Grand Tournament of 2017, PROTEUS vs. BASSASAIL (Howling Gorge)

How the wind cried was most fitting for this place, if not for the cold that gnawed into his back. The Howling Gorge was well within the Icewing territory. As far as he was aware, they were not part of the Imperium alliance, and his presence here was intruding into their sanctuary. The cold could be better, but at least bearable to some degree, if he either kept moving or shelter himself from the piercing winds. It was a rather magnificent sight the moment he had bear witness of the Gorge. Two mountainous walls stood on either side, spaced 90 metres apart, and the summits seemingly pierced nothing but the thick clouds. To the wary, it would be like walking through a gate. But to him, this was simply a place for him to carry his duties for the Imperium. Snow settled upon the floor of this colossal crevice, but far too shallow for many of his ideas to come into fruition. But nonetheless, he could make it work.

In contrast to the roaring wind outside, the chasm was much quieter. This did not save any wind from encroaching in, however. Every now and then, pockets of gust would escape and stampede through the crevice, carrying with it new snow and much destruction, as even their most delicate of touch would send some of the overhanging icicles from the walls crashing down. If there was anything positive about this place, it would be how any loud sounds would echo across the chasm in a symphony or hymn of nature. It was beautiful at first, but thanks to his enhanced senses, he could hear anything beyond 300ft and it was giving him a headache. At least the song would be a rare occasion, for the place was rather quiet in general. The wind would surely pick up the higher anyone ascend, with anywhere beyond 100ft would batter oneself in a gale that could toss them into the icicle-covered walls. Not even his sense of smell could provide him relief, his nerves within frozen, and all anyone could smell was the odourless chill that would spear deep from their noses and into their heads.

A lot of this place reminded Proteus that water once flowed in here, with water rushing down like waterfalls upon the many platforms. But now, everything was frozen over, and the trickles that did not make it down became jagged spikes of ice that gleamed outwards. He doubted even a dragon with a thick hide could withstand having many of these pierce into them, a feeling of a thousand needles into their backs.

Proteus came rather early, and within the wall he nestled into a well hidden small relief. He had to cut through some of the overhanging icicles to make this place safe. It was very small, not capable of fitting in anymore than two dragons, as his haunches were already against the other end and he could only just tuck his entire frame to shelter from the wind. He considered making a fire, but feared it would give away too much of his position. He was trained as an assassin after all, and this tournament would perhaps do well in proving his skills and worth to the Imperium. The sun had finally set, leaving behind the faint red, pink and purple hue on the horizon which only faintly lit what was within the Gorge. His cave was somewhere around 70ft above the ground, but with the surrounding icicles and frozen water, it would prove to be very difficult for any dragon to notice, especially in the encroaching dark. Of course, Proteus easily spotted it thanks to his nightvision, but for others, they would have to be within around 40ft.

It was almost time. Proteus carefully adjusted his knapsack, so much as to not let the vials clink upon one another, and pressured his claws carefully against the ground. Although he had his vision, he could only see what was directly in front of him, unless he stuck his head out. Within, he would have to rely on his ears, trying to pick up the encroaching footsteps, slithering, or whatever odd sounds he could hear. And once he did, he would have to use his judgement to know where his target was and predict that window to strike. His heart raced. This was going to be his first target after all his training. And what better target than it be the former king of the Seawings? As the tribe was not a part of the Imperium, Proteus knew little of the Seawings, especially the former king but the name. Well, that was according to what he was told his opponent would be.

His claws dug slightly into the ice, and there he waited, concentrating and perking his ears.

Within the heart of the frozen abyss, I grant thee… a warm welcome.

The cold was not much a bother to the blue scaled beast, that is to say if he was in a trench of the sea. When it came to land he wasn't useless but rather decent upon it than most SeaWings, however a wish to, "Fly," was an option he would rather trash; he wasn't for heights but rather depths. It hadn't taken long tp travel from territory to territory but rather dangerous due to rogues and even the occasional leviathan that was bigger than he, but luckily he was faster at swimming and dodging than the giant serpents could eat him. Its been two days since the beast arrived to the snowy lands, the icebergs and frozen waters forcing him to land where it was cold, but no problem.

