A Battle of the Mind (Closed)

[Lord Saladin]

Rardaag bent down to write his name upon the pristine paper on the desk, his script was neat and flowing, exact and holding to it a slight beauty that one would expect from a scholar, and the finesse one would have taken for granted in an elf. Rardaag Dewwit. With that small bit of business completed, Rardaag nodded to the steward with a smile, walking into the hall.

A day's delay in the barge to Scara Brae was a little unexpected and slightly disappointing, but the elf was more than satiated by the unusual battle taking place in the Citadel today - so perhaps luck did favour him after all. The hall was a massive one, with a high ceiling and hundreds of tables organised neatly into rows filling the massive area. He looked at the small slip of paper he had received upon completing the registration for the event. It read, in a clear, plain hand, "49F." That was to be the table at which Rardaag would sit. It took only a few minutes for the elf to ascertain exactly which table he was to attend, so he quickly made his way to it. In respect for those already sat at tables, he did not converse with any of them, also taking the least disruptive path to his table.

Thankfully, the tables were well spread, and ample room was allowed for people to pass between; even those at which were already attendees, all engaged in the activity of the day. Reaching the table, Rardaag sat down, looking at the tools of the battle. Much more to his liking, this was not to be a battle of muscle, or of sword or lance; rather, it would be a battle of strategy, of intelligence, of cunning and of wit.

Within Istien, the elf had always been proficient at this endeavour, though had played little. He hoped practice and natural intelligence would prove effective as he settled into his seat, leaning backwards slightly in a relaxed manner, waiting for the unknown opponent.

[Miehm]

I walked into the room, looked around briefly, and began walking down the long rows of tables. The possibility of easy money had drawn me here, and the hope that my extra thousand years of experience, or at least others experience, would be enough to tip the balance in my favor. I saw my opponent already sitting at our table, and immediately regretted my earlier bravado. The pointy eared fuck was probably a massive nerd, and knew every chess combination in the universe. There went the advantage I'd been hoping for.

"Well, I see you've taken white. Very well. I'll let you get on with it then." I sat down at the table, and immediately appreciated the detail of the pieces. The rooks, rather than being simple towers, were full fortresses. Pawns were actual soldiers, carrying a spear and shield, knights were incredibly detailed, their horses practically leaping from the board with contained energy. The bishops were missing, but I saw they had been replaced with mages, a not too shocking occurrence, since everyone here seemed to suffer from the same delusion. The king and queen were both carved in amazing detail, him carrying a broadsword and clad in intricate plate armor, while she carried a crossbow, and wore what appeared to be a plain hunting dress.

"Well, they've spent enough to make the boards anyway..." I ran a hand over one of the pieces, and realized they were carved from pure black marble, horrendously expensive. The chessboard was much the same, and must have cost a kings ransom. And there were twenty other boards I could see just from here.

[Lord Saladin]

As the opponent sat down, Rardaag offered a friendly smile, listening as he made his own commentary on the quality of the board. Indeed, the board, of expertly crafted black and white marble, was worth quite a price. It was, however, the pieces that held Rardaag for more than a mere moment. With such attention to detail, he had to wonder whether they had been sung into existence - surely no natural hand could have carved with such intricate detail.

"Yes, let's begin, friend. And they most certainly have, yet would one expect less from the legendary Citadel?" And with that, Rardaag pushed the tiny device positioned next to the board; and as he did, it began to tick, counting down the time he had to make a move. As a hand idly lifted to the elf's smoothly shaven chin, he paused. Considering many different tactics to use against the man sat opposite him.

As the hand moved, Rardaag allowed it to hover above the intricate, almost delicate-seeming, pieces of marble. "I wonder if they were sung?" Thinking allowed, he first placed a finger upon the Queen's Knight, allowing a momentary hum to rumble from his throat. Quickly, then, his hand took a grasp of the solider's head located at square E2, sliding the piece two places to E4.

"Your move, friend." Eyes of azure did not leave the board as he spoke almost absent-mindedly, still mentally sifting through the many countless combinations available to gain victory.

