Duel:Alareik v Kang
Judges: Emilia, Tyler, Mythayus
Location: Venturil Arena, Venturil
The iron gates open up into an immense, circular stadium, crafted from Venturil's white stone. Rows of benches rise in waves from the edge of the arena floor, studded at regular intervals with more ornate seating areas, for noble or wealthy visitors. Directly across the floor from the gate is a raised dais, dominated by a massive throne, reserved for Venturil's king. Smaller seats for his most honored guests sit to either side, offering the best view of the pit. The floor there consists of sand and gravel, and a wall twice the height of a man separates the floor from the lowest seats. The wall is set with small gates, leading down below the arena, and from there the fighters emerge, ready to prove themselves in the pit of death.
Eboric rests upon the throne, the most influential of his followers seated on the dais beside him. The king looks down upon the arena floor, receiving the signal from the arena master that the gladiators are ready. The werebear stands, holding up a hand for silence, a command that takes some time to be obeyed, for the arena is packed full. "Let the battle begin," the king roars, his battle-trained voice echoing easily through the large arena. The small gates slide open to allow the fighters to emerge to meet their destiny.
Kang ::The roar of the masses reverberate throughout the arena, sending pebbles cascading down the vibrating walls. The first gladiator doesn't immediately show. Little by little, the excitement is replaced by confusion. Had something happened? Is the man a coward? Time passes and the noise tapers off. It is only after a moment of complete silence that the gladiator finally enters the main section of the arena. Rusty reddish brown skin is on reckless display, barely covered by the torn clothing that hangs precariously from his wiry frame. Unintelligible tattoos run rampant across his flesh like thick acid green veining pulsing with every beat of his heart. Large hands grasp a long samir pole with minimal decoration, though there are holes and markings at either end that have nothing to do with aesthetics.
Alareik :: The Human gladiator stalked into the arena. The roar of the crowd as he made his entrance brought a slight smirk to his, helmet hidden, face. Warn leather boots dug into the sand and gravel under his feet ohh what a glorious day to die! In the gladiators right hand was a trident. In his left a rather plain looking net. Now the trident was of the usual design three prongs that where made to pierce and do more damage upon exit then entry. The net , however plain it looked, was his true weapon the wonderfully crafted net was much more then met the eye. The net had a wonderful ten foot radius, but inside the net, where most eyes wouldn’t bother to look, Where many serrated metal links made to rip and ensnare an opponent. Now the gladiators warn leather armor doesn’t seem to be able to sustain a low...But it was the best he could patch together... Better then nothing right? With a grin towards the opponent he gave a mocking bow. Then turned to the audience and gave another. Before his final and last bow was for the lord of the arena.
Kang ::The troll's obsidian eyes scan the crowd until he sees a familiar cloak. It appears to be a faded red next to the vibrant green shirt worn by the man on the left. A hand lifts from underneath the cloak and flings a bright metal object at the troll. His eyes follow the trajectory of the item and he swings his pole at it like he's going to bat it at the pitiful human across from him. His swing ends with the pole pointed straight at the human, and the metal piece firmly attached to the end. The weapon is no longer a mere pole, but a halberd. He marches forward, quickly but not rushing. Upon reaching what he judges to be an optimal distance he swings the bladed head sideways from left to right, hoping to triger a response from the net-hand. He follows the movement, regardless of outcome, with a backswing to the man's legs. The tawny troll is confident in his superior reach, and the agility he'd trained so hard to perfect.
