DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 05/11/2007 Duedate: 05/24/2007 ARUAK CITY ARENA DM-11 TURN-567 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS TANGERINE TOAD ANIMAL FARM (510) (11-6603) [22-3-0,136] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader TANGERINE TOAD SHOTGUN GANDHI ANIMAL FARM (510) ARMED & GREGARIOUS (580) (11-6603) [22-3-0,136] (11-6760) [2-0-0,39] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite DONALD DUNSEN DRACULA TUFT TUGGERS (305) UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) (11-6787) [15-6-1,94] (11-6319) [9-5-0,103] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM BULLDOGS (157) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) 30 2. NEVERWAKE (508) 30 COLORIFIC (511) 3. COLORIFIC (511) 29 Unchartered Team 4. ANIMAL FARM (510) 24 5. ORDO HERETICUS (593) 21 ARMED & GREGARIOUS (580) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 9*ARMED & GREGARIOUS (580) 2 1 0 66.7 1/ 1 BULLDOGS (157) 10 4 0 2/ 1 COLORIFIC (511) 305 164 12 65.0 2/ 4 KRILL CAVALRY (374) 8 6 0 3/ 2 ANIMAL FARM (510) %1043 611 34 63.1 3/ 6 COLORIFIC (511) 7 1 1 4/ 3 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) 11 8 0 57.9 4/ 5 ANIMAL FARM (510) 7 1 0 5/ 4 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) 119 87 5 57.8 5/ 2 IMMORTALS (85) 7 8 0 6/ 5 BULLDOGS (157) 923 700 28 56.9 6/ 3 NEVERWAKE (508) 5 6 0 7/ 7 TUFT TUGGERS (305) 720 682 25 51.4 7/ 7 ORDO HERETICUS (593) 4 6 0 8/ 6 ORDO HERETICUS (593) 45 43 2 51.1 8/11 TUFT TUGGERS (305) 3 1 0 9/ 8 SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) 169 169 8 50.0 9/12 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) 3 3 0 10-10 MILITANT LEGION (586) 24 25 3 49.0 10/ 8 SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) 3 3 0 11/11 IMMORTALS (85) 835 926 65 47.4 11/10 DARKOVER II (592) 3 12 0 12/12 ELFQUEST (515) 272 316 12 46.3 12/14*ARMED & GREGARIOUS (580) 2 0 0 13/13 SCARLET KNIGHTS (375) 318 411 17 43.6 13-13 MILITANT LEGION (586) 2 3 0 14/14 NEVERWAKE (508) 99 133 14 42.7 14/ 9 ELFQUEST (515) 2 7 0 15/15 DARKOVER II (592) 61 98 6 38.4 15/15 SCARLET KNIGHTS (375) 1 2 0 Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 16/16 KRILL CAVALRY (374) 306 557 6 35.5 16/16 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) 0 2 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[ + ---:--- + ]H[ Shadows of Aruak #1 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ + Aruak City, today: It was not the worst that he'd had, but it was always a telling sign of things to come when one wakes up due to residual pain from blunt force trauma to the head... and you don't know how it happened to you. Tankesh shivered and opened his eyes, trying to blink away the blackness. Trouble was, no light existed. Even his superior elf endowed vision could not penetrate the utter blackness. But his other senses worked. Beyond the throb of his head, it was cold, it was...humid. And there was the slow patter of water drops. He was in a prone position, arms at his side, and decided to try to move but found he could not. He was bound around the body. "Great. Typical." Tankesh smacked his lips and swallowed. "At least the moisture has done wonders to ease my sore throat." He froze. A curtain or something had been drawn oh so very quietly behind him. Tilting his head, he saw nothing. Still black. With nothing to work with, conversationally, he just decided to wait, holding back his usual sarcasm. A voice like honey floated to him from behind and came closer. Tankesh's captor was skilled at moving quietly. "I know you are more intelligent than you typically appear to be..." Tankesh scowled at the insinuation. "So I will not mince words with you, unless you prefer the...foreplay." Tankesh's first thought. 'I love female captors!' His mind had a million versions of beautiful women run through in a flash. He tried to crane his neck to see more but it was still black. He was beginning to suspect the darkness was magical. Not unnatural, but the deepest shadow imaginable. "Foreplay, please!" A smiling laugh of air escaped his captor's lips. He soon felt a soft finger run down his face and along his neck, sending tingles down his body. "Ooo...you're good. I give up already." "Sorry about the bump on the head," the voice responded, ignoring his quip. "You've been known to be pretty...stubborn." Tankesh sighed. Unfortunately it was already time to get past the small talk. "What do you want?" he asked casually. The response was quick and natural, but it elicited an incredulous raised eyebrow reaction from Tankesh... "Your help." + ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Chronicles of Andoria #7 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ + This story continues from the last part on Turn#553. You will have to look up the newsletters to read the earlier issues, or perhaps contact me on the D2 site forum. -- Adie Aruak City, 10 years ago: The day and night passed with no incident, but not so fast for Torin and Belana. One of them had to stay awake to watch for any more of those 'exploding' men. Keeping watch wasn't difficult however, for there was only one direction to come... or go. Except for the pain in her broken arm, the rest of Belana's aching body seemed to be regaining its strength quickly as the residual effects of the demon's attack left. Torin, his usual brilliant self, constructed a brace and sling for her arm. With a little stretching and movement, they were almost ready to go about mid- day. But