DUELMASTERS NEWSLETTER
Date : 08/26/2003 Duedate: 09/08/2003
ZUKAL ARENA
DM-9 TURN-473
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
GWEN RYDER
DREAM PARK (447)
(9-4867) [13-2-0,100]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
GWEN RYDER TITO THE GUIDO
DREAM PARK (447) CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
(9-4867) [13-2-0,100] (9-4992) [3-0-0,28]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
E. VICTOR SLASH LARUE
LETTER BOMBS (436) CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
(9-4864) [13-9-0,79] (9-4993) [3-0-0,25]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BLUE MOON (381) 28
2. DREAM PARK (447) 26 DREAM PARK (447)
3. CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457) 8 Unchartered Team
4. DARK TOADS (451) 0
5. SUPERIOR SPLASHES (410) 0 CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1- 1*SUPERIOR SPLASHES (410) 10 3 0 76.9 1/ 2*CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457) 8 6 0
2/ 4*CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457) 8 6 0 57.1 2/ 3 BLUE MOON (381) 6 6 0
3/ 2 DREAM PARK (447) 21 16 0 56.8 3/ 4 DREAM PARK (447) 3 0 0
4- 3 DARK TOADS (451) 46 43 2 51.7 4- 1 DARK TOADS (451) 3 2 0
5/ 5 LETTER BOMBS (436) 58 61 2 48.7 5- 6*SUPERIOR SPLASHES (410) 1 0 0
6/ 6 BLUE MOON (381) 269 384 9 41.2 6/ 5 LETTER BOMBS (436) 0 7 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
>)]H[(< + -----:----- + >)] The Free Cities #67 [(< + -----:----- + >)]H[(<
Near Zukal:
After the thing--shadow, demon, whatever it was--left, Ghenis sat and stared
into the night for a long time. He kept the fire up, even though he didn't need it
for heat; fire might be a defense, and the thing might come back. He stayed awake
just in case that happened; this wouldn't be the first night he'd gone without sleep.
Better to be tired in the morning than dead. And he had some serious thinking to do.
He glanced around his campsite quickly. The horse was calm enough now, no need
to worry about it running off. Besides, it would have to get past him to get out of
the enclosure formed by the broken walls. Veleks was asleep, or unconscious, and
just as well. The little thief was a useful tool, but not for thinking.
What was this thing that he'd seen, that had driven Veleks, who feared water, to
risk drowning rather than be caught? He'd been thinking of it as a sort of demon,
but what sort? His defenses here would stop natural predators such as wolves, but
not demons; for that, he should have needed something magical. Could his amulet have
been protection enough? He didn't think so, especially since he hadn't called on the
power behind it. So was this... thing some kind of natural predator? And if so,
where had it come from? Why had it appeared now when there was no indication of such
a creature prowling the area in the past?
And what would it DO to its victims besides drive them into a frenzy of terror?
Was that all it wanted, or would it have killed Veleks if it had caught him?
And most important of all, what use could he and his masters make of this new
thing?
Come morning, and even the gray and rainy light was welcome, though. Ghenis
wanted to get back to Zukal as quickly as possible. With Veleks riding double with
him on his one horse, that wasn't as quickly as he hoped for. He thought of leaving
his henchman at one of the smaller towns outside the city--his cult had contacts in
several of them, and there were hangouts for thieves in general where the man would
have been accepted if not welcomed. But Veleks wouldn't have it. He would stay with
his leader who had rescued him from the monster, and not in some flimsy village inn.
Suggestions that they part company always resulted in the little thief bursting into
tears, which was damned embarrassing.
Veleks was being a nuisance, so much so that Ghenis found himself wishing the
little thief had died yesterday. The man's nerve had been broken, and Ghenis was
beginning to wonder whether the break might be permanent. That would spell trouble
for all involved. There was no place for a broken man among the servants of the dark
cult.
The obvious thing would be to kill the wretch. But the gladiator found it hard
to follow through on that while Veleks was looking at him so gratefully. It would be
like kicking a puppy, and while he was prepared, in theory, to kick puppies if that's
what needed doing, it wasn't an easy thing to contemplate in cold blood. Perhaps he
could send Veleks somewhere far away, to some place where the little thief could be
sure of never meeting one of the monsters again. Hmm, if water provided safety,
perhaps he could send Veleks along with a mission to Niatoli Island that was in
preparation.
