(Just to be clear, Tiam still has a javelin in his hand. The aforementioned sheathed javelin was the one he had sheathed before pulling the javelin that was thrown at you using Boom! out of the cliff. It was wriggling loose in its sheathe so he had to fix it or lose it.)

Well this is unfortunate... The elf's strength was apparently still enhanced given the ease with which he knocked Tiam's offending spear to the side. That meant that Vius was now within his optimal attack range. Of course, that also meant that Vius couldn't very well use his sword either. That was alright, there was still a short, pointy stick still at hand that could be utilized, which he intended to do righ-

"Ooof." Tiam grunted audibly as the elf shoved a shining palm into Tiam's chest and discharged a blast of energy. The blast knocked the wind out of his lungs and landed him on his ass, legs splayed out before him. His head was spinning a little. He had still been moving forward when the blow came, so that only made the damage worse. There wasn't any lasting damage to be had, but the momentary damage was enough. In close combat any flinch or falter mattered, because that gave your opponent an opening, and any opening can be fatal. Right now, Tiam was incredibly open.

Maybe... Not as open as he thought. His chest hurt and his mind was fuzzy, but he wasn't about to let those things keep him from living. There was still so much he had to do. So many rich people to rob, whores to visit, and elves to kill. Lots of elves.

Tiam shuffled slightly and entwined legs with his opponent just before launching into a full-on roll. This caused his legs to tangle with Vius'. The aim was to get Vius off his feet and have them both on the ground. It was still a dangerous position, but at least the elf wouldn't be towering above him. Of course, Tiam didn't expect that the warlock was going to fall so easily, and so with the second shaky breath he managed to take Tiam let out a scream.
[Concussion]
It was pitiful, really, more like a cough than a scream, but it was enough to amplify and get the job done. The yell was obviously aimed at Vius and, given his current situation, seemed more than enough to knock the elf on his back. Of course, the yell - if you could really call it that - was pitiful by Tiam's standards, so he wouldn't be entirely surprised if Vius just shrugged it off and killed him right there. Such was the nature of taking risks.

[Concussion, 1/3 remains]

"Gotcha now!" Vius couldn't help but feel elated at what appeared to be the battle winding down. He drew his sword back, ready to hold it to his downed opponent's throat and demand surrender. Vius didn't want to kill the man; it'd be a waste of life and talent. If there was no other way the man would give up, though, the elf would have to do something bad. Maybe not kill but definitely maim. To the elf, it seemed the man wouldn't be incapacitated unless he had lost the use of at least two limbs and his voice. It would really just be easier to kill him. "There's only one way I'll-what are you...hey!"

Fortune is a fickle mistress. Vius remembered reading that on a plaque in a small seaside tavern he frequented. He remembered it vividly when he had been pick-pocketed while eating there. The owner had simply pointed to the sign, then to a large pile of dirty dishes. Vius felt that same feeling now that he had felt then, when he realized that it was the owner's own son who had stolen his money. There was shame but also a sense of growth, of a wariness that hadn't been there but would in the future. Expect the unexpected, that's what his old master would have told him, most likely right after a sturdy whack on the head from the old man's knotted oak cane. These thoughts flew through the elf's head, almost like background music as he struggled with the stranger to keep his footing. He raised his sword, intent on hamstringing the man if that's what it took.

BOOM! Again! The sound rocked through Vius' body, though not as impressive as before, perhaps because the elf knew that the man could do it. Still, he hadn't realized the man would do it just then. Expect the unexpected. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That and a few coins will buy you a nice dinner. It might not buy you dinner, but it would have kept the coins in your pocket. It astonished the young elf that his mentor won, even in an imagined argument in his own head. The whole exchange ran through Vius' head as he fell towards the ground and then he hit. The sand made it hard for Vius to move as fast as he should be able to but it certainly made for a softer landing than if they were having this fight on stone or even loose gravel. As soon as Vius hit the ground, he disentangled from the stranger and pushed himself backwards, ending his little roll in a crouch.

