Duel:Dyraxdiin v Orikahn, Round 2, 2019 Hero of Freedom Championship
Duelists:Dyraxdiin vs. Orikahn
Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 15 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Auto-hit to the winner.
Judges: Meri, Natianara, and Zahrani
Riverbank
Apart from the wood-lined stone road that leads to the north and back across the bridge, slightly muddy ground is the only terrain here at the river's edge. The Vibrance is a fast flowing river, and so no plants have a chance in it. Most other rivers are sluggish, algae-ridden, but this river is alive! It rushes and roars, creating swirling vortexes at the bases of the supports for the bridge that leads to the east. The only fish capable of living here are the powerful salmon, and even they struggle against the current. The stumps of trees stretch out for two hundred yards to the west, where the forest abruptly resumes.
Environmental Challenge
The Larket Academy of Magick put their eggheads together to design a stage for the rapids of Vibrance River. The duel’s arena is a single wooden raft, 5 feet wide by ten feet long. It’s been magically enhanced to withstand the wear and tear of arcano-physical combat. A flyaway lightning bolt won’t obliterate it. The rules: You can only deal damage to your enemy when you are on the raft. The raft will encounter rapids, both big and small. The majority of rapids will be mild to moderate, and will cause the raft to dip and bob in destabilizing ways that make combat difficult but not impossible. But some rapids, less than a handful, are powerful and dangerous especially around the largest boulders. Those rapids will flip, chew up, and spit the raft back out, which may likely necessitate that people leave the raft. If you leave the raft, that is fine, but you cannot attack your opponent until you are back on the raft. So if Orikahn is on the raft and Dyraxdiin is flying overhead, Kahn can attack Dyraxdiin, but Dyraxdiin cannot attack Kahn until he returns to the raft, and vice versa. Floating bleachers on either side of the river hover down the banks of the Vibrance to ferry spectators alongside the spectacle of blood sport!
Optional Introduction
Dyraxdiin stalks across the stone-paved road in a form markedly different than the human-guise he typically prefers. Today, the Magister Templi wears the scales of an anthropomorphic dragon, his towering height, coupled with beastial maw, limbs and wings speak volumes to the length at which he is prepared to go in order to defeat his designated opponent, Orikahn. He comes to an abrupt halt, aegean-hued eyes to peer forth over elongated muzzle as he looks upon the crowd and then finally, his foe. He is prepared.
Orikahn arrives in full plate, looking gigantic and horrible as ever. The nasty ol' cat is looking lively and limber; right now he's bouncing from toe to toe. It's a quiet, rhythmic jingle jangle of armor over the sound of him gently panting. He's definitely chomping at the bit. He has a flint dagger, his spiked/clawed gauntlets, and no other weapons apart from his sheer strength and bulk.
Duel
Dyraxdiin lifts off in flight with ease, if only to land gracefully upon the surface of the raft. What is Larket's obsession with forcing the Magister Templi to fight in tiny, enclosed areas? He grunts, scoffing at the idea of this second attempt to force him into close combat with his opponent. Dyraxdiin regards the sabercat for a moment, taking in his weaponry and armaments... things might get ugly on this raft, certainly. The great wyrm's elongated, clawed feet bite into the raft to aid in surety of balance against the rolling waves of the raft. Sturdy gray scales run the length of his body and limbs, working to contain corded muscles that flex beneath with burgeoning anticipation. There is nothing about the individual standing before his opponent, Orikahn, that would suggest the otherwise casual, low-profile Dyraxdiin came to this fight. Instead, the great wyrm bears his fangs, maw opening wide in a predatory display of dire predictions. He states nothing, for there is little word he can offer that the other could understand in this state. Nay, Dyraxdiin offers only a clawed hand, which extends outward and up, over his head. His gaze drops down in concentration, a deep-rooted growl to emerge from within his chest. And his hand wrenches into a fist, then is brought down like a hammer to his side - a mass of inky black energy spontaneously bursts to life between them. It rotates slowly, ominously, near the size of a large pumpkin. And suddenly, the mass begins to pull at everything and Dyraxdiin has to dig his draconian feet in further to keep from being dragged toward the epicenter of the slowly spiraling gravity well. He barks in a guttural language, commanding this terrible arcane might brought to arms, "Consume." Rope-like tendrils lash out toward Orikahn, and with their heightened mass, aim to pin down the sabercat and pull him into the epicenter of the foreboding black. Errant gusts of wind pick up, and even parts of Vibrance river itself begins to course-correct with the mass as its new endpoint. This magic will continue to expand and consume, presenting a new challenge upon the board, as it were. Dyraxdiin stands firm, his wings occasionally flapping to keep his balance at an upright position. Today, he is determined to prove, in this ancient battle of predator pitted against predator, who the true alpha is.
