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

The young teenager tries not to grin too much and gives a reassuring nod to her brother. "I'll be careful."

Nadzieja listens to Konrad and asks him, "My friends? What do you mean?"

She doesn't understand who exactly he is talking about.

Mihai shrugs - "Why would they?"

"Geeze, what kind of friends do you think she has Konrad?" Steve laughs.

Nadzieja stares at Konrad and says, "No, they won't."

He smiles. "Good!"

"Not the kind that would do such a thing, of course. The mood sort of falls flat when you have to explain something like this."

"Alright, let's just focus on the now, for... now. We need to go tell Wanda about Duma, before she tries to waste our last Orb. And we still got Anastajza to report to."

He looks at Konrad and Steve - "The Defenders ever bring our stuff back?"

Nadzieja shrugs it off and waits for one of the two mages to answer Mihai's question. Meanwhile, Amber and Fluffle have decided to start counting the amount of money in that bag.

"They did yes. Here you go." Steve gives Mihai his shackles back. "I brought your armor too."

He takes them - "Thanks."

"We should get going now. We still have a few errands to run." He looks at Nadia. "Are we meeting up at the Arena or are you coming with? You're more than welcome if you want to."

"Well, if you want to find Szef Makara, she's at the Arena already. And so is Ms. Zawistowski; in fact, she'll be sitting in one of my seats."

Amber and Fluffle raise their heads, surprised by this tidbit of info. "Really?" Fluffle asks. "So we'll be right next to her?"

The Szef nods.

"...Is it alright if she sees me?" he asks.

"Of course," Amber replies. "Don't even worry about it."

"Excellent! With the time we save I can get some souvenirs for the crew." He smiles at the thought.

"Come to think of it, haven't seen a lot of Fairies in Odwaz besides the ones we brought in."

"I know there's at least one fairy at the Misty Catacombs," Nadzieja says. "It's a small attraction where tourists play the role of adventurers exploring a dungeon."

Amber perks up at that. She looks at Fluffle and says, "...Wanna go later?"

The fairy's eyes widen. "That'd be so fun!"

When Konrad mentions leaving for the Arena, Szef Zerva puts Florolf on the floor, stands up and nods at the mercenaries. "Let's go. Are you all ready? I hope you've brought your weapons."

She says this while looking at Waterglass.

Mihai checks Waterglass' harness with a light tug, then hoists it over his shoulder. Then glances at the Carbuncle - "Well, i think he was hoping for another rub or two, but that aside, yeah."

Steve stands up and picks up his staff. "I'm always ready." He strikes a heroic pose, but ruins it by making a funny face.

Konrad pats his sword. "We have. I see you have yours at the ready," he jokes.

"They're always with me." Nadzieja shows him her fists. "Well, let's go then."

She walks toward the exit and waits for the rest of the party to follow her. Amber and Fluffle drop the pieces of gold they were counting back into the Bag of Holding and stand up from the couch. As for Florolf, he trots behind everyone else, still a little sleepy.

Steve follows with a bounce in his step. Waiting is always the worst part of a mission and he's glad to finally be doing this.

Mihai finishes fastening the sword's harness, then follows.

Shame she isn't brandishing the other set of natural weapons, the red mage thinks to himself as he steps confidently with the Szef from Cland Zdetermiwa. "The chump who's been swayed by that which sways" may have to suffice for my cover story, though it isn't completely false...

10:32 AM, 6th of April 422
The Arena, Odwaz, Myr

The adventurers follow Szef Zerva into a coach that was waiting for her in one of the courtyards of the Faculty. It takes fifteen minutes before the party arrives at their destination; the large plaza that surrounds the Arena. Long lines of people have already formed at the Arena's entrances and judging by how slow they're advancing, it might take another hour before everyone takes their seat.

For those who prefer to wait until the last minute, multiple stalls have opened for this special day and offer knickknacks and souvenirs of all types to the nearby tourists; key chains, wooden sculptures, colorful blankets, Myrzen-style clothes, paintings, board games and much more. There are even food vendors who sell anything that is easy and quick to cook, such as; hamburgers, hot-dogs, corn dogs, onion rings, Lofellian fries, cotton candy and sweet apples.

Amber and Fluffle are amazed by this sight. Thousands of people are walking through these stalls, all here to watch the Szefowie and their champions fight in the Arena. There are even a few fairies who seem quite excited to witness History play out in front of them.

Florolf isn't quite thrilled by this mass of people however. The poor carbuncle is tremblings by Steve's side, wary of anyone who approaches the group.

"That's not quite how I imagined it," Nadzieja says.

It's hard to hear her voice when there are so many people gathered at the same place.

Arena:

Steve picks up Florolf and comforts him by patting and petting him. "There's so many people! I'm totally getting a corn dog. Would you like one too, Florolf?"