A Gathering Storm

The most powerful swordsmen in all of Valendia have begun to gather at the rock-strewn plains of Galvsbard. The lure of a massive fortune offered by its ruler, the warkhan Ardion and the promise of marraige to one of his many daughters, have brought warriors from all corners of the land. The rules are simple:

1> the first 2 characters to post fight for a max of 4 posts each
2> the up to 5 players can post in between. no interrupting the battles with ambushes etc.
3> swords and swords only are allowed. ie no magic, guns, animals, summoning, arrows etc.

The stage is set for a matching of wills, skills and power. Draw your sword and join in!

OoC: I'll use Boomer. Link in sig. His earlier version used a sword, so he can still use one.

BiC: It was widely known that Ardian, the warkhan of Galvsbard, had some of the largest, rarest jems in his treasury. Boomer was all too happy to jump at the invitation to a competition he heard about from a traveling merchant. He asked Biggoron to forge a mighty sword to be used, and left his hammer at home. All Gorons love to eat gems, and the prospect of a beautiful daughter wasn't too bad either. He also wondered if Illdian would be there.

He traveled for weeks, polishing his sword skills, before he finally set foot on Galvsbard. Other swordsmen were there, all looking to wipe out weaker opponents befoore the real fighting even started. Boomer looked over the crowd to see if Illdian was thee. Two months had passed since they fought last, and he wanted to know who's sword was stronger. This time there would be no magic, only pure swordfighting.

OoC: Boomer is back for a rematch!

Ooc: Im gonna use Merran, link in sig. If boomer wants to go for Illdian then ill wait for another opponent.

Bic: This land had a dry and barren feel to it. It was very different from the lush, green, fertile soil that had comforted Merran's feet for so much of his life. He didn't mind though, the mention of a great prize was enough to draw him in.

He had been struggling as it was with neccessary funds for survival and was almost dependent on this swordfighting tournament to get food or he would be forced to start stealing again. Merran stopped to think what his father would see him as if he went back to crime again. He shuddered at the thought and quickly began to observe his surroundings to redirect his mind.

The combat grounds were rather crude at this point, but Merran had arrived early and they probably hadn't finished building them up quite yet. There were a few other swordsman here, mostly arrogant novices who would be nothing more then mincemeat by the end of the fight. There was also a resting grounds not far from the combat fields, this is where Merran decided to settle down for the day.

"First come, first serve," He snickered

Laying all his equipment down, Merran laid on his back to rest. He found himself looking up at the stars as he always did and quickly lost focus around him.

Construction for the tournament was still going on, leading Boomer to think that they sent the invitation before they started biulding the tourney grounds. Watching the Humans work made him want to join in, since he was raised to work hard. He saw men hauling lumber from the woods where the woodcutters were piling it, so he grabbed a few dozen logs, and helped out.

No one seemed to mind Boomer, as he volunteered to haul lumber and stone, though they glared at him when he bit one of the blocks. "Don't eat the supplies!" One yelled. He helped put posts in by clenching one end of a post until it was pointed, then thrusting it into the ground. He stacked blocks the size of carts and spread cement until the arena started to take shape.

Four hours into the work, he heard four ameteur swordsmen talking about him. "We have to get rid of that Goron. He'll eat enough gems to buy a small country. I won't lose this tournament just to see all that gold go down that Goron's mouth. I say we get rid of him now." He said. They charged suddenly, but Boomer swiped with the broad side of his sword, and a swordman went sprawling.

He roared a deep gutteral yell that stopped two in their tracks, and grabbed the third in his left hand. "You puny boys don't stand a chance. I should save you a public defeat and break you here and now." He said. That sent them off, and Boomer hoped this would be a lfie lesson for them. In the distance, he noticed a Shiekah.

Lost in the sky, Merran barely noticed the screaming of men not far away. He quickly regained full consciousness and got up to see what was happening.

"The tournament couldn't have started already!" He thought to himself.

