Duel:Darmani v Pilar, Round One Agitation Monster Tournament

Part of the Agitation Arc

Duelists: Darmani, a mutated badger kit (played by Josleen) vs. Pilar
Duel: Traditional 3 attacks and defenses each. 15 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Null. Pilar tamed Darmani and kept him as her freaky mutated pet!
Judges: None

High View

Pilar had searched high and low for her little badger kit. Darmani had escaped from her in Frostmaw, and she'd lost him during her pursuit down the mountains. Now, she was just wandering Xalious, calling his name and asking the locals if they'd seen him. Eventually, she found her way to the top of the watch tower. Perhaps from this vantage point, she'd be able to see him? She walked to the edge and looked down at the village. She could see the crater in the village square, the damage done to some of the buildings. This poor town had suffered much at the hands of the Dark Imp, it seemed. She turned her gaze toward more distant places. Perhaps he wasn't here after all? Dejected, she sighed and turned to leave.

Darmani doesn’t like the cold, and his owner doesn’t produce body heat. Bye, Frostmaw! This little badger went home to Xalious where the winters are less harsh and the dirt hasn’t hardened to ice. Ever since he was exposed to the black ooze life has been a bit lonelier. Other animals and people give his spiky, hard fur, and dead, inky eyes a wide berth. But at least he can still burrow, which is his absolute favorite thing to do. He was digging near the base of the watch tower when suddenly he hit a vein of hard rock. His little paws kept at it, furiously rubbing at the ground when suddenly his own energy burst forth in an unexpected way. He rolled forward and then kept on rolling! He rolled so fast and so hard he could challenge gravity, and his spiked fur clung to the ground, then the exterior wall of the watchtower like grappling hooks. In no time at all he was spin-climbing the tower and reaching its apex. He zooms past Pilar’s balustrade and flies into the air. His tiny heart beat in a panic as he tried to make sense of what has happened to him. Little paws flail to try and flip him into the correct position so he doesn’t land on the roof on his back.

Pilar gasped when she saw the little creature rocket into the air. Pebbles fly from its form and Pilar held up an arm to shield her face. She lowered it to get another look at the animal, and gasped again. Those spikes, those eyes... "Darmani?!" Her heart rejoiced to have been reunited with him! She thought she would never see him again! Thoughts of him living cold and alone, or dying on the end of some hunter's arrow, had broken her heart. But here he was, alive and well! Though for how long, she couldn't say as he plummeted towards the watch tower's roof. She ran forward, arms outstretched to catch him, with no care as to how his spikes might tear into her.

Darmani isn’t coping too well with the discovery of his new ability. He hardly notices Pilar’s face in his panic. His body has felt foreign since that day he sneezed ooze at the tavern, but aside from aesthetic changes he didn’t feel like a freak — until now. In his struggle to flip onto his stomach, he bent his head forward in such a way that his super speedy spinning seizes him yet again! Now he’s rolling down onto Pilar’s outstretched arms like an adorable, but fatally sharp circular saw. His spikes would have no problem tearing through flesh, though they are not quite strong enough to break the stone of the roof. The sonic whizz of his spinning legs seconds behind his trajectory.

Pilar finally seemed to realize what would happen to her if she touched him in this state. Survival instinct kicked in and she dove to the side. Darmani flew past her, catching her cloak with enough force to yank her off her feet. She gagged as she was dragged backwards, though she wasn't in danger of suffocating to death. Still, the sensation was uncomfortable, and she was being pulled towards the spinning badger of death. She unclasped her cloak and let it get torn to shreds. She rolled onto her stomach and started to stand. "D-Darmani!" There had to be something she could do! She fumbled in her pack. There was food in here, which she used to feed the wild animals, since SHE didn't need it. She broke off a piece of dried jerky and held it out towards the badger. "Darmani, ¡recuérdame!"

Bits of Pilar’s cloak cling to Darmani’s fur as he continues to spin. He doesn’t know how to stop. Pilar’s voice registers in the kit’s pea-sized brain, but he can’t go to her right now. His fear makes him feral. He lashes out at a world that would do this to him. The spiky rodent spins down the stairs by accident.He rolls down the descending spiral stairwell past the third and second floors, and out the ground floor exit. On his way out the door he bumps into a pot hidden in a corner behind some enchanted cobwebs. The pot bursts open and a secret cache of gold coins spray in all directions! (Somewhere in the distance a hobbit plays a celebratory ditty on a flute.) He stops himself by jutting out his little paw against the ground and holding himself steady. His stomach flips and he’s unsteady on his paws. The world spins around him, but eventually he orients himself enough to return the way he came and quickly climb up the stairs to find Pilar. His natural gait has also been enhanced by his mutation and he finds her (either on the roof or in the stairwell if she followed him down). As soon as he sees herself, he pounces on her for a hug. Mid-air, the smell of the jerky assaults his nose and twists his stomach a final time. He spews black bile on her face and neck as he flies at her for what initially a hug. The bile is highly acidic and will chew through just about anything it touches. It also smells terrible and may like inspire retching in others.

Pilar was halfway down the tower when Darmani jumped at her. She tripped over her own feet in an attempt to stop and the bile soared mostly over her head, though some ended up in her hair and on her legs and back. She had barely opened her mouth to cry out in pain when Darmani landed on top of her, turning her cry into a yowl. Slowly and stiffly, trying not to inadvertently toss him down the stairs, Pilar pushed herself up. She groaned as the badger slid off her back and onto the stairs behind her. She grabbed the railing and pulled herself into a sitting position. She looked at the badger kit, unsure of what to do now.

Darmani falls his head hard, cricking his neck painfully but not paralyzing himself. He rolls onto his own bile and whimpers at the sting. Not even he is immune to its burn. What has this ooze done to him? His eyes are shut and he cowers away from everything, even Pilar. He hisses at her like a cat hissing at their owner when injured. He swipes his claws at her in warning, and will draw blood if provoked. He’s in too much pain, and too terrified, to be sensible.

Pilar could hardly stand to see her precious baby in such a bad way. She reached toward him, only to pull back as his claws rake across her hand. The scratches well up with blood, but she was not detered. Pilar got down on her stomach so that she was eye level with him. "Shh, Darmani, shh, it is okay. It will be okay. You remember me, yes?" She spoke softly, gently, hoping to calm him. She reached out and scratched behind his ear, in his favorite spot. She hummed a soothing lullaby as she did so, the one she'd used to get him to sleep in the past. She hoped it would work. It had to.

Darmani fights the lullaby but ultimately succumbs.His heavy lids fold over his inky eyes and he is soothed enough to be touched. At the very least, for her to take him somewhere safe.

Pilar picked him up carefully and hugged him. The spikes poked small holes in her dress, and she made a mental note to make or find something for him to wear that would make him safer to handle, at least until they could rid him of his mutation. But even if they never did, she loved him and would take care of him for the rest of his life.