289 replies to this topic

[Rytiko]

Just wanted to bump this to the top, in case you guys missed the fact that I posted a reply to each of your posts. Delete this post, as it serves no purpose.

[Queztatlapoca]

"This is too easy..." Teyld thought to himself. "Blocking before I attack?" So instead of a classic vertical strike to finish a downed opponent he grabbed the chain with both hands and snapped it foward, with enough force to crush a thigh, at his foe's crotch. "Seems you still need some improvment!" Teyld said as he launched his attack.

[Rytiko]

'Damn it. This guy is such a pain... I won't be able to keep this up. It's time to prepare for this execution...' Vladamir thought as he made the illusion take the blow. He hadn't cared enough to continue such a charade, so he merely made the same pseudo-human barrier to take the strike. The rest was easy, as it was a groin shot. There was little to no noise to simulate, and no motion other than dropping the blades and assuming the fetal position.

Spreading his legs and placing his hands together in front of him, as if in prayer, Vladamir began calling forth the energy required to create his next illusion. It would take some time however, and he couldn't afford to be distracted by anything else. Creating an entire body of the barrier and an entire solid barrier for each sword, he diverted attention from the illusion. It didn't matter what he did to him, so long as Vladamir could open his next bag of tricks.

[Embrace of the Wood - Charge; turn 1/2]

[Queztatlapoca]

Teyld raised his head and arms to the heavens and roared like the beast he is. "You are no swordsman" he spat. "You are hardly worthy of the title worm" He looked again at the downed fool and thought "Was he truly the greatest swordsman?"

[Rytiko]

Cursing himself for being so arrogant, Vladamir stood in fear at the decision he'd have to make. He didn't have enough energy to invoke the illusion and maintain the barriers that would make the illusion seem real to him. That was a major problem, as he had already given up his hold on every part of the audience's brains other than the visual cortex. All he could do was make the illusion look real and feel real. If there was no feeling, coupled with the lack of sound, anybody would be able to see that he wasn't the real one...

But there was no other option if he wanted to make everyone else think that he really was this imaginary swordsman. If his cover were blown, it would be impossible to trick people in the future. He would need the cover of the forest to appear in everyone else's mind, and that was taking more energy out of him than he had thought it would. With a bit of a scowl, he released the barriers that composed the swordsman's body and weapons. He could only hope that his opponent would not strike him in his silence. There wasn't much longer to go before he could put the man into a definite checkmate.

[Embrace of the Wood - Charge; Readied for Next Turn Cast]

[Queztatlapoca]

"Time to finish this" Teyld thought. He the steel chain down in a killing blow aimed for the temple of his prey. And was shocked as the chain passed right through him. He immediately took and step back and rose to his full height. "WHO IS OUT THERE!!!" he shouted as he began to fall into his berserker state.

[Rytiko]

'Damn... My cover is blown. Then there's no point making everyone see this. It's easier to focus it all on him,' Vladamir thought. He immediately released his hold on the minds of the audience, and focused his energy on the behemoth. He would use one last trick before surrounding him with the foliage.

"I am the very definition of fear. He who challenges me finds himsself doing battle with no one other than himself. As you wear yourself down, I sit comfortably elsewhere pulling the strings. But you've spirit, and I like that. Welcome to my domain!" Vladamir shouted, once again in the surround sound voice.

As he spoke, he began his illusion. He turned everything the man saw to pure darkness, and rose a magnificent forest from its depths. The trees were thick, and the plants abundant. There was fruit, flowers, even insects. He manipulated his hearing to hear the buzzing of bees, the chirp of cicada and crickets, even the snores and calls monkeys. He had strained himself a bit to even make it smell like a forest, complete with succulent nectars and wildflowers. The image was complete, and more perfect than any he had erected before. He was actually pleased with himself; being able to do such a thing after only two years of practice was quite something in his opinion. He was a genius, after all.

"And now the fun begins... My home does not take kindly to strangers. Even if you could find me... I doubt you've the ability to reach me. Your soul shall be mine for the taking!" Vladamir said, maintaining the disembodied voice. He amused himself with his devilish lies, but he had to make the man fear something. Fearful minds were much easier to manipulate.

[Embrace of the Wood; Turn 1/10 Full Illusion, Turn 1/12 Visual]

((Yes, he will eventually lose his grip. To balance his genius and ability, he doesn't have a lot of energy to spare. it is very dificult for him to maintain such elaborate illusions. The illusion decay will begin after 10 turns, in which the scent and sounds will begin to vanish. The illusion will remain for 12 turns though.))

