Semi-Finals: (2) Sons of Terrinore v (3) Sore from Sodomy

[Thoracis]

Thoracis’ smile was a wicked one at Zephyriah’s revelation of who he was up against. It was the sound of a man who knew he was already dead. While the drow had composed himself quickly, his weakness had already been shown. Now the deck was stacked even more in favor of the Sons of Terrinore. Storm Veritas was already injured and Zephyriah Ablione already knew he was going to die. If he had had to plan the battle Thoracis couldn’t have done it this perfectly.

There was not much weight behind Zephyriah’s taunts. Granted, it was true that Thoracis did not appear for their quarterfinal Serenti match, but that had been the doing of the sinister Nyvengaal. Even facing such a wanted foe as Zephyriah was of the slightest significance when faced with the threat of the Forgotten Ones. Thoracis remained silent though. If the thought that he was afraid of Zephyriah granted the drow some kind of solace before his death it was ill worth trying to refute his claims.

What happened next was truly surprising though. Not the electricity that now surrounded Zephyriah’s blade, this was the fourth consecutive opponent to harness the element and Thoracis and Dirks were well adapted to it by now, but rather what the dark elf intended for it. Instead of attacking the ice mage, like the warrior he was supposed to be, Zephyriah whipped the electricity at a beam holding up one of the various shoddy buildings of the area. Pulling the beam straight from the structure he sent it flying towards Max Dirks. Fool. A quick glance at the target revealed Dirks and Veritas engaged in close-combat, something Zephyriah apparently had not thought of. It would be next to impossible for Zephyriah’s attack to hit Dirks without also hitting Storm. Couldn’t have scripted better indeed…

Thoracis looked back to Zephyriah who was now maneuvering away from the soon to collapse building. “Cute trick,” the ice mage finally spoke to his foe, “but you should also know that as ’Aleranian scum’ I’m not gonna be quick to protect my allies.” A sarcastic smile was shot at the drow before Thoracis quickly shot his multi-shard spell in the direction of Storm Veritas. Of course, Thoracis was assuming he would not need to warn Dirks; the sound of the building crumbling should alert him in that direction. But now Storm was subject to having to avoid both the beam and the five ice shards heading directly towards him with bad ribs and a katana in his leg.

[Max Dirks]

The newest face of Malice certainly lived up to his reputation. Storm narrowly escaped Dirks’ salvo by using a move the former criminal had once used against his own sword wielding nemesis, Prometheus. Dirks smirked. Even in the midst of battle, he was willing to accept the reused move as a compliment. The inertia of his attack left Dirks a few feet in front of Storm, only with his back to his opponent. It was an epic scene: the old generation turning his back to the new.

Dirks glanced up at his partner. Zephryiah was speaking with Thoracis, taunting the ice mage about their past. Surprisingly, Thoracis didn't flounder. The ice mage kept his cool without uttering another dry comeback. Dirks wanted to say something, but quickly realized he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off Storm. The former criminal caught a mere glimpse of his opponent in his periphery before Storm was upon him. Still holding his katana Dirks instinctively slammed it backwards, hoping to impale the defiler before he struck. Storm’s dagger, though its target was slightly altered when Dirks turned his shoulder to attack, slammed hard into the left side of Dirks’ back. At first it was like a hard punch as the dagger hit his iron chain mail, but Storm’s strength was too great and the dagger eventually broke through to his skin, leaving a centimeter deep gash.

Dirks cried out in pain, and anger fell over his face. Storm was going to pay. Dirks gritted his teeth and then swung to his right, curling around the defiler while using his katana for leverage. Storm’s dagger cut a gash across his back as he turned. When the dagger finally broke free of his skin, Dirks growled in pain and planted his feet behind Storm. He reached forward and tried to grab the back of his opponent’s neck with his right hand. From this position, Dirks had a good view of the scene that had unfolded behind him. Zephyriah had moved towards an abandoned building. There was a quick flash of light and then the vagabond hurled a huge iron support beam at Dirks and Storm. “Oh shit!” Dirks yelled as he dropped to a crouch, most likely saving both combatant’s lives. The beam flew over his head and crashed into the side of another building, sending shards of glass flying about the streets.

The worst of Zephyriah's attack had yet to come. Without its main support beam, the building buckled under its own weight and started to crumble. It leaned forward and then began to fall. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dirks called out, before retracting his right hand. Dirks slammed his forearm at Storm, trying to push him forward. The defiler could deal with the oncoming flurry of ice shards and the falling building on his own.

