The Rite of Strength
"The witches of the Wyckblud do not feel fear it we cause it.
Klucks the Worm Pecker came to my fire squawking like a rooster.
Hrmph, all its courage comes from its magic axe for it has no strength. It compares itself to Urzag!? What a brave little rooster, cluck, cluck, cluck, but only to face women and gnolls.
Hear me! When Gora of Two-Bloods stood fearless against its word of contempt axe raised in declaration of her acceptance of the challenge, that little rooster pissed itself.
So unexpected was this open cowardice it managed to steal Gora's axe and break it so she wouldn't have an axe to fight it. And shame on her for that. But, no blood was spilled, nor blow was struck. It was Klucks Worm Pecker who broke the the peace with its cowardly words and thieving. It is no more than a convincing liar.
Klucks the Weak says it will fight a whole group of women and a gnoll, pbpht!
But Klucks Worm Pecker, included ME in its foolish boasting.
I do not dishonor the strength of my mothers.
I do not risk the anger of the dark spirits that are my blood.
I do not back down from the foolish challenge from a cocky little piss-chicken.
Its skill are less than mine!
Witness it would not fight with skills alone!
Witness it is not even a warrior enough to face me a woman with normal club, axe, spear, or sword even if I laid aside every trick and tool by which I increase my dark powers and fought naked and defenseless as the day I was born!
See he will only fight cowering inside enchanted armor!
See he will only fight wielding an axe so enchanted it could give an elf child a warrior's might!
If the coward needs to cheat like this to stand before a woman without pissing itself, then this is the fight with which, I will honor the arena with its blood.
I will honor the arena, if it falls and does not rise, if the candle burns out, if the Grumaan declare my victory, then I will make no further attacks within the challenge.
But I say this piss-chicken is soft inside it's turtle shell. And who can split a turtle's shell while leaving the turtle alive? Piss-chicken might die. This Beast will find Urzag a better chicken stronger with more brains, if this happens. Easily done."
The witch stood in a woman's crouched guard. One skilled in magic might easily see through her distorted description of her powers are theatrics meant to scare the ignorant, but most orcs who could understand magic appreciated the value of keeping the ignorant fearful.
Mostly she didn't want to be blamed if the fight turned out to be lethal for Krucks. She was carefully reminding the priest shared the blame if he didn't stop the fight, and Krucks was mostly to blame for choosing terms where death was a much more likely outcome.
She lied about Krucks pissing himself, but it didn't matter to her whether or not anyone believed her. Even if you knew she was lying, here she was ready to face him in the Arena on his terms. He had the perfect opportunity to force her to stop, to make her grant him whatever contrition he wanted, if he could win. Truth didn't matter. She wasn't so much saying he pissed himself as saying he was too weak to stop her
"I am ready. Light the candle."
OOC: Taken 10 on both "bluffs" for what it's worth. DC-22 (circumstance of being skilled at scaring people) for the magic or DC-20 for the pissed himself
Keeping it simple by taking total-defense action until the candle is lit for the start of combat.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 15:37, Sat 03 Oct 2020.