Duel:Akenyil v Reum, Match 1 of the Frostmaw Tournament

From HollowWiki
Duelists: Akenyil vs. Reum.
Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 10 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Autohit post. Advancement in the Titans of Winter Tournament 2012.
Judges: Satoshi (mid), Redovian, Gorzhageigk



Frostmaw Colosseum

Satoshi shouted, "The Titans of Winter tournament will begin in just a moment! Make your way to the colosseum to witness the first of many matches to come: Reum versus Akenyil!"


Reum actually managed to find the place with little difficulty. In truth, this was really his first visit to Frostmaw--and it lived up to all he had heard: Cold. The mage made his way into the tucked away Colosseum, emerald eyes darting this way and that, noticing the incoming crowd and the arena itself, in which he would be fighting. His gaze found the drow, and he had little but to assume she was his opponent. This would be very interesting, it seemed. The chill about was ever present, his wings fluttering slightly in response as he approached the woman. "Akenyil, I presume?"


Redovian appears from the eastern entrance, Frostmaw's Justice eager to watch the first match of the tournyment commence.


Gorzhageigk has yet to move from his perch atop the highest bench to the left of the VIP seats. He hasn't looked up to see the fighters assembling below, rather, he's much too busy nomming on a leg of boar.


Akenyil grins in the shadow of her hood as she hears her name on the wind, so to speak, the announcement sending a thrill through her spine. Leather creaks as her gloved hand tightens on her staff for a moment, trying, and failing, to keep her staff inert, the physical representation of her giddiness flaming merrily over the ebony-and-adamantite weapon.


Akenyil turns her gaze from the obelisk, now that she's been addressed, looking out from under the fur lining of her hood to the avian, her eyes roaming in a once-over of the winged man. "That would make you Reum, then," she says, the closest she gives to a confirmation.


Quinmyutiotu is seated a few benches lower than Gorzhageigk. The monkey perched on her shoulder is sniffing the air in his general direction.


Gorzhageigk finally looks up, quickly notes the two combatants, and proceeds to daydream about the little creature perched upon the Dryad below him.


Satoshi is not far behind Redovian, having cleaned and groomed herself of the original graveside filtch she'd acquired the night prior while digging the final resting place of her daughter and three companions. Yet the only sign the Lady of Frostmaw is in mourning is the trading in of her trademark white coat with one of black suede, trimmed in a peculiar silver fur and decorated with a silken sash of pale blue. Nestled atop her head rests a silver-wrought crown riddled with swirling, twisting designs and studded with icy blue chips of fluorite, while in her left hand she carries her Xalious Wood Staff, the arcane tool glistening with the enchanted ice sheathing it. In all, the foxkin cuts a regal figure as she enters the stadium and makes her way toward her icy box seat, offering nods of greeting and smiles to those she passes--although not a single grin reaches her eyes, the friendly expressions dying long before they can alter the smouldering rage that lurks within a sea of azure and amber.


Reum nodded, slightly, in response. "Indeed." The Avian didn't show much in terms of being over excited; if anything, it was more a sense of anxious worry. Battle was always intense, but dangerous if not thrilling. "Best of luck to you, Akenyil." His gaze then found the lady of the hour, Satoshi, finding her seat. It would start soon...


Nemisis walks in quietly into the arena and takes a seat in the least crowded part of the Colosseum. It was cold, very cold, and so he was covered in the warmest clothes he had. Just to be extra toasty, he raised his body temperature up ever so slightly. He was a baking oven. Hidden behind a mask, he sat still and prepared to watch the show.


Akenyil does nothing more than shrug as she's offered luck. "To you as well, I suppose," she says, though she sounds far less sincere about the well-wishes. But she, too, notices that royal presence entering, her gaze lifting to follow her movements before she manages to say anything more - and likely insults, at any rate - towards the avian.


Satoshi stands before her frost-bedecked seat surveying the crowd and the two waiting combatants before she dips her head in acknowledgement to them. Raising the Xalious staff then, the magus brings its end down on the stone with a sharp crack, the sound magically amplified to reach the ears of all present and garner their attention. "Welcome, one and all, to the Titans of Winter tournament. I won't waste your times with long-winded speeches. That is not the nature of Frostmaw. We are here to see skilled fighters test themselves against one another, and I won't delay that any longer than necessary. So, simply put, Frostmaw thanks you for attending this event. Let the battles begin!" Quick as that, Satoshi takes her seat and sets her gaze upon the arena floor, waiting for the pair of mages to begin....


The First Match Begins...

Reum felt something shift and change within his resolves the moment it was decided the battle was to start. The voice fading, eyes turning towards the two combatant, Reum bowed slightly to the drow. He would have to take the initiative if this fight was to work in his favor. Instantly he kicked off from the ground, gaining little height, but enough to allow him more freedom than the ground offered. His wings beat harshly, deep bellowing gusts of air bellow him, only aiding to the chill passing him. Now was a good time for him, fire magics and all, to keep him warm. Starting his attack, fingers becoming alight with magic, he signed a few runes in the air before him, several balls of flames flickering to life before him, each sent zooming away towards the drow with but a flick of a wrist at various times, spread out. The Avian was hardly done yet, though. Wings carried him about, circling the arena, magics tingling on his fingertips. He watched for opportunities as the other mage would be shielding, dodging, or receiving his attacks, and capitalize upon them. A simple mixture of elements, his two specialties, would await the woman. A lance of flame would erupt at the opening, concentrated air swirling about it to aid--quickening it's path and feeding it the energy to grow and strike. It would hardly take the lance any time to reach the drow, and hopefully pierce it.