Alareik :: The gladiator burst into furious movement even before the metal was flying through the air. When the troll stopped for a slash from left to the right the gladiator gave a small smirk under his helmet. Throwing himself to the ground and towards the troll he'd let the blade pass over his back. Rolling back to his feet a moment later he would get to see the reverse swing coming low for his legs. Well at the very least the troll was quick and amusing. With practiced ease the gladiator took a few steps forward. This combined with his jump and roll would surely bring him out of range of the halberd's blade. With that done the gladiator swung his trident around and planted the weapon into the ground on his right side to block the trolls return attack Of course the human was hoping for a pole on pole attack fearing that the troll's blade might have the force needed to snap through his one trident's pole. If the troll wished for a net attack well it was coming! Keeping a steady hand on the trident his left hand lashed out hard and fast. The net soaring snapping to attention as it was sent like a whip towards the trolls arm's and hands. The important thing to note is that the gladiator never let the net go merely used it as a weapon at the moment. Even as the net snapped forward for the trolls arms the gladiator meant for this to be a two part attack. With a hard stomp and digging motion the human sent a mighty kick towards the troll... Of course the troll would be out of range of the physical damage... but that wasn't the point of the attack. No! The true meaning of the attack came from the gravel and sand that soared through the air the majority of it aimed for the troll's face and eyes.
Kang :: The cloud of sand, despite clearing quickly, helped the troll by blurring the visual of his actions. Grains find a damaging hold in his eyes, effectively neutralizing one sense. A quick upflick of his wrist, with a simulataneous backstep, takes him out of range of both of the man's weapons. Even blinded, the troll feels his blade hook in the net and he jerks upward, dragging it skyward, and if the man deosn't release, him as well. Reddish feet circle around where the troll knows his opponent to be. Those in the crowd with musical background will realize that his footwork is not sloppy in the least. The troll is dancing. He'd fought blinded many times before as part of his monk training. Finely tunes sense make up for one lost. He can smell the first beads of sweat forming on the warrior. The man's footseps are deafening compared to his own light ballerina soft movements. He lunges forward suddenly, releasing one hand from his weapon. Somehow he's located his target, and jabs a widowmaker punch with his offhand, directly at where he knows the man's ribcage to be. Ears open, he readies himself to counter any detected movement.
Alareik :: The gladiator gave a small smirk seeing the eyes become useless for a while. As his net tangled in the troll's weapon he found himself being being pulled upwards with staggering speed. Thankfully the gladiator never released his hold on the trident. As soon as the troll lifted him clear of the ground the trident would come stabbing in fast and hard towards the troll's shoulders and neck. " Hey ugly i'm on your weapon!" Now why in the world would the warrior say anything like that? Simple it was easy to notice that the troll seemed just as capable without sight as he was with. So to hide the sound of stabs the gladiator raised his voice to a shout. Seeing as he was basically a pinata at the end of the net/ halberd combo, and the fact he refused to release his favored weapon he found himself being swung about like a pendulum. Seeing his chance to strike a devastating blow the gladiator just hung on for the ride at least for the moment. With each new step his weight swung wildly about. Turning the gladiator waited until the man apparently found his weight at the end of the halberd. Truly the troll was a beast! With quick thinking the warrior used the momentum of being swung about like a pinata and combined that with his own momentum of tucking his legs up to his chest. Finally releasing his net to its fate with the halberd. He launched a double booted drop kick. Of course in his tunnel vision for his attack he failed to notice the haymaker punch coming in and slamming into the side of his chest. A mental curse and a muffled groan of pain thank the gods it was a bludgeoning type attack his armor should keep the bones from being snapped and broken like twigs under the brute strength of the troll. Regardless if his attack connected or not he'd hit the ground rather hard thankful that the sand had a cushioning element to it. Quickly he'd attempt to return to his feet.
Kang ::The monk barely reacts to the taunts being thrown at him. He doesn't even smile in satisfaction when he feels his fist connect. His purely physical attack deflected the kicks enough that it scrapes past his arm. The resultant sting wouldn't hinder him any, not even to distract him. Training will win out. A roar of excitement reverberates through the crowd, dampening the sound of the impact of warrior and ground. However, the flicking of overlarge ears indicates that the troll had heard the poof any way, and way to near. A dextrous wrist spins his halberd head down at the prone combatant. A man willing to live for the net must be prepared to die by it. The average man would be confident that this blow would end the battle, but being average is not something this troll was raised to be. He rakes the man with the pointy end, or the ground if the man had somehow miraculously escaped, and continues the cycle in order to slam the butt end down hard enough to vault himself forward and high over his opponent. If the butt hits the man, the troll's weight along with the force may have crushed something vital, but that isn't of concern to troll monk. The point was to distance himself enough to realign his bearings for another fierce collison of weaponry.
