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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
6, 6
Total: 12 (2-16)
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 Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:12 pm
Something told Riley she was going to have to truly work to make a good impression with the clan of War, if they were ever going to allow her a chance. There were many options for training, but Riley found herself in front of the stadium almost immediately, determined to make an improvement from the first failure she'd committed. She found an acceptable looking partner, and, for a moment, compared him to Herryk. She planned on fighting the boil later, and this man was far less physically daunting, but his skill was unmatched. She thought it would still be a fitting warm-up.
She grappled with the clansmen for several minutes, before a tie was called and they were given a few minutes to rest, regroup, and try again.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 3
Total: 11 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:13 pm
The clansman who came back to fight her once more looked vaguely disinterested in her, but she could tell there was a glint of respect in his eye, after she held her own. This time, she would show him exactly what kind of respect she demanded, as she came at him, twisting to the side and wrapping her arms around his waist. He paused at the action, confused by the sudden intimacy, and she used the moment to lift him up in the air, twirl him upside down, and slam him down onto his head.
Brutal, but effective. The match was over within seconds, and the clansman was seeing stars, and wondering if the ghoul he'd just fought would spend some time sparring with him later.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 5
Total: 13 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:14 pm
The next contestant seemed overeager to fight with her after her display of physical strength from her last fight. He was an even larger man, muscles bulging obnoxiously and neck cracking left and right as he stretched the trunk of it and took on a fighting stance. He expected her to come at him head-on, in hopes she would try to grapple with him. She was visibly insulted - did she look that stupid?
The man used his muscles to think, and not his experience. Riley stepped forward with one foot, and bent slightly, leaning forward into him. He grinned.
And she swept him off of his feet with a lunge of all of her tentacles at once. He crashed into the ground, every inch of his overly-large body thunking painfully into the hard soil. The match was over before it had ever really begun.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
6, 4
Total: 10 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:15 pm
It seemed like today was the day Riley had garnered all of the male clansmen's attention, because yet another surly looking fellow was striding up to her, ready to take on the challenge of bringing down the student who kept dropping his fellow clansmen to their knees. Unbenownst to Riley, Shehk had been carving a trail of devastation for herself earlier, as well - and the clanspeople were starting to take notice. So he stood, assessing her thoroughly, before taking position and preparing to engage. Riley had no hopes of this being an easy match, as it was clear by the way he looked at her that he was not underestimating her. He was going to bring her down, one way or another.
He took a step forward, and lunged low, forcing Riley to come forward and leap into the air, flipping over him and landing straight on his back. He took the force of her body with nothing but a grunt, but when she landed on him, her tentacles wrapped around his body and brought him back up as she came down. She landed on the ground, and he went soaring into the air, right over her head, landing with a muted thud on his a** in front of her. He conceded, but grumbled something about how she wouldn't be half as interesting of a challenge if it weren't for those tentacles.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
4, 4
Total: 8 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:16 pm
Finally, Riley found her first female sparring partner of the day. She couldn't help but feel a surge of pride that the females of the clan seemed to hold the upper hand when it came to fighting, or else she wouldn't be this high up past those men she'd previously brought down. The female had a spear with her, rounding it slowly in her arms as she paced around Riley. Riley had been given a spear, but she hadn't so much as touched it until now - and as soon as she picked it up, the spar began.
The female clanswoman wasted no time in bashing her spear forward towards Riley, crying out loud, harpy warcries with each lunge and thrust. Riley countered everything the woman threw at her, but was left with no opening for her own attacks. She was left completely on the defensive, until a cease was called and the two were separated for rest and regrouping.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 6
Total: 14 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:16 pm
The spearswoman came at Riley as soon as they were both ready, lunging and parrying, leaving nothing for Riley to use, until a moment of arrogance made her try to end the fight early by piercing Riley, leaving her open once the mindflayer managed to dodge. She used the blunt force of the spear to knock the clanswoman down, and pointed the spear at her neck.
She yielded, and Riley took her hand to help her up. She was no bad sport, she bowed sharply and congratulated Riley on her win. Riley had never won in a spear battle before.. it felt kind of nice.
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Nio Love rolled 2 8-sided dice:
1, 5
Total: 6 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:18 pm
Riley was feeling.. perhaps a little too good. She didn't think she had the skills to handle a spear fight, and yet, she'd done so with what felt like a very skilled opponent. So she picked up the spear again, and arrogantly called forth another clanswoman, ready to try again. The woman had her own spear, which looked simple enough at first - though once the fight began, and she twirled it, the end looked much thicker than the tip. It was almost bulbous, and when she swung it, she used the thicker end as a blunt weapon, coupling both dangerously sharp jabs with blunt smacks. It was an impressive weapon, and Riley stood no chance against it.
