The Firebrand Bar ...and Grill Wrote:Everyone knows the Firebrand! After it's most recent resurgence after burning down again (...again), the Firebrand has come back better and stronger than ever. Made using the finest in craftsdrawfship and the hardest stone known the man (rumored to have a rubber core), it's become a popular tourist destination as well as a well-loved home for wayward ronin and adventurers. Recently, the staff has installed a large grill that... wait.
Do you smell gas?
General - Your typical bar, complete with wooden floors and stone walls. There's a bar area off to the side, and the larger part of the first floor is littered with chairs and tables. For some reason, there's a chandelier hanging from the rafters, both of which look incredibly suspicious for a two-story building. Coincidentally the second floor is blocked off for security reasons. Wait. Do you smell gas?
Due to Watts plugging a few too many electric grills and heaters into one socket next to a large pile of oily rags and tanks of gasoline, the Firebrand comes pre-installed with FIRE. Fire everywhere, and it's spreading at an unusually rapid rate, possibly due to that nasty gas and grease spill the other day. Due to the stone walls, you'll have some time to ******** one another up in this instant classic.
Natural Element Resource - ... Fire.... Fire. FIRE
Weapons - Tables, chairs, bottles of alcohol, and the occasional dwarfen worker.
Bonus Effects - Fire, fire everywhere. The Firebrand will only catch on fire after you've actually started fighting though.
Jex vs Valkyrie
HoH season 11. Source: valucre.net static Gaia dump.
Table of contents
Round one.
Valkyrie entered the Firebrand, lowset lids hovering over a pair of crimson eyes that were checking the premises for anything and everything. Yes, I ******** smell gas. The smell could not go unnoticed. She wrinkled her nose slightly but continued forward, assessing the placement of the chairs, tables and most importantly that chandelier.
The place seemed to be teeming with potential energy.
The Vampress wore a longsleeve black shirt, a thin cotton tank top underneath, and clingy leather pants. They tucked into her boots, which were thick and also leather. That smell made her weary of the lighter in her pocket, and she decided against a cigarette this particular evening.
Nothing left to do now but wait at the bar, and that she did.
SLAM!
The front door of the Firebrand was left quivering on it's hinges after having been plowed open by Jex Thoth in full charge. He made a beeline straight for the woman at the bar- the only person within the building that wasn't some nondescript dwarven worker. Nagayina held high, he screamed a battle cry composed of pure, primal rage. At least two different pitches were ungracefully mingled in the air now saturated with the cry, boiling the blood of all within earshot.
"KEEEYEEEEAAAAAAAA!"
The tables and chair in his way might as well have not existed- the way he maintained his sprint after hopping and vaulting over every obstacle was ridiculous. There was one last table between him and the bar area, and probably a total of ten feet between him and his opponent.
He drew his glaive-arm back as he approached the furniture.
TMP-TMP!
CRACK, WHOOM!
Two kicks. The first one swung staight up into the bottom side of the round, wooden tabletop. It blew that section of the table straight off the rickety legs. This sent a shower of half empty bottles through the air. The second kick landed at the cent of the bottom of the tabletop, pushing it towards Valkyrie.
As the dismembered, sideways tabletop and a hail of glass assailed the vampress, completely blocking Jex in her line of sight, the predator would watch her feet for the slightest sign of movement in any direction, still having barely broken his stride.
"-AAAAH-!"
Thoth chucked Nagayina to whichever side of the table it appeared she would be trying to move out from behind, sticking it into the bar and blocking her escape with a THUNK!
"Kyeh!"
Then he leapt, both feet forward, and demolished the tabletop with a double-heel strike that had his entire body behind it. His best guess was that he would be striking her somewhere in the torso, but a total whiff would result in him crashing into the myriad bottles of booze lining the wall behind the bar, feet first, and with enough of his wits about him that he would recover with no more than the smell of alcohol on his bare feet.
======
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.
"Jeebers!"
Fwoomsh!
Things were really gettin' cookin'.
1
Valkyrie's body came erect from it's leaning position on the bar when the door slammed open, and a very...loud man came crashing inside. The Vampress watched him with calculating eyes as he dashed for her, vaulting obstacles in his path and only hesitating to deliver two kicks to the closest table between them.
She knew where this was going.
Already her palm had flattened on the bar's surface behind her and she crouched only to spring upward and support her weight on that hand that waited on the bar, flipping back over it gracefully.
