As Del makes her way back to the fray, the fight as she can see has only expanded. The collisions of the two heavy weights, massive forces to be reckoned with, shake the foundations of the town. Clearly, there isn't much that Del can do to affect much between these two, if anything-- but she does spot the lizardman from earlier observing the fight, perhaps getting ready to involve himself. She doesn't want to fight him, she resolves; he had let her go twice now, and while she did not agree with the mindless destruction of the village, she understood it as a message nonetheless.

Perhaps she should also send a message.

Del positions herself along the incoming path of the minotaur and the leader of the Mud Worms, hidden within the shadows[1]. She holds herself with quiet patience as the fight unfolds, the two exchanging heavy blows that would rattle most people. One thing that Del knew without a doubt, was that the bigger someone was, the harder they fell.

As they approach, Del suddenly breaks from shadow, on Jagger's immediate left, within range of him and his weapons. She dives toward and through him, ramming her shoulder into the sides of his legs to unbalance him as he prepared to move to attack Shaa, accomplishing this as a roll so her momentum would not be stopped by the sheer weight and size of him [2]. Fair? Probably not. But that was really a luxury this place could not afford at the moment.

---

[1] Shadow Hiding
[2] Cat's Grace

Xalmann saw the sneak attack and let out a hiss. Of what feeling, he wasn't fully sure. He'd spared that woman twice now and now she was really fighting Jagger? She hadn't stood a chance against him, did she think she could survive a fight with him just because the Minotaur was on her side? Was she just incredibly foolish or incredibly bold? In either case, now that she was in the middle of this battle, he wouldn't let her go anymore. It was just lucky for her, she wasn't the biggest target.

Xalmann ran forward, joining the fray with a three part assault. With a swing of his axe, he sent a ball of fire toward Shaa. Behind the fireball, he threw his axe at the Minotaur as well. Finally, he continued running forward. With the fireball acting as both cover and a diversion, and the axe as a secondary diversion, he prepared to swipe at the Minotaur with his dagger as he ran past him. It didn't need to be a deep or fatal wound. Just a small cut would be enough to apply the stunning effect of the dagger.

Behind Xalmann, another semitransparent Lizardfolk followed along. This one shorter but bulkier than Xalmann and with a single, two handed great axe in his hands. With his spirit guardian close to him, Xalmann was protected from any counterattack from Shaa or sneak attack from Del for the moment.

---

Firebolt
Arcane Focus
Dagger of Torment
Spirit Guardian

Jagger exchanges blows with Shaa. The two fighters nearly equally matched. But this was not the type of fight to end in an honorable draw. This wasn’t the fighting pits, this wasn’t the arenas, this was a slaughter.

As there’s a brief pause in their rampage across town, Jagger spits blood from his mouth and cracks his neck. His patience has long since run thin, he would gut this minotaur and hang his entrails from the trees.

He wouldn’t get such a chance though. His attention snaps to the side as movement catches the corner of his eye. He goes to rip his claws through whoever was daring to attack him, though his sharp talons only tear air as the much smaller individual dives low and tackles his legs from behind. The lizardman staggers and takes a knee, his hand sinking deep into the mud to prevent himself from fully falling.

“Little annoyance,” he hisses and lashes his tail out to strike Del before she can escape his reach.

If it connects, his tail would wrap around whichever limb was struck and pull her back into the fray. Jagger pushes himself up to his feet and looms over the woman, raising his mud caked claws up and taking a swipe down at her torso to rend her flesh from her bones. 

Meanwhile, Xalmann lept into action against Shaa. Two members of the same guild pitted against one another not in friendly sparing, but in a conflict of morals and violence.

---

Ongoing Berserker's Rage
Passive Fighter's Sense
Used Prehensile Tail
Passive Claws

Shaa’s blood is pumping so hard that he can hear his own heartbeat thumping in his ears. It had been a long time since he had met a mele fighter as tough as this one. They were both playing for keeps and only one would be walking out of here. But this wasn’t anything new. Shaa was no toy soldier who only played at war. He had spent his entire life being the only one he could count on to survive. If it wasn’t the nomads of his youth it was the endless parade of demons, monsters, beasts and jackasses that had constantly tried and failed to end him. Failed because they did not quite understand how far he was willing to go to live. But they would learn soon enough.

Shaa stared at the Lizardman and focused his entire Soul into his next attack. Jagger’s remaining minions are now starting to file in behind him so he was going to have to do some big. Buzzing with raw energy, his senses sharpen and he sees that a lot more is happening around them than he thought. From out of nowhere, the woman from earlier springs from the shadows crashing into mad man’s legs. This is his chance to end him once and for all. Shaa.

From the side comes a fireball right at his head. The spirit of his mother reaches out and dissipates the flame. From right behind it, emerges the axe that Xalmann was weilding earlier. Was he actually attacking him? It was a dark truth that sometimes members of the fighters guild found themselves in deadly conflict. As matter of fact, you get into the guild by fighting other members sometimes. But Shaa had saved him from a giant worm so he found it sad it came to this. Xalmann had chosen his side. With a quick swipe of his hand, Shaa snags the axe out of mid air. And Xalmann was still coming with a ferocious dagger.

