DUELMASTERS NEWSLETTER

Date   : 10/08/2003    Duedate: 10/21/2003

MURSKA ARENA

DM-35    TURN-447

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

KING BEAR
THE BEARS (253)
(35-3629) [14-4-1,155]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

KING BEAR                      PLASTIC MAN
THE BEARS (253)                COMIC MAYHEM (350)
(35-3629) [14-4-1,155]         (35-3761) [7-0-0,54]

Popularity Leader              This Weeks Favorite

BRAN AP CADAL                  GWALCHMAI
CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)         CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
(35-3713) [18-12-1,75]         (35-3749) [9-5-1,44]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

COMIC MAYHEM (350)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. THE BEARS (253)             45
2. STRONGHOLD (282)            44      LADY OF BATTLES (336)
3. TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)   32      Unchartered Team
4. COMIC MAYHEM (350)          21
5. LADY OF BATTLES (336)        9      COMIC MAYHEM (350)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 1*COMIC MAYHEM (350)        26   8  1 76.5   1/ 2*COMIC MAYHEM (350)       11  3 1
 2/ 3*TENN. CLOVER BOTTO (351)  18  12  3 60.0   2/ 1*TENN. CLOVER BOTTO (351)  9  6 0
 3/ 0 LADY OF BATTLES (336)     17  12  0 58.6   3/ 3 THE BEARS (253)           7  3 1
 4/ 2 THE BEARS (253)          301 228 19 56.9   4/ 5*STRONGHOLD (282)          2  4 1
 5/ 4 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)   403 610 16 39.8   5/ 0 LADY OF BATTLES (336)     1  0 0
 6/ 5*STRONGHOLD (282)           2   7  1 22.2   6/ 4 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)    1 11 0
 7/ 0*LEGENDS OF SOL (354)       0   1  0  0.0   7/ 0*LEGENDS OF SOL (354)      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[(< + -----:----- + >)] The Free Cities #70 [(< + -----:----- + >)]H[(<

Between Ibizond and Korga:

     The horseman started to turn away, but two of the hounds made a determined
attack on the three gladiators as they scrambled out of their sheltering tree.  Now,
the tree was a trap rather than a shelter.  Cadal was first out, hammering at the
nearest hound with his heavy blade.
     Aghatamar was just behind him, close enough to slash at the hound trying to take
him from the side.  The horseman turned back, just as the moon shone through a gap in
the clouds overhead.  Aghtamar sucked in her breath in shock.  There was a face, she
repeated that to herself as a litany against the unknown.  Two eyes--she shuddered
and wrenched her gaze away from them, feeling her blood turn to ice and her bones to
sand.  A beak of a nose, a hunting bird's beak.  Gash of a mouth, with an icy glitter
of fangs.
     Behind her, Zilla muttered a prayer to Sermina and struck two-handed at the
hound, awkwardly because she didn't want to look directly at it.  That hound was no
beast that ever curled up quietly before a fire or accepted a pat on the head for a
job well done.  Cadal lunged at his hound and came near to spitting it on his sword,
but the uncanny creature twisted away.  The horseman laughed, a sound which would
chill the strongest heart, and turned away again, riding up the road toward whatever
his, or its third hound had cornered.  Fist of Kjarran, most likely, but there was no
way to help him now.  They had their own problems.
     The hounds had a pattern of swirling in to attack and then out before they could
be struck in return, coordinating their efforts smoothly without needing their
master's guidance.  They must have done this many times before.  Aghtamar thought of
the other people dead along this road and knew they must have sustained just such an
attack:  the horn with its message of fear, then these uncanny beasts with their
teasing and toying, and finally the huntsman on his horse.  Not a good death.  If
there was such a thing as a 'good death'.
     While these thoughts were flitting through her mind, she kept her sword moving
as well.  The hounds seemed reluctant, maybe even totally unwilling, to close with
them, but they wouldn't leave them alone, either.  "The damned things are trying to
wear us down," she muttered.  And it might work.  She was already breathing hard, and
she could hear Zilla panting beside her.  She couldn't hear Cadal, but he was
farthest from her.
     "We've got to finish these," Cadal stated.  "Fist of Kjarran is going to need
our help."  A shuffle and lunge, a hound yelped and dodged back.  "Except they won't
stand--"
     "And if we just go to Fist, turn our backs on these hounds," Zilla growled,
"likely they'll jump on us from behind."
     "There must be SOME way we can kill or cripple these damned hounds!" Aghtamar
snapped.  "Anything that lives can be killed.  It's a natural law or something."
     "We're not going to find it tonight except by chance," Cadal said.  "And we have
to go help Fist.  If we all move together, back to back...."
     "Right!  Let's move," Aghtamar agreed.  "On the count of three?"
                       ***     *****     ***     *****     ***
     The hound that Fist of Kjarran had crippled was dragging itself down the road
toward its approaching master, whining pitifully.  If it had been a proper dog, the
gladiator might have regretted the injury.  As it was...serve the damned beast right.
     As the hound had appeared to grow when it charged him, so did the hunter.  What
might have been a big horse--if it was a horse at all--became huge, and its rider
dominated the sky.  He...it seemed to wear a crown of cold lights, or maybe there
were northern lights in the sky behind its head.  No, that wasn't north, that was
southeast.  Fist shook his own head to clear out the fantasies.  As the rider passed
the crippled hound, he cried out in a terrible voice, a word Fist didn't know and
didn't want to know.  An evil word, he was sure.  Maybe a spell, or a vow of
vengeance.  Not that it mattered!  He had the protection of Kjarran and Jayde.  He
raised his sword against the moon-colored blade that was swinging down out of the
stars above him.

