Duel:Sadie v Satoshi
Duelists: Sadie (Mermaid Bard) vs. Satoshi (Kit-vampire Frost Singer). Duel: Traditional 3 posts each, with final defense. 15 minute posting limit. Stakes: Autohit post and item of winner's choosing from the opponent. Judges: Tiphareth, Thea (mid), Zhaleeah Commentator: Zimri
OOC Note: Please see Underdark Fighting Challenge Week 7 for the entire RP. This page is solely the duel and Zimri's commentary.
Tiphareth nods to both of the duelists as they indicate their preparedness and makes his way back up to his lofty perch within the stands, looking down as he addresses the crowd one final time. "And now for the surprise, lets make this a little more interesting." The Xalious wood staff is raised high over head before a sudden slam of it's butt into the stone seating. Upon contact with the earth a mighty eruption of steel plates emerge from within the floor of the arena, each of them made of the purest mithril and polished to a mirror finish. The entire arena floor is now littered with these metal protrusions, turning the entire battle area into a veritable hall of mirrors for the two combatants to navigate. To the spectators these metal obstructions seem to be rended naught but minor blurs in their vision due to the massive magical curtain which separates the Arena floor from the viewing area above. "You may now BEGIN!"
Zimri speaks normally, though his voice is amplified from his earlier humming "And here is something we weren't expecting! A funhouse duel, with two lovely lasses attemtping to attack one another inside! Who shall make first contact with thier foe?!"
Sadie isn't expecting to be stuck on the outskirts of a maze of mirrors. Bloody hell. Well, none the less, that violin dangling carefully from her right hand is lifted and tucked under her chin and the well greased bow it quickly caressing the metal cords, producing an eerie, unsettling sound from the instrument. From her pocket, a well defined bottle is easily noticed, and as the musical instrument hums and purrs and whines, that cork-less container begins to rattle; though it's unlikely that the crowd would notice such minute detail. Quickly, the liquid contents there in the bottle shoot out and into the air in a small tendril of what seems to be water. However, therein the composure of the water rests small, finely grated granules of diamonds that call and beckon to the mermaid and the mermaid only. This small cord of water, now hovering above the massive maze thins out into a blanketing cover, encompassing the entire arena's pit. And that's when the music stops. The mineral water falls to the ground, saturating the mirrors, the ground and hopefully Satoshi, and while they whole arena now hums to her, the specific interruptions of sound that will only fill Sadie's ears will direct her towards Satoshi. Every breath the woman takes, every movement she makes will make it clear to the captain where the woman stands. And assuming the water has saturated the kit, Sadie soon begins to sing. Loud and clear a sinle note rings out, echoing off the structures, and turning the liquid that has fallen into the arena into a thin layer of ice that will fracture, splinter and pierce into flesh should the Queen be doused in it.
Zimri nods as he listens to the tune "And it starts out with a rather wet display as Sadie saturates the battlefield! And then issues a cold reception for her opponent, lets see how she reponds to this chilling development!"
Satoshi's keen ears don't miss the violin's song from within the mirrored maze as the foxkin delves into her musical preparation, her trademark whistle taking a haunting tune of its own. The Frost Singer, with only the violin's voice to guide her, begins moving through among the mithril walls, listening and humming all the while to coax a layer of smooth ice to creep out upon the floor, up until that splash of enchanted water drops upon her. While her spell isn't entirely interrupted--promising compromised footing to most, Satoshi at least gives pause, her ties with the element alerting her to the foreign substance within the liquid even as it begins to freeze. "Curious~," is all the cryomancer murmurs as she abruptly trills a high-pitched note. The ice coating her does indeed splinter and fracture, but perhaps not quite as Sadie intended: only the shards most laden with diamond dust disobey Lady Frostmaw's arcane call, piercing and shredding skin beneath heavy coat, while the rest shatters away harmlessly at her feet. A dulcet growl comes from the fox then, the sound building into a rumbling, animalistic melody that boils the blood--or more specifically, Satoshi's own blood dripping upon the floor courtesy of Sadie. The crimson droplets patter upon the ground but do not linger, each springing into life in the form of tiny red spiders, scuttling rapidly out into the maze by order of another musical snarl, tracing the call of Sadie's nearby blood--their kin. The wave of arachnids are after one thing: a meeting with the mermaid's blood, by means of fangs and stabbing legs, and if they overwhelm her form beneath them in the process, all the better.
Zimri chuckles "Well, a musical night my friends! It seems that the sound of a ladies singing CAN in fact break apart reflective object, though in this case more ice! But what a buggy mess Satoshi has created in return! Lets hope he mermaid isn't affected by arachnaphobia!"
