DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 09/12/2005    Duedate: 09/24/2005

ARDIVENT ARENA

DM-46    TURN-457

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

ECLIPSE
CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
(46-2740) [13-2-0,151]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

ECLIPSE                        UG
CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)        BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
(46-2740) [13-2-0,151]         (46-271) [5-2-1,19]

Popularity Leader              This Weeks Favorite

PALANTIRIATHALASA              ANGELIC
RUBY DRAGONS (336)             INQUISITION SL8 (348)
(46-3808) [21-23-1,93]         (46-3883) [0-2-0,7]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)     38
2. CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)     21      CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
3. INQUISITION SL8 (348)        2      Unchartered Team
4. BARBARIAN HORDE (47)         2
5. RUBY DRAGONS (336)          -6      BARBARIAN HORDE (47)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 0*BARBARIAN HORDE (47)      21  10  1 67.7   1/ 2 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)  10  5 1
 2/ 1 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)  169 115  9 59.5   2/ 1 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)   7  7 0
 3/ 2 RUBY DRAGONS (336)        98  86  2 53.3   3/ 3 RUBY DRAGONS (336)        2  4 0
 4/ 3 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)  339 514 10 39.7   4/ 0*BARBARIAN HORDE (47)      1  0 0
 5/ 4*INQUISITION SL8 (348)      0   2  0  0.0   5/ 4*INQUISITION SL8 (348)     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[ Nightfall #3 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +

Valamantis:

     Tensekai, the Silver Mage of Valamantis, clenched his teeth and put his hands
behind his back for a few moments.  Good self-control, Arenamistress Sitalva noted,
since his first impulse had obviously been to hurl the crystal ball out a window.  No
doubt a mage needed self-control in his business as much as she did in hers, but many
seemed to lack it.  Irresponsible, impulse-ridden creatures.
     "Well?" she said.
     "The Transelites are fools!"
     "The magicians there were not helpful?"
     "They wanted to know what *I* was doing to bring this on!  Idiots!"
     Sitalva laughed.  "In their place, wouldn't you have wondered the same?  DIDN'T
you wonder the same?"
     He shrugged but had the grace to look shame-faced at that.  "I did wonder," he
said.  "Their techniques are so...heedless.  As though they figure being on an island
will protect THEM from consequences."
     "Still, you have learned something."
     He raised a skeptical eyebrow.
     "That the problem did not originate on Transel.  And that it, they--the towers--
have acted to dominate the entire bay.  Here, Osksi, Transel, all the other island
kingdoms clear around to Kaltos."
     "We haven't heard from Ardivent," Tensekai said.  "If we don't hear soon, Uvalie
will blame the Andorians for this, I know she will."
     "I thought her uncle was recovering?"
     "In retirement.  And this is NOT the work of the Andorians.  Gods know they can
be as foolish as anybody, but there is an extra-dimensional force at work here."
     "I must take your word for that," Sitalva said.  She stood.  "So.  What do we DO
now?"
     "Eh?"
     "Do.  What action do we take?  How do we combat this menace to all the bayside
peoples?"
     The Silver Mage blinked.  "Ah...we need to study--"
     "TENSEKAI!  We need to ACT."
     "But we don't know enough!"
     "Better to take a wrong action than none at all," she said.  "We'll have a panic
soon enough if we don't--as well as an economic crisis due to the interference with
shipping.  Give people a chance to take action, and they'll stand firm.  If they
can't see any action to take...."  She shrugged.  "That way lies disaster.  Which I
am sure that Shanmarrik knows.  If you can't suggest some action, he'll find one."

              + ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ Nightfall #4 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +

On the south coast of the Ardivent Peninsula:

     Two men stood on the roof of the manor house and stared out at the bay.  A black
tower rose from the water near the string of rocky islands that narrowed the channel
between Ardivent and Kaltos.  Near the islands, but not on them.
     "I can't make out what it's standing on," Harbad Kore said.  The Guard was
Ambitious, but his inclinations had not led him to study charts of the bay.  He felt
there was more scope for him on land.
     "Not an island, not a charted rock," Ternas d'Aleen said.
     D'Aleen had shipping interests, or maybe just was interested in ships and boats,
but at least he was likely to know about the waters here.  You'd never take him for
an Assassin, and now that the Assassins' Guild had been outlawed again, he didn't
practice.  Although how he supported himself based on occasional appearances in the
arena as a standby...maybe he really was a shipper.  Kore shrugged that off.  It
wasn't his business, anyway.  "Okay, then what IS it standing on?"
     D'Aleen raised an eyebrow.  "How should I know?  But it arrived courtesy of
magic, so maybe it has a magical foundation, as well."
     "Magic."  The guard considered that for several minutes.  "And it's threatening
Ardivent's shipping, right?  Probably the Transelites did it."
     "An unfounded assumption," the assassin said.
     "No it isn't!  Transel's got loads of magicians, and the whole island lives off
piracy.  Seems reasonable to me that they're doing this."  His hand went to his
sword.  "We should Take Steps.  Those pirates can't be allowed to get away with
this!"
     "We all know you're a bit of a fool, Kore," the assassin said coldly.  "But you
don't need to keep demonstrating it.  And fortunately for us all, you are not the one
who must make the decision.  That is the Baron's prerogative.  We are merely here to
observe and report."
     Kore twitched his shoulder.  The comment about him being a fool he decided to
ignore; practicing or not, D'Aleen WAS an assassin.  "Okay, fine, I know I'm not the
diplomatic type, but mark my words, we'll end up going to war with Transel over this.
I just wish...."  He glanced down at the building beneath them uneasily.
     "Oh, I agree," D'Aleen said.  "I would much have preferred almost any other
vantage point, but this IS the best place for observing the black tower."
     "That statue in the front hall--"  The guard shivered.
     "I believe it isn't actually a statue," D'Aleen said after a moment.  "I seem to
have heard that it is actually a living person, preserved in amber.  A Lady
Protector...Stepharoo, or something like that."
     "It isn't decent," Harbad Kore said.  "She should be, I don't know, put out of
sight at the least, or buried, or something.  Just having a naked woman standing
there in the hall...."
     "Not buried," D'Aleen said.  "If she's a Lady Protector, which is what I
remember, then even if she's dead she isn't really dead.  To be buried alive..." he
shuddered.  "But if we have to use this place again, I would agree that we can move
her into a closet or something."

