Whats a citdel? (open to one)

[Wulfgang]

Wulfgang wandered through the forest, assessing his priorities and studying his underlying emotions. He came to realize that he could not bare to exist with the merely looking to avenge his people. The barbarian, so proud of his people realized he was now a loner with no one to lean upon except himself and his loyal canine companion, Peregrinus. Wulfgang began to grasp the fact he could be stronger by letting the urge for simple revenge go and moving on to larger goals. He reflected upon his thoughts for a long while and finally took aim on one single target, to become physically flawless, the perfect warrior, and he would reach it no matter the consequence.

Wulfgang strode through the mountainous region of Salvar hunting all unnatural creatures residing within it. One day as Wulf walked he caught sight of a petite human with pale features wearing crimson red robes walking through the region. Wulfgang studied the man for a while noticing how out of place he looked.

Finally he called out “What is a man such as you doing in such a place as this?”
The odd man looked up rather startled and called back “Looking for men such as you!”

Wulfgang somewhat puzzled by this began to approached the man cautiously, glancing around to make sure there were no others waiting to ambush him. Satisfied that there were none he said “Well, why is this, kind sir? Why are you looking for someone such as me?”

The robed man said “Introductions first, I am Kimmurous and who might you be?”

“Wulfgang is my name.” he stated, still uneasy around Kimmurous.

“Well I was wondering, are you a warrior, oh of course you are, that is a fine sword upon your back. Are you good with it?” Kimmurous asked. Wulfgang, his whole life being one of simple melee fighting still hadn’t even thought of this man being a wizard, though he figured the man may have magical abilities, he could not imagine the prospect of a man devoted souly to those arts.

“Well, I can kill Verbeeg and gnolls efficiently I guess, so yes I suppose, do you need me to do anything” Wulfgang said.

“well, now to speak of it, I’m looking for a warrior who can hold his own in an arena, known as the citadel, have you heard of it?” the robed man asked.

“No, no I haven’t, can Peregrinus come with me” Wulfgang said pointing to the wolf at his side.

“Sure! There are no rules against that, alright here you go.” Kimmorous began waving his hands in small circles and chanting, then his hands began to glow a bright red. Before Wulfgang could say or do anything there was a bright blindingly bright flash. Wulfgang closed his eyes screaming “What sorcery” and rubbing his eyes, when he opened them found himself in a very very different place.

The barbarian examined his person and found nothing missing, then his eyes ventured to look around him, noticing first the sand beneath his feet, he looked up to see a sandstone wall which made a large circle and climbed twenty feet up then altered into seats. These seats were filled with all different races, all watching and screaming at him. He looked around the circular arena and guestimated it around sixty square yards. The only breaks in the wall were iron gates on either side of the Citadel. Wulfgang saw the opposite gate closing as a couple of men dragged beheaded contender out. Wulfgang looked around for his opponent, he had not agreed to this. He put his hand down to his side, touching the top of his companion’s head and whispered “What’d I get us into my friend…”

[Red Lightning]

Ben had come to the Citadel searching for Ifrit Obsidian, as he had heard that the demon warrior had been seen around here lately, but was only to be dissapointed when he heard from the monk that Ifrit had last come over a couple weeks ago.

"Hmph." the neko warrior cursed himself on his slowness. Zakega was quiet for once, as it lay silent within its sheath. "Well, what now...?"

Suddenly a monk came up to him, eyes agleam with interest. "Say, you look like a good swordsman."

Beniiro gave him a lightning-eyed glance before looking away. "Whatever it is, no. I don't have the time for pleasantries--" he had started to walk away on silent paws when suddenly the monk was in front of him, hands held out. "Oh, I insist!" the monk shouted, his eyes fiery, and a door opened behind the cat warrior as he was shoved into it.

Falling he went, and the nekojin cursed. Drawing Zakega from its sheath, he held the long blade in front of him, the receding figure of the monk waving down to him happily as the cat warrior fell into the abyss.

"Damn it." Beniiro swore before resheathing his blade. There was nothing to latch on to, nothing to slow or stop his descent. He was falling, falling, without any sense of direction or purpose.

Then, as sudden as the feeling had come, it was gone, and the cat assassin had to blink his yellow eyes in the new found light. He looked around himself as he took awareness of his sorroundings. He seemed to be in some gladiator-like ring, as there were thousands of people cheering, all sounding like they were wishing for his death.

Then suddenly he saw the enormous giant in the center of this colleseum, a bear of a man with a humongous blade that made Zakega look like a tooth pick. The neko warrior stood up from his kneeling position, his tail moving slightly to adjust himself to his newfound sorroundings.

