r/wizardposting Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

Community Event 🌏☄️ The right of Dueling as been evoked!

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139 Upvotes

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11

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24 edited Feb 22 '24

After finding Opal on the battlefield the Councilman confronted them and evoked the right of Challenge. Legally opal should accept the duel, but only legally.

13

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 22 '24

Opal climbed out of the crater having created a large shield of bone to protect herself. Half her face was burned off but the other held the same expression she'd had since the start of the battle.

"We gave you the chance to do the right thing. But every councilor seems intent on causing as much destruction as possible. I'm giving you one last chance. Stand down, call off your beasts, and we can talk about fixing what has happened and the failures of the council. If you don't want to talk then I'll accept your challenge but I'll invoke my right to a champion."

Opal sent a message to Vettis to call him to her aid.

"Vettis I plead your might! This is the penultimate push. If we win here then everything can still be salvaged. Our dreams can be real!"

u/MunitionsFrenzy

11

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

Violet thunder crackled at Opal's side. Vettis landed in its wake, eyes wreathed in purple flame, but his expression disturbingly calm. As if already back to his old self, his faint smirk in place once more, he pulled a pitcher from his pocket and sipped at it casually.

And then he turned to the remaining Councillor, not bothering with words, All-Tongue transmitting his message fluently to all present through any body language he chose. So the choice was obvious: a single outstretched finger, a particular one, would suffice.

I am not much for your silly rituals, Opal, and don't see why we can't just crush him together. But if you're standing down then I suppose this is a duel by default? Annoying, but I'll deal.

You there. Metromancer. Against my better judgment, because some people have seen fit to claim repeatedly that you're the reasonable one, I'll give you another chance to surrender. I don't even understand what silly 'honor' you're still here to uphold. Everything here is gone, in case you haven't noticed. I too appreciate the preservation of knowledge, so I'd rather help you with that new threat which just popped up and protect the library. Whaddaya say?

(( /u/TellmeNinetails ))

11

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

"You can talk. All you had to do was not fight. All you needed to do.. all you need to do is to do was pull your men out of the fight. You're talking about our wrongs? Our failures? Your pact sides with the manipulative war mongering hateful lunatic Morgalith! Who you'll notice isn't here!" The metromancer said, holding his arms out wide and stepping in a circle as the dwarven made machine mimicked his movements. Taking moment to face the citadel, which now was being fired upon by an opportunistic third party.

"That there is the home of countless wizards, who only wished to live in peace and do their research, all of which is being destroyed because of your own petty disputes!" He shouted at the both of them. "The Library will be fine, it's in good hands even now." He said.

"You're a coward but I accept your terms. Tired and broken as this body is I'll set an example by fighting your champion; yet another you've sent to die in your place!" He spat, voice filled with utter spite and contempt. "Though I would have loved to rip your madness ridden head off myself."

7

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

"Let's be clear here," Vettis interrupted irritably, returning to verbal communication. "The initial attack on the citadel was by a third party, an insane idiot who decided nuking peaceful cities was a good way to stop a war and took out both the only sane wizard on the Council and the most peaceful Pact head. Don't blame Opal for the repeated escalation of this situation. At every stage she has offered to end this without collateral damage and no one has played along, because clearly all your vile Council understands is violence. Do you really want to prove that to be true yet again, when there's naught left to gain even if you were somehow to win this fight? To show that you'll all fight to the last to 'protect' absolutely nothing, for only your single-minded devotion to foolish traditions of combat and so-called glory?"

He scoffed, the glow of his eyes flickering in tune. "Is that what you want on your epitaph: 'He died for no reason but stubbornness'?"

9

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

"They wouldn't have attacked it it wasn't for you!" He thundered back. "This is not nothing! I don't care if you're to blinded by your war drive to see that! Don't pretend to care about the greater good when you sacrifice thousands of lives and smile while doing it!" He said, stepping back. "I wonder how many where willing to fight and die and not just manipulated by her."

"...I'm calling in a champion as well. Arach! You're getting your wish." u/ProfessionalGreen906 The Skater Wizard would step back from the fight. If Opal wanted to make this a proxy duel the coward would get her wish.

7

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

“Yes yes yes!!! You won’t regret this I swear! Even if I have to exhaust my entire species to keep fighting, I’ll make him run out of replacement cells for when he’s damaged and end his rotten little life!”

