Doc Doctor

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

Zande knew in an instant that he had mistimed his shot. Were he to consider it at a later point in time, he'd give himself a slap for not waiting until he had a genuine clear shot at her eyes. As it was, he could reflect later. Right now he had to take care of the halberd flying towards his face.

At first glance, one might determine that Zande's equipment was designed for an emotional impact rather than a physical one. The clawed boots, the strange metal mask, his bared, striated arms, the thick slab of metal welded to his chestplate, and the unusually large, oddly spiked pauldrons. Even his teeth and fingernails seemed sharpened to that end. It was not at all about looks. Every piece had its purpose, just as the claws of a cat are made to tear and snag, how the quills of the porcupine penetrate. In conjunction with one another, it was actually startling, the depth of purpose his armor bore. He'd abruptly prove it by only slightly altering his initial plan.

Instead of immediately trying to retreat or alter entirely the trajectory of his swing, Zande leaned further into his blow and towards Abby's attack, axe striking viciously against the upper portion of her halberd's shaft just below the head and skidding down to shear her hand and fingers in twain unless she dropped it without a second thought. Had he not leaned into his blow, the deflection would have sent the halberd onto his left arm. Now it socked into his left pauldron and clanged into four long steel spikes each considerably larger than a coffin nail, conjoined horizontally by a longer strip of steel. Her swing could break bone, but not cleave through this obstacle so easily, and particularly not the solid spikes, anymore than one can hope to cut even small carpentry nails with a hatchet at full swing. It'd likely not even bend them as the blade would impact them at their bases, chipping the steel at best. His left pauldron had been designed for the purpose of trapping blades aimed at his head, and it was good at its job. That being said, he'd be VERY certain not to have her halberd cleave the wrong way and get his neck, though his mask would greatly protect him if he miscalculated again. He was quite sure he was no longer in error.
After that it would become clear why Zande had so willingly dropped his left axe. With his left hand positioned up at his face, he could in a flash drop the blowpipe and seize her halberd below the head like a greedy child yoinking a toy off a shelf, acting before Abbey could recover from the swing and pull her weapon back, or alternatively try to twist her halberd in an attempt at getting the sharp pick behind his head, nay, not even that, assuming she still had a hand to hold it with. If he succeeded, then as quickly as he could he'd step back onto his left foot to allow Abby's momentum to carry her past him, weaving sharply just out of reach of any small weapons she might whip around with. The desired result was that Zande would now wield his opponent's halberd in one hand and his frightfully barbaric axe in the other, whilst standing between Abbey and the spare axe he had previously dropped to better attain hers. He had indeed wanted her weapon, and had intended to wrest it away from her once she'd been blinded, but rolling this way could work too.

The cannibal's breath steamed out from between sharklike fangs in an exhalation of black elation, amber eyes alight as he capered on the spot like a lurid jester.

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

It's fine, I couldn't possibly accept a handicap or suggestions, even for my own good in a shits and giggles fun fight. I love to experiment with various gambits and moves, the least I can do is play through even if I'm being a dumbass. You can ask @RiDaku. I've fought players one armed, with my back permanently turned, unarmed, with arms crossed, with an opponent two feet in front of me and one two feet behind me, blindfolded, bent double between my own legs like a hermit crab, and whilst from a face down on the ground starting position, I shit you not. Has it always worked out? No, nononono, NO. But hey, that's how you learn to handle tough spots. At any rate, like I said I have a few ideas on what to do and don't need a post change. I mostly wanted to be clear that Zande's stance was solid and he was ready. By the way, he'd only have carried on with a set course of action if he'd have blinded her.

I'll post after I get some sleep, just finished a shift.

P.S-

It'd not be a ball of liquid at all, but a spray like when you puff water out a jumbo straw, not that I find it too important though as her axe would be well in the way.

P.S.S-

Just one more question. How far again is her grip from the head of her polearm, and have you an idea of approximately how far her torso would be from Zande at the moment her blow was expected to land? I don't usually beggar details, but it looks like this is an exception considering how many vital factors there are. Also, how fast is she moving and which foot is leading? Zande's lead foot is his left, given the direction he turned.