Torin needed another weapon other than his carpenter's hammer, which he found had survived and was in the rubble as he searched for something useful. He decided upon a huge club. You could call it a maul. He borrowed Belana's acid edged scimitar and sliced up a large beam. Looking each other over, they realized how little they had. Weapons... and clothes. "We're gonna need to find some food and water lass." "Well, get movin!" she taunted the dwarf playfully, "I'm thirsty." The dwarf snapped his heels and bowed, "Yes yer majesty." He snapped his heels again, grabbed a beam from the small fire as a torch, and led off into the black tunnel. * * * Across the street from the Tuft Tuggers guild hall were stables to house horses for the nearby arena. But they housed more than horses. They also had quite a collection of shadows from which the 'palace servant' was observing. He had watched as the gladiators had come and go. With their 'investigation' in progress, the Tuft Tuggers had quite a collection of Lord Protectors in the city, and some of the higher ranked Lord Protectors were known to have super-human abilities. There was not a better place to start looking for a sacrifice. The palace servant was a true demon of the void. His entire being was composed of the essence of magic, for only a creature of such could survive in the void. With such a grasp on the nature of magic, such creatures could wield it in ways unimaginable to mortals. And such was his ability to 'see' the essence which gave these mortal creatures life and spirit, for some creatures possessed more than others. Lord Protectors were some of those. He had watched as gladiators came and went. The Ranger had the most remarkable of their auras, but his was not much stronger than the others. He had fancied what kind of power lies within one of the so called 'managers', but he had never seen one. Too bad, he thought to himself. It would have been fun to drink one of their souls. After a couple hours, he had almost given up, when a new woman appeared. He inhaled deeply with awe, then chuckled. "Such weak illusions and shapeshifting can't hide you from me, he whispered as his eyes followed the Lady Protector. The demon shifted his own form to a woman, for he didn't want to chance any of her magical abilities. She would be the one. The one to open the gate. The servant followed her for several hours. This lady seemed to be looking for something, or someone. She spent a lot of time waiting in the Bulldog Inn and questioning the waitress'. Then she turned to a waitress close to him, he magically extended his hearing to eavesdrop. His mouth crooked in surprise as he realized she was looking for himself. His first human smile graced his lips. * * * "I warned you about his possible uncooperative behavior," Khazakh growled. "This is not an acceptable result." Strome turned down another alley, a large heavily loaded potato sack over his shoulder. "It will be the only result." he chipped in, adjusting the sack. "Also, he would not have come, and bringing a Kinsmen would have tied him up in court. We are only questioning him under authorization of the barracks commander. Besides," Strome tipped his boonie hat to a homeless lady, "he was getting violent. Especially towards his wife." "And," Khazakh's pearly whites gleamed in a cunning smile, "she asked us to take him." If Strome were not a stoic, he would have smiled. "Your sapping blow to the top of his skull was well executed," Strome added. "Thank you." grunted Khazakh in a non-chalant business tone. "Don't mention it." Khazakh and Strome ducked into the Tuft Tuggers guild house a couple hours before sunset. Lyssa had returned, empty handed, as well as Alaina. They were both studying some notes with another older lady whom they recognized as Mrs. Calfskin. Adie's magical research, which Alaina had brought back, had taken the better part of the day, as the runic magic used was exceptionally hard to find because of its rarity. Now, to locate the teleport destination, they had but to go to the warehouse and measure the circle's exact size. Alaina and Mrs. Calfskin had found examples of the use of such magic in the mythology of Alastari. And these were even more difficult to find. Apparently its use was limited to a couple encounters of chaos creatures who had used such magic around the time of the chaos wars. The only native of Alastari to have wielded such magic was Sheila Greywand herself, who has used it to help destroy and maintain gates. Mrs. Calfskin was quite amazed at everything happening here. "It's a bloody miracle you boys haven't been killed." she said, nodding to Khazakh and Strome. Khazakh's deep voice cut to the chase, "So, have we uncovered some kind of plot or operation by the Lady Greywand?" Lyssa shook her head, "Not likely. She doesn't have the kindest reputation, but she wouldn't stoop to kidnaping Aruaki families, or using such chaotic creatures as these demons." Strome took his boonie hat off, "But she is the only one known who could control such creatures and wield this magic?" Lyssa nodded, "I'm afraid so." "Even so," continued Khazakh, "would she stoop to such dishonorable methods? And what is her plan?" "The Lady Greywand does not always act with honor, deary." Mrs. Calfskin chimed in. "Perhaps we should interrogate our friend?" added Strome, who nodded towards the wiggling sack in the corner. Mrs. Calfskin looked at the others, "Well, who'd that be people?" Lyssa stood and went over to the struggling person. "That