POCKET LESSERS!

Part III: BATTLE!

"AND NOW... THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!"

The strange voice was booming, rattling the stone underfoot. Fox-imps had rolled out a massive cloth-covered disc, like a giant circus tent, and now--with dramatic flourish, and to the pounding of drums and sweeping of spotlights--swept the cloth away. Beneath was a raised, round stage, painted in bright pastels and with little squares to either side as 'starting points.' It was a big stage--big enough for a larger Lesser--but still smaller than the coliseum as a whole.

Nemean's voice rang out, now. "It's time for the THRILLING, the BLOODY, the SURVIVAL-OF-THE-FITTEST--BATTLES! FIRST UP WE HAVE..."

---

Welcome to the BATTLE! portion of the Pocket Lessers! event! The following short event will consist of a number of individual battle threads, linked below, whose combatants were randomly rolled from among the sign-ups.

This event required prior sign-up to participate, but anyone may post as a Spectator, here or in the individual battle threads!

Battle Rules:

1. Each pair of assigned Lessers will battle on the small stage, with guidance from their Greater ally.
2. The Greater may not otherwise interfere; this will disqualify them.
3. Each fight is 5 rounds long, and should be completed in two weeks' time.
4. There will be no additional battles (e.g. finalist fights); instead, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place will IC be the "most impressive combatants," and OOC, the ones with 1st, 2nd and 3rd highest scores. In the case of a tie, both characters will receive that placement!
5. Please keep battles PG13. Origin can get gruesome, but this is meant to be a fun event without horrific small animal death! ...This time!

Rolling Rules:

1. Rolls will not count toward character progression, since the Lesser is the one making the attacks. Use physical combat rolls, unless you are Physical Combat progression path on that character; if so, use Other rolls instead. This is to keep roll threshholds even.
2. The fight win/loss CAN be claimed for additional magicka, but is not a character battle and won't be added to the characters' activity logs.
3. Barely+ rolls will be counted for scoring; Fails will not.

Match-Ups!

Anala vs September > Fight Link
Sair vs Scion > Fight Link
Mocha vs Pride > Fight Link
Fahl vs Tourmaline > Fight Link
Richter vs Kaizer > Fight Link
Miriam vs Raiden > Fight Link
Yanyue vs Tectus > Fight Link
Rhapsody vs Hysteria > Fight Link

How to Participate:

Contact your thread partner and put up a battle thread! If you are requesting a randomly assigned battle pet from Nemean, GM tag to have one rolled. All threads should be completed in two weeks to be considered for judging. GM tag them or post in Requests to have them added to this list, and again when the battle is complete, for judging!

This thread takes place approximately half an hour after the ending of the Team Challenge event, so characters can participate in all three events.

Final note: if your character has been assigned a Lesser ally by Nemean at random, your character may keep that Lesser as a pet after the battle. If treated well it may remain as a pet, and can be Familiar Forged in the future. If treated poorly, it will run away!

Prizes:

1st Place: 500 Magicka OR Conjure Familiar OR Familiar Forge
2nd Place: 400 Magicka OR Familiar Forge
3rd Place: 250 Magicka OR Familiar Forge

as well as in-character armor and/or weapons for winning Lesser Gembounds!

@Anala @September @Sair @Scion @Mocha @Pride @Fahl @Tourmaline @Richter @Kaizer @Miriam @Raiden @Yanyue @Tectus @Rhapsody @Hysteria

She arrived to the festivities late (because she had IMPORTANT OVERSEER THINGS to do) so by the time she entered the ground of gembound and valkhound alike, they were already rolling out the battle tent. Eyes and ears swept the gathered, some she recognized, most she did not. She snorted at the level of noise - lesser gembound everywhere and those fox-imps running to and fro, giggling as they handed out skrunklers and carrolers and all manner of critters.

She turned her head to where Nemean was announcing everything and lifted her chin. "Give me one, Master Nemean. I will participate." Something unexpected, perhaps, but she found this as a good opportunity to, perhaps, observe this new generation of gembound. How they acted and behaved, how they communicated with each other. The differences between now and then.

And also, low stakes making-animals-fight-for-you sounded ridiculous and amusing.

