The axe had hardly left Del's hands when it suddenly vanished into thin air. Xalmann raised the axe and put it on his shoulder, just watching the fight. He didn't interfere as she took down the other Lizardmen that had been chasing her. Her fighting skills were good. She was also someone who fought with their fists. Xalmann had met others who preferred such a fighting style, including the minotaur now engaged in combat with Jagger and throwing childish insults at him. She even left her enemies alive. In Xalmann's experience, leaving an opponent alive was more difficult than not, though he did use a battle axe and a dagger. Perhaps it was just the difference in weapons.

He stared back emotionlessly as she ordered him to leave. He lowered the axe off of his shoulder, into a fighting stance. It was unfortunate for her, that he didn't take orders. He charged forward, casting a spell into his axe. As soon as she struck at him with a fist, he would move the flat of his axe blade to block it, and let his spell take effect on her. He didn't plan to kill her, or even seriously maim her. He had enough respect for her from what she'd done so far to do that much. He didn't take orders, not even from Jagger.

---

Always There
Vampiric Touch
Arcane Focus

The mysterious woman who had been causing chaos has now been intercepted by Xalmann, their bout coming to a pause as the woman tells the raider to leave with his task complete. But her request falls on deaf ears as the scarlet lizard man resumes his attack against her.

Meanwhile, few civilians remain in the area as the raid nears its conclusion. The attack has been swift and effective with the caravan of supplies currently being ransacked by those sworn under Jagger’s lead. It would take Lilicors Village a good while to recover from such a blow, but the message had been received clear as day. The Mud Worms would not tolerate such blatant disrespect on their turf. The only thing left was to tie up a few stubborn loose ends.

Jagger flicks his tongue as he turns to face Shaa. The lizard man narrows his eyes and lowers his head as Shaa taunts him, his tail lashing back and forth behind him. Clearly the minotaur was baiting him. Fine by him. The bull would regret thinking he would walk away from this fight without a few nasty bites as souvenirs.

As the wall of earth forms before him, Jagger charges straight towards where he saw Shaa last. Did the fool really believe that a measly wall of dirt would stop him? Ha. All the minotaur had done was blind himself. Jagger does not balk as the 20 foot tall wall towers before him, instead he digs his taloned feet into the soft marshy soil and slams his sharpened claws into the wall itself. With a mighty shout as his muscles flex and strain, the wall cracks, being shifted enough to start toppling like a domino towards Shaa! The shadow of the wall lengthens and blocks out the sun as the earthen structure threatens to squash Shaa flat beneath it! Unbeknownst to Shaa is that Jagger has already made his next move, scrambling up the side of the wall as it begins to fall and perching himself just below the top only far enough to peek over the edge to watch with anticipation what Shaa does next.

---

Ongoing Berserker's Rage
Ongoing Blood Cry

As the Lizardfolk's axe-- returned to his hand almost immediately after she took hold of it-- comes off his shoulder into a fighting stance, Del exhales a quiet sigh through her nose. Her jaw tenses in a moment of understanding; it was about what she had expected, and she respected the terse, silent declination of her command. Not boasted, no snark or monologue, just a simple action that dictated what was about to happen. That kind of stoicism Del could appreciate. So be it.

Del clears the distance, lashing out with her foot in a kick-- she feels it connect with steel, a vibration traveling up her leg, jarring her. It hadn't been meant to connect, only to give her opponent something to dodge while she pivoted to a follow-up strike, a feint. This was undone as Xalmann blocked the kick with his axe, and the spell took effect.

A frailty flooded her body, not unlike a wave of malaise accompanying a particularly virulent flu. Del shudders, staggering, only barely keeping her feet under her through sheer force of will. She's seeing double, confused by whatever horrible illness her opponent seems to have inflicted upon her and unable to focus. Del lifts her arms in defense, but they feel leaden and weak. It's a feeling that is all too familiar to her.

Not knowing Xalmann's intention-- or lack thereof-- and feeling heavy, weak, bogged down, not unlike drowning, Del's survival instinct kicks in. To Xalmann's eyes, along the forked scar of Del's face, there is the faintest gold glow, a sliver, as if emanating from beneath.

