The Games of Saberhaven
Warlord Isco vs. Lord Blix
At opposite ends of the Arena, the opponents step in. Lord Blix ducks his head under the door frame, straightening out to a full thirteen and some feet tall, and lean as a post. His eye is on the other doorway, as Warlord Isco, comes out bow-first. The bluish giant is huge compared to normal men, but Blix's enchanted height dwarfs the ice man.
As soon as Isco has entered the Arena, Blix teleports two-thirds of the distance across the Arena. Whether it is this sudden movement or Blix's towering appearance that startles Isco, the end result is the same: as he steps into his archer's stance, the ice man slips, perhaps on a pebble, perhaps on a bit of bad luck. His bolt goes winging into the air.
Wasting no time, Blix launches into the air, pointing at the Warlord with a bejeweled wand. "Quillish!" he says confidently, and the crowd watches as the flooring below Isco change to a swampy mire. Almost instantly, Isco begins sinking into the sludge. He manages to loose one giant arrow at Blix, and it smashes against the flying assassin, to no apparent effect. Then the long bow, too, gets stuck in the mud, and Isco drops it as he considers how to free himself. Apparently by instinct he starts to swim as he slides in up to his shoulders, but the motions of his arms only serve to shove him deeper into the muck, until he is completely covered.
Blix smirks, waves to the crowd, and shouts out "I don't know what the hell that idiot was doing in the top 8, but now he's where he belongs!" Blix raises an arm in victory. "And I'm back where *I* belong! In the winner's circle!"
The Duke of Hell on Earth descends, and slowly starts walking off the pitch, soaking in the applause of his fans. But the cheers turn to murmurs, and Blix notices many of the audience members pointing toward the mud pit behind him. There, caked in mud, is Warlord Isco, pulling himself up out of the mire! The barbarian chieftain has managed to find purchase where the mud meets the wall of the Arena, and has pulled his head and shoulders out of the goop. He's still far from in the clear, though, as it's forty feet across to the other side of the pit, and the muck extends 25 feet to either side of him. Isco's bow is in reach of his long arms - he's less than a foot from where he sank - but it's doubtful he'll be able to make use of it from his current position.
Blix laughs. "Damn, gotta give that guy some credit," he says, as he points his wand again. "Not TOO much, but he never says die, does he?"
Blix activates his wand again, and this time the mud pit instantly hardens into sandstone. Isco finds himself immovable from the chest down, even his elbows frozen in rock, facing the wall.
Blix puts away his wand and draws his sword. He looks up at the judges. "Is that it, then? Or should I go lop his head off?"
Shaking with rage, Isco bellows, "I will never submit!"
The judges confer, and after a moment, the announcer reports, "Victory for Lord Blix!"
Lord Blix raises his arms in victory, and bows to the cheering crowd. "That goody-goody Dranthur's next!" he shouts, then confidently walks out of the Arena.
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