The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

[Hafnium]

(Note: This is marked PvP-only 'cos I intend on doing a PvE + PvP minigame variant later when I'm less up to my neck in exams and essays. Still free to do the usual pre-battle interactions and RP. This is basically an IC excuse for random people fighting random people without trying to figure out what led to the two slapping the shit out of each other. ENJOY.)

Behind one of the feast hall doors lies an incredible part of the would-be goddess of war's realm. Anyone who steps through finds themselves in a random patch of wilderness which seems to span forever. And amidst a never-ending field of tall, bloodstained grass and underneath clear blue skies present at all hours of the day despite the complete lack of a sun, combatants from across Donevrion and beyond battle one another in a grand melee for pride, glory, and the spoils of war. This is the eternal battlefield.

True death doesn't exist here. Those who are slain by weapon or spell wake up in the feast hall in one piece. The worst of wounds heal within minutes as long as they didn't kill the combatant outright, allowing injured warriors to fully recover between opponents. Even falling victim to a soul eater isn't enough to permanently end a person here. Thus, all manner of combatant is free to employ any means they like without guilt.

They would be wise to do so. There are only two ways for a person to leave once the feast hall door closes behind them: either claim victory or be defeated. Defeat is self-explanatory. Once someone has been slain or if they're rendered unable to continue and the victor has grown bored of toying with them, they're transported back to the feast hall. The victor may choose to go with them or continue fighting if they lust for more glory.

It's not just the prospect of experiencing death or loss of pride which makes returning a victor preferable to returning as the defeated though. Should the goddess of war enjoy the winner's performance enough, the conquered might find themselves the conqueror's spoils of war for a time following their battle....

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Spoiler

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Liselotte blinked a few times as she stepped through the doorway, the sudden change in scenery more than a little disorienting. A glance around and she immediately recoiled at the sight of the bright blue sky, turning back towards the door, only to realize a moment later that she felt nothing. Another look revealed that the sun was nowhere to be seen, though the sky and landscape looked as bright as if they had been present.

She stood there for several long moments, just staring at the sky. This was the first time she had been able to look at it like this since she had woken up in this undead body. There was little time for her to admire the scenery, however. She could here movement around her, the sounds of fighting. Not close, but near enough that she had to be wary. That was this place's purpose after all, as far as she understood it. A battleground, where they were to fight for the amusement of whatever being presided over this place.

Drawing her heirloom blade, Liselotte began to walk, eyes carefully scanning the landscape. A glance behind her confirmed that there was no way back once the doors had closed, her only way forward was to fight. To be honest, it was a little refreshing to know that she could go all out without fearing that she would kill someone, though she was hardly the battle maniac that many in the feasting hall had seemed to be.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Spoiler

Nocri's character sheet is the top one.

Oh, what fun she'd already had. Nocri had immediately taken a liking to the battlefield. She'd already spent as much time as possible sweeping away upstarts who had no business being involved in a thing ostensibly for 'champions.' She didn't treat it any differently than she'd treated any other battle, but there were so many more targets here. So many bipedal beasts to physically educate about their inferiority and how easily they could be reformed into something more pleasing to their betters.

She was strolling through the field in her plate armor with her poleaxe braced against her shoulder when she came upon her next target. How fortune had smiled upon her. By her initial estimation she had stumbled across a little human noblewoman playing at being a warrior with all those swords and shields about her. The child of a kitsune and dragon had always found the prospect of human nobility and knights laughable. Give a human a bit of sharpened metal and a few lessons on how to swing it and they thought they were a match for a dragon. Give them fancy clothes and a piece of land and they thought they were worth respect. She would have to relieve the human of any such misguided notions she might have, and instill a lesson about humanity's proper place in the world.

"Hello, little morsel," Nocri called out in greeting to the human once the two had come close enough to make it clear that they were each other's next opponents. "What, pray tell, is a little girl like you doing among all these... 'warriors?'" The part-dragonkin said the word with disgust for the ones claiming the title. "If you're lost, I can make everything easier for you. You'll only have to take your proper place and kneel before me," she commanded, hefting her poleaxe threateningly to emphasize the alternative.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Rolls

Spoiler

Nocri uses Bewitching Aura X = 1 for a total of 5 EP, breaking ceiling by 2 for a total of 7 EP and 2 HP.
Resistance vs Willpower: 40 vs 41, Liselotte wins. She is not made to kneel by words alone.

Nocri: HP = 124/126, PP = 46, EP = 45/52, Status = Fine
Liselotte: HP = 80, PP = 50, EP = 70, Status = Fine

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Liselotte raised her sword into a defensive stance as someone stepped into view in front of her. A positively massive woman, of the likes she had never seen before—Some kind of half-dragon? That sounded almost right, even if she had never seen one in person, but some of the features seemed off. Did dragons have ears like that? Of fur on their tails?