The man was annoyingly creative in his approach to battle. Vius' skills lie more in reaction than action. He could defend steadily against a foe, even when they did not fight with a regular pattern but mounting an unpredictable offense was something the elf still faltered at. For the moment, Vius drew a shuriken with his left hand and prepared to throw it with his magically enhanced strength. He could feel the jewel losing power and knew that it would need time to recharge once it faded. So, it was once again that he took aim at the man's left leg and sent the tiny metal disk spinning. If it all came down to mobility, then so be it. If he could take the man's legs out, then it would be that much easier to stuff a rag in the man's mouth. Then there would be no choice but to surrender.

-------------------------
Strength jewel, 1/8 posts left

Tiam's last-ditch effort to save himself paid off. He managed to knock the elf off balance and away, giving him a moment to breathe. Unfortunately, the elf simply rolled out of the fall and was back on his feet while Tiam was just starting to rise. The bastard sure was agile. Fighting an opponent that wouldn't stay down long enough to stick was a real annoyance. Few had given him this much trouble, and those that did only did so in practice; if they had proved this difficult in a real fight Tiam figured that he would probably have died long ago.

Another shuriken came his way, it's flight signaled only by a glint of light off of the speeding projectile. He didn't even think of standing in front of this one. Not only was the range much closer than the last, but the elf's strength was also greatly enhanced. He had no doubt that the blade would rip right through the soft cow hide that he wore for armour. Maybe some new protection was in order...

Tiam barely moved when the slicing blade struck and buried itself deep into his left quad. He coughed another scream, only in pain instead of offence. Quick as he could Tiam jabbed his javelin into the ground and jerked the star free of his leg and let it fall. He used his hand to steady himself as he stood the rest of the way and pressed a handful of sand against the already bleeding wound. The bastard had cut him deep - that was not good news for his mobility. Luckily the wound was relatively small, so it wouldn't be completely hindering.

"Bastard... You ruined my pants." Tiam's pants were indeed ruined. Not only did they have a hole in them, but a sizable red spot was already blooming underneath the handful of sand. That handful hurt. The sand was getting into the wound and chafing it more, but the pain was better than passing out from blood loss. He looked a sad sight at the moment, but he knew he had to continue. Now it was a fight for his life rather than a fight for a few bars of gold.

The elf was just out of range of his spear - that needed to be remedied. He hobbled forward as quickly as he could and thrust his spear forward, butt braced against his arm as before. There was little else he could do that the moment. He needed to keep the wizard out of sword range until his leg stopped bleeding, or at least became full enough with sand that it wouldn't bleed as badly as it was now.

Between having just lost his breath and getting stabbed in the leg, Tiam was starting to feel a little dizzy.

[2 Javelins remain]

(I'm counting only javelins that Tiam has on him at the end of my post, so the one that is point-down in the sand just behind him doesn't count for the moment.)

A grimace of empathy crossed Vius' face for a moment as the shuriken tore into his opponent's leg. The little bladed discs were painful and could tear through skin easily, especially with Vius' enhanced strength behind them. The only problem was it offered a very small point of impact. Someone with more training in the art of projectile weapons could make a single hit deadly but that was with years of training and honed skills. However, it had served it's purpose and the elf's opponent was hobbled. Vius' grin returned when his opponent spoke.

"Don't you see?" Vius chided in a mock serious tone. "Your attachment to material goods is what has caused you this pain today. Let it go, man. Learn a lesson and walk away while you can." Vius wasn't completely serious. H felt he knew the man well enough to know the man would keep fighting. He was one of those with a screwed up sense of honor or maybe just a malfunctioning sense of self-preservation. Either way, it was a fight to the death or at least until one of them couldn't keep going. The man struck at Vius, a sort of charging spear attack that was addled by the wound in his leg. Vius easily batted the offending spear away and jumped backwards.

Once again, the Void filled him with power which gathered at his left hand and coalesced into a slowly swirling silver mist around his hand. He would aim this one a little better so he wasn't caught in the blast. Of course, if the man was very observant, he might notice the similarity to tVius' earlier use of the spell. The warlock's spells all had slightly different effects on his person but they all looked similar enough to pass unnoticed to all but the most shrewd observer. Vius took a few more steps back, just in case. On his last step, he nearly stumbled as the jewel that had enhanced his strength suddenly died out. He inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth. Against someone like the stranger, Vius had leaned heavily on that enhancement. The next few seconds of battle would most likely decide the victor and a sinking feeling in Vius' stomach seemed to absorb most of the confidence he had built up. His eyes focused on his enemy; he couldn't grow complacent now, not with his very life hanging in the balance.

