Rings of Honor

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On June 16th, 2005, the Baronial rings of the Duel of Swords were renamed due to the decreased number which resulted from the rift in the Ward of Gondar. Each ring became associated with one of the sevens of RhyDin and, thus, the Baron of the Elventh became known as The Baron of the Old Market.

Reign Summaries

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Darkness (5/26/98 - 6/6/98)
The second of the four new Baron's rings was taken by Darkness, who fought through many of the best and brightest of the Duel of Swords Warlords to be the fifth-place winner of the Second-Quarter Warlord Tourney. Darkness made a public request not long after accepting the ring that as many as nine Warlords issue challenge, and he would face the full que of them. Tom Evasion and G'nort Dragoon-Talanador answered that request, and both appeared at the scheduled time to face the Baron. However, Baron Darkness himself never appeared for those duels, and was declared in forfeit of his ring. The matter was turned over to the Baron's Council to decide.

After several days debate, during which the Baron himself only came towards the end, it was decided he would be stripped of his ring and Warlord Evasion would face a Council-appointed Baron for the Eleventh. Should he fail against the defender, G'nort would have his chance.

AJ Bird, bearer of the Second Ring, stood strong against the Warlords.  Tom's challenge was denied in twelve rounds, and G'nort's followed suit after eight. Less than a month after forging, the Eleventh Ring was left to be offered as a prize for the next Warlord Tourney some two months away.

Gimzak Stonecutter (8/25/98 - 9/3/99)
Three rings were vacant by the time the Third-Quarter Tourney came, and the last taken as a prize was the Eleventh. As fourth-place winner, the ring went to Gimzak Stonecutter. He waited patiently through the placement and prize selection of those before him to accept his place as a Loyal Baron to Overlord Dalamar.

Just under two months later, Baron Gimzak faced his first defense against Warlord Adonai Uziel. When the match came, however, it was the Overlord Dalamar who entered the ring for the Baron. Magnus Eques, Renegade of the Thirteenth, stood against Dal on the Warlord's behalf. The duel was thirteen grueling rounds, with the Baron taking an early lead. In the end Dal prevailed, and it was Adonai's turn to face the Overlord. This match was not so long, though just as close with Dal's 5 - 4 victory successfully defending Baron Gimzak's title.

Gimzak's second challenge came from Gloria Blaze. This time the Baron took to the ring himself, and his performance left little doubt as to why he was a Baron. From the first he took a strong lead.  Even though the Warlord managed to make up a good portion of her deficit, the end of eight rounds saw Gimzak the victor with a 5 - 3 score.

Warlord Daegarth Mithmellon was the next to challenge the dwarf's reign. The Baron took an early lead, and all of the Warlord's skills were on display to make up the lost ground. But Gimzak's skills were also in full show, and he would not yield the lead. In the seventh round a swift low cut secured the final point for the Baron, a 5 - 3 victory.

Eight months after taking the Eleventh Ring, Gimzak faced his fourth challenge, from Warlord Sara Elijah Alexander. Though the challenger fought hard with a fine display of skill, from the first it was clear the Baron was in command of the match. In the ninth round he successfully defended his title, by a 5 - 2 score.

Shortly before Gimzak's marked and successful reign of a year Daelin Dragonsblade, friend and former housemate, issued challenge. A friendly and respectable rally, the Baron and Warlord met in the ring. Daelin displayed the better skill, defeating Gimzak in five rounds with a score of 5-2

Daelin Dragonsblade (9/3/99 - 6/4/00)
After several months without challenge, Daelin surrendered the Eleventh Ring to take up a new responsibility as Overlord of the Duel of Swords. With a full three months ahead before the next Warlord's Tourney, Young Lord Evermeadow declared a special mid-cycle Tournament would be held to place the Eleventh.

Lucian (7/9/00 - 10/1/00)
The Tag-Team Tournament was peculiar in many ways, and from the outset Young Lord Evermeadow stated that it was only to be a special circumstance. The duelers involved would fight in teams in a single-elimination Tourney, and the winning partners would face off for custody of the Eleventh. This particular Tourney also allowed for the entrance of non-Warlords, making it possible for the first time for someone below the rank to win a Baron's Ring. Quite some consternation was raised in the community over that, and several people expressed their views vehemently that to allow a lower-ranked dueler the chance to win a Baron's Ring would cheapen the value of making Warlord in the first place. Others noted, however, that with the low turnouts of competitors at recent tournies, the upper ranks had already cheapened the value of their ranks; therefore, allowing lower ranks who were enthusiastic about the possibility could only help.

