[IC] To the Screams of the Roman Mob

[MelonHead]

- Round 1 -

Septimus raised his arms high and yelled at the top of his lungs, struggling to be heard against a backdrop of roars.

“BRENNUS, WARRIOR OF THE ICENI!”

The mob erupted, its most recent hero jogging out of the entrance at one end of the roughly 150 foot oval arena. His bare-feet scuffed up sand as he raised both arms high, his spear and shield shaking as he revelled in the adoration of the crowd. It was the most powerful of drugs.

His naked torso was adorned with blue woad paint in spiralling patterns and his hair had been spiked up platinum blonde in the fashion of his people. With only wool trousers for protection he seemed mad to enter combat, but the warrior knew his skill and the grace of the gods would protect him. They had so far. Regardless, if that defence failed he could always fall back to the longsword at his left hip.

“Hoo-ah.” He yelled, reaching a point around twenty feet from the centre of the arena, his eyes fixed on the entrance his foe would be entering from.

Septimus was still yelling against the crowd, but now they hushed in anticipation as he pointed towards the metal gates of the opposing side. “His opponent… Caspus, the Dreaded Spartan!” The crowd roared again in appreciation, the legendary martial prowess of the Spartans not unheard of even in Rome.

Brennus waited patiently, a snarl on his youthful face, ready for the time to shed blood.

[Bartimaeus]

The gates rose. The crowd roared. Now, was the time for bloodshed. Caspus IV exited out of the gate he was held in, striding up the sloped entrance. The crowd upon seeing him renewed their swarming shouts. He raised his large shield and his unordinary spear. "Yeeess! AHHHH!" He roared, his shout was deep and throaty, sounding as if he was gurgling blood.
He cleared the gate, and it began to lower, Caspus IV not even looking back. What little of his face that could be seen through his spartitian helm was tanned, and plastered with a wide smirk, a look of confidence. Caspus began to twirl his spear with a great ease, it spinning much like a baton in his large hands. The crowds cheers were growing louder as he showed his prowess with his weapon, all the while noding his high in a tall bobbing motion, looking all around him to see the crowd.

He then turned towards his opponent, Brennus. "Brennus." He said. "I may be apologetic to inform you that you cannot defeat me. But I am not." His malevolent grew at his own remark, as he sshouted the insult across the relatively large gap seperating them.

Caspus IV then slammed his large spearhead against his shield in a signal that it was time to fight.
He looked around and roared once more, breaking the silence as the crowd began its cheers for him.
Again, he turns towards his opponent, and got into an advancing stance. And began to slowly move up.

[MelonHead]

Brennus just grinned at his opponent, unable to be insulted for the one simple fact that he couldn’t understand a word of Greek. After about two years even his Latin was only rudimentary, so he laughed off the Spartan’s remarks and hoped he looked brave for it. When his opponent gave him the warning that he planned to attack Brennus prepared himself quickly, his right hand sank to just below the balance point of his spear clutching it underarm and allowing him to point it out low about a foot past his shield which he held out at forearm length, facing slightly leftward. His right foot sank backwards and turned outwards slightly to provide a solid foundation as he bent his knees, ensuring his centre-grip shield was facing outwards and slightly off to his left and protecting his body leaving naught exposed.

Settled into a comfortable stance he was content to take a few steps forward and test his opponent’s resolve, closing the distance actually suiting him in this case as he had keenly noticed his opponent carried a number of javelins. The thing that Brennus was quick to notice was that his foe was also wielding a spear, though his own was incredibly vicious looking it was also significantly shorter than average. This was particularly noticeable to Brennus as the Spartan was incredibly tall, so he couldn’t help but wonder why he chose to bring a weapon with short reach when he was more than strong enough to carry a full length spear. Deciding not to look a gift horse as it were, he reached his own spear’s effective range and struck with a testing strike at his opponent’s unshielded flank, by shifting a little off centre to his opponent’s right and stepping forward on his right foot.

He launched his spear forward with all the power his right arm could muster, shifting his grip as he made the thrust to a point further down the shaft of his weapon, increasing his effective range to over six feet, perfect for outranging his Spartan foe. The shield in his left hand was of course opened a little to provide the striking line, but Brennus was aware of this weakness and kept it as close to himself as possible without limiting his strike. If his opponent was unable to respond effectively to his strike he was likely to suffer at least a severe gouging of his armour’s upper-chest plate and provided it glanced his spear-head away the Spartan’s right arm was also likely to be struck by the force of his thrust.

