D20 Deathmatch Wiki

S4E1 — Shadows Reign — Atalantos v Kaja

Properties1
tagsepisode, season-4

30 min read

Champions and playersSensei_Suplex as Atalantos; stellalunaTV as Kaja
ResultKaja (kills Atalantos with Eldritch Blast). The Shadow King then twists Kaja’s head off.
Arenathe Shadow King’s old home, a tall obelisk overgrown with blood-drinking red vines, with a door mimic, a pool of blood and floating corpses
HostsMudcat (the Shadow King, narration and mechanics); Caustic Phoenix (Elusia Skypiercer, now captive) runs the chaos events and speeches
WatchYouTube

What happens

Opening — the Void in turmoil

  1. 0:05:34 Bec narrates. The Void “looks different this time around.” Storms brew across the land: fire and hail pour from the sky, tornadoes destroy crops and homes, earthquakes rumble, and lightning of every colour dances across the sky. The volcanic eruptions around the Dread Fortress are volatile and constant. “Nothing dares fly or walk these lands; only mere magic now gets you inside these walls.”
  2. Elusia clanks down the hallway with heavy weights on her ankles, wrists and neck. She has been summoned by her uncle, the Shadow King. She barges into the room, which is now decorated in his own theme. “What is it that you want?”
  3. 0:06:53 The Shadow King: “Elusia. Happy birthday.” She holds up her wrists to show the gold bracelets inscribed with magical runes that weigh on her. He tells her not to be sour: “You’re another year older. And maybe wiser. I’m not sure. We’ll find out.” Elusia refuses the party hat, and she is “sans crown” this time.
  4. 0:07:39 — The amulet. The Shadow King offers “the continuation of your little Deathmatch.” Elusia refuses. She says the amulet he gave her is cursed magic (“You don’t open or walk through planes with that”). She throws it at his feet and spits: “No one’s that desperate, except for you.” He snaps his fingers and the amulet reappears around her neck.
  5. 0:08:11 — The guests. He says he has prepared a grand celebration and invited “some of your closest friends.” Two stone sarcophagi rise out of the shadows at her feet. The lids fly off to reveal the skeletal remains of Atalantos and Kaja. “My friends.” He explains: “I’ve been filling myself in on the history of what became of everyone after our little spat years ago.”
  6. 0:09:07 Elusia: “How could you do this?” She lingers a moment longer over Kaja’s remains. The Shadow King: “It was easy. It was a little bit of cursed magic, as you like to say.”
  7. 0:09:25 — The raising. He snaps without waiting for an answer. The bones creak, the flesh regrows, and both are covered in a shadowy etherealness as they stand.
  8. 0:09:59 Elusia apologizes: “we’re bound now in this order.” Atalantos wakes: “You raise my bones. You give me life once more. But if more death must come, then I will surely bring it… Elusia, what is the meaning of all of this?” Elusia says it was a trick and a trap. She feels the restraints tighten, both on her body and on what she is able to say: “It is the Shadow King’s will. And you must fight once again, dear friends.”
  9. 0:11:13 Atalantos: “So be it. What say you, Kaja? Care to dance with death?” Kaja: “This is a type of headache that I’m quite used to. I was having such a great time on the other side. I suppose there’s only one way out of this… Elusia, you seem a bit in a bind.”
  10. 0:11:47 Elusia tries to step toward them, but her feet seem frozen. She says they “set the standard of the Deathmatch in the very first one” and have been drawn back “in this perversion of magic.” Atalantos answers that they embrace battle and death: “If it’s to be against one another, then personally, I’d have it no other way.” Kaja: “I have never been one to say no to a fight.” Atalantos warns Kaja that she may have grown weaker: “Every scar is a lesson. And if we are to do battle, then I will teach you many.”
  11. 0:13:43 Elusia: “How I’ve missed this banter… I will make sure that your names will echo once again. Are you happy enough, Shadow King?” He is delighted: “I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate your birthday.”
  12. 0:14:25 — The portals. The Shadow King rises from his throne. Shadows swirl into a portal under their feet, and across the Void portals open in every street, town, city and dwelling as the Acolytes file into the stands. “Elusia, lead them to my home.”

