1 v 1 Argentum Astrum vs. The Bandit Brotherhood

So he really was starting to clue in. For some treasure hunter he was rather slow when it came to piecing together the shattered fragments of this mystery. Not that it had been very hard from the beginning, she had long ago, figured it out while he was lying on the ground nursing his extremities which had still been pulsing with electricity. When he moved away from her as if she were some kind of diseased animal, it brought a smirk to her face. Humans were always so scared of dragons and at one point or another she may have been the same, but in Akashima and especially her tribe, they were worshipped and revered. They were not monsters that needed to be exterminated, but powerful creatures with great intelligence that lived much longer than humans. Yes, they could easily squash a mere average human and that alone made them evil for some reason, but they could also protect.

Still clutching the sheath of the sword, the ninja allowed the last few shivers to ravage her body as she finally made it to her feet. She contemplated for the sheer joy of it transforming into a dragon before Lore and seeing his reaction to it, but she quickly brushed that aside. It was not a skill she used so flippantly, nor should it be.

“I already told you, Lore.” She said to him, her voice returning to that cold and emotionless pitch it had originally carried. “There’s a tournament going on between the clans and well, let’s just say your number came up. I’m not here to protect some weapon; I’m not here to even retrieve it though I thank you for giving me another powerful piece to add to my arsenal. I’m here for your life so The Bandit Brotherhood may return to its former glory.”

It was a speech if she’d ever made one, which oddly enough she had been doing a lot of since becoming the co-leader to The Brotherhood. With a quick motion, she slipped the sheath of her newly acquired blade behind her and allowed it to slip into the resting place that her twin ninja-to currently occupied. Before she could retract her hand though, her calloused fingers found the handle of one of the blades and stayed there, never completely pulling it from its resting place.

He wasn’t far from her. Just a few paces really, a few feet, nothing more. She could cross the distance easily enough and kill him, though she did find herself hesitating for a brief second. It was stupid and amateurish of her to do. She knew she needed to strike hard and fast and though she could blame it on the lingering effects of the cold, it was because she had spent time with him now. But it wasn’t enough to stop her. The man Ceidon Lore was still just an adventurer, just another member of some other clan and she was here to remove him to the game and further her own goals. She had killed for less, she knew she had. Hired out to the highest bidder by her clan to dispense death wherever they saw fit.

So the hesitation did not last for long, a second, no more. Then her instincts pulled over the veil of her mind and her emotions retreated into the void she always placed them in when going on a mission. The transformation was quick, but evident. Her face became hard and her eyes became an emotionless lake of icy cold water.

With a quick leap, she crossed the distance between Lore and herself. Bringing her body in close to his, enough to smell the sweat of his skin. Then with a sharp jerk, she ripped the sheathed blade and brought it forth and towards the adventurer’s neck. Quick and clean and hopefully over before he would ever realize it. She always did try to be merciful to her kills.

“Liar!” Ceidon yelled. “You’re an agent of darkness sent to recover your people’s lost blade.” Everything seemed to fall into place. Dragons must have crafted the blades and the dwarfs must have stolen them. After they used them, the dwarfs hid them away because they were too powerful. The carvings, panels, and murals weren’t meant for dragons, they were warnings to others to stay away. His story didn’t make much sense, but it didn’t matter. Ceidon believed that the blades were hidden for a reason, and that’s the way they should remain.

At that moment, he drew the steel short sword, Erol, from its sheath. It felt light in his hands, almost as though it was proud to be called upon. “I’m sorry,” he said to Kyoshu. “But you’re going to have to put that back.” She responded in kind, assaulting him with her new toy. However, unlike before Ceidon was ready for the battle.

The adventure parried the ninja’s attack and brought his sword to bear. It clanked when it hit the back side of her Falchion. Kyoshu grunted in surprise as she was suddenly thrust forward, but the ninja maintained her balance like a veteran gymnast. Visibly irate, she turned on her heels and was upon him once more. This time her blade came at Ceidon’s shoulder. She was trying to cut off his fencing arm. The adventurer reacted too slowly, allowing the ninja to take a slice of his arm. Blood poured from the wound immediately, spraying onto the Falchion. Then something strange happened.

