The Magic Gathering - RPLOG
Participants
Date
16/8/477
Log
What a grand spectacle. The stands in the tournament grounds have been redecorated. One side lined in blue with the Good King's insignia and the other side lined with the Cliffside crest in red, clearly for supporters of either side. Though, the blue stand is much more populous. A home ground advantage. The field seems to have many tasks and obstacles already setup. There is a Cliffside mage blocking the entrance to the Sweetwater participants section, waiting for more...suitable participants to arrive. Those arriving soon would see a bunch of dejected, and slightly singed beings trodding off.
Thelergramor walks slowly onto the tournament grounds; masked as he usually is. Moving slow, cracked rib forcing him to take it easy. Shouldn't affect his magical proficiency, but seeing the slightly singed beings doesn't fill him with confidence in his ability to avoid further injury. He steps up to the cliffside mage, doesn't speak, just waits for him to say what needs to be said.
:creepy face thel.
A fierce wind blows through the contestants' tunnel, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris, and behind it follows...a strange, wall-eyed grey Horse, an apparent look of awe in her mismatched eyes as she scans the crowd with her skyward one. Unlike most of the other contestants, clad in their robes and finery, Dupree is dressed in...a jester's costume? Yes, a jester's costume, with tiny bells that tinkle merrily as the echoes of wind that forever wreathe her blow through them.
Cassidy drops out of the sky, as she usually does, landing with a soft patter of paws on ground, and brushing her black skirt off with the white gloved hands. "Hello! Glad I wasn't late. I'd hate to miss the chance to give a display of magic!"
Natska makes her way up next to Cassidy, walking in behind Dupree. She gives the gathering mages a cuious look, although Cass receives a small, happy smile. Finally, the jaguar's attention lands on the Cliffside mage weeding out the entrants, and she tips her hat towards them.
Aiden makes his way up with the group, the slightly tubby English Shepherd dressed in his finest clothing today... Mainly consisting of a pair of black pants with a streak of silver down the sides, a pink silk shirt, and a black wide brimmed hat with a giant white feather in it! "Ah! Good day and salutations yes! Aiden Brightenburg for the competitions~"
Fenris saunters onto the field, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his long coat. He finds his way to the group of Sweetwater magicians and gives a loose little salute in greeting. "Am I too late for the fun?" he asks.
Selena yawns, mobing through over to the tournament grounds quietly, flyer in hand. Aparrently, she'd seen fit to show up as well, setting herself down by the ordinator aparrently testing the entrants. "Well. It's interesting to see you here." she comments offhandedly to the Cliffsider. "Though I'm curious what prompted today's event. I don't recall the last tiem a group of Cliffsiders came by here for friendly reasons. I'll probably see who's here before I jump in and participate."
"Ah, Selena. We've heard quite a bit about your...exploits and forays into three dimensional magic. You are perhaps one of the most outstanding graduates of our academy. And...I think I know you as well. Aiden, was it? You had quite the appetite in school. And of course. I've had to deal with your mother more than once, Natska. Always demanding so much from her poor little girl." The mage studies the others for a bit. "The three of you may enter. Such a simple test won't defeat you two. Go pick a signet ring to represent the school of magic you wish to play in. As for the rest of you..." He pulls out some cubes from his sack and hands them about to the other players. "Your signet ring is locked inside this puzzle box." The box has five gems, clearly color coded to the five schools of magic. "Prove your magic prowess to it. You'll need to cast a spell strong enough...but too much and the cube will break..."
Thelergramor blinks behind his mask as he's given the box. The mage had the gall to question his ability? Probably right... "So Cliffside trained mages get special treatment? Pfft. It makes no difference." It does; the wolf now hates this jackass. Not hard to tell from his tone. Looking to the gem that is color coded for dark math, Thel attempts to use magic of sufficient but not too much strength to open it. And...nothing happens. At all. Complete and utter failure. The wolf blinks... considers trying again... assuming that mage lets him.
Dupree accepts her cube--"Oh! Thank you, mister mage!"--and immediately forgets about it, her eyes seeming to shift as she calls into being...a small thundercloud? As the cloud hangs there, she drops the block and talks to the cloud. It seems to listen, murmuring thunderously in response...
ZAP!
A searing white light strikes the box, cracking it open handily.
"Ooh, pretty!" Dupree coos as she withdraws the ring, slippng it a finger on and admiring it vainly, like a filly with new ribbons in her mane.
Cassidy glances at Natska and tilts her head. "Oh? You have ties to the academy?" She takes her box and gives an annoyed look to the entryman from behind her mask, a little bothered at having to go through such a trifling hoop, and vaguely considering trying to torch him on the spot for the nerve before deciding that'd be rude, and deciding to just deal with the box anyway, intent on lighting up at least two of the gems. "It's an assurance, Thel. People go there when they need help learning how to do magic, and graduating shows that they got their help."
