[AFG Arena] Coulter Minith vs Tor'Ssss'kk

[Masamune]

OOC: Continued from here.

Naz directed Koregar to the arena in the Western City, and by the time he arrived, Emit, one of the refs and announcers, hurried over before he even made it in the doors.

"Quick, c'mon! It's almost your turn!" He guided Coulter into the audience seating near the fighting pit, and waited as the current contestants finished their match.

Space soon opened up on the pit as the two men who'd been in a high-tension grudgematch finished, one wiping blood from his mouth as the other nursed a few bruises on his face. At a nod from Emit a saurid leapt over the rope and into the ring. He walked into the center and raised both arms to the crowd as he turned round, fist clenched. He received a mixture of boos and hisses, to which his fists were altered into a rather rude gesture at the taunts that came from the crowd. Clearly the people loved to hate this fighter and he bantered with those who sat closest to the ring, challenging them to come and take him on.

The raptorian lizardman's scaled torso was as thick as a tree trunk with dark scales that looked like they might have been shimmering red once, but now barely a dull, dusky red-brown as though they'd been burned. Light, black cloth trousers clung to him like a second skin, soft and flexible, and his bare clawed feet offered better traction, mobility, and agility than any boots could have.

Emit nodded at Coulter. "Well, there is your chance. Tor'Ssss'kk's not the most noble of fighters, but he's fairly skilled and should be a good contest for ya."

Emit put his hands to his mouth and yelled down to the pit. "I've got fresh meat for you here Tor'Ssss'kk, said something about scalies needing to climb back under the rock they crawled out from!" Emit grinned and winked at Coulter while the crowd turned and focused on the dwarf, staring and then baiting him as they had Tor'Ssss'kk, who in his turn now made yet more guestures at the dwarf which could not be interpreted in any other way but as being impolite.

"Whatsssssss he fighting with?" The saurid asked, and Emit smirked.

"Shortsword and shield." This drew a full, sissing bellylaugh from the raptorian.

"Sssssoft and tender pinkssssskin doessssssn't know hissss plasssssssse." he cackled before turning to his attendee, who slid what looked like a thin gladius and round shield under the ropes. "We're doing thisssss with weaponssssss, ssssso have the healersssss on ssssstandby...don't want thisssss fresh young hatchling bleeding out on me like a sssssstuck boar..." As he readied himself, he turned and waited for Coulter to join him with a predatorial grin.

[Coulter Minith]

The insults and petty name-calling of his cold-blooded opponent when right over the young dwarfen challenger’s bearded head. Coulter Minith was too experienced, too sure in his own abilities to worry about what some giant lizard thought and believed. Instead of wasting his short-time before the match begins trading insults, the experienced dwarfen fighter grazed upon his opponent like a lion staking an antelope.

It was instantly obvious and apparent to Coulter Minith that his opponent was vastly taller than himself. However unlike other races as humans, the prospect of facing an opponent taller and larger than himself wasn’t anything new to the four-foot tall dwarf. Indeed in facing someone considerable larger than himself probably gave the young dwarfen warrior an advantage over more taller races in facing a member of the raptorian race. That advantage was simply the attacks Tor’Ssss’kk would be facing would be coming from an angle and direction the saurid hadn’t probably trained for. It wasn’t ground breaking, it wasn’t major, but it was something and when you where fighting an unknown opponent any advantage would do.

Having warmed up before entering the arena, Coulter Minith was as ready as he was going to be for his upcoming fight, and so went to face Tor’Ssss’kk. Stopping several paces away from his opponent Coulter Minith would enter a simple defensive stance, a stance seen on numerous battlefields throughout the ages. If Tor’Ssss’kk, or anyone else for that matter, took the time to glance towards the black-bearded dwarf they would see that his right boot was slightly behind his left; less obvious was that his body was centred. They would see that the majority of his body was protected and covered by his metal round-shield with the crest of Daltina upon it front, held in his left hand. While his right hand held one of his short-swords ready to strike forwards.

With his rocky coloured eyes peering over the top rim of his shield, his hair cover by his simple metal helmet, Coulter Minith waited for his opponent to come towards him and see what time would bring.

[Masamune]

Coulter was balanced and defensible, and he was ready for a fight. Amateur fighters might not have picked up on his perperations for combat, but Tor'Ssss'kk was no amateur. His skill was comperable to Coulter's own, and as the lizard stood on the balls of his clawed feet, weapon and shield at the ready, he waited to observe the newcomer's moves. He noticed the practiced ease with which Coulter fell into his defensive stance and what's more he recognized that the dwarf wasn't rattled by the insults. His serpentine eyes narrowed as he realized this wasn't one to be taken lightly.

