Tournament of the Blade Round Two: Varan Zarvenis vs Ahani Najwa

[Ashin Varanin]

You each get one or two swords of good metal, in whatever reasonable shape and size you prefer. No armor, Force, tech, tricks, subsidiary weapons or whining.

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MYRKR

The arena is a circular stone room, ten metres across, without a ceiling. Rainwater has collected into a small reflecting pool in the centre of the room, whose floor slopes down from the walls. You have entered simultaneously and the doors have shut behind you. It's midnight, and the room is cold.

[member="Varan Zarvenis"] [member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

Frigid blue light dances from the open circle above her, the Champion of the Gods has returned to the basics of her craft: a simple hand and a half sword of balanced tang and lengthy blade, and a twenty four centimetre bodkin with full basket hilt and round pommel. The six foot tall Echani wore grey trousers, a long grey shirt and her hair braided against the nape of her neck in tight coils.

She flicked the hand and a half sword back and forth over and across her wrist, feeling for its weight and the centre point of its' essence. Her opponent was a curious, but mundane human-looking creature. From the second he walked in, Ahani's eyes studied him from head to toe as he would be studied the entire match.

Swordplay, hand to hand combat and the arts of war were the conversations of her people, the art of her life and the breath in her lungs. Ahani could barely speak basic, at times her voice fell to stutters and maddened ravings mostly for the sole reason that Basic was her second language. She was raised in silence and combat, brought through a shaking adolescence through the silence of a starship and the cries of her son and in battle, in war, in the act of combat Ahani wished to learn herself and her opponent.

There was no greater knowledge, no greater curiosity than to see another's fight in their veins. Entering the starting position for Djem So, Ahani kept the bodkin in a scabbard against her thigh.

[member="Varan Zarvenis"]

 

[Varan Zarvenis]

I let out a small yawn as I started a bit of pacing on my end of the ring, clad in the same black tunic I had worn in my last match. After my last match, I had decided to switch it up a bit, replacing my bastard set with a pair of matching straight broadswords, each one being about forty-five inches lone. Say what you want about the mandalorians, but they were masters when it came to making sword, likely a product of their usage of beskads.

Turning my golden eyes to [member="Ahani Najwa"], I examined my opponent while drawing my own swords from their sheathes. I twirled them idly as I watched her, the sound of their tapered ends swishing through the air being like music to my ears. She certainly seemed like a stern one, a person who had her fair share of battles. In fact, raking my memory, I managed to remember her name from the tournament of the gods. I'd watched it idly, though not enough to know all the participants. I only knew two names. Vulpesen Torrevaso, a fellow Zorren(and a fool for letting himself be seen by the public eye), and this girl, the winner.

In any case, it would be best if I learned what I could as I watched her. The fact that she was in pure grey, had proven herself as an accomplished fighter, and the way she carried herself all suggested echani origins, a culture similar to my own. Though, deception was always possible and I would much rather not fall victim to it myself. Having taken in as much information as I could, I started a slow walk towards her, relaxed as we weren't quite in range yet. "May the best fighter win."

Spoiler

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

A yawn? Did he not rest before his next match, or was this a display of male pride? 'She's only the next on a list', 'It's all humdrum', 'Wonderful weather we're having', 'What do you want from me, it's after midnight'. The yawn could mean any of those things, but as Ahani watched him pace and wondered how far the expending of his energy would go? Without the tricks and kickstand-picks of force powers, Ahani had little to rely on. . . . . . . other than the lifetime fighting and heavy education in the art of combat since she could stumble around at the age of 13 months with her father's crimson helmet in her chubby hands. It made the best boat.

The Echani tilted her head forward and snapped it down at her opponent, mouth locked in a smooth pre-combative smirk. The language of the humans, of currency made no plea to her ears at the call of battle. Basic was simple, it was rudimentary. It taught her nothing. In the way of her people, she flourished her sword and bowed for [member="Varan Zarvenis"] to let him know his comment was taken in the best of faith.

Double broadsword was the bastion of the strong. If Varan couldn't keep his strength up the relatively clunky and heavily smithed swords would slow him and weight him down. Some compensated for this by the use of momentum. Momentum was delicious, as once a man levelled his swing and kept to it, he was locked in to completing the cycle.

Thusly, Ahani had gone for the maximum in double-pairing swords (hand-and-a-half, and a full cage bodkin), while giving herself room and maneuverability in which to function. She snapped forward with the sword in her left hand, her right held in front, hand forward and palm flexed but comfortable. Ahani lunged with her right foot, bringing her left forward to close the distance and begin with a straight-forward stab to his solar plexus.

OOC: Spoiler Picture didn't work, dude. The link was broken for me. Sorry!

 

[Varan Zarvenis]

I saw the small look of puzzlement in her eyes. It was brief, and nothing really note worthy, but it made me smile a bit on the inside to see I had perked at least a bit of curiosity in my manner. True, it wasn't normal for a person to walk into something like this seeming tired, but for me, it wasn't so much that I was over confident. I was just relaxed. No need to stress myself out before the first blow. I'd seen to many men die because they couldn't get their 'impending doom' out of their minds... then again, I also saw a buddy get his head blow off while he was taking a break from the front lines. But that's why we have the happy medium. Don't freak yourself out, but don't go slacking. Somehow along the years, I found a nice combination that I thought fitted me.


