Previous threads:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14630047/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14641861/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14712324/

Septimia on the left, Antonina on the right.

A caveat to questers: 4chan is kinda soggy currently, so expect a glacial pace.

buy some nice clothes for the party

>>14722063
Budget? Your current dress for formal occasions has served you well so far, and it would probably cost you about 5SP to get a nicer one. Spending more couldn't hurt; custom work is always the best.

Talk to Volcatia about who she is, what her history is, why she fights (if not covered in history), and who is employing her.

Talk to our slaves. Ask them if there's anything they'd really like or if there's anything missing.

What would it cost to talk to someone (once) - like an apothecary or a private cook - about proper diet for a warrior? Presumably our slaves will be alive for a while, and we want them well-nourished if at all possible.

>A caveat to questers: 4chan is kinda soggy currently, so expect a glacial pace.
Indeed. What happened to 4chan's upload?

>Talk to Volcatia about who she is, what her history is, why she fights (if not covered in history), and who is employing her.
Her owner left in a hurry, unfortunately.

>Talk to the slaves. Ask them if there's anything they'd really like or if there's anything missing.
None of them actually say "to not have to fight in a pit every month." Other than this issue, they are pretty happy. All of them independently mention that they're understimulated -- it's not that you're overworking them, but they don't do very much other than train, fight, and sit around.

>What would it cost to talk to someone (once off, not regularily) - like an apothecary or a private cook - about proper diet for a warrior? Presumably our slaves will be alive for a while, and we want them well-nourished if at all possible.
You can get a detailed report aimed specifically at your girls from a doctor for 1SP.

>>14722164
For only 1SP? Worth it.
If the girls are understimulated, is there anything they can do that would entertain them, but ALSO help them train? I can't think of any.
We could ask other Gladiatrix trainers, but I doubt they'd give their tips to us (a competitor).

The message - did it say we should bring our slaves, or that we should come alone?

Sweeeet perfect timing GMQ.

Missed the last thread, lemmee catch up.

>The message - did it say we should bring our slaves, or that we should come alone?
Either is fine. Slaves don't count as people for the purpose of invitations, so it would be socially acceptable for you to bring one, two, all, or none of your slaves. This is up to you.

>>14722237
Probably best to bring 1 slave to advertise to people what our job is, but not to crowd out anyone else. Who's our most accomplished gladiatrix?

>>14722103
>>14722164
The girls are understimulated, huh? An invite to a party, huh? 5sp for a nicer dress, huh?

Ya, I like where this quest is going.

>>14722262
That's between Slicks and Septimia. Slicks has a loss to her record, while Septimia does not. Both have brag-worthy accomplishments. Slicks is a lizardwoman and Septimia is a human. As far as you can tell, those are the important things to consider.

>>14722296
>The girls are understimulated, huh? An invite to a party, huh? 5sp for a nicer dress, huh?
Derp, I missed the hint. Take all 3.
How much would it cost to get a REASONABLE party dress for all 3? Not fancy, just something that won't provoke the "Wtf is a hobo doing in my party" reaction?

>>14722304
I suggest we bring Slicks along, she has the exotic eye-catching factor. Plus she's been established as fairly clever, so she may even pick up on things we don't notice if people assume she's some subhuman lizarwoman.

As far as stimulate goes, how do you guys feel about investing 10-15 SP in a training/obstacle course of some sort. Would help with training, and probably provide some stimulation.

If we're hesitant to invest that much, I'd at least see about developing the girls mentally. Maybe teach them some basic strategic games such as chess for an hour or so in the evenings, and if we're willing to go out on a limb see about teaching them to read.

I say we arbitrarily decide one of them to bring, and tell them that she gets to go because she was the best, they can earn similar rewards in the future. (maybe monthly?) A little friendly competition is always good for morale.

>>14722304
The easiest way to settle this is to have the slaves take part in a contest to see who gets the honour of accompanying us to the party. At the very least, it will serve as a distraction for the slaves.

>>14722304
Yeah, let's go with Septi for now; We do know that most people in the party would be human, aren't they? And oh, do we have enough cleaning supplies for a good bath before the party? We need to give Septi and ourselves a nice feeling. While we're at the party, why don't we send Slicks and Antoni to the market/fair/shopping district with some money (10SP each)? Tell them to pick their new gear wisely. That way, we can guess what their weapon of choice is.

>Maybe teach them some basic strategic games such as chess for an hour or so in the evenings, and if we're willing to go out on a limb see about teaching them to read.
I see the benefit of chess, but what would reading accomplish?

>REASONABLE party dress for all 3
That would set you back another 5, for all of them.

>We do know that most people in the party would be human, aren't they?
99+%.

>>14722362
Good plan. A bath is worth it.
Are slaves allowed to purchase goods? If they are, we could have them buy some gear for themselves. I'm worried that if they buy bladed weapons, they'll kill their opponents with blood loss, though.

>>14722371
Aside from providing stimulation, I would hope it would sharpen them mentally and in time we could introduce them to some martial texts, from manuals on individual combat to more complex works on tactics.

>>14722362
>>14722390

But we're already a Gnoll, I think it's a bit late to be worrying about species politics. I stick with my idea of bringing Slicks for the exotic factor as well as her keen mind.

>>14722390
I therefore agree entirely with Indonesian Gentleman.

>>14722396
I like this idea. Assuming it's not illegal to teach a slave/gladiator to read, I see no reason to not teach them to read. At best it might help them read texts on combat and warfare and, if nothing else, odds are it will give them something to do to keep busy when not training (don't want to over-exert them) and might help keep morale up by making them feel some degree of pride.

Also assuming the noble will be at the party and depending how much we really want to pump him for information, it may be best to bring Antonina for two reasons I imagine my fellow elegan/tg/entlemen can deduce.

>>14722497
Why bring one, when we can bring all three slaves.

>>14722497
I actually considered this. While I'd still rather have Slicks, I can certainly see the point in having Antonina along as eye-candy. If anything, Sept would be my LAST choice, winning streak or not.

