DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 12/03/2014 Duedate: 12/16/2014
MURSKA ARENA
DM-35 TURN-736
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
THAK BONESNAP
BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395)
(35-4392) [10-2-1,154]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
THAK BONESNAP MAD MAXINE
BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395) WEIRD STUDENTS (214)
(35-4392) [10-2-1,154] (35-2152) [5-3-0,36]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
OISIN HARV
CHILDREN OF LLYR (141) 4-LETTER TUMS' (407)
(35-4439) [18-26-0,80] (35-4587) [1-1-0,11]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. HOUSE JHEREG (42) 29
2. SHINING PATH (379) 19 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
3. BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395) 15 Unchartered Team
4. CHILDREN OF LLYR (141) 13
5. FOOT OF PRIDE (396) 12 4-LETTER TUMS' (407)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*4-LETTER TUMS' (407) 4 2 1 66.7 1/ 1 FOOT OF PRIDE (396) 10 3 0
2/ 2 HOUSE JHEREG (42) 370 251 29 59.6 2/ 2 HOUSE JHEREG (42) 9 5 1
3/ 4 BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395) 10 7 1 58.8 3/ 3 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141) 6 8 0
4/ 0 SHINING PATH (379) 25 18 3 58.1 4/ 4*4-LETTER TUMS' (407) 4 2 1
5/ 3 HERO ALLIANCE (198) 186 136 15 57.8 5/ 5 HERO ALLIANCE (198) 4 11 0
6/ 5 FOOT OF PRIDE (396) 108 84 8 56.3 6/ 7 BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395) 2 0 0
7/ 7 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141) %1074 %1367 34 44.0 7/ 6*WEIRD STUDENTS (214) 2 2 0
8/ 6*WEIRD STUDENTS (214) 10 13 0 43.5 8/ 0 SHINING PATH (379) 1 0 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
We had returned to the house in the morning after spending all night talking
through our plans in the back room at Shanky's. "I wonder where Vilmi and Chaler
are," Kathana said as she walked back into the guildhouse parlor, where Loftis and I
sat catching up. She carried something in her hands that caught my attention
immediately.
"Pray, would that be klava you have in your skilled hands?" After an
affirmative nod, I rose and headed to the kitchen to get myself some. I hadn't had
decent klava since I left Sunset to come to Murska and Kat knew her way around the
appropriate use of coffee, vanilla, eggshells and woodchips. I helped myself to a
mug, doctored it appropriately with some honey and made my way back to the parlor to
find, well, no one.
"Where'd you go?" I called, making my way around the house and, eventually, out
to the porch where Kat and Loftis, now in the company of Vilmos and Chaler, these
latter two covered in blood, stood silently around the broken remains of someone.
The solemn looks around suggested this might be someone they knew. I added my voice
to the silence and took in the scene for some few moments.
"Ours?" I asked eventually, looking up at Kat. She nodded with wet eyes.
"Neera e'Lanya."
I whistled a low note. Kat's recruiting had indeed picked up. The e'Lanya line
of the Harkeny race was well known for its fighting prowess. That Kat had managed to
find and recruit such a candidate spoke well of her continued management of House
Jhereg, if you ignored the complication that what remained of this recruit was little
more than a bloody pulp. Speaking of which....
"What do we know?"
Chaler stirred and looked at me, lines of anger etched on his face. "We got a
message this morning indicating we could find the body in the alley behind Shanky's."
"That can't be a coincidence," I said. "Kat, Loftis and I were at Shanky's last
night, though I thought we were being subtle. Even Kat didn't realize we would be
meeting there. That's not a good sign."
"Perhaps it was coincidence. Neera was going to meet Jenicor e'Terics at
Shanky's," Vilmos offered.
"I see." I thought about it for a minute. "Who's Jenicor?"
"Someone Neera and I went through basic with," the giant replied. "She was
looking for a team and hoping to get some tips from Neera."
"Okay, did you get the weapon?" I asked. Chaler stepped back and looked at me
suspiciously. It almost got him hurt. Vilmos wordlessly reached into his cloak and
pulled out a bloody bludgeon and handed it to me.
"We never said anything about a weapon being with her body," Chaler said flatly.
"You didn't have to, this was a professional job. Any assassin worth his salt
would know better than to carry around a murder weapon. It can be traced back to the
victim." Chaler silently mouthed an "oh" and looked back down Neera. "But that
might also mean..." I let my voice trail off while I looked at the weapon.