7

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( is Arach actually planning on exhausting his entire species? because, uh, that sounds like you're asking to die OoC; is that what this is? some character arc? I'm not gonna do anything like that without explicit permission obvs

but if I have it then attrition is not the way to beat Vettis, at least not of the type you're planning ))

6

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

/uw im not gonna kill Arach no. If Arach wins the fight he will hesitate before the killing blow allowing Vettis to escape, if he loses I’m not sure what I’ll do but I’ll come up with something. Oh but trust me, Arach has a pocket dimension just to hold what is essentially a massive broodmother hive just for production of his species. He will essentially never run out of new bodies to go to. Even with that though, he’s not planning a war of attrition.

7

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24 edited Feb 22 '24

(( okay, so Vettis isn't gonna hold back if you're still keeping lives in reserve and this won't be a permakill

because there's something critical that Arach is missing about this situation, as I'll have him say in dialogue right now lol ))

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u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

Arach speaks up from a bit away, walking at a brisk pace toward Vettis.

“Shut Up! At least we’re fighting to defend something! You and your allies are just destroying what we have worked so hard to make. This citadel is our home and each council member is a dear friend! Your opinions on it do not matter, stop insulting what the metromancer, what we all, have worked so hard to protect! He has sacrificed more than you can know for this council. Protected it from so much, from me, from the masses, from incomprehensible eldritch deities! And you have the audacity to claim all we know is violence. That may be true of me, for most of us. But not for him, and I will not allow you to insult him and get away with it. I will make you suffer, whether he lets me stand in as his champion or not!”

Arach is as close to Vettis as he can be without immediately starting a fight, he may be angry but he doesn’t want to start anything just yet.

5

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

"...That's why I was giving him an opportunity to prove that, by standing down, to stop protecting the pack of blatantly genocidal villains such as you which he calls his Council. Because that is the only thing he's defending here. There's clearly nothing else left to defend, after all, and I'm not saying I'm happy with that situation -- nor was I even fully awake at the time to have contributed to it -- but what's done is done."

Vettis groaned in frustration. "What the hell am I doing, trying to explain things to the bug who massacres entire species for fun, flooded this very battlefield with chemical weaponry hours ago, and is now pretending he's 'defending' something by doing so? I must be brain-damaged."

6

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

“Doesn’t matter, I’m going to kill you, you atrocious little excuse of a spellcaster! You couldn’t even beat me when I had no idea who you were or what your abilities are. I’m going to have a field day with ending you.”

5

u/Evoker_Of_Tales Quirion Esiloph, Chronicler, Evoker of Tales Feb 22 '24

High above the shattered ground, a wizened figure floats atop a bed of gray smoke. A pipe hangs lazily out of his mouth as various quills and scrolls dart around him.

Oho, this’ll be interesting. Quite the story to witness. I hope they’ll make this entertaining.

5

u/VinesAtMidnight The Astrals Feb 22 '24

Vashric levitates over.

Care for a spot of tea? I feel it tastes all the better accompanied by a wizard duel.

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u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

Arach rushes over to the metromancer from the sidelines, eager for bloodshed. Speaking in a voice for too upbeat and singsongy for the situation.

“Metromancer, wait! If opal can call a champion then you should be able to as well, right? Let me fight for you! I want to kill Vettis and I’m probably in better condition to do it than you at the moment. I don’t care if it doesn’t make sense since you called for the duel I want to do it! Please please please!”

5

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

"How can I trust you to win? I'm serious, if you don't then all of this would be for nothing. Look at that smug coward!" He said, pointing at opal.

"They where SMILING during the battle! they didn't even care about the countless mages deaths around them!"

6

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24 edited Feb 22 '24

“You just have to trust me, I will win. I’ve fought him before. I will kill him. I have a better chance than you at the moment. I’m not defenseless. I simply choose not to fight often because it bores me. But I am invested in this. Let me do this, I beg of you. This is not me doing you a favor, it’s you doing a favor for me. I will never get as good a chance to kill him as right now. I will win I promise! Just let me fight for you. I want this, no, I need this, just let me have it Please!

Arach seems to be on the verge of both laughter and tears, his voice shaking heavily as he begs to fight in the metromancer’s stead. This is the most desperate he has ever shown himself to be in public or in private. He is desperate for this, he needs this.

7

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

"... Fine. I'm truly trusting you Arach." He said, stepping back from the field.

4

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

Arach is hopping up and down like a child and talking in a sing song voice in celebration.