She pushed her curiosity aside for the moment. The draconic woman clearly meant to fight, as was expected here. "The same thing you are, I imagine." She replied calmly to the woman's question, ignoring the mocking implication, and carefully keeping her features clear of any sign of fear. That had got a lot easier since she'd become what she was now. The woman's spoken command caused Liselotte's neutral expression to turn into a frown. There was power behind those words, even if she had shaken off the effects. She wasn't just a simple brute then, as her size might suggest.

"I will have to refuse. I kneel to no one." She motioned with her sword, using the thin blade as if conducting an orchestra, and the straps holding the shield on her back in place snapped open. The oversized shield floated into the air of its own accord, circling around her once before coming to rest in the air just to her left. As it moved, one of the five swords sheathed along its inner surface also sprang to life, coming to rest just to her right, pointed directly at the Dragonkin. "So I suppose that means we fight now. Correct?"

Spoiler

Using Telekinesis to animate her shield and one sword. 12 EP to animate the shield, 6 into the sword, and she gets a cost reduction of 1 to utility powers, for a total of 17 EP (Going over her ceiling by 1, so 18 EP and 1 HP total, I believe)

Shield is a Tower Shield, giving her +5d10+2 Dodge while it protects her, and the sword is animated with 36 Body.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

"No," she shook her head with a chuckle, even as she took a fighting stance and readied to fight the impudent woman. The arrogant dragon still couldn't imagine her opponent as an actual challenge, even with magic. Instead, she licked her lips at the realization that this likely meant the human had a nice, large soul to feast upon. Not to mention a good amount of pride to break when she finally stripped the woman and subjugated her. An arrogant grin grew across Nocri's face as she continued. "This won't be a fight. Just a lesson that you should've knelt."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri: HP = 124/126, PP = 46, EP = 45/52, Status = Fine
Liselotte: HP = 79/80, PP = 50, EP = 52/70, Status = Fine

--Rolls--

Spoiler

Initiative: 38 for Liselotte, 39 for Nocri. Nocri's action resolves first. 42 for the sword, which goes firstest though!

Attack: Hit, Nocri's dodge was 1 and it didn't roll an automatic failure.
Damage: 21 - 39 = min 1 damage dealt. WIMPY.

Nocri: Attack Liselotte using aggressive fighting 4d10:4d10, Spirited Warrior for 8 EP to obtain 2d10, and Crushing Blow + Sweep.

Attack: 137 vs 99, hit and would have hit even if she'd finished getting her buff off.
Damage: 45 - 10 = 35, 35/2 = 18 damage.
Resistance: 37 vs 24, rolls of a 2 and 1. I see we're getting off to a good start today. Liselotte is Stunned. She cannot be Weakened though, because undead.
Resistance: 53 vs 34, Liselotte is also knocked Prone.

Liselotte does not get to take her action this round, but she does shake off the Stun.

--Rolls--

Nocri: HP = 123/126, PP = 46, EP = 37/52, Status = Fine
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 52/70, Status = Prone
Sword: Undamaged

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Normally the dragonkin preferred to make her opponent come to her. One reason for it was that she usually had the advantage of reach and could whittle her target down before they were ever in a position to actually do anything against her. A second was that she didn't believe that it was proper that she had to bring the fight to her inferiors rather than forcing them to come and face their better instead. That wasn't an option with a spell user though. Especially not with the human's sword and shield trick. Nocri needed to stop her before she could animate more of those swords on her back. It was a point made more prominent when the sword the human had already animated made an effort, albeit thankfully ineffective, to stab her before she could even begin her own attack.

Nocri ignored the animated sword and went after the source, a trick ready in the dragonkin's mind. She lifted the poleaxe over her head, pointing the spiked tip at the other woman, and charged. The moment she was in range she made to thrust at the other woman's forehead in an attack which surely would've left her with a headache, but that proved only to be a feint intended to bring the tower shield up high enough block the human's immediate view of her weapon. As soon as the shield seemed to have taken the bait she halted her charge and smoothly shifted her grip on the poleaxe to swing the butt end of it low, taking the human's legs out from under her and knocking her prone.

"A much more fitting position for a human," she remarked with a haughty smile as she prepared to continue the other woman's lesson.

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Liselotte frowned as she watched her sword glance off of the dragonkin's heavy armour. She was going to need to put more power into them if she wanted to break through. She was left little time to make her next move though, the massive woman charging straight at her, weapon raised. With another wave of her sword, she directed her shield into the path of the blow, but the shield's greatest strength, in its size, proved to be a weakness in this case.