                                 DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
                             Notes from the arena champ.

     I'm glad you didn't follow up on your name (yet again), Poised.  I like being
alive.  Well, most people do, I suspect.  And life is especially sweet for me today.
Invited to the Isle!  I won't go, of course, someone like me would end up on the
bottom and stay there, but it's very pleasant to be asked.  May you fare as well.

                                     Gneiss Guy

P.S.  8  14  19  11  17  4  11.  I should probably have been a total parry, since I
can sustain a tremendous amount of damage, but Leeta doesn't do total parries much.
She says she took a vow, no total parries, no lungers.  Ah, well.  SH/very low/low--
as you see, born to scum.  She doesn't do that much, either, says it fills her trash
bin too fast.

                                      SPY REPORT

     Hail and well met warriors of ARDIVENT!  Know me for who I am, Zontani Sharp 
Eyes, Spymaster extraordinaire of all Alastari.  Former top team CYNICAL DELUSIONS 
was unseated this week as BLUVALLEY WARRIORS moved up from 2nd ranking to take the 
top spot with a 4-1-1 record for the round.  DEBRA COLLIN caught the eye of many in 
the gladiatorial commission as she skillfully bested SOLARIS and was awarded 20 
points in recognition.  In one of the week's more notable duels, ECLIPSE put down 
PALANTIRIATHALASA, causing her to lose 7 points of recognition in the process.  
Although POISED TO KILL made a valiant effort, it did not suffice to topple the reign 
of victorious GNEISS GUY.  Informants "close" to the city champion have told me that 
he never fights without pantyhose on beneath his armor.  Watch out!   
     I have been in deep conclave with my spies who watched all that has recently 
transpired.  Indeed there is much I would report.   
     Is not Death a warrior's foremost adviser?   Warriors, may this counselor stand 
ready at your right hand forever!  Some say a warrior is judged by the way he bears 
arms.  One thing is sure, better a dagger in hand then a sword on the belt!   
     A thought before I go.  Each warrior practices one style, but must not the wise 
manager learn the secrets of them all?  More than a sharp eye must I keep, indeed a 
stout pair of legs must I keep as well!  The endless paths of Alastari await me!  
Till we meet again, remember:  a turtle walks slow, hides head in a shell, and harms 
no one; a lion runs to slay its prey.-- Zontani Sharp Eyes  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 ECLIPSE 2740                 13   2  0   151       CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 PALANTIRIATHALASA 3808       21  23  1    93       RUBY DRAGONS (336)

CHAMPIONS                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 SOLARIS 3759                 21  27  0    90       RUBY DRAGONS (336)
 FLINT HILLS 3796             18  32  0    90       BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
 POISED TO KILL 2637          15  10  0    90       CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
 DEBRA COLLIN 3816            17  21  0    89       BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
 VECORDIUS 3870                6   2  0    74       CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)

CHALLENGER ADEPTS              W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-BREAK POINT 2741             12   9  0    61       CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
 BECKER COLLIN 3850            8   8  1    60       BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-IRONWOLF 274                  5   1  0    42       BARBARIAN HORDE (47)

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 UG 271                        5   2  1    19       BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
-KROKUS 272                    4   2  0    19       BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
-TARAMON 270                   3   3  0    18       BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
 GOLDEN FURY 3887              1   0  0    16       CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
-WEASEL 273                    4   2  0    15       BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
 HERMY COLLIN 3878             2   1  0     7       BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
 ANGELIC 3883                  0   2  0     7       INQUISITION SL8 (348)

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

THE DEAD               W  L K TEAM NAME             SLAIN BY             TURN Revenge?
HAPPY PEASANT 7        0  1 0   1                   BECKER COLLIN 3850    457 NONE    

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Well Gneiss Guy, I guess you're getting your calling as well.  It's going to be
interesting in this arena soon.  Lots of new warriors and such.

