the Rift


[JUDGED] On 3. 1...2...| Iso v. Kaj

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#1

 

Isopia was still not entirely sure she liked being told what to do. It was something she rallied against during her days in the Edge, and still persisted now. Time had not tempered her opinion of democracy and rank-based authority. As far as she was concerned, reason would always reign supreme. It just so happened, that with this task, she at least saw the point of it. 

So, Isopia lingered next to the Blood Falls, waiting for Kaj. The two always seemed to meet next to a body of water, and something about the ruby-red pigment that the water always seemed to hold, seemed especially fitting. This was a spar after all, and while the dramatic flair of the background stirred no feelings of battle-rage or anxiety within the demi-god, it still somehow seemed like a good place for this. If only to keep up the appearance that she was normal in at least some regards.

Then again, Kaj knew her better than that, even if he still did not know her name.

Snorting, Isopia turned to scan the skies. Her golden gaze scanned a sky dappled with clouds. Her eye lashed compressed to block the sun from her eyes as she passed over the noon-day orb. Would Kaj merely descend to attack her? Would they speak? Isopia's experience with sparring was pathetically short, but her errors numerous. She simply did not understand. Not of this came naturally to her, as other more academic or philosophical pursuits did. Her mind seemed more naturally to gravitate towards turning inward and thinking, than it did to fashioning her body into a weapon. Still, objectively she was aware that her lineage did lend itself well to this aspect of being. 

But it all seemed more or less unaffective. Couldn't she just argue an opponent into submission? Isopia was fairly certain she could.



Blood Falls - noon. some clouds. 
WC: 309
Attack: 0.3
Seasonal Spar with @Kaj



ISOPIA
IN REALITY'S SHADOW THE BLIND SEE BEST
Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Kaj The Aurelight Posts: 381
Hidden Falls Conscript atk: 4.0 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2hh :: 8 Years 9 Months HP: 69.5 | Buff: ENDURE
Arabella :: Common Zephyr :: Wakiya Brit
#2

Kaj

comets fell from the sky,
I took your breath, you took my sorrow


Ever since the Time God battle, Kaj had been dreading the seasonal spars. He knew the injury’s extreme nature was born of his own stupidity and stubbornness, but the Aurelight had never anticipated such a life-shattering change in his relatively young life. The stag walked with a pronounced limp, left shoulder jutting awkwardly, unwilling to shift. Glass metal lay familiar against his neck as he headed out, preparing himself beforehand. He carried it like the burden of a memory it was, of dark-lipped smiles and buoyant laughter. The chainmail could not be properly felt along the ridge of his left shoulder, which only dropped his mood further. The nerves were either deadened or aching, and there was little to no relief to be found on damp days. Kaj had never been more thankful for Tallsun, if only so his bones would stop feeling like they were aching all the way through his skeleton. He feared defeat, feared the contemplative look that he knew would begin to form in the eyes of his flock, wondering if he was capable of defending them any longer. He feared having his crown taken from him, the only life he’d known for the past countless years he’d been in Helovia. The entire time he’d been a soldier, since the moment he’d grappled and clawed for the Wingleader position in the Edge, and then he’d been a Lead ever since. What else could he possibly know how to do? Who was Kaj, without a title, without a flock to protect and a family to serve? What was he?
 
It was a terrifying notion, made only further horrifying by the idea that he didn’t even know who he was without his mantle. Had he disappeared so firmly into his role that any individuality had been erased? Without it, would he crumple, a useless heap of flesh and bone with no guidance and no purpose? The thoughts plagued him as he moved east, skin crawling with the reminder of the territory where he’d lost a portion of his mobility. He hated the feeling of weakness, of brokenness, but he could not leave Isopia waiting on the battlefield as so many others had left him. He had to try, and if he was to fail and fall beneath her young, inexperienced blows…at least Kaj would finally know his limitations, would know whether he deserved to continue to hold the title of Czar.
 
He prayed she’d look upon his defeat with grace, if the time ever came. It was sad that Kaj trusted no one else with his downfall, craving her rationality and the peace that came with it. He’d wanted to speak to her for so long, but the god battles gave no time between. He wanted to be insignificant once more, to speak with her plainly, his heart the only emotional burden that separated his ideals from her own. Odd, how he missed her, and yet never sought her out before now.
 
