Duel:Ignatius v Svilfon, Match 3 of the 2013 Frostmaw Tournament

From HollowWiki
Duelists: Ignatius vs. Svilfon.
Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 12 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Autohit post. Advancement in the Titans of Winter Tournament 2013.
Judges: Vehara, & Satoshi


Frostmaw Arena

Satoshi, as with the previous matches, can be found comfortably lounging in the frozen seat of the Coterie luxury box, unbothered by the snowfall gathering on her. And like the previous matches, the stands are packed, so many bodies packed closely into the stands that they've become a singular roaring mass with its countless eyes fixed on the glass panes hovering above the arena field. These panes have been brought to life through arcane means to create a series of scrying windows that look down upon this match's battlefield from numberous angles and heights. The location appears to be some sort of cavern, sheltered from the raging storm outside. The bodies of two enormous beasts are visible in segments of the windows, but the corpses are so immense that no single glass can display them in full. Satoshi stands, hands raised and a ribbon clasped in each, one blue and one white. With the gesture, the stands fall silent so that Frostmaw's lady can speak, voice projected by enchantment to allow it to be carried throughout the colosseum and be heard over the snowstorm looming above. "Ladies and gentlemen~, this evening we have two of Frostmaw's finest prepared to fight, doing so atop the bodies of two former entities of Frostmaw's wildlife, and all while Winter's storm shakes the land outside. It is a proper match for the Titans of Winter, no~?" She grins at the crowd's roar of approval. When they settle again, Satoshi continues, "Here I hold a favor in each hand, for I support and cherish both warriors! The best of luck to our honorable knight-captain, Ignatius Allesandro Dispada," the blue ribbon is held up here, "and our dedicated wizard-knight, Svilfon!" The white ribbon is held high with this. "Let the match begin!" The audience in the arena is not shielded by the storm, yet none seem to truly mind, as they loudly prepare to watch two of their own clash.



Colossal Combatants

Temporarily sheltered from the numbing cold wind of the storm, you stand now in a cave housing two colossal beasts. Fortunately, the two creatures are dead, still locked together as they'd died from their wounds, and now eternally preserved in their struggle. Both of the beasts stand nearly forty to fifty feet when upright, and their movements clearly shook and damaged the ground around you, making for uneven footing among jutting stone and fissured ice. One creature looks like a elder elemental, broad body consisting of segments of ice gathered and held together by the sheer force of magic that once gave the being life. One of its thick arms is extended out toward the cave's entrance, gnarled palm flat against the broken ground as if it died while trying to brace itself--and now creating an icy bridge to the rest of its gargantuan body. The other beast is a massive white worm with thick plating coursing down its back and following its coils, thrown about the cavern like a road upheaved and knotted around itself. Its many spiny legs are embedded in the elemental or the ground around it, anchoring them both in a combat pose. Serrated black pinchers jut from the Frost Worm's jaws, and above them rests a set of four black, spider like eyes, once bright with life and now frosted over in death. You may travel back to the east from here.




Satoshi gave 1 Dark-Blue-Hair Ribbon to Ignatius.


Satoshi gave 1 white-hair ribbon to Svilfon.


Vehara is watching icly too, all incognito like.


Svilfon is sitting cross-legged atop the Frost Worm as he hears Satoshi's words, even from such distance. He smiles slightly to himself as he gets to his feet and stretches his back, before speaking into the cold air. "Wizard-knight against Knight-Captain. Should be fun." With a bright smile that shows no fear for the coming violence, the wizard pulls from the air itself his Xalious wood wand. "Ready, Ignatius Allesandro Dispada?"


Ignatius had kept his head lowered for the entirety of Satoshi's speech, focusing inwardly to grasp for that ever elusive sensation of serenity that he saught out prior to every battle. When the words of the queen ended, the old knight would finally look upwards and towards his opponent. The glow within his skull was dim, the red lights mere pinpricks within otherwise hollowed sockets. "Dammi il tuo migliore, amico." He responded, his hand falling to rest upon Alessia's pommel.