is our informant," she glanced at Mrs. C, "one of their slaves. Strome, Khazakh, hold him while I dispel the enchantment rune." Strome and Khazakh opened the bag. As soon as he stood, arms flailing wildly, they spun him around and pinned his face to the wall as he tried to yell. Lyssa pulled his hair aside to reveal the rune. She cast her magic upon it. The rune evaporated, but the room suddenly exploded with fire. The windows blew out, sending glass flying everywhere. All the gladiators reflexively threw themselves to the ground, sensing the flames licking over them. But they never felt it. As quickly as it came, it disappeared. The flames roiled back, and as they all glanced up, the warriors saw the flames sucked into Lyssa's palm, which was held out over the man's neck where the rune was. Adrenaline rushing through their veins, the Lord Protectors, all jittery, checked themselves out. Not a scratch. Mrs. Calfskin stood, brushing off some glass. "Wooo! That'll get your blood pumpin' boys." They all stood and looked at Lyssa. She shrugged. "Booby-trap," she said innocently, "Didn't see it." The poor Aruaki businessman turned around shaking uncontrollably. Then Khazakh turned and stood over him. "Back to business." Khazakh brought one red eye up close to the man's face and scowled, his deep voice promising much pain, "You WILL tell us everything." The poor man's first response was a trickle dribbling down his pants to the floor. * * * Rabid Shrew wasn't exactly having her best of days. Having ran across the floor of the mined out cavern, fleeing from the magical circle of monoliths where she encountered a pair of sorcerers, she dashed up the ramps to the upper levels to hide. And once there, a squad of the misshapen sorcerers had barely missed her as they led the enslaved people out to work, right past the storage room she had occupied. Shrew decided to risk sleeping, for the gods knew she needed it, especially for tonight. Tonight she would find a way out, back to Aruak City, back to home. * * * Released from the control of the rune's enchantment, the Aruaki shipper was more than cooperative. However, he had little in the way of key information. He had been spending all of his savings to buy food, water and excavating equipment. Some of the equipment needed to be transported in, which is where his business came handy. He could only say how much food, what kind of equipment, and where he took it. Then of course, it was all magically transported away. However, he did confirm that this mysterious 'palace servant' seemed to be the leader. Even though he didn't appear to be a demon, it was still disconcerting to know such a person was working in the Royal Palace, for who knew what reasons he had to be there. It was decided before sunset to split up again. Mrs. Calfskin opted to join their investigation and solve this mystery. She and Alaina left to take the Aruaki shipper back home, then search for the servant. Strome and Khazakh, who seemed to work great as a team, took their information about the excavation equipment, and see if an engineer could shed some more light upon its possible uses. Lastly, Lyssa was heading for the palace to warn the Guard of their infiltrator. * * * Belana slumped down against the wall, "Oh, Torin. Can't we just stop for a little bit? I feel like we've walked miles." Torin stopped and thought about that for a moment. "Actually, I thank that we moighta gone that far. Lets see." The dwarf scratched his head, nodded it as if counting numbers, then glanced around. "You're right. In fact, I thank we even headed west. We could be close to the city now." He helped Belana up, "All that aside however, we need to keep moving. I'm tired too, but we canna stop lass." Their travel down the tunnel soon became one through a black tunnel. Their torch having ran out, Torin had to lead Belana by the hand, using his weak thermalvision to find their way. The tunnel seemed endless. It didn't turn that much, and the dwarf said it didn't really go any deeper or become more shallow. Combined with the blackness, it was mind numbing. Their trek became so repetitive, time and distance losing their meaning. But anything different caught their attention immediately. They had traveled beyond keeping track of their movement, when they both heard a dripping sound. They glanced at each other in the darkness out of reflexive habit, neither seeing each other. A simultaneous whisper escaped their lips, "Water." The Lord Protectors jogged down the tunnel through the blackness to the source of the water. They quickly found themselves getting soaked by acorn sized drops of water. Torin chuckled, "Hey, we must be under the Cat's Eye river. This water's had to filter through the stone, which means it's clean ta drink, Belana." The Lady Protector was already cupping it in her hands and guzzling it down, she verbally shivered, "Ahh... it's c.. c.. cold." Torin drank deeply as well, "I ain't complainin'. But we can't stay here and freeze." After a couple of minutes, they charged off headlong through the raining cavern with a renewed vigor. It was mile later when they both heard sound echoing down the tunnel. The sound drew them forward, forward into a lighted tunnel lit by blue and red magical fire in scones on the wall. Torin was listening to the noises closely. Belana tugged on his sleeve, "Torin, look. A room." Torin turned to her mumbling something about mining. "What?" "A room full of supplies I think. Let's go. Maybe there's food." "Well don't