The All-Taverns Tournament: Infirmary

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian frowned slightly as she watched the healers in the room go about their business. They were...lacking compared to her usual standards. If she'd found the hospital in Storm's Edge in such a state of disarray, whoever was responsible for the deplorable conditions would quickly find themselves scrubbing surgical tools until a proper physician could take them in hand. Even in the middle of the siege they'd been able to properly deal with dirty bandages and the like, and Rharne was hardly under siege. Besides, the first round had just finished, so where had all this come from. Then she frowned deeper at that last thought, as it either meant they hadn't cleaned up since the last time they'd had fights in this arena or there'd been some sort of trouble.

As Tristan and Faith got to work, Vivian walked around the infirmary checking on things. Her powers were healing her own, admittedly minor, wounds well enough that she was in no need of treatment, so she had no need of medical services. Vivian herself had no medical training and relied entirely on supernatural means to provide healing, so when Faith said they would focus entirely on mundane medicine for now, Vivian nodded. "In that case, Doctor, I'll be doing my own job until it's time for the next round." she said, her expression turning business like. Meanwhile, Vivian and Fins overheard Chester's conversation with Tristan. The little shark dog let out a growl that sounded more fitting for Pakse, Vivian's Rottweiler, then jumped out of Vivian's arms and into the closest wall of the infirmary.

The Warden Diri was fit to deal with matters spiritual, so Vivian started picking up the dirty bandages and disposing of them as Faith said. That is, until one of the healers that appeared to be working here walked close enough that Vivian, now with her usual speed and reaction time back in place, was able to snap a hand out and grab the healer's arm. "I think an explanation for this infirmary's condition is in order." she said, her tone very direct. "The date for this tournament was not unknown and this kind of thing can be dangerous. It should not have taken the most famous physician in the world to get this place up to basic standards." she said, her voice dropping to the same low growl she used when one of the knights under her command screwed the pooch. "So why is it that the infirmary hosting our Lady's tournament is in worse condition than the Storm's Edge hospital was during an active siege?" she said, her expression grim.

Meanwhile, Fins approached Chester. The shark dog's eyes had rolled into his head like he was getting ready to take a bite out of the cat spirit and his body language indicated that he in no way considered Chester a friendly. "So, you're a Melrathi Spirit?" he said, his voice a low growl. "And just what is it that makes you think you merit a meeting with Ilaren when you've done nothing to earn that privilege?" he said, starting to move in a slow circle around Chester. "You don't appear to be a Warden Spirit, so it's unlikely you're here representing an Induk or anything of the sort." he said, his tone cold. "So, with that in mind, what's got you so interested in meeting the Lady that you're willing to risk severing your bond in a foreign land over it?" he asked.

[Pig Boy]

The All-Taverns Tournament: The Infirmary

8th of Zi'da 721

The nurse would approach, as bidden by Tristan, to provide assistance to Elisabeth as she attempted to treat her own wound. She said to Elisabeth, "Excuse me, would you need an extra pair of hands? Applying wraps or gauzes can be difficult with just your own."

Then, Tristan walked over to the Wall, to whom he introduced himself and asked where it hurts. General doctoring questions of the type. The Wall winced, and rubbed his abdomen, and also his lower left rib. "Yeah, right there and there. I don't think I broke anything, but that lizard hits hard."

If Tristan looked, he would confirm that no bones had been broken, and there didn't appear to be any internal bleeding from blunt force. Even so, he was beginning to develop the beginnings of a welt and bruise at both locations. So Tristan made the right call of asking for some ice, rest, and painkillers to bear the brunt of the recovery.

Magnus took the water decanter, and drank it down greedily. He seemed much more refreshed afterward, as his nausea from the punches to the head and oxygen deprivation were relieved by the soothing waters. "Thanks, but I'm out of the fight." He rubbed his head, sitting up to take more of the water. "Thanks, though."

Fintan could see a bit better around the room, as it flitted up toward the ceiling, to get a bird's eye view of the space. She would see the diri of communication, and know it's purpose and concept. It was tied to Duke Venora, and meant to facilitate his role as a diplomat, but something was shakey about that connection at present. Like a cat tugging on a yarn.

She'd also notice the other spirits all around, that were within the room currently.

