New Blood Bracket: oblueknighto vs. Falling With Style

[oblueknighto]

With every stride of his legs he came closer to his target and his target would be getting weaker, he didn't see how deep the wound had been but the arrow had gone in and if she hadn't taken it out by now it would probably take a long time for the wound to heal. As he saw the moonlight shine out from the entrance he also saw the shine of a bright red moving fire, the heat of it had shocked him as if it had come out of an oven and was rapidly cooling down so he quickly side-stepped away from entranceway of the tower then dropped down and rolled out of the direct route of the masses of fireballs. He hurt his left shoulder as he rolled down the stairs but at least he didn't get directly singed by the crazy fireballs.

He then put his arm out to stop the rolling and found that his side felt a little hot but when he looked at it, it was just fine. His silk shirt had protected him from what would have been a burn. The fireball kept moving in the one direction and Blue then backed down a few steps seeing when it would stop moving or turn, he thought that it was funny how it only moved in the one direction and how small the actual fires were. The objects on fire were deduced to be small pieces of wood with even smaller hot coals in the clusters.

Blue knew that his target was now thinking with not a clear mind but a mind fuelled not by reason and calm thought but by the panicked and angry mind at a total stranger trying to kill you without you knowing anything. Anybody and almost everybody would feel like this if they were assaulted randomly and without reason. Some political figureheads were used to the fact and some others knew that it was perfectly possible but not many would acknowledge the fact.

Blue got to his feet and backed down the stairs as he observed the clusters of solid material floating over the steps.

Edited to suit your PM, hope it makes more sense now.

[Falling With Style]

Upon the moonlit terrace of the ruined tower, Alcyone finally got a good look at her foe as he retreated down the staircase, apparently unfazed by the fire. Her artillery-barrage of rock and gravel hadn't slowed him down one bit, either. Her large rusty eye peered out from her now-ruined mop, ringed in fatigue and reddened by tears. As she glared down the stone staircase at her foe, her gaze would hardly be described as 'steely' - again, rust being the dominant image and metaphor here - but it nevertheless shot daggers into the man's green eyes. To shoot arrows from afar was one highly impersonal thing, but to slit an injured woman's throat for the crime of stargazing was another.

A small bit of her brain wondered what she'd done to merit a professional assassin - perhaps even a trained mage killer. Her voice was broken and strained as she projected her harsh query. It was time to play another card from her dwindling hand, and she threw a streak of charcoal down a line of scraps.

"Why the hell are you after me?"

In time with her words, a flight of a dozen small rocks swooped in simultaneously. Their distribution pattern was random through her own difficulty concentrating while calculating, yet through a bizarre coincidence, it would make it far more difficult for him to dodge them all. Some vectored towards the head, a few flew at the body, but the majority went for his legs.

Edited to match the above. Venue seems to have changed to the stiarcase, which is actually cooler and more atmospheric than what we had before.

[oblueknighto]

Blue was shocked with the turn of events, he had been pinned down and with his target's little questions Blue was surprised she actually managed to take control of the battle. He had rushed at her and her reaction to that was her throwing more rocks at him but this time his body reacted differently, he dodged most of them but two had contacted with his leg and another ripped a thin slit in his mask.

His leg was bleeding from two cuts and he fell forwards onto a few steps from his target. He was still amused at how she asked questions despite his attitude towards her life, he didn't care for her and he didn't want to speak but through his mask he spoke to his target, "Why would you want to know, and how would that affect matters?"

Blue was just speaking to make her lose her focus and stand in despair, he stepped up one step and ignored his bleeding leg then told her, "You wouldn't want to know anyway, trust me."

[Falling With Style]

"I really think I do."

The wizard stood framed by stars and moonlight against her darkened form, making her look for all the world like a human-shaped black hole. She leaned heavily on her magestaff, her sunken chest heaving with shock and exertion. Charged with energy born from the nuclear interplay of willpower and pain, her diminutive form loomed over him from the twisting staircase. Her glaring eyes were the only things visible, rusty-brown against irises too distinctly white to be reflecting ambient light. In her hand she clutched two final scraps of paper, fluttering in the night breeze. Her voice called down the spiral staircase at her enemy, now prone among the cinders of her campfire.

