Amezwar's Story: Chapter 4

Vs Metrophanes: A Matter of Time

May 11, 2023

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Open on Grand Festival Hub

Amezwar and Izlan are on-screen together. Izlan jumps back in shock.

Izlan: Amezwar, you’re joking, right? The whole reason I’m a knight is so I don’t have to do stuff like that anymore, and if I get caught trying to steal from a noble I’m fucked.

Amezwar: I’m not asking this lightly, and I’m asking because I trust that you won’t get caught. All eyes will be on the tournament, that’s your opening.

Izlan: It’s a pretty bad opening, they made a point of letting people like Lord Massen stay at places close to the arena. And you know not to trust the length of a fight.

Amezwar: If Lord Massen is acting against us, we need to know. And we need to be able to bring him down. You can cover both. The future of our order could depend on this. I’ll make sure you have all the time you need.

Izlan: That’s a big promise to make, what’s the actual plan Amezwar?

Amezwar: Our only option is for me to stall out my fight as long as possible, until the time set for it runs out.

Izlan: Wait, that has to be risky for you too. Isn’t winning the tournament part of your plan to get back in the king’s good graces?

Amezwar: It is. This plan isn’t good, but we don’t have time for a better one. I hate nonsense like this.

Amezwar: But if Massen was the one who forged the evidence against me, then my life and our entire order could be on the line right now. He’s the one who will report back to the king, even if I win, he could make it seem unfavorable.

Izlan: Shit, now that you say it I could totally believe it happening. Alright, no more complaining, time for my final heist.

Izlan: Please, be as slow as possible getting to the arena. I’ll be as quick as possible so you can focus on winning.

Amezwar: Don’t worry about me, concentrate on your own mission. Our official story is that you ran an errand for me, keep the truth to yourself.

Izlan: You think I survived as a bandit by having loose lips?

———

Exploration Start

It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you get through this part, so treat it like normal. There will be some obstacles to jump around, but nothing too difficult. As always you have some gossip to pick up on.

Contemplative Pheonan Noble: The people of Hirzen speak so openly, while in our homeland nobody says truths everyone knows in fear of the consequences. Maybe democracy has its advantages

Bitter Mondragean Noble: Please, let Metrophanes be eliminated from this tournament already. That traitor shouldn’t even be here.

Suspicious Lunan Noble: King Eamon has been talking a lot with various councilors of the Revolving Sea, more than usual for something like this. What’s going on here? He usually does his best to not be around the people of his grandfather’s homeland.

Approach Massen to start the next scene.

Exploration End

———

Massen: Amezwar, good luck in your match.

Amezwar: Lord Massen, thank you.

Massen: Before you go, I do have one question. I talked to some of your knights. You’ve been solving the bandit problem on your own, haven’t you? And keeping it under wraps too.

Massen: You just happen to hold public feasts in towns where people are starving, most of your recruits just happen to be former or potential bandits. Why wouldn’t you be upfront about what you’re really doing? You know what it could look like.

Amezwar: I don’t care about my reputation, I care about doing. King Xamida told me to deal with the bandits, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.

Amezwar: Besides, the nobility would never understand. They pretend the commoners don’t struggle to stay fed, and that it has no connection to the surge in banditry. I’m surprised you’re different.

Massen: You talk like you’re not from a noble family yourself.

Amezwar: I am the chief of the Volcanic Knights of Pheona first and foremost, any other title was abandoned when I took my position.

Massen: It’s funny, I thought you were the one who would prove oblivious to the real nature of our kingdom’s problems. Regardless of how this tournament goes, I have warm words to convey to the king about you.

Amezwar: (What’s your real aim here Massen? Did I misjudge you and put Izlan at risk for nothing? No, he must simply be covering his ass after he had to reveal he has skills an honest person wouldn’t need to have.)

Amezwar: Keep an eye on this next battle then, you’ll see another side of my skill.

Transition to Gaiapolis

A city located within a mountain, with a wide river running through the interior as well.