Natska's ears flatten for a moment, her shoulders slumping just a little before she gives the Cliffside magister a deeper nod, fingers coming to the brim of her hat. "You must have an excellent memory sir, I am honored you remember us. I suppose jaguars are not that common there, either..." She gives Cassidy's hand an encouraging squeeze, adds a small, bashful smile, then steps past the magister to wait for her beloved. "Mother was from there," she explains to Cass after the fennec passes the check. "It is part of why they chose to move to Stoneyfield."
Aiden pokes his fingers together as he looks to his gut for a moment before nodding and shuffling past. "Yes sir, thank you sir..." Moving to the signets as he goes to pick signat rings for Air Magic, Fire Magic, and Earth Magic, before stepping off to the side and gently muttering to herself as he waits for the others to make their way up.
Fenris smiles and takes the little puzzle box, examining it with a discerning eye. "Beautiful craftsmanship," he says looking over the math and craftman's marks, "Is this Professe Windmane's work? Hester always does such clean spelcraft!" The tiger places his hand lightly on the box and closes his eyes. For a moment, nothing happens, then, gradually all five gems begin to glow softly and the box opens with a click. Nothing fancy, just efficient application of mathemagic. "There!" he says, fishing out his signet with a smile, "I will compete in both fire and air magic. Please compliment Hester on the lovely puzzle boxes!" He thinks for a moment. "Actually," he says, smiling at the cliffside arbiter, "May I keep it?"
Selena tsks. "Your academy specifically? I don't recall seeing you in any of the classes, courses, or as a staff member from my time in an Academy." She raises an eyebrow, looking back over to Aiden as the dog moves over to the 'selection' area. "Hm. You don't say? I'm not going to lie, but that's fairly impressive." she comments, before tilting her head a bit. "And you as well, Natska? Your family must've done something quite impressive to be remembered afterwards." the wolfess muses, before sighing quietly and taking a signet for earth magic, looking back over to the others. "... Hmm. You might not guess it, but I never cared much for combat magic." she sighs, before picking up a water signet as well. "Or the theatrical. I'm sure you have enough beings from Sweetwater competing in fire and air magic already, anyway."
"Yes, you may." The entrance tester smiles. "I'll pass on your compliments to Professe Windmane." Now that everyone has their signet except poor Thel...whom the mage leans back and laughs loudly at, he motions the way to the participant waiting ground. "You can try again, wolf. Though have a little more respect for our tests. Quickly now, the first round is starting. Fire and earth, I think it was."
Inside, the three who've already passed the test are told the same news by a magewolf, that Fire and Earth will be the competitors for the next scene.
"Fire mages and earth mages separate please. Earth mages enter the arena first. You'll need to build the strongest wall you've ever built. Doesn't have to be too large, just as durable as you can make it." The wolf inside explains, loud enough for those entering to hear.
Thelergramor glares at the mage, shrugs. "Up yours... I'll open the box when I'm damn well ready." The wolf focuses past his injuries, ignoring the pain from his ribs and other wounds. With no motion at all, Thel reattempts to open the box. It opens, a slight dark glow the only evidence any magic was used. The wolf takes the signet, laughing, then coughing. Proceeds to hold it up, triumphant. Will make any future failures more... humorous, perhap.
Dupree claps her hands wildly at Thelergramor. "Yaaaaaaaay! Good job! Aren't they pretty? I got two!" At that, she scoots closer to Thel, a gentle breeze blowing on him as she does. She waves around her hand with the fire and wind rings at him while peering at his ring with the skyward eye. "Oooh, what's that one? It doesn't look like wind. I like wind the best!" she enthuses to the battle-scarred Wolf.
Cassidy takes both her air and fire signets before smiling at Natska under her mask. "I see! I've been meaning to get out to Cliffside sometime so I can see their fancy academy for myself, and see if it's all it's cracked up to be." Since fire magic was up before air, she decides to move in with the fire mages as her first order of business. "Well, I guess we'll see how this goes, won't we? Good luck in your tests, Natska!"
Natska ponders a moment, collecting tokens for fire, air, and water. Then she follows after Cass, taking her hat in her hand and stroking a finger along the feather in the hat band before she settles it back on her head and gives the fennec a nod. "Yes! We will add it to our list of places to visit," she agrees, tail swishing.
Aiden eeps slightly and hurries his way into line for the Earth Magic, his tail wagging nervously as he looks around while in the line, before finally being ushered into the area for the test. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath and tries to focus, reaching his Earth Math out to try and grip the harder stones and hopefully even a few pieces or ore or metal if they were present, before attempting to rush them all up in as high of a wall as he could manage, with the harder portions forming a shell around it hopefully!