In the new few moments, Ceidon fought like he was possessed. He was able to parry most of her attacks. For the rest, he managed to swiftly block and counter attack. The adventurer was driven by something inside of him. Ceidon had an overwhelming desire to defeat her and probably would continue to attack her even if she laid down the sword. Likewise, Kyoshu fought with incredible tenacity. It was like the sword had tasted innocent blood and would not stop until its thirst was quenched.

Then the ninja tried the same neck attack she’d done before. Instead of parrying, though, Ceidon caught her attack in mid-swing. Metal grinded as each combatant pushed against one another. Against the opaque blade, Erol seemed to glow. Its bright silver penetrated the tower and lit the sky. “It’s not your sword.” Ceidon said to her. “You can’t keep it.” She couldn’t keep it because it was his. It was his discovery. He solved the secret of the lights, not her. When the adventurer looked into her dark transformed eyes he saw an evil reflection of himself staring back. What was most disturbing of all, though, was that Ceidon did mind that at all. He was enjoying this power.

He transformed right before her very eyes. Like she put on her mask of indifference and hid her emotions somewhere deep inside of her mind, he too changed himself. Only this did not seem to be something of his own doing, it all focused on the sword, as if it was the driving force that kept him going and attacking her with a vigour she did not think he possessed. It didn’t seem natural to her at all, turning the passive man into something grotesque and twisted that seemed to want nothing more than her blood on his blade. Every time she attacked him he was able to parry her blade, or block it or counter it and so far she had only managed to wound him once, but he had not been able to spill her blood, not yet and not ever.

“Give it up, Lore.” She growled between clenched teeth as she shoved his blade back and came in for a quick strike at his arm. He jumped back out of the way and then countered with his own attack meant to cleave her head from her very shoulders, a vicious and quick manoeuvre. She didn’t block it or bother trying to stop it; instead she dropped down low to the ground and allowed the blade to pass through the air where her head used to be.

Then, with a quick motion, she lashed out at his leg. Her foot connected with the side of his knee and knocked him off his one leg with a loud grunt. He knee slammed against the hard glass of the tower as he glared back at her. “Without me, you wouldn’t have been able to retrieve the blade at all. You should realize that and deal with it; you needed the blood of a dragon and could not have gotten this far without it.”

The words seemed to fall on deaf ears as his only response to it was to quickly arch his blade through the air and at her once more. She slammed her newly acquired Falchion into it, deflecting it away from her body and sending it careening through the air. With it away from his body, the adventurer was left completely open and unprotected and Kyo took advantage of it. Wrapping her other hand around the hilt of her ninja-to she quickly pulled it from its sheath and attempted to bury it within the side of Lore, right where his liver was.

Without Erol to protect him, Kyoshu’s ninja-to stuck Ceidon directly in his side. No words of distress or other quips escaped his lips as the adventurer slumped from his knees to his stomach. Despite the fact that he was near death, though, he felt stronger than ever. The hunger continued to direct his body, forcing him to continue. Thus when Ceidon went limp, his resolve remained stout. If he couldn’t have the blade, then Kyoshu couldn’t either.

While the ninja basked in her victory, Ceidon defied all odds and slowly climbed to his feet. He grabbed his side and started walking towards his displaced sword. Blood poured from his torso, turning the blue hue of the glass red as he walked. The ninja watched in awe as the adventurer refused to quit, but she also knew exactly what he was doing. In one swift motion, Kyoshu brought the Falchion across Ceidon’s face, leaving a deep cut across his chin. She followed the slash with a shoulder dip that sent him flying to the ground. “It’s over,” she said, preparing a sharp downward slash that would cut him in two.

Just before she attacked, however, the tower started shaking. The ninja fell back off of Ceidon, struggling to keep her balance. Glass started cracking all around them. First the foyer broke, causing pieces of glass to disappear into the darkness. Soon the quake made its way up the grand staircase. With blood in his eyes, the adventurer looked to the sky. The lights that had once danced about the sky had disappeared. “The tower only appears when the lights are in the sky,” he mumbled. A high pitched laugh erupted from Ceidon as the tower began to collapse. Sure he was going to die, but there was no way Kyoshu could survive the fall either. She might as well do so without the sword.