>note: eye-candy does NOT = whoring her out.

Before the party, you bathe very thoroughly and make sure Septimia does the same. You follow up with perfume that Septimia repeatedly assures you is subtle and pleasant. You get dressed, and have Septimia put on her armor, with most of the functional bits removed.

You hand the other two a small pouch of coins, and give them a very clear time limit that leaves plenty of time for fucking around.

Party time.

>continued, just making it clear that I'm still here

>>14722523
While I suppose we COULD do this, I'd personally rather not have a big entourage along. Bring one fighter as an accessory, as opposed to having a crowd follow us around.

>Party time.

:<

You arrive in the late afternoon, as many of the other guests also start to show up. The villa is enough to impress you, but it doesn't particularly stand out in the neighborhood.

There are a couple of large, male humans working the door; they wave you through when identify you, and ignore Septimia completely.

The central courtyard is full of guests milling about. Decorative, nude male and female human slaves adorn the edges of the area, and more conservatively presented humans mingle and serve a variety of food on trays.

It occurs to you that you don't actually know anyone. At least you don't get the feeling people consider you to be out of place.

>>14722625
In case it isn't clear, this is a "wat do" post.

>>14722553
Three isn't really a "big" entourage and the slaves themselves have been saying they are understimulated. By having Septimia, Slicks, Antonina around it might build camaraderie between all three slaves and build interest in the entire stable, and not just one particular gladiatrix.

>>14722625
Look for familiar faces, if you really don't know anyone, just chat it up with interested parties/the one who invited you. Tell them about your gladiatrix business, you may get some investors' glances. Free advertising, too!

>>14722645
It seems the point is moot, the party has begun and we have Sept. We will make do.

>>14722625
Did any of the other guests bring their own slaves along. I'm personally interested in finding the host and thanking them for their invitation (as well as doing some digging into who they are and why they invited us)

Keep Sept with us for now, but if other slaves are present I wouldn't mind letting her go mingle with them and see what gossip she can pick up, as well as possibly getting to know some of the competition.

>>14722625
A Spam of "Hi. I'm Gneutered. No, it's my name. I was a slave gladiator, but now I manage my own group of gladiators. What business do you work in?" to the various attendants should be in order.

>>14722625
>Gnoll, Lizardfolk
>largely human party
Welp, there's only one thing left to do, and that's mingle like a motherfucker.

Alternatively, we could go find some non humans to rub shoulders with. Maybe they'll even talk to us.

>>14722693
>derp, no lizardfolk

>ruldhys integer
Yes, but what is it? 3? 42? 39? TELL ME CAPTCHA

Nice. I was wondering if I had missed another thread besides 3.
Now on to the matter at hand.

>>14722625
Mingle with the people who don't seem terribly put off by a gnoll in a dress, and see if you can get any details about who the host of the party is.

Might as well know why we are here, other than the potential to be shit-talking material.

Soooo, here's a question: Who invited us?

Just have to mingle. Try to find the host as well, give them the usual 'what a lovely party, thanks for the invitation'.

Also, do we have an idea on what Slicks looks like?

>>14722874

See

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14712324/images/1303711149407.png

>>14722874

This is the pic of Slicks from thread 3, I do believe.

You see a middle aged man reaching for a kebab as it floats by on a tray. You reach for the same one, bump into him, appologize, giggle, and introduce yourself. Minutes later, you have gathered a small cloud of people.

You're soon quite at home. To some of the people you talk to, you're a novelty -- because you have a job. It seems to invoke genuine interest, rather than pity or superiority. Other guests also run their own small businesses, and you chat about current relevant trends in a noncommittal way.

You lean back and loudly mumble at Septimia to go get you, you know, some more of those little shrimp things, then whisper "and take the entire length of the party if you need to" out of everyone else's earshot. She leaves. Perfect.

You don't even have to steer the conversation to find out about the hosts. They're an older older couple of considerable means, with resources invested in a variety of ventures.

Apparently, they also know all of the guests personally. You quietly move the conversation around the fact that they appeared to you in an envelope.

The conversation switches to the subject of fashion, but before you're reduced to making self deprecating comments, the hosts rescue you. They're visiting all of the groups of people in the courtyard, and it must be your turn.

The female entertains the group while the male quietly takes you aside, dismissing his squad of servants.

Wat, if anything, do.

>>14722914
Be polite, small talk and hear out whatever it is that he wants from us.

>>14722914
We listen to what he has to say.

>>14722914
"Hi! What's this party about? Are you interested in the gladiatrix business? With a little more money I can afford better slaves and better equipment, and I'll get you twice as much money in return."

"You're the, uh, trainer, right? The one that saved my daughter?"

You are, in fact, that.

Oh, shit.

"I'd like to thank you personally, but since I don't know enough about you to guess your motives... do you like money? There's a lot of it if she stays safe."

>>14722964
I don't think we should jump on the guy like that...we don't even know what he wants yet.

Seems like he obviously has something on his mind if he specifically pulls us aside alone, and not some other party-goer. We should listen to what he's got to say.

>>14722981
Tell him that while, yes we do like money, it isn't our sole motivation. Talk about the honour of the fight and our own past as a gladiator and how it leaves us with a sympathetic outlook on the welfare of fighters. Then try and get him to spill more about his daughter and how she ended up as a slave fighting for some rich, jumped up hobbyist who has no idea what he's doing.

>>14722981
Well he's fairly direct. Hm that's an interesting one.
Perhapssssss we should inquire as to why the daughter of a older upper-society couple is a pit fighter before we agree to anything.

"I'm glad I was able to help. I'm not a big fan of those deathmatches. They replace a contest of skill with savagery and bloodthirst. Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I'm curious as to why your daughter is in the pits in the first place.

>>14723042
>>14723019
I'm hedging my bets that the girl is a illegitimate.

>>14723057
and it is probably best not to dig into that just yet.

