Round 1: Inkfinger Vs SirArtemis

[Inkfinger]

All bunnies approved.

The creature was more intimidating up close, its massive form looming over Cael’s head with ease. Its mouth spewed liquid fire, glowing white-hot with swirls of orange and yellow, into the air. Smoke rose from its nostrils, and the ground quavered with every step it took, jarring the naginata and nearly throwing the inkmage from his feet. Its attention wasn’t on him, yet. Its baleful, glowing gaze was fixed, instead, on the delicate cranes around its head.

The cranes were angry. The thin blades slicing from their wings were barely doing anything; glancing off the monster’s rocky hide, rebounding to dissipate harmlessly in the open air, or simply scratching the surface. It was their mere presence that seemed to anger the molten creature.

Don’t question it, just go…

The draconic jaws snapped at the nearest origami crane as Cael ducked low, limping carefully around the lava flow and heading for the fallen warrior’s side. If the cranes could keep it occupied long enough, if the warrior was able to walk, if the creature didn’t simply swing his tail and swipe them into the river of fire it had burst from, if, if, if…

Too many ifs. Stop thinking.

He tried to stop, honestly, but halfway across the dry, barren ground the monster’s jaws closed around three of the cranes. The delicate creations didn’t stand a chance against the pressure and the heat, catching fire before the thing had even closed its mouth. The remaining cranes’ instinctive terror instantly flooded his brain, and he could no longer see past the panic-scratchy pictures flooding his brain. He tried to tear through their thoughts, struck momentarily motionless and helpless against the deluge of mindless fear, regardless of the trio of images: the creature had turned on him, he had to move, had to defend hims-

The twang-hiss of an arrow being shot from a bow split the air, a louder answer to the hissing of the lava pools. Cael felt the displaced air from the shot as the cranes’ paper-clawed grip on his brain shredded, his hair actually moving with its proximity. He could feel the beast’s stifling, metal-tang exhalation against his back, tainted with a scent like a hot spring back in Salvar but more alive, somehow.

And far, far too close.

He half-tumbled, half-spun to see the scaled belly of the monster nearly on him, shining where the scales joined with an inner fire, its massive claws driving towards his chest. The last two cranes turn as one, diving for the massive creature’s head.

One burst into flame, caught in a wave of heat and steam as the draconic feline snorted its disgust.

The other hit true, loosing its five shallow blades the moment it struck the surface of the eye. The beast roared, rearing back, its heavily clawed paw swiping at its own face, pawing at its eye. The spikes on its legs split Cael’s shirt; the spines on its tail barely missed the warrior’s head as it mewled.

The warrior who had his bowstring drawn back again, all but howling through the creature’s sounds of pain:

“Get out of the way!”

There was a note of command in his voice, overwhelming the pained wheeze. Cael dropped to the ground without thinking as his eyes focused on the projectile. That’s…not an arrow, he barely had time to think before the dagger flashed through the air, sinking deep into the creature’s other eye in a spurt of glowing plasma and ash.

The beast flailed then, wheeling on the warrior, nearly trampling Cael in the process. The inkmage grabbed his fallen polearm and rammed the blade as hard as he could into the nearest limb. The blade sank into the inside of the creature’s shoulder joint, biting deep momentarily as it hit soft underbelly, splitting the tendon like leather.

And then the naginata snapped.

Cael fell flat on his face again, this time without expecting it. He hit the ground hard, rolling to watch the naginata’s blade melt where it was trapped, the oaken shaft burst into flame as it fell free. The dragon seemed to grin, despite the fluid flame dripping down one cheek, the aimless staring of the other eye, prowling lopsided towards the fallen mage. Its massive jaws fell open, fire gathering in its maw as Cael pushed himself backwards, just trying to get to his feet, maybe die standing up for once –

A second dagger slammed into the creature’s head, right at the join of jaw and teeth, shattering one of its massive tusks in a shower of spurting flame and spitting ash. The beast wheeled its head, both blind eyes narrowing as its nostrils flared.

