Duel:Jewel v Linn, Round Two Agitation Monster Tournament

Part of the Agitation Arc

Duelists: Jewel (played by Irthos), the animated glass dragon statue versus Linn
Duel: Traditional 3 attacks and defenses each. 450 word limit. 
Stakes: Advancement into Round Three of the Agitation Monster Tournament. 
Judges: Hildegarde & Reginae  

A glint of sunlight lights up this area of the forest after shining off of a glass statue. The statue stood about 5 ft tall curled up and at its heart a Glowing Stone gleams and seems to start beating like a living creature’s. The crystal clear being cracks a little as it begins to move, but as its body begins to warm up from the heat of the Glowing stone inside its chest, the cracks heal and movement becomes more fluid. The glass dragon looks around the area looking for food as this was her first instinct, she fumbles through a nearby building that seemed to have a lot of jars around the place that contained different kind of pigments and powders. She even found a storage container the included some elemental salts. Munching on some fire salts dragon sneezes and what looks like glass fire bursts from her nose catching some of the chairs in the workshop she was in on fire. But soon that fire once disconnected from her body became solid and froze in place. However the wooden furniture continued to burn from the heat of the glass. She wonders around and find a mirror, peering into it. At first she was afraid of what was in there until she realized it was making the same movements as she was, she then started admiring herself looking this way and that amazed by how she lloked and started to take pride in that. She looked away and found a bunch of stones and gems and a thought came to her, though it seemed more like a whisper in her mind, at first it was faint, <Jewel>, but then she looks at how the light gleamed off of the precious stones and then back in the mirror. <Jewel>, it came again, and she realized that was what she was going to call herself. Though she hadn’t tried to talk since she first awakened, she opened her mouth and nothing happened. She then listened to the birds chirping in the trees around them, and tried to make a sound similar, well that didn’t work, but she did make a screeching sound that echoed about the area. She kept on trying unto she said her name. Finally she was happy, she looked good, had a full belly and was quite pleased with her name.

Start of Duel

Linn was on his typical patrol though Xalious today when the horrid screech echoed throughout the outskirts of the village, bringing the enchanter rushing forward in both curiosity and preparation for another one of the monsters that had plagued the area as of late. The smoking workshop told him the rest of what he needed to know. He drew his weapons before entering. In one hand he wielded a fire-enchanted sword, though from his abuse of its enchantment it had become more of a large and heavy wand. Its temper was ruined and the blade itself dulled, though the blaze he could pour out of it was still quite impressive. His other hand was balled up in a fist, concealing the mana crystal that controlled his immaterial shield. Over his body was sharply angled mithril armor that was clearly constructed for mobility; the reflective metal plates were spaced so as not to interfere with each other or his body, while flexible armor protected the rest to cover his entire body from the neck down in the light metal. Bursting in he was ready to destroy the creature like he had so many others, though its form gave him immediate pause; Jewel wasn’t something that could just be incinerated. That glowing, beating heart of a stone drew the rest of his attention, the only thing out of place in the otherwise homogeneous animated sculpture of glass. How to get to it? Provided the construct hadn’t attacked him yet, he’d begin by trying to sample its properties, approaching it quickly as he could before swinging out with his crystal bearing fist as a bright blue veil of force sprung from it mid-motion. He wouldn’t swing straight into the creature directly, though the forceful magic would go beyond his reach and into its glassy form in a sideways blow, meant to impact and gouge out a hunk of the material that made it up if it were liquid, or begin opening cracks for a shattering should it be solid and brittle.

Jewel heart ached as something tried to dislodge it from its home in her chest. Her heated glass body kept it from leaving her chest, the glowing stone moved about but then resettled where it was originally as her semiliquid body healed itself from the attack. The glass dragon looked about from looking at herself in the mirror again and screeched what sounded like something of a wounded animal though she was more scared at what had happened to her. At that moment a new instinct turned on. In order to survive she had to defend herself, and not just eat. Jewel acted as if she drew in a deep breath and proceeded to barrage her attacker with a ruby colored glass attack tinged with fire salts. The attack would act as though it were real flame coming from the dragon mouth but once it lost connection with Jewel’s body it would cool down and turn into shards of glass flying at her attacker. Though these shards were flame shaped and did have a burning effect as it was also heated glass still but more solid than when it was before it disconnected from Jewel. You also seem to notice that Jewel seemed to grow slightly smaller after this attack, but you’re not sure if it was a trick of the light or something. She would then run outside away from her attacker and turn around to see if he was follower her, which she would then spread out her wings and puff out her chest and try to look bigger.

Linn furrowed his brows at the motion of the heart-like stone within the creature in response to his blow, the veil of force gouging out a hunk of molten glass that slipped right from the blue light and into a wall the moment it detached from Jewel’s body. The strange construct’s screech and turn led the enchanter to immediately back off, not wanting to brawl with a creature made of the heated flowing material. The sudden gout of glassy fire forced him to continue backing off, raising the arm he had just swung to shield his face with hard mithril. Fortunately, the metal was fireproof and shielded him from the worst of the glassy assault, though several shards found their way around his arm to tear at the top of his head with a combination of lacerations and immediate half-cauterization from their heated nature. Equally unfortunate, the fire brought many of his armor plates to a red-hot state that threatened to cook him within, and the moment the glass dragon’s fiery assault ended only for the heat to continue burning at him he shunted the rigid armor, his enchanted construction allowing them to just fall from his body at a moment’s notice. It stopped the burning, but the exposed leather would require a lot more magical exertion to block another assault like that without serious injury. Jewel luckily gave him the time and space he needed to compose himself, thoughts racing at how to get to that core that was so out of place in the creature. After maybe half a minute he left the shop, leaving his pack inside and his fire-enchanted sword sheathed, poised lightly on the balls of his feet given the sudden lack of weight now. Within his now unarmed hand was a diamond, the only thing he knew that would stand up to the assault of the creature’s heat without losing its form, and with a swift flick of his wrist he threw it straight for the glowing heart of the beast with the speed of a full blown pitch, and then some. If it struck the creature’s form it would release a focused shockwave straight forward that would attempt to hurl the heart straight from its body if it landed square on target. Otherwise it would probably only blow a short-lived hole in its semiliquid form, sending a spatter of glass out the other way.

