Warehouse 49 - A Magic Competition

The Myste-Hass Calender

17/08/2023

The group spends two weeks preparing for the magic competition. They advertise, perform music, put up potions and negotiate the prizes. Every legitimate entrance gets a free drink. 1st prize is 75gp, 2nd prize is a healing potion and 3rd prize is 25gp & choice of bottled spirit.

A young child, dishevelled and grime covered turns up at the door, with writing implements. He wants to enter the magic competition. He says he does drawings. Lazarus feeds the lad and tests him drawing a frog.

A tiny goblin who works for Lahoto turns up keen to enter the competition.

They allow the boy to stay in return for pot washing.

The next day, the competition begins. There is a crowd outside the doors. Most of the people have come to watch the performance.

Eleven contestants turn up, including the kid, Dustin and the goblin, Grimer.

Harmony gets everyone to fill in their details and surveys their possessions for potential magical items. Grimer has a lot of magical items. Dustin's sketchpad has drawings layered all over the top of each other. Servaf Vask just has a bag. Alda has a bag with her. Kiara, Elamir, Benny and Jemalia have nothing. Helger is a tiefling, and Grasino is the most handsome man I've every looked at. Freddy is the last to sign up.

Harmony calls for introductions. Grimer does a magic trick. Dustin comes up next and draws a large frog, smudged and ill-coloured. However, it's massively out of proportion. It's leaps from the page and starts jumping around. Alda casts mage hand and juggles fire. Kiara casts dancing lights. Elamir does a card trick. Benny does a card trick as well. Jemalia comes up and changes the flavour of someones drink, but the audience is not impressed. Helgar the tiefling gets out a coil of rope and makes it raise up like a snake. Grasino steps up gracefully, he's tall and slender. He summons a bow, a smokey arrow flies towards Baum then dissipates. Freddy isn't there. Firiash competes instead, turning the room to darkness.

The first proper round is the combat challenge.

Firiash drops darkness then shoots the dummy. Grasino dissapears and when he returns, the mannequin has been cut up. His bow is exactly the same as Castiel's. He claims its a family heirloom. Jemlia sets the dummy on fire. Benny just throws a card at the target. Elamir uses a short bow. Kiara asks everyone to step away and fireballs the shit out of the dummy. Alda follows with a haphazard burst of energy, but she has to fire twice. Dustin rips open a page, and a 2D bulldog emerges that destroys the mannequin. Grimer grows then attacks with a flaming blade, ripping straight through the straw figure.

There are three Grimers. Two of them take the house drink, the third is very annoyed at his fellows.

The second round is chasing Lazarus to retrieve the tankard he is carrying.

Lazarus takes off, then tries to climb. Grimer casts sleep on him. A large Grimer carries him back with the tankard in hand. Lazarus takes off, then tries to climb. Dustin pulls a giant eagle from his book, with a hole in its chest from where the paper wasn't filled. Lazarus goes into an alley, but the eagle turns and grabs him, then carries them both back. Alda fails to stop Lazarus at all, so disguises herself as Lazarus and returns, saying that she is Lazarus and Alda took the cup. Servaf fails to get the cup and returns panting. Kiara runs in a different direction to Lazarus. About two minutes later she is waiting for him. She casts a spell the sticks Lazarus to the wall with a ball of webs. Elamir chases with extreme pace, then pulls Lazarus down as he attempts to climb. Benny gives Harmony a queen of hearts card before he sets off. He hides around the corner of the bar, but Lazarus comes through the back door instead. Jemlia puts Lazarus to sleep before he gets too far. Helgar ropes Lazarus. Grasino teleports over to Lazarus then asks for the tankard, which the lad is compelled to comply with. Firiash lies in wait, then casts darkness and grabs the tankard.

Grimer, Alda, Kiara, Jemilia, Grasino and Firiash get through to the final.

Two people in the bar start brawling, Lazarus intercedes, punching a guy in the crotch then attempting to trip his rival.

Dr Baum takes Dustin off, because he looked very upset. Baum offers him a job, roof and board. The lad claims he really needs it.

The third and final competition round involves finding Lazarus's bow.

Grimer and Jamilia work out it has been removed from this existence via deduction. Firiash and Alda fail. Kiara summons entities to search, but then deduces that it might have been summoned.

Castiel just offers to compare bows with Grasino. Grasino claims that he's already familiar with Castiel's bow, but he's had his bow for a while.

Grasino lies for Harmony about how much she charged him for his drinks to Castiel.

The competitors are ranked, Grasino first, Kiara second and Jamilia third.

There is no sign of Grasino when the winners are announced.

The two women who won claimed they have friends with similar abilities, particularly Kiara. She knows a number of contacts who don't want to be known given the Morthel threat that occurred not so long ago. Castiel talks about the rewards of helping the town and the major. She claims to know five, including herself.

Kiria is a conjurer, her apprentice, Alda, still learning where her powers lie.

Jemaliah needs some time to consider and develop her magic. She tells Castiel that sea elves are not from around these parts and cannot be trusted.

The group takes 220gp at the bar, about 200gp in profit for the day.

Dr Baum sees the goblins outside the pub, and it turns out they are all different goblins - Unklax and Grimbold. They say there are no hard feelings about not winning the competition.

In Harmony's room, there is a sealed piece of parchment with a stylised G on the outside. Inside is the neatest handwritten letter Harmony has ever seen.

Castiel goes to bed tortured by the sight of Grasino's bow, and how similar the two were.

The group plan to wait for a few days whilst the mages consider the majors offer. In the meantime, the group intends to find out what the orcs want, negotiate with them about either retaking the caves where the illithids have moved in. Alternatively, kill the zombies in the village and offer it as a home for the orcs.

Potentially, casing the book joint where Lazarus wants to steal the magic books.