<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/b/bc/Belanor.jpg)</div><strong>Dask</strong><br/><strong>Current Identity:</strong>Mirodas<br/>Changeling Alienist<br/><strong>HP:</strong>51/51 ;<strong>Status:</strong>Under the effects of Extended<em>Arcane Sight</em>, Extended<em>Greater Mage Armor</em>, Extended<em>Greater Magic Weapon</em>, Extended<em>Ray Deflection</em>, Extended<em>Resist Energy</em>x5 (Resist 20 vs Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, Sonic), Extended<em>Tongues</em>, Extended<em>Water Breathing</em>,<em>Overland Flight</em><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spells Memorized (CL 10, DC 15 + spell level)</div><div class="spoiler_body"><ul class="bbc_list"><li>5th (3/day + 1) - <em>Baleful Polymorph, Baleful Polymorph, Greater Blink</em>(Spell Compendium) + <em>Wall of Stone</em></li><li>4th (4/day + 1) - <em>Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Evard's Black Tentacles, Polymorph</em> + <em>Dimension Door</em></li><li>3rd (4/day + 1) - <em>Dispel Magic, Haste, Shrink Item, Stinking Cloud</em> + <em>Stinking Cloud</em></li><li>2nd (5/day + 1) - <em>Invisibility, Mirror Image, Ray of Stupidity, Ray of Stupidity,</em>(Spell Compendium)<em>, Web</em> + <em>Glitterdust</em></li><li>1st (6/day + 1) - <em>Grease, Nerveskitter</em>(Spell Compendium), Shield, Silent Image, True Strike, True Strike[/i] + <em>Grease</em></li><li>0th (4/day + 1) - <em>Launch Item</em>(Spell Compendium)<em>, Mage Hand, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation</em> + <em>Caltrops</em>(Spell Compendium)</li></ul></div></div><hr/><br/>Though he was still consumed by a profound sense of irritation, Dask's thoughts had already moved on to combat strategy, as he returned to the waiting room and the arcane glow of the<em>Spell Engine</em>it contained.  He had already planned to swap out his list of prepared spells for something more suited to combat, but with the challenges they had just undergone, it was obvious that there was room for further refinement over what he would have normally prepared to begin with.  In particular, the results on the test of spirit made it clear that it wasn't even worth preparing any spells targeting the enemy's will unless he himself would have had at least a 50% chance of succumbing to it, and since he didn't know any spells of that strength that explicitly targeted an enemy's willpower, the spells he knew that did, such as<em>Charm Monster</em>and<em>Unluck</em>, would clearly be of little use in this competition.<br/><br/>Targeting the enemy's bodily fortitude or using spells that they could only avoid by quick reflexes, on the other hand, would probably be excellent strategies to pursue.  Fortunately, one of his most powerful spells of that type would also be perfect for taking on Medah Blackfeather and achieving his true goal.  And facing down Blackfeather was something he was sure would happen, thanks to his angel's divinations.<br/><br/>Spells were refreshed and swapped out, all of his buffs except the ones that literally would last all day were recast, and two new spells, Extended<em>Arcane Sight</em>(20 min) and Extended<em>Ray Deflection</em>(20 min) were added on as well.  Then his spells were refreshed again, the combat spells he had decided upon were prepared, and he was ready to head back out onto the field.  And once he was out on the field?  The changeling couldn't help the slightly savage smile that spread across his lips, once he saw who he would be paired up against in the first round.  Just as he had dared to hope for, Osama Obsidian would be his opponent in the very first round.  From there, he could guess that Blackfeather would win in the second, and they would be paired off against one another in the third.<br/><br/>The arena had transformed once again, three decently-sized rings worked into a floor made of sand.  It was into one of these rings that the changeling stepped, the warlock already facing him down from within it.  Then they had a moment for a brief exchange, and Obsidian was quick to take advantage of it.<br/><br/>"I sense darkness within you, young man; you wield potent arcane energies, yet I do not know you.  Would you be interested in joining my guild after this tournament is over?"  The offer was accompanied by a small display of the man's power, raw magical energy welling up in the palm of his hands in a way that looked visually-impressive, but that Dask knew would not be used to actually accomplish anything.  It was an attempt by the warlock to make his offer more enticing by showing his own power, and yet all it really did was irritate the wizard further.<br/><br/>"Sorry, but I'm not in the habit of joining guilds run by losers who get knocked out in the first round."  The most irritating part about it was that the changeling might have actually seriously considered the offer if circumstances were different.  Not just the personal distaste he'd developed for the man as a result of the competition, but the chain of events that had brought him to enter the competition, or even that had brought him to Damalla in the first place...  