Torn was sitting in the nursery, softly singing a lullaby for Kite and Tempest. They were long since asleep, but Torn had learned that the longer he sang, the longer they slept easy. He was absolutely taken with the twins - his son and daughter were the light of his life, even after all the interesting things that happened after his ascension to divinity. So absorbed was he that when a muse entered the room, he didn’t even notice. Not until the muse in question joined him in the lullaby. Torn didn’t stop singing, but looked at the muse with a raised eyebrow. The angel, in turn, gestured at the door as she kept singing. Right, the fight. There was a woman who’d cut through all opposition over the last few weeks, having displayed cunning and strength in the ring. Magic, as well. The valkyries informed him that they sensed a mix of demonic and fey blood in the woman - making them skeptical towards her - but Torn didn’t care one way or another. If they won in the arena, they’d won the right to enter his quarters. The law of the arena was sacred, even to Torn.
Torn stepped out on his balcony, eager to see what the woman had to offer in terms of skill. He hadn’t seen any of her previous bouts, but this one showed promise - enough promise to warrant a solo fight against a monster, and on her first try to boot. The Battlemistress had taken a risk with this one - thinking that a fighter/monster one-on-one would be interesting enough on its own. Torn had found that the spectators loved to watch a good fight with many variables - the more chaotic the better. He’d have liked to see some magical pitfalls and traps in the arena during the fight, but the battle was plenty interesting without it.
The woman appeared unable or unwilling to harm its opponents at first. Torn saw no fear or apprehension in the woman’s face; Rather, he saw awe. He reckoned she thought the beast fascinating in some way, and turned to the Battlemistress, who had joined him on the balcony. “This challenger. What’s her name?” The Battlemistress turned her head towards him, and though her eyes were hidden by her helmet, he could tell she was looking at him. “She is known only as Rize, my prince,” she said, before returning her gaze to the battle - where, to be fair, her attention belonged. Torn looked at this Rize character with interest. She took a hit from the manticore, but kept fighting. Torn figured she’d use magic of some sort to avoid getting into the manticore’s mêlée range, but was pleasantly surprised when she moved in close instead.
Not bad. She won’t be a target for the spines there, and close-up attacks give more physical cues, he thought to himself. He grabbed his cup, and took a healthy swig of mead while he watched the battle unfold. The crowd, which had been deadly silent with only the occasional “Oh,” or “Woo”, now cheered continuously as the struggle seemed like it could go either way. Even Torn leant forward in his seat from the excitement, smiling. Then, Rize managed to gouge the eyes out of the manticore, and from there, it only went one way.
The crowd went crazy as Rize marched in for the killing blow, cheering her on. It could be years between times a Revalite could visit the Dream Arena, and to see a gauntlet’s victor emerge was rare, so the excitement was thick in the air. When Rize finally brought the beat low, the crowd erupted, jumping up from their seats to cheer for the arena’s new champion. She snapped the manticore’s neck, and the beast, slain, melted into the dust and disappeared. The Battlemistress spread her wings and flew from the balcony, down to the arena floor, hovering in the dead middle about ten feet off the ground. She pointed her spear at Rize with one hand while holding her hand out to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen of Revaliir, I give you Rize, winner of the Dream Arena’s Warrior Gauntlet!” She lifted her hand, and the arena was filled with the applause and cheer from the audience, as well as a couple of silver coins thrown by the waking visitors. The magic of the arena caused all the coins to roll into a neat pile at Rize’s feet, and one enamoured young knight even threw her a red rose, presumably reserved for one of the bardic contests.
As Rize asked for ‘this Prince of Epics’, the Battlemistress pointed at the balcony, situated fifty feet above the arena floor, in the middle of the section neighbouring the Chambers of Mystery, his own halls. The Seven Judges, the muses that oversaw the Bard’s Gauntlet, played a melody as a platform appeared beneath Rize’s feet, and turned into a disc of beautifully embellished marble, depicting scenes of battle along the sides and overgrown with vines, flowers, and other flora. The disc floated up to Torn’n balcony to fit neatly into a dip in the viewing platform, where the railing disappeared. In any other scenario, the dip appeared to be in place to give a more unobstructed view of the arena floor, but that clearly was not the case. As Rize arrived at the balcony, Torn sat in his chair, cup in hand, grinning broadly.
“Nice fight, Rize the half-demon,” Torn greeted her. He looked at the Battlemistress, smiling. “Heal her, please.” The valkyrie obeyed, washing away the poison and injuries with a single gesture, leaving Rize once again in prime form. Torn got up from his seat, and invited Rize inside. “Come on in.”
Torn's god rules:
i: Torn can make anyone feel an intense desire to overcome massive challenges, even where logic dictates it should be impossible. This also incurs a blessing to help them succeed.
ii: If Torn approves of - or praises - a piece of music, that song will evermore sound more appealing to mortal ears.
iii: Torn has the ability to summon any creature he has personally slain, to serve any purpose - or transform into one himself.
Voice Actor: Jon Cozart (Paint)
Theme Song: Masatoshi Ono - Departure!
I am KeeXeyn.