Hand on sword-hilt, Elboc follows behind Hamburg.

Elboc will look in one of the mirrors, to see whether it is an ordinary mirror.

The dark elf looks into one of the mirrors and sees only what he could reasonably expect to see in any normal mirror.

Hamburg walked across the foyer and into the hallway. His hand reached, out of old habit, into a pocket of his robes, rummaged a bit and then withdrew once more empty. His supply of mushrooms had long since run out.

He glanced out the windows as he approached the center of the hall, and then stopped before the door in the eastern wall in order for his companions to catch up. Once they'd arrived, he opened the door!

Hamburg opens the door and finds a room beyond.

This room is luxuriously furnished with plush chairs, polished wood tables, ornate rugs, and other fine furniture.  The furniture has been pushed back against the walls and the carpets have been rolled up.  In the middle of the floor, an impromptu boxing ring has been set up.  In one corner of the ring a man stands as still as a statue with his hands raised in the boxing guard position.  This man is wearing amber silk trunks.  You notice that his skin has an unreal quality.  Seated near the boxer is a man dressed in colorful silks, fancy lace, and rich velvets.  He also wears a large-brimmed hat flaunting a peacock's feather.  A jeweled rapier is slung on his right side on a supple leather baldric.  He has wavy black hair and a closely trimmed beard which comes to a point.  Two men in plate mail carrying halberds stand as guards on either side of the richly dressed man.  The guards' flesh has the same unreal quality as the boxer's.  The seated man's flesh does not have this quality.

While the chairs have been pushed back, they all face toward the boxing ring.  Floating above the center of each chair is a pair of red, unblinking eyes that turn to watch you.

Elboc looks over the scene. "Anybody fancy trying their hand at boxing this man?"

The head of the masked wizard cocked a bit as he eyed the strange scene before them. His sharp mind quickly deduced that this must be some sort of game or contest, but was at a loss as to understand the exact nature of what he was seeing. It apparently had something to do with showing off one's physique... some sort of beauty pageant perhaps?

"Good day sir," Hamburg called out to the figure with the fantastic costume, "love your hat! Can you tell us the rules of this exhibition? I rather think the short fellow here might like to try for whatever prize is at stake." The wizard gestured toward Roak.

Roak looks cross-wise at Hamburg, but waits to hear what the boxing guy has to say. If anything.

"Another competitor for my magen!" says the man with the peacock feather in his hat.  "The rules are quite simple, really.  The two of you enter the ring," and here he gestures to the square roped-off area, "and proceed to fight, bare-handed, until one of you goes down.  This can happen by a simple knock-out, going down due to repeated pummeling, or by a judge's decision that you simply can't continue fighting.

"I'm covering bets on the event, and I'll give three-to-one odds in favor of my magen here.  I've got to admire pluck, but the size difference alone will likely decide the bout."

Roak snorts. "Uh-huh. Well, maybe I should let one of my friends here soften him up then, eh? Elboc, fancy a crack at this thing?"

"Why not?" says Elboc, as he starts to remove his weapons in preparation.

Hamburg recalled having participated in games of chance a few times in a certain room of the pyramid above the city of Cynodicea. It had been thrilling, though he never really grasped many of the concepts of gambling.

He reached into a pouch and pulled out a small handful of gems. "All of this on the dark one."

1000gp worth of gems!

He walked over and patted Elboc vigorously on the shoulder. "I believe in you. I don't know what game you're playing, nor why you need to remove your clothes to do it, but be it chips, dice or cards, I'm sure you can win!"

Stepping back, he commented to Roak, "Don't feel badly about not being up to the challenge... I don't know the game either."

The eyes of the stuffed raven seemed to glimmer slightly.

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" He rifled through the several talismans he'd purchased from the street vendors, seemingly picking one at random and offering it to the dark elf. "A little bit of good luck..."

The man happily takes the handful of gems from Hamburg and sets them on a small side table.

