1 - The Best Around

It was an overcast day on the 13th of Viola.  The most fearsome and valorous warriors from lands all over gathered in one place.  The summons of a mysterious entity drawing them in with great rewards.  Although they were grand, the prizes were a tad preposterous.  5,000 gold was a quite lofty amount for a tournament of battle.  Perhaps the participants were blinded by greed.  Mayhap they were there for the honor and fame to be gained.  Or it could have been they were just thirsty for battle.  Whatever it was, they had arrived.  And they were the best around.

Vondal sat with his back against a wall, head down in focused meditation.  He was a gold dwarf, of average size and weight for his kind.  He was much older than he appeared.  A warden, he relied on the natural world for his great strength.  His head was bowed in prayer to the Sun God, Pelor.

Clarence, a pixie with a knack for mischief flew daintily over to Vondal, with a glint in his eye. 

"Hi, there!  Whatcha doin?" said Clarence, playfully.

Vondal awoke from his meditation.

"Oh, hey there little buddy." said Vondal.

"Are you participating in the tournament?  Can I see what weapon you're using?"

"Uh, sure"

Clarence flew over to Vondal's hand, and waved his hand over the axe.  The axe shrunk down to a miniature size, just big enough for Clarence to pick it up and fly away with it.  Vondal stood still, completely dumbfounded.  He had just been bluffed.  Hard.

Rhainor, who was standing off to the side, head down in contemplation had looked up to see this exchange.  He smirked.

"Idiot"

Rhainor was a Dragonborn.  And he was particularly intimidating.  If one could assign a number to just how intimidating he was, they would probably assign a 9 to him. Possibly a 10.  He wore dark plate armor, which bore resemblance to a paladin's armor, but a paladin he was not.  The Dragonborn was a blackguard, one who pledged themselves not to any holy divinity, but to a dark vice.  He was pledged to the dark god Asmodeus, lord of tyranny and domination.

Clarence was on top of a nearby roof, polishing his newly acquired axe.

"I SAW WAT U DID" said a metallic voice from next to him.

Grundlecrag was a warforged mage.  He was a staggering 6"6" tall and an exact 300 lbs.  He was 426 years old on this day.  Not much, if anything at all, was known about him.  He was made of cobalt steele, and he was a walking encyclopedia of all things arcane, historic, and religious. 

"Uh, how did you even get UP here" said Clarence, startled.

"I NO THINGS"  replied Grundlecrag.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question"

"I NO THINGS"

"HEY! COME DOWN HERE WITH MY AXE!", roared Vondal from the ground.  There was an almost ursine way in which he spoke.  Lightning bolts sparked across his eyeballs.  He was not pleased.

The captain of the guard made his way over to the ruckus, accompanied by several of his men.

"What seems to be the problem here?" barked the Captain.

"This man is harassing me, and he is trying to take my axe" replied Clarence, pointing down at Vondal.

"That axe belongs to me." grumbled Vondal.

"This TINY axe belongs to someone as big as YOU?" replied the pixie. 

"He has a point, dwarf." said the Captain.

Just then, Rhainor stepped in front of the Captain, and with a fierce, soul shattering shout, "GO THE FUCK AWAY!" In the blink of an eye, the Captain and his men had disappeared.  They were not sticking around to see what would happen to their puny bodies. (In comparison.  They were actually quite able bodied and muscular to boot.)  Rhainor was honestly just curious to see the events play out.  He wanted to see his opponents tear each other apart.  But just because he liked to see combat, not because it would be less competition. 

The arguing continued for some time.

"I SAW WAT U DID" rattled Grundlecrag.

"Can I see your weapon big and shiny?" said Clarence.

"Give. Me. Back. My. Axe." Vondal snarled.

"I SAW WAT U DID.  I WILL NOT SHOW U MY WEPON.  WIL U B MY FREIND?"

Clarence, growing bored of his own hi jinx, dropped the tiny axe over Vondal's foot.  As he released it, it grew back to normal size, smashing Vondal's toesies. 

The heads of the crowd all turned in the same direction and hushed.  This was followed by cheering.  Quite a commotion is caused whenever the premiere archery champion and all-around athletic superstar Bow Jackson was on the scene.  Bow waved and smiled to the crowd.  

"Great, I didn't know HE would be here, what chance do we have now?" muttered some angry jabroni in the crowd. 

Bow was no joke.  He really was as good as the legend that proceeded him.  Every man wanted to be him.  Every woman wanted to be with him.  And every person knew that he was the favorite for winner of  the tournament.  As well known a man as one can be, yet still not much was known about the man himself.  He was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, yet he was the paragon of an adventurer. 

The adventurers retired to their quarters for the night.  For the next day would bring them great trials.  Not just of skill.  But of character.