In the Maw [Closed]

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Closed to Nosdyn.

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Ioder Horvat awoke suddenly in the maw of a raging volcano. All around him, amber flares of magma and incinerator-like heat. He looked upward and above him was a billowing cloud of hot ash and the faintest flicker of daylight peaking though the blackness. His skin began to stick to his leathers as he poured buckets of sweat. Beneath him was a large stone platform magically suspended in the air, defiantly refusing to budge an inch. The stage was rectangular in shape stretching about forty feet across and its perimeter was lined with large razor sharp titanium spikes. The half-elf marveled at the magics of the citadel and their monks.

He found himself wondering how he got into this mess.

It was a long and laborious journey back from the western coast of Corone. The island nation always seemed so small until your forces to travel across it on foot. Ioder had no idea how his companions had faired in their endeavors, and for what it’s worth he didn’t care anyway. He had just escaped the deepest prison in all of the land and for the first time in a long time Ioder was free. He could do without being an enemy of the state and the massive bounty on his head but it is what it is. Naturally as any battle hardened veteran would do after reaching Radasanth Ioder when straight to the battle spire, or the Citadel, and registered for a fight.

Arcs of magma flared upward from the pool below, striking the spikes and splashing onto the stage and splattering near Ioder’s feet. The tolerable temperature of the fighting arena became deadly forcing him to stumble awkwardly to the side as the spatter burned his heel. He was beginning to find it hard to see thought the bright vibrate colors all around him forcing him to squint. Maybe it was a design flaw or was he overly specific when he described the specifics of the arena to the monks. Regardless of the case this would eventually prove to be a very big issue.

He shook his head and scanned the surroundings. Across the stage was a faded silhouette, but it was hard for Ioder to clearly make it out through the rising heat. But there was something about him that made the Half-elf feel uneasy, like as if he was talking to his master. He shrugged off the feeling for the time being and drew one of his twin blades from its’ sheath. As he wielded his opal blade, iridescent runes illuminated down its length. He raised his sword pointing the tip of the blade to the spector and called out.

“We don’t have much time here before we both collapse from the heat,” he spoke the truth, for himself at least. “So I’m not going to waste any time here.”

Through the rumbling of the magma and fire all around, it was difficult to make out the voice that called to Nosdyn.

It was clearly his opponent, but Nosdyn's memories were foggy up until that point. He wasn't sure why he'd awakened in The Citadel to begin with. It did not really matter. Nosdyn looked at his opponent for a long moment, sizing the man up. Yes. The Elf would do... Nosdyn thought to himself. And maybe, it was a result of the intense heat...but the man before him made Nosdyn think of Jake Narmonalya. His hated enemy. Someday...I will have my vengeance on you...Jake. Nosdyn slowly started to stalk towards his opponent.

As he walked, he prepared his majestic weapon.

The long hafted weapon was silent for only a moment longer, before Nosdyn unlatched it from his belt. Holding it with one hand, he activated the mysterious weapon. After about a moment, the amethyst coloured blade appeared and it gave off it's signature noise. He wasn't sure how the man before would react. But, Nosdyn didn't much care. He was struggling with his own situation...his memories were drawing blanks as he attempted to recall what he was doing before he'd ended up in The Citadel to begin with.

Soon, he was directly in front of Ioder. Nosdyn's glowing eyes narrowed into thin slits, as he realized his opponent was some sort of an Elf. His dislike for the species was growing, but he didn't dislike the man before him...yet. They were there to appease The Thayne of War anyway. Nosdyn held his weapon with both hands at that point, as he adjusted his combat stance. He fought a certain way with his weapon, the long haft was black as his soul. But elegantly structured. As Nosdyn stood there he merely smirked at the man before him. "I've lived through worse than this." Nosdyn said very simply, and it was the truth.

Jake had collapsed an entire building on top of Nosdyn's head.

His hatred had kept him alive.

Most give up in such situations of extreme endurance...but not Nosdyn. Nosdyn would never give up. "I also don't like to waste any time. We have Thayne to appease anyway." The Demon said calmly. He had blue skin that was well toned and heavily muscular, in short, he was built like a damned tank. He didn't wear heavy armour, he never liked it because a lot of the time it hindered mobility. He wore black leather, and kept his belt with many pouches and such attached to it. His cloak flowed with a small switch in the vapor and heat of the volcano that they were both in.