"Excellent!  Do I have any other takers?  Three-to-one are the odds, in favor of my magen," and here the man gestures toward the unnaturally still figure in the corner of the ring.

Elboc considers getting someone to bet big against him and take a dive, but decides to back himself.

"2000 GP in gems"

"2000 for the dark fellow!" the silk-bedecked man calls out, holding his hand out to receive the gems from Elboc.  "Do I have any other takers?"

After a longish pause the man declares, "Takers?  No?  Then let's get this fight started!"

He gestures to Elboc, and then into the roped-off area.

"Please, disarm and enter the ring.  I will call for the fight to begin, and if I call for a stop, you must do so immediately.  If necessary, we will run multiple rounds of the fight, each about three minutes in length, and you will have the opportunity to rest between rounds, should that occur."

Elboc hands his weapons to the rest of the party, then enters the ring, stretching his muscles as he does so.

The velvet-clad man looks toward Elboc, confirming that he's ready, briefly glances toward the other figure in the ring, then calls out, "FIGHT!"

OOC:
Let's make three attacks, with damage rolls, for each combatant, and we'll compare them, one-by-one, and see if either of the two are still standing at the end of the round.  Elboc will roll a d2+2 for damage, and has a +2 to-hit (from his strength), and has initiative.

18:36, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 2 using 1d6.  Monsters' Initiative.
18:36, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 3 using 1d6.  Players' Initiative.

18:38, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 6,2 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.
18:38, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 8,1 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.
18:39, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 7,2 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.

Elboc works on keeping his distance while getting the measure of his opponent, though he does land a nasty left-hook.

OOC:
21:25, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 7,3 using d20+2,d2+2. – 7,3

21:25, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 17,4 using d20+2,d2+2. – 17,4

21:24, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 6,4 using d20+2,d2+2.  Punch. – 6,4

Roak wagers a gold on Elboc and then cheers like a wild-halfling. "Go, Elboc, go!"

As to what exactly Hamburg had been expecting, well that was anyone's guess. It clearly was not a hand-to-hand battle royal!

"Is any of this even in the rules?!? Where's the rulebook? How did this get out of hand so quickly?" He seemed very concerned about the contest, and wasn't amused by Roak's attitude.

He glared at the match-maker, "Are you going to just let them stand there and beat on each other?"

The man in the plumed hat takes Roak's wager and laughs for joy at Hamburg's question, calling out, "Of course I am!  I encourage it!"

As the first round draws to a close the man calls, "Break!" and Elboc's opponent lowers his gloves and backs into his corner.  The velvet-bedecked man rises from his seat and goes over to examine the damage that Elboc managed, while noting the extremely minimal damage that his champion managed to inflict on the dark elf.

After a moment's examination, he returns to his seat and calls out to Elboc, "Are you ready for a second round?" then calls out, "Fight!" after receiving an acknowledgement from him.

OOC:
06:24, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 4,3 using 1d20,1d3.
06:24, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 9,2 using 1d20,1d3.
06:24, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 13,3 using 1d20,1d3.

Elboc took 1 point of damage the first round, and his opponent manages to stick two more punches on him, for 5 more damage in the second round.

Angered by the punches landing on him, Elboc launches a flurry of punches at his opponent.

OOC:
17:11, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 20,4 using d20+2,d2+2. – 20,4

17:11, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 18,3 using d20+2,d2+2. – 18,3

17:11, Today: Elboc Ice Eyes rolled 13,3 using d20+2,d2+2. – 13,3

Elboc takes a pair of moderately hard hits, but delivers three especially hard ones in return over the course of the next minute.

"Break!" calls the man, laughing and clapping at the spectacle.  Elboc's opponent immediately returns to his corner and waits.

The man waits a bare 15 to 20 seconds before calling out, "Round three!  Fight!"

OOC:
15:09, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 2,2 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.
15:09, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 5,2 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.
15:09, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 20,3 using 1d20,1d3.  Attack, Damage.
15:09, Today: Dungeon Master rolled 1 using 1d3.  Critical Damage.