Duel:Daath v Hildegarde, Match 4 of the 2014 Frostmaw Tournament

From HollowWiki
Duelists: Daath vs. Hildegarde
Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 15 minute posting limit. 
Stakes: Autohit post. Advancement in the Titans of Winter Tournament 2014. 
Judges:  Zondo,  Vehara (mid), & Satoshi (back-up)



The lake-bound, floating fish market's perimeter is packed to capacity--and then some--with an audience eager for this afternoon's duel. Boats have been cleared out of their owners and wares, with Frostmaw footing the bill for wages lost and damage wrought, giving both combatants a clear field of battle. However, on a field that comprises of little boats all nestled together upon the water, it is far from a reliable place for footing, and the deep waters are all too available to swallow those that fumble. Such is the challenge presented to Daath of House D'jiv'undus, the sly and capable drowish Necromancer, and his opponent, Hildegarde the Silver, the honorable and fearsome dragon knight. Who will triumph on this unusual stage? Who will claim Chartsend's Eel-Skin Bandoleer prize and move forward in Frostmaw's Titans of Winter tournament? Only one way to find out! Fight on!


Hildegarde had already spent some time here today before the fishermen were cleared out, allowing herself to relax and enjoy a spot of fishing before the fight could get underway. As the time drew closer and closer, however, the knight had rowed the boat towards the market and departed so she might don her armour and collect her weapons. Shrugging her admiral’s coat off, she left it in the care of a trustworthy fisherman. “Thank you,” she offered, along with a few coins to ensure the safety of the treasured coat. After a few stretches to limber up, she stood and merely glanced around: breathing in the air with a contented sigh. She loved fishing. Win or lose, at least she could get a good meal here after the fight.


Daath makes his way into the area, his robes trailing behind him as the drow necromancer readies himself for the battle to come. Spells are charged, his staff is already brought to bare as the xalious-wood implement of arcane magic is held within his adept grasp with a familiar confidence. A stone rests atop its crown, a small aura glowing about it giving off a dark purple hue. With his mask covering his eyes, the magus raises his hood so that his ebon skin is shielded from the sun's dominating presence. Eyes the shade of a deep scarlet peer out, locking upon the defender of Frostmaw with an uninterest. She was but an obstacle, something in his way to proving his mastery of his chosen craft. Her defeat today, would be but a small stepping stone towards his true goal. And because of that, he would show no mercy, and hold nothing back. That would be the only respect he would give this dragon, who as of now, has become his foe.


Hildegarde , upon spotting what she assumed to be the necromancer, offered a smile in his direction. “Lord Daath, I presume?” she asked politely. “A pleasure to meet you, even under such circumstances!” she chortled, offering a respectful dip of her head. She gave a shake of her shoulders and quick crack of the neck to further ready herself for combat.


Duel Start

Hildegarde had spent the day unwinding by fishing and then stretching out her limbs through light exercise, to say she was ‘ready’ was perhaps an understatement. Indeed, as soon as she’s cracked her neck a little bit, she’s sprinting off in the direction of Daath. Might as well get this fight over and done with, no need to dilly-dally! Of course, she has fought many mages before and she has seen necromancers in action: she knows a few things that she might encounter during this fight. So rather than sprint head on towards the necromancer and make herself an extremely easy target, she diverts onto the boats and hops from boat to boat: she loved to fish in her spare time, that meant spending plenty of time in rickety little boats and learning to balance oneself in them; a skill she had fondly accrued. Leaping from boat to boat in a zig-zag pattern was purely tactical as it would certainly make her a far more difficult target to hit with a targeted shot or spell. Once near enough to Daath, she would kick off the final boat with enough force and a battle-cry that is sure to send fear into some hearts; her halberd swings down in vicious downward arc, as if she’d split him in two from his skull to his toes – whether or not she manages to hit him, she rolls to the side and swings the halberd again in a defensive arc to gain room from any immediate attack whilst dispelling a sharp blast of concentrated frost in his direction. The dragon had no time for games.


