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* rage against the machine ?!; orion vs. ivan
Topic Started: Nov 24 2010, 05:11 AM (287 Views)
devotchka
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WELL SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ
ORION.

No one else had the balls to do it. That was why he had to.

The Faults wasn’t even his main goal, but it was more of an act of family loyalty than anything else. Age was a crippling thing and as a youngster he had watched his father fall under the tyrant, then his younger uncle fleeing from a stallion who had a habit of taking other lands in spite of his own. Now he was old enough to fight, and although he assumed he wouldn’t be directly against the chestnut, fighting his son was the next best thing. Unless the weakling couldn’t face icky mucky battle and sent daddy to do it instead; which Orion half anticipated. But if you wanted something done properly, you did it yourself. His father had disgraced him. It was time to set that justice right.

Rumours of an heir filtered across Kormada, but the bay had dismissed them. The true heir of the land was Ares, as he was the last colt to be named so by Thane. By hierarchy rights, the Faults was his. But his age handicapped him in the way Orion’s had when he had been a colt and could do nothing about it. Orion was itching for a fight more than anything else, but he would be buying the colt’s trust, leave him the Faults by the time he had aged and gotten himself a couple of mares and move onto bigger, better things. He had plans in his mind already, but some of the details had not been entirely ironed out yet.

If he could stop the literal disease of Viral’s dominance spreading it would be a start. What gave him the right to own all of Kormada than anyone else? He had killed his own father like a coward in the depths of his jungle life territory, and then looted another great stallion’s land behind his back. To Orion, this didn’t seem like the sort of brute he wanted lording over the place like nothing could stop him. It was time to flatten Viral and his spawn back down, because his boots were getting too big.

If you treat the opposition like a dumb animal, powerless to do anything, they will always fight back one day, whether it be successful or not.

He stood in the battle grounds, every fibre of him bristling for the skirmish. He looked terribly like his father, tall and dark, his ebony forelock falling roguishly across his face which he corrected with a stiff twist of his fine head. Although it was spring, the air was much dryer, staler here; and the faint metallic scent of blood and other stallion’s musk lingered. He didn’t waste energy, or scream out in an theatrical attempt to intimidate Ivan, he simply stood firm. A tense moment passed, before he spoke for the first time.

“Ivan, I challenge you for the ownership of the Faults and nothing else. I lose, and it stays how it is. However, I win, and you leave. And take anything else that’s festering in there with you.” He said in a icy voice, waiting for his opponent to make an appearance.
Edited by devotchka, Nov 24 2010, 05:13 AM.
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kimmys
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Family was strange concept when it included nearly forty individuals, some of which you haven't even met yet, but are obligated to include because they all trace back to the same powerful legacy. Forty equines traced their lineage back to that domineering pinto stallion. Some equines never made that many aquaintences in their life. In a way it was both an accomplishment and a hindrance, not that many of them minded. Those whose blood was diluted, and those who had no desire to play king, seldom cared what happened to their siblings and counsins, aunts and nephews.

Caius was not one of them.

When word had reached the Province that his older brother, Ivan, who had never possessed the slightest desire to fight or to wage war, had been challenged for his “babysitter” role over the Faults, Caius could not sit quietly. Ivan, while arguably one of the most handsome of Viral's sons, had been born with a limp and was nearly half blind – he had been placed in the Faults because the threat of Thane had been all but eliminated by the Lippizaner's own absence. Ivan was mature enough to handle running a territory, old enough to establish his own herd, and nomadic enough to not mind knowing he would have to move when Kairos came of age. But a fight was not in his nature, and if Caius knew his brother at all, it wouldn't even rank on his list of “if I have to” duties.

In a normal situation, Viral would have indeed gone to battle in his son's stead, but whoever this stranger was had planned it well enough that Viral could not withdraw his challenge to Cian, and therefore was rendered unable to help. So the duty fell to Caius.

The dark champagne colt circled down to the Marredland to inform his brother of the change of plans, and noted with irritation at the easy way Ivan acknowledged it. He had known and counted on it coming.

A frown still lingered upon Caius' lips as he crossed into the Battlegrounds, his lithe frame bulging with the musculature that had been handed down through his grandsire and through his granddam, the legendary, almost amazon-like, rogue mare. His coat was silky with the heat of summer and the salty wetness of the ocean, his blue eyes bright against his dark coat, glimmering with anger and annoyance. Most likely it was some upstart young stallion, looking to take advantage against the legendary chestnut's one almost weak moment. And like a mirage in the desert, the presumed chink in Viral's armor was about to disappear in the eyes of the challenger.

