⛓️64. the slave olympics

session 64 • february 21 2023 • 2,002 words

🌑 DAY 21 • 📅 MARPENOTH 10

New Friends (cont.)

Buppido

Soren approaches Buppido, the derro, in an attempt to talk to Stool, the myconid who has been hiding behind Buppido this whole time. Stool is thoroughly terrified of Soren and refuses to communicate. Despite derro having a reputation for being insane, Buppido is civilized and cordial towards Soren.

Soren asks about Stool; Buppido says they came in together with Sarith, the other drow sitting in a corner. Soren wonders about Sarith; Buppido explains that Sarith is accused by the other drow of killing another drow guard. Soren tries to remain cold and detached like a Good Little Drow, but acknowledges when Buppido says it was a pleasure meeting him.

Chores!

Group 1: Chamberpots

Will, Topsy, Turvy, Sarith and Derendil are called out for the first round of chores.

Sarith speaks to the Weaponsmaster (WM) as he is called on, pleading for the WM to believe that "I didn't kill him, you know I was framed." WM is unconvinced and tells Sarith that everyone saw him kill, leading Sarith to realize that WM is in on the framing as well. Devastated, Sarith falls back in line.

Group 1 is tasked with cleaning out the chamberpots of the prison, much to their dismay. Jimjar bets Topsy that Will will throw up. Will ends up retching, but does not throw up; Sarith mocks him for the show of disgust. One of the guards whips Will for it.

Will notices that WM is wary and keeping an eye on Sarith.

When the group returns, Will tries to use a bit of the blanket covering Sildar's body to wipe his hands; Sarith wipes it all over it and Sildar bruh. Will tries to defend Sildar's honor and WM breaks up their bickering.

Group 2: Water

Hugh, Ront, Thurmond, Grymus and Jimjar are called on next, to haul water from the waterfall at the base of the ravine.

Ront and Hugh fight to walk in front, causing WM to whip both of them. Hugh takes the blow for Ront, lying that he was "trying to dodge" poorly. WM doesn't believe him and threatens Hugh's life. The group head down the elevator, which is operated by quaggoths.

The duergar wryly comment in Dwarven that WM must be "compensating for something" with his attitude, and Hugh joins them by saying "yea he has a smol dick" LMAO. The drow whip them all for conversing in a language they don't know. Hugh tells the drow guard about his salted pork that got confiscated LMFAOO, hoping that the drow guard will try to steal some and therefore show us where our shit is being held.

Jimjar has trouble picking his bucket of water up, and Hugh helps him; Jimjar is intensely grateful. Hugh is disciplined when he speaks up again, and returns to the prison badly whipped and injured.

Hugh informs Ront that he took the blow for Ront, which angers Ront as it seems like Hugh is calling him weak. Hugh tries to say that they're friends now, but Ront says he doesn't need friends; he's the boss of the prison.

Shuushar comes over and tries to mediate the argument, but ends up alienating Hugh when he says he's a vegetarian (having sworn off violence), and angering Ront when he tries to imply that Hugh could be a good friend LMAO. Sorry Shuushar you tried.

A Quaggoth's Rage

Eldeth takes one of the two water buckets given to the slaves, using some water to clean Hugh's wounds while fussing over him.

Derendil, meanwhile, uses the entire other bucket to wash his dirty hands from cleaning out the chamberpots. Eldeth is horrified at this, calling him an idiot and a beast. This causes a sudden change in the usually-chill Derendil's demeanor, to the point where he flies into a bestial rage and claws Eldeth.

Will attempts to de-escalate the situation, but is unable to as Eldeth stubbornly refuses to apologize and Derendil gets angrier and angrier as she calls him various Underdark-slurs, as he maintains furiously that he is not a quaggoth but rather an elven prince.

A drow guard comes in and whips Derendil and Eldeth for getting into a scuffle, breaking up the fight.

Eldeth turns her attention to Nezznar and immediately calls him a monster LMAOOO this lady Has the balls (and a death wish). Nezznar sneers back and threatens her life. Reluctantly, and at Will's desperate pleading, Eldeth stands down and goes back to treating Hugh's wounds.

Family

Soren whispers to Hugh that he should speak to Stool in regards to his language barrier when befriending the other prisoners.

Upon being asked for help, Myco tells Hugh that it senses "friends" nearby, and will try to reach out to them to help. Myco also says that Stool is like "family", a little sprout. Myco gets agitated about the wedding and urges Hugh to go to it, as always.

Hugh goes over to Stool and tells them about the "family" living in his brain, but Stool is unforthcoming and still scared. Buppido explains that Stool can sometimes talk to people in their brains. Stool ends up not talking to Hugh. :(

Hugh stops by the duergar, who are very racist and rude to him, speaking down to him as an "infant pink one who doesn't know what it is to be a dwarf". They reluctantly give him their names when Hugh keeps hounding them nonstop for them, but shoo him off with the farewell of "we'll drink when you die".

✨Torture Time ✨

The Weaponsmaster (WM) comes by and takes Sildar's body at Ilvara's request, and also orders Nezznar to follow. Knowing that Fun Times await him at Ilvara's hand, Nezznar balks and is mercilessly whipped for it.

Eldeth is sympathetic knowing that Sildar was the group's friend, but also sneers at Nezznar's departure and tells Will to take his bed. Tor comments that "good, there's only one more left". Ominous! Jimjar places bets with Topsy about whether Nezznar will return whole, Topsy bets no (with a shiny rock) and Jimjar bets yes (with a small bottle of wine).

