Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » The Royal Mile Inn

"Heh! Ye know it mate!" Pint chuckled as Mokk called his kin tough, as they rightfully were. "Crossed blades with the stout folk before have ye?" Asked the dwarf, wanting to know of his battle experience.

Pint, for his part, had never fought at Rhinoman before, though he figured it shouldn't be so different than fighting an ogre or a troll, or perhaps more closely to a minotaur since they also had a penchant to try and gore their opponents. Thankfully, perhaps not quite like an ogre magi though as Pint suspected that Mokk didn't have any spellcasting abilities.

Naturally, Pint didn't outright say he hadn't fought Rhinomen before as he did not like revealing his own cards too soon.

"Let's have it out" says Captain Baring, "I'll back the dwarf. Who'll wager with me?"
"You're on" says the Petulan ambassador, "thirty gold pieces."
"The Rhinoman will fight with his horn, which will be padded, and a wooden sword. The dwarf shall have a wooden sword and a shield, to even it up a bit." says Captain Baring.
"Will you wager, Papa?" Caitlin asks of Macey.
"Who do you want me to back?" asks Macey.
"Is it first touch, or getting your opponent to the ground?" asks Caitlin.
"You need to disarm your opponent, but that's unfair to the dwarf, since you can't disarm a Rhinoman. So we'll say a significant strike" says Captain Baring.
"Whom shall we back?" Caitlin asks Brenna.
A space is cleared before the fireplace.

((Mokk and Pint please provide attack rolls if you intend to follow through with the fight))

"Sword and board?? Do I look like a bloody knight to ye all?? Gimme a quarterstaff so I can double attack proper." Pint definitely had a fighting style, and that was a big weapon with two heads on each end. A quarterstaff was the best way he could emulate the fighting style of his Urgrosh, and thus he retrieved a nearby staff and headed outside. Already he began spinning it in front of himself and around his back, then over his head as if he were some kind of martial artist.

Mokk laughed with a deep belly rumble. He had spaced out for a moment, mind thinking of the drink which now seemed a mile away. "Right to it then? Alright." The first syllable of the last word stretched into a slow roll. "If the lad here won't bother to use a sword, neither will I." Graceful swordsmanship wasn't Mokk's strong suit either.

Kicking one foot back and then the other, he tilted his snout upwards. "On wiv it then. Wrap me horn up. I don' need no sword or nuffin'." Mokk knelt as he noticed the woman arriving to wrap his horn. Some people began moving outside. The dwarf had been armed and was waiting. In a few moments, Mokk stepped outside.

"Right then", said the Rhinoman as he entered the space. "Come on." Mokk threw a heavy accent on the first word, making the pitch rise as if it had two syllables. He figured the faux haughty tone might anger the dwarf. Raising his arms, he prepared to fight.

((It looks like people have been rolling 1d20. Let me know if there's a different attack system.))

Well, if that's the way Mokk wanted it, Pint would gladly swing in first. The dwarf whirled his staff a few more times before he got into position, staff held with both hands with one end pointed at his opponent.

As the Rhinoman taunted him, the dwarf slid forward and swung the butt of his weapon at the side of Mokk's stomach.

Brenna chuckled when Caitlin asked who to put money on. "If it were mine, I'd put it on Pint," but she held up a hand. "But it's your money, so you put it on who you want."

With the highfalutin crowd already tossing out wagers of more money than she had to her name, she'd have to stay out of the betting arena.

Really, she had no idea who would win. She'd only just met Pint that morning and hadn't witnessed him fight yet.

Both attacks are clearly going to miss, as Pint and Mokk lunge at each other clumsily, sizing each other up before the fight really gets going. (( But I need to work out armour classes and THACO (to hit armour class zero) ))

"Go dwarf go" shouts Caitlin, "Daddy has put money on you".
"Rhinoman, Rhinoman, Rhinoman" says Lady Helena, "get him with your horn." Then she groans as Mokk misses his attack, "Come on, he is half your size."
"Why did your friend the ambassador back the Rhinoman, when Brenna advised the dwarf?" asks Caitlin.
"He's not my friend" says Lady Helena, "He's just accompanying me".

