[LM10] - 1st Round Duels - Ikoma Aya v. Funegao no Hirame

[Ender]

The four dueling pistes have been diagrammed onto the training ground floor of the Kakita Dueling Academy.

A judge, Seppun Hitomi, stands at the center line, as the two contestants make their way to the ready positions.

[Ikoma Aya]

Aya walks towards the centre of the ring with purposeful steps and her head high...ish. Her eyes shifting from the stands, to the other rings, to the judge, to her opponent, suggests she may not be quite as confident as her gait suggests. But she does put on a good on, at least!

Right before she steps into position, her eyes drop to the ground for a moment, and she whispers a quick prayer, holding a komainu-shaped netsuke. Placing it back on her obi, she takes the last step forward, her eyes meeting Hirame's for a moment.

She then bows low, first to the Hitomi, then to Hirame, and slowly slides into her opening stance. Hands close to the grip of her weapon, she slides her left leg back and arches her torso slightly to the front, her intense look focused on Hirame as that of a wild cat ready to pounce.

"May we do our best, Funegao-no-Hirame-san!", she says firmly in her deep voice.

OOC:
Init stance: Fire!

Init roll
D10 LM - Duel vs Hirame, Init. Taking up Fire Stance! Fire(3)/Meditation(2) vs TN1. Quick Reflexes! | TN: 1 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 1

3 sux, 2 opp, 1 strife.
1 Opp eats 1 strife
1 opp used to inflict 2 strife on Hirame!

Round 1:
1 strife taken during staredown
Composure before bidding: 1/8
Fatigue: 0/8

Link to Duelling thread on my PF for Ender's convenience!

EDIT: Writing while sleepy = mixing names up!

[Funegao no Hirame]

Hirame, for his part, took the appropriate moves as well, bowing to the judges and his opponent. A quick glance at his opponent.

"Yeah." He said. "Good luck, Ikoma-san!" He said as he settled into a stance...

---------------------------------------------------------------

D10 LM - Duel vs Aya, Init, Fire3/Meditation1 TN1 | TN: 1 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 0 / Strife: 1


Round 1:
Composure: 6/10
Fatigue: 0/10

Duel PF

INIT: 9

[Ender]

Bid Reveal:
Aya is at Init 10
Hirame is at Init 9

R1
Aya
Hirame

Goooo

[Ikoma Aya]

Aya kept her eyes locked into Hirame's for a few seconds that felt more like minutes - blazing eyes focused on eyes that were surprisingly fiery for one so tied to the sea.

But then the mix of flaming intensity and the speed of water was not unknown to Aya, grown by the River of the Drowned Merchant as she was.

Her senses aware to any movements or mis-steps by the Mantis, she suddenly senses some hesitation...

... she looks for an opening, tries to sense a good angle for an attack as she gets the bokken in position with a quick, flowing movement...

... and the same movement continues incessantly as a river, finding an opening she had sensed, more than seen, in the side of Hirame's guard!

OOC:
Revealing bid: 2! (Just noticed Ender posted this already!)
Init goes up to 10! Aya has the first turn on Round 1
Composure after staredown and bid: 3/8

Round 1:
Change to Water stance!
Action 1: Prepare Item - Ready bokken
Action 2: Strike! Akodo Soldier Technique is activated at Step 5 (as per CRB page 27), so I must choose to use it with Strife I had before... after the roll is 'made', but before it 'resolves' (yeah I know...)

D10 LM - Duel vs Hirame, Round 1. Strike! Water(3)/Martial[Melee](2) vs TN 2. Akodo Soldier tech can be activated after roll is done (but using Strife from before the roll!), but before it's resolved... | TN: 2 | Success: 2 / Opportunity: 2 / Strife: 2


Activating Akodo Soldier tech (Drilled precision); Aya removes 1 strife (from the Staredown, down to 2/8), takes 1 fatigue (to 1/8), adds 1 opp
Total with that: 2 successes, 3 opp, 2 strife;
2 opps used to crit!
1 Water opp used to remove 2 strife; offsets the 2 strife taken from the roll.

Composure after roll: 2/8
Fatigue after roll: 1/8

Hirame suffers a Severity 3 crit! (And can roll Fire/Fitness to reduce its severity!)

[Funegao no Hirame]

Hirame looked down at the bokken touching his body. "Well... shoot." He said.

There was a brief pause, then he bowed. "Guess you got me, Ikoma-san." He said, smiling wryly, just a little. He turned and repeated the bow to the judge, and to the audience. A swirl of confusing man-feelings flickered across his features as he did so, but it was brief, and mostly turned out to neutral.

What did this mean for him, and for the Mantis? Hirame closed his eyes a moment, tilting his head up as he opened them, waiting.

-----------------------------

Fire3/fitness1, resist crit TN 1 | TN: 1 | Success: 3 / Opportunity: 1 / Strife: 2


No injury. Except PRIDEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Ikoma Aya]

Hirame looked down at the bokken touching his body. "Well... shoot." He said.

There was a brief pause, then he bowed. "Guess you got me, Ikoma-san." He said, smiling wryly, just a little. He turned and repeated the bow to the judge, and to the audience. A swirl of confusing man-feelings flickered across his features as he did so, but it was brief, and mostly turned out to neutral.

What did this mean for him, and for the Mantis? Hirame closed his eyes a moment, tilting his head up as he opened them, waiting.

The Ikoma keeps in place for a moment, as if still letting what just happened sink in, then, eyes to the ground, she takes the few steps back that take her back to the ready position.

Raising her eyes to Hirame and seeing his small smile, she first nods respectfully, then bows respectfully - to Hirame, then to Hitomi.

"That was a strong stance, Funegao-no-Hirame-san", she then finally says, nodding to him again. "A moment of hesitation or a slower movement and you'd have got me there." Another nod. "Thank you for the match!"

Her voice is... almost neutral, but there's a bit of excitement there that doesn't quite get fully hidden behind her on.

"Do you.... eh.... need... eto... herbs or anything?", she'll ask after the formalities are done, eyeing the place where she hit him for a moment.

OOC:
You'll have suffered... 5 (2H) - 2 = 3 Fatigue I guess?

[Ender]

Seppun Hitomi watched the match closely, her eyes drawn the intention in the feet, the movement of the hands and blade.

"Decisive strike. Winner, Ikoma Aya-san." She indicated to the Lion, then bowed to both competitors.

Outcome:
Ikoma Aya won to First Strike in No Contest (12 points)
6 points for achieving the objective
3 points for striking first
3 points for 3 fatigue inflicted
0 points for a Severity 0 Critical Strike (Close Call)

Ikoma Aya moves on to the semi-finals

[Funegao no Hirame]

Hirame's lips twisted. "I'm fine. You'll have to hit a Mantis harder than that if you want to slow them down!"

He returned the judge's bow, again, then straightened, again. And then, after a quick glance around... "Uh... I leave now, right?"

Somewhat awkwardly, he departed.