As her feet touched down on the other side of the bar, she heard his Nagayina stick into the wood on the other side of it and made sure to remember it's location, then the table crashed into the wall of booze behind her. Splinters and glass burst forth from the impact and flew towards her but it was nothing that would induce any damage, especially since her clothing covered almost all of her skin.
She rolled to the right to avoid the crashing bottles that fell all around, and in case Jex decided to follow her, and it seems he had, because a very impressive kick was being delivered over the bar itself.
CRASH goes the Jex. Valkyrie grinned.
Heat was pouring from the kitchen, and she became aware of it immediately, but not before swinging her weight forward towards Jex from her still-crouched position. On her way to him she'd sweep up a split piece of wood that seemed to be shaped well enough for a melee attack [it's end nicely pointed], and when she reached him it would be coming down with the force of both her hands, it's sharp end intended for his midsection.
There was no battle cry, her movements were as swift and silent as she could manage to make them.
The fact that he was barefoot did not go unnoticed. He'd have a shitty time making his way over broken glass and alcohol...and as the growing heat promised, fire.
"Kssh!" He hissed, as his feet split the wooden tabletop, at the empty air he was now flying through. Glass liquor bottles exploded under his bare feet as they impacted the wall behind the bar, probably puncturing his feet in a couple places to a negligable depth. The being that was The Great Horned Sage knew nothing of soft, tender feet.
Unfortunately, he'd lost a lot of momentum with his tabletop offensive and didn't slam into the wall with enough force left to control himself as well as he would have liked. Instead, after the wall absorbed most of his forward momentum, he dropped in a nearly completely horizontal, sideways position.
And though he now was staring forward with a mostly blank look of slight concentration, Thoth felt a tinge of fear pierce through him- a natural reflex that he welcome, as it did very well to motivate him out of precarious situations.
His left forearm came down on the edge of the bar first and from there he caught himself as his opponent wrenched an improvised stake from the upper half of the table that made it across the top of the bar. She was fast- the instant his feet hit the ground the point of the brittle old stake was about to sample the Sage's flesh.
But his feet were on the ground.
With a his of effort he dodged backwards, jerking himself away from her attack and continue to move backwards as fast as he could while, at the same, time grabbing bottle after bottle from the wall to huck at her face.
...Not a Human...
Smash!
...Out into the open...
Smash!
...Fire?
Smash!
He took a bottle in each hand before rounding the end of the bar, brandishing them both like a frantic, wide-eyed barbarian might attempt to keep a pack of wolves at bay with fire. As he did, he finally spoke words to his female opponent.
"You're dead!" It wasn't a threat. It was an accusation, an assumption he made with the expectance that she would prove it true. He couldn't put a finger on the hollowness of her, the lack of the specific type of force, a warmth, that was never present in deceased things.
2
Valkyrie heard the whoosh of her weapon break the air, and her jaw clenched in aggravation as she was denied the flesh the strike had promised. Both hands had gripped the stake when she'd swung it down, but now one, her left, let go so she could catch the first bottle he threw at her. The second came flying soon after and she lifted the wooden stake [lawl, a Vampire fighting with a wooden stake] in her right hand to guard her face from it's heavy impact, and this caused the wood to crack some-what.
Great. Now her weapon was ****** up. Valkyrie unfortunately had let this distract her long enough for yet another bottle that came flying towards her to smack her skull, and a growl left her throat when her head recoiled, eyes fixing on him with a bloodthirsty stare. She in turn took the bottle that was still in her left hand and smashed it's a end on the bar. Alcohol poured out of it and onto the floor, and now she had the neck of the bottle in her fist and the broken, razor sharp end facing him.
For quite some time now, yes. She answered, her voice much to calm to be natural in such a state. The slightly cracked wooden stake would remain in her right hand's grasp, and she'd twirl it so she held it like a dagger as if to keep it out of the way while she considered her next move.
Flames were growing in the room next door, it was clear. She could hear them crackling.
Thoth had heard many names used to call the kind of creature he was certain his foe was. His favorite?
"Nosferatu!" He chucked those last two bottles at her right before hopping backwards over the haft of Nagayina. He crouched down and with one long, fluid yank dislodged the tip from the wood of the bar. Whatever dulling had taken place would be gone before long. I don't have to worry much about excessive force, do I?