Caius offered a cursory nod to his sire as he passed him, and the resumed searching the horizon for what he presumed to be the only other challenger present. What greeted his eyes earned and immediate, vicious and triumphant smirk from the champagne colt. Go figure, it was the downtrodden, almost forgotten Friction's long lost son. Presumably to win back the territory to baby sit it for his what, uncle? Ares had been named the heir by Thane, who was rotting unimportantly somewhere far away, as far as Caius was concerned. Which meant that Orion was not only attempting to copy from the chestnut stallion – imitation being the most sincere form of flattery – but not accomplishing anything other than trying to re-ignite his father's goal.

Smugly the three year old drew to a halt in front of the other male, a mocking dip of his head accompanying a sneer on his lips. ”What, really, is the point? You, Orion, is it? You think that winning this battle proves anything? That attempting to fight a half blind stallion with a limp, who is only safeholding the territory for his cousin, will accomplish anything? You aren't fighting Viral. You aren't doing anything but wasting time.”

That being said the dark colt shakes his head and turns away, pacing a small distance away before facing the other male again. ”That foolishness is your choice. I am fighting in Ivan's stead, should you decide to continue. But it will continue to be a stain on Ares that his nephew had to fight his battles for him.”

Another grin slid sinuously across his lips. ”At any rate, you can attack first my fickle friend, and hope that Ares does not hate you for the rest of his life.”
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devotchka
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WELL SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ

For a moment, he thought no one was going to come. Orion had never met Ivan, but the lack of talk about him led to him thinking that for some reason the colt had less of an interest in Dark politics. The bay rested a back-leg, causing his supple back to lean over as he waited. Growing more bored by the minute, he scanned the horizon. Something caught his attention. A horse about his age was making its way towards him, coloured a dark champagne and had the sort of look that set Orion’s teeth on edge. The bay straightened up again, his ebony mouth taught and his jaw clenched. So he had a lackey to fight with.

He had such a smug little expression it made Orion even more determined to wipe that smarmy look off the youngster’s face. Just because he was related to his Lordship Viral didn’t mean he was automatically better than everyone, the bay knew that immediately. Taking one look at his pathetic excuse of a father didn’t make him useless. How his sire was related to Morte he had no idea. He hoped to take after his mother’s line; if that mare had been a stallion, then the world would be entirely different. But she wasn’t, so it was only polite to do it for her.

He didn’t bothered returning the greeting nod, or even to acknowledge it. This family disgusted him so much, it would be more dignified to greet a fermenting Light. He listened, snorting in sheer amusement. “You seem to think that your big talk is going to make me feel small, or change my mind. You’ve got another thing coming - I’m sorry I don’t seem to be familiar with who you are?” He sneered, eyeing the other with contempt. He paused in mock thought. “I wonder why then, someone like you wasn’t chosen to ‘safeguard’ for this wonderful cousin. Obviously you have some growing up to do before you embark on stallions’ business.” He finished.

He did not move, simply allowed Caius to move away from him, smirking at the accusation that he might be disgracing his uncle. “Age, you see, is a crippler. I’m sure Ares would thank an equal who has both of their best interests in mind, rather than your lot that would ignore his hierarchy rights.” He taunted, his thick tail flushing round his hindquarters as his voluminous muscles tensed, now ready for the fight.

ATTACK 1.

Orion decided against rushing in and getting the whole affair wrong. His dark eyes fixated on the stallion in front of him as he swanked about in a majestic manner. Suddenly he lunged forwards, his ears pinning against his skull out of anger and also to keep them out of the way. His dark lip curled, showing his clenched teeth before a guttural roar escaped his throat as he went straight for the Caius.

He plunged his front feet into the dry earth beneath him, his thick neck arched heavily as he kept his head down should the champagne horse try any tricks on him and using physics, swung his hindquarters round in the air in an attempt to catch Caius on the tender part of his barrel with both of his hooves. He couldn’t see if the other had dodged, and hoped that if the stallion had moved he might have caught the hip bone or a couple of ribs. His hind feet slammed back down to the ground with a jolting thud and he tossed his head up in a defiant stance of too much testosterone.
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kimmys
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Caius, born a twin and the heir, had been given an entirely different set of rules and values than his sibling. Different, even, from this Orion who was presumably Friction's heir. As Viral's heir, he managed the territory while his sire was gone, he kept the mares in line and his siblings under control. It was Caius that kept mental notes about lineage and slights against the chestnut, and it was Caius that had most naturally fallen into almost a gossip monger role, although he never spilled what entered his ears. Most of the strategic moves of the past few months had been suggestions from the champagne colt, and followed by the chestnut who, although cunning, had more of an appetite for brute force than his son. And his sire's approval meant far more than this upstart little colt, so the comment about his obscurity in the world at large earns a small smirk. He was only three, the world would learn in time.

