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[Impending Doom]

The best laid plans of dogs and gears can often go awry.

Nice!  

Edit: FIRST POST!!

[ February 27, 2008: Message edited by: Impending Doom ]

[AlanL]

Thanks  

Part of me says I say thanks to much, another says saying it any less would be too little.

[Impending Doom]

Naw, it's perfectly fine. If anything, we should be thanking YOU for these great stories.

So... thanks.

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!  

Thank you for this great story! x42

[AlanL]

Heh, thanks for making me smile  
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Kazo walked down the dirt path and through the partially harvested field, reaching the part that broke off. It was a small bronze linkage, shaped much like an L, a hole on each end an an attachment point in the middle. One of the holes was busted open and the attachment point had come undone.

Kazo picked up the pieces and handed them to the kobold, "So here's what broke off!" The kobold looked at it for a moment, then replied, "No wonder! The second linkage went the wrong way. This thing's gone unscrewed itself!" Kazo spoke, "I'll go return that book. Have fun!" The kobold laughed a little, "I think I had enough fun for one day! Take care!"

Kazo walked into the barn, and found the book '87 Good Ideas' laying among some tools on a wooden table. Kazo looked in it, and found it detailed some gadgets, so he kept reading it as he left. There were a lot of clever ideas, several amusing ideas, and perhaps one or two ideas that weren't actually good. Kazo looked through the designs, thinking about the different technologies that were available. Some of the more advanced devices detailed were variants on mechanical computing machines, although there were some simple but interesting hypothetical scenarios, such as a dwarf-powered winch that could lift 1,000,000 weight units. Unfortunately, in reality, the device would likely break due to material limits, but it still provided an interesting thought experiment.

Kazo walked back to the tunnels, and entered again. He made his way down to Nefarious' room. The door was locked. Kazo decided that, since Nefarious was a friend, he would not invade her privacy. He closed the book and left it in front of her door. He then walked back through the tunnels, and upwards. He observed the kobolds walking to and from various tasks, and noticed one with a heavy apron and gloves. Likely this kobold was expecting to need protection from cinders or sparks.

Kazo followed this kobold to the back of the tunnel, and further, noticing the building pattern change. Many of the buildings now were warehouses or workshops, the smell of steel in the air. Eventually, they reached a corner turning right that glowed a bit red. Kazo followed the kobold around the corner, entering a large, cavernous room, full of smelting equipment and various methods of producing metal goods, among which were a few standard forges. Kazo smiled, waved his tail around, and looked all around.

The entire cavern glew slightly red, and several kobolds were working with the equipment. Kazo climbed up to the second level, resting upon the wall of the lower, and walked up to a particularly large furnace. It vaguely resembled the magic furnaces he was familiar with, but these were all unfamiliar in detail. Kazo walked around the furnace, noting its simple but effective design, a blast furnace fueled from below. Nearby was a cauldron full of molten metal.

Kazo walked up to the cauldron, and climbed to the top of it. He placed his hands down on it and bent over. It was very hot to the touch, though it didn't bother him much. Likely though such heat would rapidly burn a kobolds hands. He bent over further, and sniffed the top of the molten metal. He then quickly licked the metal.

Tastes like iron, only with a little extra zing to it! I think they seasoned it with carbon and... is that chromium I taste? Nice and warm, very spicy!

Kazo snickered, and climbed back down. Soon after, a specially designed crane on a track came down, and attached itself to the cauldron. It lifted the entire thing away, and carried it across to a casting facility. Kazo walked further along. It seemed he had come to the right place to create a shaft for his spear. As a certain diameter was needed, any old metal rod wouldn't work, and this would also allow him to forge the grip into the metal.

