DARKHOLM SPORTING JOURNAL

Date   : 02/06/2016    Duedate: 02/19/2016

DARKHOLM ARENA

DM 104    TURN 681

RANK TEAMS                 W    L   K    %  RANK TEAMS                 W    L   K    % 
  1 WASTELAND II 7/500  3772 2720  16 58.1      BLOODY LEGION 96/1276
  2-BLOODRIGHT 11/1377    66   74   1 47.1      LEGION OF LEGEND 62/1305
    THE HOLY LEGION 10/490                    4 HIGHLANDERS 42/1341  656  823  10 44.4
    GRIZZLED VETERANS 40/1378                 5 ARROGANCE 18/732    1574 2823  27 35.8
  3 BRUTAL LEGIO 7/1335   91  113   0 44.6      THE LADY'S LIST 6/917

                                 THE GUARDIAN'S FORUM
                      Reflections by the Keeper of the Runeblade

I still miss the popcorn.  Anyway, I fought Mikel last time.  It seems like all the 
fighters in Darkholm are going to percolate up through the Grand Challenger Champs, 
one at a time.  Looks like this turn I'll be facing Phantasie, unless he (or she) 
declines to fight.  I think Phantasie must be a Wall of Steel, like me, because 
otherwise he or she would be listed in the stylemasters.  Cool, I don't get to fight 
my own style very often.  Looking forward to it.

I don't have anything else to say, except this:  Hang in there until summer.

With best wishes, 

                                          Tolais Deepheart

                             REPORT FROM WITHIN THE TOWER

Hullo!

Five fights.  Oh dear.  So little to say, and such a BIG sheet of paper.  Ah, there, 
I've folded the sheet in half.  That's less daunting.  Of those who competed, only 
three were not awarded a stylemaster title.  Nobody challenged, nobody avoided, nobody 
died.

Hmm.  Based on the column she wrote, Ms. Deepheart expected to fight Phantasie this 
turn.  But Phantasie didn't show up.  TOLAIS DEEPHEART (42-1620) (180-169-0,256) of 
HIGHLANDERS fought MIKEL (6-6190) (72-80-3,193) of THE LADY'S LIST.  TOLAIS DEEPHEART 
devastated MIKEL in a 1 minute mismatched Title fight.  Of course, Tolais is our top 
Wall of Steel and continues as Keeper of the Runeblade.  Despite losing, Mikel is our 
top Slasher.

PHILTHRY (42-2079) (72-66-0,189) of HIGHLANDERS fought ASSUR (18-7821) (86-137-2,180) 
of ARROGANCE.  PHILTHRY was vanquished by ASSUR in an exciting 1 minute gory uneven 
battle.  Top Parry-Strike, top Basher.

ZEUS (62-4010) (60-51-0,154) of LEGION OF LEGEND fought MAN-MOUNTAIN (7-3853) (31-24-
1,140) of WASTELAND II.  ZEUS won victory over MAN-MOUNTAIN in a crowd pleasing 1 
minute gory brawl.  Neither of these fighters is currently a stylemaster.

FATALITY (7-5820) (52-57-0,159) of BRUTAL LEGION fought PELIS THE TRUE (42-3469) (61-
101-1,138) of HIGHLANDERS.  FATALITY overpowered PELIS THE TRUE in a crowd pleasing 1 
minute mismatched match.  Fatality is top Striker, but Pelis the True didn't win 
anything.  Tsk!

ASSASSIN (96-1802) (12-9-4,66) of BLOODY LEGION fought DRUNKEN FISHERMAN (104-1) (20-
20-0,50) of  .  ASSASSIN won victory over DRUNKEN FISHERMAN in a 2 minute fight.  
Assassin is our premier, and very alarming, Aimed Blow.

Zontani Sharp Eyes says "The pen is mightier than the sword, but a maul is a different 
story."  Indeed.  And I question whether the pen is truly mightier than the sword, in 
most cases.  Swords are darned mighty.

That's all.  I'm off to drown my sorrows.

