05-15-2018, 09:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-16-2018, 02:46 PM by devin.)
Welcome to the Battle round of the Nerischian Tournament.
If possible, each Ischian has been paired against a Nerinian. This round will take place in the format of short mocks. Each participant will post two attacking posts, with the person who posts first also posting a final defense post (Horse A Attack, Horse B Attack/Defend, Horse A Attack/Defend, Horse B Attack/Defend, Horse A Defend). You may use as many attacks or defenses as you’d like, though you will be limited by a 600 word limit, so choose wisely. You will have 3 days (to the hour) between posts, and four days from now (by the hour) until the first person is due to post. Judging will be done with a very similar rubric to the official battle rubric found here.
DO NOT post for these to be judged in the official judging thread when you are finished. They will be judged by Devin & Sid as they conclude.
Wishbone vs Mosrael
Wishbone will post first, unless otherwise decided by the players beforehand.
Jesper vs Leilan
Jesper will post first, unless otherwise decided by the players beforehand.
@[Breckin] vs @[Viserion]
Breckin will post first, unless otherwise decided by the players beforehand.
Bristol vs takei
Bristol will post first, unless otherwise decided by the players beforehand.
traton vs Caw
Traton will post first, unless otherwise decided by the players beforehand.
The dying winds of winter and eager chatter amongst equine kin lead her to the vast plains of the battlefield. Never one to be the instigator of such physical encounters, the spotted mare finds herself on the opposite side of personal beliefs for the second time in the Tournament. Where the debate round forced her into presuming the role of devil's advocate on a topic she didn't fully believe in, she can appreciate this round for the primal instinct of survival it was to harbor.
Across the way, Breckin assesses the unique form of her dueling partner. Other than the contrast of his coat color and pattern, there is nothing significant that stands out in the way of Beqanna's magical capabilities. Though she knows that what meets the eye can be deceiving. Particularly if the fellow possesses abilities that cannot be visualized, but experienced.
Driven by the nervous rush of adrenaline alighting from the tension of the oncoming match, the din around her falls to null, leaving only the increasing rate of her heart to set the tempo for her rhythmic approach. Instead of rushing her foe, she finds her motivation based on the opportunity to learn. So Breckin opts for a softer approach, using a quickened walk aimed at her opponent. Her approach is direct, but slow enough for her to further gain aesthetic knowlege of her foe. Opportunity is there for him to back up or withdraw if he chooses, but it they wish to properly commence, he would have to remain near at some point. Never stopping her fast paced walk, she quickly re-assesses his appearance and is surprised to notice that where hair would adorn the average equine, he wears what appears to be thick plates. Unsure of what this means in ways of her attacks, she resolves to understand there would be only one way to fully gage what the possibilities could be.
Stopping just out of reach and what she hopes to be directly in front of him, "Well met, Brother of Ischia. May we part with gains of new knowledge today." Ears drop to the top of her crest suddenly, the only indication of her oncoming attack before pressing into the buffer of air between them while simultaneously letting her head fall downard. Retracting her lips to display bared teeth, she snakes her head towards the bulk of his right forearm, before shifting direction to aim for actual contact with his left forearm instead, in the attempt to force him backwards and throw him off balance. The direct and downward approach would leave her crest, withers and left shoulder exposed to him, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to take to elicit surprise. Not waiting to see if her incisors found purchase on the scales of his left limb, she allows the momentum to further carry her hopefully towards his left side. Front hooves slide to a stop on the frigid earth while swinging her hindquarters towards him perpendicularly if he as not yet moved away. If she had managed to knock him off kilter, she hopes to further the unbalance as her rear limbs reach backward. Her lashing buck is firm and aimed at where she believes his ribs and belly area to be, intent on leaving a bruise if her hit landed. If he no longer remains where she thought him to be, she can only hope she has gained distance between them. Only after her rear hooves find the packed terrain again does she turn to face him, ready as ever to meet with the repercussions.