Yes, Niatoli Island would be the place for Veleks now. He'd see about getting
the thief onto the next ship headed that way.
Near Malcorn:
Blackie, Lord Malcorn of Malcorn, stood next to the ancient stone and waited for
the moon to rise. It would be full tonight, and he knew, because he knew most of the
natural world around Malcorn, that when it reached a certain height above the
horizon, it would shine through the hole in a more distant rock and strike squarely
onto the face of the rock beside him, revealing carvings that had been old when the
first Lord Malcorn came to this land. The records of his ancestors said that the
Dregur were accustomed to gathering here when the moon was just so.
"I must be insane," Tiljanz muttered behind him.
"Courage and a sense of responsibility often looks like madness," Blackie
agreed, "even to the people exhibiting it. You didn't have to come here tonight, but
you felt it was the right thing to do. I can respect that in a man. A lot."
"Will it do any good?" the young Karnhorn asked curiously. "We've turned the
Dregur loose, and I'd think it hard if not impossible to rein them back in."
"We turned them loose under terms," Blackie said. His voice hardened, becoming
the voice of the Lord of Malcorn. "They have not kept those terms. They were to
attack only those who came here following Inzolas. That a few innocents might get
caught in that net by accident was... almost inevitable. But some of the Dregur have
been actively hunting those not indicated by the terms of their release." He was
silent for a long moment, then shrugged. "I'm not certain that we can put an end to
these... excesses. But I am very certain that if we don't protest, the situation
will become worse. A failure to protest will be seen as an admission of weakness."
Tiljanz shrugged. It sounded like politics as usual, or at least, the politics
of those he dealt with, the lesser lords within the Glorious Empire. Vicious
infighting was the order of the day in those circles. "I trust your judgment in
this, as I must, of course." He glanced at the sky uneasily. "And I should think we
don't have much longer to wait...."
"No." Blackie watched the moonlight appear in the eye of the distant stone and
slant across the clearing, creeping along the face of the stone beside him. It
wouldn't be long now.
The finger of light slid across the surface and touched the worn carvings, which
leaped into sudden clarity. The little clearing, which had been empty except for the
two of them, was suddenly full of shadows. Or something. Tiljanz could feel the
weight of a dozen minds thinking about him--calculating minds, hostile minds, hungry
ones. He held himself still and quiet with difficulty. This was Lord Malcorn's
meeting; he himself was just present as a witness.
Words came out of the darkness, hollow as caves, clear as trumpets. "Why are
you here, Malcorn?"
SPY REPORT
Much has changed in ZUKAL since last I was here. Never fear, Olaf Modeen adapts
to many situations, as do all successful fighters. Biff! Pow! ZUKAL watched with
glee as DARK TOADS got knocked off top spot by CLAN O' WHOOPAS! What's with BLUE
GOOSE? He actually beat ZUKAL's DANGEROUS CRIMINAL, and walked away with 16 more
points from the fight. Major screwup at CLAN O' WHOOPAS. CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ lost 13
points to BLUE MONDAY. Some new strategies, perhaps? Maybe CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ will
provide more easy wins... I'm sure ZUKAL is excited about GWEN RYDER, the new
Duelmaster from DREAM PARK. (remember?) But when you've seen as many as I have...
I suppose you want to hear some rumors and dirty gossip about your fellow fighters?
Tough!
No matter the time or place, men will always duel. ZUKAL thinks DREAM PARK and
their 21-16-0 is too much! If at first you don't succeed, give up... In my day, no
team with a 20-16-0 would scare me off! What's the problem, CLAN O' WHOOPAS? What
do people see in BLUE MONDAY? Hers 5-4-0? BLUE MOON ain't talkin', but she's got 30
points. SLASH LARUE expects the easy win by going 18 points down. MORENCI will find
this a hard lesson! SLASH LARUE subdued MORENCI. CLAN O' WHOOPAS calls this
fighting? In my day... I hate going to the effort of writing about the kind of
fights that TITO THE GUIDO gets in. He fights people like BISBEE, 13 points below.
I thought TITO THE GUIDO showed great skill and promise when he beat BISBEE. All
right, so I slept through it! Big deal!
