We Who Are About To Die... (Inactive)

Game Master Doomed Hero

"Indeed. They certainly made an impressive impact."

Joboo didnt care for the slushy mess that was freezing his long toes at all and he made a mad dash for the unmanned sled ahead of him.

Landing heavily with a thump the wound in Lorth's chest throbbed and ached with every passing stride. Stiff upper lip lad, just focus on the cup of brown joy awaiting you after the race. Thoughts of glorious tea sustained the halfling as he began to once more smile, tarred mustache pushed back unto his cheeks as he gripped tight to his steed. He barely thought of his newly won orken cargo... slipping and sliding around behind him...

Severus, help me take the reigns. Stay alert for that infernal goblin trying to board us again.

The heavily-armored soldier moved with surprising gentleness, switching places with Melashara. Then the witch gripped the reigns tightly. The camel was more docile and better trained than the ferocious monkeysheep, and she steered the sled as best she could, staying to the inside so as not to lose any more ground.

Gwrrr'rrr landed hard, but tried to turn it into more of a bounce than a crash, getting his momentum going up again so that he could try to get to his feet. He held on to the rope with all of his might as he struggled to find his balance.

Ryjuin finished his first lap. He had no idea how he would finish the race without a partner but at this point he had no choice but to keep his sled moving.

Anger welling in him from his continued failure to be able to adjust to the slick terrain, Zar'zan would continue his defensive posture as he pushed himself up to his feet.

With no other sleighs, mounts or opponents in sight, Lorn relaxes a bit and steers their sleigh to the inner side of the track. Their sleigh is speeding across the snow again, pulled by a monkeysheep breathing heavily with either anger or effort or maybe both. The cold wind blows into Lorn's face and he notices his clothes aren't fit for this kind of cold. Through openings in his leather apron it feels like he's being stabbed with tiny ice cold needles.

"Damn this cold!" Lorn thought as he shivered from the cold."Sitting still doesn't help either, I need to get warm or I won't be able to steer this thing at all."

Lorn stands up in their sleigh and dramaticly waves his arms as to make it appear that he's spurring his mount with the reigns while at the same time actually get warm by moving.

"Unfortunately he's the only one in his sled. The match goes to the first two members of a team to cross the line. The orc and the halfling are actually in a much stronger position under the rules of the match."

Is this post saying that Gwrrr and Lorth have successfully completed a lap because they are the first team of two to cross the line? Gwrr went backwards and THEN crossed the line, so he has completed zero laps. If you're saying all you have to do is literally cross the line 4 times, then at the start of the race you could take a step back, then cross the line, then take a step, then cross the line, etc and win without completing any laps. Gwrr and Lorth are actually in last place, IMO. Sorry if this comes off as mean/rude, but I'm trying to just get to the point since I'm on my phone.

Up in the Tower of Mages, Vedic shook his head with a wry smile. "Looks to me like you didn't plan this bout all the way through. They're getting spread out. They can't even see each other. The crowd isn't going to put up with this much longer."

"Yeah, I figured that would happen sooner or later." the Headmaster nodded as he watched the projection. "The automations are supposed to kick in on lap three to spice things up. Looks like they need to happen a little early..."

As Ryujin finished crossing the starting line the wind picked up, howling and roaring, clearing the last of the falling snow. Suddenly the racers could see clearly.

Small beacons began alighting all across the track, similar to the images that activated the canons and armed them with icy balloons. All of a sudden they were everywhere.

For the first time the combatants could see the crowd, and for a moment they forgot everything else. There were thousands of them. The arena was a half-dome and seating went all the way up, defying gravity and allowing the audience to sit nearly directly above the arena.

Zib was yanked out of his reverie as the remnants of the sled dragged over the small floating snowflake icon. Something happened inside the wreckage of the cannon causing it to jerk with a large explosive pop and spray frozen liquid in a high arc and leaving patches of ice across the track behind him.

Joboo was having no luck with staying aboard a sled. His short legs weren't quite able to get him where he wanted to be, and now he was being dragged, again.

Melashara drove over an icon just as it sprang into being. The cannon on the back of the sled made a ratcheting sound, and the small raised illusion displayed a different symbol than the last time they had used it. This one looked like a plus sign.

