Drifting Pollen

Superheroics 101

Is the IC open for us to post in, or should we wait a little longer?

@Shorticus

He didn't tell us to wait sooo... I guess so? The first post ended with a little prompt for us, too. IDK, I went ahead and posted.

Also, the rat-raptor cavalry idea would be awesome. As if the Skaven weren't scary enough already :P

Superheroics 101

Eyes glanced. Then glanced again. Slender fingers fidgeted constantly, never quite finding a comfortable position. Everything tense, nothing at home.

The girl sat with her legs crossed tightly and her arms straight at her sides, close to her body. She was thin enough to begin with, and her tight posture made her look like some sort of pale stick insect, barely taking up half the width of her seat. From time to time, she would shift slightly, moving a couple of millimeters one way or the other, which seemed to make no difference whatsoever to her state of mind.

She blinked once as Kaden began to talk, her head suddenly twisting to face him, as if she hadn't even noticed him before. For the duration of his first sentence, she fixed him with her dark brown eyes, a stare as precise as a pin spearing a butterfly, before her gaze went drifting off again, flicking over to the hologram beside him, then down to the table.

It was as if she were hoping that by not looking at anyone, she could avoid having others look at her. The reasons were clear enough: she looked like she'd been dragged out of bed to be brought here. Her wide glasses were slightly off-kilter on her face, her hair a tangled mess, and she was still in civilian clothes, a long-sleeved white shirt that was clearly too big for her. In an ordinary room, she would have stood out like the disheveled wreck she was, though thankfully some of the mutants and abominations sat around her were far more disturbingly weird.

Cassandra's gaze continued to bore into the table in front of her until Kaden finished talking, and stayed there for a couple of seconds after that. Then, slowly, she looked up, quickly scanning over the assembled 'heroes' before focusing once more on their employer, as she began to speak.

"Um... if..." Her voice was high-pitched, and barely above a whisper in volume. So quiet, in fact, that anyone without enhanced hearing might have trouble making it out. "W-what if... we- uh..." She paused, biting one lip, before starting again, even quieter than before. "What if we... fail?"

As soon as the words were out, she seemed to shrink back in on herself, shoulders turning inwards as her limbs drew even closer to her body and her lips sealed themselves tightly shut. Her eyes, however, did not leave Kaden. They stuck on him like a sniper's sights, open wide and staring, breaking down every twitch of his facial muscles for some sign of a response.

The Black Mountain (open tournament)

I'm planning to write 22 characters for the 22 cards in the major arcana of the Tarot. One for each arcana.

@DJAtomika

"Death" and "the Lovers" should be fun ones. Maybe "the Fool" as well, you could do a knife-juggling acrobat :P

The Black Mountain (open tournament)

Speaking of layers, @Drifting Pollen your OP mentioned being driven insane by the voices when you are defeated? How are we suppose to exactly play that or is that free game for creativity rights? I'm more or less curious really, as well as had an interesting idea on it.

@Fallenreaper

You pretty much get to choose how that goes down. I'm not enforcing any special rules in that regard, but it could be interesting for RP purposes, even for the short interactions that might take place before/within fights. Heck, you could even try changing your characters' fighting style a bit... basically I'm willing to give you some freedom there. It's less of a constraint, and more of an opportunity.

The Black Mountain (open tournament)

<Snipped quote by Drifting Pollen>

Wait, one more day for what? The tournament rounds aren't that quick, are they? Or is this just an issue between those two?

@Chimera

The round still has plenty of time, but I requested that fights begin within a week of match-ups being announced.

The Black Mountain (open tournament)

So how's everyone's fights going along?

Me and @Doc Doctor are currently at a stalemate. He's super good at grappling though.

@DJAtomika

You and Doc are in a close-range brawl, Melon and Chimera are likewise going head-to-head, though with more weaponry involved in their case. Both getting pretty intense already!

Shiden and Fallen are just getting started, making some initial attacks.

Vordak and Scarifar haven't started their fight yet, they have one more day... the thread is up, though, so hopefully they're close.

Black Mountain Tournament: Iolanthe vs Sigurd

Sorry, I was asking Drifting Pollen as to the effect their ruling had. Obviously as you had wrote that the blade was bounced away, where-as Pollen has ruled it probably would have hit the right side, there's a disparity there.

@MelonHead

If you wanted to have it bounced back like Chimera said... I guess I wouldn't mind? Or you could just have it move where I said, and then have Sigurd pull it back a little.

Chimera doesn't necessarily have to edit, since the consequences of an attack are often described in two ways during fights ("I do this with my sword!" "You try, but I do this and that happens!") Whatever works best for you two. By default, Sigurd would still have the hilt at around chest-level, but the point would have been knocked to about shoulder-level and to his left, putting it in the environs of Iolanthe's right shoulder. However, if something else occurred to redirect it before it reached that point (it'd have to be fast), then it could in theory end up somewhere else.

Black Mountain Tournament: Iolanthe vs Sigurd

Everyone makes mistakes in these things, that's why physical combat is so tricky.

@Chimera Arguments are just part of the fun, in a sense. As long as nobody gets salty, they can be quite informative and interesting in themselves... on the other hand, I would very much like to see more of the fight (*grabs popcorn*).

@MelonHead I did take the angle and distance of the attack into consideration when I was writing my post earlier. The result is technically pretty uncertain, and I still could be wrong... I just gave what I believed to be most likely, given the situation.

You two both know your stuff, though. I kinda want to fight you now :P Maybe sometime down the road...

Black Mountain Tournament: Iolanthe vs Sigurd

So, as I mentioned above, it's a question of position versus energy. Melon is using "pushed" to describe the hit, while Chimera is using "struck."

Well, you both make good points. Here's what I think:

- Sigurd aimed for Iolanthe's heart (her left side) while she reached for her sword, which was on her left hip. Given the size of her shield (based on the picture provided), she wouldn't have to move it far to make the block. She arguably should have stepped or leaned back while performing this action, but IMO her shield could at least get there in time. Drawing her sword can be done pretty easily from this position, try it yourself (requires a little wrist-trickery, but nothing unnatural).

- So, the real issue is whether the sword gets pushed/struck far enough. It was made clear that the edge of the shield struck the side of the blade, so it's basically side > side contact. Chimera wrote Iolanthe's action as a strike, so this wouldn't be a shove- she was aiming for a hard impact.

- Melon is right on one count: there's no way Iolanthe would have been able to push his blade all the way across her body before his strike landed. However, I doubt that was her real aim. Moving the sword itself is one thing, but the wrist and arm are far more difficult to keep still, especially when making a stabbing motion. When the blade is slammed, the angle of the wrist (and possibly the arm) is shaken, and the point goes swinging diagonally upwards and to Sigurd's left. As Melon said, the sword isn't going to rebound backwards- but it will rebound to the side, because the effect is similar to his sword being struck from the side by a hammer. It's hard to keep a thrust steady against such an impact, and a longsword would be difficult to redirect to another location (like the lung). Indeed, a less experienced warrior would have difficulty keeping hold of it.

Essentially, it functions. Sigurd's sword would be deflected, though it would be more off to one side and upwards than back towards him (beating away a stab is simple enough, but pushing the blade back is much harder). The point would end up somewhere around Iolanthe's right shoulder, either moving over it or glancing off the pauldron-shield. The hilt of the blade, however, would remain more or less where it was.

However, I will note that although the move would work, that does not make it a good move. I can see some pretty nasty follow-ups that Sigurd might use.

That make sense to the both of you?

Black Mountain Tournament: Iolanthe vs Sigurd

Okay, seems you two want a verdict. Give me a minute...