[Bartimaeus]

The weapon came fast at him. He could almost feel the power behind the spear, though this would not discourage him. Caspus IV performed a tricky maneuver where he fell into a reverse push-up position, his arms backwards and his knees bent(appears like the 'crab position'). While he had to drop his own spear for this weird technique, it would also disarm his opponent. And Caspus was probably better in a hand-to-hand fight. He pushed off with his legs, attempting to knock his enemies weapon out of their hand with his feet. This put him in a handstand position.
But this was extremely painful for Caspus, as his arms were in line with his torso, coming from behind him.
He then fell back onto his feet, about 3 feet farther away from his opponeent, and his arms lowered back from behind him again, his grunt of pain clearly audible to his opponent and maybe audible to the crowd.
He knelt down quickly, and grabbed his spear, jumping back after he did so, jumping from his low crouching position. Hopefully his plan worked, as it would allow Caspus IV to then out-range his opponent, as it would throw his foe's spear behind him with Caspus' powerful legs.

[MelonHead]

Brennus’ spear-head whistled past his foe as he carried out some strange manoeuvre he had never seen before, falling backwards on his hands and feet. He wondered how such a move was useful for a heavily armoured warrior even as he yanked his spear back half-way to prepare for a strike on his exposed foe.

He stepped forward to make up the additional distance even as his opponent showed the point of his move by lashing out at Brennus’ spear, missing by some margin as he discovered that a spear-point was far faster than a man’s legs. Now Brennus had closed to within spear range once again and pressed another thrust towards the Spartan, this time aiming for his exposed back while he was still in the middle of his handstand. The attack was launched in the same fashion as the last, Brennus seeing no particular reason to adjust his style but rather the target and angle of his attack.

“Die.” Brennus roared in Celtic, thrusting his spear dead-centre at his opponent’s back, wondering even as he did so if the Spartan’s armour could stop his point from punching through and ending this battle after the opening exchange.

[Bartimaeus]

Caspus had his back turned to his opponent and was just beginning to lower himself down off his arms when he heard the whistle of a spearhead thrusted in his direction. There wasnt really a way for Caspus IV to ddodge it, as anything too rough and he could break his arms in this position, so he just followed through with the rest of his maneuver of lowering himself down. The spear hit him in the back, harmlessly bouncing off his armour, and pushing him to the ground. He quickly regained himself and grabbed his spear while rising, performing a warning swing to ward off another early spear attack. He then raked his weapon across the ground and twisted it upwards at the last moment, sending dirt and dust flying upwards towards his opponent's face.

Sure, its a dirty move Caspus thought, but the crowd loves that stuff.

[MelonHead]

Brennus watched his spear point be effectively blocked by his opponent’s heavy armour and nodded to himself. As expected, the armour was too thick to be penetrated by a single-handed spear thrust, leaving him with fewer options for getting past his opponent’s guard.

Still, the strike had knocked the Spartan off balance and he had dropped to the floor momentarily, scrabbling for his spear. Brennus had no intention of allowing him to escape from such a strange manoeuvre without at least bleeding a little, which was why he immediately pressed, his spear already dragged back a few paces after his initial strike was repelled.

The Spartan was facing him now, but preparing to rise with his spear, which Brennus expected he would immediately swing. Unfortunately, the smaller reach of the Spartan’s weapon was to count against him again, as Brennus was out of its range while within his own weapons range, allowing him to thrust safely at the inside of the Spartan’s right thigh, aiming to cut along its side rather than pierce into the thick muscle.

Brennus thrust, following the ordinary manoeuvres for such a movement, yelling with the explosive energy of his attack.

[Bartimaeus]

Caspus IV successfully re-obtained his weapon, and upon standing was assaulted with yet another spear jab. He attenpted to shove it off course with his own spear from the side, but was not fast enough, only pushing it far enough to put a medium sized gash in the outer side of his left leg. "You will pay for that." Again as he had planned to do as before, he scraped his spear across the ground beside him, spraying up dirt into his foe's face. He then performed his own jab, putting a long step forward into the equation aswell, aiming for his foe's right arm/right part of his torso.

[MelonHead]

Brennus grinned as his blade cut a gruelling streak of red into his opponent’s thigh, and the crowd roared its approval. Respecting one’s opponents counter was an important part of gladiatorial combat however, which explained why the Iceni warrior immediately drew back his right leg and his spear respectively, retreating behind the safety of his shield. Not a moment too soon either, as his foe carried out a clever trick with his spear to splatter sand towards Brennus’ face, forcing him to duck momentarily behind his fairly large shield.

