Reroll

Merlin smiles like the cat that ate the canary, as I feel… something; I'm not quite sure what. “Then it's settled.  Here's how it goes:”

The wizard starts: “We place our proxies in an arena - there's some details about it in the rules, but I already have one under the basement, so those aren't of immediate relevance, as we can simply use mine. Each proxy starts on a specific raised stone dias in the arena.  The battle begins with an agreed-upon signal, traditionally by tossing a coin into the middle of the arena, and having both start when it hits the ground… but any signal works, as long as both agree before the battle starts. Me, I like the tradition; does that work for you?”

I have my proxy nod, and he continues, “Between the challenge and the duel, neither mage is permitted to interfere with the other or their proxy.  The mages can chat, but that's basically the limit. During the duel, both mages need to do nothing in regards to each other, either proxy, or the arena itself - not even talking. This also means no instructions for the proxies: Once the battle begins, they're on their own.”

These rules seem simple enough so far, “The proxies can move about the arena, no problem, but they must stay inside the arena for the duration of the match, as must anything they do… this is about not hurting the crowd, mostly, but it can disqualify someone even if there are no injuries.  Barely matters here, as the arena walls are thick, solid stone: Unless they're deliberately shooting upwards, it's going to be a non-issue.” Heh.  You've seen my minions fire… oh, right; that may be why you said it.

Marty keeps going, “The goal of the duel is for your proxy to disable the other proxy: Whichever immobilizes the other for one full minute wins.”

Hmm… that “no leaving” was quite separated… but… “Is there a rule about forcing a proxy out of the arena?”

The wizard chuckles, “You caught that, eh? It's not a listed win condition, but anything one proxy does to the other during the duel is fair game, and leaving is a loss condition.  In open arenas it's… considered a cheap move, but still fair play to have one's proxy force the other out of bounds, because it turns into a win by default, just as if the other’s proxy had chosen to do it: It's a common tactic for beginners. It's significantly less common in closed arenas like I have: The walls are the boundary, so pushing a proxy out is no simple matter.”

I have my proxy nod, “Anything else of relevance?”

The current Merlin shrugs, “Nothing comes to mind.  That covers everything we're likely to need to worry about.  It's not like this is a monitored match impacting our Score.”

I have my proxy nod again, and I watch as Marty starts a timer on his phone, “Half an hour to prepare.”

I go ahead and build a minion specifically for this: A merger of two shadows via Fusion. The first (for the primary, controlling the base form) I set up as a Biped with Regeneration (bypassed by positive and negative energy), set up as a Soldier for feats (Light armor, Grenade, Small Arm, Long Arm, and Heavy Weapon proficiencies from Starfinder; Shadowstuff Armament from Spheres of Power), while I set the secondary up as a Mage, focusing on Destruction and taking Crystal Cocoon (it's a one-minute immobilization talent that also deals some damage), the associated requirements, and a handful of others… of course, I give it Magic Vessel. When I merge them, I grant the setup Evasion, Ferocity, Breathless, Pressure Immunity, Immunity to Acid (takes two slots), Glow of Health, Spiritual Touch, Incorporeality, and Magic Vessel (from the Fusion).  Create Reality's Glamour option adds flight (from Elemental Purity: a hundred foot perfect movement in three dimensions) and Uncanny Dodge.

Of course, I also make it all kinds of Invisible (with Selective, so I can easily see via the Illusion Sphere), and make the creature simply not there (via Selective on the two base shadow minions) for Merlin himself (present for everyone else, though… except for the Invisibility… so she'll be able to affect the opposing proxy).  The idea there is to convince Merlin that his anti-invisibility measures won't help, so he doesn't bother with them.  And yes, they're both also getting the benefits of my Conjuration talents, not that I'm planning on cheating. I also explain my minion's role in all this.  Of course I have my other minions layer buffs as well: More healing, Regeneration, damage reduction, better armor class, boosted stats… Spheres of Power has a lot of buffs and ways to make them last for hours, and I can make custom minions: My proxy gets basically all of the buffs.