Orikahn hops onto the raft, tests the surface, and judges it rugged enough for a proper fight. Not one to bother with niceties in a fight, Kahn skips right to the action and begins trotting across the raft toward his opponent. The reptile-man raises a hand, and Kahn pays no especial heed until something magical begins happening. "You know tricks," Kahn observes with contempt. As the black mass sprouts into being, Kahn can feel his acute sense of balance react immediately. He freezes, and onlookers will see him begin leaning to one side until, as magical gravity pools ever blacker and deeper, he is nearly horizontal, dashing catlike along the raft's edge as though it were a cliff face. Water splashes past him as he clambers, climbing along the floor-turned-wall with, well, catlike ease that befits a natural climber such as he. Using the newly offered center of gravity, Orikahn scrambles around the raft's edge, soon gets within kicking distance, and throws his weight into a full-on leg sweep. Plates whistle as the armored limb barrels like the arm of a catapult right for Dyraxdiin's knee. Kahn would count it a real blessing if he could cripple his opponent at the onset of the match. At the very least, he hopes to break the dragon's footing and send him falling either into the gravity well or into the rapids.
Dyraxdiin tilts his head, predatory saurian eyes following his opponent within a sheathe of relative calm. With a simple gesture of his left clawed-hand, Dyraxdiin commands the orb of dark energy to lash out with inky-black tendrils, as it had previously, using it's staggering gravitational force to veer away Orikahn's leg-sweep so that it falls shy of the great wyrm without actually having to touch the sabercat. Just then, Dyraxdiin notices the water beginning to froth with white foam before it is consumed by the singularity. Rapids. The Magister Templi uses his wings, aided by the sure-foothold he has on the raft, to remain on-board and unwavering as the raft crashes through the waves, over rocks and begins to break apart. He can't keep this up forever, fighting to hold on is almost as draining as casting spells. Perhaps he will need to destroy this raft utterly... Until then, Dyraxdiin gestures with his hands, maw opening wide with the summonation of the arcane, "Balefire." He growls in that ancient Saurian tongue, eyes glaring down at Kahn, as if warning him to get back. The sky opens up for an emerging object - a disc-like construct, mercurial and opaque. It moves into position, casting Orikahn in its shadow, an esoteric foreshadowing of the destruction that assuredly follows. Once the sunlight reaches its edges, the opaque disc turns translucent, like a clear pool of sparkling water, mirroring Vibrance at its shallowest areas... and a beam of scorching energy floods forth. The sound of the magic expelled rails out with deafening decibels. It strikes the raft and leaves a hand-width trail of charred raft in its wake - something to bear in mind for later, Dyraxdiin thinks. It track's Orikahn with refined precision, meant to maim and force him back into the black globe. All the while the mass of energy, still slowly expanding, consumes its fair share of the new spell - tracers of it leak out towards the mass, until ultimately, it will consume the balefire entirely. The hazardous gravity well has reached its capacity. It is almost time.
Orikahn feels the tendrils' tug, and before he can jerk his leg away, the magic's pull manages to suck the boot right off his foot. It flies into the well with alarming speed. An idea flashes through Kahn's mind. The tendrils sweep again, and Kahn lets them yank off his second boot. "Aha!" The cat cries, only because he doesn't know the word "eureka!" With his hand claws freed, Kahn has a newfound advantage of grip. It comes not a moment too soon. Dyraxdiin's look of warning is heeded, and Kahn scrambles to the ready. Ah, so a magical disk is chasing him now. Whatever it does, Kahn isn't eager to find out, and he finds himself on the wrong side of his favorite game: cat and mouse. Dodge, scramble, and dash though he might, his options are growing slimmer between escaping the disc and escaping the well's tentacles. Then, something happens. A rock jars the raft. Kahn slips and foamy whitewater washes over the wood magic crashes around him, and in the resulting blast of heat and steam, Kahn is thrown. He may well have been thrown off the raft, except, alas for Dyraxdiin, the gravity well veers Kahn's trajectory and sends the giant, armored, steaming, screaming cat like a thrashing meteor of claws, steel, and fury flying straight for the dragon mage.
