AF31: Theron Daggershield vs. Ace Stevens

[Harthan]

Deadline is Tuesday, January 7th, 11:59pm CST. Extensions available upon request​

 

[Dagger Dias]

Theron's Merry Band Of Misfits

Two Drow Monks of Torm are sitting in the front pews of a sanctuary of their deity's temple in the town of Firemont. They are clad in red robes that have golden wyrm dragons on them, the stained glass windows in the cathedral share a similar design scheme. In walks Spades Clubheart, the bard who eliminated Theron Daggershield in the King's Contendership Gladiatorial Match. He is clad in a dark leather garb on top of a white tunic, both layers of clothing are made out of minotaur hide. He also has dark glasses

Spades: Hey, you with the robes.

One of the monks turns around to respond.

Drow Monk of Torm: Yes, my child? Did you come to hear the message of Torm?

Spades: No. I heard a warrior named Theron Daggershield is resting here in your temple. Give this scroll to him.

Spades hands the monk a scroll and leaves the sanctuary. The screen fades to black and remains black for a few seconds as Kirilah the Paladin and Davivel the Cleric can now be heard speaking.

Kirilah: How is he?

Davivel: Better. He took quite a beating from the other gladiators in that King's Contendership match. If I cast Cure Light Wounds one more time that should be enough for him to regain consciousness.

Kirilah: Do it. Our group is nothing without a leader.

Davivel: Alright, this is my last spell of the day though.

A few seconds pass as Davivel and Kirilah's words are no longer heard. Scene fades in to a view of Theron in a bed with his eyes closed. The bed has red sheets and yellow pillows. Scene zooms out to show Davivel to the right of Theron in a wooden chair and Kirilah kneeling by the bed Theron is in, to his left. The walls of the building are decorated with beautiful depictions of golden colored Wrym dragons on a red background.

Kirilah: He is lucky to be alive after that match. Mystra continues to bless us with her divine intervention.

Theron opens his eyes, and organ music begins to be heard from a nearby chamber. It sounds similar to "Pray For The People's Joy" from Xenogears and continues to play during the conversation.

[YOUTUBE]gT2JmF1AWgs[/YOUTUBE]​

Theron: Where are we?

Davivel: Firemont. It is a larger city south of both Wheloon and Waterward.

Theron sits up in the bed and scratches his head before facing Kirilah.

Theron: The last thing I remember is the King's Contendership match. I was eliminated by a bard.... A BARD! How does a warrior get eliminated by a performer!? Who won that thing anyway?

Davivel: A fearsome gladiator named Beardacus. Turns out he is Redbeard's own son.

Theron gets out of the bed and faces both of his allies.

Theron: Why are we in Firemont?

Kirilah: We took you here so you could recover immediately. This is a temple of the deity Torm, it is safe. Davivel has been casting restorative spells and I have been praying to Mystra for your recovery.

Theron: Thank you both. I was certainly out of my element in that match. I had never faced world caliber gladiators before other than Sealamin, and in the battle against him I had assistance from my Merry Band of Misfits.... But earning my spot in the King's Contendership Match by last eliminating Marrmell in the qualification match right before it was great. I imagine he will want to seek revenge, we still need to find him so I can get back my lucky rubies! Where are the others, are they here as well?

Davivel: Sheshmish went with Keifasar to search for clues regarding any local chapters of the Shar cult. Kayrentia is at the inn watching over our belongings.

Theron: Do they have an arena here in town?

Kirilah: After what you just went through? In Mystra's name, have you lost your mind?

Theron: I loved being in a match with such powerful opponents. I want to feel that type of rush again, besides, the local opponents here could not possibly be as powerful as those I went up against last time.

The door to the chamber opens at this time, and a Drow monk walks in holding a scroll. His robes have the same patterns of golden wrym dragons on a red background that the walls of the temple have.

Drow Monk of Torm: Sir Daggershield. This scroll is for you. I pray that Torm has graced you with a recovery quicker than expected.

Theron takes the scroll and the drow monk exits the room. Theron is looking at the scroll and has his back to his allies, facing the door.

Theron: Strange, you don't see many Drow in this type of environment.

Davivel: (clearing his throat) AHEM. Not ALL Drow are evil you know.

Theron: I didn't mean it that way, Davivel. You were the only Drow I have ever run into up until now who wasn't either cruel or indifferent.

Davivel: I suppose that is true. We never were the friendliest race. I still hate that stereotype though.

Kirilah: What does the scroll say?

Theron: It's an invitation to a comical performance by some bard named Spades Clubheart. The last thing I want to do right now is go watch some bard after being humiliated by one in my match.

Davivel: We should go. Entertainment is good for clearing one's mind.

Theron turns around to face his allies again.

Theron: Maybe you're right. We do need a break from gladiatorial combat, searching for my lucky rubies, and squashing cults of Shar, don't we?

Scene fades out to black and the organ music is no longer heard. Scene fades in to a performance theater with dozens of rows of seats where there is a large crowd waiting on the show to begin. Theron, Davivel, Kirilah, and Sheshmish find 4 empty seats amongst the audience to sit down in. It is mainly elves and dwarves in attendance, but some humans and drow are there as well.

Theron: You know, it will be nice to sit back and enjoy the show tonight. Remember what happened the last time we went to one of these things?

Sheshmish: Yarr, ye mean the time a green dragon flew into the building that we had to slay right as the bards were about to sing? That was a fun night, captain!

Theron: No, that was further back. I'm talking about the time we had to go up into the rafters to fight off a horde of dire rats and a giant octopus.

Davivel: Ha ha ha! Yes! Our battle with the octopus was more entertaining than the bardic performance itself.

