Duel:Meri v Vehara, Match 6 of the 2014 Frostmaw Tournament
Duelists: Meri vs. Vehara Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 15 minute posting limit. Stakes: Autohit post. Advancement in the Titans of Winter Tournament 2014. Judges: Satoshi (mid), Tenebrae, Svilfon
The notorious Venturil Wildlands are playing host this evening for the second match of the Semi-Finals round. Here the half-drow Vehara will face the psion Meri, pitting their unique skills against one another--and against the small, aggressive dinosaurs that swarm within the waist-high grasses. These beasts are fearless, all too eager to take a bite out of any being unfortunate enough to get too close, and especially draw toward the scent of blood. Along with the hidden predators are the traps of those that hunt them, in the form of snares, iron sprung bear traps, and even a few well-concealed, spike filled pitfalls. Assassin and psion will have to stay on their toes in this field, be it to protect themselves from each other, the wildlife, or the hunting paraphernalia. Will the victor prove to be the one with the fleetest feet? Or the one with the purest luck?
Vehara stares out across the tall grass toward her psionic opponent, sizing the unfamiliar woman up at a distance. Giving only a simple nod of respect, the half-drow plucks a implement from her cloak that goes unseen, fitting readily yet delicately into her grasp while a vicious, straight spike is brandished in her off hand, arming herself sufficiently for this latest encounter. It’s only with a soft huff of breath that the assassin sets forth into the wild grass, setting a swift course for her opponent that leaves the half-drow’s cloak fluttering about madly with the speed assumed. Mindful of the wicked traps lying below, Vehara takes a bound here and a leap there, expertly navigating the obstacles just before coming to land before Meri, her descent notably marked with predatory grace. A squeeze of the hand is given that elicits a soft ‘crunch’, much like the sound of an eggshell shattering; that same fist is soon cast toward the psion’s face, unfurling the fingers and sending the insidious contents misting out toward her eyes. Contained within are a wealthy of nasty irritatants; sand, spice, even a glass filing or two that is certain to rob one’s vision in a mere instant. Hoping to capitalize on a blinded – or at least distracted – opponent, Vehara lunges in and strikes the straight-spiked shuriken for the woman’s thigh, seeking a deep and fleshy sheathe.
Meri stands some distance away from her opponent. The woman is clad in minimal armor, as seems to be the norm for her when engaging in any sort of battle. Today her selection includes armored boots, pants, bracers to protect her beloved tattoos on her arm and a rather simple looking spiked shield. Even her weaponry is not of exceptional note. A plain looking scabbard is strapped over her shoulder, resting across her back, sword resting within and a few meager looking daggers resting at her hips or shoved into the back of her boots. The blonde acknowledges Vehara’s nod with one of her own, keeping her blue eyes trained on the woman’s form. When Vehara starts forward, Meri holds her ground, not wanting to risk setting off any of the traps quite yet, raising her should in preparation while simultaneously reaching over her shoulder to draw her bastard sword from her scabbard, the blade of her weapon setting ablaze the instant it is drawn. The first assault Vehara sends her way is the one that is dealt with first, the distraction serving its purpose effectively. The shield is lifted even higher, shielding Meri’s face from any of those nasty irritants aimed for her eye. This leaves Meri’s thigh exposed for the taking. Try as she might, she is unable to arc her sword down to deflect taking the shuriken to the leg. Her armored pants do well to protect her from a bulk of the blow but it is a blow she would most certainly be feeling. The tattooed woman takes full advantage of Vehara’s close proximity, ignoring the pain in her leg and pushing forward, intent on driving the spiked face of her shield straight into Vehara’s body. As she does this, the psionic warrior lets the blade of her weapon drop toward the ground, letting the fire spread from her weapon to the surrounding grass. The scent of smoke soon mingles through the air, driving the dinos that are hiding within the blades of the grass wild, sending them into the panic. What Vehara should be more concerned about is taking place behind. The psion has honed in on one of the traps, causing it to levitate and fly straight for Vehara’s back. If it collides, the impact of the blow will most certainly set the trap off, causing it to bite into the half-drow’s back. Meri was no stranger to distraction either.