Cael’s opponent stood, chest heaving in a way that didn’t look entirely healthy – hitching and shallow, as if he had broken ribs. Which would explain the wheezing… Blood and ash smeared his rugged face, dripped from his armor in mingled clumps, but his eyes glowed defiant against the oranges and reds of the fires that surrounded them, trapped them here, away from the way out. A third dagger already rested against his bowstring, gleaming pure and bright through the smoke curling around his legs, the steam flowing from the creature’s breaths.

He looked noble, though battered, and Cael felt, for a second, an irrational surge of jealousy. Yeah, see, that’s how a warrior’s supposed to look. Not like a washed-up, scrawny paper pusher. The ink mage began to move, regardless, taking careful, slow steps further away from the creature, closer to the gateway.

I…provided a distraction, right? Gave the warrior a fighting chance, right? He can care for himself from here on out…right?

Pale blue eyes flickered back to the bowman watching the draconic beast with wary eyes, weary eyes in an exhausted face. Cael sighed deeply, feeling a pang in his own lungs from the heat, fingers tightening on the splintered, remaining half of his polearm.

Îd, you owe me for this.

The beast let out a hiss and lunged for the warrior, mouth gaping wide and hungry.

Cael let out a cry and lunged for the beast, legs and back screaming as loudly as his mouth; his mind railing at his conscience that this was the stupidest thing he’d ever done and once the damn battle was done they were never ever speaking again. He managed to ram the half of the naginata’s shaft into the beast’s mouth, wedging it between its jaws, pinning its maw open, though he could feel overpowering heat on his skin, the fine hairs on his arms scorching, his sleeves catching fire –

Something snapped, and he was back in familiar, hated free-fall.

Cael closed his eyes tight and hit the ground running.

[SirArtemis]

The loud snap echoed in the corners of Artemis' mind as his last dagger, Virtue, flew elegantly through the air and found its way into the creature's weakly protected throat. The blade broke its way into the esophagus and stole back all the air that Artemis could not have, his chest in shambles. Granted, Judicis' guiding magic had helped the blade find its direction, Artemis' desire to protect the inkmage the primary thought in his head.

As the blade penetrated, the beast recoiled, its maw opening wide for another roar but nothing escaping – it had gone mute. Warm glowing liquid dribbled out of the wound, and whether or not it killed the beast, the only thing that mattered to the broken warrior was to get away.

"Run!" Artemis shouted, throwing Judicis back over his shoulder and moving to intercept the inkmage so that they could flee. They threw an arm over and under the other, each thinking they were supporting the other as the battered pair hobbled and wobbled away from the enraged monstrosity that shook the earth beneath their feet, but they did not care. They did not look back once. They did not know that the beast was dying and would never catch them. They did not know that they had come out victorious. But most of all...

They did not care.

The rings had gotten smaller as they had slowly made their way to the inner circle, and now the bright blue glow of the bridge became a welcome sight. Artemis only hoped that this one did not carry with it the burden of another wave of enemies, and he was sure the man beside him felt his reluctance.

"Come on, we're almost there. Don't give up now." The man tried to reassure Artemis, but he must not have known. Still, Artemis did not care. Anything must be better than the beast, he reasoned, coughing up blood as his lungs filled and refilled with a hot and ashen air that would make even a coal miner feel they worked out on the open sea. Together, they stepped onto the platform.

Surprisingly, this one did not rise higher into the sky to create yet another arena. This one simply elongated, connecting to the final inner circle and tempting the racers with the portal to victory – the portal to freedom. Yet to both of them, at this moment, it was a portal out of their pain, and that was more than enough motivation.

They dragged their feet and their broken and exhausted vessels across the expanse. They climbed the trio of steps to the exit – the most challenging steps of Artemis' life. Finally, together, as allies rather than enemies, they stepped through.

____________________________________________

When Artemis woke, he lay in one of the many comfortable cots of the infirmary. He had found himself here a few times with his experience at the Citadel, and every time there existed an almost unwillingness to accept how quickly one healed. The body may accept the recovery, though with the occasional stiffness, but the mind would reject the speedy recover, unable to accept that something like broken ribs would be fine within the hour. It simply did not make sense.

Artemis sat up on his soft mattress, the foam hugging his form as he held his ribs, testing for soreness. He took a deep breath, the smell of flowers filling his lungs from the countless colorful collections set all throughout the room. He looked on his own nightstand, a bouquet of white roses with blue-sprayed tips mixed among a few sprigs of lavender. However, something unexpected also sat upon his nightstand – a small origami crane. A grin found its way upon the young man's face as he reached out, delicately handling the small and delicate figure.