Svilfon nods his head at the words he doesn't comprehend, taking them as agreement it's time to begin. Wasting no time, he speaks harsh words into the cavernous room, mixing his guttural tones with the thrash and thunder of the muted storm outside. The noises grow in intensity together, forging a deafening sound as the wizard's hands begin to trace an intricate pattern in front of his body, two fingers leaving thin azure-hued trails in their wake. This goes on until at last the sound of the storm is again the only noise heard. At this, Svilfon grins somewhat malevolently as he reaches out and takes the floating pattern of light in both his hands, before he casts it off the Frost-Worm's body much like a fisherman would drop a net. As it flows through the air, the deceased wizard mutters the final cantations of his spell. The web of power adheres to his magical command, expanding out as it falls, before Svil clenches both his fists, causing it to attempt to wrap around the undead knight, Ignatius. If successful, it would hold him in place long enough for Svil's real attack; which comes in the way of him dropping to a knee and sending a pulsing beam of fire magic into the Frost-Worm. The sudden heat after so much cold has the desired effect: Within mere moments the protruding legs which twist out from its contorted body begin melt at the top, and soon snap off, sending a rain of ice-covered, and rather sharp limbs down at the undead warrior below...


Ignatius watched quietly while the wizard prepared his spell, a bold choice to be sure by one spurred on by slight curiosity and a risky 'wait and see' strategy. It is only when that magic is about to descend upon him that Ignatius leapt into action, his body moving faster than any undead had any right. Leaning forward, he charged towards the wizard with a ferocious roar and empty sockets that now burned with an inferno of red light. And as he moved, Ignatius sperpentined this way and that in an effort to avoid as much of the falling debris of frozen monstrocity as he could manage though a few lucky smaller shards did manage to embed themselves within the knight's shoulders. These were not felt though, a bless and a curse of the dead nerves that left his body utterly numb. As the distance closed, Ignatius threw his draconic arm towards Svilfon with its fingers curled into a fist as hard as rock that seemed intent on catching the wizard right across the chin. In that same amount of time, his other hand tugged forth Alessia, bringing arching upward towards Svilfon in a reversed grip - the blade sailing forth with inhuman momentum. "Prenderò una buona spada al mio fianco su qualche magia di fantasia ogni giorno! " He roared as he made his attack.


Svilfon snarls with feral anger as the fist is sent soaring towards his face. He lifts both his hands up, blocking the impact of the blow with his forearms. The force is immense and causes him to slide back on the icy body of the Frostworm, thankfully away from the vicious strike of the undead-knight's sword. The wizard's boots try hard to get a grasp upon the slippery surface, but the momentum is too much and soon enough Svil falls right off the beast's head, one hand reaching out with instinctual fear, fingers more by luck than skill finding purchase on a protrusion from its face. His legs dangle from the worm as his shoulder strains with the weight, and the wizard knows he must act quickly. His free hand, still holding his wand, drives forward with all his strength, right at one of dark eyes which stare without vision at its ancient enemy. The first blow causes a crack to appear on the frozen orb, the second sends the wand driving right through it. With this done, Svil screams out a series of words which sound more like a plea than a spell. And as such they are answered: Without real focus, a surge of lightning flows into the giant worm's icy body. As soon as it does, Svil is sent flying off the creature, onto a pile of built up snow and ice below. The impact is horrendous, but he still manages to keep his eyes open, interested to see what would happen to the undead knight who would find himself standing now on a rather large electrified perch...


Ignatius stumbled finally as momentum waned and gave way to him sliding about ingloriously upon that icey surface. It would have certainly allowed the wizard plenty of time to make his move, the battleground now made lethal with the electrical currents that Svilfon sent pulsating through it. Had Ignatius not already died long ago, had his nerves still fired and his heart still beat then this might have been much more problematic but as it stood, he merely only had to worry about dried flesh and the clothe he wore on his body catching aflame. As dead skin began to crackle and singe, the old knight leapt and sent his body flailing through the air. Though the rush of wind around his body as he flew gave enough of its breath the birth little sparks of flame upon his coat and cloak, it also put the knight in prime position to swing his sword downward and use the unnatural momentum that Alessia was gifted with to drag himself downward towards Svilfon. He fully intended on closing the distance between the two by ungraciously slamming himself right into Svilfon.


