Drifting Pollen

Fight Knights [Pollen & Liotrent]

Bright blue eyes watched Sir Aslain through a slitted visor, judging distance, anticipating movement. Favian had offered his opponent an opportunity, and the knight had taken it, closing even further now. His aggression was clear; it could only be a matter of time until he struck.

Favian positioned his feet carefully, keeping his sword pointed at his opponent and his profile narrow so as to present a smaller target. When the moment came, he was ready: a swift backstep answered Sir Aslain's lunge, and the axehead glanced the longsword closer to the tip than intended. The point swung to one side, but not so far or so hard that Favian lost control of it, and a quick adjusting of his grip on the hilt brought it back into position in time to parry an oncoming thrust. If Aslain did follow through with his attack, he'd see the flat of Favian's blade smack against the shaft of his axe, pushing the spike to one side as it thrust forward.

Fight Knights [Pollen & Liotrent]

Now that we're getting into the fight proper, is there anything I should know? For example, if I were to try and swing at Favian, what is allowed and not allowed? Just for reference?

@Liotrent

It's mainly just a matter of clearly writing out what your character is doing, and then backing it up with whatever logical points or rhetorical flourishes you'd like to add.

As far as what's allowed, you're limited by what we've already established: the setting and the capabilities/equipment of our respective characters. Everything is assumed to fall within standard laws of biology/physics/etc unless otherwise stated. To break it down:

- Firstly, stick to what your character could reasonably do based on the information submitted before the fight. In this case, Griffon is limited by what a human knight would be capable of: he can run and fight in full plate, and perform any reasonable motion you can think of, but he can't fly through the air or shoot lasers from his eyeballs. Any kind of power or magical ability like that has to be listed in a character sheet or specified prior to the fight, to ensure that players don't just make up new abilities on the spot. In this case, both of our characters are (I assume) unpowered humans, and thus won't be using any magic/cybernetics/whatever outside of the armor and equipment we listed for them.

- Things like techniques and skills are looser: if a character performs an action in a fight, then it's generally assumed that they know what they're doing. For instance, Griffon is a knight, so we can assume he knows how to move around quickly in plate armor and use common medieval weapons. Unless your character pulls out some really wacky out-of-context martial arts move (like if Griffon suddenly started using Chinese Kung-Fu) you don't have to justify them being able to pull it off.

- Actions should be written out clearly, and can't be retroactively altered unless in reaction to something else. For instance, if I had Favian cut at Griffon's body, and you had Griffon counter with a thrust, I can't then say "well actually Favian never cut at all and did something else entirely." The wording of actions is very important, because you can't contradict your own words later on. The only exception to this is if your opponent interrupts your character mid-action, in which case you can respond to that interruption and change what your character is doing from that point forward.

- Contradicting the other player in a fight is completely normal, and a prerequisite for victory in many cases. You just want to explain your reasoning when you do. If I write "Favian stepped forwards and punched Griffon dead in the face," you're entirely within your rights to reply with "well actually Griffon saw the punch, ducked under it, and avoided the blow." It's generally considered polite to give the other player room to respond to actions in this way (e.g. writing "Favian swung his fist at Griffon's face" rather than just "Favian punched him in the face"). Same goes the other way around: if you had a character fire a gun at Favian, and I had him dodge the bullet mid-flight, then you could reasonably point out in your next post how that's humanly impossible and go on to describe the effects of the bullet hitting its target. There's no exact science here, and you kind of have to play it by ear: sometimes it's best to gently contradict someone in-character to keep the fight flowing, whereas other times you need to discuss a key point OOC to find a firm compromise.

There's more stuff I could dig into, but that about covers the basics and I'm getting sleepy now. If there's anything you want me to go into more detail on then let me know, otherwise I'll cover stuff as it comes up. If you end up making any obvious missteps then I'll just point them out here and give you a chance to fix.

Fight Knights [Pollen & Liotrent]

Favian sighed. This wasn't a man he knew well, though he was sure that he'd heard the name of Sir Aslain before. Some knight who'd gone off to war and come through it not just alive but stronger, forged into a beast who could strike men down like a reaper culling wheat. The stories might exaggerate, perhaps, but his choice of that poleaxe as a weapon belied a ruthless and practical mind, and Favian took him at his word when he said there would be no quarter.

Men like us are beneath God's sight, Sir Aslain. But he kept that part quiet, and spoke only out of obligation. "I could ask for nothing more. I only hope my sword can offer ample challenge."

This kind of fight suited him well enough, he supposed. It was simpler this way. An icy calm was settling over him, the sounds of the crowd fading away into a dull murmur in the distance, and as the marshal called for the match to start he was already shifting from man to warrior, leaving all pretense of mercy and empathy behind.

He advanced, and brought his sword-point up as he moved, settling into a fighting stance. As he stepped within fifteen feet of his opponent, he was in a steady middle guard with his right leg leading, sword held to the left of his body at a shallow upward angle. The pommel rested just below hip level, and the point was aimed roughly at the middle of Sir Aslain's chest, following the other knight's movements with a careful accuracy.

