2017-07-06: Lacour Tournament of Arms: Janus vs Arleph

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  • Log: 17 07 06 - Janus vs Arleph
  • Cast: Janus Cascade, Arleph Ardan, Lemina Ausa
  • Where: Lacour - Arms Coliseum
  • Date: July 6, 2017
  • Summary: Match 31, Winners' Round 2 in the Lacour Tournament of Arms. Arleph Ardan, masterful Symbologist, takes on the cunning outlaw Janus Cascade. Janus' fans are sure showing their support today!

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

It's time for YET ANOTHER MAIN EVENT! They have lots of main events at the Lacour Arms Tournament, it's great. This one is unusually rowdy, as contestant Janus Cascade appears to have attracted a crowd of admirers who are excitedly waving banners, whistling, cheering, occasionally tossing confetti....gosh, has ANYONE had a fanbase this excited? Well, who can blame them, because their hero is the ONE, the ONLY, the WORLD-FAMOUS HE SAYS AND SOMETIMES PAYS OTHER PEOPLE TO SAY, Janus Cascade!!!

The man in red appears to an honestly sort of weirdly riotous ovation, hand up high as he waves like a matador about to fight the bull. In his other hand is the Sniper Shark XR, a full-length rifle ARM with a bayonet attached to the front which is definitely, absolutely tournament legal, and the judges will back him up on this, especially the ones he gave a sack full of silver to.

He marches out to his mark in the middle of the tournament square, his rifle setting into his palm confidently, as he tips his neck just a little and grins across at the opposite door. Despite all the noise, his eyes are terribly clear and sharp. Hungry for a fight.

Meanwhile, in the stands, a rumpled, bearded man squats down low near a child, whose nose wrinkles at the waft of alcohol. "Hey kid," Dario Nicolodi says, and produces a fistful of Gella. "Buy you two ice creams if you cheer for my man Janus," he says.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Here comes the OTHER CONTENDER! Since his first fight, Arleph appears to have gained a small gathering of admirers, which is puzzling to him considering how the first fight went for him. No, actually, it make senses. They saw a man stand proud in front of another, threatening wizard unleashing High Magic, then defeating him.

Arleph knows precisely what happened. It annoyed him at first, then he was perplexed. He did not get to see Ethius again after it, to try to get some answers out of him. Not that he think he would get any, in any case.

The crowd cheers when Arleph steps out into the arena, the Doctor adjusting his runed gloves by tightening them over his hands, making a loud snap, then wriggling his fingers. He know not to pop them. That just make things worse in the long run. His cloak billows behind him as he takes his place in middle of the arena.

He gives his opponment a long look, even a friendly one. He have a firearm, big caliber. Okay. He's likely to use it. He seem the sort to punch people too, so that's something to look out for, too, as well as skewering people, if that bayonet is to belived. Great.

"Howdy." Arleph says, taking off his hat, lifting it for a few seconds before letting it flow back. His eyes sustain his hungry, daring gaze with cool, steely concentration. "

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

For her part, Lemina Ausa has been haunting the stands -- usually the Guard booth, though after Jean told her that that might get her bopped in spite of the illegality, she has been a little more circumspect about the quantity, if not quality, of her shitposting.

As is customary, Lemina is once again loaded up with Arena Food. She seems to have taken most notably to the orangeade, which she keeps whipping into a light, fluffy ice mixture with her magic. She's fairly certain she could sell this idea for a lovely sum, but hasn't quite yet.

"I'm not going to buy you anything," she notes from a couple seats behind Dario, "But buying cheers is for mega-lame, mega-sad losers who have no charisma." A beat. "Unlike me, Lemina Ausa!"

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

Janus' lips split wit a confident grin as he surveys the crowds. Despite...possibly having paid off some of these people, he doesn't seem that bothered by the praise. He watches Arleph's approach; snapping signeturgical gloves into position, cape whipping in his own wake. Janus' grin stays right where it is, flickering between smug and friendly depending on how the eyes catch it, like an optical illusion of a personality. "A good day to ya, mate," Janus replies, settling his posture just a bit. "Hell of a day for it, eh? Let's send these people home happy."

