"Greetings ladies and gentlemen.  Gathered today for your entertainment,
we present a battle of epic proportions.  Not a battle for the lame or
timid, this promises to be a spectacle of dazzling martial mastery!"  As he
pauses for effect, the crowd's voice cheers for the battle to begin.

    "Our first contestant, the great Athasian giant, Beast!  Born under the
harsh suns of the fabled world, Beast's blood boils with the
intensity of his home world.  How can any stand against the savage might,
this great warrior brings to bear?  We shall see..."

    From the shadowed darkness of the opened doors, Beast enters the Arena
with his gigantic Maul still strapped to his back. Usually looking as though
he is overwhelmed by bloodlust, Beast's visage bears a calm and nearly
intelligent appearance.

    "His challenger, born of the underworld, a land set with cold cruelty
and a singular punishment for failure, I present Scipio!  The signing stones
wrought with the magic and tenacity of generations past, flow with unbridled
passion within his veins."

    From the shadows, a figure emerges cautiously.  His frame is lean and
well-honed, barely reaching a third of Beast's towering height.  His dark
gray features seem to flow and blend, causing the eye to almost slide off of
him.  Clad in simple black leather breaches, soft low boots and a black
leather vest with many pockets, he is armed with a shortsword, darts, and a
pair of bolas.  Just as he steps forward for all to see, so do a half-dozen
more -each completely identical to the next.

    "Let this battle BEGIN!"

    A heartbeat after the announcer's commencement of the battle, Scipio's
forms begin to shift yet again.  All seven deep gnomes, begin to fade.  Not
into complete invisibility, but their outlines become indistinct and it
becomes very difficult to locate his true form.

    At the same time, Beast stretches out his gigantic arms and looks to the
crowd for applause for a split second before disappearing.  Motes of light
shimmered from his dazzling armor, as each cascaded off of him, he quickly
disappeared.  This crowd knew that Beast doesn't take time to mess around,
he likes a quick fight.

    With gasps of shock and cheers from the crowd Beast reappeared a few
paces right behind Scipio!  No longer hundreds of feet apart, the
difference in size between the two is staggering.  With a jolt of surprise
from the behemoth's sudden appearance, the host of gnomes leap away and up
into the air pausing in a hover almost 30' above the Arena floor.  Facing
his foe the diminutive gnome's digits wiggle like little worms.  From the
host of images, a thin bolts of white light streak toward Beast, one bolt
from each gnome -though only one is real.

    Beast's sinister eyes survey the collection of targets.  One of these
was his foe, the others were lies set to distract him.  Even then, seeing
the mass of magic heading toward him was daunting.  The bolt of light finds
its mark, not hitting Beast, but rather striking the massive maul secured to
him.  The magic flows and pulses over the enchanted weapon.  Then, with a
tingling sound like wind chimes in a soft breeze, the weapon of massive
destruction begins to shrink.  First, slowly but in a few seconds, it is no
more then a few inches in length.  No longer fitting its holdings the
trinket weapon falls to the Arena floor.

    "Foolish little man!" Beast roars as his massive form takes to the air
as well with equal grace and fluidity, "You'll soon learn better than to
pick on someone so much bigger than you!"  Leveling with the host of gnomes,
the half-giant's gaze settled and he brought both hands to bear.  "Feel the
fury of Athas!"  From his bear hands a bolt of energy erupted and closed the
distance, a couple dozen feet, in a second.  Striking one of the Scipio's,
it engulfed him -completely obscuring his form.

    Torn by pain that threatened to rip his body apart, Scipio could not
help but scream in defiance.  Finally, with a resounding cry of sheer will,
the gnome broke free from Beast's attack, unharmed.  The recoil and strain
from the assault left trails of sweat upon the half-giant's face.

    Like a picture in time, the image of the combatants seemed to freeze.
There they floated apart from one another, separated by only a small
distance of empty air.

    Scipio remains silent and focused, his eyes fixed on the giant's chin.
Then, with blinding speed he unleashes an onslaught of tiny
projectiles. The first pair skip off Beast's armor with no effect.  The
third, catches the adamantine gorget enough to shatter -releasing a small
cloud of pink vapor.  Beast snorts furiously, shaking his head to clear the
fumes from his face.  The following swarm of darts all find their mark upon
the giant.  Several gouge in toward his face, only to glance off his flesh
in a small display of sparks.  The last dart would have removed his eye, but
it was deflected by some other field of protection.