Warriors of ZUKAL unite. You have only your games to lose! How long have I
been here? I got people to see, places to go...
Many other cities have retirement homes for aged warriors. Any plans here? All
work and no play makes Olaf a dull fighter. Work and play no fighter dull Olaf.
Olaffighterwork and no play. I don't want to overstay my welcome...-- Olaf Modeen
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GWEN RYDER 4867 13 2 0 100 DREAM PARK (447)
CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
E. VICTOR 4864 13 9 0 79 LETTER BOMBS (436)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BLUE GOOSE 4937 10 12 0 55 BLUE MOON (381)
-NOSFERATU 4946 7 7 0 47 DARK TOADS (451)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-RAVEN CLIFF 4488 6 1 0 44 SUPERIOR SPLASHES (410)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BLUE MONDAY 4968 5 4 0 30 BLUE MOON (381)
-ALEX GRIFFIN 4856 5 5 0 29 DREAM PARK (447)
-TOREADOR 4948 7 6 1 28 DARK TOADS (451)
-ACACIA GARCIA 4862 3 2 0 28 DREAM PARK (447)
TITO THE GUIDO 4992 3 0 0 28 CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
-VENTRIIE 4987 2 0 0 27 DARK TOADS (451)
SLASH LARUE 4993 3 0 0 25 CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-BRUJAH 5000 1 0 0 10 DARK TOADS (451)
STONEWALL JACKSON 4991 1 2 0 9 CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ 4990 1 2 0 8 CLAN O' WHOOPAS (457)
-GANGREL 4999 1 0 0 6 DARK TOADS (451)
BISBEE 5002 1 1 0 4 BLUE MOON (381)
MORENCI 5003 0 2 0 2 BLUE MOON (381)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
ELECTRIC BLUE 4962 3 7 0 BLUE MOON 381 TOREADOR 4948 469 REVENGED
PERSONAL ADS
E. Victor -- This is kind of a joke, you know? All along, I've been a duck, and not
even a remarkable duck. And now I get to do a swan song. You think I might be
changing? -- Blue Duck
Raven Cliff -- You didn't have to push me over the edge, did you? -- Blue Goose
P.S. I mean, it was even kind of dumb, because I can fly, you know?
Cleopatra Schwartz -- Amazing how you do that. I guess it's a style thing, isn't it?
-- Blue Monday
Stonewall Jackson -- Ah, thank you. Thank you very much. That is exactly what I
needed today. -- Bisbee
Tito the Guido -- (raised eyebrow) Rather harsh, aren't you? -- Morenci
Bisbee -- It's just a flesh wound. Next time won't be so easy. -- Stonewall Jackson
29 July 2003
* * * *The Third Annual Turf War* * * *
Yes, it's time again for alliances to go to war! TW3 will be held in DM 47
(North Fork) at a date to be specified later--right after Crip's Incomprehensible
Contest is over...but I'm sure everyone wants to get their teams there soon! Here
are the rules:
1. Each alliance must have a leader declare the arrival of his alliance. The leader
will be responsible for verifying any and all teams/managers who declare to the
alliance he/she is leading.
2. Each manager, team declaring for the contest must have approval of the leader,
donate one Roll-up Certificate ($5) to the prize pot (send it to me by diplo, by
snail, or a note to customer service), and declare his/her team by diplo, p-ad or
snail.
3. Each team may declare one warrior as champion. All points scored by a champ are
double!
4. Prizes are as follows (mostly...there WILL be some things added as the prize pot
grows with entry donations--this list is not final!)
* Highest scoring alliance -- Rename Arena 47 for a period of 6 months, one half
of the total prize pot donated; roll-up certs.
* The Alliance with the most returns from the DA will get to re-name the DA
monsters for a period of 6 months.
* The alliance with the most warriors listed as style masters will get to pick
the Alastari city/arena to host the next Grand Tournament.
* The warrior with the most front page honors/awards will have the Arenamaster
named after him for a period of 6 months.
* The Alliance with the most front page Honors/Awards will have the honor of
picking the *slow* arena to host the Fifth Annual Turf War.
* The team with the most listings as Style Master will find out the favorites of
one of their warriors.