"Look, I don't want to fight." the assassin said in tradespeak, but then he saw the giant animal the man had by his side. It was a wolf, an enormous one at that. Great. Just great. "I just want to get out of here, as I didn't agree to this match. Now, could someone please show me the way out?" Beniiro said to the cheering crowd, but all he got was boo's and several thrown tomatoes his way.

"You can get out when the match is over." A man said suddenly, and the monk who had pushed Beniiro in was suddenly there, like smoke, next to the cat warrior. "You must defeat your opponent first."

"Listen, you--" Beniiro began to snarl, his paw on the hilt of Zakega, but suddenly he felt a throbbing in the blade that echoed throughout his body like fire.

Fight.

It wasn't as much a word as it was a feeling, but Beniiro got the message from his blade as clear as if it was a spoken word. Why? He sent back mentally. It was the only way he could directly communicate with his sword.

FIGHT! A much stronger urging this time.

The cat warrior sighed. He had really been hoping to avoid conflict, but it seemed Zakega had other ideas. "Fine." he muttered to the monk, who then smiled widely and dissapeared once more.

Beniiro strode over to where the giant man stood waiting with his wolf, and held his blade out in front of him horizantally, it still in his sheath. He closed his eyes as he took a wide-legged stance. "My name is Beniiro Denkou, Captain of the Ninth Company of the Bladewraiths. Forgive me, but today I must kill you." In a flash he opened his eyes and simotaneously drew his no-dachi in one movement, and both his eyes and the blade glowed a bright, shining red.

Go! the blade urged him on, and Beniiro's catlike reflexes became active once more. In a flash of black fur he sped around the two opponents, his paws making absolutley no sound as he tossed aside the sheath and held Zakega in both hands, looking for an opening in his enemy's stance.

[Wulfgang]

Wulfgang, standing in the center of the ring saw a creature appear in the center of the ring with a look of utter confusion upon its feline face. The barbarian had never seen anything remotely similar to the creature and wasn’t sure how to react. Before he could make up his mind Wulfgang saw a man appear beside the feline fellow and converse with it. However, as suddenly as the man had appeared he disappeared as well.

The feline-man approached spouting the phrase "My name is Beniiro Denkou, Captain of the Ninth Company of the Bladewraiths. Forgive me, but today I must kill you." Before he drew forth his finely crafted sword and rushed toward Wulfgang.

Wulfgang drew Canis Zhan quickly and went into a offensive stance with his sword low and perpendicular to the ground. He sent Peregrinus a short stream of mental images to signal to move right and attempt to flank Beniiro.

The barbarian moved forward and met the captain of the ninth company of the Bladewraiths with a short charge of his own. After the initial powerful attack however Wulfgang was put on the immediate defensive, finding that the feline was dangerously quick with his blade. Wulfgang parried blow after blow, only occasionally fitting in one of his own. However the barbarian had an ally on the field and if he could keep Beniiro occupied then he thought he may have a chance for victory.

Wulfgang, finally falling into the rhythm of the battle, began to counterattack more often and even fit in a few offensive attacks of his own. To keep his opponents attention locked on him he began also used his powerful legs to kick forward if permitted. During one such kick he was knocked off balance by his opponent, stumbling backward to keep himself from falling. His enemy was quick to pounce upon the folly and almost got multiple blows past the defenses of Canis Zhan and into the flesh of Wulf. Eventually he was able to regain his composure and get back into the fight.

Peregrinus was in position and could jump in at any time. Finally Wulfgang sent the signal to attack and the canine charged forward in an attempt to grab one of Beniiro’s powerful calves, but he saw the red eyes of the catman glance down and then felt a quick kick, only enough to guide the canine off course, but it was enough.

Wulfgang knew this was his chance, the warrior’s attention was diverted and the Barbarian took full advantage. Canis Zhan feel heavily on the defenses of Beniiro, using the cold enchantment to numb his enemies arms, time and time again, continually pushing the feline backwards. All of the sudden the feline slipped away from an attack almost leaving the barbarian open. Wulfgang jumped backwards and took a few extra steps away from the feline to make sure that he was completely out of range.

Neither of the combatants moved for a minute staring into each others eyes, trying to predict the other’s move. Wulfgang smiled, a fire of excitement was present in his blue eyes; he had found a true challenge. Oh how he would enjoy the thrill of this fight.

Wulfgang said “Well nice to meet you to!, too bad we didn’t meet outside an arena but this is exillerating wouldn’t you say?”

