Muttonhawk

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

<Snipped quote by Muttonhawk>

to actually answer your question, hit up Poog on Discord. I can find him if you don't have his deets.

@Antarctic Termite

I do not have his deets. Deets would be appreciated :)

I'm Muttonhawk in the RPGuild server if you want to shout at me in Discord about it.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Question for the group. Is there a current 'character owner' for throne-potato Lifprasil or can I include him in an upcoming post without retribution?

Are there any unspoken precedents I need to follow with Lif in his current state?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's time taken failing her spells allowed Teroiah to strike at her ward again and again from different directions. Each impact upon her ward made the air around it crackle with competing spells. It was taking a lot of energy to maintain the ward against the chains.

Focussing her ward in one direction may have been Meesei's saving grace. It allowed her the moment to cast her own violet chain. The dispelling chain's arc took immediate effect as it passed through the illusion around it. The crystal-like facets obscuring Meesei's vision made the appearance of getting sucked into the chain and disappearing on the way. The chain's trail left a clear view onto the other side of the illusion, including the shape of her opponent.

Teroiah's face was pulled into shock and disbelief.

The chain collided with her ward in a bright flash and an explosive snap, but it held as the chain dissipated.

The spectators were unanimously dumbstruck. Vera gasped, making the only thing close to speech. "How did she...?"

"How did you-?!" Teroiah collected herself as fast as she could. She was all but exposed, if not for her heavily damaged ward. All pretence of pride in her expression was lost to immediate focus.

This time, the spell she brought made her palm seep mist in the telltale signs of a frost spell. She cast it forward as if it was a conventional ice storm spell, but a wave of power threw in behind it, blowing a chilling wind in Meesei's direction as a cone of mist and snow engulfed her vision.

The wind blew stronger and colder by the second. Meesei's ward was holding, but its previous hits left it dangerously weak and only one more dispelling chain would shatter it.

The amount of magicka in this last effort confirmed that Teroiah was trying to end the duel. Indeed, without a ward, such a spell would freeze the blood in even Meesei's werewolf skin and force a submission.

This was the final moment of the duel. One of them would emerge the winner.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Pinpointing Teroiah by scent precisely enough to target her through the illusion was easier thought than performed. But it was not impossible. She had a fashionable perfume applied, even beyond her unique Altmer odor. It was just a matter of determining direction.

Just as Meesei began to narrow her perceptions, a purple light leapt out from the illusion to her direct left, dislodged from the scent. So swiftly did one of Teroiah's signature dispelling chains shoot forth that Meesei hardly had the time to direct her ward. But in the blinking instant before it landed, it disappeared without so much as an echo.

Another chain leapt forth from a different direction. It looked just as real. It disappeared just as suddenly before impact.

Once again, the Ring of Hircine proved its worth to Meesei. Having such threats strike like snakes from all directions would have driven most werewolves to anxious rage.

Another chain feinted. And another.

Teroiah's voice called out from ten places at once. "Out of your depth, Argonian?" She said, still angry, yet subdued enough to put listeners ill-at-ease. Another chain struck out and disappeared. "You were never meant to get this far..."

When the next chain sprung out of the warping facets of the illusion, two more joined it from different directions simultaneously.

One landed directly upon Meesei's ward. She barely drained a trace of magicka from the spell, for it tore apart the foundations of the ward around it. It sucked away magicka like an oversized leech. Fortunately, the chain burst into nothingness before Meesei's ward was broken, but she could feel the toll it took. Meesei could not stay on the defensive for much longer. Teroiah's reputation was well earned.

Meesei could still smell Teroiah, though the one real dispelling chain came from a warped direction thanks to the illusion. She could not simply strike at its origin. What Meesei did have was a better idea of where Teroiah was located behind her illusion.

With a moment longer, Meesei could be confident of where Teroiah was standing. But she could alternatively take the moment to strike in what she knew was Teroiah's general direction.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Teroiah's rage was not so much as nudged by Meesei's long response. The way her upper lip pursed up against her gums gave her the look of a caricature. She stomped across to her original starting position.

"If you seek to goad me, Argonian, you need not try," she warned. "Your archaeologicked tricks will not avail you."

As Teroiah rolled her shoulders and braced her feet on the pavement below her, a notion occurred to Sabine that made her comment quietly from the stone seating. "They have each shared their talents to one another. They have a measure of what to expect. This will be a decisive clash."

Siloune's small hints on her unimpressed visage told of anticipation, despite her reservations. "If it is the wish of both of you. I shall allow this next duel to end upon submission or incapacity, on my mark. Are these terms agreeable?"

"Yes, invigilator," Teroiah hissed.

"Ready yourselves...and...mark."

The power that Teroiah drew into her hands was hidden as usual, though it was a different spell than perhaps what she intended for Meesei at the end of the previous duel. It came about quickly, and it was not a spell of destruction. Light and sound suddenly warped around Teroiah just as she stepped in a direction that Meesei couldn't place. Her elongated image spread around her half of the arena like something viewed through a multifaceted gem. In an instant, her position was everywhere at once.

