Corpus Rahkshi

IC Legion:

The hissing laughter turned to cackling guffaws as the deranged Lerahk crawled across the ceiling, dropping close to Vaalku.

"Pick, stick, nick, thick, trick...." voice soft, almost sing-song.

IC Vaalku

Vaalku grinned for a moment when he landed. "Please, don't hit me again!" His voice warbled, and he started to curl up into a ball.

He shielded his face with his hand - at least, from Sliver. While it quivered in terror, unmistakable pleasure rang in Vaalku's eyes.

IC: Sliver - Refectory.

"I repeat - if you want to torment the invalid, take it out of this room," I snapped.

IC Legion:

"Hit, fit, writ, lit, sit...."

He cocked his head slightly.

"Torment... No... No torment. Just the truth."

He leaned in toward Vaalku, either unbelieving or unaware of his false fright.

"Have you seen the truth, two limbs?"

IC Vaalku

"I swear if you touch me-"

Something. Something came rushing back into his mind right then. A voice, several voices, torturing him silently. You can't win. You'll never win.It's you or him. And you know you're doomed at this point, Vaalku. Remember. The net launcher, my friend. You're about to understand the world's opinion of you.

He tensed his muscles, trying to push himself up. "You're not turning me into a mindless slave!" His eyes sparked as he did so, completely forgetting the rest of the world as he locked eyes with Legion. "You turned Deadeye, you turned others! But you can't turn me!!"

IC Legion:

The Lerahk lurched back as if struck, muttering, "Turn, fern, learn, burn..."

IC: Draco

Time. In this place, it is one of the hardest things to track. A day can feel like months, or it can feel like a split second. No one really understands it here. So when I start to awaken, my first thought is: how long was I out? Groggily, I push myself up from off my bed, and stand up. popping my neck, I shift my gaze over to a corner in my dorm, where several items are being covered by my cloak. I grab the cloak with my talons, and put it on, while simultaneously revealing my stash of weapons: My two longswords currently sheathed, the warhammer, and Necrosmith. Grabbing one of my two swords, I attach the sheath to the belt around my waist, then repeat the process with the other on my opposite side. Grabbing the other two weapons, I place them on my back. Ready again... I step out into the hallways proudly. Draco the Prefect was back. The school had perhaps changed during my slumber, but that didn't matter. The will of the Makuta was still something to live by. And I had to make sure everyone did.

IC: Leviathan

I fly back to the school. After all, what was there to fear? No one suspected me. At least, I didn't think so. The lack of search parties indicated so.and as for my task... That could wait. I was not ready to go back to my homeland... Yet. But eventually, I would return to set free my brethren. Landing at the front doorway, I smile a little. It was good to be back, admittedly, after so long. So, with my giant hookblade on my back, I stroll in, ready to continue with my purpose: to learn as much as I can about our new race... And how best to dispose of them.

OOC: Draco and Leviathan OFI.

IC Frog

Frog hissed as Tube passed him, thinking perhaps the other Rahk was returning. But the sounds droned off, and everything fell silent.

Slowly making his way through the halls, he came to the library. Inside there was someone chatting loudly about how they hated someone, a few more Rahks were also making some noise, but it was generally less noisier. Near perfect.

He stopped in the doorway, nervous about trying to echo-locate his way to a seat and looking and sounding weird to the rest of the participants. His oversized head and dead, meaty eye sockets made him appear more of a corpse than a Rahkshi.

The loud one's manner was rather trying on his thin temper. "Brakas." He muttered out loud, and then realizing that he said it, he froze, unsure if he should apologize or split.

IC: Blue (Courtyard)

"Well, lets get it over with," he said, sighing. Blue leaned over the hole and slowly stretched out his body into a long, thick blue strand.

IC--Sepulchral--Library

"That," Sepulchral replied with forced calm to his confederate's uncharacteristic outburst, "is a...very unpleasant conundrum." He had not had a chance to make much estimation of the four armed Rahkshi's character, but the picture that was taking shape was not a terribly positive one. "Frankly, I cannot conceive of a remedy at this point...but it is something we will doubtless have to consider as a group. If word of our ideology spreads into the wrong circles, our former compatriot will hardly be the last to harass us."

IC: Canvas - Library

She sighed and tried to calm down. "You're right. I don't need to take this on myself. I just wish everyone was here so we could work it out!" She anxiously collapsed into a chair.

IC Frog

Okay. You can do this.

Right in front of you. I mean, it's not like she moved or anything. Come on. You want to go in there? then do it. You need to practice.

