Duel:Aya v Mathollak, Match 2 of the 2023 Titans of Winter Tournament
Duelists: Aya vs Mathollak Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 20 minute posting limit. Stakes: Standard, autohit delivered by winner with allowance for final reply. Judges: Magikrios, Quintessa, and Valrae.
East Arena
Unlike the others, the ground of the eastern arena is not paved of dirt or marble, but roughly cut, white bricks of ancient clay. Built into the pattern of the pieces is a primeval design of magical epistle, neatly segregating the area into proportionate divisions. Each region bears the glyph of the elemental sphere controlling its nature: earth, air, water, fire and spirit. The very central portion bears no sigil at all, though, as the hard ground has been burned over and blackened.
Valrae || Kafzhash had moved low in the eastern sky, burning bright over the sea in the cloud spotted cerulean sky. Though it was winter in Cenril, the season was unusually warm and the wind that feathered off of the ocean carried only a dull, briney chill and the promise of coming rain. Arril street was packed, street vendors pandering to the ever growing crowd with chilled drinks and hot food as well as Titans of Winter themed keepsakes and trinkets. The arena was brimming with bodies excited for the event to come, the towering stands full of heat and sweat and excitement. Drum heavy music and the overwhelming noise of many people boomed in the East Arena as it filled with spectators making bets and enjoying foamy ale. There were several avid followers of tournament darling Mathollak, easily spotted by the bodies painted in shades of bold and bloody reds for Delisha’s infamous Axe of Love. There was also a notably larger feline presence, even considering they represented a healthy portion of Cenril’s population. Valrae observed the boiling crowd from the Mayoral box high above the stands. Her hair was an untamed mass of golden curls hanging freely to her hips. She’d chosen a deeply gray and nearly black gossamer gown threaded with striking white illusions that moved in webbing patterns from the bodice down to the short train. The mix of silk and magic created the illusion that she might have called down a charged thunder storm to wear for the afternoon. As she waited for the duel to begin, she stood near the railing with a neglected flute of bubbling champagne with her eyes dull as she pretended to listen to one of her advisors as they spoke at length about the budgeting for the upcoming project on Selen’s Island.
Mathollak is first heralded by the same song that summoned him at the commencement ceremony, and he’s wearing a similar outfit. But it seems to have been ravaged by some beast. A beast who has nothing but disdain for the restrictions afforded by such things as buttons and sleeves and pant legs that descend past the knee. His hair’s still tied up though, but that’s different. His vision could get restricted otherwise. He appears unarmed, but for a coiled up chain cinched at his waist. As he enters from the shaded hall that concealed him moments ago, he’s met with cheers from all sides of the arena, as if small groups of them scattered themselves strategically throughout the premises to create the illusion that there were actually more of them. He waves to everyone as he jogs to front and center, and then signals someone from the crowd. This giant rises to his feet wielding Mathollak’s famous(ly useless) axe the Piecemaker, and hurls it like a frisbee down toward him. But what’s this? Somehow, though it seems to be dead on target, it starts elevating! It rises until it’s just out of his reach. Catastrophe is imminent, there’s nothing between this spinning blade of carnage and the bleachers on the other side! No one can stop it…No one that is, except for Mathollak. A mere jiffy before he has to fight the whole city for his crimes, the axe is halted. There stands Mathollak, grinning like a demon, stretched to his limit with his arm outstretched. At the end of it is that coiled chain, snapped taut and tangled around the shaft of his axe. He flicks it back and a wave summons the axe back toward his feet. Either he’s been practicing with his chain attacks, or this was all for the benefit of the audience and rehearsed many a time. Who can say? Needless to say, he has his axe now, and though his only protection might be the hide of a hunted beast, he’s got his axe, his chain, and maybe a little cleaver hidden on some part of his outfit, if his previous fights are any indication. Oh and all of Delisha’s love.
