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The girl was too fast - Otto was surprised he had even managed to make a glancing hit given the speed with which she had moved. Still, he just had to keep this up and he might be able to shepherd her into Erirag's reach - and that would be the end of that. Wind-worn pebbles crunched underfoot as he took a few steps away from Erirag, circling the other girl while taking care to keep the other fellow in sight through the corner of his eye. Otto spared a quick glance at his colleague - she seemed to be getting into the swing of things already, and if he knew her well enough, would be enjoying herself immensely. He watched with some trepadition as their target conjured a wreath of flame around her arm, then with amusement when she launched herself into a pugilistic charge towards Erirag - and finally with confusion, when something brought the girl to a complete halt. Rain started to patter down upon his helmet and he realised, as the girl cringed at it's touch, that they had found the anathema to her fire.
"Have you ever been trampled by a cow?" he asked the girl, in an innocuous sort of way. "This shall be much worse."
A noise shot through the rising gale - the girl's partner was calling out. Otto turned his focus back to the man and realisation dawned: he had seen that man's face before, and those gauntlets. This was none other than Elijah Belov: Master of the Dajas Pagoda and recent patron of several elite battles at the Citadel. Needless to say, he had something of a reputation amongst those who frequented the arenas of either.
Elijah was also, Otto recalled as the fellow struck a kneeling pose, said to be a sorcerer almost without peer. With new found urgency Otto hunched down behind his shield once more and was spared the spectacle of the ensuing blast, though not all of it's impact. The force of it battered his shield with enough strength that the oak smacked against his helm, and a roiling cloud of steam washed up against his shins. As much as the iron readily absorbed the heat, his leather under padding was much less prepared to do so and thus spared him some of the agony. Choking slightly through gritted teeth, he lowered his guard enough to look over the top and was met by a great, burning wind. Through stinging eyes he noticed that the rain along their little stretch of beach was no more - and the advantage temporarily ceded to Erirag and himself gone with it. The girl was back in her element.
Otto considered shouting for Erirag to withdraw, but thought better of it; the giantess he knew would never back down, and besides, where could they retreat to? She had resumed her approach towards the girl while Otto stood amazed at his partner's resilience to the burning maelstrom... and was struck by a bolt of last-ditch inspiration. Now taking a dangerous risk by turning an unprotected flank towards Elijah, he circled around some more to the girl's right so that he was more in Erirag's line of sight. Hoping that the other Orc could see, and that the girl was too busy watching the approaching behemoth than himself, he looked Erirag in the eye and gestured with a sideways nod to a point past their target's left. Then, in a quick but showy moved he flung the spear aside and charged the girl, coming in at a strong reflex angle to Erirag. Otto drew his hammer mid-stride and aimed a broad swing in from left to right at his opponent's upper body, with a follow up strike following behind immediately in the form of his shield, held face-up to the sky.
Seeing how fast she had moved before, even he might miss despite his well-honed control of the hammer. And if he did, he prayed that the double-strike would force her back and perhaps a little way towards Erirag - who he also prayed had picked up his little signal and was anticipating the move.
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Prose: ( 16 / 15 = 15.5 ) ( 16 / 15 = 15.5 )
Mechanics ( 6 / 5 = 5.5 ) ( 6 / 5 = 6 ) – As far as spelling errors go there were a few on Otto’s side and one on Christoph’s. Grammatically, there were multiple lines in all four members’ posts which needed attention, specifically non-necessary commas being inserted.
Clarity ( 5 / 5 = 5 ) ( 5 / 5 = 5 ) – Being unfinished, there were several areas of this thread that were left hanging, most notably, the battle itself.
Technique ( 5 / 5 = 5 ) ( 5 / 5 = 5 ) – Similar to clarity above, there was nothing wrong with either group’s posts in this field, but there was nothing which really stood out either.
Wildcard: ( 3 / 3 = 3 ) ( -1 / 3 = 1) – Thread unfinished. Timing delays on Firebrand’s part resulted in lost wildcard points.
Individual Totals: ( 47 / 45 ) ( 42 / 49 )
Team Totals: 46 / 45.5
Lute & Hammer Wins!
Eriag the Poet receives 1750 exp and 30 gp.
Otto receives 1750 exp and 30 gp.
Firebrand receives 525 exp and 20 gp.
Christoph receives 525 exp and 20 gp.
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