The shield obstructed her view of her opponent for a crucial few moments, and it wasn't until her opponent's weapon failed to make contact with her shield that she realized she had been tricked, the large poleaxe sweeping her legs out from under her before she could bring the shield down. She crashed down hard on her back, a fall that would have seriously injured her in her past life, but she was quick to shake it off.

"Ugh... Full of yourself, aren't you?" Liselott groaned as she brought her shield around to continue providing cover, hoping she could stop what the dragonkin surely intended to be a finishing move.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri: HP = 123/126, PP = 46, EP = 37/52, Status = Fine
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 52/70, Status = Prone
Sword: Undamaged

--Rolls--

Spoiler

Initiative: 39 for Liselotte, 43 for Nocri, 44 for the sword.

Attack: Hit, again.
Damage: 25 - 39 = min 1 damage dealt. STILL WIMPY.

Attack: 135 vs 116 despite the penalty from Prone, hit. Liselotte is grappled as a free action via Brawler.
Then Nocri goes for the pin.
Grapple: 122 vs 49, pinned.

Hum. This is annoying and unfortunate. I know I created Pinned to make it so that mage types had problems when grappled, but I am not sure if I really like this outcome that it has created just because losing initiative twice kept Liselotte from putting up as good a fight as I'd like.

--Rolls--

Nocri: HP = 122/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, Grappled, Pinning
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 52/70, Status = Prone, Grappled, Pinned
Sword: Undamaged

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

After another unsuccessful effort by the sword to do anything against her armor, Nocri suspected it was safe enough to ignore it as she prepared to shut down its controller. The large half-dragonkin would push the floating shield out of her way, grab the other woman by the ankle, and drag her in close. Without an ounce of hesitation, she would flip the human, wrangling her wrists with her right hand and placing her right knee on the back of the smaller humanoid to hamper any attempts to escape.

"I'm not full of myself at all," she explained, excitement creeping into her voice as she came ever closer to teaching the smaller human her lesson. "I know exactly what my place is. Everybody should because it makes life so much easier. That's why I'll teach you yours."

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

"Urgh..." Liselotte struggled against the grip of the draconic woman, but it was futile. She could not break her grip, much less keep herself from being manhandled and pinned down. Her mind was racing, trying to come up with some solution, but she was running out of options. Her sword was continuing to strike ineffectually at the woman holding her down. She couldn't rely on it to help her.

"What are you waiting for then? Get on with it." She hissed through gritted teeth.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri: HP = 122/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, Grappled, Pinning
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 52/70, Status = Prone, Grappled, Pinned
Sword: Undamaged

--Rolls--

Spoiler

Initiative: 42 for Liselotte, 35 for Nocri, 52 for the sword.

Attack: Hit, again.
Damage: 24 - 37 = min 1 damage dealt. STILL WIMPY.

Liselotte spends some EP to escape, basically.

So... Nocri's action is no longer actually possible. Not sure what to let her do here, tbh, besides the part of her action that is possible regardless.

--Rolls--

Nocri: HP = 121/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, in the dark
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 39/70, Status = Prone
Sword: Undamaged

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

"Or maybe you could just..." Liselotte continued, calling on the other sort of powers she possessed. A moment later, a cloud of inky black washed outwards from her body, rapidly blanketing the surroundings in darkness. She could see, but she knew her opponent could not—this was her territory. "GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF ME!" Letting her body fade into that darkness, she crossed the distance in an instant, landing on her stomach on the grass, but free from her attacker.

She had bought herself time, but she needed to be quiet if she wanted to keep that advantage. The longer the dragonkin was searching for her, the longer she had to prepare.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri's knee hit the dirt as the human vanished beneath her. This was why she disliked mages and wielders. They could never just accept the gift she looked to bestow upon them. They always ran from their lessons and threw up pointless magic to delay her. At least the so-called true warriors couldn't run. And they certainly couldn't turn off the lights.

She frowned at her new blindness. Someone less arrogant might've been worried about the fact that she was blind with an enemy around, but as far as Nocri was concerned this was the last act of a desperate field mouse trying to escape a wolf. The dragonkin returned to her full height and rolled her shoulders to get some of the exertion out of them. "Really?" She called out to her opponent, confident that the other woman was close enough to hear her. "Why make this so hard on yourself, little morsel? It's just going to hurt more when I get my hands on you."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri: HP = 121/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, in the dark
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 39/70, Status = Prone
Sword: Undamaged

--Rolls--

Spoiler

Initiative: 33 for Liselotte, 37 for Nocri, 49 for the sword.

