Stone Bear vs. Galthia

The noise of the crowd in Galthia's ears is like the roar of the astral winds, rising and then falling as it eddies around him. The monk's senses are keenly aware, as they always seem to be before a battle. He notes the ridges of the gravel beneath his feet, the smell of long-dried blood from past fights, the warmth of the sweat dripping from his neck down his back. Shadows from a dozen smoky torches flicker across his face, and he looks about to study the arena's battlefield. Ignore the bad feelings this place evokes, he tells himself. Focus on the goal...remember your excercises and maintain focus.

From three different levels above him, he can see thousands of faces staring at down him, a wall of anonymous visages. Then he spots his friends out of the corner of his eye, and he nods as Mara waves at him. Galthia had been told that almost all of Akin's Throat would turn out to see this match. It appears that they were correct. Are they here to see me fail again? NO! Focus on the want...you have your goal...there is no failure...only success or not doing.

Up in the stands, Priggle pulls himself up on tip-toes in order to see through the narrow windows. "Of course they didn't design this for me," he grumbles. "Oh no, why bother making these for deep gnomes? Deep gnomes hardly matter. Just take their money and let them stare into the stone, that's right."

"You could have gone down to the lower level," points out Splinder, and Priggle gives him a look. "Say," asks Splinder as he looks up at the others, "what are the final odds on this fight, anyways?"

Nolin shakes his head as he answers. "Three to one against Galthia. Stone Bear has a good reputation here, and Galthia made a bad first impression. Apparently someone saw Stone Bear praying and meditating before the fight, and people are speculating about his 'mystic powers.' I think it pushed the odds up even higher."

"So you bet on Galthia, right?" asked Tao. Nolin smiles.

"I bet 100 gold on both."

"I bet 250 gold on Galthia," says Velendo, not looking up from the stone viewing window.

"That's all? Huh." Mara rubs her shoulder in distracted annoyance. "What are the rules?"

"Win," answers Malachite.

Nolin glances at the paladin before continuing. "No real rules. No outside interference. You can enter the arena with spells active that you've cast yourself, but people aren't supposed to interfere with any outside spellcasting. Other than that, anything goes, including magic items. Makes for an interesting fight." Nolin reaches into a greasy sack and pops something into his mouth.

"What is that you're eating?" Tao frowns.

"This?" Nolin looks down at the sack. "I didn't really ask. Something crunchy and deep-fried. Maybe insects. Want one?" He offers the bag around. No one jumps at the offer, and Agar visibly winces. Nolin waggles his flaming eyebrows. "Everything tastes better when it's deep-fried."

"So very true." Splinder grins too, his smile just visible through his thick beard. "Me and the boys put some money down on Galthia as well. We've seen him fight."

Then the roar rises to a new height, and the Defenders peer down to see that Stone Bear has entered the arena from the opposite door. Head bowed, he stands there humbly as his raven takes to the air. Stone Bear nods politely in the direction of Galthia. The githzerai nods back, but it's unclear if the blind Stone Bear can sense it.

Inside of Stone Bear's head, a vision of the arena whirls as the shaman watches from the eyes of the flying raven. He briefly studies Galthia's position and the shape of the battlefield, committing them to memory. Then he wrenches his senses back to his own body, intrinsically perceiving the area around him by the sound bouncing off of the gravel and walls.

He is waiting for you, a spirit whispers in his ear. It will be a fight to remember.

GONNNNNNG! The noise reverberates through the arena. The crowd quiets momentarily before erupting again in cheers, and the fight begins.

Stone Bear is the first to react. He paces forward 30' and pauses, still unable to sense Galthia within the limits of his hazy, preternatural blindsight. Unable to immediately attack, the shaman stomps one boot down onto the gravel instead. Flickering strands of magic twists around his body as his boots of speed activate, quickening his reaction time and speeding his heart. The quickening magics also clear his mind somewhat of the tension that inhabits it. Feh, I knew I forgot something, he thinks to himself. I forgot to enchant my hand wraps. These weeks without danger have softened me. I may still have time; Galthia is more than 70' away, at least. He can't reach me from there.