To his relief, it was merely a number of young warriors trying to act tough. Merran chuckled a little to himself. Apparantly these kids had picked a fight with the wrong guy. A great goron towered over them and sent one flying with a single blunt blow. Merran tried his hardest not to laugh as the young swordsmen tripped over themselves running after a great roar from the rocky behemoth.

The goron greatly interested Merran, very rarely do you see a goron engage in sword-on-sword combat! He was looking forward to a challenge like this, and had quickly grown eager to see just what this opponent was cappable of.

The goron glanced over to Merran, noticing that he was observing the fight. Merran simply gave the fighter a nod from under his cloak as a salute and layed back down to enjoy the rest of his nap. The competition should begin as soon as the construction had finished which would surely be no more then a few hours. This would give him a little extra time to regain some needed energy. With an opponent like that, he would need all the strength he could get. Once again, Merran's thought began to drift away as his mind melted with the view of the sky.

A few hours had passed, and the rounds were about to begin. Merran had awoke and was told to wait in the first arena until his opponent arrived. The arena was a large ring that was surrounded by a steel fence and a few of the large plains rocks had been left within the ring. A tall grass still stood over a good portion of the field and the places that had been cut were bathed in dust that swirled up with even the slightest breeze. A large crowd of civillians and novice swordsmen cheered around the ring and were screaming things that Merran couldn't make out. This concerned him a little since he surely couldn't have drawn such a large croud. It looked like his first round wasn't going to be easy...but that's just how he liked it!

Merran had equipped all of his armor and also had his sash around his mouth and nose, covering all of his face aside from his eyes. His hair was set back in it's stuby ponytail and he had applied his violet paintings around his eyes. His dark atire scared many of the observers and made him stand far out in the tan prairie surroundings, surely ruling out a chance of stealth. He would have to rely on his wits and skill to fight here!

His opponent was then signaled to enter the arena and erupting from the crowd...was the giant goron that had displayed a show of skill to the novices earlier that day. Merran smiled under his sash, thanking the gods for such a duel. Merran drew his sword to a basic defensive stance, straight forward in front of his body with his arms diving downward in a 45 degree angle, the point of the sword pointing just above the gorons head.

"Well, this should be fun!" Merran chuckled.

OoC: I was kind of hoping we'd fight other people, and duel each other later in the tournament. Oh well.

BiC: Boomer didn't know his little fun earlier would draw a crowd for him. He looked at the terrain, which seemed to favor him. He knew Shiekah like stealth and darkness, but little else. They were a mysterious race, and he wondered how his enemy would fight. He drew his sword, which looked plain in comparison to Meric's glowing sword as the announcer said their names. Biggoron's sword was plain, but strong, the strongest of steels were always used by Boomer's giant friend.

Merric circled Boomer, edging closer as he circled. Boomer kept his wits about him, and hoped his armor would serve to keep Merric's sword at bay. When his opponent closed in, Boomer swung hard virtically, and Merric dodged to the side. He kept swinging as he edged the Shiekah towards a rock. Merric backjumped onto the rock's side, and leaped up for a shot at Boomer's face.

Merric's attack was blocked, but he grabbed his second weapon, and swiped at Boomer's eyes. He missed, and Boomer slammed him to the ground. Merric quickly side stepped away from Boomer's attacks, and made for the rock for protection.

OoC: sry i havent posted in a while...been busy with the theatre stuff....

BiC: This wasn't working, Merran needed to try something other then a full front assault. This was a waste of energy and he needed an advantage. He quickly jumped away and ran behind one of the large boulders around him. He listened for the goron as he approached. Boomer charged and smashed the rock with a strong vertical blow. When the dust cleared, Merran was gone. Boomer quickly looked around in a panic to see where the shiekah had gone.

He turned around to be met with a strong kick to his face. Merran had jumped completely over him and had landed on the side of a boulder not far behind him, quickly launching himself directly at the goron's head for a surprise attack, it worked.