[Miehm]

"I'm not sure what you mean by sung, but I can tell you a master shaped these. You can see the mark here on the King where the rasp left a pattern in the stone." I worked with masons and carpenters regularly, and as a specialist, attention to detail was my forte. Perfection was mandatory.

My hand hovered over the board momentarily, and I hummed a few bars of music before lifting my right hand knight from his place at G8, and dropping him back at F6, positioned to threaten my opponents pawn. I took my hand from the piece, and indicated the end of my turn with a small gesture.

"Where are you from anyway?" I was curious. This was not like the other battles I had fought here, this was much more relaxed and at ease. I didn't mind getting to know my opponent.

[Lord Saladin]

With a chuckle, Rardaag noticed what the opponent pointed out. "Singing is the elven way of magic, friend." The elf tilted his head slightly, eyeing the target of the game, marvelling at the craftsmanship of whoever it was that made so beautiful a work of art. "But, it was indeed made by hands. I assure you, I am most impressed." A slight head-shake in wonder was given as the opponent moved his Knight.

At this point in the game, however, it was impossible to accurately determine the strategy of one's opponent. The outcome would not be determined until the final call was made, and so he knew a less restricting movement would need to be made. Hand raising to the chin again, Rardaag took a moment to consider. Chewing slightly on his lip, a hand hovered over another Pawn. "Hm." Decision made, he moved the piece; from its position at A2, advancing it to A4.

Still not allowing eyes to leave the board, Rardaag made a nonchalant motion towards his pointed ears, "Raiaera, friend, land of the elves. And yourself?" The elf gave a moment of silence, a moment lost in thought of home; a silent chuckle ensued, it would not bode well for him to be homesick already.

"I am Rardaag Dewwit. Your name would be? I can't possibly just call you 'friend' for the entirety of this game."

[Miehm]

"Yo soy Phillip Miehm. You can call me Miehm. I'm from somewhere well away from here called America. I live here in Corone." The spanish would mean nothing to my opponent, but it sounded fancier. I twisted in my chair, popping my back, before looking at the board again.

"I've never been there. I hear it's rather pretty. Or was anyway. Something about a war." My eyes drifted over the board as I talked, scanning ahead, looking at as many possibilities as possible.

I picked up my knight again, this time on the left, and moved him from B8 to C6, leaving both of my preferred attacking pieces in play. I gestured again for Rardaag to take his move, and then cracked my knuckles one handed, starting with my thumb and working my way to the pinky, flexing my hand to alleviate the stiffness when I had finished. It was a nervous habit from card games in my past, but it wouldn't tell him anything.

[Lord Saladin]

The elf waited until the opponent had made his move, finding the symmetrical positioning of the opponent's pieces thus far intriguing. It was a technique the elf had used when he first started playing the game, along with mirroring the other player's moves perfectly. Of course, that this particular opponent seemed to be adopting a similar approach would be no indication of his skill level. If two moves were even enough to judge a person's strategy.

Allowing fingers to shake up and down loosely, Rardaag considered his next move. Throughout the large hall, many more people now sat at tables, it was near enough silent, which allowed for ease of thought. The elf and this man from this unknown place, though, were rather conspicuous, being the only ones conversing. Mayhap the other players took this game far too seriously, and there was certainly an air of intensity about the place.

For the elf, and also apparently Miehm, the game served only as an enjoyable passing of time. "Yes, a most beautiful place. Ah, the war... It is of no surprise you would know of it." Rardaag sighed with an obvious melancholy, running a hand through his smooth, near-white hair. "A most horrible mess that is. I'm on my way to Scara Brae, however."

A hand moved over the marble pieces on the board once more, and Rardaag dropped silent again. The two pawns already out on the board were sufficient for the moment, so a slander finger was placed on the Knight on the elf's right side for a few moments as he observed the board, analysing the current positions, considering not the next move, or the move after that, but much longer into the game. A second finger grasped the knight, lifting it from G1 and placing it on the board once again at E2.