Kazo walked up to a kobold, and spoke, "Hello!" The kobold turned around, and replied, "'ey, welcome!" Kazo asked, "Do they sell the metal here too?" The kobold replied, "Yup, but it's cheaper to salvage some o' tha old stuff layin' in the junk yard back behind those doors. All you gotta do is wait for them to get done with the furnace, then melt whatever you got down. Be quick with it 'cause they don't appreciate people tying up their furnace when they need it again. Normally it costs to use stuff here, but if you're just gunna make use of someone else's idle equipment, it's free. They aren't usin' it and we might as well not let fuel go to waste after all!"

Kazo replied, "OK, thanks!" The kobold spoke, "Don't mention it! Nice to see a new face around here... well, if I could see your face." Kazo snickered, and walked away. Kazo walked down to the lower level, and out the door the kobold had indicated, finding himself in a large but single story room with many tables, random junk on them. It seemed that actually the junk was free for anyone to use as they wanted. Kazo browsed among various broken mechanical devices, bent casings, now-useless electrical machines, but as he did so, he began to feel something vibrating against his back.

Kazo smiled. Yeln stretched, then stood, resting his chin on Kazos shoulder. Yeln yawned, "Meww." Kazo snickered, and pet Yeln as he browsed. He chose a partially mangled scrap of metal that was once a steel casing for a device of some sort. He carried it back, and climbed again, looking among the furnaces for one which was almost complete with its task. He spotted one nearby, and walked toward it, noting the heat-resistant bowl beneath it. It was likely this wasn't an uncommon practice.

Though the furnace he was at had an access port conveniently near the fiery bottom, not all were built in such a way. In fact, much to Kazos curiosity, he saw two furnaces that were cylindrical with a spout on top that looked like a scoop. They took in pig iron through this scoop, and seemed to quite rapidly produce steel from it, the entire furnace tilting to pour the steel. Likely the cauldron he had tasted contained a further refined product from one of them. Kazo looked around, analyzing all of the equipment he could see. Meanwhile Yeln looked into the flame of the furnace, causing his eyes to glow a bit red.
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Ok, now I know I'm moving too slow. I look back on this and wonder how I managed to make such a short scene take such space. I get the feeling I made an update in which nothing happened...

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!  

FIRST POST!
"This is a !!steel!! Beyond quality avard.
It menaces whit spikes of steel and platinum.
On the item is an image of flames in ruby."

It wasn't THAT slow, really. just a bit.

makes me wonder how Kazos tongue works, you can' really make muskular hydrostat from admantine...

[AlanL]

Ok, this is probably going to be short because I had homework and spent too much time thinking about this story and others.
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Kazo continued looking around, taking in the concepts behind all of the equipment. It might be useful to know, perhaps as a foundation for something more complex in the future. Kazo then noticed the nearby cauldron starting to fill, and readied the ruined casing in the bowl, taking a nearby pair of specially made tongs as well. Though he was immune to standard extremes of temperature, the heart of a blast furnace was an extreme a bit beyond standard, and as such posed a hazard to the mithril and crystal of his hands.

When the cauldron was filled, the flow of metal from the furnace stopped. A loud buzzer sounded, and a crane came to pick up the full cauldron. Yeln hopped down and observed from the side. Kazo took advantage of the delay, opening the side door, picking up the bowl with the tongs, and holding it into the now unoccupied flame. Kazo whistled a little as he watched the bottom of the bowl begin to glow with heat, red at first, then as the glow spread, the bottom began to show orangish glow and flame upon it.

Kazo was careful to minimize any impurities falling into the metal as it began to glow. Soon, the tongs also glowing quite hot, the metal in the bowl beginning to melt. Kazo continued, a buzzing eventually heard again as the now empty cauldron was being returned. The metal was at that point already mostly molten down, but it wasn't quite. The crane moved the cauldron back, and set it down. As the buzzer rang again, Kazo finished, and pulled the bowl out, shutting the door.

