DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 10/14/2005 Duedate: 10/27/2005
ZENSU ARENA
DM-40 TURN-477
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
JENIPHER
BEYOND THE PALE (337)
(40-4091) [22-17-1,104]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
JENIPHER POSITION IS EMPTY
BEYOND THE PALE (337)
(40-4091) [22-17-1,104]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
JENIPHER BLOOD BATH
BEYOND THE PALE (337) PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
(40-4091) [22-17-1,104] (40-1748) [6-4-0,62]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. PHILANTHROPISTS (211) 31
2. BEYOND THE PALE (337) 24 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
3. BLOOD ANGELS (423) 0 Unchartered Team
MEDIEVAL CHAOS (198)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1- 1*BLOOD ANGELS (423) 24 8 1 75.0 1/ 1 PHILANTHROPISTS (211) 13 2 0
2/ 2 PHILANTHROPISTS (211) 35 14 0 71.4 2/ 2 BEYOND THE PALE (337) 9 6 0
3/ 5 BEYOND THE PALE (337) 394 571 14 40.8 3- 3*BLOOD ANGELS (423) 1 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[ The Mountains of Night #4 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
Murska and vicinity:
In the fashion typical of so many of the Bad Guys, the demons and their minions
were throwing their weight around, making a splash and attracting everyone's
attention in Murska. Their first appearance had been accompanied by spectacular
displays of black lightning, causing landslides and setting fire to some buildings in
and around the town. As Tankesh and Huw worked their way down the mountainside to
the bridge that would take them across to Murska they could hear people shrieking.
Fire bells were barely audible above the shouts and screams, and the roar of the
river as it tore at the rocks newly fallen into its bed.
"Showy and wasteful," Huw growled.
Tankesh glanced over his shoulder at the Murskan. The man wore his disapproval
as a breastplate and shield. Well, it was his home town that was being smashed up,
so the elf could make allowances. "It isn't a bad plan," he said mildly.
"Intimidate the population to begin with, and they won't fight back. Saves time and
effort, and I suppose even demons have to think about that sometimes."
Huw grunted. After a moment, he said, "I was right about the dwarves. There
aren't more than half a dozen in sight, and those are probably gladiators. The doors
to the Undercity are shut."
"It won't save them, if the demons decide to go underground," Tankesh said.
Huw grunted again, a more cheerful sound this time. "True," he said. "The
dwarves are making a mistake. It'd be worse to fight demons in the tunnels than
above-ground."
"Limited front of attack," Tankesh said. "No demons taking to the air and
coming at you from behind."
"Limited lines of retreat, if the roof comes down," Huw countered.
"A point," the elf admitted. They had reached the approach to the bridge, and
he paused, looking at the span critically. It was of stone, good dwarven work, wide
enough to take a wagon and with a waist-high parapet on either side, but... it was
narrow--two wagons couldn't pass on it, and if a person fell off, well, the fall to
the river would be a long one.
There were people on the bridge now, maybe twenty or so, running from the town
toward the bare mountainside behind the two gladiators. They were each running as
though alone, no one covering their retreat, no one helping if someone tripped and
staggered against the parapet. They were in a state of blind panic, and Tankesh
distrusted them automatically. Panic was contagious, not that he thought either he
himself or Huw would succumb. And it was blind; the fleeing people would run down
anyone in their path, and not only would they not give help if asked, they wouldn't
know enough to accept it if offered. Crossing the bridge against this current would
be--
His eyes focused on the far end of the bridge as a woman screamed. Part of his
mind flashed back to the black altar in Kurukar and the woman he had been unable to
save there. The scream was a high, thin sound, compounded of terror, pain, and
despair, and it cut off sharply as a creature that looked like an upright lizard ten
feet tall reached down and plucked her from the crowd. He held her by the knees and
swung her body horizontally, using her as a club to knock other refugees from the
span.
Tankesh was just marginally aware that this was not the woman he had lost in
Kurukar as fury hazed his vision with red. He roared a wordless challenge and lunged
forward onto the bridge.
+ ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Mountains of Night #5 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
Murska and vicinity:
There was a flash of darkness. Tankesh could still feel himself running, but
the stones of the bridge weren't under his feet. He tried to drag in a breath to
shout... a question, a warning, something to his companion. There was no air. No
hot or cold, no up or down.
"The Master said you would come to that bait." The voice was in his head as
much as his ears. Toneless, almost mechanical in its lack of rhythm or inflection.
"The Master is always right."
A chirping sound erupted, as from the world's largest cricket. The stridency
bored into his awareness like a drill. More chirping. Two giant crickets, arguing.
Tankesh reflected that it would be a sad end to a life of adventuring if he went
insane because of a couple of crickets. Up and down returned in time for him to be
thrown down on a hard surface. His head smashed into it hard enough to stun him.
Fratsfa:
"Demons?" Elrienoriseth'rin snorted. It was, perhaps, an undignified sound for
one of the High Folk to make, but he felt that his years as a Mercenary, enough to
classify him as a Veteran, entitled him to a little crudeness now and then. "I don't
believe it."
"You saw it with your own eyes, Elri," Korisien Fayne Roh reminded him. "Just
as I said you would."
The elf snorted again. "Saying 'I told you so' isn't--"
"I'm a Trustworthy Scribe, not a tactful one," the standby fighter answered.
After a moment, he discarded his lofty air and peered through the crack in the
shutter again. "If it hasn't been dispelled, it's in there still."
Elri also put aside the mostly good-natured teasing with which he addressed his
teammate. "You don't dispel demons," he muttered. "Any more than you could dispel a
barking dog. You have to dismiss them, and damned carefully, too. Besides, I don't
think the demonologist is here in Fratsfa. Even I would have noticed the amount of
magic it takes to summon a demon, now that the magical background has faded so far."
"If it wasn't summoned here, then how...?"
"Summoned elsewhere and sent overland," the Mercenary said. "And that takes a
lot of power. Demons don't like being ordered around."
"Who does? Do you suppose it's... camping in that ruin?"
Elri shrugged. "What I don't know about demons would fill the Emperor's palace.
But why not? The place is huge, a ruin, has no known owner--probably reverted to the
crown for non-payment of taxes years ago. Very few people live in this neighborhood,
and they mind their own business. It has direct access to the river, and it's near
the heart of the city. What more could anyone ask of a hideout?"
"Comfort?"
"It's a demon." The elf was silent again, then said, "Maybe comfort for its
handler, but then again, anyone who can handle a demon can make his own comfort."
Fayne drew back from the window and tried to wipe the dust from his hands.
"This whole area should have been cleared out years ago. It's a disgrace-- Why are
you shaking your head?"
"Most of the property is part of an unsettled estate. Damn thing's been in
litigation for a century and a half, and none of the parties will let the others do
anything with it."
"The Emperor--"
"Not if he wants to push his agricultural reforms through." The Mercenary moved
toward the door. "The best thing would be a lighted match...."
Fayne thumped the wall as he followed his friend out onto the cracked and
tottering stairs. "Stone, solid stone, most of it. A match wouldn't do it." When
they reached the ground, he looked over his shoulder toward the demon's lair. "What
is it HERE for?"
"Who knows? But nothing good."
+ ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Mountains of Night #6 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
Somewhere near Zensu:
"This is the most annoying demon--if it is a demon--that I have ever not-quite-
encountered," Crystal Fireblade muttered. "What's it waiting for?"
"Maybe we need to send it an engraved invitation, doll," Raoul said. "How
should I know what it's waiting for? Demons and stuff, that's for managers to deal
with."
"They aren't here."
"Shows their good sense." Raoul removed his hat and peered around the huge
stump. Nothing moved in the long aisles of the forest except the slowly falling
leaves. He pulled back, peered into his hat for a moment as a seer might peer into a
crystal ball, then sighed and put it on his head. "I think we're in a lot of trouble
here," he said quietly.
"More than earlier?" The Lady Knight was doing her own surveying.