Zahrani || Like a river winding its way through a dusty plain, an armored warrior serpent glides into the arena. She wears amber and steel plating that fits her like a glove, accentuating a well-conditioned physique underneath. Beneath the plating is a thermal silk padding to keep the Naga warm in the wintry air. Cheers erupt from the feline supporters (for some reason), and Aya smiles beneath her helm. As Mathollak gathers his axe, the woman circles around him once, a deep hissing exhale coming from her lips while her coils form a spiral beneath her. She eyes the man up and down with cyan eyes that contrast sharply with her dark skin and loc’d hair, before a raspy tenor voice says, just loudly enough for Math to hear, “Now that’s a look. How about drinks after this fight? The loser can buy...” As she asks, she produces her first weapon; a rope dart with a heavy head. Aya twirls the dart in a few circles, the muscles in her arms and tail undulating with the rhythm. With practiced skill, she moves the rope so that it makes several u-bends around her entire body, only stopping when it wraps around her like a spider web. Then with one smooth, full-body motion, the dart is loosed, each loop of rope acting as a spring to drive it towards Mathollak’s center of mass. A snapping sound is the only warning as it bee-lines for the bloodknight of Delisha, a grin on the Naga/Feline’s face forming. She’s eager to see what he’ll do next.
Valrae || The music halted with the wave of Valrae’s hand, the crowd simmering to a hush as she took a step forward took a little longer than it might have because of the early strike on the field. “Welcome,” The witch’s voice called and a tinge of confusion carried in her tone, booming with its magical enchantment, “to the second match of the Titans of Winter!” Normally, she might have waited until the stomping cheers died to speak again but it seemed these contestants were ready to shed blood. “Tonight, we have the privilege of witnessing what promises to be an entertaining battle between Aya and Mathollak!” Her dark eyes focus on the contestants, “Tonight, you are safer within the blackened inner circle of the ring.” As the mayor speaks, the arcane magic that had been embedded within the outer glyphs activates. Within each glyph, creatures were summoned with the corresponding element. Large salamanders hissing fire inside one corner, undines crashing like waves against the boundaries of their confinement, stone golems stomping with hardly contained violence in another, airy sylphs twirling wickedly in anticipation in the next. These were no illusions, these summoned creatures were a small embodiment of elemental power that would attack any unlucky opponent that dared step over their lines. “Remember, if you step inside of the guardian’s circles you will find yourself fighting against more than one opponent.” She waited only a heartbeat to drop her hand again, stating finally, “Begin.”
Round One:
Mathollak tracks Aya casually, trusting that they’ll end up where they should as they carve a circle around him. Yet even before they can answer the offer for drinks, they’ve launched a ‘warning shot’ at him, as if to test his reflexes, or maybe to see if he’d flinch. He does of course, that was damn close to him when they reel it back. He yanks his axe head up to his chest to deflect it, and then with hardly a break in the movement, he raises it up above his head, as if he was always going to do that. A small chorus of cheers erupts, mainly from those wearing his colors. And then he’s given the go-ahead. Taking heed of Valrae’s warnings, seeing the monsters barely contained in their cells, he comes up with a plan to feed them. He starts spinning his axe over his head, and already the contract carved invisibly into his skin starts to glow in a vibrant chartreuse. With no further warning, he moves into a dash toward Aya and lashes his chain out toward the lower part of their body, too low to duck under he hopes, he wanted her to jump. There was no guile in this probing strike, just force. If however they jumped, they’d have a much harder time dodging his next play, and thus fall into his trap. The brunt of it was coming from the hammer-butted side of the Piecemaker. He brought the momentum from its spinning to a halt, channeling it into his own body instead. After a bestial pirouette, he intends to bring it into her chest with enough force, that she’ll be knocked into the circle of the rock golems behind her. They might not hit as hard as him, but it was probably close.
Zahrani ||Aya glances at the airy sylphs behind Mathollak, before turning her eyes back upon...a chain making its way towards her coiled lower half. In Naga form, her center of gravity is lower. Jumping anywhere would be...problematic. The armored serpent braces as the chain impacts the armored sleeve around her tail. The woman bares her teeth at the stinging pain of the impact that manages to transfer through the plating. Should the chain wrap around her momentarily, she uses the momentum to help slide her snake tail beneath her opponent. She leans back like a limbo dancer, a look of admiration at Math’s pirouette on her face before leaning away and downward. Instead of impacting her chest, Piecemaker’s hammer hits the bottom edge of her helm, knocking it clean off. With a clang, the helm bounces harmlessly off a stone golem. In response the two stone elementals lumber towards the arena fighters. A look of shock on the woman’s face is replaced by a wry grin, and her Naga tail reaches up between the Delishan’s legs, aiming to wrap around his chest and bring him to the ground as well. Most Naga prefer polearms and keeping their foes at a distance; Math’s opponent was clearly not ‘most Naga.’ As her tail attempts to constrict around the man’s chest, one arm seeks to wrap around his right leg while the other arm reaches for a morningstar mace at her belt. It would be useful in fending off golems and hitting extremities.
