Duel:Hildegarde v Zendor

Part of the Surface Tension Arc

Location: Path of Bones
Duelists: Hildegarde (Surface Allies), Zendor (Drow Allies)
Judges: Leone and Emrith
Stakes:  If Hildegarde wins, Zendor gets outed as a spy and traitor and taken to Frostmaw to be tried, and the centaurs and Kuronii advance all the way into Trist'oth and destroy the supply room in the main fort, crippling the army at the home base. 
       If Zendor wins, in battle Hildegarde sustains a blow to the head and gets short term memory loss and will forget she ever saw Zendor here (spy cover intact!), and the drow push back the NPC invaders to the abysmal forest, and set up a camp just outside Vailkrin too.
       Each winner also gets an auto-hit.

Path of Bones

All along the path here, there are bones scattered about the floor, some old and some new. They appear to be from various different races, such as vampire skulls, human femurs, Elven ribs, and some other unknown bones, the smell here is putrid and not the best to be around, perhaps you should take your leave before you contract an illness. The path leads upwards at a very high incline or to the West towards a cave that appears to wind downward. Also, a trail of bones leads to the East.

Entrance Posts

Zendor has been ordered to undertake a new mission against the elves. He and a sizable group of warriors and assassins move toward the Eastern exit to the surface with suspicion that the other one might be watched. However, even before that, they have this bugbear duo to eliminate; previously it was fine to leave them as a deterrent or unpaid guard team. But they had enough of a group that taking them down wouldn't be difficult enough to hinder their new objective. Thus, Zendor is already garbed in armor, ready for a fight. The spiked metal club he used against Grailan is thankfully healthy. He and his group now sit discussing the best plan of attack, or, who wants to go first. Zendor steps up to the plate, thorny bat ready to lure them in for an ambush.

Hildegarde had determined that sending the Quelodian centaurs and the Northern Kuronii into the Underdark to destroy supplies would be extremely beneficial to her cause. An enemy with limited and dwindling supplies would become desperate and perhaps more likely to surrender in order to live out the rest of their days, rather than find themselves cut down in the battlefield. Accompanied by the tribesmen leader, Kovirsson, and a number of men and centaurs, the woman makes her way down the slope and towards the bone-littered path. She had already cautioned her men to be careful and to expect the unexpected given that the drow were nasty and pernicious creatures; there could be all sorts of traps awaiting them! Indeed, as the knight heads down the path, a trap has already been sprung. A trap she never expected. Zendor. A man she would have called her friend, if not for this evident betrayal. Nothing can say he is not a traitor, look at him, he is communicating with the enemy; he is ready for battle!

Duel

Hildegarde, without saying a word, stooped to lift a collection of bones. They rattled and clinked together, catching the attention of the slobbering bugbears who were eager and hungry. Meat was meat, dead meat, live meat, they wanted it all. Marrow had been sucked out of these bones, that’s just how hungry the bugbears were. With a grunt, the knight tosses the collection of bones towards Zendor and his troop of men: catching the attention of the slobbering bugbears who instantly snarl and turn to spot the fresh-meat. With the distraction employed and his men occupied with the threat of bugbears, the dragon is surging forward towards Zendor: full of vicious intent. As she nears, she swishes the butt of her halberd through the path of old and new bones alike: casting up skulls, femurs, teeth, fangs and shards alike towards his face and chest to obscure his vision before swinging the halberd in a low arc to sweep him off of his feet; but her halberd will not stop there, after swinging so lowly it swings up over her head and comes crashing down with the intention of slicing him in twain from his prone position on the floor.