The barbarian telepathically sent pictures to his companion who would soon play a much larger roll in this battle. Wulfgang stood patiently watching ever twitch in his opponents finely toned muscles, paying heed to the red eyes that now bore into him like hot embers, trying to discern who would make the first move.

Noticing that this would never end the barbarian made the first move, charge in hard toward his opponent, truly ecstatic about the battle at hand!

[Red Lightning]

I know your new to the world of Althanas, so i'll give you a few pointers. One, you majorly bunnied my character in several places, making my character do things that weren't necessary and that he wouldn't really do. I'll approve the bunnies this time, but please watch out for later. If you wanted to do something with my character, please ask me first.

Alright, lets continue.

The man used magic. Beniiro hadn't been expecting that, and had let the cold of the spell seep into his arms. However, Beniiro was a Bladewraith, and no such simple enchantment could hinder him for long. The man was skilled in using that Zweihander of his: even though Beniiro had pushed him back in the beginning, the man had matched him stroke for stroke as the match progressed, and even the feline assassin could feel himself being over powered by the man's sheer size and strength.

However, his skill was no where near that of a Bladewraith's. Beniiro noticed he often left himself open after his attacks, and if he didn't connect with them his defense was opened even wider. The feline planned to take advantage of that.

During the entire battle the cat warrior had noticed that the wolf had been skulking in the backround the entire time, and he guessed that the giant warrior must be a beastmaster or something for everytime the beast made a movement the man's eyes had flicked to it, and the feline's hair tingled as something passed over head. Some sort of connection, perhaps?

Well, as it was, he didn't have any time to contemplate any longer, as the warrior had charged at him foolishly. "Idiot." was all the cat said. "No more holding back then."

He closed his eyes as he felt the opponents great weight approaching him like an onrushing juggernaut. Again, as he had in the beginning of the battle, he held his blade horizantally before him, and once more the blade burst into red light as Beniiro's eyes glowed red once more. The light expanded and hit the warriors eye's, and the feline took advantage of this.

Under! Zakega cried, and the feline sped like black lightning, his red scarf flowing out behind him like a stream of blood as he shot underneath the man's great girth and thrust Zakega upward towards the man's stomach.

[Wulfgang]

OOC: Really really sorry, I saw I was doing it but I didnt know how to exactly prevent it and still write the combat, but i tried to make it somewhat to your advantage =P, thankyou for approving though.

Wulfgang was suddenly blind and charging into a skilled opponent. He tried to dive to the side but could not alter all of his forward momentum into a sidelong dive. He felt his opponents blade bite through his armor and into his flesh. The blade was stopped by a rib, however cracking the bone in the process. Wulfgang hit the ground in a roll, ignoring the pain and quickly getting back to his feet.

Wulf felt his wound with one hand and knew he had broken a rib, wincing with pain as he touched it. The barbarian now knew better than to charge in so haphazardly and felt juevenile for such a mistake.

His mind wandered back to a time when he was still in his homeland, Salvar, training under the best warrior of his tribe. He had been constantly beaten because of his fool hardy charges, eventually though he had learned to use more finesse and he knew he would have to enact this finesse instead of raw strength if he was going to overcome this opponent.

Peregrinus felt a concern to his master and made this known, the wolf was also growing tired of simply standing back and watching and was determined to soon sink its teeth into the catman.

Wulfgang heard the crowd cheering, screaming their approval for the wound distributed as well as their support for the feline! He smirked, he was made of tougher stuff than this Beniiro knew.

Wulfgang mind whirred with the possible approaches and attacks and finally settled upon one.

The barbarian put both hands back on his sword and began to circle slow, Peregrinus following in suit, staying behind the feline at all time. Wulfgang moved the circular route rather quickly but within this route he slowly came closer and closer to Beniiro.

Wulfgang felt his hands clenching the hilt, feeling the leather comfortably between his hands. He felt the presence of Peregrinus and knew that the wolf was perfectly clear on the directions. The two allies moved in perfect unison, approaching at the same time until they were just out of range of Wulfgang’s sword.

Wulfgang’s finally came in quickly and at the exact moment Peregrinus came in again at the catman’s calves. The two had moved in unison however there had not been any telepathy between the two. Peregrinus, being more intelligent than a normal wolf, had understood the plan and reacted in perfect time with Wulfgangs sword. Wulfgangs sword came in a feigning a low thrust but then was brought up in a quick upward slash.

