Back at the fight club, a snaggle-toothed man stands beside Eddy. "Rooting for the underdog, eh?" His head is shaven bald and he has a certain shady look, as if he's perpetually up to no good. He's the type of guy that looks like he'd rob his own mother at knife point for a couple coppers to buy a beer.

Round 2


Marius' leg goes right between the giant's legs, causing the audience to loose a simultaneous "Oooh!" It hurts to even watch the perfectly-placed kick to the man's groin.

But, the raging bull staggers only slightly, eyes watering with pain. He throws a punch that's so wildly off-mark that Marius doesn't even have to move for it to miss.

Whisper's nose was the first to discover something in the room, the smell.  At first he considered it might not be that bad, but a small breeze from within the room stifled that thought as well as his breath.  Holding a gloved hand to his face, Whisper next caught sight of the room in it's total desolation and ruin.  Whisper finally exhaled as he finished scanning the room, grateful that the vision seemed to be false and turned to leave this dead end.  That's when he saw the man hiding behind the door.  Shock rolled over Whisper at the man's appearance and sudden outburst.  A quick nod to Jordan and the boy nearly closed the door and ordered the golem to guard. Jordan then returned his gaze to the room beyond the door.

Whisper held out his palms to the man, his arms spread wide,

"I know what they did to you.  I know about the pain and torment."

Slowly Whisper approached the man.

"I know what they did to your family. Your wife and children."

Kneeling near the man, he held out his hand,

"I want to help you."

Reality is inconsequential to the man, who sees only a robed man; the very image of his torturous captors. "Stay away! Stay away! I don't know where it is! Leave me alone!"

The man's yelling turns into screams as Whisper approaches.

Eddy sips his beer and keeps his eyes on Marius, but does acknowledge the bad-beaked bozo.
 "It's not so much that I'm for the drunken oaf, it's more that I want to see the little guy get his face reconstructed. What about you? You have any irons in the fire? A little nest egg, not yet hatched?"

"You gotta admire a man, who can still stand up after that." Marius remarks, as the giant's punch sails by his head. Then he ducks in close, and launches a hard, but ill aimed blow at his opponent's ribs.

[Private to GM: Move into close combat
All-out strong punch to the torso
Rolled 10 against Brawling 12
Damage 1, shock -1
No defense]

Still standing next to Eddy, the man replies, "No, but I heard you was look'n fer a place to sell things." He uses the same voice inflection Iridia used back at the bar when speaking with Markus. Then, Eddy recalls the man's face. He was sitting at the bar. He probably overheard the conversation.

Whisper steps back, his hands now rubbing his chin and scratching his head.  Considering the man's apparent breakdown, Whisper deduces his approach is lacking in a certain area and decides on another approach.  Looking towards the door he spies the eyes of Jordan watching the events in the room.

"Come here and talk to him."

Jordan's only response is a quick head shake.

"I think he's more afraid of us than you are of him.  Besides, I'll stay in the room."

"Man I hate wierdoes."

Jordan mumbled as he entered the room and made eye contact with the man.  Obviously uncomfortable with the situation, Jordan raises his hand slightly and once again mumbled,

"Hi."

Eddy responds,slightly lowering his voice and uses the same voice inflection. Apparently they were a bit too loud the last time.
 "Yes, we were trying to plan something big, but with our liege, it's better not to sit around with the goods for too long, right. So do you know a way to shift things"

Eddy gives the man a sour look. This plan wasn't coming together at all.
 "And exactly what can you do that would justify part of our loot?"

Iridia notices the man, but seems to be concentrating on the fight. However, she still kept an ear for that the two beside her were saying.

A grin cracks one side of the newcomer's face. "I knows people. You need to sell stuff. I need to get stuff. Sounds like we'd make a good team, us three."

Inside the low pit, the brawl continues. Maruis is so far unharmed, managing to sidestep all of the bigger, slower man's wild, anger-fueled swings. But, when he comes in close, the ogrish man changes his tactic. With both arms, he tries to grab hold of the smaller fighter, but Marius is too wiry.