Gwrrr'rr got the crowd to it's feet just as he did. Leaning back on his heels and grinning against the shredding impacts against his heels, he took a moment to wave to the newly-visible crowd.

A thunking noise alerted Ryujin to the fact that his cannon had armed again. Glancing behind him he saw the halfling's jumping mount dragging the massive orc behind him, and somehow the orc was standing.

"Didn't expect that! The snow cleared, and all of a sudden there's an abundance of ammo!"

"I think things are about to get more interesting."

Lorth focused upon the sled at his side urging Magnus to match it's pace as they streaked through the suddenly clearing stadium. Moving beside the monk's sled Magnus jumped up, attempting to sail across the side of the sled and land atop it...

Ryujin kept his sled moving realizing that soon Lorth and Gwrrrr would be upon him. After he rounded the corner the wind hit him once again. Ryujin shivered in the cold knowing the end of the race may soon come for him.

Gwrrr'rrr shivered as he suffered more and more in the cold conditions. The cheering crowd around him made him braver, and he really wanted to get himself up out of the snow. The sled right next to him presented an obvious solution. When the sled came within his reach, the Orc attempted to grab the side, let go of the Kangaroo's reins, and tried to clamber on board.

As the drow wracked his memory on the symbol, and wide smile came to him as the memory of it's meaning dawned on him. "Frigid one! I have an understanding that this cannon shot might stitch you back together! Hold still! The drow ignored the chill that crept further into him as he wheeled the arm of the gun around the floating fighter towards the witch at the front of the sled and clicked the trigger, grinning.

Lorn feels relieved as visibility returns, followed by excitement as he sees the only ones in front of them will probably be occupied with eachother. Unfortunately the ice cold wind is still there and to Lorn it seems a bit more fierce than before. Lorn notices there's two icons in their way, he squeezes his eyes a bit to examine them.

Joboo's whole body was going numb from the cold. He'd grown up in muggy swamps and this icy mess was a nightmare. He'd barely gotten ahold of the sled and was now being drug along behind it.

...mesa gotta get up or have no tummy skins left...

"Ah, yes! I can see! Ha ha. HA HA HA! Let's continue the magic!"

Excitedly, Karlov whipped the cannon around and aimed at the camel behind them.

Zip leaned to the side narrowly missing the freezing shot that went past him. The cold is not going to get me yet he thought. With paying to much attention to where the beast he was riding, Zib once again tried to undo the wreck they were pulling.

Note: If you are going to have Severus dive out and fight Sir Loric, I will not go through Loric's square to trample him, I'll just go alongside him (but still end up in the same ending square).

As the cannon beam hit Melashara, she felt a warmth surge through her. She closed her eyes and remembered herself as a young girl, sitting around the fire, listening intently to the stories of the men returned from a hunt. It had been some time since she had welcomed a warmth within her limbs.

The witch opened her eyes and looked at her frozen wound. It started to steam as the ice melted. It itched badly and she scratched away the coagulated, frozen blood. She could feel the slash stitching together, mending itself. She turned to the Drow and smiled genuinely.

Thanks, friend! The wound is healing, I can feel it. Hang on, I'm about to get us back into this race!

The camel was far more compliant than the monkeysheep, and Melashara spurred him on, steering him toward the ramp and near Sir Loric.

Going out of town for St. Pat's. The update will come sunday or monday.

Sorry for the delay. I just have a few more question. Do either of the monkey sheep look injured yet? One more than the other? One close to falling?

I am almost wondering if you would allow me to hold my action to move in and attack after they hit each other again.

The pair of monkey sheep battling for supremacy next to Zar'zan clashed again, this time the larger of the two crashing it's horns against it's foe with such force that the smaller one lost it's footing. Two heavy limbs crashed down on the prone body, causing the smaller beast to scramble and run.

Lorth knew something was wrong as soon as Magnus leapt. Had he slipped, hit something? Perhaps it was the weight of the orc? He did not have enough time to assess things further before the stalwart kangaroo came down on the cannon at the back of Ryujin's sled. The gangly animal pitched forward, it's short front legs flailing for balance. Lorth flew forward, propelled down directly in front of Ryujin's feet.

Gwrrr'rr managed to latch onto the back of the sled and began to climb forward when a heavy furry tail slapped him in the face, surprising him. Suddenly the cannon went off, blasting a red balloon from it's barrel in a puff of snow. The wall next to them erupted in flame.