Akenyil snaps to action the instant the monarch says begin. Her forte is not hand-to-hand, and distance is the first thing set to her mind, moving herself away from the avian as much as she can. Hardly needed, she finds out, as she turns to find the winged man airborne, the time it has taken her to move having allowed him to spout off his first spell. As quick as she can as those fireballs streak towards her she falls into her casting, fingers deftly reaching into a pocket to pull out the necessary spell component as her other hand sweeps through the motions, each arcane syllable flowing from her lips as fluidly as to be expected of a trained mage. Despite the shield she conjures, however, she reflexively pulls her cloak up around her face as those balls of fire draw nearer, no matter that they explode upon - and thin - her summoned magical barrier. Damnit, she should have never taken her eyes off the bird-man. Her eyes dart about, searching for her opponent, even a step taken as she thinks to look behind the obelisk in the center of the arena...and that's when she earns herself a lance through her calf. With a yelp she stumbles, but she manages to keep her mind focused enough to shout out her own spell, pulling out yet more ingredients as she spins about to keep her eyes on Reum. With a point at her spell's climax, she sends a glowing ball the size of a pea Reum's way. As though Reum is a homing beacon to the pea, it streaks forward like a bee on a mission to sting someone. An explosive bee, apparently, for once proximity is closed the pea bursts outward in all directions, blazing like an airborne inferno.


Reum was waiting for the counter attack, and was sorely disappointed at a glance. The little ball of light moved quickly to cover the distance to him, and he had little time to react. He knew better than to push it off as something of a mistake in casting, so he acted to attempt to mitigate any damage that might come to him. His lips parted quickly, a few small syllable sliding from his tongue in that arcane language--music if you had the ear for it. Just as the pea sized ball exploded, his shield was coming up--almost in time. The flames had began to expand outward, attempting to consume the energies sent into and convert them instead to strengthen the shield. But, several of the now smaller balls passed the threshold before it was solid, and bit into Reum's flesh viciously. It stung like hell, the magic cutting and digging into him. His wing was hurt, but he could still fly, and he was bleeding from a dozen little spots across his body. His shield having now absorbed all that had met with it, he turned the energy towards the woman, again. The flames began to separate, becoming several hundred little tendrils of terror, pumped up with the woman's own magic. Keeping his ground, Reum directed his wing beat towards the little tendrils, helping to propel them along with his own magic at the woman. Perhaps it would pierce her a hundred times over. Or none at all.


Akenyil does not stay still after her spell is sent away. No, she knew the eventuality, so once again distance was her thought, coupled with keeping Reum in sight. She only manages a few feet, however, before the ball explodes, the concussion of her own spell sending her sprawling. By the time she's on her feet, the avian's already cast his spell, and the speeding tendrils send Akenyil into a frenzy of movement. A vial is withdrawn from a pocket this time, uncorked with her teeth as she works her hand through the spell, spitting the cork out just in time to snap out the command word. Up flies a wall of water, sizzling as the fire hits it, evaporating. It can only hold back so many, however, and soon enough the entire wall has been burned away to nothing more than a large puddle on the ground. Once, twice, thrice she's hit, burning chest, face, and hand. Oh, how she yells. With a shaking hand - her now injured hand - she again reaches into her pockets, eliciting another shout of agony as she withdraws her needed items. Thankfully, the burns on her face do not hinder her speaking and one eye is still left open, so she keeps track of the avian as she speaks her spell. The puddle, it is not some useless splash on the ground of the arena. No, the chill of Frostmaw helps in the drow's attempts, already freezing what her arcane forces help solidify before up it shoots, a great, jagged ice spear launching straight for Reum.


Satoshi's ears perk forward with intrigue at the use of ice magic, the kit obviously taking a deeper interest in that over the prior exchange of fireworks.


Nemisis eyes were darting back and forth as the exchange of spells blanket the arena. A small "Tch..." is heard from him before the man lifts a cigarette and places it within the mouthpiece of his mask. Promptly lighting the cigarette, he exhales some smoke. Inside his head Honor says, "Looks like the chick lost her ground in the beginning of the fight and is having a hard time recovering it...." Intelligence turns the bolt in his head and says, "That strike to the calf with the lance, lessened her movements while her opponent has flight on his side as well as functioning legs. The odds are definitely against her." Honor nods, "Indeed...unless she can capitalize on the ice enviroment around her...."


Redovian watches with interest, memorizing these two combatants tactics, expecially the drows.