Kazo immediately and carefully moved the bowl of molten steel down to the forge, Yeln cautiously following behind. Kazo still made haste, for the last thing he needed from this was to ruin the bowl by letting the metal solidify in it. Kazo reached one of the forges, already in use, and found a bar mould next to it, not in use. Kazo poured the steel into the bar mould, set the bowl nearby, and waited. During this time, Yeln began to nibble on Kazos hand. Kazo playfully nudged Yeln. Yeln mewed, then rolled over, grabbing hold of Kazos hand, play-biting at it, and kicking at it. Kazo snickered. Yeln stopped the kicking and began licking Kazos hand. Kazo smiled, feeling gradually more and more attached to Yeln.

When the bar had solidified, although it was still quite hot, Kazo removed it from the mould. The kobold at the nearby forge had finished early with time to spare, so Kazo decided to make use of this time. Kazo placed the end of the spear down, and used it as a reference as he forged the bar into a new rod. When he had created a rod from the metal, he heated the metal again, and held the glowing metal in his hands. Using the hammer, he tapped his own fingers into the metal to form a perfectly fitting grip. He then repeated this with his other hand, and then created notches at the front for the components of the spear to latch to. Afterwards, he hammered the back end down into a small blade, facing toward the rear. Though there was no grindstone to sharpen it, it was still better than a blunt end.

Kazo cooled the metal, removed the wooden shaft from the spear, and contributed the old shaft to the fire. He then placed the now loose components of the spear onto the front of his newly forged shaft and latched them in. They fit perfectly. Kazo smiled. Since the charged spear head was just metal, the charge also went down the shaft. This was a hazard to most, but to Kazo, it meant there were more ways the spear could damage an attacker, and more ways he might be able to use magic to further enhance the spear. He felt eager to test that out! Though, unlike his previous test, he considered the people of Steelflame to be friends to an extent, and as such, unless one volunteered, he had no test subjects here.

Kazo swung the spear, stabbed the air, then swung the blade around, chopping smoothly through the air. The grips allowed him to maintain possession of the spear in virtually all circumstances, and all in all, it seemed quite a good weapon considering the average. Kazo put it away, and walked back to the corridor, leaving the chamber, Yeln following close behind. Whether he would be able to test the spear here or not actually didn't matter much. Likely his planned adventure through a military base would provide plenty of opportunity for experimenting with it. First, he wanted to speak more with Nefarious... perhaps she knows more about Rostus than Rostus was willing to share.
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I know these updates kind of don't have much happening. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the more boring updates I'll write. Sorry about that. Hmm, maybe I should make a really long one some time over the weekend. I'll have the opportunity for it.

Edit: Well, on the bright side, I did get some boring stuff out of the way for less boring stuff to come.

[ February 28, 2008: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[ricemastah]

First POST!! WHEEEEE!! Thank you thank you Alan!

[Armok]

BEYOND QUALITY!  

and this was NOT a boring update, the building is one of the parts I like best whit your story.

Yeln going around all that hot equipment makes me nervous.

You don't seem to comment much on my comments.

One thing that strikes me is the lack of runes on the spear, might he add some later?

Also, nobody seem to notice a random "kobold" holding red hot iron whit his bare hands.

I have noticed for a few updates that your writing is a bit more mechanical than in AKQ, sometimes more like a chronological list of events than a story.

And thank you for this wonderful story!  

[AlanL]

Thank you for the replies  

Actually, the reason Yeln jumped off from Kazo was to avoid going too near the flame.

Kazo was more interested in working with new technology than old-hat magic, and was intent on seeing what magic would do with an otherwise purely tech device.

As for him holding that, nobody was really paying attention to him enough to get concerned. Otherwise, seeing a blue, 3 fingered hand in general would also draw attention.

And I think the mechanical updates are because there isn't any drama going on, this being a relatively stress-free adventure rather than a tense quest. Hmm, I wonder if my cutting back on ellipses also contributed to this.
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Kazo continued back toward Nefarious' room. Yeln walked close to Kazos leg, and rubbed against it as Kazo stepped forward, "Meww!" Kazo smiled, and pet Yeln. Yeln nuzzled Kazos hand, raised his tail, and began purring. It had long been known that the companionship of a feline was a great way to relax, and Kazo found this once again true. As they continued, Kazo looked up, and saw that dark-clothed guard with the bow walking slowly into a room, making use of a grey, simple, pine root walking stick. The kobold sighed a bit as he closed the door.

