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gore

You know how it is

Pain blossomed across the muzzle of one of its heads. Teeth both within and outside that mouth were torn free, leaving small divots and cavities that quickly filled with blood. Another haphazard attack struck its chest, loosening a chunk of meat where Effluvium struck.

It screamed in pain.

Words this time. A cacophony of "STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!" It didnt want to fight anymore. Any vengeful anger was sapped by the pain and fear that was oh so familiar.

Its wings unfurled, curling protectively in front of it. It hunched, tucking its head closer to its chest in an attempt to protect the already wounded parts from further attack.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

ROUND 4/5

ATTEMPT: Block with wings
DEFENSE: Wings curled around body, hunched/curled posture
INJURIES: Bruised by the charge, down a limb, mauled face/chest

Speech gave it pause. It took a moment for Effluvium to realize that it came from Creosote, in the midst of it's mauling. It was the act of speech itself, not the words, that gave it pause. But, unfortunately for Creosote, Effluvium was not merciful. It was not kind. It's thought process and emotions were alien to most gembound.

And most of all, it was angry. It was still in pain. Blood wept from it's face. At first with a spray, and now in slow, heavy, congealed gore globs. Hanging from ropes of flesh, haphazard eyes glared. And Effluvium felt no pity for the creature opposite it.

Creosote was on the defensive, it's' wings curling in to protect it. Sensing a moment of weakness, before it could curl in completely, Effluvium dove in, it's jaws aiming for what it thought could've been one of its' throats. Effluvium didn't know if that would kill it. But in the end, did it care?

"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 5/?

67%

ATTEMPT: a lil bit of throat tearing
DEFENSE: slimy AND fleshy
INJURIES: Eyes and face hecked up, one arm missing

@Creosote

Luckily for it, Effluvium's attacks didn't land. It's jaws were knocked away by it's wings as it curled inwards, forming a protective huddle. Maybe Creosote would start fighting again- realize that it was either Effluvium or itself. Maybe it's anger would flare up again, as it pain did. Maybe it's desire to be like it's siblings would pick up.

But for now, it just wanted to go home.

Home to Leo, or anywhere other than here, really. Anywhere where Karambit and Terror were. Home is where the heart is, right?

Well, Creosote had to survive long enough without getting it's own heart torn out, first.

Wings and limbs struck out, trying to shove Effluvium away, put some distance between the two. However it's generally very hard to push back a giant pile of living meat. Creosote did manage to get some space, to it's credit. But that was unlikely to be enough to stave off a creature with as much bloodlust as it has eyes.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

@Effluvium

ROUND 5/5

ATTEMPT: Push Effluvium back
DEFENSE: Wings curled around body, hunched/curled posture
INJURIES: Bruised by the charge, down a limb, mauled face/chest

This fight was fantastic!

Blood and gore, meat and shambling limbs, eyes for days--what wasn't to love?! The monsters had clashed like they were worst enemies, and now trails of gore and severed body parts littered the arena floor.

It was... awesome.

But! There was one rule that had kicked in, maybe... Creo had been bawling for its meaty opponent to stop; and Nemean--reluctant as she was--would enforce it.

"HEY! CREO!" she bawled, gesturing behind her for Draconua to wait, to hold a moment. The spotlights all swept to illuminate Creosote in a bright and blinding glare. "WAS THAT A SURRENDER?" she yelled. If it was, the fight was over. If not...

...Well, it would be over in just a little while longer.

________

Creosote is being asked if its begging counts as surrender. If it agrees, the fight will be stopped and Effluvium will be declared the winner. Otherwise, Nemean will call upon Draconua to present an arena hazard.

Please allow Creosote to reply, and then GM tag for a GM response.

@Creosote

This fight was horrible!

It's opponent refused to listen to it's cries- or really, truly acknowledge it at all. It hurt. It hoped the other monster hurt, too. Not to mention the blaring music and lights assaulting it's senses. But it needed to continue. It needed to finish this, so the fight could end.

It squinted against the spotlights suddenly focused on it. A faint growl escaped it, it's misshaped head shaking as if to shake off the blinding lights. It scooched back, jaws snapping, wings opening now in an intimidating display. Claws dug into the now thoroughly disgusting ground, digging for traction in the blood-and-slime slicked earth.

. . . Well, it sure looked like that was a no. Even if it didn't actually say anything.

I let my horns grow longer
I observed my skin get redder

Nemean squinted against her own lights, a tiny palm lifting to shield her eyes. "That look like a surrender to you, Draccy?" she asked, and snapped the fingers of her other hand.

Even more spotlights flared, and swept to illuminate Creosote closely, casting its shaking head into sharp relief. The rest of the ring was dark, for a moment; all light was on the meat-monster.

Well.

One of the meat-monsters! Anyway.

"Eh! Doesn't look like one to me." Nemean flung her arms outward; the spotlights returned to normal, igniting the arena in a lurid red-yellow glare and sweeping back and forth across the bloodied sand. Nemean took a breath, and reared back; a megaphone appeared in one hand. It was pink, with golden filigree glittering down one side. "MONSTERS AND MYSTERIES, IT'S TIME FOOOOR..."

"SUPREME DEVASTATING GORE-RELATED-TRAUMA SUDDEN DEATH ROUND!!!"

"Hey, Draccy, random thought, but... They look pretty fuckin' flammable, don't they? Unrelated to anything. ANYWAY, have fun!!! Oh, anyone else wanna throw something in? Go for it!"

Evil, tittering Nemean laughter echoed across the arena.