The arena — the Shadow King’s old home

  1. 0:15:04 Elusia: “Very well. And may we make it to ruins.” She pulls both champions through to the old home, realm and kingdom of the Shadow King: a tall obelisk. It is now covered in red vines dripping blood. The vine-creature crawls along the walls and floors and seems dead, yet it both pours out and drinks blood “as if it’s the very breath it takes.” The entrance door is locked with an eye that twitches and watches your every move. The ground is uneven with vines, but the stone foundation is still strong.
  2. 0:15:59 Elusia to the champions: “My dear friends, my dear love, please fight well.” Embarrassed to be seen in chains, she flies up to the Acolytes. She tells them she hears their pain: their lands are wrecked, but the arena is a refuge. “Your blood will not be spilled, but theirs will be as a sacrifice and a hope of protection.” She presents Atalantos and Kaja as more than champions: “These are the gods that laid the groundwork for all that you see today. These are the deities whose feet and tombs we have worshiped, praying for their return.”
  3. 0:17:04 She sits next to a tiny throne that sits empty of its small pug.
  4. 0:18:16 The Shadow King: “That certainly was dramatic. I don’t really know what to do here. This is my first time.” Elusia coaches him to call initiative.

Round 1

  1. 0:18:46 Both roll low on initiative (Elusia: “I just gave you the best hype speech I possibly could”). Kaja asks for advantage because she’s inspired. The narration: “Unfortunately, she doesn’t make the rules here anymore.” The Shadow King steps into the shadows and reappears beside Elusia.
  2. 0:19:47 — Atalantos opens. He looks over the blood-soaked field and asks Kaja what she makes of it: “A mockery of the past… They seem to make us fight as if we are animals caged here… shall we make this quick and easy and forgettable? The choice is yours.” Kaja: “When have I ever done anything plainly and without elegance? Of course, let’s put on a dance.”
  3. 0:20:56 He slams his spear into the ground. Familiar electricity crackles over his arm, torso and helmet as his Crimson Rite (Blood Hunter) activates, then freezes over: the Rite of the Frozen. “Take your best shot.” He takes the Dodge action and lets her strike first. Drew: “That is a first.” Elusia: “I love the energy, Atalantos. You never lost it for a second.” Atalantos: “I will gain many stars in this fight, and all of them… will lead to what I truly wish for, their head at the end of my weapon.”
  4. 0:23:25 — Kaja’s Form of Dread. She circles him, trailing a hand along his arm: “They say that the more experienced dancer should lead.” Shadows writhe up her body into a dress; spectral ghostly hands form pauldrons, a robe and a cloak. One hand crawls up her face, and her skin melts away into a visage of pure undeath. She moves 30 ft toward the stairs and dances “with a practiced grace of someone who’s seen many a ballroom.”
  5. 0:25:00 Atalantos points his spear at her and casts Blood Curse of the Eyeless: her vision goes null for a moment. All three of her Eldritch Blasts miss. “The shadows are just tickling you, I guess.” Atalantos jokes about their bones creaking as they get used to their bodies again.
  6. 0:27:15 — Tea service. Elusia (“Oh, my hip”) claps her hands, and a small goblin runs out carrying a tray with freshly brewed tea for Kaja. It stands at the side as her serving table. “They’re not to be hit. That’s Theodore, and he’s very nice.” The Shadow King asks whether she always interferes. Elusia: “We don’t even have wolves in this map.” “Would you like some?” “No, no.” Kaja takes a final sip and sets it aside.
  7. 0:28:36 Elusia asks the Shadow King for a d20 roll, the job the pug normally does. He rolls a nat 1. “You are a loser!” Elusia falls out of her seat laughing. Shadow King: “I’m not accustomed to these shenanigans. Back in my day, people just murdered each other the old-fashioned way.” Elusia stands in as “temporary” pug and rolls a 13: “And that’s how it’s done.” The Acolytes have summoned two chaos events.

Chaos event — the door that wants a knock

  1. 0:30:08 Atalantos rolls a 5. A voice rumbles from deep in the ground: “You didn’t knock. Everybody knocks.” The eye in the door turns vibrant purple with flames, burns red at the centre and fires laser beams (“Clearly it’s an eyesore”). Atalantos rolls a nat 20 on the Dex save and gets a bonus reaction. Without even looking, he deflects the laser off his shield; his eyes never leave Kaja, and he goes on waiting for her to hit him. Kaja takes fire damage. The door rattles: “No one has knocked!”
  2. 0:33:25 The Shadow King: “You know that door was imported from France, right? I had it put in an age ago.” Bec can’t do the accent, so it becomes Belgium and then Bangladesh. Atalantos breaks focus: “Wait, Bangla, what? Whatever. Focus, battle, yes.”