----------------------------
Daybreak charging
Strength jewel effects over

"And had you not gotten in my way there wouldn't have been any trouble at all." The elf was an idiot. Besides, how was he supposed to know that this particular caravan guard would be tougher than a leviathan to kill. Tiam just saw a scrawny elf that was overly full of himself when it came to swordplay. He looked like an easy kill - how could he not. In hindsight though, Tiam realized that he probably should have caught on to the elf's prowess before the fight even began. He was the only guard, and no merchant with that much gold hires a single guard unless they could easily take on a group of bandits and win.

That he was having trouble with a single bandit was odd, but then Tiam wasn't exactly the normal type of bandit either. He was gifted and powerful - he could probably take on a quarter score of bandits himself and survive. Well, I guess that's what I get for having my head up my ass. Nothing to do but fight agaist the odds now. He was right. He really had no way of getting out of this. The elf was quick and had a range of things that could kill him at a distance. Couple that with his crippled leg and there was only one option: Fight on.

The elf's hand started to glow again, meaning that he was probably going to be throwing another spell soon. Tiam knew that he should be able to, but shuffling forward to stab again with a crippled leg wouldn't do much good. The elf was still strong, and seemed to be able to bat most of his strikes away with ease - it was time for a different approach.
[Boom!]
Tiam jabbed his spear into the sand next to him and drew a javelin. The throw following that was almost fluid from the point of the draw. It was less accurate than actually taking time to aim, but speed was required if he intended to survive. The javelin ended up on a path for Vius' midsection, which was a good target for making his opponent move and breaking his concentration. To top it all off, Tiam touched the javelin with his gift and cause it to roar with sound as it left his hand. He flinched, of course.

"Every damn time." He muttered under his breath as he pulled his spear out of the ground. The bleeding in his leg was slowing, though his sand pack was also becoming soaked with blood. He ground the sand into the wound a little more, causing it to sting like a dozen hornets. It was worth it though. At least, he hoped so.

[Boom: 1 use remains]
[1 Javelin remains]

Almost ready...

As the power for Vius' spell built up, he planned his movements carefully. What he was about to do was akin to carrying volatile explosives or acid and, at this stage of their battle, a misstep could prove just as deadly. He had already messed up with this spell once, so as soon as he felt the power finish coalescing, he stepped forward, getting just close enough so the spell could deliver it's disorienting shockwave. As he moved forward, he noted the stranger preparing to throw another javelin. Easy dodge. Vius knew it was a simple matter of quick reflexes to avoid thrown weapons and his were much more developed than the humans. Still, it didn't pay to be surprised at this crucial moment, so he slowed his advance. As soon as the weapon left the man's hand, Vius could easily predict the path it would fly on. He stepped to the side and drew back his arm, ready to deliver his potent Daybreak spell...

Oh, no.

The throw was accompanied by a bellowing sound, so sudden and surprising that Vius twitched at the last moment, sending the silvery orb of unstable energy up into the air. The final part of the spell was an infusion of the Void to give Vius more strangth than usual to allow him to throw the spell decent distances; an optimistic part of him noticed that it seemed to be moving towards the stranger, though it had been lobbed very high as a result of the loud and unexpected boom. The javelin whooshed by Vius but the elf, still not as ready as he would like to be for the unusual sound manipulation the stranger used, lost his footing and fell on his backside, similar to how the stranger had fallen only moments ago. Vius quickly scrambled to his feet and watched as his spell flew majestically through the air, unaffected by the gentle sea breeze that had kicked up momentarily, reached the apex of it's ascent and then plummeted towards the stranger, or at least close enough that it would affect him if he didn't react quickly. Vius' horrible aim with this spell was not as detrimental, as the spell did have the wide blast zone. Still, the human had plenty of time to escape. A plan put itself into motion in Vius' head and he knew that it was definitely brought on by desperation. He sighed and shrugged, as if confirming that he knew he was making a stupid mistake even as he made it.

