there's a place in the dark where the animals go [oizys vs weaver]

[JUDGED] there's a place in the dark where the animals go [oizys vs weaver]

Oizys Posts: 134

Aurora Basin Soldier atk: 7.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 6.5

Mare :: Hybrid :: 17hh :: 2 HP: 73.5 | Buff: NOVICE

Ker :: Philippine Eagle :: Curse Snow

03-24-2017, 04:36 PM

There's something innately satisfying about trapping Weaver between the twin attacks of the gargoyle and her bonded; the winged tobiano is the meat in an Oizys and Ker sandwich. The damage they cause is nowhere near as much as the mammoth young mare had hoped, yet the mirrored sensations of Ker's claws and Oizys' horn grazing across her opponent's skin sends a shiver akin to an electric shock down her spine. Her first attack, and she hit. It's only the lightest of glances, but it's something.

Even the greatest warlords must start somewhere. Every conqueror, every beast of the battlefield, will have had a first fight at some point. They'll have felt themselves quivering with nerves as Oizys is now, their skin beaded with sweat despite the cold and their muscles thrumming with excitement. They'll have fretted over whether their attacks were right, about whether they'll rise to glory or fall, ashamed, into mediocrity. Even Father will have had a first fight at some point, although the Basilisk as an untried young man is not something the gargoyle can really picture.

He will have won his maiden duel, Oizys is sure of that. The thought causes her glee at landing her attack to fade somewhat; her first blow will count for nothing if she still loses. It could have been beginner's luck, or perhaps a notion of sympathy in Weaver's mind. Let the little girl hit, the tobiano may be thinking. Let her play at being a soldier. The thought angers the grey hybrid, and her eyes flash dangerously. Like a seed, this idea blossoms in her mind, festering in the deepest corners and annihilating any pride to replace it with cold fury. Now it's there, she can't shake it, because under the silver armour of self-confidence is a soft, mushy centre of self-doubt. This innate lack of faith in her own abilities, hidden beneath a mask of bolshy, crude bravado, is what makes Oizys suddenly convinced that she only hit because Weaver allowed it.

That's unacceptable. Angry despite the fact that her assumption is entirely unfounded, the stone mare flattens her ears and redoubles her determination.

Weaver spins, and Oizys begins to turn as well to try and bring herself facing her opponent. Alas, the girl's great size means she cannot pivot quite as fast as her opponent can, not to mention the fact she's reluctant to do so for fear of tiring herself out faster. The tobiano shifts, her hooves lashing for the grey's neck, and Oizys can only flinch to her left in a vain attempt to avoid the blow. Weaver's hooves succeed in clipping the right side of the gargoyle's neck, creating a medium-depth bruise that immediately spreads across the area like wildfire. It's not as severe as it could have been, but it's still painful, and the mare unleashes a hiss of displeasure as her ears disappear even further into the roiling storm of her mane. The bruise doesn't quite impede her movement, but it aches insistently every time she bulks the formidable muscles of her neck. Coupled with the stinging slashes in her side, the gargoyle feels rather the worse for wear, although thankfully neither blow has crippled her beyond repair.

Now is the time for intelligence, she thinks. Weaver will probably expect her to try and attack with her horns again, to lunge forwards and stab or to take advantage of the tobiano's positioning and try to push her over....so Oizys, contrary as ever, does the exact opposite. She launches herself backwards, legs spread wide to aid her balance on the slippery ice, and then calls upon her magic. She hadn't planned on using it, wanting to fight for the first time with her body's strength alone, but she's so determined to win now and live up to her father's great name that she will do anything in her power to claim victory. The air next to her sizzles and suddenly there's three small eagles made of blue-black electricity, sparking ominously against the night sky. They fling themselves forwards in unison; one tries to slam squarely into Weaver's face to try and cause a painful shock, whilst the others seek to collide with the mare's left and right shoulder apiece. Vindictive pleasure sparks through Oizys at the sight of her creations; let's see Weaver allowing those to hit!

