Epic Clash - COMPLETE!

Originally posted on MSPA by Odinod.

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Alrighty. Added a bit about his wings in Appearance and some details about regeneration in Abilities.

Originally posted on MSPA by Alice.

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Your character's name: Michelle Davis (Runner)
Gender: Female
Race: Human, survivor
Color: this one [img]images/smilies/icon_heartbeat.gif[/img]
Physical description: 24 years old with short, shaggy white hair topped by a pair of clunky black goggles. All the survivors cut their hair short and dye it white (shortness for safety, white for recognition). She's tall (5' 10”) and her lanky limbs are nicely toned (she's not scrawny, just skinny). She wears a tight blue turtleneck, short-sleeved cargo jacket over a pair of knee-length black bike shorts. Fairly flat-chested, her tight jacket doesn't do anything to help her, but secures the med gear strapped to her nicely under the jacket. Her sneakers are red, and have shock absorbers in them, allowing for slightly more wear-and-tear on both the wearer and the sneakers. She has brown eyes and wears little panda earrings.

Personality overview: Raised in a community where if you don't get along with everyone, survival is nearly impossible, Michelle learned how to make friends from an early age. Lighthearted to a fault at times, Michelle avoids confrontation and relationships deeper than friendship; this attachment deficiency is probably due to the fact that she never had a parent-child relationship. In the residential area, when a child is born, the whole group takes care of it, so although she knows who her parents are, she views them more as friends. Michelle tends to get excited and rush into things before assessing the entire situation at hand. This usually results in sheer dumb luck and adrenaline allowing her to finish the task, but if she sees she can't win, she'll run away. Overly fond of Dr. Pepper, if she doesn't get a caffeine fix, she gets a headache causing her to become rather grumpy. She doesn't like to fight (other than when whomping on some zombies), but when pissed off, she becomes lethal. (It's hard to piss her off, though)

Abilities:
• Really good at adaptation
• Fairly amiable, Sharpshooter
• Night vision/far sight (goggles)
• Scanning (goggles)
• Ability to turn almost anything into a weapon (a broom, a chair, a tennis racquet, a ball, etc)
• Run faster than average
• Basic acrobatics (she's limber and able to adapt—she's not going to the Olympics)

Equipment:
• Suped-up goggles (night vision, scanning, binoculars, aiming)
• Hunting rifle
• Wristband (with watch/clock/phone)
• Shock absorbing sneakers (helps landing from a height and muffling steps)
• Basic Med Gear (a little nicer than basic first aid stuff)
• Whatever she can grab and use

Backstory: 70 years in the future, Yes-Mart Co., a multi-billion dollar company has built a Yes-Mart in 10 of the largest cities in the modern world. These malls have everything in them from tents to beds, to clothing, to food, and entertainment stores. With the world's first solar-powered energy system, the buildings run clean and can stay completely powered without electricity.
A hyper-mutated string of Hepatitis, constructed as a vaccine, infected 40 percent of the world's population. The rest were infected by blood contact, or killed. This infection caused a zombie-like state to occur, with the subject becoming hyper-aggressive and attempting to kill all non-infected. These “zombies,” or as survivors call them “walkers,” have the same sleep habits as they did in life—they sleep at night, if they did so when they weren't undead, or if they were awake at night, they stay up at night.
With the world a wasteland, only 7 Yes-Marts remain, each being used as a survivor city. The only areas of these Yes-Marts that are completely walker-free are used as residential areas. Each survivor has their duties: making, cooking, gathering, healing, guarding, leading and running. Gathering, the most dangerous of duties, is performed in a hunting pack once a month, when a group leaves the Yes-Mart to gather things outside: food, etc. Running entails searching the rest of the expansive mart, getting supplies from the other stores and dispatching walkers who have entered the compound.
30 years after the infection, the survivor cities are still going strong. 23-year-old Michelle, born in the supercenter is the best runner in the entire compound. She wants to go on a gathering mission and see the outside world, but the community needs her to help defend them. The leaders get frustrated with her, because she has a tendency for doing things her own way. But she's the fastest and most effective runner they have, and they're not complaining.
On her 24th birthday, Leader Johnson fell ill and Healer Nightingale didn't have the right type of medicine. Michelle ran to Leader Polk's office and made her case:
“I'm the fastest runner you have, you know it. Leader Johnson needs that medicine soon, so why not?”
Leader Polk hesitated, but finally allowed Michelle to join the group. The mission was successful, but on the return trip home, Michelle vanished (HERE IS WHERE MY GB-ING STAAAAAAAARTS [img]images/smilies/icon_heartbeat.gif[/img])

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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This is the first I have heard of this concept, and it sounds like the kind of thing I would enjoy immensely.