>>14722981
I like where this is going.

"Can't ever have enough money, I suppose...What exactly do you have in mind for..your daughter, you say?"
Continue with questions about how the daughter of a seemingly well-off family ends up as a slave fighting in an arena, and whether this offer of money comes with a "I want you to be my daughter's manager" tag line.

>but since I don't know enough about you to guess your motives... do you like money? There's a lot of it if she stays safe.
To fight with honor and skill in the Arena - directly or indirectly - and become famous by doing so. I have the skills to do it - I was a famous gladiatrix myself, that's how I EARNED my freedom.
If you give me money, that money goes towards better slaves and better equipment, so I can fight in higher ranked matches for more fame and more honor.
I treat all my girls with respect, and I won't send them to die. (Quote >>14723042 here)

But I'm not sure HOW I can keep your girl safe. She belongs to another gladiatrix, not me.

He nods approvingly and tosses you a pouch. It goes "clink."

"That husband of hers has quite the legal team. First he gets her declared insane. From there, the auction. From there, a proxy buyer. From there, the arena."

"The marriage was going to make his family and ours much closer together. Then we saw them starting to pull out of our joint ventures, so we began to pull back as well. I guess he didn't like that."

You politely voice a concern that it if his daughter is owned by someone else who is being paid to make her legally die, that it may be difficult to keep her alive.

"Make it work. You're associated with the local arena, and you're clever. I promise you that you're the best stopgap we have."

"The fights are monthly? Each month she stays safe, you get paid more. If she's freed, you'll be even happier, I promise that. But focus on the short term."

>>14723160
Bribe the shit out of the fight manager so that she fights our girls and only our girls. Then after she's stayed alive long enough, just outright buy her from the proxy or do some sleuthing and get them arrested.

>>14723160
I'll do what I can, but I don't know what exactly I should do. I'll think about it

>>14723160
Hmmm, interesting.
Learn how the justice system works in regards to business, gladiatorial fighting, slaves, and slave-gladiators. Then, in the long run, we do some sleuthing to free the daughter/arrest the bling rat.
Maybe even end death matches forever, I dunno.

>>14723160
Damn. This is, uh, not a situation I would have wanted to get sucked into without a little more negotiation. Now if she dies he might just decide to take it out on us.

Still, we'll have to do what we can. We saw who her trainer was? We need to track him down and have a word. Probably keep the owner in the dark, he seemed like a hobbyist prick.

For now, probably best to politely wrap up our time at this party, find Sept, and get home. See what the other girls have been up to and figure out how we're gonna protect Volcatia.

Perhaps we can convince our boy in Scheduling to make sure Volc gets put into team fights so our girls can look after her?

>>14723251
Downside to this is that we either have to suicide one of our girls (I dislike this option), or deliberately refuse to take part in the rules of the deathmatch, which may lose us prestige.

>>14723160
"you know, I knew something was up by the way the booking agent was sweating when he tried to get one of my girls in that fight. I had a real bad feeling. And her coach was also strange. I'll keep my girls out of her fights, beyond that, all I can do to help her really is yell louder."

>>14723305
Just buy a new slave to take on babysitting duty. Let her fight in the deathmatches and forfeit each time. Her win-loss record goes to shit. Then when we enter her in a real fight the odds against her will be ridiculous and when she wins we can walk away the richest gnoll in happy land.

>>14723296
No, we are not a lawyer.
We are a Gladiatrix.
Leave the lawyering to the lawyers.

Paranoia here: how do we even know this girl is his daughter? I mean it seems legit, but if the guy has enough money to be hiring us to "protect" his daughter every month, why doesn't he just buy her himself or use his influence to retrieve her?

I am not saying we should make our doubts known to anyone but ourselves, and we definitely should take his money. In the future though, we should be careful what other measures this guy ask us to take in order to "protect" his daughter. Last thing we need is to be used as a dispossible dagger in order from one noble to take down a rival.

>>14723338
That'll lose even more prestige than wrestling and disabling the enemy combattant!

Can I post yet?

In any case, we should be looking to expand our armoury. A selection of equipment geared towards group fights and single fights could be useful. A metal tip for Slick's tail could be cool. It'd be even cooler if you could get it painted to blend in with the skin, and it'd be hard to spot (the first time, anyways).

Alternatively, expand the stable and enter more fights/bets. Also expand the support staff.

>>14723367
If we have her act like a disobedient, rebellious slave then it will look like it's just her not obeying. And then once she starts behaving "properly" it looks like we've mastered the indomidable. It's really just how you spin it.

>From there, a proxy buyer.
From this, you know that neither you nor this guy can buy her. The guy you would be buying her from is an employee, paid to make her fight.

>>14723392
What happens to slaves when their owners die?

>>14723414
Inherited, often auctioned if the inheritor is uninterested. Occasionally freed, but only if no one whatsoever wants them.

>>14723160
Well, now that we're in the situation, I'd say that we should retire from the party, talk to our girls about what's going on, and then try to find a way to be in contact with Volc's coach as soon as possible.

Unless Volc's father has any more info he can give us to help his daughter. In this case, we should stick around a bit.

Idea:
If she's the only gladiator that particular owner has, then maybe we could train her alongside our own girls, so that we can make sure she progresses correctly and is able to hold her own in combat.

>>14723456
>implying snobby noble trying to get his wife killed is going to just sit there and let you save her when the object is clearly to get her killed so said noble will somehow obtain some item of importance, a will or some shit I don't know.

More paranoia here again: another potential scam would be a noble has us keep alive a particular gladiatrix who is constantly placed deathmatches she has no hope of winning. That noble then makes bets on the longshot, winning because of our involvement. While not nearly as nefarious as my first fear, the idea of being used should offend us.

What we should do is find Sept and get her to talk with the slaves of the house and see what they know about Volcatia. It might be a bit of needless paranoia, but it you can't trust nobles. Ever.