The club was nothing more than a seasoned piece of what looked like oak, sanded
smooth with a piece of leather sewn around the thinner end as a handle. There was
even a Krull-be-damned piece of twine tied through a hole in the bottom to go around
the wrist. After all, those things can become pretty slick once the blood gets on
the handle. It wouldn't do to drop it just as you're warming up to administering the
lesson. The thicker part of the club was, in addition to being covered in mostly-
dried blood, actually splintered in a few places. I winced.
"Can one of you track down this Jenicor person and see if Neera ever showed up
at Shanky's last night? Perhaps the meeting itself was a decoy." Vilmos nodded,
strode down the steps of the porch and headed north up the street. "Kat, you didn't
see Neera there last night, did you? I wouldn't have known her even if she served me
a beer."
"No, not when I entered nor when the three of us left the back room this morning
to head here."
I nodded and began pacing back and forth on the porch, ignoring the creaking of
the boards. Sometimes, pacing helps me to think. Other times it helps to make it
look like I am thinking. If I were back home, this would be a simple matter but
magic probably worked differently here on Alastari, if at all. And, even if
possible, it would require skills I had not used in over twenty years. I would need
more supplies to help overcome the rust, but, well yeah, maybe. And, of course, if,
if and then if.
"Okay, I might have an idea."
* * * * *
The Art is something I began to study as a small child. Where I learned, it was
considered nothing more than another skill, much like fencing or baking. Granted, it
took some basic initial talent to be able to develop which was not very common and
often ran within a family; however, one could reasonably expect a larger village,
much as they would have a Speaker, steelbender and miller, to have a resident witch.
Growing up, I was taught to open and walk down paths and trails within my mind with
the end result often being a manifestation within the world physical. Beginning with
basic exercises, I learned to nudge a light item with my mind and even to start a
flame on a candle.
One of the things I always found interesting is that the manner by which one
would, for example, produce a small flame could vary greatly depending upon the
witch. Yes, there were often recognizable gestures, ingredients or chanted phrases,
but a practitioner typically found their own way to the result. In fact, that was
part of the joy of the Art: experimenting with the known practices to see if you
could still accomplish the desired result despite swapping red yarn for yellow,
hyssop for kaffir leaves or a chant that maintained the same cadence but used
different words. And the answer was usually yes. As a practitioner grew accustomed
to walking those paths within the mind, the paths themselves became less important.
What mattered were the acts of walking and reaching the destination. After all,
there are many ways to get to the local tavern, no?
The other advantage of the Art was that it drew on latent power within the
trained mind of the witch. As such, it was often possible to make use of the
discipline where other types of, let's just call it magic, were not available due to
local conditions. Say, like Alastari.
I added coals that had been soaked in vinegar to the brazier and, using my mind,
lit them. There was a time when I first started practicing where that simple act
would have left me exhausted. The bludgeon lay on the ground in front of me. I
began one of the older chants I knew, making sure to keep my breathing slow and
regular by inhaling through the nose and pushing each syllable of the chant out
through the mouth. The pungent stench of the burning coal and vinegar worked its way
into my head as I closed my eyes and reached for the yarn, rolling it back and forth
in my fingers. One of the first signs I had that I might be able to use the Art here
in Alastari was when my fingers began to tingle with enhanced feeling, so softly at
first that I doubted the sensation until it became undeniable.
When I was ready, I reached for and found the shredded paracress with my left
hand and picked up the bludgeon with my right. Bringing my hands together, I
encircled the handle with the leaves and ground them together, back and forth, while
upping the tempo of the chant just a bit. After a time, I dropped the bludgeon,
cupped the remnants of the leaves in my hands and, leaning forward, blew them from my
hands into the brazier. I was rewarded with a hiss as they burned on the coals and I
opened my eyes. I watched smoke from the leaves lazily curl upwards and
metaphorically held my breath as I continued the chant. If I were successful, one of
those tendrils would hold valuable information about the person that had held the
weapon as it did its grisly work on Neera.
My heart did a quick thump as the smoke stopped rising and hung in the air,
awaiting my interrogation. It was working! Trying hard not to rush through the next
critical step, I pushed my mind into the smoke looking for the right tendril and
connected. Suddenly, I could feel the bludgeon in my hand though I knew it actually
still lay where I had dropped it. I closed my eyes again and, if you will, allowed
the vision to grow as I made grisly use of the weapon. I "looked" down at my hand
holding the club and noted my copper skin. Adjusting the view, I looked at my face
and took in the short pointed beard and matching black mustache. I was a Karnhorn.
