Epilogue

[Silvan Haven]

Tim Harken

 

IC: Tim walked slowly, keeping pace with Annabeth as they made their way to the specified dorm section. The walk took several minutes but, since there were no interruptions, it wasn't all that long.

 

When they reached their destination Tim stopped and said. "Since this is a female dorm I can't go any further. I'll wait out here while you go find your room. If you have any questions about where anything is you can ask the person at the desk, you can't miss it."

[Krayzikk]

IC:"You can feel free to leave, I think I'll be fine from here." You're never fine.

 

Without waiting for a reply, Annabeth stepped inside, quietly cursing every step as she rose to the second floor of the dormitory. Halfway up, she paused for almost ten minutes, dealing with a bout of exhaustion brought on by carrying the bag as far as she had. A few students passed, each one giving her a strange look, albeit for different reasons. Some, like the vampires, probably realized that she was in the wrong place. Others merely were baffled by the red-faced student sitting halfway up the stairs, looking like she was in the midst of a heart attack.But finally, about fifteen minutes after entering, she arrived at the dorm indicated on her papers. Pushing open the door with her foot, she stopped dead in the doorway. The first thing she noticed was the most bizarre; the entire far wall, and parts of the others, were covered in TVs of varying size and quality, each one showing different footage. The start of a tournament fight, what looked like security footage from multiple places in the dorm and on campus, and one, strangely, located at the docks. More specifically, the unloading area for supplies.

 

The second thing was that her belongings that were sent ahead were stacked neatly in the corner, but there was one strange thing; some of the tape sealing them was broken, and resealed. However, the third thing, and the one that held the majority of her attention, was her roommate.Perched in a seat, eyes fixed on the TVs, was a student with long white hair, one that didn't seem to have noticed her yet."... I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this..."

 

You have a bad feeling about everything.

Edited August 9, 2013 by The Snark Knight

[25K Now!]

IC: Septimus

 

"You up for watching the first part of the tournament?" asked Septimus, the girly guy walking up behind Tim.

[Promised Land]

IC:

 

"Didn't see any familiar names in our roster," Brianna shrugged, eyes fixed on the screen, "Headmaster usually tries to keep people who know each other out of the same matches in the interest of...well, making things interesting I guess."

[Let's Henshin!]

IC: Vinnie (Creating Rules in her Dorm)

 

On the contrary, Vinnie had in fact heard the door open, signaling Annabeth's arrival. To be perfectly honest, Vinnie had been less than thrilled when she heard she would be receiving a new roommate. Especially after all the trouble she had gone through to 'persuade' her former roommate into leaving. A room to herself meant she could do as she pleased without interruption.

 

Still having her face glued to the monitors, making sure to analyze every single one of the current happenings, especially during the tournament, Vinnie began outlining to Annabeth the rules she would have to follow. "One, don't touch anything except your bed, which is the one closest to the door. Two, don't talk when I'm working. Three, don't breath a word of a single one of my plans. Finally four, I'm not sure if we have room for all your stuff."

 

With that Vinnie returned to her work, forgetting to mention that she had poured water under the covers of Annabeth's bed. It was to be expected from a Kelpie though, it was far more comfortable for them to sleep in water as opposed to on a dry mattress.

 

OOC: Next Post I make will be controlling the NPCs in the tournament as we seem to have a standstill. I also apologize for the delay, real life has held me up this week.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Toa Onarax

[Krayzikk]

IC:At first, Annabeth was speechless. Big shock there.

 

She didn't have much of an idea of what to say under the best of circumstances, but in this situation, she was completely dumbfounded. Her newest roommate seemed, by all appearances, to not only be completely disinterested, but so set in her ways that no deviation would be tolerated. The former was a terrific thing. The less interested she was, the less interaction would be necessary. But the latter was a problem, especially considering the rather... Unusual nature of her own circumstances. Unusual. That's a good one.

 

"Two and three are easily done..." The reply came, almost hesitantly, and incredibly quiet. "But the first and the fourth are rather difficult. Especially since I already left behind anything that wasn't strictly necessary." Oh, poor Annabeth. Couldn't bring along your precious books. More's the pity; watching you try to get rid of me is amusing.