The countdown starts. "THREE..."

Janus slowly raises his ARM to a sniper's posture, ready to begin aggressively. "TWO....!"

The world seems to still for Janus Cascade. Waiting for the moment it starts. Finding Arleph all those yards away, mentally bridging the gap.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

"Salways a great dea for this sort of things." Arleph replies, bowing his head once, but not laeving Janus out of his sight. This man seems like a spring. He'll have to watch him closely. Or a snake. It's hard to tell, on very first glance anyway.

The countdown begins. Arleph remains in his relaxed position, his hands laying at his sides, lip. His fingers occassionaly twitches.

"THREE..."

He takes a step back, a foot twisting and making a quarter circle in the sand.

"TWO..."

Arleph's indexes squezes against invisible triggers, his brows knitting in concentration.

"ONE...!"

Arleph takes a deep breath, clearing the crowd from his mind, a faint wind growing around him.

"BEGIN!"

Arleph lifts and swing one hand to the left. The quarter circle in the sand spreads out with a gust of wind, forming a full one by itself. A Symbological circuit circle spreads out from it, glowing blue light covering his swung arm that extends into a long, slithering whip of water. It cracks in the air, snapping torward Janus.

GS: Arleph Ardan has attacked Janus Cascade with Water Whip!

GS: Arleph Ardan has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

The magic begins at once. Janus' eyes crack wider as he sees Arleph immediately cast; the whipping of wind around Arleph messes up Janus' shot calculus enough that he doesn't even take it. Instead, he charges right in, tearing up distance between them. The whip of water snaps toward him and Janus jukes to the side as he charges in. The whip splashes against him, forcing him into a sidelong stumble, but he forces himself around, quickly regains his angle and rushes right in. Range for range, he's not sure of his odds against a spellcaster. Which is why Janus aims to make good on what he's reasonably sure he'll have over Arleph:

The big honkin' spear on the front of his gun, thrust for Arleph's gut with intent to skewer.

GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Arleph Ardan with Unrighteous Sheer!

GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

As predicted, Janus charges for a skewer with his bayonette. The Symbologist grits his teeth, bringing his Water Whip around for another swing, lifting his other hand to hold it out against the incoming spear. A smaller symbological circle spreads out of his hands, which immediatedly melts like an ice cube before a flamethrower to pool at his feet... And Arleph moves.

The spear grazes him over his sides, ripping his clothing cleaning and drawing some blood. It's a flesh wound, to certain, but it's still a grazing hit. "Tch!" The Doctor grunts, pooling both of his hands as he slides away on the stream of water below him. His indexes and pinkie fingers dances together, forming a complex rotation with his hands. The water around him explodes out, gripped by an invisible hand to flow in circles around him, multiple layers of currents flowing in opposite directions, before rising up in a torrent.

The torrent spins around him, exploding out in concussive force while the intricate in a mini-tidal wave concentrated in Janus' direction, opposing currents of water continues to float around him.

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

Janus' grin never wavers, even as he sticks the good doctor. He turns a grin up at the man, pulling his gun back and right into a rifleman's pose, preparing to follow up his assault with a blast! But Arleph does that, too - a much better blast than janus has to bear, at that! The blast explodes outward, and though Janus tries to hurl himself back, he eat the explosion dead on, slammed into the ground and dragged around. He emerges, eventually; blasted outward and slamming into the concrete, rolling along and landing wetly on the ground. He half-rolls, a few moments later; spitting up a mouthful of water. "Heh," he coughs. "Not...not bad."

He swings the rifle up, carefully aiming, and even sodden, his eye burns narrowly. The crowd roars! The gun barks! And Arleph--

Might notice that the bullet doesn't quite feel like it came from the direction of Janus' gun, which wasn't entirely well-aimed.