Round Two:
Mathollak finds some mitigated sense of success in knocking off her helmet, it means he was that close to winning. Of course he was now finding himself trapped in her coils. In what might seem a desperate bid for survival, he lashes out his chain once more, casting it in a wide arc–but not at Aya. As he’s brought to the ground and slowly buried under the suffocating bulk of her coils, the chain wraps around the arm of the approaching rock golem. The links crank as they pull taut, threatening to snap altogether as the creature resists having its freedom locked for a second time. But Mathollak’s borrowed power transfers from his contract to his implement, and the chain darkens and grows in bulk. It holds, even when the rock golem yanks and yanks a second time. The first pull shows Mathollak loosened from Aya’s coils, and the second one pulls him ‘free’. All but one of his shoes is liberated from the snake person. But he isn’t out of the woods. The golem doesn’t merely free him, the force at which he’s pulled free has him airborn and flying like a tetherball around the golem. Falling with style is something he has too much experience with, and as he comes around, he plants his feet against the rock golem’s twin, altering his trajectory in such away that now he’s careening back toward Aya. A blistering red missile flies toward the bulk of Aya feet first, intending to pass -through- her a fair distance. It isn’t enough. When he lands (if even remotely according to plan), he’ll heave on his chain, using his divinely endowed strength to heave the monster’s arm clean off and flying toward Aya. And himself of course…
Zahrani || Aya grunts as Mathollak slips from her grasp, coming to a standing(?) position with the morningstar mace in one hand, and the man’s boot in the other. She looks behind her, spotting the air elementals. She raises a brow at the man’s theatrics as he swings from one golem to the other, then back towards her, this time with a golem’s arm in tow. She sways from side to side for moment, backing away before taking the boot and tossing it over the glyph that holds the sylphs at bay, releasing the creatures of wind and air. With the giant stone arm bearing down on her, the Naga lowers herself to the ground as much as she can, giving the sylph’s a clear view of the bloodknight and his stone vehicle. The aetherial beings howl, unleashing a blast of wind that sends the golem’s stone arm back towards its new wielder with significant force, at least enough to keep him distracted. The serpent warrior then rises up once more, using her coils as a spring and letting the whirlwind carry her to her opponent. She swings the mace in a horizontal strike, intent on hitting him in the solar plexus as soon as she meets him in air. An aerial battle was not something she planned for, but it certainly gets her blood pumping.
Round Three:
Mathollak sees the sylphs intervening in his aerial acrobatics in time to defend against it, at least somewhat. The Piecemaker was adept at breaking bodies, yes, but its namesake truly comes from its ability to break structural components. Especially ones like wood. And stone. As the stony fist is carried back toward him, he’s able to interpose his weapon of choice between himself and it. For a brief moment, the cracks that emerge from the fist glow with magic, and then burst into dust and debris. The rocks that spread from the enormous fist fly and puncture into the last two remaining ‘cages’ that bind the other elementals, and they stir with renewed vigor. The flying snake is something he’s altogether unprepared for, and as he knows, an airborne opponent is not going to be adept at dodging anything. He opts to take the hit. However, he leads with his shoulder, grimacing as the heavy metal head crushes into his upper arm. He crashes to the ground, and by the time he has, a troop of giant lava belching salamanders are waddling toward them. Wary of the rock golems and the sylphs whirlwind, but waiting to snatch up anything that might fall close enough. Mathollak is tossed behind them, and even with one arm, he’s strong enough to pick one up. With olympian strength, he grabs one by the tail and hurls it into the whirlwind, belching lava the entire time. The molten liquid rock starts raining down over the arena, and Mathollak raises his last good arm, commanding an ethereal shield of Delisha’s divine power above him. An enchanted umbrella of hardened and condensed red light shields him from the hellish rain as he scurries away from the angry salamanders.