"The young man with whom you were competing left it," a nurse said, the only difference between her and the monks outside being the softer and more delicate features of a woman. "He woke before you. He left not too long ago, but seemed to be a bit fond of you."

Artemis stared at the paper object and laughed softly through sore ribs, flipping and turning the little crane in his hands. He thought about what had transpired and realizing that he had forgotten an important detail. He looked up at the nurse while she tended to the other patients that rested before asking what, when said aloud, felt like a silly question to ask.

"So who won?"

[Inkfinger]

Cael didn’t wait in the Citadel. The moment the last of his wounds faded away beneath the monks’ hidden eyes, he was gone. He simply retrieved his repaired naginata, folded a new crane of blue and silver paper, and left it among the young man’s many flowers. Gratitude and goodbyes were not his forte, not when he felt they were deeply deserved (in his opponent’s case), or not owed (in the Monks’ case).

Eventually, you’ll have to think about it, he told himself, trudging through the narrow streets, ignoring the sounds of the city life all around him. There was a tension in the air that hadn’t been present last time he ventured here – as if every soul tread on the razor edge of a knife, in danger of falling to either side. You’ll have to see the outcome. Find out whether you won or lost…

The thought drew a laugh from his narrow lips as he turned down the alley to rented room where he and Îdhdaer had stayed the night. Win. Lose. It didn’t really matter. Either way, it would only be a matter of time before Îd dragged him, kicking and screaming, into something he couldn’t survive.

That thought struck with the same finality of the heavy door slamming shut behind him.

Îdhdaer looked up from his perch next to the window at the sound, newspapers scattered on the sill, his gold-rimmed glasses perched precariously on his nose. His honey-colored eyes almost glowing in the light of the setting sun. He folded the section under the one he was reading and shoved it, silently, into Cael’s hand. The heading read, Citadel Rankings.

Cael didn’t so much as glance at it, suspicion flickering in his mind as Îd hid the section he had actually been reading deeper inside the pile of newsprint. The elf shook his head once, earrings jangling in the heavy silence. The sunlit gleam in his eyes almost looked red when he finally met Cael’s gaze.

“I still hate you, y’know that, right?” Cael said, quietly.

“I know, babe.” Îd’s smile was weak, faltering at the edges. It was hard to fend off the wave of guilt that sluiced down Cael's spine, but the fresh memory of fangs and fire made it possible. “Believe me, I know.”

Cael kept watching him, but the elf simply turned his attention back to the writings spread around him, ignoring his employee as effectively as a spoiled cat ignoring its owner. The silence went on for so long that he almost apologized for whatever unknown crime he'd committed against his boss this time, started the age-old argument about his office, anything, just to break the silence.

Îdhdaer waved at the armchair on the other side of the window before he could. "Have a seat, you're making me nervous hulking there like that."

A pile of colored pages rested on the seat of the chair, tied with a clumsy twine bow, and a new inkpot. An awkward apology, of sorts. The elf, trying to make good the only way he knew how. The inkmage sighed, moved the gifts so he could sit and finally, in the dying light shining through the window, began to read the paper.

[Silence Sei]

Okay, Lets do this!
Ink/Artie


Story 6/7: Both of your stories were good enough to keep my attention to the next post, but what made Artie squeak by with a point was the fact that I did not have any clue –why- exactly Id needed Cael to compete in the tournament. From what I gathered, it had something to do with either gambling or debts, or gambling deaths, but perhaps you could make your motivations a bit clearer next time, Inky.

Continuity 7/8: Damn I hated scoring this area. You both stayed true to your characters histories and motivations, as well as incorporated Althanas into your lore a bit.

Artie, it is of note that the citadel does not actually run the Serenti, but the nobles of the Serenti do with the help of Ai’Brone monks. It was a mistake you both made, but you refered to it first.

