Combat, Dreams of

[Abra]

66 Vhalar, 719
Night

Location: A random dreamscape

On most occasions Abra wouldn’t think twice about leaving his dreamscape without any weaponry. Yeas of dreamwalking had made him fairly confident in his ability to escape undesirable dreams and Emeyans. Today was different though. He materialized a reaper scythe into his hand with Governing before passing through the veil and into another dreamscape. He was going to figure out how to use this weapon one way or another.

There were many common dreams that Abra stumbled upon. Lots were just simple dreams about people’s daily lives so he just kept passing through until he arrived in a combat heavy dream. He walked on a wooden floor padded with autumn leaves and saw people dueling all around him. They each stood on a platform about twenty feet in diameter as this was their designated fighting space. Weapons lined the isle making Abra feel foolish for bringing his own. He tossed his scythe in favor of one of theirs. The new one was much heavier than the one he had made but was more realistic.

Abra navigated to an open platform and there he waited for someone to challenge him to a fight. It couldn’t be long if this place was full of fighters. He took the time to take some practice swings with the enormous weapon. He barely had the strength to lift it over his head, let alone fight with it. “I should have just stayed in my own dreamscape,” he thought. “I’m nowhere near ready to fight someone for real.”

"Abra", "NPC"

[Balthazar Black]

66 Vhalar 719

Viden was a cold place unlike the one Balthazar had been living in for a long time. Balthazar's mutation kept him warm but in the last few trials only his dreams made him feel like he belonged. On the sixty sixth of Vhalar Balthazar found himself in a dream that made him long for the city he'd left. People dueled left and right, locked in combat all around. Balthazar had been careful not to touch anything at first, he thought it might provoke someone but eventually he noticed that the weapons laying out of the tables and stacked in the racks were meant to be taken. Balthazar had no use for most of the weapons as he fought with his hands and feet but he found a pair of metal gauntlets though he couldn't tell what type of metal. He put them on his arms and then swung his arms in a windmill pattern to get a feeling for the weight of the gauntlets.

He could manage.

Balthazar walked slowly to the open platforms to look for someone to spar with. He was excited to think he'd soon be engaged in some harmless combat, a little thrill he'd been missing since he devoted his time to reading. Balthazar spotted a man with a large scythe standing on a platform with no challengers and he gave a brief glance around to see if anyone else was on their way to challenge the man. When he was sure none of the others fighters were going- Balthazar walked into the open platform. He waved slight with his right hand and gestured towards the man's weapon. "I've never fought someone with one of those before."

[Abra]

Half a break Abra waited. It gave him time to run his hand down the length of the sythe and admire its craftsmanship. Whoever had made these weapons was very skilled if he were to go off of the intricate pattern and symbols. It was time better spent practicing with the weapon in all honesty. He realized this when a man with long white hair walked towards him. Others had passed Abra by, but this one was here to stay. He had metal gauntlets in his hands and a gleam in his eye. If Abra had to guess, this man was a mage too.

The only tell that Abra was a mage was his silver tongue that was visible when Abra addressed his visitor. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never fought with one of these before. I came here hoping to take a couple swings to see how it suits me.” He lifted the scythe awkwardly and put the bottom on the floor in front of him with the blade being situated at the top.

Under normal circumstanced, Abra would have had a more proper introduction but this was just a dream. There was no reason for him to believe that Balthazar was any more than a figment of someone’s imagination. Because of this, he kept the conversation short. He lifted the polearm off the ground with a heavy grunt then ran at the white haired challenger. When he was about five feet away, he took a horizontal swing of the mighty weapon and heaved heavy breaths. He could barely manage just this much, how was he going to manage a whole fight?

knowledge tracker

Polearm (Scythe): requires a lot of strength to wield
Polearm (Scythe): Performing a horizontal swing with both hands
Strength: Lifting a heavy weapon

"Abra", "NPC"

[Balthazar Black]

66 Vhalar 719

Before Balthazar could exchange another word, the man facing him set forth on his attack but that was perfectly fine with Balthazar who had already seen a flaw in the scythe he thought he might be able to exploit. When Abra began to advance, Balthazar charged forward as well- he knew he would need momentum for what he planned to do and the fighting style he practiced was offense heavy so it made sense to him. When Abra came within range and swung his scythe, Balthazar dropped low to the ground and slid beneath the swinging scythe towards Abra's legs.

