Open Chronicles Chance to Prove your Quality

[Xunari Auceus]

The Walled City State of Khalaan​

A walled city was not a novelty in this day and age but what was something of a novelty was finding a city at the edge of the Taagi Baara Steppes in the first place - that it existed half due to magic and half due to impressive trade links made it something she desired. Found to the north-west of Bhathairk, the city state and it's surrounding lands were rather...

Well it was the steppes. It was a coastal region of the steppes but it was still the steppes.

She didn't really want to go into more detail than that since it was all she needed to say. You either knew what the steppes were like or you were lucky enough to live somewhere much nicer. Steppe Orcs and other types of roaming raiders made the steppes dangerous but the mostly human population of Khalaan had made their home here. With mighty defensive magics and some impressive walls, they had managed to see off the horrors of war in the past through either surviving a siege or by simply paying raiders to look elsewhere through the profits their ports brought them.

Some of their philosophies appealed to Xunari and had been the original reason as to why she had chosen to steer the armies of the growing Dominion toward it's walls. They were ruled by both an upper and middle class that was made exclusively of mages, who used defensive magics to either negate attacks or cause them to be their own counter. The idea of such knowledge and power being at her disposal was one reason why she wanted them to bend the knee to them and the other was that they would prove to be useful in combat as well.

But they were a pragmatic people too it would seem.

Standing in front of her amassed forces, she eyed the defenders upon their walls as a single messenger outlined the terms to her once again.

"The Council of Five and Ten will accept vassal-status amongst your Dominion should your champions best their own." the messenger declared confidently, "The glorious Council would see loss of life kept to a minimum, to the benefit of all parties. The Council shall allow you the honour of deciding how many Champions you will name - the Council shall match your number and combat shall commence in a melee between both groups."

So like a duel but with however many Champions on each side just rushing into it to make it a free-for-all. She made a show of humming as she considered the offer before nodding.

"I accept - the Champions of the Dominion shall crush your Champions and we shall welcome you into our warm embrace." She decided before turning back to the assembled Dominion forces, "Who amongst us shall stand beside me as a Champion of the Dominion? We shall prove our quality to them in combat and take them into ourselves to grow! Who shall stand shoulder to shoulder with me?"

Conquest and battle meant she had had time to work on her speech-giving.

 

[Pieron Calabra]

One could ask how a forty-something former college mage ended up in the ranks of a Dominion army. One could also not. Judging by the wine stain on his tunic, the unshaven face and sour expression, Pieron no doubt preferred the latter option. In truth, his recollections only go back to when he tried to visit an old friend living in the shadow of the Spine when... by the Gods he really was a sucker for women.

Standing among the ranks with a sword on his scabbard and a dirk loosely on his left, Pieron wasn't sure what his role would be once they'd assault the walls. Fortunately he didn't have to find out because the city's fate would be decided by the champions, so he looked around, first to the left, no one stepped forward, then to the right, still no one. "Our champions are afraid of the sun or somethi-" someone behind him gave him a shove, "-hey!" the Cortosi cried but he was soon drowned out by someone right next to him; "The human volunteers!"

Well, kriff. They conspired against him.

 

[Kaelen Rovelle]

"Concentrate apprentice. The application of magic in combat is no longer about theory. It is able the visceral connection between you and the will working." The instruction was emphasized by the crack of the whip across the young man's back. It was a terrifying sound, and potentially painful if not for the jerkin worn across his torso. "Do not focus on the sound or what pain you think might come. Focus on the effect and subject, pour your attention and will into the working." Crack, another lash found purchase on the back of his legs, guarded by firm padding. His eyes forced forward, as he channeled with wavering fervor. "The pain, the threat of it, the sound of it - these are things you imagine. They do not exist in the reality we control." Crack, this one lashing was errant though, biting into the back of an elbow. Tears sprung forth as the boy continued though, keeping the channeling steady. "Good, very good. Pain, Fear - all creations of the mind, a thing you control. Never give them purchase, for you do not deign them important enough to be concerned with." Crack - and thus did the instruction continue until the lesson was learned.

- ] - [ -​

Kaelen's murmuring was enough to draw a kick from a lithe drow male. His hissed insult slowly roused the human from his light slumber, causing immediate cursing as the sunlight forcing him to throw a cloak over his eyes. Drawing on his rusty undercommon, he growled back. "No need to fucking kick me, for fucks sake. Simple tap and call would get me up."

Grumbling still under his breath, the human rose and slapped the chain shirt on his chest - an archaic ritual for good luck. Reaching for his belt, he fastened the sword and scabbard into place and cracked his neck. Slowly making his way forward, he took in the walled view before him. The city Khaalan was certainly impressive and also smart. They seemed to eschew a full on siege and preferred to bargain through trial by combat. Kaelen could get behind this, and he sought out his handler. Xudm...no, what was it...Xundari! That was it. One of the she-witch's subcommanders, and a special one at that. One armed and wielder of runic magic - those details were not lost on the forsaken Dreadlord. Still, it seemed like his timing was fortuitous. They were just about to choose each other's dance partner, and he wanted an easy one. Surely, the fates would give him that, right?