Ink, if I recall correctly, Cael had himself a origami rabbit familiar named It (At least he did on the last quest of yours I judged, which I believe was the last one submitted). Yet, that familiar seemed to be nowhere in sight (Unless It is Id, in which case I demand an explanation). It was a minor thing, but effected you continuity to the point that you lost one less point than Artie

Setting 9/8: You both score well here because the altered terrain schtick was very interesting. I would have liked to seen more engagement with the setting, particularly from Artemis. Ink, you got the extra point due to the fact that you seemed to engage your setting no matter what the layout was. The freezing the wolf head was a particularly nice touch, though. You both need to remember, however, that setting is not just what your character sees, but the taste of the air, how the temperature would effect their skin, etc etc. Mostly, I got what the ground felt like to your feet, so try to remember your other senses as well.

Creativity 7/7: Above average score for decent character motivations, and an interesting way to ‘compete’ in a tournament that mostly battle-oriented. Cael’s wall maneuver against the cat was pretty nifty, and Artie’s ‘dagger through the eye’ kind of impressed me too. Not really much else to say other than I want you guys to dig deep into your brains next time, come up with a setting that’s incredibly unique, or make a contest that incredibly interesting. Think about what kind of competition/scenery people would want to see.

Character 8/7: Ink gets the extra point from just one thing I caught from Artie. He used his paralysis arrow one time on the gorillia, and after that never used them again. If I understand Artie like I think I do, he doesn’t kill anything unless he absolutely has to, so him killing those wolves with no remorse (or even attempting to kill them) took me completely off guard. The last time I saw Artie that vicious was against a pack of blood thirsty orcs. I figured he would just paralyze dogs tying to get a meal.

Interaction 7/7: Both of you did pretty good interacting with your environment as well as your NPCs. Ink, I love the fact that your weapon broke fighting the lava-thing . Artie, your combat with the wolves was probably the best fighting I’ve ever seen out of Artemis.

Strategy 6/6: As stated before, I can’t get over the fact that Artie mercilessly killed the wolves. It just didn’t seem like a move the pacifist Artie would make. Ink, your most painful flaw in this battle was the fact that Cael did not think the last area through. If he would have went through the door, it would have saved both him and Artie the trouble of fighting the monster (though it would have resulted in a thread that was a little more boring). But rather than logically go through the door and end the whole ordeal, he chose to go through more pain. You truly do enjoy torturing your character :P Next time, just referencing something so simple would net you another point, even if he was all ‘I can make it to the door, but what if he dies before then?!’

Mechanics 8/10 Artie, I don’t need to tell you by now, but your mechanics were off the charts good, as usual. Ink, you had some minor misspellings, the worst offender being your alternation between ‘Lightning’ and ‘Lightening’. For reference ‘Lightening’ refers to actual light, and not the lightning bolts, while lightning refers to the opposite. You also ran afoul of repeated phrases such as

[quoteThe remaining cranes’ instinctive terror instantly flooded his brain, and he could no longer see past the panic-scratchy pictures flooding his brain. [/quote]

You see the problem here? Next time, I’d suggest trying to rephrase the words to make the sentence come off the same way, but have different words. Like ‘assaulting his mind’ instead of ‘flooding his brain’, as an example.

Clarity 8/7: You both were pretty clear, but Inks repeat phrases made me have to re-read a paragraph or two, while Artie’s wording made me question a few of his moves (the snake at the start of the match confused me, for example). I would suggest that the two of you (and its only a suggestion) type your post, read it out loud, run it through a spell check, re-read it aloud for double clarification, and then post. Make sure nothing sounds awkward or overly complicated.

Wildcard 7/7: I’m sorry Ink, but you missed the deadline by 3 minutes on post 5. Please don’t be mad, but if I make an exception for you, I’ll have other people saying ‘Well, I missed it by 10 minuutes, I missed it by 5’, so on and so forth. Trust me, I had a debate with myself whether I should let this one slide, but after a long fought battle I decided that I can’t let anybody go over the 48 hour deadline, not even by a minute. I’m so sorry. Edit! But due to a misunderstanding of the rules, I am waiving docking you a point.

Total: Inkfinger 73 to SirArtemis 74

Inkfinger receives 375 Exp, 200 GP
Artie gets 1500 Exp, 100 GP

SirArtemis Advances to Round 2!

[Silence Sei]

Exp/Gp Added. Welcome to level 4 Artie.