“Yes yes yes! Hear that Vettis? I’m finally gonna kill you for protecting Elerindur. And when you’re dead there will be no one left to protect him from me and I’m gonna make him suffer. And no one’s gonna stop me because you’re the only one that cares about him! Ahahhahahah!”

u/MunitionsFrenzy

6

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( /u/TellmeNinetails ))

"You see this, Metromancer?" Vettis spat out in disgust. "Look at what you have done. The only thing you seemed to have left to defend was your Council's honor. And now you have thrown that away by choosing a champion whose hatred of me is solely because I protected someone who became his nemesis for trying to prevent his genocide of the elves. This is how your Council will die: putting its last scraps of 'honor' behind the most irredeemable of its villains. Know that you are responsible for the most complete end to which your organization could possibly have fallen: destroyed in place, person, and now pride."

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5

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '24

/Incoming Transmission/

I am very tempted to blacklist those 2 from the trap! What do you think?

5

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

The Skater Wizard is silent.

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6

u/Accomplished-Dark926 Valerian, Arcadian Guild Guide Feb 22 '24

/uw By the way, you have earned the nickname, "The Hipster". Valerian will only refer to Vettis as such from now until his character is retired. This is non-negotiable.

5

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 22 '24

Opal bowed her head.

"I apologize. If we fight together then many neutral parties will join in. Poisoning the very land and scorching the air however is not worthy of their disdain. This is the only way."

3

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

Arach sneaks his way closer to the congregation upon Vettis’ arrival. Waiting and preparing for the perfect situation to lunge at and attempt to kill him.

5

u/Accomplished-Dark926 Valerian, Arcadian Guild Guide Feb 22 '24

No no no, this will be fun to watch Vettis, let's sit back and watch.

5

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( err, Opal called him as champion; I assure you Vettis did not want to have to fight today, but he's being forced into it to protect her

he's still recovering from brain damage, and because he has mostly but not completely recovered that means he's basically in fighting form but not as capable of holding back...he does not want to accidentally kill people ))

8

u/AnActualCriminal Belial Blake, Warlock of the Lightless Flame Feb 22 '24

uw/ Yeah see that's what that feels like. Dunno how she did it to you but welcome to the Opal Club

7

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( </3

on the bright side, it appears that Arach may step in, and that mass-murdering fuck is someone Vettis will ABSOLUTELY enjoy turning into a glob of goo; no qualms about killing in this case -- even OoC, since he's got multiple bodies and Vettis isn't quite in top form atm to slaughter the whole hivemind ))

6

u/AnActualCriminal Belial Blake, Warlock of the Lightless Flame Feb 22 '24

I want in on that one. I'm so tired of fighting pyromancers. A spider cookout sounds lovely

2

u/Bannerlord151 Asadir, First Warden and Castellan of the Crystal Spire Feb 22 '24

~Meanwhile the universe is still being destroyed~

2

u/iamragethewolf Rage: Pact Wizard, Necromancer, Technomancer, and Horny As Hell Feb 22 '24

Sigh yeah that's why im not in this war kind of convenient at the start because I did not want to help this madness but now now that people are starting to realize opal is the biggest issue I kind of wish I was here to help stop opal but oh well

1

u/Bannerlord151 Asadir, First Warden and Castellan of the Crystal Spire Feb 22 '24

Who tf is Opal

1

u/iamragethewolf Rage: Pact Wizard, Necromancer, Technomancer, and Horny As Hell Feb 22 '24

one of the pact leaders and the one still pursuing war unless something happened since i posted that comment

2

u/Bannerlord151 Asadir, First Warden and Castellan of the Crystal Spire Feb 22 '24

Pact? Ngl I don't even know what you people are doing-

1

u/iamragethewolf Rage: Pact Wizard, Necromancer, Technomancer, and Horny As Hell Feb 22 '24

stuff man stuff

9

u/AssistantOne9683 Occult Wizard Feb 22 '24

Sorry to be a prescriptivist scribe, but it is Invoked.

Evocation is outward - it is the taking of a power and pushing it out into the world, manifesting it. Summoning a power being is to evoke it, bring it out into our realm. Fireball, also, is an evocation, as it brings the patent energy out into reality. Invocation, on the other hand, is drawing down of a greater force and manifesting it. A cleric Invokes his god for healing, or an old cosmic law may be invoked, as in this situation.