Either way, he was here for explicit situations like this, and as he found the elven woman, he relaxed some. Trying again at the tongue of undercommon, he looked at Xundari and nodded towards the city: "So, are we doing one on ones or is this a team affair? Can I have the brute if they have one? They generally are the easiest ones to deal with." Crouching some, he stretched his legs and slapped his face to further wake himself up. He screamed competence, he was sure about it.

 

[Xunari Auceus]

Well it looked like she had a pair of champions to fight alongside her. She grinned a little bit and stretched herself out a little bit. Was it a little bit strange that they were both humans? Perhaps it was but who was she to decide who could and couldn't be a part of the Dominion? Either they wanted to be here of their own free will or they had been selected for their uses.

Either way they would do nicely.

Drawing her own sword, she stabbed it into the ground as she began to trace several runes across her body. To enhance herself at the cost of some internal energies and some of the ambient heat from the surrounding sands. Enough to give her a small edge but not enough to make her some kind of monster of physical combat.

"It shall be a team of champions vs a team of champions." she confirmed to both of her human allies, "My research into their culture finds that there are no hang ups about switching dance partners mid-fight as it were. Only that the armies do not interfere in combat."

With her champions selected, the people of Khalaan responded by sending out their own champions. Three warriors of both martial and magic might it would seem.

A Lightning mage with a warhammer.

A hulking monster of flames and metal armour.

And a lightly armoured fellow with a rather light sword compared to the others.

Xunari drew her sword out of the ground and grinned to her fellow champions.

"Anyone object to me having the bald one?"

Once they had reached the agreed upon literal line in the sand it would begin.

 

[Kaelen Rovelle]

Kaelen nodded off towards the other human, seemingly dressed for combat. Though the faint smell of wine let that fact somewhat in doubt. He wouldn't have been here though if he didn't have some talent, thus Kaelen gauged it easier to let him handle the likely ranged fight. Looking to Xunari once more, Kaelen smirked and left a question linger. "None from me, but do you prefer we speak in common or undercommon?"

Xenos or human - all people inherently distrusted the unknown. Despite how much he hated his training, it was ingrained and readily available, even when he wasn't trying. "Any sort of advantage, keeping them off their toes would be beneficial I would wager. Also, I call dibs on the big boy with the armor. His gait looks roughly the same as mine, and I wanted a new pair of armor anyways."

Standing on the line, Kaelen readied himself and smiled. Time to earn his keep.

 

[Pieron Calabra]

Pieron sighed before he nodded his approval. He was pretty sure he came to these parts to learn more about magic, particularly Dark Magic, but instead he was about to fight for his life with a warhammer-wielding user of lightning magic. Great. It didn't help he was slightly hungover and had no idea how to use the sword hanging from his side. It was time to see if all those college-scrolls he consumed actually held up during the real thing.

"You talk too much," he told the undead Dreadlord as he stepped up to the line in the sand and muttered something under his breath.Making a swiping motion towards his opponent with his right hand, he created a gust of wind that swept towards the man, taking a fair amount of sand along with it. Using lightning magic on it would only turn the sand into glass, thus doing actual damage instead of merely disorienting him and frankly Pieron hoped his opponent was that stupid.

 

[Xunari Auceus]

Did she prefer they spoke in a set language? She was something of a polyglot so she really didn't care. Instead she just shrugged and decided it was probably best to go with the language that they all kind of expected.

"Common is fine."

But she personally did agree with Pieron in that Kaelen talked too much. It would be useful for when they decided they were going to swap or aid each other she hoped. Right now it wasn't something she focused on since she had much more to worry about.

As she approached the line in the sand she suddenly sped up, suddenly running past the line rather than merely walking over it. The sudden change in speed putting her opponent on the back foot as she swung her sword.

Unfortunately for her the man managed to dodge back, half due to an attempted dodge and half due to the fact that he kind of fell on the sand. Instead her blade cut through air with deadly efficiency, the blade visibly sparking with purple light.

She had missed and, worse, her enemy now knew that he couldn't afford even a single hit from her sword since she was using it to channel her magics. Tutting, she leaned backward, using the slide of the sand herself to avoid a burst of bright red lightning that was shot back at her in return.

Irritating.

Pieron Calabra Kaelen Rovelle

 

[Kaelen Rovelle]

Kaelen shrugged as the mage spoke, critiquing his potential for communication. Still, the fact the drowess commander shared a similar feeling made it clear it was time to shut up and get to the business at hand. The bloody business of winning a proxy war by way of honorifics and duels. He wanted to spit at the concept, but he knew better. This was his life now, having been rescued by their queen. Allegiences had been sworn and there was favor to win.

Gripping his sword, he was going to approach the combat with deliberate steps and a sensible defense...but his companions had other ideas, eschewing a formal beginning and instead launching immediate attacks. Turning his attention to his dance partner, Kaelen shrugged in exaggerated fashion and called out. "So...do you really want to do this? Or just want to wait to see who els-"

His words were cut off as a blast of fire roared over head, the armored man rushing forward across the sand. His rage was clear as he yelled, "You fuckin' talk too much." Another blast of fire caught Kaelen in the leather armor, forcing Kaelen to yelp and then sigh.

