Duel:Leoxander v Orange, Match 1 of the 2022 Vailkrin Tournament

Duelists: Leoxander vs Orange
 Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 20 minute posting limit.
 Stakes: Auto-hit to the winner.
 Judges: Lanara, Magik, Meri

Dark Arena

The arena is filled with various corpses, both dead and undead alike. Several zombies seem to be carrying the corpses out of the arena, returning them to the masters they served. Many bodies here look disfigured and ill, clearly abominations constructed by necromancers to serve in the gladiator-like battles held here in the arena. Several of the other bodies though are completely normal, those of which were likely living participants that did not succeed in winning their matches. A battle must have recently gone on here, as the crowds of people step out of the entrance of the area. To the south is the way out, while to the north is a path leading to the back of the arena, and the castle beyond that.

Pre-duel Banter and Introduction

Quintessa is not here herself, so in her place stands Saorsa Cladach, the Steward of the Dark Forest and the head of the Countess’ gaming commission. With bright ginger hair, expressive green eyes, and a face dotted with tiny freckles, the delicate looking vampire places her hand upon the podium before her, activating the runic device which would amplify her voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, and enbies- I’d like to welcome each one of you to Dark and Mysterious Vailkrin! Today you will get to witness something amazing- something never seen before- The inaugural Vailkrin Blood Bowl opening match!”

Quintessa || “The honor of this first fight goes to two very special people tonight… First, Vailkrin native and daughter of the famous Blue Demon, making her dueling debut, Larelynn ‘the Orange Witch’ Thorne! Orange please take your position in the arena!” (ooc: Shishi post your intro please)

Lanara arrives with Aspen, the beyond adorable polar bear cub, and quickly finds them a pair of seats. She hoists the cub onto a chair and hands him a sugar free lollipop, “Be good and I’ll get you some popcorn later, mmkay?”

Shishi settles into his spot in the stands, overtly annoyed with his son that sits beside him wearing a full winter wolf’s head atop his own (a souvenir from his most recent trip to Frostmaw for Titans.) The boy is not shy about the fact that he is not cheering for his sister in this particular match. Yellow is on the right side of the Blue Demon, perhaps strategically as that is the side with his injured, seemingly permanently closed eye, so he doesn't have to look at the little traitor during this fight…

Shishi || Leralynn’s entrance into the arena is heralded by a loud, slow skittering sound. When she emerges onto her side of the pitch she is atop a massive, exuvia of one of The Forest of Abyssal Darkness’ giant spiders. Necromancy has been employed to reanimate the exoskeleton, which may be the product of a molt, rather than from a felled creature. The teenage half-elf has made some noticeable modifications to her chitinous mount in that the tips of each of the eight legs have had humanoid skeletal hands grafted onto them, and where one would expect to find an octet of eyes on a living arachnid, there is now an array of eight human skulls with short, lit candles nestled into their cranial cavity, causing them to all cast an eerily flickering glow from their eye sockets. The Orange Witch herself sits at the back end of the undead creation at its widest point, cross legged and with her blond hair in a thick braid that cascades over the front of her left shoulder. Her signature weapon, a shovel with a telescoping handle, is slung over her back in a button clasped holster and the fingernails on her left hand are painted a deep shade of red reminiscent of the scales of a middle aged dragon of the same color. The young necromancer is finishing off a chocolate chip muffin that is one of the last remaining treats from a gift basket she received this morning from an anonymous fan (read: Leo attempting to make her sluggish from excess sugar). Other than all that, everything else is standard for the girl, dark boots and dark pants beneath a short, slightly frilled dark skirt, and a dark short sleeved shirt that offers little protection combat wise, but allows for free and easy range of movement…

Quintessa || “And next, from parts unknown- You’ve all heard of him from his exploits in the Titan’s of Winter Tournament… The Legendary- The Laudable- the Lawless Leoxander! Leo please take your position on the opposite end of the arena!” (ooc: Leo post your intro please)

Leoxander was not enthusiastic about stepping into the Dark Arena that day, particularly for the company youth had brought along. Not that his frustrated, sun-in-the-eyes (™Kanna) and steeled stare was a new look for him. There may just be an offbeat note in that glare that was capricious, uncertain, particularly when he shifted it toward where Orange might emerge from. A frown contained by the black fabric covering from nose to throat also concealed the traditional shave of his features. The usual treaded combat boots and leather dressed him from shoulders to feet, right arm slightly off skew from the left, covered by the sleeves of his hooded leather jacket. The cowl was drawn back between his shoulders with the sheathed cutlass strapped to his back, which seemed to be the only weapon visible on his person. He took a moment to finish securing the strapped wraps around either fist that turned out to be gloves, looking similar to what a boxer due for a bout might use, but with a particular tailor’s flare. And was that a stray speck of glitter still in his hair from the charity faire? It’s called fashion; criminal chic. The rogue dug into his pocket without taking his eyes off the arachnid mount, not for a white kerchief to surrender though his body was already tensing up at the sight of one of his greatest fears. It was partly smooshed and parchment wrapped, that peanut butter and fudge brownie, tied with an orange ribbon. When her attention was directed his way, he threw it overhand across the distance between them for her to hopefully catch it. “For some motivation. An’ you win this round, you’ll get your request, girl.” Of course, there was always the other side of that coin. “If I win, you’re my personal pup-sitter when I need one. We got an accord?”

