Empires of Ashes Reboot

He catches the prince and throws the man off balance and onto the floor, immediately the man rolls and stands hopefully fast enough to escape whatever hakon does next

Hakon did not follow up. Honour dictating he allow mordred to stand.

Mordred stands, smiling “Caught me there” once again he raises he arms and adopts a similarly reactive stance to Hakons

Hakon does not reply, simply stepping forwards, feinting a left jab, then throwing a right uppercut, aiming straight for his chin

Mordred reacts faster than Hakon expected and springs leftward, throw a rigt handed haymaker and using the momentum to drive it toward Hakons jaw

Hakon does something unexpected. he bends his knees slightly, and turns his head towards the punch, so mordred's fist crunches straight into his brow. The thin fabric of his turban does nothing to avoid the pain of the impact to mordred's hand. In comparison, Hakon appears nonplussed.

Once again Mordred backs off, shaking his hand.

A few men in the crowd behind Hakon laugh and he hears some jeering directed at mordred in Cymraic, to which Mordred simply shakes his head

Hakon advances again. hands partially curled, shoulder's square to mordred, weight balanced between his legs evenly.

Mordred turns side on to Hakon, fists raised and ready for hakon

He throws a left hook, then a right. Seeming to intend to simply rain blows until mordred is overwhelmed.

The man steps back opting to simply avoid Hakon’s punches while he waits for an opportunity

Unfortunately, hakon has around half a foot on him, giving him a slightly longer stride. He steps forwards and, weathering any punches mordred throws, he ducks down, planting his shoulder into his stomach, wrapping his arms around mordred's back. He lifts him from his feet, and dumps him down into the sand, his weight crushing into him as they land.

Thankfully Mordred landed flat on his back, negating any serious injury though the wind was most definitely knocked out of him.
*cough* “Alright” *Cough* “You win...”
In amongst the coughing the prince is quite clearly laughing, and hakon can clearly hear the audience cheering his name, all of them clearly happy to see their prince defeated

Hakon pushes himself to his knees. "You should think twice before challenging a man twice your size."

“You don’t know a man until you fight him”

Hakon: "Then i know few living men." He stands up, and offers the prince a hand.

He takes it and pulls himself up, smiling
“Then I am honoured to be among the living. You have my respect Hakon”

Hakon: "I would offer you the same, with blades, but a strike from that shield will kill you, as sure as sharpened steel."

Mordred: “That it may, but it has to hit me first, and I am a far better swordsman than I am a brawler”

LI:...what do you mean?

Hakon: "Still a young one. You've yet to learn."

Ket: "...Anything you should need, that i could provide. A horse, steel, escort, silver... Any number of things you may have need of."

LI:... why do you offer me these things?

Ket: "Because... I can give them, and it is custom to offer such, when insult is given."

Mord: “I learn quickly, and I may surprise you yet”

"Thankyou....but I have no use for such. No horse could take my weight, I need no escort....and I have no use for coin."

Hakon: "Let us hope you will."

Ket: "I thought you would say as much... But should you ever find need of... something."

"I need only fight, and keep the consul breathing...but thankyou"

Mord: “If you are willing to fight again we could find out”
OOC: It’d be a time skippy thing

Ket: "Nobler than any dracian i have yet met. You have no desire for silver, nor fine things. Just loyalty. What it would have been, had you been immortal, not clavae..."

OOC: aye indeed

"... I do not understand"

Ket: "You would have been the best of us. Not a pariah to the dracians."

"...Pariah? *she sounds confused* The Dracians are good to me. The centurion and consul especially."

"Trajan and... Justinian, yes? Well of course... good men... But the rest... They might not quite... fear you, but they certainly do not welcome you to sit by their fires."

"...I see"

A fairly enjoyable hour passes with Mordred and Hakon fighting a somewhat one sided back and forth.
Hakon is easily the superior brawler but Mordred wins a few rounds, not many, but enough to impress.
By time they've finished both men are caked in sweat with cuts and bruises dotting their bodies, and hakon has a particularly irritating one right on the nape of his neck from when Mord drove him to the floor.

ket: "Someday they'll see."

Hakon doesn't seem to show any pain, nor discomfort whatsoever. And as for being caked in sweat... He's definitely sweating, but seems as if he could keep this up quite happily for another hour.

LI:... see what?...what do you see?

Mord: “Barely even a breath.. fuck, how long did they make you fight for?”
The prince wipes the blood from cheek and motions for one of his men to bring the pair some water as Mordred’s bodypaint has started to run, revealing a series of burns down the left side of his body. Nothing too horrific looking but they’re obvious

Hakon: "In the pits? Hmn. Longer than this. And as an immortal. Longer still, but they did not make me."

Ket: "You're human, just as much as they are."

"Is that all you see...really?"

Mord: “Aah, I guess at that point it was adapt or die eh?”
A soldier approaches Hakon with a flagon of water and offers it to him

Ket: "...No... I am still terrified. But... in perspective. You're not a malicious killer... you just... don't know anything else."

Hakon: "Kill, and kill and kill again. *he takes the flagon with a nod. then looks back at mordred* Or die."

Mord: “How many?” The prince does similarly and drains the flagon

"...You are correct"

Hakon: "...That is not a thing you ask a man." The flagon drained, he pulls the bottom of his turban back up.

Ket: "Those who taught you... now they... they are malicious."

"Less malicious to me than your peple were when they chained me"

Ket: "But you understand... why they fear you?"

"I am supposed to scare them."

Ket: "And you do it well. So well, that an entire culture thinks clavae are demons. The... ritual. They subjected you to. Is to bind the demon's soul to the body with iron, so when the body burns, so does the soul."

"...I have not been afraid before they did that to me"

Mordred nods “How long were you a fighter then?”