riverviewlogs | [open] we tried to bury it and rise above

[Giving him any time at all was a mistake; Taako doesn't even bother trying to break his fall, because a few scrapes and bruises aren't anything new, and instead he's preparing mage hand so that as soon as he hits the ground, Taako pulls the umbra staff towards him as quickly as possible.

And casts blindness. He needs an edge, right now, and Dodger being blind would give him one.]

Edited 2017-06-27 13:04 (UTC)

[He lets out a growl as the spell hits him, and his working eye is cast into darkness. Great. Well, he's lost his finesse, he still manages to teleport close to him, stumbling on his landing.

It takes him a bit to adjust, and his fists are suddenly engulfed in flames as he goes silent. If he can hear Taako, he'll be able to pin him down. And it hasn't escaped his attention that the elf was useless when pinned. But incapacitated as he is, it's also plainly obvious that Dodger is finally out of his comfort zone.]

[Oh thank the gods.

Taako goes as quiet as possible, barely breathing; he's still on the ground, not sure whether to risk moving when it would make a hell of a lot of noise, especially not when Dodger's fists go up in flame.

That's not... ideal.

But he doesn't need to stand up to cast a good old fashioned magic missile. Take 9 damage, Dodger.]

[For a second, he almost thinks he's gotten a sense of where Taako is. And when that second passes, some sort of magical energy is stabbing through him.

The force of the magic missile sends him reeling, and he manages to throw a fistful of fire at where he's vaguely sure Taako is as he recovers. That definitely left a bruise, even if he hasn't started bleeding just yet. Not like he plans to stop when he does.]

[Now Taako moves, scrambling out of the way of that fire, though it catches him on the arm, singing his sleeves and the skin underneath, but not enough to get a peep out of him. He doesn't even move to pat it out, figuring that the process of getting up was loud enough.

There's only maybe forty seconds left of Dodger being blind, and he needs to make it count. So he casts ray of sickness, and if it hits, Dodger's going to take seven points of poison damage.]

[Dodger hears the sound of Taako moving on the pavement,
and another fire ball charges in his hand as he follows Taako's scrambling with his head. But that sure doesn't stop him from getting hit by the spell, and his fire powers are temporarily shut off by the feeling of poison running through him.]

Mother... fucker....

[He stops short, clutching his chest and shaking his head as if that will get rid of the blindness. It feels as if he's suddenly been hit with a fever, and he's left shaking from the strain of ignoring the pain to try and figure out where Taako's ended up.]

[The fireball just misses him, crashing harmlessly against the wall to his right, and Taako takes a second to watch Dodger suffer while his own head spins. He wants to say something mocking, but he can't risk giving away his location.

He wants to kill Dodger, too, but he knows that's not something he can get away with, not when Dodger is already known to the police. Eddie would ask questions and lying about a murder isn't a great basis for a relationship.

So Taako doesn't cast the spell he wants to cast, instead just shoot another round of magic missile in Dodger's direction.]

[Wracked in pain as he is, and just barely starting to regain his vision, he has no chance to avoid the spell. The first thing he manages to see when the blindness spell fades is the world spinning as he hits the ground, hard.

The fight hasn't left him bleeding, but at the very least he's learned definitively that Taako is, in fact, dangerous. He'd be pleased by the new information if his head would stop spinning, but the least he can do is make an attempt to get Taako as badly injured as himself.

So, with his fire power finally reignited as the shock wears off, he teleports closer to grab Taako by the leg in a vice-like grip, his touch searing like hot metal. He looks like one more hit could knock him out, but... let it never be said that Dodger goes down easily.]

[The shock of having his head smashed into the wall was unsettling, but this hurts, a hell of a lot more, and Taako curses, the sound a little rough as he tries to pull away on sheer instinct. All that does is cause him to lose his balance, and Taako hits the ground hard again, realizing instantly that he needs to do something to get Dodger away from him.

Out of that panic and realization, he casts thunderwave, sending the spell outwards with a loud thunderclap, and if Dodger fails his constitution saving throw he's going to take three damage and get pushed backwards.]

