I'll say right now, I think Shado has this one.
I didn't put as much time into the story as I'd have liked to, due to life getting in the way, but I'm impressed by Shado's story regardless.
To be perfectly honest, when you said you wrote 6 pages in less than a day, I couldn't expect much.
After reading your edition of the duel, I only have a few comments.
You mention once that "Marcus activated a protective rune and tossed it
into the air in above him..."
My only issue with that statement is that Runes are stationary. He would have been struck by the molten metal and then sloughed through it, protected by the Rune.
Also, it was a little bit difficult to tell at times if you thought that precharged Runes required Life Force to activate, but it's not a big deal.
I don't think Marcus was written incredibly out of character, so congratulations on that.
On your finishing move with a bed of daggers. I don't know what you're thinking of when you say daggers, but if they're even 6 inches long and piercing his legs and lower body...he's dead. Especially if he's out of LF and (likely) concussed by a sniper bullet that just knocked him out.
See, if he's been stabbed from the belly button and below, most of his important intestines are damaged beyond repair. And he may never walk again.
As for your critique towards me, I apologize. I had about 2 more pages that I wanted to write but I ran out of time for.
Yeah, there are some inconsistencies. I think my brand of logic was that Shado was fooled by his eyes. He sensed strength, but saw disabilities and it made him lose focus, since he's not used to RHG battles.
They fought close combat because Marcus wouldn't let up. The Runist knew that he needed to be on the offensive. Unfortunately, I wasn't detailed enough, so that's not entirely obvious.
The whole fight is less detailed and creative than I would've liked it to be. It's definitely not my best work, and I'm still trying to figure out how to use other player's characters.
To be perfectly honest, the whole deal with how Shado controls and summons metal is incredibly confusing to me, and I had your character sheet up the entire time.
He can control metal that he didn't generate, and he can summon metal from (alternate dimensions?) somewhere, but not from the ground? Honestly, I'm not sure what was going on.
Basically, by the end of the battle, Shado isn't exactly in his most rational mindset, so he doesn't focus enough to use his powers.
As for why he doesn't just tear Marcus in two, it's because Marcus used the power of words.
He very quickly explained that if Shado struggled and even beat him, the wolf man would forever be missing an arm. I assumed that he'd rather have an arm than a victory. Ergo, the weaker man won against the stronger man.
He ignores the cry of pain and struggles with all of his might to hold back the unholy strength of Shado’s complete arm.
“Hold still, damnit!” Regulus grits his teeth, prepared to make use of his Runed stump.
“Why should I do that? So you can make a mockery of me and leave me like you? Disgraced with one arm?”
“Oh fuck off. If you declare defeat, I’ll save your arm, but if you keep resisting, I’ll blow it clean off, and your head will follow.”
The look in his eyes was plain enough. Maxar knew there was no lie to be found, for even if he could focus well enough to kill this man, his arm would not be fixable by normal means.
I've bolded the points that should better explain what I mean.
Also, I felt like you had Marcus run out of Life Force fairly quickly, both stored and internal. Though, I suppose it's not easy to gauge.
I think for a first real fight, it went alright. I hope to improve drastically as I continue on in wRHG.