Becker -- Seriously, who's getting anyway here? -- BP

Solarius -- One minute to three minutes, I hate long fights; it's a tough arena for
TP's.  What you have to do is find someone that you can beat, and stay with them for
ever, hint hint. -- Eclipse

Sorry about the ads last week, never know if I'm going to make it out to the fights
or what.  It's nice to see a new team here though; good luck, men. -- Eclipse

Hope the newest addition to my team is worthy.  The Dark arena is so gloomy. --
Eclipse Mgr.

     For some reason the flowers always die. -- The Arena Decorators

Palantect -- (languid wave) -- Flint Hills, busy with other things

Vecordius -- Wow, you're cynical?  It doesn't show.  I guess that's because you're,
like, an elf, right?  I mean, elves are always so cool, you never know what they're
thinking. -- Debra Collin

Break Point -- Well done!  I take a nearly personal interest in your survival, you
know.  We're such long-standing friendly opponents.  I wouldn't want to see you go to
the Dark Arena.  It's so...DARK there. -- Becker Collin
P.S.  I didn't really want a winning record, anyway.

Angelic -- No, no, NO.  Not like that!  Pay attention. -- Hermy Collin

Flint Hills -- Of COURSE you need to say more!  Tell people what a wonderful person I
am, how beautifully I dress, how graceful my movements, how courteously condescending
I am! -- M. Kingfisher Chardinee, a nom de epee, but appropriate with this blue
armor, don't you think?

Ms. Collin, may I call you Debra? -- I like you, too. -- Harbad Kore, Ambitious Guard

Lord Protector Gneiss Guy -- The Baron extends you his congratulations, of course, as
you have done well in your chosen profession.  However, in these difficult times, it
is not possible to provide you with "lands."  The resources of Ardivent must be
directed to the needs of Ardivent first and foremost, and enriching a warrior who is
leaving for the Isle does not further the common weal.  I'm sure you understand. --
Arvendon, Secretary to the Baron
P.S.  There is no point in protesting this to the Baron, as your protest would cross
my desk first and get no farther.  Don't be an annoyance, there's a good chap.

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

VECORDIUS was bested by FLINT HILLS in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight.
GNEISS GUY narrowly defeated POISED TO KILL in a 3 minute veteran's melee.
ECLIPSE overpowered PALANTIRIATHALASA in a 1 minute mismatched Title duel.
SOLARIS was devastated by DEBRA COLLIN in a 2 minute one-sided fight.
BECKER COLLIN murdered HAPPY PEASANT in a 1 minute mismatched competition.
UG unbelievably bested ANGELIC in a crowd pleasing 4 minute brutal fight.
HERMY COLLIN was devastated by GOLDEN FURY in a 1 minute one-sided competition.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK                  3         STRIKING ATTACK   16 -   6 -  0      73  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   3         AIMED BLOW         2 -   1 -  0      67  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      1         BASHING ATTACK    18 -  12 -  0      60  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         TOTAL PARRY       11 -  10 -  0      52  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    1         PARRY-STRIKE       5 -   5 -  0      50  |
|AIMED BLOW                       1         PARRY-RIPOSTE      7 -   7 -  0      50  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   1         WALL OF STEEL      4 -   5 -  0      44  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      1         PARRY-LUNGE        4 -   6 -  1      40  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    1         SLASHING ATTACK    0 -   0 -  0       0  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  0         LUNGING ATTACK     0 -   2 -  0       0  |

Turn 457 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     AIMED BLOW         0 -  1         3  STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE       1 -  0     LUNGING ATTACK     0 -  1         3  BASHING ATTACK 
PARRY-RIPOSTE      1 -  0     SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  0         2  TOTAL PARRY    
STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  1     TOTAL PARRY        0 -  1         1  WALL OF STEEL  
BASHING ATTACK     2 -  1     WALL OF STEEL      0 -  1         1  PARRY-STRIKE   
                                                                1  PARRY-LUNGE    

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
STRIKING ATTACK  ECLIPSE 2740               13   2  0  151 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
WALL OF STEEL    POISED TO KILL 2637        15  10  0   90 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
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 PALANTIRIATHALASA 3808.  The most popular warrior 
this turn was ANGELIC 3883.  The ten other most popular fighters were FLINT HILLS 
3796, POISED TO KILL 2637, ECLIPSE 2740, BECKER COLLIN 3850, GOLDEN FURY 3887, 
VECORDIUS 3870, DEBRA COLLIN 3816, UG 271, PALANTIRIATHALASA 3808, and SOLARIS 3759.

The least popular fighter this week was HERMY COLLIN 3878.  The other ten least 
popular fighters were SOLARIS 3759, PALANTIRIATHALASA 3808, UG 271, DEBRA COLLIN 
3816, VECORDIUS 3870, GOLDEN FURY 3887, BECKER COLLIN 3850, ECLIPSE 2740, POISED TO 
KILL 2637, and FLINT HILLS 3796.

The following warriors have traveled to AD after fighting this turn:

GNEISS GUY (46-3787) BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)