Drifting Pollen

Dark god Darko welcomes challangers

"Oh look, it's an army of zombies."

The seething sea of screaming specters rushed forth, grasping hands and gnashing teeth reaching out for flesh. Their numbers were great enough to actually pose a threat, if one wasn't careful- so Eleanor promptly vanished, fading away into thin air as if she'd never been there in the first place. A moment later, the ghouls washed over her previous location en masse, finding not a scrap of the meat they sought.

It took her a few seconds to show up again. When she did, she was standing on the side of the APC, jutting out at a right angle without any visible support. Crouching sideways just above the wheels, she turned to face the rear, both hands working to open one of her small pouches and draw forth a long, thin contraption that was far too large to have possibly fit.

With the ghoul army being set on fire and the two-headed giant under attack, Eleanor had decided that it would be best for her to focus on the creature pursuing them. She pointed her weapon (which looked suspiciously similar to a sniper rifle, albeit one the color of brass) at the beast, sticking her pocketwatch between her teeth and using both hands to aim.

Then she fired. One, twice, three times, loud bangs mixing in with the already horrendous cacophony. Three projectiles rushed through the air, too fast to see- and splattered into the mud, well in front of the Pater. At the last second, her aim had gone wild, and her shots had hit the ground at seemingly random points between the monster and the caravan.

"Gosh darn it!" She proclaimed loudly, tossing the weapon up toward the roof. Her sudden speech propelled the pocketwatch out from between her teeth, and she caught it deftly with one hand. "Someone else try!"

Dark god Darko welcomes challangers

is there a character sheet for me to make a character? Or should I come up with my own?

@Zorlock

Most people are using previously existing characters from wherever, so just pick someone capable of dishing out the pain and you're good to go!

Dark god Darko welcomes challangers

"Oh look, it's a zomb-"

Eleanor never got a chance to finish her sentence, as the approaching ghoul was quickly blown up and flung hundreds of feet in the air. She craned her head upwards, watching it fall. Messy, but technically effective, if one had that much energy to waste. Overkill aside, however, she suspected that any of the members of their party could easily handle such simple beasts, at least in small numbers. If they were going to thoroughly trounce any poor undead that happened to get in their way, they might as well leave the task to one who could do so flashily, and without exerting himself much.

She waved upwards. "Farewell, little corpse."

Humming quietly, she strode on ahead, maintaining a brisk pace beside the remaining horses. A brief glance was spared in the direction of the strange glow and the thrown pebble, which shook the ground as it landed, but she quickly turned her masked eyes back to the way forwards, watching for unexpected tree trunks she might accidentally run into. The thumb of her left hand gently pressed one of three tiny knobs on her pocketwatch, producing a small click.

"Dying isn't so bad." She wasn't looking at Eubeal, but her words came right after his statement concerning poison. "Worth doing at least once, if only for the sake of the experience. Besides, within a few hours that monster out there or the dark lord awaiting us will likely have killed you regardless, so you may as well try out a new flavor before the end, no?"

Black Mountain Tournament: Sigurd vs Gigue

So long as you're sure...

Honestly, I would have called this fight due to time-out long ago, but that would likely have made the finals be Melon vs. Doc Doctor, and given how their last match turned out I didn't think it'd be a good idea to quickly force them into another one.

Besides, you two seemed to be getting along well, and I found the fight quite interesting. No point in ending a good, clean fight to make one that would likely go haywire.

So... yeah. You guys finish this how you like. I'm still here to judge if need be, but from the looks of it you two hardly need such a thing :)

Dark god Darko welcomes challangers

This was no wagon. Nor was it a cart, carriage, caravan or chariot, or even a simple automobile or Animated Transport Unit. Eleanor couldn't feel any of the right vibrations as the rumbled its rickety way down the rambling roads, and the faint sound of its engine was definitely not something so simple as the puffing, clattering mechanisms she was used to. What was it, then? After some consideration, she decided that she couldn't possibly tell. Unlike her stuffy elder brother, Eleanor had no room in her head for all those clicky, sparky, infinitely complicated machines, all the excess toil and knowledge required for an inefficient means of manipulating the deeper energies of the universe.

