Polyoinos is successful in bruising the warrior woman. She in kind raises her sword and swings again.
Whether it is the roared encouragement, promise of wine or the chiding from Kyronai, the burly skald momentarily shifts his attention from foe to friends...
... and is rewarded with a stinging blow from the warrior woman.
"Ho-ho! A stinging blow indeed fair Daughter of Hippolyta! Come, let us see if my spear can find its own mark eh?!"
He shifts forward bringing the spear to bear with an arcing 2-handed swing.
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Polyoinos is able to score another blow but this does not deter Urza as she keeps swinging.
She is able to score a more than glancing blow that threatens to knock the bard out cold.
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Kyronai hisses in sympathy when Polyoinos gets bruised but continues his encouraging clapping.
Polyoinos reels from the heavy blow, spitting blood through his ever present grin;
"I have heard tale that you Amazons enjoy rough foreplay, but perhaps you think me as robust as the Satyr that sire me?"
He ruefully shakes his garlanded head;
"Alas he do not, but have a care... his loins did imbue me with a wild ire!"
With a booming roar the skald wildly swings attempts to return the favour;
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Polyoinos scores a blow that would down a normal opponent, but not an Amazon. However it seems his words enrage her as she attempts to knock the weapon from his hands.
But she fails to and she grunts in frustration.
Kyronai's mouth twists wryly at the mention of "foreplay," but he continues to clap.
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"Eyes on the prize old man, plenty of time for her to turn you down after the fight!"
Varocles turns to Teledoros, "but if he defeats her, she will likely assent, I believe that is how her culture works."
Polyoinos hears, and seemingly heeds the advice from his companions;
"Ho-Ho! So you would seek to leave me spearless and impotent fair Amazon? That we cannot have..!"
The heavyset skald responds to his opponent's failed manoeuvre with a reactionary swing of his own;
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Pressing home his advantage with a grin, the Bacchanal's spear thrusts powerfully at Urza:
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Polyoinos lands his opportunistic strike but fails to follow up and Urza still stands. Frustrated she decides to fight dirty.
Taking a hand off her greatsword she punches the Bacchanal right in the grapes!
"Oy, now that's not nice!"
The burly skald has barely time to register his amazement that the amazonian warrior still stands before she changes tactics...
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... before he is doubled over with a sickening pain!
He wheezes out an attempt at defiance through gritted teeth and a higher pitch;
"Oooph... Targeting my fr-fruits... Quite the... rough touch... you have there..."
Polyoinos attempts a laboured attack of his own in reply;
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Polyoinos misses with his opportunistic strike and the follow-up as the pain is too much. Urza's mouth curls into a smile as he swings her sword for a knockout blow.
The Amazonian knocks the Bacchanal out cold and raises sword in triumph. Attendants drag Polyoinos out of the arena as the next match is announced and is healed much like Kyronai before him.
"The next set of opponents are set to be Nuxanor the Lion and Amphytrion!" The half-elven warrior is ushered into the arena and given a wooden weapon of his choice. Across the arena from him is a massive man in armor with an equally sized greataxe.
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Amphitryon had just seen two of his fellows go down, and now he was up. The odds seemed to be against him. He walked in, feeling resplendent with his breastplate, greaves, and shield. Like a true warrior! He felt the wood spear given to him, shook his head, and threw it to the ground. Now Unarmed he strode up to the (likely) confused opponent...and stabbed at him with a wooden totem spear that had suddenly manifested in his hands.
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Kyronai walks with his brother to the gate and offers Polyoinos a shoulder to lean on as they walk back to the stands. He claps enthusiastically for his brother.
Amphytrion lands a vicious blow but Nuxanor barely flinches. "I am Nuxanor the Lion. Did you think you were going to win this? Now who decided that?" He hefts his massive axe and swings at the half-elf.
However he hits only ground.
Teledoros joins Kyronai in fetching Polyoinos to make sure the priests caring for him meet or exceed minimum competency levels. Once he wakes up, Teledoros offers him a wineskin. "Something to pep you up in your misery. Next time!"
A groggy Polyoinos smiles wearily as he gratefully accepts the wineskin;
"Hah! I'd wager she makes love as she does war... Mashing of grapes and with a heavy touch!"
The skald chuckles wryly as he imbibes;
"Much better... Now let us watch our friend restore our collective honour!"
”Maybe?” He respondent, side stepping the axe. He knew that his foe was ready foe him to stab, so he slashed. It was a benefit of a totem spear that he was ready to use to his advantage.
Amphytrion lands another heavy strike. Nuxanor still stands and swings the heavy axe again.
He lands another hit on the ground.
Avoiding another hit, Amphitryon quipped ”If I win...”
His spear lashed out, aiming to hit the man between the eyes.
”...do I get to call myself The Lion?”
Amphytrion lands a momentous third blow and downs Nuxanor. The attendants drag the large man out of the arena as the last fight is announced. "And finally for the final first round match of the day will be Teledoros vs Cenacus!" Both combatants are ushered into the arena and standing across from Teledoro is a fair skinned man wearing no armor and wielding no weapons.
The man known as Cenacus takes a defensive stance, puts his fists up and motions for Teledoros to bring it.