stand there lass, I'm hungry enough to eat a troll." Their guess was correct. Within the storage room were crates of rations and jugs of water. But there was much more. The room was vast. Separated into neat piles and stacks were food and water, shovels, rope, chisels, rails, and every type of equipment imaginable necessary for a mining operation. Torin, a loaf of bread hanging from his mouth, excavated through the piles themselves to search for something useful other than food. He watched from behind crates as people came and went regularly, taking supplies with them. Giving him a bit of clue where to search, he'd duck out and rummage through the goods. By the time he returned to where Belana was resting and eating, he had collected quite a collage of equipment. He truly looked like a mountain man. Rope hung from his shoulder, a grappling hook in his backpack. He had found a bright new shiny hammer- pick which was thrust through his belt. Pitons and hooks were bandoleered across his chest. "You look cute," grinned Belana, stifling a laugh. "Just preppin' for any more trouble lass." Torin stroked his beard and rubbed his tummy, looking quite content. It was then he noticed the small barrel she was using as a chair. His eyes widened with excitement. Belana glanced around warily and looked at the dwarf with a curious expression. "What?" she grumbled, her mouth stuffed with bread. Torin checked out some vials in his equipment, then seemed to fiddle with some flint and steel, his face twisted in thought. He looked up. The dwarven Lord Protector's eyes narrowed cunningly as a huge grin spread across his black bearded face. Belana smiled at him, "What?" * * * Strome and Khazakh were walking slowly down the street back towards their guild house, chewing over the information they had just acquired. They had journeyed to the barracks of the kingsmen to speak with their military engineer. Though he was not currently in, the commander directed them to his home on the west side of the city in the classier estates. With much insistence and posture, and a little note from the barracks, they were granted an audience with the 'master' of the house that evening. Apparently, engineers commanded much respect and pay for their skills. The engineer was more than gracious enough to answer their questions about the equipment likely in use. The equipment was that such used in the cutting of solid rock. The scale of the equipment used suggested a very large operation, but one that required very precise detail, for many of the tools used were fine chisels and picks. The most important information came when the master engineer told them that some of the machinery could not be transported by cart out of the city because of its size, at least not easily. It was likely that whoever had collected such equipment was not performing their operation very far away. By itself, that information was not a vital puzzle piece, for the equipment had been magically transported. But it reminded them that the magic used to transport was not powerful enough to move it long distances. In fact, the research brought back by Alaina from Adie had stated 'within a few miles'. Which meant the operation must be either in the farming fields, or within the city. Strome rubbed his chin, "OK, we have a person, probably a sorcerer, who has organized a mining operation, likely within Aruak City. What does this mean?" Khazakh cocked his head, "Mining is a common tactic amongst besieging armies who wish to bring down the wall of a castle. I have seen it many times." "Why would one tunnel under a building? To infiltrate it? There has to be an easier way. We must think what a wizard would want." "Remember, a wizard who masquerades as a palace servant. But why? He has already infiltrated the palace." "Could a wizard not transport an army through magic? Perhaps it is an invasion." "Magic is unstable now. Such would be death to the soldiers." Strome nodded acknowledgingly, "Yes, but we can't chance it. We will get Alaina and Mrs. Calfskin, then travel and rendevous with Lyssa at the palace." Khazakh's voice was deep and determined, "We MOVE!" + ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ Cities by the Shore #15 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ + Between Point and Aruak City: Captain Tollisker kept them moving at a steady walk-trot-walk which chaffed Adie's nerves even as she recognized that it was going to give them the most distance covered in the least time. If they'd been able to count on changing horses, things would have been different, but since they couldn't.... They were arguably on the King's Business, cleaning up the mess Khaldren had made of the Clanholds, and they should be able to get spare horses from the royal posting stations. If there had been any horses to get. They passed two such stations between Point and Aruak City; one had been completely deserted and showing signs of vandalous attack, the other was doing duty as a farmhouse-and-fortress, and there were only two heavy plowhorses in the corral. Adie watched the countryside flow past as they rode and wondered how things had gotten so bad so quickly. Except, some of the damage done to buildings, bridges, roads, fields didn't look like quick work. Some had plainly been done the year before, or even longer ago, and never repaired. Even if he could not reach into the heart of the Clanholds at this time, the King should be doing something! What was he thinking to let things go like this? He was