The stage starts in the harbor with a merchant boat serving as a platform, then ascends to the residential area with houses built into the side of the mountain before ending on the peak of the mountain itself, looking out into the desert beneath a cloudless sky and oppressive sun.

Amezwar and Metrophanes face each other at the center of the harbor form of the stage.

Metrophanes: A falsely accused traitor against an actual traitor, both looking to escape the stain on their reputation. This is quite the ironic battle.

Amezwar: (I should try to drag this conversation out.)

Amezwar: I’m only here to prove myself to the king. My order thankfully is fairly independent, the king is the only one I need concern myself with the opinions of.

Metrophanes: Don’t underestimate what a person’s reputation can do to them, or those connected to them. But that’s enough talk, it’s time to fight.

Amezwar: (So much for that. Izlan, be swift. If I fuck up here, we’re screwed.)

———

Battle Start

Amezwar meant what he said, the only way to progress is winning by timeout. Mercifully the timer is shorter than normal this fight. Try not to be too aggressive, all that matters is having more health than the opponent when the timer hits zero.

Metrophanes however will be able to take advantage of the situation if you play too passively, setting up his puppet, Vulture Shah, to attack whenever he does. So you want to apply some pressure. Targeting Vulture Shah lets you keep things from spiraling out of control without running down Metrophanes’s health too much.

For establishing the life lead, try to avoid letting Vulture Shah and Metrophanes end up on opposite sides of you, or you’ll be in for a whirlwind of attacks. Don’t use your super moves while Metrophanes is at low health, but they can be good for reinforcing the life lead.

The stage itself will also work a bit in your favor, as the transition between different areas makes it harder for puppet master shenanigans to be set up. You’ll only lack room to run around and evade attacks at the mountaintop, at which point the battle is nearly over.

Both of Metrophanes’s supers revolve around the puppets as well. Understudy On Stage gives him another copy of Vulture Shah to work with while it lasts, meaning you can potentially be hit by three characters at once. For this fight you should just run around until its over.

Full Ensemble on the other hand is a short range attack with Metrophane’s staff that, on hit, will prompt a whole host of puppets to jump in and beat you up. The damage output can easily steal the life lead from you, so be on full guard for it.

Battle End

————

Amezwar and Metrophanes stand at the center of the mountain top part of the stage.

Metrophanes: Now I see, you were planning to win this way from the start, weren’t you?

Amezwar: It’s right there in the rules. Though I doubt it pleased the crowds.

Metrophanes: You won fairly, that’s what matters for the tournament.

Amezwar: Still, you might have been right when you spoke earlier. If you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of something with one of my subordinates.

Amezwar walks away.

Transition to Grand Festival Hub

Amezwar walks on from the left, Izlan from the right. They meet at the center.

Izlan: Mission complete. Never want to do it again, but I’ve got what we need to fuck over Lord Massen and make you want to do that.

Amezwar: What did you find out?

Izlan: Well he was smart enough to hide the evidence, but I know a thing or two about outsmarting nobles. He had a draft of a letter with King Xamida’s signature on it, addressed to King Eamon. Something about reparations.

Izlan: And he was writing a letter about how he needs to make sure you fail to recruit Aodh for the king, and that he’s starting to regret forging evidence against you in your trial. You can read it yourself.

Amezwar: (I’ll make sure that bastard never stops regretting it.)

Amezwar: You stole the letters from his room? Now he’s going to know that we know.

Izlan: If he got away with forgery in a trial like yours before, then he probably knows to destroy the evidence as soon as he can. He hadn’t even addressed the second letter yet, most people start with that I’m pretty sure.

Amezwar: I see, that thinking is why I trusted you with the task.

Amezwar: Now, it’s time we prepare for the direct confrontation.

Amezwar and Izlan walk off-screen.

Chapter END

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Note from the Author: The final half of Amezwar’s story is now underway. I had the idea of a battle that required a victory through time out going into this story, but as the narrative shifted so did the circumstances around it.

Optional Discussion Prompt: What do you of Amezwar’s plan, and his relationship with Izlan? Do the battles with special conditions for the ‘game’ aspect make things more interesting as a reader?

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The Warthog Report

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