The match was over in seconds, but Riley didn't understand how. One moment, they were matching blows, and the next, the clanswoman had hopped back, flung her spear directly into Riley's middle, and-
The world zoomed by her. Or, no, that wasn't it. She was zooming back, slamming into a wall as the spear penetrated through her and pinned her to it. She was immobile, pinned without touching the floor, but she felt no pain, why did she feel no..
...
The spear had gone right through her chest hole, jammed into it. Even the clanswoman looked surprised.
I'm.. going to need some help. She wiggled helplessly, her feet too high to touch the ground. Still.. better this, than dead.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:26 pm
Shehk had settled in to watch Riley spar for a while, rather pleased to be off her feet after what felt like just being up and on them all day. Yes, she did have the stamina to walk and run around all day, but even then it was a nice break to just... sit down and watch the scenery a bit.
Or watch Riley kicking a**. Both were very good options, actually.
In fact, Riley seemed to be doing simply amazing (must have been that awesome in her system), before...
..
and then...
...
Shehk's face wasn't quite as baffled as the faces of the Horsemen that were around, but she certainly had a very curious look on her face as she suddenly popped up to her feet and went jogging over to help Riley out with her..predicament.
"I feel like I should praise their aim or your luck somewhere amongst this." she said thoughtfully as she grabbed onto the polearm and began to tug as carefully as she could.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:35 pm
As soon as the polearm was pulled hard enough, it came free and Riley crumbled to the floor, just sitting there for a moment and rubbing the tear in her shirt.
Both, I suppose. She murmured distantly, distracted by how much worse that could have been for her. She stood up, continued to rub her abdomen as if thanking Jack for the hole, and wrapped an arm around Shehk's shoulders.
Let's.. go.. somewhere else. She was done sparring for a while. Maybe forever.
.. No, just for a while.
((exit))
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 6:09 pm
She had to agree. Riley did have a lot of luck. Enough Awesome left over in her own system to actually get out of that relatively unscathed. Still, the Pricolici leaned against the Mindflayer's side as she walked along with her, tail wagging.
"I'm fine with that. I need to..."
Need to...
"Go update my journal and then grab a few things." Yeahh. That sounded pretty nice, actually.
[[Exit]]
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Miliardo Kason rolled 2 8-sided dice:
4, 2
Total: 6 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:03 pm
Sammy arrived alone this time, later into the evening. Torches flickered lazily around the sparring arena. It was cooler in the jungle at night, almost cold as her bare feet moved over the same dirt and wood towards the training rings. A few of the horsemen of war looked up before returning to their own business. Just another student here to test their worth.
"Come now little Scareling, should you not sleep with the others in your dorms?" The voice was deep, slightly clipped as if talking from island somewhere south in the human world. He was taller then Sammy, probably even Riley just at a glance. He wore nothing but a skirt of grass and feathers, muscle covering every inch of his frame.
"I don't sleep. I have no need to rest a body that's already dead." Slowly she reached out lifting up a wooden sword turning towards the horsemen. "As one of your kind called me. I am indeed a corpse."
This only made the Horsemen laugh, a deep chuckle that rolled quietly into the air, a few others chuckling near by. "Then she is right. You are a corpse. We specialize in making them. But what is a corpse twice dead little zombie?"
That of course left her for a pause as she moved to the edge of the ring. What was she if she died again? Like Red? Like Riley might? What would she be in the end, was it really nothing but Oblivion? She would be a failure she decided, to her friends, to her loved ones, to the memories of those who had suffered before her to stop her from letting it happen again.
"I would be a failure Horsemen, a memory bitter sweet or nothing at all. Maybe something worse. But I would have failed if I was to die again." She raised her sword in her left hand eyes flickering bright in the dark like the torches around them.
"But I don't plan to die today. Most certainly not today."
The horsemen only chuckled, "A good plan. Not dying is a good start to any plan." He grabbed his own sword stepping to the ring. "Let us see how hard you wish not to die, yes?"