Daath , House Mage of the Third Seated house of D'Jiv'Undus within the Dark Elf city known as Trist'oth, looks at the woman, nay the dragon, known as Hildegarde the Silver through the enchanted mask he wears. As soon as the warrior of the frozen tundra moves forth with her opening attack the magus unleashes his counter. Verses of occult magic, spoken in ancient tongues lost within the centuries pour forth from his lips in rapid succession. Articulate gesticulations are made with his hands as the magical catalyst, his xalious-wood staff is brought forth. Hildegarde's agile assault is watched, before his first move is made. A globe of darkness is dropped over the immediate area as she nears, causing the necromancer to become cloaked in such overwhelming darkness that even his own infrared sight is unable to penetrate it. Instead of meeting a warrior head on, and as soon as the globe is dropped, the drow is saved it seems by his second natural ability. Levitation. Its not terribly fast, and Hilde's halberd would collide with the arcane shield that surrounds the magi with enough force to knock his floating frame back a bit. And good thing too, as the previous incantation that was prepared is now unleashed as Daath rises from the darkness. The waters that dominate the area begins to bubble, hiss and moan as an unnatural heat brings it to a sizzling boil, before, after channeling the power previously charged within his staff, Daath releases a blast of arcane force the slams into the boiling waters below and causes an eruption of super heated water skyward with the force of an explosion. The force, the heated waters, the various boats and even the rocks that lay within the bed of the waters here all become enveloped in a eruption of force and heat that is aimed to devastate Hildegarde, and lay waste to the woman where she stands.


Hildegarde is unsurprised by the tactic of levitation, it seemed most mages would resort to anything to get out of her reach: be it teleportation or now levitation. Although, with the bump of her halberd against his magic shield, she has an idea of his location; of where exactly he has floated to. Of course, the mage has already unleashed is attack in the time Hildegarde has spent considering her options: the knight barely has the time to draw in her breath and expel a far more concentrated blast of frost at the oncoming wave of searing water. Her body is swept away by the water, rocked against the boat and pulled into the depths by the sheer weight of her set of armour. Were the knight entirely mortal or even as remotely human as she looked, she may well have drowned to death there and then. But it is not the knight who rises from the water; it is not the knight who knocks numerous boats aside as powerful wings drag her out of the water and carry the massive Silver dragon skyward towards Daath. She yearns to roar with anger and indignation but she does not, as her talons are viciously swiping at his location to rend him to pieces; to let his ebon flesh tatter and fall into the water but the knight knows the trickery of mages and is not one to end her attack with just a swipe of talons, as she spouts paralytic gas in his direction. If she cannot tear him out of the sky, she’ll make him drop.


Daath is not one to sit there and think any foe is defeated by a single attack, and was reciting the proper incantations the moment he unleashed his last attack. Once more is the xalious-wood brought forth, as tremendous amounts of magic is channeled through the divine implement of the god of magic, empowered by some of the most noteable mages in the realm. And here it is. The dragon, what he was prepared for. As the silver rises, Daath cancels out his own levitating ability. The sudden drop is what acts as saving grace from the would be rendering of talons, and the muscle-stopping powers of her breath weapon. Oh yes, Daath has studied many a creature, and dragons of all kinds are among them. Daath avoids the dragons onslaught by plummeting down once more into the darkness below, as words of occult magic pour forth from ebon lips once more with practiced ease. Instead of a sickening impact of lean framed drow against the solid ground below, The dark elfs form becomes ethereal, and thus he sinks down into the earth, shielded from the massive dragon that lurks above. With the darkness laying atop him, Hildegarde would not be able to pinpoint his location, and that was good, as the magus had only a short time period he could maintain this form and not be crushed by the earth once it reached its limit. Once more does Daath delve into his knowledge of the arcane, using the powerful staff gifted to him by the mages guild to weave forces of arcane magic in a way most have yet to be able to grasp. From below the earth, and concealed by utter darkness does the dark elf unleash his next attack. The very earth itself is transmuted, twisted and reshaped by his dominating will. Then, in the last moments of his spell, is the solid earth below the dragon formed into three spear headed projectiles. These weapons of rock and coral or sent flying forth with tremendous speed and power towards Hildegarde, to puncture event hard scale or at least pummel the dragon with such force as to buy the drow more time. Using the last moments of his spell to remain concealed, waiting until the last moment to reveal himself, Daath prepares his next move carefully. The result of this last attack will decide how best to move forward in this encounter with the Silver Dragon known as Hildegarde.


