If both duelists involved would kindly let me know that they are ready, this duel can begin. If one of the dueling parties does not report in (ready or otherwise) before Wednesday [1/9/2013], they will forfeit the match. If neither report in, both will forfeit.

Whether you are ready or not, please make it known in an ((OOC)) post here in this thread.

This duel concluded [1/11/2013] with Nathan Traveler as the victor by TKO.

601529 [[Ready, or as Lofty would probably say, "Uugh, I need more booze."]]

((I'll be ready later on today. Damn school, 'n stuff.))

Mark sat in the stands, ready to cheer for his friend. "You've got this, Ferris! You're one of the coolest guys I know - don't let him get ya!"

601529
((Now that school is over, let's do this!))

602734 [[Pre-fight banter?]]

602978
((May as well.))

602993
Lofty trotted through the gate into the arena, a half full bottle of whiskey in his telekinetic grasp, and headed toward a point roughly in its center. Once there he sat on his haunches, waiting for his opponent to enter.

603008
Slowly, with his staff slung across his back and paws wrapped for the battle ahead, Ferris walked into the arena, his head held high. He spotted his opponent, and bowed low to him in respect.

603023
Lofty turns away from his bottle just in time to see a diamond dog, evidently his opponent, bow toward him. He understood bowing to be a sign of respect in some cultures and, even though the greatest sign of respect he could show as a sniper was proximity, returned the gesture with a bow of his head.

603051
Ferris smiled briefly, and said to the pony, "Is great honor to meet on field for peace fight. I, Ferris Candle. Is please to be meeting you."

603063
"Well the Ferris, you may call me Lofty Design." Although he would normally introduce himself as Eagle-eye on the field of battle his gut told him that would not be necessary, and probably not even beneficial, in this instance.

603078
"I glad we meet," Ferris said, stretching in preparation for the battle. "Hope fight be fun, and we leave as friend."

601853>>602308
His ears picked up the sounds of two familiar voices cheering for him, and he paused to gape at the stands, fully realizing that there were actual people cheering for him. Never before had this happened. His heart soared, and he bowed once more, this time directly at the audience.

603096
"I would be satisfied with alive and not enemies," Lofty muttered in response. Finishing off his drink, he tossed the empty bottle toward the walls.

603116
Ferris lightly winced at the crash of the bottle, and took note of the stench of alcohol. Curious, he asked, "Why drink?" in an innocent tone.
((Brb, shower. Will be back momentarily.))

603140 [[List of judges is up, finally]]

601577, 602734
((I am opening this duel. You may now fight one another. Please follow this link to see the list of judges.

You must conclude your duel, either by killing blow (judge's rule), forfeit, or voting decision. A vote will be held by default in the event that the duel is not completed by 12:00 a.m. [-5:00 GMT] on Saturday [1/12/2013].

Fight with honor!))

Aurus rose from his seat suddenly, drawing a hush over the crowd and ready combatants alike. His smile was one of excitement, and it was clear from the tone that ventured forth from his throat that he was just as eager as those in the stands who were barely repressing their words to hear him speak.

"It is clear that you are all excited to see this match, and I an right there with you! Lets not delay, and commence the battle, one which I am sure will be monumental. This duel between Lofty and Ferris should not be taken lightly. Not now, or ever in the future, as this will be a moment of history to be remembered gloriously for ages to come!"

The crowd roared in excitement, stilling once more for Aurus' final words before the unleashing of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

"Begin the match!"

The deafening roars that followed drowned out the trailing of even his mighty voice, and any hope that the clash of steel or a blast of magic had to be heard.

603140
Looking back to Ferris from the king's box Lofty asked, "flip of a bit for who strikes first?"
As he asked he removed Cherry from his back with his magic and loaded her in preparation.

603296
Ferris bowed lightly, and took up a defensive stance. "Matter not," he said, feeling himself slip into the cool, calm state of mind he would need for this fight.

603321
[[Then my next post is going to be an action to start us off, good luck.]]

603341
((Same to you.))

603345
[[Damn I type slow. I need to stop over thinking these.]]

603484
((Don't worry about it.))

