DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 07/03/2006 Duedate: 07/15/2006
ARDIVENT ARENA
DM-46 TURN-478
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
BREAK POINT
CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
(46-2741) [25-14-0,104]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
BREAK POINT THORN
CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218) DEATH (349)
(46-2741) [25-14-0,104] (46-3904) [5-1-0,52]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
BECKER COLLIN COOLIN SCOT
BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
(46-3850) [14-23-1,66] (46-3897) [3-8-0,28]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. DEATH (349) 35
2. CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218) 23 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
3. FANDILS (75) 18 Unchartered Team
4. BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 12
5. TUFT-TASTIC! (265) 11 STRYPER (58)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218) 227 135 14 62.7 1/ 1 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218) 11 4 1
2/ 0*STRYPER (58) 10 7 1 58.8 2/ 2*DEATH (349) 9 6 0
3/ 2 TUFT-TASTIC! (265) 75 55 1 57.7 3/ 3 FANDILS (75) 8 2 0
4/ 3 FANDILS (75) 786 600 26 56.7 4/ 4 INFERNAL LORDS (8) 6 3 0
5/ 4 INFERNAL LORDS (8) 176 145 10 54.8 5/ 6 TUFT-TASTIC! (265) 5 4 0
6/ 5 RUBY DRAGONS (336) 107 103 2 51.0 6/ 5 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 3 12 0
7/ 6*DEATH (349) 14 16 1 46.7 7/ 7 RUBY DRAGONS (336) 0 3 0
8/ 7 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 376 581 12 39.3 8/ 0*STRYPER (58) 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[ Nightfall #21 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
The story so far: A mysterious Black Tower, or possibly more than one, has been
appearing at various locations in Valamantis Bay and disrupting the shipping.
Vessels have been damaged or destroyed, they have been stripped of their crews by
some unknown means. The Silver Mage of Valamantis has investigated, as have the
magicians of Transel, and they are agreed that not only is the Black Tower of a
magical origin, it is in some way linked to the Tarot Mime Universe.
Two Lord Protectors, Lady Stepharoo of the Fandils, who was trapped in a block
of amber for several years, and Eclipse of Cynical Delusions, have set out to enter
the Tarot Mime Universe, discover the meaning of the intrusion of the Black Tower,
and find some way to defend Alastari from its efforts. Their quest immediately
assumed a strange aspect in that elements of the world around them yield to the
shaping of their idlest comments, and sometimes even to their thoughts. They have
already discovered that they are stepping into a battle between Light and Dark, that
Stepharoo is cast in the role of the Ace of Lamps and Eclipse as the Ace of Shadows.
Their task, the Tarot Magician told them, is to work together and establish a stable
Balance.
They set off across a featureless plain, guided by a line of glowing footprints.
When last seen, their guiding footprints had divided into two lines, and after some
discussion, they had split up to follow both lines.
Stepharoo followed her set of footprints around a shoulder of rock--she seemed
to be in the mountains now, without warning or preliminary foothills--and came to a
stop. She could actually see the person in front of her for the first time now, the
one making the footprints. It was a tarot Fool, dressed in red and blue motley.
Vividly she remembered a tarot card she'd seen once, in which the Fool was about to
step off a cliff. No way! There were other renderings, she had heard that, and she
wished now that she knew more about them. But they showed... she was sure they
showed the silly Fool walking along a road. No cliffs. Walking off a cliff wasn't
mythic, it was just stupid.
She started walking again, placing each foot with care on the narrow path,
shining the light of her shield ahead to make sure there was a path present when her
foot came down.
The path was getting narrower, hardly wide enough to take her foot. If there'd
been a cliff rising at one side, she couldn't have walked along it at all but would
have had to edge sideways. It was like walking on top of a fence, with a vast drop
on either side. She risked a glance ahead, to see what the Tarot Fool was up to.
Oh, gods, he WAS a fool! He was actually DANCING on that narrow edge! Well,
she might have to follow the Fool, but she didn't have to act like him, and a good
thing, too. Did he WANT to fall over?