                                      SPY REPORT

     Welcome MURSKA.  I, Olaf Modeen remember this place well.  Many the fights have 
I fought here.  The celebrations, the disappointments...  Bein' on top is great while 
it lasts, TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM.  But how many friends do you have now?  What's with 
TOM THUMB?  He actually beat MURSKA's MORDANT DESERTER, and walked away with 14 more 
points from the fight.  Laughs were big at LADY OF BATTLES while they watched INANNA 
clobber DINGO.  He lost 4 points and got bruised from objects thrown from the stands. 
BRAN AP CADAL was reminded on the sands why KING BEAR is Duelmaster.  Wouldn't it be 
nice to have live subjects to practice on?  I hear some team is looking into the uses 
of convicted prisoners.   
     Speaking of cowardly avoiders and unfair challenges...  The most avoided team 
was CHILDREN OF LLYR.  In my day, no team with a 403-606-16 would scare me off!  
What's the problem, THE BEARS?   
     There have been some calls to lengthen the time limit.  Do you want the fighters 
to walk away, or not?  Who will dare fight DA #1, after he returned from the Dark 
Arena?  (For the record 1-0-1 is 33, and has he points) How long have I been here?  I 
got people to see, places to go...   
     Well, I'm pretty much through.  You guys need to get back practicing.  The end 
of another Spyreport!  That's cause for celebration in my book!  Time for my 
medication, so I'll leave now.  Practice, practice, practice!-- Olaf Modeen  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 KING BEAR 3629               14   4  1   155       THE BEARS (253)

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 INANNA 3537                   9   4  0    96       LADY OF BATTLES (336)

CHAMPIONS                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 DINGO 3716                   11   7  0    83       THE BEARS (253)
 BRAN AP CADAL 3713           18  12  1    75       CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 PLASTIC MAN 3761              7   0  0    54       COMIC MAYHEM (350)
 RAI 3778                      6   0  1    46       COMIC MAYHEM (350)
 GWALCHMAI 3749                9   5  1    44       CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 DA #1 2926                    1   0  1    33       STRONGHOLD (282)
 TRUXTON 3764                  4   2  1    29       TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)
 SOLOMON GRUNDY 3757           6   1  0    27       COMIC MAYHEM (350)
 JACKSON 3766                  5   1  1    25       TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)
 WARM SESSION 3763             4   2  0    25       TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 PLOUGHBOY 3762                3   3  1    22       TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)
 SINESTRO 3784                 3   1  0    15       COMIC MAYHEM (350)
 TOM THUMB 3791                1   0  1    14       THE BEARS (253)
 DART 3767                     1   0  0    11       THE BEARS (253)
 MERO 3800                     1   1  0    11       TENN. CLOVER BOTTOM (351)
 SPARHAWK 2927                 1   3  0     8       STRONGHOLD (282)
 OISAN 3794                    0   3  0     3       CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
 BRANGWYN 3793                 0   3  0     3       CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
 SOLKONG 3788                  0   1  0     1       LEGENDS OF SOL (354)