In the crowd, surrounded by dozens of people who have earplugs in and didn't hear nothin', Dario Nicolodi slips his Gillius TH12/23 magnum back into his trousers, and sneaks back off to the next point in the plan.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph does not answer immediatedly, a hand closed into a fist next to him, from where the whirlpools around him pools around from, much like a 360 degree shield. The be-hatted man simply is concentrated on the fight, his eyes watching his everymoves.

He lifts his fists to direct against the incoming rifle's shot...!

The whirlpool explodes from the sides, with a look of surprise in Arleph's face. It's pretty surprised, even comical! It soon twists into a scowl, the Symbologist looking in the direction he felt the impact. Somewhere in the crowd, watching somebody leave. Damn. This guy is cheating, ain't he? Wonderful.

"Wish I could say the same." Arleph replies tersely, the wispy strand of the whirlpool around him. There's just one current left. It's kinda funny to watch, waving and slithering against invisible, non-existant other currents.

The Symbologist takes a firm steps back, swinging both arms upward in a grand theatrical gesture, blue energy flowing out of thin air to his hands, forming into two half-crescents. With a flick of his fingers, they fly out of his hands, soaring in a parabolic arc like boomerangs at Janus. One from the left, one from the right.

<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.

That's definitely symbology, Lemina thinks -- those effects have the consistency Lemina knows to be the hallmark of symbological sorcery. ... why specialize, though? Water is certainly a good thing to specialize in, but Lemina is left to look askance at the mage's approach to --

-- bam. Lemina hears that gunshot from much closer than she should, and lets out a yelp and gets down; she then realizes that, frankly, no one is going to care about the flagrant cheating going on here, and accordingly, takes a breath.

"... God, at least save it for the end of the round," she mumbles.

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

Arleph takes his eyes off Janus Cascade. For a moment, all the eyes that matter are off of Janus; off in the crowd, or on the defensive mage as he turns, glowers at the crowd for "some reason"; reacts.

The next anyone is paying much attention to Janus, Arleph is hurling bolts of blue energy at him, crescents of water surging! But Janus doesn't take heavy evasive maneuvers; he jukes to one side, nimbly timed to reduce the worst of the attack, slashing through his shirt to leave what will in a few hours be bruises; but when he recenters it's like he never moved at all. Feet firm. Rifle up.

The whole frame of the ARM pulses quietly with the power of the Cartridge Janus fed it while nobody was looking. He slams the bolt of the action home, resets his hand on the trigger. "Got a problem, mate?" Janus teases, and fires.

This one definitely came from Janus' gun. The thunder of the rifle going off is proof enough of that, as a shell tears through the air between Janus and Arleph. The enchantments here will ensure this couldn't possibly kill, but...

Boy, it'll hurt come morning.

GS: Janus Cascade has activated a Force Action!

GS: Janus Cascade has activated a Force Action!

GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Arleph Ardan with Bolt Action!

GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

And things goes downhill from there.

Arleph does not answer Janus at all, furrowing his brows back for the brief moment it took to see the ARM rised up. This time, this is going to be something painful. He brings up the last wisps of his protection to bear, gritting his teeth. The bullet goes through, clean. Another burst of speed takes Arleph, his eyes wide as he sees the bullet coming through, barely slowed down for his head, throwing himself to the side.

Instead, it goes through his other sides. The mage lets out a loud grunt, rolling on the ground. Enchantments or not, a shot in the face, it would've hurt as well hells.

"Yes." The Symbologist says, his twin gloves touching his two wounds, pressing fingers together. "It appears you are a cheater, Janus Cascade. Well played."

Arleph's fists tightens into tight balls, another symbology circle growing below him while the water cutters dissapears around, slamming one fist into the ground. It erupts instantly into a large stream of spiked ice, soaring and screaming torward the Gunslinger, with each tip of a dull blood red color.