603504 [[Thanks]]
A small smirk crossed his face,"I shall take that as permission to strike first then." Strapping Cherry to his back again, loaded now, as she was almost useless at this distance he drew a short sword out from under his coat.

Lofty held the sword to his left front. less than a meter away. He knew he needed to get distance between himself and Ferris as quickly as possible if he wanted to win this. He also knew that Ferris could probably keep up with him if he just ran. Luckily he had just the spell for occasions such as this. Flipping his sunglasses over his eyes and bringing his ears flat against his skull, Lofty charged up a Flare in his horn, launching it at Ferris' feet not a quarter second later.
Flare would usually leave a person functionally blind and near deaf for ten to twenty seconds, requiring about twice as long to fully recover, when detonated that close to them. It remained to be seen if Ferris was more resistant than most or could get enough distance to reduce the effects however.

[[Approved by: Crafter, RainbowBob]]

603538

At the sight of his opponent putting away his ranged weapon, Ferris' eyes narrowed in suspicion. When Lofty drew his sword, though, Ferris immediately knew something was wrong. Against his quicker, lighter fists, he would be able to easily disarm his opponent...Unless...

Unicorns wield magic! his mind practically shouted at him. Reacting instinctively, he leaped to the side, and braced himself fo-

Ka-Boom! A deafening explosion nearly burst Ferris' eardrums, simultaneously accompanied by a blinding flash. His entire world went silent, but he still found himself able to watch his opponent with ease.

With a quick flick of his paws, he adjusted his stance into one ready to leap into action at a moment's notice.

((Approved by Crafter))

603592 [[Damn that didn't ping in my notifications, oh well.]]
Damn, Lofty cursed his luck at seeing his opponent still standing, and looking right at him no less, but he had a backup plan, not a very complex one but it would get the job done. He levitated five knives from the bandolier around his barrel and Impelled them into the ground in front of him, forming a curve with the open end toward Ferris.

Satisfied that he could use his knives to do what the Flare could not, Lofty turned around and ran. His destination being the nearest spire of rock.

[[Approved by: Crafter]]

603731
((Nah, you're fine, don't worry about it.))

Ferris noted the knives with a sort of disinterest, as he dashed forward, slinging his staff over his shoulders. Grunting slightly, he used the tool to pole-vault over the knives, causing him to roll into a landing, from which he quickly used to cover more ground.

Barely slowing, he proceeded to keep up the chase, his staff held tightly in his paws.
((Approved by Chainlinc3 and RainbowBob))

603764
Lofty was keeping an eye on Ferris' actions as he continued to run and he wasn't really surprised that he had vaulted over them, they could still serve a purpose, even if it were not the one he had hoped. Lofty pried two of them out of the ground and Impelled them toward Ferris' back, making sure he wouldn't hit himself if Ferris were to dodge.

The ground was getting rough now, so he couldn't actually look back at his target without a risk of tripping, but he could reasonably predict how far and where Ferris was behind him. As the knives neared to within a couple meters of where Ferris probably was Lofty reached out to the switch buried within each knife and flipped them, completing the circuits and detonating them. He was relying on their four meter blast radius and shrapnel to correct for his aiming method whether it did or not wasn't up to him though.

[[Approved by: Crafter]]

603887

Ferris didn't know what the unicorn was trying when his horn had started glowing. What had the magic been used on? The only things he could think of were-

The other knives!

Swiftly, acting on pure instinct and his training, he rolled forward once more, hoping to avoid a sharp blade to the back. When he heard - Merciful Iron, I can hear again! - the sound of another explosion and the sharp bite of a shard of metal that grazed the tip of his ear, he realized those knives had been much more than he had thought.

Sharply, he brought his staff forward, and jabbed the butt of it towards Lofty's head, hoping to disorient him in return for the earlier flare.

((Approved by inoeitall and Crafter))

604029
Hearing the explosions behind him Lofty dug his right forehoof into the ground, swinging the rest of his body around it in a clockwise manner, hoping to take advantage of an injured opponent, only to find one who was not only no worse for wear, but attacking him. As the butt of Ferris' staff flew toward his skull, Lofty pivoted his head and neck downward in an attempt to dodge, although it had more to do with luck and the mechanics of his turn that the staff merely grazed his horn rather than impacting his skull dead on.

