KNEEL TO THE CROWN       The mist had withdrawn further inland, opening more terrain for access. From the peak, he'd spotted an interesting dip in the land and decided to investigate. After he'd finished his gazelle meal, and licked the muck clean from his pelt--he likely would never enjoy using mud to conceal his scent for hunts, necessary as it may be--he left the bones behind and descended the slopes of the Freyr.       At first, he had simply plod along. It would take many hours, perhaps a day if he slept through the night, to reach the pit. In fact, he had done just that. Sauntered down the slopes until he hit flat ground, then found a shallow cave to spend the dark hours in. On dawn's light, he stood, stretched, and began with a swifter pace. A fast trot with extended gait to push his muscles and work them.       As he reached the rim, his breath was coming harder and faster than normal. The colossus knew better than to completely exhaust himself so far from pride territory, but he wasn't going to let himself grow fat and lazy, either. He wouldn't give Gwyn any more reason to think him a failure.       The clay Casimir lined himself up against a large rock, almost half his height. He dropped a shoulder and began to push, grinning. After a few moments the stone reached the edge... and tipped over. He peered down with a delighted expression, panting from the effort, as the thing fell and shattered at the bottom. 252 words | @ Trade: Barbarian exercise to gain strength 1/2 action posts STAND IN THE SUN hail to the king

Ah, so here was a place not unlike the arena he had previously haunted. Wodnik was pleased to follow the scent of old blood to it, and he stood there hopeful that soon enough new blood would spill. He was tempted to call out for someone to come spar with him, wondering if one of the other Casimir would grace him with their presence, when he heard something shatter nearby.

Another male stood at the edge, peering down over it, and Wodnik could only guess what had just gone over the side. "Push anyone over?" he rumbled with an amused look.

@Zagan

KNEEL TO THE CROWN       High on adrenaline from the workout and the thrill of watching the rock shatter, the Casimir met the other man with an unusually amiable response. He laughed, turning his head to look at the male with twinkling pale yellow orbs. "Not yet." But he was curious in his dark delight. "How would you do it? Quickly, from behind? Or taunt them into charging you, then step aside and watch them tumble?" His panting was beginning to slow, but he wasn't done with this newfound fun. Just one more.       Casting his gaze about, he found another boulder relatively close to the edge. Conveniently, it was nearer the other male. "Ah, another victim." Zagan grinned as he padded to the stone, positioning himself behind it. Ducking his head, he put his shoulder against the rough surface and began to strain against its weight. It took a moment for the force forward to overcome the friction. When it did, he huffed in triumph. Gaining speed--relative to his beginning momentum, of course, this was a slow action all around--he shoved the thing to the edge, then over.       Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to cast it as far out as the other rock. Instead of flying all the way to the bottom, this boulder crashed onto the ledge just beneath them and sat. "Fuck." The hair along his spine rose as anger rose. "Not getting away that easy." Glancing at the male, he indicated with his head that he was going to head down to the next ledge and finish the job. Teach the stupid rock to not do as he wished. Then he turned and trotted swiftly across the rim to the nearest ramp down. 281 words | @Wodnik Trade: Barbarian exercise to gain strength 2/2 action posts discuss a battle strategy 1/2 action posts get revenge 1/2 action posts STAND IN THE SUN hail to the king

Wodnik shook his head at the options given him. "Throw them over myself during a fight," he said instead. Why let them do the fun part themselves? Though it would be funny to see their face as they realized what they had done, how they had horribly screwed themselves over. Still, he would want another to know that he had done this to them, and that they couldn't defend themselves. Dark? Yeah. Did he care? Nope.

He watched as the other male began to shove again, wondering if he ought to go over there and give the rock a shove to help get him started, but eventually it began to move, to roll slowly forward until it pitched over the edge. The sound was different this time though, and Wodnik wasn't surprised when the man motioned that he would have to go down after it.

The Casimir followed lazily, looking around and spotting another slightly smaller boulder nearby. He padded over, bracing himself against it as he had seen the other male do and pushing hard. It took more effort than he'd anticipated to shove it over, but when it went the resulting crash was utterly satisfying.

@Zagan

KNEEL TO THE CROWN       A fine answer. It was far more satisfying to face a problem head on, and watch it tumble to its death shortly thereafter. "I might enjoy the subversion of bringing them to the edge, and being the one to simply poke them over at the last." He chuckled, having paused before descending the ramp. "Though it might take some fancy footwork to get them close enough to the edge to do so." He looked thoughtful. "Perhaps taunting might work after all?" Then he made his way around the corner and down the slope.       The offending rock was perched upon the precipice of this ledge, and he focused intently on it. "You are going to fall down as I want you to." The colossus lined himself up with the stone. He weighed whether to charge it and risk a bruise, or simply press against it until it fell. The bruise was a chance he'd take for the satisfying taste of sweet revenge. So he dropped his head and launched forward.       The boulder, no longer anchored by a lifetime of sitting in one place, gave way with little resistance. His shoulder still collided painfully, and the bruise he figured would indeed come true, but he didn't care right now. The thing toppled and tumbled through the air until it crashed into the floor below with a spectacular boom. "Ha!" The cry was of righteous jubilation. Young as he was, he could find immense satisfaction in such little things.       Zagan nearly jumped out of his skin, however, as another rock came flying from above. It was nowhere near to hitting him, having been pushed with such force as to ensure it went well beyond the ledge he stood on. He watched with gleaming eyes as the stone crashed down beside the one he'd pushed, splintering into a million tiny pieces. He looked up at the male with a grin. "I take it you've some strength to be able to do that? Or was it training from fighting that gave you the knowledge of leverage?" He'd have inquired directly about whether the man had a barbarian trade, but he hadn't heard it called such a thing. Fighters fought, healers healed. That was all he knew for now. Either way, he was eager to know why this man had been so successful. 387 words | @Wodnik Trade: Barbarian discuss a battle strategy 2/2 action posts get revenge 2/2 action posts learn something from another about your trade 1/2 action posts STAND IN THE SUN hail to the king

Wodnik considered the scenario laid out before him and had to agree with Zagan with a nod. A logical contender would refrain from drawing near the edge, and therefore would have to either be coaxed, or beaten and then thrown over. He could see no other way to do it, unless you heavily outweighed them and could physically drag them over. He could do it with, say, a cub or a very young teen, but unfortunately his physique didn't measure up to the rest of the Casimir where he could take on opponents like they could. To throw over a younger fool like that wouldn't be as prestigious.

"I don't have much actual fighting practice," he admitted, though loathe to do so. Sure, he'd had a spar or two, but they hadn't exactly gone in his favor. "Watched plenty though. Seen how others push and toss weight around." He absolutely wasn't going to admit that he'd been tossed like a small cub himself. That was something he'd take straight to his grave, and something his opponent had best do as well lest he wanted to find himself heading to his own early.

"Casimir are expected to be excellent fighters," he continued, not realizing he was speaking to one currently. Their family was so sprawled out. "It's in our blood. Though I don't know if my father was any good at it." He had learned nothing from Leviathan, unfortunately. Perhaps he could convince Gwyn to rectify this error, if only he could make himself admit to it in the first place.

@Zagan