[Red Lightning]

The feline warrior's blade slid through his opponents ribs like butter, and Beniiro could hear the cracking of the bones as Zakega pierced them. However, this did not bring the cat warrior any satisfaction. The man's sudden movement had shifted the cat's trajectory so that he had pierced the ribs instead of impaling the warrior through the intestines. Beniiro cursed his incompetance and withdrew his blade quickly, blood splattering upon the battleground like paint on a wall.

To make matters worse, the giant warrior seemed to be made out of tougher things that Beniiro had initially though, as he ignored the wound in his side and held that giant blade up with two hands. And I just wanted to get this done and over with... Beniiro shook his cat head and his tail slightly twitched as he took a new position with his blade, closing his eyes once more to extend his other senses.

The man was circling him now, with the wolf just behind the feline warrior. He knew that the two acted as one, and guessed that the big man must be some shaman of sorts to have this much control over the beast. So when he felt the air move from both sides and his senses screamed in warning, he wasn't surprised to find that both of them had rushed him.

The wolf came in low, while Beniiro opened his eyes and saw that the man was also coming in low with a thrust. He waited until the last second, then released his tensed up muscles, ducking beneath both the thrust and the wolves jaws in an impossible crouch. He felt the jaws of the beast snap over him, and saw that the man had used the low thrust as a feint and had swung upwards at the last second. A good tactic, Beniiro thought, if he had been in the air, but unfortunately for the duo the feline took the offensive again.

While the two had sheer strength and unpredictablitly on their side, the Bladewraith Captain had sheer skill and speed, and he planned on using every bit of it to win this battle. His black form shot itself forward as he ripped a path to the man, who had left himself wide open once more with that thrust. This time however, the cat planted two feet on the man's chest in mid jump and pushed off, doing an acrobatic backflip in the air before landing behind the surprised wolf and unleashing a barrage of quick slashes at the beast. The glowing red blade looked like a flaming sword in the sunlight as it cut towards the wolf, a shining mirror of death.

[Wulfgang]

Wulfgang was simply astounded that both he and peregrinus had missed in their attempt to hit Beniiro. The catman had somehow managed to evade the simultaneous attacks.

“No matter, bash’em nextime” he thought to himself.

Suddenly the feline sprang up, kicking out at the barbarian with both feet; each hitting the barbarians massive chest. This action however did not even send the huge man back a step, he almost laughed at the catmans feeble attempt; That is, until he saw Beniiro’s trajectory.

Wulfgang attempted to grasp the catmans legs but missed by inches. The feline landed behind Peregrinus and brought its red sword down hard toward the wolf. Wulfgang only smiled, having sent a mental picture of the swords path the canine was able to evade the block only a split second before it hit its mark. Peregrinus retreated back to Wulfgang and quickly turned back toward Beniiro.

The barbarian laughed now that the Peregrinus was safe, for the moment atleast, hiding well the pain in his chest that the movements brought forth.

“lets begin” The mountain man stated flatly.

Wulfgang thought of the mountains of Slugoran’s Axe, remembering the hardships and the harshness that those icy mountains amply supplied. Wulfgang smiled at the pain that had been evoked by the laughter, it was nothing compared to what he had experienced before, and with that he forgot entirely about the injury.

Wulfgang received an image from his ally, it depicted the canine tearing into the furry flesh of Beniiro. “All in good time my eager companion” Wulfgang whispered.

The barbarian suddenly put his body into motion, using his long powerful legs to propel his body forward in a burst of speed. However he did not go directly toward the catman, instead first running left and looping in toward the feline’s right side. Peregrinus saw this movement and quickly mirrored the barbarians movements exactly, not needing to use their telepathy because they had used this technique in numerous past battles.

Acting on the massive burst of speed, Wulfgang dropped to one knee, using his momentum to propel himself across the sand as if he were sliding on ice, while still maintaining perfect control of Canis Zhan. Peregrinus leapt into the air, gauging itself to hit beniiro’s shoulder with its powerful jaws, and the feline’s abdomen with its paws.

Wulfgang used his strength to swing his sword with blinding speed in a horizontal sweep; however, during this swing he kept his muscles taunt so as to regain a defensive posture instantly after the hundred and eighty degree strike.

[Red Lightning]

Beniiro's blade missed the wolf completely as it dove to the side. He was not surprised at this, however. He had been observing both opponents this entire time and saw that the two worked as a team, and they were no amatuers at that. The two retreated from Zakega's glowing blade and at first Beniiro felt a small glimmer of triumph: had he won? Were they surrendering? However, this was not the case, as again the pair launched themselves at the feline warrior.