playing right into Khaldren's hands. "We'll have to talk to him," she muttered, glaring at another abandoned farmstead. "There are lots of people we'll have to talk to," Fandil answered. The old man sounded weary and grim. "It's figuring out what to do first that'll be the problem. The king, the clanlords...Lady Sheila? Other magicians and priests? Do we start working on the effects of the shapeshifter plague first, or tackle the political and governmental mess first, or--" "Or square off against Khaldren first," Adie said. "He's the root of the problem." When the old magician didn't answer immediately, she sighed. "I know Cho said we shouldn't act rashly against Khaldren, but we have to DO something and fast. And...Fandil, can we trust Cho?" "Trust his judgment in the matter of attacking Khaldren? Yes, no question about it." Another of those silences that she had come to know meant he was figuring out how to say something she might not want to hear. "Khaldren is the root of our current problems," he said finally. "But the real, deepest, original root is Lady Sheila, Adie." The sun priestess had several different reactions to that statement, and they whirled through her so quickly she couldn't decide which to pick first. Finally, she just said, "How is she a problem?" "How many days have we got to list the ways?" he asked. Then he swept the question away with a gesture. "Doesn't matter right now. Root or no, it's like the old saying, you know the one. How it's hard to remember, when you're up to your, ah, hips in alligators, that your initial objective was to drain the swamp. First things first, and we have to get to Aruak City and start killing alligators. Later for draining the swamp." "But not too much later," Adie said. *** ***** *** ***** *** They had stopped at sunset, still fifteen miles short of Aruak City. A farmhouse with hex signs painted over every door and window, a wary family, a watch kept through the night, on the way again at sunrise. Two more hours to the city. A wary city. The main gates were closed, with travelers being admitted one at a time through secondary gates after a careful scrutiny. Name, occupation, residence, reason for traveling, and do you have any local references? And when they got in, the mood of the city was...odd. Unexpected. Some wariness, yes, they'd expected that. But there was a bright, almost eager heedlessness, a hunger for violence near the surface, that was as shocking as the blood-splashes on the walls. "I wish Tollisker had come in with us, him and his twenty good men, instead of heading back to Point right away," Fandil muttered. "This is Aruak City," Adie protested. "The heart and soul of Andoria!" She flinched as an argument over the price of onions at a market booth erupted into blows, escalated to the use of clubs and daggers, spread like fire in dry grass across the market square, then faded out. Faded, except for half a dozen men and women limping and a body being dragged away down an alley. "What is WRONG with these people?" "Alligators," Fandil answered grimly. Point: The chosen tunnel descended steadily. Gissanniah could tell that from the way her legs ached, but she found it hard to judge the angle of the slope. Steeper than the fall of land between Point and Krael, she thought. Had they come far enough to actually be under the ruined city? She touched one wall. Wet stone. The other wall. She could touch them both at once. Even with Doc Circ's elixir she felt confined. Trapped. But the elixir prevented a full-blown attack of claustrophobia, so it was probably good. Another hundred-foot-marker knot slipped through her hands. The eighteenth one since they'd tied the rope near the entrance. Eighteen hundred feet...they hadn't gotten far, then. More than a quarter of a mile, less than a half, she didn't try to do the math in her head. The men in front of her came to a stop and bent over the map again. Why? There was no junction here. No sudden change in direction. When they stood close together, most of the light was blocked, leaving her in darkness. In darkness, the walls moved closer. She couldn't prove that they actually did squeeze in, but...she wasn't at all sure that they did not. There was all that weight of land overhead. Maybe the ceiling of the tunnel was being forced down. She breathed in and breathed out, filling her lungs and emptying them at a steady pace, counting, fighting the urge to hold her breath and listen for the walls coming closer, which she would not be able to hear, it would come silently when it did. Resisting the urge to breathe too fast as though in preparation for running. Running wouldn't help, anyway, there was nowhere to run to. What were they DOING that was taking so long? Why didn't they get moving again? Master Cho was feeling along the left-hand wall. The left side was sinister, wasn't it? Hadn't she heard it called the Lefthand Path when people did things the dark way? And Cho was strange, maybe even sinister, anyway: he was Adantri, and yet a magician. Everyone said there were no true Adantri magicians. Of course, he LOOKED Adantri, but-- The wall faded away under his hands, showing the tunnel angling off to the left and down more steeply. "This way," he said, his voice echoing. DUELMASTER'S COLUMN Notes from the arena champ. Sure; sure. I already know what you want from the best Duelmaster Aruak City has ever had. You want to know all about me. Of course, you should want to know all about your Master, so you can emulate me in every way. It is