A glass bead rolled down Jewel’s face like a tear, she was truly scared now. She was panicking and doing everything she could that she thought to stay alive. Why was this creature trying to hurt her? In her belly you can see two more different kinds of pigments and what looked like different grains of the elemental slats still floating within her. The blue pigment started mixing with a lighter shade salt indicating the Ice Salts were still within her. The yellow pigments and black salt grains showed that she still had the potential to use an electrical attack somehow. The glass dragon gasp and cried out as a sudden impact on her body was made, but what was worse than that was an even more painful feeling like the coldness of death was upon her. She looked around, her body starting to slow down as for a few feet behind her was her heart. Luckily for her some strands of glass had remained intact and kept her connected to it. Her body cooling down faster now, she quickly stumbled her way to the throbbing glowing stone, creaks coming from her body as she went and soon cracks formed on the colder parts of her. Finally she gets to it putting a claw on it and the heat of life soon returned to her. She turns to look at her assailant and open her mouth as if to talk. Slowly and kind of hollow you hear her words, “Why do you hurt Jewel?” More beads fall to the ground and form marbles as they fall from her face. She turns and runs away again, but this time she the blue pigments and Ice Salts are seen in her throat, she turns behind her and blasts the ground and sending a super chilled sheet of ice across the path of the creature and form a wall as she went. The glass this time would take on much more slicker properties and be extremely cold and hard to break easily.

Linn was too focused on that heart to see Jewel’s condition, his adrenaline only letting him see what would and wouldn’t be a threat right now. A short-lived mental cheer went off at the success of his gambit with the diamond before the creature began moving again, creaking and cracking with the lack of the heat of its heart. With a step to the side and a surge forward he began sliding on the ground of his own accord trying to reach the heart before Jewel did, though the distance didn’t allow him to do so, the glass dragon drawing it back into herself just as he got close again. The words caused him to flinch. This thing actually had the mind to speak? And not just speak but it attempted… peace? There was too much to be learned about such a creature to outright destroy it right now. His thoughts were broken by the sudden blast of icy wind, forcing him to hurl himself to the side and out of its way. As he got back up the strange construct had put considerable distance between the two, prompting him to surge forward again, breaking into his magical skating to close the gap and pass Jewel up before turning into her path, hands held out seemingly empty in a gesture of peace. The violet crystal that projected his shield was hidden right behind his open palm, just in case another attack came, but he made none of his own. If it wasn’t one of the mindless destructive creatures he had faced so many times by now, perhaps he could tame it for now? And so he made another gambit, calling to it in a clear, but apologetic voice. “Stop. What is jewel?” He remained poised to leap aside to try and dodge any more breaths or swipes that came his way, but he bore no traces of an attacking posture.

The glass dragon had already set up a trap if her pursuer had followed her. The yellow pigment with black speckles was already out of her body and you could see that she created rods of glass about the area with the black specks embedded in the surface and exposed to the air. Looking closer you see that it looks like it needs a type of trigger to set off the trap. Now cornered and with an extremely scared look on her face, she huddles in a corner beads rolling down his snout and falling to the ground, little bits of light shining at the center of each marble a show that true life had formed in this one being. Upon hearing the other creature’s words she hesitated and listened to them trying to understand them at first, she then gave out her own reply, “Jewel is Jewel.” She huddles again, but noticed that she wasn’t as flexible before, whatever had knocked out her heart was still inside her. A lump formed around the intrusive object and she screeched in so much pain by it. “Why do you hurt Jewel so? What did Jewel do to you?” She claws at the gooey glass and digs at the diamond lodged in her chest next to her core. She stopped as it was too painful to continue and she went and gathered her globs absorbing them into herself again. Still in pain she shrinks away from the stranger. Her tail accidentally brushing the trap she laid out for the monster. Lightning strikes all around her though some had struck her it didn’t faze her though.

Linn’s mind was racing too much to notice the trap he had skated right through and up to, only able to catch the first clue there was something set up in the first place as Jewel’s tail brushed against the first pylon. He leapt to the side expecting another direct blast of fire or ice or whatever other form of attack would assault him. The change in the effect’s area betrayed him though; while some of the lightning arced over the scale and mail still around his joints, other strands of crackling energy struck through his muscle, forcing him to curl up into a ball in the forced movement and pain. Right now his best bet to survive was… to beg for mercy and convince the creature not to finish him off. When he spoke it was choked and breathless, “Jewel had the wrong form at the wrong time.” A gasp, “Jewel destroyed things around her without knowing.” Slowly his breathing began to even out, “I can stop hurting Jewel. Make sure this does not happen to Jewel again.” Opening up he was still shaky, several muscle groups refusing to cooperate. “The diamond still hurts Jewel? I can remove it for Jewel easily.” Was his final offer of truce, for his sake to survive and learn from the construct more than anything.

Linn wins.

Note from Linn: This duel isn't ending with the usual autohit/destruction. Irthos and I are RPing out the aftermath of this and I'll put it up once complete.