This time Beniiro switched tactics, seeing as his original attempt to counter and go on the offensive had not worked. He ran from the two, his black form racing to the wall of the gladiator-like colliseum. Several of the audience members screamed and got up from their seats as the feline swordsman raced up the ten-foot wall, his paws providing excellent traction on the vertical surface and his speed providing the boost he needed. He leapt to the edge of the wall, ignoring the fleeing audience, and with one hand balanced himself upon the edge as he stared down upon his opponents with yellow eyes, the original color returning and his blade fading back to black.

However, the man was a giant, and Beniiro knew that he would somehow find a way up the short wall, so the cat warrior didn't say in one place too long. He raced along the edge of the top of the walll, his eyes constantly upon his two opponents.

He figured he needed a way to bring both of them down at once. But he had no special techniques, no special ablities he could use.

Well, except for that one. But Beniiro didn't know if he could use it again: the first time he had used that power, he had not known what he had done. It had simply happened, and he hadn't been able to use it since.

And that had been a few years ago. He hadn't needed to use it since, so he found himself at a loss on how to bring it out once more.

As more audience members began heading for doors that were being opened by (assumingly) ever watching monks, Beniiro instead began running up the steps, stiill keeping an eye on his opponents while keeping his distance. If he could use it, he would need the element of surprise and speed.

[Wulfgang]

Wulfgang gave chase to his enemy for a moment, too caught up in the battle to realize that his opponent no longer seemed intent on fighting. The huge barbarian finally began to realize the un-offensive action for what they truly were and began to slow.

Wulfgang could not help but feel some anger toward his opponent, who had stabbed him, but found himself not blaming Beniiro at all. In fact, on further inspection, Wulfgang realized that he would have done the same to the feline if he had had the chance. The barbarian threw aside his anger and skittered to a stop.

Instantly Peregrinus sent a feeling of utter confusion out to Wulfgang, not understanding why the man had stopped. The barbarian smiled, ever keeping a wary eye upon his current enemy, but perhaps future ally, and sent an image of himself and Beniiro shaking hands. Peregrinus though still confused as to the reason of his master’s decision did not question anymore.

Wulfgang looked around the arena stands, seeing the hundreds of people screaming for blood and battle. Though the barbarian enjoyed it at first, he observed that many of these people looked rather feeble, and noticed that the weaker beings there were the most active in raising blood thirsty cries. This bought a scowl to Wulfgang’s face, making him realize that he was simply the object of entertainment. The thought bought complete rage into the barbarian’s soul, he would be no weakling’s entertainment!

Wulfgang yelled out to his current opponent “ What da’ ya say we get outta here, these fools aren’t worth either of our deaths!”

[Red Lightning]

Beniiro was running to the top of the stairs of the seats, heading for one of the open doors, when he heard his opponent say something and saw both the giant man and wolf stop. Beniiro slid to a halt, just in time for the wind to pick up and he could catch the words "...aren't worth either of our deaths..." before the wind changed course and the rest of the words blew away.

Beniiro was confused. At one moment the warrior seemed to be beserk, only wanting the Bladewraith's blood above all else, but now he was standing there smiling, his wolf now sitting on its hind looking at its master expectantly.

Either the man was calling a truce, Beniiro figured, narrowing his yellow eyes down at the warrior, or this was a trap to let his guard down. While the feline warrior would like the former to be true, he did not drop his guard as he slowly walked down the steps, holding Zakega in front of him diagonally as he eyed both opponents.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" He spoke once he got within ten feet of the edge of the wall. Behind him, several people were booing at this course of action and started throwing random assortments of food, but the feline paid no attention to the fools. His entire focus was on the man below him, and the wolf at his side.

[Wulfgang]

Wulfgang thought back to the events that had occured earlier getting him into this mess, then he remebered at the confused look the feline had worn upon his face when he had arrive.

Wulfgang simply gave slight grin and shrugged his shoulder then stated in a loud voice "Well, seems to me, by the look on your face when you arrive, that perhaps you were decieved into being drawn here, much as I was.

The Barbarian continued on, remembering the man that had appeared and spoken to Beniiro, "was that man you spoke to upon your arrival in the ring your ally or simply your deciever?"

"Anyways, it isn't a trick because I am from the cold northern mountains, see my clothing? does this look like the place to wear such a heavy and warm outfit? I THINK NOT!" laughing heartily at himself.

Now that he had mentioned his outfit, he realized he was lathered in sweat, he felt keenly the sun beat upon him and the heat it gave him. He thought back to a time when even his current outfit was not enough to keep his massive body warm, but now he wished to shed his garments off due to this blistering heat he stood in.