Fool! Suddenly the spirit of his armor-clad ancestor is beside him, bones clacking as it crouches in readiness. One must always seize every advantage on the battlefield. Any weakness can be exploited by a clever foe. The mouldering corpse eyes Stone Bear, even as Galthia suddenly appears in the shaman's blindsight, sprinting quickly towards them. He has the advantage in speed and maneuverability! the old warrior continues to lecture. Then Galthia is there in front of Stone Bear, vivid in the shaman's blindsight, and Stone Bear ducks as his opponent launches an attack.

Galthia's fists move faster than Stone Bear would have credited. They pummel like piledrivers into the shaman's stomach and face. Galthia strikes with flawless precision, hitting the shaman once in the throat before following with equally perfect strikes to the nose and the knee. Stone Bear staggers backwards as pain sears through him, even while he feels a previously-cast protection spell activate.

The blurry spirit of Elder hisses into Stone Bear's ear, drowning out the roar of the crowd. You would be a fool to hesitate. He is as good as you are. Kill him before he kills you.

No, thinks Stone Bear as he shakes away the pain. Those were... He spits out some blood onto the stony floor. Those were very lucky shots. I know how to handle him. Stone Bear can feel the warmth emanating from the magical bearskin cloak which covers him, a reminder that the animal spirit lends him its strength even now. Drawing on this, the shaman lunges gracefully forward and clips Galthia on the side of his head with a solid blow that leaves the monk's ears ringing. A second powerful punch is barely blocked, and Galthia easily dodges a sweeping kick.

He seems to be more than he looks, considers Galthia. The monk flexes his neck and dances backwards out of Stone Bear's limited blindsight, forcing the shaman to follow him slowly. Then the monk dashes back in with clenched fists, both arms snapping rhythmically in a lightning-fast flurry of blows. His aim is near-perfect. A powerful left-handed strike to Stone Bear's belly bends the shaman slightly forward, and Galthia dips his shoulder and swings upwards as he focuses all his ki and fury into a right uppercut. His fist smashes into Stone Bear's lowering chin with perfect accuracy. Bone crunches. Protective spells on Stone Bear do little to help; the shaman's body does an involuntary half flip backwards before landing face-down in the gravel, momentarily unconscious. Three more instinctive blows from Galthia swoosh through the air where Stone Bear was standing a second ago, missing the prone Shaman entirely.

Galthia's lips tighten in something that almost looks like a satisfied grin. Victory. No, he reconsiders. That was not a fair test. This is not to the death.. the fight will continue.

The crowd erupts in cheers, and more than a few boos spew from people who had bet against Galthia. "Wake up! Get up, you bugger!" screams a duergar from the stands. "Finish him!" a goblin shrieks. "We want blood!" "Too fast! We want more!" shouts another group from the stands near where the Defenders are standing. The monk ignores all the shouts, and politely takes a step backwards as he waits for Stone Bear to wake up.

Stone Bear regains consciousness to an odd view. From twenty feet in the air, he can clearly see Galthia, and he can see his own body lying prone on the arena floor. Only a few seconds have passed. Then the shaman gathers his senses and shifts his perception away from the raven and back into his own body. As he does so, he takes quick stock of his health. Better than I have any right to feel, he thinks. My ancestors may protect me this day, but the spirits might be with this stranger as well. That really hurt. He pulls himself to his feet and wipes the dribbling blood away from his broken nose. The crowd roars.

Once Stone Bear is on his feet, Galthia feints forward. This time Stone Bear is ready, and all five attacks are skillfully blocked. Stone Bear then ducks, spins, and comes in right under Galthia's reach to grab and pin him with a powerful hold. It's clear that the shaman is trying to finish the fight without actually hurting his opponent. The maneuver fails, though, as Galthia slithers out of the grapple and whirls away. He keeps whirling and darts forward to catch Stone Bear across the face with a rock-hard fist. It's the fifth perfect shot in a fairly short fight, and Galthia follows it with another painful strike to the forearm.

