In a faraway land, the sages tell tales of the day two armies of angels fought a titanic battle in the heavens. One by one they fell, slain by weapons and magic of unimaginable power, their corpses forming a vast pile on the earth below. By the time the sun set, the clouds had been torn asunder, and both sides lay dead under the open sky.

The bodies of the angels were never meant to touch the mortal realm. Their strange golden flesh dimmed, then hardened, and finally turned to dark, unyielding stone. Thus was born the Black Mountain.

These are only legends, of course, but none can deny that the Mountain is a place of strange and terrible power. Hundreds of ancient weapons and artefacts have been unearthed from its dark slopes, and the greatest of them all is the Angel's Gate, a structure seemingly growing out of the Mountain's peak. It is said that whichever mortal opens this door will be transported through time and space, to the location of their deepest and truest desire.

The Gate, however, is not easily opened. For centuries at a time, it will remain locked, sealed so tightly that no mortal can hope to breach it. Even one who possessed some artfice to break through it would have to contend with the fierce order of monks who worship the Mountain and guard it with zeal, never letting any outsider pass- until now.

For the Gate has unlocked itself for the first time in hundreds of years, and it is time for the mighiest of warriors to ascend the mysterious peak and claim the greatest of prizes. The monks recognize the mountain's will, and have spread word far and wide.

This is no mere climb, however. The Mountain is alive, it twists and bends the few safe paths up its slopes, drawing travelers together. When two paths cross, it will seal the way, allowing only one to pass- whichever climber can defeat the other, and prove themselves more worthy of ascending higher. How far will they push themselves, how much will they sacrifice, to reach the top? For in the end, only one may claim the final prize...

Tournament structure:

- The basic format is an elimination tournament. Eight climbers (this number may be adjusted based on interest), will be matched against each other, winners ascend the Mountain and move on to the next round to face other winners, while losers must give up or become Fallen (see below). There are no draws or ties. A fight can only end in a win or a loss via death, incapacitation, or surrender.

- Any character eleminated from the tournament bracket has the option of becoming a Fallen. By sacrificing their soul to the Mountain, they gain new life and/or restored strength, but will be slowly driven insane by the whispers of dead angels. A fighter can only become a Fallen once, any Fallen who loses a fight is permanently eliminated.

- Fallen do not re-enter the tournament, but may challenge other Fallen to combat at any time. Both fighters must accept the challenge for combat to occur. Once the bracket tournament is finished, whichever Fallen has the most victories (including victories won before elimination from the bracket) may challenge the victor.

- Whoever wins this final match will be crowned champion. (If multiple Fallen share the highest victory count, they must fight each other. The challenger is whoever has the highest victory count as soon as the finals end, fights in progress at the time can no longer affect proceedings).

Fight rules:

- Fights will be judged as ranked fights, using the default T1 format.

- During fights, a contestant should post within three days of their opponent's post. If a good reason is given OOC, the time limit may be extended by 4 days. If a fighter does not post within the time limit, their opponent may claim victory.

- Characters are free to interact at 'Shrines' between rounds, which act as safe zones on the mountainside. Such interactions are for RP purposes only, and are not required.

This tourney will use enhanced-human power levels (low tier). Character sheets should either be posted in the OOC thread, or PMed directly to me for approval (no other tourney participants would see it in the latter case). All sheets will be revealed and posted in the Characters tab once the tourney starts.

- Speed, strength, etc. may be increased to above peak human levels, but should remain low-tier (e.g. around Captain America levels rather than Superman).

- Technology is restricted to pre-1800 levels (fictional weapons and items may be used, so long as they are not overly advanced).

- One to three minor spells may be allowed per character, but these should be focused techniques (e.g. tossing a small fireball is allowed, free control of fire is not).

- All manner of equipment is allowed (within tech levels), but no pets or summons may be used in a fight.

- Different races are allowed (elves, dwarves, what have you), with some limitations: no additional arms, no unlimited flight, fighters must be creatures of flesh and bone (or something similarly vulnerable), height is restricted to 9 feet maximum, 1 foot minimum.

There will be three arenas to choose from for each round. Opponents may agree on a location if they wish, otherwise one will be randomly assigned to each bout.
Arena 1: Windswept cliffs



Falling off the cliff kills you, obviously. The small rocks near the center of the area are about five feet high at their highest point, and are wide enough to reasonably be used as cover. Fighters start on the marked red circles. The ground is rocky and uneven, but level overall. Weather conditions will be normal for the first 10 posts of the fight, after which strong winds will begin blowing harshly across the arena, starting from left to right and switching direction every other turn.
Arena 2: Quiet forest



The stream is shallow enough to wade through at the wide end, and narrow enough to easily jump over at the thin end. The ground is muddy and moss-covered. Weather conditions will be cloudy for the first 10 posts of the fight, after which it will begin to rain heavily, making footing uneven.