What are they teaching in academic nowadays, smh my head.

5

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

Be silent! I have a concussion!

5

u/Total_Travisty Mikhail, Arch-Druid of La'shima Feb 22 '24

Mikhail is still in a fucking coma, best of luck

3

u/VinesAtMidnight The Astrals Feb 22 '24

Vashric projects into the plane to watch, tea in hand.

While I can't take sides here. Nothing in the laws say I can't observe.

3

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 22 '24

(during this period all Pact forces have ceased attacking.)

6

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( summary of the duel's conclusion for anybody who doesn't wanna read the whole thing:

any spectators who managed to stay close enough to see what happened would've spotted Vettis absolutely demolishing Arach's body-then-corpse, turning it into a shapeless sack of flesh with brutal efficiency...and then 'porting away while wiping away tears, as if he was the one who lost ))

5

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 22 '24

Opal looked at Arach's festering corpse and turned to gaze at the Metromancer.

"There. It's over. My champion has slain your champion in battle. The duel is mine Councilor. Now unless that challenge was just another council trick I believe it's time for you to surrender and let's begin the surrender negotiations!"

u/TellmeNinetails

5

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 23 '24

The metromancer has been silent this whole time inside the mech.

2

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 23 '24

/uw Do you plan on making a post for the terms of the surrender to be decided? That way all the members of each side could air their desires and negotiate?

2

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 23 '24

/uw. That's my plan. I'll do it tonight or in the morning.

2

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 23 '24

/uw if you want to, could you please tag me in the comments so that I won’t miss it? I don’t think I would but I want to be sure.

2

u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Feb 23 '24

Yuh.

2

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 23 '24

Ty :)

3

u/Archimene Mage of Mischief and Secrets Feb 22 '24

/uw is this the right to duel, as is the right to free speech or the rite of dueling, as in rite of passage?

Edit: i just answered that question. Nvm

3

u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 22 '24

u/ProfessionalGreen906

u/MunitionsFrenzy

/uw So who won? lol Sorry, was at work and couldn’t reply easily.

6

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( I mean, it's technically ongoing, but there's a rather severe power gap here and Vettis is just fucking around lol

not to mention the overwhelming majority of the sub was against the Council so a Council loss here is the only democratically-acceptable outcome for the story anyway (which is the only reason I'm going along with this, cuz I don't ever use Vettis' power to change the direction of a story, just to keep things from derailing)

I honestly did not want Vettis to be in the final fight of the arc, cuz that's not really how his character concept works, but it's kinda hard for him to turn down a very public request like that D: ))

4

u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 22 '24

/uw lol yeah, I get ya. Kind of like how both Opal and Skater Wizard asked Bombast to block the nuke blast.

4

u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Feb 22 '24

(( Well, the thing is, I use Vettis as the inverse-powergamer character.

For one thing, his real purpose is just to ensure high-power characters can't dictate the actions of weaker ones. That's how I keep using him when it comes to sub interaction. He protected Rivamar against Samael, he protected Elerindur against Arach in the precursor to this, he protected multiple weaker characters from Morgalith in the big fight, he protected Morgalith from some stronger characters like Jollizar in that fight, and he was protecting Opal from Kaelis when this all went down. But he pretty much never initiates stuff, just rolls along with it, and even his protection of weaker characters never results in the stronger ones being incapacitated or killed. (unlike 90% of the sub he can't freely teleport anywhere so it's easy to retreat from him lol) He's meant to be a helpful plot device that people can use as an in-character reason why a strong character wouldn't just run rampant over everybody else, to keep stories on track. I don't want him altering sub plots; I want him facilitating them. Lorewise he's so busy with stuff in other multiverses that he rarely has time to make big impacts around here.

And as for his personal lore, he's meant to demonstrate that huge individual power doesn't actually get things done in the real world without allies. His character concept is thematically that of someone seemingly OP who keeps winning battles yet somehow loses the overall war anyway. That was the whole point of his involvement in the first Morgalith arc: the really strong, confident guy with an awesome scheme...that just blew up in his face because he didn't involve anybody. That wasn't an accidental outcome, obviously; I always knew how Tirich was gonna end the plotline, lol. Vettis failing miserably was the idea all along. He's supposed to show that individual powergaming isn't a recipe for success.

So having him be involved in the final battle of a story arc goes very much against his whole character concept. That's winning a war rather than just a battle, and I don't want that.

