Act 2: Upheaval III - The Master Weaver and the Arena

Nadzieja frowns. "You mean in an assassination? Only one person, that I know of. That was over a hundred years ago and the szef responsible for it was denounced by his own clansmen."

"Makara will try to kill Duma if she doesn't know he's got an Orb."

"...Then we'll tell her he has one."

"That's a simple thing. Should we tell her, or would you like to tell her yourself?"

Spellcraft 17

"So long as neither takes too long. I don't want much contact with that woman unless we're prying Edward's location out of her. Preferably in the Arena."

"We can tell her tomorrow at the Arena," Szef Zerva says. "It'd be strange if any of us went to speak to her tonight..."

Konrad:

"Well, I'm not sure if anyone will pull any shenanigans tonight or tomorrow, but seems to me the times for it would be tonight, on the way to the Arena, and in the middle to end portion of the Tournament."

"Well, I do plan to sneak into Duma's residence tonight..."

Steve laughs. "I meant the less benevolent kind. You know, assassinations, attacks on the leadership of Myr, that kind of stuff. Just something to keep in mind for tomorrow."

"I will."

She nods at Steve.

"Well, me and Amber can stick around in case something happens with Duma. You guys ought to go back and check on the crew."

"I could probably turn someone to stone if I really needed to. Otherwise I'm Cantripping and making drinks. Cool for parties, not much else." He shrugs.

Amber is a little surprised to have been volunteered by Mihai, but she doesn't seem to mind. Nadiezja looks at Mihai and says, "I do not mind if you stay, but I won't enter Duma's room for a few more hours. And it'll be safer if I go in alone."

Mihai is none too happy about that - "...Yeah, i'll have to sit it out. No choice, but we'll be here regardless in case you need anything."

"Oh, before we go, where will Amber, Fluffle, and Florolf be during the Tournament?"

The young woman gives a grateful nod at Mihai, Konrad and Amber. "Thank you," she says. "I really appreciate your concern."

Amber answers her with a big smile; she doesn't seem to mind spending the night here at all. Nadzieja then turns to Steve to answer his question. "I have a few seats reserved for my clansmen and allies; I can give them one if need be."

"Seriously?" Amber says. "Like, front row seats?"

"Yes. Would you like one?"

"Hell yeah!"

Nadzieja smiles and then gives an hesitant look at the carbuncle and the fairy. "Uh... how about one seat for both Fluffle and Florolf?"

"Oh, I don't mind!" Fluffle exclaims.

Florolf however yaps in protest.

"Come on, don't be like that," Fluffle replies. "It'd be rude to everyone else if we took one seat each."

The carbuncle lowers his head and pouts.

"See? He says it's fine."

"Give him a couple belly rubs and he'll call it even."

Konrad grins. "Good boy." Aww, he's like one of us now.

"I'm sure he'll cheer up even more after our victory steaks tomorrow. So, how do you tell someone you are done? How do we know when to start fighting or to stop fighting?"

"The referee will tell us when the combat begins," Nadzieja says. "You can either make your opponent surrender, knock them out, or kill them. The last team standing wins." She pauses and then adds something. "Try not to kill them if you can, but do not pull your punches. You cannot underestimate them for a second."

"We need to protect Steve - he's the one that allows us to get away with sparing people. And even then, doing it for two bouts straight may be stretching his Mana."

"Yeah, that's true. We really went the limit today and that was two fights. On the plus side, Konrad is great at blasting things you want down right now so at least I don't have to do everything on the magic front. By the way, who's our fifth in this fight?"