Arena 3: Burning cauldron



The battle takes place in a deep pit, which both constestants have fallen or climbed into. The bridges have steady footing, but are very hot, and hard to walk upon for long. There are no barriers around the magma pools, anything that touches the magma is burned/melted. The ground is hard, level, and smooth. Weather conditions will be hot for the first 10 posts of the fight, after which thick steam will begin to build up in the arena, gradually reducing visibility.

Identity

Full name: Sigurd Stoneheart

Name used: Sigurd (The dragon slayer in some rare cases)

Age: 32

Appearance:

The only notable deviation from the image being that his entire left arm and part of his shoulder is encased in stone.

Height: 6ft 4"

Weight: 98kg

Weapons

Steel Longsword, fairly average in terms of length and weight.

Scaled Shield, an ordinary iron rimmed wooden shield covered with the scaly hide of a dragon. The shield itself is nearly impervious to flame, and can ward off most forms of physical and magical attacks as it still withholds the magical qualities of the dragon. It is roughly 100 cm in diameter.

Throwing Axes: Sigurd carries two small steel tipped throwing axes attached to his belt on his right hip, which he can throw with impressive accuracy.

Armour: As well as his shield and stone arm he wears fur and leather boots, leather and iron leggings and iron plated leather armour. He has a steel pauldron on his right arm, his left fends for itself. He wears an odd full iron horned helm (unique to his homeland) which will hopefully prevent him getting his brains beaten out.

Physical Stats: Sigurd is, outside of his stone arm, fairly mortal, though impressive none-the-less. He has a near peak human physique, easily able to bench 200kg and sprint at up to 15mph for a sustained period. However, his body is still fallible to all the weaknesses of humanity. The Stone Curse in its infancy does provide him some small resistance to poisons and other debilitations beyond that of an ordinary human, but not significantly.

Abilities: Trained from a young age in the arts of war, he uses a perfected Viking style of combat, in which he utilizes his sword and shield in equal measure in both offensive and defensive styles. Basically, he catches the opponent’s weapon on either his shield or sword, depending on the angle of the strike, and lashes out with his free weapon. Either one can cause incredibly damage. If his shield is lost in combat his stone arm can be used in much the same way, the only disadvantage being that he loses the larger surface area of his shield, and projectiles can target his head or unprotected right side. The advantage is with some luck he could grab the opponent’s weapon and snap it in half.

The Stone Curse: Sigurd’s left arm is made of marble, to put things simply. However, the arm has a few magical qualities which account for his prowess.

It does not encumber him in the slightest, which means he can throw the arm around with all its strength at no disadvantage.

It has no issue with lactic acid build up, and is near impervious to conventional forms of damage. The marble itself is incredibly thick, making up the entire arm, and has been shown to slowly repair itself if scratched or cracked.

It dulls the effect of magic which targets Sigurd or the arm itself. In theory, he could reach into the void and effect otherwise intangible opponents such as ghosts with his left arm.

It can apply massive amounts of force; his left arm is roughly three times the strength of his right, allowing it to roughly curl 240kg.

Sigurd's Story (So Far): Sigurd was born in the far north of his homeland, dragons scoured the earth and his people could do nothing. He grew to impressive fame after his fabled slaying of a dragon, the first to do so. The act in which he killed the beast was also notable, he apparently dealt a paralysing blow with his left arm, and chopped straight through the creatures skull with a long sword. The tales were not believed, until his first public appearance revealed a startling and controversial trait, his left arm and shoulder were encased in stone. Living stone which did not hinder him in the slightest, yet allowed him to place ridiculous force into his blows, and remain unscathed in the process.

His fame grew as he slew a number of dragons on his travels, though he grew listless and weary of trekking through the north. In an encounter that by all accounts should have been his last he was thrown into the dimension of the Liason's tournament, the Way of the Warrior, where he was forced into combat with a number of dangerous individuals. Despite being obviously outclassed the warrior known as Sigurd performed well, before coming unstuck against an undead opponent with power beyond anything he had ever seen. When all his attacks failed him he was stabbed from behind and suffered a mortal blow, forcing him to leave the tournament in second place, his prize being his life.

After returning to his homeland with the knowledge of his tournament victories and losses he encountered a small dragon that embarrassingly forced him to flee battle for the first time, and after doing so resolved to pick up throwing axes and practice with them for any future encounters of the sort. Since then Sigurd has mostly wandered, the few remaining dragons in his homeland managing to evade his pursuit and cause untold devastation.

