Crimson Paladin

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

I can use magic, and the duel is first to be knocked over. Not unreasonable, but a little curious.

Ethelred took his position opposite Grainne, using his lance and shield for weapons. When his foe charged at him for the first strike of the match, he thrust his lance at the incoming sword, intent on deflecting it. He could have used his shield- after all, that's what it was for- but he was not one to ever underestimate a foe, and Grainne's terms of the duel made him suspicious that she'd be using some form of magic. After all, would a a magic-wielding knight not have a magic-wielding squire?

It might be easy enough to freeze the ground beneath them in hopes of having Grainne lose her footing, but he didn't want to resort to such a below-the-belt tactic in a sparring match.

@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist@Guy0fV4lor

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Roger Falkner and Shortclaw

When Roger saw the reflection of a silver sphere off of Shortclaw's barding, he knew immediately what was happening. Gisela, that Hundi mage, had decided to also attack the enemy's rear ranks.

"Shortclaw, Fly!" he spoke as he tugged on the reins. This was not a command, but a frantic warning coming from a position of trust. The griffin immediately heeded Roger's recommendation, dashing forward, almost trampling another cultist who managed to narrowly dodge, leaping into the air, and taking flight. Just as they got airborne, with the Hundi's silver spheres detonated behind them. From above, both rider and mount would briefly see the ground light up and shadows briefly appear behind the hills, the trees, and the figures on the combatants.

As dangerous as it was, as closely as it had come to frying them, it was definitely a beautiful sight.

@Raineh Daze

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Captain Argus Fellborn

His gambit actually worked. The beast was down and the puppeteer exposed, now was Argus' chance to end this fight.

Wasting no time and taking no chances, Captain Fellborn thrust his sword into the bear-boar's throat- if this thing breathed, if there was any life in this gruesome puppeteered beast, it would soon expire. Next, he lunged at the skeleton and drove his sword deeply into the chest cavity, skewering the skeleton's skull on his sword, then attempting to rip it from its spine and raise it above his head like a jolly roger. Even with the only witness to this fight being a witch half-watching, the sixth tenet of Ichor demanded nothing short of bombastic spectacle from Her children.

With the fight (presumably) over, Argus recovered his hat, then approached the witch.

"You have your blanket, Miss Charlotte," he stated as he eyed his blade as to determine if the blood upon it was any good. Beast blood could not fully sustain a vampire, but it might hold him over until he could find a proper meal.

@Rune_Alchemist

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Roger Falkner and Shortclaw

The shock of Roger's flanking maneuver appeared to have worn off. The attack had startled and shaken them, but perhaps having assessed that they had the numerical advantage, several cultists readied their weapons and approached the griffin from three sides. Roger counted at least three of them, closing in from three directions. It was an inherent disadvantage from attacking from behind the enemy lines, that one might find themselves surrounded and without support. Such a multi-directional assault might throw off a frightened, wild griffin enough to bring it down, but Shortclaw was no wild beast, nor was he alone in this.

The griffin dropped the mangled corpse from his beak and swiped at the right-most cultist with his front talons. The other two charged, intent on striking at Shortclaw while his beak and talons were occupied elsewhere. These foes would be the rider's responsibility to deal with. Roger lurched out of his saddle and thrust his spear at one of them, stabbing into the cultist's chest and physically forcing them back. The second cultist managed to get closer, but as they raised their axe to attack, the weapon knocked was from their hand by a kick from Roger's armored sabaton. In truth, Roger had actually been aiming for his foe's jaw with the kick, but Shortclaw's movements as he swiped and bit caused the attack to be slightly off. It didn't matter, though- a moment later, Roger's spear withdrew from the first cultist's torso and was planted in the second one's throat.

As both of his opponents fell to the ground, alive but incapacitated and likely fatally injured, Roger turned back to his mount, its beak and claws freshly bloodied from tearing apart the third cultist. Shortclaw certainly knows how to make a mess, Roger mused as he briefly down the foe's gruesomely lacerated body, before signaling for Shortclaw to push towards where Velvetica was- and cut down enemies caught in the middle. The more these foes were sandwiched, Roger reasoned, the more likely they'd lose their nerve and break, right?

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri instinctively moved to deflect the incoming strike. However, with his foe's lightning speed, it wasn't entirely clear if he'd move fast enough to meet the attack in time, or how well the practice sword's wooden blade would stand up against his foe's foreign sword.

The knight felt the wind flowing over him as there was another sound behind him as the wind from his opponent's attack once again struck with considerable force, but this time it sounded like wood rather than stone that was struck. Fleuri was still bewildered by the whole thing, that someone could swing a weapon so fast that it turned the air itself into such a projectile of such power. It really put things into perspective that this person's swordsmanship was so fast that it caused such considerable collateral damage as an unintended side effect.

Given how much noise the wind strikes made, it was no surprise to hear Tyaethe chime in to complain about the damage being done.

"Do you know her, by any chance?" Fleuri asked. "I'm told she's an agent of Merilia."

@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri had expected the attack to be blocked. He did not, however, expect the sword to come out wielded by a literal phantom limb. Nor did he expect to hear the sound of masonry behind him being struck when the sword came out. It was quite an extraordinary sight, seeing this amputee wielding a weapon with a nonexistent arm. Fleuri had never even heard of such a technique before.

