DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 04/20/2009 Duedate: 05/02/2009 ARDIVENT ARENA DM-46 TURN-551 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS TEMPTATION INFERNAL LORDS (8) (46-3314) [13-10-1,101] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader TEMPTATION POSITION IS EMPTY INFERNAL LORDS (8) (46-3314) [13-10-1,101] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite EUROQ MUNGO BURKE INFERNAL LORDS (8) BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) (46-3901) [11-10-2,82] (46-4097) [12-12-0,64] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. FANDILS (75) 48 2. INFERNAL LORDS (8) 12 FANDILS (75) 3. BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 9 Unchartered Team 4. DEATHTONGUE (89) -25 POLYHEDRONS (225) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 2 FANDILS (75) 969 705 34 57.9 1/ 1 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 8 7 0 2/ 1 DEATHTONGUE (89) %1181 862 58 57.8 2/ 2 INFERNAL LORDS (8) 7 5 0 3/ 3 INFERNAL LORDS (8) 287 230 15 55.5 3/ 3 DEATHTONGUE (89) 7 8 1 4/ 4 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) 510 806 14 38.8 4/ 4 FANDILS (75) 6 4 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 Andorian Succession #27 ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ + The Flower Shoppe was near the edge of the city, and Ravishing Redbud clearly knew the neighborhood intimately-- Fandil paused and rephrased that thought as he followed the Lady Protector and young Elosjon: She knew the area very well. She set a wandering course at the beginning, so that within five minutes no one could have guessed where they'd started from. And, as the young woman had predicted, people were looking only at her, not at her companions. The old mage considered adding a light spell to make himself and Elosjon even less noticeable but decided against it. Even a minor spell used power, and he might need that power later. And here in Fratsfa, where there were, if not "lots" of magicians, at least several, the spell itself might attract unwanted attention. They were passing through a very modest residential area, small houses, fenced yards with gardens and laundry on the lines, chickens scratching in the dust, and dogs that barked as they passed. No mobs, hired or otherwise, no haughty lords, just plain people. Rather pleasant, if they didn't have such a weight on their future: Finding out what had happened to the king and working out some way forward for Andoria as a whole. The outskirts of the city faded into not-quite-rural, and then into outright farming country. Small farms, mostly, truck gardens, milk cows, more chickens. Fandil avoided an aggressive rooster and admitted to himself that he didn't really like chickens until they came out of the skillet all crispy and golden. Woodlots here and there along the winding, unpaved road. More woods ahead, from what he could see--rising ground, hills becoming the Daggerspine Mountains. He moved closer to the two young people ahead, noting that Redbud had a firm grip on Elosjon's arm. "Where do you plan to turn back, Redbud?" he asked. She flung a glance over her shoulder at him, with a smile that would have felled an unwary young man at fifty paces. "Oh, I think I might go all the way, sir! After all, I can see that Elosjon wants me to come along...." Fandil looked at the young mage, whose ears were as red as beets. "Is that so?" Elosjon muttered something that Fandil took for agreement. But he wasn't trying to pull away from Redbud, so it might actually be agreement. "You say your grandfather told you about the Duke of Mountain Home," Fandil said. "What, exactly and completely, did he tell you? After all, information is power, and we'll need all we can get--that was a powerful spell we both felt." Elosjon seemed glad of something to think about other than the Flower Girl who had hold of him. "My grandfather just told me about the Duke resisting incorporation into the Andorian League," he said. "How he fought it to the end. And that there was a son who went away to study magic. Most of what I know--it isn't much--about how things are now is from Herlas. He said--" "One thing at a time," Fandil said. "Who's