Round 2

  1. 0:34:06 Atalantos bangs his spear on his shield, walking, then jogging, then sprinting: “If you wish to run and hide, then let the battle come towards you.” His jab almost takes off Kaja’s ear, and the blood freezes as the rite kicks in. Kaja’s player confirms it: “You take off one of their ears.” His second, a slashing arc, cuts her leg: “Keep your eyes on the battlefield. You can flee, but you will meet your fate all the same.” So far he has given her “two lessons… two scars.”
  2. 0:37:05 Shadow King: “I thought that these two showed a little bit more, I don’t know, chutzpah when we last fought.” Elusia: “Your commentary really bores me. If you keep this up, I’ll cut my ear off as well.” “I would just reattach it and force you to listen to me for an eon.” Elusia: “Kaja, go kick his ass!”
  3. 0:37:30 — The wings. Kaja uses her otherworldly guise: with a sickening crack, bone-skeletal wings break out of her spine and unfurl. She calls on the lower planes to become immune to fire and poison, and flies up 20 ft.
  4. 0:38:40 Atalantos takes his opportunity attack as a grapple instead. He grabs her by the ankle with his shield arm and drags her down (15 vs 11): “Where are you running?” Kaja: “You are exactly where I wanted you.” She touches his face and casts Vampiric Touch, a nat 20, drinking the life “from your very lips.” Elusia lets her heal for the full amount: “Yum yum.” Kaja: “You can hold on for as long as you like. I will too.”
  5. 0:42:32 Atalantos sees the corpses lying about: “You toy with me… Bring upon your minions and let the army fight against the spear of Cor’thun.” Elusia: “That gauntlet has been thrown.”
  6. 0:43:23 — The second knock. The voice: “No one has knocked on my door!” (in a failed French accent). Atalantos is exempt this time thanks to his nat 20. He says, “If you wish for me to knock on it so bad, then here, let me deliver a corpse to you,” and throws the grappled Kaja at the door as his knock. The laser can’t hurt her, since she is now immune to fire. Giant teeth appear and chomp her. The door is also a door mimic, and from now on it gnaws at whatever is closest while staying on its hinges. Kaja seems unfazed. Atalantos: “Be aware of your battlefield and of the opponents in front of you.”

The new Box of Chaos — Robert Hartley

  1. 0:47:07 Elusia “demands” a roll; the Shadow King balks at “demand.” She rephrases (“Sir, would you please grace us…”), and he rolls a 19. “Feels 18 better than the last time.”
  2. 0:47:46 A gift should be due. The Acolytes and Elusia look up expecting the Box of Chaos to rain down. Nothing comes. Elusia to the Shadow King: “You’re supposed to be a box of chaos… That was you. That was your job… You were the box of chaos.” Shadow King: “The box, box of chaos, that’s the best name you could come up with?” “It was descriptive. You weren’t here, you can’t critique it.”
  3. 0:48:43 He asks the Acolytes whether they want chaos, then picks one out of the crowd: “You! Robert Hartley!” He lifts him out of the stands: “Do me a favor and lend me your soul.” He rips out the soul as a shadowy mass. An empty box slams down from the sky, and he shoves the soul inside. Pink and yellow flames shoot into the sky, and froth pours out “like a giant fog machine” (Elusia: “Last Airbender style”).
  4. 0:49:52 Shadow King: “I’m not sure it’ll hold up very long, but it depends on the soul.” Elusia: “The soul is weak. It could last only a match.” “Then I guess it will be destroyed.” “No one really cares.” “No one even knows that guy.” Elusia tells the champions that the box, “Robert Hartley,” will give “great gifts… at least okay gifts, maybe some mediocre gifts.” Both champions earn hero points. “Just make sure you don’t die before it happens. Well, die permanently.” Kaja: “A very important distinction.”

