After a quick venture into town to ‘borrow’ some appropriately themed clothing from an unguarded storehouse and a bit of quick illusion magic to conceal their scales, the party was able to freely walk among the citizenry of the pirate city and made their way to the arena.
Larxene, being the one naturally most able to blend in with the setting, led the group through the narrow wooden walkways of the city taking the least crowded paths to avoid drawing attention to the group. There were a few close encounters but between Radais’ illusions, Larxene’s guile, or threats of brutal violence from Zhanatos the group soon found a place in the arena among the rest of the crowd of several hundred. Pirates from all walks of life were packed shoulder to shoulder, filling every available space. There was a palpable tension in the air, a sense of eagerness and anticipation.
The middle of the arena was a large sand pit marked with the occasional splash of dried-out blood from previous battles. A small stage stood in the middle and a snappily dressed figure looked to be getting ready to address the crowd. The figure was wearing what would best be described as ‘pirate formal attire’ namely a torn and tarnished top hat, with a weather-beaten ship captain's coat. Radais supposed the standards of dress here were rather less formal than what he was used to in royal courts. The figure held a cylindrical device with a ball on the end to his mouth and spoke, through some means of magic, likely attuned illusion runes, his voice echoed throughout the large arena. “Good evening, my fellow scourges and cutthroats! I shall be the
Ringmaster for tonight’s ‘Clash of Kings’!”
A cheer erupted from the crowd, and the half-dragons quickly joined in, to avoid standing out.
The Ringmaster continued, “Since this is the first time for some of you landlubbers I’ll explain how all this works. This will be a winner take all battle royal for the mantle of ‘King of All Pirates’. This long proud tradition began one hundred and twenty years ago when Blackbeard the Terrible challenged his rival Captain Goldhook to a one-on-one duel to determine who would rule the then-fledgling city of Neptune’s Hold. It was when both of them were exhausted from the battle that our first sovereign, Baron ‘Oppertunest’ Bloodclaw slew both of the men and claimed the mantle of king for himself, thus beginning the proud tradition of once-a-decade battle royals that we’ve gathered here today to enact once more!”
“Well, I must say the dear Baron certainly lived up to his moniker…” Radais noted.
“I’m confused, why do the pirates care about having a king?” Xion questioned. “They’re pirates; they're by definition lawless.”
“Well, not entirely lawless…” Larxene explained, “There needs to be a certain degree of cooperation for pirates to exist. After all, someone needs to build and maintain the ships; there needs to be a place to hire crew, buy supplies, and handle the sort of boring but necessary logistical work that comes with running a pirate ship.”
“That’s what this city is then?” Xion guessed.
Larxene nodded, “Exactly, and in order to support the specialized jobs like shipbuilding, or safe trade of supplies some societal structure is needed, and for that, you need someone in charge to keep everyone else in line and playing far.”
“Wow, you sound like Radias but about pirates,” Zhanatos noted with a grin.
Larxene giggled, “Well, it is my passion.”
The team turned their attention back to the Ringmaster. “Just a reminder this is a winner take all battle royal to the last man standing… that means ANYONE even you folks sitting in the cheap seats can join in and take your shot. Competitors are allowed to use any magic or weapons they desire, and team-ups are allowed but there can only be one king. Battles will be to the death or submission. So, if you are going to make your claim for the crown… best make peace with your maker first. And before you think about joining in, let's meet some of the competitors.”
On queue large gates spread out equally around the perimeter of the arena swung open and figures began making their way to the stage. Judging by the crowd's reaction, these were probably all high-level legendary members of the pirate community.
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“First we have a new up-and-comer… a gorgeous gorgon from the distant west DIVA JONES the MISTRESS OF TIDES!” With all the flare of a theatrical production, a tall lithe green skinned snake woman slithered into the arena followed by an entourage of other gorgon pirates. The arena rumbled suddenly and water began flooding in through the tunnel through which the gorgons entered. At first, it appeared as if the crew of snake people were going to be washed away, but instead, the water lifted them as if it were a group of servants carrying their masters upon their shoulders. The water didn’t flood the arena as one would expect, instead, it maintained a coherent stable mass carrying Diva Jones and her crew to the waiting stage whereupon it delivered them and then quickly flowed away back from where it came.
