October 30, 2000
Duelling in the Graveyard - By Markalodidon
Morning in the City of Medievia - I've never been a morning person but the
rules of the Hotel Medievia are that you vacate your rooms by nine of the
clock. I've seen the size of the chambermaids so I always leave well before
nine - there's brave and there's foolhardy.
As usual I meandered off to the square, hub of the City and a very handy
place to get a quick drink from the fountain. Wiping away the drool from
Scruff's last visit I made good use of the water, splashing my face to finish
the waking process and taking my time to eavesdrop on the conversations
around me. Everyone who's anyone comes to this central square at one time
or another and more than one adventure has begun from a chance meeting.
After about half-an-hour of sitting there, I heard a vague shout. I decided,
that as I had seen most of what was to be seen in the square, I would head off
and find the shouter and enquire as too what he was shouting about. As I
moved closer to him, I could start to make out a bit of what he was saying - it
sounded as if he was asking if anyone wanted to duel with him.
When I finally reached him, a fellow by the name of Kril, it turned out that
this was exactly what he wanted. I felt like testing my own prowess so I
decided, if he turned out to be of similar stature, I would accept.
I was known to a few people in Trellor, notably the owner of a whelk stall,
while he was rather notorious in distant Lyryanoth - we were of similar
repute but in different circles. The only thing that could tip the balance was
that I had already been in a few duelling matches. I had lost all but the most
recent of them, and this led me to believe that I could beat him.
I regarded him calmly, knowing from his stance that he relied on brute force
and strength rather than any real skill - my dexterity and training would
hopefully allow me to see him off. We sought and found a secluded place to
compare our abilities, all the better to keep our duel from prying
eyes and unwelcome interlopers. We were both as well versed in the arts of war
as the other - this would most definitely be an interesting battle! We headed
over to the graveyard that was just outside the gates of the City of Medievia.
This was an area we both knew well and it was well away from any who wished
to gatecrash our little fight.
When we got there we both cast most of our known spells on ourselves, giving us
more protection from the blows that we would shortly lay upon each other. When
we had both rested, and drunk and eaten our last meal, we stood up and parted.
We moved off to different parts of the graveyard, so that we would have to
track each other down before we began to fight. I arrived at my agreed upon
corner and started scanning the area, to see if I could see any signs of him.
None were evident, as I had expected, probably due to the fact that he was
probably doing exactly the same thing as me in his corner. I moved off, heading
cautiously to where he was meant to be.
I kept peering in all directions every time I moved, hoping to spot him before
he spotted me. As I got closer the adrenalin began pumping. A few more
meters and I would be there. Suddenly I felt a terrible pain tear through my
shoulder! He had been hiding, waiting for me to come far enough along the path
so that he could backstab me. I wrenched away from him and made a quick survey
of the damage to my shoulder - it was bleeding profusely and hurting like hell.
I knew that I should heal it, otherwise it would take very little to finish me
off. Knowing that he would off-balance after the backstab, I leapt out of his
reach and cast two quick heal spells on myself. Hoping that this would be
enough I leapt back into the area where he had been, and hoped to catch him before
he caught me again.
I returned the favor of his backstab and it turned out to be a devastatingly
good plunge, one that very nearly killed him. He fled in desperation,
frantically healing his wounds. Once I restored my balance, I chased after him.
This time I was more aware of the fact that he would probably be hiding,
waiting for me to stride past him. Healing myself as I moved, I muttered a few
words that would allow me to sense hidden life forms. As I followed him,
moving closer toward the exit, I started to wonder if he was going to run away
and not come back.
All of a sudden I got a strange feeling. My sense life had alerted me
to the fact that something was hiding in my immediate area! Knowing that it
would be Kril, my opponent, I leapt into the attack, attempting to place my
perilously sharp dagger deep into his exposed back, but he luckily moved
out of the way as my blade whistled down, missing him by mere inches. I saw
that his wounds were more grievous than I had previously thought.
He leapt back a few steps from me, composing himself for a mighty
backstab. It was his last chance - if his dagger hit home cleanly, it would
surely kill me in the somewhat wounded state I was in. If he missed, he was as
good as dead, for my retort which would follow would surely kill him.
He moved forward for the death blow, and landed a clumsy effort. It looked
as if I might just win. Once I had regained my balance, I stepped back, ready
to plunge my dagger into his back one last time, when I heard footfalls moving
up behind me. A strange tingling came over my body and I felt a
deadly sharp blade enter between my shoulder blades, killing me in one
powerful stroke. Shortly after I heard Kril's despairing scream as he fell
victim to my attacker. We had been hunted down and killed by a
more powerful adventurer, after all of our hard fought battle tactics.
I awoke with a splitting headache out in the wilderness. I heard a shout carry
over with the wind, "Thanks for the easy pks guys!" That is when I decided I
would start taking down names of everyone who cherry picked me, and I would
wreak revenge when I one day reached the pinnacle of power, in the great land
of Medievia.
FRONT PAGE | MEDIEVIA HOME PAGE