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The Filthy Four pt. 1
	Prelude:
Mortimer Billinghuck was in the midst of yet another tavern hoedown. The drink was flowing, the patrons were dancing, and Mortimer himself was smiling at the bar completely content with his life of wandering from town-to-town sampling good drink and better women. His bladder urged him to retreat to the restroom. He hopped down off the barstool and quickly made his way to the latrine. After he finished his business, his vision began to swirl. No, just the water was swirling but way too fast. Instantly he was overcome with blackness.

Karns-Strong pushed up the bar finishing his last set on bench. As he racked the weight his subordinates watched in awe at the 700 lbs he had just lifted. “That was incredible major," they said with enthusiasm. Karns laughed a hardy laugh. “You too can attain this gents, just keep working at it.” He walked to the locker room, wiped himself off and changed into his uniform. As he went to close his locker blackness started to swirl out of it and engulfed Karns.

Mothman flew as quickly as he could down the back-alley streets of Munichia. He heard the dogs barking and the guards’ shouting commands as they desperately tried to find the Moth and his stolen prize. Mothman darted behind a dumpster to reorient himself and catch his breath. However, this darkness was odd. It moved in a swirl and soon took Mothman into its embrace.

Peter lounged on the edge of a mountain cliff, leaning back on a tree, and staring out at the horizon. The sun shined down on him warming him and beating back the depressing thoughts of impending doom in his country. Peter took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I will find a way to save my family,” he muttered. When he opened his eyes, the darkness remained.
                                                      Round 1

The party was in shock. A moment before they were about their business and now they sat in darkness and dust. They became aware of the five people in the room as their eyes adjusted. The four members of our party lay on the floor of a dusty circular room. In the center stood a nine-foot-tall man with his hands placed firmly on his hips. Even the 6’3” Karns paled in size to this behemoth. “GET UP AND GET READY, dis is gonna be good,” the stranger bellowed. As they stood the floor began to rise. The ceiling creaked open and light flooded in revealing the party to each other and illuminating the magnificent form of Thonk Heavyhand. 

The large man was bald with pale skin and tribal tattoos splattered on his muscular body. He was bare-chested save the straps that held his greataxe and warhammer in place on his back. The gauntlets on his hands and belt around his waist shined and emitted power. As the platform raised into place the party could see the massive coliseum around them. They stood at the center of a 200 ft circle surrounded by 30 ft walls and above the walls sat rows of people cheering. On ends opposite each other were two large gates and above them 80 ft up sat two penthouses with balconies overseeing the arena. “ARE YOU READY?” a voice boomed over the arena’s intercom. “For the 25th annual interdimensional smackdown!” The crowd cheered loudly. “This year’s competitors look mighty, let’s hope they give us a good show. And if they don’t, well not to worry because we still have our favorite goliath, Thonk Heavyhand!” the voice cheered. “As always there will be five rounds over five days. If the party can clear the rounds they’ll receive a wish from the magnificent Mr. Ghi.” “And now without further ado I give you round one, THE T-REX!” 

The gates on either side of the arena raised and just as promised out stepped 3 t-rexes. One to one side and two to the other. Thonk turned to the party and said “I got dis one meself.” He then turned and sprinted at the lone t-rex. With each thundering step he closed the distance, the t-rex seeing him and rushing at him as well. When he had nearly closed the distance Thonk leaped into the air, pulling back his fist. With a thunderous clap he slammed his fist into the dinos face sending it flying 15 ft back. The crowd roared with cheers and exclamations of love. They chant “Heavyhand! Heavyhand! Heavyhand!” 

The party turns to face the other two T-rexes who await them. Karns shakes off his confusion, cracks his neck, and charges forward. He is followed closely by the small, axe-wielding, Mothman. Mortimer curses his horrible luck and resigns himself to the fate of fighting the t-rexes. Peter furrows his brow and draws his bow. The t-rexes respond in kind to this provocation. As one dino meets Karns and Mothman the battle ensues with Karns firing off punches, his gauntlets slamming into the leathery skin with thuds and whams. Mothman swings about his bloody axe, gashing the dino and causing roars of pain. The dino snaps its jaw and swings about its tail attempting to put down the two barbarians viciously carving away its flesh. The dino finds no purchase in these attacks. Peter and Mortimer tag team the other dino shooting arrows into its hide and blasting it with green and purple magic. They manage to avoid the dinos teeth and muscular tail while doing so. 

