Unwilling Patron

Veik, the Champion of Peryite lets out a sigh as he slowly but steadily makes his way to Riften. His Affliction had gotten far, far more severe since the meeting of the Champions, and Veik knew full well why... Peryite hadn't wanted to participate at all, not even turning up when the other Daedric Princes were preparing the rules and making demands.

But, Veik was determined to dutifully serve his lord, even if Peryite didn't see the benefits that winning such a competition could grant... Sure, his presence had essentially forced Peryite to participate and potentially lose something if he lost, but he was certain he could win this with little to no trouble.

His Lord's artifact, the Spellbreaker would see him through the battles long enough for him to get up close and personal with his enemies. Once there, he'd allow his sickness to spew toxic fluids onto them, giving him enough of an advantage to cut them down... This tactic worked against most, as even the most heavily men still required their eyes to see, a spray of acidic vomit through their helmet's eye slits and the battle was all but won.

Still, that didn't mean he would be arrogant. He was sure the other Champions had trump cards of their own... Especially that 'World-Hopper' that drew even the attention of the Daedric Lords. To give him the best chances, he'd head to Riften and start spreading the Affliction to everyone, creating what would essentially be a biological fortress to protect himself.

He needn't worry about Peryite's shrine, because as one of the lesser respected Daedra, no one should know its location. Veik only hoped that his Lord wouldn't punish him so severely once he won this...

Veik eventually reaches the road a couple miles from Riften but pauses in his steps as he gets a bad feeling all of a sudden... Cold air blows through the area, causing him to shiver and pull his furs tighter, glancing around to search for whatever was giving off that ominous feeling.

*Whiii!*

A whistling sound has Veik quickly spinning around with Shieldbreaker bared, the Ward created by it blocking and shattering the spear-like ice projectiles that'd been cast at him. He draws his sword and peeks over the shield, spotting the foul visage of Clavicus Vile, specifically, the short Champion who he'd seen wearing the Masque of Clavicus Vile... "A fellow Champion!? I had thought that such cowardly tactics would be beneath you!" he mockingly remarks, feeling assured in the fact that his opponent was a mage, someone directly countered by Spellbreaker.

The short masked figure just tilts their head to the side, not saying a word while readying their staff.

"Both mute and dishonourable? Fine!" Veik sniffs, ignoring the fact that he himself had intended to infect an entire city to win the competition.

The Afflicted Champion gives a roar as he charges forward, Shieldbreaker held directly in front of him to block any incoming fire.

Clavicus' Champion, Charlotte, gives an exasperated shake of her head while drawing a line in the ground below her with her staff, causing a huge wall of ice to form and catapult itself toward the man, as if a giant had thrown a glacier.

Veik doesn't give any indication of worry however, continuing to charge and smashing his shield against the glacier... Surprising Charlotte as the ice all morphs around the man before shattering, the shield essentially making him an unstoppable object in the face of any magic.

Seeing her spell fail in the fact of the artifact, she creates along the ground behind her and skates backwards, throwing out needle-like ice shards in all directions.

Veik slips slightly as he sprints onto the ice, but somehow manages to keep his balance as he advances, steadily gaining on Charlotte. His brows rise to his hairline as she taps her staff on the floor however, causing the ice shards she'd cast earlier to turn around and shoot straights towards him in almost all directions.

"I won't fall for your tricks!" he exclaims while digging his blade into the ice and suddenly spinning around, catching almost all the projectiles with his shield. A couple hit his legs, but they are negligible.

He's forced to block yet another ice spear as well, which he does with relative ease. And soon enough he is upon Charlotte.

The short girl had covered her staff with sharp spikes of ice in preparation for the upcoming melee, but this proved quite ineffective as Veik leads with another shield charge, her staff losing all of its ice reinforcement as she tries to block the shield with it.

She's thrown to the side by the attack, and has to cast a powerful blast of air at the ground to avoid Veik's subsequent sword strike, this doesn't grant her much distance however as Veik keeps on her like a rabid dog.

"Your magics are powerless against my Lord's blessing!" Veik roars, only to be blasted in the face by a torrent of water that Charlotte had pulled from the atmosphere. Veik is thrown backwards with surprising force at the strike, but he quickly regains his footing afterwards, allowing him to continue his attack once he'd recovered his composure.

The two continue to battle, with Charlotte managing to lower the effectiveness of Shieldbreaker's magic ward by using elemental manipulation as opposed to direct spells. Unfortunately, this doesn't completely negate the defences, as Daedric Artifacts aren't just items with tight gimmicks.

Finally though, the two line up for the last exchange. Veik was limping slightly and had frostbite climbing up his fingers on both hands, along with patches of ice still clinging to his body.

Charlotte was leaning on her staff, a red wound on her stomach from where she'd been sliced. She'd quickly frozen it over, but that didn't mean it was healed. Part of her robe was singed off too from the acidic vomit the Champion of Peryite had spewed at her...

"It's time to end this. I'll present your head to my Lord!" Veik shouts as he charges, shield up to block the spells that would undoubtedly come... He's surprised however as Charlotte fires nothing at him.