"Where is this... 'America?' you speak of? In none of the books at Istien have I heard of such a place." And truly, he had not. That fact alone opened up the elf's naturally curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Rardaag was amazed at how a simple game of chess could transform into a brilliant opportunity to learn.

[Miehm]

"America, as best I can tell, cannot be reached from here, or my ass would be back there, sipping on Jack and Coke, watching the Skins tear the Cowboys up and down the field." The entire sentence would make almost no sense to the Elf, but it was true.

"It's large, possibly a megacontinent depending on who you ask, separated from the remaining world landmasses by a pair of very wide oceans, a larger gap in the west than the east. I lived in a place called New York, which was a province of the most powerful nation in the world. Their armies could have killed Xem'zund in a minute, and all his undead with him, with but a few weapons." My hand hovered over the board while I spoke, and I finally made a decision, lifting my first knight from his position at F6, and capturing his pawn at E4. I grasped the pawn between two of y fingers, and swapped the knight right into its spot, before placing it to the side and signaling Rardaags turn again.

[Lord Saladin]

Slight confusion was quickly replaced by sheer amazement as Miehm spoke. Eyebrows rose and jaw dropped slightly. Such a thing surely was not possible! "What weaponry do these people possess?!" Rardaag's voice was higher in pitch than usual, and the exclamation earned some rather sour glances from other players. This was the first time Rardaag had allowed his eyes to drift from the board, and as he did, he noted the missing piece.

Allowing a loss, he once more reassessed the 'battleground.' I should perhaps pay more attention to this game, or I could leave without victory. A few more seconds were left in thought about the game, but the elf's mind kept drifting back to just how much he could learn from the fellow. "And how was it that you got here?"

Paying little mind to the game itself now, Rardaag was suitably distracted from the game to perhaps allow Miehm a victory. A lazy hand pushed the Pawn at F2 forwards a single square, leaving the model of the soldier at F3. Leaning forward intently, Rardaag awaited the response from his opponent, and now potential teacher. Though, the questions rushing through his head would not allow for patience.

"What sort of people live in this America," the name was twisted around the tongue, so obviously foreign to the elf, "and what is New York like? I want to know all about it." A chuckle escaped from his lips then, slightly boyish, an expression at the joy felt from so unexpected an opportunity.

[Miehm]

"Guns that shoot hundreds or thousands of bullets in one minute, without the need to load every round. Explosives powerful enough to level all of Eluriand with but one bomb, and leave it uninhabitable for a thousand years. Devices called airplanes that move through the air, faster than sound travels. It's way beyond anything you have. I got here by accident. I got caught in the middle of a gang war, slit one throat too many, and next thing I know, somebody just leveled three houses, and the world is melting around me. Next thing after that and I woke up in Radasanth with my toolbelt and my bowie knife and that was it."

I looked around the board, and made the obvious move, moving my knight from E4 to G5, and away from the threatening pawn.

"Anyone can live in America. Except for people like you, actually. There aren't any Elves in America, or my world at all. We have Dwarves, but they're still humans, just short. We have humans of every color, black, white, brown, tan... New York.... New York was a pit. It was loud and foul smelling, the people were rude, the city was crowded, the streets were packed, crime was rampant, the police were brutal, the gangs were only slightly worse... All in all I much preferred Lousianna, which is a more southern province, with less people and fuss." I tapped the timer while I was talking, and waited for Rardaag to move.

[Lord Saladin]

Rardaag listened intently as Miehm spoke, taking in every detail. Such things were so unfathomable that, even with his higher than average intelligence, Rardaag found it difficult to comprehend. Yet, the way in which this man spoke told the elf that his words were true. Flatten Eluriand with a single explosive?! A loud exhale through closed teeth and loosened lips accompanied yet another shaking of the head in near disbelief.

"I couldn't even begin to imagine such things, Miehm. What you speak of is just entirely incredible." A subconscious nod was given as the other man moved his Knight in what was sure to be only a momentary retreat. Certainly expected, and instantly accepted, Rardaag took only a moment to think of his own move, shifting the Pawn at B2 to B3 slowly, still lost in the wonder of such amazing inventions. "Please, tell me about these powerful explosives?"

