Prologue 1/5

Thrin vs Root

By Jaysnow-Silverblaze

Battle One: Selesnya v. Orzhov

There was little but a street between them, their backs to the buildings behind them and their faces pale in the moonlight. The streetlamps were bright but a ways away and the air was a humid warm. Both held boxes in their hands.

The first was a male, his shoulder-length black hair was slicked back out of his face though a few strands fell around his ears. His eyes were gleaming silver in the moonlight and his dark red lips looked blood-stained. He wore a black t-shirt with the sleeves hacked off and a pair of worn but sturdy jeans and heavy boots. His hands were covered by fingerless gloves that clenched over his black and white marbled box.

The second was also male and had short, spiked, purple-tipped blonde hair. His skin was quite a few shades darker than the others. His eyes were a light brown that looked amber in the moonlight and his lips appeared to be a dull black. He wore two eyebrow piercings in his left brow. He was clothed in a dark blue hoodie that concealed his figure and a pair of black pants and worn sneakers. The box clenched in his purple-nailed hand was green and white.

The black-haired one was the first to speak, "So, you've arrived, Selesnya fool." The blonde merely looked at him disdainfully.

"Rich, coming from an Orzhov profiteer." His baritone voice didn't fit with his teen-rebel look but the Orzhov guild member didn't seem to notice.

"Your name? I like to know what I'll carve on your coffin." The purple-haired boy shrugged delicately.

"They call me Root. And yourself?"

"Thrin. Let's get on with this."

"I couldn't agree more." Both swept their hands over the air at stomach-level.

"Game Start." An opaque game-board appeared before both players and they laid their decks and drew seven cards each.

"I'll start." Thrin called out before looking at his hand, "I play Orzhov Guildgate, which comes into play tapped, and end my turn." Behind him a shadowed building came into being, looming ominously. Root didn't seem all that concerned.

Thrin 20/ Root 20

"Then it's my turn, I draw." Root replied. "I play a forest." As quickly as the land touched the field a forest sprang up around him. "Then I tap my forest to play Thallid." A moss-like being grew out of the ground in front of him, weaving about like a viney ghost.

Thallid: 1 PWR/1 TGH

"And with that I end my turn."

Thrin 20/ Root 20

"I draw and untap my guildgate." Thrin started, "Then I'll play a plains." Yellowed grass sprung up around his feet. "I tap both of my lands and play Daggerdrome Imp." A small demon-like black creature with leathery wings appeared on his side of the street, chittering and swooping around.

Daggerdrome Imp: 1 PWR/1 TGH

"I end my turn."

Thrin 20/ Root 20

"Cute." Root drawled, "I draw and untap my forest and play another. Thallid's special ability gives him a spore counter." A floating 1 appeared over the ghost-like moss. "Then I'll tap my second forest and play another Thallid." Another twisted moss-creature appeared.

Thallid: 1 PWR/ 1 TGH

Then I'll end my turn."

Thrin 20/ Root 20

"What? Not going to attack? Whimp." Thrin teased maliciously but Root just gave him a dead-eyed stare and he sneered, "I draw and untap my lands." He shuffled through his cards a moment then decided, "I play a plains then tap it and my two other lands to play Kingpin's Pet." A deformed tan version of the first creature appeared on the field, it's wings easily as large as the entirety of the Imp. It had a colorful necklace around its neck and brass-knuckles on its humanoid hands.

Kingpin's Pet: 2 PWR/ 2 TGH

"Now, Daggerdrome Imp! Attack!"

Root immediately threw out his hand. "Thallid block!" but the imp just chattered at the root from above as it merely swooped away from the vine and dive-bombed Root, who winced at the phantom pain. "Why couldn't I block?"

"Flying- he has wings if you couldn't see. Not to mention his other special ability." Root narrowed his eyes warily and Thrin grinned, "I gain life equal to the damage he deals and since he dealt one damage to you I gain one life." Root scowled but didn't look too put out.

"Now I end my turn."

Thrin 21/ Root 19

Root frowned at the translucent 21 that hung over Thrin's head but merely began his turn, "I draw and untap. My Thallids both gain another spore counter bringing them up to 1 and 2 respectively." He picked a card from his hand, "And I tap a forest and play Tukatongue Thallid." A four legged creatures with a long snout and spines sticking out appeared next to the Thallids.