Without wasting any time on pleasantries...Nosdyn attacked Ioder. He swung his mighty weapon in an over-arching slash attack. The blade pointing downward as he swung his weapon in a half-circle style swing. The slash would come from above, if it connected. Nosdyn was strong, and would be certain to give The Elf before him a decisive battle indeed...

It had begun.

What was with this guy? Ioder found himself wavering as the hadia lurked forward. His stature almost dwarfed that of Ioder’s frame. The half-elf was slim and lean with barely an extra inch on him, while his opponent seemed to be crafted from the very flames dancing around him. The azure skinned demon was built like a tank and he gave off this uneasy feeling causing Ioder’s grip on his sword to loosen.

He spared no pleasantries as he drew his mystical amethyst saber and as it rang out like a thousand buzzing hornets he attacked. Ioder was prepared for a frontal assault and as the demon raised his sword upwards and arced it back down it was met with cold titanium of Alessia. His enchanted weapon clashed with his enemies in a brilliant blade lock. Sparks were sent flying as the two pushed back against one another. Both combatants glared at each other thought their clash and if only to make it clear to the half-elf Nosdyn spared no strength pushing his saber closer and closer to Ioder’s face.

Just as the tip of the Nosdyn’s saber was about to burn Ioder’s cheek the half-elf brought his knee to his chest and kicked the brute with all his might breaking their blade lock. This gave Ioder just enough time to stagger back a few spaces and regroup. This guy was strong, too strong for Ioder to fight head on, this was going to be a battle of wits and strategy now. The half-elf watched as a plume of magma jettisoned up behind the man, this caused his vision to blur and for a moment he could only see his enemy outline.

“Shit!” he said as he reformed his fighting stance. He turned and stood in such a manner that his right side would be facing in the direction of Nosdyn. Ioder brandished his sword pointing it towards the demon, and with his free hand he began weaving ancient signs and muttering something under his breath. Then as if from out of the air itself a dark aura began to form. It started as a couple wisps of black smoke clouding the air around the half-elf then it quickly took the shape of dark twisted armor pressed to Ioder’s frame. Only Ioder’s crimson hair and pointed ears were left uncovered as they peaked out of the Oni mask that now protected his face.

“Don’t think this is going to be easy!” Ioder yelled as he launched himself into a full on sprint towards the blur before him his blade readied to attack. As he reached the brute Ioder swiped horizontally with his blade an if it were to hit it would cleave a regular man in two.

Nosdyn rose from the ground, a few paces away.

The Elf had intriguing power it seemed to Nosdyn. He's strong...stronger than Jake. Jake merely ran that time... Nosdyn's analytical mind was already studying his opponent's every move and action. Every swing, every strike. As Nosdyn rose from the first series of attacks, he felt a bruise welt up on his chest where his opponent had kicked him. It hurt...a lot. But Nosdyn was more than used to pain. He would give the man before him a battle that he would never forget. There was a plume of fiery hot magma that burst up from below nearly destroying them all.

But Nosdyn was strong...and had survived much much worse than what a puny volcano could throw. The man before him currently wore a stylized suit of armour that reminded Nosdyn of Akashiman style armour. I wonder if there is a connection there...? He thought to himself as the transformation occurred. Nosdyn kept both of his hands holding the handle portion of his mighty weapon. His weapons are Titanium...I've seen it before...this will be very difficult... He wondered if Ioder would run the same way that Jake had...but no...the man before him was definitely more the courageous type.

He'd seen such brave Elves before.

The man moved very fast as he was soon upon Nosdyn with his own attack once more. The attack came quickly. and Nosdn barely moved out of the way. The cleave style attack connected with a massive arm, his right arm, and slashed it cleanly open. Black ichor, demon's blood, began to spill out from the cleaving attack. Nosdyn did not flinch, the pain fueled him to continue to battle. He merely growled in anger at that point as Ioder had claimed first blood...Yes... Nosdyn thought to himself. This is going to be a long and difficult battle. He will not run like Jake had...the coward. One day I will find you Jake and our next meeting will not end in your favour... Nosdyn swore as he felt intense pain from the man's attack.