Kazo felt curious about this individual, and so walked into the room. It was a standard bedroom, though in the corner, there was a green glass aquarium with a lungfish in it. Kazo spoke, "Why hello!" The kobold replied, "You guys always... mmnh!" The kobold sighed, "What do you want?" Kazo replied, "Information and fun, the two staple brain foods! So who are you?" The kobold replied, "'Fun' is an illusion... Call me Raven, never call me a Dwolf or I'll rip you up!"

Kazo snickered. Raven, being a short, grey bipedal canid with a large beard, did look a bit like a cross between a dwarf and a wolf. Kazo replied, "No need for hostile intent!" A moment passed. Kazo continued, "You have a very interesting pet fish, I don't think I've seen a pet lungfish before!" Kazo walked toward the aquarium. Raven jumped at seeing what else was there.

Yeln sat at the aquarium, nose against the glass, licking his lips and purring with his face contorted in almost a mischievous smile. Yeln moved to follow the lungfish around. Raven shouted, "Get that damn animal away from her!" He then ran up to Yeln and pushed Yeln aside, Kazo catching Yeln and holding him against his chest. Yeln protested at being taken away from the aquarium, "Mrrrrr...!"

Raven sat back down, "Don't let that thing near my aquarium!" A moment later, he pulled out a flask of whiskey and began drinking from it, a sparsely used iron mug on the table. A few moments of silence passed. Kazo noticed further oddities on Raven's face, one eye was blue, the other purple, and Raven's left ear was missing. Kazo asked, "Are you OK?" Raven replied, "No, I never was, and I never will be, and when I'm dead, buried in some piss grave somewhere with my eyes rotting out and my arms turning into a maggot buffet, nobody will give a sh*t... why are you pestering me?"

Raven spoke, "Mmnh why do people always have to come by my house, can't they just tell I want to be alone?... Mnnnh... why haven't you left yet?" Kazo expected further attempts to extract information might lead to an undesirable situation, and so replied, "Ok then, goodbye!" Kazo then left, carrying Yeln with as he continued towards Nefarious' room. It had been quite a while and it wasn't the time of night for them to sleep, so perhaps she would be available.

As Kazo walked down the hall, he happened across the snakeman guard walking the other way. The snakeman smiled and chuckled, "Depravity... isss to be enjoyed!" Kazo snickered, considering how unique and yet strangely familiar this societal set-up was. It in some ways actually resembled that of certain animals, yet also provided for a modern society.

Kazo continued down further through the corridors, eventually reaching Nefarous' room. The door was now unlocked, so Kazo entered. He found her laying upon her bed. She happened to be without any shirt. She noticed Kazo entering, smiled, then a moment after got up. Kazo continued in. Yeln looked at Nefarious curiously. As Kazo and Nefarious approached one another, she noticed Yeln, "Tha's a cutie!" Yeln replied, "Mew!" She spoke, "Mew?" Yeln replied, "Meew." She spoke, "Mew?" Yeln replied, "Meww!" She spoke, "Mew?" After a brief pause... "Meww!" She snickered and pet Yeln, "Adorable critter ya got here!" Yeln nuzzled her hand and purred loudly, vibrating against Kazos chest.

Kazo asked curiously, "So what did he mean by depravity, exactly?" Nefarious snickered, grinning with the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth, "What c'n I say, I'm a succubus of many talents..." Kazo snickered, "Rostus mentioned you getting rid of a competitor for him. So what happened?" Nefarious laughed, "THAT guy?! Hahahahaaaaah! Ahhh, good memories. He ain't comin' back no more that's for sure!" Kazo asked, "So what did you do to him?"