Apart from that, her quick sweep of the room with a glance, to ascertain the social situation would show that there was a sense of social cohesion among the handmaidens of the 'Mistress' who were ostensiblly healers. But they appeared ill at ease with the introduction of volunteers. She could also see that the Mistress wasn't entirely pleased with the introduction of volunteers, and even victors into the infirmary. She did seem to gravitate toward the Angler, for as long as he was able to tolerate her, anyway. The Order members present were too preoccupied with cleaning up and trying to establish a semblance of order to have much social interaction with the handmaidens of the mistress. Otherwise, they kept to their tasks, until Faith came on to begin taking charge of the situation.

Faith took command of the situation, though she'd been reluctant at first.

Soon enough, the handmaiden healers were falling in line, by sheer magnetism of Faith's leadership and experience in the field of healing. They all knew her reputation, of course, and though they seemed to drag their feet at times, they were willing to at least keep up appearances.

The blue cloak on hand, who Faith called upon, nodded to her, and then pointed toward the cabinet. "Professor Augustin, I took the liberty of bringing some supplies from the Earth Quarter Outpost, and placed them in that cabinet. I had a feeling things may not be up to snuff... Can't place why though." That said, the man in the blue cloak went to check on Dirt Pie, who was now groaning on his infirmary bed. But at least he was conscious. The Blue cloak fetched a clean bucket for him to vomit if he needed to, and also arranged for some anti-inflammatory herbs for him to chew while he checked his head wound for signs of bleeding.

Then Faith turned her attention to the Angler. He was in a fury still, but managed to calm considerably when Faith began taking charge of his care. There was definitely something off in his temper, but Faith couldn't quite place it. As she glanced at the Mistress, she would note a cold feeling of emptiness. Vaguely, she could perceive a sigil that formed the shape of an eye, but it was only a faint glimpse. Otherwise, this woman appeared only to serve herself. A look at the others there, the handmaidens of the mistress would show a stronger vision of the eye sigil sans the cold feeling of self-service. Apart from that, the fighters appeared to owe their allegiance to the usual suspects of 'ordinary people'. The State of Rharne, their family, their employer, etc.. And of course the Order members owed their loyalty to Faith for the most part as part of their position.

When she managed to graze the woman with her ankle, she would note that her blood makeup was entirely normal for a human. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

The Angler checked out fine for now, and his bandages seemed to be properly applied, if hastily done. There was no numbness in his extremities, and no signs of intoxication.

Vivian grabbed one of the order member healers, and they gave her a puzzled look. "I'm only a green cloak, here to volunteer! We just got here, they kept us out until just a few breaks ago, and we've been cleaning up ever since." He'd shake his arm to try and get Vivian to back off. "Now please, we have patients and a space to sort out."

Chester purred at Fins as it tugged at the bond that it'd formed with Tristan stubbornly. "Oh what have we here... A friend, a Induk spawn? No indeed I am not tied to any specific Induk, but am a wandering spirit that just happened to find his way to Duke Venora's shadow. He did make a promise, but I'm more than willing to alter the conditions of that deal in order to preserve our bond. I would very much like to meet Ilaren please. Or perhaps even Lovalus. But that can wait until later perhaps?"

Chester faded from view, and then reemerged closer to Fins. "But you, my friend, are a fascinating specimen. I wonder... How short a leash your mistress keeps you on?"

[Tristan Venora]

Tristan was truly relieved that Faith was here with him that trial – and he was impressed on top of it. Faith had thought of things that he hadn’t even considered so far, such as attaching a pillowcase at the bottom of each bed that the used items could be dropped into. She also seemed to have come to the conclusion that triaging the new arrivals upon entering the Infirmary would be a better idea than sticking them into different wards. The handmaidens of the mistress, he observed, did as they had been told, and even the Angler seemed to grow calmer.

No, he amended, he was not simply impressed, he was proud of Faith.

When she asked him to test the lung capacity on both sides, he nodded and immediately turned back to his patient in order to do just that. He explained what he was doing, too, because a patient should know what was being done to them in his opinion. Fortunately, the Wall’s injuries were not as bad as they could have been. He couldn’t notice any signs of broken bones or internal bleeding. He simply seemed to develop the beginnings of a welt and bruises.

