This match-up will last until 8 P.M. E.S.T. on 2/16/07. Remember, if you finish your battle early, I can score you early - and finishing early is a good, good thing always.
Best of luck!
This match-up will last until 8 P.M. E.S.T. on 2/16/07. Remember, if you finish your battle early, I can score you early - and finishing early is a good, good thing always.
Best of luck!
-The Althanas Chief Administrator and Editor
Out of Character:
Also, unless Zieg disagrees, this is set before the Civil War in Corone cuts loose.
"Zieg 'dil Tulfried! We meet again!" The small purple-headed boy struck a pose he deemed sufficiently dashing.
"Ha ha! Indeed, O Mighty Jannin!" The demon general drew his blade, the Gamygym. "And now it is time for another crushing! But first, I will defeat the purpose of having an item that can be made stronger during a fight by juicing it up immediately, instead of when I need it to catch my enemy off-guard!" Embers danced about the weapon and finally a mighty flame roared into life on its surface. "Ha ha! Now my blade will not cause bleeding when it strikes, because it will instantly cauterize the wound! Oh, O Mighty Jannin, you have no hope against such honorable tactics!
"But before I begin the crushing, I shall deliver a monologue on how great honor is."
"Ah, ha!" Jannin shouted to himself, "This time, he hasn't put his flaming sword at my chest! I can completely ignore him, and catch him unawares!" The lad began charging toward the demon, staff in hand.
"Now, see, evil... Evil is bad, mm-- Kaaah!" Zieg was interrupted by the boy's suckerpunch, which apparently possessed sufficient force to launch him far beyond the horizon.
"Ha ha!" the young man cried, "How sweet it is!" He then performed a small victory dance in the scantily detailed environment. "No one can beat me, the Almighty--"
----- -- ---- - --- - ---- -- -----
"Jannin!"
The small boy snapped back to reality, his head jerking toward the sound of his name. "You're not leavin' until they're all done, so you're better off daydreaming on your own time."
The lad turned from the plate in his hands, his pained expression reflected on its surface, to the small mountain of incredibly dingy saucers, platters, steins, and other serving apparatus too filthy to identify, and then to the large, stern man in the doorway. "Oh, come on..." the lad whined, "I've already done some work! This is child labor!" The man's eyes flitted over the stack of two clean bowls to Jannin's left. It did not impress.
"Yes," he agreed, "This is child labor. Now, get back to it. If you're not done by dinnertime, I'll be piling those onto your load." The restaurant's owner stayed long enough for a glare and a 'You win this round,' from his temporary employee before returning to the kitchen.
Jannin sighed. Which was impressive, as his pride was making its way down his gullet at the same time. He put from his mind the daydreams of a rematch with Zieg 'dil Tulfried. It's not happening any time soon. The child finished polishing his first plate and set it next to the bowls. He then turned away and reached for another dish from the pile, a task that could be likened to removing entrails from some decaying beast. He looked at other things, like the unadorned, cracked stone wall that seemed to have a greasy sheen to it, or the soapy water that was already looking almost as filthy as anything else in the building. The boy grimaced, examining the withdrawn mound of ooze with -- he hoped -- another plate somewhere inside. What'd they do? Dip these in the pig troughs before bringing 'em back here?
While a slight exaggeration, they were among the filthiest things in that small Coronian town. The restaurant's owner was a bit of a penny pincher, so, since most of the town were of the opinion his food tasted better on unwashed plates, he didn't see the point in hiring someone to do the dishes regularly. Particularly when he could find someone to do the job for free. And, as the first person in a month to try to pull a dine-and-dash, that meant a month's worth of caked-on grease for Jannin.
As he scraped much of the plate's grime into a nearby bucket, as per the directions, the lad reflected that it couldn't even be called a proper dine-and-dash; for that, having eaten something was a requirement. The little mage had come within five feet of this lunch and nearly lost his prematurely. The locals assured him that, once one got past the gag reflex, it was really quite a nice meal, but he assured them that he would never consider anything a nice meal if it could be described as a force-feeding. When the owner asked for payment, Jannin explained that he couldn't pay as he had no money on him, which was true, as he'd hidden it near the restaurant. He had taken such measures because the last restaurant to catch him had forcibly taken their due from him, which made the lad hellbent on covering from his pocket only food fit for emperors. So, they set him to work with the dishes. Dishes that, once clean, the owner would give as an option for only five times the price of the meal.
The oppressed young man thought a few times about showing them why a mage was not to be trifled with, but decided all the grease in the restaurant would only ensure him a fiery tomb. Thinking again of that, he glanced nervously at the oil lamp still burning to the side of the doorway in the small room. If that thing falls... Best not to think about it. Instead, Jannin wondered just how many oil lamps could have been heated with the greasy sludge he'd scraped from four dishes alone. This train of thought carried him through the washing of the plate in the soapy, but now dirty, water he'd been given. Setting it to his left with the others, the lad groaned at how many remained. Ugh... I'm gonna have to cast about a million Freshen Ups... Not wanting to add the evening dishes to his work, Jannin took a deep breath -- which he instantly regretted, thanks to the smell -- and resumed his labor. When the world is mine, this better stay outta the history books.
Culix wins by disqualification and earns 50 EXP/GP.
-The Althanas Chief Administrator and Editor
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