The goron fell back a few feet from the blow but managed to hold his position. He lifted his mammoth of a weapon and charged directly at the shiekah again. On his toes, Merran ran forward as well, although his weapon was sheathed. Boomer didn't notice, nor did he care for he was ready to put this young shadow warrior in his place. Merran had thought ahead however and quickly slid down and kicked Boomer's legs out with his full body force just before his sword hit him, adding the goron's own strength to the fall.

Boomer fell back and landed hard on his face, and quickly strugled to re-cooperate. Merran then drew his wakizashi and walked towards his fallen opponent. As he ws walking however, the goron quickly stood up and launched a fist right at his chest. Evading as much as he could, he managed to avoid most of the attack but his side still recieved a strong blow that quickly brought him to the ground. Boomer then lifted his sword up high to deliver the finishing blow.

As the sword flew down, Merran managed to dodge out of the way just in time and then drew his sword right at Boomer's neck, with his wakizashi resting on Boomer's chest. The goron was shocked that this little fighter still had energy despite the hard blow he just took.

OoC: there, again sorry for the wait

Illdian slipped through the throngs of people, gently elbowing and pushing past them. The sounds of chattering, hammering and the occasional clash of metal came from all around. Through the mass of shoulders and heads he could make out the crested helmets of two Valendia Knights. He motioned closer and saw the mark of Ardion across their chests. It was very odd, he thought, these warriors were widely known for thier skills with lances, not swords. Why would Ardion want to gather swordsmen within his kingdom?

Keeping to himself, he struggled with the options he had. Should he join the tournament, and see for himself what were the Warkhan's schemes? Or should he remain neutral and instead monitor the judges? Deep in thought, he paused outside a tent from which heated words were rapidly issuing. He stepped back as a burly warrior emerged, holding a heavy-bladed sword over his shoulder.

Without warning the fighter raised the weapon and swung it toward Illdian. Illdian ducked to the right, the blade whistling past his left shoulder. Incensed, he side-stepped to the left and drawing his katana in one fluid movement. He drove the tip under the man's chestplate and shoved it upwards. A spot of blood formed on his chest like a scarlet bloom. The man sputtered once and fell away to the side, his eyes wild. Illdian pulled the blade out and quickly wiped it clean on the fabric of the tent flap.

He stood in place after sheathing the blade and awaited the Ardion's emergence frm the tent.

The Shiekah had a blade at his neck, but he had to do something. He looked to the side, causing Merran to follow, and swung his fist up to seperate them. The distraction worked, but he had to think of something good. He backrolled away, and Merran chased after, swinging his sword as he chased.

It was impossible to get a clean shot, so Merran stood in place, thinking of his next move. Boomer unrolled and charged fo a low attack, keeping his chest down. Merran dodged and thrusted as Boomer used short swings for close combat. Jumping onto his back, Merran tried for a different angle, but the Goron used a spin attack to get him off. Boomer slammed the ground to keep his opponent off his feet, but Merran was nimble, and the battle aged on.

In the distance, some people were raising an alarm for a problem that niether swordsman knew about. They were fixed on each other, but in the backs of their minds they knew soomething had or was happening.

An alarm was raising, something was happening outside of the ring... possibly an attack?...Like it mattered to him!

Merran was lost in deep thought, the guards could deal with whatever problem that had arrised elsewhere. Apparantly Boomer had the same idea in mind, and from the amount of strength that was left in him, things didn't look good.

Despite the power he showed, Merran was incredibly weak from the blows the goron had struck. Despite a few big bruises and a bad leg, Boomer looked ready for anything...which is just what he was going to get. The only way Merran would be able to win this, would be if he fought as a shadow.

Merran charged the behemoth and began using his speed advantage to lay out an offensive rush, though it wasn't doing much due to the armor that protected the goron. Boomer proceeded in lifting the small fighter by his head and launched him back against a rock. Althought the nimble warrior caught himself in the last minute, grinding his hand into the ground to catch himself before he hit the rock.