His initial assessment had been correct. “The ice will help reduce the swelling, and the painkillers will ensure that you are comfortable. I want you to always take them before the pain starts to get too bad, but there is a maximum amount that you can take per trial”, he told him and proceeded to name the maximum dose. Some people, he suspected, were at risk of taking too many painkillers for the sake of comfort.

“Apart from that, you just need some rest and take it easy for a while, and you should heal just fine”, he told him with a smile before he added, “You did a great job, by the way. That Praetorum was quite an opponent.” He hadn’t said that because he wanted to make the Wall feel better, but because he truly thought so. He was impressed by anybody who fought one of those Ithecal. They were not only pretty big and heavy; they also had a tail in addition to the usual four limbs which gave them an advantage.

Unless the Wall needed more from him, he proceeded to let his gaze sweep across the room in order to figure out if his skills as a healer might be needed somewhere else, taking note of how Vivian was checking on things and talking to a healer and Elisabeth seemed to be doing fine in the process – the nurse he had talked to had walked over to her.

He was not only proud of Faith, he was also a little proud of himself, he decided, because he had come a long way since the early trials in Rynmere. He had even learned to heal people!

His pride – and his relief at seeing the situation in the Infirmary improved – didn’t last long though. He had wanted Chester to help him because something was a little off in his opinion, but his feline friend seemed to be less than inclined to help him figure out what was going on. When the diri reminded him of their pact, he told him through their telepathic connection, “You know why we had to leave Melrath. Did you honestly want to risk being consumed by the Sleeping Heart? The Creeping, Sleeping Heart will consume all of Melrath, spirits, mortals, and all”, he reminded him, repeating what the Tunawa had said back in Ymiden – due to Vri’s Blessing, he could remember everything perfectly.

His question had, of course, been a mostly rhetorical one. He didn’t think that anybody wanted to be consumed.

“Should an opportunity present itself, I’ll introduce you to Ilaren though. Did you know that I met her before, back in Rynmere?” he asked in order to hopefully pique his bondmate’s curiosity. “And did you know that I’m not the only Duke in the family? Granny Ebony used to be one of the most powerful people in Rynmere. Only the king was definitely more powerful, and he’s probably dead now. You could have it much, much worse, especially here, in a foreign land where you don’t know anybody”, he added in a somewhat sly tone of voice (He could be sly as well if he wanted to!), in case Chester sought the company of famous people.

“Is there any way I can persuade you to help me now, after all?” he asked. “Thank you for being my bondmate, and my friend, by the way”, he added in a gentle tone of voice (provided that you could have a tone of voice if you were communicating telepathically).

On some level he wondered if he ought to be mad (or rather madder) at Chester because he seemed to be willing to risk their bond over meeting Ilaren, but being friendly and persuasive was more likely to work in his opinion.

Besides, he liked Chester even now, when he was being just a little unreasonable and ungrateful. And if he made him feel a little guilty about being so willing to abandon his closest companion in the process by reminding him how good he had it … well, that would be a welcome side effect!

Before long, Tristan focused his attention on the people in the Infirmary again though because this was where he was needed the most at the moment. “I brought a couple of supplies as well”, he remarked to Faith and pointed at his healer’s kit – he’d heard the Blue Cloak’s statement that he had had the feeling that things might not be up to snuff – before he leaned closer to her.

He was not the most suspicious of people – he preferred to be relaxed and have fun rather than always worrying that something bad might happen – but what the Green Cloak had said to Vivian puzzled him a little, to be honest.

“Why was the Infirmary such a mess when the Order arrived?” he whispered to Faith – because it had certainly sounded like that. There were fights in this location on a regular basis, but you’d think that people would make sure that the Infirmary was in decent shape before such a big event.

He didn’t know if the Mistress and her handmaidens had really engaged in a bit of fighting of their own, but it was the only explanation that he had been able to come up with so far.

“Is there anything else that I can do, by the way?” he added and made a step away from her before he let his gaze sweep over his surroundings once more, trying to figure out where his attention might be needed next. He wanted to make himself useful some more until the start of the next round because that was what he had come here for.