 

Without waiting for a response, the student pulled on her bag, working to get it into the room. Within seconds her face was flushed, her muscles protesting the continued strain after considerable effort already. Truly, you are weak.

[Let's Henshin!]

IC: NPCs (Dueling Arena 1: Alistair/Yoikei vs Alexander/Adrian) The other three teams in the arena were just as fast to react, albeit many had different strategies. The first team, which was comprised of a Hunter and Vampire, had immediately darted into the fray. The Hunter was quick to pull out two knives, one in each hand. It seemed the team had decided on the hit and run approach. Regardless the Hunter slipped behind Alistair, already going after Yoikei for a pin. Meanwhile his partner, the Vampire, seemed to be rising in the air, it was a slow but steady process. Evidently she was attempting to slowly escape via flight. If she got up too high, getting her pinned would be quite difficult. Of course that was obviously that group's plan. The other teams would have to react fast if they were hoping to have an easy time pinning her. The next team reacted with an entirely different approach. The first member seemed to be comprised of a Smiter and a Kitsune. They had chose to remain in place, hoping for the teams to come to them. The Smiter, who was also the Donkey, seemed to be reciting some form of chant, at first it was impossibly to determine what said chant may be, until the area around them became a dome of fire. Apparently he had erected a shield to protect himself from his partner's flames. The final team had gone for a more brute force approach. Comprised, oddly enough, of a Vampire and Werewolf, they had immediately gone their separate ways. The werewolf had made sure to shift into his bestial form, and immediately began running, hoping to put a decent amount of distance between himself and his foes. The Vampire on the other hand, chugged down a can of blood before marching upon Adrian. The Vampire cracked his knuckles, delighting in the prospect of a good fight. IC: NPCs (Dueling Arena 2: Dante/Shanon vs Agnes/Brennus) The first of the teams in this arena were rather unique. They had an extremely hands off approach, comprised of a Smiter as the Donkey and a Summoner as the Tail, they appeared to be relying solely on the Demon summoned by the Summoner to handle all the pinning and defense. In this case the summoned Demon appeared to be a Dryad of some sorts. The size of small tree, it speed and strength seemed to be bolstered by the Smiter's chanting. Already the tree Demon was charging towards Brennus. The next team highlighted a stark contrast between its members. A broad shouldered Hunter was already charging towards Dante with his sword, evidently hoping to overpower him before he had a chance to react. His partner on the other hand was the polar opposite, a diminutive Exorcist, cowering against the far wall. It seemed he wanted nothing more than to disappear. Finally there was a team of Werewolves, both of whom seemed to running alongside one another in their bestial forms. It seemed they had opted for an approach revolving around fleeing from the opposition, while simultaneously guarding their Donkey. Anyone going for their pin would first have to catch them, and then defeat their Tail. OOC: I do apologize for the delay in this post, my school starts next and week and practices already started this week so I've been fairly busy. Hopefully any confusion caused by the existence of NPCs has been alleviated now that I've went through and described them all. If people don't mind I may end up cutting them out of all the upcoming brackets for this round, for while I understand this removes some of the fairness of advancing, it also seems to have slowed things down tremendously.

[Krayzikk]

IC:The Hunter, however, found his path quite rapidly blocked by a sword slash, forcing him to take a step back to avoid it.

 

Standing between him and Yoikei was a single scholar. He had cast away his messenger bag for the occasion, but that did nothing to dispel the image. His build, though athletic, was not that of a fighter. He was a capable duelist, at least by reputation, but that was it. Not a threat. The Hunter lunged again, stabbing at Alistair's gut, but the attack was parried almost effortlessly, forcing him to take yet another step back.But alas, the British student could already see that he needed to deal with this target, and fast. Others were moving to attack, and his quarries were escaping. Though he was loathe to do so, he had little choice. His own skills and attributes were, in this case, insufficient. To level the field, he would need to operate at his full capacity.

 

"I suppose it can't be helped.""What are you goin' on about, scholar boy?" The Hunter said, almost mockingly, before lunging again, only to be parried once more. But this time, the parry was followed by a series of hacks and slashes that forced him onto the defensive, retreating step by step until there was a wide range of space between himself and the scholar. But abruptly, Alistair halted his attack, taking a step back, and reaching behind him.