You make yourself as agreeable as possible and excuse yourself, collect Septimia, who has been in the kitchen, eaten snacks, and mostly verified the story you heard (mostly focused on the sense of unease about the place rather than specifics, but she's aware that Volcatia is in fact the host's daughter).

Slicks and Antonina are talking when you get back. Specifically, Antonina is telling a story and Slicks is listening. They stand up when you enter.

You find out that Slicks purchased a weighted chain, and that Antonina bought herself a heavier shield. These two purchases took up the entire duration of the party, so it looks like they got their short vacation in as well.

Meeting with Marianus in slightly over a week. Anything you want to do before then, and what do you propose when you walk into his office?

>>14723581
Anybody happen to know an old saw bones who wouldn't be opposed to a bit of work for a good cause?

What's going on in the slave market?

How about >>14723388's tail idea?

>>14723604
Is that tail idea legal by the rules of the arena, or are concealed weapons verboten?

>Is that tail idea legal by the rules of the arena, or are concealed weapons verboten?
All melee equipment is fine. The arena forbids ranged weapons for obvious reasons.

>What's going on in the slave market?
Nothing noteworthy. The same 25 SP scrubs and convicts as usual are available, though. Keep in mind you only have enough space for two more slaves.

>>14723648
We are so getting tail spike. Whip! Hole through the skull.

You know, in a deathmatch. I wouldn't use it at the beginning of course. It'd be bad for business.

It wouldn't be too bad at hitting limbs either, with practice. Just have to be careful it doesn't get chopped off.

How about a colour scheme for our gladiators, so people can associate with our stable? It'd go on shields and armour, I suppose. If you were ballsy, you could even have a battle standard, with pointy tips and everything. I don't think that'll work right now though.

Time for me to head to bed. Before I leave, I'll say I like the idea of a tail weapon for Slicks, though I'd prefer to make it sleek and metal and scary as an intimidation thing. We may want to look into learning more about her physiology anyways. If her tail were to be chopped off, would it grow back?

I definitely move to pay for those detailed medical/nutritional reports on the girls.

I TOLD YOU GUYS! I TOLD YOU!

Ahh, glad I am not to late, Coach of Volcatia is here at last. Sorry I missed the party.

I had an idea for something to stimulate the girls as well as earn a little extra cash. Painting, building and stuff like that. Arts and construction.

At Slicks' recommendation, you get her a slashy tail weapon (10 SP) rather than a stabby one. Her tail is part of her spine, and she can't really thrust with it effectively, especially not while looking in the direction she's thrusting.

You also get a medical report done. Apparently the humans are supposed to get a bit more in the way of grains and legumes than you're currently giving them. You can also encourage them to eat even more, as long as they're getting their exercise. Slicks is fine. As long as she stays warm and stays on her mostly fish diet, she'll stay that way.

Meeting day. Marianus is used to seeing you wait outside his office in the morning before he opens up by now.

"So, what'll it be this time?"

>>14723806
Before we get down to business, I've been doing some digging on that Volcatia girl. Just what game are you playing?

>>14723806
Find out if Volcatia is going to be in another deathmatch. If so sign up one of our girls and make sure it does not become deadly. Septimus should go in and we should have her grapple and tell her we are trying to make sure she does not die because her family asked us.

Other than that, let us do individual matches for Slicks and Antonina

I've got a great idea.

We should make a megaphone. It'd mean we wouldn't have to yell as hard (or we could yell just as hard as we do now, and it'd be louder). and our fighters can hear us better.

At the same time, we should develop a code system. Something that shouldn't be obviously crackable, but isn't too complex. We can worry about complexity when shit gets more serious. Maybe contingency plans if the other guys figure out the codes.

>>14723850
Won't look good for somebody if a deathmatch doesn't end in a death.

>>14723696
Nice little future idea there.

Perhaps stable team colors that our girls paint on their faces or arms? Maybe just a simple cloth tied around their arm dyed a certain color with a crude symbol. Team..Gnollpaw. Go.

Just sayin.

>>14723850
Sounds like it might go well. If we are able to sneak over to Volc's coach and suggest he tell her to let Sept get the grapple, but make it look real.
As long as it doesn't end with Sept getting cut up by a fidgetty, nervous Volcatia.

What say the rest of you?

>Something that shouldn't be obviously crackable, but isn't too complex.

Earlier, someone proposed teaching Gnoll, or having Slicks teach Lizardfolk.

>>14723885
Could just play with her and shame her owner for sending her into deathmatchs when she's clearly not ready for them. If it shows how obviously unskilled she is, it will make people question why her owner is throwing away money. We can use that to kick up a fuss and pressure him to keep her out of fights.

>>14723907
Depending on how much we are getting paid to protect her, we could go and buy some scrub from the Slave Market, drug that slave, and feed her to Volcatia.

>>14723913
I had asked if we could teach them Gnoll. So can we? This would also help give the girls something to do other than physical training. Learning a new language is a very mentally stimulating task.

>>14723933
This is an option, but I do not like the hit to moral that our other fighters would take.

>>14723933
The coin pouch contained 75 SP.

>>14723936
This is possible. You can probably get some simple phrases down pretty quickly.

Out of curiosity, what are Lizardfolk like? Will Slicks, in time, regrow severed limbs/tails? Other than her anatomy and diet, how does she differ from a Human of similar build and training?

Yeah we would really like to keep Volc out of deathmatches if at all possible, but unfortunately it's likely that her owner is gonna keep throwing her into them.

If we do find that she's set for another deathmatch, we don't want her fighting our girls. As stated before, if deathmatches don't end with someone dead then both fighters look bad. That's a no-win situation for us.

If she's in a regular bout, see about getting one of our girls in with her, against or allied doesn't matter. If we're against her we can try and get her a message that we're trying to protect her and convince her to throw the fight, or at least not injure her too badly. If we can ally with her we can try to protect her.