Keeping his eyes on his opponent, and adjusting his own steps as needed to control the distance between them, Favian continued his advance, slowing down slightly at twelve feet and finally pausing about eight feet away from Aslain, watching and waiting for one or two seconds without closing further. Would that fearsome griffon take the initiative, and strike him first? Or would it fall to Favian to make the opening move...?

Anyone want to show me the ropes?

Sure! Though again as I've said, I've never done this before so I may not understand the etiquette. But I'll try my best, I look forward to learning with you.

@Liotrent

That's all good with me. I can take it easy on you to start with, if that helps. And if you ever have questions or feel that something needs clarifying, then please don't hesitate to ask.

Anyways, I've made us a thread! roleplayerguild.com/topics/187713-fig…

Fight Knights [Pollen & Liotrent]

The peasantry stamped their feet, roaring from the stands as another knight was pummeled to the ground. The victor raised his mace and spread his arms to welcome their cheers, before backing away as a fretting marshal and two assistants rushed forth to tend to his defeated opponent.

The tournament was just warming up, opening with a few sparring matches on foot before the jousting and the main event. Few warriors bothered competing in these rounds, preferring instead to seek glory on horseback with blunted lances. Even in plate armor, fighting with real weapons often led to death or injury, and the risk seemed hardly worth the renown.

So both nobles and peasants alike could hardly contain their surprise when the fair-haired Sir Favian Procell stepped out onto the grassy field, decked out in full plate armor with a steel longsword in hand and a rondel dagger sheathed beside his right hip. The handsome knight was a renowned warrior, and one of the favorites to win the upcoming joust—so what was he doing here? Surely there was nothing to be gained from participating in such a minor scuffle, especially not for a man of such great repute as he?

The knight's cold blue eyes offered no answer as he pulled his visor down and lowered the tip of his blade to the earth, calmly awaiting his opponent's arrival. A growing murmur swept through the crowds in the stands, a thrum of anticipation for what promised to be the most interesting match yet.

Anyone want to show me the ropes?

I'll fight you!

Seems you're looking for a no-powers medieval melee match, so I'll bring Sir Favian Procell, knight of House Dawnwood, outfitted in his own set of plate armor plus one rondel dagger and one steel longsword. If that sounds about right, then we can start whenever!

AACM: Twilight Arena

AKIVA

He was clever, the dragon man. Clever enough to know that little Akiva was much scarier than she seemed, and that he should keep his eyes right on her, to make sure she didn't creep up when he wasn't looking and tear him to pieces!

But if he was looking at her, that meant he wasn't looking other places. Wasn't looking at the mixed-blood warrior who readied a strike from beneath his cloak, wasn't looking at the powerful Oro perched atop a pillar, wasn't looking at the chatty Sol who'd already drawn his sword...

...and, most importantly, he wasn't looking behind his head, where a four-inch portal was silently sliding open.

Or behind Akiva's wing, which concealed not only her musket but another portal of similar size.

From the way her emotions were bubbling up, he'd know she was about to attack. When the attack came, however, she didn't lunge, or shoot, or even leap into the air.

Instead, she jabbed. Jabbed the butt of her musket through the portal behind her wing, to slam it with all her strength into the back of his skull.

Armor could keep him from being cut or shot, but it couldn't entirely stop blunt force. Wouldn't be able to stop Akiva from knocking him off balance, nor stop her concussive blow from bouncing his skull off the inside of his helmet, bouncing his brain off the inside of his skull and leaving him stunned, reeling, ever so vulnerable...

Status

Injuries: none at present
Abilities: 2x portal = 4 soul spent

16 Soul / 20 Stamina remaining

AACM: Twilight Arena

AKIVA

Who had put all this rock up in the sky?

That was Akiva's first thought as she appeared in the arena. It seemed very silly to her; rocks belonged on the ground, not in the air!

It must have taken a lot of magic to lift it all up here, and Akiva couldn't imagine why, but right now there were more important things for her to worry about. Her prey was here, five beasts each stronger than the last, and the strongest of them all stood right in the middle. He had a hard shell, that one, covering up his whole body. Akiva would need to crack it open, expose the vulnerable meat inside.

Even as she made these observations, Akiva curled her left wing protectively in front of her, holding her weapon behind it so that the others wouldn't see. Her eyes peeked out over the top of her wing, and her knees bent, ready to jump into the air if she needed to.

Ascension Arena: Champion Maker

I'm....uh..... a little concerned our flighty seraph friend might on the off chance be a cannibal.....just a little.

@Jollan

Ascension Arena: Champion Maker

AKIVA

IT WAS TIME.

She saw the doorway appear from her high perch, a gateway made of magic and mystery and stranger things still. Her eyes went wide, pupils narrowing, fixed on the portal as she unslung her musket from her back, already loaded. Through there lay the hunt. The hunt! The stalking and fighting and cutting and tearing and eating! Akiva wanted it, wanted it all!

She leaped off the rooftop, and her wings spread wide, stark red and white against the open sky. For a moment, she hung in the air...

Then, like a hawk swooping in for the kill, she dove down towards the portal and sailed straight on through, a wild smile slashed across her face as she plunged into its waiting maw.