---

OOC: Stripe rolled 15 using 3d6. Grapple, AoA +4 to hit. Fail.

Garbage, too aweful to contimplate just what all composes it, flies at Jordan. The boy manages to step quickly out of the way. However, the guant, pale man isn't done there. A wild glimmer in his eyes, he clammers to his feet and looks as if he's going to kill the young lad...

Dancing a step backwards, Marius strikes a pose, and sends a dazzling smile up to the audience. Though the next words may seem directed at Millar, his face is turned towards the audience, and his voice carries in an entertainer's voice, reaching every corner of the large room.

"Come on Millar. Why don't you just give up? You are far too stupid to win."

[Private to GM: 9 against 14 Public Speaking
Trying to give people an experience they'll me talking about for the rest of the week. At the very least.

Defence: Retreating dodge, 9 against 13, not counting penalties for being distracted.]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Thu 26 Mar 2009.

Again, the big ogre lunges, beyond furious over Marius' showmanship. Like a bull facing a matador, Marius steps out of the way, to the roar of the crowd's laughter and cheers.

"Whoop!" Marius shouts as he dodges the giant, and then plants a foot against his backside to give a mighty push.

[Private to GM: Move into close combat
All-out strong shove with leg
Rolled 8 against Dexterity 10 (-2 for kick included)
Damage 8 that only inflicts knockback (p. 378)
No defense]

Oh, but the giant wants to fall. It's unbelievable that he manages to stay on his feet so perfectly placed was the kick. However, the man planted a hand on the ground, and righted himself before he could tumble over.

He tears off towards the smaller fighter, again trying to drag him down. This time, he manages to hook his arms under Marius' with a crushingly-tight squeeze.

---

OOC: Stripe rolled 7 using 3d6. DX (8) to avoid fall. Stripe rolled 6 using 3d6. AoA +4 Grapple.

If Marius is the least intimidated by the fact that he has been caught in a bear hug, he certainly doesn't show it. Instead he grasps the giant's ears with both hands, heaves back his head, and then jerks forward to head butt the giant.

[Private to GM: All-out determined head butt against face
Rolled 9 against Brawling 7 (-4 Dex for grappling, -1 head butt, -5 face, +4 determined, +1 daredevil)
Which would mean a miss, though I think it would be hard not to hit *something* given the situation. Unless he is letting me go? ;)
Damage 1, shock -1, knockdown rolls are at -5
No defense]

Marius' head leans back, ready to rock down with all his might. But, the ogre-man presses the side of his face against Marius' breast making the head butt impossible.

The giant tries to use his size to bear Marius to the ground, but fails miserably in his attempt to do so.

Eddy takes another swig from his cup and rubs his chin contemplatively.
 "And will you be coming with us, or do we just deliver to you?"

"Aw, *grunt*, if you wanted a hug, *hehr* you could just have said so." Marius quips in the giant's embrace, as his booted foot glances harmlessly off the giant's inner thigh.

[Private to GM: All-out determined kick to groin
Rolled 13 against Brawling 10 (-4 Dex for grappling, -3 groin, +4 determined, +1 daredevil)
No defense]

"I prefer to acquire my loot personally," the man replies as they watch the giant continue his attempts to bear Marius to the ground.


[Private to Marius: OOC: Yer tern.]

The man's actions were expected and Xavier quickly begins a spell as the man begins to clamour to his feet.  The last few hand gestures end with a finger pointed at the crazed man.

OOC: Cast Levitation

[Private to Stripe: Whisper rolled 5 using 3d6. Levitation Spell roll.
Woohoo! A Critical!  On a Levitation spell!]

While the man's physical assault is brought to a quick end, hanging free in the air, his verbal abuse goes wild. Screeming, batting like a cat with his long, blackened fingernails, the man shouts curses and threats at the top of his lungs.