The Dresden Files Death Battle Arena

[WereElephant]

Nominate two contestants (Say, Arianna Ortega and Mavra). List their strengths/ weaknesses for analysis. Describe how you think the battle would go, and the victor you think is statistically most likely.

The Scenario: an Almighty-ish being or force whisks the two chosen contestants to a planet resembling earth. It is inhabited by the same flora and fauna, however no civilization or intelligent life lives there. Gravity is earth normal. There are three moons. Both contestants are placed at opposite ends of a football field sized clearing in light woods. It is dawn, during the planet's spring. The being manifests before the two, and informs them that they have been chosen to fight to the death. Only once one of them no longer functions will the other be returned to Earth. They have 24 hours to finish the job. At the end of the day, if both are still standing, both die.

The region of the Nevernever for the entire planet has been cordoned off by the Almightyish force for the duration of the fight. On the Nevernever side is an abandoned fortress surrounded by the hosts of the Almightyish force. No calling allies, no escape.

This planet is experiencing the equivalent Earth phenomenon of Halloween. Immortals can die during this day.

Restriction on Nominations: only nominate contenders who would actually fight each other in the circumstances described. For instance, if Harry and Michael were chosen, they would argue over who should sacrifice themselves without fighting, and at the end, Harry would sacrifice himself so Michael could go back to his family. No battle.

Contestants enter the field armed with what they would normally bring to a fight. For example, Harry appears with staff, blasting rod, shield bracelet, pistol, force rings, duster, his normal gear. Murphy would appear with maybe some kevlar and at least one gun. Her P90 would be acceptable. Kincaid would definitely be armed, but he probably wouldn't have the bag full of dragon's breath shotguns from Death Masks - that was a specialty preparation.

I would start things off, but I'm still planning the fight, and wanted to get this thread out there. Feel free to post a fight, reply to others' posted fights with comments, etc.

*After discussion, modified to start at dawn.

[WereElephant]

Arianna Ortega (circa Changes) vs Mavra (circa Blood Rites)

Arianna
 - multi thousand years old
 - capable sorceress
 - Red Court speed, strength
 - can move through daylight in shadow of flesh mask

Mavra
 - 600 years old (if I remember my WoJ correctly)
 - very capable sorceress (taught Bianca)
 - Black Court speed, strength
 - helpess during day

THE FIGHT: After the Almightyish entity says begin, Mavra immediately calls up a veil and begins moving in a zig zag pattern toward Arianna, who fired a bolt of lightning too late to hit Mavra. She responds with her own veil, barely managing to get out of the way in time to dodge the inbound Bamp. Mavra, seeing that she has missed, draws the heat out of the grassy field in a 50 foot radius around her, causing the grass to become brittle and crunchy. Ortega is slow to modify her veil to disperse the new sounds, so Mavra gets an auditory cue to her location, and lunges with her drawn sword. Her aim is slightly off, only knocking the Ramp down and shooting past her. Both veils come down in the confusion. Arianna's flesh mask is ripped slightly on one arm, but the wound to her true form is already healing. Off balance from missing her lunge, by the time Mavra turns around, Arianna is hidden beneath another veil. No matter. Mavra restores her own veil and departs the field, looking for a secluded place to begin a spell using the fresh Ramp's blood on her sword. Her veil is good enough that Arianna cannot pursue, and Mavra successfully performs black magic to end Arianna remotely.

ANALYSIS: Both being vampires, they shared enhanced physical strength, speed, and agility. Mavra's enhancements exceeded Arianna's, however. Black Court are universally regarded as the strongest in this area.

Both are sorceress's. We've seen Arianna throw evocation around in Changes. To my knowledge, we haven't seen Mavra do the same, though I'm sure she can. The main thing with Mavra is her impeccable veils, demonstrated in Grave Peril. The veil, combined with her speed, allowed her to be an unseen predator faster than Arianna could deal with.

If Arianna had chosen to veil herself initially instead of attempt to smite the opposition, she might have fared better. However, we're told that she is a capable sorceress who is inexperienced in dueling with magic. As such, I assumed her first instinct as a haughty Red Court princess would be to try and crush this unknown interloper.

While the specifics of this sequence are certainly up for debate, Mavra's overall statistical advantages seem pretty solid to me. Not quite a curbstomp, but this is definitely a Black Court game.

