Tavern Brawls S01W02

Abacus drew in a deep breath and sent his partner a crooked smile while he finished stacking the coins that they had managed to scrape together over the last week. There were more than any of them had imagined and it proved that their instinct had been right about this tournament. “Two thousand one hundred and thirty two gold pieces,” he finally revealed and scribbled the result on a piece of paper in front of him. “The patrons have really taken to the tournament, haven’t they?”

“You can say that again,” Arwen replied – unable to look away from the piles in front of them. “I overheard Pria from Heroes of the Damned saying that she had been approached by an orc last night who had offered her fifty gold pieces more than her usual rate to fix a den of Malingees that had been corrupted by an old spell. Apparently all of the mercenaries are seeing better wages after only two weeks of this. And not just at the Tipsy Turtle either. It is happening all over the city.”

Abacus looked up and his brows furrowed. “That is a good thing though. It will attract more mercenaries and more teams will likely join up.”

Arwen nodded and reached for a coin. “I have been thinking,” he admitted and rolled the coin between his fingers. “There might be a potential to expand here. Focusing solely on mercenaries limits us. Why not open the gates to any 5 people willing to take on the challenge?”

Abacus looked at his friend and recognized the greed luring in his eyes as he looked at the coin in his hands. They were both greedy men which was why they worked so well together. But they also had to keep each other in check. So after a moment of thought, he shook his head. “I don’t think that is a good idea. If we start attracting traditional competitive gladiators, the Thieves Guild would be at our doorstep demanding percentages within hours. And if we take in teams from the local adventurers guard, the Capitol Guard would be here too. They might call it tithe and not percentages, but you know as well as I do that they are one and the same thing. And as for the ‘Brawl Master’,” he scoffed derisively at the name. “Well, let’s just say that while he is personable enough, he isn’t exactly the brightest lantern in the night sky. He would cave under the economic and political pressure that would come if the league was threatened by the twin terrors of the bureaucrats and thieves of Thandar. No. The money to be had is right here. Keeping ourselves out of their sight for as long as possible.”

Week 2 completed after six teams, thirty combatants, thirty eight individual matches, and 8 concussions were logged! Once again, the mysterious band of mercs known simply as “The Hand” seem to have a tight grip on this contest.  Insiders had expected the team leaders of the The Hand and the Jawbreakers to square off 1-on-1, due to the bad mystic blood between Magnara and Charon, going all the way back to their days together at the Academy for Gifted and Talented Young Wizards. In the end, it was only a proxy fight, since those rivals never did settle the score. And while Magnara proved her own in battle, the rest of her team of Jawbreakers were thoroughly thrashed by The Hand in an almost legendary manner!”