    Beast glances down at his now tiny hammer and his bottom lip curls.
Beast opens his gaping mouth, emitting a terrifying battle cry before flying
full speed toward Scipio. "Now you have gone too far little one!
Mercifulness is not a quality I posses!"  The sight of Beast dominates
Scipio's view, as he giant flies straight toward the real gnome!  Even as
Scipio drifts back, it is not enough to evade Beast's grasp.  With his giant
right hand, Beast locks onto Scipio's left shoulder.  With his prey's
movement severally hindered, Beast lunges in with his maw open wide,
serrated teeth bared for all to see.  In a flash, Beast's mouth locks upon
Scipio's face.  Teeth crush down with enough force to rip the gnome's head
from his shoulders.

    But the gnome remains resilient and unharmed!  Beast's face creases in
confusion.  Where he should have tasted bone and torn flesh, his only reward
was a painful jaw and chipped canine.

    The booing cries from the crowd streamed across the Arena.  But for
every boo, there was the cries for blood and fierce battle!

    Beast touched his sore jaw, not quite expecting the toughness of the
deep gnome (though he had heard stories).  With his opponent momentarily
distracted Scipio lashed out with his slender arms.  Given any other
position, he would never have been able to reach, but with Beast trying to
bite his head off, striking the giant's face wasn't hard.

    Or so he thought.  The first two strikes, lunges with crossed fingers
lashed out straight toward Beast's eyes.  Trying to succeed where his dart
failed, Scipio soon found a taste of disappointment when both strikes miss.
Following through, with hasted movements, the gnome's hand cup and slam open
either side of Beast's head.  The first strike seems but a nuisance to
Beast, but the second slams upon his ear with force that one would not
expect in the little combatant.  As the second strike lands, a loud clap
-deafening to Beast- tears from Scipio's palm.  The bolt of lightning
slamming straight into the side of Beast's head -peeling the flesh from his
ear and burning cartilage black.  In the wake of the blows, Scipio breaks
from Beast's grasp and begin flying down and back away from the giant.

    Beast's voice filled the Arena in a single bellow.  Those that were
standing sat, as though struck by the Athasian's rage.  His anger
swelled, not from the wound -it was but a nuisance- but rather from the
stunty's impudence.  Continuing to roar, Beast lunged down toward the gnome
with rage and magical speed.  Where his hand should have clasped the gnome's
should, Scipio turned at the last second.  It was too late to arrest the
charge and Beast slammed into the Arena floor so hard the end doors rattled
on their hinges.  The giant's right leg, from his and to his hip, his first
bending awkwardly before returning.  Pain danced over his face and the
giant's mind reeled from the stumble.  For the moment, he could not regain
his bearing.

    It was an opportune moment for Scipio and the crowd new it.  Their
shouts returned in full force, screaming, "Kill him.  Blast his face off!"

    While his giant foe is dazed, Scipio' hands flash summoning the weave.
As the brief spell manifest, a large glob of yellow goo erupts from the very
air in front of Beast and covers most of the giant.  Doused, the giant still
reels from his impact, unable to retaliate.

    Flying in closer, the gnome hovers at Beast's right side.  Locking both
of his thumbs together, Scipio says a single word.  Flames jet from his
fingers in a horizontal fan of purple and crimson, tongues of fire dance and
lick over Beast, burning him slightly and catching the goo aflame.  From the
intense heat, Scipio is forced to fly backwards several feet, while Beast
sputters and pops.

    With the space of several yards, the deep gnome calls another spell
forth.  This time, at the culmination of his casting, a wave of paralyzing
energy cascades over Beast's body, trying to lock his limbs.  Its affects
are lost as the giant continues to wildly float about while on fire from
head to toe.

