Duel:Emelyan v Arthur, Round Two Agitation Monster Tournament
Part of the Agitation Arc
Duelists: Emelyan vs. Arthur, the swamp-sorcerer caiman (played by Reginae). Duel: Traditional 3 attacks and defenses each. 450 word limit. Stakes: Advancement into Round Three of the Agitation Monster Tournament. Judges: Lanara & Linn
Narrow Ledge (Xalious)
You stand on a path that moves along the side of a cliff, and it gradually moves down. At first it is large enough to allow you to walk comfortably, safely, but slowly the ledge begins to narrow. Soon the path you're standing on is barely wide enough to walk on. You've dropped about 25 feet from your starting point, but with about another 50 or 60 feet to go, you are forced to face towards the cliff, you shuffle along the edge. Sometimes small pebbles break loose underneath your feet, and you wonder if maybe your next step might be fatal. Slowly, carefully you find your way along the ledge. To your north you hear the roar of water falling down, and to your east you can still see a rope bridge, crossing a chasm. You've come this far, and ponder continuing along the dangerous ledge or turning back to the more stable path above you. If one stands here long enough you may see people falling from the sky, unless you are one of the ones who have fallen and landed here.
Arthur is not the most brilliant animal to ever find himself infected by the mysterious black ooze that has been perforating Xalious' calm like a razor sharp canine through decaying flesh. This thought crosses his mind while he is indeed doing that very thing; picking apart the slightly rotting carcass of some elf that had fallen over the dangerous ledge. His stubby legs kept him from climbing the cliff and having fresh meat once in a while, so this molding meat was the best he could do at the time. Other than thinkin’, Arthur wasn’t sure how he got to this place or why he was here. Since the ooze came, he found himself thinking a lot of different things instead of just going with his gut instinct of eating and sleeping. He tries very hard to ponder the reasons why he’s able to ponder at all, but then gives up and focuses all his attention on the chewing and swallowing algorithm he’s inventing to try and make the rotten meat taste less rotten… until something catches his attention. It’s Emelyan! Another dinner guest? Why not!? Arthur grins a mangled toothy grin and thumps his tail against the Cliffside. Using his new gift of creating swamp springs to open a geyser atop the ledge with the intention of forcing his prey down the side of the ledge (still alive), through the muck and foul-smelling liquid (to be perfectly marinated in those Cajun spices) before arriving fresh and teaming with flavor to the Caiman’s snapping jaws. What a lazy thing!
Emelyan was certainly still upset that he'd been reverted to a seven year old boy, but had adjusted his attire accordingly... meaning he yet wore the same trenchcoat and kept the same alchemical odds and ends upon his person. He'd heard of the issues plaguing Xalious, after the lich had shown in Frostmaw. A black ooze, was it? With one of Frostmaw's great champion's down, he felt he ought to investigate... besides, a few tissue samples could be of great use to the alchemist. His sharp senses may have picked up the chewing, were it not for the waterfall. What a lovely thing. Then, came the geyser. It was a nuisance beyond words, and the boy fumed as he was ragdolled into the air, to fall beyond the cliff. Yet, he was unafraid of the height. Why would that be? While spinning, flames licked his boots, muddied as they were, until halfway down, he'd righted himself... standing on what seemed to be fire. It was a flaming ectoplasm, really, but made for a platform all the same. There it was... a Caiman, if his studies of the lands and fauna held true. Well, well. He smiled, eager to begin. It could have been sinister, if he weren't a scrawny seven year old boy. First, he'd drop an otherwise inert liquid into the muck below, via a small vial, before focusing intently. Flames appeared from up, forming into a transmutation circle. The muck below, holding that liquid, would rise up and crash down with great force on the Caimen, as the rocks around it turned upwards into a cage of sorts. Perhaps it'd hold the creature... if not, there was nothing to worry about. It splashed that inert, almost non detectable liquid all over the Caimen.
Arthur’s heart (or maybe it was his stomach) leapt just like the boy into the air! He snapped his jaws in anticipation as the small figure made his descent, rolling into a snarl when the boy halted his own progress and stood up right. Oh well. At least he was still sauced! Without a second though to the flames above the swampy water, the Caiman waddled his little chubby legs towards Emeylan with puppy like excitement; tail thrashing, mud flinging every which way, and tongue lopping out the side of his mouth. The wave of transmuted muck broke as if by invisible force field. The Caiman was skilling in only two things; eating dead things and controlling the swampy elements that he created. Arthur did bear a lovely coat of liquid (not that he knew about it) in the wake of the wave. The rocks were tugged out of formation and flung to the sides along with the rest of the damp soil. No cage could hold this frightening Caiman!! But wait…What was that?! As Arthur attempted to draw closer to Emeylan, to lock his boyish figure between his massive jaws, Emeylan would note the black ooze streaking it’s face. Like oily tears, it ran down each side of his snout from his eyelids and appeared to be ever-flowing. The Caiman’s optics were a flushed white with multiple lens fluttering to try and keep his line of vision free. His jaws opened fully, even though he was still a good distance away from Emeylan, and a strange mixture of a howl and a strangling sound burst forth from his jaws. The earth trembled and the male would feel tenders of muck lapping at his legs, trying to pull him off his platform and down into the sink hole forming in the space beneath him, and growing. Before long, it would cover the small space that served as their battle field and make the ground impossible to touch without being sucked into its slow but certain downward spiral.
