Titans of Winter Tournament 2024 Locations and Environmental

Duel Locations & Environmental Attacks

This year we will be utilizing Dice Maiden in order to determine both the location and the environmental attack of the duel. Prior to the duel, the duelists will roll to determine:

• Who goes first (/roll 1d2)
• What location the duel will be at (/roll 1d20)
• And what environmental attack they will have to face during their duel (/roll 1d14)

The list of locations and attacks that we will be using can be found here.

Locations

1. Walled Courtyard
2. Cliff Edge
3. Scent of Night Blossoms
4. Snowy Bridge
5. Frozen Hunting Grounds
6. Open Snowfield
7. Broken Tower Walls
8. Dead Garden Path
9. Snow Twisted Path
10. Frozen Trees
11. Deep Snow
12. Icy Path
13. Hidden Mountaintop Colosseum
14. Cold Winds
15. Open Area
16. Along the Cliff
17. Frozen Pathway
18. Into the Woods
19. Lake Frysta
20. Heavy Snowfall

Environmental Attacks

Do you have an idea for an environmental attack that you would like to see added to this list? Well just hmail Meri, Kanna, & Khitti the attack and we will review it and add it to the list! Note, environmental attacks should be a few sentences at most. Even though there is an element of randomness, we will not accept environmental attack ideas from those who sign up as duelists until they are disqualified.

