[Nexus] Harnel's Plots

[Halae]

[Arcadia]

"Yep. Their names are Cora and Bastion. They still have 'scales and stuff' but they seem to take after my wife more than me, for which I'm rather glad. As you have endlessly pointed out, I'm not the most handsome individual." Harnel's view of himself has gotten more realistic, but he still doesn't see himself as the handsome man Cessie seems to think of him as.

As for how he gets down? mostly, he's jumping down, using his wings for control to make sure he doesn't fall to fast or land somewhere that'll hurt him. all in all it should be a quick process that leaves him only a little tired.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arcadia]

"Well, she got to be pretty darn weird already with all the big-boob illusions and stuff." The dryad replies with a shake of her head.
Then it's time to head down the cliff which apparently will result in a free fall with the dryad climbing up on his back before he starts to leap down the mountain. "Wee!" She exclaims before they let the cold winds guide them down the mountain in what normally would result in two very dead people.

But down they get and without even having been given the exact location, they are now in a marsh or perhaps a swamp which by the logic of this world seem to go by, must be the marsh of mourning.

It's as dark as it's name suggests with the trees actually having horrific shapes with holes resembling twisted eyes and mouths with their long branches sticking out like grasping arms. Ambience is added by the fact it's suddenly pitch black out, the sun having gone into hiding in favor of a rather ominous-looking moon with eyes and a mouth resting above the swamp surrounded by dark clouds that even they look like hideous creatures just waiting to devour the two.

[Reinholdt]

[Harnel's Tournament - Judge's Balcony]

Don't glare at Ilpholin Rogar. It wasn't her idea to bring that up. In fact, she personally would have preferred not to have been introduced at all, uncertain if it was superfluous or not.

Still, Ilpholin can only hope Jane was at least doing her job or did it already. Cause Rogar was right there so it might very well be an incredibly easy job to do.

Ilpholin mulls things over. Unlike the other two, she doesn't particularly have an aversion to children fighting. She enjoyed fighting as a kid. Helped her get frustration out. Still, it seems others do have a problem with it.

"Might I suggest that you pull her from the tournament and personally hold your own private bout with her instead to determine if she should be in the school? Even if she's capable and wants to, publicly displaying a child on camera in a fighting contest not designed for children would probably prove a public relations disaster for the school. Could shut it down before it gets off the ground."

[The Bushranger]

[Harnel's Tournament]

"Swordsman," Lucy corrects Jacob with a smirk, tossing back her Rogue-like shock of white hair out of her eyes. "Try -personing me again and I'll make you eat your sword, the hilt's the hardest part to swallow," she declares good-naturedly, drawing both katanas and circling as well.

It's time for a game of Sword-Chicken!

[BladeofObliviom]

[Harnel's Tournament]

Sword-chicken! Yay!

"If you so prefer, Swordsman."

It can't exactly be seen beneath his helm, but Jacob smiles. It's always good to know that your opponent has good humor. Less accidental rage and injurious damage that way.

In any case, he continues sizing her up. She dual-wields, so she either watched too many old films while learning to fight or relies on outmaneuvering defenses rather than crushing through them. Similarly, her offense is likely to be dangerous, but parrying a strong blow one-handed is difficult, something he'll be sure to use to his advantage. A purely defensive strategy would be a poor plan, as she could outpace him in sheer volume of attacks. Unless...

He closes in just slightly, his armor shifting somewhat as a shield seems to simply grow from his left forearm...

[Lady Serpentine]

[Tournament Waiting Room]

Naera, who I'm too lazy to write a description for right now, having presumably presented all of her information to the people at the gate, enters the waiting room, and looks around curiously, sizing up the other contestants, though after a moment, when she spots the tiefling girl, she halts her examination, quietly walking over to her, though she'll stay quiet for now, so as not to interrupt her watching of the fight.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Waiting Room

The tiefling's pointed ears swivel slightly as Naera enters. She turns and glances quickly, blinks, and turns back to the magic picture box.

[The Bushranger]

[Harnel's Tournament]

Lucy frowns as the shield appears, and suddenly, in a blur of motion, leaps into the air as she lunges forwards. Backflipping gracefully over her opponent, twin blades flicking out torwards his shoulders.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Waiting Room]

Naera smiles faintly at her, doing her best to look friendly, and non-threatening, but uncomfortable showing even that much emotion around those she doesn't know.