Reum couldn't much help but smirk as the woman attacked him with ice. The ice spear was aimed true, and Reum's defense was already in the making. His hands swirled about each other, flames dancing eagerly within the chaos, building. Then, as the spear was nearly there, he unleashed the flames upon it, right down it's full length in an attempt to vaporize it before it reached him. However, in what was perhaps arrogance, he hadn't accounted for the abnormality of the cold about, or perhaps the hardening of arcane magics upon the liquid, and his fire melted it much slower than he would have liked. He had to react quickly, his wings relaxing their pace in an attempt to lower him out of harms reach. But he was still too slow, and the spear pierced Reum in his previously undamaged wing. And then he was falling, the spear having pierced and passed through the appendage all together. Thankfully, he wasn't more than fifty feet above the ground, and he was able to lessen the fall with a hasty spell of air to buffer his fall. However, his leg still took quite a hit from the fall, and he knew he would probably be limping tomorrow. Damn that drow. Drawing up more magic around him, the chill air began to swirl around him, as he condensed it and launched it in two separate tendrils with the rhythmic click of his tongue, arching separately and away from each other towards the drow. Then, before they might hit or miss, a flick of flame lit them, igniting the oxygen within and turning them into a particularly explosive attack.


Akenyil finds satisfaction in grounding the avian. A hand for a wing, and a leg for a leg. She'd grin if her face wasn't burned. She doesn't waste her time to watch the man fall, though, using the time to brace herself for the pain of grabbing yet another spell component. She's mid-cast by the time the next wave of flaming spears come her way, but she doesn't let it bother her, finishing her spell as calmly as she can. Both attack and defense come in a grand display of stone and dirt exploding from this way and that, the arena floor nearly crumbling to ruins as her spell takes hold of the elements beneath them. Snow-coated dirt and stone envelope the flames, the larger chunks even acting as barricades for the drow, offering the woman the time to conjure up another spell-shield. Within the relative safety of her cocoon of arcane energy she works up the second trigger to her first spell. The loosened stone and dirt stops falling, or rising from the ground where it has already landed. Each stone and clump of dirt hardens, sharpens, elongates, needles and knives of dirt and stone forming in mid-air, each poised Reum's direction. It's the clenching of her good hand that sends them all, each and every one, in at the avian.


Nemisis watches on and Honor grins within the realm of the draconian's mind, "Oh the twist of fate...." Another twirl of the bolt is given by Intelligence saying, "Interesting. Now they are back to equal footing. Now we'll see what happens next."


Reum was particularly surprised by the drow's success with various elements, and had hardly expected such a thing as an earth barrier. None the less, he had began to prepare for the attack that was inevitable--she was persistent, for sure. He hadn't the time to attack her over and over, and she often left openings after he blocked--so it was ideal for him. But then she attacked with her defense, using it as a two part spell. Impressive...Reum couldn't fly, and was getting ready to be punctured by needles and lances of earth. His mind jumped about, searching for his exit. He knew it had to be there. Somewhere! And it was everywhere, in truth. It only took him a second to realize this. The fire magics he had been using to this point had melted a lot of the ice and snow about the area, leaving little puddle and large alike about here and there. His lids would drop, concentration required for this element to be garnered properly. His hands began to sign the runes, tongue flicking to flavor the air with the foreign sounds. Then, without warning, the water began to rise into a wall, waiting--daring--the lances and spears to pierce it on their way to Reum. As they would pass through it, the added energies would cause the water to freeze, holding them fast and preventing them from reaching Reum. However, it wasn't an exact process, pending on size and speed, it might take longer to catch the bolts, and quite a few nearly reached him before the water seemed to catch them by their tails. It was a close call, to be modest. A sigh left his lunges in response, and he prepared for another round if need be.


Winner: Akenyil, split vote.


Akenyil refuses to let her spell be trapped by the avian's wall of ice. She refuses! Tighter she clenches her hand, focusing her will more on the needles straining to break free. Futility. Very well, then. He wants to play that way? She falls into her casting, a spell that requires no component, and finishes by...touching her throat? Yes, that is the climax of the spell-casting. Forward she limps, closer, closer, until she's just outside the man's ice wall. A great inhalation is the only warning given, likely muffled on the inside of the barricade, but the exhalation is easily heard. Amplified tenfold, her shriek sounds like a group of banshees, shattering the frozen wall and sending shards inward, glistening shrapnel to pelt and shred alongside her formerly trapped projectiles. Needle after needle, shard after shard, cuts its way into Reum's body, some deep, some shallow. She only wishes she could have aimed the shards. She almost pouts when she sees there's no deep wounds on any vital spots. Almost. The burn on her face keeps her from doing so.


Satoshi rises to her feet, holding the Xalious staff high, as she declares, "Akenyil is the winner." From there she nods to healers present to tend to the combatants if they so desire. To the gathered, cheering crowd the magus states, "In short time, Quinmyutiotu will face Voranus in another match of magic against magic~."


Akenyil climbs out of the fighting pit as best she can, climbing step after step until her leg just cannot take anymore. She collapses eventually, planting herself on the first seat nearest her, her breath shaky now that the adrenaline is starting to fade.