Just then, a rippling effect sweeps across the combatants. Stone Bear feels his magical connection to his raven broken, and Galthia recognizes the greasy feel of psionics. "Illithids," he growls. "Someone is trying to cheat." He tries to find one in the stands, but can't afford to be distracted from the combat. Focus... they can be dealt with later... Focus.

Stone Bear's breathing is ragged, but he doesn't even pause as he snaps both hands onto Galthia's forearm. Twisting, he jams the githzerai's arm up behind his back and smashes him face-first down onto the stone. Galthia tries to get free, fails, bites his lip from the pain of strained tendons, and gets hit on the head again for his trouble. Stone Bear does his best to pin the monk to the ground, but Galthia barely manages to twist his way clear and regain his balance. Stone Bear starts to rise as well, just as Galthia's kick catches him squarely in the face with brutal force. The githzerai tries one more swipe at Stone Bear, has his kick blocked, and decides that tactics are the better part of offense. Instead of attacking Stone Bear, he focuses his ki into healing energy and jams three fingers into a pressure point on his own body. As he does so he immediately feels his pain fade somewhat, and he is able to refocus his gaze on his opponent.

In response, Stone Bear's fists and feet erupt into greenish-yellow balefire. It's wispy and ephemeral, looking more like the glow from rotting corpses than torchlight, but Galthia can feel the savage heat from five feet away. Up in the stands, Velendo frowns. "What the heck is that? It looks like corpselight! Malachite?" Malachite focuses and concentrates once again, but shakes his head.

"No. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with undead." Nevertheless, he's frowning as well. Beside him, the rest of the Defenders are riveted by the fight, gulping down greasy snacks as they cheer on the combatants.

Galthia focuses his ki and attempts another knockout, but Stone Bear barely resists. In response, the shaman leaps upon the monk and locks his elbow in a way that would force Galthia to break his own arm if he wants to move. While the monk struggles, Stone Bear hits him several times with burning fists, injuring the githzerai through willpower and faith alone.

Yes! hisses the shadowy form of Elder. Draw on your power and kill him! This is your opportunity. He is as close to death as you choose to make him. Stone Bear rolls his eyes - well, proverbially speaking, what with the empty sockets and all - as he silently refuses the spirit's offer. Galthia lurches backwards to break the pin, spins, and slams his fists into Stone Bear four times. One of these is across Stone Bear's already injured throat, and the shaman gasps from the pain.

The spirits are with him, Stone Bear thinks. He shouldn't have been able to do that. Galthia is staggering at this point from his bruises and burns, but so is Stone Bear, looking like he should have dropped long ago from Galthia's superior accuracy. Clotting blood drips from their gashes onto the arena floor as they eye one another and slowly circle. But I think I can finish him. Stone Bear glances at his fists and the corresponding burns on Galthia's body, trying to decide whether every blow is hurting his opponent.

Another illegal dispel magic rolls across the combatants from some unknown source in the stands, boiling away more defensive spells. Stone Bear leaps forward and grapples Galthia, pinning him before pummeling him several times in the back of the neck with a flaming hand. Exquisite pain spreads through the githzerai's body as the sacred fire sears his skin.

Fool. You have badly underestimated this one. I must escape... I can't take much more of this, thinks the monk as pain clouds his vision. In dire straits, he tries to break the pin. It takes him more than one try to spin away, but he finally manages it, and as he does so he sees an opening in Stone Bear's defenses. Wait.. wait.. now! He snaps out his fist in a flawless blow just as Stone Bear lurches forward, connecting solidly with the shaman's already broken nose.

Stone Bear is flung away from the impact, head snapping backwards with an ugly cracking sound. The last of his defensive spells fizzle away and Stone Bear's unconscious body tumbles to the arena's floor. Just barely standing, Galthia sways unsteadily as he looks down at his unconscious foe. That's more like it.

And around him, thousands of people explode into riotous cheering.