Quoted By:
Rolled 15 + 1 (1d20 + 1)
>31 vs 24
>it’s a failure, but a great performance from Nikon.
You strain against the stone, hands outstretched, bare feet digging into the damp sand like wooden stakes. At once, your muscles burn – but you are rewarded immediately with movement. The stone rolls – not quickly, but it rolls – and daring a glance to Ajax, you see he’s adopted an alternate technique. His broad back is against the stone, and he’s crouching low, using his legs as the primary drivers. With his hands, he lifts against the stone for additiona leverage. Without delay, you match his superior style.
You take the lead briefly – but Ajax is quick himself, and his pace is steady - you simply can't match it. You’ve only made it halfway down the rigging line before victory slips away, but you don’t give up – you continue to push with all of your power. While you push, you fall into the rhythm of the contest – drive with your back, pull up with your hands, step with your feet, breathe deeply, repeat. Above you, the gulls are amused with your efforts – they call out mocking jokes to their peers as they sail above you. To your east, the sky over the sea glows pink, orange and then yellow, as Eos Ἡμερα peers over the darkling Lesbian sea. In the end, Ajax is the clear victor, and has a minute to gather his breath before you arrive.
You barely have a chance to collect yourself – your divinely-infused flesh writhing and itching as it mends, before Ajax strides to you aggressively, bringing his face close to your own.
“You were slow, Nikandros.”
His tone is sharp – accusatory. You’re stunned – Ajax has never before addressed you in such a hostile manner. Before you can gather your breath to speak, he pushes hard against your chest, causing you to stumble against your stone, and continues with a vehement stream –
“Is this the performance that your father Hippomedon would have put forth? I doubt it – perhaps if he had been wise enough to survive Polynices’ war, he might have educated you properly in manful striving. You were <span class="mu-s">slow.</span> Tell me, Nikandros – is this the performance I can expect from you on the battlefield? A dawdling, self-pitying effort from a fatherless orphan? I had heard that Thessalian country breeds fierce men – but perhaps I have had heard wrong.”
Your blood boils at the mention of your father; your tongue swells and grows heavy in your throat. What is he driving at? You become even more furious at the implication that your father doomed himself through his own foolishness; your fists clench. What right does the man have to castigate you so?
Ajax’s invective continues as you reel – now, he has set about interrogating whether you are truly the son of Hippomedon, or perhaps simply the son of a deceitful whore –
>what the fuck, /qst/, Ajax is being a total dickhead!
>give me THREE rolls of dice+1d20 to see if Nikandros can stay cool while Ajax calls his mom a hooker.
