Speed is Key
| "Speed is Key" | |||
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| Campaign 1 session | |||
| Session no. | Session 35 | ||
| Session date | August 12, 2022 | ||
| Timeline | |||
| Start date | January 14, 354 WSK | ||
| End date | January 14, 354 WSK | ||
| Starring | |||
| Bean – Pine DMarty – Ricoril GuardianAngel – Gael Nixup – Versa and Bunnies as the Dungeon Master | |||
| Narrative chronology | |||
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| Session order | |||
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| List of Campaign 1 sessions | |||
"Speed is Key" (1x35) is the 35th session of the first campaign of Itora. Carefully planning the most efficient course of action, Friend and Friends take on the Monster Mash round of the Grand Tournament, performing extraordinarily well.
Synopsis
The party rise bright and early make their way to the arena. There, they watch their potential competitors compete in the Monster Mash round of the tournament before their match in the afternoon. Carefully taking notes from the morning matches, the group formulate their plan to complete the challenge ahead of them. Versa contacts Magpie via her Ring of Masks, informing her of the match time in the event she wants to spectate from afar using her Crystal Ball - an offer she excitedly accepts.
Their ultimate objective is to defeat the monsters in the center of the arena, however they are protected behind a magical ward that only opens when unlocked with three of five keys strategically placed throughout the arena. Once one door is unlocked, all doors open and the ward dissipates. At that point, the combatants aim to fight the monsters while taking as little damage as possible. In addition, teams are scored by how quickly they complete the full objective from when they enter the arena to when the last monster falls.
Standing behind the entrance gate before their arrival is announced, the group apply several pre-encounter buffs and collect their last minute thoughts. Most notably, Ricoril applies Haste to himself and Rainbow Dash, Gael provides Bless to the other three members, Versa enters her Bladesong, and Pine pumps up the group with inspiration.
Keys
The herald announces the group as Friend and Friends, naming each individual member as they signed up. He proclaims that the match begins and the group open with blistering speed. Through a combination of Ricoril's Aura of Alacrity and Haste, Rainbow Dash is able to attain a movement speed of 120ft. She carries Ricoril to the edge of a pool where one key could be found, Ricoril dives in, swims back up, remounts his camel, and returns to the door - all in one round. To the audience, this spectacle is a blur of color and is immediately recognized as remarkable and worthy of cheering - that is, once they realized what even happened. In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash travels a total of 360ft (utilizing her movement, action and hastened action to Dash), and Ricoril dashes and swims underwater for nearly 100ft of movement.
Pine utilizes his flying speed from his Instrument of the Bards's Fly spell and obtains one key, bringing it back to the door. Gael and Versa head to the far corners to grab keys. At the top of the second round, Ricoril decides to collect a second key himself. Escorted by Rainbow Dash to the edge of a pool, he effortlessly makes a long jump to the center dais, grabs the key, swims back, remounts his camel again, and travels back to the door. In just under 10 seconds, the party obtains the three keys they need.
Battle
In a moment, all four doors fly open, and the opaque magical barrier enshrouding the central arena feature dissipates. The party find themselves against a fearsome battleclub-wielding Cyclops and a toxic Catoblepas.
Pine opens the combat with a Destructive Wave on the Cyclops. In turn, the Cyclops manages to land a hit on Pine, though one narrowly missed thanks to Pine's Cutting Words. Gael unleashes their powerful "nuke" strategy at the Catoblepas, incorporating their Wild Attacks, Dreadful Strikes, and Lightning Arrow into one powerful shot, dealing more than half of its total health in one blow. Ricoril and Versa, not to be outdone, deal more than half of the Cyclops's health through a combination of a flurry of Divine Smites and powerful poison.
Pine, making the best of standing within stomping distance of the Cyclops, Bestows Curse upon it, limiting its actions going forward. In the next installment of their great back-and-forth, the Cyclops attempts to pluck Pine off the ground, but through sheer luck[1], Pine notices something shiny on the ground, bending down to pick it up just as the Cyclops's massive hand whiffs what it sure was a perfect grab. The Catoblepas, unsure of who to target, unsuccessfully attempts to scale the rocks towards Gael, enshrouding them in the creature's stench. Gael endures, felling the monstrosity with the Psychic Lash they obtained from their Abyss Fruit. Ricoril's next flurry of Divine Smites brings the Cyclops to their knees. However, in one final act of defiance, the Cyclops's eye glows bright and an outstretched arm grabs Ricoril, throwing him from his mount. Versa, recognizing that these creatures, though resilient, are on their last legs, splits a magic missile between them. The spell finishes off the Catoblepas before it gets another chance to attack, and Pyre deals the final blow to the Cyclops, pecking at its eye.
The crowd erupts in applause, as the party completes the objective in blistering speed. The announcer claims that it may be the fastest one on the leaderboard so far. Versa contacts Magpie again, while still on the battlefield, and asks her what she thought, to which Magpie replies that she was incredible, and it made her miss fighting side by side. The group triumphantly marches out of the battlefield, with Versa managing to pocket her extra door key through a Subtle Spell cast of Phantasmal Force.
Post-Battle
After dozens of Monster Mash matchups, the final seeding for the next round of the tournament is posted for the top scoring groups. Friend and Friends achieved the second highest score, behind the Devil Slayers, Encyea's group. Gael notices her in the crowd and the two exchange polite waves and a smile. Versa looks for the Seda Squad, who placed 6th seed, to gauge their reactions, which seem to be quite elated.
| Seed | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Devil Slayers |
| 2 | Friend and Friends |
| 3 | Always Sunny |
| 4 | The Scarecrow |
| 5 | Gloryseekers |
| 6 | Seda Squad |
| 7 | The Lunar Rose Guild |
| 8 | House Woodmere |
Featured characters
Friend and Friends
Companions
New
Returning
Mentioned
Quotations
Trivia
- Rainbow Dash's insane speed was a combination of several abilities. With a speed of 50ft, that is increased to 60ft when she started her turn within 5ft of Ricoril due to his Aura of Alacrity. Haste doubles that to a 120ft base movement speed. She can then utilize that speed three times a round by expending her movement, Action to Dash, and hastened Action to Dash, for a total of 360ft.
References
- ↑ The Cyclops rolled a natural 20 for a total of 32 on its Athletics check, but Pine used Inspiration to succeed on the check.
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