Quintessa || “Before we begin, have you both discussed any wagers, stakes, or special rules for this bout? If not we will default to standard rules (20 min post limit, autohit awarded to winner). Have the duelists agreed on who will be posting first? If not, the host may decide for you. Judges please keep in contact with me during this match, if three judges have not been selected yet I will appoint people to fill the remaining slots.”

Loravelle is on edge for a handful of reasons once she's found a seat. One, she's in Vailkrin again. City of Nightmares. Two, that thing Orange rode in on? Terrifying. Three, Leo has to go up against it, and...She tugs the rogue's jacket that he gifted her over a year ago tighter around her frame and works real hard on trying to make herself look and feel smaller. Unnoticeable. She isn't terribly superstitious but maybe the jacket has some good luck in it.

Shishi || Leralynn's skeletal spider lifts one of its front legs and catches the confection in its attached hand, curling the appendage unnaturally to hand it to the girl, who calls back across the arena, "Aye! Works for me, Cap." (stakes are a spot on Leo's pirate crew for an Orange win, free baby sitting from the kid for a Leo win.)

Leoxander said, "(Standard rounds, Shi first.)"

Lita steals a seat next to Loravelle and draps an arm around the girl's shoulders without a word. Whoever won, they'd be celebrating a fellow rogue tonight.

Quintessa || “If both duelists agree to and understand the rules, say ‘Ready,’ and the environmental hazard shall be introduced.”

Shishi said, "Ready"

Khitti || It was Khitt here tonight, as it was Khitt that would be dueling. He's in his usual attire and had decided to lurk by himself to study the two duelists. He's accompanied by a bottle of whiskey and a glass, all packed away nice and neat in their little carrying case. And speaking of neat, his drink wasn't. It was on the rocks, with exactly two cubes of shadow-ice.

Loravelle looks and feels as tense as if she were down there in Leo's place, but Lita not only sitting next to her but draping an arm around her shoulders is a relief that helps settle her nerves. She doesn't say anything, but she does dig in the confines of that jacket for a flask that she hands over to Lita. Honeyed whiskey. She borrowed a little from the Jolly Roger before they left.

Leoxander said, "(ooc: Sorry, forgot about the ready part. Ready.)"

Environmental Challenge

23:56:51 Quintessa || With both duelists placed on opposite sides of the arena, Saorsa waves a signal to the undead workers positioned around the stadium, shouting the foreboding order “Raise the Tessa Coils!” The workers immediately get to it, grabbing cranks and turning the handles until six, large, metal towers rise from portholes in the ground, each positioned equal distances apart in a circle around the edge of the arena. At their zenith the towers activate, the workers scurrying away quickly as blue, runic markings manifest along the length to produce a powerful, static, electro-bolt spell on each tower. One of the workers fails to escape in time and lightning arcs to meet them, loud popping noises emitting each time the electricity crashes down on them, reducing them to unrecognizable crispy bits. Even people in the front row would be able to feel the hair on their arms react to the powerful electric field now surrounding the two duelists. Getting too close to the edge now could prove hazardous to your health. With the environmental hazards in place the hostess calls for the first duelist to “Begin!” (ooc: start duel)

Meri gives Khitt a wave from where she is seated, right on Magik's lap.

Leoxander nodded once toward the tournament host.

Lanara waves to Loravelle and Lita. She also spies Meri and Magik nearby and waves to them.

Khitti smirks and lifts his glass at Meri. There's a nod for Magik too.

Magik nods to Khitt, nods to Lanara, nods to Meri, nods to Shi2, nods to the undead, etc..His neck hurts.

Meri also waves to Lanara. And Lita. And Lora. And Nort. And Val. With everyone greeted, Meri snuggles into Magik and focuses on the duel.

Saorsa said, "We ask all in attendance to please mind the Tessa Coils. The Dark Forest Gaming Commission will not take responsibility for any loss of life that occurs to anybody that gets too close to the equipment. Thank you."

Magik whispers sweet nothings to Meri..

Magik whispered something to Meri.

Lita takes the flask from Lora with a brief and surprised smile before taking a drink. She watches then as those electrical towers rise up from the ground, one of the workers gets toasted and she mutters a not so ladylike curse as she hands the flask back to Lora. She'll probably need it more.

Lita offers a smile to Lanara and Meri in turn- or Magik, hard to tell they're pretty much one person just now.

Meri whispered something to Magik.

Magik whispered something to Meri.

Loravelle might get sick at the sight and sound of those coils alone. She takes a long drink from the flask once it's returned to her and joins in on the muttered cursing, missing any waved greetings sent her way. Her eyes are glued on Leo now.

Lita said to Loravelle, "If you're gonna hurl, do it in that direction," as she points to the girl's opposite side and away from herself. "Okay?"