In this dreamscape he wouldn't dare to use magic so he had to rely entirely on his physical body- a body weighed down slightly by two metal gauntlets. If he'd been in the waking world he'd have dared to use a blink portal to get behind Abra and rise for a strike but he was not. Instead Balthazar slid just to the right of Abra's legs- reaching out with his right arm in an effort to knock Abra's legs out from under him. Balthazar had never tried it before- but then again he'd never fought someone with such a weapon. He'd fought a few men with hammers and a few men with hammers they weren't quite fast enough with- but never anyone with a scythe.

[Abra]

ooc

maybe a post or two more?

Abra’s go with the scythe went just about as good as he’d expected. His swing missed completely and the white haired challenger swooped under the blade with plenty of time to spare. Abra’s body twisted with the scythe’s carried momentum, turning him to the left and throwing him off balance. Then came the gauntlet bearer’s counterattack. Abra hadn’t even seen what happened but his feet were thrown up into the air which sent him crashing down onto the padded platform. His wrists ultimately broke his fall and that alone hurt. His knees also made a heavy impact making steadying himself difficult.

The scythe flew out of his hands and onto another platform which drew dirty looks from the duelists that he just interrupted. “Keep your weapon in your hands, dumbass!” One of them tossed the scythe and duelists from all around stopped to laugh. They were faceless to him, all looking more like shadowy emeyans than actual people. They didn’t even start fighting again. Instead they chose to watch and see just how horribly Abra could fuck up again.

Abra gritted his teeth and scampered to his feet to face Balthazar. “Nice trick. If we were in Idalos, I might have a move to best you, but here in Emea I’m afraid I don’t stand a chance.” It all came down to this being a lucid dream. The injuries were real. A hit to the head from those metal gauntlets would likely crack his skull and the urge to give up was growing. He toughened up and committed to trying at least a couple more times just to say that he gave it an honest try.

“Once or twice more then,” he said then he ran at Balthazar once again. He felt the eyes of the other duelists on him. They wanted him to fail so they could have something to laugh at. He brought his fist back towards his cheek then threw a punch with his right hand right towards the challenger’s stomach then followed up by trying to grapple him to the ground. “If I’m going to lose, I might as well get a few hits in!” He wasn’t as brave as he was in Idalos without his Empathy spark to help calm himself. Every action he took was an adrenaline rush and somehow more satisfying than being calm and collected.

Assuming his pathetic attempt was at least somewhat successful he would try to immobilize the muscular man but nothing he did accomplish would be very effective. If his attempts were thwarted, he could brace for impact since he expected to get pounded at this point.

"Abra", "NPC"

[Balthazar Black]

66 Vhalar 719

Balthazar came up from his sliding attack and squared himself back on Abra who was slowly rising off the floor. Abra seemed to be tormented by the spectators around them who Balthazar would have been able to ignore completely if not for their faceless quality. That captured his attention- signaled by his body seeming to ease as he began wondering what those around them were. They looked like Emeyan and that was incredibly discomforting given where he knew he was. Balthazar became so transfixed on them that he didn't hear Abra addressing him. Balthazar looked to the duelist who had yelled at Abra and thought for a moment about defending Abra's effort but before he could, he felt someone move into his diameter of motion sensing. It was too late for him to react though. Balthazar had lowered his defenses too completely and the metal gauntlets slowed him down.

Balthazar could distinguish Abra was saying something about getting hits in but little else as his opponents arms wrapped around the mage- looking to constrict Balthazar and bring him to the ground. In what amounted to a bear hug- Abra had succeeded in grappling the dazed Balthazar, but that would be where his success ended. Even with his arms bound, Balthazar remembered his training. He'd quickly strike his knee upward twice on the left and then once on the right in an effort to weaken Abra's midsection before attempting a headbutt to try and force Abra to release him. If released he would rain down a fury of fast blows towards Abra's body followed by another leg sweep- but if Abra endured the strike better than Balthazar he would find himself in an advantageous position to fling Balthazar wherever he wanted form the base of the bear hug.