Speed was essential. The spell was quickly returning to earth and Vius only had seconds to distract the pirate. He jogged forward with a fairly confident gait, now much more used to moving through the awkward sand. If the stranger was watching the spell, he might not even notice the elf, except for all the noise Vius made. The warlock couldn't worry about that. As soon as he was close enough, he dug his boot in the sand and kicked out hard, launching a cloud of dust into the air, which was then caught on the gentle sea breeze and billowed outward in all directions. Though it would only hold for a moment, it may prove enough of a distraction for the stranger to be caught in the blast zone of the errant spell. Of course, he could still manage to escape the spell's wide area of effect, in which case, Vius had just willingly rushed into his own attack. This could be a horrible mistake and could lead to the most ridiculous death ever. That optimistic part of his brain reminded Vius that the pirate could end up dying from laughter at the elf's nonsensical tactics. Vius hated that part of his brain.

-----------------------------
Daybreak used, 0x left

(I hope this post is cool since it seems like Vius is doing a lot. I tried to make sure he didn't attack twice but the sand cloud could be construed as an attack so if you feel it's unfair, pm me. I also tried to leave it open as to how Tiam reacted to the spell as it totally misfired, so hopefully I left you something to work with!)

The startling boom caused the fool elf to throw his spell skyward and fall onto his rump. The spell was still dangerous however, and the fact that it appeared to be drifting toward him meant that the spell was still in play. It looked vaguely familiar as well, though all of the sparkles that the elf was throwing around looked the same to him. Since Tiam valued his skin and wanted to keep on living it was just best to avoid the spell - those innocent looking balls of light could really pack a punch.

The elf recovered from his fall with characteristic grace and skill - he appeared to be navigating the shifting sands much more easily now, which was not a good thing. The elf's inability to move smoothly on the shifty ground had been of major benefit, and would have been doubly so now that Tiam's leg was crippled. Unfortunately the world seemed to be set against him and was determined to put him in the ground. Determined not to let the world bring him down Tiam forced himself into action against the protests of his injured leg.

He pushed himself backward and abandoned his handful of sand as the elf advanced and kicked up a cloud of sand, obscuring the world around them for a short moment. Vius' willingness to put himself in danger was either a sign that the spell wasn't all that powerful or that the elf was really determined to do his job. Since the elf didn't appear all that suicidal Tiam assumed that the former was true, but that didn't stop him from retreating and pulling his javelin from the ground. The sudden lurch to action made him woozy and a little off balance, but it was nothing that he couldn't deal with. All that he needed to do was end this quickly...

That wasn't likely, but he had to try. Tiam pushed forward, ignoring the gritting pain in his leg and sought to engage Vius in close combat, the only place that he could hope to best the elf and end the combat. Of course, this meant that he would be subjecting himself to the effects of the spell, but he hoped the cost would be worth the gain.

[Right Knowing the Left]

He tried it again. Deception was easily the most powerful tool in his arsenal at this point, and it appeared that the elf hadn't adapted to the loud booms that Tiam frequently used. He had done this before, so the deception probably wasn't going to be as effective as the last one, but it was all he had. With his spear braced against his arm Tiam thrust it forward with a warcry and amplified the sound of the air rushing over the rough wooden shaft to create a boom. The stab looked harmful but was angled to pass just to the side, allowing Tiam to step forward and thrust with the javelin in his other hand. The stab with the javelin was made at Vius' gut - a wound that would yield a painful and slow death.

The spell impacted shortly thereafter, catching Tiam with nearly the full force of its disorienting blast causing the colours of the world to polarize once more and to make him disoriented and unstable. He knew this feeling now, however, and was better prepared to deal with the effects of the spell. At the very least he wasn't going to end up on his ass like he did the last time.

[Right Knowing the Left, 0 uses remain]
[2 Javelins remain]

Dammit.