Sadie begins hedging herself deeper into the maze once her attack has been executed, and as she does so, the rhythmic, and nearly silent, patting of her right thigh demands the ice that she has frosted the ground with melts; she refuses to give herself away to the Queen when the ice under foot cracks with her weight. However, these mirrors don't help. Left and right, images of her figure are thrown onto the reflective surfaces, and then those mirrors volley her picture onto another and another and soon it's a never ending vicinity of Sadie's. Unfortunately for her, her narcissistic ways aside this time, the necklace that hugs the slender column of her neck, the merfolf artifact that she herself created, betrays her and forces her to nearly pine for the images in the mirror. Herself. Damnit. Her left hand traces and caresses each mimicking image in passing, longing to lounge against the mirrors and croon to their perfected picture. However, the moment comes when those ferocious blood borne spiders are felt, creeping up her legs viciously and gnawing into her flesh. Her yelp rings out, laden with her own bardic magic and with a growl to mimic Satoshi's own, those spiders decompose and splash over her bare feet, staining them a gory red. Now, those blue eyes of hers settle on that red mass, and her lusty need turns into something much more bloody; the need to see blood rivals her need to covet her picture in the mirror. What water has melted into the ground seeps out and races towards the Queen, and the water in those bottles there in the stands, like Ago's peach water, shoots out into the arena and over the ground, draining with it whatever liquid it can from the arena; what ever coagulated blood lingers from previous fights, her and Satoshi's blood, her ice… it all forms into a directive path, following the scent trail those spider's left in their wake. And with an animalistic furry, Sadie races after the hunting water. If the liquid finds Satoshi first, it will curl around the woman's feet and freeze and refreeze with each command from Sadie's voice. The captain however, with each passing image of the ice maiden seen, delivers a strong left jab to the mirror's face, just testing. When Satoshi is found, it's a safe bet to say that Sadie will deliver the same left jab to the woman's face as she did the mirrors.
Zimri blinks "Well, it seems the fishwoman also has a bit of an eye fer herself, and is almost in heaven. If it weren't for those insects, we may have seen more than we bargained for! But her recovery is no idle moment, as many of you now have nothing to quench yer thirst with! What shall the Vampire kit do when all that liquid reaches her, or worse, that enraged Sadie with a boxers right cross?!
Thea looks on and agrees with Zimri, "Aye, it looks as if she really wanted to dive into herself there. Something in all that water perhaps? And boy is she packing a punch for the Ice Queen. I wonder what will hit Satoshi first, the water, the ice..that man's wine, or Sadie?"
Satoshi feels the dull pangs of her spiders' quick destruction, but not without the hint of triumph where each has drawn blood. Humming her pleasure, the foxkin focuses once more, feeling for the next arcane move by her still out of sight foe. More water. All the water. Perfect. Let it come to her, save her the energy of summoning it. And while Sadie's song-driven liquid seeks her out, Satoshi takes a moment to retrieve an item from her satchel--a staff, taken from the Xalious Tree and gifted with her element's power by the two master mages currently watching. There's something akin to a delighted note in the vulpine's voice when the waters find her and begin forming about her feet, trying in vain to freeze her in place. But the cryomancer's song is not one easily disobeyed, and the liquid mixture finds little purchase upon her frosty boots. "Go home, love~," Satoshi croons to the mini-flood, plunging the butt of the arcane staff within it and whistling a command as Sadie rounds the nearest mirror. The waters shudder once before erupting away from Satoshi and staff, crystallizing into a veritable wall of icy shards directed at the bard with raised fist. Pity Sadie won't find the fox trapped and helpless, instead having her spell turned back on her, and followed by something far more subtle, and far more deadly, if the sudden eerie lilt to Satoshi's voice is any indicator: a chilling numb, seeping into the mermaid's bloodstream by means of spiderbites and feeding ice venom throughout, willing joints to be suddenly stiff and muscles to become lethargic.
Zimri lets out a soft whistle* Well, it looks like tide of battle shifted on that one! And now Sadie is in danger of becoming Hollow's largest pin cusion! Seems like there may be something else happening, but I can't quite make it out. Lets see how the violin toting misntral(ette?) deals with these newest threats to her possible victory!
Sadie throws another left jab into the nearest mirror, but the adrenalin pumping in tune with her blood keeps her from feeling the pains of contact. And then, as she rounds the last mirror to find Satoshi and the shards of ice staring her in the face, she quickly vaults to the right, tucking herself into a small square alcove of mirrors and managing to miss the majority of the shrapnel of frozen water. Unfortunately her feet don't make it free from harassment, and soon the numbness is felt as it attacks her muscles and joints. How pointless was it to fight another bard with the same specialties. Before the numbness could steal anymore more of her movement, eyes lock onto a mirrored image of Satoshi and find that water scarf in plain sight. Yes, that was her ticket. A trickster's mind quickly boils with ideas, and soon the woman lets out an ear piercing scream, hopefully misleading the crowd and her opponent that she's in excruciating pain. However, what the sound really is meant for is to seize temporary control of that scarf the ice maiden wears and suffocate her with it by first commanding the water to constrict around her throat mercilessly before freezing it. The spell itself would be difficult to break, and with each whimper, yelp and continued scream of Sadie, her magic would hold onto that wet object of clothing and tug and freeze and tug and freeze until her vocal cords grew horse. But as that happens, her right hand plucks at the smallest cord of her violin, producing a faint high pitched tick, commanding her blood to filter the polluted most part of it out of her body through pores on her flesh and the wounds the spiders inflicted, allowing her more movement than what would be expected. She would sure be a gory sight after the end of this.