Forcing out the soul energy he had built up, Shaa releases a tremendous soul blast of energy that slams into the crimson lizardman, temporarily robbing him of his abilities. With Xalmaan’s soul guardian gone and impacted from the blast, Shaa is ready for his own counter attack. Using his own axe against him, Shaa releases a special blade technique from his monk training. An image of the axe slashes out at lighting speed, severing and at the same time, cauterizing Xalmann’s arm holding the knife.

More and more fighters are closing in on them and Shaa can tell they are soon to be overwhelmed. With a raging RRRRAAAARRRR the ground starts swirling underneath him. Suddenly, everyone and everything in a 20 ft radius around him starts to slowly sink beneath the earth. Jaggers minions on the outside start to panic as the ones caught are now being pulled down and inward toward the very angry Minotaur. Boss! Boss! We got to go! Boss! The outside Goblins and Gnoll form a line and throw a rope out to Jagger to try and pull him out from the churning pit. Shaa, in the meantime, grabs the woman with his free hand to prevent her from being pulled under.

---

Fighters Sense- passive
Soul Guardian 1 : 1/4 HP Used stop fireball
Deflecting Palm- axe catch
Monk Art: Vikram’s Veracious Velocity - arm removal
Art of the Soul- 20 ft energy beam and disabling Class Abilities and spells for a turn
Shaa Rhunn’s Sand Lion-
The caster stomps or slams the ground, summoning a medium sized sand worm to take position under the ground at the location of the slam. The sand worm will then begin to churn the earth, turning it into sand and slowly pulling anything in its range downwards towards its mouth. For three post, a 20 foot diameter sand pit will begin to form, the ground loose and hard to navigate, reducing the speed of anyone caught inside by half. Each post someone remains inside the pit, they will be pulled closer to its center, being dragged down into the sand. If any enemies are inside the pit at the end of its duration, they will be stuck for one post, unable to move their bodies as the ground hardens again, and will be bitten by the sand worm before it leaves the area. Can only have one pit out at a time and this spell can only be used on the ground.

Wrenched back into the fray by Jagger's tail, Del has to work to stay upright. She bares a snarl up at him as his talons come crashing down. Able to shift back, but not fast enough, she feels his claws sink into and tear the skin along her left, a ragged cry of pain leaving her. She's prepared to take this fight to the ground, eye-gouging and tearing if that's what it took to survive, but before she can leap at him, several things happen in rapid succession, all out of the corner of her eye.

Mud Worms converging. Fire, blades, blood, a smell of burning flesh, and a bone-rattling shout that quaked the very ground beneath their feet. It draws in to an epicentre, and she can feel herself sliding towards it. Sensing there was not much time, Del lashes out with a kick into Jagger's knee, tyring to hyperextend and break it by kicking the joint in the opposite direction it was meant to go, before she is lifted off her feet and pulled out of the sinking pit of sand, held aloft by the minotaur. Bleeding, battered, exhausted, but alive.

"Thank you." Her breath comes in a rough pant; her shoulder was on fire, but her adrenaline was high, eyes wild as if they were seeing more than just what was in front of her. Had to, had to, must see it through, had to finish it, driven by an instinct and a firm belief she did not know the source of. "Put me down, there's-- we have finish this, they're just going to do it again. Gonna go after them and hunt them down and--"

From here, she can see her earlier opponent, the other lizardfolk who had spared her twice, is missing an arm, now. She looks pained to see it and wonders if that was a fate he would have wanted. For now, though, Del is ultimately at the mercy of Shaa, who still holds her sturdy and away from the pit.

The blast of energy that came from Shaa didn't worry Xalmann. Any attack, his spirit guardian would block for him. He wouldn't let it slow him down. As soon as it hit, though, he could feel something was wrong. The ghostly Lizardman behind him looked surprised as he suddenly vanished. He kept running.

The Minotaur raised his own axe against him. Foolish. Xalmann raised his hand, summoning the axe back into it to leave the Minotaur bewildered with an empty hand. That was what was supposed to happen. But it didn't come back. His axe stayed in the Minotaur's hand. He clenched and unclenched his hand in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. Why wasn't it coming back? The axe swung down and he couldn't feel his left arm anymore.

He looked down to see his arm wasn't there anymore. It was on the ground, still clutching the dagger he had found in the remains of his burned down village. His feet were suddenly sinking into the ground. He couldn't keep up with what was happening, his mind still in shock from the sudden loss of his guardian, his abilities, and his arm. He went to reach down and grab the dagger, already forgetting that he had no left hand to grab with. He grabbed it with his right hand and sheathed it. He had to get out of this swirling pit.

With his left arm sinking into the ground and moving toward the center of the put, Xalmann started to climb his way toward the edge and out of it as quickly as he could. He had no time to worry about the others in the pit. Not the Mudworms, not Jagger, not that woman.