Tukatongue Thallid: 1 PWR/ 1 TGH

He looked at the difference in the power of his Thallids and the Kingpin's Pet and ground his teeth. "I end my turn."

Thrin 21/ Root 19

Thrin grinned, "I untap and draw." He raised an eyebrow at the card he drew before returning to the game, "I play another plains and tap my guildgate to play Shadow Alley Denizen." An exotically beautiful woman with long black hair and red eyes appeared next to his two creatures.

Shadow Alley Denizen: 1 PWR/ 1 TGH

"And I'll tell you in case you didn't know- Shadow Alley Denizen has an effect that states that whenever another black creature enters the field she can give one of my creatures intimidate- meaning unless you have a black creature or an artifact I'm unblockable." Root sneered at him but Thrin was too amused to care. "Not only that but Kingpin's Pet has an ability I'm about to use called Extort, which allows me to tap a plains or a swamp to gain one life and deal one damage to you, so I'm tapping a plains." Root growled angrily but Thrin just continued smiling.

"I will also tap my remaining two plains to play the artifact Prophetic Prism, and since it's just entering the battlefield I draw a card. Now, Attack Daggerdrome Imp and Kingpin's Pet!" He cried without looking at the card in his hand, and as both were flying neither were blockable and Root just snarled at him from across the street.

"I end my turn."

Thrin 23/ Root 15

"I draw and untap." Root said stiffly. He scowled at his hand but just gestured to the Thallid with the 3 hovering over it and it reduced to 0 as another twisted root creature appeared on the field. Thrin raised an eyebrow and Root disdainfully explained, "By removing three spore counters from my Thallid I can create a Sapproling token."

Sapproling: 1 PWR/ 1 TGH

"Now my other Thallid has two counters. I then attack with Tukatongue Thallid." The creature rushed Thrin and he shrugged.

"Shadow Alley Denizen, block." Both creatures shattered upon impact. Thrin was surprised to note that another Sapproling like creature had appeared on Root's side of the field. "What gives?"

Root shrugged, "When Tukatongue Thallid gets sent to the graveyard he creates another Sapproling." His lips tightened as he looked at his field. "I end my turn."

Thrin 23/ Root 15

"I untap and draw." Thrin's smug smile never wavered and Root pursed his lips. "I tap three plains and play Orzhov Keyrune, also Extorting it, so I gain a life and you lose one, once again." He looked at his creatures and then across the field. "Daggerdrome Imp, attack!" Root could do nothing but grit his teeth at the pain. "I end my turn."

Thrin 25/ Root 13

"I draw and untap, using my second Thallid's spore counters to create a third Sapproling." Root blinked at a card in his hand. "I tap two forests to play Thelon of Havenwood." A tall, green cloaked elf appeared on his side of the field, looking mournfully over at Thrin.

Thelon of Havenwood: 2 PWR/ 2 TGH

"Thelon's ability gives my creatures +1/+1 for each spore-counter on them, making my first Thallid a 2/2. Now, My first two Sapprolings, attack!" As they rushed towards Thrin he waved at the Kingpin's Pet who swooped down and picked off one of them, shifting uncomfortably as the second one slashed at him.

"I end my turn."

Thrin 24/ Root 13

"I untap and draw then tap one plains and two others to play the enchantment Ghostly Prison, which forces you to pay two colorless mana to attack. Oh and I'm Extorting it." Root sneered at him as he saw his life points fall but didn't say anything.

"Daggerdrome Imp, attack." The creature did so, laughing in its chattering almost-human voice. "I end my turn."

Thrin 26/ Root 11

"I draw and untap." He looked at his hand and shook his head in disgust before looking over his field. "Due to Thelon's effect my Thallids are now 2/2 and 3/3 respectively. I tap my two forests so I can attack. Thallid!" The 3/3 ran at him and Thrin did some quick thinking.

"I'll take the damage." Root smirked and he made a face back.

"I'm done."

Thrin 23/ Root 11

"I untap and draw." Thrin started. "I'll tap three plains and my guildgate to play Syndicate Enforcer and extort it by using my Keyrune for a black mana." A cloaked man with a crouched stance and a dagger appeared on his side of the field.