Her stumble backward takes her to a wall, almost clinging to the pillar holding up the flaming awning to use for support. What she needs is to fall back. She hates it, more than anything, but if she is to survive, then she must put distance between her and her opponent. Not aware this isn't necessary, she wraps her muscular arms aroud the pillar and, with a yell, heaves her whole body behind it, and what precious little strength she has left. If the thing weren't already weakened by fire, it never would have come down with that paltry effort.

With a snap, the front of the awning comes down, making a wall of flaming shingle and wood between her and Xalmann. Del nearly falls as she pulls away from the collapse, only just catching herself on her hands. She looks back to Xalmann, heaving. Eyes never leaving his and on shaky feet, Del moves back into the shadow to vanish from view.[1] She needed a minute.

---

Del is under the effect of Vampiric Touch for this turn

[1]Shadow Hiding

After summoning the wall, Shaa had already started running away in the opposite direction. He could start to feel the effects from the berserkers cry start to ebb but they were still nagging him to beat hoof out of there. Hopefully the giant lizard would fall in the hole so neatly laid out for him like a good little maniac. His fighters instinct kicks in, something is not right. Shaa does a quick back check only to find his wall is falling down on top of him! And he could feel someone on top of the wall to boot. Shaa quickly turns and summons a second shroud enhanced vertical wall at a 45 degree angle to the first wall, sending the falling wall flying rapidly backwards. It is important to note that it is very unfortunate for anything or anybody to be on top of the first wall as they would also be launched perilously through the sky like a giant pinball. Shaa, of course, was just preventing himself from being squished by his own technique, breathing a sigh of relief in the process. Being squished by a wall as an highly skilled Terramancer would just be embarrassing. There was no sign of Jaggar for the moment and Shaa hoped it was him that he felt.

Scanning the town for any other attackers, Shaa sees a familiar red lizard man. He only knew of one red Lizard man, Xalmann. He had lost contact with him after the crazy events of the Arid Mesa and the Sol Stone. He was on a quest for vengeance for his dead tribe or something. When it came out the Sol stone wasn’t what anyone actually thought it was, Shaa was sure he was probably disappointed. But what was he doing here with crazy face? Lizard camaraderie? Was that a thing? If you are a lone lizard guy, probably don’t have that many options. Still, no excuse to go ransacking hapless villages. He had pulled him out of a sand worm on that trip for Ginmas sake. He wouldn’t say that they were friends per se but crawling out of sand worm guts had to make them something right? 

Shaa is about to yell something when an awning falls down in front of the lizard man. Hmmmm maybe he’s busy at the moment. Maybe he could talk him out of it later. They could go for muffins or something. She got the distinct impression that the other lizard was not “ a muffin guy”

---

Summon Wall- enhanced by overpowering presence 
Fighters Sense

Xalmann didn't seem the least bit troubled by the flaming awning falling between him and Del. Completely calm, with no emotion at all, he just waved his axe to the side and the flames followed, ripped out of the broken wood and fabric like they were being pulled on strings. The fire rose into the air, away from any fuel source, and died out. In a short moment, between Xalmann and Del was nothing but a bit of singed fabric and a couple of broken sticks, not a barrier to anyone at all.

Xalmann glanced about for the figure of the retreating warrior, but didn't see them anywhere. She must have escaped then. Good for her. He'd wanted to spare her life anyways, so this worked just fine for him.

He turned around and started walking away, his eyes on the fight between Jagger and Shaa. There was hardly anyone left except for the other raiders who were devoted to Jagger. They could handle the rest of the pillaging. Xalmann wanted to watch their supposedly great leader in action against the Minotaur. He might even join in.

---

Control Flames
Arcane Focus

As Del retreats into the shadows and Xalmann turns his attention away, Del would hear the sound of quiet whimpering from beneath a partially collapsed wall. It sounds like a civilian had become trapped in the rubble during the raid and left for not-quite-dead. She could help them and risk being seen by the last few goblins scavenging the town for loose scraps, or she could wait for the raiders to make their retreat and hope that the civilian could hold on until then.

Jagger would give the minotaur this, he at least tried to be clever. The play with the second wall was a good one, however, Jagger was already perched atop the wall as Shaa was fleeing further. The lizard man uses the momentum of the falling wall to boost his jump into the air before the other wall can abruptly alter the falling wall’s direction.