At least his sword was still in one piece, although he still had a strong feeling that this swordswoman was toying with him.

"You know, we have curved swords here in Thaln," Fleuri spoke, readying himself in a two-handed stance. "I wonder how well your techniques would work with one." Instead of attacking, he put himself into a defensive stance- he wasn't sure if he even could block or parry her strikes, but he wanted to try.

Her weapon does not have much of a crossguard. I wonder if she has any familiarity with how one can be utilized in battle...

@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri wasn't entirely reassured, but brought his wooden sword into a combat stance nonetheless.

He watched as his opponent moved her only arm to the sheath and freed the sword within. He wasn't quite sure how she was going to use it. If he had to guess, judging by the very short guard above the hilt, it would be easy for her to move her hand up and grab the hilt. The sword's curved shape would allow her to draw the weapon from the scabbard and attack in the same motion. However, it still ought to need some space to clear its scabbard, right?

He was making an awful amount of analysis for a match that was almost certainly going to end poorly for him. Still, it'd be disrespectful to not give it his all.

She hadn't yet attacked, which Fleuri interpreted as an invitation for him to attack first. Reasoning that if he didn't attack first, he probably wouldn't get to attack at all, he complied. Fleuri stepped forward and swung his sword at Rui, aiming for the side of her that her arm and sword were.

@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri looked at Rui, then at Lein, considering their words. He still wasn't sure exactly what Lein's angle was, but the rabbit-woman's aims seemed straightforward enough.

"Alright, Lady Rui," he replied, raising the wooden sword he was holding. "If you want to spar, I will oblige you. I don't have any expectations of success against a dragon-slayer, though."

"Err, do we have a suitable wooden sword for her? I would rather not face a real sword in her hand," Fleuri asked Lein and Steffen, looking down at the sheathed swords on the swordswoman's hip. He flashed back to his dream-fight against the Vos Korvungaand champion, and the gruesome way that it ended. He wasn't too keen on risking the chance of that happening in the real world.

@VitaVitaAR@Conscripts@PigeonOfAstora@Erode@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Steffen's reply was particularly interesting- according to him, while they all seemed to face Erich and Volkstraad, their other opponents were different. Even so, the Ingvarr claims that Florian was present as a spectator. Indeed, Fleuri did recall seeing the other Roses spectating in his fight with Florian. It made him ponder the question form before- were they phantoms, based on Merilia's memories and ultimately controlled by her, or had she somehow summoned the spirits of the Roses to the dreamscape?

Whatever the case, it would appear that Merilia still wasn't done with them- according to Lein who served as a translator, she had sent the one-armed swordswoman to Candaeln to make further observations, and would be willing to provide combat instruction. That by itself was of interest to Fleuri, who was quite curious about her combat style, but what really got his attention was Lein's claim that the rabbit woman had slain a dragon!

His first thought on it was that she'd make an excellent instructor for Lein. The fact that she had only one arm would make her uniquely qualified to mentor the maimed Hundi, because she'd not only be able to teach him to handle himself if his prosthetic ever failed, she'd understand the limitations and struggles of being an amputee. At least, that's what he speculated. Lein, however, had a slightly different idea- he instead suggested that Merilia's agent duel with Fleuri.

Apprehensive or simply observant? Fleuri wasn't sure what Lein's game was.

"I am afraid I am in the middle of trying to unlearn my flawed swordplay, and am in no state for a duel." he answered. "But I would be honored if you would instruct me in your sword techniques," he spoke to her, then gestured to Lein to translate.

@VitaVitaAR@Conscripts@PigeonOfAstora@Erode@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

I believe it was like this... Fleuri thought as he closed his eyes and swung his sword, lightly striking the dummy. He didn't need to hit it with force- right now he just wanted to get the movements right. It'd take a while to break the mold of what he had become familiar, comfortable, and complacent with. He had to do it, though. The dream had showed him just how much he still had to improve, and all of the deaths that he had suffered were good incentive to get better. He didn't like the thought of re-living any of those deaths in the waking world, where there was no reset.

Speaking the of dream, he couldn't help but overhear that very word- that very topic- spoken by Sir Steffen. The Ingvarr was asking the others if they had dreamed the dream too. Lein, Fanilly, and Serenity all confirmed that they had it as well, their replies each focusing on a different element. Steffen mentioned Merilia and the other knights watching. Lein brought up Erich Cazt. Dame Serenity mentioned the conclusion of the dream, the fight against the great dragon Volkstraad.

There was no doubt that they had all been visited by Merilia, too. Curiously, those who were discussing it were all among the knights who had gone into the Cazt mausoluem. Or perhaps it was given to those who had attended the ball? He might have to ask around to see if those that guarded the princess also had the dream.

The knight dropped what he was doing to join in the discussion, just as they were greeting a foreign visitor- from the look of it, she was one of the rabbit-eared women of Akitsushima. Fleuri didn't know much about them, other that to his knowledge, they were a female-only race, like harpies.

"You all had the dream too, then?" he spoke up. "It's all I've can think about this morning. All I've wanted to think about. The duels with Florian particularly, I've never had a duel like them before."

@ERode@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@PigeonOfAstora@Conscripts