Your character's name: Thomas Packston (Eric, Greg, Bern, Walt)
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Color: White-on-Green

Backstory: Thomas Packston, age 24, was born on June 8th, 2417 aboard Cosmand City, the third-largest city-ship in the Human Federation. Unfortunately, a slight gene defect had leaked past the health filters. He was healthy enough physically, but mentally, he was extremely unusual.

Typically, Multiple Personality Disorder occurs due to emotional trauma, and the symptoms of that are well-known and easily treatable. This new variety, designated Packston Syndrome, was immune to all medical and psychiatric treatments known to man. Doctors, do what they might, could not merge Thomas' four personalities back into one. (Later, the doctors would realize that, since he had been born as four people, there was no single Thomas to merge into- each was its own unique individual.)

There was one thing that could be done, however; by combining modern technology with a few ancient techniques from the early 2100's, they managed to at least achieve mental communication between the personalities.

And so Thomas Packston was able to leave a semi-normal life- or rather, Eric, Greg, Bern, and Walt were able to. They got an education, grew up, and got a job maintaining Sector 141's data servers. One day, though, he didn't show up for his shift. He is presumed dead.

Personality overview: 4
-Eric is the most sociable personality. He handles people the best, and is generally the one in control when dealing with others.
-Greg is calm and rational. He's got a nearly photographic memory and can solve equations mentally. He deals with facts and reason, and very rarely gets emotional.
-Bern is the polar opposite of Greg- his emotions control him. He is brash and reckless, and he gets annoyed very quickly and angry not long after.
-Walt is the most physically skilled. He is skilled in several different martial arts and is extremely dexterous.

Physical Description: Thomas is rather ordinary-looking. He has shortish brown hair, a plain face, and is average height. In short, he's exactly the kind of person you'd ignore completely in a crowd. He usually wears a pair of blue jeans and a plain, dark-grey hoodie, which have come in and out of fashion repeatedly over the years. (The main difference being their functionality- they're lined with heating and cooling pads, and, when connected to a computer, the images on their surfaces can be changed. Currently, his hoodie is set to a logo for AIRLOCK, a popular vidshow, and a watch on the left forearm sleeve.)

Depending on which personality is in control, Thomas' eyes and posture change. Eric typically stands fairly straight with his hands in front of him, and his eyes are grey. Greg has impeccable posture and stands with his hands clasped behind his back, and his eyes are brown. Bern's stance his fairly aggressive, and his eyes are a dark red. Walt's back is typically straight, but he never stands still; he'll always be pacing back and forth, fiddling with his hands, etc. His eyes are pale blue.

Abilities: In 2417, nobody really believes in the supernatural anymore. Everything that it covered was explained years ago. Of course, this doesn't mean that powers that would once be considered supernatural are simply gone. Now that we understand them, people can get gene therapy to be granted any number of special abilities.

Thomas isn't terribly rich, so he bought a basic four-pack- Classical Element Control, which typically allows the user to manipulate the four classic elements in an area around them. His Packston Syndrome had an interesting interaction, though, which resulted in each personality being able to control a single element.

Eric can control Wind, which allows him to move air, create sound waves in it, and so on. Greg has control over Earth, which includes soil, metals, clays, etc. Bern controls Fire, which includes not just flames but also light and electricity. Walt has Water, which is fairly self-explanatory. All of these abilities have a power proportional to distance, and their maximum ranges of effect are about five meters.

Equipment: In his pockets, Thomas has a smattering of junk, including a few pens, a kTap (think iPhone size + PC functionality), and a lockpick set (mostly used by Walt).

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

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I'll go ahead and make a character for this. I'm already in GB2 but if there's a spot opens up then I'll take it.

It did not.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Pinary, approved. Though, one thing I'm confused on though is the name... do all of his personalities answer to Thomas Packston and that personality's name, or does each personality only answer to its own name?

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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They'll all answer to their own name as well as Thomas Packston.