"I was not aware of what a citadel was when I met the man who cast me into this area! I would not have agreed had I known. As for proof I can only offer words but I pray you listen to me! These weak men are not worth either of our deaths, we are simply their sick entertainment! Let us get out of this hell and if you wish it we can finish our battle outside this place!" Wulfgang finished by sheathing his sword as a sign of peace, hoping that the Feline would not approach and slay him before he could re-drawn the massive blade.

Wulfgang now recollected his thoughts of escape, reminding himself that all this would be worth it if his opponent and himself escaped this place alive. Thinking to himself a phrase he had spouted earlier in the battle. Perhaps we can be comrades.....

[Red Lightning]

The feline stared at the warrior at his words. The arena was silent now: all the spectators had left out of boredom, now that there wasn't any blood spilling upon the sandy ground.

Beniiro considered his words. The man had sheathed that monster of a blade upon his back, and that was a good sign, and the wolf stayed still during the entire conversation, looking between its master and the nekojin with slight confusion. Apparently this was the first time this man had been to the Citadel, and didn't know that if you died here you would simply be brought back to life. But Beniiro wasn't about to leak this information to the man: no, he wanted out of this battle. He had more pressing matters elsewheres, and this battle, he concluded, had already drawn to its end.

"The monk was my deciever. He pushed me into this ring before I could react." Beniiro replied coldly. He still had his sword diagonally held in front of his face, his red scarf flowing backwards in the wind as he took small steps down the stairs, getting ever closer to the edge. "I agree. I did not wish to fight you in the first place." He finally spoke after a couple more moments, and straightened up his pose and flicked Zakega back into a casual position by his side.

On top of the edge of the wall he could see his sheath lying in the sand, by one of the gates. He jumped down from the top of the wall in front of the man, crouching low in case of a surprise attack. When none came, he straightened up and looked to the wolf. "A strange companion you have. But, seeing as you came from the mountains, I suppose its not that strange." Beniiro shrugged as he walked over to the wolf and stroked its ears.

Defeated? Zakega's questioning tone rang in his ears. It did not sound outraged, simply confused.

Beniiro looked down at his sword with an arched eyebrow. No, truce. He replied back.

Truce. Zakega seemed to accept this, and Beniiro sighed in relief. He never did know what kind of mood the blade was in.

Walking away from the pair, he picked up his sheath lying about ten yards away and silently sheathed Zakega in its decorative scabbard. "I don't wish to fight you." Beniiro said, holding the blade at his side and not turning as he addressed the giant man. "So let us get out of here as quickly as possible."

[Wulfgang]

“Agreed” Wulfgang stated with a grin growing upon his face.

Wulfgang looked at either end of the arena, and seeing that the two gates were still tightly shut he looked to the tall walls.

“Up and out it is then” the barbarian calmly exclaimed.

Wulfgang calmly walked up to the wall and placed his large hand upon is, sliding it smoothly over the rough surface. He turned, sending a telepathic image to his canine companion who suddenly went from his sitting position into a sprint toward Wulfgang; At the last possible second Peregrinus leapt into the air toward the barbarians chest.

Wulfgang put his hands out in front of him to make a springboard for the canine, Wulfgang felt the legs of the wolf touch his arms and he pushed them skyward, catapulting Peregrinus into the air and over the ledge to the stands. The wolf turned around and looked down at his master.

Wulfgang looked to the beniiro and said smiling warmly “I would ask if you wanted a hand but you already proved that you could scale this without a problem.”

Wulfgang walked to the center of the ring and turned around, bursting into a powerful sprint, when he finally met with the wall his powerful legs continued to pump, propelling him to the top; Although most of it was not necessary at all considering that he was over seven feet tall. Wulfgang however did not need his hands in this, scaling the wall entirely with his momentum and easily stepping over the last little bit of the wall into the stands.

He was free from the ring at least, but as he exited the ring he began to wonder where he truly was. He was surly not in the mountains anymore, and probably not in Salvar. Wulfgang wandered how he would ever manage to return to the world that he knew.

The barbarian suddenly considered the land he called his home and realized that there was nothing truly holding him there any long. His tribe was gone, he had nothing to keep him in that cold mountain landscape except himself. Perhaps this was the place he could start his quest to become a truly powerful warrior. he smiled and decided this was his chance.

The Barbarian turned to the feline and asked “so, Which continent are we on?”

[Red Lightning]

"Were in Corone, in the City of Radasanth." Beniiro didn't bother telling him that they were in the Citadel: He didn't want to risk having another fight. "I dunno how we're going to get out, however." He murmured this, noting the towering walls on the sides and the locked gates.

