A Ruling on the Challenge to the Overlord

[DUEL Norah]

The Overlord has failed to respond to the challenge within seven days. Because of this, the decision on how to handle this matter will be put toward the Baron's Council

The Foreman of the Council shall be: Norah Vanderhildt

The voting members of the council shall be:
Kalamere Ar'Din
Imp
G'nort Dragoon-Talanador
Andrea "Apple" Anderson
Lem DeAngelo
Kheldar

As Matthew Simon is the challenger, I shall stand in for his vote.

I put it forward to the Council that the Overlord, Rakeesh Sah Tarna, be granted an extension to meet the requirement of responding to Matthew Simon's challenge and set a date as he has proven himself several times in recent combat.

[Rakeesh]

I must apologize for being a matter of minutes late on accepting the good Baron Matt Simon's challenge for my mantle. It is merely that the tournament that I was running tonight took longer than I anticipated it taking. As I told the man, I have every intention on facing him in the ring, and was not being negligent.

It would seem a great shame to pin me with a triviality while I am out promoting our sport. As I have already stated, I am looking forward to facing Matt in the rings.

In my official words, I accept the challenge.

Whatever the Renegade Baron's Council may think of me, personally, I have earned my place to fight. We fight with blade, in the ring. Let that be where this ends.

[Seirichi]

I must apologize for being a matter of minutes late on accepting the good Baron Matt Simon's challenge for my mantle. It is merely that the tournament that I was running tonight took longer than I anticipated it taking. As I told the man, I have every intention on facing him in the ring, and was not being negligent.

It would seem a great shame to pin me with a triviality while I am out promoting our sport. As I have already stated, I am looking forward to facing Matt in the rings.

In my official words, I accept the challenge.

Whatever the Renegade Baron's Council may think of me, personally, I have earned my place to fight. We fight with blade, in the ring. Let that be where this ends.

I'm laughing so much right now! You had a whole week to respond, doofus. You've been posting about your little tournament this WHOLE WEEK, yet you couldn't step over and write a little "I Accept" for Matt?

I hope you get stripped because I want to watch the sh*t storm.

Still currently laughing,
Sericihi

[Kalamere]

As Matthew Simon is the challenger, I shall stand in for his vote.

Meaning no offense, Norah, but is there a reason you would interject yourself into the council proceedings as a voting member?

The council charter is lain out in such a way that assumes at least 1 member will be unavailable and accounts for the possibility of fewer than 6 voting members already. As such there would not appear to be a strong need to add a non-baron voting member. Furthermore, there is a role already defined for your position within the charter.

I would humbly suggest that if you do feel another vote needs be entered despite this eventuality being covered by the charter, that said vote become Imps's with you instead filling the role of Overlord and Foreman of the council. Since in this case we lack both a Baron and the Overlord and it would normally be Rakeesh in the foreman role. This seems a more appropriate role for you to fill since it is similar to what is already set aside for your position and, to be honest, I suspect you might do a better job of directing the matter than will Imp.

~Kal

[Kalamere]

The stance of Old Temple is that the Overlord should retain his title and this challenge proceed under the following terms:
* Choice of venue and officiation shall become the right of the Baron of Battlefield Park
* Choice of challenge format (single duel or best of three) shall also fall to the challenger.

For those interested, my reasoning is as follows:

Firstly, I have no appreciation for the Overlord's reasons as to missing the deadline. He has engaged in numerous other correspondence throughout the allotted time and there is no cause for his claim of wanting to wait until his grant tournament was complete. I don't doubt the sincerity of his statement that this was the case, however I can see no reason for holding that stance in the first place.

I also believe that failure to meet the deadlines set forth in the Universal Terms of Challenge is common place. There are two timeframes specifically mentioned and both are regularly missed. The challenger himself has missed the second stated deadline on occasion, especially if we were to take into consideration his history in Fists, which holds to the same time tables. There's little point in having rules if they're never going to be enforced.

That said, since they have so infrequently been enforced and since the offended party has, himself, been on the opposite side of this issue with no action taken, I feel it would be more equitable to start slowly down the path. A warning, so to speak, that the community has recalled the existence of these rules and will begin seeing them met from here forward. This first impression should have some ramifications on the challenged as is fitting, but shy of full abdication.

[Andrea Anderson]

Part of me wanted to vote and allow the Overlord to defend against the Renegade Baron of Battlefield Park.