Vehara allows herself a slight smirk when the shuriken strikes true, even if it is blunted by Meri’s armor. Yanking the spike out of whatever sheathe it may be within – be that cloth or flesh – the assassin leaps back just in time to avoid all but a glancing blow against her chest, the spiny protrusions on the shield scoring and tearing cloth but missing precious flesh beneath. It’s the psion’s next action that has the half-drow’s eyes widening in slight; the fiery blade igniting the tall grass, devouring it with voracious ease and spreading rapidly. “Hmph, stupid bi-“ Vehara’s insult is cut off by the sound of something being lifted from the earth behind and taking flight, peering over the shoulder to discern the culprit; again her eyes react with shock, sending her body twisting aside like some sort of amateur dancer. The brunt of the trap is avoided, but it does happen to brush against her shoulder in passing and snap shut with a steely ‘clang’, not capturing but still sending the jagged teeth of the thing scraping through cloth and into flesh from the sheer proximity. Issuing a dark hiss of pain, the assassin withdraws once more and affords only a brief instant to survey the wound; the skin has opened up slightly and rivulets of crimson flow free. A minor score, but it angers her nonetheless. Taking certain sight of her opponent, Hara twirls the shuriken within her grasp and sets it loose upon the air, spiraling toward Meri’s throat with accurate celerity. This, of course, cannot be the assassin’s only attack. Mindful of those spreading flames and all the traps littered about, the half-blood unveils her kusarigama from some sort of latch on her hip; a most peculiar weapon, it appears to be a sickle attached to a small but crushing weight by a chain. Raising it above her head, the chain begins to spiral about above, not only making the immediate space surrounding very perilous but also whirling some of that pesky smoke away from her person. Once it has gained the necessary momentum, the length of the chain snaps out toward Meri and sends the business end of that weight right toward her belly…until at the last second, it turns! The weapon, no doubt ensorcelled, twists and sends those chains in a path around the pison, seeking to ensnare her within. With all the fire and smoke gathering about, Vehara isn’t positively certain whether she has a hold, but she yanks back nonetheless; if she does indeed have Meri captured, she’ll drag the woman through some of that flaming grass and into what appears to be a bear trap appropriately sized for one of those unusual beasts lurking about...
Meri didn’t want to lose ground on her opponent and recklessly advances forward. Meri tries to take full advantage of Vehara taking any moment to survey the injury just sustained. In her haste to keep the gap between them minimal, Meri makes yet another miscalculation. Another assault from the shuriken goes unanticipated. With little time to react, Meri attempts to side step and raise her shield for protection but this not executed swiftly enough. Rather than colliding squarely with her throat, the weapon meets the side of the woman’s neck, digging into the flesh of her skin, blood instantly spewing forth. This sends Meri backpedaling, away from Vehara, giving up her battle on keeping the proximity between the two close. It also gives Meri full view of Vehara’s kusarigama, noting the way that the weapon swings over head with the hope of dispelling the smoke. Meri’s gut tells her that cannot be the entire point of revealing this weapon. The moment the chained weapon is loosed toward her, rather than curving around and snaking about Meri’s body, it ends up being suspended mid-air by some unseen force before being violently thrown toward the ground. If Vehera keeps hold on the weapon, she’s likely to be tugged around in the process. Meri’s gaze darkens as she steps further backward, not entirely paying attention to where she walks. Strange how the smoke seems to thicken in the air, the concentration predominantly around Vehara. Equally strange that the flames birthed into battle seem to encircle the half-drow, threatening to close in to severely burn.
