Nibum, as you leap, Fork sends Rumble after you, directing him to protect the Captain.

As first the hand and then Nibum and his entourage emerge from thin air, the priest officiating the combat screams out:

"Light the lanterns!"
"Pitmasters! Stop them!"

The crowd are on their feet, screaming.

Spoiler: Perception 20+
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Among them is Merr Vrael, the head of the Vrael family, who demanded a life for the life of Eztli Vrael. She looks furious.


The Captain leaps onto the hand, stabbing her rapier into the ground momentarily and drawing an arrow. "Good to see you, Mr. Nibum."

She nocks the arrow and takes aim at someone up in the stands; she strikes the woman in the center of her chest, and Rumble lends his icy breath, but the Captain's mouth quirks in a frown. "If you could have been anything but poison, Milady," she mutters, snatching up her rapier again.

Spoiler: Perception 12+
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You recognize her target as Merr Vrael, the head of the Vrael family, who demanded a life for the life of Eztli Vrael. She looks furious.



It is at this point that the worm attacks. As it charges towards the Captain, the swarm of nano-constructs strikes at it, causing it to roar; as it redirects its attack a flash of illusion magic shimmers out from the Captain's rapier, and the worm, lunging hard to reach...

Attacks the high priest.

Fool's Rapier
Misdirect. When a creature within 60 feet of you targets you with an attack roll, you can use your reaction to require that creature to make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the attack instead targets another creature of your choice that is within the attacker’s reach. Once this reaction has been used, it can’t be used again until the next dawn.
The jaws of the worm close around the priest and swallow it instantly. Its stinger springs from the dirt at Nibum but Triceratool smacks it down.

"I take it back," says the Captain, laughing giddily. "Never change, o May Queen. Praise you with great praise."

The Captain seems different, in this transfiguration; her eyes bright, her voice fey and merry. Exhilirated with the thrill of battle. Like someone who has resisted temptation a long time on a beautiful and wild bender.

The woman in the stands that the Captain targets leaps from the benches and transforms in mid-air into a serpentine form of cloud and lightning. At the same time, the invisibility around the tender drops. (The crowd shrieks at the sudden appearance of an illithid vessel.)

The flying storm serpent coils and twists just off the rear deck of the tender, and tries to coil around Servius.


Fork hesitates between invisibility and the ballista, but the serpent is already aboard. He fires the ballista into the storm serpent. He directs the tender downward, to get within range of the hand and away from Merr Vrael. The storm serpent strikes at it, but fails to damage the shell of the nautioloid. She is left behind as the tender drops another thirty feet.

Panicked and confused by the disappearance of the Priest, the Pitmasters mill around for a moment confused. Rumble hurls himself up to the parapet where they are stationed and savages one of them. This Pit Master retaliates against the drake; one other shoots a ball of flame up towards the upper wall of the coliseum, lighting one of the huge lamps that light the arena once the brief morning passes. Slaves direct the spotlight onto the ship, bathing you in the light of a giant lantern of revealing.

The other four use their cudgels to call forth couatl, flying serpents, from the dungeons beneath the stadium. They mill above, not attacking but blocking your exit from the arena.


Spoiler: Summary
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ACTIONS: The Captain spots Merr Vrael with a 20 on Perception, and fires her bow at her. She hits with a 15 and does 6 damage from the arrow, 3 poison damage (halved) and 6 damage from Rumble's breath weapon. The Captain climbs onto the hand.

The Purple Worm attacks. It fails the Wisdom save and cannot attack the Captain. The Captain uses a reaction and her Fool's Rapier to redirect it's attack to the priest. It hits the priest with a 31. The priest fails the DEX save to avoid being swallowed and is swallowed. It attacks Nibum with its stinger, with disadvantage from Triceratool, and misses.

Merr Vrael, having rolled a disgusting 20 on her initiative, uses her action to cast dispel magic at the tender. She rolls a 16, dispelling invisibility. She uses a bonus action and two wild shape charges to transform into a serpentine air elemental. She moves towards the tender with a speed of 90 and reaches it.

Fork fires the ballista and moves 30 feet, to be within range of the hand. The ballista hits and does 22 damage to the air elemental. air elemental gets an opportunity attack and hits with a 25, doing 12 damage to the tender, which is under the damage threshold of 15. Rumble uses his bonus action to attack a Pitmaster, doing 7 damage.

One of the Pit Masters attacks Rumble and misses three times. One Pit Master uses Sacred Flame to light a giant lantern of revealing, pointed at the tender. Four Pit Masters use their cudgels to summon Couatls to block your escape.

DAMAGE:

Merr Vrael - (13 dmg) 22 dmg
Malison Priest - 25 dmg
Pitmaster 1 - 7 dmg

INITIATIVE:
20 - Merr Vrael
19 - Fork / Tender
18 - Pitmasters & Priest & Couatls
16 - Nibum
12 - Servius
8 - Captain Magyar
4 - Ttharg
1 - Purple Worm