 

"O Caledfwlch,Sword of legends, sword of heroes."

 

"What do you think you're doing?" The Hunter was caught off guard, and to be frank, was growing concerned, though he would never admit it. The look on the normally affable scholar's face was alien, the expression more serious than had ever been seen. His hand closed around something unseen, a force that only he could perceive.

 

"Your master sleeps in Avalon,Your rightful wielder awaits the day that he is needed."Alistair's eyes closed for a moment, taking a deep inward breath. The Hunter began to take a step forward, but after a moment's thought, fell back again. This was something new, something he hadn't seen. And he didn't like that risk."But your power is needed here.And thus, I will wield you in his stead.I pray, grant me your power...Excalibur."

 

In an instant, Alistair's eyes snapped open, and the brief moment of serenity amid the opening moves of war was gone. Upon the last word, his hand pulled forward, and, as if drawn from the legends themselves, the sword appeared. Shining in the light, gold hilt glinting, it flew from its newly appeared sheath. It moved as an extension of Alistair's arm, a living extension of his very being, one with a mind of its own. A burst of golden light flashed around it as it surged forward, the energy flickering briefly around the scholar's body as he surged forward with it.The Hunter tried in vain to bring his knife up to block the swift, vicious slash, but the blade flew from his hand, a notch cut in the blade where it had connected with Alistair's offensive. Before he had time to react, a sweeping strike with his second blade brought the stunned Hunter to his knees, down, but not yet out. Not that he would be standing very quickly, Yoikei almost certainly had time to put some distance between them.But in that moment, Alistair was no longer present, blurring across the battlefield as he shot towards the vampire slowly attempting to flee.*****************************************"..." From her dorm room, a single screen caught Annabeth's eyes. "... Is it normal here for a student to suddenly draw a weapon from myth and legend, and dispatch a combatant with it?" You're one to talk about normal.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Alexander Hawkins / Dueling Arena 1

 

Alexander watched in shock, mouth agape, at what he saw happening. Privately, he scolded Wraith-Striker for being absolutely worthless in comparison. He pointed at the vampire for a moment, saying, "Yeah, uh, take care of him and pin somebody, Adrian... I'm gonna go run now, and hope King Arthur doesn't take interest in me. Bye!"

 

He went ahead and did that, leaving his partner to do the heavy work while he made a point of getting moving, preferably as quickly as possible. And remaining very, very inconspicuous. Well, sort of. More than the pink spaceman.

 

IC: Brennus Cynbel / Dueling Arena 2

 

As the Dryad closed in, Brennus moved forwards. "Keep running." he said to Agnes as he and the dryad got closer. He locked eyes with the demon as the two approached, saying, "Creature. I recognize your kind. Yet you are lesser to your kin. You are no possessor of the sentient. You are simply a tool, and one that shall fail in your task."

 

His pace was slow, but steady. He pulled his fist back as they came to melee, and as the dryad closed in on him, he carried it forwards with a great punch that took much of his focus, causing the illusion around him to dispel and showing the entire field his true nature as a living statue. The force of the blow, alone, would be enough to shatter apart the tree spirit's vessel and (in all likelihood) force it to evacuate the form. (excepting some circumstance presented by the GM).

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[25K Now!]

IC: Yoikei - Duelling Arena No. 1

 

"Aunt Vivi still wants the sword back," said Yoikei with an amused tone, the bugbear having already managed to flash back before the Hunter had even reached knife-fighting distance. "She and mum are old friends, you know? They go waaay back; Aunt Vivi helped set her up with the Questing Beast during the nineties."

 

He was crouched down, surveying the battlefield with twinkling eyes - not that anyone could see his eyes. For the duration of the tournament, Yoikei had decided to stay in his more humanoid form, although some would argue that the hot pink spacesuit of his made him appear less humanoid than his normal bear-like appearance. Of course, his appearance was not exactly too inconspicious, making him a rather tasty target for whoever salivated over him, but it wasn't too big of a problem.