Herlas?" "You never heard of...? Well, he's a magician from Zensu. Older, he must be, I don't know, at least forty. Very skilled, but he had a bad reputation." "Bad as in doing what? Demon worship, human sacrifice, Chaos magic?" "Oh, NO! Not like that. Well, that I ever heard of. But very, um, ambitious, and not too how his spells affected other people, you know." Fandil nodded. He knew. That kind of attitude was common among younger magicians, and those who didn't grow out of it tended to go down dark paths to a bad end. One foot on the downward road and the other on a banana peel, as the saying went. "You say he 'had' a bad reputation. Has this changed?" Elosjon shrugged and shuffled his feet in the dust of the road. "I don't know. We don't talk about him any more. Not since he went to Andor to serve in the palace. If he'd been a dog, Fandil figured his ears would have stood straight up at that. "Herlas went to serve in the palace?" "Yes, about a year ago. But I saw him a few months later, just the once, you know, and he said, well, I didn't understand why he told me, or what he meant by it, but." Elosjon bit his lip and looked across Redbud at the older mage. "I never knew Herlas personally, you see, and while I'm fairly good, I'm not the best young magician in Fratsfa, but he came to ME. And he said I should remember that things aren't always what they seem, and that 'right and wrong are independent of official decrees', and that there was a magician around somewhere more powerful than all of us together. And two wrongs not making a right. A lot of stuff like that. And he said that there was what he called a 'black heart' in the Daggerspines. I thought about that a lot after he left, and I remembered what my grandfather told me, and then we felt the first of the barrier spells, and, well, I made some conclusions. I don't know if I'm right, but--" "I suspect you are right. At the least, it will bear looking into. Do you know how to reach Mountain Home?" "I think so. I never went, but I did look it up on a map." The young Fratsfan pointed ahead to where the road they were following bent northward. "There should be a fork up there, and we take the left-hand branch, south and west and uphill." Redbud looked right and left. The countryside they were crossing was increasingly wooded, and there had been no houses for the past few miles. "This is mostly hunting preserves for the lords of Fratsfa," she said. "We'll need to go carefully, especially once we turn off the road." "Might meet gamekeepers?" Fandil asked. "Yes, and they could be nasty ones. But there might be other things, too." She scowled at the nearest trees, already dim with shadow as the sun sank toward the Daggerspines. "Things they hunt, and not just deer, you know. Boars and bears! I wouldn't like to meet one of those while we're on foot." "Simpler to avoid trouble," Fandil agreed, "but if we meet it, we'll deal with it." The road bent to the right, and there was the fork. The left-hand branch was narrow and choked with brush; it didn't look like anyone had passed there in months. Fandil probed the first wall of brush with his staff. Brambles and saplings bound together with morning glory vines, but nothing that absolutely denied them passage. Redbud put her hand on her sword, perhaps thinking of cutting a path, then hesitated. "Quite right," Fandil said. "We don't want to leave a clear notice of our passing this way." "We'll end up with leaves and bugs down our shirts!" she warned. "No doubt, but we'll survive that. If one of your nasty gamekeepers found a clear sign of intrusion and followed us, that would be worse." "I suppose." She twitched her shoulders as though she was already itching and then pushed into the brush. The other two followed. * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * ---===ANDORIAN REGIONAL NEWS===--- Duelmasters ----------- DM 8 ARKERS (turn 308): CONCUSSION of CONSANGUINEOUS (Mannequin, mgr.) DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 617): LILAC LIZARD of ANIMAL FARM (Mino, mgr.) DM 14 TOBIR (turn 617): GEORGE FOREMUN of ALL THE MUN'S MEN (The Mun, mgr.) DM 22 SOLVEN (turn 606): ULTRA FAIT of DROP THE LEASH (Jekyll, mgr.) DM 24 ZORPUNT (turn 606): TCHENI LOY of KRILL CAVALRY (Jorja, mgr.) DM 25 LYRATILAN (turn 604): WORKER BEE of WE BEE BAD (Dartor, mgr.) DM 26 CALEAM (turn 603): FLESH FLAYER of ULTRA-VIOLENT (Deep Thought, mgr.) DM 30 IAYE (turn 599): SIR CARLSON of LENPROS (Lenpro, mgr.) DM 40 ZENSU (turn 568): GRUNT 5 of MEDAL OF HONOR G1 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 509): TERRINDAR of WANDERERS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 46 ARDIVENT (turn 550): BUM of DEATHTONGUE (Technogeek, mgr.) DM 52 FRATSFA (turn 255): BRAIN TUMOR of OTTO'S PARTS (Crip, mgr.) DM 63 AMEN-TEI (turn 449): M.T. LANE of WAYFARERS (Jorja, mgr.} DM 71 KYR'TERR (turn 209): NAPOLEON of DOGS OF WAR (Omega, mgr.) ADM 105 ANDORAK (turn 502): MAXIMUS of KELLUMBO'S KIDS (Detective Kellumbo, mgr.) Top Teams --------- DM 8 ARKERS (turn 308): CONSANGUINEOUS (Mannequin, mgr.) DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 617): BULLDOGS (Kennelworth, mgr.) DM 14 TOBIR (turn 617): ALL THE MUN'S MEN (The Mun, mgr.) DM 22 SOLVEN (turn 606): MIDDLE WAY 15 (Jorja, mgr.) DM 24 ZORPUNT (turn 606): MEDAL OF HONOOR J4 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 25 LYRATILAN (turn 604): THE MIDDLE WAY 4 (Jorja, mgr.) DM 26 CALEAM (turn 603): MENAGERIE (Ichabod Frothingslosh, mgr.) DM 30 IAYE (turn 599): LENPROS (Lenpro, mgr.) DM 40 ZENSU (turn 568): MEDAL OF HONOR G1 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 559): MEDAL OF HONOR H3 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 46 ARDIVENT (turn 550): BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 52 FRATSFA (turn 255): BLOOD AND GUTS! (Le Pentarque, mgr.) DM 63 AMEN-TEI (turn 449): MEDAL OF HONOR J3 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 71 KYR'TERR (turn 209): THE ZOO (Jorja, mgr.) ADM 105 ANDORAK (turn 502): KELLUMBO'S KIDS (Detective Kellumbo, mgr.) Recent Graduates ---------------- DM 11 ARUAK CITY (turn 616): FILET MIGNON of BULLDOGS (Kennelworth, mgr.) DM 14 TOBIR (turn 616): WHOLE MUTT of THE DOGHOUSE (Jorja, mgr.) MINUTE MUN of ALL THE MUN'S MEN (The Mun, mgr.) DM 40 ZENSU (turn 568): GRUNT 5 of MEDAL OF HONOR G1 (The Anarchist, mgr.) (turn 568): GRUNT 3 of MEDAL OF HONOR G1 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 41 KATI-TEI (turn 558): JANIE JONES of RADIO CLASH (Rude Buddha, mgr.) DM 46 ARDIVENT (turn 549): JACINTHE of BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (Jorja, mgr.) IZZCO of INFERNAL LORDS (DeGotti, mgr.) DM 52 FRATSFA (turn 255): TEALIN SALI of MIDDLE WAY 8 (Jorja, mgr.) DM 63 AMEN-TEI (turn 449): M.T. LANE of WAYFARERS (Jorja, mgr.} DM 71 KYR'TERR (turn 208): DORINE EAGEL of THE ZOO (Jorja, mgr.) DUELMASTER'S COLUMN Notes from the arena champ. Well geez, where did everyone go? I fight Noble Assassin, and take the throne? Papa Bear, get yer arse back here! Well, I'm duelmaster, deal with it. Bum SPY REPORT Greetings warriors! It is I, Zontani Sharp Eyes, here to bring report of the clash and bustle of the weekly ARDIVENT games. The city has turned out in honor of TEMPTATION, for with hers arena victory she may now lay claim to the highest position in the city! Informants "close" to the city champion have told me that he never fights without pantyhose on beneath his armor. Watch out! But come now, let us look deeper into the maze of contention and crossed blades that is city ARDIVENT. ARDIVENT, city of gladiators! Mighty among the names of thy guilds is INFERNAL LORDS, a guild shunned and avoided by many in the weekly duels. Methinks more than a few here could name the guild it was that spent the better part of last week avoiding INFERNAL LORDS. Indeed it was FANDILS. Loose talk at the arena has reached my ears and it but confirms the knowledge that many fighters are after EUROQ. Watch your back! A match that raised a few eyebrows at the games this week, it seems that SIS posted a challenge against the more highly recognized ALF MUSHPIE. The results, you ask? Well, the firebrand SIS defeated ALF MUSHPIE. Remember warriors, this is the discipline of steel. What warrior does not hone his years, impatiently waiting for the moment of his foe's mortality? Fate is a fickle mistress. She showers the miserable with fortune but sets enemies against the victorious. Remember this! A thought before I go. Each warrior practices one style, but must not the wise manager learn the secrets of them all? Ahh, but I can hear the spires of a far off city calling to me. I must away! 