[Fcrate]

Hardly seems fair to me that the fight started at night, perhaps at dawn would be fairer/making more sense. I was rooting for Arianna tbh
In Changes, Arianna gave Harry quite the workout during their fight, which makes her at least as qualified as a White Council wizard, along with enhanced senses and strength/speed, she seemed the most likely winner. The escaping with a bit of blood was a sneaky bit though.
I like the idea of the topic, I will probably post one soon. One question though, is it the right board for this?

[WereElephant]

Hardly seems fair to me that the fight started at night, perhaps at dawn would be fairer/making more sense. I was rooting for Arianna tbh
In Changes, Arianna gave Harry quite the workout during their fight, which makes her at least as qualified as a White Council wizard, along with enhanced senses and strength/speed, she seemed the most likely winner. The escaping with a bit of blood was a sneaky bit though.
I like the idea of the topic, I will probably post one soon. One question though, is it the right board for this?

I considered Dawn, but since a lot of beings like lower Ramps and all Bamps can't handle the sunlight, I figured evening would level the playing field some. Dawn would effectively hand this fight to Arianna on a silver platter since Mavra is vulnerable.

For this being the right board, I figured pulling different versions of the characters from different times (Dresden during GP vs Dresden in CD, ie) would count as spoilery. If this isn't the correct place, I will gladly move it.

[Fcrate]

I have no idea, I'm not a mod
Dawn doesn't mean sunlight. There will still be more than 90 minutes without sunlight for the Blampires to enjoy, they can either try to crush the opposition quickly, or find a hiding spot and bring hell at sunset.

[WereElephant]

I have no idea, I'm not a mod
Dawn doesn't mean sunlight. There will still be more than 90 minutes without sunlight for the Blampires to enjoy, they can either try to crush the opposition quickly, or find a hiding spot and bring hell at sunset.

Modified parameters to start at dawn, but left my battle submission untouched.

[Snark Knight]

I'm not actually sure the older blampires like Mavra are fully vulnerable to the sun either. And given that Harry mentioned charms to protect the Reds from sunlight as something they might ask for as a price to end the war that the Council shouldn't give them, Mavra might even be able to come up with magical countermeasures of her own against sunlight with sufficient effort.

[Griffyn612]

Arianna hurls her magic at Mavra.  With one hand, Mavra disperses it with the same darkness spell she taught Bianca that dispersed Harry's magic.  With the other hand, Mavra then wraps Arianna in coils of cold chain and thorny wire.  With a flick of her wrist, the coils tighten, and then spin as they shred Arianna, sawing through flesh mask and blubbery skin alike, until she's nothing more than bits and pieces.

All in all, less than ten seconds start to finish. 

[WereElephant]

Arianna hurls her magic at Mavra.  With one hand, Mavra disperses it with the same darkness spell she taught Bianca that dispersed Harry's magic.  With the other hand, Mavra then wraps Arianna in coils of cold chain and thorny wire.  With a flick of her wrist, the coils tighten, and then spin as they shred Arianna, sawing through flesh mask and blubbery skin alike, until she's nothing more than bits and pieces.

All in all, less than ten seconds start to finish.

Really? That much of a curb stomp? I know Dresden said Arianna didn't have much a duelist's mindset, but she was a competent sorceress. You don't think she could offer any resistance to the chain spell? Or at least dodge?

[Fcrate]

That trouncing could mean that Mavra can crush Harry like a bug. Still, she's afraid of him..

[WereElephant]

That trouncing could mean that Mavra can crush Harry like a bug. Still, she's afraid of him..

I'd be curious to see your take on the sequence. I know you said you were rooting for Arianna. How do you think it would play out?

[Quantus]

Really? That much of a curb stomp? I know Dresden said Arianna didn't have much a duelist's mindset, but she was a competent sorceress. You don't think she could offer any resistance to the chain spell? Or at least dodge?

I could get behind that comparison, if you consider it the difference between an experienced Sorceress and a full, albeit undead, Wizard.  Arriana has no Sight, for example, but McCoy speculated that Mavra could be enough of a real Wizard to have a Deathcurse; that could indicate they are on different plateau's of magical prowess.   

That trouncing could mean that Mavra can crush Harry like a bug. Still, she's afraid of him..

Apparently Harry can Cheat in this fight, thanks to the Word.  WOJ has it that Harry was very much Not Bluffing her. 