[Faith Augustin]

8th Zi'da 721

During her twenty two arcs on Idalos, Faith had learned a lot of things. She'd also been accused of a lot; everything from murder to sacrificing souls. But, Faith had gotten where she was by the hard work she put in; and that was invariably the thing which irritated people, she thought.

So, over the course of the arcs since Tristan had asked her that fateful questions, Faith, do you want to be free?, the question for which she would always be grateful to him for, Faith had learned not to care, at all, what people thought about her. Other people's opinions of her were irrelevant, and so if the "Mistress" didn't like this, frankly she could do the other thing with it.

But it was when she saw the sigil that Faith's brow furrowed slightly. PB immediately reported it to Ilaren - showing the Immortal the sigil, and pointing out the people there. Meanwhile, Shule, Faith's Warden Diri, did the same to Vivian. She knew that Shule could speak silently to Vivian and no one else - or no other non-Warden - would hear. Faith was clear with Ilaren and with Vivian - she didn't know what the symbol was. But this meant, simply, that she could not trust these people.

"We're going to work on an Orange protocol," she said, firmly, to everyone in there. In the Order, that meant that they were dealing with a difficult situation, one where there was potential risk either to the healers of the patients -or both - but it was not imminent. It meant that people worked in pairs, as a minimum. "That means two things. First, patients are seen in pairs and one of the pairs is an Order member. Vivian, could you please inventory what we've got with Francis, here, please?" Francis being the Blue Cloak. Faith looked at Francis and smiled softly. "I can't thank you enough for doing that, that forethought was excellent. Here's my medical bag, there's a lot in there." There was. Faith's medical bag was a Domain Bag and it had all that they would need.

"Don't know what this eye-symbol is, Lady Ilaren," PB said cheerily to the Immortal, having shown her what he saw. "But they're cold an' Faith doesn't like them. The infirmary was in a hodge podge an' don't tell her I said it, but honestly, she's usually got good taste an' judgement about people, you know."

Once Faith had everything sorted, she turned to Tristan. "Would you see to Elisabeth, please? She seems fine, and if she is able to, we can start getting her out and ready for the next fight." They'd been watching Elisabeth, after all, and so Faith wanted to keep track of what happened. Looking up at Tristan, she smiled at him with deep fondness in her eyes. "I'd like to keep an eye on her, though, so I'd like someone I trust with her and I'll see any discharges before they go. So, just check on her, see what her situation is and make sure she's ready to go, or ascertain if she's not." She wanted to tell him, to warn him, but she couldn't do it directly here. So, instead, she pulled on the information from their past. "I think she might be in the same situation Lady Elyna was in when I came to find you in the night and your cousin and I went to find her, and she was with Marcus. Remember?" Elyna had been in danger - and so Faith wanted Tristan to be warned.

Then, she turned to the "Mistress" who had been - ostensibly - in charge. "Since we're working in pairs - I'll work with you. Lets get on then," she said and would indeed continue to get this place sorted, get the people sorted and healed and ready to face the next round. But she would also make sure that she knew where all these eye-sigil-people were and what was going on with Elisabeth. It might not be connected but she didn't buy that, not at all. "I'm curious," she said, as she gestured for the woman to accompany her to the next bed. "You aren't in the Order. Who put you in charge, and why?"

And as for her answer? Faith would be sure to check, using her Immortal-granted abilities - that this woman was telling the truth.

[Elisabeth Black]

Arc 721, 8 Zida

Go to a little tournament. It will be fun.

That thought floated through her mind, causing a bit of a chuckle. A lot was going on in the infirmary, and it wasn't easy to piece together precisely what Elisabeth was seeing. Vivian was speaking to one of the Order members, demanding an explanation. The mage didn't catch everything said, but it seemed like there had been an issue with the Order healers getting access to the space, which she thought was just a bit weird. Shouldn't they have overseen the area in the first place? Curious.

Her patient, Magnus, accepted the water decanter Elisabeth offered, and his symptoms seemed to ease, which was a relief. She took the decanter and placed it back in her bag when he finished, smiling at the man. "I'm glad you are feeling better. If you happen to have any tips for me on fighting Orias, I'm all ears." Even with all that was going on, Elisabeth didn't lose sight of the fact that she still had another fight coming up, and information was always a good thing.

