The Age of Worms / The Champion's Belt pt. 18 / Von the 20th through the 21st, 3593 CE / 11-13-22

It is the final battle of the Champions Games, and as an eclipse casts the arena into darkness, Not by Choice battles against the flesh golems of their opponents, the Leatherworks, while up above, their nemesis Loris Raknian, the Cult of Caius-worshipping Arena Master, glares down at them. Meanwhile, Nataliya has discovered that the golems' mistress, the mysterious wizard Xentarich, is actually an agent of her own drow House, sent to infiltrate the games for unknown purposes. But before more can be discovered, Loris makes a startling choice, ingesting one of the horribly Caius worms and plummeting from his box one hundred feet to the arena floor, landing next to the fighter Auric, who has been compelled by Nataliya to abstain from the fighting. Lulu, knowing the power of the Caius worms, tries in vain to warn the hapless Auric until Loris rises as an undead servant of the dark god and attacks him. With the arrival of this new opponent, the tide of battle quickly shifts, with Not by Choice and the Leatherworks joining forces to fight the powerful undead creature. Nataliya uses her powers to inhabit one of the statues lining the arena and combine her brute force with that of the golems and Auric, who has now regained his senses, while Nari and Lulu use magic to attack undead fiend and bolster their allies. Together they are able to overcome Loris, destroying him once more while Idra eliminates the cursed worm that was powering him with a burst of positive energy. Meanwhile, Kedeshite soldiers have stormed the box and the arena, arresting all of the men loyal to corrupt Arena Master and finding with surprise that their main quarry now lies dead (for the second time) on the arena floor. However, the partyt notes that it appears Loris's right hand man, Captain Okoral, has gotten away. But despite the horrific proceedings, the crowd goes wild over one of the most memorable arena battles in history. In the aftermath of the chaos, it is decided between Talabir Wellik and the two teams' managers that the Leatherworks will get the belt and Not by Choice will get purse. Nataliya also confers in secret with Xentarich, who promises to keep the ancient drow's secrets even from her own House, before using her shapeshifting powers to slip away into the crowd. River also declares her intention to depart now that the games are over, and says her farewell to her teammates. Not by Choice and Auric decide to celebrate their victory at the Crooked House, where they know they will be treated as heroes by the proprietor, Groquin Shortstone. While there, they also meet up with Tirra the elven thief, who gives them their portion of the proceeds of the bet the Thieves's Guild placed on their behalf. Tirra also agrees to a few deals with Nataliya, such as buying the alchemists shop she just inherited. The next morning, Lulu decides the party should visit Eligos the Sage, who set them on the path to join the games in the first place in order to clear their names and reveal Loris's treachery, both of which the party has been able to accomplish. But when they reach the sage's mansion in the Garden District, the discover to their dismay that it appears to have been broken into, with both Eligos and his wood golem servant Pollard slain in the attack. Even worse, the attack appears to have come from Loris Raknian as a final act of revenge, with the bodies of one of his purple cloaked guards still present at the scene. Finding a cryptic message that Eligos scrawled in blood, the party uses it to locate his cache of notes concerning the Age of Worms, with an unfinished note written to his former colleague in Ludon, Allustan Neff.