Duel:The Crimson Mantis v Kasyr, Round 2, 2020 Hero of Freedom Championship

From HollowWiki
Duelists: The Crimson Mantis vs Kasyr
Duel: Traditional 3 rounds with final defense, 15 minute posting limit.
Stakes: Double Or Nothing: 5000g and auto-hit to the winner.
Judges: Macon, Meri, and Odhranos


Larket Arena

The arena, like the rest of the city of Larket under Jacklin and Parsithius' rule, has grown in size and splendor. The circular building's walls rise even higher now, to make room for the orderly rows of steps that ascend all the way up to the open top of the arena. Gladiatorial games still seem very popular among the citizens of Larket, for the building is rarely, if ever, empty. The floor is stone, covered with sand, that is replaced regularly to rid the area of the blood-soaked clumps that mark where a fighter has died. The gladiators seem to come in from doors that lead down, into barracks, while spectators file in from both north and south, moving along huge walkways that exit into the stands. The banner of Larket hangs over the arena, where the glory of the city is displayed daily.


Introduction Round

Kasyr 's appearance is heralded not by the scent of ozone, but an erratic branch of lightning that seems to crawl across the heavens. For a few brief moments, curious spectators are left to bare witness to the seemingly localized storm, as forked arks of electricity circle overtop the arena- an orchestra of cacophonous roars trailing the spectacle. Yet, even the thunderous peals pale in comparison to the explosive crash that ripples out from the arena when a singular bolt of light finally collides into the midst of the arena. Briefly masked by the plumes of dust and smoke that emerge from the shallow crater he's made- the spectators are only given glimpses of the Kensais form coalescing from that violent burst of light. At least, until the secondary guests arrive onto the scene- the cloud of detritus ripping apart beneath the sudden appearance of 8 gleaming blades that rain down in a ring about the Kensai. Hence unveiled to the audience, the trenchcoated swordsman lifts up his left arm in a motion meant to mirror the end of his last battle- one made all the more poignant by the continued appearance of the sling about his right arm.


Quintessa || The Crimson Mantis stands in the crowd, signing autographs on her merch. Crimson Mantis T-Shirts, Crimson Mantis hats, and Authentic Crimson Mantis goggles are for sale at your local vendor. She seems happy to indulge her adoring fans, but as the time of her appointed fight nears, she heads to the edge of the arena to stand upon the railing, arms crossed and her carmine cape billowing in the wind. Like last time, the enigma of a woman wears red-tinted leather armor, corseted to show off her feminine form. A mithril sickle rests against each of her hips, attached to her belt, and upon her head she has equipped a leather cap, elongated in the front to conceal her identity behind a half-mask, the eyes fitted with dark-tinted bubbled lenses. When she sees Kasyr draw closer, she leaps into the arena proper, heeled boots digging into the sandy dirt as she stares ahead stoically. The Mantis regards the kensai coolly, only giving him a glance before she begins stretching, waiting for the environmental change to signal the beginning of the fight.


Environmental Challenge

When led into the arena, the combatants are asked to stand on wooden platforms 20 feet apart. As they ready themselves for the duel, a jungle canopy blooms into existence around them. Each of the combatants platforms are connected to the trunks of massive trees. Two parallel ziplines extend between the two platforms, four feet apart from each other. Rope vines hand from the overhead branches as well, for added aerial mobility between the platforms. The only place to land after a swing or a zip is one of the two original starting platforms. As the crowd cheers at this new field of battle, the rest of the arena floor drops out beneath the duelists, so that the tree trunks extend down into pitch darkness. Falling will result in horrific injury, and also disqualification.


Duel

Quintessa || The Crimson Mantis rolls her shoulders casually to limber herself up on her small platform, her goggled eyes peering across the battlefield at the sword saint. The memories of their last fight are still fresh in her mind, and the dark fae wants revenge, but she still offers Kasyr a polite smile and nod, her cool attitude heating up a bit before she brings her assault. Her left hand out, palm facing downwards, a surge of magical energy bursts forth to sink into the darkness below, reaching all the way down to the forbidden ground. "Terra columna," she utters, the phrase causing a thin pillar of earth to jut out of the distant arena floor before her, not stopping until it was parallel with her body, but this column was not meant for her to stand upon. Quintessa draws one of her mithril sickles out and slices into her summoned stone, the silvery blade easily cutting through it like paper. With a flick of her wrist she moves her weapon into a backswing, the false blade smacking into her slab of stone to send it hurling at Kasyr like a heavy discus, carrying enough force to crush his skull if it impacted. However, before it can reach the kensai Quintessa snaps her fingers, the simple gesture causing her chuck of rock to explode into countless razor sharp pebbles, peppering the area in a three meter radius around her opponent in a micro-meteor shower, ripping through the trees and foliage with ease. Not wasting a moment confirming if her attack struck true or not, the Mantis slices another slab for herself, a second backswing launching another deadly discus aiming to take out the very platform he was standing upon, trying to capitalize on her earlier distraction. This one remains intact, whistling through the air with deceptive beauty as it closes in on Kasyr's position. With her beginning assault complete, her empty hand moves down to touch the crest of her pillar, another spark of mana exiting her palm as Quintessa speaks the word, "Torque." The stone of her column transmutes at the whim of her arcane mastery, becoming a long, rocky chain that the spellblade fuses to the base of her sickle to become a chained kama, the blade dropping low with slack but for a moment until she begins to swing it in a wide arc, preparing herself for her master's counter-attack. For now she’ll play it safe, sticking to her position to bait her opponent into an early disqualification.