"Oh," The raptorian responded, "You're one of thosssssse typesssss." By that he of course meant the defensive kind that was more prone to defense and counterattack than taking an active role during the 'attack' phase of a normal fight. Defensive types frustrated Tor'Ssss'kk the most, because with them it was more of a drawn out fight of tactical and logistical precision rather than a hot-blooded, feel-the-flow-of-combat type of movements, which is what dominated Tor'Ssss'kk's predatorial fighting style. Either he needed to sucker Coulter into fighting at his pace, or he needed to slow himself to match the dwarf's...and he'd be damned if he started altering the way he fought for the sake of this pinkskin.

"Come at me and die or wait to be killed, it'sssss all the sssssame to me..." Shield held in a defensive manner--as would be expected of a shield--he charged at Coulter. Perhaps it was expected, perhaps it wasn't, but he held his sword out, parallel to the ground, as though intending to drive it just over the rim of the shield and right into the dwarf's face. As far as direct attacks went, this one seemed very straight-forward. So either he hoped to beat down Coulter's defenses, which was quite possible, or the attack was a feint.

Either way Coulter had only an instant to react to the startlingly quick movements of the saurid.

[Coulter Minith]

During his six short decades of life, Coulter Minith had only ever met a few members of the saurid race before, but had never fought one, and as such the young four-foot tall dwarf didn’t really know what to expect from his cold bloodied opponent. It was true that the ex-dwarfen soldier had during his time serving in the rank and file of the Daltina militia faces his share of unknown opponents. These opponents ranged from the usual orcish and giant warriors to more extraordinary opponents such as a metallic like monster created by the Malice Three to attack the City of Daltina. Therefore having had some limited experience in facing unknown opponents before, Coulter Minith wasn’t seriously worried about facing Tor’Ssss’kk and his unknown abilities upon the sandy floor of the arena.

However, although Coulter Minith wasn’t seriously worried about facing his unknown opponent, didn’t mean that the young dwarfen warrior was taking his match against Tor’Ssss’kk in any way, shape or form lightly. For unless he made some seriously stupid mistake, the young dwarf had every chance of walking out of the arena a winner, or at the very least walking out alive. Therefore wanting to make a good impression upon the judge of the adventurer and fighter’s guild, Coulter Minith watched closely his cold-bloodied opponent waiting for him to make the first move.

When the move came, what looked to Coulter Minith like a simple running attack wasn’t really something that the experienced dwarfen warrior had been expecting from his cold-bloodied opponent to try on the very first move of the match. Like himself, Coulter Minith had expected his opponent to try a few simple attacks to gain some idea of the level and experience of his opponent before seriously trying the finish the match; this therefore wasn’t going to be the case.

Instantly coming to the conclusion that his opponent was either extremely confidant about finishing the fight quickly or was equally stupid, the solid muscular body of the dwarfen warrior reacted in the speed that only a veteran warrior could process. Simply put, Coulter Minith would at the very last second, if it was a real attack, take a step to his right, placing his metal round shield in the path of his opponent’s sword point to deflect it away, and perhaps blunting it somewhat. Instantly upon hopefully feeling the solid connect between metal round shield and sword point, the short-sword of the young dwarf would pierce forward looking to strike the unguarded legs of his opponent.

Whatever the outcome, the experienced dwarfen warrior would retreat backward from his cold-bloodied opponent placing himself back into his standard defensive position eyes firmly locked upon his saurid opponent.

[Masamune]

As Coulter deflected the attack with his shield, a siss of laughter echoed from the throat of the raptorian. Coulter was quick for a veteran dwarf, but Raptorians were prized among the cold-blooded species for their speed above all else. Coult was quick, but Tor'Ssss'kk was quicker. With the blade deflected and the dwarf attempting his own attack, the saurid spun, swinging his shield in a low outward arc, and smacked the flat of the blade to cause the attack to go wide. He maintained the spin, his powerful, muscled tail flicking out at full force to slam into the side of the dwarf.

It wasn't enough to knock him off balance, but the blow, coming from the side, circumvented his shield and thus the impact against his shoulder was rather harsh. Nothing was broken, but it would definately tighten and become sore if he didn't put a cold compress on it later. Meanwhile, the saurid finished his full revolution to face off against the dwarf, shield and blade again at the ready, and this time he waited.