Syndicate Enforcer: 2 PWR/3 TGH

"Daggerdrome Imp, attack." Root Just flinched slightly after the attack. "Aand… I'm done."

Thrin 25/ Root 9

"I draw and untap." Root snorted at the card and placed it down on the field, "I play a forest and remove three counters from my Thallid and make another Sapproling then I'll tap three forests and play Thorn Thallid." A mass of gunk appeared, that soon looked like large carnivorous mushrooms with sharp teeth. Thrin grimaced in disgust.

Thorn Thallid: 2 PWR/ 2 TGH

He scowled, "And since I have no mana to pay I'll end my turn without attacking."

Thrin 25/ Root 9

"I untap and draw then play a plains." Thrin started then placed a card down, "I tap a plains and my guildgate to play the creature Basilica Screecher and since I have two creatures with Extort I'll Extort it twice." Root grit his teeth angrily as the large bat appeared on Thrin's side of the field.

Basilica Screecher: 1 PWR/ 2 TGH

"Now, Daggerdrome Imp, Kingpin's Pet! Attack!" The two easily dodged the attempts of the plants to block them and viciously attacked Root.

"And I'll end my turn."

Thrin 28/ Root 4

"I untap and draw." Root snarled heatedly. I'll leave my Thallid with three tokens and tap two forests to attack with it." The 4/4 Thallid lunged at Thrin.

"Basilica Screecher, block." He placed the card in the graveyard as the Thallid shattered it easily. Root hissed like a wounded cat and Thrin smirked.

"I end my turn." Root growled out.

Thrin 28/ Root 4

"I untap and draw." First I'll play the creature Undercity Informer for three mana and extort it twice." A man in a plaited suit of armor, armed with a rapier appeared next to his three other creatures with a finger pressed to his lips, gesturing for silence.

Undercity Informer: 2 PWR/ 3 TGH

"That leaves you at two life. Now, Kingpin's Pet- Attack!"

Root's game-board shattered and he collapsed to his knees, his cards fluttering to the ground around him. "Damn it." He glared at the smirking Thrin who was carefully shuffling his cards and had already dispelled his gameboard. "I may not be strong enough now but I'll get you back for that some day." And he began to gather his cards.

Thrin just shook his head and walked away, his deck tucked safely back in its case. He paused and glanced at his opponent, "Your folk won't be hanging around Orzhov territory from now on, is that clear?"

Root hissed at him again but Thrin just shrugged and took that as a yes. He didn't fancy having to explain that to his superiors.

It was twenty minutes away when he turned into the subway, glancing around when he saw the few people milling around. "Did you win?" Thrin nodded and turned to see his superior, a tall bald man with tattoos of dragons and Chinese lettering over his muscular body that was hidden only by a pair of cargo shorts and a grey muscle shirt.

"That Selesnya grunt won't be bothering us again soon Tarik." He grunted approvingly then rolled his shoulder as though getting rid of an ache.

"They come back; you learn that over time kid." He threw a sharp glance at the teen after that, "Get home and get some rest. I'll call you out when there's another problem on your street. Thrin nodded fairly and turned to walk away.

"Good job out there." He looked up to see two older men, probably in their late twenties. They were leaning over a gambling table and Thrin eyed in curiously. The one that had spoken was a twenty eight year old man named Gorban who had short spiked black hair and red eyes. His left cheek and part of his eye, nose and lip on that side were badly scarred but he still managed to come off as mildly handsome. Thrin smiled at his words. Gorban nodded seriously, "They'll probably give you a pin for that- 30 points and never going below 20- that's impressive brat." Thrin rolled his eyes.

"It would have been nice to know that people were watching the fight so my report wasn't meaningless." Gorban just waved him away casually.

"Get some sleep brat, you're irritable when you haven't had your afternoon nap." Thrin sneered at him and turned on his heel, hearing that annoying laughter all the way out of the subway.

A/N: Update: 5/23/14 for technical terms and changing 'ATK' and 'DEF' to 'STR' and 'TGH' respectively. Also grammatical changes.

A/N: Update: 12/11/14 for being an idiot- changing ATK to PWR