DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 07/20/2005 Duedate: 08/02/2005
LAPUR ARENA
DM-29 TURN-506
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
BLACK TIGER
CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
(29-4436) [19-36-0,99]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
BLACK TIGER POSITION IS EMPTY
CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
(29-4436) [19-36-0,99]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
BLACK TIGER STONETOOTH
CARDOW HUNTERS (359) CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
(29-4436) [19-36-0,99] (29-4560) [16-17-0,72]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. EQUESTORS (158) 25
2. CARDOW HUNTERS (359) 17 DARK GLORY (395)
3. ECHL-EAST (313) 15 Unchartered Team
4. DEATH'S LORDS (203) 0
5. DARK GLORY (395) -3 ANIMAL FARM (254)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 0 DARK GLORY (395) 19 5 0 79.2 1/ 2 CARDOW HUNTERS (359) 10 5 0
2- 4 DEATH'S LORDS (203) 26 23 5 53.1 2/ 1 EQUESTORS (158) 8 6 0
3/ 5 CROC FILES (374) 232 220 14 51.3 3- 4 DEATH'S LORDS (203) 5 3 0
4/ 7 EQUESTORS (158) 567 585 43 49.2 4/ 3 CROC FILES (374) 5 10 0
5/ 0 ECHL-EAST (313) 11 15 0 42.3 5/ 0 ECHL-EAST (313) 1 0 0
6/ 8 CARDOW HUNTERS (359) 237 328 7 41.9 6/ 0 DARK GLORY (395) 0 1 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[ A Crocodile in the Shadows #5 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
On the beach, Monuntial Peninsula:
Bindi huddled into the cloak and stared across the fire at her rescuer. It was,
or appeared to be, Arenamistress Tirai. The same person they had met before...had
that been earlier tonight, or some other night? The person who had taken them in and
then.... Bindi's mind was not clear on that topic, but she thought that she and Agro
had probably been drugged. She had been left on the beach to die of the cold, and
Agro...she didn't know what had happened to him.
"Why are you doing this?" Bindi asked.
The possible arenamistress shrugged, frowning. After a moment, she said, "Call
it self defense. Or even revenge. There is a creature walking around this land
wearing my appearance and doing unspeakable things. I will have that creature
unmasked and then dead. DEAD! And Nishtar, as well, because it was he who brought
that thing here. I am not your friend--never make that mistake! But we have an
enemy in common, and so we can be, I hope, allies. For now."
"Allies," Bindi agreed. "For now, at least." She accepted the barely cooked
fish that the human woman handed her, spitted on a green twig. It was good. It
would have been better raw, but the warmth where fire had singed the flesh was oddly
welcome in her belly. Maybe there was something to be said for cooking meat after
all. "Why is Nishtar doing this?"
Tyrai looked up from her own fish, which had been cooked longer, till the life
was all gone from it. (How did warmbloods get any strength from food that was so
dead?) "You don't KNOW?"
Bindi shook her head.
Tyrai frowned, licking grease off her fingers. "There are two worlds, Ghea and
another, that are in close contact in some places--do you know about that? Good. In
that other world, the...people from whom you were made--"
"Wait, stop right there! What do you mean about us being 'made'?" Bindi
demanded.
"The 'crocs' of that world are less human-like in form, and also in thought--we
suspect they're less intelligent, but anyway less...." She blew out a frustrated
breath. "I don't know how to describe the difference. I'm not sure what the
difference is, even. The crocs there are definitely intelligent to some degree,
but...it is easy for many people to see them as just clever animals."
Bindi flexed one hand, claws flashing in the firelight. Humans had no
hesitation to experiment on animals. "Go on."
Tyrai grimaced. "My species does not show well in this, but you will need to
know the truth. As much truth as I can give you, at least. So far as I could be
considered human, anyway--" her eyes blazed with a savagery as intense as that of any
Croc entering the arena. "Here, they call me Aruaki. There, I am in some degree in
the same trap you are. Neither of us are quite human, in the eyes of the 'true'
humans. Both of us owe our ultimate racial origins to the actions of the other
world's greatest Enemy."
Bindi sat up sharply, but before she could ask a question, Tyrai went on.
"We think that the Enemy made your people first. It seems to prefer to work
with coldbloods. Many of your people are servants of the Enemy--some by choice, but
most because they have NO choice. Or so we--my people--suspect."
Bindi's hand went to the dagger that was still scabbarded at her waist. "Is
Nishtar one of these Enemies?"
"No, gods beyond, no!" Tyrai laughed. "He'd be furious if anybody suggested--"
She frowned. "But he might be an agent of the Enemy, I suppose. Well, one problem
at a time, and the first problem is Nishtar, who is a true mortal, whatever the
stains on his soul. He--"
"You said your people were created by the Enemy as mine were. Tell me about
that," Bindi demanded. "Tell me how we are alike."
