Nereid-fins Dominantly Draw 2-2 vs. Shire Sheriffs to Extend Glorious Tie Streak

The Mayemi Nereid-fins brilliantly fought to a 2-2 stalemate with the Shire Sheriffs and Blood Bowl Legend Griff Oberwald to extend the team’s Bonehead League tie streak to an impressive three games. Mayemi got touchdowns from its two catchers Devyoryn Achyrn and Falyn Woodyl, who each had 13 yards rushing against the halfling squad. For the Shire Sheriffs, both touchdowns came from star player Oberwald, who also had two casualties on the day and led all players with 46 rushing yards.


Griff Oberwald stands in the end zone chuckling after one of his two touchdowns on the day

“You hear the legends, but nothing can really prepare you to face Griff on the field,” said Mayemi blitzer Rahor Mossheart after the match. “The speed, the strength, the chiseled jawline, the ability to carry 9 halflings and 2 treemen on his back … It’s all quite impressive.”

The Sheriffs struck first on a long touchdown drive in the first half that began with Oberwald grabbing the kickoff and settling in on his own half as he waited for the Sherrif halflings and treemen to clear a path for him. A little over midway through the half, Oberwald got bored with waiting and simply lowered his shoulder, charged forward and ran through Mayemi line-elf Zarak Zealyr.

“Those little fellows and their leafy chums were doing a marvelous job blocking,” said Oberwald with a chuckle after the game. “But, you know me, I crave a little contact to get the blood flowing, and that Zealyr fellow looked a bit bored simply dodging blockers, so I thought I’d give him a little action.”

Oberwald’s ‘action’ left Zealyr lying on the pitch as the legend dashed into scoring territory along the southern sideline with a cadre of halfling blockers struggling to keep up with him. As the Nereid-fins raced across field to cut him off, Oberwald was heard chuckling, “Well met, jolly fellows, who wants their shot at glory next?”

With that, Oberwald ignored his blockers and simply dashed forward along the sideline, where catcher Faylyn Woodyl awaited him. As Woodyl attempted to make the tackle, however, Oberwald stiff-armed him with a fist to the mouth, putting the catcher to sleep before he hit the pitch.

“Good night, sweet elf,” Oberwald cried out, laughing as he bolted into the end zone to put the Shire Sheriffs up 1-0.


Oberwald delivers a vicious closed-fist stiff arm to Woodyl on his way to the end zone to give the Shire Sheriffs a 1-0 lead

With enough time left for a quick score, Mayemi set up for a deep pass play on the ensuing kick-off. Tya Tyngafarthrower scooped the deep kick off his own goal line, as Woodyl—who had fortunately woken up before the kick—ran a deep post pattern and Mossheart ran a curl route near midfield. With most of the Sheriff Defenders swarming around Woodyl, Tyngafarthrower hit Mossheart with the pass. Mossheart raced up field, but as the Sheriffs closed in on him, he flipped the ball back to Woodyl.

The hook and ladder seemed to be executed to perfection, but there was one problem. Standing between Woodyl and the endzone was the hulking and grinning form of Oberwald. Woodyl charged forward, lowering his shoulder as if he were going to try to avenge the legend’s stiff arm. But as Oberwald lunged to make the tackle, Woodyl ducked and spun away from him, dodging into he clear and sprinting into the end zone to tie the game just before the halftime whistle.

“Some of us don’t need stiff-arms to get past our opponents,” said Woodyl. “Anyone can dodge past a tackler when their opponent is unconscious. We elves prefer the challenge of dodging past players who are still on their feet.”


Woodyl ducks and spins aways from Oberwald, leaving the legend tackling air, moments before the Mayemi catcher tied the game 1-1 at the end of the first half

The good-natured ribbing and rivalry among the teams only intensified in the second half as Mayemi received the kick, and Tyngafarthrower once again settled deep in his own territory, trying to milk enough clock to score the go-ahead TD with no time for the Sheriffs to tie the game. The Shire Sheriffs responded aggressively. Treemen hurled halflings toward Tyngafarthrower, and Oberwald charged forward, challenging the thrower to “quit hiding and meet me in the open field like a man.”

With Tyngafarthrower unwilling to take that dare, Oberwald simply dodged around the Mayemi blockers and slammed his shoulder into the thrower’s ribs, sending him and the ball to the pitch. In the scramble that followed, Mossheart was able to push Oberwald back from the ball, Woodyl scooped it up, and raced forward to make a hand off to fellow catcher Devyoryn Achyrn. A realm-class sprinter, Achyrn easily got behind the treemen and the halflings they were hurling to score the go-ahead touchdown.


Tyngafarthrower looks on as one of several halflings thrown by treemen during the match comes flying toward him, distracting the thrower from Oberwald, who is bearing down on him from his blindside

“I’m not sure we could have done much more,” said Mayemi Coach Mickon McDenial when asked after the game if his team should have tried to stall to eat up more of the clock before scoring. “Even with no time left on the clock, I feel like Griff could probably still find a way to score. Heck, the game’s been over for hours now, and I have a feeling he’s still out there scoring touchdowns.”

Thus, it was no surprise that even with little over a minute left on the clock, Oberwald took the ensuing kickoff and dashed up field, looking once again unstoppable. With a series of dodges, stiff arms, and guffaws of laughter, Oberwald made his way through the Mayemi defense and scored just before the final whistle to end the game in a 2-2 tie.

As he stood in the endzone waving to the cheering crowd, the Nereid-fin players swarmed around him, and it looked like some sort of brawl were about to break out. Mossheart approached the legend with a stern look on his face and raised his hand. Rather than striking Oberwald, however, he dropped to his knee and offered a handshake.

“I must admit the legends are true,” said Mossheart. “You are highly skilled, quite strong, and impressively swift.” Oberwald clasped Mossheart’s hand and pulled him to his feet, with a smile—whereupon Mossheart finished, “… for a human.”

Oberwald laughed heartily at the gibe, and he and the elves were soon joined by the Sherriff’s halflings and (some hours later) the team’s treemen. Thus commenced a dual-team celebration of the tie. Since the halfling’s master chef was still on hand, a mutton roast, elk stew, and strong beer along with high elven dream wine were served to all, and the teams celebrated on the field for some time long after the match had ended.


Members of the Nereid-fins and the Sheriffs celebrate the glorious tie together in the endzone, sharing beer, wine, and vittles provided by the halfling master chef

“Seeing elves, a heroic human, treemen, and halflings together in fellowship like that was truly inspiring,” said Coach McDenial during the postgame press conference. “It’s a shame there isn’t some great quest we could embark on with these Shire Sheriffs, some evil dark lord we could all oppose perhaps, or maybe we could band together to destroy some mighty weapon. I don’t know, just spit-balling here. It could make for a heck of a story, at least.”

Accounts vary, but some say somewhere in a dark corner of the room a short old man with wispy white hair known only to the other scribes as a professor of an arcane art dubbed “linguistics” and who claimed to be in possession of some sort of time portal, grinned and then dematerialized shortly after McDenial’s final words. Others claim such a man was never there—and if he were, he would surely never come back again.