And he had a dog, too, black as soot, so black that she couldn't make out any of
its details, it was just a shape. Or a shadow of a dog, except, of course, that
there was no other dog around to cast that shadow. It made little rushes at the
Fool's ankles, white teeth shining in the blackness of its mouth, red eyes glowing.
Glowing red eyes? Oh, please! That was so.... She halted her thoughts (not
easily) lest she think something she didn't want to deal with. A black dog with
glowing red eyes was probably a symbol of something Bad, and even a Fool shouldn't
have to fall because of something Bad dogging his heels. But this narrow ledge was
no place to have a fight. So what could she--?
Ah! Adjusting her stance to allow movement without falling herself, Stepharoo
swung her shield around to face the dog. "I am the Ace of Lamps," she said sternly,
"and I banish that shadow to the far edge of Night." Assuming that Night had an edge
and that she could banish something to it, of course, but she liked the way the
statement sounded.
The Black Dog, however, didn't seem to care for it at all. A beam of light,
simple, crisp, shaped like a narrow cone--as though it were drawn on... a tarot card-
-swept out from her shield, illuminating the... the place where the Black Dog had
been a moment ago. There was nothing, now, except the Fool himself.
The Fool glanced back over his shoulder, raised an eyebrow, waved his white rose
in salute, and sauntered onward.
As though nothing had happened!
Stepharoo scowled after him.
"He can't help it," a voice said. "He can't be anything BUT a Fool without
violating his nature. It's been a great trial to him all his life, and a greater one
to the rest of us."
Stepharoo turned to look. The vast gulfs beyond the edge of the narrow path had
vanished, and she stood on... probably it was a plateau. Or a bowl-shaped valley.
Mountains rose all around it, and a stone wall divided it in half. Between her and
the wall was a boy on a white horse; behind the wall were some of the wickedest
looking sunflowers she had ever seen. If those were sunflowers, then it was a dark
sun, a vampire sun, a sun that ate light.
"The Sun Reversed," the boy said. "We need your help."
Eclipse still had the leafy staff he'd used crossing the chasm, and he put it to
use here to aid his footing on what was not much of a path. It was a lot steeper
than was really safe, if not QUITE vertical, it jinked back and forth along the face
of a cliff, and it was graveled with little round pebbles that kept rolling under his
feet. Someone WANTED him to fall here. But he was not going to do it.
He reached a bend where the path switched back the other way, turned to follow
it, and paused. There were no footprints on this length of the path. He looked
back. No footprints behind him, either. It hadn't occurred to either of them to
check behind them when they were walking along the plain, so he didn't know if this
was a point of sinister significance, or if the footprints went away after they'd
been passed.
There was a fading footprint on the bend of the path, though. He stepped back
to it and looked around. "A guide should be a little more obvious," he growled.
The footprint slid forward, over the edge of the path, and drifted down, fading
as it went. But he could see that there was another one on the angle of the path
where it ran below and further down. At least, it was something oblong and glowing,
the distance was too great to make out the details.
But if that was the only clue he had....
He jumped.
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Break Point, you should graduate! What do we have to do to get you moving
here?
Lori Collin
P.S. Pay attention, I was trying to teach you skills.
P.P.S. You are NOT to tell anybody what we did last night! That was private.
SPY REPORT
Like the magnificent Sun, rising upon the Dawn and exiling the Night for a Day,
I, Novgorodny Vir, return once again! Good things come to those who fight well, as
FANDILS can attest, moving up by 0. Practice pays for DREAD, who pummelled CULT
MEMBER, to pocket 14 points. A certain someone should cut down on the drinking and
practice more, after losing 8 points to COOLIN SCOT. (Discrete enough, QUAR-RAL?)
Now I can't insult BREAK POINT, as he has gloriously dueled to the top. Oh great new
Duelmaster!!! (Stop me if I lay it on too thick) Word has it one team in ARDIVENT is
using psychics to predict wins. They lead a charmed life!
And how sociable are ARDIVENT's warriors? Come, let us see. To quell some
nasty rumors, the guys in CYNICAL DELUSIONS are not carrying any incurable diseases.