With his last bit of energy, Ceidon reached over to Erol. After a brief struggled, he managed to grab the blade with his fingertips and bring it to his arms. While the ninja attempted to keep her balance, Ceidon sat up and sent his blade flying at her arm. If Erol struck properly, the falchion would fly right back into the mirror where it came from. The ninja would die without a single thread of dignity and the secret of Teria would be safe once more. After he threw the weapon, a grin appeared on Ceidon’s face. He lay his head against the glass, it would only be a moment now before he fell to his death on the ruins below.

This was insanity. There was no way he should be able to move after such a devastating blow, let along actually attack her. The blood seeping out of his side and staining his body, his clothes and dripping down to the floor of the tower was dark, nearly black. Meaning she really had sliced through flesh and muscles and tendon and her blade had tasted his liver. He had a few more minutes until he passed out from the blood loss and then five or ten more minutes after that until his heart stopped beating and he moved on from this life and into the next. And yet somehow, somehow the man found the strength and fortitude within himself to get up off the ground and come at her again. It was unbelievable. It was incredible. It was downright foolish and pointless.

Then the worst possible thing happened; the tower began to shake. It was sudden and vicious and moved its way up her feet and into her legs, destroying her balance and sending her stumbling away from him and a final killing blow.

Clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth together, the ninja let out a low growl as she attempted to keep her balance while far below her she could hear the sound of breaking and shattering glass. It was like a clock counting down the last minutes of one’s life. With each shatter and with each crack she had less time to live and less time to formulate a plan to get the hell out of this tower. She should have just killed the man when she’d first met him instead of fucking around playing something she wasn’t. Then she saw Lore moving again, his fingers wrapping around the hilt of his weapon and bringing it close to his body.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me!

But no, he wasn’t. With a powerful jerk, he pulled his arm back and then sent the sword sailing through the air towards her. It was hard enough keeping her balance in such a circumstance but blocking, that was almost out of the question. Still, she didn’t have much of a choice. Raising the Falchion, Kyosku tried her best to actually level the blade with the trajectory of his in the few precious seconds awarded her. The shining steel of his sword slammed and cracked against the Falchion, nearly tearing the blade from her grip as her arm was flung forward and she fell to her hands and knees. As she fell she heard two distinct metallic sounds clatter against the glass. Lifting her head, she looked down at the Falchion in her hand only to see that the blade had snapped in half, leaving her with only a few inches of the dark material, while the rest had slid away from her and closer to Lore.

Narrowing her eyes, Kyo quickly sheathed the remainder of the sword behind her and then slowly climbed to her feet as she watched the walls and the floor of this section of the tower began to crumble as well. Closing her eyes, the ninja called forth the dragon that resided within her as a bright, white light completely eclipsed her body, blinding anyone who happened to be directly looking at her. After a minute, it dissipated and instead of the slender form of Kyosku, the twenty foot form of a slender and snake-like dragon remained. Bright, ice blue scales covered her newly transformed body, contrasting sharply with the blade mane of hair flowing out from the back of her head and the tip of her tail.

Letting out a low, rumbling growl, the dragon turned its back on Lore and approached the wall of the tower. With a powerful swing of its tail, it shattered the glass of the wall, watching as the broken shards slipped to the floor below or fell the more than fifty feet to the ground below. Then she leapt through the newly made doorway, twisting her much larger body and taking off to the dark skies in a wingless flight.

Ceidon sat comfortably at the Ai’Bron library in Radasanth. It had been three weeks since the incident at the tower, but the events of that night were still fresh in the adventurer’s mind. The last thing he remembered before passing out was seeing a dragon smash its tail against the glass and take flight. Ceidon awoke several days later in an infirmary. According to Caduceus, he had found Ceidon's lifeless body in the ruins. There was no sign of any glass as it disappeared with the tower. Unwilling to let his friend die, Caduceus took him to the monks of Ai’Bron at the Citadel, who revived him.