"Yeah. You notice any squirrels, doll? Birds? Insects, even?"
Crystal didn't have to look again. She knew what she would see, what he had
seen. Silence and stillness. "Good point." Her hand went to her sword, but she
didn't draw it. She glanced at her companion and raised an eyebrow.
He nodded and began to move to the right, keeping low. The stump they'd been
using for cover was part of a deadfall, and he was able to crawl along the fallen
trunk, which was three feet thick.
Crystal kept her eyes along their back-trail until Raoul had time to get into a
new position. Then she moved to the left, behind a thicket of close-growing
saplings. Not cracking twigs or crunching fallen leaves took most of her attention
for a moment. When she looked up, the demon was there.
If it was a demon. It was about eight feet tall, snouted and scaled, with a
muscular tail. Roughly man-shaped, it was wearing a harness and kilt of studded
leather, and carrying a short, broad-bladed sword. No aura of demonic power. If
she'd met it in an arena town, she would have said, 'just another alien gladiator'.
Maybe it should be classed as a monster, rather than a demon.
Ah... make that 'monsters', plural. The first one was followed by another, and
a third, fourth, fifth... that seemed to be all. It was enough.
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
---===ANDORIAN REGIONAL NEWS===---
Duelmasters
-----------
DM 8 ARKERS (turn 262): NYTEMAIR of CHAMPIONS OF STEEL (Blackstorm, mgr.)
DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 525): FRANK ZAPPA of THE HEADCUTTERS II (Street Legal, mgr.)
DM 14 TOBIR (turn 525): OPUNTIA of PLANTARUM ANDORIA (Generalissimo Puerco, mgr.)
DM 22 SOLVEN (turn 518): CLINT EASTWOOD of THE REPUBLICANS (The Judge, mgr.)
DM 24 ZORPUNT (turn 514): JAMES T. JERK of STAR DRECK (The Dark One, mgr.)
DM 25 LYRATILAN (turn 514): VELOND WOK of THE MIDDLE WAY 4 (Nolan Orgel, team
captain)
DM 26 CALEAM (turn 512): POPPA LODE of GOLDEN CANYON (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 30 IAYE (turn 507): DR. ROSENZWEIG of LENPROS (Lenpro, mgr.)
DM 40 ZENSU (turn 476): JENIPHER of BEYOND THE PALE (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 469): FLUTTERLEE of WANDERERS (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 46 ARDIVENT (turn 458): ECLIPSE of CYNICAL DELUSIONS (Eclipse, mgr.)
DM 52 FRATSFA (turn 208): COLLAPSED LUNG of OTTO'S PARTS (Crip, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 374): BRUSHFIRE of NATURAL DISASTERS (Soultaker, mgr.)
DM 63 AMEN-TEI (turn 363): MALICHAI of WAY OF THE BLADE 2 (Vhagar, mgr.)
DM 71 KYR'TERR (turn 164): I OF THE KNEE DOLL of HAZAARDS OF CLONING (Crip, mgr.)
ADM 105 ANDORAK (turn 410): JOE SATRIANI of THE HEADCUTTERS II from ARUAK CITY
(Street Legal, mgr.)
Top Teams
---------
DM 8 ARKERS (turn 262): CHAMPIONS OF STEEL (Blackstorm, mgr.)
DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 525): TUFT TUGGERS (Tankesh Dushanbe, mgr.)
DM 14 TOBIR (turn 525): THE DEATH SQUAD (Street Legal, mgr.)
DM 22 SOLVEN (turn 518): JUST CHILLIN (Mr. Freeze, mgr.)
DM 24 ZORPUNT (turn 514): KRILL CAVALRY (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 25 LYRATILAN (turn 514): MADTOWN (Namenlos, mgr.)
DM 26 CALEAM (turn 512): GOLDEN CANYON (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 30 IAYE (turn 507): LENPROS (Lenpro, mgr.)
DM 40 ZENSU (turn 476): PHILANTHROPISTS (Aragorn, mgr.)
DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 469): WANDERERS (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 46 ARDIVENT (turn 458): CYNICAL DELUSIONS (Eclipse, mgr.)
DM 52 FRATSFA (turn 208): OTTO'S PARTS (Crip, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 374): THE MISGUIDED (?, mgr.)
DM 63 AMEN-TEI (turn 363): none
DM 71 KYR'TERR (turn 164): NIGHTHAWKS (Savant, mgr.)
ADM 105 ANDORAK (turn 410): BOXES, etc. (Doc Steele, mgr.)
Recent Graduates
----------------
DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 524): LINI DAWNWIND of KRILL CAVALRY (Leeta, mgr.)
DM 24 ZORPUNT (turn 514): JAMES T. JERK of STAR DRECK (The Dark One, mgr.)
DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 468): LURLINE GRACE of WANDERERS (Leeta, mgr.)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
A fight with M. Chardinee determines the title for best active duelist in the
city? Not that he isn't charming, in his way, but really. This is not good.
Jenipher
SPY REPORT
Like the magnificent Sun, rising upon the Dawn and exiling the Night for a Day,
I, Novgorodny Vir, return once again! PHILANTHROPISTS had cause to celebrate, after
BLOOD BATH got 18 points by beating O. POSTE. A certain someone should cut down on
the drinking and practice more, after losing 1 points to KHALHUMS DWARF. (Discrete
enough, BLONDE GRENADE?) Those who hoped for a new Duelmaster were disappointed by
DRIZZT, of PHILANTHROPISTS, who despite a 6-2-0 couldn't overcome ZENSU's Number 1.
So who's the team that's been walking into taverns last week and ordering milk?
Sounds like a PR stunt to me.
A Zenmaster once told me, 'Does not the spinning wheel turn? And do not the
little birds cry out?' Any ideas? To quell some nasty rumors, the guys in BEYOND
THE PALE are not carrying any incurable diseases. No need to avoid 'em. Like a pup
with its tail between its legs, PHILANTHROPISTS scurried away from BEYOND THE PALE.
Oh, the shame!
Ah, the duel! The roar of the oppenent, the smell of the crowd! Ask not for
whom the sword slashes; it slashes for thee.
Do not think spyreporting in ZENSU is the highlight of my life. Keep those
sands bloody and the buzzards fat! Do not despair! I shall return!-- Novgorodny Vir
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
JENIPHER 4091 22 17 1 104 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-VIRULENT 4136 8 0 0 93 BLOOD ANGELS (423)
CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BLONDE GRENADE 4069 20 25 2 87 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
DRIZZT 4146 6 2 0 67 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
O. POSTE 4107 14 21 1 64 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
BLOOD BATH 1748 6 4 0 62 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
CRAZY TRAIN 1750 7 3 0 59 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SLACK JAW 4147 8 0 0 50 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
-SANGUINE 4135 5 3 0 50 BLOOD ANGELS (423)
PARANOID 1747 8 1 0 36 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-TOXIC 4137 3 1 1 33 BLOOD ANGELS (423)
DARRON LINZ 4159 3 1 0 31 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
-CRIMSON FEAST 4134 4 4 0 27 BLOOD ANGELS (423)
-GORE 4133 4 0 0 27 BLOOD ANGELS (423)
DELLIS LINZ 4157 3 2 0 25 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
PERSONAL ADS
Drizzt -- Well, it IS that time of year, I guess. Drizzle and fog both. We had a
heavy fog this morning. -- O. Poste
Paranoid -- Huh, just listen to O going on about drizzle! As if anybody cared!
Nobody bothers about the weather, because they're all plotting how they can GET me.
I hate that. They've all got it in for me, just because I'm SUPERIOR. They should
CHERISH me. -- Dellis Linz
Well, you know, I really don't LIKE assassins. That's why I blew him up. But it was
only a LITTLE explosion. -- Blonde Grenade
Nobody embezzles MY retirement fund and gets away with it! -- Darron Linz
Ed. -- I have it now, his name sounds like a lightning bug out during a mizzle! --
Jenipher
15 September 2005
HAMMER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Be it known from the highest mountains to the darkest alleys of Alastari that
the veteran manager known far and wide as Hammer has now officially retired from
sponsoring contests as of September 15, 2005.