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD               W  L K TEAM NAME             SLAIN BY             TURN Revenge?
MORDANT DESERTER 2     0  1 0   1                   TOM THUMB 3791        447 NONE    
SWIFTY 3781            0  2 0 THE BEARS 253         MISTRESS SHA'TYIR 23  447 NONE    
GRYFF 3783             0  2 0 CHILDREN OF LLYR 141  PLOUGHBOY 3762        444         
SHEWISH GIANT 21       0  1 0 DARK ARENA 0          DA #1 2926            447 NONE    
MELINDA KYLE 3258      0  1 0 STRONGHOLD 282        BLACK ORC 20          447 NONE    

THE DEAD               W  L K TEAM NAME             SLAIN BY             TURN Revenge?
EHLANA 2929            0  1 0 STRONGHOLD 282        MOUNTAIN TROLL 18     447 NONE    
D.O.A. 2925            0  1 0 STRONGHOLD 282        WURM KIN 27           447 NONE    
BASE POLTROON 3765     1  3 0 TENN. CLOVER BOTT 351 RAI 3778              445         

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Gwalchmai -- Behold, the power of plastic! -- Plastic Man

Warm Season -- Sorry, but not now.  We've passed the autumnal equinox, my friend. --
Gwalchmai

     Depends on where you are.  Some people have passed the vernal equinox. -- Ed.
     the nitpicky

King Bear -- Too bad there isn't anybody else for you to fight, eh? -- Bran ap Cadal

Sparhawk -- I must have a geis against harming hawks.  How awkward. -- Osian

Jackson -- Definitely not a gentleman. -- Brangwyn
P.S.  But a damned good fighter.

9 September 2003
WE'RE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MANAGERS!  If you think you have what it takes to match
wits and blades with some of the best managers in Alastari, then WE WANT YOU!  The
Tournament Of The Golden Scrod #4 will begin in Aradi (DM 60) the turn after the Fall
Mail-In.  It's not too late for you to sign up.  I realize that many of you may be
hesitant after seeing that myself and Hombre have teamed up again, but we'll try to
take it easy on you guys a little bit.  For more information on T#%S IV, please
contact me at ganolus@aol.com.  We're looking for a few good managers...the few, the
proud, the TOGS!

-- Ganolus Oakleaf, T#%S IV Commish

15 September 2003
An Announcement Concerning the Brotherhood of the Blade Alliance:
     I have chosen to withdraw my membership from the Brotherhood of the Blade
alliance.  The years I have spent in the alliance have been the best of my DM career.
I leave the alliance with many great friends and will always remain close to my
former brethren.
     The Brotherhood of the Blade will not skip a beat without my membership.  It
remains in very capable hands and its roster is among the strongest in the game.
With the return on some of its founding members to DM, I know the BOB will continue
to grow in strength and prestige in the years to come. -- The Sandman

29 September 2003
All -- Let it be known that the Firm accepts SOL into its ranks.  The Firm is:
SunGod, Dark Spirit, Youngblood, Tripwire, and SOL.