Merran crouched in a defensive position, letting Boomer make the first move this time. Boomer charged, sword high and with enough strength to slice Merran in two. The shiekah quickly threw a handful of dust, that still rested in his hand from after he caught himself. His Plan all along.

The goron cringed back and panicked as he tried to rub the dirt away from his great eyes, falling to the ground as Merran kicked his feet out from under him. Merran then pushed his head into the dirt and removed the hinges of the gorons plate that protected his chest. As Boomer struggled to get up, the armor fell to the ground, now almost useless.

Finally he managed to rub his eyes clean but Merran had disappeared from view. Things weren't looking good for Boomer, but this wasn't over and the goron still had a few tricks up his sleeve!

Dust clouds swirled around the battlefield as Boomer looked for Merran. Throwing dirt as a low move, and Boomer had lost his armor for it, but that just made him excited. This wasn't going to be easy, so Boomer rolled up and started off. He could easily flush out Merran as he rolled, and soonn found the Shiekah behind a rock. Boomer smashed right through, leaving his opponent with little cover.

Merran dodged left and right as Boomer did figure eights as he attacked. Suddenly, Boomer leaped high to come down to the ground,causing Meran to stumble from the shockwave. Boomer grabbed him and flung him against the wall, then pinned him. The force soon caused the wall to crack, and Merran ran out of breath.He managed to slash Boomer away, but he rolled up, and tried to grind Merran down. All he had to keep Boomer at bay was his sword, and soon it might break in two.

Merran was running out of ideas and his strength had almost completely been deplenished. If there was any way that Merran was going to win now, it would not be easily won. He would need to come up with one last plan to match this goron's ability or else it would be all over for him.

Merran began to quickly jump from from one rock to another as they goron smashed through the same path in a rolling frenzy.

"Using my sword now would be a foolish mistake" thought Merran to himself "If I could just use all that speed and power against him then the fight would surely be mine! There has to be something I can use to still win!"

He was running out of boulders to defend himself with and if he was going to do anything, it had best be quick or he wouldn't have the energy to proceed with it.

"My cloak? He would simply tear it apart...my wakizashi? No, it's too small to be of any use. There must be something I can do! Something to defend myself with!...wait...that's it! Defend!" Merran spawned his final plan, there was no way he could fight against the goron and win, so his only chance at victory would be through defending himself.

Merran quickly spun around and sped at lightning speed towards Boomer. As he closed in, Merran quickly jumped far over the goron's head and used all of his remaining strength to run back to the dirt patch. The goron's ball form was not so agile and had to make a round turn to follow after the nimble fighter. He was in plain sight of Boomer and from the looks of it, Merran's legs wouldn't have the energy to dodge him any longer. This fight was in Boomer's hands now...surely! The goron closed in on the weak shiekah, collision was inevitable and this looked like the end.

The seconds ticked by, it was a question of timing now. Merran knew exactly what to do and prayed he had the energy to do it. The goron was merely feet away and speeding forwards. Merran quickly lifted the large front plate of the goron's armor from it's resting place at his feet. He ducked under the armor and let it rise at an angle, ready to hold it up with what little might was still in him. The goron pounded into the armor and flew up it like a ramp. It had worked! Merran lay collapsed in a heap on the ground, the armor almost cracked lay ontop him.

The crowd watched in awe as the great flying ball of rock hurtled upwards and began flying over the fence of the battle arena. It was a matter of fate from here; the goron would need to make it over the fence and land on the other side to be disqualified for leaving the boundary of the fighting area. Merran silently prayed on the ground, his muscles had finally given out on him and he could no longer move.

"Impa, please let this work..."

"I can't believe he used my armor against me!" Boomer said to himself as he found himself hurdling over the edge of the arena. He uncurled to add to the air resistance, but all that acomplished was him doing a belly flop on the other side. The roar of the crowd signaled the end of the fight. "I'm going to have to congradulate him, but I think I'll take a little nap first." He curled into a resting position and dozed off.