Originally posted on MSPA by Babel.

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I would like to try this sometime. Maybe I'll try out.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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bobthepen reserves a spot on the vets list, Alice and possibly Babel reserve spots on the final list.

So if the number of first time players doesn't reach eight, but the total number of entries exceeds it, I'll fill the remaining slots from the vets list with a random number generator.

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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I'm totally up for this. I haven't read through GB1 yet to get a feel for it, but I will, I just wanted to reserve a place since it seems to still be open.

This character is taken from one of my many fiction settings, codenamed the Spare Change Project. It can be a little groan-worthy at times. You'll see.

Name Special Agent Coy Spender
Gender Male
Race Human, Augmented
Color Gold on silver (For certain, more easily read, dark values of "silver")
Description
Although physically fit, Agent Spender doesn't spend a lot of time on his muscles. He's leaner, and looks like he's well-versed in running away, rather than brawling. He has a face that is at once aged with stress and well-versed in smiling, and his eyes always sparkle with a bit of the absurd. His black coat only reaches to his waist-level, but he swooshes it as much as he can, as though to make up for that fact.
Backstory
Agent Spender does not, of course, go by his given name anymore. He still had it when he joined the Ether Defense Force, but after years of dealing with the absurd, he, like many there, simply adopted the moniker for anything work-related. After a time, there seemed to be little enough in his life which the absurdity didn't seep into, so he took on the name full-time.

As part of the EDF, Spender was tasked with travelling to subspace rifts that were opening across the planet and defeating the invading alien life-forms, no matter what form they took. Although communications were never established, it seems an unwritten law in these encounters that the enemy are willing to lower their guard if you entertain them, even should it mean their death; therefore, EDF agents used programmable holography along with special training to try to control themselves and the battlefield without failing to be a monstrous demon in combat.

If Spender ever offers to tell you stories about his time in the EDF, politely refuse. If he offers to tell you about the great Toilet/Banana war, the tentacle-muppet invasion, or anything else he brings up by name, emphatically decline and find an enemy of yours who you could argue might want to hear it, then flee.
Personality
Spender is very much in love with theatricality, and even if it kills him inside and out, he won't drop the illusion that the world's a stage--or a big-studio Hollywood production. You can see in his actions, however, a fierceness, a desire to wreck a little havoc, a little carnage. He tends to shy away from harming humans, but that doesn't mean he'll hesitate in the heat of the moment. His absurdity tends to be more self-deprecating than abusive, but whatever underlies that fact, he's not lacking confidence.
Abilities
Spender is armed with an Alchemic Transmutation Mechanism (ATM Device), which is linked inextricably to his mental functions. It is typically seen inside his jacket when it dispenses spellcoins, but many have noted that it doesn't seem to remain there at other times.

The spellcoins that it dispenses are preprogrammed tokens which, once activated, release one-shot spells. The ATM device can create spells of any complexity; it creates self-contained programmable 3D holography, and the effects are tremendous. It cannot cast spells directly, however; only by means of these coins. Therefore, in addition to the device and his large quantities of carried, stored, and hidden coinage, Spender is highly capable in the martial arts, and inherits a peculiar style that may at times look absurd, but is more than effective enough.

Spender cannot cast more than 10-12 coins at once except in most dire circumstances, and the more coins he casts, the less finesse he has with any of them, and the less focus he has for other things; consequently, he tends to use far fewer except when using them for ranged attacks.

As a canonical note, many of the spellcoins create and manipulate what amount to spatial fields, which may or may not be open to the surrounding space. This is useful for dimensional storage, but it also creates fields that seem to be normal space, but with altered rules. Anyone entering that space can try to will away the effects and remain in normal space, as the new field merely overlaps normal space, it does not replace it; however, there are typically both drawbacks and advantages to them. Spender, having decades of experience with them, may use them somewhat asymmetrically; even though the rules affect anyone entering equally, there tend to be loopholes.
Equipment
Spender's most significant equipment is the ATM device, which can produce one-shot magical items largely at will. There is an obvious limit to how many of those items he can physically move at once, but they can be triggered mentally with virtually no limit to quantity; however, he must have made physical (skin) contact with the coin within the last minute or so to have a connection to it. These coins can also be used by third parties, but if they are not trained in mental activation, they have to physically move the coin as though it were being inserted into a coinslot, during which action it will disappear and the spell will activate, under their direction.