Nefarious replied, "That guy was a slaver from the central continents. I swear he's the most racist and specist guy you c'n ever think of! He enslaved people in his mines, kobolds, goblins, dwarves, even other humans of a different skin color when he could get hold of 'em. Work'd 'em to death, and never shed a tear, 'cept for havin' lost money from it. Killed a few of his own slaves once when he had a bad day. So the idiot came over here and started ****-talkin' to my traders. Well they came back and told me he'd only trade with white male humans. I couldn't care less for this a**hole, so I went over there myself to share my thoughts with 'im. Idiot started ****-talkin' to me an' sayin' I should be his sex slave..."

She laughed, "Then he said he would 'grace' me by buying some cages to cage kobolds with. I showed 'im the cages, and the guy followed me alone... so I showed 'im how it worked too! Hah, took 'im back here, set the damn thing down o'er there..." She walked over to where she was pointing, Kazo following. He noticed several black marks on the wall.

She pressed her hand against some of the black marks, "Did a bit of a chemistry 'xperiment involving some carbon, a welding torch, and some human skin!" She laughed, "I can remember what he said when I showed 'im the mirror after. 'You... you colored me up!'" She let out her breath, grinning at Kazo, "Priceless... I sold 'im back to his own traders, made a bundle off it. I told the traders he already left, and when he said who he was his buddies didn' believe him. The more he said it the more pissed off they got. I saw 'em all leave, an' I saw 'em whip the guy once or twice on the way out. Musta hurt with all those burns!"

She snickered, "When they finally sorted that stuff out, their whole slave trade was shut down. Never seen his face 'round here again, and I don't think I ever will." Kazo replied, "I see. So you fight evil with cruelty?" She responded, "Yep. It works. An' hey, I don't call myself Nefarious for nothin'. I'm half demon, which means if someone messes with me, they're crossin' into dangerous territory!" Kazo snickered, "Speaking of that, I think I should test this spear before leaving. I need to see how well the staff works. So is there an opportunity for this in Steelflame?" Nefarious smiled at Kazo, "Yep!" Kazo was glad to be able to test it before facing an entire military base with a weapon that might not be what it should. But now, what was Nefarious planning? Kazo couldn't wait to find out, after all, it could be a fun challenge as well as a useful experiment!
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Ok, a part of me says that I might've gone too far with that. If so, I apologize, and I'll go back and fix it...

Actually, I've learned I should trust my intuition to an extent. I'll go back and change some of it, but still, some of the concepts... eh.

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!

RAVEN IS ANOTHER WONDERFUL CHAR!  

That snakeman thing is disturbing as it is, if you know to much about snake anatomy it is ten times worse, believe me, you don't wanna know...  O_o *everybody rushes away to goggle it*

FIRST POST! (no BQ award today however, maybe an extra some other time)

Sorry if I don't write that much, but I take most of it over the chat whit Alan.

[AlanL]

Thank you  
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Nefarious spoke, "Come 'ere." Nefarious then walked out of the room, Kazo following, Yeln climbing atop Kazos head. Nefarious continued, "We're gunna check on Lizo first. He complained about not havin' a job, and the cows were up mooin' all night, so I told him to make use of it and milk one. Complete newbie with it too I hear, figured he could use a new skill. He was brought up by Dwarves... I had to tell him that no, the best milk don't come from some damn insect. Dunno what other dwarven teachings he's got but hey, it might be fun to see what happens." Kazo replied, "I know exactly what you mean by that!"

After a bit of walking down the corridors, they reached a muddy area, the occasional moo sounding out. The area beyond was rather large and the entire top was open to reveal he night sky. Nefarious spoke, "This is an experiment in subterranean milk ranches. I dunno but the dwarves sure as heck love the idea!" A kobold walked up to this corridor, and set a full bucket down, sighing. Nefarious immediately took up the bucket and sipped some of it. She licked her lips, and spoke with a sudden, amused smile, "Tastes kinda salteh, which one'd ya 'milk'?" The kobold, Lizo, replied, "Her over there!" The one he pointed to was approaching.