On the other side of the arena, Thonk is flexing for his fans. His back is turned as the dino gets back to its feet and charges at Thonk. The beast opens its maw and snatches Thonk up. Thonk simply responds by squeezing his free hand into a fist and with another thunderous clap punching the T-rex in the snout, causing the dino to drop him and fly back 15 feet once again. Thonk catches himself in th fall, landing on his feet. He cracks his neck and shakes out his arms. Thonk then walks calmly over to the beast, raises his fists, and brings them down hard on the dino’s neck. The sound of the bones snapping echoes off the arena walls. 

Karns and Mothman continue their onslaught of blows against their T-rex. The T-rex swings its tail at Mothman catching him offguard and sending him into the dirt. The dino then takes a bite at Karns managing to find purchase on his arm. Peter dashes onto the back of his T-rex switching to his dual swords and leaping, twisting his body, and stabbing the blades into the dinos side carving two deep gashes as he slides down. One of which freezes with a deep cold emitted from Peter’s blade. Peter then rolls aside as Mortimer summons all of his magic potential blasting an arch of deep purple energy into the beast. Thinking the dino dead Mortimer relaxes. However, out the smoke the T-rex charges Mortimer, scooping him into the massive jaws and bringing jagged teeth down on him. 

Seeing his new teammates in danger Mothman jumps up from the dirt cleaving his axe into the neck of the T-rex holding Karns. As he does Karns pelts the T-rexes head with punches. The strain causes the dino’s head to separate from its body. Karns throws off the decapited head and then turns to save his friend. Peter fires arrows into the remaining dino’s face, Mothman slices off the dino’s leg, and Karns gives the last haymaker punch into the dino’s gullet, causing the last T-rex to fall. As its jaw falls open, Mortimer rolls out onto the sand. He sits up letting out a grunt of pain. He feels the dino’s breath push out onto him. With shaking hands he lifts his staff and fires off his remaining power into the T-rex’s mouth, sending a shockwave through its body which explodes blood and guts on the rest of the party. 

“What a spectacle!” yells the announcer over the loudspeaker. “There you have it folks, The first round of the annual interdimensional smackdown.” Thonk stands in the center of the arena, waving at them. “Over here, come,” he yells. The party gathers themselves and makes their way limply over to Thonk. Mortimer is half carried due to his injuries. “You guys is good,” Thonk exclaims. “Much better than last year.” Karns begins flexing for Thonk and the crowd. “The Karns-Strong name thanks you for your compliment and assistance,” Karns says confidently. “You were impressive yourself Mr. Heavyhand,” Peter compliments. “Awe it was nothin,” Thonk replies. “Mothman,” Mothman says blankly. “Hey, so what’s happening now,” Mortimer asks. The platform begins to lower under them, taking them underground. “Dinner mostly,” Thonk explained. As the platform lowers the ceiling closes over them and the wall begins to slide away revealing a large room with lots of bunks and blankets. 

                                                 Resting and Exploring

The party made their way into the room. On the far wall there were two slits about four feet long and 3 inches tall. The wall to their right had a large set of wooden doors with a chain and padlock. On their left was a single wooden door. The rear wall had a small room attached with the door open, inside was a toilet and a sink. The rear wall also had the stone opening which led to the platform; however, it was closing now that they were all in the room. 

“You guys prolly got questions, but Thonk has some tings to do first,” Thonk said as he opened the wooden door on the left wall. Inside was what the party immediately guessed was Thonk’s room. He had a large bed, chairs, tables, walls of trophies taken from the arena. There were also three voluptuous women waiting for him. They wore fine satin night gowns over their curvy bodies. As he entered, they rushed to him and began rubbing his muscles. The tallest of the three was an elf woman who barely came up to Thonk’s chest. The other two were a human and a dragonborn woman. “AW girls come on. Gimme a little bit,” Thonk said sheepishly. He then closed the door, leaving the party in their silence and curiosity.

Mortimer hobbled over to the bunk and collapsed letting his beaten body relax. Peter began to examine his surroundings discovered that the doors on either side were indeed locked and that the slats in the opposite led to a kitchen. Karns alternated between doing pushups and checking his triceps. Mothman started chewing on an old blanket and floating around aimlessly. 

