Duel:Kanna v Rorin, Match 4 of the 2018 Frostmaw Tournament

From HollowWiki
Duelists: Kanna vs Rorin
Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 15 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Auto-hit to the winner.
Judges: Celaeno, Hildegarde, and Leone

Stepped Hot Springs

Leone said, "Welcome to the seventh annual Titans of Winter Tournament! Here we gather at the Stepped Hot Springs, where the tournament officials have tweaked and prodded the naturally humid environment into its own weather patterns. The steam collects along the varying temperatures of pools, forming clouds, fog, and mists at every level, except that rather than the normally cleansing and hospitable vapors, they are now mildly, nauseatingly poisonous. So, too, does the rising moisture collect at the ceiling into voluminous bodies that float and drift - and occasionally burst into deluges of acid rain. Good luck to both Kanna and Rorin!"


Rorin readied himself across the steppes at a distance of no less than ten meters. As the steams turned from minerals and vital healing into poisonous fog that drifted in bloated clouds he touched his free hand to the religious symbol at his neck. Whispering a prayer to Arkhen as he searched for the shadow of his opponent within the viral clouds drifting about Rorin would use the divine inspiration to feel for her. Sensing out for her, her magic, her form, Rorin would try to remember where all of the pools had been and where he should be running to avoid them. First he placed a handful of silver coins from his belt into the pouch of his staff. He dug into the ground and angled it back, pulling it as tense as he could. Sensing her out one more time, he whispered a second prayer, lacing the coins with holy magic. Upon releasing his staff they would fly through the air and spread out near his target and the roof of the cave. With a trigger word, they would explode, holy light shattering them, bursting their bits throughout the poisoned air, no doubt triggering some of the acidic rain as well as blowing apart some of the fog clouds. The paladin would then take the opportunity to start off his run, digging out throwing knives from a second pouch, flinging them at his hopefully exposed target to stall whatever spell she may be brewing for him. With a second hand of knives drawn Rorin would leverage his pole once again and use it to hoist himself up and over one of the pools rather heroically. On his descent he would throw his second knife to try to change her course, rolling as he landed to close the distance. One side of his pole would go down with a feint towards her legs as the other came up to bash at her instrument in the hopes of either distracting or totally disarming her.


Kanna covers her mouth with one hand as the announcer speaks, being careful not to breathe too deeply. This alone was going to hinder her abilities if she was separated from her instruments. Fastened with leather straps to stay across her torso is her shamisen. With straps laying in the opposite direction, her two-headed drum rests against the small of her back. Though it would seem to anyone else like she had trash in her hair, a sprig of a quine shrub nests behind the love bug perched on her hair-tie. The rank-smelling fog quickly obscures her opponent from her, and she takes a step back. She couldn't use her shamisen's power if she couldn't see...! The sound of the staff hitting the ground alerts her that he has not moved too far yet. "Memories inside my heart are there to grieve." She sings, hopefully quiet enough to keep him from hearing, though it echoes through the cave. Upon singing, the roots under the cerulean flowers, though slightly weakened by the acidic vapor touching them, shudder before disappearing into the ground. The poisoned gas is already making her nauseous, but she steels herself. Moving around the lip of one of the pools to keep from standing in the same spot, she starts again. "Color-coded by the love you gave to me." She sings again just before he sets the trigger. That is when the roots of the flora in the cave appear, somehow morphed into thick, thorned braids that seek out her opponent with heavy swipes. Kanna feels a sting, followed by others in rapid succession and realizes that he has used a ranged attack before trying to come directly at her. "Is it sad that I'm glad that you lied to me?" This song's tone is different, though its effect is soon realized as a cluster of vines shoot from in front of her to cover her from the sudden downpours of acid and the attack. Given that she is on the edge of the pool, perhaps it is enough to send him into the poisonous pool below. She lets out a hiss as some of the acid drips on her open scratches from the shards of metal.


Rorin felt it stinging in his lungs with every step and knew that he would have to use some curatives as soon as he got the chance or else he would be dropping dead in the middle of this. He could hear the first lyrics of his opponent though muffled through the thickness of the venomous fog. It only helped him to zero in with the points of his half elven ears as he tried to ignore the poison that had also begun to slime over his eyes. Although his muscles burn he tries to dance around the swinging vines with only his ears while he hurries on across the pools. With his leap and bound he managed to make it onto the vines she had forced in front of her to his impromptu advantage. He had underestimated her position and ended up swinging at the other vines that still beat at him through the holes that were now eaten through his armor by the dripping acid. Realizing this wouldn't get him far, Rorin spun his staff around and beat it into the ground, pulsing out a protective wave, before touching the symbol about his neck again to purge his system of the poisonous fog. Instead of reaching out for her he listened, loading up his sling staff with coins again and firing when he heard the first lyrics, following it by a quick second shot, trying to box her in against a pool. Stuffing an herb in his mouth to help him breath Rorin renewed his chase, flinging a knife every time he had to dodge one of her vines, growing ever closer until he was only a few feet away, starting to barrage her with a flurry of blows using his pole. If he had to beat her down he would even with his eyes closed and so much of his cloth gone he approaching nudity.