in your best interest to want to improve yourselves, my loyal subjects. So here is what you should know: 14(+2)-6(+1)-16-15(+1)-21(+2)-21-7(+1) Hosed -4 attack Good endurance and great damage (after two bumps) - hence hosed damage Learn rate 2.07 (blessed) Seems to like WH @ 35/211/12 and 2 kills Finished Adex decise and attack, plus expert init Clearly I have a brilliant body and make up! Purple People Eater tells me I am a true champion. There HAS to be one here in Aruak City. White Lie, Duelmaster & Proud Colorific SPY REPORT I was going on vacation, see? Surf, sun... But what do those bums say? "Hit the road, Debby Tonte. ARUAK CITY needs a spyreport." Oh, well. I don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings or anything, but ELFQUEST really goofed with their 0-3-0. The guys at COLORIFIC like really pulled together to get a 2-0-0 this turn, moving up by 3. One team deserves special mention 'cause they moved up 3 after going 3-0-0. Keep it up, TUFT TUGGERS! MVP award for JUMPIN'? SCARLET KNIGHTS II's proud of him after beating SPECIAL! and getting 29 points. Talk about yer big time losers! SPECIAL! got smashed by JUMPIN', and lost 20 points! What a putz! WHITE LIE fights so hard to be Duelmaster, then quits fighting and loses the title. No one said she was a genius... And I was just getting used to the ex-Duelmaster's habit of...(!) Oh well, welcome TANGERINE TOAD. Aren't ANIMAL FARM proud. (Oh, my.) I hear the top team insists all their warriors get nine hours sleep. They want photogenic fighters for PR photos. AAARRGH!!! I HATE SPYREPORTING!!! Sorry. I just had to say it. The warriors of BULLDOGS must be getting lonely. They were the most avoided team. Do you guys know something that I don't? Hhmph! What kind of warriors are TUFT TUGGERS? BULLDOGS, an easy team to beat if I ever saw one, can't get them to accept an invitation! Like, is DRACULA popular, or what? He was challenged the most in all of ARUAK CITY! He's got a 9-5-0, is that good? I'm not so sure FARSHOT knew all the facts when he challenged VIOLET VULTURE of ANIMAL FARM. I saw FARSHOT stumbling and dribbling at The Bulldog Inn last week... FARSHOT lost to VIOLET VULTURE, but he got 7 points. VIOLET VULTURE won, and got 2 points. I don't get it. For sure, I was holding my breath when I found out TOBIUS challenged ZYN'KYR. After all, haven't ORDO HERETICUS and MANIACAL TUFTS had a long standing duel in ARUAK CITY? It wasn't a spectacular fight, or anything, but ZYN'KYR wants me to write about it since he subdued TOBIUS. Satisfied? Man, all these warriors dying and killing each other! Don't you guys ever give it a break? Like was that some Bloodfeud, or what? (HONOR vs. SLEDGE, that is.) What if they had a fight and nobody showed up? I'd be out of a job, that's what!!! Remember, blood on a purple robe may stain. Soak it in cold water, and hand wash. I know how much you like reading this stuff, but I really should stop. Remember you guys, ease up sometimes! Chill out! Later, Debby Tonte DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME TANGERINE TOAD 6603 22 3 0 136 ANIMAL FARM (510) CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -LORD KRONOS 6111 13 9 1 115 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) VIOLET VULTURE 6612 18 4 0 113 ANIMAL FARM (510) DRACULA 6319 9 5 0 103 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) KAELEN THUNDERHEART 6777 12 6 1 102 TUFT TUGGERS (305) JACKHAMMER 6613 11 4 4 97 NEVERWAKE (508) -MAGENTA MAGGOT 6627 12 10 0 96 ANIMAL FARM (510) DONALD DUNSEN 6787 15 6 1 94 TUFT TUGGERS (305) YOUSEFF 6906 9 9 0 93 ORDO HERETICUS (593) ZYN'KYR 6579 10 2 0 92 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME JUMPIN' 6704 14 19 2 89 SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) MAN'S BEST FRIEND 6694 21 7 0 88 BULLDOGS (157) FARSHOT 6713 8 5 0 80 NEVERWAKE (508) -AIRK ARCSTONE 6778 10 8 2 79 TUFT TUGGERS (305) MARGARET ALTON 6887 9 5 0 79 DARKOVER II (592) FIONA STARMANTLE 5022 12 12 1 78 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) TWO-S0PEAR 6700 14 19 0 75 ELFQUEST (515) GOLDEN GLOW 6803 14 7 0 75 COLORIFIC (511) -DAWNING DANIKA 6866 7 3 0 74 TUFT TUGGERS (305) -SMUSH 6916 5 0 0 74 NEVERWAKE (508) KORO CLOUD 6618 10 32 0 69 KRILL CAVALRY (374) WOLFBROTHER 6706 17 16 1 68 SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) SPECIAL! 6526 14 5 2 67 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME SARAYA STEEL 6545 10 11 0 66 IMMORTALS (85) TOBIUS 6905 11 7 0 65 ORDO HERETICUS (593) DIRK DARKBLADE 6528 10 13 1 63 IMMORTALS (85) FLEA BAG 6804 16 8 0 62 BULLDOGS (157) DELIA'S GONE 6707 14 19 0 61 ELFQUEST (515) WALK THE LINE 6708 13 20 0 59 ELFQUEST (515) HONOR 6880 8 4 0 59 DARKOVER II (592) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME ARVIN LARN 6904 9 7 1 55 ORDO HERETICUS (593) -BARRICADE 6819 8 0 0 53 MILITANT LEGION (586) ONE-EYE 6711 8 25 2 51 SCARLET KNIGHTS (375) PONY 6820 10 12 0 50 KRILL CAVALRY (374) AUTOMATON 6756 6 2 0 49 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) JOHNNY ASH 6912 4 1 0 44 TUFT TUGGERS (305) LON BRADDOCK 6617 6 8 1 40 IMMORTALS (85) BLUE SMASH 6553 9 11 1 39 IMMORTALS (85) SHOTGUN GANDHI 6760 2 0 0 39 ARMED & GREGARIOUS (580) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME SLEDGE 6917 3 3 1 33 NEVERWAKE (508) -PINK EYE 6911 2 1 1 31 COLORIFIC (511) CHIEF SITTING BULL 6872 7 3 0 29 BULLDOGS (157) -GREEN THUMB 6830 6 5 0 24 COLORIFIC (511) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME HORSEFLY 6860 5 9 0 24 