Shaking slightly, Frog let out a slightly strong thump from his throat, expecting it to indicate a pillar or bookshelf... But the noise returned rounded. Small. Weird, not like a wall.

It might have been because he fired it right at Canvas' head. It wouldn't actually damage anything, but if Frog could hear it fine...

IC: Aerahk

^{Location: Gym}

After putting the other two posters up in appropriate locations around the school, Aerahk and Tube returned to the Gym to report to Thurisaz. "The posters are up, my liege. Is there anything else you wish of us?"

IC: Waiata

^{Location: Courtyard}

Waiata looked upon Blue as he stretched himself into a rope, a bit wide-eyed.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym

Thurisaz gave Aerahk a nod of approval. "Not really at the moment, but stay near, I might soon." Quiet but excited, he added with a grin, "It's going quite well. The tournament's going to start soon, I think. I'll just wait a little longer for any last stragglers."

IC: Slif - Gym

"Alright then, I'll join," I said after a few seconds of thinking it over. "Name's Slif, S-L-I-F."

I picked at a bit of mucus in the corner of my eye, and flicked it. Fleshy box of a body just won't let me be sometimes.

IC: Fate - Infirmary

The glob of blood soared briefly before it splattered on the ground, sending bits of coagulating fluid onto my feet.

"...Lovely. We'll start with your shoulder then, that looks to be the deepest wound. Sit here on the table."

I gestured to the table previously occupied by the weak-stomached blue rahkshi from a few moments ago.

IC: Sim - Courtyard

I was about to protest again when the rahkshi above me began to stretch. I uncomfortably watched on as the display of variation prowess went on above me. It was actually rather disgusting, to be perfectly frank.

IC: Thurisaz / Gym

"Great to have you! There, you're in," the princely Turahk replied amiably as he added the name to the list. That made 15 - one more participant would be good, though not strictly necessary.

IC Doubt

"...Ew."

Doubt questioned it for a moment, then one of his oversized fingers tapped gently against Blue. "I think there's a much easier way here, sir."

IC: Misery - Refectory

After some time wandering around the building in an effort to obtain her bearings, Misery eventually found herself in what appeared to be a cafeteria of some sorts, though from the look of what occupied the trays in front of the room's other inhabitants, she already had a feeling that she wasn't going to be spending much time here during her stay.

On her way back towards the seemingly endless hallways, her attention was momentarily caught by a poster attached to a nearby wall, advertising a tournament being held in another room of the school. Taking a few seconds to thoroughly examine the words written on the page, she began silently thanking whatever force was at work trying to relieve her of her boredom.

Finally... Something to do...

The Teleport Rahk may not have known were exactly the gym was in this place, but she knew that she'd likely end up finding it eventually. All she needed to do was listen for the distinct clanging of weaponry.

OOC: I'll get the tournament started as soon as Misery is in, then.

IC: Gaever / Nynrah


At last Gaever arrived at what was to be the location of her workshop. Blue was nowhere to be seen. Unsurprising, perhaps; she'd been left waiting awhile. It was a bit of a relief for the solitary Gaever that she was now left to work alone, but it also saddened her - Blue had understood her pain, and she might miss that. She would certainly never forget the debt she owed the Rahkshi of Chain Lightning for guiding her when the guilty memories blocked the way.

For now though, she would get to work. She set the tray of slop down on a rock, and ate a bowl. (Tasteless, of course, but utilitarian, and this suited her - good food was not something of great importance to the mechanist.) She'd had plenty of time to work out the blueprint in her head, now it was just implementing it. First she set about gathering and preparing the materials prescribed to make a basic mortar - a mixture of sand, mud, even some plant matter, in (irritatingly) approximate proportions - and with that ready, began laying the foundation for the shop. A good piece of rubble for the cornerstone, the mortar, fit in a second piece of rubble, more mortar on the other side, another fitting block, and so on.

It was almost meditative - somewhat to her chagrin, as for her in this place, meditation must mean haunting regret. Her part in the village's demise still gnawed at Gaever, as it ever would. Yet, almost to her surprise, she could find some hope - or at least distraction - in her actions now. What she was building was not merely a forge, but in repentance, a memorial. Or at least, that was how she was trying to think of it.

IC: Orimnoc

^{Location: Gym}

Having awakened from her slumber some time ago, Orimnoc stumbled upon the gym to find that a tournament was being held. Looking over the crowd, her eyes widened as she recognized one of the participants. She then shifted her gaze to the handsome red clad fear rahkshi and walked up to him. "I am Orimnoc. Sign me up for this tournament of yours."