Bassasail was one for both land and sea, most drakes lived on the land while sea dragons were, well, living in the sea, but thanks to his odd inheritance he could do both with relatively ease. Not many drakes are mistaken for being a giant bipedal crocodile, not many are called, "A freak of nature," but he was used tp the name calliattenby childish adult dragons. Now there was the fun in fighting and calling names, but that is only when two smart-*** dragons dual, when one gets hurt they will cuss out the opposer, and the other do the same until one drops... Even after ones defeated there's no rule that states one must stop the trash talk. That was Bass's new way of fighting against anyone, howevlifn a life or death situation there was no talking. Of course there wasn't.

Bassasail was exhausted from his long journey to see about claiming more chain islands, and none sufficed for what he found instead was the land. To him snow was not common at all, he seen it years ago but didn't really care, and now it seems fate brought him to the icy plains. He could have left however due to the reputation of killing off many rogues he too was hunted by them and was forced to land. He hurried for many miles, and how they knew Bass would arrive was strange, but there were too many gaining on him to even turn... And then he fell down a large gorge. There was a large piece of earth that stuck out and luckily it was strong enough to withstand the SeaWing. And so hours he waited, using his blue flames to keep warm and awaiting for them to pass, granted the rogues lost the blue dragon, he didn't trust time. Call it paranoia.

Bass looked down as night fell over and would see a way down, and as he attempted to scale down the gorge, thinking it would be safer down there, he would scale down the gorge whilst it was still day... Somewhat. The drake was very careful as he climbed down for what seemed like hours of latching on before a rock fell from a crevice and into, what sounded like, crunching snow! He was too anxious to get back on the ground, and from the sound of it he only had twenty or so feet left... Before he slipped and fell off an icy ledge and onto the hard ground, which he wasn't too off from his thought of measurement. After minutes of laying there the dragon slowly stood with a sprained leg and exhausted form, dusting off snow and shook his head, he couldn't even see much down here, the only illumination came frpm his mouth and his dimly glowing eyes. Other than that he could ise fire? It might attract attract attention but it was better thna wandeing like a fool. So it came to be, raising a low power Bassasail blow a small short burst of flame, trying to see where exactly the exit was. He would need to wait for day then, and the flames helped heat up his body anyhow so it would suffice fot now.

((This is all I had, if its crappy let me know.))

OoC:

You fell 300m into the floor of the Gorge? That's ~984 ft! It could easily fracture your spine into numerous pieces.

((I edited it, falling only 20ft XD))

OoC: That's fine XD. Also note, the winds in the Howling Gorge, anywhere above 100ft from the floor, is very dangerous, as quoted from Shiera "The winds of the ravine at any altitude higher than 100 feet become rough and ragged, and can even perhaps be deadly." I will just assume he made it down in one piece, but will be extremely exhausted because he also climbed down from 980ft to 20ft.

IC:

He curled a bit closer, the cold almost starting to get to him and he tucked his claws a little closer. His mother would have scolded him for not keeping his legs apart enough, but there was only so much he could bear at this stage. To her, he was still a young pup. But his skills were more than adequate enough for him to become a tracker for the Imperium. Through the use of his nightvision, black mist seeped from his form, but barely enough to draw any attention. The dark was his ally, with the world clouded in persisting shadow. Still, he was well aware of his own limitations. And knew he had to use this sparingly.

Some time had passed, but Proteus heard very little above the songs of the chasm. And for a moment he pondered if his opponent would ever turn up at all. Or perhaps he would be smart enough not to approach from the obvious entrance. But where else would he come from aside from above? Proteus had tried to scout the area beforehand, but found it far too difficult to even ascend beyond the height of this cave. The wind was far too strong, and it nearly blew him into the wall and hit the icicles. It would have been far too dangerous, especially with how high the Gorge really was. But what of digging himself into the place?