The flickering of his magic in response to his horn being grazed was enough to remind Lofty that he had yet to sheath his sword, giving him a better alternative to trying to impale Ferris on his blunt horn. So in reply Lofty brought his sword, now hovering above and to his right, not being able to keep up with his turn, swinging down at Ferris' left shoulder from the outside, hoping to disable the limb.

[[Approved by: RainbowBob, Crafter, non functional edit brought to you by inoeitall]]

604205

Seeing the sword plummet down towards his arm, Ferris swiftly brought the other end of his staff up to bat it aside, forcing himself to pivot, and shove the blade over his head in a dodge.

Continuing the momentum of the spin, he twisted into a crescent heel kick, aiming for the side of the pony's torso. He put as much of his strength as he could into the blow, hoping for a good, solid hit.
((Approved by inoeitall))

604251[[Question, which way is he spinning, clockwise or counter clockwise?]]

604259
((Counter-clockwise.))

604272
[[thanks]]

604279
((Right, going to bed. See you tomorrow, then.))

604384 [[Night then, I'll see you tommorow.]]

604251 [[I'm back.]]
There were very few things a warrior can do when coming out of a spin, all but all of which are some type of attack, Lofty knew this and leaped to his right, dragging his sword with him, to avoid the attack he knew was coming. Unfortunately, Lofty had predicted a low sweep rather than the powerful blow aimed at his trunk and had chosen to give himself more height than distance, causing Ferris' kick to impact his left foreleg in mid-air instead.
Between dodging away from the attack, reducing the difference in velocity, being airborne at the time, causing more of the force from the blow to move him as a whole of him rather than be concentrated just in his leg, and his armor the limb would be fine, if a bit bruised i the morning. What was more pressing at the moment was that he was no longer in a position to land on his hooves and charge Ferris as he had planned.

Therefore Lofty chose the next best option, tucking into a roll as his right hooves hit the ground and coming out of it with a small bound to rotate enough that he wasn't presenting Ferris his flank. After coming out of the roll he had begun undone the straps holding Cherry, still loaded from before the fight, to his back. By the time he landed on all four of his hooves from the bound he was levitating Cherry above himself. A heartbeat later she was aimed at Ferris and Lofty wasted no time in launching a bolt, 300 grams of steel and tungsten, at his center of mass.

[[Approved by: Crafter]]

604384
[[Aaand I replied to myself accidentally.]]

606015
((That's happened to me before. Also, I'm back as well!))

Ferris' eyes widened as he watched the bolt shoot towards him, realizing he had little time to react. With that said, however, he spun once again, throwing out one of his loose sleeves. The spin, combined with the silk material of his robes, cleanly deflected the bolt away from him.

Using the spin's momentum, Ferris brought his staff around, adjusting himself to either hit the weapon, or failing that, the pony behind it.

((Approved by inoeitall))

606308
Lofty now had a new found respect for Ferris, it was no small feat to deflect a bolt at point blank range after all. He didn't have time to dwell on that though, he was about to do something reckless. Cherry was safe above his body, but he was not. Acting quickly Lofty leaped over the staff, and Ferris too for that matter.

As he leaped over the diamond dog Lofty brought his left hind leg forward, intending to kick Ferris in the face as he flew over the dog's head.

[[Approved by: RainbowBob]]

606780

Ferris reacted in the only way his instincts would allow him to. When he saw the hoof reaching towards his face, he quickly grabbed the pony with a paw, and redirected his leap straight into the ground.

With his free paw, he started pressing against the leg, forcing it into the exact opposite direction it was supposed to bend. With the strength behind the force combined with the position of the grip, this was an almost sure-fire way to break a limb, or even tear a ligament.

((Approved by inoeitall))

606829
[[Did Ferris turn around, or is he still facing the same direction?]]

606860
((He turned.))

606868
[[thanks]]

606829
Although his leg had been caught, his plan had still worked. Ferris had turned around to deal with him, leaving his back open to Cherry, still levitated in the same place she had been before Lofty had leaped, ready to fire. From years of experience he could aim her on instinct, even if he wasn't behind her, as long as he could see her and Ferris' stance was wide enough that he could see her clearly. He aimed at Ferris' waist, usually the slowest responding portion of a biped's torso. Then he pivoted his neck, getting his shoulders far enough to the side that he wouldn't risk shooting himself, hoping that Ferris would interpret it as an attempt to get free, pulling the trigger part way through the motion.