Slowly they circle swords aimed towards one another, he stood with his in both hands a heavy stance weighted to both sides and all his power ready behind each swing. Her own stance twisted to the side, left hand held out blade loose and dangling in her grip ready to lash out as need be. They circled like this half way around before he lashed out. He leaped forward, his wings boosting his jump as his sword came crashing down, it was quick it was brutal and would have broken Sammy's guard.
It was the exact reason she stepped to the side snapping her sword out catching the wood of his as he shifted to block. His was the first move, strong and ferocious. Horsemen cheered for their brother. As he rose up sword moving to dance against Sammy's wood on wood clicking and cracking as Sammy lashed side to side like she did when Hel taught her how to hold a sword.
What good pawns are we if we get taken now?
A memory of words from Barth, spoken to Riley. What would they be worth as failures? When they fell, who would take there place, what was the goal in all of it? The hunters, boogiemen, even horsemen. What was the person of moving them across the board.
Why was Riley suffering what Red did? Had she held a weapon once too?
All the thought drifted across her mind as they fought, wood dancing and clashing as Sammy slapped the heavy strikes, stepping away to avoid the barely altered swings. Around them the cheering grew quiet as the two continued to fight. This wasn't what they expected.
Sammy knew that very well, no one expected a corpse to be so nimble, or strong. Even as the horsemen deflected her latest swing she could see the look of concern on his face. Shifting she spun to strike far to his side forcing him to turn and shift his grip, That was all she needed. She let the blow barely glance his sword as she stepped in her shoulder ramming his chest sending him stumbling, her left hand coming in as he stepped back streaking across his chest cutting a thin line along his chest. Some spots the wood opened flesh, others it simply bruised but the mark was true.
The horsemen simply blinked looking curiously at his own blood before chuckling. "This one does want to live yes. For a corpse you do like to live."
Sammy offered a grim smile, eyes flickering; "I have plenty of reasons to do so Horsemen." She bowed her head as he nodded in turn stepping away
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Miliardo Kason rolled 2 8-sided dice:
1, 4
Total: 5 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:21 pm
All around Horsemen chatted softly whispering about the latest spar, the one Sammy had beaten had taken a seat among them chuckling and making wild gestures as they spoke. All the while Sammy stood inside the ring sword in hand a hint of red. This was her meditation, not sitting in a room waiting for something to come to her. It was when she was forced to face something in that moment that things became clear.
Suddenly another moved into the ring, a ghoul this time, her face painted a series of red stripes that ran down her whole body, along her legs and arms to the tips of her fingers. "You know, my brother doesn't lose very often." She clicked her tongue as she picked up a pole-arm giving it a few shakes to test the weight. "Beating the one who beats my brother would bring me much praise. May I have the chance...?" The ghoul paused waiting for Sammy.
"Samantha. My name is Samantha, but most people call me Sammy." She hesitated for a moment. Something in the back of her head, a fear a paranoia screamed TRAP, PLOY, LIAR. For a moment her hand tightened on the wooden sword. Was this what she was becoming? Someone who couldn't trust another not to strike her? Would she ever give a human a moments doubt before attacking them? Slowly she raised her right hand grasping the horsemens. They stood the same hight and stared into each others eyes for a long moment.
"Samantha. I am Alymar. I shall enjoy this fight. But know so long as we fight in this ring." She let go of Sammy's hand stepping back leveling the polearm. "We are not friends," she added as her eyes seemed to dance with delight at the prospect of the fight.
"No one ever is." She mummbled raising the sword up again turning to the side.
Again the dance started, but this time they didn't circle, Alymar was more forward and eager then her brother had been. She moved forward, Polearm poking out forcing Sammy back. Even as her sword smacked at the spear Sammy was aware that the edge of the ring was close. She moved to the side trying to avoid the poking stabs. Eventually she had a chance knocking the spear to the side stepping forward to poke back, but where the elder had used his wings to move in Alymar shot back with a single beat.
Again they started to clash, the spear moving in; closing space and pushing back, Sammy on the edge of failure. Always failure. Without thinking Sammy stepped forward, the pole arm tip lodging into her side. For Alymar, a smile crossed her face. For Sammy only determination. One hand grabbed the weapon tugging it free as she moved forward to strike at Alymar's shoulder; the startled Horsewmen jumped back, the tip of her weapon ripping free fully, brown ichor dripping from it's tip.
"Do you not yeild!?" Suddenly everyone was looking up, had someone not stopped after the match was done?
Sure enough Sammy was still standing, a slow trail of black ooze rolling down her side. "I did not yeild." She pushed forward, her sword lashing out bouncing against the Polearms sides as the horsewomen blocked in confusion. "You have been struck! You should have yeilded!"