Spender also has a black jacket, which has innumerable coin-sized gaps in the hem, lots of internal pockets, and still manages to look, at least to him, pretty darn cool. There are also places for coins in his pants and boots, and so on, but they don't tend to be as well-designed.

Spender is capable of materializing not only instant-effect spells, but also hologram-based equipment; it cannot produce physical projectiles, but these devices can accumulate and discharge energy bolts or beams. As these, like all programmed holograms, draw energy from the surroundings, they have sufficient energy most of the time, but once the weapon is discarded, the spell ends entirely and the weapon disappears.

No spellcoin is capable of returning to coin form after being cast, nor of creating more spellcoins, although they can manipulate and activate other coins, if that is what they are designed to do. The spellcoin is never generic; each one has one specific effect, and while it can be manipulated, it cannot be changed after creation.

Spender has on the order of 40-50 holdout coins, but he prefers to generate and use new ones.

Spender is also equipped with a holdout firearm (.20 caliber semiautomatic handgun) but he doesn't make a lot of use of it.

Other notes
Clearly I could go on about spellcoins and the rest of the Spare Change Project, but I think that's everything immediately relevant. If I'm wrong let me know.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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For the record, I am okay with you using characters from other fictions so long as it is your own original character. This seems to be the case with Special Agent Coy Spender. Welcome aboard.

I had originally planned to let signups proceed for one week. Now I'm not sure that will be necessary.

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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For the record, I am okay with you using characters from other fictions so long as it is your own original character. This seems to be the case with Special Agent Coy Spender.

Yup yup. I never even really wrote much for the SC Project, I just keep revisiting it by myself because it's awesome.

Saying it's from one of my projects just means I have various degrees of canon established for the character backstory and ability mechanics already. I only really have two, Demonsword and Spare Change; I considered a couple characters, but Coy Spender seemed the most accessible.

Originally posted on MSPA by Babel.

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Hey guys. Little application here. Kinda sorta rushed it, but you get the idea. I mean, we're not judging the writing style of our applications, are we?

Your character's name: Emilio Nahaz
Gender: Male
Race:Human.
Color: White on a background of Orange
Physical description: A young, olive skinned individual with a small mane of black hair falling down to his shoulders and a beard enveloping his jaw. He is fit, athletic, but not so tall as to actually be imposing. He comes in at an even five foot ten. There is a glint in his eye that reflects confidence, and a smirk in his smile that shows arrogance. He is quick on his feet, yet his posture is always erect. A thin scar traces across left cheek.
Personality overview: Emilio is the type that has known nothing but success. As such, he is cocksure and eager to prove himself. He is not easily rattled - on the contrary, better men have fled where Emilio Nahaz has held his ground. Although all indications would point to Emilio possessing the traits of a natural leader, it has become evident that his reliance on his own ability has made it difficult for him to trust others. His only desire is the honor of accomplishment. His mind is, to a certain extent, methodical. He is restless when not challenged.
Abilities: Emilio is your quintessential knight. He is skilled in both swordplay and archery. He is a natural rider, and knows his way around a jousting match. His combative abilities have extended, however, to a slightly mythical level. In battle he always seems to run faster, swing harder, and show such agility and grace in battle so as to seem almost inhuman.
Equipment: The armor Emilio wears is made of some sort of reinforced metal, the likes of which have never been seen or identified before. The conquests, no doubt, of slaying some dragon, raiding some castle, or conquering some foreign tyrant. It glints golden orange in the sun, gives off all the properties of normal plate armor, and yet is unnaturally light. The sword he carries at his side is thought to be similarly enchanted - it has been seen to pierce through the scales of a dragon. A shield is always carried across his back, scratched and worn, yet still holding strong.
Backstory: Emilio Nahaz, as legend goes, was born into nobility. Displaying excellence in sword fighting, tactics, and horsemanship from an early age, Emilio's only pleasures in life came from the praise of those above him. He spent years in the Royal Army, but quickly found that his relationship to the other men somewhat reprehensible - simply put, he felt they were not fit to follow him. He disappeared for awhile, traveling alone by horseback, seeing the world and fighting against it's abominations. No exact date can be attributed to the scar on his face, but it is said that he managed to obtain while fighting a particularly nasty bunch of ogres. It was stories like these that quickly made Emilio Nahaz a legend. Stories would come and go of his clashes with evil - some witch, goblin, or tribe of lizard men who met an unfortunate end to the tip of his blade. What most people didn't realize, however, was that these tales were invariably true.
Emilio Nahaz was out there, somewhere in the world. And wherever he was, he was doubtlessly fighting. For honor, perhaps. Most likely, however, he fought for himself.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Alright, Babel claims his reserve. Assuming Alice does, as well, that leaves one seat. We might not need to pull from the vets list at all.