Without the aid of Akmun's jewel, which had died out and would not work again until the glow of the moon had recharged it's magic, Vius was not fit for a hand-to-hand battle against the stranger. Well, he could hold his own for the moment but he would certainly not be gaining the upper hand through sheer melee tactics. The point was driven home quite literally by the thrust of the stranger's spear. As Vius quickly raised his sword to meet and parry the attack, he realized that it was not his own physical force that had pushed the attack away. The spear was thrust forward at a bad angle. It was supposed to miss.

Dammit!

This shock of recognition hit Vius like a ton of bricks or, more precisely, a javelin to the ribs. It was only the split second reflexes and lightning quick mind that processed this information that allowed Vius to twist his body so that rather than being run through or having his guts spilled out, he managed to instead receive a nasty, serrated wound along his stomach. Of course, his thick cloth armor did help, too. He would probably be paying to repair or, more likely, replace it, as the javelin left the defensive material shredded to pieces. Still, he had avoided death, and that was something to be happy about. Of course, he now had a burning cut along his midsection. Though it was mostly a flesh wound, it was long and it bled profusely. Vius noted how the man had shoved sand in his wound and resolved to attempt that in a moment, when he wasn't in striking distance. Speaking of distance...

DAMMIT!

The spell erupted with both men caught in the blast. A flash of light and that sudden, uneasy feeling and Vius knew he had been affected. He stumbled backwards pseudo-drunkenly, waving his sword to cover his retreat. The sand he had kicked up only served to annoy him before it settled once again, it seemed. Vius reached through the disorienting haze in his mind and touched the Void, then suddenly stood his ground. He lowered his stance and prepared to react defensively. Then, he lifted his left hand. Silver light glowed around it and four silver nimbi formed in at each cardinal point. He concentrated as best he could on forming the individual lances and made sure that each tip was blunted so that this spell would hurt but not kill. Considering that the stranger had just tried to disembowel him, Vius wondered if perhaps he was losing his mind. For some reason, he knew he didn't want to kill the man. He was pulling his punches, so to speak. Vius clenched his fist and, with a final flash of light, four short, spear-like pieces of the silvery metal that Vius had formed his sword out of popped into existence. Each one had a hammer head. Vius unclenched his fist and they flew outwards towards where the stranger stood now. The horizontal pair went low, towards the mans legs while the vertical pair locked on to his torso and zoomed forward. The elf could only hope the attack threw the man off balance and gave the warlock a chance to catch his breath.

---------------------------------------------
Brightsteel Lances used, 1x left
Daybreak effects, 2/2 posts left

Gottcha. The hit scored soundly and Tiam pushed(stumbled) forward to make a follow-up attack, choking up on the shaft of his spear as he brought it back for a close-in thrust. He found himself reeling halfway through the step as he nearly lost his head from a wildly waving sword, catching a scratch along his collarbone as Vius retreated drunkenly from the close combat.

In any other situation Tiam would have followed doggedly on his opponent's heels; he had noted that the parry made against his spear was not nearly as powerful as before, potentially meaning that the elf's strength has finally faded, putting him firmly back into his close combat advantage. As it was Tiam fell off balance from the wild weight shift that resulted from saving his neck. He landed roughly on his left knee, jarring the wound and pulling it open more, causing the bleeding to start anew with a vengeance. Through the disorienting haze however, Tiam hardly felt it. That was part of being so disoriented, one wasn't exactly aware of the signals that their body was sending them. Of course, that sort of abandon would mean that the wound would hurt even more after the effects wore off.

After two deep breaths to help steady himself and a mental Focus damnit, your life depends on this, Tiam pushed himself up using his spear as a crutch to keep himself steady. The polarized colours of the world were heavily disorienting, and the elf seemed to blend into the environment. Fortunately his sword stood out against the environment, giving him at least a chance of dodging that. If things were the other way around he would have been well and thoroughly screwed.

Of course, that was hardly his biggest concern at the moment. As he stood up he caught sight of a number of deep red spears of light streaking toward himself. Given that the spears looked exactly like the sword that the faded elf held in his hand, they were judged as dangerous. With hardly a thought Tiam sank down again and caught one of the spears in the chest. Luckily it was blunted and didn't actually kill him - instead it badly bruised his ribs and woke the slumbering wound that he received near the beginning of the battle from the shuriken. It blasted the air from his lungs again, though not nearly as badly as the last time. He was able to catch his breath almost immediately after losing it, though he was not ready to launch another assault yet.