Xalmann would witness as the second summoned wall shoots into the toppling wall, stopping its momentum and pushing it backwards. The first wall, lacking elasticity, cracks from the collision and starts to crumble, sending a few errant pieces of stone sliding down the surface of the second summoned wall. However, while Shaa was looking the red lizardman’s way, Jagger was descending upon the minotaur from above.

Who would have expected the lizardman to willingly launch himself into the air in order to literally get the jump on his prey. The Blood Cry had run its course, and Jagger knew the minotaur would likely go on the offensive considering he had not fled battle at his first chance.

Using Shaa’s brief moment of distraction to the best of his advantage, Jagger reaches out with his tail and arms to lock the Minotaur into a grapple as he falls on him. The lizard man is dense and heavy, and his grip tightens around the minotaur like a constrictor snake threatening to squeeze the breath out of Shaa's lungs. 

---

Ongoing Berserker's Rage
Ended Blood Cry
Activated Hardened Force
Used Iron Grip

It takes her another few moments of standing with the sudden vertigo before the strength begins to return to her body. She checks her hands, flexing them experimentally. No longer shaking, no longer feeling like she was about to faint. Whatever that spell was, it had been horrid. She looks back out from the shadow as the lizardfolk dispelled the flames with a wave of his axe, and turned away, unbothered and not in pursuit. Gritting her teeth, she glances up and around-- now that she had recovered, she was still in this, could lay an ambush of some kind and prevent things being any worse for the minotaur out there who was fighting Jagger.

The sounds of whimpering draw her attention with a snap, looking towards a fallen pile of rubble in another building. Faintly, between the crushed beams, she could see someone move. Looking around her revealed a poor set of options; raiders still abounded, looking for more to take and steal and destroy. She looks back over her shoulder, past the extinguished awning she had brought down, and back. An ambush would be a better conducted tactic. It would be easier to stay hidden to deliver a decisive blow. Strategically, that was the better choice.

It is not the choice Del makes. More tacticaly advantageous, it might be, but not so for the person who was trapped, injured, and terrified. People, always, came first.

Waiting for a pair of goblins to pass, Del exits the shadow and quietly moves toward the broken rubble of the collapsed wall, worried for the person trapped beneath. "Hey," she whispers. "I'm here to help; I can get you out, but I need you to be quiet, alright?" She casts around for something she can use to stabilize the stone wall, and fast, before more of the Mud Worms returned.

Quickly, she clears away a few of the rocks, to start, to make sure they can at least breathe and so none of the looser, smaller rubble would fall and cause further injury when she shifted the larger portion. With that done, Del moves to shift a beam from a different pile to prop against the portion of the wall that kept the civilian trapped. She moves away the smaller, larger rocks that aren't load bearing, before sliding the smaller, broken piece of wood under it. With that, with a rock under the beam, she pushes down, creating a lever used to lift the larger bits of stone up and away. It only makes a small gap, but it's enough for Del to use the lever to push the intact portion of wall with a clatter off to the side.

They would have definitely heard that. Hurried, Del reaches in to the gap, hand out, to offer the trapped person an easier way out. "Can you walk? We have to go, they'll be back any second."

Wait. Someone was still there?  A chill runs through Shaa as he looks up and sees the hand and tail of Jagger plummeting down grasping at him from the sky. This guy just can’t take a hint. Shaa grabs the Lizardman’s outstretched tail with both hands, pulling with one and pushing with the other. Using Jagger’s own falling momentum against him, Shaa twists his body and uses the lizard tail to swing Jagger around head first into a nearby cart. The giant lizard’s sheer girth smashes the wooden cart into a haphazard pile of rubble. He quickly follows up by tossing the gifted wreath into the rubble pile. Thorny vines explode everywhere, entangling themselves into everything, making a giant pile of vine, lizard and cart detritus. If their brief history was any indication, the steaming rage monster probably wouldn’t be there long. If he was going to come at him again, Shaa was going to be ready for it.