With an absurd number of those imps milling about, tossing Lessers from a hat and hawking refreshments in the stands, entering the forum for Fahl had the immediate effect of knocking him back to angrier times. Of course, considering the inconspicuous host present here at these games, it wouldn't have taken much anyway to awaken old rage; the combination of Nemean and carnival critters just happened to be perfect for reminding the iguana of certain perceived successes that had been dashed in more recent cycles. While his mentor's sight had been restored and he was currently living it up in Cepheus, valued for his art, the reason for all that time spent wallowing in blindness had escaped from a prison meant to suspend her in eternal torment for the great cruelties she'd inflicted. A mere Gembound just beginning to make significant headway into his magical strengths, he was helpless to tear apart the status quo unless a superior being lent aid.

What he did have control over was his fear. The first of his encounters with Nemean had been at one of her events, orchestrated solely to point at and mock the trembling masses beneath her. Remembrance of some horrible beast pursuing him in the darkness haunted him still. Participating in this Lesser battle, however much his stomach churned in disgust at joining anything she arranged, might finally allow him to dispel that memory for good. At best, a triumph would grant him the chance to show that the previous humiliation he'd endured at the palace ball had done nothing to flatten his vindictive spirit.

"I'm here to conquer," Fahl declared as he slunk through the crowd. Strong emotion dyed bloody blotches upon his dark hide. "Throw me a Lesser. And I'll show you how a battle ought to look."

Hopefully in the following minutes he wouldn't find himself choking on those bold statements.

crickets and creatures will come in the night
keep my back from the reaper
who's hunting or running, you gotta decide

September pushed his way to the front of the crowd, rings jingling merrily from atop the almost full-grown antlers now crowning his head. He'd heard his name called for a matchup, but he didn't have any animal at his side like a lot of the others were doing. He snorted and shoved the rest of the way until he was near where Nemean was calling everything out.

"HEY," he called, to get her attention. "I don't have a lesser yet. We get them on loan if we don't have one, right?"

september

@Cadenza

The crowd was huge and Scion's head hurt from the amount of chaos around, the Lessers being wrangled, the fox-imps running under its feet. Wasn't this supposed to be fun? Maybe once the fighting started and it could just sit back and yell at an animal to fight harder then it would get fun. To be honest, it sounded kinda dumb but hey, Master Nemean was running it and her shit was always...an experience.

"Hi, Master Nemean," it rumbled as it approached. "I'm here for a Lesser."

"EYYY, Tectus! Good to see ya 'round," Nemean crowed. "I think Vakornol's still bangin' around here somewhere! Hey! You ever want a nicer boss," and here came the fingerguns again, "You know where to find me! Get 'er a good one, boys," she added to the fox-imps.

A second later: "I said a GOOD one. Jeez..." as a tiny, gemless, white Frogbeak was fished from the hat and handed to Overseer Tectus.

---

A fox-imp took the hat, as if to take his own turn, and excitedly rushed to Fahl. "We love to hear it," the imp grinned at him, and drew a tiny, but very spiky, Quill Mouse from the hat. This creature, too, was gemless.

---

The next imp came to September. He seemed to have an odd amount of difficulty drawing something from the hat. A few others gathered around, all sticking their arms in, the hat contorting and distorting larger and larger, until what at first glance looked like a GIANT version of September tumbled out. There was a clattering of hooves, a deafening bellow, and the screams of fleeing imps--and then the link clinked into place, and the enormous Meadow Deer bull stopped the charge he'd been about to inflict on them. He turned, blinking large eyes at September, as if demanding to know what this was all about. One of the tines of its antlers, a citrine shard, gleamed in the spotlights.

---

Scion was the last to be approached just then. Out of the hat came a screeching, thrashing, clawing, biting mess of black fur and leather: then it righted itself, and a pug-snouted Dragonbat SCREAMED directly in Scion's face, the amethyst fang in its jaws glinting.

Then it hesitated, as the link snapped in, and began sniffing Scion instead, with zero respect for its personal space whatsoever.

---

Please remember to read up on your assigned Lesser Gembound companion in the Lesser Gembound Guide before posting them. Thanks!