[Fcrate]

Haughty Red Princess or not, a Blamp is nothing to scoff at, here's how I think it would play out:
Round 1 .... FIGHT!
Arianna immediately sets fire to the whole arena between her and Mavra, Mavra throws a bolt of black lightning that goes wide of the mark because of the distorted vision, meanwhile, Arianna whips up wind in a cyclone of air, directed more or less towards Mavra, Mavra's second spell, a firebolt, hit Arianna in the side, searing through her flesh mask and causing her immense pain. Mavra immediately draws her sword and starts to rush towards Arianna, but the cyclone of air is fanning the flames and turning them into a blazing inferno, causing her to hesitate. Arianna takes advantage of the time by pulling up a veil, and retreating from the arena to play a 2 hour hide and seek. Mavra attempts to pursue, catching a clue here and there but ultimately fails in finding Arianna in time, and with 20 minutes to go to sunrise, she decides to make herself a hideout to survive the sunlight, and the no doubt searching Arianna. She finds a clearing, layers it with illusions and digs a deep hole, using a spell to bury herself without a trace. A further proximity trigger will wake her up if Arianna stumbles into the clearing, with a couple of nastier traps set in.
At Sunrise, Arianna drops her veil, and takes time to heal herself and restore the damaged portions of the flesh mask. She starts to seek out Mavra, but realizes it won't be as easy as that, and she expects a few traps.
Mavra wakes up at sunset, no traps or alarms were triggered, and so she goes in search of Arianna, after a few hours, she finds Arianna in an area not far off of the original clearing. They sight each other almost at the same time, and Arianna starts raining firebolts at Mavra, Mavra negates them, taking a couple of hits and shrugging them off as she closed with impossible speed on Arianna, eager to put the upstart sorceress in her place.
50 feet from Arianna, she accidentaly triggers a trap, opening a portal into the NN. She tries to stop, but momentum carries her through to the NN, and into the middle of the Almightyish army, who destroy her as she attempts to escape.
Analysis:
Arianna did not spend the day searching for Mavra, she picked a decent spot with a 360 view, and positioned herself well, littering the area with hidden portals to the NN, and conserved her strength, waiting for Mavra to find her.

[WereElephant]

Haughty Red Princess or not, a Blamp is nothing to scoff at, here's how I think it would play out:
Round 1 .... FIGHT!
Arianna immediately sets fire to the whole arena between her and Mavra, Mavra throws a bolt of black lightning that goes wide of the mark because of the distorted vision, meanwhile, Arianna whips up wind in a cyclone of air, directed more or less towards Mavra, Mavra's second spell, a firebolt, hit Arianna in the side, searing through her flesh mask and causing her immense pain. Mavra immediately draws her sword and starts to rush towards Arianna, but the cyclone of air is fanning the flames and turning them into a blazing inferno, causing her to hesitate. Arianna takes advantage of the time by pulling up a veil, and retreating from the arena to play a 2 hour hide and seek. Mavra attempts to pursue, catching a clue here and there but ultimately fails in finding Arianna in time, and with 20 minutes to go to sunrise, she decides to make herself a hideout to survive the sunlight, and the no doubt searching Arianna. She finds a clearing, layers it with illusions and digs a deep hole, using a spell to bury herself without a trace. A further proximity trigger will wake her up if Arianna stumbles into the clearing, with a couple of nastier traps set in.
At Sunrise, Arianna drops her veil, and takes time to heal herself and restore the damaged portions of the flesh mask. She starts to seek out Mavra, but realizes it won't be as easy as that, and she expects a few traps.
Mavra wakes up at sunset, no traps or alarms were triggered, and so she goes in search of Arianna, after a few hours, she finds Arianna in an area not far off of the original clearing. They sight each other almost at the same time, and Arianna starts raining firebolts at Mavra, Mavra negates them, taking a couple of hits and shrugging them off as she closed with impossible speed on Arianna, eager to put the upstart sorceress in her place.
50 feet from Arianna, she accidentaly triggers a trap, opening a portal into the NN. She tries to stop, but momentum carries her through to the NN, and into the middle of the Almightyish army, who destroy her as she attempts to escape.
Analysis:
Arianna did not spend the day searching for Mavra, she picked a decent spot with a 360 view, and positioned herself well, littering the area with hidden portals to the NN, and conserved her strength, waiting for Mavra to find her.

Cool. When is this being released in theaters?

[Fcrate]

I may have gotten carried away. Just a bit