 

"It did not go so well though," he continued, shaking his head. "The giant puffy frogs from Normandy invaded during their first date. Ruined the mood."

 

IC: Septimus - Outside Dorms

 

"Looks like the tournament has begun," commented Septimus, the assistant teacher smiling as he walked alongside his partner. "They look rather excited, don't they?"

[Krayzikk]

IC:

 

As he ran, Alistair returned the sword in his left hand to its sheath, swapping the blade out for a single pin. He moved swiftly, each footstep sending up plumes of dust where it connected. The vampire noted his bearing once he reached the halfway point, and almost instantly, her eyes widened and she tried to rise more quickly, perhaps evade the oncoming storm. Already she had risen a fair distance from the ground, and she started to grin. There was no way he'd reach her.

 

But two yards away, Alistair did the last thing she expected. Without breaking his stride, he pushed off, his enhanced strength propelling him up, his speed carrying him in an arc that would bring him directly to the levitating vampire. Realizing what was going on, she started to drop, hoping to make him overshoot, and thus evade being pinned. And she almost would have succeeded, were it not for the speed of his arrival. By the time she began to fall, it was too late.

 

Alistair's outstretched left arm collided with her, wrapping around her waist in a flying tackle that brought them both dropping towards the ground. But the scholar had no intention of continuing this uncontrolled descent. He twisted in mid-fall, bringing his legs about in such a way that when he connected with the ground, he landed on his feet. He grimaced as pain shot through his legs, but it was of no major concern. Avalon's protection shielded him from the worst of the impact. Wordlessly, he slipped the pin into the stunned vampire's sleeve, setting her down before looking for his next target.And there he was. Fleeing as far as quickly as possible, but his partner was preoccupied with a vampire attacker... There would not be another such chance. Without hesitation, he shot after Alexander.Have to finish this quickly, before I tire.

[Advent Child]

IC: Adrian's eyes narrowed as he sized up the vampire coming towards him with strong intent. Certainly not the opponent who he would have wished to deal with immediately, but it didn't seem as if he had much choice. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the blur headed towards his partner, and cursed. There wasn't anything he could do about that right now, as he had to deal with the self fashioned vampiric battering ram intent on taking Adrian out.

 

The glaive in Adrian's hands entered a slow but deliberate twirl, metal of the blade glinting in the light as it wove a continuous arc.

 

As the vampire approached, Adrian's muscles tensed as he prepared to quickly disable him. As soon as the vampire entered striking range, Adrian began pressing forward, the twirling glaive swiftly entering a series of precise strikes aimed at the vampire's knees. The sooner Adrian could trip him up, the faster the next part of his plan could go into action...

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

IC: Alexander Hawkins

 

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God."

 

It was quite obvious that while on a good day, Alexander probably could have just ran long enough to escape the oncoming attacker, today was not a good day because some girl in a lady decided to throw a sword at a guy, and a couple hundred years later he was being charged with it! It might not have been an effective system to determine monarchy, but it certainly was an efficient way of giving people ancient magic.

 

Still, despite the fear, there was still a scholar's mind buried in the undergrowth telling him that magic also comes with a price. He couldn't feasibly keep this up forever, not without consequences. It was, again, a game of attrition. He looked to see Adrian dealing with the vampire, and gave a curse. Hopefully that enemy was dealt with quickly.

 

He thought about the rules. As the donkey, he couldn't fight back. He could, however, still work within those confines. When Alistair began to get too close - too close to escape, yes, but also too close to escape the powers of inertia - Alexander "fell" to the ground, positioning his legs and body and bracing himself for the likely heavy impact, which would in theory catapult his target.

 

But not too obvious. While anyone in their right mind would know it was a sham, those kind of things are hard to prove.

 

OOC: Never use speed boosts without a way to dampen inertia...

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited August 14, 2013 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Krayzikk]

IC:Alistair was going to trip, that was inevitable. But that didn't mean he had to do so in the way his opponent wished.