Originally posted on MSPA by Babel.

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Wait. So if this is seven, where's three through six?

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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The Battle Royale
The Pitched Combat
Intense Struggle
The Battle Majestic

Originally posted on MSPA by Wojjan.

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can I get a spot?
Character in 30 mins. Done, that was fast.

Show Content

SpoilerUsername: Wojjan
Name: Asteira
Gender: She prefers to be adressed as female.
Race: Umbra. Umbrae are dead, they wallow around in the grim underworld, and cannot speak nor feel.

Colour: 706040

Weapon: Asteira rebelled to the gods of the underworld, and stole Girgid's lance to purposely get banned to the Eios, the worse place in the bad place.
Abilities: Asteira wasn't much of a fighter in her living form, but just could not accept death at the young age of 24. She was desperate to resurrect, but the Helios pond was restricted to heroes only. She was stuck in the more ‘neutral' part of the grievous plains where they kept the dead, and had to live bearing the punishment to her sins. Gods weren't that forgiving.

Eios Dome, on the other hand, is said to resurrect the strongest of evildoers, and recreate the circle of balance. Good always goes paired with bad. She then offended Girgid's throne, wife, and justice, exactly to end up in the Eios, where she could use Girgid's weapon to overthrow all evildoers and return to life. Duet o hard work, severe punishment and several losses, she finally ended first in the Dome's contest.

During the resurrection, however, she managed to kill off the hero that returned alongside her, and thus pushed over the very universe, as everyone in both realms panicked. She was the first to tilt the world in favor of evil. The place where she stood as she resurrected was far from home.

Appearance:
Atreia is quite the average girl, with medium length hair, 170 centimetres in length, and a noteworthy, yet dignified breast size. She used to have a pale skin, and deep chestnut hair, yet aside from a hint of the former colour, all of that has grown bleak and grey since death. She walks, but doesn't touch the ground, she just floats. This, of course, rendered her feet useless. Her true distinguishable features were hidden to the eye, as she covered her sharp tongue with her naturally smooth lips, and hid her frozen heart in velvet clothing.

Description: Asteira used to be a cocky type, eager to anger, yet forgiving to those who erred. Many a sinner wanted to confess to her, and only to her, because she was best at keeping secrets from everyone. A born liar, and willing to learn a lot resulted in her training to become a councilwoman. The first female to ever enter the council, not (only) through obtaining the majority of votes, but through deceit and blackmailing, using what people confessed to her to her benefit. The politic jester joked her way through the various strata of her political career, ending up next to the president. Once she found dirt on the most powerful man around, she gave in. The lying corrupted her heart, and the impact of this one bit of info caused it to fail. Her life was over, and everyone of high standards rejoiced.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Wojjan, accepted, though you apparently used some other GB's entry form. Wow, we have eight new players now.

Apologies to the veterans. Alice has yet to claim her reserve, but assuming she does, that blocks the vets out. Still, I'm excited to see the results of this crowd of new talent. Welcome, everyone.

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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Oh, and Wojjan: Appearances are important, it would be nice if you added that.

Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.

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This is a little off-topic but I want to write it down because it amuses me.

My initial impressions of the characters:
[background=#4000FF:e7s8wbyn]Glere[/background:e7s8wbyn] - Nut
[background=#000000:e7s8wbyn]Mr. Nothing[/background:e7s8wbyn] - Nightmare and/or Knight?
James Raven - Nightmare Knight
[background=#008000:e7s8wbyn]Thomas Packston[/background:e7s8wbyn] Nut
??? (Unknown)
[background=#FFA500:e7s8wbyn]Emilio Nahaz[/background:e7s8wbyn] - Knight
[background=#606060:e7s8wbyn]Special Agent Coy Spender[/background:e7s8wbyn] - Nutty Knight (who is used to Nightmares)
Asteira - Nightmare
[img]images/smilies/apple.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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...
[background=#008000:2hz0709r]Thomas Packston[/background:2hz0709r] Nut
...