Before he could ponder any further, he was almost startled by a sudden thud, right before him. He could have discarded that for an icicle, but if that were true, he would have heard it shatter like glass, with how shallow the snow really was. It sounded much more heavier... more stronger.

Above, Proteus thought, the adrenaline warming his limbs and he spaced them apart, readying himself. Then, he heard it. The slowly clinking and clambering of a heavy mass, around 25ft from him to the left, descending from the bellowing gale. No doubt this dragon had to be far too bold. Without the Icewing inheritance, there was no way he could ever leave the wind unscathed. Let alone, climb down from something as high as the clouds. At least to him.

His misty claws, not making even a chink on the ice, he prowled forward slowly, syncing with his prey's decent. Proteus' mind focused only on that sound, and he just poked his head out. Then there was a slip, and the mass collapsed onto the snow, almost directly below Proteus. As he was trained, he scanned the target. A large wingless dragon that was almost part crocodile or alligator, fallen into the snow with his belly up. A wolfish smirk stretched across his maw. He had little doubt this was Bassasail. The mass just remained there. Proteus could easily have jumped and sink all of his claws into the former king, but he spent perhaps around 20 seconds washing both his foreclaws quietly in one of his vials. He laced them with a myotoxin, containing paralytic and sharp pain-inducing properties.

While Bassasail was still on the ground, only just trying to get up, Proteus decided to act quickly if the former king refused to even stand and expose himself like that. All four claws on the very ledge, eyes focusing on both the exposed neck and body. With one quiet huff, he activated his Shadow Sprint. His legs burned with energy coursing and focusing in his own rippling muscles, and he dashed downwards, all four of his claws pointing down. His foreclaws aimed at the neck and chest, the hindclaws to the lower abdomen on either side, just as the Seawing was just about ready to stand. With only a distance of 70ft to travel, Proteus would reach into his target in just less than half a second. All of his claws could easily dig into his hide, though the hindclaws would be more of a nuisance. His front claws targeted the vital vessels of his neck and the heart, and he also gapped his maw, a thought to bite down on Bass's upper neck and pinning him down. All together, if his attack does connect fully, he could end the fight and assassinate the former king, although bloodily with his neck and torso impaled several times.

An exposed target that was within his range. To Proteus, it would take a miracle for the Seawing to get out of this one..

--

Vials used: 1/10
Shadow Sprint used: 1/20

((He'll be exhausted alright, but you will still have a hard time killing him))

Bassasail turned to take a good look around the dark cave, not the brightest concerning how dark it was, still, just as he was about to use a low breath of fire to immuminate his way out until the strong feeling of something latched onto him right side, sinking into his arm and hip. It was painful, like a harpoon he usually received to the back while swimming, but that was his back, the toughest parts of his scales. No this was aimed tp his front, but whatever this was, whoever this was, he knew damned well where they were aiming at: the front. He should listen to Kip more, instead of remaining of two paws he should do like a normal drake and go to four... Does he ever listen though?

"Gah!!" Bass roared more than spoke and would swiftly slam his right side down to the ground, if it was an extremely hungry animal it would be crushed, if it was a dragon it would hop off, pending on hiw fast they were. They wouldn't expect being crushed underneath the blue dragon, if they were fast enough however he would, either way, lay on his belly and curl to where his underside was not exposed. He needed to improvise on the situation. If it could latch onto his side with relatively ease then, and he traps the creature underneath, then perhaps he could also pin it down to see what it is and finish the creature off that way. However it all depended whether the creature would leap off in a split-seconds time to avoid such calamity.

OoC:

Because Proteus decided to commit to an attack on Bass while he is still on the ground, anything past him trying to get up and lighting the room becomes null and void, and you should continue from there.

