Quick facts
Campaign: The Wonders of Arlia (Campaign 1) · Where: North City, the Coliseum, the Collector’s collection · Champion: Elyon · Previous: C1 Chapter 05 · Next: C1 Chapter 07
The party spent two weeks lying low in North City before the Greatest Below the Heavens tournament. Elyon won it, Greene took second, and Oolong vanished before his semifinal. The prize took them inside The Collector’s collection, and it cost Terra her freedom.
Waiting in North City
The party slipped into North City under cover of night and spent the next two weeks watching the docks for the Rose Ribbon Army and gathering information. Greene found an ally in Jebidiah, a man working under a terrible tavern owner, who agreed to spy around the city for him.
The day before the tournament, the party registered in the courtyard. They ran into Master Toshi and Goku, who were entering as training. Toshi got into an argument with his rival, Master Crane, who was also Elyon’s former teacher. Once that was settled, everyone waited for the opening ceremony.
Opening night
That night The Collector gave the opening speech:
“Welcome, one and all, to the Greatest Below The Heavens tournament! This is a competition unlike any other, where martial arts and magic will collide in a test of skill, strength, and determination.”
He laid out three phases: a qualifying fight against wild monsters, a battle royale down to sixteen, and a one-on-one bracket. The winner would pick a prize from the Collector’s collection. Killing an opponent meant disqualification.
The Collector’s Gems performed next. Topaz, a tall elf, sang in Elvish. Amethyst, a brunette human woman, sang a ballad in Common. Obsidian, a kenku girl, sang a haunting mix of bird sounds and mimicked voices. Lapis, a goliath, played the drums. Last came Emerald, a red-haired dwarf with bright green eyes who sang in Dwarvish. Terra Misu Umber went bright red. Emerald was her ex-girlfriend, Sophie Ghiradelli, who had written an internationally famous pop song about their breakup.
Around this time Elyon learned that Meo was the Thorned Rose, and that Juliette had been on the job with him when Elyon’s mother was killed and her father Kellam kidnapped. It opened a rift between the two Cacklers.
The assassin
That night, resting in a tavern, Greene was attacked in his bed by an assassin and barely survived. He called his friends and they chased the attacker through the streets until Elyon ran him down. It was the same Rose Ribbon assassin who had killed Ashryn, and he turned out to be Mercenary Tao, Master Crane’s brother.
The rounds
In the first round the party fought a large pink blob called Kirby the Dreamwarrior, a dream eater from The FeyWild who could steal and copy people’s powers. Then came the battle royale. Juliette had a terrible time of it. She fell into an icy river twice, then Sgt. Major Maroon hunted her down for revenge. Toshi helped her get away, though she was knocked out later. The party still made it into the final sixteen.
In the bracket, Oolong beat the previous champion, Recoome of the Ginyu Force, in the quarterfinals. Then he disappeared and never showed for his semifinal, which disqualified him and sent Greene to the final.
The final was Greene against Elyon, and it was close. It ended with Greene pole-vaulting up on his Power Pole toward Elyon, who was flying near the top of the stadium. She took his last blow and knocked him to the ground outside the stadium with a Kienzan. Greene landing out of bounds gave Elyon the win.
While the matches were going on, Juliette and Terra confronted the Gems and found out they were all under contract to the Collector, which made them indentured servants in all but name.
The collection
Elyon and Greene, still battered, went with the Collector to choose her prize. At the door he handed Greene a sack of 25,000 gold for second place. Inside, they found Oolong fighting an automaton in the room that held a Star Orb. Oolong tried to turn the fight by polymorphing his owl into a T-Rex, but the spell dropped almost immediately.
The Collector took Elyon and Oolong into his office. He told them Oolong had originally been meant for his collection, but the men he hired to deliver him had mutinied and disappeared. He agreed to let Oolong go with his friends if the party brought him the vase holding King Piccolo, which had recently been stolen from Turtle Island.
The rest of the party and the Gems joined them. Terra begged the Collector to let Sophie go. He refused, then offered a trade: Emerald could leave with the party if Terra stayed and worked for him in her place. Terra agreed. The bonds left Sophie’s wrists and closed on Terra’s, and the party and Emerald were escorted out.
Previous: Chapter 5: The Peninsula Split · Next: Chapter 7: West City and King Piccolo