Without that particular disaster hanging over his head, he might have seriously considered joining Obsidian's guild, if only to use them to further his own knowledge and power.<br/><br/>"So you'll join if I beat you, then?"  But then, that disaster was what had brought him to Damalla to begin with, and figuring out what he was going to do about it had brought him to the tournament.  So there was no point dwelling on what could have been, because joining would never have been an option for him in the first place... and that just made the man's persistence go from irritating to infuriating.<br/><br/>"...We'll see."<br/><br/>After the rules were explained to the contestants, a gong was struck and the first round of the tournament began.  And right off the bat, the blue glow of a spell suffused Dask's body as he triggered a quick, weak effect.<em>Nerveskitter</em>supercharged his nervous system for a few seconds, enhancing his reaction time and allowing him to be quicker on the draw than his opponent.  A quick grin split his lips as he finished chanting his spell well before his opponent completed the magic he was working, and the<em>Baleful Polymorph</em>spell he launched began to work its magic on his foe.<br/><br/>Something quickly caught the changeling's eye, however.  The warlock wore a silver medallion, studded with seven garnet gemstones, two of which were dull and cracked, and as Dask watched, one of the untarnished gems glowed in time with the pulse of the spell that had been cast, before cracking and losing its luster as well.  Obsidian remained unchanged, standing there completely unharmed and not transformed into a toad as Dask had intended.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The wizard was still coming to grips with the fact that the warlock was wearing a magic item designed explicitly to protect against unwanted<em>Polymorph</em>effects when the<em>Eldritch Blast</em>slammed straight into his chest, the raw arcane energy nearly knocking him off his feet as it caught him dead-on.  Then the glowing orange bead hidden in the center of that mass of eldritch purple fire exploded, and white-hot flames engulfed the changeling and the surrounding 20 feet of space all around him as the Empowered, Maximized<em>Fireball</em>that had been skillfully woven into the blast went off.<br/><br/>"Hmm.  That may have been a bit much..."  Needless to say, after an impressive display like that, Osama Obsidian was quite convinced he'd won.<em>Resist Energy</em>could only do so much, and between the metamagic that had been used to amp up that<em>Fireball</em>'s power and the<em>Eldritch Blast</em>that had come before it, he would be rather surprised if the elven wizard he'd faced off against was even still alive, much less conscious after his attack.<br/><br/>And that was why he was taken off-guard by the figure that suddenly rushed forward out of the subsiding flames, blonde elven hair badly singed, robes smoking from the heat, skin noticeably burnt.  It was why the warlock was slow to react, as his opponent approached within extreme close range of him.<br/><br/>"<em>Stinking Cloud</em>!"  Thick black vapor poured forth from the wizard's hands as he completed his spell, choking, blinding smoke that obscured Obsidian's sight and left him feeling sick and disoriented, but this was only an extra magical trick thrown on to the spell itself, a prelude to the thick cloud of white vapor that spread out from a point behind the warlock and quickly spread to engulf him.  And if he had felt sickened before, then the effect of that white fog was absolutely nauseating...<br/><br/><hr/><br/>It wasn't luck that had led to Dask's survival when that<em>Fireball</em>went off, but instead a sudden moment of ỉ̸̮n̶͓̔s̶̱͌ȉ̸̹g̷̼̑h̷͈̉ṭ̵̕, an instinct to glance down at the<em>Eldritch Blast</em>as it slammed into his chest and an immediate recognition of what it was.  It was almost like some silent voice had whispered to him what to do in that moment, and he had rolled with the blast as a result, managing to lessen the spell's impact on his body, cutting the damage it did by about half, though even then, he still felt that burning heat through the<em>Resist Energy</em>spell that he had cast.<br/><br/>His immediate move after that had been one of the alternate strategies he'd considered while preparing spells.<em>Evard's Black Tentacles</em>would probably be useless against this opponent, since he probably possessed one of those magic rings that provided the benefits of a<em>Freedom of Movement</em>spell, but the next best option would be to cut off his ability to cast spells, which<em>Stinking Cloud</em>would do nicely.  Watching the man stumble around him and out of the cloud's area, coughing and retching all the while, the changeling knew that he had a moment or two to consider his next move.<br/><br/>Thinking about it, it made sense that the master of a guild that specialized in darker magic and was rumored to conduct forbidden experiments would be carrying an Amulet of Inviolate Form.  It would protect against any and all attempts to change the wearer's form against his will, including through various monster abilities, as well as various spells.  It had a limited number of uses, but from the looks of it, the man still had four charges left, which was far more than the one casting of<em>Baleful Polymorph</em>that Dask still had.  