Zendor is alerted by one of his allies to the encroachment of the surface forces. Instantly recognizing his Warrior-Mama, he sighs. In truth, he knew this day would come eventually, that he would be forced to atone for his sins. "I'll take care of the steward," he says to his troops, leaving them to engage the bugbears and her troops as well. It's clear she has the same inclination, and the two meet in battle once more. As he stomps toward her, his steps become uneven atop the jangling bone floor, and the reeking stench penetrates his helmet. His magic gauntlets give him two minor boons, to balance and strength, and he's able to compensate for the strange surface as he approaches. Still surprised by the tactics she takes, he doesn't quite anticipate being swarmed with dirty bones, and buffeted, instantly puts his club horizontal to block an expected strike, and gets tripped, crunching a variety of bones under him. Never wanting simply to block her moves (she was too strong), he rolls over to her side as the halberd crashes into the pile under him, and he tries to position her between him and the skirmish. He pushes off the ground using his club as leverage, and also something he didn't expect, a vampire skull. The mandible is missing, but the top canines are intact. Maintaining a close proximity to her, he lunges up using every pertinent muscle (legs, back) to try to uppercut her with the double pointed skull.

Hildegarde’s own men are surging into the fray: leaving Zendor to Hildegarde’s mercy. There was honour in Frostmaw, they understood that Zendor was her man to fight and her man alone. None other would interfere with their battle. With her halberd in the pile of bones, the woman roars with frustration at having missed her traitorous target but she does not allow herself to dwell on it. As Zendor surges up, the woman keeps a firm hold of the shaft of her halberd and jerks it down to crash against the vampiric skull and his hand. With the jerking motion, the halberd has been released from the bone ridden path and the woman is advancing upon the human again. With his skull disarmed, the dragon twists her body so she may jerk out her leg in a side-kick to his gut before spinning the halberd hand-over-hand to swiftly strike at his helmet before spinning in a circular motion once again so the butt of the halberd would strike under his chin. Their fights before now had been playful, they had been done in practice. But this time the humble knight meant to kill.

Zendor crushes the skull against her halberd, and now having an empty hand, catches the shaft. Luckily the skull softened the blow, and he's wearing gauntlets. The attack pains him, but he's still able to wiggle his fingers. Unfortunately he's wide open to eat her leg to the belly, and as soon as it connects, he loses his lunch all over her pristine greave. He catches her foot though, and holds his club under it to keep it from dropping. Then he forcefully throws it to the side so he can get the back of her, ducks under one of her first spinning strike as it skims the top of his helmet. Then he heaves his club with all his might, aiming to get one of the sizable spikes into an unfortunate chink in her armor, the armpit. As he does her next spinning attack clocks him where his temple would be. As his ear nearly meets his shoulder he's cast aside stumbling into the debris. Possibly down but hopefully not out.

Hildegarde’s armour makes a crunching sound as the sheer force of the spiked club hits its target and makes her roar with pain. The roar of pain, however, served another purpose. Not only did it ease the pain of the blow and give some relief to her, it covered up the sound of her short-sword being unsheathed. So as she bent forward and stooped from the blow to her armpit, her free hand drew the sword under the cover of the roar: her body lurching after his with her halberd held out before her horizontally and the point of Oathkeeper aimed for his belly. With her body lurching after his stumbling one, the shaft of her halberd should crush his windpipe while her blade opens his gut for the world to see his intestines.

Zendor struggles to maintain his balance as she races for him, and is forced to the ground on for legs like a dog. A quick glance behind him told him much of what he needed to do, he formed a big shovel with his hands and scooped a pile of smelly, sticky debris at her from between his legs. Not seeing her sword (ever), he doesn't expect it, and sees the halberd as the one hurdle for him to overcome. So with no further hesitation and hoping she's unready, he propells himself up and toward her, shooting his legs out over the halberd and aiming to dropkick her in the face. Meanwhile, her Oathkeeper penetrates the bottom of his thigh and comes out the other side, coated with his blood.

Hildegarde would not have risen so high if she was unprepared and never ready for anything in battle. She has fought Seriis, she has fought Svilfon, she has fought Korike, she has fought many tricksters and brutes; she knew that a beast so close to death was a beast who had nothing to lose and was often thus a little more wild and dangerous. As Zendor propels himself up and toward her, the knight grunts as she forces her body to take on a sideways stance as swiftly as she possibly can while trying to keep her halberd and sword arm straight for her intended assault. Of course, this means she cannot angle entirely away from Zendor’s retaliation and takes a wallop to the chin and shoulder which will certainly leave a horrid bruise as she staggers backwards with her crimson coated sword.

Winner: Hildegarde (Surface Allies)

Click here for the post-duel execution.