Thomas isn't a nut, he's four perfectly sane people! If anything, he's four times as sane as anyone else! [img]images/smilies/apple.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Good luck, new players! I'll be watching this, even if I won't get to have Konka Rar constantly keeping you all on your toes.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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I was a tad concerned it was too early for another one of these things, but it seems you've gathered enough players easily, so I guess I was wrong.

I'd say I intended to follow this one, but I really haven't been able to follow any of the battles I'm not involved in. I suppose I'll just add it to my "must read" list. [img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.

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Ironically, the only grand battle I'm still not caught up on is The Grand Battle.

Be assured, I will be watching this intently.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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Grand Battle 7/8

Awk. I was hoping to enter with a third character sometime but I guess that's impossible now... I think I reserved a hosting spot some time ago.

Man, this filled up fast.

Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.

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Eight beings from different universes suddenly find themselves waking, without even knowing that they had been asleep. All were strapped to upright slabs in a row and, beyond the physical restraints keeping them in place, all found themselves completely unable to move their bodies, as though a great weight were pressing down on their chests.

Around them, blackness. Complete, all-consuming blackness, except for spotlights trained on all eight prisoners. It was suddenly pierced by a small sliver of white - teeth, revealed through lips parted in a pretentious smirk.

"Waaaaaaaakey wakey. You may be a bit disoriented right now. That's normal. You'd better snap out of it quick, though, if you don't want to be caught unaware by one of the seven beings next to you."

A man stepped out of the darkness and into a light that came from nowhere. Tousled hair, a red shirt with a pirate ship, and sunglasses. Sunglasses, in a world with no sun. He held his hands behind his back and walked up and down the row of beings, never letting that disgusting smirk leave his face; that smirk that seemed to delight in the fact that many of the people before him would love to try to snuff his life out right now if they could only move.

"That's right. Welcome to the Epic Clash. A battle to the death. Though you don't know it yet, all of you are here to kill. Seven of you are here to die. With each death, I take you all to a new location to let the carnage start anew. With each death, you survivors are one step closer to freedom, and your one greatest wish... as well as I can carry it out. You'll find most reasonable requests to be within my grasp, and yours, if you win. Your opponents are the people next to you. And do try to keep it entertaining, there are quite a few... 'people' who want to see an exciting fight. Let's get straight into the introductions, starting with you." He pivoted on his heel and jabbed his forefinger into the chest of the mostly human-shaped being on the leftmost slab. Only "mostly", as his head was unusually round and shiny.

"This strange gentleman is named Glere. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, he does indeed have a glass bowl for a head. I guess you'll see whether it proves easier to shatter than the average skull. You may notice the cape he wears. It's not so much a cape, as a space from which he can pull any number of items, useful or otherwise. We all look forward to seeing how well he wields them."

A slightly smaller man with undefined edges trotted in behind the first quietly. He held what appeared to be a notebook. As the first man moved to the next slab, the second stopped in front of Glere and began scribbling in it furiously. The first man, without turning to face the occupant of the second slab, jabbed his thumb into his sternum.

"This guy with the suit and the wings doesn't really have a name, but most just call him Mister Nothing. He is, in fact, a grim reaper. But don't worry, he's only part-time. Nonetheless, it would behoove you to stay on his good side, that scythe folded up in his belt isn't just for show."

He moved to the third slab, and the second man followed him to the second, looking between Mr. Nothing and his notebook as he scribbled some more. The first man gestured to an unusually tall asymmetrical mass of armor with a missing limb.

"Meet James Raven. He's an orphan, and not too happy about it. He's trained for most of his life in the arts of combat and shadow magic, he's got a magic suit of armor, a sword, and I understand he has a...shocking replacement for that missing arm of his. All in all, a very deadly combatant."

The shuffle continued, as the first man moved to the fourth slab, the second man moved to the third. The fourth contestant looked... well, rather ordinary, truth be told.

"Thomas Packston, or should I say Eric, Greg, Bern, and Walt? Don't be fooled by his tame appearance, this man's got four minds in that head of his, and each one has its own personality, its own strengths, and its own powers."

The second man began to scribble in front of Thomas, as the first moved towards a tall, thin woman with white hair and goggles.