“Ah ‘Mistress of Tides’ as in ‘hydromancer’. She can control water much the same way Theion commanded the earth.” Radais explained to the group.
Larxene added, “This part of the show intended to allow all the heavy hitters to show off their power. While anyone CAN enter the competition it would be utter chaos if everyone that possibly could did so. There still needs to be enough people left over to run the town after the new sovereign is crowned so these displays of power ensure only serious contenders are willing to get involved.”
The Ringmaster continued: “Next we from the Beastlands of the far south… the lion whose roar causes the ocean quake, the terror of Wincam… REDMANE THE SEASPEAKER!” The imposing ten-foot-tall lion beastman figure emerged from the arena tunnel and began marching towards the stage with his crew following behind him. The rest of the crew were beastmen like the captain himself. They were predators of all sorts: wolves, tigers, bears, etc. While beastmen tended to lack magic powers, Redmane himself being a rare exception, their physical prowess more than made up for it.
“That’s why he did it…” Radais stated with a gasp drawing the attention of his friends. “Why he destroyed Wincam I mean… he couldn’t show off the power of the kraken here; it would destroy the city he was seeking to control. So he took out the closest town instead…”
“He destroyed a whole town JUST to show that he could?” Xion asked in disbelief.
Radais nodded. “In a sick way, it makes sense. Wincam is close enough that the denizens of Neptune’s Hold were probably able to watch the destruction happen via divination magic or telescopes… seeing that kind of destruction up close will probably deter the other competitors from attacking him. “
“But… they’ll have to beat him to win the crown, right?” Zhanatos asked.
“SOMEONE will have to yes, but remember the idea is to be the last one standing. It is a marathon, not a race. Most of the other competitors will decide to hang back and hope someone else will deal with Redmane while focusing on other opponents. This frees up Redmane and his crew to save their strength for the deciding battles at the end.” Radais hated to think of such an evil tactic as clever, but it was. He squinted trying to see if Redmane had the Dragon Gemstone Elderman White spoke off, but he was too far away.
After a few other major players were introduced the Ringmaster presented the final competitor.
“And now… last but by no measure least we have the current king of Neptune’s Hold and winner of the Clash of Kings for three decades running… he is the THUNDER--” A crack of thunder boomed through the arena, causing the ground to shake. “--he is … THE
LIGHTNING!--” a bolt of blue light suddenly struck the stage in a fantastic display of magical power. “He is the current king of all pirates… ERIC MAELSTROM THE STORMBINDER!” Ringmaster gestured to the spot where the stage was still smoking from the lightning strike as a tall, heavily built figure adored in regal pirate attire with long gray hair strutted forward. Unlike all the other competitors the king did not have a crew with him indicating his intent to fight all challengers by himself.
The crowd cheered wildly; even the other contenders who would soon be trying to kill him to take the title for themselves bowed in respect.
A pair of helpers brought a large stone column and glass case to the stage and set them up between Ringmaster and the Stormbinder.
“Are you ready, my lord?” Ringmaster inquired to which the king manifested his Arcane Record and projected it as large as possible over his head so the whole arena could see it. The record scrolled to achievement labeled 'Sovereign of Pirates’ which faded out as he removed his crown and set it into the box. This act was to show the crown's authenticity and demonstrate that beyond a shadow of a doubt that whoever earned said crown would be king. “Alright, competitors to your starting positions. We shall begin at the strike of midnight!” He pointed to a distant clocktower which showed the time to be 11:31. “And as one last reminder, since this a fight for the town… the WHOLE town shall be a battlefield, so if you’re not intending to fight, I’d find someplace to hunker down till the new sovereign is crowned.”
With that final announcement, people began to exit the arena either to find a place to stay out of the fight or a place to join in. Radais and the team waited for the crowd to thin out before they made their way back to the vantage point near the secret tunnel through which they entered.