Jagger cackles, satisfied with the flesh he had rend from Del as she had interfered with the battle. That would teach her. 

Or not, her heel connects with his kneecap in an attempt to break his joint to bend backwards. He hisses in anger, but he has little time to punish her for her stubbornness as she is picked up by the minotaur. Shaa unleashes a primal shout and upturns the earth between their feet. Jagger's heavy set body starts to sink into the loose soil as it churns like the ocean.

Some of his minions come to his aid and quickly pay the price for their unwavering loyalty. Fools. He could handle this. It was fine. 

He watches as his fellow lizardman loses an arm for his trouble of getting involved. Alright. He had had enough of this. His work was done here, and there were many more battles to fight in the future. He grabs onto the line thrown by his minions and he uses his remaining energy from his rage to pull himself clear of the sinkhole. 

Glancing back over his shoulder once he has clambered clear of the sinking ground, he flicks his tongue in annoyance. 

This would likely not be the last time Jagger crossed these fools. 

He stands up taller and calls over rumbling of the churning earth. "Revel in the fact that I will let you live this day. Cross me again and I will tear you limb from limb."

With his promise of violence delivered, he steps away from the wreckage of the town with his remaining forces. They retreat quickly into the swampy lands beyond the small dry refuge of Lilicors Village. Or at least, what remains standing of it.

The raiding party successfully makes off with supplies and minimal losses in their numbers aside from those directly eliminated by the brave adventurers who partook in the fray.

After the conflict draws to a close, a few civilians return to assess the damages, salvage what they can, and reunite their families. It would be some time before reinforcements would arrive to secure the village once again and provide support for the population.

There is a heavy feeling of loss and mourning in the air as the people of Lilicors lament the destruction, their attention mainly on that which is fortunate for the one remaining raiding participant that is the fire red lizardman now lacking an arm. He still had a chance to avoid being arrested by the local guard, unless his fellow adventurers decide otherwise.

---

Jagger has left the area with his raiders and their spoils. This marks the end of this World Pop Up Topic. There will not be any more posts from Staff past this point, though you are welcome to continue the thread at your discretion. Please let a member of Staff know when you are ready for the thread to be marked as Complete. Thank you for participating!

Shaa deposits the woman outside the AOE of the Sand Lion. The massive spell has caused everyone to cut their losses as the final creatures unable to escape are pulled further and further down and towards the beast waiting for them in the center. Shaa stomps the ground sending a small wall to help push Xalmann out of the pit. The next guild meeting was already going to be awkward enough and having the lizardman get arrested on top of it wouldn’t be fantastic for anyone.

Hey are you ok? He asks the woman who looks exhausted from the effort. I think everyone is safe for now and I don’t want to be around for the questions or the repair bill, so I’m out of here as well. Take care, maybe I’ll see you again and we’ll laugh about this. You! Minotaur! Stop right there! That’s my queue. Shaa takes off into the jungle in a different direction from the swamp bandits. He grumbles to himself a bit thinking about his fight with Jagger. Yes, they would meet again…and he would be ready for him.

(Shaa’s Exit)

---

summon wall 
Shaa Rhunn’s Sand Lion ( turn 2)

As the big mnotaur sets her down, Del feels herself flagging a little, worn down by the constant exertion, the damage to her arm-- it looked mostly through, mostly over. That was a relief, but Del did not feel she could remain still, not now. The lizardkin who she had fought with earlier was missing an arm now, ripped off by the minotaur-- Jagger was finished his task, the village properly decimated. If this was a victory, it didn't feel like one. Then again, since when did victory matter? What mattered was that she was alive.

"Thank you," She says to the minotaur before he takes off. Giving one last look to the smouldering pile of ruins that was now the village, Del also moves into the forest, to find the survivors, and to make sure they made it to some place safe. After that, eventually, she would rest.

[Exit Del]

Xalmann awkwardly scrambled out of the pit, a push from behind suddenly helping to propel him the rest of the way. He got to his feet and looked back to see a wall of stone just like the ones Shaa had created in his fight with Jagger. He looked toward the fleeing Minotaur that had just cut off his arm. If he thought helping him get out of a trap of his own making would be enough to make Xalmann stop being angry at him, he was a bigger idiot than Xalmann had thought.

He was furious at Shaa, but also angry with himself. He hadn't expected him to have such an ability. He'd been careless and it had cost him dearly. He glanced to the center of the sand pit and watched as his arm was devoured by a giant bug, ripped apart savagely. Well, there went any chances of reattaching it.

He felt what was left of his arm. It was an uncannily clean cut, and wasn't even bleeding at all. It had been entirely cauterized. He wasn't in danger of bleeding out from this wound at least, thought it was still painful. He raised his right hand and willed his axe to return, as it hadn't before. It seemed his powers had returned to him, just as the axe did this time, reappearing in his hand. He sheathed it at his waist before he turned to flee from the scene.

The village was already decimated. There was no more reason to stick around. He wanted revenge against the Minotaur that had taken his arm, but it would have to wait. First, he'd need to find a replacement for his lost limb.

[Xalmann's Exit]