Seeing Isopia standing in a world drenched in red made him shiver. Though she was removed – or at least distanced – in her compassions, Kaj cared for her. Sentimental old fool he was, he despised seeing her in a landscape that held so many metaphors of death and loss. There was no time to waste talking, his heart too heavily burdened with the crippling shadow of potential loss. He turned his face into the sun, trying to find enough solace to continue on, before his eyes opened to gaze upon Isopia.
 
“Good luck, naamloos,” he called across the distance, already shifting restlessly. She was tall, taller than he, and it reminded him of fighting Maskan and Bronze. They were the only ones he’d engaged with that had ever matched him physically, and he was used to those tactics, fighting from a height advantage. This would be an entirely new experience, a further disadvantage.
 
Kaj steadied himself. He would save a flighted battle for when his leg turned too far south, keep Isopia on the ground where her raven form couldn’t lend her more airborne agility. He charged forward, favoring his right leg, wings tucked tight as he remembered how Bronze had targeted them in the past. For a second he almost aimed for her knee, instinct telling him to cripple her joint to end the fight fast, but then he recalled the wounded scream Resplendence had let out when he’d allowed himself to slip too far into his headspace of violence and quickly changed plans. Right shoulder aimed for the soft spot behind Isopia’s right leg where her ribs lay, seeking to use his mass to shove her closer to the water that would slow her movements. Prayed that he would not wound her as grievously as he had Resplendence. He’d never be able to forgive himself. 

- - -


Word Count: {800/800} because Kaj is a wordy bastard
Attack: {1/3}


Credits


@Isopia

credit bronzehalo
Please only tag starting posts, spars, and threads collecting dust!
Plot with me here!

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#3

 

Isopia was entirely (and perhaps blissfully) ignorant of the type of emotion that plagued her leader. Winning with humility, or losing with dignity - and indeed, offering such comforts to her opponents - had never even crossed her mind. When her body had been beaten into the sands by Abraham and his dragon-warriors, she had felt no embarrassment, no remorse or regret. The outcome had merely been what it was, and the earthen-girl had learned from it. There was no room in her logical framework for the lapses in judgement that accompanied emotion.

Perhaps that explained the lack of apprehension in her placid golden gaze, or the way her muscles failed to tense and her body did not ready itself, as Kaj's creamy bulk rocketed her way. In her previous spar, her body had disobeyed, listening instead to instinct in an effort to save itself, when Isopia had wanted it to simply accept the pain which was coming to it. She had worked to dull that primal response, and was determined not to let the ingrained reflexes that lived in her bones show themselves in this fight. Her mind did not know fear, and she needed her body to forget that it did.

A shield of rock appeared before her, drawn up seemingly from the soil. It had helped to protect her against dragon fire, and she thought it would help now too. However what the earthen-girl failed to realize, was that the dragon fire had not been moving. Although it had taken energy then to steady her rocky-defense, she didn't have to hold it in place against an oncoming force of this magnitude. And so it should have been no surprise that Isopia was entirely unprepared as Kaj roughly shoved into her nonetheless - forcing her own stony creation against her shoulder and flank. Her large hooves skittered backwards, and the demi-god felt painful and dull radiating points of pressure against her right side. Confusion and her failed defenses had broken her concentration, and her shield crumbled, leaving only jagged pieces of rock in its wake. Isopia's teeth clenched together as she stifled a grunt of pain, still determined not to allow her body to dictate her actions. Her mind tried to self-scan her body, to focus upon the pain and understand it, rather than run away from it. But she found it difficult to focus as her hooves danced to try and regain balance and the crimson world spun around her. The pain just seemed to be there, hot and cold, dull and wide and flat and burning and -- her mind scrolled through adjectives but none seemed to capture what it was she was feeling.

Move on. Her mind instructed itself. It is your turn to attack.

That was one thing she found she did like about sparring - there was an obvious mechanics to it. An almost civilized back and forth. She did find it odd, however. In her recent encounters with the Rift-Gods, there had been no game play. It had been a frenzy - why then were spars set up like this? Why did they not replicate real battles?

She would ask Kaj later. For now, she would follow custom and take her turn.

Isopia rarely used her body to fight, instead preferring to hone her magic, and today would be no different. This was partially due to the fact that she couldn't take a deep breath without her shoulder and rib cage screaming in defiance, but also due to the fact that even without this early-injury, the demi-god didn't think she could best Kaj physically. He was likely just as strong as she, and was certainly more agile. And unlike her, he had done this more than just a handful of times. 