Nefarious laughed, "See those? Yeah, she's a he." Lizo spoke, "She's... so then I... EWWWWW!" Nefarious snickered. The bull approached Lizo, "Mooooh." The bull then affectionately nuzzled him on the lower back. Lizo stepped away. The bull then nuzzled again, rubbing against Lizo's back and raising itself up. Lizo then panicked and fled, the bull chasing after. Nefarious laughed, "Better luck nex' time!" Lizo left, slamming the door behind himself, the bull stopped at the door. The bull then turned, and slowly walked away, his head hanging low in sadness. Nefarious spoke, looking at the bull, "Poor guy... but I don't think it was ever meant to be! Well that's done, follow me."

Kazo followed nefarious out. He commented, "So is it a coincidence or does depravity follow you around?" Nefarious replied, "It's coincidence, but, heh, I think I am rubbin' off on these people!" As they continued, Kazo asked, "I think Rostus might not be all that good. So is there anything I should know about him?" Nefarious replied, "He was a businessman, so he ain't gunna be a philanthropist. He says he's workin' on a project that would make cheap, clean electricity anywhere it's needed for negligible fuel. 'course everyone's gunna want that patent! Trust me, he's gunna be one of the richest and most powerful people in the world after this, but it's better than it never gettin' invented at all. Go figure the military wants to make it into a bomb. I take it he sent you to stop 'em?" Kazo replied, "Yes, actually, in a way!"

They continued toward the front of the corridors, then entered a dark room. Nefarious spoke, "Ya ever gone into showbiz?" Kazo replied, "I think you might say so, although it isn't the kind you're familiar with! What does that have to do with testing my spear?" Nefarious turned the lights on, revealing she was now holding a masterfully crafted broadsword made from exceptional steel, made by hand rather than mass produced, "Wanna put on a show?" Kazo snickered, "Sure!"

Nefarious pressed a button on the wall, opening the door on the other side of the room, then passed through. Kazo followed through, finding himself within the bottom of the arena he had seen earlier, obsidian walls all around, people slowly entering as they passed by and saw what was going on. They waited a while for enough people to show up, people above manning mechanical cameras operated by crank. Then, Nefarious stood smiling, holding her sword out, "Let the show begin!"

Kazo drew his spear and stood ready. A fun challenge between friends meant no severe injuries could be dealt, but it still presented a good opportunity to test. Yeln hopped down as Kazo drew the spear, then hopped up across various equipment until he reached the stands where he observed with feline curiosity. The cameras started up, and the crowd applauded briefly at the beginning of another spontaneous public spectacle.

Normally, the public at large never witnesses my experiments. Time likes to change things!

Nefarious tossed her sword up, cought it, then ran towards Kazo, sword at the ready. Nefarious jumped to the side and swung at Kazos legs from behind. Kazo leapt up, the swing traveling below him, and then brought the bar of the spear down over Nefarious' head. Nefarious jumped back, Kazo landing. Nefarious slashed at the surface of Kazos shoulder, resulting in merely a cut on his clothing.

Kazo brought the flat side of the blade at the end of the spear up, striking Nefarious in the head, discharging upon contact. Nefarious grunted loudly and jumped back, stumbling a little, then shook it off. She moved around Kazo, then leapt up at him. Kazo leapt back, then continued back, pointing the spear at Nefarious and building up a charge in the spear. Then, he channeled the charge into an astral orb he had formed at the tip of the spear, and thrusted the spear, firing the orb at Nefarious. Nefarious swung at the orb, her sword absorbing it without effecting her. She ran at Kazo, Kazo speeding up to a run as well.