Meri whispered something to Magik.

The Duel

00:16:01Shishi || Leralynn unwraps her freshly received snack and plucks a piece of it off, tossing the fudgy cake into her mouth while the “Tessa Coils” rise and energize. “Gwah~.” A soft command is spoken to her mount and the giant arachnid exoskeleton rushes several steps forward towards the center of the arena, putting distance between its master and the high voltage arcing around the battlefield. The blonde half elf, still seated on her abominable mount, discards the rest of her treat and claps her hands together, engaging in a quick, silent prayer to Vakmatharas that sets the match into motion. The legs of her exuvia splay out and the belly of the spider skeleton hits the ground with a thump. The front four of the eight legs detach from the main body and start clawing their way towards the front of the undead creation. The hands on those long appendages reaching up to one of the skulls that serve as the eyes of the monster and plucking it out from the array of bones. The four limbs position themselves so that they connect to the detached skull as a center of mass, with four long, articulating spokes coming out of it and then this new amalgamated, pointy collection of bones starts running on two ridiculously long, hand-footed legs towards Leoxander. The goal of this thin, bodiless skeleton is immediately clear as the palms of its upper limbs thrust forwards towards the lycan captain in a sumo wrestler-like technique that means to continuously force him backwards to the point that he is shoved into the electrically charged barrier. Meanwhile the remaining legs on the spider start to shift so that they are in position on the exoskeleton to equally share the load between them now that the other limbs are preoccupied. The mass of chitin begins to rise once more…

Meri repositions herself so that she is in that chair next to Magik. She doesn't look mad though, they're still whispering.

Loravelle said to Lita, "I will..." Her face hasn't started to turn green yet, but it just might. "P-promise."

Magik leans towards Meri as he keeps sweet talking her. There's a slight twitch of his eye then he pats his lap after a few seconds.

Magik whispered something to Meri.

Meri tries to keep a straight face but cannot. She fans the area around her, trying to help air the space out. Thanks Magik. Her smile does fade though. Because. Spiders. "I. Hate. Spiders."

Saorsa said, "I hope no one in the audience today has arachnophobia- This creepy critter makes my very skin crawl, ew."

Lita whispered something to Loravelle.

Khitti should've brought Francis, clearly.

00:33:10Leoxander risked taking his eyes from the young necromancer a few beats before the Blood Bowl presenter announced for them to begin. The flare of blue reflected across the wolf’s gaze and his jaw tightened under his mask. A quick glance darted to the crowd as though searching for a select few significantly, hoping to quiet the internal instinct to retreat. He forced his focus to return, sharpening blue irises while pinspot pupils narrowed to shield some of his vision from any light that might flicker across the surrounding barrier. It seemed Leo was doing his best to keep Orange and her undead creation in peripheral vision at first, guts twisted into knots as he struggled with a relentless mental fear while due to face a physical attack. Ready or not. The shift and trigger of the reformed creature is what brings him back into the muscle memory of that bloody sport, quickly mapping out the placement of transformed limbs and noting that the speed of the spider would suffer for the change. Arms, legs, whatever they were - there were several in his reach, and it didn’t seem to be until the very last moment of opportunity that the rogue drew Dead Man’s last Tale from the scabbard across his spine and began foot work meant to fake his momentum right far enough that the arachnid would have to turn its torso should it intend to keep progressively closing in. A rebound of direction and a switch of blade to his southpaw arched in an attempt to sever one or more of those clawed appendages with the razor edge of his black-iron blade, but successful or not he pushed into a forward roll to keep his body moving, attempting to get to the other side between the limb attached to thorax and the swell of abdomen. Right to his feet, it may be a futile sidelong swing gripped by both hands that immediately sought to make the monster as useless as possible by amputating as many stems as possible. All the while, he had to keep his position away from the electric wall and barely had any attention to divide to know what the hell Orange was cooking up during this distraction.

Leoxander happened to be terribly arachnophobic. Couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

Loravelle whispered something to Lita.

Magik whispered something to Meri.

Lita slips a mini pirate flag into Lora's lap. Probably something meant for a little that she'd picked up in a tourist shop.

Xiembantointh and a few of his workers arrive late to the fight before the split off to find some beer or food. Xiem tucks his hands into the front pockets of his denim slacks while looking around for an empty seat.

Loravelle might look a little silly waving her pirate flag, but she's waving it anyway. Go Leo! But gods above that is the most terrifying spider thing ever and she hates it.

Meri whispered something to Magik.

Magik whispered something to Meri.