Nosdyn stood off to the side a moment, crouched down with his weapon pointing at angle towards the ground. "You intend to fight." Nosdyn suddenly said, praising the man's bravery. "Jake ran...that is...the last of your kind that I met in combat in such way. It's good to see that some of your kind will stay and fight and not take the coward's way out." Nosdyn respected the man before him. Though he was an enemy..he could still respect the power that the man held. Arched at an angle near to Ioder, Nosdyn countered. He was somewhat underneath the taller Elf's lithe form, and he rose his own weapon. Angling the glowing blade upward, Nosdyn made a plunging maneuver for Ioder's side...he was risking everything in that attack...

It was a clean hit, the purple laser of Nosdyn’s saber staff struck true, skewing Ioder though the right side of his lower abdomen. The half-elf yelped in pain as his enemy penetrated straight though a portion of his conjured armor and into his flesh. From what he could tell his blade had punctured about four inches into his abs and tore at his flesh on its exit. His armor had stopped the blade from causing any fatal wounds but the pain almost seemed unreal. Coupled with the unbridled sense of fear that had seemingly taken over Ioder wavered as he shuffled a pace backward.

This wasn’t enough to take him down, Ioder had faced death before and proudly spat in his face. This demon was no different and Ioder knew he had to get serious. With his left hand he unlatched the hilt of his second blade. In a flurry of movements Ioder was now duel-wielding his legendary blades readied to launch himself back into action. Helfa, The Dragon Finger, was Ioder’s secret weapon. It was a blade crafted from the finest of ancient dragon bone imbued with the magics of old. And Alessia, his masterwork katana, a most faithful ally. His opal blade was said to be the sharpest sword in all the lands.

“I’m glad I can show you a good time brute.” He yelled as he leapt through the air high above Nosdyn’s head. Ioder had a secret he wondered how long it would take the demon to catch on. The tip of Helfa began to glow brightly as Ioder primed its ancient magic. Upon his landing in the space behind the demon Ioder twisted his form violently becoming a virtual cyclone of steel and death. In this moment the end of his ancient blade started to flash violently like a strobe light hopefully blinding his opponent and ensuring his deadly attack.

“If you can keep fighting after this than I’ll show you my true power.” The crimson haired half-elf cried attacking.

Nosdyn's weapon tasted The Elf's flesh, but Nosdyn did not lower his guard. His counter will be brutal I suspect...upon seeing The Elf's own blood... Nosdyn had no doubt at that point that his opponent was at least partially an Elf. There was a spark of light that the man's weapon was emitting, but Nosdyn was already used to intense lighting conditions. Though he had no heightened senses as a result of his training, he DID have heightened endurance. The flash of light was harsh on Nosdyn's eyes, but The Demon would endure. He saw, out the corner of his eyes, that the man became a dervish of sorts, whirling around in an attack that would devastate most opponents.

Out of desperation, Nosdyn acted.

He timed his reaction maneuver in such a way that he when his opponent landed, and brought his weapons within striking distance...Nosdyn countered. He risked everything to swing his weapons backwards in reaction to the man's leap attack. There was no denying that Nosdyn would take extreme damage from the dervish's attack. However, Nosdyn, being a tactical genius, would risk is own weapon to save his own life. And risk...he would. His weapon's blade swung around backwards as he intercepted the blades that his enemy swung in reaction. It was pure instinct, beautiful and dynamic. As Ioder's weapons came in close to Nosdyn...there was a burst of energy the moment the titanium weapons came in contact with Nosdyn's glowing sword.

As expected, there was an explosion of energy and shards and fragments of light burst out everywhere in a grand burst. Fragments and shards of Nosdyn's blade spiraled outward and struck Nosdyn's exposed back as well burning him. As expected, the titanium sword of his foe melted through Nosdyn's weapon blade. But Nosdyn was prepared. He felt the glowing titanium weapon pierce his own back as well. Nosdyn growled as he was pushed forward from the instinctive reaction and once again ended up knocked on the ground, bleeding and hurt.