They both leapt up. Nefarious swung at Kazo in midair. Kazo parried it, the steel shaft of the spear sending sparks up. Kazo then immediately knocked Nefarious downwards. Nefarious landed softly, and as Kazo came down, she slashed upwards at him. Kazo looked up at Nefarious... a short moment later, Kazos coat came undone, falling to the floor. Nefarious laughed, but a moment later, she and the whole crowd found themselves surprised. Nefarious still smiled at Kazo, now visibly seen to not be a kobold.

Kazo swung a false strike at Nefarious, then thrusted forward with a true one, Nefarious quickly moving to block both, successfully. Kazo swung at her head and then thrusted again, both parried. Nefarious grabbed Kazos hand before he could pull away, and pulled Kazo in as she kicked him in the chest. The shot merely glanced away. Kazo then pulled Nefarious back in an attempt to throw her down, but Nefarious swung around behind Kazo, bringing her sword to Kazos neck. Kazo lifted up and bent over, throwing Nefarious over himself, down onto her back.

He drew his spear up, but before he could swing down with it, Nefarious had already rolled away and hopped back to her feet. Kazo channeled mana through the spear, letting a channel pierce forth. He projected an arc of energy toward Nefarious. Nefarious' sword absorbed all of it without effecting her. Kazo then ran at Nefarious, building speed behind a powerful blow, making use of his whole momentum. Nefarious ducked, the blow missing. She then brought her sword up and grabbed hold of Kazo, using his entire momentum against him in a rapid throw down, Kazo landing on his back. She swung down at Kazo, but Kazo parried. He parried again, and parried as Nefarious thrusted at him.

When he saw Nefarious draw back for a fourth strike, Kazo kicked Nefarious in the gut. Nefarious grunted loudly, jumping back, and coughing. While she was slightly stunned, Kazo thrusted at her hand in an attempt to disarm her, but she tossed the sword up and jumped back again. She landed and cought the sword, holding it behind herself. She stood her ground as Kazo approached.

When Kazo neared, she swiftly leapt forward, bringing the sword forward to Kazos gut with such force it caused him to stumble from his path. Before he could recover, she continued as if it were one motion, bringing the sword down again on the back of his head. Kazo found himself too unbalanced, and fell flat on his face. Yet again, his one native flaw... He grunted, more out of annoyance than anything else.

As she brought her sword up behind her, and continued the same motion down towards Kazo, Kazo cought the blade with his hand. He held the spear in the other hand, and used it to leverage the sword, in an attempt to either disarm her or throw her. She leapt up, using Kazos efforts to flip over and land on her feet on the other side of Kazo, leveraging her sword away, and at the same time, pulling Kazo to his feet. She spun around, elbowing Kazo in the head and leaping backwards. Kazo was knocked a bit to the side, but recovered just in time to see the roundhouse kick she was swinging at him. He cought her leg, and stepped forward, throwing her forward. She let go of the sword, altering her course with her hands on the ground, then landed back on her feet, picking the sword back up.

Kazo moved to parry as she leapt forward in a thrust, but Nefarious used this to more quickly raise her sword above Kazo. Kazo knocked the sword to the side again as she brought it down, and jumped back. He then fired another arc of energy, this time striking her on the side of her upper and lower body. She grunted again, nearly losing hold of the sword, and stumbled back. She shook it off, but it seemed to have an effect. She then charged at a Kazo parried in a manner to allow him to immediately strike after, as he had begun to do, Nefarious thrusted her sword immediately after being parried, resulting in the same swing hitting Kazo in the head. Kazos swing struck Nefarious in the elbow. There was a slight popping sound. She gasped and quickly stepped back, checking her elbow.

She visibly felt pain, but she could still move and use her elbow. She moved it through its full range, then shook her hand, stopping to stand her ground once more. She moved to the side, near some equipment meant to manage the arena environment. She climbed the equipment, taking vantage on top of it. Kazo leapt up high, bringing his spear down as he came down to land also upon the equipment. She dodged out of the way, and thrusted as he landed. He ducked and rolled, evading her thrust.