The sand scattered off it harmlessly, though he realised with only a moment to spare that the scattering of sand was a prelude to a further attack. On the back foot, Brennus allowed his momentum to carry him back another step, while he turned his body rightward a touch to block the end of the spear with his shield. Fighting at the extreme end of his opponent’s range was doing him a whole world of favours at this point, preventing his burlier opponent from utilising his greater strength while keeping Brennus safe and mobile.

The spear point glanced off the right side of the shield harmlessly, though the force took Brennus aback and he almost staggered, thrown momentarily off balance as he struggled to regain the safe distance he desired. To prevent his Spartan foe from following him he lashed out with his own spear with a warding jab towards centre of mass, easily blocked and relatively low threat, but hopefully enough to give Brennus time to regain his composure.

[Bartimaeus]

Caspus saw an oppurtunity after his somewhat succesful attack, and moved in to attempt a punish. He was slowed some amount by his left leg, but unluckily for his opponent, he knew how to handle severe pain well.However a spear jab came from his off-balance foe, but was easily knocked aside to the left by Caspus IV's shield. He then took a half step forward and attempted to throw the entire weight of his right side into his opponents shield by slamming his spear into it, rotating his entire body for the swing, as a leg sweep was currently unreliable to Caspus due to his leg.

[MelonHead]

Brennus had a moment to brace himself as the spear thrust came in, surprisingly directly at his shield. The shock of it was jarring as a splintering sound erupted in the Arena, causing the crowd to roar its approval. The extra weight on his left arm told him one thing; his opponent’s heavy spear had pierced straight through the wood and narrowly avoided skewering him as well. Acting purely on instinct the Iceni warrior twisted his left hand clockwise and forward causing his shield to spin and snag on the spear which had pierced a couple of inches through it. After encumbering the weapon and even possibly twisting it out of his foe’s hand he immediately abandoned his shield and his left hand flew to his spear, allowing him a better grip on the weapon.

With both hands on the spear and his opponent encumbered by the Celtic shield stuck on the end of his weapon Brennus had been given a golden opportunity. He was on the wrong side of his opponent unfortunately, coming in at his left hand side where he was shielded, but he could now move freely and did so, circling around him with the distance between them constant, he struck with both hands at his spear to provide added force, aiming for his opponent’s left thigh.

[Bartimaeus]

Caspus IV's weapon was suddenly in his opponent's shield, adding their weights rogether onto his one arm.
He saw an incoming spear thrust aimed low and crouched, having the spear glance off his shield and nick Caspus in the ear. "Ack that smarts." He growled.

He then turned his entire torso into a spin, and slung his spear(still having a shield on the end) at his opponent, the spin having built momentum for him. As soon as his spear left his hand in the sideways-throw he lunged forward in a tackle, his shield covering him, turning it into a full-body-and-shield-bash.

[MelonHead]

If this one closes on me this battle is finished Brennus thought humbly, accepting his strengths and weaknesses in a battle with the huge heavily armoured Spartan. His spear had glanced off a hastily thrown down shield and slipped past, catching his opponent’s ear in that strange unpredictable way weapons are deflected. He sensed Caspus was bunching up and preparing to spin around, to what end was unclear though Brennus was quick to determine he didn’t want to be there when he carried out whatever attack he planned. Surprisingly the Spartan was still able to use his spear somehow, despite the weighty shield tugging down the point, such a feat would require incredibly strength. However, even with such strength the attack was sluggish and the Iceni warrior avoided it easily, skipping leftwards and back, allowing him the better target of his foe’s unshielded flank. The spear shot past him as he realised it had been a throw and clattered to the ground off to his right, leaving the Spartan weapon-less.

So here Brennus was, facing down the charging bull, shield primed to batter his body. He held no illusions that should the Spartan collide with him his chances were limited, but the Iceni still held a spear, and the Spartan had ground to cover.

Denying him the use of his shield in defending himself was the most important thing to do at that point. The Iceni had a difficult job ahead of him, trying to pierce that damned metal with a spear-point, but he had to try something. His right foot somewhat forward and his knees a little bent he settled and prepared himself, thrusting his spear with a quick jab down towards his opponent’s right thigh while he was running forward, aiming to skewer him right through the meat. No man could run with his leg impaled on a spear point… could they?

[Bartimaeus]

Caspus' attacked had missed, as expected and he had few choices of action at this point.
His opponent had moved to Caspus' right, his 'unprotected' side.

Another spear was sent at his thigh. Those annoying thigh shots. He shot his hand out, going to grab the spear, but by the time he did the tip was already half an inch from his leg, and would still do some damage. If he successfully grabbed the weapon, he would perform a round kick into its side, planning to break it in half.