Kasyr has , courtesy of his dramatic and altogether flagrantly unnecessary entrance, already done a more than adequate job of damaging his platform to the point where it wouldn't even be fit to serve as a rickety bridge in an adventure story. Every shift of his weight coaxes forward an ominous creak of wood, and the threadbare threat of soft splinters. A sinister ambience which only gathers intensity as the moments progress forward. Really, the only silver lining to this mess, is that the outside portions affixed to his now floating swords and the trunk itself seem at least somewhat stable. Something which coaxes him into stepping back, even as the Mantis begins incanting. As the disc hurtles up towards his position- the Kensai's will reaches out towards the swords about him, drawing them up in a smooth motion that still sends a disconcerting shiver through the entire platform. In unison, the blades move to align themselves before him, like a many pointed star- their hilts meeting in order to be ready for the attack. Which would have likely been fine, were it not for the manner in which it burst into pieces not a moment afterwards. "RHEW!" Glacial energies are not imparted- but outright shoved into the array of arnaments, sending up a solid barrier of ice shooting between the blades of each weapon- connecting to form an impromptu aegis against the barrage. The noise is deafening as they impact into it's surface, and crash through the trees- a wretched din which only seems to increase the protests of his platform. And through the ice, he can see he can see the cracked image of the of Mantis preparing something else. Without wasting another moment, the Kensai's left arm flails out to touch the center of his blade barrier- a fresh surge of lightning engulfing his body. Bits of flesh along his cheeks and forehead flicker away into ions, leaving exposed musculature behind, spreading within moments to leave gorey chasms. For the Kensai, the pains worthwhile, as when the Mantis sends their projectile forward- the Kensai discharges that accrued energy into his blades- sending it hurtling forward with enough kinetic force that a thunderous crash echoes out a few sparse moments after it crosses the distance between the pair. Unfortunately, this also exerts an equal and opposite reaction upon the Kensai- for even as that unnatural alacrity sends the barrier impacting into the second projectile shortly after it's launched- and straight towards Quintessa's tree- it also forces an equal and opposite reaction upon the Kensai, dislocating his left arm and imprinting him into the trunk of his own platform with enough force to leave him momentarily blinking out discolored spots from his vision.


Quintessa || The Crimson Mantis whips her chained weapon back and forth, trying to build the momentum she’d need to play pong with her improvised discus, but her chain could not deflect something like the massive chunk of stone that now hurled towards her. Pushing her parry aside as if she was trying to deflect with a feather, the discus collides with her midsection, the corseted leather armor absorbing what it could as the changeling falls to her knees against the blow, trying to suck in the breath that was robbed from her. The Mantis can tell something has been broken and she is slow to get back to her feet after that unexpected counter, but she forces herself to push on in spite of the pain. She cannot lose to him again! Quintessa gives a shake of her head, trying to compel herself to maintain concentration on the incantations running though her head instead of the agony running through her ribs. The Mantis decides upon a spell quickly and lets the word "Ventus..." hiss from mouth as she swings her kama around once more. Her chain creates a cyclone as part of this spell, the wind picking up enough speed to cause debris and dust to swirl all around her, and giving her the aid she needed to keep the weapon moving. The changeling's left hand comes over to clench the chain, violently changing directions of the momentum to bring the hooked blade swinging downward. In an attempt to latch onto either Kasyr or the platform under him, the mithril blade sinks deep into either, giving Quintessa an anchor before a simple hand gesture brings her miniature tornado bearing down upon the Kensai. Having picked up all the tiny bits of fragmented rocks, some sharp enough to cut out an eye, a dangerous force of nature takes up the entire area around Kasyr and his tree trunk. Yet again her original attack was merely a ruse for something even more tricky, and while the dust and wind obscures her movements, the Crimson Mantis allows the cyclone to pull her chain from her hand. The stony implement rides on the powerful force of the spell in a circling motion around its anchor, trying to wrap around Kasyr's leg or torso to constrict him swiftly. Finally, to end her assault, the changeling claps both her hands together, the somatic component of the spell causing her violent torrent of wind to collapse inward, carrying with it the sharp debris.