CREATION CHANT - Facere Vs. The Magna Pater

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The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

The timing is a bit off.
Zande hadn't turned with ill perception, he'd have done so when it was comfortable to him to initiate his actions as intended. He'd not have fired the second shot before she'd been four feet from him, and the initial shot took place earlier enough for him to have been moved fully around before she was in the range she had initially intended to attack from. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm a bit hazy with the details, but they did start around thirty feet away from each other, with Zande moving away? He'd have plenty of time to estimate the date of interception. He'd not have had poor footing at all at the apex of the clash. He'd have turned and appropriated his footing, axe raised, before she had attacked, which I'd mentioned. What I'm basically saying is he wouldn't have misjudged the timing he needed to turn and properly meet an opponent unless they had altered their speed significantly at an inopportune moment, which Abby hadn't. He'd not awkwardly turn at the last second and trip over his own feet, utterly out of synch with his axe to the point of not being able to deflect an attack, if that makes sense.

Keep in mind his sparth axe likely weighs about as much as her entire polearm, and they are both wielding the large weapons one-handed. I'd like to say that Zande is objectively the physically stronger, and though Abby has the superior leverage with her chambered strike, Zande has the raw power of a full swing. If the weapons did clash, I should debate that the (sort of) perpendicular force of Zande's axe whacking into the side of the polearm as it extends would result in it being deflected off course, as there is little to no sideways force to oppose it. Her forwards momentum does lend power to her blow, but still, it's linear power that's subject to being forced off course.

That being said, it does seem like her polearm can block the venom if she swings the broad at Zande's face. He's taller, so for her to do that it'd wind up breaking her line of sight with his blowpipe, thus saving her eyes.

Just making sure we're on the same page, if you have any conflicting opinions, I'll hear 'em! I just don't want to commit to a post under the wrong assumptions.

That being said, don't change anything in your post after you've read this. Tell me your thoughts first. I do have a few solutions to the predicament you've given me that I might want to try out regardless.

P.S-
Could you show me a picture that closely resembles Abby's polearm? If it's not too much trouble.

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

During the few seconds before that critical moment, Zande continued doing something to his mouth and belt. Loading his blowpipe maybe? Well, wouldn't ya know it. It was as if Abby had seen the future.
Zande turned around counter-clockwise as she gained on him, right axe brought aloft in anticipation for a swing, blowpipe in hand, and as expected fired a dart at her face which simply plinked off her halberd blade. His wild eyes were wide, he gasped in a startled breath. Right as she swung her halberd at his face with her momentum though, the train flew off the rails.
How could she have expected the secondary, close-range projectile from the blowpipe immediately following the initial shot? Zande hadn't just loaded his blowpipe, he'd also have tucked a small leather pouch of spitting cobra venom into his mouth and bitten into it, in case she was able to handle the dart (not that he'd expected it to work on someone so well protected). Perhaps then she'd be, in that brief moment, no longer taking the blowpipe into consideration as a deadly weapon. One shot, that was how they worked. You couldn't hold a second dart in your mouth, it defied common sense to do so.

That monstrous axe was the threat, that vicious edged hunk of metal that could cleave a goat nearly in two. Now that he'd lost the element of surprise, so evident in his eyes, she just had to make sure he didn't outright smack her axe from her hands or ignore defense and try to smash her fingers out of desperation. He was a physical terror, but it seemed the mental faculties were indeed lacking. The huge axe swayed, beginning its flight...

And she'd be less than four feet away when without warning, the presumably empty and useless blowpipe would gout a misty spray of genuinely blinding venom at her eyes. Zande's axes were intimidating precisely for this reason. To shift the victim's attention away from the real threat. Zande knew better than to risk trading blows with his heavy weapons in a tight spot, at least until he'd tilted the odds in his favor. She'd need a Spidey-sense to predict this one. Even if she squeezed her eyes shut, the venom would glaze her face and seep in to slowly kill her eyesight, assuming she lived longer than two seconds after closing her eyes in front of the headhunter. Trying to rub it away would only work it in further. Her hands were nowhere near her face, and though the possibility of her looking away in time existed, she'd be very hard pressed to do so with no warning and scarcely a fraction of a second to register the sudden shift in the danger spectrum from looming sparth axe to empty blow gun suddenly blowing its viscous load right at her face.