Svilfon watches as the undead knight withstands his electrified attack with a dark look in his eyes. Another snarl is almost given birth from the wizard, before the warrior begins to leap forth and attempt his brazen attack. There is little time to create new magic from his spot on the ground, but Svil's gaze finds the archaic net he earlier cast at Ignatius still resting upon the ice. With a feral smile he begins to pull fire magic into his body almost instinctively, even as his hand reaches out and grabs the arcane web. He waits as long as he can - which isn't long when a crazed swordsman is falling down with a wicked sword aimed at you - before he releases his fire magic into the spell-made netting. For just a moment it is held, before Svil hurls it upwards and rolls. He moves quick enough to evade Ignatius's attack regardless of how his own plays out. But what he sent at the knight captain, Svil is sure will do the trick. For the falling undead would find rising at him a firey netting, its heat so strong it melts the body of the frost-worm it flies up beside. Were he to fall into it, perhaps the cavern, so long without rain in Frostmaw, would finally get some... of the flaming-undead-knight-body-part-type...


Ignatius released his sword from his grip for while he could not withstand that blaze, Alessia certainly could. he disarmed himself willingly to let Alessia become entwined by its snaring magic and its consuming fire and buying himself some time to thrust a shoulder forward and alter his trajectory for somewhere a just a bit less heated. He hit the ground hard and rolled, the sound of bone crunching against rock and ice as th knight slammed into the ground. Armed with only the vicious arm that once belonged to the dreaded grey, Ignatius rose and began his attack anew with another charge towards the wizard. The knight was fast and his face was contorted with the raw fury that could only come from forcing a man of the blade to rid himself of his most trusted weapon. As the distance between them closed, he slid to thrust one leg between Svilfon's and sent his stoney scaled fist thrusting towards the wizard's stomach. Twisting suddenly, Ignatius aimed to hook Svilfon's leg with his own and remove the wizards balance out from underneath him to further force him into the impact of the knight's draconic arm.


Svilfon rather painfully pulls himself to his feet while never once taking his gaze from the falling knight. A smile forms on his lips at the sound of bone crunching as it meets ice, a sound akin to music in the frozen City of War. But that smile soon melts as the knight charges right at him, sending that wicked fist sailing at his stomach. He intends to simply step back from the blow, but the knight's foot wraps around his own, trapping him long enough for the attack to strike true. Blood explodes from Svil's mouth as his body is sent hurling back, the force enough to disentangle the limbs which bind them together, and he stops only when his back strikes the flesh of the frost worm. The huge beast, partially melted from the electricity and flaming attack earlier, lets out a horrific creaking noise as it moves for the first time in an age... but it doesn't fall just yet - it seems to balance there, like the fate of the two combatants, poised to fall with horrific force, held only by the whims of fate...




Winner: Svilfon


Svilfon spits a globule of blood onto the white snow beneath him, before he lifts his gaze up to the knight captain. There was respect in that look, but also a hint of malice. Svil holds it for just a moment, before his elbow snakes back and he strikes the Frost Worm with all his force. This is the last straw on the gigantic beast's back. It lets out another horrific noise, this one a mocking imiatation of the roar it'd cry when alive, before it begins to quickly fall forward. Svil leaps to the side, out of the way of its path, and in a gesture he would later remind the knight was rather benevolent, he waves his hand at the netting which is still wrapped around his sword, causing it to fly towards Ignatius, though not in an attack. More to leave it close to him, even as the huge beast collapses, pinning him somewhere beneath. Svil can sense he is still alive, though it might take a while to crawl out from under that. And with a grin, and a tip of his hat to the frozen elemental, Svil vanishes from the cavern. He appears again in the Colleseum, and after waving at the giants who came to watch, he offers a hat tip to Satoshi. There isn't a smile on his face, though. There is a hard look there that is explained in a determined nod to the queen. He was sure she would understand the message... first the tournament, then the poachers...


Satoshi, as always, has little trouble speaking wordlessly with the wizard. She catches the look and fully understands it before returning the nod with a sharp one of her own. Words would be useless anyway now, as the arena shakes violently beneath the voices of its audience, cheering Svilfon, encouraging Ignatius, and bellowing bloodlust in general. Clearly, the people of Frostmaw enjoyed the match. Satoshi uses the time to quietly retreat, disappearing to wherever it is an ice eidolon goes when there's a snowstorm rampaging.


Svilfon spends a long moment seeming to enjoy the adulation of the giants, before, with a final hat tip to them, he turns and exits. He would return quietly to the library, to let his body rest. Usually he'd use some nice blood-wine, but with the agony flowing from his stomach, he thinks he'll instead merely relax even as he regales Alahir with the story of his battle.