If she's in a team deathmatch then put someone on her team, but otherwise all we can do is try and help her instruction. Maybe see about slipping her some armor/better equipment? I'd suggest trying to sabotage her opponent, but if we get caught I'm guessing that'd have some unpleasant consequences.

>>14723958
>what are Lizardfolk like?
They thrive in hot weather. They're similar to a cross between a velociraptor and a kangaroo, but with human quality arms, hands, and fingers. They're naturally aquatic.

Their top speed and endurance running speed are a bit lower than a human's, but they're denser, stronger, and can hop about 5 feet much faster than a human.

>>14723954
Oh yeah her father paid us! Well in that case I'm gonna repeat my idea of using some of that cash to try and slip Volc some better equipment that'll keep her safer. Have we been in contact with her trainer yet? We need to do so. Her owner is a prick who's trying to get her killed, but we may be able to get her trainer on our side.

A quick conversation reveals that Volcatia is signed up for another deathmatch, but her owner specified nothing else, so you're actually free to fight with her or against her solo or in any sized group that you like.

>>14723983
>naturally aquatic

At some point, we may want to idly suggest to Marianus that a water-based fight would be quite the novelty and certain to bring in a big crowd...

>>14723971
I had a thought. If she is going to be in a fight that is not a deathmatch, why not hurt her badly enough that she needs to be taken care of. That keeps her from training, fighting in the arena and makes her easier to buy up from the noble rat. We could buy a fresh slave, keep her out of the fights and only train her and then arrange a trade with the Noble rat and get Volcatia to her parents.

A question, what happens to slaves that fight but do not earn their freedom like we have? Do they get sold out to do less intense work or just die?

>>14723996
Here's my suggestions boys:

A.) We don't want to break up the wonder-team of Sept and Antonia, so we put Slicks as an ally of Volc in order to try and keep her safe.

B.) Sept seems to have a motherly/protective streak in her, so we put her as an ally of Volc in the hopes that she'll keep her safe.

C.) Put them all in with Volc, and hopefully the three of them can pretty much handle 4 opponents on their own and keep Volc out of danger. I'm hesitant since a 4v4 deathmatch would probably be a big deal, and there's a higher chance of a more skilled oponent getting thrown in.

>>14724010
Good ones either retire, or retire and put their skills to a different use, such as training others. Owners of less competent slaves often repurpose them for something else to cut their losses.

Alternatively, we stop dancing around the issue and just hire some goons to kidnap Volcatia.

>>14724003
>>14723924
I don't think you guys understand. When you marry a person, then get her legally declared insane, then toss her into the pits, where her first bout is a deathmatch, it's pretty clear you A) do not want her to survive, and B) aren't going to let somebody stop you from getting what you want.

People don't go around declaring wives insane and dropping them into pit matches. Something's up here.
>>14723996
Team deathmatch is the way to go. 3 of our fighters and Volcatia, versus 4 others. It may end up that it'd be 3 or 3.5 versus 4, but it'd be better than any other odds we could giver her. If we can arrange a 4v4 early enough, we can possibly convince Vol's trainer to let us train together to get through the match better.

>>14724022
I think we should go with B here.

For Slicks and Antonina, they should fight together this time in a regular 2 v 2. they need time to bond.

What sort of risks would be involved in the kidnapping of Volcatia? Have we heard of anyone stealing a slave before?

>What sort of risks would be involved in the kidnapping of Volcatia? Have we heard of anyone stealing a slave before?

Legally, slaves are expensive property. Anyone who steals a slave and gets caught is looking at jail, branding, and possibly slavery in the worst case scenario.

On the other hand, the owner probably isn't all that much more important than you, which means it's likely that his security system is a locked door.

Then there's the question of what to do with her AFTER stealing her, of course.

>>14724033
If only we could fake her death, then set her free at the outskirts of town or something. Or, we could help her and daddy plot revenge on the scheming husband who said she was insane.
Big money as thanks from dad--> More gladiators-->Potential for even more money.

Maybe even a rich family who will sponsor our team and give us access to the best gear for the girls?

>>14724033
It would be easy to do. We could do it the day of the fights. Sneak in the goons ourselves, bribe the right guards to look the other way, cause a diversion, and have the goons slip Volcatia out. Hell, we probably already know the complete layout of the place.

I'd say we send all three with her.
If we only pick one, it would be pretty much 1 vs 2, which is very bad in a Deathmatch. If it's 3 vs 4 the odds are much better, since our girl can actually work together as a team and have each other's backs. Also, statistically speaking, they'd only have to put up with 1,3 fighters each.
If Volc actually does something, it's just an added bonus.

Also, try to train with her. But not too much. The owner should still be embarassed during the fight.

>>14724095
I like you.
>>14724088
Also you.

>>14724106
I bow to the logic of numbers and this plan.

I think kidnapping Volca is kinda OK, if not for the fact that the husband would probably trace who kidnapped her.
Why don't we hire an assassin to slip poison to his drink?
Then when he's dead and Vol is up for auction, we buy her, and set her free.

Why would we even WANT to set her free?
This is all about business, not witheknighting.
And maybe she IS slightly insane.

Risking ourselves with kidnapping her is just a bad move. And even if we get her out, we can't do shit with her. We can't use her and if she gets caught again, she goes most likely right to the cross.

I'm gonna vote down the idea of trying to kidnap her for now. We're doing what we can to keep her safe, but let's not let this get out of hand. We're doing this to make some cash from her father. We have no reason to stick our necks out and lay our hard-fought freedom on the line for her.

So... he married her, had her declared legally insane, then sent her into the pits as a fighter.

Why? Why would you bother? If you wanted a fighter, why not buy a convict or a slave or someone who is probably a bit stronger, and hardier then that? I mean, yeah, it's probably cheaper to do it like this, but what about the legal expenses, etc?

I wonder... why would someone go to all that trouble?

>>14724057
I think TDMs the way to go too. With 2v2, you couldn't afford to attack without giving up protection on Vol. 3v3 is marginally better. 4v4 is the best we have.

Of course, some cross training would help even the odds.