Forcing her mind to ignore the pain in her right side, Isopia allowed her hooves to settle on the silty sands that hugged the crimson pool. Her magic grabbed the rocks which had once composed her failed-shield, and heated them instantly as she hurtled them towards Kaj. Unlike her Czar, she didn't not consider 'going easy', or trying to avoid hurting him too badly. No one had ever told her that such courtesies applied, and regardless of how academic her mind was, it did not easily surmise un-articulated social rules.

So she threw her rocks at his face, chest, and knees - entirely unconcerned for long term problems this could potentially pose for her Czar.




Blood Falls - noon. some clouds. 
WC: 738
Attack: 1.3
Seasonal Spar with @Kaj



ISOPIA
IN REALITY'S SHADOW THE BLIND SEE BEST
Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Kaj The Aurelight Posts: 381
Hidden Falls Conscript atk: 4.0 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2hh :: 8 Years 9 Months HP: 69.5 | Buff: ENDURE
Arabella :: Common Zephyr :: Wakiya Brit
#4

Kaj

comets fell from the sky,
I took your breath, you took my sorrow


Kaj was not a creature of hesitation. Or at least, once upon a time he had not been. He’d conquered battlefields with nothing but a discordant hum inside his head, living a life of action and reaction. Kaj knew what it meant to be thoughtless and obedient, to not feel guilt simply because he was told not to. So much had changed in Helovia, he had changed. As he felt the earth crumble beneath the might and weight of his massive body, felt Isopia’s similarly large frame come into contact, he wondered if he missed those years of ignorane. The fear and guilt that swelled up to choke him immediately as their hides touched – slammed, for how impact ricocheted up his frame to jostle his thoughts into fragments of regret and hesitation – nearly had him calling an end to the fight right then. Kaj could hear Resplendence screaming in the undercurrent of their bodies meeting, the signals of dull pain in his right shoulder a reminder of the harm he could cause Isopia. Isopia, whom he’d wanted to be his - to be his blood - a union of himself and Kahlua that could have been, in another realm, another lifetime. Kaj could not cause Isopia that same pain, even if it led to his downfall and disgrace. He could not do to her what he’d done to Resplendence, could not let himself regress into the machine the act of faux-battle always tried to make him. No matter how it may naturally work for Isopia, Kaj knew that if he tried to follow her into that headspace…it would be a spar no longer, it would be a fight to the death.
 
Momentum instinctually carries him forward, superior agility lending lighter steps on the sinking, familiar depths of sand beneath his weight. It reminds him of Bronze in the Island’s sparring arena, of Maskan on the arid sands with the wind that had stung his hide. It’s familiar, and he digs his large hooves into the solid wetness hidden below and lets his speed carry onward, all too aware that Isopia would be gathering herself for retaliation and wanting to be out of range if possible. Maskan rumbled happily in his head, reminding him to keep moving, he could do more damage with speed behind his weight. Unfortunately that also rang true for Isopia. Kaj didn’t mind bearing the brutality of Isopia’s blows emotionally, but his pride still struggled uselessly against him, demanding a win lest he fail in all aspects of his life. Plus Isopia towered above him, a dangerous force even with her lack of training, and he didn’t intend to stick around to feel the brunt of her weight and power.
 
Sand stings against his legs as he adjusts course, swinging left as he carries onward, his injured shoulder aching beneath the strain of putting his weight upon it in order to turn. The world is a dizzying wash of crimson, and he can feel his heart pulsing in his throat as his hindquarters swing high automatically. Massive hooves lash out towards Isopia’s right ribs and flank, trying to push her further towards the water than his shove had. He had agility on his side, but Isopia could fight for longer in her youth and breed. Kaj needed to make her struggle, sap at her energy reserves. He finds himself second guessing every attack, instinctive though they are. Tries to pull his punches, so to say. Can’t bear to see Isopia turn this land any redder with blood he may force from her hide.
 
Kaj can only hold the position for so long after he kicks out at her, stumbles forward in the sand as he comes out of it. It’s ungraceful, but he can’t care beyond the twinging fire that burns through his scar and the joint of his shoulder. It makes him panic, makes him feel the strangling desire to win all over again, warring with his desire to protect Isopia. He doesn’t know what to do, and he knows that the battle is as much within himself as it is against Isopia. Instead he flees, lunging forward and off the burning limb, trying to get distance between himself and the demi-god with a few long-legged strides. Maybe it could help him run from the demons inside of him as well. 