In the end, the concerns proved moot. The Warlord team of Gunthar O'dwyer and Lucian went undefeated through the Tourney. The partners then faced off to determine the fate of the Eleventh. It was Lucian who garnered the winning point, and with it the Barony of the Eleventh Ring.

After three months, the Baron Lucian laid challenge to Overlord Daegarth Mithmellon, one of only three persons to hold the highest rank of the Duel of Swords more than once. Lord Mithmellon chose to fight a one shot duel, with no Test of Worthiness. The duel lasted nine rounds, with Daegarth repeatedly gaining a single point lead and Lucian repeatedly succeeding in tying the score. In the final round, the Baron took his only lead of the match. However, that single lead was the winning point for a final score of 5-4. The former Overlord, now Baron Daegarth Mithmellon declared himself Renegade at once.

Daegarth Mithmellon (10/1/00 - 2/10/01)
Early in the second month of the new year, the Baron posted note through his long-time friend and ally, Lyon T'Gar, that he wished to retire. The Eleventh Ring thus awaited the next tournament of warlords.

Verceterix Gavin Favre (3/13/01 - 3/26/03)
Verceterix Gavin Favre, former holder of the Fifth, went on to take one of the two Baron's rings offered in the First-Quarter Warlord Tournament of '01. By virtue of his second place finish, Rix claimed the Eleventh as his own and declared himself Loyal to Overlord Lucian.

During Seamus MacDonnaugh's reign as Overlord, Rix offered challenge after taking issue with the way Seamus had acted during his earlier defenses. However, Rix was never able to overcome the Overlord's Test of Worthiness.

It would be over a year, and six new Overlords, before Rix was first challenged. It was that lack of being challenged that helped prompt Warlord Karen Wilder to issue challenge. Rix chose to hold the match in a best of three series. Few were in attendance to watch as Rix handled Karen in two back-to-back, ten round, duels. Each match was close until the final rounds where Rix managed to extend his slim lead far enough to take the victory. The first match saw Rix overcome an early deficit to take the match with a score of 5-3. Karen fell behind 4-2 in the second match, and began to mount a late rally before being halted by the Baron's well-timed stop hit. The match ended with a score of 5-3.5.

Next up for Rix was Lorance Sneggle. Rix once again used the best of three format, but this time all three duels would be needed to decide a victor. The first match saw the two mirror over half of the ten rounds fought. In the end, Rix took the match 5-3. The second was considerably longer, stretching a full nineteen rounds before Lorance landed a direct attack under Rix's reversal. More mirrored rounds kept the score at a relatively low 6-5. The final match began with yet another three mirrored rounds. After Rix took the lead in the fourth round, he never looked back. The Eleventh was secured with a 5-3.5 victory in thirteen rounds.

After two years and thirteen days, Rix finally became the senior Baron on the council. One day after Unagi's incredible reign ended, Rix stepped into the ring to defend his own longstanding reign. Ironically, Rix waited two years to become senior Baron, but only held that position for one day. Chris Graziano was the second member of "The Wrecking Crew" to defeat a senior Baron of the council. In a span of two days, the two longest standing Barons ever were defeated.

Chris needed two matches to wrest the Eleventh away from Rix. Both matches ended by scores of 5-3. The matches lasted eight and eleven rounds.

Chris Graziano (3/26/03 - 7/10/03)
Chris held the Eleventh for just shy of four months before he decided to press a challenge to Overlord Tarl Cabot. In a quick two matches, Tarl became the new holder of the Eleventh, as Chris went on to assume the mantle. Tarl declared himself loyal to the man who had just defeated him.

Tarl Cabot (7/10/03 - 12/15/03)
Grayson MacLeod was the first to challenge Tarl's reign, and the ensuing best-of-three bout would be more a display of competitive sportsmanship than a hunger of either party to hold the title. Tarl needed only two duels to retain his ring, defeating Grayson 5.5-2 in nine and 5-3 in twelve--the latter ending with the Baron putting a stop to the Scot's patented lunge. Afterward, Grayson complimented Tarl on a fine defense.