GS: Arleph Ardan has attacked Janus Cascade with Bloodstained Ice Wave!

GS: Arleph Ardan has completed his action.

GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Arleph Ardan's Bloodstained Ice Wave for 46 hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

"I'm just a man who knows his resources," Janus declares, coolly; he sets his rifle up, assessing Arleph's moves. Less injured than Janus expected. Good magic on this guy. Well, that's annoying. He doesn't show it; that grin is cool as ever. He slowly approaches. The logic remains the same: Stay in close, where Arleph can't control the range. "A man who knows who you can trust, out there in the wasteland."

He keeps walking. Arleph blasts at him, now, and this time Janus skips aside properly, the wave of spiked ice narrowly nicking him on its way past. Janus releases a "whoof!" of surprise as he comes down, a crooked grin on his lips. The crowd all around them roars with approval of the mayhem, and some of them get so excited they start throwing...stuff, into the field. Little boxes. One guy gets excited and tosses an entire keg in the ring. That won't come up, probably. Janus sure does seem to know to stay near it though; dropping into a gunner's stance and leveling his weapon at Arleph again. Bang, BANG, BANG, rapid shots whizzing past. They lack the staggering, ripping power of that one shot, but each one has the potential to give Arleph a bad few seconds!

Meanwhile, in the crowd, a bucket appears next to an excited little girl, with twenty Gella in it and a picture describing how to throw things. A blonde man wanders away, whistling merrily.

GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Arleph Ardan with Cascade Gang Cooperation!

GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action.

GS: CRITICAL! Arleph Ardan takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's Cascade Gang Cooperation for 76 hit points!

GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Arleph Ardan!

GS: Janus Cascade takes Cover! He gains 50 temporary hit points!

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph takes notes of the things being thrown in the ring. Right. Ressources. Is that same man that fired with the magnum doing his best to get the crowd against him, tossing all this stuff inside? Probably. He can't afford to look for it, or even firing into the crowd. Even if he could, anyway. Damn.

The Symbologist dives again away form the bullets, hitting the ground hard then jumping back up with a spring to his feet. Several of them hit him square into the shoulder, despite the rolling action, making him stumble while on his feet. He thinks, hard. So. He have people outthere to interfere. Even a keg is thrown in. Gods know what is in it, but he'll assume the worse with gunpowder.

"Facinating." The Symbologist replies, gritting his teeth. "Then I suppose you will not begrudge me by changing our battlefield."

He lowers hand to his fresh wounds, tightly squeezing on it with a flow of power. His increasingly tattered coat flutters mightily to an invisible wind while a low whine gathers at his feet. The air around them as he walks slowly torward Janus starts to feel... heavier, tighter. Imagine the most heavy, humoid day you ever lived, amplified to a hundred.

A symbological circle erupts from Arleph's feet as he intones.

"BEWARE THE UNSEEN WEIGHT UPON THINE SHOULDERS!"

A large sphere pushes out of Arleph, spiraling out into a gigantic shield that covers most of the arena between them, sucking all sources of water dry that is being thrown, then soaking them right up. The outer regions of the shield is fuzzy, much like gazing into dirty glass.

"FOR THE PRIMORDIAL ELEMENTS DID NOT FORGET YOU!"

The pressure condenses around Janus, crashing down with titanic force.

"ATMOSPHERIC CONDENSATION!"

GS: Arleph Ardan has attacked Janus Cascade with Atmospheric Condensation!

GS: Arleph Ardan has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

Janus' eyes roll so hard they take his entire head with them as Arleph starts...proselytizing? Anyway, rebuking him. "'Mate', there ain't no such thing as a weight on my--"

Underestimating the sorcerer costs him; Janus is halfway through his comeback when he realizes the weight is quite literal. Janus throws himself to the nearest heavy object in the ring (the keg, as it happens) and clutches to it, hoping to escape the forces being thrown against him.

