All-Taverns Tournament Final

[Pig Boy]

Azrael vs Vivian
All-Taverns Tournament Final

This was the moment, the final round of the second All-Taverns Tournament. Whoever would win would earn the accolades of taverns and brawling aficionados across the city. People would offer free drinks and dinners for the winner, and avenues for social advancement would arguably open up for both contenders. The All-Taverns Tournament was an occasion for self-promotion and advancement for those who were trying to make inroads to Rharnean society. It wasn't a tournament for the elites, as much as a proving for those up and coming.

Thus Vivian and Azrael were summoned to the central Arena, which was equally visible to all stands around the Lightning Dome. There, beside the Brawling Tree, they'd fight to the best of their ability, fully revived and invigorated by the healing from the leaves of the Brawling Tree.

There was only one way to determine a winner.

"Fight!" Ilaren shouted at them.

The crowd roared their approval and accolades to the fighters below. It was clear that there were many under the influence in the stands, but the betting persisted in the upper rungs of the arena, near the bookies both official and some less official. Everyone's eyes were on the fight below, even the number crunchers trying to determine the odds when it came to the unknown variable, Azrael, who was considered fan favorite and yet still an underdog.

The fight would tell which of them was worthy of the title of Champion. They'd all find out.

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Please make no more than three actions/attacks/defenses each. I'll post once you both have.

[Azrael]

120 Ashan 724

The small passage of time between fights and the healing effects from the tree leaves did a little to dull the sensations Azrael was feeling after drinking from the bottle someone in the crowd had given him. If not for the tree, Azrael was certain he'd have been entering this fight with an unwelcome infatuation. Instead it was only his usual infatuation for the lightning woman that he had to contend with now. When he came out into the arena he held out his arms and turned to masses cheering for another fight. He turned slowly to enjoy the moment and at the end of his turning there was his opponent.

Whatever fans he'd gained throughout this tournament, Azrael didn't think the Lightning Knights would ever cheer for him over her. That didn't mean he wouldn't try to win them all over.

He remembered her. She'd been there the trial he got the boat and Zaza. Oh, how Zaza might have been happy to see her again. Shame he was on The Courteous Slime and not in attendance to watch the fighting with Azrael's other friends. He didn't spare much thought to the fact he'd made it to the finals because Vivian had made it too. For each fight he had emerged from victorious, she had won a fight to match it. He'd seen her fight with a sword. He didn't know how she used her hands. He didn't know if she used her feet either. He'd have to feel it out and make a decision between striking and grappling. If she outclassed him in one, maybe she wouldn't outclass him in the other.

But where were his manners, Azrael put on a big smile and waved and the Lightning Knight's favorite across from him. "We always meet in the strangest of circumstances!" Azrael jested, "By the way, this is kinda that 'next time' you referred to." After reminding Vivian of what she'd said when he offered drinks on The Courteous Slime, Azrael put his hands up in a loose but defensive posture.

Ilaren's voice echoed throughout the arena and Azrael moved forward to close the distance between them. It was a little more bold than he'd opened his last fight but he knew more about the last fighter than he knew about Vivian. He needed to find out what he was fighting. Sometimes you had to get hit to do that.

When the distance between them closed, Azrael attempted a straightforward jab a Vivian to get them moving. Assuming that Vivian would come out swinging, Azrael leaned back slightly after his jab to try and see if she could reach him with her own strikes. Whether he dodged air or took a hit, he'd follow up with a right cross and put his weight behind it.

Attempted Actions

1. Jab (Soft Punch)
2. Dodge (Lean back to see how good her reach is)
3. Right Cross (Hard Punch)

[Vivian Shiryu]

Vivian was as excited as she ever got for this fight. It was the first time she'd have any kind of championship fight, which was exciting enough on it's own, but this was also the first time she'd gotten to have this kind of fight without her life being on the line. Still, she was able to control her eagerness enough to keep herself focused and she raised a fist to the crowd as they cheered for the upcoming fight. When Azrael reminded her about her offer to get drinks at their next meeting, she grinned. "Hey, this is a lot less weird than our last get-together." she said, her tone cheerful and eager. "And there are free drinks to be had here." she said, letting out a quick chuckle.