Meesei had the sense to know an illusion when she saw one, even if it was unlike any produced by a single mage so quickly. It did not stop the Altmer battlemages from making awed and surprised sounds from the seats.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine curled her lips in rather than respond to Neesa. She had an idea why Meesei would do this and she did not want to risk giving it away.

On the other hand, Marod crossed his arms and smiled widely. "I enjoy when I cannot predict whether an act is a gambit or folly. I have a feeling that this is not as insane as it sounds."

Siloune took her time looking down her nose at Meesei. Her pause implied some form of surprise, even if she did not show it in any other way.

"Champion, it did not seem to me that your victory was lucky in the slightest. We Altmer pride our magical talent in leaving little to nothing to chance. Only perfection is aimed for. I will not allow you to cause injury to my staff for the sake of pride, much less risk it to yourself while you are under the Dominion's protection here."

"Madam," Teroiah spoke as evenly as she could while catching her breath. "If you would please allow me to accept her terms. I wish to win back the pride of the Dominion, and take her pride down for this."

Siloune narrowed her eyes. "Teroiah, you know what will happen if you go too far."

"Her career'll be over at the very least," Marod said out the side of his mouth.

"I know with full understanding," Teroiah said confidently. "I beseech you, do not allow these...beasts to best us! You know I can win! And you know you expected me to win this. Let me show this upstart a glimpse of the Dominion's magic."

Siloune rotated her gaze back to Meesei. "This shall require a waiver of your safety. Is this acceptable, Champion?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The Altmer spectators erupted in a cheer that was cut off when Meesei transposed herself.

Teroiah's exact reaction could not be gleaned from behind her. She was still skilled and nimble enough to land from her missed strike without so much as a stumble. Meesei had to settle for the sound she made when the lightning magic struck her -- a pained and surprised screech.

Her warding hand spun to stem the spell's flow. She revealed her face to be as panicked as it was furious. The conjured spear faded, replaced with a more powerful spell than Meesei could have expected. It required a gathering of power that brought Teroiah to extend her hand up and around in a whipping motion. It had to be something with lethal force behind it.

It was ready faster than Meesei could react.

"ENOUGH!" Siloune's voice rang out. An even more powerful pulse of power in the tiles below sucked away the magicka from both Meesei and Teroiah's hands in a terrifying instant.

"The Champion of Hircine has drawn first blood," Siloune announced dryly. "She prevails."

"What!?!" Teroiah spun around to Siloune and practically screamed back at her. "She has not shed my blood! All she has struck me with are ticklish burns with those sparks!"

Siloune was curt. "Those burns encrusted on your back with her ultimate spell. They would have remained cauterised had you not so violently flexed your back gathering enough power to spin icicles all over the arena like a child in a tantrum."

Teroiah's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She reached back with one arm, feeling around her back under her collar. Her hand came back in front of her face with fresh blood spread over two fingers.

Her breathing quickened. She looked up at Meesei with her brow lowering. "You..." She growled. "You...cheating...lizard! You were not the one who performed that spell, that...that disappearing act!" She jabbed her finger forward. "You have had help from something otherworldly! Only your own capabilities belong in a duel! You have fought dishonourably-"

"You. Are. Bested, Teroiah!" Siloune's temper had finally showed its edge. "The champion cast all those spells herself! They may be unconventional, but she was not the only one to bring unique techniques into this bout! You have not only failed to attain victory, but you have also failed to lose with your wits intact!"

Teroiah was deathly silent, as were the rest of the Altmer present. Meesei could see hints of fear through her angry face.

Siloune's chin lifted. Her composure was instantly restored. "May you unlearn your weakness during your time cooperating with the Empire and the Champion in your coming mission."

Marod looked left and right, astonished. "I am learning all sorts of new things today," he mumbled.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Let it be known, I worked on Yorum some more tonight.

Granted, most of it was editing, but some forward progress was made, too.

I'll climb out of this development hell, this I swear!

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I am! I am. I've just been flat out lately. I plan to work on Yorum some more tonight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"So, a spear could get through," Marod thought out loud. "It would merely punish anyone getting close."

"Something is not right," Sabine said. Her tone was dry from her attention being split. "She knows Meesei's form is an advantage up close."

Bringing up an obscuring cloud proved a double-edged sword. Meesei's sharp hearing could pick up Teroiah's movements enough to hear her cast another spell, but no magic lashed out to attack Meesei, nor did Teroiah take any more steps.

Only as the lightning spell was almost ready did the logic come together in Meesei's mind -- the instant before Teroiah's determined face leapt out of the cloud at an impossible speed just a fathom to the left of where she was before. As Teroiah thrust out her spear towards Meesei's upper body, her feet fell silently on the pavement with the small dark blue wisps of a muffling spell.

The spearhead flashed with an unusual violet aura. Meesei had only that moment to react.