1. Six Frostmawian Giants dressed in their finest ceremonial black ice armor appear on the perimeter of the battlefield, each with a large drum hanging in front of their person. Once they are in position on the outskirts of the combat area, they begin to chant in deep and booming voices. The tempo of their song is a slow one which is fortunate for the duelists for on every eight counts the giants beat upon their drum for a single count. Following the thundering sound of their drums is a crack of lightning that strikes at a random spot on the battlefield, one for each drum-carrying giants.
2. When the duelists step out onto their battlefield, they have clear visibility of their opponent, the terrain they will be fighting on, and the audience that is watching them. Is this the worst that Frostmaw can throw at them? A few cracks on slippery and frozen grounds that the duelists might trip up on? How boring. Except, It seems like there is movement between the cracks of the shattered ground. Before the duelists have the chance to get a clear sight on what critter is moving between those cracks, the light out of the dueling space is magically inhibited so that the duelists can only see a foot in front of them. Where is their opponent? What about the cracks? What is IN those cracks? One misstep from the duelists could cost them considerably, as they risk being stung by frostbite scorpions. It won’t be lethal to the duelists, but it will render their limbs temporarily immobile and at risk of hypothermia. The audience has clear sight of everything that happens on the battlefield, unlike the duelists.
3. Last tournament season, an enchanted and magical version of a moose was led out onto the field for the duelists to ride into battle. Two mammoths that are composed entirely of ice stomp their way onto the battlefield, but they are not saddled and ready for the duelists to ride. No, they are angry and territorial and greatly offended by the combatants and only the combatants. Both duelists are going to be forced to dodge the massive mammoths while trying to gain the upper hand on their actual opponent, hopefully securing themselves a victory and advancement into the next ground. It will be a challenge to do with these massive beasts intent on pulverize them into the ground with their massive feet or goring them with their elongated tusks. It may be tempting to try and melt them with fire or shatter the mammoths into a tiny little pieces with a forceful blow, but enchanted ice mammoths have been magically enhanced do be resistant to such a thing. What’s a duelist to do.
4. Several students from the Necromancer's Guild enters the area, each dressed in dark red robes with black and white embroidery, representing the colors of their guild. The three with the lowest skills of the bunch summon basic, chattering skeletons, the undead sounding as if they were actually freezing in the Frostmawian weather. The next three students summon something greater in strength: the freshly rotting forms of warriors from other regions, complete with their decaying body armor and helms, and their weapons (both melee and ranged). These undead are given the ability to recall their combat training from when they were amongst the living. The next two guild members draw out the souls of two powerful mages, their elemental magic a formidable foe. And lastly, the final member of the Necromancer's Guild resurrects a mighty frost wyrm from the very depths of Frostmaw's earth, its skeletal body covered with dirt and ice and visibly surging with the dark magic of its summoner. The undead beast takes to the skies, swooping down now and then, and letting out massive waves of frost breath.
5. Provided for the tournament, straight from the Necromancer's Guild's vault, are six cursed items for duelists to choose from. Each one is laid out carefully on a wooden table, done so by a trusted high-ranking member of the guild, using gloves to keep from being cursed themselves. Each item has their own different curse and the curse itself must be utilized during the duel. After the duel is over, the member of the Necromancer's Guild will remove the curse, and therefore the item, from the duelist and be returned to the guild's vault for safekeeping. The items are as follows: a Bracer Of Berserking, which whispers insults meant for the wearer's mother and induces an uncontrollable rage and madness in the wearer, which may impair them heavily during their duel; a Ring Of Stoneskin, which does not entirely make one impervious to attacks as the stoneskin spell is meant to, but instead petrifies the wearer, turning them entirely into a random type of stone; a Cloak Of Transparency, wherein the cloak does not even manage to make all parts of one's body the same level of transparency, leaving the wearer vulnerable to attacks as the transparency changes over time; Necklace Of Magic Missile Attraction, which causes bolts of arcane magic to attack at the wearer from any and all sides, from seemingly nowhere at all; Boots Of Still Feet, which causes the wearer to not be able to move their feet at all, instead forced to move around some other way; and lastly, an Earring Of Polymorph, which does not actually turn them into an animal of their choice, but instead into a domesticated rabbit (which is much less capable than a wild one).
6. The elements of fire and ice have been mixed in this duel’s environmental challenge. The ice is obvious. It comes in the form of the snow on the ground, yes of course. It comes in the form of a biting wind that carries a frozen slush-like rain in it, that offers almost no reprieve except for the brief moments at the element of fire is given the chance to shine. Four towering pedestals of fire that have been enchanted to burn red hot despite the frigid weather surround the battlefield with a large circular opening that connects with the basin of fire at the top of the pillar. As the wind subsides, torrents of fire shoot forth from the circular opening to reign chaos and havoc down on the duelists’ combat area. The only upside to the presence of the flames is the brief escape from the frostbite inducing winds. But at what cost? The flames unleash their fury on the area for about ten seconds, then they will retreat into the pedestal, only for the winds resume their frigid gusts. There is no predictable rhythm to when the elements of fire and ice will alternate, only that the cold always lasts longer than the heat.
7. Under your average dueling circumstances, duelists are allowed to bring their weapon (or weapons) of choice onto the field without question. In this duel, the moment that the duelists step out onto the battlefield, they are each greeted by a rather intimidating Frostmawian giant who demands they hand over their main weapon and assured they will remain well guarded until the end of the battle, where their weapon of choice will be returned. Smaller weapons like daggers are overlooked. The why will soon be obvious, for in the center of the battlefield there is an array of weapons that have all had a piece trapped within ice. “When the bell rings, you may claim a new weapon…or use what we have left you with.” What approach will the duelists take to claiming some sort of weapon that has more substance than a dagger? Sword? Axe? Spear? Mace? There are easily ten different styles of weapon up for grabs, if they can be freed from the ice.