Round 3

  1. 0:51:50 Atalantos strikes twice to build an icy prison around Kaja. Both hit. He brands her with the Brand of Castigation, searing the symbol of Cor’thun into her. She is immune to its heat, but her mind fills with the screams of the battlefield of Cor’thun. “Look forward. Look at what I fight for. And now this will be the same thing you will die for.”
  2. 0:53:33 — The yeet. He spends his hero point on a Shield Master shove (athletics 26 with advantage). He slams his shield into her, shattering the ice, and sends her flying over the railing into the area where the corpses lie. “Running again, very well. Making an old man walk every time.”
  3. 0:55:01 — The box opens. He kicks the box open, and Rob screams from inside. Kaja: “There’s someone in there. Be a little more respectful.” A shadowy figure crawls out: “Where am I? What the fuck is this?… I was sold in a box.” Kaja: “Are you the gift?” Rob: “I don’t know… What are you going to give me?”
  4. 0:57:52 — The tank top. The lid flips open: “Here, I don’t know, this was laying around down there.” A dingy, yellow, beat-up tank top floats out. It is a robe of eyes (advantage on perception, 120 ft darkvision, sees invisible creatures). Elusia asks for it as a crop top, and it is one on Atalantos (“Show us those abs!”). At Atalantos’s request it carries the Death Club logo. Atalantos: “What is this? Is this branding?” Kaja: “It looks good on you.” Atalantos: “It does make my abs look bigger, but that’s besides the point… Thank you, strange spirit.” Rob: “Whatever, leave me alone!” Atalantos gives a thumbs up.
  5. 0:59:21 Kaja: “You don’t have to be quite so rough when our dance is not over yet.” Her Vampiric Touch misses. The goblin rushes up with more tea, giving her a d4. Kaja: “It’s funny that you think you’re winning, Atalantos.” Atalantos: “You called yourself a general, yet I see you fighting only by yourself. Were your men at arms, or was it all lies?” Kaja: “Oh, they’re coming… I’ve got to soften you up a bit first.”
  6. 1:01:21 Break announced and cut. A third chaos event has also been summoned.

Chaos events — double damage and lightning pillars

  1. 1:02:08 Elusia “spares a bone” to the Shadow King, since “there’s no dog to catch this,” and lets him roll too. Kaja rolls a nat 20: all damage is doubled from here on. “I hope that you all brought your first aid kit.” The Shadow King’s 16: the pillars turn into lightning rods that shock anyone within 5 ft. “Shocking, isn’t it?” Shadow King: “Your joke is bad and you should feel bad.” Kaja: “That one really rattled my bones.” Elusia: “I’d like to rattle your bones.” Kaja: “I only have one ear. You have to speak up.” The goblin leans in: “She wants to rattle your bones.” Atalantos: “I feel like that’s just very, very graphic.”
  2. 1:04:42 The Shadow King snaps for round four. There is a brief mix-up over whether Kaja had already acted, and it is settled.

Round 4

  1. 1:05:31 Atalantos: “Acolytes is what they’ve called these individuals… Tonight, we fight for Cor’thun, and Cor’thun wishes their demise. So grab your arms, your swords, your spears, and your staffs.” His arm glows with divine light. The first thrust misses, and the follow-up sweep at her ankle is a nat 1: Kaja steps over it and rests her foot on his spear. “You’re going to have to swing faster and harder than that.” “Bold of you to assume that this is my only weapon.” He slams his shield into her skull and knocks her into the pool of blood, then drops down after her. The blood is ankle-deep, thick and mucusy, “perhaps also not human.”
  2. 1:08:24 Kaja flies up 20 ft: “Dance for me, Atalantos.” She fires three Eldritch Blasts, all hitting, one boosted by the goblin’s tea: “Oh yes, the power of Earl Grey… I call upon the power of Earl!” Shadow King: “Who is this Earl? Is he a mighty warrior?” Kaja: “Warrior of the Caffeine Clan.” Atalantos: “If I live, may I fight him?” Elusia: “He will keep you up at night.” With doubled damage and her grave touch, he takes about 68. The shadows become corporeal skulls with gaping maws that slam into him and shatter into black crystal. He fails the save and is frightened: “A sense of dread fills you.”
  3. 1:12:18 The fans scream his name, and Elusia grants him a d6 inspiration from the crowd. He hears the chanting of soldiers, “brothers and sisters in arms.” He is a bloodied mess but ready to fight harder.
  4. 1:13:12 Kaja: “You look very good in red.” Atalantos: “And you look very good in dead.… Should I take off my helmet for you this time?” Kaja: “Because you have pretty eyes… Your eyes, they glisten like the night sky” (persuasion 22).
  5. 1:14:35 — The eyes. He takes off his battered helmet. He is human, with one divine golden eye and one eye writhing in shadow, “as if it’s being infested with the likes of demonic beings,” as in the previous mini-campaign. “Get a good look at it, because this will be the last thing that you see.” Kaja: “I’m counting on it.”
  6. 1:15:44 — The Shadow King’s gift. “I’m getting the hang of all of this.” He stands: “You, warrior with the shadowy eye.” Atalantos: “Aye. What is it that you seek?” “Nothing. But to give you a gift.” “One shadow being to another.” The blood rises until the whole space fills. It creeps up Atalantos’s legs, through his armour, into his mouth and into his shadow eye, healing him for 40. He slams the spear down, and blood explodes upward as his wounds mend.