IC: Thurisaz / Gym

"Gladly." The princely Turahk added the name to the list. "There, you're in."

And that made 16. Thurisaz grinned triumphantly. Perfect. It was time to begin.

"Okay everyone, we're going to get started!" he declared. "I'm Thurisaz, host of this tournament, in case anyone doesn't know. Good to have you all today."

"First off, let's get the rules out of the way. Most importantly: there will be no death in this tournament. I will intervene to stop you from killing someone, if I must, and of course you'll be disqualified if you try. And I'm aware there are worse things in store if you miraculously succeed." An ominous finned figure was, of course, still vigilantly watching. "So don't even try. If this is a problem for you, leave now." For once there was no grin on his face; his expression was stern.

It lightened again as he moved on, though. "Let's have no manipulation of the Gym, either. That just takes all the fun out of things, no? And as you can surely guess, stick to your own fight - don't try flying over to someone else's duel, that would just be ridiculous."

"Each duel will take place on a platform of sorts - like this." He gestured smoothly to a circular platform he had just summoned off to the side. It was just higher than waist-high, and around the base was a pool of water just deep enough that you could fall off the platform into it without hitting the bottom hard enough for it to hurt. The platform itself was about a dozen good strides across, certainly big enough for a decent duel, and the floor was sandy. There were eight posts around the perimeter, pointing upwards and slightly out, presumably to try grab onto or something to keep from falling off.

He left the platform there as he continued. "A duel will end in one of a few ways. You can, of course, concede, at which point you have lost and your opponent won. If someone's obviously getting pummeled and their chances of winning dwindle towards nonexistent but they still refuse to concede, I'll call the match over and declare the winner myself. So while I would encourage chivalrously conceding when you start to clearly lose, and doing so will save you some pain, you can be as stubborn as you want. Lastly, if someone leaves their platform - including being knocked off, thrown off, falling off, and so on - they'll lose, and their opponent win. So try to stay on it, or force your opponent off. In any case, I don't want to see anyone trying to strike their opponent after the duel ends, whether they won or lost. Anyone who does will be disqualified, at the least."

"As for your pairings - they will be on the board." As he spoke the names on the list were rearranged, yielding the pairings

1. Rail vs Glass

2. Vyper vs Kaboom

3. Fountain vs Geuua

4. Orimnoc vs Torc

5. Slif vs Paladin

6. Diode vs Beat

7. Exxan vs Liar

8. Shock vs Percy

for the first round.

Then, too, he commanded the Gym to materialize seven duplicates of that first platform he had created, all arranged in a semicircle in front of his dias and numbered one to eight. At the moment each had a ramp leading onto it, to recede once both combatants made their way onto it.

"And that's about it," he concluded, grinning excitingly. "It's time. You may find your platform, meet your opponent, and begin."

IC: Vyper - Gym.

"About time," I tugged off my cloak, draping it over a hook on the gym wall, then pulled out my staff.

IC: Liar - Gym

Feeling momentarily satisfied that his very appearance was throwing his quarry off of his game, Liar simply headed towards his designated platform, whistling a high-pitched tune and without a care in the world.

IC: Rail - Gym

Letting himself watch the green and brown Rahkshi for a few seconds longer, Rail eventually cracked his suit's neck before heading towards his own platform as well.

IC: Torc - Gym

Psyched that he was finally going to see some action, Torc simply pulled out his swords and made his way over to the ramp of Platform #4.

IC: Slif -Gym

Paladin? What kind of a name was... oh. I see.

Well. Talk about dedication to a theme.

I picked out pieces of grime from my biceps as I have him a good look. My biggest problem was probably going to be the shield. I can block a sword with my heavy armor fairly enough, but a shield meant I would have the same problem with him, and I didn't have the advantage of having a sword. With a shrug and a grin, I slowly moseyed over to my platform.

IC: Orimnoc

^{Location: Gym}

Although disappointed that she hadn't been paired with her preferred opponent, Orimnoc made her way to the same platform as Torc.

IC Percy:

As soon as he'd seen his name and position, Percy had scampered up the ramp to his designated arena, and waited impatiently.

IC Diode:

I found my arena, and stepped up the ramp to it, rubbing my spine stumps, and nervously flipping my weapon between it's two sides.

IC Fountain.

Great. One of the least chivalrous.

Fountain moved so slowly up the steps that a turtle could have gone faster. Once on the platform, he remained in a statue-esque position, leaning forward slightly, nearly dead silent save for the sound of his breath washing across his jawpiece.

