DARKHOLM SPORTING JOURNAL

Date   : 02/20/2016    Duedate: 03/04/2016

DARKHOLM ARENA

DM 104    TURN 682

RANK TEAMS                 W    L   K    %  RANK TEAMS                 W    L   K    % 
  1 WASTELAND II 7/500  3772 2721  16 58.1    3 HIGHLANDERS 42/1341  658  824  10 44.4
  2 BRUTAL LEGIO 7/1335   94  113   0 45.4    4 ARROGANCE 18/732    1574 2825  27 35.8
    BLOODY LEGION 96/1276                       THE LADY'S LIST 6/917
    LEGION OF LEGEND 62/1305

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

I expected to fight Phantasie last time, but he or she didn't show up for the fights, 
and I ended up facing Mikel, whom I've fought many times before.  He's a nice young 
man, handsome-ish.  Wasn't he of some political importance in the Andorian League at 
one time?  But he's listed as a Transelian, so I might be mistaken.  He's a Slasher 
(not revealing any secrets here, since he's usually a stylemaster).  I'm a Wall of 
Steel, which is sort of a Parry-Slasher, so really I would expect him to be able to 
defeat me.  Ah, but I have 350 fights to his 150, so that would explain why I keep 
beating him.

So... I guess we have just five guilds permanently active here (or four, if Bloodright 
is gone by the time this sees print).  I'm not sure why.  I heard somewhere that some 
managers like to build up their fighters' confidence by putting them in arenas where 
there isn't much competition.  Can that be right?  Does it work?  I'd think it would 
make you bored and sluggish.  Anyway... here we are, we few.  Party at my place 
tonight, okay?

Tolais Deepheart

                             REPORT FROM WITHIN THE TOWER

You're back again?  Hullo there!

TOLAIS DEEPHEART (42-1620) (181-169-0,264) of HIGHLANDERS fought MIKEL (6-6190) (72-
81-3,188) of THE LADY'S LIST.  TOLAIS DEEPHEART devastated MIKEL in a 1 minute 
mismatched Title fight.  It was the same fight as last time, I think.  Again, top Wall 
of Steel, top Slasher.

ASSUR (18-7821) (87-137-2,199) of ARROGANCE fought FATALITY (7-5820) (53-57-0,165) of 
BRUTAL LEGION.  ASSUR was vanquished by FATALITY in an exciting 1 minute uneven 
battle.  Top Basher, top Striker.

ZEUS (62-4010) (61-51-0,160) of LEGION OF LEGEND fought PHILTHRY (42-2079) (72-67-
0,174) of HIGHLANDERS.  ZEUS narrowly defeated PHILTHRY in a crowd pleasing 3 minute 
bloody duel.  Philthry is top Parry-Strike.Zeus... isn't a stylemaster?  What?

PELIS THE TRUE (42-3469) (61-102-1,133) of HIGHLANDERS fought MAN-MOUNTAIN (7-3853) 
(31-25-1,143) of WASTELAND II.  PELIS THE TRUE savagely defeated MAN-MOUNTAIN in an 
exciting 2 minute bloody fight.  Neither ofthese fellows is a stylemaster!  What is 
going on?  However, Mr. True is the overall popularity leader, and that's something.

ASSASSIN (96-1802) (13-9-4,68) of BLOODY LEGION fought COCKY SPECTATOR(104-3) (0-0-
0,0) of STAND-INS AND PROUD.  ASSASSIN bested COCKY SPECTATOR in a popular 3 minute 
bloody duel.  Top (and only) Aimed Blow, top Parry-Riposte.

It looks like nine actual gladiators fought, and they are packed into just six styles.  
What's missing?  Lunging, Parry-Lunge, Parry-Riposte, and Total Parry.

Snide Clemens says "Honor is like a chainmail shirt, it only shines through use."  Not 
so!  Those chainmail shirts get bloody, dirty, and rusty through use.  They shine 
through polishing.  And it's not an easy process. You have to wrap a cleaning rag 
around your finger and get into each little ring.  Takes forever.  So I hear, I 
haven't done it.  If I had to be a gladiator, I'd sit in a big steel box with earplugs 
in, until some poor fool dropped from exhaustion after banging on the sidesfor twenty 
minutes.  Either that, or I would be a practitioner of the Parry-Flee style.  I'm 
really quite fleet of foot.

See you in two weeks. -- Malic of Talcama

KEEPER OF THE RUNEBLADE        W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620    182 169     271  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI

GRAND CHAMPIONS                W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 FATALITY 7-5820              54  57     193  BRUTAL LEGION (1335)       BONSUR
 MIKEL 6-6190                 72  82  3  184  THE LADY'S LIST (917)      TRANSEL

GRAND CHALLENGER ADEPTS        W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 ZEUS 62-4010                 62  51     178  LEGION OF LEGEND (1305)    VALAMANTIS
 ASSUR 18-7821                87 138  2  172  ARROGANCE (732)            TALCAMA
 PHILTHRY 42-2079             72  68     168  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI

GRAND ADEPTS                   W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469       62 102  1  149  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI
 MAN-MOUNTAIN 7-3853          31  26  1  134  WASTELAND II (500)         BONSUR

GRAND INITIATES                W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 ASSASSIN 96-1802             14   9  4   70  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 -- Honestly, I was not aiming for your chest at all.  Left arm, only. -- Tolais 
Deepheart

Assur -- I think you're pretty good at that! -- Philthry

Fatality -- I hope that bit of training improves my win percentage.  I still would 
rather not fight you, but there's not much choice, is there? -- Philthry

