Fantasia

The Intervals

4 min read

The Intervals is a competition/tournament held by Man of Strings where the party competed and became champions, facing elimination challenges while being targeted by The Synth.

Overview

  • Tournament organized by Piano Man to determine champions
  • Competitors need banner/invitation to participate
  • Party competed under Piano Man’s banner as “Saviors of Lyric, Slayers of the Deep”
  • Elimination-style competition with multiple challenges
  • Teams cannot damage each other but can interfere in non-damaging ways
  • The Synth targeted competitors throughout the event

The Teams

Four teams competed in The Intervals:

  1. The Party - “Saviors of Lyric, Slayers of the Deep”

  2. The Champions - Led by Freddy Mercury

    • Freddy Mercury (actually a Couatl in disguise using Change Shape)
    • Human followers

  3. The Children of the World - Elf warriors and mages

    • Associated with Elyas
    • Eliminated in first challenge

  4. My Anaconda Don’t - Yuan-Ti warriors and mages

    • Later killed by The Synth between challenges

Timeline

Invitation

  • Party brought Augur of Melodies to Piano Man
  • Piano Man, empowered by a Tonic from Amras, performed a ritual with the Augur
  • The Augur delivered a prophecy about the winds before dying
  • Piano Man granted party the honor of competing under his banner
  • This was in exchange for saving the Augur
  • Party stayed at an inn where the banner granted them luxurious accommodations

Challenge 1: The Tea Relay

  • Grondar Blackfloyd brought the party to the opening ceremony
  • Large circular stadium with a track around a central field
  • Three pillars placed around the track with different terrain sections:
    • Regular road
    • Sand
    • Water
  • Each team nominated a champion to race

The Challenge:

  • Champions must collect items from each pillar and combine them
  • First pillar: tea bag
  • Second pillar: sugar
  • Third pillar: water
  • Make tea and present it to Piano Man
  • Last team to complete gets eliminated

The Champions:

  • Party: Helia Oriela (wild shaped into an Ape)
  • The Champions: Freddy Mercury (revealed Couatl form immediately)
  • The Children of the World: Elven mage (used dimension door)
  • My Anaconda Don’t: Yuan-Ti warrior

The Race:

  • Freddy Mercury calmly shapeshifted into a Couatl and flew to the first pillar
  • Helia successfully rode Freddy after they both reached the first pillar
  • Freddy tried to throw her off with a loop-de-loop but failed
  • The elf ran the course backwards, strong start but slowed down
  • The Yuan-Ti struggled to climb, using fangs as holds
  • Helia rode Freddy to collect all items and used flame spells to quickly make tea

Results:

  1. Party (Helia) - first place
  2. The Champions (Freddy) - second place, shapeshifted back to human form
  3. My Anaconda Don’t - third place (party negotiated with them to sabotage the elves)
  4. The Children of the World - eliminated

Piano Man tasted the tea and recited “Pennyroyal Tea”:

Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
Distill the life that’s inside of me
Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
I’m anemic royalty

Uptown Girl appeared upset by the elves’ elimination.

Interlude: The Valentine Drama

  • Party returned to the inn after winning the first challenge
  • The inn performed a drama celebrating the new winners
  • Drama told the tragic love story of Rose, Jack, DeWitt, and Bonnie
  • Explained the origin of the Dress of Love

Synth Attack at the Inn

  • Water elementals gathered at the inn to behold Corminar
  • They called him “Tide Turner” and “Champion of the Undertow”
  • Lucius joined the party and bought drinks
  • The Synth sent assassins to attack the inn: The Theremin Twins
    • A Yochlol strumming a theremin
    • A werebear (transformed from mist)
  • They specifically targeted Helia Oriela
  • Party defeated them quickly with moonbeam, effective against shapeshifters

Revelations:

  • The Synth is led by the “Fifth Prophet”
  • The Synth was attacking all competing teams
  • My Anaconda Don’t (Yuan-Ti team) was killed off and ravaged

Loot:

  • Perfume of Bewitching
  • Wand of Scowling (from a severed hand)
  • Ring of Free Action (from the Yochlol)

Challenge 2: Capture the Flag

  • A capture the flag challenge with Freddy Mercury and an angelic companion
  • Complex location with time signature based shifting elevators and pits

Aftermath

  • Party became champions of The Intervals
  • Earned title/recognition as “The Champions” or similar
  • Banner of Man of Strings granted them authority and access throughout his domain
  • Demonstrated their capabilities to the major powers of Strings

Connections

Graph View

Backlinks