[Abra]

This was not the first time Abra had known defeat. There were dozens of times in his youth when he found himself outmatched and had long since learned to win with his wits than with his strength. He felt like he should have stuck to that line of thought when he was headbutted and his grip was easily prided from Balthazar’s body. Had he the know-how, he probably would have gripped the man’s white mane and held on for dear life, but the thought came a tad too late.

He felt nothing but foolish after having went at odds with Balthazar and had nothing to show for it except bruises that would no doubt persist in Idalos to some degree. It was all Abra could do to cover his face and neck with his arms and wait for his punishment to end. He didn’t bother fighting back or even trying to do anything else but squirm his bottom half around in a pathetic attempt to step backwards but Balthazar was too fast. In the end, Abra somehow found that his face was planted on the floor again, much like before.

A roar of laughter erupted from the Emeyans all around. Abra felt the shame of defeat come over him. He felt angry, sad and everything inbetween. He dared not even face Balthazar again. He had only the energy and will to leave the ring by crawling and dragging his battered body across the ground. Once he heaved himself off the platform he focused and sliced open a path into the Veil. He turned to give Balthazar one last dirty then slipped out of sight.

It didn’t take long to find his own dreamscape again. There he conjured a hot springs where he could rest and relieve himself of the pain of his injuries. “That man was different,” he thought, “not an emeyan. Either a dreamer or a dreamwalker. He was so strong… I must get stronger if I’m ever going to be able to defend myself in Emea outside of my dreamscape.” With this realization fresh in his mind Abra would spend the rest of his night planning and plotting. He would get his revenge, someday.

[Balthazar Black]

66 Vhalar 719

When Abra left the dreamscape, Balthazar felt a great swell of pity for the man. He'd not meant him the harm that came but it was hard to decipher the real from the false in the world of dreams. Yet at the end of the trial the result was the same, his duel with Abra had ended and his opponent left the dream. Balthazar did not yet wake, instead he lingered in the dream for a short time to revel in the feeling of combat. He'd participate in a few more small duels before finally being woken by the rising Viden sun. In that time he would face a man overly fond of throwing knives.

The trouble with combating this man- as Balthazar found- was that he could maintain a range Balthazar could not without magic. Every time Balthazar moved in to attack he'd find himself at the receiving end of a thrown blade. The majority he'd been able to avoid one way or another but one sliced by his left arm when he failed to properly avoid it and that momentary pain reminded Balthazar of the dangers in dreams. Balthazar surrendered and endured the mockery of the masses. The faceless duelists turned to him now that Abra had deprived them of their choice subject. They laughed at him. But he was not dead or gravely hurt and that was what Balthazar cared about. He'd let the mockery of the masses wake him slowly.

[Doran]

Balthazar:

Knowledge:
Unarmed (Ustrina) - Sliding leg sweep
Unarmed (Ustrina) - Flurry of kicks to weaken opponent's grip
Unarmed (Ustrina) - Strike with knees if arms are bound in a hug
Unarmed (Nomos) - Defying the wind is necessary for some dodges
Strength - Unarmed combat with metal gauntlets
Socialization - Knowing when to fight, not talk
Endurance - Receiving a bear hug
Detection - Measuring the reach of a scythe
Tactics - Scythes have one blade and then a lot of non-lethal space

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: Balthazar’s arm is hurt because he found himself at the receiving end of a thrown blade. It’s nothing serious though.
Renown: 0
Magic XP: -
Points: 15

Abra:

Knowledge:
Unarmed (Wrestling): grab hair if you can't maintain a grip on their body
Unarmed (Wrestling): bear hugging
Endurance: getting beaten to a pulp by gauntlets
Socialization: getting made fun of makes you sad
Polearm (Scythe): horizontal slash Endurance: getting the legs kicked out from under you

Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: Bruises. Since this is a lucid dream, Abra will be sore for a while.
Renown: 0
Magic XP: -
Points: 15

- - -

Comments: Emea seems like a great place to practice your skills – as long as you have as many points in Dreamwalking as Abra. You can just conjure a weapon and an opponent – or accidentally end up in a place where people fight!

It was interesting to read about two mages fighting without magic. I liked that both of you allowed your PCs to get hurt. Great job, and enjoy your rewards!