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 was concluded [1/14/2013] with inoeitall as the victor by majority vote.

((I'm ready, though my posts may be sporadic till later in the afternoon. I'll be online via my mobile while at work. Good luck to ya MeNoGoosta!))

((Sorry for taking so long but I was busy. I'm ready as well. Good luck to you too, inoeitall. I'm looking forward to this))

601935, 602312
((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 Khane and Ray 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.

602312
((Quick post to apologize for not being on enough today. Work was crazy since we're painting the whole store. Then family took up my time when I got home. I'm now ready to buckle down and get to business. If I don't hear from you in the next hour or two, I'll go ahead and make the first action.))

((In order to supply you with necessary time, I will wait till the morning before posting. We'll decide who goes first then))

604397
((Sorry for not replying, but I'm eight hours ahead of your time, which means I was fast as sleep until three hours ago and am at work now. You can go first if you want. I'm getting home at approximately six p.m EST. It doesn't matter to me who begins.))

604589
((No problem bro, I'll be getting home from work around 9 EST, so I'll try to do a bit of posting while at work today. Hopefully you won't have to become nocturnal for the duration of our battle. I guess I'll go ahead and make the first move then.))

While King Aurus had been giving his opening speech, Powderburn had spent the time observing everything he could about both his opponent and their battlefield. He noted the wind direction and speed, locations of key landmarks, angle of the sun, and numerous other small factors. He knew that no one of these variables would win him the fight, but any one of them could prove useful. As the King's speech neared it's end, the old gryphon tenses his muscles in preparation for the oncoming battle. The moment the King announced, "Begin the match!" he launched into action.

With the fluid grace that comes from decades of practice, drew his rifle from his back and brought it to bear on the emerald dragon he was facing in one smooth motion. He thought to himself, This one's still pretty young as far as dragons go. I'd better not kill him right off the bat... A slight adjustment in his aim, and a gentle squeeze of the trigger sent the rubber projectile flying at supersonic speeds towards his opponent's torso. The bullet carried enough force to break the bones of even the most hardened of creatures, and Powderburn knew that it was effective against the dragons he had fought in years past. As the smoke from the black powder obscured his view, the gryphon mentally assessed what damage this shot would cause to his enemy. Ideally, the hit would fracture, or at least crack a few ribs on the dragon. This would impede movement and breathing, making the rest of the fight a cakewalk.

((Approved by SwiftEthan))

605457
Despite his rather young age, Khane had already done a lot of fighting. All kinds of creatures he had faced, many of them many times bigger than him. However, never before did he have to fight a griffon, or any other airborne being. He had been prepared for everything, or so he thought. But now here he was, pretty disturbed by the ragged griffon that stood there with a calmness that caught Khane off guard, especially considering that his enemy was carrying a long rifle that would easily pierce his hard scales.
As soon as King Aurus's speech neared its end, Khane immediately tensed up. Taking a direct hit would be fatal, so the only way was to dodge.
"Begin the match!"
Everything seemed to slow down. Khane saw the griffon draw his rifle in one single motion, aiming it directly at the emerald dragon. Khane leaped to his left even before his enemy's weapon thundered across the field, trying to take cover behind a spire. And yet, the shot still managed to graze his chest and leave behind a stinging pain just by his heart. Khane gritted his teeth.
"Oh, you're not getting me so easily!" he muttered.
There was no time for worrying about wounds now. As soon as Khane landed, he leaped again, drawing his bow and a single arrow at the same time. Still airborne, he lined up his arrow, aimed straight at his opponents former position and sent the arrow soaring, immediately taking cover behind a large rock.

((Approved by Nathan Traveler))

607811

((Sorry I forgot to make my post a reply at first! Hopefully we'll be able to post closer together in the future! XD))

The old gryphon strafed to his left, following the cloud of smoke to use it as camouflage. After his first step, he felt an arrow come whizzing past his torso, punching a hole in his dusty poncho.

This kid's a better shot than I gave him credit... I liked this poncho, too.