Buppido tries to talk to Eldeth about his "escape plan" but Eldeth is thoroughly unforthcoming and treats Buppido as she does all Underdark denizens: with scorn.

Will tries to smooth things over between Eldeth and Derendil, they manage to get on the same page (Eldeth promises to stop calling Derendil a beast but refuses to apologize) but neither are happy.

Ront pretends to punch Hugh and says that they are now even (for Hugh taking the whip for him earlier that day). Hugh asks if he can keep a secret and tells Ront that he's working on an escape plan, and if Ront helps them break out then Ront can have food. This seems effective on Ront, who agrees in exchange for many foods.

Velkynvelve Bash

Shoor eventually comes by with a seemingly-revived Sildar! Soren: 👁️👄👁️

Sildar is in terrible physical condition and seems exhausted (side effects of Raise Dead). Shoor says he took inspiration from seeing the prisoners squabble all day to hold a tournament called Velkynvelve Bash--a bracket tournament that pits the prisoners against each other. Eldeth protests against the children being forced to fight, but Shoor threatens her life.

Shoor also takes a moment to insult Nadhiir to Soren's face. Soren, reading Shoor as an egoistical individual, joins in, acknowledging that even without his injuries / missing arm, Nadhiir was never half the drow Shoor was, which pleases Shoor. Shoor says that if Soren wasn't already spoken for by a "special buyer", Shoor would have liked to take Soren as his own slave.

Bruh this is the fourth goddamn noble drow who wants my boy's gremlin ass as their slave leave me alone leave me alone leave me alone

Pit Fight!

Here is the final bracket cuz im dumbass and forgot to save the original starting one:

ROUND 1

Will vs. Sildar: Sildar puts on a brave face despite being close to death. Will refuses to fight initially, angering the drow; Sildar pleads with Will to do as they say to avoid more bloodshed, and Will knocks Sildar out quickly.

Hugh vs. Jimjar: Already injured from his whippings, Hugh succumbs to the surprisingly nimble Jimjar (who hides behind Topsy and Turvy at some point lmao)

Ront vs. Shuushar: Shuushar refuses to fight back, making this a brutal and one-sided fight as Ront unleashes his brute force on Shuushar, almost killing him until the drow stop him.

ROUND 2

Buppido vs. Will: Buppido, though confident, loses to Will's combat prowess.

Noname vs. Topsy: Noname is unwiling to fight until the drow command her directly to do so, at which point she puts up a surprisingly good fight; but is eventually defeated by the more nimble-Topsy.

Eldeth vs. Thurmond: Eldeth is already badly hurt from her punishments, and scarcely stands a chance. Still, because Thurmond taunted that he "wanted to hear her scream", she puts up a good fight and goes down without a sound bc dwarven stubbornness.

Sarith vs. Jimjar: Despite Jimjar's nimbleness, Sarith is a trained drow soldier and dispatches him quickly and without much fanfare.

Droop vs. Derendil: Droop puts up a good fight despite losing all of his magic items that he's become accustomed to, but Derendil once more goes into his quaggoth rage and demolishes the poor goblin. The drow are forced to step in, whipping Derendil until he is knocked out, in order to stop him from inflicting more damage. Thurmond automatically moves to the semifinals as a result.

Tor vs. Grymus: Tor, clearly a frailer caster-type, succumbs quickly to the dwarven miner Grymus, who has more experience in physical brawling.

Soren vs. Ront: Utilizing all the tools at his disposal, Soren attempts to do his best against Ront's brute force but eventually is beaten down.

Turvy vs. Stool: The children are unable to put up a good show, mostly stumbling over themselves and are both disqualified at the disappointment of the drow. Ront moves to the semifinals as a result.

ROUND 3

Will vs. Topsy: Will is deeply conflicted at fighting a child, but decides that it best he eliminate Topsy quickly rather than subject her to the cruelty of Sarith / the duergar, or the brutality of Ront. He does so, apologizing.

Sarith vs. Grymus: Sarith fights again with the skill of a trained drow soldier, managing to take down the already-weakened dwarven miner Grymus.

SEMIFINALS

Ront vs. Sarith: As Ront is already badly injured, Sarith manages to defeat Ront with his dexterity and training. This causes a great upset among the betting guards, as everyone expected Ront to win.

Thurmond vs. Will: Will dispatches the already-weakened Thurmond with relative ease.

FINALS

Sarith vs. Will: Though Will is on death's door, Shoor heals both of them back to full health, giving the hardier Will an advantage. Sarith once again pleads with Shoor to believe that he was framed, and is scorned for his efforts. Resigned, he faces Will and is defeated--though Will uses Planar Warrior on him, and he notices the difference in Will's blows.

Will emerges the winner, which Shoor is disgusted at. The drow guards leave in order to settle their bets and winnings, leaving the prison, for a very brief moment, unguarded.

Hope Shines Bright

Will takes advantage of the drow guards' departure, using Healing Hands to bring Sildar back to consciousness. He gives Sildar the rundown about the party's capture and his death; Sildar takes it with stride, though devastated, he is relieved that he is the only one who died in the fight with Ilvara.

Will gets misty-eyed as they try to comfort each other despite the dire circumstances, and Sildar weakly jokes that "Soren must be slicing onions again". :(

After a brief talk, Will puts Sildar into one of the cots and goes to wake Topsy by performing a medicine check on her. He apologizes to both of the svirnefblin twins for attacking Topsy.