By now, I was losing the fight with exhaustion which created a very real risk:
letting the spell get out of hand at this point could kill me. I took in my name,
Darvinus Atrich, and knew I could hold the spell no longer.
As I necessarily let the spell fade, as my vision constricted into a tunnel, and
as my chant ground down to a croak, that last evasive bit of information I had been
seeking--the name of the person ordering the hit--found its way into my mind as if it
had been there all along.
Howling Wolf.
SPY REPORT
Busy, busy, busy, lots of things happening in MURSKA this turn, and let's start
with a look at some of the teams. And let's see, PADRIAG fought MAD MAXINE and
gained 21 points and contributed to CHILDREN OF LLYR's 2-3-0. MAD MAXINE has lost to
PADRIAG, falling 18 points, while helping make WEIRD STUDENTS a 0-2-0 turn. This
turn THAK BONESNAP challenged A MAN in what was MURSKA's Title bout. Defending his
title for another turn, THAK BONESNAP kept FOOT OF PRIDE's warrior, A MAN, from
claiming the throne. By the way, was that our Duelmaster that I saw last night,
cramped under the table at The Fire Dragon Inn?
He who challenges well, fights well. He who avoids without cause, shall lose
for good reasons. My mama told me that one. HERO ALLIANCE has cause to stand tall,
as they were MURSKA's most avoided team. A smart manager knows this is a team to
beat. And avoiding HERO ALLIANCE more than any other team we find HOUSE JHEREG.
MURSKA, are we going to accept, or respect this sort of thing? Well, sports fans,
take notice that DANNY BOY from FOOT OF PRIDE was MURSKA's most challenged warrior
this turn.
We only live a short time in this world, so why not take a sharp blade, and
shave it close? Is it really true that MURSKA has more dishwashers per capita that
fighters? Just thought I'd ask...
Remember, blood on the purple robe does not change it from a purple robe. Dare
to fight bravely. Well, I'm burning daylight here in MURSKA and I've a long road
ahead of me. Happy Trails. Until you see my quill in MURSKA again, farewell--
Alarond the Scribe
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
THAK BONESNAP 4392 10 2 1 154 BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395)
CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DANNY BOY 4424 28 13 0 109 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
FIXED DRINK 4529 14 2 0 109 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
A MAN 4521 13 5 1 92 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
AXAZOH 4134 9 2 1 89 SHINING PATH (379)
TURNING BACK 4548 13 2 0 87 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
KATHANA 3553 8 5 2 87 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
FREAKAZOID 2784 12 7 1 81 HERO ALLIANCE (198)
OISIN 4439 18 26 0 80 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PALUG 4509 12 11 1 63 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
VILMOS 4579 6 0 0 55 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
PADRIAG 4556 6 9 1 50 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
CHALER 4572 7 3 0 49 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
LOFTIS 4571 3 4 0 44 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
MAD MAXINE 2152 5 3 0 36 WEIRD STUDENTS (214)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LITTLE TOMMY 4566 7 5 0 33 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
PELIGRO 2846 4 3 0 22 HERO ALLIANCE (198)
NICHOLAS 2994 2 1 0 21 HERO ALLIANCE (198)
JENICOR 4593 2 0 0 21 HOUSE JHEREG (42)
MUTANT MAN 2150 3 5 0 18 WEIRD STUDENTS (214)
WBTS 4586 2 0 1 11 4-LETTER TUMS' (407)
HARV 4587 1 1 0 11 4-LETTER TUMS' (407)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DRAT 4588 1 1 0 4 4-LETTER TUMS' (407)
MARA KIERA 4600 0 1 0 1 CHILDREN OF LLYR (141)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
SIANA 4591 0 1 0 CHILDREN OF LLYR 141 WBTS 4586 735
CRAP 4599 0 1 0 HERO ALLIANCE 198 STONE GOLEM 736 NONE
DIRK 2852 3 3 1 HERO ALLIANCE 198 BANDIT PRINCE 736 NONE
STASIS 2392 18 21 1 HERO ALLIANCE 198 KATHANA 3553 735
PERSONAL ADS
Palug -- As always, appreciate the learns. I was trying to be offensive, but,
apparently, my offensiveness was at once offensive and lacking in offense. -- Chaler
Maxine -- See, the Arenamaster was disgusted because you didn't deserve to beat me.
-- Loftis
Peligro -- I usually like to make sure my opponents feel as if they're doing well.