IC: Vyper - Gym.

"I take it that there's no flying, then?" I asked, making a point of entering flight mode and flitting up onto my platform.

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IC: Exxan - Gym. 

I stepped up onto my platform and sized up my opponent, hand resting on the hilt of my still-sheathed sword. It wasn't anyone I recognised; just another of the many new faces that had come to fill the halls of Corpus Rahkshi.

Time to find out what I've been missing out on...

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IC: Geuua - Gym.

In stark contrast to my opponent, I clambered quickly up the stairs and moved confidently towards the centre of our shared platform. That was something I'd learned early on in my existence - confidence truly was the key to success. Psychological warfare was half the battle; sometimes looking big and scary was enough to deter would-be attackers from even trying anything in the first place.

But I had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case in this tournament... 

IC: Shock / Gym
 
 
Finally. Shock had practically been about to fall asleep. He strolled up ramp 8, which receded as soon as he reached the platform. "Percy, right? I'm Shock." he greeted his opponent as he readied his weapons - sword and Zamor launcher - for combat. "May the best Rahkshi win. Also may the best Rahkshi be me."
 

* * *

 
IC: Thurisaz / Gym
 
 
Thurisaz sort of shrugged. "No, you can fly. Just keep to the airspace around your ring." He had extended the ramps as a convenience, not to deter flight.

IC Fountain

"This may be my last." Fountain's slightly weak voice rumbled like a cannon from within the cold metal. "Where there is no honor there is no true combat. Though I may do you an injustice."

"It matters not who is the most powerful. It matters not who be the winner. What will determine the true champion is the conduct of their actions; their nobility in the conflict. You have as much a chance as any. I pity you."

He gripped his fan axe with both hands in a resolute manner. "Walk away with what you put forth. The first move is yours." Although, if Geuua was looking hard enough, they could see the miniature sparks playing happily in Fountain's eyes.

IC Percy:

He readied his sword with a great big grin on his face.

"Not if I can help it!"

IC: Paladin

I drew my sword, spinning it around a little to practise. My shield was strapped to my arm, ready if needed. I eyed up my opponent.

No class, no chivalry, and definitely not a knight. He was a very big, purple and gold thug, with no spines. He quite clearly had no respect for himself.

This should be quick.

"Prepare yourself, serf. A true Knight stands before you."

IC: Slif - Gym

The moment both of my feet touched the floor of the platform, this Paladin guy started his knightly spiel.

"Serf?" That tickled me a bit, "Did you call me a Serf? Who says that anymore?? Haha."

This guy was going to be a hoot. I didn'r even care so much if I beat him or not, it would just be fun to see him get riled up. I bowed with as much exaggeration as I could muster, and threw one arm in the air.

"Well, then, I welcome you, sir knight. I certainly hope you don't ruin your illustrious armor."

IC: Paladin

I said nothing, and lowered my visor, before raising my sword, pointing it at Slif. "I am ready."

I was not going to tolerate foolery from a peasant such as this.

IC: Geuua - Gym.

"Um... okay?" I'd only really understood the part where he'd said the first move was mine. Assuming, of course, that that was actually what he'd meant. Considering he was already at a disadvantage, with me occupying the middle of our platform, I wasn't entirely sure why he thought letting me move first was a good idea.

But I wasn't going to object. 

Shifting my Earth Claw into hand mode, I grasped Blazebreaker in both hands and began to advance, wary of the extra reach provided by my opponent's weapon. 

OOC: This post was an Irrelevant post.

IC: Shock / Gym

"Guess we'll see, huh?" Percy's enthusiasm was infectious, Shock found some of a manic grin creeping onto his face. "Anyways..." Suddenly, he lunged at Percy, swinging his sword sideways and down at the kid's shoulder as he declared, "En garde!"

IC Fountain

The advantage of being mostly silver is... uh.. Something, I'm sure.

Noting the peculiar weapon that turned into a hand, Fountain's first move was to bluff an attack to the right before his hand lashed out, sparks pouring off of it, in an attempt to disable the curious mechanism.

IC: Geuua - Gym.

Okay, you got this, I told myself. The voice in my head felt pretty confident for once, since my opponent seemed to be abandoning their greatest advantage - the extra reach provided by their fan axe - in favour of trying to punch me.

In order to get to punching range, my opponent would of course have to move closer to me, so I did the same, already swinging Blazebreaker on an intercept course with his punching arm. 

IC Percy:

Percy stepped in, raising his own sword to intercept, and throwing a kick at Shock's side when the swords clashed together.