Fenris nods and tucks the little puzzle box into a pocket deep in his coat and slips his two chosen rigns onto fingers, then hesitates. "Don't suppose I could try my hands at all 5?" he asks. Without waiting for an answer, he collects the other three ring and saunters out to the earth examination field and sets himself to raising a wall. Too bad that he rushed. His earth magic is effective, raising a wall of earth and stone from the turf of the tourney field, but it is not what it could be, more of an improvised battle magic than anything built to last. The tiger laughs and waves off his feeble performance. "Jack of all trades and master of none," he says with a smirk, chiding himself for throwing his hat into the ring at the last minute.
Selena tsks quietly as she moves over to the section of the field she was directed to, beginning to raise her own wall - focussing on reinforcing the structure moreso than making it large; curving it slightly around the area was standing, though some things are difficult to pre-prepare for, and she did know most of the beings that would be testing their fire magic against the walls. It takes her a little while longer to actually be satisfied with her results, though when she is she takes a half-step back. "Mm. I thought we were competing in our areas of expertise rather than just all of them?" she comments back to Fenris, shrugging a little. "I suppose I could branch out, but I don't see the need to. I've already shown what my battle magic can do before, and I think the people here want something a bit prettier."
"Mmh. Alright, fire mages! Your objective is much simpler than the earth mages. Destroy the opposing team's wall using fire spells!" The wolf in the Sweetwater side notions to the field and the respectable earthern wall shielding the other side. "Keep control of yourselves though. I do not wish to see the crowd get hurt, and that will disqualify and forfeit you. Unfortunately for our heroes...it seems that one mage enlisting in multiple categories has some side effects. There appear to be three earth mages managing the wall...and four fire mages readying spells. Seems like Fenris and Aiden have been counted as duplicates! After all, the net number of rings are the same. The four Cliffside participants who will be spellslinging bow politely. "We'll start when you do." They acknowledge the difference in raw number by letting Sweetwater take the first potshots. Those entering the field now will feel a rather dark, chilling feeling pass through their forms. Much like as though they had eaten something wrong, stomachs swirling and feeling rather upset. Foul play, but who could prove it? Thel's ring glows a little brighter-darker, if he notices.
Thelergramor rubs at his mask as Dupree speaks to him. Holds the ring in his left hand, bandaged arm visible wear his coat was torn. "No, dark magic. Not wind." Not seeing much else to be said, Thel moves to get a better look at the earth and fire magic contests. Can sense dark magic being used, but, nothing specific. Assumes it was a lingering effect from what he did to open the box.
"Dark magic? Oh." Dupree's face droops, the winds around her turning a bit chilly. "That sounds...dark." She smiles again, though. "Well, I hope we have fun---urgh!"
Dupree suddenly doubles over, feeling uncomfortable for a moment--she hadn't felt like this since the Inn gave her that fuzzy muffin that one time! The worst of the cramps subsides, but a feeling of unwellness lingers. At the call of the head mages, she takes aim and releases a bolt of lightning at one of the mounds of earth opposite her, though the ache feels like it's throwing her off...
The mages play fairly. Waiting their turn. Though all seven pairs of eyes widen as they notice Dupree use an air magic spell. Those who registered for air magic will see their signet glow. "Hey, that's air magic!! Not fair!" One of the fire mages exclaim, and then another part of the Cliffside squad shows up in force, clearly all air mages as they work up a tempest around their wall to keep it completely secured. One of the fire mages adds onto the spell to cause a swirling vortex of fire surrounding the wall, creating an almost impenetrable fortress of mage pride.
Cassidy glances down at her rings, then at Dupree and scowls a little, letting her prepared spell drop and fizzle in response to new warding, grumbling a little as the sickness sure doesn't help. "Fine. Two people can play this game," she mutters under her breath before standing upright and holding her arm up towards the wall, fingergunning at it as she prepares for her favourite little bit of pink lightning.
Natska studies the wall of the other team, then frowns as the sudden feeling hits her. Sure enough, Thel mentions Dark Magic, and she looks at his ring. "Objection!" the jaguar shouts. Loudly. "Objection! They are using Dark Magic to influence the battle. Our own magus was confused by the spell and did not intend to break the rule!" She waves her hat, accenting her call for attention, then drops back with the others.
Aiden purses his lips as he feels that nausia, attesting it to the stage fright before the entire scene ahead unfolds before him, growling lowly as he steps forward and holds up his hands, his own wind magic gathering around him. "ENOUGH!" He yells out rather uncharacteristically, perhaps remembering all the times 'rules' would change back in the academy? Either way, from his spell he launches an intense amount of wind to counter-act the Cliffside Mages' own as he growls loudly!