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

TOLAIS DEEPHEART devastated MIKEL in a 1 minute mismatched Title fight.
ASSUR was vanquished by FATALITY in a exciting 1 minute uneven battle.
ZEUS narrowly defeated PHILTHRY in a crowd pleasing 3 minute bloody duel.
PELIS THE TRUE savagely defeated MAN-MOUNTAIN in a exciting 2 minute bloody fight.
ASSASSIN bested COCKY SPECTATOR in a popular 3 minute bloody duel.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK                   3         LUNGING ATTACK    11 -   5 -  0      69  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    2         AIMED BLOW         4 -   2 -  0      67  |
|AIMED BLOW                       1         WALL OF STEEL     12 -  10 -  0      55  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  1         TOTAL PARRY        3 -   3 -  1      50  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         PARRY-STRIKE       5 -   5 -  0      50  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  1         STRIKING ATTACK    5 -   5 -  0      50  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         BASHING ATTACK    11 -  19 -  0      37  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    0         PARRY-RIPOSTE      1 -   2 -  0      33  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   0         SLASHING ATTACK    3 -   7 -  0      30  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      0         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   0 -  0       0  |

Turn 682 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  SLASHING ATTACK
                              PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -  0         1  STRIKING ATTACK
                              LUNGING ATTACK     0 -  0         1  PARRY-STRIKE   
                              SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  1         1  AIMED BLOW     
                              TOTAL PARRY        0 -  0         1  LUNGING ATTACK 

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
WALL OF STEEL    TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620  182 169  0  271 HIGHLANDERS (1341)
STRIKING ATTACK  FATALITY 7-5820            54  57  0  193 BRUTAL LEGION (1335)
SLASHING ATTACK  MIKEL 6-6190               72  82  3  184 THE LADY'S LIST (917)
BASHING ATTACK   ASSUR 18-7821              87 138  2  172 ARROGANCE (732)
PARRY-STRIKE     PHILTHRY 42-2079           72  68  0  168 HIGHLANDERS (1341)
AIMED BLOW       ASSASSIN 96-1802           14   9  4   70 BLOODY LEGION (1276)

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

The least popular fighter this week was MIKEL 6-6190.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were ASSUR 18-7821, TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620, MAN-MOUNTAIN 7-3853, FATALITY 
7-5820, ASSASSIN 96-1802, PELIS THE TRUE 42-3469, ZEUS 62-4010, PHILTHRY 42-2079,  
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)          0  1 0  VALAMANTIS(62)       1  0 0  
BONSUR(7)            1  1 0  RODEKI(42)           2  1 0  OLD VALAMANTIS(96)   1  0 0  

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH ARENA     W   L  K PNTS  TEAM NAME                  CITY           
 MIKEL 6-6190                72  82  3  184  THE LADY'S LIST (917)      TRANSEL
 FATALITY 7-5820             54  57  0  193  BRUTAL LEGION (1335)       BONSUR
 ASSUR 18-7821               87 138  2  172  ARROGANCE (732)            TALCAMA
 TOLAIS DEEPHEART 42-1620   182 169  0  271  HIGHLANDERS (1341)         RODEKI
 ZEUS 62-4010                62  51  0  178  LEGION OF LEGEND (1305)    VALAMANTIS
 ASSASSIN 96-1802            14   9  4   70  BLOODY LEGION (1276)       OLD VALAMANTIS

                                NAME CHANGE-O-RAMA

     The crowd was surprisingly orderly, but it was still a crowd, and the Commission 
clerk, Algernon, looked at it uneasily.  Whenever this many people came together to 
petition for something, it meant trouble.  For him, anyway.  Records to be altered.  
Altering records was Bad.  It made Extra Work.
     His assistant clerk leaned close and whispered, "If it weren't for gladiators, we 
wouldn't have jobs.  Smile at them and ask what they want."
     Algernon closed his eyes briefly.  Looking at this crowd made him dizzy.  They 
were all wearing black and white stripes.  Like a herd of zebras, except that zebras 
didn't carry swords.  Then he took a deep breath and managed a smile.  "What... ah, 
what can I do for you?"
     "We want new names," the first gladiator said.  There was a number on the front 
of his shirt:  0381.  He thumped the number with his thumb.  "This here isn't a 
name--"
     "We want REAL names!"  That voice came from farther back in the crowd.
     "Yeah!  We've paid our dues," another shouted, "and we've EARNED real names!"
     One from the very back yelled, "I want to be called Tom."
     All the others turned to look at him.
     Algernon couldn't see him, but apparently those looks were accusing.  Well, he 
could understand that, "Tom" was such a... common name.
     "My mom called me Tom," the voice in the back protested.  "It's a good name."
     "It isn't the name you put on the petition," 0381 said.  "We talked about this.  
We got our manager's agreement.  You get the name on the petition."
     "But--!"
     Algernon didn't really want to keep staring at all these stripes while they 
argued.  He picked up the petition.  "These names are the ones you want?"
     0381 turned back.  "Yes."
     "It's a lot of trouble, and when other people see that YOU are getting name 
changes, THEY are going to want them--"  Seeing the gladiators beginning to frown... 
and finger their weapons, he went on quickly, "So I figure we might as well make it a 
complete deal.  A Name-Change-O-Rama.  Everyone who wants a name change can petition 
for it.  Get it all over with at once."  He glanced at the petition, shuddered 
slightly, and passed it to his clerk.  "We'll announce it, proclaim it, even, and you 
will get the names on this petition.  And others will get the names THEY think they 
should have had, too."  He paused.  "And I think I'll get a new name, I'm tired of 
being an Algernon...."

                                  *   *   *   *   *  

     Warrior and team name changes will be accepted during the month of March.  If 
you have names you want to change, please contact Customer Service. -- RSI