It's a nice warm day in Saberhaven as two more contestants prepare to
combat one another. Today sees the return of Drulk to the Arena after
his very recent victory, while his opponent is the human Tellafar. The
crowd are anxious to see what the Morninglord can do against the might
of the gladiator.

  At a word from the Mayor, the two warriors exit their preparation
rooms and enter the field.

  Standing a little over six feet tall with a muscular frame and long
blond hair tied into a ponytail falling between his shoulders Tellafar
is an imposing sight. He is dressed in silver glittering platemail
underneath the traditional vestments of a priest of lathander, yellow
adorned with a red sun. And today it seems almost like a true sun is
embroied on his chest as a soft yellow, golden glow surrounds the man. A
white cloak billows behind him as he walks and he carries a long staff
with the ease of long familiarity whle a warhammer is strapped to his belt.

  Tellafar walks forward slowly (with some difficulty) and regally to
his starting point. When there he looks at his opponent and raises his
staff in salute. He raises his voice and it sounds clear through the
Arena. "Drulk, suffering and defeat will be all you find in this Arena
today. Surrender now, for you can never stand up to me. I am a disciple
of the Stormhawk, no one can defeat us."

  As he speaks his words Tellafar fiddles with his ring and suddenly his
countenance becomes meanacing. Those sitting closest to the Morninglord
shrink back as they notice his eyes shining emerald.

  A deep booming laugh comes from the other end of the field as Drulk
makes his entrance. "You think I'd surrender to you, puny human. Hah!
Offer your own surrender now and you might just get out of here alive.
Otherwise prepare to meet your god firsthand!"

  Drulk stands as implacable and solid as ever in his midnight black
plate armour, longsword in one hand, scimitar in the other. His height
is the same as Tellafar, but the mul is clearly the more physically
developed of the two. "Well, what we waiting for?" He asks.

  As if in response, at that point the mayor utters the single word "begin."

  Drulk reacts almost instantly, like coiled spring released, he sprints
across the Arena towards his opponent, holding his swords above his head
with their blades crossed. "Come then, little birdie! I shall clip your
wings!" He challenges.

  Tellafar reacts a moment later by thrusting his arms into the air and
calling upon the power of Lathander. However, a frown soon crosses his
face as he realises that the mul is covering the ground between them
faster than he can request his god's aid.

  Abandoning his spell, Tellafar stares intensely at Drulk, and as the
gladiator closes within 30 yards, twin beams of energy leap from the
Morninglord's eyes, only to fizzle into nothingness when they get
somewhere between five to ten feet from their target.

  Drulk lets out a roar as he begins to feel his enemy within reach of
his blades, but the cool human is watching him carefully and just before
the mul can reach him, he disappears, only to reappear facing the back
of Drulk, some 15 feet from him.

  Drulk's roar turns to one of annoyance as he spins round and catches
sight of the priest. "Come back here," he growls.

  "Stand still, little birdie!! This won't hurt too much!" he jeers at
his opponent. He then moves to close the small gap between them, but
Tellafar blinks away once again. Not seeing him in front of him, Drulk
spins round and sees the human rubbing his heels together. "Not far
enough, little man," he says as he closes the distance between them.

  Tellafar looks up from his boots to find the black encased one bearing
down upon him. Drulk's blades swing down and Tellafar almost manages to
dodge them both, but in failing to avoid the longsword, he moves into
the scimitar. One sword opens a gash on his arm, while the other bites
more seriously into his leg.

  Before Tellafar has a chance to get away from Drulk, the mul is
attacking again. The human raises his staff to fend off the blows,
producing a masterful defence, but Drulk's attack is even better. With
extreme precision, the gladiator buries his longsword deep into
Tellafar's leg. Blood immediately discolours his shiny plate armour.

  Meanwhile, his scimitar comes around, opening a less servere wound on
Tellafar's arm. In response, Tellafar swings his staff around, aiming at
Drulk's legs. The only effect, however is to produce a loud ringing
sound as the wood hits metal, leaving the mul uneffected.

  "Hah, nice noise," says Drulk as he brings his weapons to bear once
more. This time the longsword misses, but the scimitar finds flesh once
again. Tellafar is still standing, but is beginning to look unsteady onhis
feet.

  Drulk unwisely takes a moment to raise his visor and leer at his
opponent. "Drulk hates to see little birdie suffer. Stand still and
Drulk will make the end come quick!"

  Tellafar's response is to back off from the mul while he's speaking.
Drulk tries to follow the nimble human but is too slow and Tellafar
gains the distance he needs. As the morninglord puts a few feet between
them, he suddenly speeds up, and then rises off of the ground.

  Drulk pursues, but by the time he catches up the human is too high to
be affacted by his magic negation. "Come back birdie," he growls, while
Tellafar smirks and flaps his arms.

  Drulk then stands where he is, waiting for Tellafar to come back
within range. The human, however continues to fly in small circles some
50' above the mul's head. As he does so, he calls upon the power of
Lathander and gradually his wounds fade from view, leaving him just as
when he entered the Arena, the only signs that he recently nearly died
are the dents in his armour. As the spell is completed without
interruption his smile broadens. "Now it's my turn," he says.

  Drulk continues to watch as Tellafar raises his hands toward the sun.
"Lathander, I call upon thee. Smash those who would oppose your
faithful with the fury of your light," he intones, and as he finishes
Drulk suddenly finds himself standing on an island of rock, surrounded
by a small sea of mud, with at least 30' to the nearest shore.

  With a small shock, the mul realises that he and his island are
beginning to sink. Tellafar just smiles at the mul's predicament.

  Tellafar keeps close watch on the Mull while he grabs a hammer which
hangs from his belt and hurls it at his opponent with frightening force.
The hammer misses and lands in the mud with a loud splat. Droplets of
mud, approaching Drulk return to rock and patter on the rock around hisfeet.

  Drulk nods at this, and begins to move. As he does so, the mud in
front of him returns to rock, and the mul is able to jump onto it,
regaining the height lost in sinking. Gradually the mul makes his way to
the side of the mud closest to the centre of the Arena.

  Meanwhile, Tellafar opens a pouch on his belt and releases two
gleaming stones which sparkle in the light and rise up to float aroundhis
head.

  "Your little magicks can't hurt Drulk! Stop playing and come down here
so we can finish this. Are you afraid of Drulk? Ha! Ofcourse you are!
Come down here little birdie, Drulk will end it quick for you!" Drulk
stands at the edge of the mud pit with his weapons held ready.

  Tellafar sighs, magic was obvious not the way to handle this and he
pulls out his sling. He loads a stone, twirls it around and with
tremendous force hurls it at the mull, quicker then seems possible he
repeats the process sending a second stone toward his opponent. Both
stones strike true, producing a loud clang from the force of their
impacts. As they bounce off, large dents can be seen in the black plate,
a hint at the bruising below.

  Tellafar grins at the clanking sound. "Ha, nice noise." He shouts and
quickly begins to swing another bullet.

  Rather than standing his ground and with an angry roar Drulk strides
off toward the entrance through which he came. "You win this day,
littlebirdie."

  With the retirement of Drulk, the mayor declares Tellafar the winner.

  Tellafar raises his eyebrows at the departing Drulk. "Too bad I was just
'getting into swing'." He grins and puts away his sling. "This day and every
day Drulk. See you at the tourney, perhaps you can still become second."

  He then goes thru the motions of another spell and light begins to
fill the Arena. "Lathander I praise you!" he shouts, "with your support
the Disciples will prevail." Then he flies out.