Tyrai sighed and sat back against a piece of driftwood. "My people, in that
other world, are called shapeshifters, and like the Aruaki of Ghea that many of us
resemble, we were created by magical tampering with normal humans. After the Enemy
made your people, they found that you could not do what they wanted, could not enter
into normal society and 'pass' as normal, and they cast you aside. Then they took...
we don't know if the original experimental stock were volunteers--the Enemy already
had drawn many to its service--or captives. But the Enemy is never content to use a
tool as found, the tool must always be 'improved', and that is what they tried to do
with my ancestors. They gave us the ability to assume an animal shape, and the
greater senses and strength of that shape. Some of us can control the change, and we
can, indeed, 'pass' as normal--so long as we don't meet anyone with magical
sensitivity or the ability to read auras. You're luckier than us in that. You
simply are what you are, but we always have the taint of magic about us. And of
madness, often enough, even if it's only the moon-madness that drives us into our
animal shapes for one week out of every four. Humans, normal humans, fear and hate
us, and if any of us are discovered pretending to be normal...it is not a fate I
would wish on my worst enemy. Many normals believe that ALL shapeshifters serve the
Enemy, and willingly, just as many believe that all crocs do the same. So we have
that in common."
Bindi nodded, trying to fit this in with her partial memories of life before
Ghea and the arena. It didn't contradict anything she could recall, and it explained
some things that had been mysterious, but there were still holes in her information.
"What about Nishtar?"
"He wants your land."
"What land? And what does that have to do with us personally, me, Agro, the
others here in Ghea?"
"In the other world, the crocs inhabit a large and rich delta. Nishtar wants
it--having control of that land would give him a great deal of power in his home
city. Nishtar hungers for power; it is a disease in him. He brought the first crocs
here to experiment on. I think he hoped to discover a way to kill them in large
numbers, a disease or a spell, maybe. Then T-Hawk brought more and created your
variety of Crocs. I have no idea what his motives may have been, only that he is an
enemy of Nishtar." She tossed her last fishbones (Bindi had eaten her fish bones and
all) into the fire and stood. "And that should be all the background you need for
now. It is time to act."
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Wait just a minute. Explain the supposed justice in making ME Duel2Dude when I
LOSE to the outgoing one, Domitian. I know how it happened, but it just doesn't seem
right.
Still, maybe *I* will graduate....
Black Tiger
SPY REPORT
Well, what are you looking at, LAPUR? Ain't you never seen Snide Clemens
before? Ah, shaddup and listen to my news. Later days, EQUESTORS, since CARDOW
HUNTERS took top team from you this turn, you guys are old news. Of course, we're
all terribly impressed to see ORATHAI win a fight and gain 15 points, terribly. Tsk,
tsk, ORATHAI beat ACCO and ACCO lost 8 points. You're breakin' my heart. And if
variety is the spice of life, LAPUR may be getting bland, as BLACK TIGER stays top
dog in the city. Kickbacks and bribes, kickbacks and bribes, how else do you think
some of these guys win their fights? Skill? Ha!
Well, let's take a look at some more misdeeds of you miserable sword-boys. Ooh,
I'm frightfully impressed, QUICK STINGER was this turn's most challenged warrior.
Watch that ego swell, sports fans. I guess I can give a little credit to MURRY of
CROC FILES for challenging up by 20 to MAD DOG. MURRY lost to get 22 points of
recognition.
Some people like volunteer work in the hospitals. I volunteer for LAPUR's
morgue. More variety. We're all going to die in the end, so why worry if the fate
catches up with you sooner that later?
What does the LAPUR arena have in common with the inns? It's just as
comfortable to sleep in either place. Ha ha ha ha! Just wait 'till next time I show
up here, I won't be so nice! So nyaaah! I see the crowds are getting restless, I
must leave now-- Snide Clemens
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BLACK TIGER 4436 19 36 0 99 CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-LEXINGTON 4580 11 1 0 135 DARK GLORY (395)
CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-GOLIATH 1795 10 3 2 88 DEATH'S LORDS (203)
-FURY 3872 8 3 0 75 ECHL-EAST (313)
STONETOOTH 4560 16 17 0 72 CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
TETRICUS 4601 14 5 1 70 EQUESTORS (158)
WENDY 4657 7 3 0 70 CROC FILES (374)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
CHARLIE 4555 13 21 0 66 CROC FILES (374)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
QUICK STINGER 4600 9 11 0 55 CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
MARIUS 4602 12 6 0 53 EQUESTORS (158)
MAD DOG 4625 5 8 0 53 CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
WALKS SOFTLY 4568 7 22 0 52 CARDOW HUNTERS (359)
-EXPERIMENTOR 1794 7 2 0 47 DEATH'S LORDS (203)
GALLIENUS 4607 10 7 1 42 EQUESTORS (158)
NASHVILLE 4577 5 2 0 40 DARK GLORY (395)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
AUREOLUS 4631 6 6 0 33 EQUESTORS (158)
MOLLY 4645 5 6 0 30 CROC FILES (374)
-LOUISVILLE 4579 3 2 0 29 DARK GLORY (395)
-DR. DEATH 2262 3 1 2 27 DEATH'S LORDS (203)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
MURRY 4638 5 7 0 22 CROC FILES (374)
ORATHAI 4598 1 1 0 22 ECHL-EAST (313)
-THE FLASH 2289 2 1 1 17 DEATH'S LORDS (203)
ACCO 4680 1 3 0 6 CROC FILES (374)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
PERSONAL ADS
Sorry no personals last time, but we were in the very throes of moving at that time.
