Introduction

The moons soar high through the night sky this evening, illuminating the arena floor with shades of silver and red from above.  In a change of pace, it seems tonight’s jungle battleground is already in place!  I’m not sure whether that means the mages simply decided to set it up prior to the audience’s arrival because we’ve seen this particular terrain already this year, or because they wanted to hide something different amidst the undergrowth and immense canopy of the jungle trees.  It’s only a matter of time until we discover their motivations.  Since we seem to have a moment, let’s talk a bit about tonight’s combatants.

Our first entry, the Blight Stalker, won a surprising victory against the Chord Caster in the very first battle of the tournament almost a month ago.  If you remember, the battle took place in the underwater reef, and the stealth-based undead creature had to face not only the caster’s powerful sonic abilities, but the razor sharp coral walls and debris in order to proceed to the semi-finals.  It was a tremendous fight, and perhaps the coral of the reef and the dangers of the Chord Caster have prepared the stalker for this new opponent in tonight’s combat.

The razor fiends, twin creatures crafted of diamond, fought hard against the arachast in the artic fields in their quarter final match.  We saw them act with extreme intelligence for constructs, bordering on natural cunning!  Not only that, but when the devilish spider threatened the citizenry of Illuria, the remaining razor fiend, damaged severely from the battle, soared in and defeated the rogue spider once and for all!  Which brings me to this:

Due to the heroic actions of the razor fiends, under the influence of their creator, and the support for application provided by the Tournament Master himself, it is my distinct pleasure to make the following announcement:  Alchemy Leafhand, creator of the razor fiends, has been granted citizenship into the Illurian Empire!  This is a process that normally takes months and requires a great deal of beauocracy.  It also normally entails a time of service in the Illurian military, so he’s very lucky the tournament master endorsed the application!  Congratulations to Citizen Alchemy!

With that, the Tournament Master is making his appearance, though in a much less grandiose way than normal… There’s something strange about tonight’s environment, I have to say.  The master is simply walking in through one of the upper doors to the seating area!

“Greetings fellow citizens!  As you no doubt already know, we have a new citizen among our privileged ranks.  Please join me in welcoming Alchemy Leafhand, as a citizen of Illuria!”

The master begins to clap and all in the arena follow suit, many standing up in recognition of the achievement.  After a few moments he signals for them to be seated, and silence reigns over all of Caer Holineth.

“I’m also quite certain that you’ve heard about the abhorrent murder of one of our esteemed mages.  I assure you that the culprit in this reprehensible crime will be caught, and the Kranta-Sil themselves are on his trail even as we speak.”

He pauses, the whole crowd is silent as the gravity of that last statement sinks in.  The imperial secret police are one of the most elite organizations within the empire!  They are not called upon to solve a normal murder, no matter how infrequent such a crime is within the capital.  Whomever carried out this villainous deed should be very afraid.

In a fraction of a second, Master Zoland’s facial expression changes from threatening, to joyous as he takes off into the air, soaring over the heads of onlookers to come to a halt at the dead center of the arena.

“But enough announcements for one evening.  Are we not here to see the epic clash of two victorious creations fight it out for a chance to take part in the final battle?”  The crowd cheers as he continues.  “Then let’s see them!  In the northwest, we have Citizen Alchemy’s Razor Fiends!”

The audience roars in excitement for the diamond creatures soaring through the oculus, glittering in the moonlight as they glide to their starting position.

“And the Blighted Stalker crafted by Chuliror, in the southeast!”

Another burst of celebration erupts as the undead creature steps forth from a cloud of acid and shadow, licking its long claws in anticipation of the battle.  The Tournament mages shift their magic, conjuring the illusion fields that are scattered across Caer Holineth for the enjoyment of the audience.

“We will wait no longer!  Let the battle begin!”

Battle

Is that a smile I see on the stalker’s face?  It’s so hard to tell with these skeletal types… A globe of impenetrable darkness surrounds the creature before the Master has even finished his words as it soundlessly steps into the shadows of the jungle.

Meanwhile, the razor fiends take to the air, one heading east along the road, the other weaving through the canopy towards the river ford, knowing that their opponent is most likely to approach in that location.

Without a sound the undead appears from the jungle, crossing the road and heading north towards the river and leaving the shadows only briefly before dissolving into the underbrush once more.  Up above, and not far away, the first of the flying fiends reaches the river, hovering out of reach of the piranhas and scanning the jungle in search of its enemy.

