Duel school round 2: Shaman showdown

[ReubanBrightwood]

Continued from Duel school: round two!...

Thirteen, Jinx, Aurora and Asclepius head a little distance apart from the main group to conduct their duel.

Ignore the ST marble in this thread moving forward!

Orianna Aurora
Asclepius Jombot
Abyssalstar Thirteen

[Thirteen]

"Alright then," Thirteen said, looking about. After taking a moment to be certain they'd have enough room, she set about casting.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-25 07:30:35	Thirteen rolls 6 to Imp. Squaring the Circle: Gnosis 2 + Prime 2 + HS 2 (10 Again)	4, 2, 3, 4, 8, 5	1 success

She intoned the High Speech, a phrase of ancient words that resonated in the chamber. The Mana the Acanthus channeled flared in her hand like golden-white flames before she touched it to the floor. The energy raced out in a pattern, forming a circular area before rising into translucent walls. Within seconds, a Supernal arena was built, visible to the Mage Sight.

"What'd you do?" Jinx looked about, seeing nothing. The Acanthus looked at her familiar, curious, "Hm? Oh, right, hang on." Once more, the High Speech, and she brought the power of her Lunargent Watchtower down to allow the crow to witness the Duel.

5 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-25 07:34:32	Thirteen rolls 7 to Imp. Granting the Sybil's Sight: Gnosis 2 + Fate 3 + HS 2 (10 Again)	3, 10, 9, 9, 10, 3, 8, 1, 7	5 successes

"There, now you'll be able to see the fireworks. Otherwise, all you'd see is them just staring at each other."

"Woo hoo!" The familiar peered about the room, looking at anything obviously magical. "OoooOOOooOoo!"

With that all done, Thirteen (and Jinx) stepped back and turned to Aurora and Asclepius. "All set. Have at it."

"In this corner," Jinxbobbed his head,"The challenger! From Sacramento, California, Asca... Azza...Apsa... Azkaban?" "Asclepius." "Yeah, him! And in the other corner, the reigning Champion! The Forger of Spirit Bonds! The Blonde Bombshell! AURORA!" It was clear who the familiar was cheering for.

"Ding, ding, ding," Thirteen added, imitating the ring bell with a roll of her eyes.

[Asclepius]

As Thirteen had finished leading them to a spacious spot away from the rest of the group. He watched as she began her preparations.

He in turn would begin his own preparations as he still needed to active his mage sight.

Pulse of the living world - 1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-27 11:09:45	Asclepius rolls 5 to Pulse of the Living World: life 3 + gnosis 2 (10 Again)	8, 3, 4, 3, 7	1 success

Now that he was prepared and ready, he could not help but watch the interactions between jinx and Thirteen.

Despite the very unserious nature of this duel, as it was for training, Jinx's boxing style intro had certainly added an effect onto the Arrow. He was pumped up and ready to give it his all, he was going to need it as this would prove to be an uphill fight if there ever was one. “If it is easier for you Jinx, you can call me knight. Skye always does.”

Next comes the contest of wills. Best to wait till Aurora is ready before jumping the gun. He stared off for a moment thinking of what best to conjure during the duel to give him an edge.

[Aurora]

Nodding to Chambers, and then to Thirteen, she follows.

As she walks over, she slips off the leather jacket, revealing the sleeveless white shirt and mentally drops her armor. But leaves her sight up. “I’ve dropped my shield and have left my sight up.”

Glancing at Jinx as he does his little show, she cocks an eyebrow, “I though you were about to dive into weights there and we were about to have a very different conversation Jinx.” Rule one, you never mention a woman's weight. And blonde bombshell? That was a first, gently shaking her head. “Thank you Thirtheen for Squaring the Circle.”

Another Duel to take no pride in, but if her fellow Shaman can learn something from it, then there was something important to be gained.

Nodding to him, “Ready?”

[Thirteen]

As it seemed both duelists were prepared - having only Mage Sight spells up as Aurora stated - Thirteen gave a nod of acknowledgement. "No problem."

"Do we have popcorn?" Jinx asked.

"No. Now shush. Don't distract them."

The bird grumbled softly, but stayed quiet otherwise. Acanthus and familiar stood at the edge of the Supernal arena, watching. She didn't expect any cheating, but if there was an accidental rules violation, Thirteen would need to catch it.

[Asclepius]

He looked across towards Jinx and Thirteen once again. A smile is given as he speaks. “Yes I echo Aurora's sentiments. Thank you for setting this up.”

His eyes move back to Aurora. A deep breath is given, the gravity of the moment building as he prepared to feel the strength of an outclassed duelling match-up. “Yep, I am ready. If I am correct it is the contest of wills next, right? I think it safe to say that we can spare the taunts and unnecessary comments, unless of course you had some good one liners that you wanted to share.” He chuckled but ultimately did not expect Aurora to want to.

Composure used in roll was taken from the last duel lessons thread, please advise if incorrect. Also, Asclepius' Composure is 3. Willpower 6/6

Contest of Wills - failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-29 13:44:53	Asclepius rolls 1 to Contest of Wills: Manipulation 3 + subterfuge 1 – opponents composure 4 (10 Again, Chance)	3	failure

[Aurora]

She stands there, “I don’t taunt, I don’t take any pleasure or joy in Duels.” No humor in her voice. The blonde understood the use of Duels, knew why they were about to Duel, but would never enjoy this.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2026-01-29 19:53:31	Aurora rolls 1 to Contest of Wills(Manip+Sub)-Comp 3 (10 Again, Chance)	8	failure

Question in regards to WP, are we going with what we did in Discord, or what our mages have on character sheets? Or the rounding down thing? Just curious because of what Aurora's is on her character sheet...lol

[Thirteen]

There was only a curt nod to Asclepius' gratitude and question, as Thirteen didn't want to distract the duelists by speaking for the moment. She was being professional.

The Acanthus just watched as they tried(?) to intimidate each other. Neither Shaman seemed to come out on top in the odd exchange, so neither gained a psychological advantage.

"Is that how it's supposed to go?" Jinx muttered.

Thirteen shushed him and then spoke, "Contest of Wills is over. No winner I can see. Get to blastin' each other."

No winner in CoW means state your Sword and Shield, roll for initiative and start d-d-d-dueling!

Reuban's call, obviously, but I think using full WP for this is better so the fight doesn't end in one hit.

[ReubanBrightwood]

Was it the comparative skill, the collected demeanours of both Shamans or that they didn't really exert a sense of self and will to win in their contest? Either way with no clear advantage gained it would come down to who was faster on the draw now.

Yes use full WP for duels! and continue to ignore the ST marble here

[Asclepius]

The Arrow stands firm, before him he forms a circle symbol that glows with bright yellow light. The circle unravels into a flat line, after a few moments pause it begins to move with the rhythm of a heartbeat and transforms into a serpent wrapped around a rod. The Image continues to glow brighter as the serpent begins to form colouration and materialises into an anaconda that drops to the floor awaiting command. The vertical rod morphs to form a hilt and blade made of roses and colourful flowers and is claimed by the Arrow as his weapon.

A warping of the air can be seen as a reflection can be seen, like a mirror appearing into existence. The mirror begins to distort its reflection and stretch out and expand itself out becoming somewhat visible is a translucent fortress wall, the brickwork akin to that of a medieval castle complete with a portcullis.

Initiative is Dex [3] + Composure [3] + roll [9] = 15 total. Sword is life [3], shield is Spirit [3].