City of IF

[Smee]

Ok Team Gorin, it's time to get serious.

Death is a very real possibility from now on.

Read here carefully, including the links.

We now have the opportunity to try and get Gorin an easy opponent, and hard opponents for Yahoo or Jakeen.

We need to know these possible opponents inside out and backwards. Phang, send out your spies, we want to know everything we can.

We need possible plans of attack and defence for each one.

So get the thinking caps on, and prove you're the team that can make Gorin win Battle to the End and enter the Lyceum.

Happy Plotting :D

[hewithoutaname]

Ok, i tried reading all this and im confused as to what im supposed to be catching on to.

[DoomBuggy]

We've got 9 contestants for 3 rounds of contests, yes?

So we have to pick the ones that Yahoo is most likely to freak out at having to face.

I think there's two that leap to mind.

Milton. The chicken sandwich guy with necromantic powers. Yahoo is going to have to work hard to defeat a madman who can summon the dead.

And Venar. The guy who gets new magic from everyone he's defeated. How is Yahoo going to be able to check the limit of that guy's powers and plan for what's going to happen in the Arena? There's bound to be a few surprises in store and Yahoo is great at planning and thinking, but he may not be so great at acting on instinct at the spur of the moment.

Besides, if we don't pick the more powerful guys for other Mages to fight, then we might end up with them ourselves!

[Smee]

People have been submitting Characters for either Gorin, Yahoo or Jakeen to fight.

It's now down to a vote to decide who each of us has to fight in the next round.

We want to pick the character that will be easiest for Gorin, and hardest for the other two so we can win the tournament.

Characters available :

Charras - A warrior mage, capable both of physical prowess in combat (a desert-trained form of martial arts) and manipulating electricity with his magic. He can strike with lightning bolts, hold electricity in his hands without doing damage to himself or send a current running through surfaces. More is not known.

Aldran the Mystic - His primary method of attack seems to be to release dozens of small, glowing energy balls. Each orb makes a low pulsing noise as it glows with different colours. They seem to distract, almost hypnotize their opponents as they fly around the arena. The competitors seem to lose willpower, forgetting their own magical survival tricks, sometimes even forgetting why they are in the arena in the first place. In short, they become vulnerable to much simpler forms of magical attack whilst distracted.

Sleen - Almost nothing is known of the abilities of this mage. In both rounds 1 & 2, the moment the contest was declared to begin, the arena was plunged into complete and utter blackness. When, less than a minute later, the spell was cancelled, Sleen’s opponent was unconscious in the sand. Her methods are a mystery, but maybe one that is fathomable.

Iscariot Ren - he has had to adapt his powers in order to function properly in an arena with no abundant sources immediately available. He now focuses on hardy water shields which he then advances under to attack his opponen with his trusty blade and devastating close range blasts of water.


Milton the Mad Minister - A strange combination of Necromancing powers, illusion spells and the occasional use of throwing knives if all else fails.

Saota - Excels at air and wind magics, she traces runes in the air with a short wand. She attempts to keep her opponent distracted with showy details, mostly centered on her own charms. If that fails, she switches to ineffective, petty whirlwinds to divert attention. Her aim is to keep her opponent unfocused, minimizing the effectiveness of their attacks and slowly depleting them of magical energies, before unleashing strong wind-based assaults to assure her victory.

Rilian - A copycat mage, Rilian uses the abilities of past and present opponents. She likes to use simple illusionary skills for show, and as a last resort, throws a few well-aimed throwing stars. Many a competitor has met deathwith these piercing metal weapons thrown by Rilian's small figure.

Vandaria - This has given her the ability to manipulate fear and sorrow into magical form. It is said just her touch can chill the blood. She herself is not evil but her powers are those of the dead. In battle her spirit bodyguard may also be used as a valued weapon.


Venar - Varied, see profile.


So - who do we want Yahoo to fight?

[hewithoutaname]

Well, I'm still kinda confused but o-well. I vote for Yahoo to fight Sleen. The fact that no one knows her style of attack is unpromising.

[Smee]

What's confusing Hwoan? Any specific question that I can answer?

[Muaddib]

I think Sleen would be good too. Since nothing's known about her, Yahoo will have to get atleast a few serious wounds if not death.

[LordoftheNight]

I think Sleen and Rilian would be best. Yahoo - from what I've read - seems to use as little magic as possible, using strategy to defeat his opponants rather then sheer strength.