Kanna runs in the opposite direction as soon as her wall of foliage separates them. The movement causes her to stumble. She forces herself to stay quiet when the metal of the coins embed themselves into her back, taking a shuddering breath. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to move very much before fainting from the noxious air. A harsh series of strums to the shamisen ring out, A-flat, D-flat, B, chords surprisingly loud and seeming almost ominous when echoed back so frequently, some of the thorned appendages still spinning wildly at the place where Rorin first stood recede into the ground. With a low rumble, they begin disturbing the earth under the corrupt paladin's feet as they force their way over to her. Another wall emerges, though not before the pole of his staff makes contact with her temple. She stumbles and trips down into a shallow pool, only exposing her calves and feet to the acid. With a high-pitched yipe, she scrambles out from the other side as the liquid burns. Soon, she won't be able to move at all...! But she has to win, she has to! She tightens her grip on the shamisen and plays again, G-flat. E. D-flat. "Try to listen now." She says in a sing-song voice as she stumbles away from the swings of the pole. The words echo, yet somehow seem to get louder with each repetition. The pole connects with her sides and cause hiccups in the sound, though her hands refuse to stop moving. It seems she cannot take much more of this. The sound-waves amplify from her true magic reserves to reach nearly deafening levels. If uninterrupted, the words would begin to feel like knives scraping at the inside of one's eardrums.


Rorin kept up pretty well after he managed to purge himself but still the vines lashed out at him and the faster he went the more they took advantage of his speed. They cut across his limbs, his torso, even his face, and although he was fast every roll brought his exposed fleshing scraping across the acid laden ground. It was torture and he was screaming at this point just to relieve the pain. It didn't matter if she heard where he was though because she made sound just to attack him. No matter where she went, if she wanted to win, he would find her. As soon as his opponent falls into the pool his knives fly for her, loaded with a different kind of holy spell, one that would burst into arcs of paralyzing energy wherever the blades landed. He needed her to stay still just so he wouldn't end the battle with half his skin rubbed off. Although her words dug into him like daggers he still swung around with all the force he had to bring this to an end. To aid to this strategy Rorin absorbed the pain, fueling his holy magic with it, becoming a martyr with the symbol around his neck glowing redder with every ounce of pain it absorbed. It would not be long until it was fully charged with the mystical red glow burning around him. Using his pole as leverage Rorin would give ground, leaping back a few meters, giving himself enough time to absorb all of the pent up energy in a burst of healing. With most of his skin back, and much less of his clothes, Rorin could only prepare himself to evade or endure her next attack before he rushed her once more. The battle was a back and forth full of hellish vapors but he would succeed. He would not surrender after enduring so much pain in this short time. The effort to survive now drove him to destroy her through his own sacrfice.


Kanna lets out a horrified and agonized gasp as the blades sunk into her calves. That HURTS...! She collapses on the opposite end of the walkway as he seems to heal himself in record time. The pole connected with her fingers and she let out a shriek. The human has never had her fingers broken before; the waves of pain it gives off are almost numbing at first, likely in combination with the adrenaline. The music stops, leaving the cave unnervingly quiet as he prepares to swing again. Think fast, think fast, think fast. Before she can register what she's done, the instrument has left her hands, thrown like a projectile that she only prays is not knocked aside by his weapon. She rolls off to the side as the pole comes down again, straining to cry out in pain as the daggers embedded in her legs sink in deeper, and scream as the nasuea from the vapors becomes unbearable. Her voice...! The poison has finally eaten at her vocal chords!! The freckled bardess pulls her drum out from behind her and shuts her eyes to concentrate on the beat. The soundwaves amplify with such intensity that it shakes the clouds of noxious gas to let out the acidic rains, and even vibrates the air around her. But is it enough to keep that last swing of the pole from making contact?


Rorin knew neither of them could last a minute longer. As soon as they were done here they would need medics on site or a shallow grave for their bubbling bodies and reduced remains. He nearly had her done in though. All he needed was to last through her beating drum, till her arm fell and could fall no more, to withstand the incredible waves of pressure caused her bardic sound. He could hardly shrug off her weapon as it was thrown at him or keep up with her struggling form on the floor. He raised his pole in shaking hands and quivering arms, ready to deal the last blow, and end this hellish battle full of so much pain and strife. Only if he could continue to stand. With prayers thought more than whispered Rorin believed that if the gods determined his success here it was the only thing that could ensure such a tremendous victory.


Winner: Kanna


Kanna looks up to see her opponent advancing on her, staff shaking in his hands as he strains not to succumb to the combined pain of the intense pressure building in his head and the poisoned air. She shuts her eyes and keeps the tempo on the drum going, increasing its speed with every repetition. The blow from the staff never comes, and instead, she hears a splash. When her eyes open, it takes her a moment to register that the spot where Rorin had been is now gone. Realizing what has happened, she drags herself to the edge of the spring, where down below, he floats unconscious in the acidic water. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. She has won, but in the moment, the poison slowly eating him alive is what dominates her attention. Kanna makes to call the spectators to help, and realizes she can't call for help or use her borrowed nature magic without her voice. Fishing out a gift from the Bard's Guild from her pocket, she blows harshly into the pitch-perfect pipe so that someone hears it and comes to get them both out of harm's way. It isn't until after the paralytic daggers are removed from her calves and someone picks her up to carry her out that she realizes, 'Wait, does this mean I won?!'