    The little wizard continues his barrage of magic upon the seemingly
helpless Beast.  Diminutive arms blaze in circles tracing another pattern in
the air.  Magical light shimmer and fade as his spell slowly takes form.
With his words completed, the gnome hurls a small ball of energy toward
Beast.  Striking the ground, ripple of magic flows outward over the
hard-packed earth floor.  As the wave stops about 30' from where it started,
the area liquefies into a flowing muck.  Almost expecting the reeling giant
to sink, he doesn't and it kept aloft a few inches above the muddy pool.

    Sputtering and popping their last, the greasy flames die off of Beast's
body revealing an unscathed and rather angry giant.  Where burns from magic
and flame should be, an aura of soft blue light cascades.

    Beast points a long thick finger toward Scipio and begins to laugh
heartily at his short opponent and declares with a booming voice, "Ha,
hohohoho! You have no chance of defeating me little man. Now you will die!".
  Even with his wounded leg, Beast's magical flight hurtles his
giant form toward Scipio with dazzling speed.

    Inwardly the Gnome smiles in admiration at his foe.  Outwardly, the
gnome nods and smiles, apparently unconcerned.

    The crowd erupts in a massive cry!  Cheers and hoots fill the air as
most of the patrons find themselves on their feet.

    Seemingly expecting such an attack, Scipio drifts left and right in the
air like a stone sprite.  But he wasn't fast enough.  Beast's massive foot
arced up and around, fueled by a thigh the size of two men's' chests.  With
a bone crushing clatter, the gnome is hurled back several feet slightly
dazed by the strike.  Immediately following two more kicks, both his Beast's
good leg slam into the gnome -one more to the head and the last striking the
gnome's chest in a grazing blow.

    Amazingly Scipio's face shows no sign of bruising or deformed skull
fractures, as one might expect from receiving blows that would rip an oak in
half.

    Recovering from the impact, Scipio's hand rests upon a stout rod of dull
metal, strapped to his thigh.  Seemingly by force of sheer will, the item's
power begins to flow.  In the time of a single breath, the rod glows a
golden hue which runs up his arm across his shoulders and out to this
extended palm.  There it breaks free from the gnome streaking away and
slamming silently into Beast's huge chest.  Ripples of magic wash over him
with loud crackles and pops.  In a few seconds it is gone with no signs it
was ever there.

    Though his foe remains within the pulsating sphere of magical
protection, Scipio does not relent.  Flying higher and placing his back to
the dimmed sun, the tenacious gnomes - all eight of them- unleash another
volley of darts.  Like a swarm of anger hornets, they streak in to meet
Beast.

    Of the volley only a few hit, most deflected by some magical aura about
him.  But a few seem to have other effects.  The first shatters on the
field, exploding into a small pink cloud of glittering dust.  Unfortunately
for Beast, the cloud catches him full in the face and nose.  Within seconds,
his head begins to swim and the blurred host of gnomes begin to spin about
him.  The next three darts explode as it strikes the giant's magical
protections.  This time into a small sprays of vicious blue liquid.
Droplets land upon Beast's flesh and armor.  Instantly the giant roars in
pain, as the acid sizzles and burns fissures in his facial flesh.

    Enraged, the pain does seem to clear his head slightly.  Rage focuses as
the giant hurtles through the air flailing madly at the images of the
gnomes.  The first swing, though thrown wildly, manages to shatter one of
the images.  The second and third blow strike solidly upon one of the
gnomes, though no harm is caused.  The last, a wild and angry kick, catches
a solid gnome.  Whether the gnome was expecting it to fall upon his images
and blurred form or if it was just blind luck behind Beast's punch, the blow
landed true.  The plated foot strikes Scipio's skull with the force to
shatter a boulder twice his size.  But it doesn't.  In seconds, where the
blurred solid gnome was, a host of six others dance and Beast loses his
quarry's location.

    Surrounded by images of gnomes, Beast continues to fight like an enraged
behemoth.  Fists sail through the air catching nothing but
illusions, sending a pair of them shimmering out of sight.  One strike
manages to land solid, but Scipio is unfazed.

    The gnome's hand falls to his rod once again.  The crowd cannot be sure
what is going on, since there is no visible effect.  But obviously Scipio's
magic has taken hold, as a look of terror flashes across Beast's face.  The
gladiator swings at the air, then his face contorts in pain, and he
collapsed to the ground.

    The judges declare Scipio the winner.