Nor did the comment about “stallion's business” ruffle his feathers, behind the scenes many of the decisions were made by the champagne colt, not that anyone would know that. When the bay spoke again, it was pure foolishness spilling from his lips. Thane was a by-gone, unimportant and thus, his decrees had become unimportant. The Province had once been decreed to an heir, did that stop Chronic? The Faults had been owned before Thane, did that mean that Ares or any other stallion should step aside because years ago some stallion decided to name an heir? No. The declaration of an heir's inheritance was only valid as long as there was someone old enough to inherit or strong enough to hold onto it. Ares was neither.

Of course, this raises the question of why Viral did what he had. The key difference between Viral taking the territory and then appointing a safe-holder and Orion attempting to do the same thing, was the intent. Viral had mostly wanted to beat Thane while he was down, and to take back his sister who had essentially become the stallion of the territory since that point. The ownership of the territory had been a thorn in his side until Caius suggested that they send Ivan to keep it, and Kairos to inherit it since he was the rightful heir. Ares had been a mutt out of a mare that had never risen in Thane's ranks, what made anyone think that her son would be strong enough to continue the Faults' legacy?

But Caius didn't stop to form a reply, his eye for body language, passed from his sire, had caught the way the Bay's body language shifted, preparing for an attack.

Defense #1
There was no non-cowardly way to really extricate himself from this attack; the best thing would obviously be to run forward, out of Orion's range, considering that to kick, his front hooves would be firmly planted and his ability to change aim, limited. However, Caius was not raised to be a coward, and if they went back and forth completely dodging each other, what kind of fight would that be. Not an honest one.

Remainder of Defense #1 & Attack #1
What Caius had in mind wouldn't necessarily earn any creativity points – it was essentially the same thing Orion seemed to be attempting – but perhaps the quickness of the decision and the unconventionality of returning an attack with an attack would do something for his score. As Orion began to shift his body toward Caius for the kick, Caius did the same, orienting his rump at the bay colt and lifting in a kick a few moments after the bay, which wasn't what he had originally intended, but might allow him clearer access to the bay's tender stomach area and the especially delicate reproductive organs so exposed.

Orion's hooves caught the inside of his left leg, and the outside of his right, ripping open the skin with blunt force before continuing to tap his stomach with relative ease. He was left with two matching cuts, approximately four inches long with a larger area of bruising. Perhaps this should have slowed him down in his own attack, but as it was already taking place, there was little to be done about slowing down, even if Caius had wanted to.

When both stallions had landed again, Caius started forward, out of the range of hooves before turning to face his opponent again.
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devotchka
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WELL SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ
If someone wasn’t going to change their way of thinking, there was no point trying to do it for them. If Caius and the rest of his family wanted to continue blindfolded through their seemingly great lives then good luck to them, was the opinion of Orion. The great age of the powerful Dark stallions was over, they were just the ashes after the blaze. New blood and pacts were being sealed every day and it wouldn’t be stopped by just one group who thought they were the natural born leaders. Turn it on it’s head, Viral had killed his father in the cowardly depths of their own home. To murder the old and weak was something the bay hadn’t quite got his head round; there had been nothing noble or useful gained in it, Chronic would have died off anyway, just like his father would die one day, although Orion had to admit, Friction wouldn’t be leaving him a legacy and a land behind. Some might argue it was as pointless as this battle, but minds cannot be decided by others.

DEFENCE #1

He felt his hooves connected with the champagne colt’s side, though as he was facing out and away from the stallion he was unable to see where his strike had hit Caius. He felt his body pulling forwards where he stood by mere physics and then regained the balance as his back feet reconnected with the ground again. This gave him a mere second to glance round to look at Caius. A brief smirk curled round his ebony lips, pleased with his first draw of blood as a stallion, though this quick, silent gloat disallowed him to try and make any escape from Caius’ attack. It was a green error, if he had been a more experienced stallion he could have made enough distance to avoid the champagne’s legs, but as it was, he would have to take the blow as a harsh lesson in fighting.

One of Caius’ hooves made direct contact with Orion’s upper leg, just below his hindquarters. The angle had been direct and the force made his weight shift dramatically over to the other side and he stumbled to find balance again. A dull throbbing resounded around the area and Orion knew that it would be severely bruised for a while, even laming him for the first few days after the fight. However, the other hoof had hit him on an angle where Orion had turned to look back at Caius and the slant of the other’s hoof had torn a fine line of about six inches across the underside of his belly, reaching back to the more tender sheath at the back of his body. The bay squealed with surprised pain and shook his head once in a deflecting movement, blood beginning to dribble from the cut.

