Finally! After many delays, I got the first part of this duel done! Sorry it took so long and don't worry, the results post won't take nearly as long to write and will be much more action oriented; this is just a taste of what's to come!

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Mehrunes drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, his face a mask of contemplation. The battles so far had been quite intriguing and spectacular to watch, but the Daedra lord felt that more competitors were needed. Perhaps something to spice things up a notch…

Mehrunes began to scan through the planes of Nirn and Oblivion, searching for the ideal competitors. He had seen battles from more rudimentary competitors and some of those who possessed unique skills, but for this battle, he wasn’t something truly wonderful. He wanted those who thought themselves invincible. The lesson of humility would be most excellent! Even if the loser believed it was simply a dream afters, it would be a dream that would haunt them forever. Doubt was a powerful weapon.

After a few moments he found two beings that intrigued him. One appeared to be touched by the Aedra in an extraordinary way, and the other being, though he appeared to look quite similar to a typical Altmer, was actually a being outside of this world and possessed abilities that were foreign to the Lord of Destruction.

“Let’s see how this alien fairs against one of the most powerful beings on Nirn…” Mehrunes mused aloud before using his immense power to remove the two beings from their respective worlds.

He placed the beings on opposite sides of a grand maze. The open battle ground with a maze surrounding them was beginning to bore him. Plus, the fact that neither appeared to be the overly stealthy type would make their progress through the maze amusing. Within the maze, Mehrunes also placed several of his minions, which consisted of lesser Dremoras and the odd Hunger. The ease that these beings should dispatch these creatures will make the encounter of the two warriors all the more entertaining.

“Let us being…” Mehrunes whispered, a menacing smile cracking his lips.



Luper Alkad awoke to find himself surrounding by the oddly familiar walls of a Daedric sanctuary. Bedecked in his wide assortment of enchanted weaponry and armour, he arose and scratched at his head.

“I don’t remember taking a nap in a Daedric ruin…” he then cursed, “If Azura is behind this, I swear…”

Before he could start his threat the ceiling above him lit up on fire and the visage of Mehrunes Dagon emerged from the roiling flames.

“One who is touched by both Aedra and Daedra, I have a mission to bestow upon you,” the booming voice began.

Luper sniggered, “Ah, Mehrunes! Did Azura put you up to this?”

“No! This is my own doing. I have needs of your assistance. A former general of mine has run amok in this maze, he has managed to protect himself from my powers so I brought you here to deal with him. Eliminate this threat, and you shall be returned to your world.”

“And if I don’t accept?”

“There is no option; the general has sensed that I brought you here and has all ready begun to hunt you down. There is no exit to this maze, so eventually you will be found and if you do not fight, you shall perish.”

Luper grumbled. “Why does this always happens to me? For once, I’d just like the gods to leave me alone!”

He looked up to Mehrunes fiery visage. “Well I better get this over and done with.” With that, he withdrew Chrysamere and began to head down the corridor.



Meanwhile at a different area in the maze, Marthyn of the High Naryyn arose to the same fiery visage of the Lord of Destruction. Though the odd change of location had stunned him, he did not let that register on his face.

Mehrunes related the same story to the Naryyn, who was glad to see that he still possessed his battle armour. So far, Marthyn had noticed that the locals could not fight very well against the Naryyn technology, so this task should be quite easy to achieve.

“No point in dallying,” Marthyn stated calmly as he began to make his way through the maze.



The head of the Hunger flopped to the floor before it and its body dissolved into nothingness. Luper sighed. So far he had only faced countless numbers of Dremora and Hungers, nothing that appeared to be of significance. He was beginning to think that the god was toying with him when he heard fighting going on on the other side of one of the walls. Thinking that such an instance was odd, Luper began to search for a way to get to that location.

Luper rounded the corner and found himself staring at an Altmer bedecked in the most ridiculous looking armour he had ever seen. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“How can you move in that stuff? It looks like it weighs a ton!”

An odd energetic beam shot out of the Altmer’s armour. Luper raised an eyebrow at that. What kind of conjury was this?

“I have no time to talk. You must be the one I’m looking for, so prepare to face defeat,” Marthyn said matter-of-factly before launching himself at the Redguard with speed that surprised him.

Luper managed to knock his attacker aside, but the collision managed to stagger the Nerevarine backwards a few steps. He couldn’t help but think about how heavily enchanted his opponents armour was to do that. The odd thing was that Luper couldn’t sense any enchantment on the equipment and given his status as a powerful mage, he felt a little embarrassed.

Marthyn dove in to attack once again, this time swinging his energy blades like a sword. Luper managed to parry these attacks with his claymore and each time the weapons collided energy cackled loudly. As their weapons locked onto each other, each vying to out muscle the other, a telekinetic wave knocked Luper backwards, momentarily putting him off balanced and Marthyn scored a hit with his energy blade. The Lord’s Mail absorbed the damage, but the force of the blow sent Luper hurtling away. Even though he landed roughly, Luper sprang to his feet, angry that he was caught with such an obvious tactic. Again, the odd sensation crossed his mind. He should’ve sensed that spell being cast, but he didn’t. Luper had no idea how this Altmer was capable of doing such a thing.