The dragon boy’s heart beats with anticipation. He can feel the barren plain beneath his hooves. The foundation of this land was built by blood and sweat from many dedications. It has seen perhaps more blood (and maybe lives) than anywhere else. On the days of summer, this place surely would be boiling as there is nowhere in sight to hide from. The intentions were clear though when you came here—you win or you lose.
He planned on winning.
Viserion is young though, barely making his way out of his yearling stage, but he finds himself growing stronger each day. He feels comfortable in the challenge grounds, finally being able to battle against someone founds himself jumping with excitement. Nonetheless, he keeps a composed posture. His honey-hazel eyes stare at the spotted mare before him.
It is with instinct, months of practicing with his own solider-father, that he looks for the strengths and weaknesses. Viserion was familiar with the way a battle started. He had fought pretend battles with several other foals and even his father. He had listened with all years of tactics of one-on-one or with several more. However, this was more than play pretend back in the days of the Tundra.
The dragon boy keeps his stance tall, though ready to go, as the mare makes his way to her at a quicken walk. He is confused by such things, but it is a battle of friendliness after all. Viserion nods his head at the Nerineite’s greeting. He allows himself in engage in the greeting as well, but still he keeps his guard up just in case. “Likewise,” he only says.
It then begins.
Breckin is quick to try and knock him off guard with her first attack, as she plays a trick on him. She goes for one leg but switches to his other. Viserion pulls back with a step, finding their closeness a bit awkward, but he quickly rises up into the air in a half-rear. He bares his teeth at her, quickly extending his own jaw out at her. Breckin’s teeth are quick to graze his scaled-skin on his left shoulder (it hardly bothered him), but she also has left herself exposed on her left side. Viserion aims to find any part of her crest exposed, perhaps even a bit of her withers.
He is quick to find solid ground as she moves away shifty to his left side. Viserion does not linger even a second as he lands back onto the ground, he moves forward using his own momentum to move away from her oncoming attack. Typical, he thinks with humor. He is not left without repercussions from her buck though—her hooves had found contact on his left thigh. A bruise surely would be there, but it does not leave him limping. Instead it only motivates him.
Viserion turns sharply to his right while she finds herself back onto the ground and turning, he quickens his pace even more. Building up momentum and getting closer as he comes at her at a 40-degree angle. He closes the space between them on her right side, aligning himself with her right shoulder, he rises up suddenly and shifts his weight into her. He hopes the sudden attack and weight will knock her off balance. Viserion bares his teeth, searching for flesh along her crest and withers. His hooves are likely to find impact among her shoulder, and the impact of his weight might put awkward pressure on her right shoulder and leave a bit of bruising.
@[Breckin]
The spotted mare is unsurprised when a sharpness is felt where her crest meets her withers while her head is lowered and hoping to catch him off balance. There is enough force behind his attack to cause great, bruising pain. Even though he has caused her physical pain now, she reaps no satisfaction when she feels her rear hooves meet with something solid; battle is not something she is fond of. Breckin swings her head back around to face Viserion after her blow is dealt; she needs to try to be able to see where he will be coming from. The aching pain alights in her neck, but she does not allow it to hinder her completely.
Viserion is quick to approach. Inevitably he is intent on making contact and her instinct to freeze causes her to tense and brace fo impact. Logical thinking prevails however, as she forcibly exhales, urging her muscles to relax enough so that when he moves to strike she can attempt to roll away. As he moves closer, she shifts most of her weight to her hindquarters. He aims for her right shoulder, sending his front hooves outward and forcing her body to the left. She has already made her front half lighter, so as he pushes into her right shoulder, she rears as well, raising her front hooves about a foot off the ground. As Breckin pulls her front upward, she simultaneously attempts to roll with his punch as she leans to the left and away from his mass while using her rear footing as a pivot point. Somewhere nearby she hears the distinctive sound of teeth snapping at air. The full brunt of his attack does not find her moving body, but she does not go completely unscathed. Breckin finds a stinging sensation upon her right shoulder from where one of his hooves found its mark. The impact will leave a bruise and the cut is superficial, enough to draw a line of blood from her pale flesh.