8. The sky clashes violently, shaking everything on the ground as though the gods themselves were preparing to perform a great purging. With the mages of Xalious lined up around the battlefield, they all raise their wands and staves at once, reciting the spell that they all know by heart. There is a pause. Nothing happens. The guildmates worriedly whisper amongst themselves before they collectively decide to try again. It is a very strange thing indeed, for most who know the arcane would be able to tell that they called out for something related to hail, but it is lightning that arcs down into the center of the arena. Clamors of the chaotic magic of the mountains are barely drowned out as the strange silver lightning swivels and extends out as though it were a living thing. It fractures into two, then four, then in the blink of an eye, an electric web has covered the field, slowly sinking down as though it intends to flatten and electrocute the duelists. The web leaves little room for aerial maneuvers, leaving only a meter’s worth of clearance between the duelist’s heads and undoubtable pain. There are eruptions of protests to stop the duel since the magic used is not stable, but the bellowing rings out all the same. “FIGHT.”
9. A single person bearing the robes of the Necromancer’s Guild sits atop a platform to the side of the battlefield. They snap their fingers, and color begins popping out through the cold monochrome landscape. Toadstools of sickeningly bright hues expand under the duelists’ feet, creating springy platforms for them to launch off of. However, the platforms are more fragile than they look, succumbing to the weight after only a few moments. Spores leak out from the fully grown fungi, turning the snow and sludge into a sickly brown color that bubbles and oozes. As the sludge spreads outward, clouds of noxious fumes begin appearing in places where larger bubbles accumulate and burst. Any detritus left on the field immediately begins to dissolve when touching the acidic river beneath the sinking toadstool platforms. It would seem that being fleet footed is a necessity and not an option here.
10. Without the usual pomp and fanfare of an environmental hazard, four metal posts shoot out of the ground. A metal platform rises beneath the duelists feet, making the arena no more than five meters across on either end. “Let’s call this one the Q’na Special!” The announcer calls, as a magical glass manifests to trap both duelists within. Sand begins to pour in from above, revealing that the two are at the bottom of a very rapidly filling hourglass, made out of a material that seems to resist all damage. With the rate that the sand is falling, with it already lining the floor of the small arena, it would seem that they only have minutes before they are buried. The center of the hourglass seems just wide enough for one person to pass through at a time, making it a possible escape if the duelists can get past the rushing sand and each other. Little do they know that this will only cause the hourglass to turn over, repeating the cycle until the duel comes to an end.
11. What had gone unnoticed before, thought to be an innocuous pile of snow or sleet, suddenly stirs. The head of a giant owl emerges from the pile, its sharp beak easily as long as an archer’s bow. Even if for a moment, the spectator stands go deathly silent. With the wave of a wand, a sheer veil of magic encases the arena so that the sounds of the audience do not interfere with what is about to happen. With its eyes closed, the gargantuan beast shakes its head vigorously to shake loose the detritus on it. It is not just a giant owl, but a giant snow owlbear. Beneath its feet, several smaller owlbear cubs sleep peacefully, and they disappear beneath the thick fur and feathers as the mother owlbear lays back down. It would seem that this duel will be taking place in the middle of these cranky nappers’ hibernation season. A snow jackalope runs into the middle of the arena from where the magical veil had disturbed it. Not yet noticing the imminent danger, it calls out for its pack, only to disappear within the blink of an eye, leaving a paw shaped gouge in the snow where it had been just a second before. It would seem that these duelists would have to be very careful not to wake the brooding mother, lest they wish to join that jackalope’s fate.
12. As duelists step out onto their battlefield, they are greeted with twelve discs of ice that have a radius of about two feet to them and are currently levitating a meager six inches off the ground. The twelve discs form the shape of the circle, almost like a clock. One disc for each hour. The duelists are instructed to stand on the discs, but directly across from one another. Once both feet of each duelist are flat on the ice disc, the distance between the ground and the disc grows at a steady rate. Their upwards movement is not so fast that the duelists should be thrown off balance and fall, but it won’t take them longer to get to their new levitating height of about fifteen feet up off the ground. “Don’t fall,” is the only instruction they are given and why is going to be clear – spikes of ice have magically formed beneath them. The fall is going to hurt. The floating discs seem sturdy and balanced, like there is not significant danger of tipping. Just…slipping.
13. Along the perimeter of the dedicated fighting space, four oversized slingshots have been set up low to the ground. Surrounding those oversized slingshots are numerous blocks of ice that are about three feet high by three feet wide. For your average individual, it would be near impossible to get these blocks of ice positioned in the slingshots alone. For the Frostmawian giants that are manning the slingshots, they hardly break a sweat. Periodically the giants will send these blocks of ice sliding across the battlefield and toward the duelists. Dodging would be a wise course of action, but a clever duelist might find a way to use these blocks of ice to their advantage. If nothing else, the ice blocks will careen their way across the battlefield only to be collected by one of the Frostmawian giants so that it can be reloaded into a slingshot…and the process will repeat until the fight ends.
14. The ground quakes as a horde of seemingly plagued zombies rush this area of Frostmaw, broken and dirty teeth gnashing and gnawing at anything living in their path. Boils filled with sickening pus and not-quite-coagulated blood litter their forms, with lesions left in their wake upon being broken open. What might happen if someone were bitten? What would happen in their sickness came too close? If their tainted blood mixed with the blood of the living? Would they turn as well? Would they too become plagued? Or would they just get a nasty infection? It's best not to find out. And with that in mind, the audience has been magically shielded from being detected by the zombies.

• Titans of Winter Tournament 2024