Zimri winces "Lets hope those cries don't spell the end of this fight! But what's this, it seems Satoshi is having a bit of troubles with her attire! Perhaps things aren't quite as they seem?! Will the vampiric singer have her notes cut off for evermore, or will she be able to save her neck by some means?!"
Satoshi's moment of amusement at hearing Sadie's scream comes to an abrupt halt when she discovers her scarf likewise reacting to it. Constricting, threatening to strangle her... a brief moment of panic ensues before Satoshi suddenly pauses, blinking almost in embarassment. Fear of suffocation is in the past, not one a vampire needs carry any longer. Smirking maliciously, and simply ignoring the scarf for its inconvenient motions, Satoshi turns toward the source of Sadie's cries. Staff taken in one hand, the other unsheathes the frost-katana, Ko'tar, at the fox's hip, allowing the blade to sing in delight at its sudden freedom. And sing for Satoshi as well, for while her own voice is inhibited by her scarf, Satoshi's musical familiar of a sword is more than willing to sing in her place. Swinging the katana in slow, rhythmatic arcs, Satoshi approaches Sadie with a deadly calm, letting Ko'tar's voice build in tune and sound. And with each note from the sword, the Xalious staff pulses in an azure light, arcane powers awakening with the call and sending forth its own call: a song to Sadie's very blood, one only a vampire can truly sing, magic pouring into the command in attempts to force the mermaid's own hands to clasp around her neck in mocking return of the prior attack. And as if attempts to turn Sadie's own body against her aren't enough, the ice and water coating the ground from the battle likewise find a sudden desire to do her harm in the form of a sluggish wave building behind Satoshi with each step, following like an obedient dog before the staff is leveled in a harsh gesture at the mermaid in obvious command: Attack. Without hesitation the frigid waters rush by the foxkin, seeking to flood over Sadie in a bone-aching cold wash and solidify, trapping her in a tomb of ice with still further promise of suffocation.
Thea said to Zimri, "Now that was a cold maneuver if I ever saw one. That'll teach her never to mess with a girl's accessories."
Zimri sighs "Even a sword can make music now, may 'ave ta find me a new vocation sson, but back to teh fight folks! Seems I was mistken, and air isn't so important for some... However, for others it most certaintly is as our Mermaid finds herself in a breath taking counter strike! And to make matters worse, it seems the swell of sound is also coming to bear down on her in the form of a tsunami! Will the end be so crystal clear, or is there still a few more tricks to see?!"
Zimri said to Thea, "*laughs* Quite true love! Seems getting the cols shoulder is a bit literal in this case!"
Thea said to Zimri, "Indeed. Good time to break out your scarf, provided it's not made of water that is."
Sadie only seems worried about the blade, in all honesty. It's singing ways unease her greatly and with the majority of her movement given back to her, she rakes her fingernails against the nearest mirror, a unpleasing tune, but music in its own right none the less. It calls to that sluggish, languid mass of water that Satoshi threatens to encase her in. Just before it washes over her with its frigid temperatures, Sadie finds herself with her hand around her throat, choking her and starving her for air. Thankfully however, that icy water soon bubbles around her freezing just enough to keep her from hearing the cry of the kit's sword and thereafter, she's no longer trying to suffocate herself. The brief contact of water allows her to partically transform, small gills just behind her ears slit open and from them she is able to produce a hoarse hum long enough to nullify the spell of Satoshi just within the icy block, leaving the center of it water and thusly, the captain suspended safely there in it. She'll play possum until Satoshi believes her to be dead, and once the woman's spell is broken-if not by her own doing, then by Sadie- the mermaid, who is still desperately trying to keep her fishy secret just that, a secret, she'll fall from that bubble of icy and water and choke out a believable cough.
Zimri covers his ears at the screch andwaits for it to die down before speaking "Seems that "trapped in ice" isn't so bad after all, at least she dosn't 'ave a streak runnin' through her viens! But. the fight does seem ta 'ave gotten out o' her! Lets see how our esteemed judges call this rather frosty fight!"
Satoshi coughs out of reflex when the scarf relaxes its hold, no longer under the sway of that Siren Song. There's a particular look of annoyance on the foxkin's features as she eyes the encased Sadie. Taking a step nearer, the frost singer trills out one final note, the sound mirrored by Ko'tar and empowered by the staff to cause the icy shell to collapse. Rather violently, almost... an implosion of ice. Not -quite- enough force is used to kill the snared mermaid, but certainly enough is present to cause internal damage and snuff out the last bit of fight in her. It's not an act of mercy that stops Satoshi from killing Sadie, but rather... a childish need to complain--and possibly gloat, as she resheathes her blade. "It'll take me ages to repair those enchantments. I liked that scarf~! And since you ruined it, I'm taking repayment, with this." Kneeling swiftly, the minstrel plucks Sadie's necklace from her throat, stashing it in her pocket before turning on a heel and offering a deep bow to the audience. "Hope you enjoyed the show, lovelies~!"
Winner: Satoshi, unanimous.