As if by magic, however, a beam of light shot down from the sky and impaled the ground, and suddenly it condensed to a door-like shape, which glowed brightly admist the growing shadows of mid-day.

Beniiro looked at the sky with a cocked eyebrow. Apparently the monks had been watching closley. With a sigh and relief that this was finally over, the feline turned to the giant man and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry but I must take my leave now. It was good to meet you, whoever you are." His eyes locked with the man's dark blue ones. "I hope our paths cross someday in the future."

And with that he stepped into the portal of light and dissapeared from the arena.

------------------------


When he came to be on the outskirts of the Citadel he found the monk who had pushed him in standing there. "You were supposed to fight!" The monk exploded in the feline's face, throwing up his arms in anger as his young face turned beet red.

"I told you, I'm in a rush." Beniiro said, his eyes turning a bright red and an ominous red aura sorrounding both the sheath and the blade inside. The monk took one look at the intensity in the feline's eyes and shook his head. "Whatever." The monk said in disgust and walked away.

Beniiro watched him go for a minute before looking up at the sky in thought. He had been lucky that the giant was ignorant of the Citadel, or he would have probably been beaten by the two warriors. He sighed as he looked at his glowing red blade, trying to hear if it had something to say, but remarkably it stayed silent.

"So, I need to get stronger, is that it?" the feline whispered. He looked up at the mid-day sky once more and then his red eyes focused onward the path ahead.

It was time to pay a visit to the Bazaar, to and old friend. And with that the feline swordsman left the Citadel, red scarf flowing out behind him, a stream of clothed fire.

My ending post. Sorry its so short and crappy, but my other one got deleted somehow and I lost inspiration. *shrugs* Anyways, no spoils requested.

[Wulfgang]

The feline had just walked into a beam of light, and was gone! Wulfgang was confused and alone without any clues how to exit the Citadel. The barbarian sat down enjoying the complete solitude, petting Peregrinus and whispering “you fought well my friend.”

Wulfgang felt keenly the wound upon his chest. He pushed in lightly upon his rib finding that it had been indeed broken. The barbarian winced with the pain of the touch then removed his hand from the wound.

“Well guess I was the lucky one in avoiding finishing the battle, guess what doesn’t kill me just makes me stronger huh?” he whispered to himself.

Suddenly a flash of light blinded the warrior, sending him scampering backwards in an attempt to escape any oncoming attack. Instead of an attack he heard a somewhat familiar voice shrieking “USELESS BRUTE! USELESS! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU COULD FIGHT!”

When Wulfgang finally regained his vision, standing in front of him was the wan skinned man with red robes that he had met in the mountains. The barbarian had to ignore a sudden, strong impulse to strangle the deceptive caster. Wulfgang’s visage became stern and he stared the small man down, silencing the man while he growled “If I had actually known what was going on I may have fought, but instead you just send me here without any warning! Little IMP I should smash you now!”

The small man laughed histerically and spouted “and maybe I should leave you here to rot! I did you a favor! Maybe I should have told you that one does not die in the citadel, though your body can be destroyed, you will be resurrected! You dumb brute, I suppose you want to go back to your damn cold mountain to be a cave man?”

The barbarian said “You cant die? What, why did you not tell me before!? And matter of fact I would be content if you would just get me out of this place and maybe right outside the town and into a nearby forest.”

“Fine, as you wish oh stupid one!” the little man shrieked . With that the man cast a spell, Wulfgang catching on and closing his eyes, sending the Barbarian and his canine companion into a forest very different from any he had ever seen.

The Forest Wulfgang now resided in was deciduous, having many hardwood trees with large leaves, whereas he had grown up in a forest with only evergreen trees. The mountain man looked around, truly amazed by the forest he now stood in, his heart pounded hard within his chest eager for him to explore the new world he had just been catapulted into! He could not wait to begin his long journey to become a perfect adventurer.

Wulfgang now looked back upon his time in the citadel and began to digest the information that the caster had given him. He now knew that he could not die in that fighting arena, this suddenly made him more eager to get back into that sand pit.

Wulfgang noticed something strange, his wound was gone! He felt the area where the wound was only a few minutes ago and smiled, it truly was gone and the caster had told the truth! Wulfgang patted Peregrinus on the back playfully and bounced off into the forest, eager for more adventure…




OOC: endpost, no spoils requested.

[Call me J]

Alright guys, I feel this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you both can do. I look forward to seeing future threads.

Wulfgang- 42.5

• STORY ~ 15.5/30

Continuity (7) ~ Referencing your solo quest at Sulgoran’s axe when relevant earned you big kudos in my book. I really feel that this is one category you already get. I know why your character was coming to the Citadel, and previous events were mentioned when relevant, and you gave him a sense of where he was going where he left.

