Continuing with the adventures of Arcaelus, Brightiron, and Rainer; the trio spent several days out in the wilds of the Elemental Plane of Fire before becoming captured by Salamander slavers. Once they arrived at the fabled City of Brass, it was not long before the three met an odd pair petitioning for their employment with the promise of returning back to the Material Plane. But not until the three survive the arena filled with terrifying fire elementals.
Episode 4/Team BAJA Episode Guide
The sound of the crowd roared from the stands of the coliseum, various beings from elementals to oddities never seen elsewhere cheered as the announcer declared the start of the battle royale. Half a dozen armored fire elementals hovered over the dry, rust color dirt of the arena with large blades made of flames. They encroached closer and closer to the trio and various captives from their cell. Survival of the fittest seemed to be the creed for slaves and captives here, one of the captives, an Azer with a large flaming hammer, charged forward towards the large myrmidons.
Following suit, the remaining combatants went on to contend with their opponents if they had any hope of getting out of the arena intact. Rainer used his powerful roguish skills to toss his newly acquired weapon with dazzling accuracy, striking a crucial point within the elementals’ armor. Meanwhile Arcaelus unleashed a flurry of icy arcane spells at the elementals. The goliath barbarian, Brightiron, charged into the fray with his large greatsword though he learned quickly that the creatures were more resilient than anything he had fought before. A pair of magma imps dodged and weaved through a myrmidon while another fire genasi tried to find a hiding place amidst the chaos.
The crowds continued to cheer as the combat intensified when Arcaelus managed to take down on of the myrmidons with the azer’s aid. Rainer and Brightiron took down another group of myrmidons. But there was still plenty left to contend with and their resources were steadily running low. With a quick inspiration, Brightiron climbed to the top of a 40-foot pillar while the wizard loosened the structure at the ground level. Using the leverage, the goliath directed the pillar toward the remaining myrmidons, crushing them underneath the pillar. The crowd rang wild and cheers erupted from the stands, the fire genasi and tall muscular humanoid emerged from a large platform and began to heal the party. Though the wizard knew of their magical involvement to aid the trio during the contest.
The ground shook and the center of the arena turned molten, bits of the hot rock and sand flew outward until a large shape emerged from the dark underbelly. It beared multiple serpentine heads, each hissing outward, with large red-orange frills, its body seemed to be sheathed in flames. Aracelus quickly noted that it was a fire hydra, similar to the creatures in the material plane but this one was made largely of fire energy.
The group realized that this was an unscheduled event, or more likely the creature broke loose from its cell down below. The large muscular human straightened his bolo tie, retrieved a large axe and began strumming musical strings on it, singing inspirational lyrics to the group. The barbarian took the inspiration and proceeded to strike on the hydra’s heads with his sword while at the same time spinning in a fashion with his unsheathed fallace to release his water. It annoyed the creature to any extent, but it was noted for his efforts. The halfling rogue and wizard unleashed a flurry of attacks but it seemed to do little against the creature. The fire genasi straightened her spectacles and retrieved her holy symbol her chain mail to summon guardian spirits to attack the hydra.
The battle continued but their efforts seemed to do little to affect the creature, the female fire genasi shouted to the stands and pointed to a small box-shaped construct. The automaton pulled a wand from its interior and tossed it over to the genasi cleric, with care she unleashed a destructive ray of black at the creature. The creature howled in pain before it fell, taking a segment of the arena down with it though luckily the party managed to avoid any ill effects. As the dust settled, sirens could be heard all along the arena: “This is an illegal and unsanctioned arena battle, all participants will be detained for questioning and apprehension.”
The large muscular man tightened his crimson bandana and shouted in distress, “how was I suppose to know an illegal offworld deathmatch was illegal!”
Taking the opportunity, the group managed to stow away and ride off on the platform which they subsequently ditched in a nearby building. The trio along with the mysterious pair and the remaining arena survivors escaped to a large compound that seemed akin to a warehouse of some sort. After parting ways with the escaped survivors, the three were formally introduced to the odd couple. The fire genasi, Nuria, was a cleric of Abu-Jagal and the tall, muscle man was named Doctor Roqet, an inventor and craftsman. Both were interested in returning back to the Material Plane, which under normal conditions was a difficult and costly feat.
But the odd duo had recently come to information that would dispel that obstacle, but it required more capable hands and aid which was why the scoped for potential recruits. The trio discussed amonst themselves and agreed that their new ‘friends’ shared similar goals and they needed to return home as well. The group agreed and together they all returned to Nuria’s workshop, dozens of flasks, baubles, and tubes were spread across a large open room. Several bookcases lined one side of a wall, a rather impressive lounge area was still open with large pillows and rugs. A small bar with several casks of alcohol and wine in a corner, and another workshop not far with dozens of blueprints and odd items laid across the floor. Nuria informed the party that they would need to rest before acquiring any new items in preparation for their journey soon. Their destination, a mythical place that might contain a powerful magical artifact to get them home, the catch was that it moves through different planes of existence. Luckily the mysterious place was encroaching on the Elemental Plane of Fire soon, but it would require additional divinations to pinpoint the exact location. The place, as legends called it, was the Vault of Worlds and that this was their only chance for it could take years for it to return back. Faced with this knowledge, the group agree to partner together and tackle their common cause. Later in the evening, Aracelus perused through Roqet’s workstation and noted an odd and yet interesting trinket, the large inventor offered it to the wizard for practical demonstrative purposes. The wizard happily accepted the oddity and began researching more about it while many of the others slept through the night.
What awaits Team BAJA? Find out next time! Thanks for reading, if you could please like, comment, and share. If you want to stay updated with me, please follow our Facebook and Twitter. We have an Instagram for behind the scenes Team BAJA D&D goodies and also boardgaming fun. We have a donate button if you want to help out the site. If you have an inquiries, please email me at: archmage@deathbymage.com. Thanks again and we’ll see you soon!
Death By Mage 