Marthyn was calmly making his way towards his opponent, confident in his abilities so far. He thought that one connection with his energy blade would’ve defeated this opponent but obviously his enemy wore amour similar to the “Daedric” sorts he had seen before. That was the only type of armour that could momentarily stand up to his weapon. Suddenly a ball of flame came hurtling his way. Marthyn threw up an arm across his face as the flame collided against his armour.

Luper cursed as his enemy appeared to be unharmed by his powerful fireball. The evidence that he even cast the spell was the small scorch marks on the odd armour. Luper then opted for a telekinetic blast of his own. This took the Altmer by surprise as he staggered from the blow. Luper performed the same tactic and lashed out with his sword, sending the Altmer flying down the hallway.

“Doesn’t feel nice does it!” Luper called out as he chased down his enemy.

Nice! That said, people need to start VOTING!!! Can't wait to see how this turns out, Mallet.

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Sep 19 2007, 10:10 PM

You managed to get Luper down alright. Even if his name wasn't mentioned anywhere, I would still recognize him.

And he's leading, wooh! Ok, it's the only vote so far so it doesn't mean a thing.

He's got four to zero, I'm pretty sure there's not enough people still active to give Marthyn more than a tie (in the event everyone else votes for him..... unlikely).

Oh well, at least I can look forward to the Luper vs. Telina battle......... Tellie's been gone for months, or at least, it just feels like it.

I'm not inactive, just busy... so how will I vote? Good question! I need to go and review some stuff...

Hmmm..tricky, tricky! I remember Serene meeting Luper and she had a tough match....so...ehhh I think I´ll go for him this time. Butu he should watch it, I´m not at all sure of these Naryyn´s, they just might be pretty lethal!

One more vote for Luper........ That makes five for him and nothing for Marthyn. I have absolutely no idea how this will turn out. *Sarcasm*

Yeah. I thought I'd seen one-sided fights but this one really takes the cake.

Things can change you know! Or can be changed!

Well, on one hand there's a limited amnount of people who haven't voted (some might not even vote at all). And the only way Marthyn has a shot is if no one else votes for Luper and at least six people out of...... let's just assume twelve (who may or may not vote).

Kind of slim odds. I only ask that Marthyn gets beat in some form of dignity...... I'll beg for epic, it would suit him.

Here's a vote for Marthyn. I think the unfamiliarity (Luper being unfamiliar with the High Naryyn tech and abilities) will do it.

This post has been edited by canis216: Sep 22 2007, 06:03 AM

Indeed I have...been sick I'm afraid, coupled with RL, I really haven't had any time *sigh*
But now miss Tellie is back in buisness(hopefully), so whenever someone decides to write the Telina-vs- Whomever wins this, give me a call (pm is preferred ) and I'll her info to you.


Now I believe I should start running and try to write some updates on my fics, before whomever still wants to read them starts pelting me with tomatoes and other general unpleasantness

By the way, this is a really good piece of work Mallie, and I like it. The attitudes, the details...well I've gotta wote for Lup I'm afraid (sorry Lord Rev, but I think that luper will emerge the victor here)
So go get him ya scallywag

This post has been edited by Tellie: Sep 22 2007, 10:22 PM

Heh, I guess Luper won.

So this means a Lup against Tellie finale? Brings back memories. (With the only exception that Luper has since then gone from normal/low master to godlike.)

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Sep 27 2007, 09:43 PM

Ehhh I think Serene also won her fight, so she´s probably still in the competition...right? Or at least she´ll has to do another fight..

Masters don't fight god-likes if I'm not mistaken, Minque, Serene can rest easy for the time being.

Hmmm....she was not god-like if remember correct....but sure she´s resting easy...

Since Serene fought Rhys, she was a master in rank. I know all of my characters were masters except for Marthyn and Revan (neither of whom survived their first match, I'm shamed to say). *Silently curses the battles being democratically decided*

This post has been edited by Lord Revan: Sep 28 2007, 09:57 PM

Ah yes! I remember..you´re absolutely right there Revie! She´ll just wait for her turn then.....

Moving into analytical mode.

I think part of the votes are influenced simply by how well known a character is. Personally, I think that Marthyn might be a closer match for Lup than the outcome here suggests. His armour allows him to keep up with Luper's strength and his mental capacity is more than enough to even out the odds in a round of spellcasting. But anyway, I digress.

Now Marthyn has barely been used in your fic. That, together with the massive load of other characters means that he is hard to notice. (By the way, I am in awe of your ability to keep track of all those characters.) Luper on the other hand, has been a main character in multiple stories of mine so he's quite likely a lot better known than Marthyn.

What I was trying to say is. Had the battle been written like half a year later, Marthyn might have won and Luper might have lost.

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Sep 28 2007, 10:26 PM

Hey, at least Rhys managed to defeat Simion. That's definitely worth something I think

And has Savlian all ready had his second fight? I forget. Was he the one that fought Serene?