00:52:37Shishi || Leralynn was of course aware of her former clanmate’s fear of spiders, but the deployment of this skeletal familiar is purely coincidental as she had started working on this thing several weeks before the Blood Bowl matchups were announced. Orange, the detached quartet of limbs, and the remainder of the exoskeleton beneath the girl all do their best to keep Leoxander between them and the nearest charged metal tower, resulting in an awkward circular waltz between the combatants with the lycan making it even more uncoordinated with each hack he takes at the remaining limbs of the spider, eventually breaking through the chitin of two of them and completely collapsing the creature, sending The Orange witch sliding down off its back and rolling on the ground once before springing to her feet on the opposite side of the crippled spider from the captain. She unhooks the shovel from her back, extends the metallic, telescoping handle and violently lodges it into the side of the arachnid skeleton before dashing away at her top speed, which isn’t particularly fast. She rapidly starts snapping her fingers on her right hand while glancing at a spot behind her. After a moment or two of snapping a spark of light appears in the air between the spider and one of the electric towers. Arcane energy builds up at that spot between those three points until an energetic threshold is met and the tower loudly and brightly discharges, arcing between the focus of the girl’s magic and the metal shovel she left in her familiar. The result is a spider webbing burst of electricity from the mass of bone and chitin that Leoxander has been taking swings at.

Lita spies Xiem lurking about and waves for him go come join her and Loravelle, patting the empty seat next to her. She'd move, but she's pretty sure Lora might faint if she tried to.

Loravelle may not have her hands clutching on Lita's arm in some sort of death grip, but she absolutely might cry (and faint) if Lita moved away. She takes another swig from that flask in her hand to take some of the edge off.

Xiembantointh catches the familiar face of Lita and a joyous grin spread across his face before making his way over to Lita who is sitting next to a slightly familiar face. "Hey, how are you?" He asks while leaning down to place an innocent little kiss on her cheek before taking the seat next to her. Then he leans in for a whisper.

Xiembantointh whispered something to Lita.

Lita whispered something to Xiembantointh.

Lita makes an attempt at introductions between Xiem and Lora, unsure if the pair had met before or not, other than in amidst the chaos of the shop a few weeks back. Lora might not be responsive to meeting new people just now though. She won't force it.

Meri studies Xiem ever so curiously when he kisses Lita's cheek. Oh la la.

Lita throws popcorn at Meri's head. After finding popcorn somewhere.

Meri ducks out of the way, so that popcorn hits Magik instead. She's such a good wife.

01:11:59Leoxander knew the fastest way to his opponent was not safely circling around the bulk of the fallen creature, despite the potential of being caught up by one of those remaining clawed extremities or worse. Gods; every part of the lycan’s conscience toldl him to get as far away from that nightmare, and he did in fact take off sprinting as Leralynn did once her stake was claimed in the undead creature, only in the same direction right for the construct. The rogue’s speed and cursed strength had him landing a first jump nearly across the bone hard thorax of the protoplasm, sliding, ducking, finding traction again in his landing upon the corpse and bone riddled ground on the other side. Hopefully all the while dodging any swipes or swings if the thing was still animated at all. One thing Leo did figure out about that creation was that it soon became a conductor of that powerful element, and he barely got two small throwing knives in grip as that arch stretched for the telescopic shovel acting as a lightning rod. Throwing them hard for the girl’s back, anticipating her path as best as he could if it was anything but straight, the blades were only a couple or inches of so in length and wouldn’t do much to wound should either impale a successful strike. But despite that he kept running hard after her and away from the unknown electric radiator behind him, the tail end of the zap pulsed through the pirate’s form and shot him several feet forward to slide stomach and face down in the dirt, stunned for a moment by the debilitating shock. It was as he was working on getting back onto his feet, muscles locked and trembling that Orange would feel the effects of those thrown weapons if they punctured in. Disorientation and minor paralysis poisons, courtesy of the vials that were a rogue’s best friend, might just leave her in a similar state of trying to move and see straight again. There was a coughed curse word in the arena from the man that said he wasn’t quite finished, yet.

Loravelle makes some sort of decidedly mouse-like, squeaky noise at the sight of Leo being shocked, and sinks further into her seat and as a result, further into that oversized jacket. She can't bear to watch, but she also can't bear being rude... Her head peeks out just a little, grey eyes peering over the jacket's collar at the man Lita attempts to introduce her to. Xiem gets a timid wave, and she's back to half hiding, half silently fretting over that zap Leo just endured, and half trying to keep herself calm. That's too many halves. Fractions are hard, guys.

Magik ate the popcorn.

Xiembantointh offers a friendly smile to Loraville when they are introduced, but she is understandingly being distracted by the gruesome fight. He winces when Leo takes a spill, but loudly calls out, "come on, man! You got this!" Then he joins in with other people chanting 'Leo! Leo! Leo!' He glances down to see both of Lita's hands being held hostage by Lora and he merely smiles at the pair before going back to cheering for the pirate.

Saorsa said, "Youch, that electricity is live folks! Careful of any metallic jewelry or weapons you might have on you in the crowd- the last thing you want is to take a hit like that! Incredible!"

Lita tightens her arm around Lora when Leo goes down for a moment. She also might make an empathetic wince noise but she tries to stifle it, for Lora's sake. She's pretty sure she might have to carry the girl home drunk, whether Leo wins or not. 01:24:44Lita is a bit surprised- slightly impressed, maybe- to see Xiem cheering along with the crowd. It's a new side to him than she's seen thus far. "Look at you bein' all social-like." She teases. Not that she's one to talk.