Digging deep into his soul, he makes connections to the elements of the earth. Rock and stone formed around his hands and feet, adding an additional layer of protection from the inevitable onslaught. Shaa had enough experience pit fighting to know where this was going. They had already ransacked the town. The only reason that this guy would stay around was that he was here to throw down and do damage. One of those guys. But that was fine by Shaa. He didn’t get to where he was in the fighters guild through his excellence in pillow fighting. Shaa popped his joints and waited to see what Jagger had for him, still keenly aware of the other movements around him.

---

Fighters Sense
Bull Strength Tattoo
Art of the Iron Fist
Iron Grip
Evergreen Wreath - used to cast Vine Field

As Xalmann was watching Jagger fling himself from the broken wall to try and grab Shaa and be thrown away into a pile of debris, he suddenly heard the sound of rubble clattering across the ground behind him. He turned and looked around again. Perhaps that woman hadn't fled.

Stepping around a collapsed wall, he saw her. Of course. She was still trying to help these poor weaklings escape from here. That had been exactly what she'd been doing before, wasn't it? Distracting the raiders and drawing their attention to keep it off of the escaping civilians. Admirable, but foolish. Why did she care about them so much?

The whimpering of the child beneath the wall suddenly turned into a gasp and tears as she looked past Del to see the imposing figure of the red Lizardman standing behind her savior, an axe in one hand and a dagger in the other. Xalmann just looked down at her blankly, uncaring. 

Del successfully manages to create enough space for the young civilian to start crawling out from under the collapsed debris, though they were far from safe as Xalmann turned his attention away from the brawl between Jagger and Shaa and back onto the sneaky elf. The civilian cowers behind Del as the red lizardman towers over the two, if needed, they would do whatever Del said in order to survive this confrontation. 

Meanwhile, Jagger was...less than thrilled to be whipped around like a lizard shaped throwing hammer, to say the least. While he could have attempted to counter the throw and lock himself into a shoving match with the minotaur, he felt his rage leave him earlier than expected which gave the minotaur the advantage for just a moment. 

The beefy lizardman slams through the cart, shattering it into multiple large pieces before a flurry of prickly vines spring up from the soft marshy ground. The sound of creaking wood, bending metal, and snapping vines fills the air as Jagger digs deep in the mud, jamming his clawed hands under the wagon debris, tearing it free and launching a spray of wooden splinters and mud at the minotaur. 

Jagger rises onto his feet, brushing the debris off of his shoulder and cracking his neck, seemingly unharmed from Shaa's actions. His tongue flicks in the air as he quickly surveys his surroundings, the furious energy from his rage ebbing away as if drawn away by some unseen force.

"Hmph, outsider, I would praise you if your efforts and strength were not miserably misplaced."

The lizardman speaks with a hiss on his scaled lips. He pulls his legs through the sharp thorny mess, stepping towards Shaa despite the scratches which draw blood. 

"Why have you interfered? Has the fame from the fighting pits bought your loyalty?"

Stepping clear of the vine field, Jagger stands up straighter, his tail lashing angrily behind him as he looks down his long scar covered snout at the minotaur. His eyes narrow and his tongue flicks.

"Or have those dainty elves finally brought the Fighter's Guild to their knees like the castrated livestock they are?"

He widens his stance and watches closely for the minotaur's next move, his senses equally as tuned in on any funny business in this stand off. 

---

Ended early Berserker's Rage
Ended with Rage Hardened Force
Used Improvised Weapons
Passive Fighter's Sense

Gods, they were so young and small. Del carefully helped them out of the decimated remains of the building. She's about to ask again if they're hurt when they see something over her shoulder and start to panic. Ice enters the pit of her stomach and as she turns, arms out to ensure the civilian is behind her. The lizardfolk from only minutes ago is looming over them, his expression impassive and cold, his hands full of weapons. She grits her teeth.

She gently tugs the civilian's sleeve to the side as she takes a halfstep back, indicating for them to stay behind her. The movement is slightly to the right, telegraphing where they are about to run to. Or so it looks.

It's a feint, a small offer of retreat for just a split second before Del's left heel comes crashing down on the now unburdened segent of beam she had used as a lever to lift the wall. The wood cartwheels up and over her shoulder towards Xalmann's head, and Del ducks left instead of right. Xalmann effortlessly smashed it to the side, but it was just the pause Del needed. In an instant, using the momentum of the movement, Del hauls the young civilian's arm with her as she pulls them up and across her shoulders in a fireman's carry as she peels off.[1] There is but one instruction for them; "Hang on!"