* The warrior with the most listings as Style Master will fight at my expense
for five turns (I will transfer to the manager's account).
* The Alliance with the most kills will be able to re-name the stand-in warriors
for a period of 6 months.
* The warrior that scores the most total points will fight at my expense for 5
turns (I will transfer $7.50 to the manager's account).
* The team that scores the most total points will receive an extra share of
roll-up certs from the prize pot.
There may be more categories to come, and the prize pot still has to be
divided...I'm open to category/prize ideas--and further donations to the prize pot.
The contest will run for *TEN* turns; prizes will be awarded at the end of the
11th turn.
Scoring will be as follows:
* 5 points per fight, doubled for each of the following conditions met:
-- Two Alliance -- Champion
-- Challenge -- Two Champions
-- Bloodfeud -- Challenger losing
-- Kill
(Note: DA losses are exempt, but DA wins will be *tripled*!!! Ex: Happy
Slasher goes to the DA and dies, no points are lost. If he wins, his team scores 60
points! If he was a champ, he scores 120 points!)
Use the following chart to calculate scores:
Conditions Met: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Points Per Fight: 5 10 20 40 80 160 320 640
* Awards/Honors and Style Masters will each be awarded points also. Find the total
number of each (do note add Awards and Style Masters together) and consult the graph
below. Champs that score an award or style master count as two.
1 -- 5 7 -- 320
2 -- 10 8 -- 640
3 -- 20 9 -- 1280
4 -- 40 10 -- 2560
5 -- 80 11 -- 5280
6 -- 100 (x2 for each extra)
Note -- These categories *count as "triple"*--they will be figured for each team,
*AND* again for each alliance *as well as* for each warrior!
* Each and every mention in the Spy Report is worth 5 points...period.
* TVs will be scored on the same scale as Awards/Style Masters, but the total points
will be x10. TC's will be scored as TV's, but x10 more.
Number of TV/TC's Points Scored (TV/TC)
1 50/ 500
2 100/1000
3 200/2000
4 400/4000
+ x2/ x2 (for each extra)
Each alliance will start with 5000 points, scores for *fights* will be added to
the winner's total *AND* deducted from the losers.
Come one and all, defend your turf and the honor of your alliance...or your
own!
Asmo Dius, TCB
Arenas, DM 47, DM 73
1 August 2003
Assurnasirbanipal invites you to Talcama to participate in the third BATTLE
ROYAL contest. It is a Delarquan contest so brutal that even some of Talcama's most
notable managers will refuse to participate. The rules are simpler than any other
contest: You may not avoid any other contest team. There are no silly rules for who
can and can't compete. Any team in Talcama is eligible to compete. The scoring is
also quite simple (+1 for a win, +1 for a kill (+1 for the win), -1 for a loss) and
the first team to reach 25 points is the winner.
Scoring will be live--the results for the turn posted in the newsletter. The
winner will be able to fight their contest team in Talcama for free for 6 months but
more importantly will win a contest against some of the best managers who play the
game in one of the hardest contests in the game.
First turn for BATTLE ROYAL 3 is Talcama Turn 465, which is due August 30.
19 August 2003
Citizens of Ghea (only the ignorant fail to note Lirith Kai is not in Alastari),
no new day is rising, but the sun is setting on just another beautiful evening.
While you were sleeping, an irksome rabble has entered the always fair Aruak City.
Of course they fought alongside our warriors, most not so treasured, as all
gladiators do. They drank with themselves, and slept with themselves. Whether they
had masks, who cares.
Warriors, don't be afraid. For years Aruak has been one of the safest cities in
Ghea, and that custom has been continually cultivated, and will continue to be by
those who have called it home for years and those who live, fight, and die by the
same ethics. There is no contest, nor has there ever needed to be one for many
years. A conflict of personalities has arisen, and the city has been 'invaded' by
pests.
Any rules that are annouced will be purely for the joy of the lemmings' own
little world. Those who are being targeted have no interest in participating except
to defend the integrity of an arena that is different from others. Whether you
choose to come to Aruak, do it for your own reasons, not theirs.
Competing in Aruak City has never been for the faint of heart or the weak willed.
Combat is combat, wherever you go. Blood will flow as always, and now many innocents
will be caught in the middle, but those who defend Aruak's traditions never target
those who bring respect of Aruaki customs with them to our home.