Then it was time for the fight to begin and Vivian took her stance as Ilaren's call rang out. Her stance hadn't changed throughout the tournament, a typical southpaw boxing stance. When Azrael started moving forward, Vivian did the same, but rather than start throwing punches the moment she got into range, she instead dodged to the side. Vivian had, over the years, had it repeatedly drilled into her that taking a direct offense right out of the gate was rarely the best tactic. Sure, if it would work, she'd happily settle down for a direct punch up, but it was never her first tactic if she could avoid it. So she dodged to the right as they got into striking range of Azrael and started throwing right jabs. Her goal now was to see how he responded, whether he'd turn with her to keep in range, retreat to get out of her flanking maneuver, or do something else entirely. Either way, it would tell her something about how he fought, since she didn't really have any better a measure of Azrael than he did of her.

Off Topic

1: Dodge to the right.
2: Right straight.
3: Circle while repeating above.

[Netzach Embersoul]

At the final match

Netzach walked through the crowds, eyes scanning around. Idly he placed a bet on Vivian winning, his mind already detached from trying to calculate who would win the final match. At some point he had been strongly in favour of Vivian, so he left it at that.

As he made his way to the arena, he continued to try to use Attunement to survey how many in the crowd had that strange combination of notes of instability and magic, while masking his use of his powers with 'Static'. Someone was using magic here, that was certain. Maybe it was benign, perhaps some magic to make people less inhibited or something, to better enjoy the All Tavern's Tournament, that was one interpretation of 'instability'. The another one was... violent explosion. Hence why Netzach was trying to suss out the meaning behind this magical working.

As he approached and took a seat at the spectator's area, he shut off his magic. He wasn't about to go waving his magic around near the final fight of the All-Taverns tournament. The last thing he wanted was to be arrested or inspected on the suspicion of interfering with the fight.

He sighed and slumped into his seat, banishing the mystery from his head for the moment.
He looked up and saw the last two fighters squaring off. Vivian and Azrael. There was tension in the air, but Netzach was not quite as moved by it as he was before, distracted slightly by the presence of some unknown magical force at work in the Tournament.
Still, he could feel the rhythm of his heart rise in tempo as the crowd watched with bated breath for the match to begin.

"Fight!" Illaren announced, and all hell broke loose.

Every match up till now had been leading to the apex of this moment. The crowd cheered louder than ever, their anticipation had not dwindled with time, but sharpened, excited and on edge, almost exploding out of their seats.

Netzach watched as the two fighters seemed to fight more conserved, as if cautious of one another. It made sense, one mistake and it was all over. Although coming second place was not too bad, there was, of course, only one Champion.

Actions this post

Netzach will put down 1 wp to bet on Vivian.

More pressingly he will be trying to piece together what he can about those weird notes he detected in some people. He will not be using magic once he has sat down, but ruminating on what information he collected while using Attunement on the way there.

[Vincent Steinitz]

This is it, the moment everyone is waiting for. Vincent strolled toward the upper rungs of the arena, where all the action happened for degenerates like himself. Of course, this event was far too big to have some match-fixing scheme, he thought as he inched closer to the bookies. Nevertheless, there were still those kinds of 'bookies' for this event.

Vincent whistled as he made his way to the bookie, where the familiar figure was standing nearby. "Have you Placed a bet yet?" he asked as he fished out pieces of nels.

Crow tied his bandana and remained silent for a few trills before looking at Vincent. "You drank one of those drinks, huh?"

"Tasted funny," Vincent shrugged in reply, took out a vial, and rolled it through his fingers.

With a swift motion, Crow crushed the vial using his magic. "Clear head, yeah?" he paused and took a nel from his pocket. "I got enough winnings from the last round. I just got a feeling that it's time to fold. Unless you are feeling a bit adventurous, but don't go all-in." He snickered as he pointed slightly with his eyes to the man wearing a wide-brim hat and a long coat.

Vincent dusted off the shards from his hands. "You owe me a vial," he said as he approached the man with the wide-brim hat. Vincent stood close to him but not close enough. Well, if it were me, I would have retired three times if it wasn't for the tree. So, the underdog or the commander?" he asked in a raised voice, while using the thrice spoken code to see if the man is a friend of theirs.