>>14724127
OK, let her work as a gladiatrix on our team, then. She'll be safer in our hands, at least that's what we're gonna tell her dad.

>>14724135
Think harder. Maybe there's something in the will that defaults to the husband. That's the most obvious thing I can think of.

>>14724135
If her family is sufficiently wealthy, the marriage portion should easily cover the expenses. And now he is suddenly legally part of that family, which could give all kinds of advantages.

There's a really big problem with a 4v4 deathmatch.

There are more than two outcomes. It isn't all "0 survive, 4 survive on the other side". 0/1, 0/2 and 0/3 are all possible and indeed quite likely what with weapons flying in every direction.
The less people you have in a deathmatch, the better the chances of all of one side surviving.

Anyone we send to back up Volcatia is going to be sandbagged. Hard. If they go up against even Halfway competent opponents, Two Halfways make a Full... way, and we fail our mission and lose a combatant.

My advice? Find an anemic or weak slave, keep them awake for a while training (rigorous training that exhausts them), then enter them in the deathmatch.
Is it amoral? Certainly, but it's LEGAL, and it's likely to work.

>>14724127
Why? Because her daddy is giving us money to keep her alive, and will likely give a huge reward for returning his daughter. Also, he would then be involved in a crime which is leverage we can use against him if we ever need a favor.

>>14724135
Yeah... he wants her dead, and probably didn't want to get his hands dirty. It's the Romanesque version of the "have rich girl declared crazy, locked up in mental institution, take all her inheritance" scheme. Not very elegant, but a fair plothook.

Boy wants his rich wife dead so he can take her money. Simple as that.

>>14724153
Just as long as we can keep moral up for our main girls, I find nothing wrong with this plan.

>>14724155
Trying anything illegal is too risky.
2v2ing leaves our combattant sandbagged, but is possible.
4v4ing simply has "0 dead vs. 2 standing" the most likely outcome, with 0v1 and 0v3 also possible. A Clean Sweep is rare for any fight.
Since Volcatia's owner won't sell her, and we can't fight FOR her, she'll have to enter a fight.

The options are: Enter the Deathmatch and restrain her, Sacrifice a throwaway, or sign up for the fight and then Don't show up.
Or, of course, let her die and don't get rewarded for keeping her alive.

>>14724204
Let's reevaluate our options.
What's the reward for one month, what does a ragged slave and the drugs cost?
Is it possible to enter the slave under a false name?

>>14724204
The reward should be fairly meaty... keeping her alive is going to be annoyingly difficult if her husband keeps throwing her into deathmatches.

>>14724204
Honestly I don't know, but those are my thoughts on the matter.

>>14724204
Option 4 (or 5 if you count Vol dead): Train her so she became a juggernaut. Directly or indirectly. At least so she can survive long enough for the legal backhassling/sleuthing/kidnapping plan to happen and she gets out of the deathmatch business.

>>14724236
There's a delicious irony to that idea.

Can you imagine what her husband thinks when she starts winning matches?

Eh, he'll probably throw her against impossible odds. One woman versus ten murderous beasts or something or other.

Depending on the cost, we just should go with the drugged slave. Then we have another month to think. Ask what the reward for freeing her is. Hire an assassin or stage an accident.

>What's the reward for one month
Mystery, but probably more than the 75 he tossed to you without thinking.

>ragged slave and the drugs cost?
You can probably haggle it down to 20 and 1.

>Is it possible to enter the slave under a false name?
You're pretty recognizable. You also need to prove yourself the legal owner of any slaves you enter.

>>14724204
Well, since we were advised to think "short term," I recommend a combo of using a scrub to restrain her is best. If Vol kills her, oh well; and if the scrub manages to subdue her, that is just peachy keen.

We can use the time to plot a more well thought out kidnapping ploy or see if her father has something up his sleeves on his end.

>>14724204
I am liking the restrain option so that we can explain things to her.

>>14724253
>>14724255
Good idea, 14724255.
I'd like to avoid drugs if possible, just Hard Work and Lack of Sleep. A tired, exhausted fighter will fight like trash.

>>14724255
I like this plan a lot. We where thinking about getting a fourth long term slave anyway, so if she lives all the more for us.

also, captcha wants us to teach languages.

Still saying we need to get in touch with Volc's coach and get her some good equipment. As much as I dislike the idea of drugging some poor bitch up for slaughter, it seems to be the most expedient plan at the moment. Just keep in mind-- a fighter drugged to the point where a scrub like Volc can beat her is probably gonna be noticed by someone, and she'll be going in under OUR name, no hiding it.

I'd really like to do everything we can to train and equip Volc. I loved the idea of training her up to pro status just to piss in the face of her douche husband.

>>14724236
Do we have access to talk to her?
I don't think we know where she trains, or where to find her coach - but we definitely need to talk to her, or her coach, as soon as possible so we can arrange to train her. Or learn where she trains. Or SOMETHING so we can affect her training and progress in some way.

Learning how to contact and help Volcatia with her training is a near-top priority.

Hmmm, guys, if you really want into the 'buy a slave to be killed anyway', look for ones that earned their death row sentence.Maybe one who enjoys killing babies or something. Maybe a druggie who killed someone for money.

>>14724290
I'm not liking the drugs idea either - but if we can get a Scrub, tire the scrub with an all-night training session, and give the Scrub orders to restrain Volcatia, it does seem to be the "least worst" option.

With the money we earn from this, we should buy a squad-level commander - maybe a disgraced army officer, a corrupt guard, or a gang ringleader - and go kick some arse in 4v4es (NON-DEATHMATCH) to restore our reputation.

>>14724293
I don't like that option either but I'm not seeing a better one.

>>14724290
That is the thing, we don't have to drug anyone. Just give the slave instructions to subdue Vol and not hurt her. If the scrub is properly coached, she should be able takedown the girl no problem. Just let the scrub know that the fight is "rigged" and she won't be hurt. During the fight, give Vol bad coaching types, leaving her exposed to being taken down and then have the fight end in a no-decision. Everyone boos, our new girl looks bad, but we live to fight another day.