Round 5

  1. 1:17:45 Atalantos addresses the floating corpses: “You all have died. Deaths that you might not have been proud of. Not receiving a true warrior’s death. Then fine, at least lend me your aid for mine.” He runs up the wall, kicks off, stakes the spear into the ground like a flag, and the blood forms a massive sphere that bursts out as a wave: Tides of Vitality. The bodies are 100% dead, but blood worms soaking in the blood give him a pulse of life. There are four. He heals 22, but Kaja is immune to necrotic: “Ooh, that tickles.”
  2. 1:21:15 Atalantos: “I am a man, simply put. A man with an unbroken will… Please, give me my only wish and a glorious warrior’s death.” Kaja: “Fine, enough playing around then.”
  3. 1:22:41 — Danse Macabre. “If it’s by the blade you want to die, then consider your wish granted.” Shadows pool between her palms, and threads descend from her fingertips onto the corpses floating by Atalantos. She raises them as skeletons (Elusia: “Skeletons look better doing the dance anyway”). Atalantos: “They barely even know how to stand.” Kaja: “They only know how to do one thing… Kill him.” Atalantos eyes the greatsword on his back. The four skeletons swarm him and one stabs him in the torso. “You, I like you.”
  4. 1:26:34 The Shadow King asks for an end-of-round roll. Elusia: “Forget the roll. There’s blood everywhere.” Shadow King: “It’s not much of a birthday without a little blood.” Elusia: “Listen, that happened on my 13th. I don’t need this again.”

Round 6 — the fall of Atalantos

  1. 1:27:19 “Do you remember when I said that this is a lesson for you?” He holsters spear and shield and draws the massive greatsword: “the spear of Cor’thun will turn into the blade of Cor’thun,” trading defence for damage. He kills the skeleton that struck him; the blade locks in its skull and it freezes over. “You wield your armies so carelessly. You focus on numbers, quantity rather than quality. … You, the one who struck me. How would you care to fight for Cor’thun?” With Blood Curse of the Fallen Puppet he turns the dead skeleton on Kaja, giving it his Crimson Rite at the cost of his own blood. It hits her.
  2. 1:30:37 He throws blood in her eyes to blind her and strikes at the back of her neck, but misses. The other skeletons hit him with opportunity attacks. He crumples, looking up at “this almost flying angel of death.”
  3. 1:32:15 Elusia: “Oh angel of death, what song will you sing us now?” Kaja: “I will sing the song of Atalantos. Once my friend, now a new plaything for my mistress.” Three final Eldritch Blasts. Atalantos: “I’m not dead yet. Again!”
  4. 1:33:54 — His death. As the last blast comes, a small smile creeps onto his face. He is finally getting the warrior’s death he has longed for. He looks at the scars on Kaja and hopes she learned something. “He does not feel sad, he does not feel angry. He is happy, he is proud to see at least his friends once more.” He looks to Elusia: “Finish this warrior. I know you can.” The final blast strikes. Atalantos is down.