@Scion @September @Fahl @Tectus

She snorted at Nemean's remark, the curl of a smile on the edge of her mouth. "Perhaps, if you have something better for me to do." She didn't mean it at all, of course - she'd always been loyal to Master Astraea, and the task she had was a good one. But she and Master Nemean had always something in common, and that was the more...laid back way in which duties were approached. Although Nemean certainly had her own flair that Tectus certainly lacked.

She looked expectantly at the fox imps, waiting for a large beast to be pulled out, something powerful and intimidating, something that would match with her might and status but then something small, pathetic, and smaller then a single one of her claws was just handed over to her.

She felt the link slide shut as she lifted the Frogbeak carefully between two claws, inspecting it with disdain. She could feel its terror - of her mainly, considering that it was smaller then one of her eyes.

"What is this?" She glared at the fox imps and shoved the frogbeak back at them. "Give me a different one!"

The fox-imps shrank back, grinning nervously, from Tectus. Nemean's cackle sounded high above.

"Them's the breaks! It's ARE EN GEE. You know what that means? It's random as shit! That's the challenge! ...Aw, shit, you hurt its feelings." She actually sounded a little sad. And the Frogbeak, its link now snapped into place, was indeed gazing up at Tectus, hurt and confused.

Summoned here, and then rejected..? It sank down, large eyes blinking pathetically.

@Tectus

Tectus glared at the imps, and then up at Nemean. She wouldn't dare speak out against one of the Master's, but her frustration was easy to see. She looked again at the frogbeak, staring at her wide-eyed and hurt and she found nothing but disdain in her.

Perhaps it was a test. Make use of what she had. She thought back to the caterpillar, which she assumed was still holding onto a spike on her back somewhere. That thing had been small and she had taken it in, hadn't she? Well that was on account of its magic, of course. This was a lesser, with no magic.

She growled and held the frogbeak up closer to her eye so she could glare at it properly. "Fine. This is your chance to prove yourself useful. You're going to be FIGHTING. We will have to figure out a strategy because you are at a major disadvantage."

She finally released the poor thing, which fluttered for a moment, trying to catch itself and fly, and stalked off like a storm cloud, the frogbeak desperately trying to keep up behind her.

"AND THE BATTLES ARE OVER!"

Nemean's voice rang out alongside sweeping spotlights, the scream of a nonexistent crowd, and a ridiculously heavy fall of confetti.

"I may or may not have ordered too much confetti! ENJOY." Huge clumps of it began to fall like snowdrifts in the half-empty stands, luckily missing drowning anyone.

"ANYWAY. IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE..." Invisible drums began to roll, vibrating through the stands. "MOCHA AND NORIIIII!"

The three podiums that'd already been used for the other two legs of the competition appeared in the arena's center, lit brightly by the spotlights. The center "1st"--pink and gold--was the tallest, and fox-imps hustled Mocha and Nori toward it. Their reward was given then: a spiked coat of golden-colored (but harder) armor in linked scales, draped over Nori's blue body. It came with a little helmet, and both were studded with bright pink gemstones. A "1st" was engraved repeatedly and seemingly haphazardly all over the armor pieces.

"IN SECOND... Pride and Mischief!" Mischief's armor was thinner, less spined, silver, and her helmet had two ridiculous and oversized tusk-fangs jutting down from it. Pink color was engraved in "2nd" all over this one.

"AND IN THIRD..." The third was bronze, the pink "3rd" all over it. It was full leg armor, rather than torso armor, spined and wicked.

---

Final Placements:
1st: Mocha
2nd: Pride
3rd: Fahl, Richter OR Miriam, at their player's discretion.

Note: Nemesis had three characters in the battles, but all three characters' battle partners failed to respond to posts. Nemesis can choose one character to take third place for OOC and IC rewards! The reward can be tailored to the winning Lesser.

Characters may post in Update Me to claim rewards and Achievements.

Prizes:

1st Place: 500 Magicka OR Conjure Familiar OR Familiar Forge
2nd Place: 400 Magicka OR Familiar Forge
3rd Place: 250 Magicka OR Familiar Forge

@Mocha @Pride @Fahl (or Richter or Miriam!)