They're behind and around a wall fast-- she has seen what Xalmann could do with that axe, and she was not keen on being struck by it again, or worse, the civilian. She pulls her legs up into a jump as soon as they're around the corner, using a destroyed window like a chute on the building to the left of them to get them into one of the few partially-standing structures still remaining in the village. Without breaking her stride, she rolls the young person around her shoulders and into her arms, in a princess carry, as she slides again under a half-destroyed door, turning as she slid so the flaming wood would scrape at her back, and not her charge's.

Internally, her brow furrows. There were no footsteps behind her, and the surety of Xalmann's blow had been a reactive one, rather than a proactive one. He was not pursuing. He had let her go... and if that was true for this time, was it true for the time before? And if so... why?

Outside again, still sprinting hard, she clears a pile of rubble to get them to the other side of the exterior of the village. She sets the civilian on their feet, lungs stinging from all the effort. "The others-- that way. Some are hiding at the copse of trees there, or have left for the nearby villages. Go, quick." She gestures to the woods, for them to go while there is still time.

Behind her, she can hear the sounds of the minotaur and the leader of the Mud Worms combat. That might be something she has to focus on. She isn't sure what the lizardkin she fought was playing at either. Why let her go when they were here to crush the outsiders who had come to occupy these places? She has much to wonder as she sees the young civilian off, before she herself heads back toward the fray.

---

[1]Cat's Grace

Shaa holds up his stoney firearm to protect his eyes from the spray of mud and cart debris. He wipes himself off a bit and chuckles. So he speaks! Thanks…I think. Now that your are done with your temper tantrum, we can get something clear. Shaa does a quick check around the environment while still keeping an eye on Jagger. To be clear, III didn’t start this. I was just eating my lunch when one of your geniuses sat on my lunch and tried to stab me for no reason. When I tried to find out what was happening, two more of your guys tried to, you guessed it STAB ME. I don’t know about you, but I kind of take that kind of nonsense personally. That and the whole “ eating children” thing.

Shaa hated to admit it, but this Lizard Man lived up to his reputation. He practically had “I want to hurt you” tattooed on his forehead. He was going to need to approach this very carefully or this situation could get even worse if that were possible. So I see my reputation proceeds me. And you came after me anyway? I am not quite sure what that says about you. Where was that woman from earlier? Had Xalmann gotten a hold of her? Crap on a stick! If the rhetoric that your Kobold lackey was spouting at me earlier is any indication, your here to kill all the outsiders yeah? Well they are all gone, but your still here. Why is that hmmm?  You know what I think? I think you are full of it. You are no crusader, I think you are just bloodlusty. Yeah, I fight, all the time really. But not for the pit crowds or the rich elves, I couldn’t care less about that. He dug his hoof into the ground a bit for traction.

Nope. I learned a long time ago that that are people out there who will kill you just because they can. Ruin lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly one of the good guys but there are things that just really piss me off too. I get it. I guess when it comes to it, I could have let slide the whole looting and trying to stab me part. Happens all the time, whatever. But you and the goon patrol were attacking children. I…I just can’t man. Maybe it’s the abused orphan in me. Either way, they were your guys. You are responsible. I am holding you responsible. The memory of the little girl from earlier sends a shiver down his spine. You are tough, I’ll give you that. But it doesn’t mean you are getting away with this. The next time you think about attacking kids…you remember this!

Finally, Shaa had a clear purpose and is ready to go on the offensive. Rushing right at him, Shaa attempts a purposeful strike with his left hand. If he is successful, he will place another purposeful strike with his right hand. Using this technique, the lizardman’s body will start to shutdown. As Shaa started to punch, Jagger sees a flurry of fists raining down on him, making it hard to distinguish were Shaa is actually trying to punch.

