Blood on the Sands

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  Thread: Under Two Brutal Suns
  

Game Description

Unwelcome Drinking Partners

Valrik winced slightly as the hot dry air blew through the pavilion. It was late in the afternoon, but the two Athasian suns still burned furiously in the sky. As hot as it is in the shade of the tent, the heat outside without the protection of the shade was lethal. Still, at least the wind stirred the air, granting some small measure of relief. A ceramic goblet full of wine was sat in front of him. Valrik looked up and smiled at the pretty red-haired half-elf barmaid. "Anything else I can do for you?" The girl smiled playfully at Valrik, with a playful glint in her eyes, and a sly smile on her full lips. Valrik was about to ask what she had to offer when he noticed her eyes widen with alarm, staring at something behind him.

Valrik could hear the scuffling of several pairs of feet as they retreated.. Save for two pairs of feet moving to either side of him, still to his back. Valrik calmly took a sip of his wine, and exhaled long and slow through his nose. He knew what was to happen. "You cost me much coin today Valrik. I thought we had come to an agreement." The harsh and raspy elven voice belonging to the elven gangster Rhyese was instantly recognizable.

"I told you that I would not throw the match. So you cost yourself a lot of coin Ryhese. And, by the sounds of it, it seems like you wish to lose much more still. You and your friends should go home. Coin can be replaced. Blood, not so much." Valrik's voice as calm and even as he remained seated with his back towards those who wished to confront him. The uneasy shuffling of feet of Rhyese's thugs let Valrik know that his words, and his reputation as a gladiator was having its intended effect.

"It is you who will lose blood scum!" The elf yelled as he pulled an obsidian short sword and moved forward, with the others following suit. The gang members may have thought they had the advantage in their numbers, and the fact they were armed, while their prey was not. But a gladiator is never truly unarmed, and events would play out very differently than the gangsters intended. As fast as a serpent, Valrik was out of his seat, facing one of his foes. The human male that was on Valrik's left when he was seated, found himself on the ground in a heartbeat, pain lancing up his arm, his wrist wrenched at an odd angle. The man's sword, now in Valrik's left hand, pierced the heart of the female mul who was coming in on Valrik's left. Her eyes were wide with shock as she fell to the ground, with her sword finding its way into Valrik's right.

The attack by Valrik, and his casual dispatch of two foes caused Rhyese and his compatriot, another human male, to stop short. The man looked first towards the man rolling on the ground howling in pain, then towards the growing pool of blood under the mul woman. he then looked at Valrik, standing tall and armed, and without so much as a single cut. The man looked at the tall elf, then back at the gladiator, and his courage broke. Rhyese was startled as the man fled into the street. "COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!!" The elven crimelord raged impotently at his minion. With a twisted face and screaming in inarticulate rage, the elf gang leader leaped at the human warrior...

When a templar and her guards arrived at the scene of the disturbance, they found two dead. One a mul women, and the other an elven male, with two obsidian short swords stuck in his chest. Their killer was gone, as was the man with the broken wrist. Any coin they may have carried long since gone, stolen either by the killer or the bystanders, or both. The templar grew angry as what witnesses she could find gave differing descriptions of the events and of the perpetrator, and even what direction he or she may have fled.

This is a game for Second Edition AD&D set in the harsh world of Athas, the Dark Sun setting. I will be using the original setting, not the revised boxed set that came out later. The game starts ten years before the events of the Prism Pentad. Kalak is alive, and he has just started construction of his Grand Ziggurat.

If you ever wanted to play truly powerful characters, Dark Sun is the setting for you. Truly high stats, powerful and dangerous magic, as well as psionics are all plentiful here. Be warned however, the foes are equally dangerous. The very flora and fauna are dangerous, as his the climate. Athas is a desert world burning under two suns. Evil Sorceror-Kings rule over legions of freemen and slaves alike with an iron fist. Undead are varied, and numerous. If the creatures, residents, or even the weather does not kill you, maybe you can make a place for yourself.