Powderburn continued his movement with the smoke cloud, reloading his rifle as he walked. As he was reloading, the wily gryphon analyzed the angle at which the arrow had come. After a few quick calculations, he realized that his target had dived to one side, meaning his own attack had not quite been as effective as he had hoped. Powderburn snapped the lever on the rifle into position, ready to fire once more, and peered through the dissipating smoke in the direction his opponent had moved.

((Approved by Nathan Traveler))

609066
Khane ducked deeper behind his trusty rock. He shortly glanced down at his chest to check out his wound. Fortunately, it really was just a grazing shot that reached slightly past his scales.
Focusing back at the fight, Khane quickly pulled out another arrow and readied it. Seeing as there had been no screaming or rather screeching from his opponent, Khane figured he had sidestepped in time as well. The emerald dragon slightly smiled.
Would have been boring anyway if he was dumb enough to stay in the same place long enough.
Deciding to take the initiative, Khane peaked around the rock and spotted the old griffon, slightly obscured by the rifle's smoke screen.
Quickly leaving his cover, Khane brought up his bow, drew the string back and sent his second arrow flying, aiming straight for the griffons belly.

((Approved by Nathan Traveler))

609329

The instant his opponent left his cover, exactly where Powderburn had predicted, the gryphon launched himself airborn. He sailed over the arrow launched at him by several feet. Powderburn once again was analyzing every possible detail he could find. Hm, judging by the speed of that arrow, and the size of that bow, I'd say those shots are running just shy of 300 ft per second. Heh, not even a quarter of the speed of ol' G. here. Let's see how he likes dodging a supersonic shot.

As Powderburn rose into the air, he continued his movement to his left to get a better angle at the emerald dragon. He called out to his opponent, "If you want to hit me, yer gonna have to do a lot better than that! You don't live to be as old as me by being slow." To punctuate his remark, Powderburn fired another rubber bullet at the head of his enemy.

((Approved by Nathan Traveler. BTW, rubber bullets ain't gonna pierce your hide, just break the bones beneath it.))

609510
Khane cursed when he saw the griffon shoot up in the air. He hadn't expected that old feather brain to be that fast. Now, exposed to his opponent like this, there was no way of dodging his bullet, so instead, he just dropped the bow, quickly pulled out his knife and held it in front of his head. The blade, being about five inches in width and nine in length, would shield at least his head from the enemies bullets. Half a moment later, his arm was jarred badly and Khane himself thrown backwards by the impact.
Swearing, he stumbled and almost fell to the ground, losing his blade in the process. He quickly picked it up with his right hand, seeing as his other arm was going numb and hurt like hell. Now, the emerald dragon had to be fast. High up in the air, he couldn't reach the griffon, and taking cover behind an rock was also out of his possibilities. So he did the last possible thing. He started to hum a slow tune, that rumbled deep in his throat. Soon after he started, roots started to grow out of the ground and began to form a canopy above his head. However, it would take a while until he was covered enough to be save from his opponents eyes. All Khane could do now was raising his blade above his head once more and hoping his enemy was slow in reloading his gun.

((Approved by Nathan Traveler. And I know about the rubber bullet, but how's an emerald dragon, who lived his whole life in some backwater village in midst the southern rain forest, supposed to know that ;)
And I'm sorry for not posting anything yesterday, but the eleventh of January is kind of a special day for me, so I really had now time. I suppose, we can't finish this match in time. But it has been fun anyway. Thanks.))

614233

Powderburn smiled as he saw the plants start growing below him. Rather than attempt to stop their growth, the gryphon opted to allow the dragon to sing his little song. Powderburn cracked open his rifle, catching the brass shell before it could fall to the earth and be lost. He slid a different type of round into the chamber this time, though he wasn't about to use it just yet...

Instead of attacking, the gryphon chose to soar over the emerging plantlife, and take a quick drink from his flask of brandy.

((approved by Nathan Traveler))

614233

((Hello? The time is nearly up. You are lucky you even have today to formulate a response. I'd really like for this fight to actually have some fighting in it, so, if you could oblige, please post soon.))

Voting:
inoeitall

Voting:
MeNoGoosta