He won't be able to figure out a strategy to use against Sleen - as no one knows what she does - or Rilian - who constantly changes - until the battle starts, by which time it may well be too late.

[LordoftheNight]

Have we come to a decision - or are we just going to vote individually then?

[Smee]

Ok Team Gorin - we need to get everyone over here quickly and vote for Sleen.

Sleen currently has 3 votes to Saota's 4 - get there quickly.

Let's see Yahoo handle the unknown.

:D

[LordoftheNight]

Come on Gorin - both us and the Spellsingers are voting for Sleen, so why has Yahoo's chosen - Saota - got eigth votes compared to Sleen's six? Unless of course our players are simply inactive now, in which case we don't stand a chance.

[Smee]

Well we failed miserably at getting Yahoo a tough opponent.

Let's see if we can do any better with Jakeen.

You can see the list of possibles here, although Saota has gone now.


What do you think?

[Muaddib]

Sleen again?

[Smee]

Any reasoning why?

Jakeen has faced his worst fears in a dark cloud, could the darkness really be that much worse?

Whatever the attack is, it's very quick, so maybe that would defeat Jakeen before he could bring his lute up to play.

[Smee]

Wow - blown away be the indepth discussion going on here. :?

*sigh* If anyone cares then I suggest we vote for Charras, he'll probably cause Jakeen quite a bit of trouble with his martial skills and fast elemental powers.

[Muaddib]

I thought of Sleen because I was still all for the surprise element. But I suppose Charras is better.

[LordoftheNight]

I guess people just don't like being the one to throw out the first suggestion.

Charras could give him trouble I suspect, so lets go for him, and hope Yahoo votes the same way.

[Phang]

Voted.


'Cos I'm, too sexy for your poll, too sexy for your poll, so sexy it...err...

...nevermind.

[Smee]

Well done Team - the vote came out in our favour and now Jakeen has his work cut out for the next round.

Now it's the really important one - who WE have to fight next.

We need to decide who will be easiest and be ready to vote in force when the poll goes up.

The list is further up this thread... minus the ones already gone .

Who do we want to fight?

[DoomBuggy]

I like the look of Iscariot and Rilian.

Iscariot seems to be a fairly straightforward water mage. There are no surprises there. We know what we're facing and how best to strategise.

Rilian relies on simple illusion magic to make her point. Simple illusion magic? Against a master of illusion? I'd say that was our best bet overall.

[LordoftheNight]

Should we discuss it via PM, as Team Jakeen did? It did mean we couldn't find out who they didn't want to fight, and just vote for them, so I thought it was quite cunning.

[Muaddib]

It doesn't really matter Lordy. Even if they know who we want to fight, all they can do is vote for their own guy.

I think Iscariot would be best. We wouldn't be very good in a fight against another illusionist because she would understand and see through our illusions-since she uses them herself.

[Smee]

I quite liked the idea of facing "simple illusion magics". As DBuggy said, Gorin is a master of Illusion and could do well against any such attacks.

[Smee]

Quote: Should we discuss it via PM, as Team Jakeen did

Just some discussion at all would be nice. :(

But once again - too late now. The Poll is up so we need to vote for someone.

Two suggestions from Doombuggy - Iscariot and Rilian

As the only other person to comment with an opinion - muaddib - didn't like the idea of Rilian then I will go with the 'team' decision.

Go vote for Iscariot and let's hope we get a chance to show a Water mage why it's not wise to mess with Gorin. :)

Happy Voting :)

[LordoftheNight]

Hmm, well currently we appear to be being roundly beaten...

[Smee]

Indeed.

As Chinaren would say - they are kicking our bottom.

[Luris_of_Klarr]

as one who had just recently joined, who is fighting who in the first round? i've read the some of the forums but im still a little lost.
and i have one other question, if a character dies(yahoo for example) what happens to the storygame for (yahoo)?
*nothing against Yahoo*

[Smee]

Hey,

Yahoo will be facing Saota
Jakeen will be facing Charras
and Gorin (us) will be facing Sleen

If one of the main characters die in these next few rounds then they will be out and the story for them will end there.

Which means - whilst you're waiting for the next chapter for Gorin (Which I'm writing ASAP) it's a good time for the team to start coming up with ideas about how we might win against Sleen.

I don't want Gorin to die, and I hope the team doesn't - which is why we need lots of good ideas.

Happy Playing :D

[Muaddib]

Sleen's Master of darkness right? and Gorin's master of light? Before Sleen can do anything, plunge the stadium in blinding light.