The green cloak joined them and offered to help Elisabeth with her bandages. "Well, I've just been putting pressure on the wound to staunch the bleeding until someone could look at it. I'm happy for whatever help you can provide." Keeping her tone light and friendly was necessary because the more time she spent within the room, the more suspicious everything became. Something wasn't right, but what was it?

Looking at the Order volunteer, the young woman gave a warm smile, hoping to put the green cloak at ease. "I'm sorry for the troubles you and your Order companions seem to have encountered today. I appreciate your assistance." In Elisabeth's experience, there were a few ways to get information - direct and subtle. She employed direct when it suited her needs, but there were others in room doing that already, so she thought to see if there was anything she could find out Disarming Charisma (Socialization)

Through time, patience, and working alongside others, Elisabeth has developed the ability to attract, charm, and influence the people around her in a subtle manner. Her method of gentle persuasion, coupled with an ability to connect deeply with people and make them feel comfortable, often catches individuals off guard and unaware. Some would even say the ability makes her dangerous...

Because of this ability, people are almost always willing to share just a little more with her than they would otherwise, whether it be a secret or an opportunity they might not have offered to another. Elisabeth must establish a friendly rapport with the individual first, however, through a quick conversation at least.

For pc purposes, this ability doesn't change how a pc feels about Elisabeth or how they view her for pc interactions. She can't make someone like her if they dislike her or force them to tell her anything. to add to the pool of knowledge developing.

Just then, she heard Fintan's voice, tell her what he saw. Many diri were present but one seemed to be a bit different from the rest. Not an Induk diri. It appeared tied to the man it had been speaking to, but Finn noticed something odd about the connection.

Watching the room and listening to the conversations allowed Elisabeth to see things a bit more clearly. There were the Order healers, and then others – not Order healers. Like handmaidens or servants of sorts, who seemed connected to a mysterious woman she didn't recognize, those people all were communicating with each other, but not with the Order healers.

Mistress or whatever - Elisabeth thought she had heard someone call her that - seemed to be unhappy with the introduction of Order members and, well, essentially anyone that wasn't one of hers. And The Angler. She seemed to favor him, although Elisabeth didn't see anything to make her believe the same was true in reverse.

The Angler. He had won, hadn't he? By elimination, Elisabeth went through the chart in her mind, who won, who lost, and the brackets. Vivian was in her bracket, and she couldn't be entirely sure, but there was a possibility The Angler was Vivian's next opponent. He had to be since only four would move on, and she knew all the others.

Her eyes fell to Faith, and it was evident to Elisabeth that the woman was taking matters into her own hands with the strange woman, which relieved her. Faith would have been the first person the young woman would have told of her suspicions, but she didn't want to interrupt her at the moment, and there was someone else she needed to talk to as well.

Elisabeth called over to Vivian, waving her over. If Vivian came over, she would quickly explain what she saw and her concerns, quietly condensing to the most critical pieces.

"That woman Faith is talking to? She's got some connection with The Angler. Call it favoring him, gravitating towards him – it's something. I think you fight him next, but thought you should know regardless. These other people – not the Adunih – aren't happy with the Order healers or any of us being here. I just haven't pinned down why. It's all very odd."

Lifting her thoughts, she spoke to Fintan again. Elisabeth was calm, but she knew there was no way to keep the edge of concern and frustration from Balthazar. Time to send in the diri. "Finn, please find Balthazar and stay with him. Tell him that there is a developing situation and keep his eyes open and stay safe. I'll be out there soon, hopefully, but will let him know if I find out anything else." He likely would be frustrated at the lack of detail in the message, but then again, Elisabeth didn't have a lot of solid information to tell him yet.

"Of course. Be careful yourself, Elisabeth." A flutter of feathers and her diri was off on his mission.