ATTACK #2

Orion shifted round to look at his enemy again. Using his back legs were now out of the question unless he wanted to prolong that lameness, which was no one’s idea of fun. Deciding to go for something a little less direct, he gathered himself and then sprung forwards towards Caius once more, this time towards the front of the horse. He did not attack with his front legs, keeping them firmly planted on the ground in case the other stallion might try and pull away; if he succeeded in getting a hold.

With his ears pinned, teeth bared he snaked his head under Caius’ and aimed to clench hold of the champagne’s neck, either to draw blood or to restrict his breathing for a little while. He hoped for a hold and remained solid, shaking his head to test whether he had a hold of the other stallion.
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kimmys
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It is probably for the best that neither stallion can hear their opponent's thoughts, as the ensuing intellectual battle would have eclipsed the physical one by far. Both Orion and Caius were fairly intelligent males, one being vastly more experienced and worldly than the other, but both had potential. Where one had been brought up under a disgraced stallion, who had believed in a dream and fallen short, the other had been brought up under a powerful stallion at the helm of a vast legacy. Is it not clear which colt would be expected to grow up devaluing the system that surrounded them? If his family was doomed to failure, from grandsire to sire to possibly the colt himself, why believe in that system?

It was foolish decision that would surely cost Orion later in life, but that was beyond Caius's concern.

Caius, however, saw the benefits of his situation and never missed an opportunity to use them. His mind was sharp and cunning, and while he was not necessarily as power hungry as his father, he had thus far taken supreme advantage of every choice granted to him.

But such thoughts were not rolling around in the champagne's mind, rather, his blue eyes had caught Orion's movement, and would have had to been deaf to miss the injured squeal that had shrieked from the bay's mouth and echoed in the relatively empty battlegrounds. It earned a grin from Caius, although he showed no other outer sign of his pleasure. His hooves must have found their mark then, although it was probably not serious enough to hinder the reproduction of subsequent Orion foals, unfortunately.

Defense #2
The bay was quick to regain his composure and was soon rushing back at the chocolate colored male; perhaps a little sooner than Caius had counted on. Both ears flattened to his poll as the other male rushed in blindly, seeking for the life vein that was the target of every dim-witted male that had ever stepped into the battlegrounds. It was a vulnerable spot, true, but one so regularly targeted that it would be foolish not to remember it in any attack that took your chest and upper body into reaching distance of enemy teeth. But there was little time to think of evasive strategies – an equine moving forward had more momentum that one swinging sideways as earlier – so Caius took the obvious route to avoid maximum damage... He went up, and in an effort to redirect Orion's aim, oriented his chest with the bay's, so that whatever attack he was trying to pull off would end up somewhere lower on the throat, or even, more hopefully, on the plentiful chest muscles between his legs.

Attack #2
As he rose on his aching hind legs, his mind was already on attack strategies. Why waste further effort on pursuit when the enemy was already so close?

Presumably his legs were on either side of Orion's face, keeping it from going too far to either side, and leaving his eyes, ears, and muzzle within somewhat easy reach. So as the champagne colt's shoulders rose, his head snaked down toward the bay's. A pained grunt echoed from his nostrils as the bay's hold proved true, a large chunk of his chest muscle being pinched and torn between yellow-stained teeth. But if anything – that hold was keeping him upright on his sore hind legs, and he wasted no further time in getting to work.

In the time that Orion held on, shaking and tearing flesh, Caius's teeth were snapping at his left eye, rough incisors seeking to touch and pop the gelatinous eyeball. When that didn't prove as easy as he'd hoped, although there was hopefully serious damage done, he made one last blind grab at his ear, hoping to grab it and tear it down with him. What better way to get back at an enemy than to mutilate and disfigure him?

When his hooves touched the ground again, Caius squealed, more out of triumph than anything, although he still wasn't sure what damage had been done. The battle was now over and had probably taken more time to decide to challenge than it had been to endure.

Twice now he had turned Orion's attack against him, and if this proved as successful at taking the bay by surprise as the first attack, the win was in the bag for Viral's son. Arrogantly the champagne colt shook his head and body, disregarding the pain that radiated from his chest and hind legs, and simultaneously stirring a rather large cloud of dust. The movement made the torn flap of flesh on his chest flop disgustingly and ooze more bright red blood. After pacing a small distance away, the champagne inspected his chest as best as was possible, and was dismayed at the depth of the wound – at it's deepest it was over a half an inch deep, and stretched approximately five inches across one of the chest muscles. Blood was pumping steadily from the wound, but it hadn't seemed to hit any major blood vessels, which was obviously good.