The torches lining up the walls to light the room begin to be blown out by the aristocrats who run the theater, except for the ones lighting up the stage.

Sheshmish: Where's the rum? Which landlubber be the one who sells some?

Kirilah: They don't serve that here. Hush, they are starting soon.

A human town crier walks onto the stage and opens up a scroll.

Town Crier: Citizens of Firemont and travelers from afar.... Tonight we bring you the comedic talents of Firemont's very own SPADES CLUBHEART!!!!

The crowd applauds as the crier closes his scroll and walks off the stage. The bard Spades Clubheart walks out onto the stage. He is still wearing the same outfit he had when he came to the sanctuary earlier that day.

Theron does not realize it at first, but this is the same bard who eliminated him from the King's Contendership match. The locals applaud for the popular bard as he cracks his knuckles, grinning at the audience.

Spades: I've got a great show planned for you all tonight. You're in luck. We should be having a special guest joining us later on. First I will tell some of my favorite jokes. So did anyone ever tell you about the Unicorn who had a cold?

A couple of seconds pass with silence.

Spades: They say she was a little HORSE!

The majority of the crowd laughs.

Spades: Alright here's one.... What did the dwarven knight say after his spear broke in half?

The crowd is mostly quiet other than a few whispers.

Spades: That's POINTLESS!

The crowd laughs, other than some of the dwarves who didn't seem to get the joke.

Spades: You'll love this one. An egg goes into a bar. The bartender says I'm sorry, we don't serve food here.

The crowd continues to laugh, as the scene shifts to Theron and his allies.

Kirilah: That wasn't funny, that's stupid.

Sheshmish: Are ye kidding? He be hilarious!

Theron: I agree with Sheshmish. This is rather funny material. Something is bothering me about that bard though.

Scene shifts back to Spades up on stage.

Spades: Now can anyone tell me what type of lizard can jump higher than a tree?

The crowd is silent for a brief moment until an elven woman from the second row raises her hand to answer.

Elf Girl: A lizardman?

Spades: WRONG! The answer was ANY type of lizard. Trees cannot jump. Well, dryads can, but perhaps I should have specified that these are unable to walk.

Spades continues to try to explain this joke, which the audience really did not get. Scene shifts back to Theron and his allies.

Davivel: The locals sure are getting into the show. I do not particularly like this type of comedy though myself.

Kirilah: I hate it. These jokes are all terrible. I'm glad we didn't pay any money to see him. Theron, what do you think?

Theron: He's funny, although I cannot help but shake the feeling that I have seen this guy somewhere before. Where do I know him from!?

Sheshmish: Ye know him, captain?

Theron: I do, but I can't recall where from. He looks vaguely familiar....

Scene shifts to Spades up on stage.

Spades: Alright, that's enough jokes. Now I have a story to tell you all. For those who don't know, I'm from right here in Firemont. I recently took a little trip up to Waterward. The one thing I desire more than anything else is to become the funniest gladiatorial bard in history. When was the last time you heard someone in the World Gladiatorial Combat Federation crack a joke about their opponent in a pre-match confrontation in front of the fans? I plan on bringing that back.

Scene changes to Theron and his allies once again.

Theron: Wait a minute!!!! I recognize him now! That's the same bard who eliminated me!

Kirilah: Ohhhh! He did look a little familiar. What are the odds?

Theron: Time to give these people a REAL show.

Theron gets out of his seat and begins approaching the stage with an angry expression on his face.

Spades: So they put me in this King's world title contendership match, right. The spot was supposed to go to Leonaros Moonshadow, but he needed a replacement after becoming the regional champion of Wheloon. There were 6 of us. It was myself, a gladiator named Beardacus who ended up winning the thing, a former World Champion named Drago, a rogue who goes by a ring name of The Cutting Tool, the prodigal warrior Triple S, along with some new kid named Theron Daggershield who I eliminated. That was some match, but I thought....

Spades stops mid-sentence and freezes as he notices Theron approaching the stage, who still has an angry look on his face.

Spades: Ah, there he is! Ladies and Gentlemen, our special guest tonight. Theron Daggershield!

Theron makes it to the stage and walks up next to Spades.

Theron: You can't hide behind your comedy now, Spades.

Spades: Oh? Why is that?

Theron: These people came here for a show. Let's give them a REAL show, Spades. You.... me.... gladiatorial combat.... TONIGHT!

Spades: I don't think they came here to see that.

Theron turns to face the crowd.

Theron: Who here wants to see The Warblade Theron Daggershield defeat this bard?

The crowd is ecstatic. They begin chanting Theron's name and are reacting much more favorably than they were toward any of Spades' jokes. Theron faces Spades again.

Theron: Sounds like we have our answer.

Spades: They'll be laughing even harder than they laughed at my jokes when I defeat you.

Theron: You really think that? You're a funny guy, Spades, I'll give you that. The funniest thing of all though is you thinking you're the better gladiator.

Spades: I already eliminated you once, and I'll do it again.

Theron: You got lucky. That match had 4 others in it. There's no Beardacus or Triple S in this match. Just you and me. You're tendency to show off will cost you the match, and believe me, I have a lot of frustrations to take out. A LOT! By the time I'm through with taking out all those frustrations on you in the arena, the only act you'll be able to do is an impression of the guy who used to be a comedian until he took an arrow to the knee!

It is at that moment that the necromancer Keifasar rushes into the theater. The Floating Skull Neep is floating behind Keifasar.

Keifasar: Theron! We.... ummmm.... There's a problem.

Theron turns to face Keifasar, who had run up to the steps in front of the stage.

Theron: I'm kind of in the middle of something here.

Keifasar: It's Kayrentia! She's been attacked by Marrmell!

Freeze frame. Fade to black.