Anything with a living, beating heart, pumping blood that when spilled by a blade was life lost by the pint, Jex could put down. Supernatural creatures, the 'undead' in many cases, were always incredibly difficult for him to kill because he so seldomly possessed the specific tools required to kill them a second time.
So, with Nagayina now back in hand and outside the confines of the narrow space behind the bar, Thoth was already forgetting the state of flight he'd been in moments ago and was crouching comfortably amidst the broken bottles and splintered wood left over from his initial attack. Jex's narrowed, yellow, feral eyes finally focused on Valkyrie. There was only one last thing he needed to know.
"How many times am I going to have to cut you before you'll lie down!?"
She'd have had plenty of time to advance and attack while Thoth was pulling his weapon out of the bar and beginning to voice his question, so as the word 'down' came out of his mouth he kicked away from her in his crouched position, springing backwards and slashing horizontally through the air, pushing the weapon into the swing with his left hand and following through with his right. Though Nagayina was a nine foot polearm, the blade itself make up a third of the length; thanks to that and weight distribution that favored overall balance, she could still be used effectively at a closer range.
The balls of his feet would touch back down to the ground approximately two meters back while smoke began to thicken up in the rafters and flames, spilling out from the kitchen area, began to grow in his eyes. What he did after the next fraction of a second was up to his deadly undead opponent.
3
Valkyrie was getting agitated with all these projectiles coming her way, so after the last two bottles were dodged she was thankful to see his hands empty. She was stepping towards him with long strides, the bottle tight in her grip, when she saw him pulling his weapon free.
This caused her to hesitate, and it was a good thing she did, because the blade swiped in front of her and only missed her stomach by an inch.
Ooohh...love, that was much too close... She narrowed her gaze on him, shaking her head.
The Vampress found it interesting that the shattered glass on the ground wasn't bothering his feet, and she deduced that his dark skin was tougher than it looked. She had just the thing for that...but not quite yet.
Valkyrie watched him step back about two meters and as he did she reeled back and threw the half broken stake at him, hard, and at an angle so it would be spinning when it reached him.
Had she really thought a hunk of would would stop him? No. Distraction.
The fire was growing, consuming the bar area where the spilled alcohol lay, and Valkyrie had a choice to make. She wouldn't take too long, lest he catch on to the fact that he was standing in a very dangerous place and move. While he dealt with the projectile being thrown at him she'd waste no time chucking the half broken bottle at the chandelier above his head. It's end was razor-sharp and if she'd aimed correctly, the thick glass would slice the chord holding up the chandelier and it would fall on her opponent.
If it didn't, that was fine, because Valkyrie had just flicked her wrists back one at a time. The rings around her middle fingers were tied to tethers that would pull back and send her duel hidden blades sliding forward. These blades were about a foot and ½ in length, each made of tempered steel and doubled edged.
Yes. These should open up his skin just fine.
//OOC: How do we determine whether or not the chandelier actually falls? >>; //
wippita-wippita-wippita-wippitaTHWACK!
Valkyrie's wooden projectile was knocked out of the air by a quick flick from the butt end of Nagayina, the shock caused by the strength behind the throw causing Jex to let out a "Kyeh!" in surprise. Without hesitation, he hopped forward onto his right foot.
As the Vampress Koi let loose the glass to spring her chandelier trap, Jex made a viper-fast thrust towards her shoulder, aiming for the tendons even non-living creatures bodies used for movement. Not taking time to care if she'd been hit or not, Thoth continued to engage in his best defense: a good offense.
WHOOM, K-K-K-KRASHPKLSHSKSHATTERBOOM
The owners of the Firebrand liked to stock the best kind of chandelier- which was whatever kind made the most destructive sounding sounds when they inevitabley hit the floor. Couldn't worry about that now, though!
The trap had been a mere few feet away from smashing Thoth into the floor when he settled into a centered stance. Basic, simple, grounded. Then he dropped lower, then pounced towards Valkyrie's left, careful to have maintained the six-to-nine foot distance between them once he landed.
As he sailed horizontally through the air, Thoth struck with another thrust using his right arm, requiring him to spin so that his back was facing the ground. Though aimed in his peripheral vision, the strike, aimed for her abdomen, would be threateningly true and serve to discourage her closing the distance between them.
The table his back landed on made less sound than you might think before her rolled backwards and kicked his feet into the air, clearing the rest of the tabletop and landing toes first on the ground at the other side of the furniture.