[Vivian Shiryu]

As soon as the healer Vivian had snagged started talking, she let go of his arm. When he explained he didn't know what was up, she nodded. "Sorry, I meant to grab someone who works here full time. My bad." she said, standing up with some of the dirty bandages and taking them the waste bag, or the laundry bag, whichever she was directed to. When Shule, Faith's Warden Diri, explained that the lead healer here had her loyalties elsewhere and that there was an odd symbol at play, Vivian nodded and changed direction. Fins was dealing with Tristan's Spirit and if he felt that important enough to demand immediate attention, she wasn't going to distract him unless it was needed. She approached Faith, and nodded at the little healer's directions before giving her quick thoughts on the matter of the local head healer. "Could be a hireling brought in for the tournament, but that doesn't explain conditions back here, or why they wouldn't bring in the Adunih or assign some of the Knight or Priestess medics to the tournament. Most likely she's permanent staff here. The Lightning Dome is privately owned, might be a good idea for you to have a look at the owners." Vivian said, her tone calm and her voice low. Faith had good instincts and Vivian knew to give her friend's concerns their due consideration. However, that still left the owners of the Lightning Dome as the most immediately obvious candidates for the "Mistress's" boss, and she figured Faith would probably want to look in on that regardless.

"And yeah, I can help take inventory until I'm called back out to the rings." she said, her tone cheerful. Before she joined Francis, she saw Elisabeth call her over. "One moment." she said, before walking over to where the researcher was hopefully getting her leg looked at. When she explained her concerns about the Angler and his potential relationship with the "Mistress". "I'll keep it in mind. Drugs are a potential problem to be aware of. I don't know much about the Angler himself, so I don't know if he's the type to willingly engage in that sort of cheating, but fight fixing is an old, albeit reviled, practice amongst those with bets to win." she said, her tone thoughtful. Then she grinned slightly at Elisabeth. "Lovely place, this infirmary. You'd think a medical facility would be intrigue free, but here we are." she said, before her expression turned serious. "But if they're up to something, they've got some serious sand to be trying it right under the Lady's nose. Wonder if they'd be so sanguine if she popped down here for a visit." she said musingly.

Not she could summon Ilaren right at that particular moment, so she'd have to see if she could get her down there after the next round. In the meantime, however, she turned and joined Francis to head over to the supply cabinets. "So Francis, I'll admit that I don't know what all a hospital is supposed to have, but I can at least count, so if you'll tell me what we need, I'll help as best I can." she said, her tone cheerful. In the back of her head, however, the wheels were turning. It was unlikely that anyone in Rharne was stupid enough to try something hostile with Ilaren in the same building. Outside forces though, they might be that kind of stupid. She was really regretting leaving her equipment at home right now, but she'd have to make do with what she had.

Meanwhile, Fins, who was still talking to Chester, let out a genuinely amused laugh when the Melrathi Spirit asked how tight a leash he was on. "Oh, you're just precious. I figured you'd be familiar with how a partnership works, given you have a partner of your own." he said, genuine amusement in his voice before it turned cold again. "But then, Spirits are worshiped in Melrath, aren't they? I guess all those prayers went to your head, since you seem to have forgotten our nature. We are Spirits, and we fulfill our purpose. We don't jerk around our partners for personal gain." he snarled, open contempt clear in his voice.

[Pig Boy]

The All-Taverns Tournament: The Infirmary

8th of Zi'da 721

The Wall took Tristan's treatment in good humor, and allowed him to apply the painkillers and compress. "Thanks, Doc." he said, "Or should I say Duke? Uhh anyway, thanks." So saying, he nodded to Tristan, indicating that he could very well go and see to another patient, or his errant spirit as the case may be.

Chester was busy pestering Fins, when he heard his bondmate's words in his ears. Chester was conflicted. On the one hand, he missed the realm where spirits were treated with true reverence and even worship. Where spirits were heeded and listened to, and were free to do as they will, regardless of their bonds to this person or that. At the same time, Tristan's talk of introducing him to many interesting people brought him back to center, and he decided he would help the Duke, based on his promise to try and introduce him to Ilaren. "Your sincere attempts to introduce me to Ilaren are well enough, my dear Duke and bondmate. I will gladly help you however you like from now on. What would you have me do?"

Chester gave a sly side-glance to Fins, and muttered out the corner of his mouth, "A short leash it is then. Any spirit worth its own spittle longs to be free and respected. Go on and paw the ground your mistress walks upon then. I will be living in the lap of Luxury with a Rynmere Duke and the Monarch of Rharne." Chester chuckled, then disapoofed in a prismatic mist, reappearing over Tristan's shoulder, ready for him to give orders.