The Shadow King strikes

  1. 1:35:22 With her hero point, Kaja controls the flames devouring his body. She pulls them like the threads of her Danse Macabre, forms them into the shape of the Sword of Cor’thun, and launches it at the Shadow King. It hits, with advantage “with the will of everyone behind you.” The sword pierces his chest. He looks down (“Excellent showing”), turns incorporeal, forms around the sword and steps out in front of it while the magic dissipates.
  2. 1:37:26 Elusia hints to Kaja to keep his attention. Kaja orders her remaining skeleton to “Kill him!” and fires Eldritch Blast after Eldritch Blast while Elusia sneaks behind him to take the sword. Her stealth fails. Without looking, he flings the sword into the crowd, where it stabs right into Prince Vegeta’s heart.
  3. 1:38:38 Shadow King: “Well, are we done here?” Elusia: “I’m not giving up as long as you are here.” She punches him barehanded, hampered by her shackles. He lets her hit him, and her fist sinks through his incorporeal chest.
  4. 1:39:41 “If we’ve had all of our fun for the day, I have one last gift to give you.” He vanishes from around her arm, appears behind Kaja, grabs her head with shadowy hands and twists it off. Her body reverts to a skeleton and falls into the blood. He holds up the skull: “Happy birthday!”
  5. 1:40:14 “Welcome and good night to D20 Deathmatch!”

Dried Blood (after-show)

  • Kaja: “Someone should kill him.… I’ll do it again, and again, and again.”
  • Atalantos: “I will make sure to stab them again with two spears rather than one. Then it will work, I’m sure.” The table riffs that everyone needs spears (“Why didn’t Cor’thun think of this earlier?”; Elusia: put spears on the bottoms of feet and on arms; “Brilliant, Elusia”).

Creator notes (out-of-character):

  • Drew: “this whole thing was just one big fucked up birthday party for the Grandmaster.” Bec: “There’s nothing worse than bringing your dead friends back to life and then killing them again.”
  • Bec: “I want us to remember the Sword of Cor’thun is now here in the Void. One of the Acolytes has it.” Drew: Prince Vegeta has it through their chest. Bec: “Surely they’re not dead. I think she’s alive still.”
  • Stella’s favourite moment: Atalantos’s throws and mobility, a dynamic battle. Sensei: he likes “little stupid anime fights” and how a battle evolves like a story. His favourite was Kaja’s flaming-sword strike at the Shadow King. Kaja: “Just wanted to leave a scar on the Shadow King in honor of Atalantos.”
  • Drew: the strike let him remind chat “that the Shadow King is now ten times more powerful than he ever was.” He enjoyed tying the Shadow King in after Skypiercer: “you had the victory at the end of Skypiercer but then you get to be resurrected and figure out that like oh it’s not much of a victory now.” Will they be resurrected again? “Maybe.”
  • Sensei: if Kaja is ever resurrected she should have just one ear. Stella: “Carry that scar.” Bec: “Deal.”
  • Bec imagines a yellow Death Club crop top falling to the ground like a flag as the arena empties. Merch joke.
  • Final words. Stella: “Throw yourself into what you love… Love fiercely and without end.” Sensei: like Atalantos, use obstacles “to motivate you to try even harder.”

Who and what appears

Characters

Atalantos (Sensei_Suplex). Raised from his sarcophagus by the Shadow King’s cursed magic, his body covered in shadowy etherealness.

  • A human Blood Hunter who calls himself “the spear of Cor’thun” and fights “for Cor’thun.” He carries a spear and shield, plus a greatsword on his back: the spear of Cor’thun becomes “the blade of Cor’thun.”
  • One divine golden eye and one shadow-infested eye, which the Shadow King calls a kinship (“one shadow being to another”).
  • Has a “dusty old” first dagger from his uncle, which he gave to Robert Hartley’s soul. Wins the Death Club robe-of-eyes crop top.
  • Calls himself “an old man.” Creed: “every scar is a lesson.” He longs for a glorious warrior’s death and dies happy and proud.
  • In this episode: Rite of the Frozen, Blood Curses of the Eyeless and the Fallen Puppet, the Brand of Castigation (the symbol of Cor’thun), Shield Master shoves, Tides of Vitality. Healed by the Shadow King’s blood. Killed by Kaja.

Kaja (stellalunaTV). Raised alongside Atalantos. She says she was “having such a great time on the other side.”