KRILL CAVALRY (374) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BARK 6915 4 2 0 22 BULLDOGS (157) JOE THE SPLICE 6938 2 1 0 21 IMMORTALS (85) -SAFFRON SKUNK 6910 3 1 0 20 ANIMAL FARM (510) BROWN NOSE 6939 1 0 0 20 COLORIFIC (511) THRISS 6883 3 10 0 19 DARKOVER II (592) MAXIM SOREL 6921 3 3 0 19 ORDO HERETICUS (593) -AMBUSH 6870 1 2 0 16 MILITANT LEGION (586) BENJAMIN 6878 2 8 1 15 DARKOVER II (592) JON FLUTE 6922 3 4 0 14 KRILL CAVALRY (374) WHEAT WILDEBEAST 6942 1 0 0 13 ANIMAL FARM (510) -THE MUMMY 6316 1 1 0 11 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) -THE WOLF MAN 6315 1 0 0 5 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) -LEATHER HIDE 6914 0 4 0 4 BULLDOGS (157) CALLISTA ALTON 6937 0 3 0 3 DARKOVER II (592) LUSTIG BROKLAW 6929 0 3 0 3 ORDO HERETICUS (593) -STRIKE 6943 0 1 0 1 MILITANT LEGION (586) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? IAN MARSH 6877 2 4 1 DARKOVER II 592 SLEDGE 6917 564 JUST REV TORRY FATEGIVER 6534 6 12 2 IMMORTALS 85 JACKHAMMER 6613 563 NOT REVE DA4 6945 0 1 0 NEVERWAKE 508 SHEWISH GIANT 489 567 NONE SHAMBOS 6926 1 1 0 ORDO HERETICUS 593 PINK EYE 6911 563 NOT REVE PERSONAL ADS Congratulations to White Lie Of Colorifics, Duelmaster of Aruak City. Come on over to The Bulldog Inn for your free drinks. -- Kennelworth, proprietor Fiona -- Why would I want to stoop so low as to be a "Lady's Best Friend"? -- Man's Best Friend Man's Best Friend -- That was uncalled for! Where is your Humility? Apologize NOW. -- Kennelworth OK, OK. I'm sorry pretty Fiona. -- Man's Best Friend Kendric -- Who knows who my Bulldogs will challenge and avoid? All the competition is so tough and so good, that nothing is easy in The Heart & Soul Of Andoria. Nothing. Health. Humility. Honor. -- Kennelworth Jumpin' -- I had a good time with you. I think I got rid of some of these itchy bugs, too! -- Flea Bag Benjamin -- Me thankum you. Next time send wampum! -- Chief Sitting Bull Ambush -- I do believe you tanned my ax! Salute! -- Leather Hide Jon Flute -- Another day, another bite which was worse than my bark. -- Bark Dartor -- Old? I wish I had yours or Doc's "old"! We all do have our 20+ years in, though, don't we? -- Kennelworth (needing a nap) Dracula -- I had a lot of fun with that. Even a vampire seems not to be interested in toad's blood. Must taste worse than garlic? -- Tangerine Toad Kaelan -- Tuft is as tuft does---know what I mean? -- Violet Vulture Farshot -- I think I lucked out on that one. Probably BOTH of us are too high for our own good! -- Magenta Maggot Fiona -- Ye wench! Ye hain't gittin' me critters. Naye! -- Mino Callista -- And to think that I thought that your debut was perfect! -- Saffron Skunk Joe The Splice -- Take THAT you Immortal cannon fodder! -- Green Thumb, Proud Colorific Barracade -- You cheated! You knew I was feeling poorly. You cad! -- Pink Eye, Proud Colorific Walk The Line -- Clearly you should be walking that line 'cuz you ain't good enough for much else. -- Golden Glow, Proud Colorific, proudly glowing LOVE it! Just love it. Killing Concubines is such a rush! -- White Lie, proud Colorific Colorific -- Top career honors. Gotta love it! I need a new contract! -- Purple People Eater, Proud Colorific Manager In case anyone is interested, an infiltrator was able to search the Colorific files and find that White Lie favorites were MA/Mod/VL. -- The Animal Farm Publicity Agent Tuft Tuggers -- Good luck in finding your missing leader. Let me know if I can help. -- Dartor Green Thumb -- I wasn't even trying to attack that much. -- Joe the Splice Violet Vulture -- I swear I gotta break down and dump this scummy routine I got. Tankesh used to tell me I could 'spank' everybody here if I'd just take it to my competitors and throw some attacks. Care to go for a round 2? -- Kaelen Why is it our spotlights have not made it in in several months? Hmm? Does HAL and the commission have a vendetta against us? They better start getting through or we'll return the vendetta. -- Tuft Tuggers White Lie -- Congratulations! Another Consortium graduate. Don't you feel special? <wink> -- Kaelen Thunderheart, for Tuft Tuggers PPE -- Aruak smells better for you because we secretly plugged your one nostril, it smells better for us because we followed that up by dousing you in vanilla extract. Sorry if that was too Andorian for you. -- Kaelen, for Tuft Tuggers Honor -- Well, not everybody likes meeting Tankesh. But if you do, or spot him, you know where to find us. Thanks. -- Danika The Scribe -- We're never upset you can't get a spot in, life is busy. But we are immensely upset that when we send in spots they don't get posted. THAT's messed up. -- Tuft Tuggers Dartor -- The email you posted bounced. Email me here and I'll respond with my real email address: tufttugger at hotmail dot com. -- Tuft Tuggers Darkover II -- You need to learn a little patience in getting responses to your personal ads before you go on drooling all over yourself. As you saw this last personal round my warrior will always be available for a bloodfeud unless tourney timing dictates otherwise. You talk a pretty tough game. I will be interested to see if you back it up. I expect to see some challenges from you; I know I will be looking for your guys when possible. -- Doc Steele Margaret Alton -- Well, that feels something-or-other. Proper? Appropriate? I dunno. I get the win on my last fight, and I teach you a bunch of skills. Always a pleasure to find a good student. -- Windchaser P.S. I was NOT trying to "slay my opponent." Darned melodrama. I'm just not terribly accurate. Callista Alton -- Lady, you're INSANE. -- Horsefly P.S. Having a death-wish is insane, right? One-Eye -- No depth perception. -- Koro Cloud, really enjoying the win Dirk Darkblade -- Damn, you pretty nearly hamstrung me with that one. Ouch. Other epithets as required. -- Pony Bark -- You weren't supposed to BITE, too! Bad Dog! -- Jon Flute Yeah, genuinely evil probably covers it. But hey, I'm a gladiator, I like playing with fire, so... Fiona Starmantle -- Are you busy this evening? -- Windchaser Our congratulations to White Lie. -- Krill Cavalry P.S. And if you believe that, ahem, there's this bridge.... 