So ignore the private ranting announcement brought by the stuporous
Frothingsloshers. If you choose Aruak City, do not choose it for an unsanctioned and
bogus 'contest', choose it for the tradition. Choose it because Aruak is different.
Defenders of Aruak
25 August 2003
To any that care -- The CDC is back; our current roster is:
Malaquar -- Minion of Guardian
Pip the Troll -- Burly Enforcer Type
mouse -- Official Sneaky Bastard
Papa Bear -- Elder Statesmen
The Sealer says, "Hi, I'm the dealer."
Papa Bear says, "It's not my f****n fault."
Guardian -- Paper Figurehead
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
SLASH LARUE devastated MORENCI in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight.
TITO THE GUIDO vanquished BISBEE in a 1 minute uneven Challenge battle.
CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ was demolished by BLUE MONDAY in a 1 minute uneven Challenge fight.
E. VICTOR was devastated by GWEN RYDER in a exciting 1 minute one-sided Title fight.
BLUE GOOSE devastated DANGEROUS CRIMINAL in a 1 minute uneven brawl.
STONEWALL JACKSON defeated CONVICTED THIEF in a 2 minute novice's struggle.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|WALL OF STEEL 4 AIMED BLOW 7 - 0 - 0 100 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 1 - 0 67 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 STRIKING ATTACK 12 - 7 - 1 63 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 WALL OF STEEL 15 - 9 - 0 63 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 1 BASHING ATTACK 6 - 7 - 0 46 |
|AIMED BLOW 0 PARRY-LUNGE 4 - 5 - 1 44 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 SLASHING ATTACK 3 - 4 - 0 43 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 LUNGING ATTACK 7 - 10 - 0 41 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 TOTAL PARRY 10 - 16 - 0 38 |
|TOTAL PARRY 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 7 - 0 22 |
Turn 473 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 0 3 WALL OF STEEL
STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 LUNGING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 3 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 TOTAL PARRY
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 1 BASHING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 2 1 PARRY-LUNGE
TOTAL PARRY 0 - 0 1 PARRY-STRIKE
1 STRIKING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
WALL OF STEEL GWEN RYDER 4867 13 2 0 100 DREAM PARK (447)
LUNGING ATTACK E. VICTOR 4864 13 9 0 79 LETTER BOMBS (436)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is E. VICTOR 4864. The most popular warrior this turn
was SLASH LARUE 4993. The ten other most popular fighters were BLUE MONDAY 4968,
GWEN RYDER 4867, TITO THE GUIDO 4992, BLUE GOOSE 4937, CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ 4990, E.
VICTOR 4864, MORENCI 5003, BISBEE 5002, STONEWALL JACKSON 4991, and 0.
The least popular fighter this week was STONEWALL JACKSON 4991. The other ten least
popular fighters were BISBEE 5002, MORENCI 5003, E. VICTOR 4864, CLEOPATRA SCHWARTZ
4990, BLUE GOOSE 4937, TITO THE GUIDO 4992, GWEN RYDER 4867, BLUE MONDAY 4968, SLASH
LARUE 4993, and 0.
FACE-TO-FACE XXXII
Our next Winter Face-to-Face will be held on Martin Luther King weekend, Friday
through Sunday, 16-18 January 2004, at the Embassy Suites in Tempe, Arizona (4400 S
Rural Rd). Room rates are $119.00 per night, 1-2 occupancy, which includes breakfast.
The rooms are blocked. The reservations number is 480-897-7444; tell them you're with
the "Reality Simulations Face to Face Convention" block. Our room block will be
released in mid-December, so please make sure you reserve your room before then.
There is a free shuttle to the airport, as well as free parking. The hotel is
located down the freeway in Tempe. All rooms have high speed internet (for an extra
charge). There is a fitness center, jacuzzi, and pool, and of course a bar and
restaurant inside the hotel. And there's Denny's right across the street. Look for
transportation info in the tournament information sheet.
The tournament information sheet/strategy sheet should be out sometime in late
November/early December.
If you haven't been to a Face-to-Face before, you're overdue. If you have,
you'll be back. Don't miss this one, it'll be a blast! See you there!
-- Green Eyes and the RSI Staff