The crowd ran into the arena to pick Merran up, and carry him to a rest area for his victory party. The next round began as he chugged ale and recuperted from the fight. Half an hour later, Boomer walked in and ordered a Chateau Romani as he sat with Merran. They laughed together as everyone asked what the fight was like, and the disturbance earlier was soon forgotten by the ne friends. "They tell me there's a round of fighting for the losers, so they have a second chance at the prize. I may win this tournament yet." Boomer said.

OoC: Ok. Let's let Shimsil post now that Boomer and Merran are free to help Illdian with whatever Shimsil has planned..

Illdian stared the man straight in the face. Ardion's face glowered menacingly for a moment, then broke into a wide smile.

"Come young warrior, shouldn't you save your strength for the tourney? staining your blade so early is bad luck!" he boomed, chuckling softly. He reached over and patted Illdian's shoulder, big hand dropping heavily.

"The tournament? Of course!" Illdian replied, covering suprise with false warmth.
The Warkhan was powerfully built, muscular and showed the trappings of newly found wealth. Several thick chains and rings adorned him, while a lavish leather coat covered a slight potbelly. "I am indeed sorry for your soldier here, his actions forced my hand."

"Oh thats no problem, he was merely a...disgruntled participant. In fact I just wished him dead myself moments before you graced us."

In his thoughts Illdian was reeling. A participant? So enraged by Ardion as to chop the first person he saw? What could have gone down in there? The idea then struck him that He could have just killed a possible ally. His gut lurched sourly and he swallowed twice, fighting nausea. Ardion, sensing tension between himself and the long-eared figure in the doorway, quickly ordered his guards to take the body away. He smiled one last time to Illdian as he went back inside nd was swallowed in darkness.

Hours later Illdian found himself at the edge of a massive gathering where a celebration was under way. Banners circled a huge stone platform, seemingly rising out of the grass in a flat, cylindrical mass. All manner of people were seated, standing or walking around. Nearly all were drinking and some did little tipsy dances on the many women scattered about.

The subject of the merriment was a Sheikah warrior, wrapped in bandages and a rich fleece coat.

"The winner of the first round." Illdian thought "I have to tell him about Ardion, warn him somehow before he gets too wrapped up in all this."

As he maneuvered through the partygoers, two Valendian Knights broke patrol and headed towards him. With disciplined procedure they drew two heavy crossbows, loaded them and took aim.

All these people were beginning to test Merran's patience. At first the small gratification from winning the first round was a little comforting but with the flocks of people gawking at him constantly, he felt like an item in a museum! The small army of thrill seeker’s and fans seemed to be growing by the second as other people began to migrate around the cylindrical platform upon which he stood.

The shadow warrior proceeded in looking for anything to distract himself from the mob that circulated around him like a hive of insects. His mind began to pound under the weight of the voices and sweaty flesh that pulsated around him.

The award he had received for risking himself and almost sustaining serious injury in the first round was...a fleece coat. It was large, bulky, and thick, causing him to sweat and itch under his many bandages. This didn't help Merran's mood and began to frustrate him even more. He then began searching for some way he could avoid all the people…or at least something that could distract him from them.

He squinted out, but found very little that peeked his interest and nothing that could drown out the harking of all these people. Suddenly, looking out, he noticed a ash-skinned dark elf, not much older than himself, pushing through the crowd towards the platform. Merran looked closer and saw that he had a large katana tied to his back, so he was obviously a fighter and most likely a competitor.

“What could he possibly be doing?” Merran thought to himself as the figure began to close in.

Suddenly, from out of the crowd, two large Valendian knights erupted into the area with 2 large crossbows loaded and ready to fire, aiming for the elf. If they fired, they could kill a civilian and more might die if a battle began here! The young shadow warrior was not about to let the guards commit unnecessary murder, no matter how annoying the people were.