Her front limbs find the clay packed ground again after the momentum of his hoof finding her right shoulder presumably sends her front half further away from him. At this point she hopes that her rear end has remained fairly well in place, thinking that perhaps from where she landed that their bodies would be nearly parallel and facing the same general direction with him at her right side. The ache in her crest is present again as she cranes her head down and backward towards the right, teeth and ambitions bared as she aims for what she believes to be his scaled chest or shoulder area, if he remains nearby, not intent on drawing blood. While her head is still downward, she rocks her weight to her front half. Her stance widens for bracing, while leaning to the left, drawing her rear limbs upward then outward and to the right into a cow-kick. Her strike is aimed where she believes his left hock or gaskin area to be, if he has not moved away, in order to hinder his movement.
Breckin's rear limbs meet with the ground once more, remaining where she lands, suspecting she is still in the near to where he is. Her eyes raise to scan her near proximity to better assess his position. Heart pounding in her chest, she tries to ignore thre protesting of her battle wounds and the voice in her head telling her she's hating every second of this.
@[Viserion]
The spotted mare rises up just as he does, but Viserion is quick to note that he has the upper hand on this attack. Her quick thinking is something he cannot help but acknowledge, the way she moved into his attack with her defense was admiring. He can feel that his attack has left a mark as one of his hooves hit her shoulder. Score! It was all he wanted to do.
Viserion lands along the side of the other mare on her right side and his left side, hooves finding solid ground on the dirt packed floor. They are parallel with each other facing the same general direction, but there is a space between them as the impact of his previous attack position her a bit further away from where she had been before. His left thigh aches slightly at the previous attack from her, but he pressed on from the annoyance.
His ears swivel in her direction, listening carefully if she dares to make a move. Viserion has a clear view of where she is right now, so he is quick to she herself move. She tucks her head down, clearly making an aim for his front while her hind legs move.
Viserion moves quickly as he can. He moves forward a pace or two, shifting some of his weight into his front legs. The dragon boy pivots slightly, turning at a small angle as hind legs rise to counter attack but also to defend the blow from his left thigh she attacked previously. Viserion’s counter attack aims to find contact on her own hind legs, especially the lower parts of the leg that would likely be the cannon and hock. The mare’s underbelly is likely to be more exposed than his since she was first to rise up and attack him with a cow-kick. This leaves her open to be hit by his hooves along her underbelly, such as hitting her abdomen area and flank. Depending on her angle as well and timing, his hooves might even make contact further along her tight area that she has exposed to him. The turning of his body from her also shields himself from her front attack somewhat. Viserion defended against her second attack knowing that her first attack on either his scaled chest or shoulder would not be as damaging as his scales mostly from him puncturing wounds.
With the turning of his body, defending against her first attack, her teeth find contact on his shoulder area. The scrap of teeth against his scales feels like a scrapped knee, and leave an obvious mark there as some of his scales rip and tear, thought little blood expels from his shoulder area. He then feels her hooves between the left of his leg, along the area of his gaskin but further away from his thigh then he wanted earlier.
When both of their hooves have touched the ground after their attack, Viserion moves forward after finding his balance. His speed is a quick trot, enough to make his way a two to three feet away from her. His quick trot is slowed down though by her last attack against his left hind leg. He is not necessarily limping but enough that it troubles his gait away from her. Viserion turns to face her, hearting pounding loudly within his chest.