"Your turn," he taunted quietly, his eyes glittering with private amusement. So many forgot about the dangers of a tail...a rookie mistake to make against a saurid, which made it clear he hadn't fought many.

[Coulter Minith]

The stinging whack by his cold blooded opponent had hurt the young dwarfen warrior in more ways than just pain. The considerable pride of the veteran warrior had been blackened by the casual turning of his attack and the ease in which the saurid had been able to breech his own defensives. However, nothing was ever learnt without a little pain, or at least Coulter Minith believed so, and the black-bearded dwarf had learnt a lot about not only his opponent abilities, but the saurid race in general.

Having came into this arena fight totally oblivious to his opponent's race and racial abilities, the hardern dwarfen adventurer had known that he would be fighting at a somewhat clear disadvantage. However after there first exchange Coulter Minith had learn some things about his opponent, which would be of great use in the moments to come. The lizardman was quick, perhaps quicker than his dwarfen opponent. Furthermore the use of its tail as if it was another limb/weapon was something totally new to the bearded warrior, and would therefore had to be something to look out for. With these observations in mind, Coulter Minith tried to formulate a plan of action in order to defeat this latest opponent.

However the simple fact of the matter was that, although the talented bearded fellow had learn some things about his cold blooded opponent, there was still lots more needed to be known before a clear picture of Tor'Ssss'kk's abilities was known. With this simple task in mind the four-foot tall, 250 pound dwarf instantly decided to test the physical strenght of his opponent.

Therefore without any visuable warnings or words, Coulter Minith would race forward towards his opponent looking to shield bash the saurid's shield; the result of which Coulter Minith hoped was to unbalance Tor'Ssss'kk and perhaps gain an advantage. If his cold blooded opponent tried the same trick with his tail once more, Coulter Minith would try and dodge backwards out of its way while trying to score a hit along its length.

[Masamune]

Raptorians were quick and they did have explosively powerful muscles for such a purpose as speed, but in a question of endurance and brute strength, odds were a lizardman would lose to a dwarf every time. Being a native of Primus Gaudeo with as many dwarves as the city had--almost over three hundred thousand at last count, if the saurid remembered correctly--Tor'Ssss'kk was no stranger to this concept, as he'd fought more dwarves then his opponent had lizardmen. Thus when Coulter went in for the shield bash, the serpentine opponent sidestepped the bashing motion. Though he didn't miss it all--it still clipped his shield, but not the full force of the blow--he did dodge a contest of strength and endurance with the dwarf.

Such an action did not come without a price, however. Using his shield to redirect the remnants of the blow forcibly turned the saurid, exposing his right flank. The awkward angle would permit him to turn the sword to parry a bit, but such an act would be difficult...but then again, such an exposure could well be a lure to use that deadly thick tail as a bludgeoning weapon again...it was up to Coult on if he'd take advantage of it or be weary and look for a different opening, or perhaps try a different tactic all together.

Meanwhile the surrounding crowd was jeering loudly. Many at Coulter, but most at Tor'Ssss'kk, as it seemed he was the kind everyone loved to hate. Some money exchanged hands as well, placing bets on the fight...and most of them were in favor of the saurid, especially after that last exchange. Coulter would have to show his stuff if he wanted to win the favor of the crowd.

[Coulter Minith]

If there was one thing true about every fighting upon the gritty, sandy fighting floor of the arena, it was that numerous fans, spectators and fighters come and go, but only the memory of truly great fights and fighters lived long in the hearts and memories of those spectators. Therefore with this in mind the young laird of Clan Minith cared little about his popularity, or lack there of, within the teaming masses of spectators watching his latest fight upon the sandy area floor. The young black-bearded dwarfen warrior known to some as Coulter Minith was fighting for one reason, and one reason along and that was to win.

The probation fight between the young dwarfen warrior and his cold blooded opponent was so far anything but pretty for Coulter Minith, the experienced arena fighter had known before entering into this fight that Tor’Ssss’kk would had an obvious advantage over him in terms of experience fighting the Children of Cetheron. As a result of this lack of experience the young black-bearded had had to perform several simple offensive and defensive moves to try and gain some insight into not only the temperament, but the tactics and abilities of his cold blood opponent. Having therefore gained this much needed knowledge about the raptorian the four-foot tall dwarfen ex-soldier was now able to pick up the pace.