Off Topic

Vincent will bet 5 wp on Vivian if the person he approached turns out to be a fellow SQ. If not, Vincent will bet the 5 wp (3 wp on Vivian and 2 wp on Azrael) at the official bookies

[Pig Boy]

Azrael vs Vivian
All-Taverns Tournament Final

The Fight:

A proper boxing match was on. Azrael was the first to strike, venturing a probing jab at Vivian which she side-stepped to the right, but received nonetheless a forceful enough contact on her left shoulder as she moved. Azrael landed his hit, albeit grazing, but didn’t have long to celebrate the success before Vivian was using that mechanical pivot power to launch a straight punch at his face, which he tried to lean back from.

It appeared, at roughly the same height as each other, they had equal reach. This might be a more even match than the odds-runners had anticipated. Especially given Azrael’s recent excursions into the night brawling scene.

Azrael leaned back to try and avoid the straight, but Vivian had enough reach to clip him on the chin lightly. His lean took away some of the impact but a touch was still a touch.

Vivian transitioned from that motion to begin to circle, and find an ankle on Azrael’s flank. However, his cross punch was well suited to this maneuver, and landed on her ribs with the right cross punch, a solid landing blow.

The crowd gasped in awe at the unforeseen fight that Azrael was giving Vivian.



As Netzach approached the stands where the Lightning Knights were cheering and focusing their attention on the fight, another note would present itself, more clear than the original one that had been shown. Target.

And the knights clearly weren’t the only ones bearing this note. As he focused his attention, he’d note that many along the route of the one giving a certain liquor out bore this note.

However, as he didn’t investigate further, and tuned out of his magical senses, he didn’t learn much more than this, although that might’ve been considered consequential. At any rate, the fight was capturing the attention of all under the roof of the Lightning Dome at this moment.



“The tree complicates things. By all rights, the third retirement should’ve stuck.” He said, giving the thrice spoken word in his own way. So he was most likely Shadow Quarter, unless that turn of phrase was entirely on accident. He looked up at Vincent, and he was an older gentleman. When Vincent asked which of the ones would win or lose, he merely, cryptically said, “Both.”

Then he went back to watching the match, seemingly.

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Please make no more than three actions/attacks/defenses each. I'll post once you both have.

[Azrael]

120 Ashan 724

Only one short exchange in and Azrael wasn't sure he wanted to keep boxing with Vivian. She had the wrong hand out in front. It was... somewhat intimidating because he didn't think that she was doing that on accident. A lefty then? He'd come out with more technical blows but she'd caught his jaw and he didn't like getting hit in the face. They had about the same reach so any time he pulled back he'd be unable to hit her... well unable to hit her body. He could aim for her arms but what good would that do? She began to circle him and he got lucky that he'd swung for the side she went to. Vivian pressed on with her tactic by continuing to circle him and throw jabs with her right arm.

Azrael turned with Vivian to avoid being flanked as best as he could while maintaining their range. Whenever she went for a jab with her right, he tried to swat it aside with his left hand. He'd learned that trying to lean out of the way would get him bopped on the jaw. Edasha's son had more experience with footwork related to swordplay than hand to hand. More often than not he ended up fighting on the ground with his hands but fortunately he wasn't incapable of adapting. He went with his first impulse. He almost always did. If he thought she was better at moving on her feet, he'd try to stop her from moving.

As soon as Vivian's arm was moving back from one of her probing jabs, Azrael popped forward to try and stomp his lead foot down on her's, ideally pinning them in place for the right cross he sent toward her jaw next.

Attempted Actions

1. Turn and block to avoid being flanked/whacked
2. Step on Vivian's foot to disrupt her movement
3. Right cross

[Vincent Steinitz]

Vincent chuckled at the man’s response: “Yeah, it was traumatizing. Sure, the pain and wounds would be gone after the match, but it doesn’t remove the memory of getting hit by that girl’s fist.” He responded in reference to his match with Glasser. Vincent made a mental note to remember her face so he would avoid her at all costs outside the arena since there would be no healing tree to heal him.