Name: Gonad Yaksplitter
Title: The Lord of the Rising Sun
Age: 34
Height: 7'2"
Weight: 499 pounds
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Eye Color: Hazel

Weapons and Equipment- His body, occasionally a set of thick six-kilo runite (a foreign metal of nigh-indestructible toughness) bracers and a pair of dragon gauntlets (a metal that is a tier above runite, also almost indestructible). He often wears the "Tzhaar-Kal-Ket", an incredibly rare and magical cloak bestowed upon those few in history who have triumphed over the brutal challenges of a terrible volcano-dwelling race known as the Tzhaar. It is impervious to heat and cold & incredibly durable to boot. He also always keeps an enchanted "Inoculation Brace" on his ankle, a magical trinket which renders him immune to harmful substances.


(Gonad with his bracers)

Appearance- Silhouetted against the burning passions of war, a figure stands tall, unmoving. His physique is as definitive as the gory victory with which his gruesome hands secure. Woven into his beard is a tapestry of blood, proclaiming the legendary tales of the countless scars adorning the sacred weapon, known as Gonad. For weapon he is, heated and hammered in the unquenchable fires of battle.

Pure unadulterated muscle. Lean muscle that ripples under his flesh like the waves of the ocean. He has muscles on his muscles. Feet Muscles. Finger muscles. Muscles in places that muscles should not be. A grisly body resembling tanned granite that might as well have been chiseled by the gods. Bulging veins, thick and course. Tendons like steel cords. Fingers like blunt iron rods. Long, sinewy limbs crafted for naught but the deliverance of phenomenal destruction. His enormous yet supple frame moves with a primal grace, the likes of which are comparable only to the untamed beasts of the wild.

His body is riddled with the innumerable wounds left by his combative livelihood. There are hundreds upon hundreds. Where the scars do not cover his body, coarse manly hair, thick and strong like steel wool, does.
He boasts a great dark gray beard speckled with the blood and bone flakes of his foes, flowing down his freakishly striated chest in thick, oily waves reminiscent of the River Styx. From it emanates the very stench of death and graverot, every bit as inescapable as his piercing glare. Within his single eye resides an undying flame, sizzling hotter than the arse-winds of Satan himself.

Personality- What attributes the primal organism known as "Gonad" bears are no different than the attributes of mother nature herself. Blood-tinged Westerlies carving jagged sluices along the tepid surface of a great and mysterious ocean, whose calm demeanor belies a vast and terrible capability. The wisdom of towering snow-capped mountains, whose interminable experience has been honed over countless millennia of wear and tear. The trepid balance between predator and prey, animal and man, intermingling to form a singular amalgamation of virile life. And yet, he maintains a feature apart from nature. Self-awareness. He lives only for pushing the boundaries of human strength and spirit, forcing himself beyond the utmost limit in extreme combat. He fears not death, nor pain, nor loss, for it is from these things that the vigor and strength of true manhood and honor spring. He revels in the pain, luxuriates in death, and basks in loss. He never will engage in dishonorable practices such as deception, and will not tolerate an unfair fight. Though he may oftentimes appear a comical fool, Gonad is truly just a simple man who very rarely premeditates an action, instead acting from the heart and without hesitation, following only the voice of his soul.

Abilities/Skills- Regarded in his home realm as the greatest martial artist and warrior to have ever lived, Gonad boasts tremendous dynamic and static strength greater than that of a wild animal. He fights through experience and instinct, capable of reacting to attacks through muscle memory before he consciously registers them. Gonad is the supreme master of his own body, and can control its functions at will. He can use the full potential of his latent strength, constrict blood vessels to keep from losing fluids, and transmit senses other than sight through his visual cortex along with a plethora of other abilities. He is capable of touching and harming incorporeal or transdimensional entities by virtue of being too ignorant to know that he shouldn't.
Gonad is a grandmaster of the berserker arts and can utilize three different forms of the technique, each one a step up from the last. These three modes are Semi Berserk, Fully Berserk, and the preeminent Primal State.
He witholds a vast array of rare and lethal wisdom and is said to know of over one-thousand ways to kill with his bare hands.



Background- Gonad is a legendary warrior who hails from the realm of Gielinor, a faraway land entrenched in fantasy and warfare. He has seen countless wars, killed countless enemies, made countless friends. To recount the barbarian's many adventures would be an exercise in futility, for the blood wrought odyssey of Gonad transcends time and experience.

Theme Music:

Name: Gigue
Age:32
Height: 7'4"
Weight: 292 pounds
Occupation: General Security Specialist



Tall and robust, Gigue carries himself with the demeanor of a champion, shoulders unfurled and chest barreling at all times; his expression is that of a guile and savvy warrior, proud of his competence yet wary of his shortcomings, and the man's straight, blonde hair is worn in a ponytail, the gentle flow and noble color complimenting his valiant visage. His everyday attire consists of a white tuxedo, crimson shirt, a white pair of trousers and a black tie; when on duty, or simply on the streets, he lets his armor take place of the shirt.