Suddenly FEAR flared in Sammy's arm and eyes as she brought the sword across the middle of the pole arm cracking the wooden weapon in half, her own sword splintering. "I wouldn't yeild in a real fight why now!" She stepped forward again even as Alymar moved aside smacking the already open wound causing Sammy to grunt.
"This is sparing! What is their to fight for!"
What was there to fight for? For everything. She wouldn't stop, she couldn't. Others would be hurt, others who didn't chose this fate, who didn't know why some of the students looked so distant, where so angry and distrusting of the others around them.
"EVERYTHING. THAT'S WHY." She spun bringing the sword in a wicked strike that nearly connected, her fury fueled her, FEAR blatently burning in her every swing. She was so focused on simply hitting her, feeling the satisfaction of something breaking beneath the weapon.
She barely felt the broken end of the polearm sinking into her side again, lodged in the ground pinning her in the air on a spike halfway into a strike. Slowly the rage died; confusion at her situation.
"You yield. Now. Or I let my sister finish this yes?" The elder of the two siblings was standing beside her now eyeing the scene with a deep frown. "You are strong, quick, but you are a fool. You can't win every fight. You must learn. Learn to stop, learn to focus."
Alymar moved to stand with her brother, the two watching her as she pulled the polearm from her side tossing the shard aside. "I... I'm sorry I just..." She stared at the ground, at the gash in her side.
"No. You are a fool." With that the horsemen scattered leaving Sammy alone to stand in the ring and contemplate her own short comings. Later she would leave a few loose bandages wrapped around her side to keep the mess from seeping out. A mark of her foolish shame that she would be wearing for a while.
(( One round won; Exit))
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demon_pachabel generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:17 am
[Entering]
It seemed like every day she was acclimating to the domain of war more and more. She was proving herself to be capable, in some ways, and perhaps still there were some short comings to be had. Still, Shehk had spent a good portion of the morning letting more of the fledgling hunters weave beads and feathers into her hair - fascinated with the color. The pallor of death.
Perhaps it made sense there was nothing like it there - not in the same way. She was like a walking demonstration of what failure looked like. Or simply what it looked like to be born dead. They made corpses rather than were corpses. Sometimes she didn't feel like a corpse, though. She felt alive, she moved like she was alive.
Really all she didn't have was the color of life in her veins.
Or true air in her lungs. Death was a strange semi-state of being, she had to confess.
Still, yesterday she'd been rather mighty for her two training exercises, which left her with only one to gain mastery over. She needed to make it something that would submit to her. She was strong.
She needed to not fall down things head first again.
Shehk was silent as she stepped onto the elevator that would slowly descend down into the darkness, holding onto the rope as it shifted and began to lower her in to tackle her grand failure from two days previously.
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demon_pachabel rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:22 am
As it had the first time, the cave seemed to fill with a faint purple poison once she was down there, the Pricolici attempting to hold her breath from it as she moved to head into the tunnels. Claustrophobic, she was trapped inside, her made anxiety grow inside of her. Deep, troubled anxiety. Should she have tried this again?
As she moved in deeper, she knew all she could do was proceed forward to try and get out.
But she also knew what was waiting for her up there. She was going to have to do better at it that time. Which first meant to not try to climb down using the walls this time. Still, she looked at the bandages on her palms which seemed to remind her that she'd hurt herself on this very rope, before she reached out and carefully grabbed onto the rope, holding onto it as she slid down.
The friction burned right through the bandages on her hands and caused them to bleed again. fa;sldfruflkasf.
Ow.
HP: 45
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demon_pachabel rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-6)
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:34 am
As she continued to move forward, there was a small splash beneath her feet as she seemed to suddenly realize there was water there. Water. She kept moving forward and it got deeper.
Water.
She was going to have to go underwater. It was something she could handle, even as she carefully waded in and ducked underneath the surface of it. It was getting distinctly darker, but even as she progressed forward. Tunnel.
Darkness.
Panic. She didn't like the tight space, she didn't like it at all. She was on the verge of just breaking into hysteria. When had this happened? Something dragged against her foot and Shehk felt the panic just sink in all over again. She jerked her foot away, pulling back as suddenly she began to swallow water. She couldn't cough under here!
It made her lungs burn, even as she continued on out of the dark underwater tunnel to stumble out onto the other side, leaning up onto the ground and coughing for several minutes.
HP: 35
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