Alareik :: The gladiator gave a strangled hiss of anger as the troll shook off his attack so easily. Seeing the halberd coming down once more the gladiator abandoned his attempts to try and rise to his feet quickly the gladiator grasped his trident with his waning strength and lunged out for the troll. At the last moment the gladiator forced his left leg up and kicked off with it. Twisting him hard to the right before the halberd head pierced him through the middle. Though the gladiator didn't escape unharmed the brutal blade sliced along his left side slicing him open like a hot knife through cold butter. Of course seeing as how his trident was now aiming for the crotch of the troll the gladiator would continue on with his roll rather the hit landed or not. When the troll vaulted away well that was just showing off. Slowly dragging himself to his feet his eyes cast around finding the net that the troll had seemingly thrown free of his weapon during his weapon spin. With only a moments thought the warrior dove once more grasping the net in his hand before rolling to his feet. A trail of blood leaking onto the sand around him showing his habit of playing in the dirt. With the last of his strength the gladiator launched the heavy net towards the troll. Waiting only a moment after the initial net toss the gladiator shifted the grip on his trident holding it much like a javelin. With two hard steps forward the human would hurl the trident after the net. Surely the troll wouldn't be able to dodge both attacks. The warrior was tired... If this didn't work he had no idea what he'd do. With his weapon launched he placed his arm on the wound trying to stop the excess of blood from spilling out along his side.
Kang :: The troll turns to face the gladiator and postions his polearm in from of him, ready for anything he can think of. The sound of the net alerts him soon enough to slam his weapon forward to once again catch the device on the sharp head. The ends of the net knock into his callused knuckles, leaving vicious tears that ooze blood. So focused was he on the one weapon that he neglected to check for audible signifiers of the trident. It sinks into his right shoulder and sticks. He blinks in vague surrise, which clears the sands from his eyes enough to stare at the now disarmed man. It's not good practice to release your own weapons when you have nothing to replace them with. His large hand lifts to yank out the tri-forked weapon and drops it to the ground along with his own. Slowly, he stalks toward the gladiator. . .
Alareik :: The gladiator watched in morbid interest as his trident sunk into the arm of the troll. When the troll disarmed and tossed the trident to the the side he merely nodded as if to himself. It was time to end it then. With the thought in mind he took off forcing his body to use the last of its strength to follow through with his plan. Sand flew from his boots as he took off in a full fledged ragged sprint. At the last moment he switched his momentum letting his legs lead him into the troll's knees. Quickly he rolled out the way as the troll fell forward. Once more the Warrior rolled back over quickly climbing over to the trolls back. Bringing his right hand high into the sky he seemed to be egging on the audience as they screamed for blood to be spilt on the sand of the arena. Once the crowd's roar has risen to stadium shaking level the warrior grasped the troll's over sized right ear. A moment later he rammed his fist into the cavity forcing the flesh and bone to give way under a relentless pounding. Finally a gauntleted hand broke through... A moment later the gladiator lifted his hand from the troll's head... A mass of squished brains that he raised for the audiences pleasure.
Eboric rises with the crowd as the fight comes to an end, and as the troll at last drops, motionless, to the sand, the king allows a smile to cross his face, and even gives the victor the honor of applause. "Well done," he calls to the man, once the roar of the crowd subsides. "A well-fought battle indeed! Go now and heal, gladiator; when next you fight, the troll's tough hide, or what is left of it, will guard your body from harm!" Attendants emerge from below the arena to lead the victor away, and collect the troll's lifeless body.
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