[Requiem of the Gods] [Chapter 1, Act 3, Rijin's Bout]

[Thorn Darkblade]

The day had come. That pretentious Terrestrial, with his foppish red hat, his flowing crimson cape, his razor thin red sword...everything delicate, prim, pampered...but somehow, fierce...he was standing across the field from the Crimson Lion King, posing dramatically for the crowd, tilting his hat forward, raindrops falling off dramatically, steaming a bit as they touched his flesh.


The announcers' voices droned off in the distance. At this point, it no longer mattered. This man had walked up to the Lion and personally insulted him. Treated him like a child. The booze was delicious, but it was still unforgivable.


Something about a coin flip was muttered, and a sharp rap from Ygg's beak snapped Rijin back to reality.


"Focus and pay attention...after all, I don't want to have to go through the trouble of finding another one of you."


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Spoiler

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/327/5/7/red_mage_raistlin_by_aidiki_chan-d4h1zn9.jpg

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[Maus]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hClyvvZh3w[/media]


"Yes, mother," the blonde snapped back, unsheathing Feeder of Ravens, not bothering with his usual flare or showmanship. He played the fool when it suited him, to better deceive potential opponents. If a foe was sloppy, underestimated him, it made it easier to cut him down without using the mojo, or even his full, unassisted prowess.


But him? Oh, he wouldn't dream of giving him anything but his best. Man had practically asked for it!


Giving the reaver a few warm up swings, he called to his prey, still using the Old Realm that Ygg demanded. "Look upon yer end, maggot, and despair! They're gonna need a mop to get you off the field!"

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

With a flourish, and a spark of flames, the man responded in Old Realm as well.


"Ha, didn't think you were intelligent enough to know such an old tongue...I must admit, you're the most interesting prey I've gone after so far. I'll leave a bottle at your grave, in your honor, when I'm finished. Now, call the coin flip, unless you prefer I do it?"


He took a much more serious stand now...the dragon's fangs were bared, as it were...


"Also, I don't believe I properly gave my name last night...only fitting that you know the name of the one to defeat you...Cathak Gavin, at your service."

 

[Maus]

Rijin gawffed heartily at the name. "Cathak? Ha! And here I thought you and yer kin were just effete snobs, but surprise, surprise..." he drawled, grinning widely, cruelly. "It seems you CAN do something else besides run your mouth and be irritating! Alas, it's only to fetch like the whipped dogs you are, but hey, you learn something new every day!"


"Tails!" snarled the Lion, eager for blood.

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((Heads even, tails odd))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((You win sir.))


One of the Lookshyan engineers had done the flip. The silver dinar came up tails, in Rijin's favor.


"What terrain do you choose for the fight?"

 

[Maus]

The smirk grew wider. "Gimme a ruined factory cathedral, plenty of debris, maybe a warstrider scaffold or two. And ring us in with lighting, don't care how, but make it sing."


The family scrolls spoke of an ancestor that had fought a pitched battle in such a place once. He attributed his victory to "having a wealth of options with which to maneuver, pin, and crush my opponents".


"An' don' skimp on the lights! Want everyone to get a real good look at us."

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

"Also, remember who's jade jingles in your pockets...the Lion and I have agreed to make this a little bit more than friendly, after all."


Gavin was most likely referring to what he had mentioned last night...the safety net of the arena would be off for this bout. One way or another, only one was leaving this ring. The engineer nodded, and left the ring to fiddle with the controls.


"Opposite sides of the arena, please."


As they took their places, it shimmered once more, as faux orichalcum walls rose up and around, essence lighting shining here and there, making the entire arena glow. Starmetal, blue jade, and crystal lightning rods focused a fierce storm around them, from lighting clouds up above that cast every area not lit by the large amount of lamps dark, except the occasional flash, giving a very nice visual contrast. Portions of the walls were destroyed, revealing sparking cables. An arm of a warstrider dangled off of a half destroyed chassis, with scaffolding about it. Damaged weapons, gears, cables, and struts were everywhere. At the very edge was an intact ring of lightning rods, arcing between eachother nearly constantly.