                                          -- Malic of Talcama

KEEPER OF THE RUNEBLADE        W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620    181 169     264  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI

GRAND CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS     W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
-PHANTASIE 11-2330            68  52  2  217  BLOODRIGHT (1377)          ARUAK CITY

GRAND CHAMPIONS                W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 ASSUR 18-7821                87 137  2  199  ARROGANCE (732)            TALCAMA
 MIKEL 6-6190                 72  81  3  188  THE LADY'S LIST (917)      TRANSEL
-STING 10-429                 40  34  2  185  THE HOLY LEGION (490)      KOLACT

GRAND CHALLENGER ADEPTS        W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 PHILTHRY 42-2079             72  67     174  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI
 FATALITY 7-5820              53  57     165  BRUTAL LEGION (1335)       BONSUR
 ZEUS 62-4010                 61  51     160  LEGION OF LEGEND (1305)    VALAMANTIS

GRAND ADEPTS                   W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 MAN-MOUNTAIN 7-3853          31  25  1  143  WASTELAND II (500)         BONSUR
 PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469       61 102  1  133  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI

GRAND INITIATES                W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
-KYLROI 40-4534               21   3      79  GRIZZLED VETERANS (1378)   ZENSU
 ASSASSIN 96-1802             13   9  4   68  BLOODY LEGION (1276)       OLD VALAMANTIS

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

THE DEAD                   W   L  K TEAM NAME              SLAIN BY                  TURN

                               PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE

Mikel -- Well, that was sort of unpleasant.  I hope you're feeling better. -- Tolais 
Deepheart

Assur -- Tell your manager you need a gender.  You'll fight better. -- Philthry

Fatality -- You deserved the win, but you didn't get it.  Sorry. -- Pelis the True

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

TOLAIS DEEPHEART devastated MIKEL in a 1 minute mismatched Title fight.
PHILTHRY was vanquished by ASSUR in a exciting 1 minute gory uneven battle.
ZEUS won victory over MAN-MOUNTAIN in a crowd pleasing 1 minute gory brawl.
FATALITY overpowered PELIS THE TRUE in a crowd pleasing 1 minute mismatched match.
ASSASSIN won victory over DRUNKEN FISHERMAN in a 2 minute fight.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK                   3         LUNGING ATTACK    13 -   6 -  0      68  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    2         AIMED BLOW         3 -   2 -  0      60  |
|AIMED BLOW                       1         WALL OF STEEL     12 -  11 -  0      52  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  1         PARRY-STRIKE       5 -   5 -  0      50  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         PARRY-RIPOSTE      2 -   2 -  0      50  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  1         STRIKING ATTACK    4 -   6 -  0      40  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         TOTAL PARRY        3 -   5 -  1      38  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    0         BASHING ATTACK    11 -  19 -  0      37  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   0         SLASHING ATTACK    3 -   7 -  0      30  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      0         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   0 -  0       0  |

Turn 681 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     BASHING ATTACK     1 -  2         3  BASHING ATTACK 
STRIKING ATTACK    1 -  0     PARRY-LUNGE        0 -  0         2  WALL OF STEEL  
WALL OF STEEL      2 -  0     PARRY-STRIKE       0 -  1         2  LUNGING ATTACK 
                              PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -  0         1  SLASHING ATTACK
                              LUNGING ATTACK     0 -  0         1  PARRY-STRIKE   
                              SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  1         1  STRIKING ATTACK
                              TOTAL PARRY        0 -  0         1  AIMED BLOW     

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
WALL OF STEEL    TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620  181 169  0  264 HIGHLANDERS (1341)
BASHING ATTACK   ASSUR 18-7821              87 137  2  199 ARROGANCE (732)
SLASHING ATTACK  MIKEL 6-6190               72  81  3  188 THE LADY'S LIST (917)
PARRY-STRIKE     PHILTHRY 42-2079           72  67  0  174 HIGHLANDERS (1341)
STRIKING ATTACK  FATALITY 7-5820            53  57  0  165 BRUTAL LEGION (1335)
AIMED BLOW       ASSASSIN 96-1802           13   9  4   68 BLOODY LEGION (1276)

The overall popularity leader is PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469.  The most popular warrior 
this turn was ASSASSIN 96-1802.  The ten other most popular fighters were ASSUR 
18-7821, ZEUS 62-4010, MAN-MOUNTAIN 7-3853, FATALITY 7-5820, TOLAIS DEEPHEART 
42-1620, PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469, MIKEL 6-6190, PHILTHRY 42-2079,  0-0, and  0-0.