Attack: Hit, again.
Damage: it does 1 damage.

Nocri's attack: 87 vs 19, hit.
Damage: 51/4 = 13 damage

Lieslotte buffs.

Stealth: -1 success. How. How do you do this to me.
Perception: 0 success, not a single die rolled above a 5.
[23:53] <@Tassadar003> .d 6d10
[23:53] <Internets> :: Total 19 / 60 [31%] :: Results [4, 2, 3, 5, 3, 2] ::
[23:54] <@Tassadar003> .d 4d10
[23:54] <Internets> :: Total 11 / 40 [27%] :: Results [2, 5, 3, 1] ::

So, Nocri knows where Liselotte is. Not because she is perceptive or smart, but because Lisolette apparently tripped over her own feet onto a piano or something.

--Rolls--

Nocri: HP = 120/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, in the dark
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 28/70, Status = Psychic Shield X = 15, Weakened
Sword: Taken 13 damage

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Liselotte tried to carefully rise to her feet, drawing her shield back to her side, but she was splitting her attention in too many directions at once. While she tried to keep an eye on her opponent, her attention on her shield lapsed—with loud results. A crash that the dragonkin surely heard echoes as the heavy shield slammed into a low-hanging branch beside her, followed by a crack as it broke and fell.

The vampire cursed under her breath as the falling branch struck her in the shoulder before completing its fall to the ground. So much for stealth.

"And how do you propose to do that, stumbling around in the darkness like a fool?" She called back, knowing that silence wasn't going to help her any longer. At least she could get another taunt in before the woman came charging at her again. Circling her shield around herself once again, she set it in the path the dragonkin would need to take, taking the time she had to give herself another layer of defense, forming a telekinetic shield around her body. She wouldn't be caught by surprise again.

 

[Hafnium]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

The latest ineffective poke from the animated sword would aggravate the furry-tailed dragon enough to smack it with her poleaxe, for all the good it did. How was she even supposed to find the human while blind? Was there even a way to get rid of this blindness? Was she just going to be stuck like this until she got her hands on that frustrating little human? But for all her annoyance, how her spirit soared when she heard the crashing and her prey's taunting.

"I hear an angry little morsel~♪" The tall woman announced in a singsong-y voice. "So full of fire just because you temporarily escaped your lesson. Do you really think that a sneaky little trick like this is going to close the gap between us?" She turned her head toward the source of the noise as she asked her question, resting her polearm against her shoulder as she started in that direction. "As if I need my eyes to beat a human," Nocri snorted derisively.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Nocri: HP = 120/126, PP = 46, EP = 29/52, Status = Fine, in the dark
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 28/70, Status = Psychic Shield X = 15, Weakened
Sword: Taken 13 damage

--Rolls--

Spoiler

Initiative: Doesn't actually matter this round with my new ruling, the sword always goes first anyway. Rolled and Nocri got a 47 to Liselotte's 38 anyway.

Attack: Hit, again.
Damage: it does 1 damage.

Nocri enacts a defensive measure that costs her some HP for breaking ceiling. Liselotte responds by trying to make her explode from the inside with shadows.
Attack: 69 vs less than that
Damage: 4 + 4 = 8, 8 * 17 = 136, 136 - 50 from Reflector and - 13 nat AV = 73 damage.
Nocri regains 16 EP.

--Rolls--

Nocri: HP = 39/126, PP = 46, EP = 28/52, Status = Probably Fairly Upset, still in the dark
Liselotte: HP = 61/80, PP = 50, EP = 12/70, Status = Psychic Shield X = 15, Weakened
Sword: Taken 13 damage

 

[Astarte]

Re: The Eternal Battlefield (ToC PvP-only)

Liselotte didn't respond this time, all of her concentration focused on the approaching dragonkin. She was already starting to feel fatigued from how much energy she had expended, and the draconic woman didn't look like she was going to go down easily. She had bought herself time, but not much of it. She couldn't afford to be knocked down like that again, she didn't think she had another escape in her, not if she wanted to be able to continue fighting afterwards.

The woman's armour was too tough for her to rely on her usual tactics—Her swords couldn't pierce it, and it would blunt any sort of physical attack she made. So once again she found herself turning to her less savoury powers, looking inside her opponent instead. She grabbed hold of all the pockets of darkness and pulled, shadows becoming physical for a brief moment as they tried to tear their way out of the dragonkin's body.

"How do you like that trick, then?" The vampire continued to taunt her approaching opponent, but inwardly she was getting worried. She hadn't expected anyone to still be standing after that, much less moving. She could tell it had worked, but something had interfered. She kept her shield firmly between herself and her approaching opponent—hopefully it would be enough, she was out of time.