  • Warlock: Form of Dread (a dress of shadows, ghostly hands, an undead face) and an otherworldly guise (bone wings; immune to fire and poison, and to necrotic during the fight).
  • Spells: Eldritch Blast, Vampiric Touch, Danse Macabre (skeletons).
  • A ballroom dancer (“the more experienced dancer should lead”). Atalantos calls her “a general.”
  • Speaks of “my mistress” (who is not said). Lost an ear to Atalantos. Branded with the symbol of Cor’thun.
  • Killed Atalantos. Pierced the Shadow King with a flame Sword of Cor’thun. Her head was twisted off by the Shadow King.

The Shadow King (Drew). Elusia’s uncle, back in power over the Dread Fortress; this is his “first time” hosting a Deathmatch.

  • Raised Atalantos and Kaja with cursed magic and studied “what became of everyone after our little spat years ago.”
  • Gave Elusia the cursed plane-opening amulet. Calls the obelisk arena “my home.” Imported its door “from France… an age ago.”
  • Rebuilt the Box of Chaos by putting Robert Hartley’s soul in an empty box.
  • Can turn incorporeal and teleport through shadow, and controls the blood.
  • Rolled a nat 1 on his first chaos roll. Killed Kaja as Elusia’s “birthday gift.”

Elusia Skypiercer (Bec). A captive: weights on her ankles, wrists and neck, gold rune bracelets, no crown.

  • Her restraints also limit what she can say. Her feet froze when she tried to approach her friends.
  • Today is her birthday. Something bloody happened on her 13th.
  • Calls the Box of Chaos the Shadow King’s former job (“You were the box of chaos”).
  • Tried and failed to steal the sword, then punched the Shadow King through his incorporeal chest.

Theodore — the goblin servant who serves Kaja tea (Earl Grey) and gives d4 inspiration. “Very nice.” Not to be hit.

Robert Hartley (“Rob”) — an Acolyte whose soul the Shadow King ripped out to power the new Box of Chaos. “I was sold in a box.” His soul is weak and may last only one match. Gave out the robe of eyes.

Prince Vegeta — an Acolyte stabbed in the heart by the thrown Sword of Cor’thun. Possibly alive (Bec, Dried Blood). Pronouns are unclear: Bec says “she.”

Earl — of the Caffeine Clan, Kaja’s tea-joke “warrior.” Atalantos wants to fight him.

The pug — the usual roller, absent; its tiny throne sits empty.

The door mimic — the eye-locked door of the obelisk. It demands a knock, fires lasers, and bites.

Places

  • The Void in turmoil: storms, fire and hail, tornadoes, earthquakes, multicoloured lightning.
  • The Dread Fortress amid constant volcanic eruptions. Reachable only by magic. The Shadow King’s throne room is redecorated in his theme.
  • The Shadow King’s old home: an obelisk covered in blood-drinking red vines, with a pool of blood, floating corpses, blood worms, pillars (lightning rods for the night) and a railing.
  • Cor’thun: its battlefield screams, its symbol, and its spear, blade and sword.

Items

Lore statements

  • The Shadow King was the Box of Chaos (Elusia, 0:47:46). He can make a new one from an Acolyte’s soul.
  • Atalantos and Kaja fought in “the very first” Deathmatch and are worshipped by the Acolytes as gods and deities.
  • The Arbiter is dead and the Grandmaster is captured (YouTube blurb).
  • The arena is offered as the Acolytes’ refuge from the storms, with the champions’ blood “a sacrifice and a hope of protection.”

Quotes by character

Atalantos

  • 0:10:15 “You raise my bones. You give me life once more. But if more death must come, then I will surely bring it.”
  • 0:11:13 “What say you, Kaja? Care to dance with death?”
  • 0:13:15 “Every scar is a lesson. And if we are to do battle, then I will teach you many.”
  • 0:42:56 “Bring upon your minions and let the army fight against the spear of Cor’thun.”
  • 0:53:26 “Look forward. Look at what I fight for. And now this will be the same thing you will die for.”
  • 0:58:53 “It does make my abs look bigger, but that’s besides the point.”
  • 1:05:31 “Tonight, we fight for Cor’thun, and Cor’thun wishes their demise.”
  • 1:06:56 “Bold of you to assume that this is my only weapon.”
  • 1:13:18 “Well, and you look very good in dead.”
  • 1:15:28 “Get a good look at it, because this will be the last thing that you see.”
  • 1:18:40 “You all have died. Deaths that you might not have been proud of. Not receiving a true warrior’s death. Then fine, at least lend me your aid for mine.”
  • 1:21:15 “I am a man, simply put. A man with an unbroken will.”
  • 1:28:53 “You wield your armies so carelessly. You focus on numbers, quantity rather than quality.”
  • 1:34:54 “Finish this warrior. I know you can.” (narrated by Sensei)