Its confounding complexity aside, however, the disguised box-on-wheels did make for a very smooth ride. Eleanor sat quietly inside, hands on her lap, silently staring off into space while trying to ignore the man in black armor and his strange doings. So steady was the journey and so absentminded the girl that she barely noticed when the former finally came to an end, the woods a barrier blocking the ways forwards. It took her a moment to register the sudden end of motion, but after that she was quick to step out, into cold air thick with the scent of blood and dark magic.

She quickly shied away from the others, careful not to get in their way. A small, bony waif of a young woman, Eleanor certainly looked frail enough to be knocked down by an accidental collision. A large pair of dark goggles covered her eyes completely, making an already long face look almost otherworldly. Her clothes were a mix of leather and cloth and burlap, dull brown and clinging tight to her slim form, the sort of simple but elegant getup that might have accentuated her curves, if she'd had any. Gloves, boots, a thick belt holding up several pouches, dark hair tied back in a messy ponytail- all fairly common features, things might find on any peasant girl who so happened to live near this desolate land. The only particularly strange characteristics about her were the gold pocketwatch she clutched tightly in one hand, and the clearly visible scar that ran all the way around her neck in a neat circle, a mark left over from when her head had been sown back on.

"It's cold."

Her voice was quiet and airy, nervous as the reclusive chimney sweep declaring her love for a handsome prince. A faint rasp in it, as well. "And this place doesn't like us."

The words were soon proven true, as rain began to pour and screams rang out, animals died and dark things crept about. Eleanor shivered, and glanced at Satori. "That... and it smells bad. Thank you for the opportunity, Miss, I have no further worries." With that, she stepped forwards, heading into the woods. "Off we go..."

Wars of Fandom.

This sounds like it could be fun, in a ridiculous kind of way.

Yeah, 40k and stuff would utterly wreck Percy Jackson's earth and probably everything Earthbound has in a semi-realistic fight, but I reckon the only way to pull off a crossover as insane as this would be to throw the rules out the window and just go with whatever seems awesome. Instead of trying to ruthlessly beat each other, we try to have a cool battle with as many explosions as possible!

Anyways, if this thing ends up getting started somehow, then what the heck, I'll stand for the Homestuck fandom. That pretty much ensures ridiculousness!

Arena Chat Thread

How do you mount an attack in a high level swordfight without just being dodged and countered? (not complaining about my current battle btw) I'm just curious.

@Dynamo Frokane

Having done some myself... the best way is to launch an attack, anticipate how they will counter it, then come up with a counter for their counter that they can't re-counter because their counter put them in a position that makes it impossible for them to counter your counter to their counter.

Which is about as easy as it sounds.

What it probably comes down to, however, is paying attention to detail. I was in one really long and technical swordfight a while back, with crazy counters flying back and forth, and I ended up winning because my opponent apparently forgot what had been written about footing in the previous few posts, and ended up making an attack that put him right in front of my blade's point. I was using a rapier, so that was that!

Another thing to remember is to use your surroundings, and maybe have some other tricks up your sleeve. My rapier fencer character doesn't just try to stab people: over the course of his fights, he's snuck around and ambushed a challenger, thrown his hat at an enemy as a distraction, tried to push an opponent down a staircase, and flung a cloak at someone to blind them. There's no guarantee this sort of thing will work, but it adds some nice variety and fun to a tricky swordfight.

im drunk you dookie eating poopsnuffing pulitzer prizewinners

had some bruskies man, an im feelin no pain. rolling rock is the good stuff.

@Doc Doctor

Good for you! Hope you have a happy Easter :)

Arena Chat Thread

How does the hit-manning fit into the whole non-lethal format of the league though? :P

@Vordak

He's aiming for an alternative lifestyle, one that would let him use his talents while still living a comfortable life (without having to worry about getting found out and having to go on the run). His abilities actually work well for winning non-lethally, so long as he's not using guns.

Arena Chat Thread

What does your character do Pollen? Don't suppose they might be hired to investigate some unsavoury characters appearing out of no-where?

@MelonHead

My character is a hit man... so he'd probably be hired to kill them.

On the other hand, he's also the type who'd turn on his employers if he saw a better opportunity.