As Kazo got up, he noticed Nefarious was looking off to her side. Kazo noticed... this was not a trick. He also looked there, to see a kobold in a control booth, finger over a button, grinning mischievously. Kazo and Nefarious both leapt into the air as the kobold pressed the button. The machine they were previously standing on erupted in a gush of water. As Kazo and nefarious fell, Nefarious swung down at Kazo. Kazo parried, causing her sword to get stuck in the side of the machine. Kazo was knocked into the machine as well by the force of the hit, his spear becoming lodged. Both he and Nefarious dangled from their weapons as a large gush of water poured down on top of them.

The crowd laughed then cheered. Nefarious commented, her fur drooping with water, "Don'cha hate it when that happens?" Kazo replied, "Actually, I like it!" Nefarious pulled her sword free. As she fell, Kazo pulled his spear out just in time to parry a midair strike at his chest. They both landed in a rising pool of water. Nefarious swung upwards from her landing, striking Kazo in the arm with quite a bit of force. The blow scratched Kazo quite noticeably, Kazo feeling a bit of a stinging. Though it was basically harmless to Kazo, that blow would've done major damage had it hit flesh.

Kazo took advantage of her recovery time to swing the flat side of the tip of his spear. He struck Nefarious in the side of the head, leaving quite a scratch and discharging his own power along with the spears into her. Nefarious barely held back a yell, and stumbled around, somewhat dizzy. Kazo then brought the spear up, charging it quite a bit in preparation for the final blow.

Ah, the inevitable being realized... the most boring result, but still not bad!

Just before Kazo brought the heavily charged spear down, Nefarious swung around again, and thrusted at Kazos now quite exposed neck. Kazo felt a sharp pain. He tried to look down to see what had happened, but he found he couldn't move his head. He stumbled backwards out of surprise, looked down as much as he could, and felt along his neck... there seemed to be a sword sticking out of the joint seam at the front of his neck, lodged in quite firmly.

Nefarious slowly up to Kazo, "... Looks like I win!" The crowd laughed and cheered again. She held her head, noticing the blood on her face, "Looks like ya got me good though!" Kazo snickered, ignoring the sword sticking out of his neck. Kazo and Nefarious shook hands. Nefarious then spoke, "Hold still!" She placed one foot against Kazos chest, then yanked her sword out, both stumbling back a bit when it was finally dislodged. Kazo snickered, despite the loss, "That was fun!"

Kazo also was able to evaluate what he could do with magic and the spear. Although he didn't use full power here, the spear seemed to be able to be used as a ranged weapon in several different ways. Though he had seen this effect before, the addition of electricity meant new things might happen in odd situations. Nefarious spoke, "Now that we've done some entertainment for these people, let's go have a chat." There was still more to discuss, but soon after, he expected he might need to put his spear to a true field test against real forces. Still, mostly he felt curious. What secrets would be uncovered at the military base?
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Hmm, hoping I got the combat balance right. A magical adamantine character with a prototype weapon makes it a bit more difficult to balance.

Ah well... (insert random concern here).

Nearly all the time, these concerns don't come true. I should stop having them. Ah well...

[Impending Doom]

Poor, poor Lizo.

Awesome fight there, though. Especially if, like me, you read it while listening to the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean. Absolutely epic, man!

Wait a minute... Nefarious put a shirt on before the fight, right?...RIGHT?  

Edit: FIRST POST!!

[ March 02, 2008: Message edited by: Impending Doom ]

[AlanL]

Thanks  

Hmm, looks like I forgot to consider that detail (oops). Not sure whether she would've or not, considering on top of it all, people in these societies don't make such a big deal out of clothing. I'm operating under the principle established in DF where you can walk around naked and nobody cares. At least it can be confirmed she was wearing pants though  :p

Not sure still though.

[Fenrir]

When's the last time you spoke with your one-man fan club? Usually he'd be here by now, saying how great you are.

[ March 02, 2008: Message edited by: Fenrir ]