Nosdyn held on to the hilt of his weapon and decided to re-latch it back on his belt since it was temporarily powered down after the blade was shattered by Ioder. Nosdyn was several paces away from Ioder at that bleeding and hurt. He knelt down at that point...considering what to do next. His...weapons are strong...like Jake's were...but I cannot give up here. I survived Jake...I will survive this man as well. When all was said and done, Nosdyn had several long gashes across his back and side. Black Demon's blood flowing from the injuries. As well, blood already trickled from the side of Nosdyn's mouth. However despite being severely injured, Nosdyn grinned. He reached up and wiped the blood from the side of his mouth. He knelt down on the ground for a moment, catching his breath. Then...he stood back up. His enhanced endurance would be put to the test that day.

He pushed himself back up on his two feet. He was a proud Demon of The Tular Plains...he would fight Ioder until he could no longer fight. "It has been a long time since I felt such pain...Elf." Strangely, though Nosdyn hated Ioder's people....he spoke with a profound respect for the man's power and skill. "I will fight you with my bare hands if need be, until I can fight no longer. I will fight you with the pride of a Tular Plains warrior." For Nosdyn, the battle was a personal one...he had his honour on the line...he would do everything he needed to do to survive.

Blood trickled down off the tips of Ioder’s twin blades, it formed the blackest of puddles at the Half-elf’s feet. Nosdyn had managed to mitigate most of the damage he took from Ioder’s last attack saving his life. The half-elf was honestly astonished but ultimately realized his mistake, it was already bright in the arena and his strobe light attack didn’t alter it by much. Through the tiny slits of his Oni mask Ioder watched as the demon returned to his feet muttering his last words.

“Im sorry,” Ioder said condescendingly to the demon. Ioder’s sense of dread had all but left him at this point. He began to chuckle inaudibly though his armor as Nosdyn addressed him. “But from the look of your back, I doubt you’ll last another minute against me.” Little did the demon know that Ioder was struggling, the heat had begun to take its toll. Sweat ran down his face and all over his body as the hot airs of the arena started to basically cook his body alive in the armor.

He weighed his options and decided that it would kill him sooner if he continued to dawn his faded armor. Thus in an instant and by his will alone the dark twisted metal covering his form once again turned to dark ash around him. He clearly was drained and the leathers he wore were now drenched in blood and sweat. He stood in a way favoring his left side opposite his wound, he wasn’t the tank of a man stood before him. The cloud of ash that was his armor stayed in place as a haze around him acting as a powerful magical ward. It would defend any attack thrown at it with the strength a steel automatically allowing Ioder to deliver his final blow.

“If you’re so sure about surviving,” he taunted the demon. “Let’s end this now with a single clash!” Ioder yelled as he began running at the demon with both swords at the ready.

Nosdyn's eyes kept up with the blazing speed of his opponent.

He knew from past experiences that Elves tended to be a fast and reactive lot. Nosdyn remained hunched down for a moment longer as his opponent quickly covered the distance between the two. Nosdyn reacted instinctively at that point. Almost as soon as Ioder was upon him, Nosdyn summoned up his Iron Skin capacity and prepared to intercept the incoming charge. His flesh became hardened, as Iron, and the dark blue tone took on a darker shade of blue.

Nosdyn held his ground. As Ioder quickly bounded towards him, Nosdyn continued his action. He did not have enhanced speed or reflexes...a flaw that would be made up for later on in his training. Instead, he had something that other warriors always seemed to forget to train. Nosdyn, leaped forward with his full weight, considering the forward momentum that his opponent was bounding in with. It might still be difficult for him to stop and turn mid-action...that might be a flaw in his combat style... Nosdyn thought to himself. He saw the man rotate quickly before, becoming a dervish. The fellow probably had a similar idea in mind for the next portion of the battle.

Bleeding and heavily injured Nosdyn could still fight. As long as he had the capacity to think, stand, he would fight Ioder. He lunged forward with all of the strength he could muster. Ducking his upper body in a lower position, he lunged in a tackling maneuver. He extended his right shoulder, the one closer towards Ioder, and attempted to plunge his shoulder deep into Ioder's mid-section. His gut. He knew he was sacrificing himself at that point. But he wanted to be certain he would harm Ioder as much as possible.

As he dove forward towards Ioder, he saw the dangerous blades coming for him. It's now or never... Nosdyn thought as he took a gamble on the battle. He wasn't sure if it would pay off, but sometimes great tacticians took tremendous gambles at key moments of a battle. He was jumping through the air at that point, and hoping that his own body would serve as a perfect interception tool. He had to time his own action exactly right to have the full effect of things. He hoped that it would pay off...time was running out.