"It's not often I see your kind. Or one so young in a tournament. So what brings you here, doubly rare as you are?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Waiting Room

She turns around cautiously.

Me? Oh, uh, my parents let me come because they want me to go to school. How 'bout you?

[ThePhantom]

Waiting Room

Rogar leans back on the brench, and takes out one of the staffs from the box on his back. He twists it and some flower pop out of the top end.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Harnel's Tournament]

As she lunges, Jacob smiles slightly under his helmet; she took the bait.

After all, the two-weapon style does not confer significant strength to individual attacks, and requires incredible agility and proprioception to actually perform. Thus, practitioners generally rely on their speed to hit opponents where they are weak rather than attacking directly at their hardpoints. All he had to do was make a defense to subvert, drawing his opponent right into his trap.

As she approaches the apex of her backflip, Lucy might find an unexpected obstacle in her way: an outstretched, very sharp blade that might well impale her if she does not see it coming and perform some crazy physically improbable midair dodge.

However, if she does not abort the attack, the blades reach their mark, managing to strike deeply enough through the armor to deal a flesh wound. Jacob cringes slightly, though the armor repairs itself after the blades exit.

[Lady Serpentine]

Waiting Room

She turns around cautiously.

Me? Oh, uh, my parents let me come because they want me to go to school. How 'bout you?

"I came because I need to keep in practice, and because I wish to learn more about this school. Perhaps even train here, depending on if I feel it has anything new to teach me, or at least that the people here are good enough to keep me in practice.

And why is it that your demon parent, at least, does not have access to schools easier to reach for them than this one? Those I have worked with have been members of very good ones indeed, and my kind would certainly have taken you in had you been sent to us."

[Dark Elf Bard]

Erm, it's 'cause I don't live with my demon parent. I'm in a foster home. In the elf-y place.

[Lady Serpentine]

"I see. Why? And are they good ones?", Naera inquires, looking over the girl to try to gauge her reaction to the words, whatever she says.

[Zefir]

[Tournament Waiting Room]

Eon watches the fight and also keeps an ear on the discussion the room. He shakes his head as one of the screens show Harnel.

"Why should natrual born fighters need to visit a school?"

He feels a bit lost since it appears he is the only 'normal' person, no magic armor, no demon parents, nothing at all.

[Earl of Purple]

Tournament Waiting Room

Azurelle is here, and she seems to be a mundane fighter; her weapon's magic, but she wasn't confident about the rules and chose the least powerful spear in her collection. Likewise, her armour is also unenchanted, and she won't use magic in a tournament fight. Admittedly, she's an Aasimar, but that grants few magical abilities of use in a fight.

[ThePhantom]

[Tournament Waiting Room]

Eon watches the fight and also keeps an ear on the discussion the room. He shakes his head as one of the screens show Harnel.

"Why should natural born fighters need to visit a school?"

He feels a bit lost since it appears he is the only 'normal' person, no magic armor, no demon parents, nothing at all.

Hey, Rogar's pretty normal, okay, he's a ninja and some of the staffs are almost certainly magic, but he's a pure human.

"Being a natural will only take you to good. Practice, which this school offers, is what is required to be a master."

[The Bushranger]

[Harnel's Tournament]

As she lunges, Jacob smiles slightly under his helmet; she took the bait.

After all, the two-weapon style does not confer significant strength to individual attacks, and requires incredible agility and proprioception to actually perform. Thus, practitioners generally rely on their speed to hit opponents where they are weak rather than attacking directly at their hardpoints. All he had to do was make a defense to subvert, drawing his opponent right into his trap.

As she approaches the apex of her backflip, Lucy might find an unexpected obstacle in her way: an outstretched, very sharp blade that might well impale her if she does not see it coming and perform some crazy physically improbable midair dodge.

However, if she does not abort the attack, the blades reach their mark, managing to strike deeply enough through the armor to deal a flesh wound. Jacob cringes slightly, though the armor repairs itself after the blades exit.