Zahrani || Aya is carried by the whirlwind for a moment, bits of rock pinging off her armor as she scans for her opponent’s location. Her strike had hit, and her cyan eyes land upon his human form. Upon seeing the knight hulk an entire fire salamander into the same whirlwind that carries the Naga aloft, she cannot help but admire the man’s prowess. Soon torrents of lava and water would be carried towards her; there’s only one shelter left in the entire arena. Twirling with surprising grace for a snake being buffeted around by air elementals, she winds up once more and launches the rope dart. The head embeds itself in the arena floor, and Aya pulls herself down to Math’s level. She rolls to the floor with an “oof” sound, only to find a chunk of lava has stuck to the back of her cuirass. She swiftly removes the piece of armor, letting it fall to the floor and leaving her in a sleeveless shirt, before she moves to glide beneath the man’s divine umbrella. This proves to be a bit of an impasse, for if she attacks, it distracts him from shielding them from the elements, and if he attacks, he risks the same. She coils harmlessly (for now) around the man, glancing at the elemental storm the two of them conjured. It’s almost picturesque, even with the two of them as opponents. The crowd goes wild.
Final Defense:
Mathollak faces the same predicament as Aya of course; if he were to release his umbrella in favor of attack -or- defense, he would fall victim to the poor salamander’s barfing lava torrent. But there are more dangers present than even that, and as they waltz, Mathollak can see behind the ‘naga’. The salamanders are almost finished devouring her cuirass. Mathollak and Aya spin again, and the chaos of the elementals is coming toward a catastrophe of destruction. Or is it? The undines bring waves of cold fresh water with them as they join in the symphony of disarray. The rock golems smash toward the ground, seeing enemies on all sides while the salamanders belch glowing hot bursts of lava. The cool water slides over it, hardening the lava-melted earth while the sylphs whip it all into frozen, blackened waves of obsidian, jagged and razor sharp. Seeing this wonder of creation taking place, Mathollak sees his out. He leans in close, close enough to plant a kiss on the lips of his enemy, and tries it. A kiss goodbye, he hopes, and abruptly he leaps out of the circle she’s created with her tail, and vaults to the crest of the obsidian wave landing on top and balancing on one shoe. For a moment he’s almost stumbling, but he ends up planted, the one barefoot planted against the side of his leg like he was a flamingo. From there, he isn’t sure, but he’s hoping it would be worse to follow him on those scale shredding black waves than to remain in the madness below.
Winner: Mathollak
Auto Hit:
Mathollak stands atop his perch for mere moments before the chaos reaches him in the form of a tidal wave. It comes rushing through the tube he stands under, and spouting out toward Aya. Hardly anything to worry about at first, until the undines at the mouth of it pour into it like a tidal wave. Mathollak turns to wink at them and then allows himself to fall into it. His body is channeled through the tube like a corkscrew, and when he emerges out of it, Aya is already being caught up. His body his propelled into her and he wraps his one good arm around her. By now, the rapids are so fast its impossible to stop, and nearly impossible to control one’s body. When they finally do stop, its with a crash, and though Aya may have had the upper hand with her coils twisting around his body, she lands first, into the heel of a stone golem, and Mathollak into her. When he rises and she doesn’t, he’s named victor, and the golem halts its retaliation.
Aya barely has time to react when Mathollak wraps his arm around her and takes her for a ride. Instinct takes over and she wraps her arms around him, her tail coiling around one of his legs. Her heart pounds in her chest, hot breath contrasting with the cool winter air. In an instant, the wind is knocked out of her upon impacting one of the golems. Eyes widen at the rocky fist bearing down on her and the man pressed against her; she turns her head to the side and closes her eyes, only to find the golem freeze upon declaration of Mathollak as the winner. As he rises, every muscle in her body relaxes. First an exhale, then a hearty laugh as she feels the effects of the adrenaline high. She looks up at the blood knight and says, "I'll hold on tighter next time…and I guess drinks are on me." The Naga takes some time to regain stamina, before a pair of felines help her up and take her out of the arena.
- Back to Titans of Winter Tournament 2023