No need to avoid 'em. Like a pup with its tail between its legs, FANDILS scurried
away from CYNICAL DELUSIONS. Oh, the shame! Everyone is famous for fifteen minutes,
and BECKER COLLIN is it right now. Most challenged warrior. Isn't BLUVALLEY
WARRIORS proud! As a confidence booster, GALOOT challenged QUIETUS, down 19 points.
Do you also slay vicious rodents in your spare time, GALOOT? GALOOT overcame
QUIETUS. The whole thing leaves a bitter memory. Willing to win at any cost is
GLAVER, who challenged JACINTHE, 9 points junior. Our sympathies, JACINTHE! I
thought GLAVER showed great skill and promise when he overcame JACINTHE. All right,
so I slept through it! Big deal!
Like the wind whispering among the pines, do hearest I many disquieting rumors.
SMILING MOUNTAIN of RUBY DRAGONS, possessing a sorry record of 4-7-0, lost his last
battle to SPARROW-BLASTER of CYNICAL DELUSIONS. Young warriors, take note! Such is
a failure's lot! Ask not a spymaster for counsel, for he will pontificate long after
you have fallen into an unconscious stupor.
Do not think spyreporting in ARDIVENT is the highlight of my life. My fingers
tire and I fear my incessant prattling may cause unfair judgement upon my impeccable
character. Like a mixed metaphor, and an overtaxed simile, I now bid ARDIVENT
farewell-- Novgorodny Vir
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BREAK POINT 2741 25 14 0 104 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LORI COLLIN 3888 11 9 1 96 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-TEMPTATION 3314 9 5 0 89 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
DR STEINBURGER 3442 16 4 0 82 FANDILS (75)
-AZGUD 3253 12 13 0 82 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BECKER COLLIN 3850 14 23 1 66 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
-MARY CATHERINE 3459 8 2 2 60 FANDILS (75)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DAVY PRIVETTE 3447 12 1 0 53 FANDILS (75)
THORN 3904 5 1 0 52 DEATH (349)
-GUARDIAN OF LIGHT 367 4 0 0 46 STRYPER (58)
JHEZRA STEELBLADE 3017 5 5 0 45 TUFT-TASTIC! (265)
-IRONWOLF 274 5 1 0 42 BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
RYTHYM WIZARD 3357 6 2 0 39 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
GLAVER 3915 4 0 0 36 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GALOOT 3907 5 0 0 33 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
SPARROW-BLASTER 3900 4 2 2 33 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
JUANITA 3926 2 1 0 32 FANDILS (75)
TERRENCE WYCLIFF 3433 4 0 0 28 TUFT-TASTIC! (265)
COOLIN SCOT 3897 3 8 0 28 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
EUROQ 3901 3 2 0 28 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
DREAD 3902 3 3 1 26 DEATH (349)
JASON 3066 5 1 0 24 TUFT-TASTIC! (265)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DEBRA CONKLIN 3890 4 11 0 23 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
-THE GUIDE 396 2 0 0 20 STRYPER (58)
-UG 271 4 2 1 19 BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
-KROKUS 272 4 2 0 19 BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
JACINTHE 3892 3 10 0 19 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
-TARAMON 270 3 3 0 18 BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
CRYPT 3914 3 1 0 16 DEATH (349)
HELLSPAWN 3903 2 4 0 16 DEATH (349)
QUIETUS 3913 1 3 0 16 DEATH (349)
FAITH MASTER 365 1 3 0 16 STRYPER (58)
-WEASEL 273 4 2 0 15 BARBARIAN HORDE (47)
QUAR-RAL 3898 4 1 0 13 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
-EARL & SISSY 3478 2 2 1 10 FANDILS (75)
-SACRED SENTRY 395 1 1 0 6 STRYPER (58)
LOTHAR LIGHTSWORD 3650 0 2 0 4 TUFT-TASTIC! (265)
GNOFF 3927 0 2 0 2 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-ANNETTE TEVERLY 3651 0 1 0 1 TUFT-TASTIC! (265)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
FIIZ 3332 3 6 0 INFERNAL LORDS 8 SPARROW-BLASTER 3900 475 REVENGED
SMILING MOUNTAIN 3896 4 7 0 RUBY DRAGONS 336 SPARROW-BLASTER 3900 478
PERSONAL ADS
Annie -- Hell hasn't frozen over yet. -- Hellspawn
Break Point -- Sweet Lori must have been more woman than you thought? -- Fandil The
Wise
Lori Collins -- Congratulations on your title. Well done! -- All The Fandils
Lady Adie -- How nice to see you again. Your lovely glistening auburn hair is a
sight for sore eyes! Welcome to Ardivent, Arena Of The Red Sands. -- Fandil The Wise
B.P. -- You know where you can take those I.V.'s and stick them! -- Dr Rosenzweig
Dr. Rosenzweig -- Now that was inappropriate. -- W.O.F.
