit and hauls away the bloody loser as the winner is helped out by his teammates.

"Good thing I didn't bet," Joe says with a shrug. He sips his beer from a wooden cup.

A brief intermission follows, with a buxom strip tease dance performed by five women in the pit. Tampe drums rumble as the women weave to the fast-paced beat, their semi-transparent silk garments leaving little -- if anything -- to the imagination.

Twelve fights are scheduled, and the first just finished. "Grudge matches" between patrons are allowed between bouts, and can be set up at the same place bets are tallied.

"You oughta set up a fight with 'ol boy," Joe says, meaning the ogrish giant from the Cracked Mug. It was a joke considering that so far, the two hadn't seen him. Marius might be a crafty street fighter with quick moves, but the man's size and weight would give him a clear advantage in a pit fight. "I'd bet on that."

Of course, the Fates heard Joe's remarks. Just then, Marius catches a glimpse of the man somewhere in the crowd. He hasn't seen Marius, and chances are, he won't if he lays low at all.

"I'm guessing from your snide remark, that you wouldn't be betting on me." Marius chastises Joe, but then smiles widely.

"But very well then. I'll take your bet. If you look over yonder, you may see that our old friend have followed us." he says with a throw of his head towards the man in question.

"I'll take him on, and I'll take him down, and I'll be willing to bet, say, 5 silver that I can do it."

"Go for it. It's your teeth."

 "Why didn't you just look through the keyhole, or even a window? Meh." Eddy responds, with a clear tone of insult in his voice.
...
"No thanks, we have a place in the city. You do whatever the heck you like.
So Iridia, about that drink, we could go to Doomie's, the fight club? We're bound to make a few friends there. If we hurry we could still catch the second match."

"Yea, sorry Xavier, I just came to check on you." Iridia said then turned to Eddy with an impressed look. "Fight club eh? Not exactly the most romantic spot, but it should prove pretty exciting. I hope it isn't very cramped in there though. I've had enough men-sweat to last me a week!"

 "Yeah, but no need for fancy dresses either."
Eddy takes Iridia to the club, turns in his knife to the bouncers, and wades her a way through the cheering crowds to a betting booth.
 "So what's fighting tonight buddy?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Sat 28 Feb 2009.

"Hey! Mister Millar!" Marius calls, making his way through the crowd, to stop near the giant. He follows up with a flourishing bow, worthy of a noble's ballroom.

"So we meet again. If you still demand satisfaction concerning the matter with your wife, I propose that we can take care of the matter in the pit yonder. However, I would once again beseech you to reconsider. I happen to know that your wife loves you very much, and I would hate to do anything that will make her unhappy."

Marius gives the man a short second to think, and then throws in his final card

"Hells, if you want, we could go home together and hit the hay all three. Share some techniques, and get to know each other under more friendly circumstances."

[Private to GM: Since I know his wife's last name, I also happen to know his.

To Marius's beseeching, I rolled 13 against Diplomacy 13. So I guess we'll fight.]

Xavier shook his head at the mention of a fight club.

More things to worry about now than who's pummelling who.

"Enjoy your bloodfest.  Avoid those that you don't know."

With pleasantries out of the way, Xavier retired to his wagon to attempt to sleep.

Marius' words are spoken to a red-faced, seething, spitting giant as he struggles against three of his friends who are doing everything they can to hold him back. It's all they can to to keep the ox from tearing into Marius. While the ogrish man is too drunk to care, his friends know what will happen if he swings at Marius, and it has to do with the business end of a real ogre's club! "I'll kill 'em!" the man roars.

The commotion catches the attention of Iridia and Eddy, who had just entered the underground fight club. They notice Marius and Joe standing together before the raging bull.

"He accepts, ye bilge drinking sewer rat!" one of the man's friends yells at Marius above the giant's angry roars.

Moments later, under the scrutinizing stare of an ogre bouncer -- head and shoulders taller than the giant-of-a-man -- Millar is pushed away towards the other side of basement, kicking and shouting threats.

"I don't think he likes you," Joe says plainly.

The only thing a combatant has to do before stepping into the ring is remove his shoes and shirt, and submit to a thorough search for weapons. Marius will have to get ready as the next fight progresses, and its sounds like it's getting ready to start now.


OOC: I held off on starting the actual fight in case there was something anyone wanted to post.

"And such a shame too." Marius says as he removes his shirt "He has a lovely wife. He must really love the girl."

[Private to GM: Ready here]

Eddy catches a glimpse Marius turns a bit sour.
 Not this guy again. I swear if that guy hits on Dia again. Hey, he's getting into a fight, huh. Let's see how pretty he looks when he's had his face torn off. But how to bet on that. Illegal fight-clubs always have rigged betting, so if to much money is bet on one guy, the other guy is going to win. So to make this Marius loose, I need to bet a bundle on him.
He turns to the bookie.
 "I want to bet 5, 3 sil, no, 1 gold on pretty boy over there."

"Ho! Oh! Eddy, it's that guy from the tavern today." Iridia said to Eddy as she eyed Marius. She averted her gaze back to Eddy far too late. He had already placed a bet.

"Nooo, what did you do?! Look at his contendor, Eddy! He was at the tavern too! He is going to brutalize that idiot." She arched an eye brow, then clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, it'll be glorious! Too bad you'll be losing money today."