But his motion didn't stop there.
"KEH!" He swung at her violently now, a wild horizontal strike with little thought towards form or skill. The only thing he made sure of was to keep that haft well away from her- Jex was smart to keep much blade between him and a smart opponent. Trouble would be had if she managed to get close enough to gain control of Nagayina (have fun trying to handle a pole with blades mounted on your arms, though).
The returning arc of the swipe helped him hop backwards a couple feet and re-adjust his stance for power. He transitioned smoothly, like the breeze, into another wind-up. This time he swung two-handed, overhead, screaming. Now, the range of his weapon was maximized, he would lean forward into the swing as necessary, leading with his right foot.
The force was mostly feigned. Whatever she did, he was ready to press the attack. Thoth would not fall victim to his own momentum.
"Kyeh!"
Control...
"Grah!"
...patience...
"Fff-! Ksh! Hah!"
...the flame has it from here.
4
10Viice
Valkyrie didn't let the disappointment of her trap not working slow her down, and she was quick on her toes as he bolted in her direction during the crash of the huge light fixture. The thrust towards her shoulder was met by both her blades being risen into a crossed position; your typical block.
SHINNNNG
The metallic sound resonated through the crackling of fire, and Valkyrie ripped her hands away in opposing directions to drive the blade away from herself. He then assumed a "centered stance", and Valkyrie did the same, exhaling sharply from her nostrils.
This was the first time she saw how fast he truly was, and naturally [or perhaps unnaturally...] she was fast too. It would make things interesting.
Again he was sailing at her, spinning, striking, shouting, and Valkyrie did a quick skip backwards but underestimated the length of the poll, feeling a blade swipe just above her belly button.
KKKSSSSSS
The hiss left her lips, a hiss pain, but she couldn't stop to check her wound, because he continuously came at her. Valkyrie kept time with him, dodging ill-planned strikes that seemed more like a frenzy of swipes than anything else.
Christ darling, you really want me dead, don't you? She taunted as he stepped forward with his right foot and swung.
Valkyrie was sick of dancing. She lowered all her weight down and back, bent her right leg, and let her left leg stay straight to almost fall horizontal to the ground. The swift crouch was conducted so quickly that his Nagayina swung right over her head, but she wouldn't let it go far before she was springing forward towards him.
Her slender form passed his right side and as it did she'd swipe her right blade at the backs of his heels, aiming for that vulnerable tendon, unprotected by shoes. His bare feet begged for her attention, and perhaps his skin could withstand glass, but it could not withstand her blade. If he dodged with one foot her blade would most likely catch the other, so unless he had time to hop with both legs he was about to get sliced.
But she wasn't done. After passing him and making the swipe she'd turn around completely to face him again, then deliver a stab at his lower back with her left blade.
If the stab landed, she'd twist and yank it out, then hop out of harms way to assess how he took the damage. Her sweater was sliced across the front and slightly open, exposing the lean muscle of her stomach as well is the blood that stained her pale skin.
The room they had to work with was growing smaller as fire consumed the area around them. She took comfort in the fact that if she needed to, she could run through it if only to get to a less effected area of the bar because she was wearing thick boots. He, on the other hand, would hopefully have a harder time.
She'd underestimated him before, though.
Brave... but foolish!
It was rare to have more than one chance to underestimate a warrior sage of Ungaia, and even rarer to have the same chance after an encounter with their greatest student.
Were this fight under any other law, this vampire would just have just become no exception. The veil of frenzy was pulled from over her eyes to reveal a Jex that had been putting much less wild force into his swings than he'd led her to believe. His eyes narrowed, the swing stopped, and Nagayina was yanked back to Thoth all in a flash. If there was a time to make a choice, to change her mind, her direction, in order to avoid serious damage, it would be-
Slice!
The blade grazed the top of her left shoulder on it's way back to Jex, tearing through the air just next to her face. If she had blood to let, Thoth would gain Nagayina's boon to assist in the continuation of this maneuver. Now, no matter what direction she chose to avoid the attack, his blade would be fast enough to catch her with ease.
100% proc yeee Wrote:Weapon effect: Cast Haste. For two seconds after Nagayina tastes the blood of an opponent, Jex Thoth is granted a 50% speed increase in his next attack.
She was fast, but with the nine feet of space between them and haste on his side, Thoth was easily able to get the tip of the blade between them, regardless of what little he'd commited to the flurry that had tempted her to charge.