What a long time ago was a fun motivated activity to help promote our common
DM/D2 gaming interest in an effort to promote the growth and competitiveness of
selected arenas has become a far from fun experience.
In other words Hammer has had it!
The combination of real life situations interfering with the time needed to
effectively sponsor a contest, plus the attitudes expressed during such sponsorship
interference has led to Hammer closing his personal coin coffers and retiring from
his planned sponsorship of any future contests.
There are others in our close knit gaming community who are well able to step up
to the plate and continue sponsoring contests that make the basic game a fun
experience for all those who choose to compete and interact in such future endeavors.
Hammer thanks all managers both active and inactive who helped to make the
Hammer sponsored contests a historical and entertaining experience well worth the
time, effort and money spent over the past several years.
May the Cheers and the Jeers of future contests build upon the legacies of those
who have paved the way in years gone by to help make this game what it is today.
Hammer has no regrets for the part he has played in that history.
19 September 2005
I'd like to say hello to everyone I know that is still around after my being gone for
five years. Hope to see you all on the sands, and may your weapons strike true and
your shields protect you (except, of course, against MY warriors *grin*)!! -- Lord
Xiang, D2-101
5 October 2005
To those once of Willaf -- It's time to come back to the sands. I'm back,
exclusively at Willaf.... -- Kurd the Vivisectionist, Your Better
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
JENIPHER devastated DRIZZT in a 2 minute gruesome mismatched Title fight.
BLONDE GRENADE was subdued by KHALHUMS DWARF in a 2 minute gory veteran's melee.
O. POSTE lost to BLOOD BATH in a popular 2 minute mismatched brawl.
SLACK JAW outlasted CAPTURED ORC in a 7 minute match.
CRAZY TRAIN devastated CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute gory uneven brawl.
PARANOID devastated OSKSI NOBLE in a 2 minute mismatched match.
DARRON LINZ handily defeated EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute uneven fight.
DELLIS LINZ vanquished 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|
|WALL OF STEEL 3 SLASHING ATTACK 5 - 1 - 1 83 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 STRIKING ATTACK 7 - 2 - 0 78 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 AIMED BLOW 10 - 4 - 0 71 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 1 LUNGING ATTACK 20 - 9 - 1 69 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 TOTAL PARRY 14 - 10 - 1 58 |
|BASHING ATTACK 1 WALL OF STEEL 17 - 13 - 0 57 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 1 - 1 50 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 BASHING ATTACK 4 - 7 - 0 36 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 - 0 0 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 - 0 0 |
Turn 477 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:
LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 1 3 LUNGING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 WALL OF STEEL
WALL OF STEEL 3 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 2 STRIKING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 1 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 2 TOTAL PARRY
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 BASHING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 0 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
WALL OF STEEL JENIPHER 4091 22 17 1 104 BEYOND THE PALE (337)
AIMED BLOW DRIZZT 4146 6 2 0 67 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
LUNGING ATTACK BLOOD BATH 1748 6 4 0 62 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
TOTAL PARRY SLACK JAW 4147 8 0 0 50 PHILANTHROPISTS (211)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is JENIPHER 4091. The most popular warrior this turn
was BLOOD BATH 1748. The ten other most popular fighters were BLONDE GRENADE 4069,
JENIPHER 4091, CRAZY TRAIN 1750, DARRON LINZ 4159, DELLIS LINZ 4157, DRIZZT 4146,
PARANOID 1747, O. POSTE 4107, SLACK JAW 4147, and 0.
The least popular fighter this week was SLACK JAW 4147. The other ten least popular
fighters were O. POSTE 4107, PARANOID 1747, DRIZZT 4146, DELLIS LINZ 4157, DARRON
LINZ 4159, CRAZY TRAIN 1750, JENIPHER 4091, BLONDE GRENADE 4069, BLOOD BATH 1748, and
0.