________

Draconua has been called upon to present an arena hazard! The audience may also add their own. Draconua's magic attempt will be considered a success, and the roll will indicate the severity of the hazard. Creosote and Effluvium must now double-post each round: one roll to continue the fight and then a second roll to avoid the hazard. The first to be struck by the hazard before fight's end will be returned to their chrysalis or killed by it, and loses. (Should both fail to dodge, the lower roll will be struck and eliminated.)

Please wait for Draconua to post.

@Draconua

Ah, but Draconua was already a stifled snort ahead of Nemean. These more resembled rotting corpses than they did living things; and the wet, guttural slap of flesh against flesh, tooth against bone did them no favors. If reanimation were possible, this would be it. The Sleepless Chaos would be impressed, if raising the dead weren't more wasteful than just eating them.

... anyways. Speaking of eating, it was time to fire up the Chaos grill.

Dragging herself to her tried-and-true pedestal (which had been shattered and reassembled by her own doing more than once, and now was steeped in the darkness of corruption) the valkhound bellowed. A thin beam of vehement fire sputtered from a wide-splitting maw, and she angled it straight for the slimy, terrible beasts.

If it managed at all to strike the fleshbags, they might find themselves cooked just above medium, but... ah, oh well. Draconua spared a crooked grin to Nemean. As long as something had a taste... as weak as the shot was.

@Effluvium

Effluvium stumbled back. It drove its' claws into the sand clumped at its' feet. It snarled at Creosote, just as Creosote had growled at it. It had no wings of its own, but its limbs spread haphazardly, clawing and lashing at empty air. The look in its' eyes was feral. Crazed. Even if Creosote hadn't agreed to surrender, it was a zero percent chance that Effluvium would've let it go. It barely listened to any of the words Nemean had said. Once again, Effluvium launched itself at Creosote.

"When I speak."

When I think.

ROUND 5/?

67%

ATTEMPT: Once again i am mauling
DEFENSE: slimy AND fleshy
INJURIES: Eyes and face hecked up, one arm missing

((idk if the shove was an attack but if it was tell me and ill edit!))

In the midst of its charge at Creosote, it heard the bellow of a bigger beast. Its head jerked towards it immediately. Its' eyes The rage froze in its veins. The fear cut through it like a knife. Fire was arcing towards them. It was different from the red glow it was used to, but it knew the appearance. It was ingrained into it. Effluvium almost felt the crackle and bubble of its' mucus bubbling away into flakes. It squealed, abandoning its attack at Creosote, whatever state the other flesh-beast might've been in, and tried to break away.

Fortunately for Creosote. mid-maul was the worst time to break away. It was too indecisive to fully escape the blast. It seemed to almost, most definitely ironically, shield Creosote from the worst of the blast. Draconua's flames hit it dead on. And the creature was aflame near instantly. It screamed, the embodiment of pain and fear. Its' body burnt to ash in slow motion. Flesh burned away as it was still moving, still flailing in panic.

It rolled on the ground, darted around the arena, ran into walls, but it did nothing to let Effluvium escape its fate In fact, it probably only helped let the flames spread. Flesh was stripped to bone within seconds. And bone to dust. After ten seconds of its panicked flailing, and what most definitely felt like ten hours to Effluvium, it collapsed onto the ground. Not from exhaustion, but simply due to the fact it lacked limbs to stand. what remained of its' body slowly being enveloped by the encroaching jasper.

"When I speak."

When I think.

@Creosote congrats LOL

DEATHMATCH

Anyone order barbecue?! Nemean's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, pupils dilated so much that there was barely any gold iris left to surround them. A shriek of delight ramped into laughter loud enough to pop anyone's eardrums: "GYAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!" The sprite zipped over to Draconua, giving her a hearty smack on the forehead. "THAT'S AWESOME!" she blurted, unheeding of the resultant snap of teeth in her direction, "I didn't know so many of you were so fuckin' FLAMMABLE!"

Diaphonous wings buzzed, and Creosote's victory was heralded with no small amount of mind-numbingly loud music. Brass, winds, strings—the whole orchestra. A little gold (illusory, because not all that glimmers is gold, now...) crown floated just above the meat-monster's... general... head region. "HAIL TO THE VICTOR, CREEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Shame the big lug had started to form a chrysalis—"get that thing out of here before it gets stuck in MY ARENA!!!"—because it would have been GREAT to watch meat cannibalism. Even if Effluvium was a very good haunted house attraction on its own (speaking from experience! She'd LOVED when it was chasing people in there!!! Fuck yeah!)

Y'know, though... Creosote looked pretty dashing in that crown. It'd look even better with a frilly pink dress and sparkly, cheap-looking rings. Maybe, if she ever saw it again, she'd be charitable enough to provide it with such furnishings.

In the meantime: "SEND IN THE NEXT VICTI—uh, FIGHTERS! KEEP IT ROLLING! NYAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!"

_____________

DEATHMATCH WINNER: Creosote

Character: Effluvium Age: +5 (15 Cycles - Capped) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +8 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: - Penalties: - Total: 48

Character: Creosote Age: +5 (10 Cycles - Capped) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +14 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: - Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +14 Penalties: - Total: 53

NUMERICAL WINNER: Name

Effluvium, upon emerging from its meaty cocoon, will find that a thin band—no wider than an inch or two, and no longer than six—of its left wrist has collapsed into a geode of jasper. It seems to have the structural integrity to keep the limb stable, but may present some difficulty in performing finer movements.

... not that Effluvium is known for those.

Fissure (Minor) — Part of the Gembound collapses into a geode-like rift of its gemstone.

@Effluvium (for consequence visibility) @Creosote