Amphitryon saluted the downed man and raised his spear to the crowd before walking off.
Once back to his companions he took off his helmet and grinned. ”And now I am Amphitryon The Lion! It turns out the secret to winning is *not* to get hit in the face. You all owe me a drink later.”
And being done with being insufferable, he went on to cheer for Teledoros.
Polyoinos barely downs the several gulps of his clutched wineskin before the roar goes up as the Lion goes down!
Booming a laugh, the Bacchanal stands up (rather unsteadily) and salutes the clinical Amphytrion;
"To the Lion of Thesmophoria!"
As Teledoros readies himself to enter the fray, his fellow troubadour nods to him with a hard smile;
"Now is your time Son of Apollo. Hands up and ware your fruits my brother!"
Varocles watches the debacle that is the combats his former drinking partners are involved in, until finally one of them succeeds at downing an opponent. "Lucky for him, he didn't drink any really spirits last night," observes Varocles to no one in particular.
Teledoros nods and lets two arrows fly at Cenacus.
Teledoros hits with both his arrows. Cenacus moves forward and launches a hard right punch at the archer.
The archer is hit so hard he is momentarily stunned. Cenacus takes this opportunity to unleash a flurry on him.
However fists only find armor.
Teledoros takes a step back and let's loose another flurry of arrows.
Teledoros is able to score a hit and Cenacus follows suit as he tries to lock up Teledoros.
Teledoros finds himself in a headlock.
Teledoros struggles against the grapple to little effect.
Amphitryon stopped cheering as he saw the archer get stuck in a grapple. Sitting down he muttered ”Guy’s lucky those are blunt arrows. See how he’d grapple while bleeding out.”
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”Know your limits me mother always said. Know your limits!” Varocles elbowed the startled stranger next to him in the ribs. ”You don’t see me out here getting the smurf beat out of me, do you? Nope! Cuz I know my limits.”
"You can only find your limits when you test them," Kyronai says softly as he watches to see what Teledoros will do.
”Elves with sort of attitude don’t live near as long as dwarves without it.”
”And yet the ones who do live become all the stronger for it.”
”I’m guessing this is your human side speaking out here. They live such short lives anyways.”
Teledoros struggles but cannot break free. Cenacus wrenches the hold.
And he fails as the archer slips free anyhow.
”That’s the best part of who we are. We’re only elves when it’s bad and humans when it’s worse. I...ha! Look! He slipped out. Go on! Shoot him!”
Polyoinos watches the match with jovial interest whilst keeping one ear on the racial debate around him.
He chimes in with his own thoughts between the action and gulps of wine;
"Knowing our limits?! Ho-ho... I must disagree my seaborne friend. There is a philosophy known as Apeiron... that which is unlimited or boundless. Embrace it! No quest too heroic! No cup too full! No odds to great!"
When Amphitryon puts up the shout, the Bacchanal joins the chorus;
"Well done Son of Apollo! Stick him like a pincushion!"
Teledoros grins as Cenacus loses his leverage and knocks another arrow as he takes a step away. "Apollo, guide my bow!"
After slipping away Teledoros lets out a pair of arrows, the 2nd of which downs his opponent. "And that's it folks! The semi-finals are tommorrow! See you all then!" The party hears as Cenacus is dragged out.
"Ahhh, so Teledoros managed to advance at least. At least one of you longuns proved your worth on the field today."
Teledoros bows to the crowd and promises, "Tomorrow, I shall sing for you!"
He exits the fighting grounds and goes to offer a hand to Amphitryon. "Well done today. Although we may fight tomorrow, today let's drink as friends."
Over the course of the afternoon, he'd like to try to ask around to figure out if any of the other fighters prepare for fights beforehand
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”Indeed we may. Try not to shoot me in the throat, will you? And in return I won’t hug you like Mr. Touchy back there.” He responded with a smile.
Teledoros asks around and finds out that spells need to be cast during the bout and not before.
The evening passes into night and the day ends uneventfully. The morning starts with the first semifinal match. Well, if you could call it that as Urza makes quick work of Lobo with 2 quick swings of her sword. The most notable thing about this match is Urza seems to have upgraded her armor and her more serious attitude compared to her match against Polyoinos.
"And now we have another Semi-final match. It is Amphitryon the Shadow Warrior versus Deadeye Teledoros!"
Amphitryon launched himself forward. He knew that the only way he was going to win this was by closing ground. ”Remember!” He yelled as he stabbed with his wooden spear. ”Loser buys drinks!”
Polyoinos cheers for his amazonian conqueror;
"Ho-Ho! See! See how her victory o'er me has stirred the Daughter of Hippolyte to greater prowess!"
When the next bout pits two of his companions the skald fervently toasts each of them, then toasts again;
"Drinks for the winner! Drinks for the loser! May the gods guide you both my friends... Just remember save something of yourselves for the virago that awaits!"
Polyoinos cheers for his amazonian conqueror;
"Ho-Ho! See! See how her victory o'er me has stirred the Daughter of Hippolyte to greater prowess!"
Despite himself, Kyronai laughs at Polyoinos' remark.
When Teledoros and his brother enter the arena, Kyronai claps halfheartedly, but he's too focused on watching the specifics of the contest to remember encouragement.