GOOD NEWS: The keg is full of beer, which we discover when it is so crushed by Arleph's forces that it shatters. Janus' bones probably also did, from the way he stands there dazed for a minute and then collapses to his knees. He huffs; breathing direly for a long few seconds.

But then the fire's back in him, and he slams one foot down, rising shakily up, glaring at Arleph. "Hahaha," he coughs out, swinging his weapon up. A low, spiteful chuckle. "So that's your game?" he breathes. "Well...guess we're all cards on the table then, eh mate?" He shifts his stance. "Then that's us back at square one!"

And so, as from square one, he charges - dashes at Arleph to try to keep the wizard from casting again, lashing out hard with his bayonet to keep Arleph busy not getting turned into Arkebobs.

GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Arleph Ardan with Unrighteous Sheer!

GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action.

DC: MISS! Arleph Ardan completely evades Unrighteous Sheer from Janus Cascade!

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph is bleeding from several wounds. His current firm stance is half a bluff, half raw determination at this point. He's not in a good shape, but he had worse.

The sorcerer does not make the mistake again of taking his eyes off the man, his expression neutral. The shield around them holds further, wibbling from the forces within being thrown around, but the fuzzy window effect seems to remain for a few brief, annoying moments.

"I suppose it does." The Symbologist answers, standing up tall, watching Janus stand back up. He'll give that man something, at least. He can take a beating and is not too bad with that bayonet. But this time, this time he know it's coming. Arleph, gritting his teeth because of his various wounds, waits for the last moment to take a wide step away, swinging his jacket like a cape to avoid the charging gunslinger, sliding off for a few further feets on the same glide of water beneath his feet.

There is that stilnness, a growing whine in the air, symbological tattoos on the man's arms glowing as he crosses them before his person. Humidity is up. Pressure is up. The time is ripe.

"FROM WITHIN THE AMBROSIA OF THE GODS, INVISIBLE AND PURE!" Arleph intones out, a circle, glowing like all the others, spread from beneath him, it's living circuits and lines dancing with one another like an ocean of energy. "THE RAGE OF THE VOID IS MANIFEST!"

The humidity that's been gathering all around them, including the shield, threatens to gather around Janus, forming a bubble of tight, condensed water. As if that was not bad news enough, a tiny spot of ice appears at the middle of it all, then violently expands outwards when it flashes freezes, soaking everything in it's path with chilling waters.

"AQUA FRIGORE!"

To top it off, the frozen bubble folds into itself, shattering into an thunderous explosion of shattering ice from the pressure of having it's center flash frozen several hundred celcius in a flash, expanding out until it cannot contains itself anymore.

GS: Arleph Ardan has attacked Janus Cascade with Aqua Frigore!

GS: Arleph Ardan has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

Janus Cascade may be a low-down dog in about five different ways, but he's a man who refuses to lie down until his body will move no more. A resolve burns in Janus Cascade. He's not that invested in the tournament, per se; in a way, he's just blowing off steam. But he's not willing to just lie there, and he's of no mind to simply let Arleph walk merrily away with an easy win. He has, at least, robbed him of that much.

But he's not expecting Arleph to chain major spells that way, either, and his eyes widen in shock; first at the nimble evasion ("Damn!") and then at what he's seeing from the Symbologist as his powers grow. "Ah, HELL!" Janus yelps. He swings his rifle down, fires two shots to try and dissuade the Symbologist's powers; both repelled by the raw power Arleph brings to the field.

And then there is water, ripping and slicing and burning with cold. No man comes back from a blow like that.

There is a thundrous CRACK and the ice explodes; not from Arleph's spell but from Janus Cascade releasing some heretofore unseen trick. His lip curls at the man. "Was savin' this," he spits. "But y'know....maybe you earned it, wizard."

And then he rushes; his ARM silently bolstering its owner as he tears across the distance toward Arleph, and lashes out with nothing so complex as a hard kick, to throw him off his balance, and then a swing of the rifle - hitting him with the blunt of the bayonet, but BATTING him into the air with incredible strength!