The large figure was caught off guard by the dwarf's sudden charge. He tried to attack where Pint had been, instead of anticipating how he'd move. A twisting punch flew harmlessly grazed a strong dwarven side. Mokk had been agile enough to also throw off his attacker. The staff failed to make full contact because of this.

Movement had thrown him off balance, arm extended behind Pint. With a sweeping motion, the rhinoman shifted his weight back into a low kick. Mokk had taken a low stance at the fight's start. It helped him balance his heft. He tried kicking low enough to sweep the legs out from underneath the stout dwarf.

The move would also help him turn back towards Pint. Cheers and jeers echoed off the tavern's acoustics.

((Oof! We're doing THACO?? I didn't know we were playing 2nd edition. Now I see why people complain whenever I pull Pint's Pathfinder stats.))


Yep, pretty much like fighting an ogre, thought Pint, except smarter. The dwarf used his much smaller height to his advantage and made himself a difficult target to attack. He went in and out of Mokk's striking range, using his weapon to do the work for him and check how far he could hit The butt strike missed, but it served to gauge just how agile his opponent was. It looked like Pint couldn't rely on just the basics against this guy, he would need to pull out more complicated techniques.

Such as striking just when his opponent was attacking, hammering the gap as the Bloodhorns called it. Pint waited patiently just outside of Mokk's range and let the Rhinoman take the next shot this time. As Mokk leaned in to attack, the dwarf jumped over the attack at his legs and swung a downwards overhead strike, trying to rack Mokk across the face with his staff.

Both attacks miss again, as the fighters circle each other, trying to land the first blow. Mokk goes low, but Pint is too fast for him. However Pint's blow fails to connect as the Rhinoman moves his horn. The combatants effectively change sides.

"You need to get him under the neck" shouts Captain Baring at Pint.
"Go on, Pint" screams Caitlin, "Bash him with your staff".
"I think the Rhinoman has the measure of him" says the Petulan ambassador coolly. "I'll raise my wager."

The two go in for new attacks.

The two fighters seemed evenly matched. Mokk stood at about 6'1. He height was not towering by any means. The difference in size between him and Pint seemed to take getting used to on the parts of both fighters. The Rhinoman was also taking care not to simply charge Pint with his horn. That was not a tactic for sparring, but for goring orcs.

After a wide circle, both fighters seemed to reset. Mokk stretched his lower back before resuming his low stance. Cautious eyes watched the staff cautiously. Mokk stepped forward and feinted a low-cross punch with his right. A low kick suddenly sprung upwards from Mokk's left.

His goal was to sneak the kick into the dwarf's side. This kick came up higher than his previous sweeping attempt.

Pint went for the reset as well, dashing backwards and away from Mokk's large striking range to reposition himself. He gave his quarterstaff a few twirls and circled around his opponent, gaze upon him. The dwarf was indeed wondering why Mokk hadn't tried to charge him with his horn yet, in fact he was kind of baiting it at his point, approaching Mokk as a bullfighter would. Mokk seemed more interested on throwing punches and kicks though which was somewhat comforting to Pint actually seeing as he actually knew what to do against such attacks.

As such, Pint went again into a fighting stance meant to fight ogres, circling around then abruptly changing trajectory to make it hard for his opponent to focus on him. Pint raised his staff defensively when he saw that cross coming, though realizing it was instead a kick he threw his shoulder into the blow to cushion the attack.

Dwarves were made of sturdy stuff but he'd rather not just take a kick for free like that without giving something back. Seeing as he was already inside Mokk's circle of defense, the dwarf went for another butt strike with his staff, swinging his weapon at the inside of Mokk's leg to hit his peroneal artery and numb up the Rhinoman's leg.

Wham! Mokk lands a critical hit on PInt.