Lanara flags down a kid selling popcorn and hands the tub to Aspen. The cubs big eyes light up and he shoves pawfulls of buttery goodness into his muzzle. The witch coils an arm around him so that he doesn’t get any ideas and try to run into the electrical current that Quintessa is warning the crowd about. After the hit Leo took, she cannot blame Vailkrin for not being liable in case of injury or death!

Xiembantointh winks over at Lita with a smirk before going back to jeering or cheering and getting people around them all fired up to cheer for Leo.

01:30:16Shishi || Leralynn was far too focused on generating the charge that caused that electrical explosion to have the capacity to dodge both of those thrown knives. The first one slices through her shirt at the small of her back and sticks into her flesh just to the right of her spine. The aforementioned burst of lightning magic pushes the second knife off course sending it to the ground past the teenage witch harmlessly, but the girl still cries out in pain and stumbles to the floor, sending a puff of dirt into the perpetual night air around her. Orange had been practicing her pyromancy throughout the period of time in which The Xalious Tree was poisoned, weakening arcane magic significantly. Perhaps it is due to her proximity to the Arcane Holy Tree’s moment of revival, or perhaps it is just because casting spells with the tree restored is like taking training weights off, but she’s noticed that the fire magic comes more easily and more powerfully to her now. She grits her teeth, breathing heavily between them from the brief burst of cardio from the spellcaster and the missing mana that she’s already spent in this fight. Both hand point towards Leoxander and she snaps with her thumbs and middle fingers. Two bright little bullets of bright flame shoot from those fingers, igniting the ground as they fly, their path low, just a foot off the dirt. Once they reach the vicinity of the lycan that is their target, they’ll explode in a pair of brilliant orange fireballs. During the flight, the blonde teen pulls the knife from her back and curses under her breath as her vision begins to blur… The four spider limbs and the skull that broke off from the exuvia at the onset of the fight, circle back around and rush towards Leralynn, standing bipedally and scooping the young necromancer off the ground and holding her like a groom carrying their bride across the threshold…

01:48:25Leoxander was deaf to the unfamiliar noise of his name being cheered. Even if he had noticed, he would most certainly think they were yelling for ‘Lera’, even if he’d never heard the girl addressed as that shortened name in the time knowing her. But he couldn’t think about that, or be concerned for Lora, or all the eyes watching him eat the foul dirt chasing down a seventeen year old girl. In mid recovery on his hands and knees, a reminder fell free out of the collar of his jacket, hung on a silver chain that had left a new, noticeable welt around his throat for its conductivity. Unfortunate, but perhaps a blessing in disguise - quite literally. Through the sweat damp and once again filthy hair in his face, his eyes lift in time to catch that snap and see those two missiles of fire streaming his way, and before they explode it appears to the crowd and his competition that all the rogue has time to do is duck his head and raise the armored sleeve to do what he could against impact and explosion. It would be apparent before the smoke even cleared he’d be suffering several burns nonetheless, but as visible of the spot where he’d been defensively crouched returned, Leo wasn’t there. A wisp of strange shadow trained into some dissipation and the practiced stealth of his footsteps allowed his unseen form to encroach on the necromancer princess without the snapping of bones under tread, but the pendant’s ability would not last long. From the shadow laced cloak that formed by triggering that medallion, his trial and challenge consisted of pacing around the back of her animated throne before that limited and less-than-perfect invisibility wore away. Should he achieve that position, it was a sudden and harsh sweep left, sweep right with the black-iron blade that attempted to cripple or topple her to the ground in his range. By that point his free hand had removed the long golden hairpin that had been mostly camouflaged in his overgrown blonde hair. It would be gravity as his own accomplice that he relied upon to bring her into reach, luck willing in range for a roundhouse sweep of his leg that would ground her in order to make it easier to impale the sharp end of that pin. Even if she stayed on her feet, the rogue would still close in to target the side of her throat, sternum, shoulder, or whatever was in plausible reach for the potent sleeping serum to course through her body.

Loravelle keeps telling herself that she can't watch but she's watching, wide-eyed, hands on that flask of hers in a white-knuckled grip. It all happens so quickly to her human eyes. Where did he go?! But then there he is, and that flash of gold...Her hand instinctively reaches for her decoratively bound hair, for that hair pin's twin, and her mouth goes slack. He didn't only keep it, he weaponized it? “Holy heck.” She finds herself joining in on the cheering with the rest of the crowd that Xiem started up. “C'mon, Leo!”

Meri grins to Magik.

Lita is glad to see a little life in Lora finally. Must be the whiskey. She takes the flask and steals a drink, untangling herself from the girl a bit so she can squeeze Xiem's hand instead. Dark eyes glued to the arena, watching as Leo stalks his prey. Still a bit bitter she probably won't get a chance to face him.

Xiembantointh feels something in his hand and sees a little pale hand in it before following it to Lita's face. She looks so focused and he gives her a squeeze back as he wonders if she is worried about her own duel coming up. Then he also has his eyes glued to the action in the area.