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 TEMPTATION 3314 13 10 1 101 INFERNAL LORDS (8) CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME EUROQ 3901 11 10 2 82 INFERNAL LORDS (8) CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BUM 4094 13 10 1 80 DEATHTONGUE (89) CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BINKLY 4115 12 8 0 66 DEATHTONGUE (89) MUNGO BURKE 4097 12 12 0 64 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME ANNA BEATRICE 4124 5 2 0 56 FANDILS (75) ABBOL 4080 12 17 0 53 INFERNAL LORDS (8) SNORKY 4134 7 6 1 51 DEATHTONGUE (89) TANIA PARK 4117 12 8 0 47 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) UNCLE BOB 4143 4 4 1 45 FANDILS (75) -IRONWOLF 274 5 1 0 42 BARBARIAN HORDE (47) JENNIMYS COLLIN 4114 9 12 0 39 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BINGO LITTLE 4148 4 3 0 28 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) SIS 4153 2 1 0 27 FANDILS (75) NOVE 4139 7 4 0 25 INFERNAL LORDS (8) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -UG 271 4 2 1 19 BARBARIAN HORDE (47) -KROKUS 272 4 2 0 19 BARBARIAN HORDE (47) -TARAMON 270 3 3 0 18 BARBARIAN HORDE (47) -WEASEL 273 4 2 0 15 BARBARIAN HORDE (47) BETTY 4149 2 4 0 10 DEATHTONGUE (89) ALF MUSHPIE 4151 2 3 0 9 DEATHTONGUE (89) LILY CATHERINE 4154 1 0 0 8 FANDILS (75) BROTHER JEROME 4152 1 0 0 7 FANDILS (75) RANDELL SCOT 4156 0 1 0 1 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? PERSONAL ADS Betty -- You meanie. How could you and that big bad manager of yours do something like this to me? I am heartbroken. -- Sis Constable -- I like 'em friendly. I really do. -- Uncle Bob Bum -- Are you taking that? Beating the Veteran Mercenary for the title? Tsk, tsk. -- Us Fandil Warriors Mr. Bum -- Congratulations on winning the title, Champ. -- Fandil The Wise Jacinthe -- Nice faves! -- WOF (chuckling rather heavily) DeGotti -- Nice numbers on that Izzco. And Mannequin is quite the manager, isn't he? Well done. -- Fandil The Wise (Who usually always likes to razz the young DeGotti.) P.S. If you wanna talk, including Jorja's comments, I can best be reached at wfms101@aol.com. (Or through our little friend, Rat.) Nice point gain, Infernal Lords! You blew us all out! Kudos. -- WOF Technogeek -- And there you are above us with a clear lead. Again! Well done. -- Fandil The Wise Well, good luck to all of you and all of us in The Mailer. -- WOF Temptation -- Lead me not over there! -- Binkly Tania -- Hey there stop that! Them weapons is expensive! -- Snorky Mungo -- Bad Mungo, bad!. -- Alf Sis -- You're fast kiddo, but trickable. -- Betty Wow! Talk about highs and lows of a team. It feels that I'm on a roller coaster ride. Team on the move...lowest team on the move...back to top team on the move! -- DeGotti Jennimys Collin -- No chocolate here just some angry lightening in the form of my short spear! -- Temptation Jacinthe -- Thought since we were graduating at the same time we should fight one last time! -- Izzco Fandil -- We get it! Your new recruits need all the extra skills they can gather to fight us battle-tested veterans. -- DeGotti Jorja/Fandil -- I would love to hear any ideas you may have! Technogeek, if you have any ideas feel free to let us know too. My email is degottidm@yahoo.com if you would like to get in touch. - DeGotti/Scott Izzco -- So we battle our way out the door, eh? I warn you now, I'm not getting into the Shuttle with you and fighting all the way to the Isle! In fact, I don't think I'll go at all. I'd like something more in my life. I wonder if I can ginger up the arena staff to renew their efforts to find some kind of gifts for graduating gladiators? Surely that isn't too much to ask? -- Jacinthe Nove -- Oh, I say! You golem chappies are just too rough. I mean to say, you make even my Great-Aunt Corvina look like a cooing dove, and she doesn't, well, it's hard to imagine anyone less dove like, don't you know. The beak, the claws, the piercing