Emelyan watched the Caimen move with a quirked brow. It looked almost like a domesticated animal in its movement, despite its obvious murderous intent. It shoved his walls out of the way with ease, but they'd done their job... the liquid had taken to the leathery hide of the intimidating creature. The muck was the Caimen's element however, and this battlefield was like an ant lion's trap... it belonged to his foe. He briefly thought of finding a way to drain or blast away the muck, but doubted his transmutation could stand up to the creature's innate magical abilities of control. So, he'd have to get creative. If he got caught in that whirlpool, he was dead. The roar came as a surprise... as did the muck tendrils. They grabbed his legs, and his little seven year old body didn't have a very good chance to resist that. Fortunately, he didn't rely on strength. His legs super heated, melting the tendrils away, as he formed a smaller transmutation circle behind him, and began his counteroffensive. He set his feet, then with a burst of force, leapt straight into the wide open, roaring jaws of the Caimen, controlling his element on such a large scale. He had to make it in with his little seven year old body, past the teeth, before the Caimen could clamp down on him. "Hope you like your food hot!" White hot. He was a blur of brilliant, focused white fire, with a dagger in hand, its blade extended with a flame white and sharp. Heat didn't swirl around him, smoke didn't give off, but if he made it in, launched as fast as he could go, the 'gator was in for a treat far too spicy for even its tastes.
Arthur’s back end waggled in anticipation as his plan (or so it seemed to the poor creature) had gone…as planned! Phrasing for internal dialogue didn’t matter! Fresh food was in his mouth! And just before the creature was set to snap down his jaws in final victory, the soft pink flesh of his mouth started burning. No billows of smoke or orange colored flame gave indication that the boy had been on fire, so how was the Caiman to know? Sound vibrations akin of a puppy whining (but more moist and stifled) filled his maw. In a reflective action, Arthur summoned swamp water to surge out of his stomach and pour into his mouth with the intent of knocked whatever ghost pepper-like being he’d just attempted to consume. It wasn’t worth it! This kid wasn’t for eating! While water rose from his insides, the Caiman thrashed his open jaws around wildly, trying to dislodge Emeylan in the event that he’d found a foothold within his sharp teeth. It was still possible that all this thrashing wouldn’t get the desired result, but Arthur wouldn’t stop until either the pain no longer existed or he was dead. His animal instincts were kicking in and overpowering his calculated blood lust. If he survived, he would stick to just eating dead things that couldn’t fight back in the future. In the event that Emeylan is dislodged successfully, Arthur will still be thrashing about, spewing water every which way with his muscular and confused body.
Emelyan hadn't expected the sane reaction from the gator. He'd heard tale of the black ooze, and the way it affected things. When the swamp water came to expel him, along with all the thrashing, expelled he was, catching on the teeth a bit on his way out. Scrapes and scratches, he'd be fine. But boy, did it stink! At least this meant the creature would likely cease trying to consume him, and he wouldn't have to activate his last resort. The liquid that had settled into the creature's tough hide by now was easy to activate with his pyrokineticism, and would give the gator waves of intense nausea and uncontrollable, explosive diarrhea. It was to be his ticket out, no longer needed. He'd done enough damage to deter the gator... and gotten a sample of the black ooze mixed into the murk, in a small vial. An alchemist's touch may be just what was needed to stop this horror. He got the sense that this powerful, quirky creature was someone's baby, and didn't want to seriously injure it. He wanted to heal it, though it'd take time, and results on this... liquid... weren't guaranteed. It may simply wind up being beyond his abilities to counter. Doing his best to catch on his burning ectoplasmic platforms and climb away from the murk Emelyan would wag a seven year old finger at the Caimen, hoping it would get through to him, while the white heat faded away... it was intensely difficult to give off that strong of flame for any amount of time. "Bad gator! You stop eating people! Bad!" He could have lost limbs, or worse, from that brief encounter. He made sure to use his most reprimanding voice and finger wagging, but a seven year old could only do so much without just being adorable. He'd then cautiously be attempting to climb out of the area, one drenched, smelly foot at a time. He was going to bath and brush and scrub until he was SURE he didn't get any infections from this.
Arthur didn’t take notice of Emelyan until burning sensation ceased (which took another few moments of gushy water to accomplish). When he did, the Caiman tried to tuck it’s tail beneath it’s body and whine in a miserable fashion. It’s jaws were still open, exposing the dark cauterized chunks of flesh that the boy had been successful in charring. If he could have spoken, Arthur would be quick to assure Emelyan that he would only eat people that were already dead from now because this hadn’t been a fun experience. His tongue hurt and felt puffy and black blood dribbled out between his teeth, being washed into the now still waters at his feet. Once the pain hit, it was impossible to focus on anything but relieving it. Now the Caiman just wanted to go find the corpse of the elf he’d left behind early in his ambitious hopes of being a fierce predator. It was back to the drawing board with his chewing Algorithm. At least dead food didn’t fight back.
Arthur wins.