The Immortal Combat - Contest of Equals

The Gods are the arbiters of the Immortal Combat: a fight to the death in simple, direct combat between the "immortal avatars" - heroic figures whose guise is assumed by individual players. These immortal avatars are high health and mana, hard hitting and all of precisely equal stature: so the Immortal Combat is a level playing field. No one player has advantages over another except their innate skill and ability to cope under pressure.

The Combat is begun by the presiding deity. The moment you are told it has started, exits will appear in the Chamber of Creation leading to different points in the combat venue (where you are to fight, e..g. the arena or battleisle). Take an exit, gain a free refresh and divine healing, and you enter the fray. From that point on you must fight or die. There can be only one.

THE IMMORTAL AVATARS and RULES of the COMBAT

Syntax: IMMORTALS.

Lists the immortal avatars available for you to become, to fight as for the impending contest.

Syntax: RULES.

The Immortal Combat is simple: type RULES to see the exact conditions of the competition as defined by whoever is presiding including balance and equilibrium timings, use of healhand and web, venue of contest (e..g. the battleisle or the arena), whether ZOOM is allowed and whether when you JAB to strike an opponent you get told the health damage inflicted.

JOINING THE "IMMORTALS" COMBAT

Syntax: BECOME followed by the name of an immortal.

This is the command you use to select an immortal avatar. You issue the BECOME command followed by the immortal's name (as listed below) and, providing you do so during a "gathering" phase, you will be whisked off to the Chamber of Creation to await the start of the Combat.

Syntax: READY.

All the Immortals begin with a sword, a bow and a quiver full of arrows. If you are missing any equipment type or just wish to signify your eager intent, type READY to be fully "set right" for the contest.

ATTACKING AN OPPONENT:

Syntax: JAB <target> or SHOOT <target> [<direction>].

Use JAB followed by target name to strike the opponent with your sword if they are in your location for maximum damage; use SHOOT followed by target name and direction they are in (providing it is a straight line of locations) to fire an arrow using archery to inflict damage.

OPTIONAL ABILITIES - AVAILABLE or NOT according to RULES:

Syntax: CHANT WEB then CAST <target>.

Uses the "web" charm if available in the RULES to entangle an opponent, forcing them to have to struggle out before being able to move or attack.

Syntax: CHANT HEALHAND then CAST MYSELF.

Uses the "healhand" charm if available in the RULES to heal lost health at the cost of an equilibrium regain during which time you will be vulnerable to enemy attack. Be stealthy.

Syntax: ZOOM <target>.

Zooms directly to the target you specify, moving quickly between the interceding locations until you reach your opponent's location close enough to JAB an attack.