We're Not in Thundertree Any More...

Metaphysical / Paranormal event

By magic The Hottraulers are transported to an arena in an unknown desert land.

The party heard the cries of someone in trouble. They found a half elf caught in a snare, hung upside down from a tree. On deducing that the fellow wasn’t a threat the party cut him down. They learned that his name was Yorben. Raised by Gnomes, and only recently discovering that he was in fact not an oversized gnome but a half elf, Yorben decided to go out into the world and discover adventure and ultimately himself. Yorben enquired as to whether they had a place in their party for a new adventurer. The Hottrauler’s had no issues with new members joining, but Yorben was simply too inexperienced and would only be a problem. At that very moment a poster flitted through the air slapping Faldor in the face. The poster advertised a service that trained inexperienced creatures at impossible speeds bringing them up to higher levels of learning in miraculously short time. The party need only repeat the word Tuphuzenu three times. On doing so a gnome appeared in a puff of smoke, holding a staff with a glowing crystal at the top. The gnome read out the terms and conditions and with confirmation from the adventurer's transported the willing party to another place instantaneously.   The party then found themselves with no weapons or gear in a dark stuffy cage, the ground under their feet sandy. The gnome stood above them on the cage top and wished them good luck before disappearing. Suddenly the cage opened and the party were ushered out into a huge arena packed with a roaring crowd. Their weapons reappeared magically and they were pitted against waves of enemies until they were ushered back into their cage.   They spoke with other combatants in the cages either side and learned that they’d been tricked and were trapped there to fight until they died. They learned that Tuphuzenu seemed to grow in strength when combatants died, but he also tended to keep them alive for longer, gaining more strength from more experienced combatants on their deaths.   The gnome appeared again, hitting the cage above them, commanding them to stop talking to each other. Faldor leaped up and snatched the magical staff from him, the one he used to bring them here. The party escaped the cage, locking the gnome inside and fleeing down tunnels and hallways. They ended up on the roof below a tower, the crowd below either side. Climbing the tower they found a room at the top wherein they retrieved their gear and found a crystal ball containing their trapped souls, as well as the souls of the other imprisoned combatants. They learned that only creatures within a fifteen foot radius of the ball would be returned to their worlds, otherwise they’d be trapped there.   The party were discovered by Tuphuzenu who sent four of his Gnoll guards. They defeated the Gnoll guards, much to the crowds pleasure.