Dirks turned and began to run out of the building’s path. Small pieces of loose concrete began to fall as they were knocked free of the structure. Dirks dodged the first piece and the second, but a third piece, about the size of softball fell hard onto Dirks’ shoulder. His wounds, which had begun to close up, reopened and a sheering pain rained throughout his body. Dirks grabbed his shoulder with his free hand, and continued to dodge concrete until he broke free of the building’s shadow. The building let out a deafening boom as it hit the ground and dust flew into the air, encompassing the streets in a deep gray fog.

“That’s it,” Dirks mumbled. Without the ability to relax his back muscles, it would be increasingly hard rely completely on his sword. Dirks reached down and pulled his ‘patented’ Beretta 950 from its shoulder holster. With both weapons in hand, Dirks set out under the dust camouflage. “That elf’s going to pay.”

(Storm, I was careful with my language regarding the grab to avoid bunnying your character so feel free to escape it. However, with hopes of luring you into it, I've provided a handy dodge of the beam for both characters should you accept )

[Storm Veritas]

The only thoughts that were running through his head were “scramble” and “survive”. Although it had felt awfully good to feel his dagger bite into the flesh of Max Dirks, the aftermath was chaos, complete bedlam that was as unpredictable as the start of the fight and thrice as deadly.

His own ally Zephyriah had launched some sort of massive beam at them, and it crashed terribly into the side of a ramshackle building. Buckling the core foundation, people screamed from the docks and ran for cover. Some did not make it, glassy shrapnel tearing them down in their own steps. Several people dove into the water, the savage cries deafening the streets as they sought safety. One man swung from the suspended shark-thing to safety, a bizarre turn of events that led to him eventually slipping ass-over-teakettle into the water.

As silly as the citizen’s departure seemed, things were heart-attack-serious for Storm Veritas. Already weakened, the incredible speed of Max Dirks was simply too much for him. The wily veteran had danced and spun and stepped hard about him, hitting him hard in the back of the neck with a forearm shiver. The pain was inconsequential, the result altogether life-altering.

Veritas fell forward on his hands, turning and spinning at the building behind him, heaving and dropping thick bricks of cinder like some sadistic, hellacious rain. With his wounded body kicking mightily to pull him away from the falling brownstone, Storm’s feet kicked like pistons, heels slipping on water-sopped stone and wood. With his back to Thoracis and Zephyriah, he never saw nor knew of the barrage of icy projectiles that would ravage him.

He was hit with splinters of ice, several dozen of the needle-pricks spattering his back and crippling him. There would be no more movement, as the pins painted his back with blood and halted his movement unconditionally. Overwrought with the agony which accompanied, he leaned back as he scowled in pain. Eloquence was out the window.

“FUCK!”

The building, unsurprisingly enough, did not cease its descent to accompany the wounded man. There is no time out in battle. The cement-rimmed building crashed hard some ten feet in front of him, but it crumbled hard over him, pinning his frame waist deep in what felt like tons of metal and steel. It wasn’t, but it had snapped several bones with sickening cracks and crunches. His body was now a study in injuries, his eyes diverted from the likely-sickening display underneath the rubble. A warm fluid coated his thighs, and he could not for the life of him discern weather it was blood or urine.

I should hope it’s piss… but somehow I don’t think I’m so fortunate.

Lightheaded, he was fading. His consciousness would slip soon. There was only a few short seconds left now, and he needed to act. A thought crossed his mind.

Kamikaze.

Covered in stone and metal and wood, there was no chance to move, and his legs were obviously unsalvageable. Removing his gauntlets, his hands charged up the air with the scent of ozone as he looked at the fragmented stone about him. Perfect. Inhaling deeply, he pressed his hands to the broken rock layer and ushered forth his mightiest blast of electric energy.

The explosion of rock and metal and wood and blood-coated debris was massive. The spray was far reaching, shattering out axially from the source of the lightning, a fragmentation grenade exploded in the kill zone. At the eye of the hurricane was his hapless frame. He succumbed to the unconscious with the release, mercifully enough. His own decimation was incomprehensible, but he rested his fate in the hands of the “magical” Lornius clerics.

Zephriah was on his own now, but the odds had likely been more or less evened, as Veritas couldn’t imagine that any would walk away unscathed. Live or die, he had gone out with a bang.