You sign up one slave for a fight to the death against Volcatia. Marianus isn't particularly happy about not knowing who your slave is, but you promise to come back the next morning with the correct paperwork. Marianus plans to hold you to this, or he's opening up the slot again.

So, the question is baby killer, hopeless screwup, or average unskilled slave? The second question is whether you're trying to win and restrain Volcatia, taking a hit to your reputation and not getting paid for the fight, or specifically trying to get your own fighter killed.

>>14724332
Average unskilled slave, try to subdue.
In my opinion.
Give the unskilled slave an exhausting training session beforehand.

>>14724332
I say unskilled fighter to restrain Volcatia. We can make up for the reputation hit and we are getting paid to keep her alive from someone off the books.

If we're going to buy a scrub just to have her die, we better let our girls know. Find someone loathsome, a baby eater or something.

>>14724341
This. We can use the slave later on and train her up.

>>14724359
If she survives, of course. Voltaria may well kill her.

>>14724332
Average slave.

Alternative thought. What if we hired someone to kill our new girl the day of the event. Naturally we'll show up just in time to kill the murderer. Then ee can blame the other owner for cheating and demand restitution, like a new slave. At the very least, the other owner's rep takes a hit.

>>14724359
Actually, TRAIN her in subduing! Buy her a net, maybe a full retiarius equipment and maybe bolas!
Doesn't have to be the best quality out there.

Then, later, we have a great supporter in team matches and a good fighter in nonlethals.

Perhaps we could bait Volcatias owner into selling her to us. Now, from what I gather her owner is not a gladiatrix manager, while we are established as an up-and-coming one. If we enter a shitty slave against her and she defeats it she has to be established as a promising Gladiatrix, having won two deathmatches (one against a trained warrior as well).

Directly after the match we approach her owner in public and loudly proclaim that we want to make up the loss of our slave by buing Volcatia and offer a good price for her (not so that it seems like we are desperate, but rahter that we seem to see her value).

Of course, he might decline, but in that case it should seem odd that an "amateur trainer" refuses to sell to a professional (especially when offered a good price). Furthermore, unless the husband has kept tabs on us, he should not expect the risk of her surviving much less than in the hands of the rat (and he doesn't have to take care of any details, as well as earn some money on it)

>>14724371
This does not appear to be a good idea.
It appears to be a bad idea.

>>14724365
I honestly doubt that that woman can hold a fork straight. If we give our girl some good instructions and short-term training and a net we are golden.

>>14724382
This. I second this notion. For the disposable slave, buy a baby-eater or something equally nasty/insane.

>>14724374
Good idea.
>>14724382
I think he's ACTIVELY trying to get Volcatia killed; if he sells Volcatia we could just refuse to enter her into Deathmatches, so he's not going to do that, sadly. :[
Still, making an offer to buy her for 133% of her market value (estimated) is a good idea - because when Volcatia's owner refuses to sell her, people will suspect something is up.

>>14724382
This is a very good plan... saves us our reputation and keeps us from losing to many slaves.

>>14724401
We should end the fight nonlethal and then proclaim our intention in buying. Then we will look less bad, since people will think "Ah, he didn't want to kill what he wanted to buy."

>>14724382
Did you people forget to read the other threads or something? The trainer is a proxy! PROXY! The noble has his wife declared crazy and has her sold off as a slave to a proxy trainer, who enters her in deathmatches in the pits!

They want her dead, not alive and out of the way. Damnit people, be more suspicious or something.

Cant we have the a slave supdue her, and then shame the owner by proclaiming that this gladiatrix has no place in the ring?

this should have the desired effect, and also make people aware of what he's trying to do.

>>14724401
Yes, but he has no incentive to think that we won't. Sure, she might not die right here, right now, but she will still be a gladiatrix.

And even if we fail, it will raise some questions in the public about the nature of this slave owner and his slave. Something I think her husband wants to avoid.

You visit the slave market and make your purchase, haggling the price down to 23 SP. Her name is Eunice and she is intensely unimpressive -- your justification for her lowered price. Perfect! Planning to train and equip her for subduing? If so, specify, if not... also specify.

>What if we hired someone to kill our new girl the day of the event.
Just so you know, last minute replacements are common. Septimia and Slicks had their first fights as last minute fill ins.

>>14724374
>>14724382
>>14724415
>>14724389
Looks like we have a plan on what to do, a plan on what to do if we win, and a plan on what we do if we lose.

Next question: Keep the new slave that we enter in as best a condition as possible, or tire the new slave out beforehand?

Guys, there is a problem with the subdue tactic, it reflects badly on US. The other trainer won't lose face over the slave losing, that happens. We lose face since we entered a death match, without killing the opponent. ESPECIALLY since we had the opportunity.

>>14724428
Train and equip for Subduing.
No opinion on whether we train her to the point of exhaustion, or leave her in a good condition for the fight.

>>14724429
Train and equip for subbduing, keep her in best possible condition.
We don't want any accidents.

>>14724429
Best condition with training in how to subdue and not kill. This is my vote.

Also, what is our money looking like?

>>14724441
The whole thing is diminished by
>Two novice fighters
>Still putting up a good show
>Proclaiming loudly our intention to buy her. Dead goods aren't worth shit
>Embarrassing her owner for putting a puppy into a Death Match ring
>Also, money

>>14724429
Best condition. That way, Vol would have less of a chance to kill the slave, and a better chance of the slave to subdue Vol. Also, we still have to honor Vol as a gladiatrix. Give her enough fight, so that the crowd may be interested in the fight; that way, when we declare that she's unfit (or whatever ploy you might wanna use) the public would be more reactive.

>>14724416
I think that the point of his plan is to raise questions about what exactly is going on. The fact that her husband is using a proxy is not going to be public knowledge, and we should leave it that way for now. Still, it is gesture that puts heat on them and could even protect our reputation--even though the latter is a bit of a long shot.