Kasyr s' stomach is still in the process of lurching, the world dissolving to a sickening greyscale parody of itself- complete with swiftly changing blots of light that play havoc with what vision he does have. His left arm, now hanging almost as uselessly as his right, throbs with an unholy pain- made all the worse by the grim realisation that his gambit has failed to hit home. Yet it's the abhorrent creaking that truly drives the peril of his situation home, as it not only emanates from the platform now- but from the tree itself, the very trunk having cracked through from the combined weight of the Kensai and his trenchcoat crashing back into it. He was on borrowed time, and the Mantis seemed determined to burn through the rest of it. Doing his best to maintain some sad semblance of stability, the swordsman places his back against the tree, and does his best to focus on the summoned swords that had served as his bulwark turned boulder- trying not to lose focus every time his tree shudders, or the changelings chain swirls about herself as she prepares. There's a staggered sigh of relief from the Kensai as his spirit manages to latch onto a trio that survived the impact, and failed to fall into the spacious void about him- a slight mercy, even as Quintessa's spell pulls in the fragments of ice that he'd effectively provided her. After all, the Kensai need only exert his will to drag one free from it's arboreal mooring- controlling the weapons in the same way he'd arrayed them before himself, so that he can send it hurtling towards her back with every intention of lodging it through her lungs. That said, he doesn't quite have the time to repeat suit before her chain is sent lashing out towards him. There's a brief sort of math that flickers through his mind- especially at the mass of shrapnel that encircles the warrior, before the Kensai comes to a desperate decision. Quite simply, he drags his ass to the side of his imprint and hurtles himself off the platform- avoiding the initial strike.What ensues is a complete calamity- the Kensai's sheer mass almost enough to resist the winds pull- only for him to feel it take hold of his body and begin to drag him back into it's folds- now accompanied not only by the detritus it carried- but the fragmenting remains of his platform. The only thing that spares Kasyr from a complete flensing- is the desperate manner in which he manages to take hold of the second of his three swords, and sends it skewering across the arena to bury itself in his coat and pin himself to his own tree- effectively preventing him from being vaccumed into the heart of the implosion- and instead just bleeding profusely when the shrapnel storm proceeds to shred into any portion of himself not veiled within his threnchcoat. Dazed, And affixed to a tree that was now in the process of tottering dangerously- the Kensai has one more thing to say. A hastily spat out cantrip to ignite the last sword remaining in Tessa's tree, in order to set her sanctuary ablaze, in an effort to remove any semblance of safety from the arena.


Quintessa || The Crimson Mantis wraps an arm around her body, bracing herself as she continues to struggle for air. This was not good for her, most of her spells required her to speak. Still, the Crimson Mantis was a spellblade, so she had plenty of combat tricks still up her sleeve. Pulling the sickle from her left hip she brings the crescentic blade into a defensive position, wincing slightly at the pain that this sudden movement obliges. Not a moment after she brings up her weapons does she hear one of Kasyr’s cutting through the wind behind her, the Mantis pivoting quickly to avoid being penetrated through her lungs, settingling instead on the way it slices through the unarmored flesh of her upper chest, near the collarbone. A cry of pain comes before her stagger, and she stubbles precariously close to the edge of her platform as the sanguine liquid pours down her body. It hurts, but at least the sight of her own blood reinvigorates her as the adrenaline pumps through her veins, distracting her from the pain that shoots through her injured ribs. Catching her balance, she returns to the center of her platform, goggled eyes looking at the vines. The changeling considers that it might be time to bring the fight to the Kensai, especially after the way one of his swords imbeds its way into her tree and sets ablaze. In short, her mind is made up. Gripping onto the vine with her free hand, the spellblade mutters the word “Tenaci,” and the vine wraps itself around her wrist tightly before she leaps from her perch and lets the swing carry her in the direction of Kasyr’s tree, leaving the inferno behind her. At the peak of her swing, Quintessa cuts herself loose, flying through the air with her sickle aiming downwards to cut into the tree, leaving a long gash down the bark as she nears the Kensai’s position. Stopping just short of him, the Mantis’ red boots come down to rest against the blade holding his trenchcoat against the wood, giving it a swift kick to dislodge it before bracing herself against the surface.