20 April 2007 All -- I've been...out of circulation for the last couple of months, and my lists are not up to date. If you've announced a manager name, a new alliance, or changed a manager name or alliance since the middle of February, let me know in the ads, via diplo, or in an e-mail (Sue (at) solberg-mathews (dot) com). For that matter, if you just want to make sure I've got things right, you can always do the same. -- The Saint, keeper of lists LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS DA4 was dealt death by SHEWISH GIANT in a crowd pleasing 1 minute Dark Arena fight. HONOR vanquished SLEDGE in a 1 minute uneven Bloodfeud battle. SHOTGUN GANDHI demolished HORSEFLY in a 1 minute uneven Challenge fight. DRACULA was unbelievably bested by TANGERINE TOAD in a 4 minute Challenge contest. YOUSEFF bested MARGARET ALTON in a action packed 1 minute Challenge brawl. FARSHOT was defeated by VIOLET VULTURE in a 3 minute Challenge struggle. FLEA BAG outlasted DELIA'S GONE in a slow 24 minute gruesome master's Challenge brawl. GOLDEN GLOW won victory over KORO CLOUD in a 5 minute expert's Challenge duel. TOBIUS lost to ZYN'KYR in a popular 2 minute brutal veteran's Challenge duel. MAXIM SOREL was handily defeated by PONY in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge bout. BENJAMIN was luckily beaten by CHIEF SITTING BULL in a 3 minute Challenge competition. KAELEN THUNDERHEART devastated WOLFBROTHER in a 2 minute one-sided battle. DONALD DUNSEN slimly won victory over TWO-S0PEAR in a 2 minute master's bout. FIONA STARMANTLE was vanquished by JACKHAMMER in a 3 minute mismatched bout. MAN'S BEST FRIEND won victory over SARAYA STEEL in a 6 minute veteran's fray. SPECIAL! was devastated by JUMPIN' in a 1 minute one-sided fight. WALK THE LINE was outlasted by ARVIN LARN in a tiresome 17 minute bout. BLUE SMASH was overpowered by JOHNNY ASH in a 1 minute mismatched fight. DIRK DARKBLADE devastated ONE-EYE in a 1 minute one-sided contest. LON BRADDOCK was luckily beaten by AUTOMATON in a 2 minute brutal duel. THRISS was beaten by JOE THE SPLICE in a 2 minute expert vs. beginner upset fray. JON FLUTE bested CALLISTA ALTON in a 1 minute bout. BARK narrowly defeated LUSTIG BROKLAW in a 4 minute fight. BROWN NOSE overpowered EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute one-sided duel. WHEAT WILDEBEAST overpowered MORDANT DESERTER in a 1 minute one-sided duel. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |LUNGING ATTACK 12 PARRY-STRIKE 14 - 5 - 1 74 | |TOTAL PARRY 9 BASHING ATTACK 37 - 23 - 5 62 | |WALL OF STEEL 5 AIMED BLOW 24 - 15 - 0 62 | |BASHING ATTACK 5 PARRY-RIPOSTE 12 - 9 - 1 57 | |STRIKING ATTACK 4 WALL OF STEEL 22 - 17 - 3 56 | |PARRY-STRIKE 3 TOTAL PARRY 53 - 44 - 0 55 | |SLASHING ATTACK 3 PARRY-LUNGE 10 - 11 - 1 48 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 SLASHING ATTACK 20 - 24 - 3 45 | |AIMED BLOW 2 LUNGING ATTACK 48 - 62 - 1 44 | |PARRY-LUNGE 2 STRIKING ATTACK 9 - 33 - 0 21 | Turn 567 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: PARRY-STRIKE 3 - 0 SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 2 3 LUNGING ATTACK WALL OF STEEL 4 - 1 STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 3 2 TOTAL PARRY TOTAL PARRY 6 - 3 BASHING ATTACK 1 - 4 2 PARRY-STRIKE LUNGING ATTACK 7 - 5 AIMED BLOW 0 - 2 1 SLASHING ATTACK PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 2 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 WALL OF STEEL 1 BASHING ATTACK TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME TOTAL PARRY TANGERINE TOAD 6603 22 3 0 136 ANIMAL FARM (510) LUNGING ATTACK DRACULA 6319 9 5 0 103 UNIVERSAL HORROR (552) PARRY-RIPOSTE KAELEN THUNDERHEART 6777 12 6 1 102 TUFT TUGGERS (305) WALL OF STEEL JACKHAMMER 6613 11 4 4 97 NEVERWAKE (508) PARRY-STRIKE DONALD DUNSEN 6787 15 6 1 94 TUFT TUGGERS (305) AIMED BLOW FARSHOT 6713 8 5 0 80 NEVERWAKE (508) SLASHING ATTACK WOLFBROTHER 6706 17 16 1 68 SCARLET KNIGHTS II (507) BASHING ATTACK SPECIAL! 6526 14 5 2 67 MANIACAL TUFTS (431) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is DONALD DUNSEN 6787. The most popular warrior this turn was DRACULA 6319. The ten other most popular fighters were KORO CLOUD 6618, ZYN'KYR 6579, SARAYA STEEL 6545, TWO-S0PEAR 6700, GOLDEN GLOW 6803, DONALD DUNSEN 6787, JACKHAMMER 6613, TANGERINE TOAD 6603, YOUSEFF 6906, and FIONA STARMANTLE 5022. The least popular fighter this week was DELIA'S GONE 6707. The other ten least popular fighters were FLEA BAG 6804, WALK THE LINE 6708, ARVIN LARN 6904, LUSTIG BROKLAW 6929, BARK 6915, CALLISTA ALTON 6937, ONE-EYE 6711, BLUE SMASH 6553, SPECIAL! 6526, and MAN'S BEST FRIEND 6694. The following warriors will travel to AD after next turn: TANGERINE TOAD (11-6603) ANIMAL FARM (510) The following warriors have traveled to AD after fighting this turn: WHITE LIE (11-6659) COLORIFIC (511)