Tiam pushed himself up again and took an unsteady defensive stance. He found it difficult to stand properly balanced with the way the ground was shifting beneath his feet. At least... he felt like it was shifting beneath his feet, just like before.

As much as he liked the strange feeling that this gave him, he preferred it to happen on his own time rather than in the middle of battle. Being off one's ass in a fight made things decidedly... difficult to do.

[Daybreak, 1 post remains]

A ragged cough escaped Vius' lips as he stood as steadily as he could under the influence of his own magic. His left hand clutched at his abdomen futilely. The fire of the wound was incredibly distracting and gritty sand kicked up from movement seemed to find it easy enough to set it off with any step Vius took. So, he remained steady, even as the world became a cascade of rainbow colors and shapes warped around him. He took a little pleasure in the fact that his attack had hit the stranger, though. They both stood facing each other, each in a defensive stance.

"This doesn't need to go on," Vius blurted, the words coming out slower than he intended and slightly slurred. "We can just walk away, here and now. Just leave the gold. Just...leave it." Vius had a point to make but it was as if his brain was affected by his spell, as if everything was happening inside a giant jelly drop. He shook his head and tried to refocus but the combination of the spell's effects and blood loss, as well as the weariness that came with using magic quickly in such a short period started to take it's toll. Vius looked up at the sky and noted that the sun continued it's tireless march. If this fight kept up at this pace, the two would be bleeding, hardly standing and still fighting by the light of Vius' own glowing weapon. He couldn't reason with the stranger but...he had certainly tried. The man had kept up a staunch defense and certainly given as good as he got. In fact...

"Keep the-," Even as Vius spoke, he was cut off by a high, angry voice.

"You think you can rob me!?" The kiltharr merchant stood on the bluff overlooking Vius and the stranger. It looked to Vius, even through his affected senses, that the cat-man had taken a moment before appearing to groom himself; despite the crash, he didn't look worse for wear. He bared his teeth in a harsh feline smile and his narrow green eyes watched the stranger, waiting for Vius to deliver a deathstroke. Little did the kiltharr know that Vius had tried several times already. "I knew I was right to hire you, warlock! Now kill this thief!"

They wouldn't stop until one was dead anyway. Foolish pride had it's limits and despite his head not working entirely right, Vius knew that the tugging sense that this whole situation was ridiculous was right. The merchant's interruption only seemed to prove his point. Perhaps he had been too zealous when the stranger first appeared. He couldn't just let people take his employer's money, though. The elf wanted to let the man escape but would the man even trust Vius? Could he trust a man who wouldn't even introduce himself, despite the way they'd first encountered each other? If Vius gave the man a chance, he'd probably regret it.

"I'm telling you. Run or die. Even if you kill me, this guy, he's not gonna let up," Vius inclined his head slightly, a gesture of respect. They had fought for their lives against one another but now it was no longer a duel. Now it was something else. Vius was almost sure the merchant carried a crossbow or some type of weapon that would have allowed him to finish the stranger from afar without giving himself away. This was some kind of test and Vius wouldn't even bother trying to pass. He had misjudged the cat-man's character and placed his loyalty in the wrong hands. "We're done for now. Just leave."

---------------------------------------------
Daybreak effects, 1/2 posts left

(I'm assuming that this is the end of the battle. It was great a great battle, Jodai. I love battling against you. Good luck in the polls!)

This was getting tiring. Being heavily disoriented coupled with near-constant blood loss since the beginning of the battle was starting to take its tole on his mind and body. His limbs felt heavy, and that wasn't just a result of the high that he was riding at the moment, they literally felt like the weapons in his hand were leaded. His stance was showing his fatigue as well - his weapons weren't quite as high as they used to be, and he wasn't feeling quite as light on his feet (accommodating for his current state, of course). He hoped that his opponent was feeling the same way. At least, if he wasn't feeling heavy and tired, he would be soon as his wound continued to bleed.