But then I saw this:

"It would seem a great shame to pin me with a triviality while I am out promoting our sport."

Your use of this word bothers me. Because this "triviality" you speak of are rules set in place. The same rules that allowed you the right to challenge for the title of Overlord. You are calling the rules you used to become the title holder you are today "trivial", Rakeesh. That, in itself, is a disrespect and blemish to the belt you now carry. I wondered, at a time, if I was wrong about you. Hearing others say you deserve respect because of the belt you hold.

But then I realized. No. The title does not make the person. The person makes the title. And you, in your actions, have made your reign as the title holder of the Overlord belt a joke.

As it was said before by Matt Simon himself in your challenge against Koyliak VanDuran-Simon for the right to carry MoonBeryl.

"Words. Actions. Yours."

You are constantly saying one thing then doing another. You speak of promoting the Duel of Swords then call the rules a "triviality" when they do not suit you.

Old friendships may urge older members of this community into turning a blind eye toward the recent actions of Rakeesh Sah Tarna. But I hope the council will look into this blatant act of disregarding the rules and make their decisions without these old friendships distorting their choices.

These are the facts. Rakeesh Sah Tarna has been promoting his tournament throughout the week. He, or a representative of him, has been visiting the corkboard to post updates of those joining the Overlords Grant Tournament. Why was there no effort taken to respond to Matt Simon's challenge? This can be easily seen as a disrespectful action toward the Renegade Baron of Battlefield Park and his choice to challenge the Overlord.

Once the ruling was made that the council would be involved, he shows further disrespect by saying these rules are a "triviality" and that he has "Earned his place to fight". If Rakeesh Sah Tarna really felt that he had earned his place to fight, then wouldn't he have responded to the challenge issued by Matt Simon in the time frame given?

Kheldar. You, a man mostly silent on the boards and rarely seen at the duels except for calling, was able to respond to the challenge of Terry King in less than two days. What excuse does Rakeesh Sah Tarna have to ignore Matt Simon's right of challenge for so long?

This is also not Rakeesh Sah Tarna first brush against the rules. I recall him being an hour late to his Old Temple Defense against Marric Dorsvle.

"Words. Actions. Yours."

This is why I vote that Rakeesh Sah Tarna be stripped of his title and a stand-in be appointed in his stead. His refusal to follow the rules then call them trivial proves he is unworthy to hold the title of Overlord.

Some may dislike this choice. But it is far from unfair to the current Overlord. If one is to bring up unfairness, they only need to look to Rakeesh's actions. Rakeesh Sah Tarna's actions toward Matt Simon were unfair. I would like everyone to search deep inside and ask themselves, how would you feel if this happened to you?

But let us be realistic. That won't happen. Unless it has ever happened to you, you will never know how it truly feels. Rakeesh will most likely be allowed to defend his title.

Kalameres choices are something I can agree upon.

The stance of Old Temple is that the Overlord should retain his title and this challenge proceed under the following terms:
* Choice of venue and officiator shall become the right of the Baron of Battlefield Park
* Choice of challenge format (single duel or best of three) shall also fall to the challenger.

But I would also like to add another stipulation. The Overlord should be UNABLE to test Matt Simon.

If these become the terms, Seaside will vote to allow Rakeesh Sah Tarna to defend his title of Overlord. If not, my stance will be to strip him of his title.

- Andrea "Apple" Anderson

[Kalamere]

But I would also like to add another stipulation. The Overlord should be UNABLE to test Matt Simon.

If these become the terms, Seaside will vote to allow Rakeesh Sah Tarna to defend his title of Overlord. If not, my stance will be to strip him of his title.

I would agree with this stipulation. It was actually implicit in what I wrote in that Best of Three is not an option if the Baron first faced the Overlord's champion. I should have stated it specifically, however, so thank you for addressing the issue.

[G]

Initial thoughts.

First, This isn't the first time Rakeesh has missed a challenge deadline. He was about an hour late for his challenge against Marric.

Second, Rules are in place so they're enforced, it's not too difficult to follow them.

Third, The Overlord has dueled, held a tournament, been in the Arena and Annex fairly regularly since the challenge had been posted, so a simple "Accepted" would have been very easy.

Fourth and finally, the fact that he thinks this is trivial, that he's above the rules, and he's unapologetic about it. That fills me with less sympathy to him for this. No one is above the law, not even someone who is promoting the Arena.