"Afterall, who could resist the earnest friendship of such a charming man."

An announcement went out to the rest of the people in the Infirmary, which included more than a few of the victors. "The next round of fighting will convene in five bits! Be prepared victors! Your time is approaching!"

PB visited Ilaren where she was, in the Victor's Hall. Ilaren gave him a wink, and a thumbs up. "It does sound concerning. It'd be good to keep an eye on her, perhaps." The Immortal replied, pun entirely unintended.

When Faith got down to pairing the healers, things began moving much more smoothly in the vicinity of the Infirmary. Even the "Mistress" seemed more than cooperative to Faith's reckoning, helping her along with the Angler's condition.

When she asked who put her in charge and why, she seemed to think on it a moment. There was a glimmer of perhaps deception or omission as she said, "The ownership of the Lightning Dome put me in charge. This is my place. As for the state of it? I thoroughly apologize. There was an incident earlier... A man caused a bit of chaos among my handmaids and I, and was put into the brig for his trouble."

This said, the announcement came from above, in Ilaren's own voice, "Fighting starts now! Victors better make your way down!"

Magnus thanked Elisabeth as best he could in his current state, and leaned back against the elevated cot he was placed upon, as he drank the last of the water. "Thanks... Good luck yourself. Looks like you're up."

When Elisabeth stopped the nearby healer of the Order, he shrugged at her, but when she asked her question, he opened up a bit more, "There was a fight and a bit of a riot here before, according to the healers working for the Dome. I don't know much beyond that, most of our efforts have been directed toward cleaning things up and putting them to rights for the fighters."

Vivian asked Francis what she could do, and he shrugged once more toward her, "I'm sorry milady, don't you have a fight to get to? Don't worry about us here, Faith and the others got us on the right track. You'd best be moving onto the matches... They're about to start!"

Fins let out his final rebuke toward Chester, and the diri of Communication just sneered and chuckled in his direction, his body curling around Tristan's shoulder. "I know my purpose, little sharkdog. Do you know yours?" This was the last Chester would say to Fins directly at this point, as the matches were beginning, and very soon all the spirits of the participants would be put into temporary stasis.

"The matches begin in thirty trills!" Came Ilaren's voice once more. The Angler popped up off of Faith and the Mistress' table, and muttered, "Thanks dolls. I'll be off now."

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Elisabeth Angelus

Points awarded: 15
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Caregiving: x 1
Detection: x2
Investigation: x3
Medicine: x 2

Renown: 5
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: Healed up for the matches to come.
Wealth Points: none

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Player Name: Tristan

Points awarded: 15
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Etiquette: x2
Socialization: x2
Logistics: x2
Medicine: x2

Renown:5
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: +1 wp contribution from the Lightning Dome, for contributing to the healing of contestants.

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Player Name: Faith Augustin

Points awarded: 15
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Detection: x2
Investigation: x2
Logistics: x2
Medicine: x 1
Leadership: x1

Renown: 5
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: +1 wp contribution from the Lightning Dome, for contributing to the healing of contestants.

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Player Name: Vivian Shiryu

Points awarded: 15
Magic xp: none

Knowledge:

Detection: x3
Endurance: x2
Leadership: x3

Renown: 5
Loot: none
Injuries/Overstepping: none
Wealth Points: none

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: Well the chaos in this thread was legendary, as you are all aware. You all played your parts beautifully with lots of detail and always kept me on my toes, lest I let my hand show.

Elisabeth was uniquely Elisabeth, making herself useful to any and everyone, while trying to figure out information on her next target, I mean opponent. She did very well in that.

Tristan was particularly effective, even though he's just here to have fun, you show him as being skeptically optimistic, which is a wonderfully quirky combination of traits. Still, he's all too willing to help and give air to Faith's suspicions about what's going on here.

Faith was a downright bloodhound here. I figured this event would come and go without much in the way of drama or incident, but then you had to expose my corrupt underbelly . Still it's a good parallel plot, and will probably have significant effects going forward through the event and beyond.

Vivian, poor Vivian. She just wants to honor her Immortal by taking part in the brawl, but it seems events are conspiring against her having a fair fight, as we've found out in the recent bout with the Angler.

Great writing all!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!