Taken the opportunity presented to him by his earlier actions, the winter coloured eyed dwarf would step into his opponent looking to attack his right flank with his short-sword while looking to block any swinging tail with his sword. No matter the outcome the experienced dwarfen warrior would look to keep on attacking his cold blooded opponent looking to keep his already unbalanced opponent unbalanced while trying to cause some serious damage.

[Masamune]

As Coult took the percieved opening, it seemed the opportunity was genuine. As his shortsword dipped into Tor'Ssss'kk's defense, the reptilian eyes narrowed to slits as he spun away, trying to use centripital force to help deflect the incoming blade. Unfortunately for the saurid, it wasn't entirely successful. As he backpedaled to evade the incoming sword it still grazed his side, drawing some of the cold blood from beneath his scales, dying those nearby scales.

The spin had a second effect, which was to give added force to his tale, which he hurled at the dwarf. Coulter, who was onguard for just such an attack, deflected it with his shield. Even so the tail, with both spin and muscle behind it, crashed into the laird with what would have been bone-crunching force for many races, but for the dwarf was still a relatively heafty impact. It forced him to focus on maintaining his defense from the tail, which permitted the saurid to pirouette away from the onslaught the vertically challenged warrior had presented him with, while--if only temporarily--forcing the dwarf to remain stationary to absorb the blow.

It bought Tor'Ssss'kk the time he needed to reset himself before stutterstepping towards the dwarf. Ideally, after that the dwarf would be rushing the saurid, and the lizardman would counter by turning his body and condensing it behind his shield. It seemed the saurid had decided to attempt his own shield bash after all.

[Coulter Minith]

After what seemed like several candlemarks to the perception of Coulter Minith, but was in reality only a few moments, all thoughts of this match just being a training exercise to judge the skill of the bearded contestant’s skills and abilities seemed to have left the building several cuts ago. Indeed the contest between the dwarf and the saurid now looked like what it truly was two warriors with their blood up baying and looking for not only the blood of their opponent, but perhaps their death as well. The contestants, however, for all their huffing and puffing seemed to be evenly matched with both parties having received and given numerous hits and blows from and to their opposite number.

While on the surface it looked, at least to any casual untrained observer that the young black-bearded dwarf seemed to be winning this evenly fought contest; purely on the basics of less visible blood flowing, Coulter Minith being the trained and experienced fighter that he was knew that wasn’t the cause. Having over the period of exchanges between both parties got to know and understand the abilities and skills of his cold blooded opponent the black-bearded dwarf knew that Tor'Ssss'kk still had many more opinions open to him and that this fight was far from being over; anything could and probably would happen in the next few moments perhaps even his own death.

The most worrying issue, at least in the wintry grey eyes of Coulter Minith, raised over the latest exchange and indeed over the course of the fight was that once more the tail of his cold blooded opponent had breeched the four-foot tall dwarf’s defences once again; truly this match was a lesson, a painful one at that, in how to combat one of the oldest and deadliest warrior races upon the surface of Telath. Knowing that in the long run his inability to combat this taily threat of his reptilian opponent would probably cost him the match, Coulter Minith decided upon a course of action that would let him use his most favourite of moves; a decision in part influenced by Tor'Ssss'kk sudden charge and the likelihood he was trying his own shield bash.

Having made up his mind in the time it takes an eye to blink; Coulter Minith would also start to run towards his opponent looking to do his own shield bash with a twist. However this move was a simple faint. Hopefully all things going right, instantly upon hitting his opponent’s shield Coulter Minith would spin to his left using his opponent’s shield to push himself around his opponent’s right hand side in a giant spin. In the process of completing this action the ex-dwarfen soldier would use his momentum to whip is short-sword around with him, looking to connect with his blade some part of his opponent’s hopefully unguarded tail.

[Masamune]

By all appearances, it seemed that Tor'Ssss'kk was going in for a shield bash, but appearances could be deceiving. What the lizardman had counted on was exactly what had failed him, however. He had banked on the thought that when challenged to a contest of strength, a dwarf's contrary mindset would force him to face the attack head-on to prove himself. Coult spun to the left, dodging the 'shield bash'. With a fierce hiss, the lizardman was displaying cold fury at having his attack dodged, for indeed he had raised his shield arm in a gamble, exposing his chest so he could reach and grab the edge of the dwarf's shield for malevolent purposes. Clawed digits snagged the edge of the metal, but held on to it for no more than a fleeting second.