Physical ability: Gigue is abnormally strong, surpassing the limits of the normal human body with his deadlifting record of 2200 pounds, thanks to his already impressive muscle power being augmented by Ki training. However, everything else about him seems rather tame in comparison: he certainly is agile, fast and robust, but not incredibly so; while capable of fighting on even ground with well trained martial artists by virtue of his skill and dexterity alone, Gigue's gargantuan might still remains his trump card.

Aura of Hyperarmor: while greatly beneficial, enhanced physical strength was only secondary in his Ki training: the main goal was to learn the Hyperarmor technique; a spell, which allows him to summon a protective aura over the surface of his skin. It is can completely negate humongous amounts of damage, standing up easily to shotgun fire, warhammer strikes and even cannonballs; however, for all its potency, it is just as limited, the protection lasting for only about half a second; and afterwards, it cannot be used again immediately - the spell puts intense strain on his Ki channels, Gigue having to mend them first.

This can be done relatively fast with the aid of magical amulets, but still requires a certain amount of concentration: specifically, he has to clasp his hands together in front of his chest, with the amulet held in between the palms - this allows to most efficiently utilize its power - and enrich his Ki, while directing it towards the damaged channels. This process take from start to finish only about 3 seconds thanks to Gigue's training - which is rather manageable even in combat.

The aura itself works much differently from conventional armor; or even a physical object, for the matter of fact. It moves together with Gigue's body, yet there is absolutely zero force transfer - the aura does not ever actually touch his skin, hovering just a millimeter above. That is due to the aura being fixed to his own Ki system, instead of the physical body, and any force acting upon it is instead met by the far superior resistance of his spiritual energy; as a result, Gigue cannot be even moved or slowed down while the aura is active. Another noteworthy detail would be that the entire aura is a singular unit of energy - in other words, rather than being broken down into a myriad of bonds, the entire volume of energy contained within is shared by each and every particle, meaning no attack will ever penetrate until the aura is entirely drained.

The Black Mountain's Burden: having arrived at the Black Mountain for his first time, Gigue has yet to accomodate himself to its foreign energies, and as result, the Aura of Hyperarmor is malfunctioning, appearing as a solid, inflexible carpace which renders him immobile while it is active.



Body Armor: as a more permanent alternative to his Hyperamor, Gigue wears silk and leather armor, covering all of his body, save for the head, hands and the feet. The silk is tightly woven into a thick jumpsuit, almost impenetrable to light arms fire: it can stop a lead .45 revolver shot at 5 yards, the bullet leaving only a light bruise on his body. The leather armor is worn on top, providing protection from melee weapons; though, unlike the silk jumpsuit, it consists of many stiff pads stitched together, and since it is so inflexible, it isn't used to cover the crook of his elbows or knees. Both are painted a metallic sheen to absorb less light and keep their temperature comfortable to the wearer.

His shoes are also rather tough, but are made of thinner leather; their tips, however, are plated with metal, as well as the soles, making his kicks a notch more painful and damaging. Metal also sees use in his head protection - an oval steel mask, painted white, with just two holes for the eyes, covered with a thin, transparent film, and a filter over the mouth, consisting of wide metal grating, cloth, and activated charcoal.

Brass knuckles: a pair of steel knuckledusters, made a perfect fit for his large hands. Gigue hadn't been born clenching a sword - but his fists were always there when he needed them, and with things as they were, the man grew to be much more accustomed to good ol' pugilism, rather than weapons. His skill in hand-to-hand combat far surpasses that of his armed fighting, and so, simply having a harder fist became the
natural choice for him.

Throwing Knives & Ceramic Bombs: more akin to tools, rather than serious weapons, the knives and bombs let Gigue keep his opponents busy as he advances into punching range; or do the same, but instead, making sure his clients escape safely, while at it. Both are still vicious against unprotected flesh, easily piercing it and even shattering bone. The knives have sharpened blades, leaving stab wounds in their target, rather than just puncturing holes, and each weighing 1.5 pounds, they can stick handle deep into soft tissue. Overall, Gigue carries 6 of them.

The ceramic bombs consist of three layers: an explosive core; a layer of smoke-producing fuel; and a hard ceramic shell. Rather than exploding on impact, the bombs work in an old-fashioned way: by lighting a fuse, which burns for 5 seconds before reaching the core. Upon explosion, the ceramic shatters, creating a cloud of shrapnel, and the fuel follows, spreading in a wide radius and covering it with thick, mildly noxious smoke as it burns. Gigue carries 3 of them around and an additional 2 smokebombs with soft shells and weak explosive charges, allowing their use without risking harm to any bystanders or allies.

Miscellaneous Items: a small talisman, with a ruby in its center, enchanted to aid him the meding of his Ki; a gold plated lighter to light his cigars and fuses; cigars; whiskey in a metal flask; bandages and proper disinfectants; and lastly, a flask of oil, with a label painted on in order to not mistake it for whiskey.