Now we're in the aftershocks. You know, "Where is...?" "Why didn't you pack...?"
"Where did THIS come from?" That sort of thing. -- Cardow Hunters
Experimentor -- So! You thought that since Walks Softly is easy, I would be too?
Zing! -- Quick Stinger
Domitian -- Fare well and congratulations and get OUT of here before you kill me! --
Black Tiger
That Venomous Concubine is one mean dudette! -- Stonetooth
Charlie -- Ptui! Pah! Pfaugh! I hate the taste of lizard. I don't know what drove
me to actually bite you. I must have been crazy. -- Mad Dog
Gallienus -- Well, apparently there ARE some people I can sneak up on! Thanks, and
for the skills, too. -- Walks Softly
27 June 2005
ATTENTION ALL YOU ALLIANCE-TYPE PEOPLE:
For the purposes of tourney newsletter alliance listings (when I am able to do them),
you may only be listed in ONE alliance. In other words, you have to choose! If you
are a part of Englebert's Alliance and Englebert's Alliance is "part" of Ruthrauf's
Alliance, I will list you EITHER as part of Englebert's Alliance OR as part of
Ruthrauf's Alliance, NOT both. The default would be the top-level alliance,
Ruthrauf's, in this example. If you'd rather be listed separately, let me know and I
will do so, but that will be the only listing you get. -- The Saint, keeper of ever-
more-complicated lists
29 Jun 2005
The Company of Brothers (TCB) welcomes two new members to our alliance...Liam the
Goth and Buddy Lee. We have no doubt that they will prove to be assets to our
alliance and the general dueling community. -- Baphomet, co-founder, T.C.B.
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
CHARLIE slimly won victory over QUICK STINGER in a 3 minute Challenge fight.
MURRY was devastated by MAD DOG in a action packed 1 minute one-sided Challenge duel.
MOLLY was subdued by WALKS SOFTLY in a 1 minute Challenge fight.
BLACK TIGER vanquished WENDY in a 1 minute mismatched Title brawl.
STONETOOTH overpowered GALLIENUS in a 2 minute bloody one-sided fight.
TETRICUS devastated NASHVILLE in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
MARIUS devastated CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute mismatched match.
AUREOLUS handily defeated COMMON RIVERRAT in a 1 minute uneven fight.
ORATHAI vanquished ACCO in a 1 minute uneven duel.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|WALL OF STEEL 4 TOTAL PARRY 11 - 6 - 0 65 |
|BASHING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 8 - 7 - 0 53 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 WALL OF STEEL 23 - 21 - 0 52 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 2 STRIKING ATTACK 14 - 13 - 0 52 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 2 LUNGING ATTACK 16 - 15 - 1 52 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 BASHING ATTACK 21 - 23 - 0 48 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-LUNGE 7 - 8 - 0 47 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 SLASHING ATTACK 6 - 12 - 0 33 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 3 - 7 - 0 30 |
|TOTAL PARRY 0 PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 6 - 0 14 |
Turn 506 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:
AIMED BLOW 1 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 3 WALL OF STEEL
PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 2 2 STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 TOTAL PARRY 0 - 0 2 PARRY-LUNGE
BASHING ATTACK 2 - 1 1 LUNGING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 BASHING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
WALL OF STEEL 2 - 2 1 SLASHING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
BASHING ATTACK TETRICUS 4601 14 5 1 70 EQUESTORS (158)
STRIKING ATTACK WENDY 4657 7 3 0 70 CROC FILES (374)
WALL OF STEEL MARIUS 4602 12 6 0 53 EQUESTORS (158)
SLASHING ATTACK NASHVILLE 4577 5 2 0 40 DARK GLORY (395)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
The overall popularity leader is BLACK TIGER 4436. The most popular warrior this
turn was STONETOOTH 4560. The ten other most popular fighters were CHARLIE 4555,
QUICK STINGER 4600, MAD DOG 4625, TETRICUS 4601, MARIUS 4602, ORATHAI 4598, WALKS
SOFTLY 4568, BLACK TIGER 4436, GALLIENUS 4607, and MURRY 4638.
The least popular fighter this week was ACCO 4680. The other ten least popular
fighters were NASHVILLE 4577, MOLLY 4645, AUREOLUS 4631, WENDY 4657, MURRY 4638,
GALLIENUS 4607, BLACK TIGER 4436, WALKS SOFTLY 4568, ORATHAI 4598, and MARIUS 4602.