Taking note her her acknowledgment, I sped up a bit in my pacing. The last thing I needed was to reach the fight with no momentum to swing my blades with. Sure I could do it, but I'd much rather not. As my trot brought me to her, I allowed my enemy to make the first move, taking a lung at my torso. A simple move as far as they went, and a great opener to test ones abilities. Thing was, I wasn't here to test. I was here to win. Sure I could block and step aside, or I could do a little more.

My left foot planted into the ground as my coinciding blade point at the ground and swept to the left. The aim of the first half of the maneuver was rather obvious. To get her blade away from me without letting it go through my chest. The second half of the maneuver was done just a fraction slower than the first. Turning on my left foot, I brought the other to front, and the other half of my body with it. My right arm stayed crooked during my parry, so that when I reached this part, I could make a conserved lunge at her torso which left my elbow just slightly bent so any hasty retractions wouldn't be too difficult.. In essence our attacks were identical. The biggest difference was me using her momentum to hopefully move her into my sword while one of my two deflected her one.


(OOC: Take any generic sword from a movie that's pretty much one handed. Give it a slightly upturned hilt guard. Give it a twin... that's what I got)

[member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

Relaxed? Or cocky? Ahani didn't know, nor did she share her current fighting companion's penchant for taking a relaxed approach. The Echani didn't have to. The Duel, the Fight, the Act of Combat was her firstborn love and her first language. Her stutters in Basic, Common tongues and vocal languages all stemmed from her inability to rectify how different these humans and other such sentients were from the punch.

One got to know the essence of a person through the fight and for the Echani Weapons Master, this was as intimate a conversation as she'd had since winning the Tournament of the Gods. She relished it. Fun! Entertainment! Meeting someone new! For win or lose, this match was a chance to know another being and that in itself was intrinsic and precious. Would she attempt to know what he looked like face down on the ground bleeding profusely? Of course. But that was the point, wasn't it?

She had her longer blade in her left hand. Face to face, [member="Varan Zarvenis"] 's blade angled downward and to his left, pushing her arm across her body and the blade harmlessly across and away from his side. Ahani used this momentum as the beginning of a spin, for what duelist would stay standing with an arm crossed grevously across her own body?

Varan's blade came in for a stab, Ahani grabbed the bodkin and clanged against the blade in a redirect, the full basket of the hilt enough to protect her fingers and wrist. She kicked for the flesh above his right ankle as a check of distance and sting to his balance. The kick wouldn't be hard enough (if connecting) to do any serious damage other than the flash of annoying pain. It was meant as a distraction as her left handed sword she swung from a vertical circle around her back and down toward his right shoulder.

(OOC: Thanks. And sorry for the wait, I get work-busy a lot.)

 

[Varan Zarvenis]

As our blades clashed together, I couldn't help but savor the sound of ringing steel. It had been a part of my life for a few hundred years, and now I found myself reliving the old days, from back before everything fell apart. The old mentality of the zorrens came easily ferocity to defend. Few zorrens could start a fight. But all of us were raised to end them. Committing fully to my lunge, I let my right sword carry me forward, ducking under the blunt of the blow. It kept me from losing my arm, but I still felt a sharp bit of pain as the echani's sword placed a glancing blow, shearing off a bit of my shoulder. It was still usable, but I'd certainly be sporting a bit of blood. As for the kick, that was part of what saved me, the slight imbalance helping me move to the side in my dodging maneuver.

Even with my new wound and the slight pain in my ankle, I decided to press my attack a little longer, swirling around as I fell forward to flick out my left blade to aim a slash just under her arm while the right was used to push away the defense of her bodkin, having not left the dagger since they first clashed. Once my whirling slash was complete, hit or miss, I would likely find myself landing on my back from where I'd roll as quickly as possible to my feet.

The echani were tremendous warriors, or so I'd heard. So, I felt no shame in taking the first blow. However, I did feel quite a bit of pain. Dozens of wars. Hundreds of battles. Pain still felt the same. The only difference was one's reaction to it. And with a bit of life experience, I have learned to push it aside. I couldn't ignore it and its burning lust for acknowledgement begged for attention. But it certainly wouldn't do anything to cripple someone like me who'd had far worse.

[member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Round 2 is over
[member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Reverance"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[member="Ahani Najwa"] | [member="Varan Zarvenis"] | [member="Shule Windspeaker"]​

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[member="Reverance"] and I have looked over the duel, and the winner is...​

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A H A N I​

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This really came down to who's movements were easier to visualize/overall clarity, as both of you had some great moments. (See post #5, Varan using Ahani's motion and arm position to deflect her outwards and strike, or post #6 with Ahani using that deflection to aid in her counter.) In the end it came down to the fact that we found Najwa's posts to be an easier read in terms of "seeing" what was happening. Both duelists did a good job and we're looking forward to seeing more of your writing in the future!