The drow aimed his cannon at his teammate, taking a risk and firing. Almost immediately another ammo icon lit up on the cannon, this one another snowflake. Melashara winced as the heavy balloon hit her, but immediately smiled as a warm numbness passed over her. She could feel the pain beginning to vanish.

Joboo fought to climb the wrecked sled, eventually finding a way to sit and grab at the reins but he simply could not reach them. Suddenly he saw a flicker on the track ahead of him and tried to hold on tight. The ice whipped the wreck sideways, nearly causing it to roll.

Sir Loric stepped to the side and threw his helmet as hard as he could, hitting Severus upside the head. The stern warrior pitched out of the sled and into the snow, sputtering in anger.

At the same time the Camel he had been steering took a heavy balloon full of freezing liquid straight to the face. It bellowed and thrashed, nearly losing it's balance and caused the sled it towed to jerk erratically.

The crowd oohed and aahed, clearly thrilled at the change in the race.

As Lorth flopped onto his sled, Ryujin's reflexes took over and he kicked out before the halfling could rise up.

Lorth has no chance to avoid the stomp as it descends upon his head... breaking the line of his well manicured mustache. He drifts into sweet black oblivion...

Magnus' eyes narrow at the monk that brutalized his master, but the kangaroo focuses solely upon protecting the crumpled form of his friend.

Steering the sleight dangerously close to the inner side of the track, Lorn takes a moment to pry at the chains at his feet."If I end up crashing this ride, I might have a hard time doing anything with these around my ankles."

When Lorn starts to follow the bending track he sees a large patch of ice. Not willing to risk loosing control again he steers the sleigh slightly outwards, in the trail of Ryujin's sleigh that seems a bit crowded at the moment.

"Muscle Wizard, it looks like there's bound to fall someone of that sleigh. Maybe you should make sure they don't get up again if they do" Lorn says with an evil grin.

The little gobbo finally got ahold of the reigns on his sled and began whipping and tugging on them like he'd seen others do. When he saw the ramp he couldnt help but giggle and try to steer right for it.

Hehehe...hohoho...mesa gonna fly...and put on a show...

Gwrrr'rrr growled at Ryujin, "Now you mine!" before the spray from the sled chilled him to the bone. He scrambled to climb up on the sled, clearly intending to smash into the monk, but was having problems getting a grip with his cold, wet fingers.

With an effort, Zar'zan would attempt to move up to the remaining beast.

Then, with an effort, he would lash out not just once, but twice with his greatsword.

Ryujin expected the orc to come at him but a quick look back showed he was still struggling to pull himself up. Ryujin aimed for the bridge hoping the jump or the landing would jar him and everything else attached to the sled loose.

Now becoming frustrated that he just cannot dislodge the wreckage and that the cold now started to seep in, the little mutated gnome had enough. He called on the burning madness inside and raised his hand above his head, he cried out to the crowd "Let there be FIRE!!!!!" as a a orb of fire suddenly burst to life within the palm of his hand. Pausing to appreciate the dancing flame in his hand and to feel its warmth, the gnome brought the fire down to the rope connecting the wrecked sled

Karlov held on and yelled out to the crowd.

"Who wants to see more magic?"

The witch felt the strange warm sensation knitting her wounds back together and it gave her a renewed sense of confidence that they could still win this race.

This creature is a lot more compliant than those dumb beasts she says, gesturing towards the monkeysheep, but I'm not sure how well he can fight the cold. We might need to give him one of those warm shots, lest he succumb to the wind. Oh, and you might want to hang on!

With that, she snapped the reigns and steered toward the center of the track, trying to gain ground on the other teams.

Lorn finally freed his ankles from the chains that had been binding them for the entire race. Freedom felt nice. Muscle wizard rallied the crowd as he sighted in on the overcrowded sled before them.

The crowd hissed in sympathetic pain as Ryujin's foot crashed against Lorth's moustachioed face. The halfling rolled off the side of the sled with the impact and collapsed into the snow. Magnus quickly followed, standing over the small prone form as Ryujin's sled pulled away dragging a struggling orc behind it.