[Max Dirks]

(Zeph, if you happen to get online before the round closes, I've left you an opportunity to go through with the plan. I won't be able to post again before the close of the battle but you and Thoracis may certainly bunny Dirks to make an appropriate conclusion)

As Max Dirks crept away from the fallen building, an odd feeling of regret built up inside of him. In order to break his ties to Malice, he was forced to become the violent, manipulative gangster he once was. This was not something that Starlynn would have wanted. This was not something that he wanted. When Dirks did not see Storm emerge from the rubble, he almost felt sorry for the fallen ‘defiler’. Dirks stopped in his tracks as he thought, No. It wasn’t Storm that Dirks felt sorry for. It was himself.

Irony had a strange way of making its point. Dirks could hear the crack of thunder as the pieces of concrete were forced away from Storm’s fallen body, but he could only watch helpless as a large piece of concrete flew towards him. The former criminal’s jam dropped and he tried to jump out of the way, but his dodge was in vain. The concrete slab caught him square in the stomach instantly draining the breath from his lungs. He flew hard into the side of a nearby building, causing something to crack in his back. He also dropped his katana. Dirks slid down the side of the wall and the concrete slab fell down onto his legs, temporarily trapping him against the ground. If only he hadn’t stopped moving.

“Good play,” Dirks mumbled to his Malice replacement, who was undoubtly subdued somewhere in the mess. For the first time, no thoughts passed through his mind as he searched for a way to remove the concrete from his lap. Regret, remorse, pity. They meant nothing if he was able to survive. There were no levers or anything else Dirks could pry the slab off with so he would have to do it himself. Without any other option, Dirks pushed. At first, the concrete didn’t move. Dirks quickly grew frustrated and then pushed harder. Finally the slab began to inch forward. After a moment, Dirks was able to push the slab far enough away to slide his legs, which surprisingly could move, out from under their trap. It had taken far too much time though.

With a smirk, Dirks pushed from the ground and tried to stand. He kept his balance for a moment, and then tumbled to the ground. Exhaustion, from the battle and from the pushing, had completely set in. As he pushed up to his hands and knees, a drop of sweat fell from his forehead to the ground. It was the first time the former criminal had noticed he was sweating. The combination of the heat and the intensity of the battle were quickly becoming unbearable. Dirks looked up as the dust from the crashing building began to part. The battle wasn’t over yet. With all his remaining strength, Dirks began to crawl towards Zephyriah. All he needed was one shot. One shot and all of his ties would be broken. One shot and everything would come full circle.

But he would be no better a man for it…

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

This battle was very good. I really wish it had been finished. Because all of you are such excellent roleplayers, I will be giving very few comments, merely stated what areas were your strongest and weakest points.

Sore from Sodomy

Zephyriah

You strongpoint was definitely how you influenced the entire battle. While Dirks, Thor and Storm were all participating, you really seemed to control the follow, in your few posts. The big thing that hurt you was your activity.

Introduction: 7
Setting: 7
Character: 7
Dialogue: 6
Rising Action: 8
Climax: 9
Conclusion: 0
Strategy: 7
Writing Style: 7
Wild Card: 3

Total: 61 / 100

Storm Veritas

I can’t really say there was anything that truly stood out to me from your writing, because all of it was so solid. Again, you really didn’t have a weakness either.

Introduction: 7
Setting: 6
Character: 7
Dialogue: 6
Rising Action: 8
Climax: 7
Conclusion: 5
Strategy: 6
Writing Style: 6
Wild Card: 6

Total: 64 / 100

Team Total: 62.5 / 100

Sons of Terrinore

Max Dirks

You really should roleplay more often, Dirks is an enjoyable character to read. Your frequent posting did help to keep the pace of the battle up, as you responded to each attack as it came, allowing for more action. Solid work, just work a bit more on your dialogue, nothing major.

Introduction: 6
Setting: 7
Character: 8
Dialogue: 6
Rising Action: 8
Climax: 7
Conclusion: 0
Strategy: 7
Writing Style: 8
Wild Card: 7

Total: 64 / 100

Thoracis

Wow, your character in this thread was truly awesome. Your motivation and description of what was going within your character was the most impressive thing in this thread. I truly saw a side of Thoracis that I’ve never seen before, and you expressed it very well. Nicely done.

Introduction: 8
Setting: 7
Character: 9
Dialogue: 6
Rising Action: 8
Climax: 7
Conclusion: 0
Strategy: 7
Writing Style: 8
Wild Card: 5

Total: 65 \ 100

Team Total: 64.5 \ 100

Sons of Terrinore advance to the finals.

Thoracis receives 2200 EXP.
Max Dirks receives 2200 EXP.
Zephyriah receives 600 EXP.
Storm Veritas receives 600 EXP.

[Zieg dil' Tulfried]

EXP added!