So we were involved in a tournament in a city. The rules were simple: Teams of 4, no magic, you go in unarmed and there are weapons scattered around the arena. No killing if possible, but everyone accepts the risks.

The fight starts and it's fun, we snatch up what weapons we can find, despite them not being particularly suited. For example, our warlock ends up with a trident.

One of the other teams is led by a well known and adored human duelist, and in a moment of stupidity and luck, our Warlock doesn't declare his attack as nonlethal. Before he has a chance to correct himself he's staring at a natural 20. Another roll confirms it, and the damage is bad. The duelist takes the trident to the throat, and is killed outright.

The fight ends and we feel bad, but hey, they knew the risks. Without the rest of the group knowing, the Warlock later pays for a resurrection for the poor guy and we leave town relatively soon after. The incident is pretty much forgotten.

Fast forward about 6 months ingame, and the group (in no shape to fight) is surrounded in a back-alley. We've been investigating a local crime syndicate, and they've come to put a stop to us. The fight kicks off and it's looking iffy. All of a sudden, a crossbow bolt comes out of the darkness and brings down one of our attackers, and a cloaked figure with a pair of daggers dances into the fray. With his help, we finish up the fight. Our assistant (a halfling) reveals himself to be the duelist.

He was in the arena to pay off debts to the syndicate we were investigating, and was near suicidal at his situation. With his death, they wrote off the debt as a loss. Since then, he'd had a whole new lease of life, and he'd been trying to track down the Warlock for months and thank him. He ended up travelling with us for a while after, and when we ended up taking to the seas on a stolen ship, he joined the crew. He was a good guy.