02:08:02Shishi || Leralynn struggles to maintain control over her limbs as they grow numb from the poison coursing through her blood. Her current primary necromancy teacher may have literally written the book on toxins and poisons, but all that knowledge that The Orange Witch has absorbed from Quintessa Dragana is useless in the moment without the proper serums at hand. She can’t lift her hands far enough to clasp them together, but she begins her silently mouthed ‘prayer’ to Vakmatharas all the same. In the moment that Leoxander emerges from the shadows and unleashes his attack upon the lanky skeleton carrying the Demon’s Daughter, the candle nestled in the humanoid skull of the pieces of the familiar begins to burn brighter and larger, engulfing the entire cranial bone in flame. The lycan takes out one limb before the necromantic spell takes full effect, leaving the limbs-only undead creature standing on just one leg. However, the next strike finds the remaining grounded leg, but does not break it, instead it appears that the bone has hardened to an incredible level and sends reverberations back through the weapon. Leralynn is roughly discarded by the three limbed skeleton, her body helplessly impacting with the ground before the undead monster engages with Leoxander. The burning skull uses its limbs with a newfound wild ferocity and speed. Extra joints bend and contort the limbs while the whole being spins like a top, intercepting every swing of the cutlass and attempt to strike past and reach the Dark Heiress that created this strange amalgam with the poisoned hairclip…

Saorsa said, "Boys, girls, enbies, both our duelists have put up a great fight but only one gets to move onto round two. Let’s give the judges a few moments to talk amongst themselves while I bring you a word from our sponsors…"

Saorsa said, "Today’s match is brought to you in part by Black Pond Securities. Introducing their new product the Tessa Coil, protect your home from intruders, advancing armies, or nosy neighbors with our awesome death-ray engineering. The Tessa Coil is available in titanium, copper, or black metal, delivers a shock of up to 12 eps (electromancer-power per second), and its sleek design is perfect for any lawn, courtyard, or hidden passageways. For the low, low price of ninety-nine ninety-nine, you could own your very own Tessa Coil today!"

Saorsa said, "Some restrictions do apply. Black Pond Securities is not responsible for any accidental death or maiming the Tessa Coil may cause. Product is sold ‘as is’ and basic magical and runic knowledge is assumed when purchasing the Tessa Coil. All sales are final and the new owner of the Tessa Coil reserves the Right to Repair should their individual product need regular maintenance. Black Pond Securities is not responsible for the repair or maintenance of a Tessa Coil after the product has been sold. Prolonged contact with the Tessa Coil may cause pain, tingling, numbness, weakness, headache, difficulty moving, paralysis, anxiety, night sweats, loss of balance, and death."

Mesdoram said to Magik, "Thanks! It was a gift from Meri. Enjoy it as I have enjoyed it."

Meri said to Mesdoram, "Regifting my presents to you? Wow."

Meri races Magik home. She cheated a little, she got a head start.

Loravelle brought bread to stress eat. She's stress eating now.

Leoxander hopes she bulks up a bit.

Lanara wipes Aspen's muzzle and paws with a cloth, "You have butter -everywhere- young man! We are heading home and you are getting a bath!" The witch rises from her seat and holds the cub in her arms, casting a final glance to the area where the two combatants duked it out. It was a fantastic fight and she can't wait to tell Tiber all about it! A parting wave is offered to Lita and Loravelle as she makes her way from the arena.

Saorsa said, "We have our winner!"

Saorsa said, "Our judges have decided folks! It was a dire fight with dire choices for our judges but they were able to come to a conclusion. Every dog has his day but it was not today, in a narrow decision Leoxander falls just short of clutching victory. Congratulations to our winner, Larelynn! Orange will move forward to fight against Mesdoram in round two. Commiserations to Leo, you fought hard and we loved watching it. We hope you’ll accept our invitation back to the Dark Arena in the future. Orange, you may finish the fight. And don’t forget to collect your 5,000 gold payment- nobody walks out of the Blood Bowl empty handed."

Winner: Orange

Shishi wipes sweat from his brow as he looks on through one wide eye from the stands while Leralynn’s now three limbed skeleton matches Leoxander’s cutlass blow for blow in an incredible display of stalwart defense. As the candle inside the skull burns brighter and brighter, the speed with which the undead collection of bones moves gets faster and faster until it is nothing more than a monstrous blur that eventually clips the lycan’s sword holding hand and ultimately disarms him while the remains of the charred spider exoskeleton stirs and lurches towards the location of the fight going on. The speed becomes too much and Leo will find himself in a grapple from the three limbed skeleton that holds him in place until the rest of the exuvia can arrive and pin him until the fight is finally called in The Orange Witch’s favor… The kid weakly raises a finger in the air in celebration and tiredly lets out a “Gwah~... I won!”