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((Alrighty, join battle!))

 

[Maus]

((Delightful~))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((And throwin here too))

 

[Maus]

((Oh for fuck's sake...))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((Well, the good news is you can't go any slower than tick 5, ever. The bad news is...tick 5 for you.))


TICK 0


Echoes came through various halls as the man ran through them, making no attempt at stealth whatsoever. Damn, it sounded like he was fast. Very fast.

Spoiler

Activating Bellows-Pumping Stride for 1m, doubles movement rates for Move and Dash for the scene...also leaves easy to follow firey footprints.


Also, taking a Dash action, so, Speed 3, 22 yards a tick, 3 ticks...66 yards in 3 seconds...incredibly fuckin fast

 

[Maus]

Cursing himself for getting distracted by the marvel of Essence-tech, he gave only one command to Ygg before preparing to be jumped from anywhere.


"Mark him, and don't let him flank me!"

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

TICK 2


Flanking? Where's the challenge in that?"


He came at full speed from the next corner, rushing forward like a streaking comet, slashing a brilliant red daiklave at him twice.


((3 action flurry, a free move action plus a dash to cover 33 more yards, plus 2 attacks.


First attack-13 dice after penalties, no charms on this one


Second attack- 12 dice


6 and 5 successes, what's your Parry DV, and don't forget -1 to the second one from Onslaught))

 

[Maus]

((Parry DV of 6))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((He misses, barely))


TICK 5


((Your move, blondie))

 

[Maus]

Light, nimble, wickedly so, the Lion thought. The blonde bobbed and weaved, moving only as much as necessary to move him out of the way, just enough strength to parry. Unlike multi-opponent combat, fighting single powerful opponents was all about conservation of power, wearing down and judging defenses until a single point of failure could be found and exploited. Rijin manuvered towards a cluster of workbenches, shoving over large debris and parts, trying to force the fop to slow and get caught. Putting something between him and that sword also seemed like a solid plan...Quick little shit'll need an anvil to pin down. Let him catch me in the open, he'll cut me bad.


"Let's dance!" the Blade King snarled, eyes shining with challenge.


((Move action, I guess? Too early for nonsense, no, not yet...))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((I'm assuming you wanna go a little faster, right? That'd be a dash. Speed 3))

 

[Maus]

((Sure, we'll go with that.))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

TICK 6


The dragonblooded moved inhumanly fast, more than keeping pace with Rijin, a firey trail of footprints in his wake.


"You'll have to do better than that!"


He arced his sword gracefully at Rijin once more, but, this time in a single precise stroke. A flurry of blows wouldn't pierce through the Lion's defenses easily...this required accuracy.

Spoiler

With his active movement Charm, he'll be able to keep pace with you for the first tick of your Dash, so, he's not bothering to Flurry. I'll give you a 50% cover bonus, so +1 to melee DV and +2 to ranged, as you said you were looking for crap to maneuver around,

 

[Maus]

Rijin and a now-deceased comrade had once argued about who was more prepared for a fight: A student of a dojo, or a student of the street.


His comrade had argued that a dojo fighter was far more disiciplined, and had the advantage of better training.


A small "Yah!" of triumph left the Lion's mouth as his free hand found a workbench behind him, grabbing the edge as the swing's trajectory made itself known.


Rijin argued that a street fighter was more prepared: he fought in the real world, and was used to how fights really went.


Grip sure, the swordsman hauled himself up and over, using his massive strength to throw himself out of the path of the blade, and hopefully break Red's momentum. And once Red had lost his rhythm, the counter attack could begin!

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Spoiler

Impressive. Roll 2 stunt dice for dv and take 4 m or 1 wp back

 

[Maus]

(Wow, two!? I feel so loved.))

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

((I need you to reroll them...merger ate the dice rolls))

 

[Maus]

(Also, weak tits. I had a 7 and 9 last time!)