Setting (5.5) ~ There were times I wanted to applaud you for thinking of things like how Wulfgang’s clothes were ill suited for the weather. However these moments weren’t as often as I would have liked. You don’t have to immerse me with flowery details of your physical setting, here the setting was described just fine. My only problem was you never really delved into the implications of this setting.

Pacing (3) ~ This thread really felt a bit flat for me. There really just wasn’t much of a sense of adventure here. In general, I think your problems here are linked with your problems in action. Since my comments for action are so linked to my comments for pacing, I put them all together in action.

• CHARACTER ~ 10/30

Dialogue (4) ~ The dialogue was a bit clichéd. Both spoken and unspoken dialogue can be a great tool for advancing the plot and telling me about your character. Make better use of it.

Action (3) ~ While I know your intentions were pure, you should not write for other people’s PCs. This includes non-decisions as much as decisions. You can not say something like “both characters continued to stand around,” because the decision as to whether Beniiro stands around or not belongs to Red Lightning. Try to avoid this in the future. This time, I did not penalize you because you are a newer player and learning the rules (also, Red Lightning was quite gracious about it). In the future, you will see your score lowered for this mistake.

Outside of the bunnying, I feel you could have done a much better job of playing up your injury to add tension and intrigue to this thread. In general, in a battle, you want every post to be tenser than the next until you get up to the climax. Here, you ignored it in a way that made less sense in character, and also in a way that hurt the story overall.

Persona (3) ~ You do a great job of telling me events, but you don’t do nearly as good of a job in telling me who Wulfgang is. There are many characters that go and fight battles in the Citadel. The reason I’m going to care about this particular battle is because of the characters in it. You need to think about the things that make Wulfgang who he is. If you do that and convey it in your writing better, you’ll see much higher scores here.

• WRITING STYLE ~ 11/30

Mechanics (2) ~ Punctuation is something you really need to focus on. Better punctuation will help you immensely. You also want to be careful when it comes to diction. Try not to repeat the same words too much.

Technique (2) ~ I made a similar comment in a different thread, but it applies here too. Using literary devices can only help you, not hurt you. Make use of them.


Clarity (7) ~ Your posts were generally quite clear. This is a category you don’t have to worry about nearly as much.

Wild Card (6) ~ I think you have a good deal of promise, and I look forward to seeing what you can do in the future.


Red Lightning- 57

• STORY ~ 15/30

Continuity (5) ~ I know why your character came to the Citadel, and where your character was headed when he was gone, but I didn’t really feel like you told me anything about the experiences that shaped your character’s life. You did a good job on your persona, but it was in spite of your flaws in continuity. I also thought the way Beniiro entered the Citadel was a bit forced.

Setting (5) ~ My comments to Wulfgang generally apply to you as well. Take a look at what he did with commenting on the heat, and note how that added a bit of flavor to the thread. You gave me a much better visual image of your character, but you didn’t do anything with it.

Pacing (5) ~ You definitely had a story you were trying to tell. It didn’t always come off as well as I think you meant it to, but you definitely had something going there. The execution just failed a little. This is the kind of thing that you get better at with practice.

• CHARACTER ~ 16/30

Dialogue (4) ~ See Wulfgang’s comments.

Action (5) ~ This would have been better if your actions fit your character a bit better. It seemed that you didn’t really take the relative advantages of your character into account.

Persona (7) ~ I really love the persona you had here. It reminds me a lot of Reepacheep from the Chronicles of Narnia, and generally when I’m reminded of another character, that’s a very good thing.

• WRITING STYLE ~ 19/30

Mechanics (7) ~ You need to work on your sentence structure a bit. I see you going for complex sentences in cases where you really don’t need to. You have avoided all the big pit falls here, but there are still a few issues you need resolved.

Technique (5) ~ While I did appreciate your use of metaphor, I was a bit upset with the clichéd use of them. Get more creative and you’ll see your scores rise. A few common metaphors are fine, but if you want something to be really meaningful, come up with an image that is novel and will stick in the head of your reader.

Clarity (7) ~ See my comments for Wulfgang.

Wild Card (7) ~ I generally do not give different Wild Card scores in battles, but I am making an exception here. I just wanted to thank you for your graciousness with the bunny and your willingness to help a newer member improve. Good job.

Spoils
Red Lightning receives 525 EXP and 95 GP
Wulfgang receives 100 EXP and 80 GP

[Karuka]

EXP/GP added!