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Some very minor bunnies in this post, Ill edit if its not acceptable.

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Suddenly the demon leaped at Ioder like a wounded animal backed into a corner and out of options. The half elf smirked as his opponent dawned himself in a hard exterior layer of armor, a variation of his own technique. He knew its weaknesses and knew how to beat the damned bastered of the Tular Plains. The key was overwhelming concentrated force, something Ioder had in abundance with his enchanted blades.

“Nice Try!” he screamed forcing the black haze-like smokes surrounding him to condense itself in front of Ioder’s mid-section. It formed an oval shield of black steel blocking Nosdyn’s best efforts and killing his momentum. In truth Ioder was happy the demon attacked him in a final assault, the next time they fight he will be stronger and more equipped. With his golden eyes Ioder watched as the blue skinned demon gazed eyes wide up at him.

For a moment the entire world had stopped, as if nothing else in the world mattered but them.

You fought hard, Ioder’s battle spirit cried out to Nosdyn. any ordinary fighter would be dead at your feet right now. For that you have my respect and the honor that comes with that. The two combatants shared this space for a few moments more.

Aye, his own battle spirit spoke back.

You and I are very similar you know, Ioder started.

Hows that?

I too am from the realms of Hadia. I, Ioder Horvat, am the sworn enforcer and hand to the demon lord Ignatius,He was sure Nosdyn had some understanding what that meant. They were enemies only in this citadel. A long pause overcame them as they both watched each other frozen in time. Are you ready?

Bring it.

In an instant everything rushed back to life as Nosdyn hit hard on with Ioder’s conjured ward and Ioder brandishing both his overwhelming brutal swords in either hand. As the half elf’s magics halted the demon Ioder took the opportunity and swiftly brought his weapons down aiming to skewer Nosdyn in both of his collar bones. If his swords should land this would be a fatal blow as swords both have the ability to pierce the hardest of titanium.

The gamble did not pay off...he entered my mind somehow... Nosdyn thought to himself at that point. I'll have to work on shielding my mind better...though to his credit I am already badly injured... Nosdyn growled as he waited for his end to come. He'd attempted every tactic he could think of to overcome Ioder...but he'd failed. The sting of failure burnt in his lungs as he crouched there for a moment or two, the effects of Iron Skin wearing off at that point...quickly so because of his limited training with the ability.

Ioder's weapon did pierce Nosdyn's flesh at that point.

There was no reaction from Nosdyn...he already accepted his fate. The twin blades pierced his collarbones, cleaving the sturdy bones in pieces. The swords pierced and Nosdyn growled at that point. He crouched downward and held himself aloft with a mighty fist, trying to hang on. But no...despite his rage and anger beginning to reach unparalleled heights...Nosdyn had been defeated.

Very few would show pity to one like he...also...he never wanted to be pitied.

He merely did not want to appear as a coward...he'd stood his ground.

That mattered to Nosdyn more than anything else.

Massive amounts of demonic blood poured out from the vessel of the blue skinned warrior. At that point, he coughed up more blood as well. Despite that, he held his ground. It was his mere survival instincts that kept him alive at that point. But the blood loss had taken it's toll. "Ioder..." Nosdyn manged to say through fits of coughing up blood. "Demon Lord Igantius...I have heard the name before...it has been an honour to fight you..." Nosdyn suddenly said. He'd gained a tremendous respect of the servant of Ignatius. Nosdyn himself currently lacked his own clan, but he was still working on his training.

His main allegiance had been to Stare and Vitruvion.

But that did not conflict with his own goals of becoming a Demon Lord himself someday.

As Nosdyn bled out, he struggled until the very end. Fighting the whole time to remain conscious. In the end, the tremendous noxious gasses within the inferno was what did Nosdyn in. He felt the weight of the burning air against his injured lungs. And at that point, finally, the proud Demon could fight no longer. His last thoughts as he succumbed to the void were of his sworn enemy. Jake Narmolanya. He pictured The Elf long and hard as he swirled into unconsciousness. One day...I will be strong... And the void consumed him at that point and he passed out...

“You fought well.” Ioder said as his enemy dropped to the ground. “Next time you’ll do better.