"This is about more than the gold now elf, though it's something that I still feel entitled to. It's about kicking your ass after you've given me so much damned trouble." It was true, after a fashion anyway. Deep down Tiam just wanted to be done with this, and he would have gladly thrown in the towel just now had he not just scored a brutal hit against the elf. He WAS likely to die if this kept going... maybe it would be best to just let this be done with. Maybe. He wasn't sure if that was just the mellowness of the high talking or if he actually wanted to cut out and leave. It was getting late, after all, and soon there would be nothing but the moon to fight by.

"Piss on i-," Tiam spoke at the same time that Vius had, but they were both cut off.

The Kiltharr merchant had appeared on the short ridge above the beach that they were fighting upon. He looked strangely well-groomed for having just endured a life-threatening crash... what a pompus prick. And now he was screaming about Tiam ROBBING him. What the hell was that? And then ordering Vius to kill him? Really? "To hell with you, kitty. If I wasn't so messed up right now I would stick you where you stand. I saved your sorry ass - woke your damned goblin up as he was about to... my memory is a little fuzzy. Either way, I was just going to take a bar of gold for my payment and then be on my way but then... ah piss on it." Under his breath he muttered "God damned stingy cats"

Now he really had a reason to leave. If the merchant had any brains - which he likely didn't - he would be carrying a crossbow in his carriage and would be just another problem to deal with while already severely injured. And that goblin would probably be waking up soon, if the sot ever woke up at all. "You know elf, I'm going to have to take your advice... I know when to cut out, and get while I can." The effects of the spell were wearing off and the disorientation was fading, causing the wound in his leg to burn hotter than ever. "You'll see me again elf. You're good, perhaps once you fix your moral compass you'll even make a decent bandit."

Tiam kept his weapons out and backed up slowly. He went down the beach a ways, confident that the elf would keep his word, but not trusting him to stop his employer if push came to shove. Once he was sufficiently away he sat down in the sea and let the water wash over his wounds, cleansing them of the sand and dried blood. He bandaged the wound after and then crawled up to ridge where he propped himself up and passed out with the sound of the sea in his ears and the tide lapping at his boots.

The pirate was just too fond of the sea to leave it yet.

Vius grinned, an honest smile at the stranger's never-say-die attitude. Even outnumbered and wounded, perhaps severely, the man still would have fought on. If more people had that sort of spirit, perhaps this land wouldn't be so full of evil. Then again, the man was a thief. Maybe the problem was that too many people had that spirit. Humans. Always an interesting encounter. So, now there was yet another person whom Vius shared a rivalry and a strange sense of camaraderie with. He certainly hoped their paths crossed again. For one thing, he never caught the man's name. He winced at the pain coursing through his body. He wouldn't mind being on the same side as the stranger next time...

"Catch him!" There was the matter of Vius' employer. The elf turned his head but kept the stranger in his peripheral, just in case. The man seemed to be backing away but he also seemed stubborn enough to pull some sort of crazy stunt at the last moment. The kiltharr stood on the crest of the little hill Vius had first descended from, his tail swishing angrily back and forth. He gestured with his hands, as if shooing a particularly slow animal or child. Vius raised an eyebrow in confusion, as if he couldn't understand the kiltharr's orders.

"He's got nothing," Vius calmly stated. He held out his sword and dropped it and it faded into shimmering silver dust before it hit the ground and spread on the gentle wind. He limped towards the hill as he spoke. "In fact, he said the driver fell asleep and he saved us from an even worse wreck. So, he's got less than he's owed, I think."

"Oh, you are really quite useless, aren't you?" The kiltharr sighed and made another motion off to the side and the goblin driver appeared, holding a small crossbow out for the cat man. The kiltharr sighted the weapon on the bandit but then shook his head. The goblin reached down and helped Vius gain his ground as the kiltharr continued. "Well, he's gotten away, so I'm sure he'll spread the word about our gold. We'll have to beef up security. I should probably invest in orcs. They think a lot less."

"Sorry to disappoint," Vius said quietly. He nodded at the goblin, who seemed unperturbed that his dozing nearly cost all three of them their lives. "Good help is hard to find."

(It's been fun, as usual. I suppose you can call it to a vote now.)