Because of the saurid's own trickery, his plan did not go as planned either, however. Rather than using the scaled beast's attack to aid his momentum, the talons gripped the edge, raking thin divots in the inside edge of the construct where his claws raked across the material as it was yanked from his grasp Because of it, it slowed Coult's spin, leaving him dangerously exposed. Both turned to attack the bared form of the other; the laird of Clan Minith targeting the tail as his cold-blooded opponent went for the blade arm of the stubby-limbed dwarf, taking the time to sidetrack it's way across the dwarf's exposed flesh.

The end result was not pretty for either contestant. A deep gash found it's way along Coulter's side and along his sword arm--not enough to hinder him severely, but enough to slow his movement, cause a fair amount of pain with strenuous action, and cause his previously relatively unharmed form to leak mildly copious amounts of lifeblood--while his spinning strike had lopped off the last foot of the raptorian's tail. The scaled creature was howling in pain at having had the end of his tail removed (butchered with merciless precision, he would later recount in his drunken telling of the 'six-foot-tall' dwarf with 'glowing black' eyes) but he hadn't dropped his defenses. On the contrary, he balanced himself perfectly, his eyes no longer glowering with superiority, but shining only with righteous fury.

"Big misssstake, ssssssmoothssssskin....tonight your pink sssskin will decorate my wall, and your entrailsssss sssshall sssssparkle on my blade!" It was clear that this had turned from a sparring match with a big-talking lizard to a grudge match where the intended outcome, by at least one of the participants, was death. Tossing abandon to the wind by the looks of it, Tor'Ssss'kk charged in and began making multiple high-speed, shallow stabs from around the edge of his shield as his eyes seemed to scream even as his throat let loose a primal howl of one elongated word, almost spat venomously.

"Ssssssssssuuuuufffferrrrrrrrrrr!"

[Coulter Minith]

There were two quite obvious, possibly fatal for both combatants, outcomes from this latest exchange between both warriors and the horribly mutilation of his reptilian opponent’s tail; one positive and the other negative. The positive and equally fortunate outcome, at least for the experienced dwarfen fighter, was that his cold blooded opponent was now deeply angered and enraged, and as his old Halfling drill-sergeant in the Daltina Militia was known to say; an enraged opponent was an opponent already halfway to the grave. Given enough time Coulter Minith knew his cold-blooded opponent would at some point make a mistake, and all the four-foot tall dwarf had to do was survive long enough to take advantage of it when it came.

The problem the experienced dwarfen warrior now faced, and was the negative outcome from his mutilations of Tor’Ssss’kk’s tail, was that now Coulter Minith was facing an angered and enraged saurid warrior. This problem was extremely serious for the four-foot tall dwarfen warrior.

Having, as a direct result of his attack upon his cold blooded opponent’s tail, been deeply wounded upon his right sword arm, Coulter Minith was reluctant to take any chances of wounding it further. Another, more serious crimpling wound to his sword arm wouldn’t just mean the lose of any chance of continuing his journey along the path of the warrior, but quite obviously his death as well. Therefore not trusting his wound sword arm to parry any of his now enraged opponent’s attacks, and knowing his own limitations because of this, Coulter Minith would resume a defensive posture and position himself behind his Daltinain crested metal round shield, and would start to back away from his cold blooded opponent.

However the dwarfen race where not called the Children of Cetheron for nothing, and like the Tireless warrior himself Coulter Minith wasn’t about it give up and run away from any opponent, least of all a fork tongued lizard. The black-bearded contestant’s apparent retreat before Tor’Ssss’kk was nothing more than a tactical retreat in order to draw his opponent onwards and to increase not only his confidences, but hopefully the carelessness of his cold blooded opponent. Praying to Cetheron that his plan had worked, Coulter Minith would upon either upon the third or fourth step backwards suddenly step forward towards Tor’Ssss’kk looking to knock aside his opponent’s short-sword before gabbing forward with his own short-sword looking to pierce his opponent’s defensive and inflict further damage enough the reptilian.

[Masamune]

Tor'Ssss'kk's fury was relentless. The saurid came with several of his shallow stabs, attacking fiercely, and as Coulter withrdrew, the saurid only pressed further. His eyes, somehow seeming cold and burning with rage at the same time, only showed the severity of the saurid's state. He was angry and unstable. Unbeknownst to Coulter, his tail was one of his vanity points. To have his tail simply mangled like that...it incited fury the saurid didn't know he had. This could either be a very good thing for the dwarf, or very bad depending on how things played out.

