Moonshadow vs. Grolsch of Bols
Ultrann floats high above the middle of his new Arena as the stragglers in the audience make their way to their seats. "Welcome again, one and all to Ultrann's Arena!! Today you will witness the powered fists of iron, Moonshadow, take on my trusted man-at-arms, Grolsch of Bols! Yes, indeed I shall call this match The Fists of Iron vs. the Man of Steel!" With the increasing cheer of the crowd, Ultrann floats back to his seating for a better view of the action. "Begin combat!"
With that, the hooded one called Moonshadow appears in front of the east gate. While his face remains covered by his cloak, he raises his open palms to the crowd, showing off his crescent-shaped tattoos on his palms. The crowd cheers in response to this bravado. Mere seconds later, the crowd begins to cheer more. He is confused for a split second, because he does not see his opponent anywhere. The hooded one suddenly realizes that his burly warrior opponent must have come out the south gate, obscured by the pillar between the two gates. He quickly dashes along the southeast wall, sling in hand. Indeed, he sees his opponent by the south gate. He quickly fires off a sling bullet, grazing his opponents' left shoulder. Grolsch, despite his large size, begins a hasty dash towards the hooded one and starts spinning his spiked chain around. He stops a few paces from his opponent and swings the spiked chain. Despite Moonshadow's best efforts, it strikes him squarely in the chest, tearing his cloak, knocking back his hood, and spraying the ground with blood.
Moonshadow acrobatically moves to within feet of his opponent, missing the spinning of the spiked chain. He strikes at the burly man-at-arms, but the power of the kick seems to have not penetrated through his opponent's chain armor. Grolsch laughs, pulls his chain in a little, and swings at the monk's shoulder, striking hard and again tearing the iron-man's cloak. The crowd roars, anticipating a kill is near. The burly warrior bellows, "Have you had enough, there son?", before stepping back to admire his damage dealt so far. With two massive wounds, Moonshadow decides that a safer locale and strategy is needed. He tumbles back, again avoiding his opponents chains, and moves behind the pillar. The crowd lets out some boos.
Grolsch, chains still swinging, begins moving toward the pillar, not immediately sure which side his opponent might be positioned. On the other side, Moonshadow pulls a potion from his pouch and quickly consumes it, boosting his energy and vitality. He tries to climb the pillar, but is unable to immediately get a solid grip. Grolsch, trying to hear his opponent's position through the rumblings of the crowd, decides to cautiously go around towards the north side of the pillar. Just as he gets near where his opponent is, Moonshadow successfully scoots up the side of the pillar and fires off a sling bullet at the man-at-arms. It strikes him in the head, causing him to bellow in pain, and creating a small trail of blood. Grolsch attempts to scale the pillar to get at his opponent, but falls down when almost at the top.
Moonshadow fires off another bullet, striking Grolsch in the chest. In return, Grolsch manages to scale the wall quickly, pulls out his spiked chain and swings at the bullet-slinger. Moonshadow manages to flatten himself to the pillar, narrowly avoiding a blow. He quickly pops up, swings a fist but the burly warrior dekes out of the way. Grolsch whips up the speed of his spiked chain while scurrying a little to the side. He swings at his unarmed enemy and this time strikes true - again to Moonshadow's chest. A great deal of blood is spilled, and Moonshadow senses his life essence ebbing.
Thinking this may be his last chance, he lets out a loud "Kiaiaiiiiii!!!" and jump-kicks his opponent. The blow lands solidly to Grolschs' chest, stunning him and staggering him to the edge of the pillar. The crowd roars at this seeming turning of the tides. While Grolsch tries to clear his head, Moonshadow realizes that it is best to break out another of his tools. He steps back a few feet from his opponent, pulls out a small bag, and smacks Grolsch solidly with it. A goo splatters all over Grolsch, from head to toe. He realizes that he cannot move, but he pulls out his bastard sword to chop off the quick-hardening goo. Moonshadow quickly fires off two quick punches at his distracted enemy, striking him most effectively on the second attack. Indeed the tide has turned!
Grolsch again hacks at the hardened goo, enough to free his feet from its stationary position. He leaps down the pillar's south side and begins to ready his bow and arrows. Moonshadow moves to the south side of the pillar and fires off another sling bullet. He hits Grolsch solidly in the left shoulder, before jumping down from the pillar to the north side. Grolsch haltingly moves to the east to have a clear shot at his now land-based opponent. He misses widely with his arrow. The crowd is really enjoying this seeming turn of events, which appears to be favouring Moonshadow. This is confirmed when the hooded one fires and hits with another sling bullet before moving to the west side of the pillar. The west crowd begins to yell "Moon!" while the east responds with "Shadow!"
Grolsch, clearly hurting and frustrated, moves back to his former position, sees his enemy, and fires off another arrow. It heads straight for Moonshadow's chest, before becoming quickly deflected by the fast-handed one. Grolsch curses under his bushy beard. The monk again fires off a sling bullet, hitting, before moving back to the other side of the pillar. Grolsch drops his bow and makes a bee-line to the north east side of the pillar, with spiked chain in hand. He sees his enemy pressed up against the side of the pillar to provide some margin of cover. Unfortunately for Moonshadow, the chain has a 10 foot reach. Grolsch flicks the spike chain, smashing the Man with the Iron Fists squarely in the left shoulder. Moonshadow screams in pain, clutches his seeping, bleeding wound and falls unconscious to the arena floor.
The crowd goes silent in a collective sigh. Then cheers begin to erupt, as the crowd begins to say "Grolsch, Grolsch Grolsch!!". Despite the raining down of adulations, Grolsch's first move is to try and quickly bind his profusely bleeding opponent's wounds as the clerics quickly rush to the scene. When they stop the flow of blood, Grolsch then begins to walk around the centre of the arena, spinning his spiked chain around, acknowledging the crowd.
Grolsch (NPC): 450xp, 176gp You won, but you received some humility. Don't underestimate your opponent's abilities! Full healing.
Moonshadow: 600xp, 176gp You pulled off some nice moves on a superior opponent! You will do well in this Arena. Full healing and a new cloak.