@[Breckin]
The leopard mare is a bit caught off guard when her partner shifts forward as her aching neck drops toward his chest, but it is not enough to keep her from meeting his scaled hide. Her thinking pattern lapses momentarily as her teeth find purchase against the scales of his left shoulder, unable to contemplate what his counterattack may be in that passing moment. She had already extended her rear limbs towards his lower left hind leg when she realizes that he was winding up for his own version of the attack she was already carrying out. Chastising herself for not seeing this coming, she hardly notices the pressured thud of her own hooves meeting the armor of his left gaskin. Luckily she had already braced her front half as well as she could and was leaning away from him towards the left. Still leaning towards the left as far she could without losing balance, gravity carries her hindquarters back to a descent. As her rear section falls she realizes there is little she can do to move that part of her body away from his attack. So as she falls, she attempts to soften her muscles to better absorb the strike that will inevitably come. His striking rear limb thankfully meets with muscles of her right thigh instead of bone, but it does little to lessen the burden of sharp pain as his hoof digs into her. Audibly, she gasps as the pain seems to radiate from her right thigh, to her right shoulder, and to the top of her crest while she blinks unshed tears out of her eyes. Another superficial tear is left upon her right thigh, though the deadening ache lingering in the musculature there will no doubt make movement painful for quite some time after.
All eight hooves between them have finally returned to the ground, and she merely stands where she had landed. Dark brown eyes scan rapidly around her, only to land upon his orange and black frame as he moves away and then rounds to face her. Sides heaving from strain and exertion, she can feel her eyes narrow on their own accord, internally cursing him for his scales that guarded his flesh so well. Clearly she would come out of the scenario looking the worst between the two of them. The blood upon her right shoulder and right thigh trickle down the white of her body, but she refuses to move out of fear knowing that her entire right side will protest the action. And so she stands still for now, only dropping her pale head into a respectful nod towards her dance partner. A sigh pushes through her lips in relief that it was finally over, and knowing that she would in fact, come away from this bout with knew knowledge.
@[Viserion]
06-27-2018, 12:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2018, 03:33 PM by devin.)
WINNER: Viserion
[font color=red]Default win to Breckin, as Viserion did not post on time the second time.[/font]
Breckin
Attacks & Defenses (-5/+5):+3 average of all posts
+, -, or / Were attack(s), defense(s), and movement(s) understandable? (Did the player use directional cues like right and left, was the horse in the right position to make that attack, etc.)
+, -, or / Would the attack(s) have been effective? (If the horse is aiming to cripple their opponent, they wouldn't bite; if they are are trying to distract or bruise they might bite, etc.)
+, -, or / Were the attack(s) and defense(s) described well? (Specific area they are aiming for why they are aiming there, etc.; this does not require specific anatomy but rather, you are aiming for the shoulder to hinder movement, biting to distract or bruise, etc.)
+, -, or / Were the defense(s) reasonable? (Did the horse take an appropriate amount of damage?)
+, -, or / Did the damage taken and previous damage/injuries taken affect the horse’s decisions and movements adequately?
Post 1 (+3)Walks up, feints at right forearm before biting at left forearm, then jumps forward to kick out at his belly
+
+
+
/NA
/NA
Post 2 (+3)half-rears and lets him push her over, dodges the bite but takes the kick, reaches back to bite at his chest and then kicks at his back end
+
/Why bite again when it’s not effective against the scales?
+
/
+
Post 3 (+3)
+
/NA
/NA
+
+
Realism (-2/+2):+0.67 (average of the below, max of 2 as not all elements need to be present in all posts, should include at least 2 elements per post, however)
+, - or / Were stats of each character taken into account? (How big is your opponent, do you know their build, experience, traits, etc.)
+, - or / Was the landscape used? (if it's raining, the footing will be muddy and effective movement. if it's winter, the ground might be ice covered, etc. these things can be used in attacks/defenses)
+, - or / Were traits used reasonably and within their limits?
+, - or / Was there anything in particular that stood out in terms of realism, good or bad?
Post 1 (+1)
+
/
/NA
/
Post 2 (0)
/
/
/
/
Post 3 (+1)
+
/
/
/
Creativity (-2/+2): +1.67 (average of the below, max of 2 as not all elements need to be present in all posts, should include at least 2 elements each post, however)
+, - or / Did the horse give a sense of their emotions/reasons/feelings throughout the battle? Do you have a sense of their personality?