When he was assured it was far from a life threatening wound – although infection this close to his heart could surely do the trick – his blue eyes narrowed in on Orion with no apparent expression, although his sire's trademark smirk rested lightly on his lips. Experience in fighting with many brothers in a hierarchial herd had once again proven to be beneficial, because even if he hadn't won, it was almost worth it to see the surprise and shock in the bay's eyes when he realized that Caius wasn't going to play by tradition. The new world order was coming to town.
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devotchka
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WELL SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON THE HOOD OF A MERCEDES BENZ
The pain in his leg throbbed and he leaned unnaturally forwards, trying to keep as much weight off it as he possibly could. Not much was on his mind now, more the initial shock of having blood drawn in a fight. He had play fought with his uncle before, but neither of them had taken it too seriously, it was more a way of letting of steam like all young horses. Unfortunately, he was not in that world now .

DEFENSE #2

Orion could feel Caius’ flesh between his teeth and a spurt of joy surged through him, although he was unable to see where he had struck. It wasn’t the most imaginative move ever invented, but a natural one that a young stallion might make. He would soon pay for his blunders. He could feel his incisors slipping this way and that, but he held on. Suddenly Caius’ head was by his and out of his left eye he could see the yellowed teeth snapping again and again at him. Suddenly realising what the champagne coloured colt was trying to do the bay attempted to back out of the awkward position, but only found himself trapped by Caius’ front legs.

A searing pain shot through his eye as one of Caius’ vicious attacks was on target. He had bitten him on the eyelid, and the whole eyeball seemed compressed and bulging. Fortunately for Orion it didn’t come out of it’s socket, but blood soon streamed down over the eye, pinkish and watering from the pressure it had been under and blocked out most of his vision. He knew it would scar, being on the finer skin of his head, and hoped that there would be no infection for fear of losing his sight in that eye completely.

Caius’ work was not done. Orion released his grip as he felt the other moving back down to the ground but the stallion’s teeth latched onto his ear. Panicking Orion shot backwards, only making matters worse. As he spun off to the side in an instinctive urge to flee Caius had held on, tearing the soft tissue a good inch or so before he was free. The dark hair matted with blood as it ran down his head and into his dark forelock and the ear in question flopped uselessly and the pain of the injury prevented him from trying to move it at all. He limped back, surveying the other with glowering contempt.

He had definitely underestimated this one.
Edited by devotchka, Dec 2 2010, 02:09 PM.
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Magnanimous
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THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT JUDGING A BATTLE. SO I'm bound to make mistakes. If/when you see them, call me out! =]

Orion, played by Kay

Attack 1:

Damages Sustained: Hit on upper leg, by his hindquarters (bruising) and his underbelly was cut. 6

Damages Given: Gash to inside of left leg and outside of right. 4

Creativity: 5

Attack 2:

Damages Sustained: Bitten on the eye, torn ear. 3

Damages Given: Deep bite/tear to the chest muscle. 5

Creativity: 2

Overall:

Variety of Attacks: 8

Skills of Player: 10; You develop an amazing character, no powerplaying, use wonderful sentence structure and vocab, and I saw no errors (and if there were any, they were minor enough that they didn't detract from the meaning). Your posts are wonderful!

FINAL SCORE:
25

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Caius and Kimmys:

Attack 1:

Damages Sustained: Cut to inside of left leg and outside of right leg; 3

Damages Given: Hit to the upper leg/hindquarters and cut to the underbelly; 6

Creativity: 3; **It was the same move back again, yes, but I have personally never seen that done, and wouldn't have thought of it, so you get points for that.

Attack 2:

Damages Sustained: Bite/tear to chest muscle; 4

Damages Given: Bite to eye & Ripping of ear; 2

Creativity: 6

Overall:

Variety of Attacks: 6

Skills of Player: 10; You develop an amazing character, no powerplaying, use wonderful sentence structure and vocab, and I saw no errors (and if there were any, they were minor enough that they didn't detract from the meaning). Your posts are wonderful!

FINAL SCORE:
26

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Meaning, it's very close but, with a final score of 26 to 25, Caius and Kimmys win this battle. Essentially, it came down to creativity points and then damages sustained; they differed just enough that Caius was tipped over the edge. My only tips for next time would be to work on not repeating attacks!

You both did amazingly well!

=] <3
Magnan.



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we are not things; those were her words!
salome | ishtar | piper| riesling | rani | anael | iscaie | silas | faolan | sven | nyss|

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