The Shiekah quickly lifted off the heavy fleece coat and drew his wakizashi from where it rested on his belt, and launched it with all his might at one of the guards. The wakizashi pierced past the crossbow, destroyed the string, and piercing right into the neck of the guard. Killing him almost instantly and making the weapon useless. The other guard immediately turned at this, looking into the wild violet eyes of the bandaged killer. His eyes were fierce and a small glimmering shot of red dotted their center, striking the Knight’s heart with a cold fear. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t escape the gaze of this murderer and was almost paralyzed in his place. This was quite strange as Merran didn’t even notice. The people had all ran away from the podium terrified that the man they were just gawking over had killed a knight for seemingly no reason.

The dark elf had seen exactly what was going on however, and moved in, delivering a critical blow to the other knight with the blunt side of his sword. The knight fell cold, his crossbow falling out of his hands and sliding a little ways from his motionless body. The dark elf then approached the now almost empty stadium.
“Hey, thanks for that…” The dark elf began “I am Illdian”

“Ummm, hello my name is Merran” The Shiekah cautiously replied.

Just at that moment, Boomer charged onto the scene with his biggoron sword in hand.

“What in the-“ The great goron started “Illdian! I had hoped I might find you here!”

The puzzled Shiekah simply said, “You two know each other?”

OoC: Sorry, Im not too good at the dialogue thing. Hopefully this will start to speed up now!

"Yes, we have met before." Illdian replied, stepping toward the body of the floored knight. "Boomer and I have crossed paths before, but under more troublesome circumstances."

Illdian checked the knight's person and found a small sheet of paper, scribbled with Valendian script. From what little he could read, Illdian saw a description of himself and of many others, apparently blacklisted. This was important, he was sure of it.

"Merran, I fear Ardion has much greater ambitions than I thought. There are probably a dozen contestants marked here." Illdian said, glancing around at the onlookers. "Come, we must meet elsewhere. I fear too many eyes and ears are upon us."

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Later, atop a rocky hill, the three met. Inside a circle of ruined pillars Boomer, Merran and Illdian sat around a fire that stuggled to stay alight. Boomer poked at it tirelessly with a stick, throwing embers across his stony skin.

"The Warkhan has ultimate power here. I am not suprised." Illdian said, his red eyes luminous in the firelight. "His executions would never be allowed by the judges of Valendia."

"What could be the reason? Why would he bring swordsmen here and start attacking them at random?" Merran asked, "To eliminate our threat?"

"No, I don't think its that simple. Ardion may be a brute but his years as a tactician make him quite cunning." Illdian replied, getting to his feet. "The man I ran into outside Ardion's tent, was wearing a coat much like your own, Merran. And I think you are on this list."

"I'm not that great at anticipating another person's moves, so I don't have a lot to add here." Boomer said. He reached for the paper, and looked at it. "My name isn't on here. I don't know whether to be happy or insulted."

"You used a hammer the last time I saw you." Illdian said.

"I used to be a swordsman." Boomer said.

"Give me back the note."

"Important papers such as these need to be handled by the best member of this group." Boomer said.

"I can tell you guys are good friends." Merran said sarcastically. "Besides, I won the round."

"Focus people. I think it would be best if we find one of Adion's officers and interrogate him." Illdian said. He saw Boomer looking at him strangely. "The guy was going to shoot into the crowd." He said defensively about before.

"I didn't say anything. Just remember that I'm no necromancer. I can't interrogate the dead, should anyone else get shot." Boomer said.

They began to devise a good plan, and waited until dark.

After a plan was decided, they made their way back to the tourney grounds. A wall had been erected to keep wild beasts at bay, and they decided to keep the guards from knowing they were back. Boomer used his earth magic to construct a tunnel to Ardion's camp, then they closed the tunnel. There, in the hole, they began phase two.

Boomer made a small opening, just small enough for Illdian and Merran to squeeze through, and they stalked one of Ardion's soldiers. They found an officer, used stealth strikes to bring him down, and dragged him down the hole. Now they began the interrogation.

OoC: Whoever feels like putting answers into this guy's mouth can post next.