Vincent mused on the man’s response as he mentally noted his face. The older gentleman gave him the same familiar feeling as when he met Gustav for the first time. Both? Well, they both reached the finals, and the Lightning Knight’s opponent seemed to be holding his ground pretty well. A knockout at the same time? Vincent thought to himself as he mindlessly walked back to where Crow was.

“How much did you bet?” Crow asked without turning his gaze away from the match.

Vincent shrugged and swiped a piece of cigarette hanging out from Crow’s pocket. “That guy gave me the similar feeling to someone we know. All cryptic and shit. Like how the tree complicate things and how that either there would be no winner or both of them would win. Like how would that even happen?” Vincent paused as he lit the cigarette and puffed a cloud of smoke. “Unless….” He then went to one of the bookies he used to place the bet in the previous round.

“I’m wondering, what happens to the stake if nobody takes the pot?” he asked the bookie as he placed down several nels.

Off Topic

Vincent bet the 5 wp (3 wp on Vivian and 2 wp on Azrael) with the official bookies

[Vivian Shiryu]

Azrael was good. That much became apparent after their initial exchange when he'd been able to land a hit on her shoulder right out of the gate. She was able to return the favor with a clip to his jaw, but neither of them were clean hits, just grazes. It look like they had the same reach and he was experienced enough to at least try and keep up with her flanking. She thought for a moment as she kept up circling him, but the fact was, if an opponent wasn't taken by that fairly early on, she wasn't going to gain anything by keeping up the motion. All it would do would wear out her energy for no substantial benefit.

That left her with two major options for her next move. Either stand and brawl it out or switch to a hit and retreat style. She'd done both in real fights, but she'd always relied on her lightning manipulation powers for the latter and it had always been against something that was strong enough that she'd practically needed it. In truth, she much preferred the idea of the brawl. Plus she'd seen a bit of Azrael's fighting style before, and she suspected that he might actually prefer a hit and retreat style fight himself. Her decision made, Vivian stopped circling him and planted her feet, raising her guard at first in case he took the opportunity to try and land a serious hit when she stopped moving.

Then she swung her next shot directly for his ribs, turning her body weight into the left hook to try and make it as clean and heavy a blow as she could. If she guessed right, she wasn't going to get many shots like this and any subsequent chances would be harder to take. She was going to have to make the most of every one she could get.

!	Message from: Basilisk
	Circles for a bit longer to think of her next move. Stops and raises her guard. Throws as heavy a left hook as she can.

[Netzach Embersoul]

The plot thickens...

Target

As the meaning of the note coalesced into his mind, Netzach jerked up in his seat, accidentally knocking against someone's elbow, spilling their drink. They didn't seem to mind though, being too focused on the fight in the ring.

Netzach however felt his blood grow cold. Target. Target of what?
He carefully traced his memories for the note. The strange note he just identified as Target was on many people along a route of this one hawker that was selling liquour.
He was... doing something. Something marked with Magic, Instability. And Target

Suddenly things seemed to take a slightly more sinister turn. Who was this person? And what was the motive and consequence of whatever magic he was performing?

The crowd roared, snapping Netzach out of his ruminations. He turned to look just in time to see Azrael trade a light blow to his jaw for a solid punch to the abdomen.
Netzach winced. It looked like Azrael, the underdog, was holding his own in the fight. Some part of his brain briefly worried about his bet on Vivian, but he quickly brushed it aside for the moment.

He glanced around himself, everyone seemed to have all eyes on the fight. Maybe nobody would notice if Netzach snooped around a bit with his Attunement, so long as he didn't use it on Vivian or Azrael?

He scanned the crowd again, looking for that drink hawker.
This was hardly his business, and maybe it was all just his own paranoia. Still the potential of something amiss going on, apparently unnoticed by anyone else, was disturbing. And beyond that was just sheer curiosity, a puzzle that needed to be solved.
Maybe if he found out beforehand if something evil was afoot, he could get out of the place and run to safety before things went south.

Actions this post

Netzach will first try to find and Attune to the guy giving the suspicious drinks. If he can do so, he will then approach him, and try to chat him up, just to probe around, and also take one of the drinks to attune to it.