"Oh Heck, That's Right," Said My Players During the Recap
The Manticore
The company, having never before witnessed such a fearsome beast, stands in shocked terror as the manticore spreads its wings. Jim and Maurice are completely overwhelmed and flee back up the stairs, only to find themselves hemmed in by more of the cult’s pit fighters. Jim falls under a hail of axe blows. Maurice flees across the arena, preferring the open space above to the manticore’s lair below. He peppers his attackers with arrows as they pursue him.
Several of the company realize, despite their fear, that the manticore is hungry, injured, and gravely mistreated by the cult. Garnier, Andre, and Sir Henri spspsps at the manticore as if it was a big housecat, and try to persuade it to attack the cultists instead of them. They are aided by Pierre, who nearly tears off the rearmost cultist with a shot from his crossbow, spraying blood everywhere.
The manticore, realizing that the company bears it no particular ill will, and realizing that its tormentors are nearby and smell delicious, attacks and devours the wounded cultist. Sir Henri and Garnier force back the cultists that they are fighting, so that they are within reasonably easy reach of the manticore.
Andre and the Bedraggled Prisoner
Andre once again has a strange
moment of dissociation, where he feels himself psychically linked to the
bedraggled prisoner who helped him escape the cultists’ cells. He sees himself,
as the prisoner, engaged in pitched combat with several cultists and beast men.
Not quite knowing how, Andre “loans” some of his strength to the warrior, whose
situation seems far more desperate. He watches in satisfaction as the prisoner
fights on, slaughtering his foes.
Realizing that Maurice and Jim
have retreated up the stairs, Andre follows, only to find Jim unconscious,
bleeding, and surrounded by pit fighters, and Maurice fleeing across the arena.
He calls down to the others and Magnus, hearing that Jim is unconscious, grabs
his magic knife, foams at the mouth, and comes roaring up the stairs.
This turns out to be fortuitous as Andre, significantly weakened by his psychic link with the prisoner, is unable to pierce his foes’ defenses. Magnus, terrifyingly, has no such trouble.
The Battle Continues
As the manticore polishes off the cultists, Sir Henri sees several reinforcements, led by the cult’s high priest and sorcerer, charging toward them. Fortunately, the manticore, its anger and appetite still not sated, rounds on them, giving Sir Henri a chance to rally the others. The company splits into two fronts—half go back up the stairs to support Andre and Magnus, while half go down the corridor to defeat the approaching cultists and aid the bedraggled prisoner.
Once Sir Henri gets close enough, he realizes, to his utter shock, that the prisoner is none other than his old mentor, Sir Jean-Marc Dubois. Seeing that Sir Jean-Marc is fighting with a stolen shield and blade, he grabs his mentor’s recently recovered war hammer and tosses it to him. There is a dramatic slow motion shot and a heavenly choir as Sir Jean-Marc snatches his hammer out of the air and lays all about him, smashing in the heads of the remaining cultists.
Sir Henri, momentarily distracted by his actions, is nearly seared by a chaos bolt thrown by the high priest. A shield bash and a mace strike later, and the cult is, effectively, beheaded.
The manticore, still enraged, bounds up the other steps to the surface, stinging and mauling cultists in its wake.
Magnus
"Blood for the Xanthic Lord!" Um...What?!
Back in the arena, the remainder
of the company quickly finish off the pit fighters, while Pierre successfully
stabilizes Jim. Magnus, enraged, wielding his knife, and having no further foes
to fight, turns his anger on Sabina. He begins screaming barely comprehensible
nonsense, about the “Xanthic lord, he commands me! I understand why she served.
The bloodshed. It is glorious! I will finish what they started. Yes! Yes!”
His rampage is only stopped when Renee nets him. Pierre pauses in his ministrations long enough to huck dirt in Magnus’ eyes and help the others bring him to the ground. Garnier and Maurice tentatively kick Magnus about the head and neck, hoping to calm him, but fearful that he will remember that they had done so.
It is only when Renee wrestles the knife out of Magnus’ hands that he finally goes quiet, staring off into space.
Andre, who is leaning against the arena doors, exhausted, quietly confides to Garnier that he is very tired and promptly falls asleep on the bloody sandy floor of the pit.
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