And then Janus raises the gun, sights in--

In the crowd, one of the hologram mages is standing by, idle, mentally going over the next planned stage display. A blonde melts out of the shadows behind him, sticks both forefingers in his own mouth, then jams them in the man's ears and wiggles mercilessly. Unplanned magic goes wild!!

Which is why, for a single moment, a burst of pure white light from the H O L O deck hides the blast of pure light that explodes from Janus' arm to blast Arleph out of the sky.

GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Arleph Ardan with Rising Nova!

GS: Janus Cascade takes 7 damage from Poison!

GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Not gonna lie.

Arleph is pleased by this. His stake into the tournament is pretty low as well, but at least it would've been a good way to see other sorcerers. The first one he's seen threw the fight. This annoyed him. This Gunslinger is a lot better and a far better metric on how the firearms works here. His analysis: THERE'S NO COMMON GROUND. EVER. AT ALL.

The Symbologist watches Janus, a bit tired after chaining his two major spells in a row, gritting his teeth. The combo of bright light exploding from the HOLO deck as well as Janus' arms is something he can't easily defend against. He could try dodging. You don't dodge bullets, you anticipate where people aim. The problem here is, he's got him dead to rights. There's only one thing he can do. Plus, he's coming straight for him. This time, his emergency spells are weaker.

"HYAAAAAAAAAAH!" Arleph screams out, his eyes bursting wide as he lifts a bloodied hand in front of himself, a quick symbological circle forming from it, creating a brief barrier in the split moments Janus comes upon him, the hard kick slamming into the invisible barrier, then the bayonet shattering it, leaving quite clean open from the gunshot from, the burst of light that plows straight into the Symbologist' chest. He's thrown clear off his feet, rolling off on the ground and lay there, on his back, gasping out with a hand to his chest.

When the pretty birds leaves and the stars vanishes, Arleph slowly straighten to a sitting position, his teeth gritted while he slams his gloved fist into the ground. Upon impact, a symbological circle grows out of it in a shockwave, gathering energy, staggering back to his feets.

There's no fancy words this time. This is clearly not a High Art, but rather a sudden blast of raw energy, flash fired out of his palm in a perfect spherical shape.

GS: Arleph Ardan has attacked Janus Cascade with Magic Missile!

GS: Arleph Ardan has completed his action.

GS: Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Arleph Ardan's Magic Missile for 101 hit points!

GS: Janus Cascade has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!

<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.

The Nova carts always leave Janus exhausted; boosting himself with the strange science of ARM is always a double-edged sword, and Nova is particularly unkind. The lingering pain from Arleph's last round ensures he makes no more move; He stands there wheezing, watching Arleph recover. His own teeth gritted, but that grin still across his face. "Heh. Still movin'? Shucks, mate." He slowly, laboriously starts to heft that massive ARM back up to shooting posture, but--

Not fast enough. Arleph's final, desperate move is still enough; Janus cries out as he's blasted entirely off his feet, thrown to land on his back. He's snarling as he struggles to rise up enough to stand, but his arms won't push, his legs won't shove, and finally - he collapses back, unable to reach.

"Janus Cascade is down!" calls the Backup Announcer. "ARLEPH ARDAN IS THE WINNER!"

The crowd erupts, albeit some of them aren't entirely sure how they're supposed to be reacting right now.

<Pose Tracker> Arleph Ardan has posed.

Arleph is not in a great shape himself. He lower his hand down from his magic missile, taking in a deep breath. He's declared the winner, looking up at the crowd to give it a long, scanning glance at the various people gathered. Hard to say if he can find the same person that fired a magnum at him earlier.

Lovely. At least, he's down.

The Symbologist weakly lifts a bloodied fist in the air, before he starts to slink off into the infirmery. He's going to need a lot of rest from this. Or at least, healing magic will suffice.

That still flummox him.