Vehara has precious little time to celebrate scoring a wound upon her foe. Her chain-sickle being violently thrown toward the ground does indeed cause her to stumble about, precariously dancing about and only narrowly missing the biting teeth of nearby traps and snares. Eventually she regains dominance over the ground below, pulling the chain back where it wraps about the sickle with a magical sort of intelligence; dismissing the kusarigama, the half-drow lifts a hand to clear a film of sweat from her dark-skinned forehead, a product of exertion and the rapidly building heat in the makeshift arena. Speaking of heat, the assassin is not ignorant to the way those plumes of oily smoke begin to ominously waft toward her and those flames that soon follow, building a sort of hellish prison that no doubt portends her fate if she doesn’t move quickly. Knowing time is of the utmost essence, Vehara sucks in a breath of precious clean air just before a cloud of smoke assails her, making her eyes water furiously; doing her best to ignore these distractions, she sprints toward a spot in this fiery incarceration where the flames seen thinnest and weakest. Steeling her resolve, the huntress leaps forth and tucks her form, mowing through the fiery grass and into solace beyond; but of course, this escape doesn’t come without a cost. Tongues of flame lick against her cloak, eating away at the fabric and searing the dark flesh beneath. Very fortunately, Vehara comes to a rolling stop against the ground and thrashes about violently there with a deep cry of pain, extinguishing the flames that caught onto her garments in short order. By precious look alone she seems to miss putting her head right into a precariously placed trap, her entire form shaking as she makes to her feet; the result of the fire’s embrace, however brief, is evident. Burns and seared flesh is visible here and there upon her body, making her shudder and quiver from the pain wracking through. The assassin is unbeaten, however, and she casts the now useless cloak away to reveal that snug leather armor that hugs her form, as well as many vicious implements beneath. One of them is a tiny crossbow mounted to her wrist, which she swiftly raises and activates, sending a bolt knifing through the air toward Meri…but due to her wounds, it is off course and hits a patch of grass behind her. Strangely, the tiny bolt seems to sink when it connects, betraying the presence of a pitfall. Dismissing the pain as best she can, Hara streaks forth for her foe and leaps past another patch of fiery grass, once more landing before the hated psion and launching a fresh assault. The assassin makes several open handed swipes for Meri’s face, almost as if attacking with her nails alone, but she is not; there are several tiny spined rings upon her fingers, neko-te, which are lined with poison and aim to carve up the blonde’s face beyond recognition. Ending her attack comes a slowed but heavy kick toward the ribs; not so much seeking to shatter them, but to force the woman tumbling into that perilious pitfall behind...
Meri still had a secure hold on her shield and a vice-like hold on the sword, the flame of which is beginning to burn out, the slow-burning pitch that covered the sword consumed by the hungry fire. Vehara closing the distance between them is met with a skeptical apprehension, the blonde psion unwilling to let her guard down despite any injuries sustained. In order for Vehara to get close enough to take any sort of swipes at Meri’s face, the half-drow runs the risk of meeting the face of the woman’s shield or the tip of Meri’s sword. The psionic warrior is not about to disappoint either. Vehara would not even be given the opportunity to land that kick on the center of her ribs. The first swipe that Vehara takes toward Meri’s face causes the blonde to put that footwork that she is not lacking in to good use, side stepping around the half-drow and thusly away from the pitfall. At the very same moment, Meri steps lunges forward, thrusting her bastard sword straight for Vehara’s gut. Vehara could continue swinging, she could adjust course and attempt to land that kick toward Meri’s ribs, at the risk of being run through by Meri’s blade. While the flames on the sword might be close to extinguishing themselves, the blade of the weapon was still scorching hot, to the point that it faintly glowed red. Meri’s attempt to end Vehara’s attack abruptly does not come without cost. The woman has left herself exposed, yet again, and that first swipe toward Meri’s face is a successful one, the poisoned rings scrape along her cheek.
Vehara looses a growl of frustration when she whiffs on the kick, awkwardly regaining purchase of the ground below and spinning aside just as Meri lunges in with that bastard blade. Thankfully, due to her movement the brand doesn’t strike entirely true; but due to her wounds, her movement is not quite hasty enough and the still oily, searing flaming edge knives through the leather upon her side, scoring dark flash and siring a spray of blood. Crying out in agony, Vehara summons up what little of her strength remains and leaps back – although not before checking behind with a swift glance to make sure she doesn’t stray into a trap – landing a somewhat safe distance away. Keeping her guard up in case Meri should make a fresh approach, the assassin nonetheless takes a moment to survey her wound; it is not terribly deep and as such not life threatening at this stage, but the torn flesh still leaks new rivulets of blood, the pain joining with the fiery throb from those burns to complete a state of utter misery upon Vehara. Nevertheless, the half-drow sneers through it and stands her ground as the battle seemingly comes to a close…
'Winner: Vehara
Vehara has little time to relax as the fight soon resumes, leaving her streaking toward Meri once more. It may seem a foolish idea with the psion’s blade in play, but even if she attempts a thrust the half-drow is quicker this time; she feints and navigates within Meri’s range, thrusting the neko-te tipped fingers right into the armpit of the blonde’s sword wielding limb. A spray of blood issues there, stopping any effective movement on Meri’s part and leaving Hara to lean in with a few words. “I’ll admit, I never expected you to put up such a fight. You were really intent on killing me if that’s what it took. That much I can admire, but now it is time to sleep.” Now the assassin launches her forehead in, crushing into Meri’s in a viciously placed headbutt. With her opponent robbed of consciousness, she unsheathes the barbed fingers and staggers off to find attention for her wounds.