Closed Forest Arena

[Fenrir]

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Summer 2, 125

No expenses had been spared to create the massive arena in Graentun where organized faelnir hunts sometimes took place. It was a truly breathtaking piece of land with a veritable forest within its massive walls upon which people could catch glimpses of what went on down below. The inside of the arena was always different. Some aelves dedicated their lives to coming up with new designs, effortlessly adding and removing flora as necessary to keep things exciting. They also worked to move flora out of the way as the hunt went on to give people better views of the gruesome combat.

Tonight’s festivities had a good turnout, with some of them excited to see this rumored ‘bear man’ who was to be participating. He, like the rest of the hunters would have been asked to meet at the primary entrance where the aelf in charge of organizing the hunt would read out the various rules and rule changes. What Arcaelum and other beginners might gleam from them was that they ought to be responsible with magic use, don’t harm other participants, etc.

Fenrir would be among the participants, dressed dissimilar to most of the other participants. She was in black assassin-esque garb that hugged her body nicely. She leaned on a large scythe as she stared lazily at the aelf who kept droning on and on and on. When he finally finished, he would call for a fifteen minute break after which the hunt would begin.

During this time, Fenrir would try to find Arcaelum, figuring that he wouldn’t be hard to find if he had shown up. If she did find him she would say, “hi there, nice to see you again. If you haven’t figured out by now, I was the aelf you were working for all along. Sorry about deceiving you, I tend to be cautious with new faces. In any case, I’m glad to see that you made it today and I look forward to seeing you in action.”

She gave him a genuine smile. She was not at all good at fighting and, truth be told, this particular hunt was not something she normally would participate in. It was too… restrictive. How was she supposed to shine if she wasn’t allowed to bring her army of treants with her? Alas she wasn’t here to win – she was mostly here to watch. Sitting up on the walls could never compare to seeing bloodshed up close and personal.

392

 

[Arcaelum]

The bear man was in attendance, and he had warn his armor instead of civilian clothing, it was certainly easy to see that those who where here to see him where excited too, he felt pleased that the woman who had ordered the equipment had made good on her word of spreading his name and his presence far and wide, the bear was of course more than prepared for this combat, he held his hammer he had recieved from the dragon on his back, and was listening to the rules carefully, it would probably be a fair idea to avoid any use of fulgur in the battle so he would be relying entirely on his hammer that he was still adjusting too and his stone and metal conjuring abilities in battle here.

Arcaellum was pleased to see his customer make herself known after he had been talked too from several curious onlookers and asked if he was truly joining in the hunt, he was of course, he did feel some justice in beauty in hunting the criminals down, even if relishing in violence was never a major facet of his life he was keen to see justice done to those that deserved it, unsure of if they really did or not would just trouble the Sofontti overmuch, he found it a wise decision not to intrude any further and just observe the culture, perhaps one day he would form an opinion and if he had done wrong in his own eyes make up for it.

"A Pleasure to properly meet you then, i had a feeling that i was having the wool pulled over my eyes, but i wasn't going to press, a customer is a customer and i wasn't willing to scare you away by throwing any sort of accusation or assumption, i am still fairly new here after all, but i will find it a quite entertaining battle at least at first i have been looking forward to testing my skills but i am unsure if we are fighting or hunting here, any tell or sign of who our quarry is too be, i have only heard the rules so far and most of what i heard can be insinuated with common sense or instinct... i suppose it is probably for the bloodthirsty to be reminded that this is a hunt not a slaughter"

396

 

[Fenrir]

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“It’s a mix of both, with a dash of entertainment sprinkled in. The faelnir are allowed to fight, though they aren’t equipped well to do so and they’re all doomed to die regardless. Some will fight to their last breath, others will be much more timid. Some are given special drugs to make them manic and desperate… you never know what you’ll get.”

She sighed, thinking about the hunts she’d been on in the past before continuing, “the faelnir are already inside and dispersed. I suppose the official goal is to kill as many as possible, but I have a hard time believing that you’ll be able to compete against seasoned aelves in that category. And besides, simply having a lot of kills isn’t that big of an accolade. If you were trying to make a name for yourself, as I believe you are, perhaps you should go for some gruesome or entertaining kills. Kills that will keep you fresh in people’s minds.”

She was going to keep talking, but the participants were distancing themselves and getting ready. A mystic would be able to easily see magic being used already – all sorts of it, though most of it was saol based.

“I’ll be nearby if you need to ask questions or want to chat. I’m not much of a close quarters combatant anyways. And if you sustain an injury you needn’t worry so long as you can stay alive long enough for a healer to get to you.”

After that she took a spot several feet to the left of Aracelum and waited for the aelf to announce that it was time to begin. A loud bell rang out and the gate was opened. Then, everyone started rushing inside. It wouldn’t take more than a few moments for the first sounds of death made it to them. Indeed it was difficult to compete with the zephyri who could travel dangerously close to the speed of sound and the other powerful magics that vaulted participants deep into the center of the forest.

Fenrir commanded her several dozen bird fetches that were in the sky to come down and start circling around her. They flapped around her forming a protective dome of sorts to deter anyone from rushing at her. She also commanded some of the birds to fly around in search of faelnir in hiding.

“And so it begins.”

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