In a ridiculous burst of speed, Thoth gave the haft of his weapon a twitch. He felt the change as Nagayina went from flesh to collar bone, then back to flesh, the curved tip of the blade peircing into the vampire just under the clavicle as the pain from the first cut was probably just registering.
"You want you 'dead', I think!" Would be his cry as he drove forward, preventing the vampire from pulling herself off his blade and preparing to hold her against the flames until she conceded.
5
12Viice
Valkyrie felt the blade whip back and slice her left shoulder and she knew she had to get the out of there. But he was faster now, so even as she threw her weight into a roll to the left, his Nagayina caught her bicep and tore open her flesh for the third time.
He reeled it back and lowered the weapon so it lingered between them, it's tip grazing her flesh and only scratching her. She reeled back to avoid it cutting any deeper and lifted her arm. Violently she swung and slammed her left blade into the haft of his Nagayina, it's razor sharp edge digging into the wooden surface and sticking.
This gave her some manipulation over where his weapon went next, as did her inhuman strength. With her blade dug into his weapon's flesh she shoved it down until his blade hit the ground, then she stepped forward with her right foot, brought her left foot down on the center of the Nagayina's haft and ripped her blade free, keeping his weapon under her foot.
Because of it's flexible qualities it bent with the pressure, threatening to snap under her thick boot. Not too much, Valkyrie... She knew putting too much weight on it would leave her vulnerable to wobbling over if he decided to yank it in any direction..but she didn't have to push hard, because his weapon was a light one. Light and flexible. Right Gino?
All this happened very fast, and as soon as her foot came down and the haft bent she swiped with her right blade, keeping her freshly-freed left close to her body. The swipe went from right to left, and aimed for his chest. She wanted to thrust forward and go for his heart, but this would require more weight to be put on the Nagayina, and Valkyrie liked to keep her footing.
She was an agile creature, after all.
"There goes..."
He hopped backwards, releasing Nagayina and letting the haft smack against the floor. Her slash hit air. Thoth was reluctant to let go of his weapon, but trying to fight with it, with her at close range and in slight control, would be cumbersome, he feared.
"...my weapon."
The words came out in a sigh as he closed his eyes and centered himself, engaging what appeared to be some sort of neutral stance. He did not seem ready to defend, nor attack. He was, however, ready.
There was nothing but the crackle of flame all around, the beating of his heart, and the air going in and out of his chest. It would be quite risky, engaging this vampire with tooth and nail, but he couldn't think about losing a limb or being run through, or else he would.
"Show me a Vampire that knows how to draw blood."
6
14Viice
Valkyrie felt him step away and the weapon slapped the floor fully, only to have her foot kick it away, directly into the blazing fire surrounding them. It slid far enough to be engulfed; there was no recovering it with bare feet and no way to locate it. She smirked, crimson eyes aglow against the flame, watching him brace himself by steadying his stance.
He'd have little time to relax, though, because now she was coming at him again, about to back him into a corner of hellfire. Her stomach and arm had been slashed, but she wasn't injured enough for it to show in her form. Indeed, the first slash was conducted with grace, her right foot leading the charge so her right arm, the unscathed one, could swing for his throat. If he'd dodge it [which was plausible considering his track record so freaking far], she'd follow up without hesitation with a thrusting stab for his lower abdomen with her left arm.
Valkyrie was fast, and these moves were conducted with speed appropriate only for the undead.
Jex ducked slightly, enough for-
HWUCK!
For an antler to get lopped off by Valkyrie's slash, the sweeping strike winding up lodged in the next one. His left hand shot up to catch her forearm, ensuring that the blade would not be swinging free. His right palm opened up to receive her other blade, the steel erupting from the back of his hand covered in his blood.
Now.
He closed his eyes again and met again with Isak's Grounding, and then...
THOOOM~
Jex launched into the Flight, blasting both himself and Valkyrie towards the inferno that was the bar. Kicking, biting, and struggling as they whirled and spun wildly through the air, the two would certainly both land behind the flame engulfed counter top at the last half of the arch.
Until his left hand reached up... and grabbed the rope dangling from the rafters, the one that had once been keeping the chandelier in the air. He kicked her away from him then, and into the raging flames.
Course maybe that didn't work, maybe Jex got cut to shreds, or... who knows?
THE END. ....right?