[Smee]

We don't know the extent of Sleen's mastery of darkness - just that the arena is plunged into darkness before some mysterious action defeats her opponent.

Regardless - a lot of light is definately something we want to aim for. :)

[DoomBuggy]

I know light's important here, but it might be a good idea to think beyond that for now.

If Gorin goes into the Arena under an illusion spell, to make it seem as if he's standing somewhere other than where he is, am I right in assuming that any attack directed at him would misfire?

An area attack might still get him, but I'd guess that Sleen needs to be able to see him to make her move - and that, as she can see in the dark (I think most elves have good dark-vision?), she uses that to stop attacks from hitting her while she casts her magic on her enemy.

If Gorin can similarly cast two spells at the same time, I'd suggest his misplacement-illusion, and a shield of light around Sleen, so that she can't mask herself, only the Arena? Would that work?

I'll be back if I have any more ideas.

[LordoftheNight]

Any natural darkness will be defeated by light, so I think it's say to say this isn't so much darkness, as something that merely removes light.

Otherwise the beams of the sun should shine straight through the cloud. Gorin's light might have no effect.

Smee - have you tried asking whoever put the idea f Sleen up, so you can find out what they actually do?

[Smee]

I wouldn't call Gorin's light natural - but it's definately worth considering it not working - paranoia is our friend now.

As for the creator - I doubt, given their description, they'll be too willing to reveal much to us. We have to contemplate going in to the battle knowing all but nothing.

[LordoftheNight]

No, I mean you as author should ask them, so that you know how to write it.

Of course, you alsready probably have thought of that, so the point is moot.

Here's an idea - could he make himself invisible before entering the arena, and have a projection of himself standing in the middle. Sleen will think it's him, unaware that he was in a different places from the very beginning. Then he could learn how she deals with his hologram, and use that to learn how to combat her?

[Smee]

Nice idea Lordy - I like that one a lot :D

[Luris_of_Klarr]

Not trying to take any credit away from anyone, but doombuggy had the original idea of walking into the arena under an illusion spell to (misplace) Gorin. Lordy had the replica already in the arena. both, i presume are going for the same affect, a mis-directed attack.

Anyway, i am going to assume that since this is magic, niether light or darkness, would be natural. this would have an effect as more of a fire vs water battle. Water can put out a fire, but a fire big enough will evaporate water.

These are just some theories i had, if im wrong, someone correct me.

Another thought i had, if Gorin can't illuminate the arena, can he provide a way to see through the darkness? (kinda like using night vision goggles)

[Smee]

Nice thinking Luris but Night Vision goggles are for natural dark - requiring at least a little ambient light and then amplifying it.

If Gorin's considerable light spells fail against the darkness then I don't think anything working on the same principle as the goggles will work too well.

Once possibility if the darkness can't be prevented is a more concentrated beam of light like a torch to provide at least some limited vision.

[Luris_of_Klarr]

i think the torch was more the effect i was looking for, i just couldn't think of how to describe it at the time.

Since Gorin is battling a master opposite of himself, i think at the start of the battle, Gorin should concentrate more on his defenses. this would be maintaining a stable faint glow for vision, instead of trying to illumanate the entire arena. this could possibly provide more time to prepare a more powerful attack, which could prevent errors due to time constrants.

[Smee]

I'm more worried by the swiftness in which she wins.

The darkness decends, and then a few minutes later she wins.

Either she relies on the darkness making her opponent forget a shield, or she has some way of defeating the shield very quickly.

I'm thinking attack could be the best form of defence.

However - combined with the dummy illusion - we could have the time we need to go a little slower. A solid defence then couldn't hurt.

Good thoughts - keep em coming :D

[Luris_of_Klarr]

Would Gorin illuminate himself or the dummy? Illuminating himself would give away his position as the arena darkened. Yet, if he illuminated the dummy, her attack may not be a direct attack, but covers the area that lay under darkness.

Here's an idea that may protect Gorin and not give away his position, ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT. Ultraviolet light is for the most part invisable, so if Gorin uses ultraviolet as a shield, this would protect him from the attack, providing it is restricted to darkness.

If Gorin were to illuminate his dummy illusion and stand at the edge of the glow, this would cover the light from the ultraviolet shield so his location would not be exposed, and he would be protected from both an area attack(restricted to darkness) and a direct attack.

This is if ultraviolet is a posibility