The owner -hobbyist- is the proxy.
The trainer is just another slave.

The husband probably just pays the owner to send Volcatia to deathmatches.

Also, regarding motives, the wife is this predicament as a petty yet cruel revenge for the broken deals between the two families business.
> "The marriage was going to make his family and ours much closer together. Then we saw them starting to pull out of our joint ventures, so we began to pull back as well. I guess he didn't like that."

In the end, the only way to truly end this is to get the husband's influence away from the noble. THEN we, or Volc's parents, can haggle her freedom.

We just need to keep her alive in the meantime.

Voting for baby-killer, and specifically put her in a over-worked cardio regime. No training at all.

Hang on... so some noble wants his crazy wife out of the way, he threw her into the pits. Why would people care about this? Even if we blow it wide open, who's to say the owner won't just go "Fuck you, you're crazy, I just like putting her in death fights, you can't prove shit."

As much as I want to restrain Volc so she doesn't get hurt, >>14724441 has a point. If we go through with it, WE look bad, not anyone else. We're just starting to develop a reputation, this could really hurt us.

You set out to train Eunice in the use of a club, net (1 SP), buckler, and armor (10 SP).

Next, it's time to fill out the proper paperwork. You return to Marianus and make the proper arrangements, as well as looking at your options for your other fighters' matches. One thing stands out -- the gladiatrix who beat Slicks to come out on top in the free for all has gained the nickname "Dragonslayer" in the records. It's nothing more than hype from her owner, of course.

Barring any clever plans, the results of training and your signups of choice will be in the next thread. I'm going to archive this and check suptg when I wake up.

>Why would people care about this?
LOADS OF MONEY.

>>14724484
Oh, it could turn out to be a political scandal, and refusing an offer to buy a perfectly good slave for a fair price would seem suspicious. We shouldn't go on about how she's some noble's daughter, we should only appear as a gladiatrix trainer with an eye for a talent.

And if he calls us crazy for wanting to buy a gladiatrix slave... well... I don't know who is crazy.

>>14724505
Can we set up a rematch with her. I see this as a potential draw for the fights, getting us a little more well known.

Have our human slaves enter in a 2 v 2.

This is my choice.

Hmm...

We really sending out a subdual slave? Our rep would take a hit. And we will lose the pay for the fight (which we would probably still get part of even if we lose, need confirmation in this?) if we subdue.

I'm still voting to buy that baby killer and cardio regime before fight, even if we already bought Eunice.

Damn you for naming her...

>>14724548
Another way to put pressure on him is, after the proxy owner refuses to sell, we can put up Antonina as bet on an upcoming match. If we win the bet, we get Vol; if he wins the bet, he gets Antonina. Naturally, he will turn the bet down. And that, that will seem odd.

>>14724581
The problem with a baby-killer is Vol is not much more competent than a baby. That plan could backfire so badly for us.

I vote for an exhausting, but not overly such regime (we don't want her to stumble in unable to fight at all). Give her crap equipment, a club, maybe a buckler if we are generous.

But we do not instruct her to subdue.

>>14724613
Thing is, if we "fail", that is, we win, we still have a slave that has survived a death-match and we still get the money from winning.

We give Vol's family our condolences, but maintain that sending anything worse would have been suspicious and disgraceful.

Guys, the baby killer train is gone. Paperwork is done.
Besides, do you REALLY want an ax crazy murderer to battle a puppy? Exhausted or not.

>>14724635
We got 75 gold from the father, and he says he will pay us more the longer we keep her alive.

We got 64 gold from the entire last fight, and most of that was a long shot bet.

Ya, the money is better keeping daddy's little girl vertical.

>>14724657
We would have gotten 75 gold for winning the fight. I am not saying that it is not BETTER for us to get her safe, but simply subduing her in the arena is not the way to go, as we will lose face as a gladiatrix manager. And gold may be much, but reputation can be worth more. Especially now that we are new on the scene.

What I want to say is, IF we fail (win that is), we can still salvage the situation.

The problem is, how often do the owner send Volcatia to deathmatches? Each week, each DAY?

One way is to get Marianus in on with the deal with Volc's parents. He could set it up so that deathmatches fight with Volc goes against the weaker ones, or with us, where we could supply subduers or sacrifices.

To clarify, I am the one that votes with baby-killer and cardio regime.
Better yet, give her a reattached broken club, so it breaks when used to hit or defend...

>>14724746
There are only games every month so that is how often.

And guys, the fact that he is sending her to die in the arena should be important. If he wanted her dead as a slave... well, he could kill her now. Easily. If he sends her into the arena it is probably both to humiliate her, her family and save face himself at the same time.

>>14724779
No other back-alley fights?
Though your idea seems to have merit. He could have just pay the sanatorium warden to hung her or slit her wrists and proclaim suicide if he just wanted her death.

So he wouldn't just send her to a no-name back-alley fight where her parents couldn't see...

Let's just strive to keep her alive. But subdual at this moment is not right, I think. If we can get Marianus in on the deal with the parents, he could still smudge Eunice's name and put in the baby-killer.
I just hope that his initial nervousness when recommending the deathmatch to us meant that he had been bribed by the husband instead...

Regarding the ownership of a slave, how do you prove that one is the owner? Is there a deed? How does it transfer hands?

oh hey, I caught one of these!

What is the social view on duels of honor?

Clearly a former gladiatrix-turned-manager will have beef with some fool intent on killing their gladiatrix. Can we challenge the owner to a duel for being an incompetent fool who's very presence within sight of the arena shames all who have ever shed blood upon the noble sands?

Bonus points if we actually make an arena match of it!

waiting on you gmq.

>>14725170
Good luck with that.
>>14724505

>>14725170
Dude's asleep. See >>14724505

>>14725187
DERP did not see that part. Oh well. I hope next thread starts a little later so that I can join it. Darn you time zones.