---

Two Piece- Attempting 
Forced Imbalance- Attempting 
Shroud Affliction- Passive 
Fighter’s Sense- Passive
Bare Fists- Blurring Enchantment 

Xalmann just watched out of the corner of his eye as Del ran past with the girl on her shoulders. He could have attacked with his dagger, or his tail, or used his fiery magic to block their escape, but he didn't. He let them get away without a fight. He'd been amused when he saw she was still here, still trying to save random civilians caught up in the assault. He thought she'd taken her chance to escape. He must have even turned his back to her, giving her an opportunity to attack that she had pass on to go pull some child from the debris.

He turned and left, walking back toward the fight between Jagger and Shaa. The fight looked like it was starting to go into full swing once Shaa finished his monologuing. Xalmann waited for an opportunity. He was interested in seeing them fight, but the option to join in wouldn't escape him. He crept closer to the fight, his axe and dagger in his hands and at the ready.

Fearing getting caught up in the fight or being picked off by any remaining raiders, the young person does as Del instructs and flees towards the stand of trees. Thanks to the woman's efforts, they had a chance at surviving to see tomorrow and they were not going to squander it if they could help it.

Several of the fires were starting to die down at this point and many of the raiders have disappeared back into the marshes, only leaving the destruction as signs of their presence and proof of their wrath. The damage was pretty severe, but not something that couldn't be salvaged given enough time and resources. That said, there was no telling how much rebuilding would worsen the relationship between the civilians and the Mud Worms. This wasn't just a raid for the sake of raiding, this was meant as a display of discontent. Whatever animosity which was between the people and this group of violent ravagers wasn't likely going to solved with just some civil conversation over some tea. 

The lizardman's eye twitches as the minotaur monologues at him. Kids this kids that, what a bleeding heart this "champion" fighter was. Ridiculous. Pathetic. These children would just grow up to be oppressors just like their parents, consuming the region's resources, robbing from the those who belong here. Regardless of who is to blame, consequences needed to be enacted. These people can blame those who promised them paradise while neglecting to warn them that their neighbors never wanted them there in the first place. 

For a brief moment, the Mud Worms leader glances away from the minotaur over to his fellow lizardman. They were not tribesmen, but Jagger acknowledged Xalmann's willingness to assist, even if he did not care for their cause on a personal level. This was a duel, but the bulky raider was far from honorable. If Xalmann decided to aid in this fight, he would not reprimand him. Any means necessary for success was fine by his tastes. 

Jagger hisses at Shaa as the fighter digs in and rushes him. A bold move clearly with the intent of putting the lizardman on the defensive. The lizardman would instead meet the minotaur head on as his body bulks back up, the rage filling his veins once more as he lets out a primal war cry. Jagger, with lightning fast reflexes as Shaa closes the gap, latches his taloned hand around the minotaur's wrist with the first punch. Using the the charging bull's momentum, the lizardman would flip him over onto his back, slamming him down hard into the soft earth before raking his claws across Shaa's face in an attempt to blind him. 

---

Activated Berserker's Rage
Passive Fighter's Sense
Used Reverse of Momentum
Passive Claws and Hands are Weapons
Used Two-Piece

As Shaa rushed the giant fighter, hands blurred like a swarm of bees, he somehow manages to grab Shaa’s wrist and flip him over on his back. In the next moment, Shaa can feel his clawed hand rake deeply across his face. Scratched but focused, Shaa rolls out to the side and back up to his feet. He reaches up and wipes off some of the blood still dripping from his snout. Licking his bloody finger and spitting it on the ground, he is done fancy dancing.

Stepping back up to him with an angry grunt, Shaa slugs Jagger right in the face, gore shooting from his nose. Unfazed, Jagger punches Shaa in the stomach. Back and forth the two monstrous pugilists furiously slug it out. Back and forth like two mountains that have collided into each other. Soon, parts of the bedraggled town get caught up in the wake of their tumult. Carts get wrecked. Houses lose walls. Outhouses become inhouses become no houses as the fight tares on with no clear winner or end in sight.

Ok, I’ll admit it. You’re pretty tough you scaly faced goblin licker. The fight was starting to wear on him. The town was ruined, the people were gone. The only thing left was pride and Shaa’s general desire to keep punching this guy. It wasn’t often that he ran into a fighter that could give as much as he take and Shaa didn’t want to waste the opportunity. It was here that Shaa noticed, he was starting to be surrounded.