The sound of a metal door slamming open drew the attention of the party. “Come come, Harman; we have to meet the new fighters,” said a shrill voice from the kitchen. The lights in the kitchen came on and through the slats the party could see a small gnoll woman rushing into the room followed by a half gnoll teenage boy. “GAaawd mom, I’m coming,” complained Harman. The woman rushed over to the slats bobbing up and down as she moved. “Hello,” she said smiling at the party. “I’m Miriam and this is my son, Harman. HARMAN say hello to the new fighters.” Harman responded with a half-hearted, “Hi new fighters.” He was busy firing up an oven and prepping food. “Uh hi, I’m Peter,” Peter mumbled. “AND I am Karns-Strong,” said Karns flexing his triceps. “Oh yes you are,” muttered Miriam blushing. 

Mortimer pushed himself from his bunk smelling food and the noticing the presence of an unspoken for female. Mortimer made his way to the slats trying his best to hide his pain. Mortimer leaned on the bar of the slat. “I am Mortimer Billinghuck, the most prestigious bachelor of Slatterheim,” he said in his most audacious voice.  In an almost magical nature Mortimer’s words brought Miriam’s attention away from the mass of muscle and to his condensed, bloodied and beaten form. “Is that so,” Miriam asked excitedly. “Gross,” Harman expressed. Peter, agreeing with this sentiment, began setting up a bunk for himself. Mothman who had been silently chewing fabric, flew over to the slat and stared at Miriam with his large red orbs that he had for eyes. “Mothman,” he said plainly. “Uh ok, hello,” Miriam said. Mothman then began reciting an encyclopedia entry about how to dye cotton from memory. 

“Anyways,” Mortimer began. “Where are we and what’s going on?” “Oh, right yes, you are in the Coliseum in Central City of the Republic of Dellia,” Miriam explained. “As far as what’s going on I’ll let Thonk explain. He likes to explain to the new guys,” She surmised. Thonk’s door then opened and Thonk entered looking much cleaner and no longer sporting his weapons. He carried in a table and set it down in the middle of the room along with a chair. The rest of the party pulled up various chairs or what was left of a chair except for Mothman who simply floated into the corner continuing to mutter about various fabrics and dyes. 

“Alright fellas, ya prolly got questions so lemme explain,” Thonk started. “Dis is da coliseum of central city. Yall got to fight 5 rounds in the arena and den Mr. Ghi will reward ya with a wish. I’ll be in the arena with ya for all da fights.” At this point Harman started laying out bowls of stew on the bar along with bread, water, and milk. After grabbing food, Thonk went on to explain that he had been in the arena as a fighter for 15 years and while he loved fighting and could walk the grounds as he pleased, he was still a slave to Mr. Ghi, the owner of the coliseum. On top of a wish, another perk of surviving the five rounds is free room and board in the penthouse which sat at the top of the coliseum across from Mr. Ghi’s penthouse and office. There was currently one occupant, a young man by the name of Trent Browning who was the only surviving member of last year’s party. Thonk explained that he had protected the boy in the 5th round after his father died. “Well, dats prolly all ya gotta know for now,” Thonk said finishing his food and standing up. “I’ll let ya get some rest.” He then stepped into his room leaving the party to finish their dinner. 

Mortimer’s weariness was showing through now as he finished his food and his body demanded rest and healing from his injuries. “Thank you for dinner, sweet Miriam,” he said placing his bowl on the bar and slinking to his bunk. “What’s through these large double doors?” Peter asked. “Oh, yes that would be the Maze of Monsters. I wouldn’t recommend going in there but most parties that fight in the arena end up going in anyway,” She explained. She then began helping her son clean the kitchen before bidding the party goodnight and heading up the stairs at the back of the kitchen. Peter sat on his bunk reluctant to speak to the strangers he now had to rely on. Mortimer was by now in a deep sleep. Karns instead of laying down started doing calisthenics. Mothman seeing something shiny in the kitchen shrunk himself down and squeezed through the opening in the wall. For reasons unknown to any including Mothman he did not attempt to escape up the stairs but instead chewed on a hand-towel until he fell asleep. Peter laid back and let his thoughts wander. He thought of his country in shambles, his sister working to decrease the sufferings of their people, his father in countless meetings to prevent war. Maybe I’ll find something in this strange realm to help he thought as he drifted off to sleep.