+, - or / Were the attacks/defenses creative and interesting?
+, - or / Was there anything in particular that stood out in terms of creativity, good or bad?
Post 1 (+2)
+
+
/
Post 2 (+2)
+
+
/
Post 3 (+1)
+
/
/
Grammar (-3/+3): +3 (total from below 3 elements)
Grammar: (-1/+1): +1
- Were there consistent (i.e. More than two typos in one post, or sentence fragments in every post) grammar issues or typos? If yes, -1. If no, +1
very minor typos
Readability: (-1/+1): +1
- Were the posts easy to understand? If yes, +1. If no, -1
Powerplaying: (-1/+1): +1
- Was there powerplaying? If yes, -1. If no, +1
Outline specific instances of issues for critique; sorry I’m working on these in a rush, nothing super jumped out at me, just practice practice practice makes everything that little bit better
Rubric Total (sum of above sections): +8.34
Viserion
Attacks & Defenses (-5/+5):+4 average of all posts
+, -, or / Were attack(s), defense(s), and movement(s) understandable? (Did the player use directional cues like right and left, was the horse in the right position to make that attack, etc.)
+, -, or / Would the attack(s) have been effective? (If the horse is aiming to cripple their opponent, they wouldn't bite; if they are are trying to distract or bruise they might bite, etc.)
+, -, or / Were the attack(s) and defense(s) described well? (Specific area they are aiming for why they are aiming there, etc.; this does not require specific anatomy but rather, you are aiming for the shoulder to hinder movement, biting to distract or bruise, etc.)
+, -, or / Were the defense(s) reasonable? (Did the horse take an appropriate amount of damage?)
+, -, or / Did the damage taken and previous damage/injuries taken affect the horse’s decisions and movements adequately?
Post 1 (+4) half-rears to get away from bite, takes bite on scales on left shoulder, bites at her himself, gets kicked in the thigh, circles around and comes back to rear and kick and bite at her
+
+
/
+
+
Post 2 (+4)Counters attack by turning away and kicking as she is kicking
+
/He is as likely to get hurt as to hurt her, doing this, but it’s creative
+
+
+
Realism (-2/+2): +2.5 (average of the below, max of 2 as not all elements need to be present in all posts, should include at least 2 elements per post, however)
+, - or / Were stats of each character taken into account? (How big is your opponent, do you know their build, experience, traits, etc.)
+, - or / Was the landscape used? (if it's raining, the footing will be muddy and effective movement. if it's winter, the ground might be ice covered, etc. these things can be used in attacks/defenses)
+, - or / Were traits used reasonably and within their limits?
+, - or / Was there anything in particular that stood out in terms of realism, good or bad?
Post 1 (+3)
+
+
+
/
Post 2 (+2)
+
/
+
/
Creativity (-2/+2): +2 (average of the below, max of 2 as not all elements need to be present in all posts, should include at least 2 elements each post, however)
+, - or / Did the horse give a sense of their emotions/reasons/feelings throughout the battle? Do you have a sense of their personality?
+, - or / Were the attacks/defenses creative and interesting?
+, - or / Was there anything in particular that stood out in terms of creativity, good or bad?
Post 1 (+2)
+
+
/
Post 2 (+2)
+
+
/
Grammar (-3/+3): +3 (total from below 3 elements)
Grammar: (-1/+1): +1
- Were there consistent (i.e. More than two typos in one post, or sentence fragments in every post) grammar issues or typos? If yes, -1. If no, +1
Readability: (-1/+1): +1
- Were the posts easy to understand? If yes, +1. If no, -1
Powerplaying: (-1/+1): +1
- Was there powerplaying? If yes, -1. If no, +1
Outline specific instances of issues for critique; I don’t have anything off the top of my head, sorry I’m grading these pretty fast
Rubric Total (sum of above sections): 11.5
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