Kasyr s' brain is currently cycling through a number of thoughts both inane and otherwise- not the least of which is how he thought it would be a good idea to pin himself to a tree in the process of falling over- with a sword that could likely only hold his weight for a small amount of time. Had there been a point in time where there'd been a plan? As the Mantis heroically takes hold of the magically imbued vines, and slings themselves head long at the gradually descending surface of the tree he's attached to, he can only decide 'No.' That thought proliferates into a rather sordid string of curses as both a sense of proper recognition dawns with her proximity, peaking with a rather exhausted, "Really?" when her foot comes down to kick against the sword holding him. "-RHEW." This time, when the Kensai invokes the spell, it's with almost every iota of energy that the former soul eater can muster. That unnaturally vast capacity that had seen himself used as an arcane battery by more than a few mages, courtesy of his time spent as a tiefling. It's the sort of excessive outburst that is more than enough to cause the water within the tree to burst out and abruptly accelerate its' downfall- as well as, more than likely, to flash freeze the changeling whose directly stepping upon the conduit to the tree. Not to mention the grievous harm to body that would come about courtesy of her flesh being made subject to that kind of intense frost. As for the Kensai. Well- his solution is rather simple, all given. After all, he'd only summoned forth 8 of his swords, and time and again he's seen fit to use up to 13 of the buggers. A fact that becomes rather apparent when a few silvery fractures form in the air beneath him on his way down, only to manifest in the form of this missing weapons- providing him the much needed footholds to avoid his altogether unfortunate (and painfully literal) downfall. It sure would help if the world would stop spinning.


Quintessa || The Crimson Mantis grinds her teeth upon hearing the spell she taught the former vampire being used against her a second time, this time however, offensively. She cannot ignore the frigid cold that emanates from the expelled mana, and she kicks her feet quickly off of the conduit just as the spell takes hold, the thick leather of her boots becoming heavy with ice all along the soles. Hanging from her sickle like this, her feet slipping against the trunk of the tree, the Crimson Mantis feels like a sitting duck. She is bleeding, and the pain in her ribs is throbbing as she holds on, but the changeling is not ready to give up. Spotting a branch low enough to swing over to, the spellblade winces as she works her core muscles, using the grip of her sickle as leverage to build momentum as she swings back and forth. The changeling lets go at the crest of her swing, propelling herself into the air and grasping unto the branch in desperation. Pale hands frantically reach for anything, trying to gain purchase like a kitten sliding off the edge of a table, taking leaves and everything else with her before she finds a grip and wraps her legs around the wooden support. It takes all the strength she can muster, but she pulls herself up to the safety of the branches, laying across it like a panther eyeing her prey below. She felt safe enough on her perch, trying to imagine how long Kasry could stay standing there like that. Should she try to knock him down again or just wait for him to fall?


Winner: The Crimson Mantis


Auto-hit Stakes

The Crimson Mantis’ body aches and her vision is starting to blur. She can barely see the kensai bracing against the tree below her until she smacks her own face. “It’s not naptime yet.” she reminds herself, pushing up from her laying position to dangle her legs off the side. “Hey!” The changeling yells down to Kasyr with a raspy voice, bringing one of her hands up to extend out a shaky digit. “The better version of that spell is ‘rhew mwy’.” As she utters her magical phrase, a multitude of crimson ice-sickles all scatter out to rain a dangerous hail upon her teacher, focusing her effort mostly against the swords he stood upon, coating them with a slippery sheen that Kas cannot remain standing upon. Halfway down the tree already, he should survive, right? She doesn’t keep watching his descent as he falls, instead looking up at the sickle still lodged in the trunk. “Now how in the nine hells am I going to get that down?”


Kasyr is just making sure that Inks healer is going to have their work cut out for them. It wasn't just one arm they were going to have to contend with- it was now a matching pair, the solid beginnings of a concussion, and- well. "Va t'en foutre." The chill of the air is the only bit of warning he gets before he's sent sprawling off the floating platform he'd made out of his swords- the continued assault of glacial blades more or less ensuring that he needs to maintain his focus on curling up, and simply praying for strength. Sure, in the case of a Paladin this tends to pay out rather literal divends- but it doesn't quite removing the bone jarring pain that spreads through his body as he impacts into a second surface with enough force to crater it. Really, the only consolation he has, as he stares blearily up at the sky above him- is that his swords simply evaporate away- instead of dropping on top of him. "Bleeeugh." Okay, actually- second thing to be grateful for. He's at least able to muster the effort to turn his head off to the side before he finally throws up, and eases the constant awful feeling that's been simmering in his guts.