The least popular fighter this week was PHILTHRY 42-2079.  The other ten least 
popular fighters were MIKEL 6-6190, PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469, TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620, 
FATALITY 7-5820, MAN-MOUNTAIN 7-3853, ZEUS 62-4010, ASSUR 18-7821, ASSASSIN 96-1802,  
0-0, and  0-0.

Arena (Number)       W  L K  Arena (Number)       W  L K  Arena (Number)       W  L K  
TRANSEL(6)           0  1 0  TALCAMA(18)          1  0 0  VALAMANTIS(62)       1  0 0  
BONSUR(7)            1  1 0  RODEKI(42)           1  2 0  OLD VALAMANTIS(96)   1  0 0  

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH ARENA     W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 MIKEL 6-6190                72  81  3  188  THE LADY'S LIST (917)      TRANSEL
 FATALITY 7-5820             53  57  0  165  BRUTAL LEGION (1335)       BONSUR
 ASSUR 18-7821               87 137  2  199  ARROGANCE (732)            TALCAMA
 TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620   181 169  0  264  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI
 ZEUS 62-4010                61  51  0  160  LEGION OF LEGEND (1305)    VALAMANTIS
 ASSASSIN 96-1802            13   9  4   68  BLOODY LEGION (1276)       OLD VALAMANTIS

                              NEW NOVEL:  "BLOOD GAMES"

Hail Gladiatorial Managers of Alastari,

     My name is Mark G. Manley, AKA Grimwood, author of the Duel 2 novel, "Dark 
Arena."  The RSI staff and I are pleased to announce the next novel in the Duel 2 
reality, "Blood Games."  A publisher has offered a contract to publish the novel and 
I'll continue to provide detailed updates as they become available.  However, I wanted 
to share a quick blurb about the novel.

                                        * * *

     WAR!
     The land of Alastari is thrown into chaos caused by the invasion of the Rirorni 
horde.  Swept up in the conflict and captured is My-re, a young girl living on the 
edge of the Rirorni plains.  Regarded as a spoil of war and growing up in a Rirorni 
family band, her troubles just begin as warlords within the Rirorni Empire fight each 
other for prestige, property, and personal honor.  For mutual protection, My-re is 
taught the family band's Wall of Steel combat style, where if executed correctly, no 
blade, no weapon, no arrow can penetrate.
     In a land where life is dangerous, brutal, and short, My-re is confronted by a 
prominent Rirorni warrior and kills him in self-defense.  She is sold to a Rirorni 
slaver after being found guilty of murder, and exiled back to her native land of 
Alastari.  However, there is no happy reunion, no joyful return, as she is sentenced 
to fight in the Blood Games arena for her crime.
     My-re's one chance of freedom resides in winning the Blood Game tournament.  But 
the champion is not declared by besting your opponents, but by slaughtering them.

                                        * * *

     As with novel "Dark Arena," I worked with RSI to write and publish "Blood Games" 
in the Duel 2 world of Alastari.  But it will always be known as Duelmasters to me.
     I wanted to share a little bit of background about myself, I started my first 
team back on turn 12 in Niania (Arena #2) on February 13, 1990.  I managed a team 
called Wolverines.  The next summer at Gen Con, I started my main team, Skull Squadron 
in Rocanis (Arena #56).  The following summer at Gen Con, I stared Legion of Death, in 
Valamantis (Arena #62).  Twenty-five years later, I've graduated numerous warriors, 
which would not be an easy feat to count.
     Good luck on the arena sands and more to come.

                                          -- Mark G. Manley
                                             AKA Grimwood