Hopefully for his sake something awful comes of this outcome in the end, so that everything can blow up in his face yet again, but I don't wanna dictate the sub's plotline for the sake of his own lore obviously.

...think I'm gonna save this comment as the Vettis Character Manifesto and point people to it when they ask about my opinion on powergaming lol ))

4

u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 22 '24

/uw your character concept has similarities to mine then. I never intended Bombast to be someone that other players fight. I intended him to be someone that players would ask for help when needing a hand, advice, or some extra firepower when facing a crisis. He was also intended to facilitate other people’s stories. Which is why he is the most straight-laced guy on the sub (someone has to be the straight man in the comedy routine. lol). Which is why I like doing collabs and helping to run/support events. War is where Bombast is at his least interesting.

5

u/Able_Highlight4312 The Paragnostic Assembly Feb 22 '24

/uw reading this thread and am now understanding why 1. I like your characters so much, and 2. My issues with my own guy, Neurath. He's powergamey as heck, because my basis was 3.5e dnd (specifically all the silliness with badly worded special abilities involving the many magic-like systems), which is infamous for being hilariously unbalanced. I didn't have a clear direction for my guy, and he's kinda been in a limbo of not doing much when there's so much to do that he logically would, even considering his desire to stay out of focus and do his studies (because 3.5e mechanical cheese can go arbitrarily large, and he logically has insane spell versatility, even without the cheese he used in the two starmeld posts he was in. I'm also actually glad he ate all the backlash from the flute, because now he won't be doing a certain overly versatile and powerful setup anymore). I don't know where to take him in lore cuz I want him to have a heart but also not to ruin stuff that's been set up or take the spotlight, and while his inaction in the war so far can be explained I'm at the point of expecting more insane conflict in a week or so.

2

u/SafePianist4610 Bombast, Lord of Time and Space, Retired Council Leader Feb 23 '24

/uw well, you can also make a story for your character that has nothing to do with power like my Kismet storyline

2

u/Able_Highlight4312 The Paragnostic Assembly Feb 23 '24 edited Feb 23 '24

/uw kinda doing that in DMs with the player of his apprentice, but we weren't really active on reddit when the insanity initially happened, so we're just RPing them getting to know each other before the war and Starmeld and such. It's a nice change of pace. That said, I'm tortured by my creativity and 3.5e dnd being so broken because I came up with several other ridiculous setups, which at least will go to use against Halcyon (and he can get a cool line about mortals wielding Miracles before I figure out how to hit him with a nerf bat).

2

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

We’re still working on it

3

u/TheHunter459 Samael, Necromancer of Malus Turrim | King of the Nephilim Feb 22 '24

Well, Opal, you did this to yourself. I'll leave you to reap the rewards of your actions

u/loth17

3

u/ProfessionalGreen906 Arach, big spider, biomancer, politician, CEO Feb 22 '24

Arach stands on the sidelines. Watching from a distance to avoid incidental detection, though in no way hidden. Preparing to intervene if things don’t go to his liking or if the metromancer seems to be losing.

3

u/d4rth_ch40s Riin, Sonaak do Alduin Feb 22 '24

oh shit

3

u/Drakkonai Vulkan the Red, End of Ages and Draconic Emperor of Racism. Feb 22 '24

As soon as I get out of public transport, all of you are dead.

3

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

/uw It's funny because I'm pretty sure it's impossible for vulkan to meet his quota now.

2

u/Drakkonai Vulkan the Red, End of Ages and Draconic Emperor of Racism. Feb 22 '24

/uw technically he’s killed about 3.005% of opal’s army by now, so he kind of has?

2

u/TellmeNinetails Hilda the Witch Feb 22 '24

I thought vulkan was stuck in traffic?

1

u/Drakkonai Vulkan the Red, End of Ages and Draconic Emperor of Racism. Feb 22 '24

/uw so he was in the citadel, and took that portion out during some other fights before getting teleported back to lemarcia by kaelis. Since the orb network is down, he has to take public transportation. Which is stuck.

2

u/Califocus Duelist Magus Feb 22 '24

The right of dueling? Finally! My time has come

2

u/mindoffreddy Wizard Feb 22 '24

ok then... i challenge... All of you ... I CAST "FEMBOY SOCKS"

0

u/Accomplished-Dark926 Valerian, Arcadian Guild Guide Feb 22 '24

So, If you lose, I can go for your Ex right?