- - -


Word Count: {725/800}
Attack: {2/3}


Credits


@Isopia

credit bronzehalo
Please only tag starting posts, spars, and threads collecting dust!
Plot with me here!

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#5

 

Isopia’s attacks miss often. And for all of her emotionlessness, she does feel frustration. Its roots are simply more academically planted, as opposed to those around her, who often feel frustration as an emotional response. Her frustration however, was truly just that: frustrated actions. Was it her body, or her magic which consistently misjudged distances? Why was it that this body, conceived and grown to achieve balance, failed and faltered so often? It wasn’t like she flailed at the world and somehow expected her misguided attempts to one day just consolidate into something useful - every created rock and every instance of her strength was adjudicated in her mind and considered. She attempted to improve upon each of her failures and yet …. they continued to mount. Why? She had never sparred in the Blood Falls before, but the setting was not so different as to be the entire culprit. After all, the afternoon dappling of sunlight through the trees was just like the regular Falls. And although the water here ran crimson, it was not markedly different from the lakes and pools that flooded her home.

Putting aside these questions until later, Isopia focused on the task at hand.

Having never been in an aerial battle before, the idea of using her wings to evade Kaj’s charge did not even occur to her, and so instead the girl prepared herself for impact. Not wanting to endure more pain through her already damaged right side, Isopia swung her massive body to the right, allowing Kaj’s hooves to strike her squarely in the chest. Not for the first time, the girl had to stifle the sound of a pained wheeze escaping her lips. The air that rushed from her system, expelled by Kaj’s force, was not something she could control. However the whine of her own weakness, was.

Her large hooves skittered backwards, and she felt water begin to coat her ankles as she was forced to retreat blindly into the pool. The imagery of the earthen child, death marked from birth, standing in a pool of crimson was likely lost upon Kaj who was lunging forward and away from her. He out of any that she knew, might have found the imagery poetic, as might Isopia if she could have seen herself. As it was, all Isopia could see were stars haphazardly coating her vision as two welt-like points of pain lingered on her chest.

Your turn, her inner voice reminded her once again. Internally Isopia nodded, pleased with herself that at least this part of a spar - this physical call and response - was clear to her. Little did she know the I attack, then you attack rhythm she was used to could be easily disturbed. It didn’t even occur to her that, as she forced herself to move forward out of the crimson waters, that Kaj might yet attack her again.

On long and lanky limbs, Isopia pulls herself after Kaj. As he wanted, her muscles burn as her hooves sink into the sand. Not only is her body a foreign ally, but it is a woefully un-athletic one. Isopia spends her days thinking, not training, and so screaming limbs are added to her myriad of bodily pains. Her nostrils flare as they suck and expel air. Her nose tucks towards her bruised chest as she makes her way over the small knoll and onto the grass. Lashing out from this position yields only one option: her horns. Without much grace or fluidity, Isopia threw herself to the left (continuing to favour her wounded right side), to try and strike out at Kaj’s right hip, or flank. With her nose still curled to her chest, she thrust upwards, hoping that one of two horns on that side of her head would be effective against the muscles of his thigh or flank. She didn’t know what it would be like, to try and inflict damage (or mitigate it) using her horns, and so her thrust was hard and far from careful. Would it tear him open? Or would it yield merely a flesh wound?

The girl had no idea.




Blood Falls - noon. some clouds. 
WC: 687
Attack: 2.3
Seasonal Spar with @Kaj



ISOPIA
IN REALITY'S SHADOW THE BLIND SEE BEST
Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Kaj The Aurelight Posts: 381
Hidden Falls Conscript atk: 4.0 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 17.2hh :: 8 Years 9 Months HP: 69.5 | Buff: ENDURE
Arabella :: Common Zephyr :: Wakiya Brit
#6

Kaj

comets fell from the sky,
I took your breath, you took my sorrow


He can feel his cowardice chasing him down like braying hellhounds, scenting his blood and running the trail behind him. It’s almost as intense an emotion as the guilt he feels as his hind hooves strike against skin, muscle, and sinew. It reverberates up his hind legs, the strike pushing him farther forward onto his bad leg until he’s jerking and stumbling as he flees. She is huge and intimidating in her half-blooded godliness, but he hears her wheeze and capitulate beneath his own formidable power nonetheless. It echoes in his ears, drives him stumbling in the sand and surf away from her, wondering if she’d forgive him should he simply refuse to stop running. How he had escaped unscathed so far wasn’t something floating around inside his brain, in that moment. His emotions were too volatile, too close to the surface to reason against or fight through. Instead he flees, trying not to wonder whether the sound of her pained wheeze would haunt him like Resplendence’s screams still did.
 