Were things to carry on like that and she still swung for his head, he'd bring his axe crashing down right to left with a shrill, maniacal scream, aiming to whack the head of her polearm away with jarring gusto, hard enough that it'd be tough to pull it back for a quick recovery, particularly not in the close quarters she was soon to enter into.

She could rely on her blind momentum to try and impact Zande's body, rely on feel and instinct to try and stick him, but he had armor too, wasn't bound by the linear force of momentum, had maintained solid footing, and had probably noticed that she hiding one of her arms. This killer had been pulling dirty tricks for a long time, and he was savvy to the lethality of hands unseen. It was true that he wasn't bred a gladiator or war dog. He was a predator by nature, from the untamed wilds where the chain of command could change with as little difficulty as a knife sliding smoothly between unsuspecting ribs, where enemy and prey were one and the same, and you didn't bury your kills, you ate them.

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

Black eyes glittered sharklike behind the contours of his broad mask as he watched his opponent for another few seconds, as if processing new information. Then, without any precedence, his tongue lolled out from between his sharpened teeth and the headhunter hunkered down low as a stuttering laugh gurgled out of him. He dropped his left axe to the ground and twisted about to begin staggering slowly away from Abby, hand swiping up over his belt and body to presumably cradle his mouth, like a hopeless lunatic trying to stifle his own madness, peering faintly over his left shoulder with a wide eye. The axe landed head first and its weight kept it handle-up, like a razor edged knife cleanly sticking to a floorboard. Two things would be blaringly obvious. Yes, he really was insane, and no, being crazy wasn't the same as being stupid. He had probably whisked something lethal off his belt under the guise of an all too genuine fit of hysterical glee, and was trying to set up a trap. The spectators who could see what he was doing were screaming something at Abby, but the distance and the coagulation of voices rendered their words indecipherable. He'd continue moving away from Abbey in no hurry at all, taking his sweet time igor-ing his way over to the audience. They looked ready to bolt, despite residing safely atop a twenty foot stone wall.

That being said, this freak had some gall, trying to pull a two-bit trick like this in the middle of a deathmatch.

Guild Versus the Heroes of 100!

Tom pointed at Anom as he tried to run past several yards to the knight's left, yelling out a spell. A white orb of magic shot out like a fastball towards the target's chest.

"HORNDOGGUMS HUMPRUMPUS!"

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

(Zande had already stood when he saw her.)

"Ooooh! Ya a bad girl, ain'cha bwana? But are ya as ready t'die as ya are t'kill? I don' keep da heads'a those that ain' prepared t'die when 'dey takin' lives. Drops da aesthetic value, ya?"

Zande hadn't taken a stance, and he seemed to be perfectly at ease. He had, after all, allowed himself to be captured just to find some nice heads for his collection. He'd had to make it look like he put up a fight, otherwise they'd have assumed him docile and not given him the cream of the crop. Could he escape any time he wanted? Of course. A hound surrounded by rabbits needn't fear restraint nor death. That is, unless another predator walks among them. This woman before him looked promising, her scars read well. A good warrior fights other good warriors, and if you fight someone good enough to be worth fighting, you got hurt. She'd been hurt plenty, and hence Zande could see her experience.

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

@Liliya

In the middle of the arena Zande sat cross-legged, covered in drying blood. He rose in a single easy motion, an axe large enough to chop a young sow in half hanging from each hand. He waved an axe merrily at Abby, yelling at the top of his voice as if he were greeting an old friend.

"Ey bandu! Ovah 'ere! Ey! Ey!"

The Thing That Should Not Be - Aibhilin vs Zande

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