You know, boosts confidence and such. It also seems to boost learns, so I'm hoping
you agree you got your money's worth. -- Vilmos
Dirk -- Well fought. And welcome to your entire team! -- Jenicor
Weird Students -- Welcome back to Murska! -- Vlad
Children of Llyr -- Thanks for carrying the personals last turn! -- Vlad
We salute the mail-in tourney participants, with a special nod for Noreaster, tourney
victor. We remember Noreaster. Not, perhaps, FONDLY, but we remember him. -- Jorja
and the Children of Llyr
Three-two this time. The new member was there, and we found out why she was
delaying: She wasn't ready. Too bad, now we have to recruit someone else! -- Oisin
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
DIRK was butchered by BANDIT PRINCE in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight.
CRAP was dealt death by STONE GOLEM in a 2 minute Dark Arena duel.
THAK BONESNAP demolished A MAN in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge Title melee.
KATHANA was overpowered by DANNY BOY in a 2 minute bloody mismatched Challenge duel.
LOFTIS overpowered PELIGRO in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge fight.
JENICOR bested HARV in a 3 minute beginner's Challenge brawl.
FIXED DRINK overpowered FREAKAZOID in a crowd pleasing 1 minute one-sided struggle.
TURNING BACK handily defeated PALUG in a action packed 1 minute gruesome uneven fight.
OISIN was vanquished by AXAZOH in a 1 minute one-sided duel.
MAD MAXINE was viciously subdued by PADRIAG in a 1 minute gory duel.
CHALER outlasted THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a dull 10 minute gory match.
VILMOS overpowered CAPTURED ORC in a crowd pleasing 1 minute bloody one-sided match.
LITTLE TOMMY bested MUTANT MAN in a 2 minute battle.
NICHOLAS demolished DRAT in a 1 minute one-sided brawl.
WBTS overcame MARA KIERA in a 3 minute novice's conflict.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|LUNGING ATTACK 7 TOTAL PARRY 16 - 4 - 0 80 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 5 BASHING ATTACK 14 - 6 - 0 70 |
|AIMED BLOW 4 PARRY-LUNGE 3 - 2 - 1 60 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 4 WALL OF STEEL 6 - 4 - 0 60 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 LUNGING ATTACK 28 - 24 - 4 54 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 4 - 4 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 STRIKING ATTACK 14 - 17 - 0 45 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 AIMED BLOW 7 - 9 - 0 44 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 SLASHING ATTACK 6 - 11 - 0 35 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 - 0 0 |
Turn 736 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-LUNGE 1 - 0 LUNGING ATTACK 3 - 4 4 LUNGING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 2 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 STRIKING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 2 SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 4 1 TOTAL PARRY
AIMED BLOW 2 - 2 1 AIMED BLOW
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK THAK BONESNAP 4392 10 2 1 154 BATTLEAXE STAMPEDE (395)
TOTAL PARRY DANNY BOY 4424 28 13 0 109 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
LUNGING ATTACK FIXED DRINK 4529 14 2 0 109 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
BASHING ATTACK A MAN 4521 13 5 1 92 FOOT OF PRIDE (396)
AIMED BLOW AXAZOH 4134 9 2 1 89 SHINING PATH (379)
SLASHING ATTACK MAD MAXINE 2152 5 3 0 36 WEIRD STUDENTS (214)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is OISIN 4439. The most popular warrior this turn was
HARV 4587. The ten other most popular fighters were WBTS 4586, FIXED DRINK 4529,
MARA KIERA 4600, KATHANA 3553, DANNY BOY 4424, LOFTIS 4571, TURNING BACK 4548,
PADRIAG 4556, VILMOS 4579, and LITTLE TOMMY 4566.
The least popular fighter this week was CHALER 4572. The other ten least popular
fighters were DRAT 4588, MAD MAXINE 2152, OISIN 4439, FREAKAZOID 2784, PELIGRO 2846,
A MAN 4521, MUTANT MAN 2150, PALUG 4509, DIRK 2852, and NICHOLAS 2994.
* * * * * MEMO * * * * *
From: The Office of Accurate Census Reporting, Gladiatorial Commission
To: All Managers
In the interest of preserving our natural resources and preventing managerial writer's
cramp, the census form has been eliminated, effective immediately. Managers may
register their warriors' races and/or favorite sayings by simply writing them on a
separate piece of paper and submitting them to the Commission. Each warrior may have
up to 15 favorite sayings. Each saying must be categorized Jeer, Gloat, Boredom, Ouch,
Victory and may be up to 80 characters long. For any questions, please contact the
Gladiatorial Commission.