The Mystics & Magic, eh? Certainly sounds interesting. Time to go shopping. --
W.O.F.
Bucking Brahms? My aging brother Kennelworth is lost again. You'll have to forgive
the poor aging old fellow, Mr. DeGotti. -- Fandil The Wise
DeGotti -- The Fandil policy is to avoid only the best. -- W.O.F.
Did everybody enjoy my return spotlight? <smile> -- Adie, trying to write more
Smiling Mountain -- Wiped that grin off your face, didn't I? -- Jhezra
Dread -- I don't like dread? Do you? Why would you name yourself that? I don't
like it, but obviously I do not fear it. -- Terrence
Quar-ral -- Dang, almost defeated you. I need to fine tune my weapon selection I
suppose. -- Lothar
Gnoff -- Not too shabby. -- Jason
Hellspawn -- Wow, you're good. Is it all your experience compared to mine you think?
-- Annette
Adie -- It is great to see you back here in Ardivent. I know you will bring more
flair to this arena. -- DeGotti
All -- Here is a list of my current stable, obviously numbers only and stat trains
included but I won't say where:
1. 17-9-x-9-17-9-11
2. 15-10-x-15-9-16-7
3. 11-13-x-17-9-13-15
4. 7-10-x-17-17-12-9
5. 9-13-x-14-21-7-13
So you can see I wasn't lyin when I said Fiiz's numbers were one of the best on the
team. -- DeGotti
Eclipse -- Rythym Wizard is really over-achieving. I have never graduated a PS; the
closest I came was in DM#60 and he died at like 15-11-1. -- DeGotti
Manager of Death -- Please feel free to chime in at any time. I am sure we are all
interested in hearing from you. -- DeGotti
Euroq -- Hmm, it says here in my handy Monster Dictionary that you're a large bird
that nests in the Alps and bursts into flames every five hundred years. It doesn't
show. -- Coolin Scot
Glaver -- And which delusion are you? And why? -- Jacinthe, not feeling in the mood
for a delusion, cynical or otherwise
Azgud -- Or better, of course. -- Becker Collin
These Cult Members are BORING. He was chanting statistics at me! And Rules and
Regulations. This is, like, totally not my thing. -- Debra Conklin
Galoot -- Well, you made me dizzy, you know? -- Debra
P.S. All that "back and forth, back and forth" stuff, you know? A girl could get
seasick.
6 June 2006
To those involved, no, I have not abandoned your stories. But I've been letting them
drift, and that has to stop, so I am taking the time to make sure that I know where
they are going, more than just "what happens next" dreamed up on the fly, before
resuming work on them. No new stories will be started until at least one of the old
ones has concluded, for the same reason: quantity can't substitute for quality.
Your patience in this matter is appreciated. -- the Scribe
20 June 2006
Dark Knights of the Desolate Empire
Our newest Dark Knight disrespected?!?!?! ARE THEY SERIOUS?!?! If at all possible,
let's get over to 31. I'm on the way. Let's get 'em. -- Dark Knight Osiris
26 June 2006
To those interested, G.E.C.K.O., Inc, is looking for able-bodied warriors to embark
on a dangerous mission. Those interested (or for more details) diplo me at:
Juice, DM 93, mgr. Arena Masters, Inc -- Juice
30 June 2006
All -- I am looking for able bodied warriors, magic-wielding wizards, faith-healing
clerics, and quick-handed thieves to begin a quest requested by the Emperor of the
Southern Kingdom of Crailmia. All interested parties can diplo me in arena 93 --
Noblish Island, c/o Will-O-Wisps (1422) or write to me at -- Robert Bennett, 317173,
4269 West M-80, Kincheloe, Mi 49784. -- the Lightbearer, mgr. Will-O-Wisps
1 July 2006
BROTHER KNIGHTS OF THE DESOLATE EMPIRE -- Hail brothers where ever you are to be
found! We are engaging in arena 31. Let them feel our wrath. Onward to glory!!! --
Dark knight Blackstorm
1 July 2006
Soultaker -- Read your e-mail! -- Guardian
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
JHEZRA STEELBLADE was bested by DAVY PRIVETTE in a 2 minute Challenge fight.
