The Paragons awoke the morning of day five of the Festival, Dieter knocking on their door shortly thereafter. He visited to wish them good luck at the Finale and explained that they would be facing some dangerous creatures during the first two rounds of the preliminaries. Should they win these two rounds, they would enter the Finale proper, consisting of three rounds. Dieter said they would be crowned the winners if they came out on top after those three rounds, but they would have to defeat Avus afterward to claim the Champion title.
Dieter departed after setting up an arrangement at a nearby alchemist to sponsor a set of potions, and the Paragons at last decided to venture toward the colosseum after finding no sign of Carla.
Once at the colosseum, the Paragons drew a number of their choice from a designated allotment that would decide what creature they faced in the first round. They parted ways with Patricia, who ventured off to the stands, then ventured within the colosseum to prepare for their bout.
A healer nurse saw to some of their older wounds so that they went into the fight at full strength. Once the field was prepared, the Paragons entered the arena to applause from partially filled stands. Straight across, in a special viewing box, sat three women: an elf likely around her 40s with dark brown hair, green eyes, and a glowing green councilor’s ring, a muscular human with blue eyes and long brown hair wearing a polished suit of armor, and a dragonborn with pale blue scales wearing a mage’s coat.
Once the Paragons were ready, the dragonborn woman waved a spell that induced rainfall and several sea-serpent-like bottom feeders erupted from the prepared swamps on the field. They stood nearly 15-feet tall with the portion of their bodies extending out of the water. After an arduous fight on a swampy battlefield, the Paragons were victorious. They returned to the colosseum tunnels to be healed.
While speaking with the nurse, Arturo noticed a figure wearing a gray traveling cloak watching them from a tunnel juncture. Once Arturo glanced toward the figure, the figure vanished around the corner. The Paragons decided to follow the figure. After keeping a tail on the figure through Illeta, they followed him through a northern gate onto a road leading out of the city. After a few minutes out of Illeta’s walls, the figure left the main road into a section of woods. The Paragons followed.
The Paragons remained stealthy, keeping at a safe distance to see what the figure was up to. After a short trek through the woods, the Paragons stopped at a hilly overlook atop a clearing to see the figure meeting with three others. The Paragons noticed the figure that had been watching them was Avus. The three others were cloaked women wielding metal magic staves. They spoke strangely, speaking of a critical mission they had apparently assigned the original figure to, specifically to win his audience with Zola. Avus replied that he had plans prepared for any serious competition with his title. Before they could reveal anything further, a red specter emerged from the woman at the front, grasping her shoulder with clawed hands. The specter spoke in a demonic, deep growl, alerting the woman that there were unwanted presences nearby. The four of them fanned out to find the intruders. The Paragons ran back the way they came, careful to stay hidden from the four hunters.
Though they evaded Avus and the three mages, before they could exit the woods, massive, burrowing sandworms erupted from the ground to attack the Paragons. Enchanted quicksand blocked any exits, so the Paragons fought and killed the worms. Once they were safe, they finished their trek back to Illeta, just before the sun was setting.
When they returned to the colosseum, Akalar and Alicia sought out Patricia to warn her that Avus may be up to something. With that, they regrouped with the others to start their second bout of the preliminaries.
Their second match, taking place once the moon had risen, was against a large, magical spider called an Aracha, alongside a brood of smaller spiders. After killing a small army of spiders, the Paragons emerged victorious yet again. The announcer for the arena congratulated them for qualifying for the finale, and the Paragons journeyed back to the Drunken Frond for a much-earned rest.
Inside their suite, they found a stoic doom-elf with maroon hair and eyes pacing slowly, a letter in-hand. When the Paragons entered, he apologized for the intrusion, speaking with a deep, smooth voice. He seemed to know the Paragons, saying his daughter spoke of them often. On his finger was a glowing white councilor’s ring. He introduced himself as Lokth, the councilor of White Hand City and Carla’s father. With a look mixed with worry, anger, and resolve, Lokth gestured to the letter, saying Carla had been kidnapped…