Also, Proteus wasn't targeting his right arm or hip. It was in my post that he was specifically targeting Bass' neck, heart area, and either side of Bass' lower abdomen. I have permission from Astral to continue the post from there.

IC:

Proteus landed rather cleanly on his opponent, his claws digging deep into the designated targets as he expected and burying deep into the soft belly, cleaving into the flesh and into the warmth hidden underneath, before the cool blood was drawn, and bathed the claws. He bent his limbs carefully, so as to not land awkwardly from suddenly dashing into him, and pinned him into the ground. His fangs also found its target, biting into the neck, just under his chin, and held him down, squeezing. By then, his toxins would be flowing in his blood for good measure, but he had hope to end this quickly. With one power jerk, he twisted and snapped his neck left and right, tearing into the flesh. If that would not work, he would work the foreclaw that had buried into the neck, and slash it outwards.

He did this within a matter of seconds, before leaping himself off of him and landing rather gracefully 60ft away, into the cold snow. With his night vision, he watched his victim, and shifted into a pose, readying to run off left or right, if by an almost non-existent chance, the former king survived. The myotoxin had sunk into both the neck and heart. If he did not fall from the blood loss then, or drowned, then the venom would surely finish him.

OOC: Simply stated he needed another post for this to be properly judged upon. Let me know Bass if you disagree with this outcome

OOC: Dont get me wrong, the outcome I do not like... However its what I would have donr if the shoe was on the other foot. I do not disagree, and I will edit the post in a short bit to make it acceptable. Truth be told I kinda ran into this. Sly, the only thing I ask is fir a good fight, all up to you on the request. If you wanna take your time or end it quick its all up to you.

OoC:

Yeah, I sort of wanted to be fair and make it an actual fight for both parties to enjoy. It was also sort of my fault for choosing Proteus, because he is an assassin and fair fights arent his thing >.< Sorry. Was being waaaay too competitive with this.

If you want, we can make a separate combat topic not related to the tourney and I will choose a fairer character.

OOC: there are no such thing as fair fights XD I mean there are spars but those ate more friendly. No need to make anything up with me, I ain't complaining at all. Amd since I cannot edit that post (for sone reason it wont let me) Ill just rewrite the part if that is alright. Either way your all good dude, Im just trying to make my guy survive longer in bulls**t ways XD

OOC: Hey, you still up for this? Ima continue with da fight if yiu want. Ill just leave this here as the edit for that post. Sorry for not doing tgis sooner. Which, Bass is gonna lose but might as well not leave it idol.

IC: Bassasail turned to take a good look around the dark cave, not the brightest concerning how dark it was, still, just as he was about to use a low breath of fire to immuminate his way out until the strong feeling of something latched onto him right side, sinking into his arm and hip. It was painful, like a harpoon he usually received to the back while swimming, but that was his back, the toughest parts of his scales. No this was aimed tp his front, but whatever this was, whoever this was, he knew damned well where they were aiming at: the front. He should listen to Kip more, instead of remaining of two paws he should do like a normal drake and go to four... Does he ever listen though?

Something pinned him though, cleaving at his underside and digging into his neck, acting as a leach, however before the dragon could react the creature leaped off and took off gods know where. Bass could fill the blood slowly flowing from his neck and underside. There was bot something, but rather a someone here. It was too dark, and due to his now injured neck he needed to leave, now. He was searching for an exit desperately, it wasn't fear the drove him, it was the fact he did not want to die. That was it. However... The thought came to mind. What of collapsing the cave? Surely he could dp that... But he needed time.
Bassasails body began to warm up, and je traveled opposite where the foe was, or where it attacked him. He needed time. He could feel hos body heating up more, amd regrettably, his scales began to glow a light blue. He immediately dropped and curled into a ball, protecting his underbelly and throat with his armored back. He was going to prepare for a last resort, amd already he vpuld feel both ice and snow melting beneath and around him.