Amidst the darkness, the stealthy undead climbs high into the trees, seemingly invisible to the searching construct.  Without warning the Stalker leaps from the trees, landing on the back of the hovering fiend and digging both of its claws deep into the construct’s diamond hide!  The sudden added weight of its attacker drives it downward, the sharpened edges of its scales and the chromatic energy within biting at the acidic bone of the undead as it descends.  With a tremendous splash, it crashes into the flowing river, the hungry adamantine fish within swarming around construct and undead alike, gnawing on both bone and diamond!

The second fiend, hearing the shrieks of its partner, streaks over at full speed, swooping down and clawing at its foe with incredibly sharp talons; but the stalker plunges itself into the water, avoiding the attack!  As the submerged diamond construct struggles to right itself it’s struck three more times in rapid succession by skeletal claws!  The first is deflected by its diamond hide, but the other two tear away gemstones by the dozens, scoring deep and devastating hits on the creature!  Desperate to escape the deadly piranhas that have already left their mark, the blighted stalker leaps from the river into the jungle to the north, leaving the defeated razor fiend to be torn apart, its diamonds flowing down the river into the emptiness at the flow’s end.  Yet that is not the only enemy the stalker faces tonight.

Its second opponent turns midflight, rising up high as it scans the northern shore for any sign of the vicious undead.  With a roar the prismatic energy held within the razor fiend is unleashed in a burst of light!  When the light clears there are five of the creatures; five fiends!  There’s no way a creature that could summon copies of itself would be allowed to enter the tournament, so this must be some manner of illusion!  Let’s see how the stealthy combatant it faces reacts to this.

The seconds pass in intense silence; the stalker seemingly trying to determine which of the images is the real thing, and the fiend searching the shadows for its well-hidden opponent.  Yet it seems the tournament mages don’t care much for this break in the action.  A globule of water rises up from the river, so slowly and silently that it escapes the notice of the construct high above!  It rears back as if to launch something at the flying fiend, and flings a large ball of ice and water through the air!

At the last possible second the diamond creature senses the attack and veers to the side, dodging first one, then another, then a third of these icy orbs of death with incredible speed and grace, but losing two of the illusory images in the process!  It seems as though the attacks are driving it towards the northern shore in hopes of forcing one or both of our competitors to action, and it works!

Out of the shadow shrouded jungle comes the blighted stalker, its claws leading as it leaps towards the fiend!  Too busy dodging the attacks from below, the winged creature can’t react to the sudden assault from the trees!  Bone claws rake through another of the construct’s mirror images, the illusion dissipating at the touch, but its other hand finds purchase on the true body of razor fiend!  Flames lick up from the fiend’s body, scorching bone as the stalker soars past, landing firmly on the trunk of a tree on the southern bank.

Seemingly angered or frustrated by the attack, the winged battler gains altitude, and then dives towards the creature that defeated its twin with incredible speed!  It appears to be little more than a streak of color as it lances through the air like a bolt of lightning, but the stalker isn’t backing down!  Its strong legs push off from the tree, sending it into the air once more, its claws ready to rend its opponent in an instant!

At the last possible second, the wings of the fiend turn, and it rears up, baring it’s talons to the assaulting undead!  The two crash together with a sound like rending stone!  Diamonds fall away as the bone claws of the stalker bite in, but the talons split bone, and its powerful bite descends on the creature’s torso, biting down hard!  In a surge of movement the skeletal monster is torn apart, shards of bone flying in all directions!

The injured construct roars its victory into the night as the ravenous fish below devour all that remains of its opponent.

Conclusion

“What… A… Battle!”  The Tournament Master’s voice rises above the thunderous shouts and cheers of the gathered crowd!  “I can’t believe my eyes!  The Razor Fiends have claimed another victory, and will be moving on to the final battle!  They have won their chance to fight for the title of Grand Champion!”

Every person in Caer Holineth is on their feet, either cursing or celebrating the victory of Citizen Alchemy’s creations.

“Their creator will have only a few weeks to prepare for the final battle.  Which, we have decided, will not take place in the arctic as had been previously determined.  We believe the terrain would give the Razor Fiends an unfair advantage, as they have already fought in this battleground previously.  As such the nature of the battleground will be determined based upon the outcome of the next match.”  A cunning smile crosses his face.  “Only time will tell what our contestants will face in the final match.  Until then, let the evening’s festivities commence!”