[MelonHead]

Though Caspus was certainly capable and likely to grab hold of the spear, he certainly wasn’t stopping its gruesome path through the muscle and flesh of his thigh. When the spear-head pierced his body the point would burst out the other side of his leg, and even if he managed to maintain the mental discipline to grab the spear while feeling such pain his next course of action would be rendered unlikely, if not impossible, by his wounded leg which he would need to support his kick.

With Brennus firmly obtaining the upper-hand, and his opponent almost definitely pierced and debilitated by a spear point through his leg, the Iceni would happily relinquish his spear as it had served its purpose. Unfastening the sheath at his waist he would then draw the Celtic Longsword he held in reserve with a leathery rasp, and prepare to finish off his debilitated opponent.

[MelonHead]

As his spear plunged into the tough flesh of his opponent's thigh, using his own momentum against him to drive it fully into his body, Brennus grinned ferociously. He knew a debilitating wound when he saw one, but he wasn't above some show-boating. He drew his longsword with a flourish, dropping the sheath to the sands and raised one arm to the crowd as the Spartan collapsed onto one knee. The crowd roared as he struck a slashing blow, blocked desperately by the Spartan. He circled his downed foe, striking constantly, blood and flesh cleaved by the Celtic Longsword as the Iceni warrior wielded it in both hands. Finally the Spartan raised his hand in surrender, falling to the sand. Septimus met the Iceni's eye from the crowd and the Briton knew what he had to do. He raised his sword high, the crowd bellowing in its blood lust, some booing at what seemed to be the execution of an exciting fighter who could still probably recover. Brennus reversed his grip and plunged down, halting at his foe's neck, the skin pulsing as even the fearless Spartan swallowed nervously.

The crowd roared, mostly in satisfaction as the Spartan was spared, but with the odd yell of displeasure at seeing the spectacle end without the appropriate bloodshed. Such was the nature of Gladiatorial combat however, and another contest of will and strength had ended as such.

Brennus turned and left the Colosseum, leaving the task of retrieving the Spartan and the weapons to someone else, he had earned his rest.

- End Round 1 -

[MelonHead]

- Round 2 -

"After his short absence, re-welcome Brennus the mighty hero of the Iceni, The Prince of Britannia!" Septimus played up to the crowd with practised ease.

The crowd roared in welcome, always ready to accept back into their arms a valiant winner, so different to their response to one who had lost their last fight, how fickle the crowd could be. Brennus loved them for it.

The Briton charged into the Arena, spraying sand up into the air as he raised both spear and shield, the Celtic longsword at his hip as was his habit. His visage was very cultural on this particular day, his hair spiked up and dyed white-blonde as per usual, with blue-woad paint adorning his body in spirals and natural patterns with only his normal trousers for clothing. His still relatively pale body at odds with that of his opponent, by all accounts they were from the far extremes of the known world, all the better for the crowd as it was one of those special fights, an encounter that would never exist in the outside world. Such was the majesty of Rome! It could bring two nations together and have them fight for the mob's amusement! Such glory was to be had in the arena this day.

"And a warm welcome to his unusual opponent, a dark woman from the sandy shores of Afrika! Kathleen the Black Lioness!" At the announcement that he would be facing a woman, Brennus frowned, though he hadn't understood much else that was said woman was a word that came up often in the Ludi Gladiatorium. The crowd however were excited and confused in equal measure, and let that nervous energy loose in a mighty roar at the entrance of his opponent.

[GreivousKhan]

In the dark entryway corridor of the colosseum Gatsha stalked back and forth before the iron gate. Outside she could hear the cries of the crowd and the announcement of her opponent in the tongue of her hated captors. Again she would be thrown into this pit for their amusement, again she would have to fight, perhaps even kill, all for the thrill of the crowd. She had spent enough time in the arena to learn that almost all who fought in this pit became accustomed to it, some even learned to love it.

While apart of her did enjoy the exhilaration victory brought, she would never love the idea of being a spectacle for their whims. Finally the iron gate groaned in protest as it slowly rolled upward. Breathing in deeply and with a head raised high, Gatsha rushed into the arena with a spear pointed to the sky. She played the part that was expected of her, and the crowd roared in response. Bouts involving Gladiatrix were so rare that they always excited the mob to the point of madness.

Why? Gatsha could only guess, but this land and people were so very different than what she was used to. She soon lowered her spear and glanced at her opponent, studying the man she would fight. It was one of the pale men of the north, his skin an even lighter contrast to the more tanned flesh of their italian masters. She guessed him to be from a tribe far to the north of the cold lands. She had heard whispers of them now and again from over hearing talks between gladiators and Romans alike when in her ludus, even though her grasp of the latin dialect was still weak.