Even as he contemplates his cowardly escape, he instinctively tucks his right wing against his sides, not wanting to obscure his peripheral vision. The delicate bones invert towards the shelter behind his shoulder as if sentient, the reminder of Bronze’s attack and the feeling of hooves smashing down upon them from the Time God battle making him far more leery than normal. Everything is warring inside him; self-hatred for his cowardice, despair over hurting Isopia, determination to win to prove to himself that maybe he wasn’t as broken and useless as he thought. It’s wiped away by the sound of sucking, shushing hoofbeats, wonders in some odd half-space in his head whether Isopia hates fighting in sand as much as he does. Only when he feels sand spray up against his hind right leg does he realize that she’s pursuing him for a reason, and his twisting emotions are his downfall. They take up too much space inside Kaj’s head, buzzing like angry hornets, and he reacts too slow once he finally realizes that, hey you big idiot, you’re still fighting. He falters, hooves skidding in the sand, what little momentum he has mustered dying out as he tries to swing his front half to the left, give her less space to land her attack. It doesn’t work as well as he’d hoped, his injured leg incapable of that kind of speed and agility any longer.
 
As fire soaks through the muscles of his left shoulder, Kaj sees the blur of her death-marked face and knows he can’t avoid her. The thought is barely done forming when she strikes, and maybe with another opponent it would have been less painful but she is as powerful (more, perhaps, if he allows his already wounded pride to admit it) and her attack is far more painful than any other. Her horns slice up the meat of his right hindquarter, kissing the top of his hip like a scalding brand before jerking free, deep enough for blood and with enough of a punch from her power to bruise. His reaction is immediate, warping around the pain and how it draws him back screaming and kicking into the past where pain meant you had to strike or die. Forehooves dig into the forgiving sand, neck arching and head tucking as he keeps his hindquarters low, hoping she’s still moving with how his shoulder had stalled his own attempts at speed. They strike out, skin pulling and blood oozing sluggishly from the dull, painful scrapes as he kicks at the joint of her left hind leg. It’s Resplendence all over again, but he’s back in that hellish black and white world of kill or be killed. Falls into the muted silence like a body into a grave, too tired to fight his own emotions. Kaj welcomes the embrace of familiarity as his hind hooves touch down once more, uses his strong, functioning right foreleg to spin himself to the right towards where he hopes Isopia is, teeth glinting in the afternoon sunlight. There is no block and parry here, where he cowers defeated and tired in the silence of his mind, hiding behind instinct and bloodied memories.
 
Instead he lunges for her, teeth aiming for the meaty flesh of the left side of her crest, throwing all of his formidable weight to the right to try and slam into the bone of her left wing. If it lands, he hopes it will scrape his teeth down the width of her neck, each action planned for maximum effect in his hindbrain. He’d held to his sanity and morality the entire fight, but he is weak. Kaj is a coward, and he knows it as he lets his mind go blank.
 

---

Words: {800/800}
Attack: {3/3}
This sucks and I’m sorry but I wanted it up before finals haha


Credits


@Isopia

credit bronzehalo
Please only tag starting posts, spars, and threads collecting dust!
Plot with me here!

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#7

 

The girl was tired. Not quite so tired as she had been during her spar with Abraham, but very nearly. Was it the sand and the red waters which were sapping her strength? Or simply the weight of constant inaccuracy and defeat? Rarely if ever did Isopia rely on her heritage and lineage or use it as a crutch, but dammit, she was someone (even if she hated to admit it). She was a damned demi-god, and if she couldn't even landed a damned attacked well then --

-- the muscles in her neck tightened as her forward momentum slowed slightly. The resistance was relatively minor, and she could actually feel the exact second where her horn left Kaj's flesh, if only because it moved more freely. Then there was the blood. It dripped down her muzzle, staining the white hairs of her deathly-marking, and bolstering her confidence in a way too dark and macabre for her mind to even reconcile.

