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Previous Episode: Voyage of the Cursed Dawn - S02 E17
The party entered the great city of Dhil Badur during the height of Winterfest. The streets were packed with visitors and decorations, but nearly every road seemed to lead toward one place: the city's enormous arena. There, the players learned about the Wintergames, an annual competition consisting of several individual challenges followed by a final arena battle. The reward this year was extraordinary: each member of the winning group would receive ownership of their own small island. There was one major catch. Elimination meant death. The party entered and each member was given their own increasingly difficult challenge. Red Flint competed in a test of strength, throwing barrels of beer that became heavier with every round. Rasa Arziki had to conduct a choir and create beautiful music while being given progressively worse singers. Davkas Grosko faced a stealth challenge involving shifting pillars, maneuvering unseen through them to steal an object without being noticed. Cain Vaelen, completely blindfolded, had to hunt and shoot a swine using only his other senses. Finally, Juulia Troski was tasked with controlling increasingly large numbers of unstable magical crystals at the same time.
After surviving the individual games, the contestants were brought together inside the massive central arena for the final event. This was no longer a collection of minigames. It was a fight to the death between the remaining groups. Once inside, the party immediately spotted some very familiar faces. Their missing crew was competing in the Wintergames as another group: Captain John Cutter, Marissa, Collin, Doctor Eric Argyle, and Captain Marella Thorne. The reunion also came with bad news. Cutter revealed what had happened to their missing vessel:
Long John Silver had sunk their ship.
However, Cutter claimed to know someone capable of somehow getting their ship back. They would have to survive the Wintergames first. There were four groups standing against the players and their crew, including an especially dangerous team: the Level 20 Heroes from Baldor's Hall of Heroes. Meliam was notably absent from their ranks. Instead, she sat among the spectators with Abby watching the deadly competition unfold. The players and Cutter's crew temporarily fought together. Between them, they managed to eliminate one of the opposing groups, while the Level 20 Heroes tore through the other competitors. Eventually, only the allied crews and the legendary heroes remained. The final clash began. Despite the enormous difference in reputation and experience, the party managed to do the seemingly impossible and defeat the Level 20 Heroes. But they now faced a problem of their own. The rules allowed only one group to win. If the competition continued normally, the players would have to fight and kill their own missing crewmates. Instead, they came up with another solution. If the players could teleport themselves out of the arena, Cutter and the others would become the last remaining group and therefore win the Wintergames. Their crew would survive, and they would claim the grand prize. Rasa activated his newly acquired Obsidian Ring of Teleportation. The party disappeared from the arena. There was just one problem. Rasa rolled a natural 1 while determining where they would arrive. They had saved their crew from the Wintergames, but they had absolutely no idea where they were about to end up. Session ends.
Next Episode: Voyage of the Cursed Dawn - S02 E19