Session 9

PCs (lvl 4): Gardain, Toruk, Terric

The PCs make new friends, and possibly new enemies, among their fellow slaves.

Gardain and Terric come to the aid of a meek half-giant named Urrgos, scaring away the nasty elves that kept making fun of him. Toruk earns the respect of Lissan the gladiator, when he helps her defeat her rival Kanla. Terric has a private meeting with a ranking templar, where he's offered an opportunity to improve his lot by becoming a spy. The sly thief accepts the offer, but keeps his secrets for himself, at least for the time being.

One night, explosions of magical energy awake the slaves. When they hurry on the scene, all that remains to be seen are the corpses of slaves, guards, and citizens. Looks like the Veiled Alliance has attacked the slave pits, for reason unknown. The PCs notice a blood trail, and when they follow it they meet Faldar, a wizard of the Veiled Alliance stuck on the wrong side of the slave pits. The PCs hide the wizard for a day while he recovers his strength, then he makes his escape with his spells. As a reward, the PCs receive a magical berry that restores their health and takes away the fatigue of the past days.

The day after, King Kalak himself visits the ziggurat together with a delegation of nobles. On a whim, he throws two nobles into the slave pits, for the amusement of the slaves. When the angered prisoners move to kill the two nobles, the PCs run to the nobles' help, killing many slaves, and scattering the rest. The King looks amused, but he still orders the PCs to kill the nobles. Unwilling to face the wrath of the sorcerer-king, the PCs do as ordered.

Their heroics earn them a place in the gladatoral pits, where they're immediately put to the test: the arena trainer pits them aganst a tembo, a monstrous creature with deadly claws and a fearsome bite capable of draining the very life force out of its victims. The fight is dangerous, and Gardain is knocked out, but eventually the PCs emerge victorious, earning the accolades of their fellow gladiators.