Tavern Brawls S02W01

In the shadow of the Tipsy Turtle Inn, throngs of beggars and vagabonds had gathered hoping to catch and collect a loose coin or two from the drunken gamblers who had gathered for today’s festivities.

As their cries for spare coppers grew louder, the Commissar took this moment, with the aid of her henchmen, and forced her way through the crowd, careful to not let these filthy vagrants get too close to her cloak and mink vest.

As the crowd paused for a moment, she reached into her pack and tossed an animal skin of unknown provenance into the crowd. The desperate crowd melted away and began scuffling and clubbing one another for the chance to collect whatever treasure the Trade Commissar had cast off.

Unaffected by the chaos and harm she had inflicted by her act of false charity, the Commissar took her position on the dais overlooking the fighting pits. She was flanked by a pair of grizzled veteran hirelings. As she scanned the crowd and with a steady gaze, she silenced the raucous crowd with a confidence befitting one of her stature and prominence.

“Welcome, Thandarians to the second season of Tavern Brawls. As a leader in the Imperial government, I am here today to promise you this series of exciting contests will not be plagued by the cheating scandal that was perpetrated by The Hand in the inaugural season of the Brawls.

Thanks to my investigations, The Hand has been disbanded. The Cleric Nyx has been fully cleared of all crimes , and she seeks penance for her past association with the criminal element of her associates. I commend her for rallying a new set of warriors, the Realm Heroes.

Let it be known the remaining members of The Hand are still wanted for questioning and the Combat Mage Charon is now being actively hunted for assaulting Imperial guardsmen, as well as my bodyguards. This miscreant will be brought to justice, you have my word as a faithful servant of Thandar.”

She paused for a moment to let the fact sink in that there was no defending team champion, and then continued, “I would like to welcome the teams of brawlers. While there are some returning teams, such as the The Smugglers, DSR, and BSB and HotD, I also take this opportunity to welcome the new warriors to the brawl with the teams of the Realms Heroes, Street Thugs, ARPISTI, DDDD, The Brave Trawlers, and NoRS. I will stamp out the corruptive forces of cheating and the criminal element that poisoned last season. And I promise that the two ringleaders of the corrupt gambling operation will be brought to justice. As we open a new chapter of just and fair competition…”

As the Commissar continued her closing remarks on this opening day, two beggars broke away from the pack, One of them holding a blackjack and the other, holding the animal skin of a cat that was once the familiar of the combat mage Charon!

The older beggar looked at the younger, but equally disheveled vagabond – both carefully keeping their faces turned away from the Commissar. With a smile, Abacus whispered to Arwen, “Hidden in plain sight, we are back to make another fortune this season. And when we are done with her, the Commissar will have to sell her furs just to feed her family. Welcome to the new season, comrade.”

With the rapid expansion of the Tavern Brawl league, there has been a lot of activity for fight fans. Several teams are off to a strong start: The Street Thugs, HotD, and DDDD each went 4-1 in match play, while both The Smugglers and The Brave Trawlers also kicked off the season with winning records of 3-2.

Unlike last season, this week was not good for the pointy-hatted Wizards. In aggregate, the mages only went 11-19, while it seems like this group of Fighters is well-trained and ready for battle! Overall, the Fighters went 18-12, which is particularly impressive given that there are many new brawlers in this competition.