The young Rike could not ignore the cries of war. The song beckoned him from his murky home, his mismatched gaze scanning the battlefield. He was a soldier and going to fight this war, beside his father. The metallic stench of blood was heavy in the air, and he couldn’t help but lick his lips in envy. He wanted a taste, to feel the adrenaline, and to make his enemies bleed.

There is a challenge for a lioness, coming from another woman who reeks of an enemy pride. His eyes narrowed, and he watched as an ally came barreling towards the brown lioness.

Vice couldn't help but smirk to himself, quickly he ran forth and attempted to viciously bite at the woman's tail. He didn't care about fighting with honor or fighting fairly. He was here to cause chaos and win this war.

@Vice & @Cassius ♔ vs. @Cassandra
For Arcania
Round 1/ 3
Hits:

Rolling 3d20: 18 + 4 + 20

Dodges:

Rolling 1d20: 1

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 7 + 11 + 3 + 15 + 2 + 9

+1 Luck from Anya

code by scorpixia ♡︎ art by rabbit

Just as swiftly as @Zinnia had joined her at her side, she abandoned her to enter the fray. Her skin tingling with frustration, Avreya's eyes tore away from @Mircea to follow the girl before jumping defeatedly between each of the many other entanglements that surrounded her. It was clear that some deep-seated hatred was being released here--not just between kingdoms but between families, friends, and kin....None of them concerned her, nor did she feel a pull to include herself among them. Whatever was taking place was personal, and she would respect that.

Anyway, something felt wrong and pointless about the stench of her own blood mixing with that of death.

With that, the mauve lioness forced herself to heel, deciding instead to take advantage of her invisibility to observe, absorb, and learn from the carnage. Her current point of focus? @Cassandra's battle. Her mere presence seemed to stir rage among some of the other beasts, and she made note of this, though for what reasons she did not know. Twin tails flicking at her ankles, Avreya narrowed her gaze at the group, wondering if there was anything else she could take away from here.

BARBARIAN:
+5 Observe a fight (doubled?)
+5 Learn a new fighting move (doubled?)
"SPEECH."

code by scorpixia♡︎

There is no better time to prove himself - to test his agility and his strength. He had promised Icefang as much, and to keep his place in power he will keep his word. Valtyr can do that, at least. The old queen seems interested in him, in his goals, and the dark knight will need all the support he can get when the time comes.

Let’s start with a warm up.

The red girl stands alone, scared, eyes wide. A perfectly placed target, too tempting to resist.

"What’s a pretty girl like you doing all alone?" Valtyr lopes toward her, his stride casual, his black lips split wide into a sharp smirk. "Come with me." He’s close enough now to strike. Valtyr lunges, seeking to slam his forepaws into her side and knock her down.

Valktyr vs @Lúllia
Theft of Lúllia
Round 1
Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 7 + 9 + 6 + 12 + 15

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 7 + 6

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 13 + 7 + 10 + 9

you dig your teeth in

LIKE A DOG WITH A BONE

code by corvus

She had continued to simply stand there. Unknowing that it was single handedly the worst thing she could have been doing. She should have hid. Should have stood near someone larger, stronger, more experienced.

As she were, she was nothing more than an easy target. Served up on a silver platter.

Lúllia turns her attention to the man as he approaches her. Her shock so strong she at first does not realize his words are for her. But the realization is quick as he comes forward. Leaping with fang and claw and a size too overwhelming for her to take.

The princess is stunned into silent horror as the plum lion slams her to the ground. Though the sand is softer than earth it is still enough to knock the wind from her lungs. Her mouth opens, gaping as if in unheard gasping. Air refusing to make it passed her teeth. Until it does and she is sent choking. Sputtering out her words as she curls into a ball beneath the might of him.

P-please! I'm not here to f-fight! Not that she could even if she tried. She was not a warrior. Hardly even a healer. Her title was all she could claim to be.