"It's because I like answers," she continued, gathering energy. "Why not you? Is the life of a pawn enough for you? Is it enough for you to just...just react?" she spat; on the word react, a few rocks skittered away. Her lower lip curled out before clenched teeth, betraying a mind furiously fortifying itself against the erupting pain from her wound. A fresh spike quickened her breathing and screwed her eyes shut for a second, and when it had faded, the wizard had been properly fueled for a second round.

"Who sent you? Why am I wanted dead?" Alcyone asked, barely giving her enemy a chance to breathe.

"I'm feeling magnanimous." Her breathing came in ragged, fishlike gulps as she battled the shock of combat; she laced her words with rancor for her would-be murderer. "And if I get some proper answers, I'll be more receptive to giving you a second chance on life."

"So start talking."

[oblueknighto]

His target was talking to him when she somehow signalled her rocks to slice back at him and as if everything was planned, he had fell right into her trap, a rock dug into his back and it made him cough. He would need to comply with her measures, at least temporarily. Blue was still stuck in his deep mercenary trace not letting slip any information not meant to be given, "What made you get the feeling that anybody wanted you dead? Why did you assume that somebody would even want you dead? Why don't you answer your own questions first? Why do you think somebody wants you dead?"

Gripping the handle tightly he still had the knife in his hand but he wanted to hear what this user of magic had to say. Blue spat on the ground then gave her something to think about, "I'm also quite seditious today so if you give me some good reasons why I should even tell you anything, I just might."

[Falling With Style]

"You're kidding me. Why do I think somebody wants me dead?"

Alcyone's patience wasn't going to hold out much longer.

"You are actually asking why I think someone wants me dead."

There's an adage regarding the current situation that Blue may not have heard. It goes something like this: Wizards are capricious, and quick to anger! Now there's a stereotype that's gotten some workout over the ages. It's reasonable enough to err on the side of caution when dealing with wizards, after all, as they serve as vessels or conduits of some far greater reservoir of power than their outward appearance may imply. One small measure of discretion - assuming they're quick to anger and staying the hell out of their way, for example - is intuitive enough.

Not all spellcasters fit that mold, though; hydromancers enjoy a reputation, deserved or not, as a bunch of serene old fishermen paddling around in remote lakes. Individuals can stand out as well, and there are more than enough high-strung water-mages or approachable pyromancers out there to buck the trend. Alcyone, the astromancer, had downplayed her old, excitable nature, and now liked to think of herself as a more rational being.

Try as Alcyone might, though, there was only so far her patience was going to stretch. From her perch atop the long and spiraling staircase of the old tower, the wounded witch would try one last time to get some information out of her obstinate foe.

"Clearly you want me dead, yeh halfwit!" she retorted, and bits of gravel around her set to jumping like the crickets singing in summer grass outside. "I'll give you an excellent reason to encourage the seditiousness you apparently find seductive - your head, in working order, firmly attached to a non-snapped neck. Do you know what your blood will do if I drop the atmospheric pressure around you?" That last one was something of a bluff, but how was he to know?

"I don't style myself a murderer, so don't change my mind. I'm tired, hurt, and more than a little unstable. Get to talking."

[Taskmienster]

New Blood Bracket: oblueknighto vs. Falling With Style!

oblueknighto
Continuity 4

Setting 4

Pacing 5

Dialogue 6

Action 4

Remember, though you have listed in your profile that Blue can fire three arrows at rapid speed, that does not mean he can fire three arrows at once, which initially is what it seemed like he did.

Persona 4.5

Technique 4.5

When you write, try not to have “then” as the opening to a sentence, especially back to back sentences, it’s off grammatically, but I’m not sure as to what exactly the rule is regarding it.

You also switch between present and past tense multiple times.

Mechanics 6

Clarity 6

Wild Card 5


Falling with Style
Continuity 5

Who are you? Where did you come from? These types of questions help give light to continuity.

Setting 6.5

Pacing 6.5

Dialogue 7

Action 6.5

Persona 6

Technique 7

Mechanics 8

Clarity 7

Wild Card 6



Scores:

Oblueknighto: 49

Falling With Style: 65.5

Rewards:

Falling With Style: 575 exp | 150 gold

Oblue: 125 exp | 50 gold

[Taskmienster]

Exp and Gp added!

Falling With Style is now level 1!