Ryujin kept his eyes ahead after Lorth had been dealt with, and saw his team mate ahead of him locked in mortal combat with one of the savage beasts. His sword swung down in an arc and nearly took the creature's arm off. It howled and lashed out in retaliation. Zar'zan took a massive backhand to the chest and was flung back against the wall. The beast began to move forward, but never quite seemed to get it's feet under it and collapsed in a heap in front of the dazed dwarf.

Zib summoned flames and the sled fell away like it was afraid. Suddenly freed of the wreckage his monkeysheep surged forward unhindered.

Launched in the air from the ramp, Ryujin braced himself for impact, hoping to jar lose the orc hanging on the back. After the landing he tried to keep the sled moving around the track.

Ahhh finally, those cursed chains made me look bad and were too much of a risk. I'm lucky they didn't interfere with anything so far.

After having removed the chains from his ankles, Lorn quickly draws his dagger as he sees several people on the tracks and a sleigh in front of them.

Never know if I have to shave someone Lorn-style he thought. He then resumed holding the reigns of the monkeysheep with both hands as he steered the sleigh straight towards a ramp.

"Hey Muscle-Wizard, you better use those muscles to hold on real well because this sleigh is going to do some magical flying of itself" Lorn shouted to Karlov, while hoping he wouldn't drop of the sleigh himself.

The daring gobbo was thrilled to have survived jumping the ramp and for the first time noticed the crowd. He dared a wave and a toothy grin as he took the time to steer his sled proper. The cold had left his fingers and toes numb and he was shivering something fierce.

Gwrrr was glad the sled was moving fast enough to keep him mostly up in the air, out of the snow. He held on with all of his might, not even noticing when the sled hit the ramp, until he suddenly realized he was weightless. The Orc attempted to pull himself up onto the rear of the sled.

Karlov nodded to Lorn as he braced himself, slightly shivering.

"You finally decide to listen and go fast?"

Chess! CHESS! Over the sounds of the crowd the witch yelled at her partner, trying to snap him out of his trance. He didn't respond, his thoughts turned toward his distance home.

Men... she sighed to herself. Man or elf, they're all alike.

She snapped the reigns again, trying to gain ground on her competitors.

His opponent vanquished, Zar'zan looked at his surroundings to see the approach of his teammate. With an effort, he would try to move towards the center of the lane so that he might be able to get on board.

And with a bit of finesse, he would slowly slide his way towards the center of the field while splitting his attention between the approaching sled and the fleeing monkey beast.

Darian nodded in thought, finally turning away from the display. "I've seen enough. Those ones, there. Those are the new students."

Vedic looked incredulous. "Really? I can see a couple of them working out, but the midget with the mustache and the overgrown flea? You sure?"

"I like him. He might not be as versatile as what we usually look for, but I bet he's got style." Darian shrugged.

"Besides," the Oracle said, "It's not really up to us. All we can do is make the offer. He may say no. His calling may truly be in the arena."

"Let's go." Darian said picking up his coat.

Down in the arena, the crowd was on it's feet cheering on Lorn and Karlov, the only team of two to successfully make it across the finish line. They were half dead, mostly frozen, and grinning like idiots.

The other gladiators had been healed to consciousness by a warm glow that had encompassed the arena floor. One by one they had stood up as the psionically created arena structure had melted away leaving only flat, wet, open ground. The weary warriors had taken their bows like actors at the end of a play.

As they trudged out of the arena and into the training halls below, Big Blue led them into the baths, nodding in satisfaction.

"Damn good job, all of you." the big blue ogre said as the fighters slowly lowered themselves into the hot baths. "I'd imagine that's gonna be it for some of you. No shame. You made it further than most. For those of you that want to stay, you've earned your name on the wall in the main training hall, a rack for your personals, and your own room. Oh, and the headmaster wants to meet with a few of you. That's a damn big deal, so don't blow it."

"That's not all they've earned!" Bandy said, his animated voice swelling with excitement. "The results are in. That was the highest ranked debut match in 17 years!"

Floating around the room, panning his glowing crystals across the scene in the baths, focusing on the wounded and muscled bodies of the gladiators to titillate his audience.

Clicking a nob on his control rod, one of the orbs lost it's glow. "Don't worry, the crystals will automatically add illusionist steam to protect your modesty. If they want to see the goods they'll have to pay extra."

Clicking the rod again and bringing the glow back to his second crystal, Bandy floated near the water and asked the nearest warrior,

"So how do you feel?"