Edited (this wasn't sufficiently a comedy of errors) 2017-06-29 01:41 (UTC)

[The spell hits him like a brick wall, and he rolls a few times across the road as he's pushed away. Dodger can put up with a lot, but... even teleporting seems to be out of his reach as he struggles to remain conscious.

As a last ditch moment of self-preservation, Dodger seems to disappear... he's still there, but he's turned invisible. It's a power he almost uses, but one fact has become painfully clear: if Taako decides to keep going, he's not going to survive. So instead, he'll just have to try and keep his head together enough to stay invisible until the elf leaves... which seems easier said than done at this rate.]

[As soon as Dodger goes invisible, Taako all but braces for impact, waiting for his reappearance, before it clicks that there was no pop or sparks, not like when Dodger teleports.

Shit.

He scrambles back to his feet, hissing in pain when the movement pulls at the burn, but he manages to put his back against the wall and tighten his grip on the umbra staff.]

Don't tell me you're tapping out, shitdick?

[He's still on edge, and in a lot of pain. but Dodger looked like hell, even before Taako hit him with that thunder and he's starting to feel more confident about how this night is going to end.

And now he's pissed off, on top of everything else.]

[He can feel himself right on the edge of blacking out, and for a moment his invisibility actually fails. Taako will be able to see him flicker into sight for a second, panting on the ground with his eyes squeezed shut, before he manages to turn invisible again. It's clearly obvious that he's in no condition to defend himself... but on the other hand, he's stuck if Taako wants to land a final blow.]

[Oh, good.

Taako fucking grins, half spiteful, half just sheer relief at knowing this is all over with and he's going to be walking away with nothing more than a few minor injuries. There's no broken bones, no damaged organs, he's not bleeding profusely.

He's rattled, but that's a problem for him to deal with later.

Still, he has no interest in a final blow (he does, actually, but he's trying to be good), instead he just crouches down so he's roughly at Dodger's level, watching the spot where the man last was.]

Listen, I wanna make it real fucking clear that the reason you're walking-- well, crawling, away from this is cause Eddie isn't the type of guy who'd want me to kill some dipshit. You might wanna keep that in mind if you ever think about hurting him.

[Taako isn't stupid, he knows this was never really about him, but now Dodger knows that Eddie is basically Taako's moral compass in this particular little threeway they've got going on, which means he probably shouldn't do anything to remove that piece.]

Capiche?

[Even invisible, he's sure Dodger can give him a yes.]

Edited (sorry!!!!) 2017-06-29 06:53 (UTC)

[He flickers into existence again, just for a second, as his headache hits another wave of pain. For a moment he almost considers insulting him, but even Dodger isn't quite stubborn enough for that. He knows that would likely get him killed.

Instead, he flickers again, and this time his shoulders are slumped in defeat. He can deal with this for now, being subdued by Taako. Now he knows what order he needs to get rid of his enemies in.]

Yes, sir.

[There's no sarcasm in his tone, not even a hint of it. Taako has officially earned his respect.]

Oh, nice touch! Love that.

[There's blood in his hair and his leg feels like it's still on fire but this is fucking satisfying. After the way Dodger talked to him, this must be a blow to his ego and Taako can take a second to revel in it, since he's being very good by not literally kicking Dodger when he's down.

Still, as much as he'd love to stick around and gloat, he should probably leave, lest Dodger catch a second wind.]

See ya around, sweetheart.

[In the interest of being a flashy asshole, Taako casts polymorph; an eagle catches his umbra staff as it falls, and flies off.

To go find like an urgent care clinic or something, jesus, but Dodger doesn't need to know that.]

[open] we tried to bury it and rise above

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god i'm legit rolling for some of this shit and my rolls are AWFUL

tbh at least mine are also terrible

that d&d experience

at least they're actually hitting each other

and then i rolled a fucking 1 and a 2 on a d8

i rolled a 2 on this saving throw, doing rolls was the best idea

ohhhhh my god

10/10 best fight

1/10 best crit fails

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