[Queztatlapoca]

"I'VE LOST MY SOUL YEARS AGO!!!" He shouted back at the voice. "Again with the magery!!!" He wrapped his chain around the nearest tree and pulled. His muscles bulged, veins on the verge of bursting, but slowly he tore the tree out of the ground and heaved it aside. "This is what I think of your forest!"
"Give me a real challenge!!"

[Rytiko]

It had taken him a bit of unnecessary energy to satiate his need to pull down a tree, but it didn't matter. Vladamir was prepared to do everything he had to do to wear him down. It even humored him a bit, to see him try so hard to tear down a fake object. None the less, he had called him for a challenge. He was going to give him one.

He made an explosion close to him, both to lure him in and to give an excuse to launch step one of his plan - Disguising several alchemical potions as birds, he watched as they flew into the sky guided by his magical energy. It was now that he felt the pain of their setting - The potions were heavy and required more energy to hold in the air. Not enough to slow him down too much, though. With the weight of the belt lessened, he was able to move with slightly more freedom. Creeping silently to the left, he awaited his opponent to step into step 2 of his plan.

Along the way to the site of the explosion, there was a barrier of thick, prickled vines. He'd have to make a spiked magical barrier to use them properly, but the point of it all was, he was going to make them seem as though they were alive and attacking them when he approached. With all of this going on, he had now completely lost his hold over the audience - All they would see is the barbarian roaming blindly around the woods, attacking nothing, and the shimmering barriers when he created them. They would also see the many potions floating in the air, making the fight all the more interesting to onlookers.

[Queztatlapoca]

In his unthinking rage, Teyld heard an explosion and headed towards it much like a lion to a fresh kill. On his way he encountered a wall of vines. A living wall of vines. Reacting fast he swung his chain counterclockwise into the wall of plants hoping to decimate a few.

[Rytiko]

Perfect. It was all so perfect. Quickly reacting to the swing of the chain, he made a very fortified barrier, and used it to wrap the vines around the chain. Pulling up into the air with the vines, he hoped to stall him for a second or two, as he couldn't hold the barrier up to his enormous strength - He'd easily pull free. Of that, Vladamir was sure.

In the very short of time he allowed himself, he caused two of the bottles he had sent before to break. The illusion was of two birds coming to land on a nearby tree as the crystals that were within descended slowly.

The crystal was a very unique and interesting compound blending shadow magics and an element that rapidly expanded upon exposure to oxygen. He would use his own magic to control their growth, this time in the shape of a small white dove slowly transforming into a horrific bipedal beast with fearsome talons and diamond-tipped wings sharpened to a more than deadly finish. Once it grew to the appropriate size, he would yield its growth and enable it to move with a complex stringing of shadow auras.

[Crystal Humunculus - Growth; Turn 1/2 (Full sized at turn two)]
[Embrace of the Wood; Turn 2/10 Full Illusion]

[Mizukage]

This is pathetic. I withdraw from the arena.
Some semblance of order and inevitablity is always present in a real battle.

I know this better than just about any of you.
Continue with your foolishness.

[Rytiko]

This is pathetic. I withdraw from the arena.
Some semblance of order and inevitablity is always present in a real battle.

I know this better than just about any of you.
Continue with your foolishness.

Does Not Effect The Arena In Any Way

((I'm not entirely sure that I understand. Are you trying to say that the match is always one sided? In that case, you're wrong. I see MANY ways for me to lose this fight, and many ways to win. It's a matter of countering each other. Hell, my grand finale may not even work on Teyld.

Or did you mean to say that the fact that it is balanced is unrealistic? I've no idea what you mean. Please clarify?))

[Mizukage]

This whole system, merely being based on wordplay, with no base to build on, there is a reason why D&D and other tabletop games work, they are based in imperical processes.

You roll a die and math ensues, you do not describe the action UNTIL you are certain it succeeds, the forum nazi is also cramping the style, I side with Casey.

[Rytiko]

This whole system, merely being based on wordplay, with no base to build on, there is a reason why D&D and other tabletop games work, they are based in imperical processes.

You roll a die and math ensues, you do not describe the action UNTIL you are certain it succeeds, the forum nazi is also cramping the style, I side with Casey.

Does Not Effect The Arena In Any Way

While you certainly have a fair point with which I won't argue, I happen to know first hand that building a system is of more difficulty than it is truly worth. This is for some fun action-based wordplay, focusing on unleashing attacks and fighting within your OWN preset boundaries as a great warrior, unleashing your deadly techniques as you wish, so long as they are balanced.