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

SWIFTY was butchered by MISTRESS SHA'TYIR in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
MELINDA KYLE was slaughtered by BLACK ORC in a 1 minute Dark Arena battle.
EHLANA was luckily killed by  MOUNTAIN TROLL in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena duel.
DA #1 butchered SHEWISH GIANT in a 1 minute gory Dark Arena fight.
D.O.A. was murdered by WURM KIN in a 1 minute Dark Arena competition.
KING BEAR devastated BRAN AP CADAL in a 1 minute one-sided Title duel.
INANNA bested DINGO in a 2 minute master's match.
GWALCHMAI was overcome by PLASTIC MAN in a action packed 5 minute fight.
RAI viciously subdued TRUXTON in a 2 minute gruesome duel.
WARM SESSION vanquished MORDANT DESERTER in a 2 minute uneven fight.
JACKSON viciously subdued CULT MEMBER in a 4 minute gory fight.
SOLOMON GRUNDY overpowered OISAN in a 2 minute one-sided melee.
PLOUGHBOY overpowered PERSISTENT BEGGAR in a 2 minute one-sided match.
MERO slimly won victory over SPARHAWK in a 2 minute brutal amateur's conflict.
BRANGWYN was subdued by SINESTRO in a 1 minute novice's brawl.
DART unbelievably bested SOLKONG in a action packed 3 minute gory novice's conflict.
TOM THUMB butchered MORDANT DESERTER 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|
|LUNGING ATTACK                   7         TOTAL PARRY       12 -   1 -  0      92  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     5         WALL OF STEEL     18 -   7 -  0      72  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   3         AIMED BLOW         7 -   3 -  1      70  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    3         PARRY-STRIKE      18 -  12 -  3      60  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      2         LUNGING ATTACK    23 -  18 -  2      56  |
|AIMED BLOW                       2         STRIKING ATTACK    3 -   4 -  0      43  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    1         BASHING ATTACK     1 -   5 -  1      17  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  1         PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -   3 -  0       0  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  1         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   0 -  0       0  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         SLASHING ATTACK    0 -   3 -  0       0  |

Turn 447 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:

TOTAL PARRY        2 -  0     BASHING ATTACK     1 -  2         4  LUNGING ATTACK 
PARRY-STRIKE       4 -  1     WALL OF STEEL      1 -  2         3  WALL OF STEEL  
LUNGING ATTACK     4 -  3     PARRY-LUNGE        0 -  0         2  PARRY-STRIKE   
AIMED BLOW         1 -  1     PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -  1         1  TOTAL PARRY    
                              SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  1         1  BASHING ATTACK 
                              STRIKING ATTACK    0 -  1     

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
LUNGING ATTACK   KING BEAR 3629             14   4  1  155 THE BEARS (253)
WALL OF STEEL    DINGO 3716                 11   7  0   83 THE BEARS (253)
TOTAL PARRY      PLASTIC MAN 3761            7   0  0   54 COMIC MAYHEM (350)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is BRAN AP CADAL 3713.  The most popular warrior this 
turn was GWALCHMAI 3749.  The ten other most popular fighters were SOLKONG 3788, 
INANNA 3537, RAI 3778, TRUXTON 3764, OISAN 3794, KING BEAR 3629, SPARHAWK 2927, 
SINESTRO 3784, MELINDA KYLE 3258, and EHLANA 2929.

The least popular fighter this week was BRANGWYN 3793.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were WARM SESSION 3763, BRAN AP CADAL 3713, D.O.A. 2925, SWIFTY 3781, 
SOLOMON GRUNDY 3757, PLASTIC MAN 3761, DINGO 3716, TOM THUMB 3791, DART 3767, and 
MERO 3800.

               NEW GRADUATES--FROM ALL ARENAS (INCLUDING CLOSED ARENAS)

     For those of you who keep track of such things, 18 additional warriors graduated 
from regular DM arenas (including closed arenas) since the last tournament:

                          CAFFEINE JUNKIE (3-6110) ADDICTED 
                        CATFISH HUNTER (5-3315) PARTY ANIMALS 
                          MATTAHOOPLE (16-4203) GIFTED GODS 
                         SWEET JANE (53-6535) THE DARK TEMPLE 
                              LIL NOIR (62-3311) ENIGMA 
                         NARCISSISTIC NUN (69-8644) ODD SQUAD 
                             LEGION '8' (71-2369) D.O.A. 
                       RAW SEX APPEAL (82-1331) WHY WE LOVE TUM 
                         ZOMBIE STOMP (82-2617) NO MORE TEARS 
                        VIOLENT VOLE (82-4565) MAMMAL MILITIA 
                         LADY OF THE MOON (82-5481) HARM NONE 
                      KAMIKAZI GNAT (82-6073) DEADLY ATTACKS II 
                      THE 13TH WARRIOR (82-6346) STOOPID MOVIES 
                              SIRTON (82-9190) I AM SUCK 
                            DUNE (82-10414) 4-LETTER EPICS 
                           FLEM (82-12614) 4-LETTER FLUIDS 
                     GREENHOUSE EFFECT (82-12996) GLOBAL WARMING 
                         UGLY (82-14501) 4-LETTER DESCRIPTION 

                                          -- Green Eyes