Hildegarde is a Silver dragon. Surely, if someone is so well-versed and well-educated in the species of dragon and many subspecies, they shall know that silver dragons are perhaps the finest at flight; the quickest, the most agile in the air. They are known for ambush tactics and speed, their very shape was made for pure aerodynamic glory. The dragon does roar this time, for she is indeed angry with the drow and his tactics. As soon as her talons fail to make contact, she changes tact and decides to plummet back to the earth. With no visible hint of her target, she can only assume he is hiding in the depths through some sort of magic – perhaps he can breathe under the water thanks to the arcane? Nonetheless, she resolves that this is where her foe is lurking and so she climbs higher into the air whilst drawing in the deepest breath of the battle for her lungs are so much bigger, so much stronger in this final form: as she points her maw at the expanse of water and lets loose with frost so concentrated is close upon ice, freezing the water as best she can in an effort to deal with the drow. As the blast of projectiles zooms toward her, she turns her body and tucks her wings in: her back could bear the brunt of the attack, she would never risk the soft flesh of her underbelly nor the leather of her wings.


Daath has been storing magic with each spell cast within the dark crystal that rests within the crown of his Xalious staff, empowering the staffs abilities even more so, buffering for what would be his last attack. It seems this dragon just -knows- where he is, even with darkness and him being hidden within the earth below the shallow ends of this fishing community. Quaint. But, non-the-less, as the dragon dives down and evades being punctured by the earthen spikes that were sent forth, and even when she unleashes her second frost weapon of ice, freezing the waters below, Daath has one final trick up his sleeve. The dark elf uses the very final seconds of his ethereal form to unleash a devastating assault of arcane magic that comes in the form of pure sonic vibrations. The expulsion of sound waves erupts from the dark crystal atop the xalious-wood staff with such force that it shatters the ice that now coats the top layer of the ever moving waters, sending shards of razor edged ice flying forth in a second barrage that only adds to the lethality of Daath's own actual attack. These soundwaves are capable of vibrating the molecular structure of any living thing, rupturing eyes, exploding eardrums and causing such a devastating effect of force that it could even scramble the brain of the majestic and magnificent beast as she flies above. Silver dragons may be fast, agile and the best fliers. But, the speed of sound moves at speeds mortals of incapable of. And due to his extensive studies, sound happens to be a severe weakness of Silvers. But even still, Daath now activates the enchantment upon his ring that teleports him safely from the depths of the waters and places him upon a dock near of of the merchant stands some several yards away from the epicenter of the destruction. Villagers cower, and cover their ears in pain, some even begin to bleed and fall over from the incredible suffering they too endure due to the effects of such a powerful attack. Daath is saved due to the enchantments upon his mask, protecting him from the sonic vibrations and overwhelming overload of sound and force. The magus watches on, waiting to see how the dragon evades such from a safe distance, preparing himself for a possible counter attack.


Hildegarde had only guessed that Daath would be lurking in the water, given that she couldn’t see him anywhere else, spending enough time in a war room and talking strategy with generals and warriors had put her into a very strategic state of mind the past few months. With the burst of his attack, she feels certain that he is indeed hiding in the water. Her body twists in the air and she tucks her wings and legs tight against her scaly form and heads straight for the water, perhaps she’ll attempt to envelope him in her jaws or maybe the water is where she feels safest. His sonic attack, however, is so loud that she can hear the faint ring of it heading towards her and chooses now to roar as loudly as she possibly can in an effort to displace the ear-shattering sound form her immediate vicinity; to lessen what it would do to her before she can dive into the comforting embrace of the icy water.




Winner: Hildegarde




Hildegarde surfaced in the water with a loud gasp, returned to her humanoid form and looking like a drowned rat as she paddled towards the fishmarket and hauled herself up onto the wooden slats that composed it. She coughed once or twice before rising completely to her feet, able to see the drow who wasn’t terribly far away from her; blood oozed from her ears and her face was somewhat reddened with effort and fatigue. A part of her wants to pummel him to oblivion, that angry and proud part of her wants to beat him savagely. Instead, she walks towards him in a hurried manner, as if on her way to deal with important business and swings her fist towards his gut, other hand gripping the shoulder of his robe as she made contact. Assuming the powerful hit winded him, she would then let go of him and wipe at her chin; wiping away the water that dribbled down her chin. “Goodbye,” she says with utter finality, wandering off to find food, comfort and her coat.