It was still hard to move around. Even though the wound from the ninja-to had fully healed, Ceidon still had casts all around his body from the fall. Apparently, the monks considered the bones less of a priority. Once they were confident that he’d live, they let the rest of his injuries heal on their own accord. Even so, Ceidon was happy to be alive and somewhat functional.

Ceidon had also received a surprise trinket from the battle. His final attack on Kyoshu, a desperate toss of his long sword, Erol, had caused the falchion to snap in two. Caduceus said that he found the opaque shard next to Ceidon’s body. The malevolent pull and the relentless hunger that Ceidon had felt in the final moments of the battle were gone, indicating that the falchion’s magic had been severed. Back in a sound mind, he was pleased that no one would be able to use the sword ever again.

The adventurer was eager to fill in some of the holes in his story and had several books in his pile at the library. In his reading, Ceidon had found that Hikari no Ashigaru was a dark elf made popular by participating in various Althanas tournaments. The dark elf did particularly well in a brawl style tournament known as the Cell, finishing third. During the battle, the crowd dubbed him “the White Warrior,” for his unusual ability to control moon light. His weapon, which most believed to be made of Prevalida (though records indicated it was Black Diamond) was called “the Falchion of Light.” Hikari no Ashigaru was also an active member of the Black Hand and Malice, former Althanas clans notorious for causing trouble. It appeared, at the very least, that the sword of light was being used for evil once more.

“He beat me to the punch,” Ceidon admitted, turning the page of the book he was reading. The adventurer still wondered how the dark elf had managed to get into the tower considering he wasn’t a dragon. That whole aspect of his journey remained a mystery. Unlike Ceidon, perhaps Hikari no Ashigaru had defeated the guardian. Before he could ponder any further something jumped out at him on the page he was reading. It turned out that the Falchion of Light had been shattered in a tournament battle and its remains were scattered throughout that area. With a grin, Ceidon put the book down and got to his feet. “I'm going to Lornius!” he exclaimed. Perhaps he'd receive his answers when the falchions, or at least parts of them, were reunited.

((Good battle, Kyo! We'd like to request to keep our individual shards of the "Falchion of Darkness." They are made of black diamond, but contain no special magic or abilities in their current forms. For more information about the development of this story, check out the "Legendary Items of Althanas" thread. The blade in our story is the twin of Arawn's weapon. Thanks))

Kyosku
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~Story~

Continuity (8.5/10): I knew why Kyo was there, and what her purpose was. All throughout I began to get to know Kyo more and more, and to your credit, that added an extra point to this score. There were a couple moments in reading that I lost a bit of that, but they were fleeting at best. Well done here.

Setting (7/10): Honestly, I felt you did a good job, but that Ceidon did significantly better with this. You attempted to utilize the setting, with the mirror, which got you up to 7, but other than that you just seemed to miss opportunities to utilize it more – especially with Kyo’s ninja abilities.

Pacing (8/10): Simply put, it started out just a bit rough, which is the missing point, but once you got going. Phew, I was hooked. Well done here. Just enough action and such to keep me on my toes. LOVED IT! There were a couple of other minor spots where I felt too little happened followed by too much. Better spacing might have helped this.


~Character~

Dialogue (7.5/10): I can’t really dock you much here, because as is her nature, Kyo doesn’t talk much. However, it just seemed that at times her character escaped in her words or in her lack of them. It’s kinda hard to explain what I mean here, but feel free to ask me over PM.

Action (8/10): Good, nice flow of action. I wanted more sensible action from Kyosku, however, I think I got as much as I was going to get given the circumstances. The only thing you really got docked for here was there were a couple of minor times where I felt she would’ve normally have done something and then didn’t. Perhaps it was tied to the setting and the scenario, but I didn’t get that vibe.

Persona (8.5/10): You stuck in character and in line with your character throughout. That being said, you lost one point for the underly dramatic change when she teamed up with Ceidon. For her, that seems like it would’ve been a significantly more dramatic event for her. *shrugs* or maybe I’m just loony.


~Writing Style~

Mechanics (6.5/10): I honestly kept going how did she miss that? Or how did she miss this? There are times when proofreading or having someone else proofread goes a LONG way. I’ll point out individual things if you like, but it was only slightly less rampant on your part than your opponents.

