In which our heroes ...
Orhan 3 Day 40 TE 6064
We wander back to Quellbourne and put Alynna (fighter) through her paces. It turns out when you don't have to buy any spells, you pretty much get 20 ranks in everything else.
Orhan 3 Day 41 TE 6064
Haeraan pokes around into Starcrown Empire Mercenaries.
You need to talk to the Captain of Legions and prove yourself first, he learns from a bartender.
It turns out the merc companies fight in gladiatorial games all the time, so you get to preview the goods while they fight in the colluseum.
Orhan 3 Day 42 TE 6064
Alynna and Haeraan enter one of the smaller competitions. Haeraan's trial doesn't have a morning star, so he gets seeded into the lowest bracket. Alynna gets put into the highest bracket. Oathar and Imre immediately head to the betting windows.
For the actual fights, Haeraan is given a real morning star, so kills his opponent on his first swing. Alynna's opponents are more serious, but Alynna finally gets her victory.
Haeraan and Alynna get 2 silver and 2 gold respectively for their wins. Oathar and Imre get a Gold and 10 Gold respectively on their betting.
Orhan 3 Day 45 TE 6064
Colluseum fighting continues.
Now that he's got a morningstar, Haeraan ascends rapidly up to Alynna's level where Alynna is winning about 85% of her matches, but not all of them. They win a few gold each. Imre and Oathar come away with a dozen gold or so total.
Orhan 3 Day 47 TE 6064
Haeraan gets approached by recruiters and wants to get into team sports. He and Alynna join the bad news bears. Alynna and Haeraan are the last two standing on their team and have to take on the other team 2 on 6. More money rolls in.
At this point, some sharp eyed characters start noticing Imre and Oathar on their giant bet winning spree. They track Imre back to the hotel and so Oathar thinks they should switch hotels. Now that he's choosing, he grabs the ducal suite in the nicest hotel in time. The next day, they'll have to be disguised.
Orhan 3 Day 48 TE 6064
Lord Admiral Oathar shows up and uses his magnificence to get into the high officers section. He brings Lt. Commander Thorn (Imre) with him as his aide.
Haeraan and Alynna take over the tactics of the Bears and go on the offensive against the Eagles.
Oathar gets a few lunch invitations from the other high officers. They want to meet Haeraan and hear details of the mission.
On the way home though, he gets a dagger thrown into the wall next to him with a note that says, "This is a closed shop, if you wish to play, there are entrance fees involved."
Orhan 3 Day 49 TE 6064
Next day is more areana combat where Haeraan and Alynna get another vitory for the Bears over the Giants, though Haeraan himself goes down. They're number 5! Not 8!
Tomorrow is the bears versus the redskins.
But tonight is negotiations. Something like 0.375 gold per person/day. Minimum one month even if crazy transport happens. A regiment is 3 100 guy companies, 10th level fighter equivalents. So about 2600 gold per company/month. Lead time is pretty short, as long as we are not in crazy land super short during war. With no extenuating circumstances, they could put together a group that size in as little as a week. But no contrct signed, no guarantees.
We start talking regiment size, including specialty units, headquarters unit, and possibly medic unit.. Minimum lead time is needed there. We negotiate for a regiment plus a fifty HQ company and a 50 man medic company. One of the companies should be heavy cav. That's 1000 guys, so 26,250 gold. Oathar negotiates a 3% discount. (So 25462 gold.) We have to pay 30% upfront.
That done, Haeraan and Alynna go back to win their conference championship.
Orhan 3 Day 50 TE 6064
In the battle against the redskins, who are bezerkers, the Bears play dead, and then the bexerkers start attacking each other. Three of them are down before the bears pop up and attack. It's a 6-0 victory! Unheard of!
Orhan 3 Day 51 TE 6064
The next day is the battle agains the Packers. They storm around ina tight formation and attack en masse. So the bears use nets! Net them up and then spear them down.
Orhan 3 Day 52 TE 6064
The Bear fight the 49's who are a group of ex-miners. They mostly jus ttake them head on. The other match has the Saints beating the Cardinals. The Saint sseem to draw upon Holy Inspiration! They gather, they pray, and then strike down their enemies. It doesn't seem to be actually magic. It's a team talent.
Orhan 3 Day 53 TE 6064
The final round!!!!! The enemy prays to their god, Alynna prays for her. Everyone goes down except for Alynna. Shein fact takes out all of the other team by herself, while the rest of the Bears including Haeraan are useless. They get 15 gold each for their victory and a team trophy! The Bears win the pennant!