When it comes time, Merlin leads me down into his basement, down into a defunct cistern below, and through an illusion of a wall under the stairs of that, into a stairwell leading down to a large underground arena.  

The area is lit up brightly by white glowing stones placed regularly in the ceiling. The entire place is made of stone (which Mysticism identifies as being magically shaped and maintained).  The main combat area is an oval, a good hundred feet long and fifty wide, with a two stone platforms raised two feet off the arena floor, each platform twenty-five feet from the far side of an oval, fifty feet from each other.  The ceiling peaks at fifty feet high, and is domed.  

Ten feet above the arena floor, there are four big observation platforms (one at each end, and one at either side of the middle), as well as what looks like stadium seating all around, good for a few hundred people… I notice there's more than one stairwell leading here: I suppose this is a shared space.

Merlin takes position at one of the two middle observation platforms, pointing at the platform for me to use for my minion.  I go ahead and take the other observation platform, directing my minion to stand at the indicated dias.

Merlin pulls a small green stone statue from his robes, and tosses it into the arena; as it falls, it grows, becoming a green scaled European style dragon, just barely small enough to fit inside the arena. Now that: That's nuts.  Looking closely, though, I figure it out: It's not a real dragon: It's a close facsimile made of jade. I'm honestly not sure if that's better or worse… but it has teeth, claws, and wings.

But I suppose there's a reason he's The Merlin.

Merlin follows up with a coin from his pocket, tossing it down and when it lands… things start happening.

My minion manages to react first, starting with an Anti-magic grenade from Starfinder, lobbing it at the beast and then zipping up close to the ceiling: It must be the soldier running things at the moment.  The jade dragon initially seems unaffected… but it seems confused when it crouches and blows, and nothing comes out.

My minion then casts the Destruction effect I chose, sending a blast of crystals at the jade dragon, which hit… but the beast manages to shake it off as my minion zips around the arena, getting to a different place.  With proper Invisibility, the strategy is shoot then move, shoot then move: Keep them guessing as to where you actually are… and with the flight speed from Elemental Purity, my minion can be literally anywhere in the arena after each shot.

The jade dragon isn't stupid, though.  After the first few spells it dodges, it picks up on needing to be ready exactly when my minion pauses to cast a spell… which is when my proxy switches who's in charge again: There's plenty of room in this arena for grenades.

The Jade Dragon is quite durable… none of the spells my minion manifests actually land.  The guns and grenades work, if slowly, to chip away at the beast.  

The beast doesn't stand still: Those jade claws get through my creations incorporeal nature, and hit VERY hard.  But... they're neither positive nor negative energy, so they cannot cause my minion to dissipate. And with Ferocity included, my minion can keep moving, no matter how bad her injuries get: Which means the hits to my shadow do not matter at all, although they certainly look bad to anyone who can see them (just me, pretty much).  So after a minute, it's obvious enough how the rest will play out.  After two… it's over.  The jade dragon shatters to shards from a final hit from my minion's Reaction Cannon, which stay still.

And Merlin just stares for the minute it takes for ‘dead’ to become ‘lost’.

I give him two more before I say anything, “So… that looks like a win for me.”

Marty keeps staring at the pile of jade junk on the arena floor.

I recall and stow my minion, as I continue, “The wager was for one question.”

The wizard finally speaks up: “You had to have cheated. It shouldn't be possible. But you figured out how.  How did you channel spells through..."

So that's what the tingle was, some kind of geas? I'll need to be careful about agreements with this one… and with the question I choose, “My minion can cast spells on her own. I followed the rules as I understood them.  So, I have a question to ask.”

Merlin purses his lips, still not taking his eyes off the arena floor, “I already know, generally speaking, what you're going to ask… and it won't matter in six months: You've ruined me.  But to make it official: What's your question?”

I manage to resist the urge to ask how I ruined him, instead tossing things around in my head for a while… root of his beef with baselines? Why NOT keep the humans? How can he really treat Mythics as better given that Mythics come from humans?

No… I grab something out of a philosophy class….