The man carried a single spear, much like her, as well as a rather large shield. The kind that reminded Gatsha of the strange and cumbersome looking Scutum that roman soldiers employed. Only this was oval in shape and not square. He wore no armor at all relying primarily on his shield for protection. This was not unfamiliar to Gatsha at all who had thrived on a continent where the use of even light armor in the sun's heat was tantamount to suicide. Still it was a rarity among gladiators enough that it sparked her interest. Already his dress spoke volumes of the man, the warrior he was. One who no doubt relied on mobility and speed, not unlike Gatsha herself.

Done appraising her opponent, she stopped just 20 feet out from him, testing the weight of her curved spear in her hand. Counter weighted on one end it was well suited for single man skirmishes such as these. Heavier than the spears she was used to in her homeland, but also more lethal. Her roman short sword was sheathed and belted at her waist. The braids of her midnight black hair were tied back as to not get in the way during her match. The sun was high in the sky overhead, hardly a cloud to be seen. A good die to fight, maybe even a good day to die.

She stood in a simple fighting stance, her left foot leading and her shield hovering just above bent knee level, her right foot behind her making her a smaller target. She carried her spear in an underhanded grip placing her hand near the center. She tapped the side of her spear against her buckler style shield, indicating she was ready, and waited.

[MelonHead]

Brennus looked his opponent up and down in amazement, looking upon what could possibly be the tallest woman he’d ever seen. She was even taller than him if his eye was as good as he thought, though it would be difficult to know for sure from a distance. He also noted her weapons and more importantly, her armour. Nothing compared to the Spartan he had faced a few weeks prior, but certainly better equipped than he himself. It was possible that she could match him in agility, with that light armour and a woman’s natural flexibility, though Brennus had fought only a few women in his time, he was not a fool as to underestimate one. Hell, he had participated in an uprising led by Boudicca herself, though even she was less physically impressive than this opponent of his, paler too.

He grinned then, suddenly, sharp teeth shining more obviously than usual as his Roman masters had forced him to shave his moustache, as the women that visited the Arena found it unseemly. Bastards, parting a Briton from his facial hair was a heinous crime. He settled about twenty feet from his foe as she drew herself into a fairly standard spear and shield stance, knocked his spear shaft into the side of his large shield a few times, and then charged.

When he reached an effective range to strike, which considering his reach and spear-length was about seven to eight feet, he finalised his charge with one more step forward on his left foot and shot out a cursory under-arm lunge towards his foe’s right side, testing her reflexes. The spear point would probably only just scrape the inside of her right arm if she barely moved, or cut her right side, but it was from far enough out that it would be hard pressed to impale her flesh. As he lunged he bent his left knee, with his right foot facing out and behind him, his shield covering his similarly lowered body as he unconsciously mimicked his foe’s stance.

[GreivousKhan]

Gatsha watched, waited, and sure enough her opponent made the first move. Dashing across the expanse between them in a headlong charge to engage in combat. Gatsha hunkered down and waited, raising her shield arm slightly. The man's shield she noted as indeed quite large, and easily the heaviest piece of equipment he had. An interesting choice for one on one combat. She noted also that while she was taller, the man seemed more heavyset then herself. She’d have to keep that in mind if it come to close quarters fighting. Gatsha even noted that she had not seen many pale men with this ones hair color before. Though in truth, all the north-men looked the same to her.

Once in range her opponent started off with a simple underhand thrust. A move she had been well prepared for. Her shield was smaller and covered less than her opponents, but it was also lighter, quicker, and thicker. Her shield arm shifted diagonally from upper left too a downward right sweep across, effectively batting her opponents spear point aside and down. Considering his momentum and the fact Gatsha stood parallel so her left side faced her opponent, it was a simple enough task to ward away the probing attack.

As she deflected the man's thrust down, she couched her spear and shot out a high thrust of her own toward the man's face, specifically between the eyes, in the form of a quick jab. Placing most of her eight on her left foot as she did so. She expect it to be blocked, but it would force him to duck under his shield thus obfuscating his line of sight for a moment. If he wasn't quick enough, he could easily get a get a gash across the forehead. The kind that loved to bleed. Or lose an eye at worse. In short Gatsha would deflect Brennus’s spear thrust down while countering with her own jab toward his face in the span of a heart beat.

Block or hit Gatsha would pull back her spear and wait for an opening to present itself while her smaller shield was held at the ready.