eyes, all that, enough to make my heart shake in my boots. You'd probably get along with her just fine. -- Bingo Little Alf Mushpie -- Listen, the whipped cream on top wasn't my idea! It was one of the stewards, I'm almost sure of that. And it was the Infirmary crew that came up with the idea of laying you on a bed of flaky pastry. -- Mungo Burke P.S. Er, was it good pastry? I'm having an awful time finding good pastry. Abbol -- I was reading up on stuff just the other day, and it said elves don't like golems. Why didn't anybody tell me this? It explains so much! -- Jennimys Collin P.S. For one thing, it means me disliking you isn't, you know, personal, it's just a racial thing. Snorky -- Jenni's full of it. I don't dislike you because you're a golem, I dislike you because you make rude sounds and should wipe your nose now and then. -- Tania Park Uncle Bob -- I recoil with horror at the mere concept of being "your daddy." -- Mungo Burke Sis -- I live to serve. -- Limpy Clean, Polite Beggar P.S. Got a copper or two you aren't using? By popular demand--one demand out of two graduates makes fifty percent, does it not? By popular demand, I shall look about the storerooms at the castle and see what might be suitable as Gifts for Graduating Gladiators. Not today, because it will take a while to blow the dust off, but for the next graduates, perhaps. -- Arvendon, Secretary to the Baron LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS ANNA BEATRICE was devastated by EUROQ in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight. SNORKY vanquished JENNIMYS COLLIN in a 1 minute uneven Challenge battle. BINKLY demolished TANIA PARK in a 1 minute uneven Challenge fight. SIS devastated ALF MUSHPIE in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge contest. BUM was overpowered by TEMPTATION in a 1 minute mismatched Title match. ABBOL was viciously subdued by MUNGO BURKE in a 1 minute veteran's duel. NOVE was devastated by UNCLE BOB in a 1 minute one-sided competition. BETTY was handily defeated by BINGO LITTLE in a 1 minute uneven melee. BROTHER JEROME won victory over RANDELL SCOT in a 6 minute novice's duel. LILY CATHERINE won victory over FRIENDLY CONSTABLE in a 1 minute novice's duel. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |STRIKING ATTACK 6 SLASHING ATTACK 13 - 5 - 0 72 | |SLASHING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 6 - 4 - 0 60 | |LUNGING ATTACK 3 LUNGING ATTACK 16 - 12 - 0 57 | |TOTAL PARRY 2 BASHING ATTACK 13 - 10 - 1 57 | |AIMED BLOW 1 STRIKING ATTACK 24 - 20 - 1 55 | |BASHING ATTACK 1 TOTAL PARRY 7 - 6 - 0 54 | |WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 10 - 9 - 0 53 | |PARRY-STRIKE 1 WALL OF STEEL 9 - 14 - 1 39 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 2 - 0 33 | |PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 3 - 14 - 0 18 | Turn 551 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: AIMED BLOW 1 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 5 4 STRIKING ATTACK SLASHING ATTACK 3 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 LUNGING ATTACK BASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 1 1 PARRY-STRIKE LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 1 1 WALL OF STEEL TOTAL PARRY 1 - 1 1 TOTAL PARRY 1 BASHING ATTACK TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME LUNGING ATTACK TEMPTATION 3314 13 10 1 101 INFERNAL LORDS (8) STRIKING ATTACK EUROQ 3901 11 10 2 82 INFERNAL LORDS (8) AIMED BLOW BINKLY 4115 12 8 0 66 DEATHTONGUE (89) WALL OF STEEL SNORKY 4134 7 6 1 51 DEATHTONGUE (89) TOTAL PARRY TANIA PARK 4117 12 8 0 47 BLUVALLEY WARRIORS (74) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is EUROQ 3901. The most popular warrior this turn was MUNGO BURKE 4097. The ten other most popular fighters were RANDELL SCOT 4156, SIS 4153, UNCLE BOB 4143, SNORKY 4134, BINKLY 4115, TEMPTATION 3314, ABBOL 4080, BINGO LITTLE 4148, LILY CATHERINE 4154, and EUROQ 3901. The least popular fighter this week was BROTHER JEROME 4152. The other ten least popular fighters were BETTY 4149, NOVE 4139, BUM 4094, ALF MUSHPIE 4151, TANIA PARK 4117, JENNIMYS COLLIN 4114, ANNA BEATRICE 4124, EUROQ 3901, LILY CATHERINE 4154, and BINGO LITTLE 4148.