Kelia Nimblefingers vs. Tauron of the Sundered Lands
"Here we have Kelia Nimblefingers, halfing extraordinaire, against Tauron of the North, in his fourth gladiator battle. Will magic and determination beat braun and quickness? We soon shall see..." As the crowd begins to cheer (mainly for Tauron), Ultrann signals to his burly man-at-arms, Grolsch, to begin the fight.
Tauron is first to appear, in front of the eastern gate. He has a wild, almost feral look to him, with his thick beard and hair down to his shoulders. Garbed in chain and presently armed with his longbow, he waits for his opponent to appear. He does not have to wait long. Kelia materializes in front of the western gate. The blue-eyed hobbit stares across at Tauron, but her unarmored and unarmed appearance does not strike any fear in her opponent.
The man of the north acts first, moving just a few steps towards Kelia. From under 100 feet away, he fires off two arrows in quick succession, the first missing high into the western gate, but the second strikes the halfling squarely in the left shoulderblade, causing her immense pain. Despite the pain, she manages to chant a few words of magic, and suddenly disappears from sight. Many in the crowd, eager for action, begin to boo the disappearance of the little mage.
In response, Tauron makes a fast beeline west, with his longbow still in hand. He hears the muttering of words of magic, about 20 feet south of his current location. "I know where you are, my little cheetah!", he says. He fires off an arrow in the direction of where he is confident she is, but the arrow flies through and continues its southwestern trajectory, eventually striking the southwest wall. He hears some more muttering, but does not seem to detect her location. He looks in the air (bow raised) and says, "I know you're up there, my little eagle! Come down and let's play!" He moves forward a few paces in anticipation. The crowd starts getting restless.
A few seconds later, Kelia decides to make her appearance -- about 30 feet in the air, floating. Tauron fires off two arrows in quick succession, but both bounce harmlessly off an invisible, interposing barrier a few feet below Kelia. She returns with firepower of her own, as two mystical bolts fire forth from her hand, striking Tauron squarely. She cheers at her gaining the upper hand. Tauron refuses to give up, and fires off two more arrows at his quarry. The first strikes the invisible barrier, but the second continues on. Unfortunately for him it strikes another barrier, one that envelops her body. Again, she returns her own firepower, sending off two magic missiles which again strike Tauron's muscular frame.
"I'll get you, my eagle...", murmurs Tauron, determined to hit her with his arrows. But again, they bounce harmlessly off her invisible shield. In response, Kelia pulls her wand out of her boot and fires a frozen orb at the bearded hunter. However, she misses. Frustrated by his lack of success, Tauron makes a beeline eastward, towards the pillar. She starts taunting him, saying, "Come back here you freak! You're afraid of my magical power, you know you're going to lose! Don't run, fight me!" Seeing that her taunt was not particularly effective (as he did not even break his run), she removes a scroll from her belt and evokes its magic. Two more bolts of energy streak forth, striking Tauron in the back. The crowd begins to ooh and ahh, seeing that crowd favourite Tauron seems to be in trouble.
Tauron turns in response, fires (and misses) with another arrow, before moving around behind the pillar, to the eastern side. Frustrated, Kelia begins to load her crossbow which was strapped to her back. While doing so, she begins her descent. Tauron peeks around the northeast corner to see what Kelia is doing, then moves back to his eastern position. Kelia then touches the ground and begins her slow-footed run towards the pillar, calling out for Tauron to show himself. He does so by moving into the open on the northeast side, firing off another arrow. The arrow narrowly misses Kelia's head, but misses it does. She returns fire with her light crossbow, grazing Tauron's left arm. Tauron retreats back to the east side, readying his whip daggers as Kelia advances slowly forward, loading her crossbow. Kelia moves east-northeast and attempts to fire off a bolt at the silouette of her enemy, but she misses.
Tauron then comes around the northeast side of the pillar and runs straight for Kelia, screaming a battle cry of the wild, cranking his whip as he moves. From 5 feet away, he lets his whip crack, but is unable to penetrate Kelia's defenses. She responds by dropping her crossbow, stepping back, drawing her wand and firing off an small orb of cold. The orb grazes Tauron's leg, causing minor damage. The crowd, sensing a victory is near, begins to stand up and chant Kelia's name. She smiles at this acknowledgement.
Tauron refuses to believe that he will lose. "The eagle has landed, and the wolf will take you!", he says to her. He steps towards her, and lets two quick snaps of his right-handed whip dagger fly, accompanied by one from his whip dagger in the left hand. Despite his best efforts, the blows either strike her invisible shield or are narrowly avoided due to her agility. Kelia again steps back, fires off an orb of cold from the wand, but this time misses.
Tauron hesitates as Kelia steps back and aims her wand again. With split-second timing and amazing accuracy, Tauron is able to use his whip to disarm his opponent's wand! He follows this with two other whip attacks, but both miss. He steps a few feet closer, smiling at his crowd-pleasing disarm. Kelia, upset but not totally flustered, decides not to risk picking up her wand right away, and instead steps back and fires off a tiny ray of cold at Tauron, who nimbly avoids its frosty effects. Tauron remains bold, and decides to rush his opponent, knocking her back a few yards. He now has the wand at his feet.
Kelia's eyes grow large at what has just happened. She yells "Noooo!" , steps to the side and fires off another ray of cold, this time striking Tauron squarely. He turns as pale as a ghost, not only from the cold, but also with the shadow of death upon him. In severe pain, he bends down, drops his one whip and picks up the wand. Holding it strongly in his hand, he raises his knee and brings down his hand at the same time. The wand breaks in two! "You may be on the verge of defeating me, but that does not mean that I leave here with nothing to call a success!" A sudden "oooooh!!" is heard from the crowd...
Angry and fuming with rage, Kelia screams and fires off another ray of frost, which Tauron narrowly manages to avoid. With the last bit of his strength, Tauron winds his whip dagger and attempts to slash Kelia. As before, the blow strikes an invisible force between him and his quarry. He drops to his knees and collapses into unconsciousness.
Kelia rushes over to where Tauron collapsed, not to aid her fallen opponent, but to see the state of her wand. She begins to scream at Tauron's unconscious frame, kicking him with her tiny halfling feet. "My wand, my wand! You broke my wand!!" Ultrann signals the fight to and end, and the clerics approach Tauron (while a couple have to restrain Kelia).
"Hmm, I crafted that fine wand with my own hands", says Ultrann. "I do not replace things that were given. If Kelia wants a new one, she will have to pay for it herself. She may feel she has suffered much, but her vanquished opponent may think that he got the worst of this battle!"
Kelia: 650 XP, 274 gp. Despite your slow, evasive behaviour in the beginning, you finished off well. Too bad about the wand!
Tauron: 450 XP, 239 gp. You fought with heart and courage, but just couldn't penetrate your foe's defenses.