A moment's delay was giving in pushing the button by his side, and as Rardaag did so, signalling the commencement of Miehm's next turn, acute awareness was made once more of the piece the foreign fellow had captured. I really SHOULD be concentrating more on this game. Though, his words did not match thoughts as he brought a hand up to his chin once more, resting the elbow upon the table as he cradled his face.

"New York sounds like quite the awful place." He chuckled slightly, thought it did have the impression of being forced at least a little. Even as the elf chuckled, he plastered eyes once again onto the chess board, trying best as possible to keep attention on the matter at hand.

[Miehm]

"Ok... This is going to take a while... First, everything is composed of very small particles called atoms. These atoms make up scientific elements, separate from your magical elements. Certain of these elements are what we call radioactive, they give off other particles that are harmful to life. When certain of these particles strike a radioactive one at a great enough speed, they shatter explosively, which in turn shatters others, and so on, until a massive amount of energy is released by the explosion. We measure the yield in megatons, or in millions of tons of explosives more powerful than the blackpowder you use." I had set my face slightly differently while I spoke, staring into the distance as I recited the basic concept of a nuclear explosive to my more primitive opponent. While I was speaking I reached out a hand and moved a pawn from H7 to H5, before signaling the end of my turn.

"I wouldn't be able to make one even back in my home city, but i know how they operate. I have the formula's for a few other things that might be useful though. They're simple to memorize."

[Lord Saladin]

Eyes widened with wonder as Rardaag continued to listen to Miehm, his strangely knowledgeable opponent. The elf had read theories that everything was made of smaller parts, placed together with pristine order to create the world you could see, but had, like so many scholars, discarded them as a whimsical fantasy. But, hearing this man tell of weapons that utilised these tiny... Atoms, as Miehm called them, made Rardaag wonder if such theories were not so incredible.

"Millions of tonnes of black power!" Wonder heavily tainted the voice of Rardaag as a hand reached behind his ear to scratch at the flesh behind; yet again the exclamation of the young elf brought displeased glances and even a few verbal expressions of discontent from the other players in the hall.

"It is nearly unbelievable that such a thing could exist. Yet, why would one want such power?" A million tonnes of black power could flatten entire cities, leaving nothing behind. That someone would utilise such power in an offensive manner seem to the elf entirely unnecessary, yet he did not express these thoughts for now.

Glancing at the board once more, he spent a moment to ponder on his next move, his mind still more focused on the words of the opponent. He shifted the Mage at square C1 to B2, immediately looking at the opponent once more.

"And what would those things be?"

[Miehm]

"More than millions of tonnes of black powder. The yield of one ton of black powder is less than a ton of Chordite or TNT. The first nuclear device was detonated over a city called Hiroshima, to break the spirit of our enemy in a war. We fought for nearly 5 years on two continents to defeat an alliance with the sole intent of ruling the world. The enemy we assaulted with these weapons was implacable. They fought literally to the last man, and when it was apparent they would be overwhelmed, they would kill themselves, or use hand grenades to kill our troops, as well as themselves at the same time."

I moved my knight again, from G5 to E6, putting it in position to threaten his mage if it moved in a manner I didn't like. I new I was trying to control the board with too few pieces, but so far it was working, and so I decided that until I lost a knight, that would be my best form of defense.

[Lord Saladin]

Rardaag nodded as Miehm explained the reasoning behind using such weapons. In some ways he could understand its usage; after all, magic was a potent weapon that some saw unfit and lacking fairness to be used in war. And whilst holding no strong abilities in magic, Rardaag could understand why its use was necessary. It would seem this particular opponent had been one of formidable tenacity, and such suicidal tactics had been seen before.

"Yes, I see. At times, drastic measures must be taken." For now, however, nothing too drastic would be taken in the battle at hand. Rardaag took yet another nondescript move, shifting his Knight from its starting point at B1 to C3, placing the marble piece in front of the, recently moved, Bishop's Pawn.

"Your world certainly seems very strange, Miehm."