Leoxander didn’t even hear the announcement. He was -still- at battle with contorting skeleton animations at hand to hand combat and couldn’t break ground to get to the girl - but no matter. His intention had not been to wound her too heavily and that was entirely what a competition dubbed ‘Blood Bowl’ was already about. Up until that point, there hadn’t been much blood, but with the shadow disguise evaporated away, even from spectators at a distance, burns covered his face around his eyes, bit through the cloth over his face, and singed his hair shorter in places than when he arrived. Clang after clang of metal until the three swinging blades of what he suspected reshape bones became overwhelming, a knock of one on his shielded arm and finally a low, short yell of pain as his sword skittered over the ground and he was locked down on his back. Teeth bared, his breathing increased near frantic as the limbs of the arachnid assisted and his phobia hovered over him, but he wouldn’t scream. Spots danced in front of his eyes as he fought to stay conscious, the trauma of the creature catching up with him as the adrenaline faded. He forgot where he was, what he was doing, why he was there and began to hyperventilate a bit as he scrambled for some idea on how to fight back or escape.

Quintessa || With the Tessa Coils deactivated and lowered, Arena personale begin to spill into the battleground, ready to administer any aid they might need. Among them is Ms. Caldach with two bags of gold, one for Orange, one for Leo. “Thank you both for entertaining the people of this great city. He is your due reward.”

Quintessa gave 5000 gold to Shishi.

Quintessa gave 5000 gold to Leoxander.

After Duel/Wrap-up

Loravelle takes the deactivated magic-spewing horror-coils lowering out of view and people entering the arena as an indicator that she can do something she once thought unthinkable; climb into the arena herself. She beelines for Leo, stopping short if that spider...monstrosity is still going at him, clearly helpless to actually help even if she wanted to try tugging him away. But she's there at least, just like she promised. Win or lose.

Lita squeezes Xiem's hand before following after Lora down to the arena. Partly to make sure the girl doesn't trip over her own feet and break something important, partly to make sure the pirate's still breathing.

Leoxander didn’t like to lose, but that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Between the electricity, the enormous spider, the overwhelming speed of magically enhanced and reanimated corpses, his brain felt as though it had been mushed up by mortar and pestle and clumped back together in a jumbled mess of panicked thoughts. The phobia was real. He had scars from days of being a ‘blood bag’ to such creatures, albeit live ones. He’d been thrown into a pit of thousands of them with no torch, desperately trying to crawl the walls out of that living nightmare. And for such a hardened and angry individual, he seemed in a vulnerable state, now, trying to close his eyes to wait for that venomous bite, even after the corpses had released him to leave him on the ground, defeated, and the crowd began to mill away.

Loravelle is a jumpy sort of person, and typically the last thing she wanted when on edge was for someone to touch her. That makes her movements cautious and extra careful as she steps closer and closer to Leo, hoping maybe some of his lycan senses can at least detect that it's her and not a spider approaching even while his eyes are closed. She tries speaking too, a trembling hand reaching out to touch at his shoulder but not quite making it. Just in case he might flinch. Worry strains her features. “L-Leo...?”

Shishi and Yellow descend into the combat area after the coils wind down as well. Blue goes to collect his daughter first and foremost, he turns the girl, draping her arms over his shoulder and putting her weight on his back so that her head is leaning off to the side of his left ear. She's conscious, but completely exhausted both from the paralyzing toxin and having poured most of her magical energy into the skeleton's last stand. Yellow kind of creeps away from his family and towards the group surrounding Leo. Once Arius is out of earshot, Shishi nudges his daughter with the side of his head and faintly smiles, "Pretty good, Orange. I think Red would be proud of that fight..."

Leoxander seemed to be catching his breath after a moment, coughing from the electric jolt of the ‘Tessa coils’ and the heat of the fire that burned in his lungs. His voice was hoarse as the sound of his name in Lora’s voice caused his eyes to crack open and unbelievably his first words were, “...Is she a’right…?” The flash of memories from the battle only kept reeling back to the spider and skeletons he’d fought against. At least he’d been granted the favor of not having to raise his weapon to Leralynn with all her empowered defenses. Eventually, he’d start to try to push himself to sit upright, expression paled as he immediately turned and leaned to the side to throw up right there on the ground beside him. If he wasn’t already a failed and miserable looking combatant, that would definitely render him mock-worthy, getting sick like that.

Lita dances out of the way of having bare feet thrown up on. Even if the anklet is spelled to keep her feet clean, that doesn't mean that wouldn't be disgusting. She glances up at the girl being picked up by Shi. "Yeah, she's a'ight." She answers Leo. She'll crouch to offer him a shoulder to help him up. "You kept your feet under yah mostly. Helluva fight." That was a compliment probably. "Lora drank an entire batch of whiskey and ate a man made of bread. I dare say she might've been a touch worried for you. But you look good, all things considered. Not dead an' all."

Loravelle is glad she's conveniently on Leo's side that is not within range of vomit. Her stomach lurches, but to answer his question she looks over at Blue, then Orange, and then Yellow once he's within closer range of the group. All she can do is nod. She thinks the witch is okay, but in reality she has no idea. Her fretting over the rogue's injuries probably doesn't help with his image but that isn't much of a concern for her, now. His well-being is. Yellow is regarded with a puzzled look, with Lora uncertain if he's here to help or gloat or what, but she's back to tending to Leo shortly afterward, hand shoved into a pocket of that oversized jacket to retrieve a handkerchief to wipe at his face or just hand it over if he'd prefer to wipe himself off himself. “D'you think you can stand...?” Lita doing most of the talking is honestly a godsend. She's struggling to keep it together now.