The fact is, with the right mind, you can win if your character is built for it. BUt to be fair, you must also be ready to take a hit and have your character mess up where it is appropriate. You saw in our battle that, because my character isn't that great of a close ranged fighter without his energy attacks and boosts, I suffered a few hits and eventually lost. Had my character been fully equipped, the fight would have been very well balanced and would have relied on someone launching an attack that would leave the other logically incapable of dodging the next attack.

A dice system is more concrete and effective. But for the sake of entertainment, I've no problem winning through wordplay. It allows the usage of more attacks to be dished out, truly testing your character to their limit. If we did things with a dice system that relied solely upon battle, this would be boring. With a good back story it could be interesting, but as it stands, there is merely character development and battle - something a dice system is NOT suited for.

Obviously, I side with Megell. However, I don't think there should be any more OOC posts.

[Queztatlapoca]

((Just as a side note I am not taking sides on this issue but rather doing what i enjoy. Call me a hedonist (if you know me you know how silly that is) but thats the way it is.))

((Oh and by the way crystals shatter hehehe not a good choice against a crushing weapon))

The vines caught the chain and twisted themselves through and around it binding the chain into the wall. Teyld growled and, with both hands on the chain, spun pulling the chain out, effectively ripping the wall apart. What he then saw put a twisted smile on his face. A dove was slowy bulging and changing it shape into some horrific beast. Teyld hoped this would be a fight to remember and waited for the thing to take full shape.

[Rytiko]

((Heheh. You'll see just how great of a choice they are. Oh, and you're aware that there are two, right?

Also, I've a question for Megell - I hope to avoid it, but in the possibility that my two characters do collide at some point, would you like me to just write out the fight and post the entire thing? There'll be auto-hits galore, but since they're both mine and I controll the outcome anyway, I don't think it matters... x_x))

Such arrogance! It was as grand a display as Vladamir himself could manage. But Vladamir could only laugh and applaud himself even more, as everything was going well. He'd fight and fight and fight until h e could fight no longer, when Vladamir would assemble his finale. Indeed, the Crystal Homunculus was the best choice for this battle. He could have used the metal one, but it required for more energy and would be essentially less effective in wearing his opponent down. This would be fun...

The beasts took their full form on with a loud simultaneous cry to the heavens. Beaks and wings were razor shard, easily capable of piercing through human flesh. With a flick of both of Vladamir's wrists, the beasts began to charge at him from opposite sides, readying themselves for two slashes each - one with each wing - and a simultaneous peck. Just how quick was the behemoth with that unruly chain?

Admittedly, Vladamir would require more energy to move the crystal beasts with their added weight. But the end result was so satisfying, it wouldn't matter. He just had to finish playing with the man relatively soon, and all would be well.

[Crystal Homunculus x2; Until destroyed, or 5 turns; Turn 1/5]
[Embrace of the Wood; Turn 3/10 Full Illusion]

[Queztatlapoca]

((I wasn't but now i am, and btw i've only got one chain))

For the third time this day Teyld activated the earth runes tattooed onto his back. As the beasts closed the distance Teyld turned to face one and, holding the chain with one hand, tried to throw it around the neck of the beast and catch the other end with his free hand. The slashes and pecks came and chipped off a little stone, while dulling themselves at the same time. If Teyld managed to keep his hold around this creature he would pull its head into his own over and over and over... until its or his own head was nothing but rubble. He was confident of his own strength.

[Runic magick:Stoneskin 1/3 movement speed superficial healing 0/3]

[Rytiko]

'Is he actually...? That's absolutely insane!' Vladamir thought. Either way, things would go as he had planned. This was just made it so that he wouldn't have to wast his potions. He'd brought enough supplies to fight at least 20 battles like the one he had planned out, but still, it never hurt to be safe... Besides, he was lazy at times when it came to Alchemy.

He'd continue this for as long as it would be allowed before he released his hold on the crystals. His goal was to wear his opponent down, but either way, it didn't really matter. No matter how much energy he had, he wouldn't be able to stand up to his finishing attack.

Crack!! The crystal was beginning to shatter. Luckily, because of its expansion, it'd take a lot more to completely shatter it. Cracks would quickly mend, and he would just have to continue taking hits until either he lost the earth powers or Vladamir lost control over the crystals...

((Feel free to auto-hit the crystals, otherwise this will take more time than is necessary.))

[Queztatlapoca]

Seeing as how this current method wasn't as effective as he had hoped he realsed the hold on the things neck wrapped the chain about his waist and hoisted the bird-like thing off it's feet and threw it onto it's back and jumped on top of it pinning it to the ground. Much like he did earlier he raised his hands and pounded onto its face THUD! The arena shook with the force of the blow

[Runic magick:Stoneskin 1/3 movement speed superficial healing 1/3]