"Go on" says Lady Helena, "kick him, kick him, kick him. Knock the stuffing out of that dwarf."
Pint grunts in pain, so severe that he can't get his counter-attack in.
"I told you the Rhinoman would win" says the Petulan ambassador.
'We shouldn't have allowed this" says Captain Baring, "it's meant to be a test of swordplay, not unarmed combat with a monster. Dwarf, do you want me to stop the fight?" He stands close to the combatants, but not actually between them.
"Oh let them go on" begs Caitlin, "Pint still has a chance of winning. Go on Pint, hit him on the neck with that staff."

The whole inn is now standing in a circle around the fighters.
"For the honour of the dwarves, if Pint steps down I'll have to step in" says Dalin to Mistress Weather, quietly. Pint suspects that he wasn't meant to overhear it, but with his alertness heightened by the fight, he does.

Ow... Brenna cringed a bit at how hard the rhinoman's kick seemed. "It's supposed to be a friendly spar," Brenna reminded Lady Helena, with as much civility in her tone as she could manage. Put her in there against either of them and knock the stuffing out of her...

Maybe, she hoped, she'd able to avoid the lady during their travels tomorrow.

Mokk knew better than to simply charge head first at a dwarf. Pint had a lower center of gravity and a staff which gave him a long reach. If Mokk charged head first, that same head would get cracked with the staff. A charge is better against a bigger target like an orc or even bigger humans. Tactics are everything. Mokk has also never been much of a swordsman. A wooden one would be little more than a club in his hand.

Mokk favored blunt heavy weapons, such as a warhammer or mace. Several similar weapons were locked up in his carriage's safe. The Rhino's sensitive ears would be alerted by his horses' cries if anyone dared rummage through his vehicle.

The tactics he was using now mostly relied on his reflexes and ability to stand his ground. Mokk had his horn wrapped for safety from incidental contact. There didn't seem to be a good way to lightly tap a dwarf with the organic weapon. The Rhinoman had little trust that bandages would prevent Pint from being impaled.

As the kick landed, Mokk realized it hit harder than he planned. Talk started coming about closing the fight. Someone even rudely called him a monster. An onlooker approached and asked about ending things. Mokk knew the dwarf wouldn't overreact like these humans, nor would he end the fight. A dwarf would have been more offended if an opponent took it easy on them.

He had to shift out of the kick and twist. There was space, but Pint didn't slack on recovering. A sudden burst carried the heavy form into a sprint. Mokk's head was higher than a horn first charge, pointed away from the dwarf. Large arms reached out to grapple with Pint. His intent was to hopefully take him to the ground. There was still a chance Pint could crack him away with the staff or even outpower him in the grapple. He would likely have to take a blow before even having the chance to successfully grapple.

Dwarves may be short, but they could easily match a Rhinoman's strength. Mokk knew this as he undertook his bold move. It could easily turn out wrong for the charging figure.

"Hah! Come on, lads! That was just a love tap!" Pint laughed as he heard people trying to call off the fight just because he took a kick to the shoulder, had they never seen sparring before? Nevertheless, the dwarf laughed off a wound that looked like would have taken out of commission some of the soldiers in the fort. Backing up, he rolled his injured shoulder to force circulation back into his arm. A fierce grin in his mouth, showing through his bright red beard. "Yer a fighter I'll give ye that! Certainly better than most orcs I've fought!" No, it didn't look like Pint had any intentions of calling the fight, he ain't no pansy!

Likewise, Pint knew better than to thrust his staff out like if it was a spear. With that much momentum coming into the charge, even if the tip of the quarterstaff was blunt he could very well accidentally run Mokk through. He might be vicious but he was also a trained fighter and knew about safety in spars.

That is why when he saw Mokk charging at him, rather than brace himself and extended the staff out as some might do out of reflex, Pint counter charged holding his staff horizontally. He shoved the staff forward aiming to check Mokk with it across the chest, slamming him hard to push him off from his attempted grapple and straight send him to the ground if the impact of his hockey body check was hard enough.

Mokk grapples Pint and attempts to force him to the ground. Pint counter-attacks by imposing his staff, held horizontally, but it's a bad move, Mokk is too close to him.