GLAVER devastated JACINTHE in a action packed 1 minute one-sided Challenge duel.
GALOOT subdued QUIETUS in a crowd pleasing 3 minute beginner's Challenge fight.
JASON unbelievably bested HELLSPAWN in a 2 minute gory Challenge fight.
JUANITA savagely defeated DEBRA CONKLIN in a 3 minute Challenge competition.
LORI COLLIN was beaten by BREAK POINT in a 3 minute Title brawl.
DR STEINBURGER overcame BECKER COLLIN in a 3 minute fight.
RYTHYM WIZARD was overcome by THORN in a 2 minute melee.
SMILING MOUNTAIN was dispatched by SPARROW-BLASTER in a 1 minute duel.
DREAD vanquished CULT MEMBER in a 1 minute uneven fight.
COOLIN SCOT viciously subdued QUAR-RAL in a 4 minute veteran vs. novice fight.
LOTHAR LIGHTSWORD was overpowered by CRYPT in a 1 minute one-sided match.
EUROQ bested FAITH MASTER in a exciting 1 minute amateur's conflict.
TERRENCE WYCLIFF demolished GNOFF in a 2 minute one-sided brawl.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|TOTAL PARRY 5 PARRY-STRIKE 5 - 1 - 0 83 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 5 TOTAL PARRY 25 - 6 - 0 81 |
|WALL OF STEEL 4 BASHING ATTACK 13 - 6 - 2 68 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 SLASHING ATTACK 16 - 11 - 3 59 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 4 - 3 - 0 57 |
|AIMED BLOW 2 LUNGING ATTACK 12 - 9 - 1 57 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 WALL OF STEEL 9 - 12 - 0 43 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-LUNGE 8 - 12 - 0 40 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 STRIKING ATTACK 11 - 23 - 0 32 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 9 - 0 10 |
Turn 478 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 4 - 1 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 2 2 TOTAL PARRY
SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 2 LUNGING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 2 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 2 PARRY-LUNGE
AIMED BLOW 1 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 1 2 BASHING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK
WALL OF STEEL 2 - 2 1 WALL OF STEEL
1 AIMED BLOW
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
TOTAL PARRY BREAK POINT 2741 25 14 0 104 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
SLASHING ATTACK LORI COLLIN 3888 11 9 1 96 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74)
WALL OF STEEL DAVY PRIVETTE 3447 12 1 0 53 FANDILS (75)
LUNGING ATTACK THORN 3904 5 1 0 52 DEATH (349)
PARRY-STRIKE RYTHYM WIZARD 3357 6 2 0 39 INFERNAL LORDS (8)
BASHING ATTACK GLAVER 3915 4 0 0 36 CYNICAL DELUSIONS (218)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is BECKER COLLIN 3850. The most popular warrior this
turn was COOLIN SCOT 3897. The ten other most popular fighters were QUIETUS 3913,
JUANITA 3926, LORI COLLIN 3888, RYTHYM WIZARD 3357, EUROQ 3901, JHEZRA STEELBLADE
3017, GLAVER 3915, HELLSPAWN 3903, BECKER COLLIN 3850, and THORN 3904.
The least popular fighter this week was GNOFF 3927. The other ten least popular
fighters were FAITH MASTER 365, LOTHAR LIGHTSWORD 3650, GALOOT 3907, CRYPT 3914,
QUAR-RAL 3898, SPARROW-BLASTER 3900, DEBRA CONKLIN 3890, JACINTHE 3892, DREAD 3902,
and SMILING MOUNTAIN 3896.