Technique (8/10): There was a bit of foreshadowing that was kinda nice, however, for the most part, this was reasonably well done. I would’ve liked a little more of the style I’m used to reading from you, but you did well. The shimmering and painted was actually a nice touch upon rereading it.

Clarity (8/10): I could follow fairly well where things were, where they were going, and where they went. With that said, next time, you might consider connecting the dots just slightly more. Trying to figure out what happened with the mirror at first had me scratching my head literally. Very confusing.


~Wild Card~ (8/10): Backstory + Story + Mirror Scene = HECK YEAHS! Good job both of you.




Ceidon
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~Story~

Continuity (9.5/10): This may sound ridiculous, but you did an amazing job with this. There was never a moment where I felt like Ceidon should not have been where he was, or ended up where he was, or anything in between. I never give 10’s, so consider yourself highly applauded for a job well done here.

Setting (8.5/10): Great job with the various interactions with the setting. From the shurikens ending up lodged in the pillars, to the glass panel and tower, this was all very overwhelmingly well done. Interaction = good score here, and you deserved this one.

Pacing (7/10): See Kyo’s score. You both were right on point most of the time, but lost big points for the awkward beginning.


~Character~

Dialogue (8/10): Much in the same way I can’t dock Kyo a whole lot here, I can’t give you much more here either. Your dialogue and body language made total sense for Ceidon, and you actually did overly well with it. I also loved his reactions and interactions with the hallucinations, that netted you that extra point over Kyo’s dialogue.

Action (6/10): Same basic stuff as Kyo, but the big thing is that I felt that at times you may have overplayed things. However, once it got to the end, I almost felt like you did exactly what should have been done and the reasoning you gave made total sense in reading. Maybe attempt to give less abruptness to certain things next time.

Persona (9/10): You also stuck right along with your character, and then when you switched into insanely driven mode, I felt the switch happen. It tore at me inside. It was awesome. You did well with this. Good job and keep it up!


~Writing Style~

Mechanics (4.5/10): Bro, bro, bro. If there is one thing I harp on more than ANYTHING in threads when I judge it’s misspelling and grammar errors. Your writing was riddled with it. HOWEVER, if there is one piece of advice I can give you, it’s use a Word Processor – Open Office is a free one you can download with a spell check and grammar check – to avoid costly errors. If this is your biggest area of weakness, you will go far on Althanas.

Technique (8/10): Oddly enough, even with the errors in your writing, I felt a lot of great technique and style was used. You had intentionally placed fragments, although, they hurt your clarity score. Overall, well done with this.

Clarity (5/10): There were times I was following right along and going “yeah, allright he’s in a groove.” Then there were times I wanted to shoot you for losing me. As such, you were docked accordingly.


~Wild Card~ (10/10): You get 10 points just for a heck of a storyline. Backstory is KING in my book. BOOYEAH!


A bit of a side note before I tally it all up. You both did really well, but I wanted more of this story. I realize it was done in an illicit time frame, but man you both had me going and hooked after that first bit of awkwardness. I just hope to see some more of Ceidon’s next adventures. He kinda reminds me of like...the Goonies. And Kyo is always just so ninja, and that is perfect for her in my book. Bravo, bravo! Could have been better, but extremely well done nonetheless! Onto the tallies!

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Totals--
Kyosku got 78/100.
Ceidon got 75.5/100.


Winner is Kyosku.

Kyosku gains 1250 Experience and 800 GP.
Ceidon gains 300 Experience and 250 GP.

Special Spoils—

Kyosku gains the Falchion half made of Black Diamond (no distinct properties yet) and hilt made of Dehlar metal tinted black. Kyosku also gains a small steel dragon item of her choice with the initials BB embossed into it.

Ceidon gains the other half of the Falchion made of Black Diamond (no distinct properties yet). Ceidon also gains a small steel dwarf item(ie: in the shape or silhouette of a dwarf) of his choice with the initials AA embossed into it. Ceidon ALSO gains a small shard of Prevalida that was found amidst the mess near his body that glows on it’s own.

Moderator Note: The Falchion pieces can NOT ever be sold. Period.

EXP and GP added!