Shishi 's son just kind of stands there awkwardly, not knowing what to say, just knowing what not to say. Like the fact that he lost a bet on Leo winning is probably not appropriate conversation at the moment. So he just stands there with a wolf's head for a hat and waves weakly to Loravelle when she looks his way. Meanwhile Blue is eying the skeletal spider and the scattered collection of other bones, wondering aloud, "Do we have to pick these up or do they like follow you home at some point?" To which Leralynn yawns and replies, "Can you pick them up?" Not what the Titan wanted to hear...

Leoxander coughed up the rest of whatever he’d not eaten that morning before Lora had the chance to wipe his mouth - he was grasping the ground and wouldn’t take it from her to do so himself.. Maybe he should have stolen one of Orange’s snacks from the basket before sending the courier on his way. It hadn’t done a damn thing to sabotage her win, nor had the poison he’d coated short blades with - not when she had constructs to carry her. “I’m fine…” He wasn’t fine, but it wasn’t so much the physical burns that would heal more quickly than most. Leo just wanted to get the hell out of there, but found himself grasping Lita’s arm to say, “...My pin. I think I dropped it.” And his sword was among the bones and dirt somewhere nearby, but clearly that pretty little hair accessory had priority. The vampire’s words reminded him to get his feet under him again and he stood, a little wobbly but that could be expected from being tased and beaten down by a bunch of bones. At least it wasn’t giant flaming scorpions, this time.

Lita glances at Yellow, then his hat. What in the seven circles- she'll probably find it amusingly ironic later. Just not at the moment.

Leoxander finally caught sight of Yellow in the wolf hat with that vacant expression. Perhaps a disappointed one. He studied the boy as he managed to his feet.

Lita nods at Leo, leaving him with Lora for a moment. "Take this, will you?" She murmurs, draping the pirate's arm over Lora's shoulders. Probably best to give her something to do for a minute that wouldn't involve prancing about the arena. She snags Leo's cutlass from the dirt and then, nudging one of the stray skeletal legs aside, sees the glint of a pretty little hairpin. She shudders inwardly. This is the second time she's seen animated bone constructs and she's not a fan. She snags the pin and glances over at Shi and Orange again

Lita said to Shishi, "She gonna be alright?"

Loravelle had a similar thought in mind as Leo. She wanted to get the hell out of there too, and almost wanted to interrupt his words to Lita about the pin and say that it could wait. But he's wobbling...So she keeps herself close to his side for support. It's then that she awkwardly waves at Yellow, producing a wry smile for the kid and his wolf hat. With Leo's arm draped over her shoulders by Lita, she has no intention of moving unless the rogue does to either help him out of the arena or wherever he intends to go. Then she remembers the flask in her pocket and retrieves it, removing its top and angling it up toward Leo in case he wants to wash his mouth out from getting sick.

Shishi 's son straightens his stance as Leo eyes him, "Uhm. Cool fight. I thought you were gonna win. You know?" He cringes at himself and takes advantage of the distraction of Lita speaking to Blue and breaks eye contact with the lycan. "Aye..." Shishi and Leralynn both respond to the vampire in unison, Orange adding, "I'll be okay. Just need some rest... and waffles." with a weak wave from one of the arms draped over Shishi's shoulders. The Titan silently mouths the word, "Waffles???"

Leoxander took the flask from Lora, trying not to hang his weight on her petite human frame, but he did keep a soot and dirt covered grasp on her shoulder. He swished and spit whatever was in the container to the side, no blood, but his tongue was numb from the barrier shock. Another actual drink and he handed it back while Lita retrieved his ‘weapons, taking them whenever they should be handed over to sheath the blade at his back, the pin in his collar, fabric drawn down from the bridge of his nose (or what remained of it) to show the red bite of fire’s burn across one side of his cheekbone to jaw, where his crouch and shield had not quite protected from the firework display. Gaze returned to Yellow and he just said, “Sorry, kid. Can’t win’em all…” Yet his gaze lowered in a way that hinted at that feeling of defeat. It wasn’t a new feeling, but one he tried to avoid in all his years. For once the pirate had to battle against pride and the morals he didn’t know he had, and there was a clear winner in that arena in more ways than one. He might cast a side eye glance in the direction of Orange’s father and the victorious teenager resting against him, but the pirate intended to make his way out of the Dark Arena and out of Vailkrin - the sooner the better.

Lita takes Lora's place under the pirate's arm after handing over his hairpin and cutlass. She'll rib him for the former later. She glances to the stands for Xiem, offering an apologetic smile and a wave, but seeing that he's rejoined his coworkers to take their leave as well. Lora still fretting some over the pirate, Lita leads their little trio from the arena finally, more than glad to be done with giant skeletal spider abominations.