Sitting in the stands, the crowd waits eagerly for the next fight.  It
has been nearly 15 minutes since the last one ended, and the spectators are
beginning to get restless.  Finally, the judges announce that the next fight
is about to begin.  The doors at both ends of the Arena swing open.  Through
the doors on the west comes the first of the contestants.

    Glimshade Boldheart is a massive human being.  He wears the finest
of silks, but is wrapped mysteriously in his prismatic cloak of protection,
the scales of the phoenix shifting in a spectrum of orange, red, yellows and
golds that radiate all about him.  Letting only the hood fall back, his
sandy blond hair is shoulder length and his eyes a piercing amber.  There is
no passion, no emotion on his face at all, for he has been created for one
purpose and one purpose alone, no past, no present, no future...only this
fight and this moment...raising his hammer into the air the thunderbolts
crackle and spin as the electricity causes his hair to sweep back in an
unknown wind.

    From the opposite entrance comes his opponent.  Covered in the black
clothes of the assassin, Kymil steps into the Arena.  The half-elven thief
is said to dabble in necromancy, a practise that has apparently driven him
mad.  Circling his head is a gem, twinkling every so often, when the sun
hits them.  It could be a trick of the sun, but the crazed half-elf seems
surrounded by shadows.  Sneering across the Arena at his opponent, he awaits
the judge's call.

    The competitors names are announced and Kymil launches the spell
energies he has been holding.  Seven magic missiles streak across the Arena,
towards Glimshade.  Watching the approaching missiles, Glimshade activates
the psionics he has gathered, and vanishes.

    As soon as his opponent disappears, Kymil jumps to the side, in case of
an attack from behind.  As he scans the Arena for his opponent, the
necromancer begins another spell, and disappears as well.

    His teleport brings him out on the other side of the Arena, right by the
doors Glimshade came in through.  His eyes sweep the area, looking for any
sign of his competitor.

    Still not seeing him, Kymil begins another spell.  The crowd watches as
he is allowed to complete it uncontested.  However, there is no effect,
possibly due to Glimshade's continued absense.  Kymil doesn't seem to mind
the apparent futility of his spell, smiling and seeming quite pleased.

    Seemingly very sure of himself, Kymil leans against the wall, waiting
for his opponent to show.  The crowd, watching Kymil, notices that his elbow
has actually gone into the wall.  As the rest of his arm disappears into the
stone, and the smile remains upon his face, the crowd realizes this must be
one of the necromancer's workings.

    Soon the half-elf's entire body has slipped into the wall.

    With both of the competitors gone, the crowd starts to shift in their
seats.  They don't have long to wait though, as less than a minute passes
before Kymil jumps from the stone, with sword in hand.  Stabbing forward,
there is the sound of him hitting stone as he connects with his invisible,
and magically protected, opponent.

    Hearing the familiar clang of his sword hitting a stoneskin, Kymil pulls
his second shortsword and launches a flurry of attacks.  Three of his
strikes connect, and each is deflected by the stoneskin.  The crowd watches
breathlessly.  Obviously the half-elf is whittling down Glimshade's
protections in short order.  How many more strikes can his stoneskin
deflect?

    Kymil manages to land another blow, which is again deflected by the
stoneskin, before Glimshade disappears once more.  The half-elf dives
forward, but the warrior is gone.

    Standing, Kymil runs forward 200', almost to the center of the Arena.
Once there he goes into another, with no visible effect.  That done, the
crowd watches as he works his way through three spells in the space of a
minute.  First he calls up a protective spell, which glows blue as it
surrounds him.  The next spell creates an area of grease where his opponent
disappeared.  Lastly, he brings up a globe of darkness right in front of
him.

    Another half a minute passes, during which Kymil begins to grow, quickly
reaching over 10' in height.  As he goes into another spell Glimshade
appears in the air above.  Kymil doesn't notice him, as Glimshade launches a
set of five glowing magic missiles.

    Glimshade watches as the five magic missiles streak down at their
target.  Not even realizing he is under attack, Kymil continues with the
spell he is casting.  Just before the magic missiles slam into his back, the
half-elf's shadow actually appears to lift from the ground, moving to block
the incoming magic.  The missiles slam into the shadow and disperse.  The
shadow slips back to the ground.

    Figuring out what is going on, Kymil finishes his spell (to no visible
effect) and glances around, searching for Glimshade, all the while reaching
for the components for a third spell.  As he mouths the words to the spell,
his eyes settle on the top of the Arena.

    Quickly finishing his spell, he releases seven glowing magic missiles,
which race towards their target.  The missiles hit Glimshade, and burst into
harmless sparks.

    Glaring up at his opponent, Kymil goes into another spell.

    Reaching into a bag at his belt, Glimshade pulls out a handful of coins,
and hurls them at Kymil.  He then swoops down towards his opponent, holding
his hammer in a ready grip, prepared to enter melee.

    Seeing the approaching enemy, Kymil finishes his spell.  There is no
visible effect, and the spectators watch as Glimshade continues his rapid
descent.  At the last second Kymil jumps away, landing 30' distant.
Glimshade continues his flight, slamming into the ground where Kymil had
previously stood.

    As Glimshade lifts himself from the ground, he grabs his hammer and
looks over at his opponent.  The half-elf has already gone into another
spell.  As Glimshade watches, the spell is finished and Kymil extends his
hand.  From it shoots a cone of steam, which rushes forward to engulf
Glimshade.  Coughing and sputtering, the human finds himself in a cloud of
steam, which completely blocks his view of his opponent.

    Stumbling to the side, trying to escape the steam, Glimshade hears Kymil
chanting once more.  Making it out of the fog he sees Kymil, still about 30'
distant, trying to finish his spell.  Rushing forward, Glimshade swings at
the stone circling about Kymil's head.  As his hammer slams into the stone
it shifts slightly in it's course, but is otherwise unaffected.

    As Glimshade growls under his breath and pulls back to swing again,
Kymil finishes his spell.  Glimshade's swing goes through thin air.  Hearing
Kymil start another spell, and realizing the voice is a couple feet to the
left, Glimshade decides the half-elf must have a displacement effect in
operation.

    As he turns towards Kymil, the spell goes off and a bolt of lightning
arcs straight for Glimshade.  Dodging to the side, he manages to avoid the
worst of it.  However, this, in addition to the fall and the cone of steam,
proves to much for him and he collapses to the ground.

    As the priests come out the side doors, the judges declare Kymil the
winner.