On the evening of Sunday, June 12, 2005, four commoners and four swordsmen arrived in the Arena to determine who would wield the Talon of Redwin for the upcoming summer cycle. It was a grueling night through and through as the biggest point spread in any duel was 1.5. After three rounds with no byes, a new Talon was recognized.
It began with the shortest duel of the night, a seven-rounder in which the young phenom Mystic upset former Talon winner, Galicia Rinaldi, 5-4. Next up, new-blood Hojyn slugged it out with DoS's own Random, sending him home after ten rounds with a 5.5-4.5 score. The defending Talon, Sylus Kurgen, had his mind set on a repeat performance; his drive carried him for fourteen rounds, but in the fifteenth, double impalements sent him packing and had Cadence Rayshon advancing to the next round. In the longest duel of the night, Lothar and Samiyah went the distance for seventeen rounds, and after some patient strategy on Lothar's part, Samiyah was left waiting for next cycle.
In the semifinals, the two remaining females faced off in one ring while the two remaining males did so in the other. In Ring Massive, Mystic and Cadence went back forth, with Cadence first grabbing a one-point lead, then Mystic jumping past her for a 3.5-2 lead with Cadence coming right back to tie. In the end, Mystic smelled out Cadence's tri-cut and finished her with a parry-thrust combination, ending it in the twelfth round, 5-3.5. Over in Doobie, Hojyn and Lothar dealt each other a heap of blows, and in round 8 after a cut that tripped up Lothar, Hojyn held the 4.5-3.5 lead. As Hojyn tried a duck then a trap to take it home, Lothar dropped him with a pair of cuts to seal the win.
In the finals, Mystic stuck with her magic balloon while Lothar, reluctant to use his sword against the young girl, found a balloon of his own to rival hers. The two began cautiously, and after seven rounds the score was only 1.5-1 in Mystic's favor. Then they started swinging, trading blows--er, bops--in two rounds with Mystic slightly extending her lead somewhere in the middle with a quick block. After some precocious stepping giving Mystic the 4.5-3 lead, she drew Lothar in for the duel-ending double impalement!--well, sort of.
Congratulations to Mystic, Duel of Swords' newest--and youngest--Talon of Redwin winner!
And a special thanks goes out to Imp, Xenograg and Random for pitching in with their calling!
Witnessed by,
Deluthan Ev'rt
Round 1: Mytic defeats CeeCee, 5-4 in 7 rounds Hojyn defeats Random, 5.5-4.5 in 10 rounds Cadence Rayshon .def. Sylus Kurgen, 5.5-4.5 in 15 rounds LotharBlacklance .def. Samiyah Zayn, 5.5-4.5 in 17 rounds Round 2: MysticSil .def. Cadence Rayshon, 5-3.5 in 12 LotharBlacklance .def. Hojyn 5.5-4.5 in 10 Finals duel: MysticSil vs. LotharBlacklance 1. lc/lc 0-0 2. ss/hc 0-1 3. sh/ss 0-1 4. hc/hc 0-1 5. lc/fss 1-1 6. dk/sh 1-1 7. cp/th 1.5-1 8. hc/lc 2.5-2 9. lp/hc 3-2 10. hc/lc 4-3 11. sh/sh 4-3 12. ss/cp 4.5-3 13. th/th 5.5-4