 

His right foot caught Alexander's side, causing him to fall forward. But instead of merely colliding with the ground, he turned it into a careful roll, the end of which brought him back to his knees, and a moment later, his feet. The maneuver had forced him to let go of Excalibur, but the blade's own inertia had brought it within his reach. Picking up the blade once more, he eyed Alexander cautiously. The other scholar had successfully put some distance between them, however small. But he'd also shown himself to be quite clever.Sword in one hand, pin in the other, he waited for Alexander to act. He couldn't defend himself, but in his current position, he might be able to pull another trick if he simply rushed in. So he would wait. Alexander's partner wasn't going to be able to defend him in time, so there was no potential detriment.

 

OOC: Apologies if I misunderstood, but I'm a bit tired and that was the only way Alexander's action made sense in my head.

Edited August 14, 2013 by The Snark Knight

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

OOC: Works perfectly fine since Alistair is also of the clever variety. Only difference would be the time it took for him to get up, which is -

 

IC: Alexander Hawkins

 

Alexander had been quick to scramble back to his feet after the temporary delay tactic and get moving, though perhaps not as quickly as he would have hoped - he had escaped uninjured, but even a fall made on purpose leaves some scraping, and his first few steps were far from ceremonious.

So while Alistair might have expected to see Alexander preparing some clever tactic, he appeared to - if anything - be making the worlds largest tactical error. He was moving full speed towards the Kitsune/Exorcist duo; directly towards an enemy.

He had another reason for his choice, though. He was the donkey, not the pin. The group he was moving towards seemed more focused on defense, so he had to worry somewhat of the kitsune moving to pin him; honestly, he would rather take his chances with an arrogant flying web browser than magic swords.

 

However, if Alistair followed, he - as the seemingly largest threat on the field, given how quickly he had pinned an adversary - would be viewed as a possible threat to the stationary donkey, who seemingly had no way to escape the quick moving student. The whole gambit relied upon pitting the two pins against each other so he could escape in the confusion, which of course relied on the combination of their competition with each other and viewing each other as threats.

 

And, possibly, Alistair moving after the seemingly easier target.

 

Lots of assumptions, but he didn't have much choice when dealing with something like this. Maybe he should have bought a bottle of oil...

 

OOC: Reminder - bring oil.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Constructelf]

IC AgnesThe Dryad seemed to have mistaken Brennus for the donkey. Good for her; this means that she had a window of opportunity to get away. Dashing away from the main action, she skidded to a stop. When the dust cleared, she surveyed the arena. One of the vampires had already been pinned and the dude with the longsword was now chasing another scholarly fellow. The duo werewolves were charging around the ring; she would have to avoid them. "Should have brought some stuff," she thought.the only thing she could do right now was run away from anybody who would try to chase her. So she decided to keep to the strategy she always used in tag: Unless there's somebody going after you, stick to the sidelines and don't move.

[Ehksidian]

OOC: Well, I might as well make a post or two, since I haven't been the most... active recently in here.

IC: Zach

Zach watched the Arena one match, making note of what the people were doing. After seeing the vampire rise in the air, Zach thought, What if I shot the pins out of my guns? That could work quite nicely... then again, the guns may not fire at all if I attempt that. Hm.

Zach also noted that no one was shooting anyone. Swords were being used, but not guns.

This could be quite advantageous for Zach. That is, if the teams he is going against don't use guns either.

Even then Zach still had his sword.

IC: Jeff

Jeff watched the match in Arena Two, seeing that someone already thought of summoning demons to help. Bah, they clearly aren't as good as I am. They're just relying on the Demon, too.

Jeff leaned back with a satisfied smirk, working out a strategy. This would prove to be entertaining.

[Samus Aran-Bounty Hunter]

IC: Eliana (Arena 1)

The Banisher watches the match, half interested, figuring out in her mind what she'd do to combat each style, or what she'd do differently if she was there.

Eliana lets out a yawn. As long as nothing comes flying out and hits her, she's fine.

"Interesting strategies, eh?" she says, not speaking to anyone in particular but just putting it out there.

 

IC: Wally (Dorms->Main Hall)

A large, chestnut horse happily walks past Septimus and Tim, hooves clopping on the stones. Wally shakes himself, enjoying the moment in his bestial form. Not much room in these buildings for a horse, after all.

'Wonder if the cafeteria's open..'

Zakaro