Egg Shen's Great Search for an Arch-Villain. . .

[Egg Shen]

of Special Significance!

Those wily souls who are interested in such matters are hearing an odd assortment of rumors these days. Some claim a man is looking to put together a veritable army of adventurers for some unknown purpose. Others claim he seeks just one individual. An important individual. An individual of special significance. Others claim he is no man, but a woman, and one that doesn't even exist at that!

But all the rumors seem to agree on one point or no point at all, depending on your perspective or lack thereof. Somebody very, very wealthy has come to town and seems keenly interested in the adventuring community that calls Baldur's Gate home. Some claim to have purchased items of special worth from him at the auction house. Others claim she sponsored a duel between two mages, just to test their might. Others claim that he impregnated not just their sister, but their wife, too! The drunkest claim she rides a mechanical pony made of solid gold.

((Stay tuned for more information as I sort it all out in my brain! The winner of Egg's Great Search will receive no less than 600,000 gold coins (this sum will likely spike up dramatically as Egg's Auction of Special Significance rolls forward), as well as a Wyvern Dagger (sells for 122,000 gold in stores) and a Ring of Greater Intelligence (which is no longer available in stores at all!). The Wyvern Dagger has a mind of it's own. Sometimes the DC on the STR drain is as high as 22. Sometimes as low as 20. But it makes them roll every single time you hit, which is absurdly potent in the right hands. Nobody buys this item I don't think, but you can win one!))

[mute83]

hm. interresting. Wonder who or what this person seeks. Now, how to find this person

[Egg Shen]

Whether the rumors are true or not, it seems that a very wealthy somebody is indeed planning to host a tournament in the Baldur's Gate Arena. Details are hard to come by, but preliminary scuttlebutt says that the purse will reach 6 figures. And those with loose lips and a fondness for conspiracy theories say the gold is just the tip of the ice-berg. The real opportunity, according to these paranoid souls, will arise for those who impress the host of the tournament, whether they be victorious or not...

((Current plan is to have a randomized tournament bracket, each bout will be 3 rounds, each with a slightly different set of parameters. Round 1 will be Fully Pre-Buffed, starting distance about 35 feet apart. Round 2 will be no pre-buffs, standing face to face. Round 3 will be one pre-buff only, starting distance about 15 feet, with no etherealness, ethereal jaunt, invisibility, bigby 6, storm avatar, divine power or shadow sim allowed.

All this is subject to change, and more details, both in-character and OOC, will follow. Please don't debate the details in this thread. You can send me a PM if you feel the need, or if you think a group discussion is best, start a thread in the off topic section. . . or wherever seems most appropriate.))

[Egg Shen]

((A few pm's lead me to believe I should clarify a point from above. The total number of tournament rounds will depend on the number of people who enter. But each individual match will have 3 potential rounds. The victor will of course need to win 2 out of the 3. The first round of a match heavily favors casters, the second heavily favors melee, and the final round is designed to be somewhere in the middle.))

[Egg Shen]

As the more fabulous rumors get shot down and the least fabulous rumors dissipate, the truth of the matter begins to emerge. It seems a precocious, or perhaps annoying depending on your disposition, hin by the name of Liliana has been hired by this individual to promote the event. She's taking down names of potential champions for special invite, as well as promoting the event to the masses at large with flyers and by trying out her voice as a town crier.

[Egg Shen]

As Liliana rents space in a wagon at the merchant camp outside Baldur's Gate, the registration for the event begins in earnest. The finalized version of the flyers promoting the tournament cause more than a few to do a double take when learning that the winner of the tournament will make off with a veritable fortune in gold. One Million coins, to be exact.

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS: A PRELUDE TO SOMETHING GREATER!

What could be greater than winning a million gold & the adoration of all the Sword Coast? Well, that's actually a very fine question, and one to which I don't have a very fine answer. But I assure YOU that the venerable host of this tourney assures ME that not only is the tourney simply the first step on a more important journey, but there will be even more riches to the lucky individual that gets chosen to champion his cause. And when I say more riches, I mean more than twice as many riches. That's right, good citizens of Baldur's Gate, more than two million in additional gold is at stake, not to mention ancient and arcane items of special might, the making of which has been lost to history.

The intestinal fortitude to put your skills on display in a contest of arms is very important to our venerable host, but it is by no means the only way to impress him. He's a great fan of pageantry, of pomp and circumstance, and more importantly, of the ability to lead and inspire others. Therefore, it behooves all who wish to compete to bring an entourage, if you will, of intrepid souls that would be willing to flock to your banner, should you win the coveted prize! Many will compete in the tournament, but only a few will be chosen to meet with our venerable host afterward, so be sure to have your friends compete as well.

Healers will of course be standing by to tend to the wounded!

For a special treat, break the wax seal at the bottom of this flyer!

Signed,

Liliana Littlefeather
Mistress of Magical Mysteries and Arcane Subtleties, Wearer of Jaunty Hats, Giver of Many Fine Nicknames

Those who break the seal are rewarded with the magically amplified voice of Liliana shouting, "COME ONE, COME ALL TO THE BALDUR'S GATE ARENA! WITNESS THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND!"

(( Alright folks, sign up in this thread. Plan to do this a week from today. So, Saturday, October 23rd, starting around 10am US Eastern Standard Time. Hopefully I'll devote the whole day to it, so as to accommodate as many time zones as I can. I don't mind if drow wish to compete, but you'll need to find a sympathetic DM to port you up, obviously, and please wear a full-face covering so that the event doesn't get derailed due to rp issues. I know that sounds odd, but this is going to be hard enough to pull off without a full-on riot breaking out.

I'd love to do tournament brackets in advance, but I suspect due to time zone issues and people not showing up and such, that I'll simply have to work out the match-ups on the day of the event. Either way, post your available time slots when you register and I'll see how it pans out. Please translate times to GMT -5 Eastern US.

The rules for the actual matches are further up in the thread. I suggest you read them carefully so you understand what you're getting into. Lag may be an issue, so I'm requesting any and all non-combatants to refrain from having any buffs up and to refrain from moving around during a contest. Like, at all! Chatter to a minimum as well (though I'm not sure how much that matters in terms of lag.)