The voice of the announcer rings out over the stands, "The fighter are 
now in the prep rooms.  The fight begins in five minutes.  Make sure that 
all bets are settled by then."

    The small-time bookies, who have (for the most part) been ignored over 
the months since the Mayor's ban on betting, work their way through the 
crowd.  Despite having to pay a large percentage of their profits to the 
city for the privilege of working the crowd, the bookies have been able to 
make quite a bit over the last few months.  The odds today favor Throm, who 
will again be facing off against the dwarven warrior, Rinac.  In their last 
meeting Rinac served as a pincushion for Throm's arrows.  In todays fight, 
Throm has agreed to leave his bow behind when he enters the Arena.

    Suddenly, a pounding can be heard.  Starting off almost too low to hear 
over the din of the crowd, they grow in volume over the next couple minutes, 
drawing the attention of all those in the stands.  Finally the signal is 
given and the doors grind open.  Standing behind the first set to open, 
hammers in hand, is the dwarf, Rinac.  Most of his body is covered in a 
finely crafted suit of dwarven plate armor.  An axe is strapped to his chest 
and an angry, determined expression is plastered on his face.

    Stepping from the gates at the other end is, Rinac.  Muttering breaks 
out in the stands as people try to figure out which is the real one.  
However, those who watched Rinac's first fight point out that the real Rinac 
is covered in steel armor, whereas the new Rinac, who is presumably Throm 
using his race's natural polymorphing ability, wears a suit of well-worn 
leather armor.  In one hand is a silver shortsword.

    There is a moment of silence as the judges verify that it is indeed 
Throm who entered the Arena.  Then, the signal to begin is given.  With a 
yell Rinac begins a charge across the Arena.  Before he has gotten a dozen 
steps, Throm points his free hand at the charging dwarf.  A dim, barely seen 
dome forms around Rinac.  Then, the dome breaks up into small specks and, 
like a swarm of bees, flies straight for the dwarf.  Continuing his charge, 
Rinac is hit in the back by the motes of light, which seem to enter his body 
with no harm to him.

    However, like poison filtering into him, each one of the motes slows him 
down just a little.  As the last one hits him, Rinac is crossing the Arena 
maybe half as fast as he was before.

    With his opponent still 180 feet away, and under the effects of his slow 
spell, the dwarf who is Throm seems content to wait for Rinac to come to 
him.

    Rinac, still running forward, albeit slowly, isn't content to wait until 
he reaches his foe to attack.  A look of hate plain on his face, Rinac hurls 
his hammers, sending them flying across the interveneing distance, one just 
behind the other.

    Seeing the oncoming hammers, Throm ducks to the side, dodging the first. 
  However, that puts him right in line with the second, which slams into his 
shoulder, knocking him back.

    Both hammers continue in the flight, arcing around just before they slam 
into the wall of the Arena.  Within half a minute they are back in Rinac's 
hands.

    Stumbling to the wall of the Arena, Throm mutters a word under his 
breath.  Instantly, a blue flame spings from the ring on his hand.  The fire 
quickly spreads from his hand, up his arm and over his entire body.  Within 
seconds he is engulfed in flames.  However, they seem thin, and seem to have 
no effect on Throm.

    Charging forward, Rinac closes the distance between himself and his 
double.  With his hammers back in hand, he quickly moves to crush his 
opponent's skull.  However, before he can put his hammers to work, Throm 
brings his hands up.  Cupping them in front of him, he suddenly thrusts 
forward, towards Rinac.  Staggering backwards, Rinac shivers in the sudden 
cold.  A thin layer of frost can be seen covering his normally red beard.

    Shaking away the cold, Rinac steps forward again, bringing his hammers 
whistling down at Throm.  However, he is still under the effects of Throm's 
slow spell, and the polymorphed ogre mage is able to avoid all but the last 
swipe of Rinac's hammers, which slams into his shoulder.  As the hammer 
connects though, the flames surrounding Throm lash out, striking at Rinac.

    With anger and hatred increasing over the coldness brought on by Throm, 
Rinac continues to attack with his hammers, this time trying to connect with 
both of them.  At the same time, Throm pulls his sword from it's sheath.  In 
his other hand, as if by magic, appears a dagger.

    Though Rinac stills moves slowly, he has more experience in melee combat 
and still manages to slam his hammers into Throm's body.  However, each time 
he does, the fire aura surrounding Throm lashes out at the dwarven warrior.  
Yet, despite the magical injuries, Rinac is still able to deflect his 
enemy's sword strike, though the dagger slips through his defenses and 
punches a hole in Rinac's armor, stabbing into his stomach.

    Backpedaling, trying to put some space between himself and his double, 
Rinac keeps his hammers in a defensive position.  Throm seems comtent to let 
his opponent withdraw, and turns his attention to the ring on his hand.  
Seconds later, Rinac (now about 15 feet away and still slowly moving 
backwards) feels the ground start to give beneath him.  Looking down, he 
sees that the stone floor of the Arena has changed to a thick mud.

    As the dwarven warrior begins to sink he looks with hate-filled eyes at 
his foe.  Bringing his hammers up, he hurls them at the smiling Throm.  The 
first one misses, flying a foot to the side, but the second hammer connects, 
slamming into his neck.  There is the sound of bones breaking, and just as 
he sinks into the pool of mud, Rinac sees Throm's body fall face first into 
the mud.

    After conferring briefly, the judges declare Rinac the winner and signal 
to the guards to fish him out of the magically created mud.  Ducking to 
avoid scraping the top of the door frame, an Iceling (standing over 15 feet 
tall), steps into the Arena through one of the guard entrances.  With an 
annoyed expression on his face he climbs into the mud and fishes around 
until he finds Rinac, who comes up spluttering and gasping for air.

    At about the same time, Throm floats out of the mud.  Hovering in the 
air, he morphs back to his natural form.  He is just drawing his weapon when 
the announcer declares again that Rinac is the winner.  As he moves forward 
to appeal the decision, on the grounds that both fighters are still alive 
and capable of fighting, the judges inform him that their decision is final.

    Covered in mud, but victorious, Rinac heads out of the Arena, presumably 
to find somewhere to wash off.  Throm, muttering something under his breath, 
strides out of the Arena throughout the opposite doors.