Lucy...doesn't abort the attack. At all. Clearly she's crazy enough to take the stab of Jacob's blade even as hers slice into his armor. She bites her lip as the sharp blade digs into her, her leather giving little protection against its edge, but clearly willing to sacrifice her body for victory as she attempts to complete the backflip off of the blade and land behind him.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Harnel's Tournament]

Ouch. Jacob admittedly was not expecting her to be so relentlessly aggressive, and takes a rather nasty-looking wound to his right shoulder, though his left seems to have taken minimal damage. If she can see the wounds, she'll understand why: His left arm is made of the same silvery metal as his armor, and is actually prosthetic.

On the bright side for Lucy, her attempt to extricate herself from the blade will likely be aided by an enormously strong punch to the sternum with the mass of the shield concentrated onto the end of the prosthetic fist. While this probably isn't good for her ribs, or anything else for that matter, it definitely helps with that upward acceleration!

On the less bright side, the section of the sword that has already entered her body appears to have become covered in downward-facing barbs since the last post. Which is probably not pleasant, considering the aforementioned upward acceleration and the natural result of tearing dozens of barbs out through one's torso.

However, assuming that she manages to retain her composure and keeps upon this path, it takes Jacob nearly a full second to properly realign himself to fight an opponent who is behind him. This leaves an opening, if she has the strength and constitution to take it.

[Zefir]

Hey, Rogar's pretty normal, okay, he's a ninja and some of the staffs are almost certainly magic, but he's a pure human.

"Being a natural will only take you to good. Practice, which this school offers, is what is required to be a master."

[Tournament Waiting Room]

"HA." Eon answers Rogar. Then he points at the screens.

"You see that? This guy has a 'I change myself' armor and the other one is very very very fast. And from what I see and hear here, people have magic weapons or daddy's and mommys who have natural strength. None of them needs to train to fight."

Eon is to young to exactly understand what Roger means. He is more envious, since has nothing like the others.

[Dark Elf Bard]

"I see. Why? And are they good ones?", Naera inquires, looking over the girl to try to gauge her reaction to the words, whatever she says.

Um...

Kinda? She shifts her eyes nervously.

[McBish]

[Tournament Waiting Room]

Cimorone, a perfectly normal looking human woman, shoots a glare over at Eon. She remains quite though. Her own weapons are magical sure, when she summons them up, but she would gladly use a normal blade if she owned one.

She keeps an eye on the fight esspecially since Lucy seems to fight with a somewhat similar style as her own.

[ThePhantom]

[Tournament Waiting Room]

"HA." Eon answers Rogar. Then he points at the screens.

"You see that? This guy has a 'I change myself' armor and the other one is very very very fast. And from what I see and hear here, people have magic weapons or daddy's and mommys who have natural strength. None of them needs to train to fight."

Eon is to young to exactly understand what Roger means. He is more envious, since has nothing like the others.

"Having greater strength doesn't remove the need to train, in fact it can increase the need, to avoid crushing everyday items. And a magic weapon will do little good if you don't have the training to use a nonmagical form of that weapon. There is no substitues for constistant training."

Sure, people can magically add skill to themselves, but the skill won't last, only training will allow the skill to remain. That's why even in exile, Rogar still does a verision of his training at least once a day.

"With your lack of knowledge, it appears you need this school. I will remember that, should we end up fighting each other."

[Lady Serpentine]

Um...

Kinda? She shifts her eyes nervously.

Naera quirks an eyebrow at the girl, looking rather unconvinced.

"And what do you mean by that, exactly?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Well... erm...

I don't like what- uh, how, they treat me?

She shifts in her seat, uncomfortable.

But at least I get food, and a bed, and stuff...

[Lady Serpentine]

Naera hisses slightly, sitting down next to the tiefling.

"You deserve more than food and a bed. But what precisely do you mean by how they treat you?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Uh, well, you know, punishment... cuz of my skni and tail...

[Lady Serpentine]

Naera snarls softly, a set of claws sprouting from her fingers, clearly displeased with the girl's foster parents.

"Punishing you merely for having a demon parent is not acceptable. Though how unacceptable it is depends on the severity, I suppose. What do they do to you?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

She eeps slightly and scoots away a little.

Uh... like a whip sometimes, or a stick...