[[Approved by: Crafter]]

607073
Ferris once more saw that the unicorn's horn was glowing with the telltale sign of magic, and his eyes narrowed in displeasure. Surely, he wouldn't be so foolish as to try and use his crossbow? Still, he couldn't take any chances. With his grip never slackening, he pivoted around on one foot, swinging his other leg around to kick the pinned Lofty right in his head.

He couldn't tell if he had hit or not, but it didn't matter. Now he was fully sitting on the pony's back, and forcing his opponent's leg in all the wrong directions. The pain he must have been under would have been excruciating to say the least. However, with the monk's back now put into the effort, he forced the pony's head into the ground, and pulled even harder on the leg.

((Approved by inoeitall))

607235
The pain wasn't that bad, at least in comparison to the last time that leg was broken, almost severed actually, damned dragon. His choices at the moment being between getting out of Ferris' hold and purposely dislocating the leg to buy himself some time, which he'd have to correct afterward to keep up with the fight, Lofty chose to get out. This isn't going to be pretty, he thought, charging a spell in his horn, but if I'm lucky... The spell charged, he pushed Cherry and his sword toward his probable landing zone. Then, in the course of an instant, the aura surrounding his horn spread over the rest of his body, albeit duller, and he was impelled upward.

[[Approved by: inoeitall]]
[[My brain is starting to get tired, I think this is going to be my last duel post for the night.]]

607500
The surprise of the launch only caused Ferris to realize an incredible opportunity. They were in the air, he had completely dislocated Lofty's leg, if not torn a ligament...and he still had a good grip on the pony. Combined with the fact that his staff had never once fallen during that struggle, and Ferris knew he had a good chance to end this, here and now. All of this had shot through his mind in the span of mere milliseconds.

Reacting quickly, he pushed his legs down on the pony's back, while pulling up with a single paw that was still tightly wrapped around Lofty's leg, causing the pony to flip around to face him. His other paw, heavily gripping the staff he had trained with for so long, brought it crashing down toward the pony's head, attempting to stop his upward movement, and balancing it all out.

((Approved by inoeitall. ))

607635 [[I just woke up an hour ago. I blame congress.]]
Damn, he had expected Ferris to let go, thinking quickly he looked for alternate landing zones and picked a shallow pool of water coming up fast below them and pushing his weapons, still levitated near the ground toward it, now he just needed to disengage from Ferris. Luckily Ferris was kind enough to hep him with that. As Ferris flipped him Lofty charged up yet another impel, much faster this time as he only had to propel himself and wasn't fighting against gravity this time. Releasing it as soon as he could see his opponent's face, he grunted in pain as his dislocated limb pulled free of the dog's paw just in time for the staff to hit nothing but air. With the expedited charge the spell wasn't powerful enough to completely neutralize his momentum, but he made sure to induce enough spin so that he could land in a more recoverable position than on his back.

As he fell toward the water below, now on track to land on his uninjured legs, he realized something, Ferris was still airborne, and that meant without anything to push off of any attempt to dodge would be lessened significantly, if not removed from the equation. Glancing down down to see how much time was left he roughed out the calculations for Ferris velocity and trajectory the mental picture of the monk's trajectory appearing in his minds eye. Gravity wasn't going to give him time to check his math for a quality attempt, so he would have to compensate with quantity and coverage. Lofty took aim, unsheathed seven knives, and impelled them into the area Ferris was guaranteed to land in with six forming a hexagon approx. two meters on each side and the seventh in the center. Anticipating some attempt to avoid them, probably using that staff, keeping his eyes on the agile dog for as long as possible in case he needed to correct his timing, he grabbed hold of their detonators and began mentally counting down to when Ferris should come within the blast radius of the knives in tenths of a second.
0.6...0.5...0.4... He looked away, needing his eyes to make sure he didn't land too awkwardly. 0.3...0.2...0.1
There was a loud *Ka-boom* just as Lofty's good hooves hit water.

[[RETCONNED]]