"This adaptable woman is a survivor of a zombie uprising on her world, and with good reason. Her name is Michelle Davis, and I understand she's quite a shot with that rifle of hers." He looked her up and down, stroking his chin. He raised an eyebrow and his grin widened a bit. "Looks pretty flexible, too. Type of woman who could wear you out." He shook his head, as if suddenly snapping back to focus. "Right. Moving on."

He moved on to a man wearing medieval style platemail, the second man not far behind. "This knight in shining armor is called Emilio Nahaz. His quests are always epic, his travels all things of legend. Hearing the stories about him, you might almost suspect he were a bit more than human. Whether they're true or not, he's got a sword and I suspect he'll stick you with it if you cross him."

The first man moved to the next slab. The second frowned and looked up at him, still scribbling in front of Michelle. "Special Agent Coy Spender. An appropriate name for a man with a coin-operated magic machine. By which I mean, he has a machine that produces coins which can be exchanged for magic spells." The second man put a finishing flourish on whatever he was inscribing in his tome and moved on to Emilio. "We'll see how much it costs to destroy his opponents."

The first man continued to the last slab and the second seemed increasingly frustrated. "Asteira." He drew his lip up an a disdainful sneer. "Not my type. Anyways, she lied, cheated, stole, and killed her way to the top of an illustrious political career, and stole a lance which would seem to be rather powerful. Oh, did I mention that she died once, and that didn't stop her? It's up to you to find out if the second time does the trick." He stepped back to the center of the area, just as the second man moved on to Coy Spender and began to scribble with increased urgency.

"Without further ado, allow me to introduce your first arena of battle, and the last place one of you will ever see!"

The second man turned and spoke up for the first time, timidly. "Br... I mean uhm, Overseer! I uhm, I haven't finished chronicling yet. Can... can you wait?" The first man lost his smirk and lowered his eyebrows behind his glasses. "Um, I mean, I haven't drawn Asteira yet? If it's not too much trouble."

"It is." The second man put a few final lines onto the page with a dejected expression and hurried back into the formless shadows behind the first man, who stood silently with his arms crossed until the second had disappeared from view. "As I was saying, first arena of battle. I'll admit I have a weakness for places with a story behind them. Some lore." The blackness and everything but the other contestants faded, though the first man's voice remained. A blast of cold air hit the contestants as a network of blue stone tunnels came into view, with large ice crystals jutting out here and there. Icicles clung to the ceiling, but dripped steadily as they melted. "Welcome to Bluestone Cave, more recently referred to as the Ice Dragon's Lair, part of the Cavern of the Crimson Fish. Don't worry, the ice dragon in the name is no longer with us, having recently been taken out by an unusual hero. She was responsible for the cold temperatures in here, which were, until recently, far too low to allow any of you in here safely. They've begun to rise again, and only just exceeded freezing.

"Some say the rocks live in this cave. The claim would be laughable, but something must be maintaining the gravity-altering machinery around here. Oh, and the door at the entrance? You're welcome to try to open it if you want, but I've taken more than enough precautions to ensure the action would be futile.

"Now, we can't have you all starting out in the same place. That would end the round far too soon. Better to let you all wander the caverns alone for a bit, not knowing if your killer is around the next bend!"

All eight contestants heard the man laugh as their slabs all shot off in different directions. They flew directly through the rock surface and each contestant was immersed in darkness as they passed intangibly through the solid stone. When light returned to them, they found themselves separated from the other seven. The restraints and whatever strange force had prevented them from moving both released at the same time.

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SpoilerThat's right, the first round is the lair of the ice dragon from The Deadly Dance of the Scarecrow King. While I can't say that any of the following rounds will take place in settings from MSPFAs, having the first round take place in one was a tradition established by the first three Grand Battles that MyifanW and I decided to continue. For those of you somehow unfamiliar with the adventure, first of all, go read it. If you are somehow unable, here's the rundown: the ice cave is composed partly of rock, partly of rock genies. They have a small society underground governed by a larger, bearded rock genie. Gravity alteration is a common feature in the cave. In some places, you can walk directly from the floor to the wall, and in other places, you can throw a switch to alter gravity's direction. Somewhere is a larger cavern where the dragon once resided where a robotic hero may have, at one point, bled a bit of purple liquid with necromantic properties.