Had she ever felt blood  like this before? Had it ever touched her, in a way so directly related to her actions and intentions?

Not that she likely would have had the battle-forged anticipation to have avoided Kaj's attack, but that her mind was already distracted by the crimson liquid slowly drying on her muzzle, made his kick all the more inevitable. Isopia felt a dull thud against the broad (and underdeveloped) muscles of her chest. It womped through her body in a way that she couldn't quite articulate, other than to pin her ears and grit her teeth to stifle the cry of pain her body wanted to emit. The pain felt resounding, albeit muted. As if the weariness that permeated through her body, also plagued Kaj's. Though perhaps that was just the rationality of her mind trying to understand how battles worked. In reality, there should be no good reason for the weariness she felt to be similarly felt by Kaj. He was in better physical shape than she - even though he was far older - and was a veteran. Whatever physical dominance she might have had, along with her (literally) god-given gifts, seemed to have been cleanly swept aside by his know-how.

And yet his kick had been soft somehow. Her chest was bruised, yes. Pain throbbed and warbled through the muscles with each step she took, and yet she had known him to do better than this.

Her golden gaze, unmarred by Kaj's crusted blood staining her face, watched as he began to pivot. Thinking herself quite cunning, Isopia threw her body weight to the left and commanded her long limbs to dance nimbly to the side - elegantly crossing one over the other. Although Iso was typically not one for showmanship or dallying in that which was aesthetically pleasing simply because it was so, that it helped her narrowly avoiding his bite was all the justification she needed for her showy display. As his teeth snapped shut on the air, somewhere to her right, Isopia's front legs rose off of the ground, aiming for Kaj's right shoulder or wing joint, meaning to shove him backwards with her considerable bulk. But given that Isopia hadn't really done much shoving in her life (intentional physical contact was not her forte - in more ways that her missed attacks would suggest), it was more of a flumph and a flail at Kaj, than a well-guided and intentional shove.

Lathered in sweat and with laboured breaths, Isopia pulled her folded forelegs against her body, as her trembling hind-legs retreated a step or two to let her body return to the ground.

"Is that it?" She voiced between mouthfuls of air. By her count, she had attempted three attacks. The un-articulated rules of battle that she had surmised so far indicated that regardless of efficacy or accuracy of attacks, you only got three of them. She hadn't however, been counting Kaj's, and her body was a muffled whine of pain, such that it no longer remembered individual injuries, but hummed with an organic and all encompassing ouch.

So was that it?

Her body braced for a final impact as her chest swung around to try and mirror Kaj's movements, so that if there was to be a final attack from her leader, at least she would see it coming.



Blood Falls - noon. some clouds. 
WC: 715
Attack: 3.3
Seasonal Spar with @Kaj

3 MONTH LONG SPAR GO US.



ISOPIA
IN REALITY'S SHADOW THE BLIND SEE BEST
Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Blu the Bootyful Posts: 443
Administrator atk: 99 | def: 99 | dam: 99
Mare :: Other :: 5'7" :: 25 HP: 99999 | Buff: TWERK
Blu
#8
Kaj defaults to Isopia. Isopia earns 0.5 VP +1 EXP.

Partial judging requested
 HP: 1100

Helovia Hard Mode

Official Posts: 847
Administrator
Stallion :: Equine :: ::
Official
#9
By my verdict: KAJ is the winner!

KAJ
Realism [+2]
Overall you have a great handle on fighting and its mechanics, just some bits and pieces in each post to work on.

For instance, in post 1 you start the fight with an existing injury, but you say it’s his left foreleg/shoulder that was hurt, but at the end you say he was favoring his right side? You had a good attack though and brought in some surroundings and breed descriptions and comparisons, and I like him trying to go light because it was a spar and due to a bad past experience.

In post 2 you similarly mention surroundings, I like him trying to push her into the water and knowing she was approaching because of the flung sand. You also bring up breed differences, but Kaj had greater endurance than Isopia! Be sure not to write incorrect stats/breed differences! You fail to make any note of her heated rock attack, and although she rolled a miss it’s not as if the attack didn’t happen, so you need to respond to it in some way. Your buck attack was great, but I’d like to see more description about how he managed that on his injured shoulder, which you do mention again, but otherwise it doesn’t really seem to hinder Kaj (since he bucks just fine). Good tie in again with experiences.