Their fight was over in an instant and the raging volcano around the two combatants faded into nothingness. Ioder had defeated Nosdym and as he was teleported back to the medical wing of the citadel he felt happy. It was an honor to fight such a monster of a fighter, an experience Ioder wouldn’t soon forget. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt such a rush of excitment.

The monks of the citadel worked their magic and mended all of the fade walker’s wounds. Their white magic complimented their line of work well and Ioder saw just how profitable this colosseum was. He wondered to himself if anyone had payed money to see these two fight it out in that infernal maw. If they did then it was money well spent.

As the monks finished the healing process Ioder pulled one aside. He whispered in the monk’s ear before sending him off on his way. He asked to deliver a message to the demon of hadia. He asked that he send the monster off knowing that Ioder would accept a rematch anytime and he could be found at in the foyer of the arena the next time he wanted to taste blood. It was a snide remark but if Nosydm had felt the same rush of ecitment as the fade walker did then it wouldn’t be long before Ioder would see the man again. Ioder exited the citadel looking for the closest bar possible to wet his whistle.

Radasanth was such a wonderful city for such things.

Thread Title: In the Maw (Battle)
Judgment Type: Condensed Rubric
Participants: Myths and Legends vs. Nosdyn

This was a short but high-octane duel, a literal barn-burner thanks to the chosen setting. You both came out swinging and represented your characters well in some good old-fashioned no-holds-barred Citadel action.

Myths and Legends (referred to hereon as Myth) will be representing out of the red corner.

Nosdyn will be fighting from the blue corner.

You guys kept it short and sweet so I'll do the same and skip straight into the scores!

Plot: 14/30 ~ 15/30

Nosdyn gets a slight edge in this category for his expansion into his character's backstory. While both of you did a good job of getting straight into the meat of the battle, the pacing was still pretty rough in places, mostly because of improper bunnying and weird character choices. You both established the setting to a certain degree and kept it consistent, with Myth mentioning the heat on multiple occasions, but I didn't feel like the extreme conditions had any adverse effects on the characters. It might have been more interesting, for example, if Ioder had been limping the whole battle because of getting burned on his heel near the beginning. Both of you could have benefited from providing more backstory and finding ways to cement this battle in your storylines, but Nosdyn did do a little bit of this and so he gets a small advantage here.

Character: 15/30 ~ 16/30

This category was a little trickier to score. Neither of you did a whole lot of character exploration or development, and you also showed a similar level of consistency in describing your characters' actions. For the most part, I was aware what was going on and why. The big reason that Nosdyn came out on top here is that a lot of Ioder's actions just didn't seem realistic within the scenario. In post 5, After taking a significant wound he immediately regrouped and performed an elaborate leaping attack while shouting. This didn't ring true for someone who just took a "clean hit" and was dealing with "unreal" pain.

Prose: 17/30 ~ 16/30

Myth had the slightly stronger writing technique, using the occasional metaphor to spice things up. His posts were also a bit more clear overall and easy to understand, although on the other hand, Nosdyn seemed to have a few less typos. I would really encourage both of you to delve deeper into literary devices, plotting, and other writing techniques that may be used to enhance your stories. I would also strongly recommend that both of you put a bit more effort into re-reading and editing, as there were a number of mechanical errors in both of your posts. If you have any questions about the mechanical errors I'm talking about feel free to contact me, but I think you're both capable of finding and fixing them, it's just a matter of putting in the time.

Wildcard: 4/10 ~ 4/10

Both of you had instances of bunnying without permission; Myth in post 3 and Nosdyn in post 6. I didn't take an extra point for the bunnying in post 9, Myth, but I could have; you need to have permission and let the moderator know you have permission. If either of you have any questions about the bunnying in this battle, please contact me with them.

Final Score: 50/100 ~ 51/100

Nosdyn wins! That really was a back-and-forth battle. While reading it I actually thought the bunnying would be the deciding factor, but it evened out in the end. The thing that I think won it for Nosdyn was his introspective character work, which made me identify with him a little more as a reader.

Myths and Legends receives: 450 EXP and 60 GP!
Nosdyn receives: 1500 EXP and 52 GP!

Congratulations!

Rewards added!

Myths and Legends pays 4 AP for the judgment.