 "Yes, too bad." Eddy reply with a grin that could scare the devil. "Let's go find a seat with a good view. Would you like something to drink?"
He starts maneuvering Iridia to the front row of the pit.

The money handler takes Eddy's gold coin. "The odds are 2-1 against him," he comments.

Soon, Marius is standing in the sand-bottom pit, squaring off against Millar.

In a grudge match, there are no rules, and the winner decides when the loser is done fighting... conscious or not.

OOC: Round 1. Marius, your turn.

Marius, having done a few theatrical stretches, jumps into the pit as Millar jumps in on the other side.

The lovable rogue strides up to the middle "Okay, if this is how you want to do it.." he extends a hand "Let the best man win."

[Private to GM: Move up to 0605.
Defense: Retreating Dodge (not all-out)
Rolled 14 against 12, fail]

'He is quite a knight this evening, this Eddy.' Iridia blushed lightly.

"Yea sure. Some beer." Iridia said. "But hurry up, your guy is about to get a beating."

 "Yo waiter-person, 2 beers!" Eddy yells.

A busty wench in a low-cut dress stoops over at the waist to hand Eddy two mugs of frothing beer and collects four coppers.

Marius' gesture is lost on the charging ape. He roars and barrels into the smaller man with a mighty right-hand lead. It goes right over his head as the quicker fighter ducks it with grace.

Xavier lie in bed for what felt like hours, the horrid visions replaying everytime he closed his eyes, preventing any sleep.  Not wanting to waste time re-living that ordeal, he instead gathered up his new book and again attempted to discover it's secrets.

[Private to Stripe: After mere moments of reading the book, Xavier's mind wandered from the book to the tooth to Thomas.  Sighing heavily, he closed the book and quietly dressed himself.  Gathering up his staff and bracelet, Xavier slipped from the wagon under the cover of darkness, moving through the streets until once again at Thomas' door.  Reaching out slowly he suddenly realized his hands were shaky and sweat had begun to stream down his face.  Steeling his nerve and pulling a pair of gloves from his pocket which he quickly donned, he reached to open the door.

OOC: Not that I'm trying to steal the show, but this is more than likely Xavier's actions.  More power=More Money=Happy Xavier  Now unless you think multiple people should be present, Xavier will take the golem and once near the door, summon his familiar.

BTW, do you the write-ups for the golem, familiar and Jordan?]

"Oh, you just never learn." Marius comments as he ducks down and backwards, out of reach of the large man. Then he takes two quick steps forward, and in a repeat of earlier event launches a kick straight to the giant's gonads, which this times makes a satisfying impact.

[Private to GM: All-out determined kick to the groin
Rolled 8 against an adjusted Brawling 11
Damage 5, shock -8, -5 to knockdown in the case of a major wound
No defense]

 "Thanks doll. I'll see you around." and with a firm smack on her rear and a big tip, Eddy takes the beer from the wench.

Iridia noticed what Eddy did to the waitress and backhanded his arm to get his attention. The fact that Eddy was attracted to that low-class waitress rather than her ticked Iridia off very much.

"Hey! Do that with another ugly bitch while you are around me once more, and I'll make sure to break that hand of yours." Iridia said in a low calm voice. It was up to Eddy to think wether she was serious or not.

Eddy's face turns red and he tries to change the subject. "Eh, Sure. Oh your beer! ... Come on ya slow twit, pound this face in!"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:41, Wed 11 Mar 2009.

Iridia took the beer, and surprisingly enough, quickly diverted her attention back to the fight.

"You know, he isn't have bad in a fight. Quite a looker too." Iridia commented to Eddy.

In reply to Whisper (msg #152): [private to Whisper]OOC: Per the PM, I had you wait until morning to head out.[/private]

---

Dawn strikes the sky like a hammer against anvil for Xavier. His splitting headache wakes him, bed sheets wet with sweat from a nightmare already fading from his mind. Jordan's already wrapping up camp, and soon, the sorcerer's wagon is working its way down the road. Soon, the trio -- wizard, apprentice, and hulking golem -- are striding up to Tomis the Fence's door.

Reaching out slowly, Xavier suddenly realized his hands were shaky and sweat had begun to stream down his face.  Steeling his nerve and pulling a pair of gloves from his pocket which he quickly donned, he reached to open the door.

Would it be a torture chamber? A haunt for demons and wraiths? What unspeakable evil and horror lay in wait behind the rough, old wooden door?

It creaked open, morning light pouring in behind the cloaked wizard, catching in rays on the thick dust hanging in the air.

The room is nearly empty, devoid of even furnature. All that remains is a rats nest of trash and refuse. The stench is overwhelming and slams against the mage as he stands in the open threshold. Light trcikles through cracks in the shutters and small holes in the roof. The floor is as rotten as the rest of the house.

At first, glance, Whisper would have missed him had it not been for the scurry of a rodent. But then, the two lock eyes. Completely naked and huddled in the corner, a filthy, skeletal man peeps out from between the fingers covering his face. Whisper had dared to step single foot inside so as to look behind the door he holds open. And that's where the man sat.

"I know nothing!" he screams at the top of his lungs, loud enough for everyone on the block to hear. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"