In post 3 you respond well to her attack, and I like your attempt to turn away from it to reduce it’s damage, but it still seemed pretty injuring for only rolling a 2. The way you described it seemed like she gouged a good chunk out of him which would be more suitable for a damage roll of 4. Although you mention your injured shoulder again and do mention how it reduces your agility and ability to turn, you’re still able to buck. I would have liked to see another mention of the injury he just sustained from isopia as well, albeit since it was only a 2 damage shouldn’t have been too impacting to him, and being so high on the but, more by the hip than the muscle and lower leg power, probably wouldn’t affect his ability to move much. You touched a little bit on surroundings and breed again.

Overall really good, just watch that injury realism and tying in missed attacks better.


Emotion [+2.5]
I constantly felt like I understood Kaj and his motives. Your first post was especially powerful, and I liked how at the end he couldn’t hold onto his restraint any longer. It was nice to see how all his past experienced affected his current actions and mindset.

“Had he disappeared so firmly into his role that any individuality had been erased? “


Prose [+3.5]
Beautiful imagery, flow, and vocabulary all throughout the fight.


Readability [+2.5]
Posts were readable and grammatically correct, just some minor errors.

P1:
“Glass metal lay familiar…” (glass metal is not a thing, meant to write glassy maybe?)
P2: tense changes
“...hides touched – slammed, for how impact…” (difficult to understand this whole sentence)


Finally tally: 46.5+(10.5*2)= 67.5 HP

*******************************************

ISOPIA
Realism [+1]
You’re an experienced fighter so I really enjoyed you playing off your character’s inexperience!

Post 1 for instance Isopia expected her earth shield to work again, but as you noted holding up under dragon fire was different from a horse’s ram, that was awesome. However the damage you took from that attack was extremely minimal and was more of a 1 damage than the 4 that you rolled - I would have liked to see her possibly pushed of balance/stumble, maybe get parts of her rock embedded in her or something to make it more than just a bruise. You mentioned some stats and surroundings and had a good attack strategy.

In post 2 I’m really confused about how you translated a damage roll of 2 from taking Kaj’s buck square into her chest. A buck is basically a horse’s strongest attack! If you had made some attempt to evading, if it had clipped her rather than hit her square, even if you had moved into the buck to help reduce its extension and thus power, it would have been passable, but she essentially turned to go from shoulder to chest and was said to have taken it squarely, which is more like a damage roll of 5. There was limited explanation of the injury as well, other than some bruising and minor winding (which is all the injury she should take for a damage roll of 2, but not from a full buck). Good mention of surroundings and reasoning for why she wasn’t taking the fight aerial. Good horn attack strategy, would have liked to see the injury brought up a bit more since all the running to catch Kaj would be hurting her chest - you say her muscles burn in the sand and she’s puffing, but attribute it more to lack of training than injury (which in and of itself is realistic, but doesn’t count towards the injury mention). I did like you saying that she protected her injured right side and thus launched to her left though.

With post 3 again I had some issues with your injury strategy. You rolled a damage of 1 but again take a direct buck, again without much attempt to evade or somehow explain why the kick only causes a damage of 1 - instead this time you describe the kick as being softer and attribute it to Kaj not putting power into it, but this is basically power play because Kaj had just gone into “kill or be killed” mindset and was fighting much harder than his prior posts. Your evasion of his bite was good, but you don’t mention his ram at all; evading his bite evades his ram because they’re of similar location but it read as if you ignored the ram. Your rear attack was good but didn’t fall into line with how damaged her chest should be after all those kicks since you're attacking with those very muscles. Good use of some stat differences.

Overall you fight well and tie in a lot of good realism aspects, but really need to work on translating dice damage into realistic injuries from realistic attack sources.


Emotion [+2]
I really enjoyed all the motives behind Isopia’s choices, and how you managed to make the fight emotional despite her noticeable lack of emotions. I especially liked her frustration with the missed attacks, her utilization of magic above physical body use, and her analyzing of how fights work in general.

“Her mind did not know fear, and she needed her body to forget that it did.”


Prose [+3.5]
Really lovely writing all throughout the fight with great flow, vocabulary, and imagery.


Readability [+2.5]
Very readable and grammatically correct, just a few minor errors.

P1:
“...she didn't not consider…” (double negative)

P2: tense changes

P3:
“...couldn't even landed…” (land)


Finally tally: 47+(9*2)= 65 HP


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