On the evening of Sunday, March 6, a crowd of eleven duelists gathered in the Arena for the Winter Talon of Redwin Tournament -- a lower ranked, single-elimination tournament. The tournament honors the legacy of Siera Redwin, a legendary warrior, Overlord, and Baron. The winner recieves a dirk carrying Siera Redwin's crest that had been awarded by Siera to the men under her command in a similar tournament as well as the title of the Duel of Swords' Talon of Redwin for the following cycle. The tournament has been held four times and in each a female emerged as its winner. For the Fall Talon of Redwin Tournament, only three women showed with hopes of keeping this title in a woman's hands and eight men attempted to break the stronghold that women have held over the title.
The competitors were seated according to the order in which their entries were received. The sole Crew entry, Tony Graziano, was the first entry received so he sat out the first round with the bye. Rhiannon Brock, typically a strong Talon competitor, was knocked out early after losing a close match to Vanion Shadowcast. Bobo's shopping cart of tricks could not help him withstand the branches of Aenlyn Hollow who moved on to the second round after defeating Bobo in seven rounds. The elf, Joku, faced off against another Talon regular, Richard "Joker" Harker. This was not a night for the Talon regulars as Joker also found himself sent to the bar only able to secure one point against the TDL All-Star. Sylus "Sly Guy" Kurgen and Vince Smith battled it out with Stick officiating. They kept it close and aggressive with a final score of 6-5 in Sly Guy's favor. New comer, Cheyenne Fordyce, also tried her hand in the tournament but fell victim to Lothar Blacklance.
The second round found Vanion Shadowcast and Joku in one of Stick's rings where they were chewed out for their wary, defensive dueling that slowed the pace down at times. In the end, though, it was an aggressive trade of thrusts that knocked Joku out of the tournament and moved Shadowcast into the semi-finals. Tony Graziano saw his first opponent in Aenlyn Hollow and didn't have the same trouble escaping her leafy grasp that Bobo did. Tony Graziano defeated her soundly with a final score of 5-0 in seven rounds. With Aenlyn Hollow's loss, the final woman was eliminated from the tournament, ensuring that this cycle's title holder would be the first to be male.
As the earliest entry left in the competition that hadn't recieved a bye yet, Sylus Kurgen automatically advanced to the finals. Tony Graziano was not as lucky. He fell back early as Vanion Shadowcast began to build a lead. In the end, the lead got the best of Graziano, he lashed into a well-timed defense for the 5-2.5 loss in ten long rounds.
As the final match began, it did not appear the rest gave Sylus Kurgen an advantage. Both duelists mirrored each other in their choice of offense or defense and the score remained neck-in-neck. It was not until the eleventh round that the tie was broken. Shadowcast lunged for Kurgen but Kurgen got out of the way in time to avoid the blade. He followed up by sweeping in low for the final point past Vanion’s defense. The 6.5-5 win in twelve rounds went to Sylus Kurgen.
Therefore, it is my privilege to announce that Sylus "Sly Guy" Kurgen is the Duel of Swords' Fifth Talon of Redwin and the first man to claim the honor.
As witnessed by:
Lorelai Laurent
With officiating help from Stick Allian
First Round TonyGraziano13 has bye. Aenyln Hollow .def. Bobothhobo, 5-2 in 7 rounds. Sylus Kurgen .def. Vincent VM Smith, 6-5 in 8 rounds. Daimyo Joku .def. Richard D Harker, 5-1 in 9 rounds. InsertProfoundSN .def. Rhiannon D Brock, 5.5-4 in 8 rounds. Lothar Blacklance .def. Cheyenne Fordyce, 5-3 in 11 rounds. Second Round TonyGraziano13 .def. AenlynHollow, 5-0 in 7 rounds. InsertProfoundSN .def. Daimyo Joku, 5-1 in 9 rounds. Sylus Kurgen .def. Lothar Blacklance, 5-3 in 11 rounds. Third Round Sylus Kurgen has bye. InsertProfoundSN .def. TonyGraziano13, 5-2.5 in 10 rounds. Fourth Round Sylus Kurgen .def. InsertProfoundSN, 6.5-5 in 12 rounds.