Had he just said "Hey, I'm sorry, I can't believe I screwed up" then I'd be feeling different. More lenient. This doesn't appear to be the case. It's just "trivial" to him.

You can't be bothered to hold a title responsibly, I can't be bothered to let you retain it.

I'll consider the arguments before I make my final decision.

Really though, Rakeesh. This was stupid on your part. Even among the other things you've done. You couldn't be bothered to just say "I accept." That's extremely disappointing.

[Andrea Anderson]

Initial thoughts.

First, This isn't the first time Rakeesh has missed a challenge deadline. He was about an hour late for his challenge against Marric.

Second, Rules are in place so they're enforced, it's not too difficult to follow them.

Third, The Overlord has dueled, held a tournament, been in the Arena and Annex fairly regularly since the challenge had been posted, so a simple "Accepted" would have been very easy.

Fourth and finally, the fact that he thinks this is trivial, that he's above the rules, and he's unapologetic about it. That fills me with less sympathy to him for this. No one is above the law, not even someone who is promoting the Arena.

Had he just said "Hey, I'm sorry, I can't believe I screwed up" then I'd be feeling different. More lenient. This doesn't appear to be the case. It's just "trivial" to him.

You can't be bothered to hold a title responsibly, I can't be bothered to let you retain it.

I'll consider the arguments before I make my final decision.

Really though, Rakeesh. This was stupid on your part. Even among the other things you've done. You couldn't be bothered to just say "I accept." That's extremely disappointing.

Valid points. I will take G'norts example and await the input of the other Barons before I make my final decision. I would like to see what Matt Simon has to say about this matter as well. His view point of this current situation matters more to me than anything else.

Rakeesh should have simply admitted to his mistake instead of acting like he is above the rules.

Am I to assume the voting will take place in private between the barons or will we hold it publicly?

[G]

Am I to assume the voting will take place in private between the barons or will we hold it publicly?

Traditionally, it's been held privately, with the option to say how you voted being left up to the Barons.

[Andrea Anderson]

Am I to assume the voting will take place in private between the barons or will we hold it publicly?

Traditionally, it's been held privately, with the option to say how you voted being left up to the Barons.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. I'll go silent and simply read the replies for now and think this over more.

[Imp]

How about we give Rakeesh a test of worthiness of sorts?

Rakeesh duels 3 Barons. If he wins 2 out of 3 he proceeds to duel Matt. But if he loses 2 out of 3, then he gets stripped of his title and Matt duels a champion.

Everyone wins!

[Rakeesh]

I have apologized, elsewhere. I do not disrespect the rules; I simply made a mistake. I believed that I had time to post my tournament results and then accept the challenge after awarding the Grant. This is the order in which I'd always intended to do things. Unfortunately, I made a mistake, and was incorrect in my estimations of the exact hour of the deadline. Matt, I believe, knows that I intended to accept his challenge. I never even had the inkling to give him a Test of Worthiness.

I will not digress more than this. I realize that this mistake was mine own, and that I should not have attempted to line up everything so close to the deadline, but I truly believe that this challenge should continue.

[Goldglo]

A copy of Matt Simon's thoughts are placed on the board.

[DUEL Norah]

Meaning no offense, Norah, but is there a reason you would interject yourself into the council proceedings as a voting member?

The council charter is lain out in such a way that assumes at least 1 member will be unavailable and accounts for the possibility of fewer than 6 voting members already. As such there would not appear to be a strong need to add a non-baron voting member. Furthermore, there is a role already defined for your position within the charter.

I would humbly suggest that if you do feel another vote needs be entered despite this eventuality being covered by the charter, that said vote become Imps's with you instead filling the role of Overlord and Foreman of the council. Since in this case we lack both a Baron and the Overlord and it would normally be Rakeesh in the foreman role. This seems a more appropriate role for you to fill since it is similar to what is already set aside for your position and, to be honest, I suspect you might do a better job of directing the matter than will Imp.

~Kal

I thought, perhaps, that acting as a voting member would be a better balance than waiting for the Council to make it's choice and deciding if I agreed or not. As is my right, given the charter.

I find your suggestion that I act as Foreman while Imp becomes the sixth voting member reasonable. However, I will retain my full rights to final ruling.

We have heard what the Barons of Old Temple, Battlefield Park, Dockside, Dragon's Gate, and Seaside have had to say on the matter.

We await word from the Barons of Old Market and New Haven.

I will inform the Council of when it should submit its votes directly to me.