Not that burning through all of those charges was really an option to begin with; the effects of the<em>Stinking Cloud</em>would wear off well before then, now that the warlock was outside of the spell's area, and even just another<em>Eldritch Blast</em>would be enough to take the changeling out.<br/><br/>And the fact that the<em>Eldritch Blast</em>had ignored his<em>Ray Deflection</em>was rather concerning, as well...<br/><br/>"<em>Dispel Magic.</em>"  No, far better to simply take that Amulet out of play for a little while with a well-aimed dispel.  And once it was gone, the warlock was still left choking and retching, trying in vain to retreat out of range as the wizard cast his next spell. "<em>Baleful Polymorph.</em>"<br/><br/>And with that, Osama Obsidian was finally transformed into a toad.  His clothing, gear, and all those fancy protective magical items that he had clearly been counting on to keep him safe during this portion of the competition dropped to the ground, and Dask, moving as though he wished to confirm his victory, spent a little time rooting through that small pile of clothing and gear before picking up the toad that had been hiding within.  Since it was clear that his opponent could no longer continue the fight, the judges were already pronouncing the changeling the winner.<br/><br/>"So as I told you from the start, I'm not in the habit of joining up with losers who get knocked out in the first round."  And the victorious changeling was more than happy to gloat.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Compared to the fight against Obsidian, Dask's match against Medah Blackfeather in the third round was something of an anticlimax.  Both wizards started the match with castings of<em>Nerveskitter</em>, but thanks to an extra reaction-enhancing enchantment worked into the dagger he carried, Dask was able to once again pull off his spell first.  Blackfeather clearly hadn't had an extra 11,000 gold pieces to spend on the sort of situational defense that an Amulet of Inviolate Form would provide, which in turn meant that the other wizard was utterly defenseless against the changeling's first spell.<br/><br/>Dask had been keeping the ticket he had bought in his spell component pouch, and he already had it in hand as he walked up to the pile of clothing and gear within which hid the newt that he had turned Blackfeather into.  Once again, he pretended to rummage around for the newt, but this time he was checking the other wizard's pockets, looking through his bags and any wallet the man might have carried.  Once he found the other man's ticket, it was a simple matter of swapping the two of them, after which point he actually began looking for the newt and held it up victoriously afterwards.<br/><br/>Now it was just a question of whether he should allow himself to lose in the next round he'd be participating in, or if he should just forfeit.  Forfeiting would likely draw a bit more attention, but it would also be the best way to avoid risking any harm coming to the winning ticket he was now carrying...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>First Match, Round 1:</strong><br/>Dask wins initiative.  He begins the fight by casting <em>Baleful Polymorph</em>, which Obsidian ignores thanks to spending a charge on his Amulet of Inviolate form.<br/><br/>Obsidian counterattacks with his <em>Eldritch Blast</em>, using the <em>Eldritch Line</em> Blast Shape invocation to get around Dask's <em>Ray Deflection</em> and the <em>Spellblast</em> Blast Essence to include an Empowered, Maximized <em>Fireball</em> for good measure.  Without two successful Reflex saves and Fire Resistance 20 from <em>Resist Energy</em>, there is a decent chance that this would have been enough to either knock Dask unconscious or kill him outright.<br/><br/><strong>Round 2:</strong><br/>Dask closes the distance between himself and Obsidian in order to catch him in the area of the cloud generated by his Cloudy Conjuration feat while casting <em>Stinking Cloud</em> and also catching Obsidian in the area of that spell.  The cloud from Cloudy Conjuration causes Obsidian to take a -2 penalty to saves, which is enough to reasonably proclaim that he fails his Fortitude save.<br/><br/>Obsidian is nauseated, and thus unable to do more than take a single move action out of the <em>Stinking Cloud</em>'s area of effect.<br/><br/><strong>Round 3:</strong><br/>Dask casts <em>Dispel Magic</em> on Obsidian's Amulet of Inviolate Form.  At CL 9, the item is trivially easy for Dask to dispel.<br/><br/>Obsidian is still nauseated, and thus unable to do more than take a single move action to run away.<br/><br/><strong>Round 4:</strong><br/>Dask casts his second prepared <em>Baleful Polymorph</em>, successfully turning Obsidian into a toad.  Dask wins his first match in the tournament.<br/><br/><strong>Second Match, Round 1:</strong><br/>Between <em>Nerveskitter</em> and the +1 Warning dagger he carries, Dask once again wins initiative.  He casts <em>Baleful Polymorph</em>, successfully turning Blackfeather into a newt, and wins his second match in the tournament.<br/></div></div>