"Everyone is a damn critic. Why can't we just do this all friendly like?" Growling internally, Kaelen settled into a defensive posture, pushing off the pain. He had a singular focus now, and it involved waiting for the opponent to get closer. Rough, pale hands gripped the hilt at his side again, ready to draw. But...he had to wait. He had to wait for the right moment...keep waiting...and waiting...right until the man was mere meters from him.

Finally Kaelen opened his eyes and snarled an archaic phrase as he drew his blade, lashing it forward with a flourish. The very earth groaned beneath the dreadlord and his opponent before a large, solid spike jutted up from the ground and impaled the man through his chin, stopping any progress immediately. It likely would have proven to be a killing blow, but Kaelen did not leave it up to chance. With a frightening quickness, he dashed forward and his sword found a quick slash through the opponent's neck, cleanly slicing through a big chunk of the throat. That would prove to be enough.

Turning his eyes to battlefield again, Kaelen sighed and started moving off towards the human and his lightning toting opponent. Maybe he would be able to help, but if not, well whatever.

 

[Xunari Auceus]

Well it was time for her to take it up a notch then wasn't it? But the tricky part was that she currently only had one arm and she was using it to swing a sword around like some kind of warrior-type. Of course she was prepared for this but it would mean she needed something from her opponent.

Dodging, blocking and parrying as best as she was able to, she could see that her opponent knew she wasn't as skilled with a sword as he was. But there was also something in his eyes that she knew oh so very well.

Pride.

This man was a mage and he knew that she was a mage as well. She could tell that he wanted to end this battle with magic, to prove that he was the superior mage rather than the superior swordsman. After all, their city prized magic and it's use above such martial tricks.

So when the man broke away to create some room she knew that she had him. The bait had worked and he had worked himself up rather than her needing to actually say anything and potentially ruin the building frustration in her opponent.

He reached out with his left hand and launched a stream of lightning from his fingertips, his grin widening when he saw her moving her blade to intercept. Usually he would be right to grin - a sword blocking lightning just meant making it a lightning rod.

And the lightning did, indeed, streak toward the blade and into it. The metal grew hotter and the blade began to redden but... not else. Nothing else happened.

Until she swung her blade, unleashing all of his magic back toward him in a wide crescent. Caught off guard, he tried to back away and managed to evade it to some degree. His left arm was torn from his body and a wide gash was torn into his chest.

He fell to the ground, out could, and Xunari felt no desire to finish him. The rules were not, technically, to the Death and people could live with one arm.

She did.

Pieron Calabra Kaelen Rovelle

 

[Pieron Calabra]

Pieron wasn't surprised when his opponent deftly side-stepped the wave of sand. Man lived in a desert, ofcourse he knew you don't try to electrocute a sand storm. What did surprise the Cortosi wizard was the fact that the side-step was immediately followed by a massive jet of lightning coming his way with almost the speed of light. Lightning manipulation wasn't something Pieron was especially skilled in and the only way he could escape being fried was to help gravity a bit... albeit in clumsily-looking way as he fell backwards into the sand and the lightning still singed his jacket.

His opponent was now running up to him and lifting his warhammer up to end his duel with the sickening crush of either Pieron's ribcage or his face... or both, for that's large hammer.

Muttering again, Pieron started making drawing circles into the air, creating a torrent of wind that significantly slowed down his attacker while he got up to a kneeling position. By now both his partners had dispatched their respective opponents, making him look bad being the last one.. or even as the one who might lose..

His opponent came within eight feet and suddenly his eyes shone a bright blue and he expelled a shockwave powerful enough to disperse Pieron's wind and push him back several feet before he landed on his back again.

With the wind knocked out of him, Pieron did his best to suck air into his bruised lungs, but there was so much sand in the air (and his mustache) that it quickly resulted in a coughing fit. His opponent didn't rush anymore, confident as he was that the fight was over as he watched the older man struggle in the sand. "Give up-" he suggested, giving Pieron that one chance to come out of this alive, "-you didn't even get your sword out."

Sword? Pieron saw the pummel of his sword from the corner of his eye and felt the guard sticking into his side all indignant over not being used. The joke was on his opponent, though, for Pieron had no idea how to use a sword other than the fact that the pointy end could kill people. He became suddenly aware of the unmistaken taste of blood in his mind and subconsciously took the dirk from behind his belt. "That Dirk isn't going to stop my hammer," his opponent said, now standing a mere two feet away and raising his hammer, but then he stopped, stupified by the fact that Pieron had just stabbed himself in the leg, looked him straight in the eyes and muttered something seemingly unintelligible.

The next thing the opponent knew the hammer was heavier than ever, his knees buckled and a sudden urge to cough revealed a mouthful of blood trickling down his tunic. "What the-" he muttered, confused as the odd pains started to accumulate. Dark Magic was the cruelest sort of magic, one that had no cure and made sure that your end was a very painful one. Pieron heavily regretted having to resort to it, but he felt like he didn't have a choice. If he hadn't he'd be the one laying dead in the sand.