Dyraxdiin remains aloof, calculating, watching... the sling-shot effect that takes place is anticipated, given the gravity well is his creation. The Magister Templi wouldn't use weapons he doesn't fully understand - something he'd like to note to his apprentices, but is clearly unable to because he has a wild sabercat flying towards him with dangerous intent. The great wyrm makes a split second decision and lets go of his hold on the raft, and using his wings, he mirrors Orikahn's circular orbit, away from him. However, given his wings tend to jut out quite a few feet, the savage cat manages to rake the right one, tearing into the sinewy flesh like a hot knife through butter. The great wyrm barks in pain as he slides into a stop on the opposite side of the singularity, using his hands and feet to anchor him down. He drags himself up, tired and bleeding. His wings are flexed subconsciously, as if to check 'all clear?' and the right one refuses to answer the call - Dyraxdiin gazes down to it with a look mixed between pain and fury. Fury at himself, perhaps. His muscles, earlier a thing of well-trained predatory perfection, now weak and tired beneath marred scales. Perhaps it was time to show this cat the monster that lurks within? Dyraxdiin grunts and mentally shakes his head. Not today, dragon. Instead, his saurian eyes fall upon the well of gravity magic. Everything that wasn't bolted down or firmly set has already been drawn in, but the wind still howls. Somehow, gazing upon the black mass of energy, he manages to find a tranquil moment... until the raft begins to fracture further beneath the weight of the gravity well, the darkness now consuming itself - collapsing, compacting, crushing everything within. Dyraxdiin drops to a knee and roars, giving it that one final push over the edge. He draws a shield up around himself, working fervently to reinforce it against what can surely be described as a miniature supernova. Light escapes from the compacted mass first, then heat and concussive force amplified by the consumed material and magic. The wave shatters and fractures all in its wake - a chaotic nightmare of destructive power, it bears down on the unshielded Orikahn and anything close enough with naught but a scant moment to react as the raft splinters beyond recognition. Dyraxdiin's barrier is battered relentlessly, holding the raft within the dome-like shield together and providing him the ability to remain aboard.... until all that remains in the center of the area is a tiny, black ball. It simply winks out of sight, disappearing. And water rushes back into its channel and the barrier is released.
Orikahn catches the raft with his claws the moment it's within reach. He skids to a noisy stop and lands, neatly, on his fuzzy feline feet. A gasp sits tensely in his lungs, waiting to be uttered as he crouches, certain that in the split second after he's landed that the graviton tendrils are going to snatch him up and whisk him into oblivion. But the tendrils never come. Kahn squints through his visor at the magical epicenter and sees that there's something... different? His eyes dart to Dyraxdiin in alarm. The dragon mage has shielded himself. Kahn looks around the raft in a panic. There's no shield for kitty. In fact, there's no cover of any kind on the barren raft except for (ding!) Dyraxdiin himself. Before the thought has finished forming, Kahn's legs are already a blur, claws scrabbling and throwing splinters as he dashes through the ever brightening air. Kahn had been burned once today and isn't keen on anyone finishing the job. Orikahn dives into the shadow of the dragon-mage's shield. He ducks and covers. The magi-nuke goes supercritical. As the fury of light and radiance blasts around him, Kahn ducks ever smaller and tighter, trying to be the tiniest ball he can and clinging for dear life at the ever-shrinking remnant of the raft beneath him. When the light dies, he dares to peek out and, if Dyraxdiin is within reach, Orikahn will dive right at him. The cat's intention is guided more by rage and vengeance than any planned strategy, and he will be punching, slashing, and rending indiscriminately at whatever fate may permit his mitts to find. Kahn is mad. Mad Kahn smash.
Dyraxdiin emits a growl from deep within his chest when the wily Orikahn scrambles into the barrier. He dare use Dyraxdiin's own barrier as a safe harbor? If they weren't presently being assaulted by the exploding mass of energy, Dyraxdiin would have shifted and flicked the sabercat away with his tail. The brass he has! When all is said and done, and the water begins rushing back in, the raft begins to wobble something awful - really it's much more like a floating plank in a squall and there's only room enough for one! Of this, the great wyrm is certain, as the plank jostles even more when Orikahn launches his next attack. The Magister Templi gives a mental thank you to himself as claw bites into hardened great wyrm scales, but yields little results. Really, what can one do when a cat is climbing all over you and you're standing on a broken piece of board that wobbles precariously beneath the weight of two and the raging waters? Dyraxdiin is tired and the cat is heavy. His mind barely registers as a foot rakes his other wing and a clawed paw manages to pry free a few scales, earning him a red, angry gash. Cat's don't like water, right? He simply falls over, into the rushing current of the dangerous Vibrance river, newly returned to its course. And then a serpent emerges forth from it, with a cat embedded into his scales or not. The colossal gray great wyrm rises up, dwarfing the river and the audience as he grows to a towering height. A look is given over to the Red Tower, before Dyraxdiin gazes down to the audience - aegean saurian eyes searching the area for his opponent.
Winner: Dyraxdiin
Auto-hit Stake
Dyraxdiin finds Orikahn, hanging tightly to his scales. Honestly, Dyraxdiin doesn't blame him. God-knows what filth is in this river. The great wyrm snakes his tail around and pries the sabercat free, serpentine neck turning to gaze upon the savage feline that he holds up with his powerful tail. "Well fought," Comes the booming, thunderous voice of Dyraxdiin the gray. "But it is time you be on your way." He simply flicks his tail, sending Orikahn wildly flailing on his way towards Sage Forest. Cats always land on their feet, right?