Fenris laughs at Selena's chiding. "You know me," he says, "Fingers in every pie! But I will try to raise the bar in the next events, I promise!" The tiger frowns as he feels a sudden wave of nausea and, well, wrongness flood through him. "Something is not right," he says to his companions, "Somebody is putting the whammy on us with dark magic!" Glancing at his dark signet ring, the feline can see it pulse in recognition of dark energies. He rolls his eyes as Cliffside mages flood the field as Dupree manifests her air magic. He raises his flashing Dark magic ring above his head, saving his firepower. "Point of order!" he calls, almost on top of Natska, "Our mages are being effected by Dark Magic!" The tiger is ready to defend himself if things get really out of hand, but the first thing to do is find that Dark Magician!
Selena looks a little confused as the continuous changes to the field make for the wolfess to simply groan. "For the love of... What in the WORLD." The wolfess mutters. "If anyone knows where the ordinators for this are..." She grumbles, before setting to work on reinforcing her section of the wall - earth magic only; none of that cheating coming from her.
Aiden's outburst prompts a smile from the wolfess. "Next thing, someone's going to try and flood the arena. I'm rather disappointed to say the least." she grumbles, continuing her own work in interests of keeping her own efforts honest.
Natska acutally snarls, for just a moment, as she looks over at her team; she cuts it off short, though, and shakes her head. The jaguar takes a deep breath, then slowly lets it out and focuses on the fire being tossed down range. Since it wasn't her primary specialty at the moment, she tries to keep it focused and contained, rather than adding to the force.
Aiden seethes more as the Cliffsiders manages to actually worm it all to their advantage! His fingers twitching slightly as he boiled with rage letting the flames of his next spell coat over his hands and arms before forming a rather large ball infront of him. "CHEATING, LYING, FUCKS! YOU WROTE THE DAMN FUCKING RULES AND NEVER SHOWED THEM!" The usually docile and very friendly English Shepherd picking the ball of fire above his head, now easily almost as big as him before throwing it at the Cliffside wall! As the ball sails for in the direction of the wall, he's left to pant and damn near pass out from over exhertion as he remains standing.
Bloody Cliffsiders and their bloody games! Fenris stomps his foot angrily, summoning up all the earth magic he can muster and throwing it into the wall ahead of him! The simple earthen construct swells and contracts for a moment as the earth and stone packs itself into a dense, crystalline structure, ready for any strike! But the action isn't over as the angry tiger balls a fist and a point of light appears at the base of the Cliffside wall. There is a sort of sucking, whistling sound as the point of light starts to flicker and grow before EXPLODING in a BANG of light and sound! A wave of searing heat washes across the field, kept from the Sweetwater side of the field by the newly augmented wall!
Not about to allow himself and his team to be disqualified for hurting bystanders, and more importantly, not willing to injure bystanders, Fenris summons up a whirling wall of air to close in the wild explosions, keeping them on the field. Who has the best mages now? The tiger sways a bit after expending all that power, but stays on his feet, panting.
Selena sits down behind her wall and sighs quietly, shaking her head a little disappointedly - perhaps in some of the beings present, perhaps in all the beings present - it's rather difficult to tell. As the spells are made more and more elaborate, the wolfess simply checks the signet rings, sighing a little. Opting to stay on the safe side of things, the wolfess simply bides her time - though it's fairly obvious she's readying a spell of her own - content, for now, with the wall she'd created.
There is a massive and fantastical explosion as the wall is blasted into smithereens, shrapnel made from baked earth flying about from the shattered wall. The crowd, mostly the Cliffsiders half screams in terror at things going south so quickly, though Fenris and Selena's preparations...along with the two experienced judges calling upon magic of their own keeps most of them from any severe harm. "Hmm. Earth magic goes to Sweetwater." The judges decide. "Sweetwater is disqualified from Fire for near grievious injury, as per the agreement of the rules. Making the score two two. Shall we settle this by water magic?" The Cliffside judge sits back down, the judge from Firmament following not long after. "I'm sorry, my friend. For the way our players are behaving. So rude."
Those with astute hearing might hear an upset "What the hell?" Coming from an unseen dark mage.
Thelergramor coughs, clutching at his chest due to pain from his outburst. Too much yelling, blood pressure and shit... Having lost sight of the Dark mage, as his sight dimmed fora few seconds from his pain, Thel doesn't really know what to do now. Walks back over to the sniffling Dupree. "Hey, I'm guessing that cloud means you're good with water magic... Whatever the challenge is..." The rest is said as a whisper to Dupree. "...I'm going to try to screw with the Cliffsiders. They did it to us... might recind the judges decision..." Whatever the contest consists of, the wolf plans to try to replicate whatever effect that other mage did. "So, describe to me, exactly what you felt from the dark math. Might know the spell."
Dupree sniffles, lookng up the Wolf with big, tear-damp eyes. "I felt like..." sniff sniff ... "like I had eaten something, but it tasted really bad..." sniff ... "and then, my stomach hurt and I had to go the outhouse, but I didn't!" With that, she wipes her eq