Kaja

  • 0:11:22 “This is a type of headache that I’m quite used to. I was having such a great time on the other side.”
  • 0:20:41 “When have I ever done anything plainly and without elegance? Of course, let’s put on a dance.”
  • 0:23:25 “They say that the more experienced dancer should lead, after all.”
  • 0:39:26 “You are exactly where I wanted you.”
  • 1:04:09 “I only have one ear. You have to speak up.”
  • 1:08:24 “Dance for me, Atalantos.”
  • 1:09:11 “Oh yes, the power of Earl Grey… I call upon the power of Earl!”
  • 1:13:12 “You look very good in red. That much can be said.”
  • 1:14:08 “Your eyes, they glisten like the night sky.”
  • 1:22:41 “If it’s by the blade you want to die, then consider your wish granted.”
  • 1:32:21 “I will sing the song of Atalantos. Once my friend, now a new plaything for my mistress.”
  • 1:42:56 (Dried Blood) “Someone should kill him.”

The Shadow King

  • 0:06:53 “Elusia. Happy birthday.”
  • 0:08:11 “I’ve invited some of your closest friends!”
  • 0:08:59 “I’ve been filling myself in on the history of what became of everyone after our little spat years ago.”
  • 0:09:19 “It was easy. It was a little bit of cursed magic, as you like to say.”
  • 0:14:57 “Elusia, lead them to my home.”
  • 0:18:16 “I don’t really know what to do here. This is my first time.”
  • 0:29:03 “Back in my day, people just murdered each other the old-fashioned way.”
  • 0:33:25 “You know that door was imported from France, right? I had it put in an age ago.”
  • 0:49:07 “You! Robert Hartley!… Do me a favor and lend me your soul.” (second line in narration)
  • 0:50:07 “No one even knows that guy.”
  • 1:16:14 “You, warrior with the shadowy eye.”
  • 1:26:53 “Well, it’s not much of a birthday without a little blood.”
  • 1:39:41 “If we’ve had all of our fun for the day, I have one last gift to give you.”
  • 1:39:49 “Happy birthday!”

Elusia Skypiercer

  • 0:07:39 “Cursed magic shouldn’t be used. No one’s that desperate, except for you.”
  • 0:10:42 “It is the Shadow King’s will. And you must fight once again, dear friends.”
  • 0:15:59 “My dear friends, my dear love, please fight well.”
  • 0:17:04 “These are the gods that laid the groundwork for all that you see today.”
  • 0:27:38 “That’s Theodore, and he’s very nice.”
  • 0:28:40 “You are a loser!”
  • 0:37:20 “Your commentary really bores me. If you keep this up, I’ll cut my ear off as well.”
  • 0:47:46 “You were the box of chaos.”
  • 0:49:57 “The soul is weak. It could last only a match.”
  • 1:26:56 “Listen, that happened on my 13th. I don’t need this again.”
  • 1:32:15 “Oh angel of death, what song will you sing us now?”
  • 1:38:45 “I’m not giving up as long as you are here.”

Robert Hartley’s soul (speaker uncertain, probably Drew)

  • 0:55:30 “Where am I? What the fuck is this?”
  • 0:56:02 “I was sold in a box.”
  • 0:59:00 “Whatever, leave me alone!”

The door mimic (Bec)

  • 0:30:08 “You didn’t knock. Everybody knocks.”

Canon notes

  • Theodore the Goblin is a different character from Theodore the Giant (S1E3).
  • Kaja was Elusia’s love after Skypiercer until Kaja’s natural death, before the Shadow King revived her for this Deathmatch. Another nod to death and long life as a theme for Elusia.
  • Atalantos’s uncle is Atalantos Senior.
  • Elusia’s 13th birthday: probably the Night of the Long Shadow; not yet confirmed.

Canon notes

  • Elusia’s “13th birthday” bloodshed: probably a period joke. It was long before Skypiercer and isn’t important. Vague references are fine.

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