Nearly five months into his reign, Tarl was challenged again. The challenger this time was Captain Lorance Sneggle. At the time of the challenge, Tarl was ranked second amongst duelers in the Team Dueling League, however his good fortune in that venue did not cross over to his Baronial match. In a short ten rounds, Lorance was able to best the Baron and become the new holder of the Eleventh ring. The final score was 5-3.

Lorance Sneggle (12/15/03 - 5/2/04)
Lorance's first challenge came as a direct result of his actions. Warlord Sartan had initially challenged Baron of the Sixth, Ramsus, but after Sartan claimed Lorance had acted disrespectfully to someone he cared deeply about, the target was changed to the Baron of the Eleventh.

Warlord and Baron each had their own version of the previous events to tell, however once they entered the ring, all bets were off. Sartan appeared to be driven by revenge as he was clearly dominant throughout. In two matches, he defeated Lorance 5-2.5 in 10 rounds and 5-4 in seven rounds.

Sartan (5/2/04 - 6/19/04)
After striking a deal with Overlady Shakira, Sartan initially aligned himself loyal. Only days later he announced he had changed his alignment to renegade.

As is typical of Max Quinlan Blue's challenges, his challenge to Sartan came with a simple letter that merely stated that he was challenging. And only days after it was issued, the two met in the ring for a low publicized match. Those in attendance witnessed a rare spectacle for a challenge match. The first two duels passed by uneventfully with the Baron taking the first 5-2 in nine rounds, and the Warlord taking the second 5-3 in eleven rounds. The final duel of the evening was one of the highest scoring challenge duels ever recorded. In a twenty round marathon match, Max was able to defeat Sartan, 9-7.5 to claim the Eleventh Ring.

Max Quinlan Blue (6/19/04 - 9/19/04)
It was the belief of many that Max was using the Eleventh merely as a stepping stone to challenge the Overlord. Therefore, only days after Max's victory, Eros Hunrai Marzanhe DeBurgo challenged to stop Max from using the ring as a tool to a greater end. Max opted for a single match to settle the fate of the Eleventh, and after ten rounds the two were knottted at four apiece. In the eleventh round, Max's quick defense put an end to Marzan's straight attack to ensure Max's hold on the ring.

Marzan's assumed reasoning for challenging Max may not have been baseless because only days after his defense, Max challenged Overlord Cory Havoick but was unable to wrest the mantle away from him.

More than six years after he last stepped into a ring, Xenograg kathu-Darelir made his return in an impressive fashion. As per a deal with Overlord Anubis Karos, Xenograg had the Overlord grant bestowed upon him in exchange for using that grant to challenge a Baron of Anubis' choosing. The Baron chosen was loyal Baron of the Eleventh, Max Blue. It was rumored that Max was the target because days earlier he had mentioned that he would be changing his alignment to Renegade and challenging Overlord Anubis. But whatever true motivation the Overlord had for giving the grant to Xeno, Xeno did not disappoint in the ring. In an exciting ten round match, Xeno defeated Max 5-3. As a side note, it is believed that Xenograg holds the record for longest stretch of time between titles held. Xeno was also the second holder of the Fifth ring. He held the Fifth ring over nine years prior to winning the Eleventh.

Xenograg kathu-Darelir (9/19/04 - 3/21/05)
Shortly after winning the Eleventh, Xenograg set his sights on Overlord Karos. However, Xenograg was not able to wrest the mantle from him.

After two nights of heavy dueling in the Spring Warlord Tournament, Anubis Karos finished second to Damien Mortis and thus won the right to a Baronial challenge. Anubis pressed his challenge to Baron Xenograg citing a wish for revenge for Xenograg's role in the death of Shakira. The alleged slaver made good on his desire for revenge, defeating Xenograg yet again, and claiming the ring for himself.

Anubis Karos (3/21/05 - 6/16/05)
On June 16th, 2005, the Baronial rings of the Duel of Swords were renamed due to the decreased number which resulted from the rift in the Ward of Gondar. Each ring became associated with one of the sevens of RhyDin and, thus, the Baron of the Elventh became known as The Baron of the Old Market.