As the lizardman advanced, Coulter eventually changed tactics and charged forward. He swept the lizardman's sword aside with his shield, jabbing with his own shortsword in an attempt to counter Tor’Ssss’kk's own defense. So infuriated was the saurid that as the shortsword slid past the shield and slammed home into his left thigh, Coult's opponent didn't even seem to feel it. He reached down and grabbed the weapon by the blade with his arm the shield was strapped to, holding it in place, and simultaneously slammed his fist, still holding his shortsword, into the dwarf's temple. After having deflected the blade and moving in close, the dwarf had overextended the reach of his shield, as his opponent could come in from above it now, the twist to get it above too awkward to keep the blade in hand from its pinned position and deflect the incoming attack.

The saurid was bleeding severely out of leg and tail, but his counter attack had proved successful. The blow came with such force that Coulter was left with little choice but to stumble backwards, his vision blurring. Normally it might have simply hurt, but with the sword in hand reinforcing the blow, it had felt almost like a warhammer to the skull. It wasn't without it's problems for his opponent, however, as his firm and stubborn dwarven grip had kept hold of the sword, which meant with blade in hand, Tor’Ssss’kk' was bleeding from his tail and his leg profusely, and his hand that had been holding the sword was rather cut up as well.

His angry hissing shuddered a bit with each breath, but aside from that his rage still seemed to be fueling him, ash e came for the dwarf again, this time swinging fiercely from side to side, while holding his shield defensively to protect him from attack.

[Coulter Minith]

Truly the path of the warrior was filled with interesting and unusual situations, even when the warrior wasn’t looking for adventures. From a simple sparring match to judge the abilities and characterises of the black-bearded dwarfen warrior had somehow evolved into a life or death match between what appeared to be an unmovable object and an unstoppable one. Well aware that his life depended on not only concentrating and focusing upon his cold-blooded opponent, but also not being the first to make a mistake, Coulter Minith tried to formulate a plan of action. That is just what Coulter Minith did.

Having appeared to have weathered the storm of an enraged saurid warrior, the four-foot tall Coulter Minith would use this small gracing period to draw several deep breathes and to once more study Tor’Ssss’kk. The fight was heading towards its last, final act. Both combatants where injured in numerous places and the blood of both warrior races where flowing and dripping upon the sandy floor of the arena. Heads and bodies had been battered and bruised, and it would appear obvious even to the less educated spectator that this truly spectacular spectacle was nearing its conclusion.

Using the short, mutual beneficial armistices to try and clear his recently bashed bearded head and to try and get rid of all the circling stars that had somehow appeared during the brighteninglight. While genteelly shaking his bearded head, Coulter Minith’s grey coloured eyes wouldn’t leave the still standing form of his cold-blooded opponent. Having many eras of life and countless fights of experienced to draw upon, the experienced dwarfen warrior could easily tell the Tor’Ssss’kk was badly hurt, perhaps even more so than his own dwarfen body. Over time, Coulter Minith knew, the wounds upon his cold-blooded opponent’s thigh and recently shorten tail would weaken the saurid, through blood lose and would give the young dwarf the chance to end this fight with him as the victories victor. However time wasn’t something that the young dwarfen male had; he himself being considerable injured during the course of the fight.

Realizing that it would be better to try and end the fight quickly than to wait for both combatants to weaken further through blood lose, Coulter Minith quickly came to a plan of action that he hoped would finish the fight once and for all. The plane itself the black-bearded dwarfen warrior settled upon was simple in every sense of the words. Like himself his cold-blooded opponent was fighting right handed with his metal round-shield held in his left hand, just like the majority warriors within the world of Aelyria. Therefore Coulter Minith’s plan was to go on the offensive using the same tactics and techniques used by Tor’Ssss’kk that had forced the young dwarf backwards earlier on in the fight.

What the former Daltina soldier was trying to do was to force his cold-blooded opponent to step backwards, placing his considerable weight upon his injured leg. Hopefully this wounded and weakened leg would buckle under the pressure, lowing his shield in the process of trying to stay in balance. Than with his cold-blooded opponent upper body hopefully undefended, the dwarfen warrior would look to pierce the sharpen tip of his short-sword into the throat of the saurid, killing him outright.