/Fight Forfeited

Art by Ale-Tie, Code by Minxy

Colors popped upon the shrouded darkness. Eyelids open or closed, the world rippled with warmth and red. Crispy splintered ribs crackled and wistfully parted to give semblance of a clean break. Blood seeped above and below the line of the pelt on the top of Imago's neck, bruising awash with oceanic hues. Unseen those many daggers scraped desperately and drenched with blood too slippery for a handhold against the darkness. Left paw beat up and down on the sand, attempting to signal a desire to speak - or some kind of gesture - rather than attack, while Imago's right paw remained turned inward to try to pry back along the enemy's side. Jaws worked with a feeble chittering, crushed between massive chest and the compressed sand.

@Imago vs. @Dragos
Death
3/7

Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 17 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12

Dodges:

Rolling 7d20: 15 + 8 + 16 + 14 + 10 + 5 + 6

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 8 + 6 + 13 + 3

It’s not much of a warmup, but it is a victory. The girl goes down easily, bending under his command and weight, and the thrill Valtyr feels from it is addictive.

"Alright, calm down," his words don’t match the smirk, the pleased rumble in his chest. "I won’t hurt you if you’re a good girl." See, isn’t he reasonable? "Now, stay here. I’ll be right back." There’s a soft, deadly promise between his words. @Lúllia better be here when he’s done.

For now, however, there’s another fight he needs to assist with.

Cassius and Vice have things handled, surely, but for the protection of their queen, nothing is too much. Besides, his not-fight for the girl had been… underwhelming. Valtyr wants to hit something.

The dark boy charges toward his two pridemates on the bitch who seeks to steal their queen. He attempts to slam into Cassandra’s side, and with a little shove off the ground, tries to wrap his forelegs around her shoulders and hook his claws in. open jaws attempt to lock around the side of her neck and clamp down.

Valtyr, @Vice & @Cassius ♔ vs. @Cassandra
For Arcania
Round 1
Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 9 + 15 + 18 + 16 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 15 + 3

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 19 + 10 + 11 + 5 + 14 + 15

+1 luck from Mel

you dig your teeth in

LIKE A DOG WITH A BONE

code by corvus

they have gone deeper into the water, the salt in the water splashing into magdalena's wounds with each sloshing movement. they are open and raw and weeping - and oh how it burns. her own movements are sluggish as they fight against the weight of the water to move. it's only a matter of time until magdalena's body gives out from underneath her - minutes, seconds even. you must fight for papa, for papa, for papa. "i can't let you hurt papa." she gasps out, the only words that magdalena has said since starting their doomed fight.

it brings enough vigor for her to keep going, at least for now. even as melusina's teeth dig deeper into magdalena's skin and she can feel the blood flowing in a steady stream down her face. knows that the water sloshing underneath them has likely been tinged red with how thick the metallic taste in the air has become. melusina's shove back has magdalena sliding in the wet sand. with no solid ground to be found and only three legs, it's difficult for magdalena to properly dig in and try to stop her sister's advance, though she tries to do so anyway. the claws on her left paw flex and then try to dig deeper into melusina's neck, attempting to claw all the way down to those vital vessels somewhere underneath. the precision from the beginning of their fight is gone, replaced now by a desperate movements born of a need to not only win, but also to simply survive.

magdalena vs @Melusina
for death
VI of VII

hits:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 1 + 12 + 14 + 5

dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 19 + 1 + 8 + 10 + 14 + 7

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 3 + 6 + 17 + 8

Rolling barbarianberserk 1d30: 22
You have failed to go berserk!

Rolling barbarianbuffer 1d30: 10
You have managed to buffer the attack! (+1 to dodge roll for the next round of your fight)

Rolling assassinshadow 1d30: 9
You have used the shadows to your advantage! (+1 to dodge rolls for the next round

coding by daanyen | art by yumpy

I can't let you hurt papa.

When was the last time Melusina saw Alaric in such a light? When was the last time she looked up at her father and still saw a hero? When was the last time the fragile pieces of their family were still held together, before it all fell to shit? Too long, she thinks. Long enough to drive the knife this deep, long enough to leave sister fighting sister until there is nothing but the raw, blighted remains of their hate.