With another loud screech, Ker plummets down once again. She aims for the cuts she'd made in Weaver's flank from her previous attack and attempts to grind her talons and beak into these wounds again to try and deepen them, careful to avoid the spark-eagles as she does so.

________________

Teaching spar for @Weaver !

2/3 - 775 words

O I Z Y S
I'M NOT A HERO, I'M A LIAR
I'M NOT A SAVIOUR, I'M A VAMPIRE

image credits

That's a good question! You don't have to take damage from both attacks, it's entirely up to you. You could have:

- Taken both attacks and split the damage
- Taken Ozzy's attack and avoided Ker's
- Taken Ker's attack and avoided Ozzy's
- Avoided both and had Weaver injure herself by tripping etc

So the choice is yours :D For a low roll like this one, I would probably be inclined to just take the damage from one attack then avoid the second one. As you say, for higher rolls it's beneficial to split the damage so you avoid taking heavy damage to one area - the only exception to this is a critical hit, where it's preferred for you to take the damage from one source. That's the great thing about this dice roll system - whilst the dice roll determines the level of damage, it's entirely up to you how you decide to take it.

Let me know any other questions you have, I'm happy to answer :D

Grammar/Prose/Emotion: 'Gets in this place where words don’t exist. A place where you convey intention through biting, kicking, and bleeding. There’s something honest about the fight, whereas words are too easy to manipulate'. I loved this sentence, among many others! Weaver's emotions were clear and I really enjoyed reading her mental musings. Horn envy is definitely a thing ;D

Your post was clear and mostly typo-free (I only spotted one - 'Oizys' neck probably in front her'), which is awesome.

Attacks : Your attack was nice and easy to read, and it was clear where Weaver was aiming for. It was descriptive enough that I could picture her movements, so great job! My only small gripe is that I wasn't sure whether Weaver was actually rearing up or whether she was just kicking out her forelegs - be sure to really specify things like this so your opponent can respond correctly :D

Damage taken: I think you took enough damage for the 1 roll, although as I said above, I personally would have just taken one of the attacks - taking both was fine however, and it was clear that the damage is minimal which is about right for a 1 roll. Here's the chart I use when deciding how much damage to take based on the roll:

1: Very minor bruise/cut that won't impact movement
2: Reasonably minor bruise/cut that won't impact movement
3: Quite painful bruise/cut that won't impact movement/maybe a pulled muscle
4: Moderate bruise that restricts some movement/reasonably deep cut/badly pulled muscle/sprain
5: Severe bruise that restricts movement/muscle-deep cut/maybe a very minor bone fracture/serious sprain
6: Very severe bruise that will restrict movement/severe muscle-deep cut/broken or fractured bone

I then alter this based on my opponent's damage stat, because remember, when you take damage it's not just the dice roll you need to look at, it's your opponent's damage stat as well. For example, in this fight Ozzy's damage is 6.5 whereas Weaver's is 3. This means that an Ozzy attack will hurt more than a Weaver attack of the same roll, sort of like the difference between being punched by a normal person compared to being punched by a professional boxer. So if Weaver rolled a 6, I might err towards very heavy bruising/deep cut rather than broken bones, because of her low damage stat. In contrast, if a character with a damage stat of 8 for example rolled a 6, you'd need to take really heavy damage, like broken bones or multiple fractures.

Also bear in mind that higher rolls should affect you throughout the fight. If you fractured a back leg and then reared up to attack, it would result in a deduction, so be careful to remember your injuries and have them affect you. In this fight, because of Weaver's low damage stat none of Ozzy's wounds are really restricting her movement, however I'm making sure to keep mentioning them so it's clear I'm not ignoring them.

Other: You're doing a great job of mentioning the surroundings. I really like how Weaver is using her wings to balance herself on the ice, and I also like how you're referring to their breed/size differences regularly. This is a really good sign, so keep up the good work :D