And Melusina knows death awaits her on the other side.

I want to live.

She feels @Magdalena's claws catch in her throat, and it is mere inches away from their intended mark. Suddenly, there is an unfamiliar anxiety that seizes in her belly, a fear of death—true death—that lurks ever closer. A finality to a story she thought far from concluded. And as the corners of her sight grows darker and the lull of sleep is an enticing one, a persistent, unyielding part of her still howls in the back of her mind:

I want to live.

She mimics her sister, using all her strength to fight the waves that pull and tug at them, and seeking only to try and grip even harder around her skull, to try and feel the chipping of bone between her teeth.

---

Melusina versus Magdalena
for death
vi of vii
Hits:

Rolling 2d20: 17 + 4

Dodges:

Rolling 8d20: 8 + 18 + 7 + 5 + 10 + 3 + 9 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 10 + 6 + 8 + 11 + 14 + 13

code by cala, art by yumpy

He crashes against the giant's striped body with all the grace of a tidal wave, heedless of the bruising pain blooming in his sternum to burn across his ribs. And still, the momentum does not stop. As his fangs reach for the burst of blood contained within the thin cartilage of a dark-rimmed ear, @Scorpius seems to yield against the revenant as he would against a force of nature.

Yes. The walls of the wicked cannot stand against the march of the holy.

Eamon does not second-guess himself as they roll away from the wolfen Lamb together, even as thick arms clamp tightly around his ragged body in a sinful embrace. He does not flinch when sharp claws pierce and rip through his skin, opening fresh fountains of sacrificial scarlet amidst the rotting stains already matted in his grey fur.

It does hurt. Oh yes.

Crushing agony courses through his worthless bones when the titan's weight drops on him, shoving him hard against too-rough sand. Yet something more than pain tinges the gasp forced from his compressed lungs, wild blue eyes rolling up into his skull in the moment the rapturous suffering consumes him.

For what is pain if not a sign of his devotion? An act of worship? This mortal shell had been created to be destroyed.

But not yet. The priest has work to finish.

Powerful hindlimbs would twist and kick upwards, long, filthy claws seeking to hook into the other's soft underbelly to rip and tear, the unholy warrior longing for nothing more than to bathe himself in the blood and entrails of the wicked. He'll dig his way to the thrall's heart through his stomach, if he must.

One forearm would remain wound around the sun-scorched man's neck, gripping tightly while the other drew back in an attempt to slam his forepaw against Scorpius's throat, hooked claws flexing in the hopes of burrowing through the dark mane to cut open the corrupted veins underneath.

What a shame it was, that these bewitched souls were always compelled to fight against the gift of freedom he offered them.

But soon, they would see.

Eamon & @Lamb vs. @Scorpius & @Zahra
For Zahra's Freedom
Round 2 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 8 + 12 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 10 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 6 + 14 + 12 + 16

*Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 5 + 1 + 4 + 20 + 10 + 9

*+1 Luck from Anya's Master Medic perk_{BG — ART — CODE}

He gets himself out of this confusing situation of a lion smelling like the Lagoon coming after him. But as he begins to round back to check on Orei, who Fearne is convinced won't be leaving until he's sure his sister is "safe" ( however fighting her does this is not for Fearne to understand right now ), fate has a weird moment of irony.

Fearne sees his older sister ganged up and back into the fray he goes, launching himself towards Valtyr's right side Fearne aims to come in perpendicular to Valtyr with his head around the lion's right lower rib cage. Fearne's right arm lifts and aims to jab his claws into the lion's rib cage while his teeth reach for the area up around the right side of the back.

@Valtyr, @Vice & @Cassius ♔ vs. @Cassandra, Fearne
For Arcania
Round 1
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 8 + 2 + 19 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 15 + 13 + 14 + 19 + 11 + 8

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 5 + 10 + 16 + 9

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS