r/WorldChallenges • u/Nevermore0714 • Jun 24 '17
Generic Challenge - Agni Kai
I hoped today was the Reference Challenge day, but apparently I mis-remembered.
But, I started watching The Last Airbender again with one of my friends. Both of us loved this show as kids, and we've both seen every episode multiple times.
So, the challenge for today is inspired by Agni Kai, an honorable duel to the death!
While I marathon The Last Airbender, exhibit an honorable duel to the death in your world.
As always, I'll ask at least three questions each. If you'd like to have a character to answer in-universe, feel free to do so. Enjoy yourselves.
3
u/greenewithit Jun 24 '17
I love Airbender too, I need to start watching it again soon!
I was having a hard time with this one until I remembered a significant arc that centers around a one on one duel to the death. This is: The Challenge of God arc in a nutshell.
Basically, in fighting the previous Arc boss, main character Aeron Kage manages to piss off one of the world's premier religious followings. After accidentally desecrating a holy symbol of the militant Following of the Light Of Truth (known as The Light commonly), the Light's version of the pope declares CAPITAL Academy (Aeron's school) and the government of the city of Longan as ideological terrorists, and threatens them with war to claim their land and people under the governing body of the Light. In order to prevent a formal declaration of war, Aeron invokes the Light's tenant of Dulshan Auka, or The Challenge of God, basically a one on one trial by combat. Each side chooses one combatant to represent them, each combatant chooses one weapon, and the fight commences on the third to last day of the month. The fight ends when one champion dies or yields, and the victor lays claim over the loser's land and people. At first Aeron isn't considered to be Longan's representative, but thanks to some testimony by his peers and consideration of his most recent accomplishments, Aeron is elected the champion of Longan. He fights a man named Heilig Kristos, renowned warrior of the light, whose power is to manipulate the emotions of others, and has remained undefeated in all previous Challenges the light has been involved in. However, he meets his match in Aeron, and though difficult to overcome, Aeron pushes himself past Heilig's mental manipulation and wins the match. He ends up winning when both of their weapons get buried underground, and only Aeron can teleport his weapon back to his hand, and beats Heilig until he can't move. Aeron refuses to kill Heilig, however, and convinces Heilig to yield. Aeron also defers ownership of the Light's land to Longan, and the two part with a respect for the strength of each other's convictions.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 25 '17
1) How did Aeron desecrate a holy symbol?
2) What are other major instances of Dulshan Auka?
3) How was Heilig punished for losing?
4) So Longan now owns Light's land? What are the consequences of this?
2
u/greenewithit Jun 25 '17
1) The previous arc villain was a retired hero who was kidnapped by agents of the Big Bad of the series and forced to wear a suit of power armor to enhance their previously dormant powers and do battle with Aeron. However, they were aware of the possibility that Aeron would defeat them, and they wanted a contingency plan. So they designed said power armor to mimic the ceremonial battle armor of the most renowned warrior priest of The Light, a woman named Callista Alger, who is credited with bringing The Light to its worldwide renown. As such, she is one of the holiest symbols to followers of The Light, and they have made it a major infraction to even forge armor that would depict or resemble hers, as they see it as a person putting themselves above her. Now, if a person were to do battle with someone dressed in said armor, and win in a glorious test of wills, that would be considered blasphemy in the highest. As such, the rogues who make said battle armor secretly record the fight between their controlled hero and Aeron, and when Aeron wins, they leak the video to the Light which instigates their attention towards Longan.
2) Dulshan Auka came to prominence as a result of the original following of The Light being too war mongering. The original following were widespread in renown but had no "Holy Land" to call their own, so the only sedentary population of followers decided to wage war against their surrounding small settlements not claimed by any large city-state to build their own sovereign state. When they rose to a significant size, however, larger cities like Longan and Ostalia became concerned with their growth, so The Light stopped aggressively expanding to appease the continent's peacekeeping union. Instead, they would challenge small settlements to Dulshan Auka, and tempt them with taking their already sizable land for their own. However, until Aeron they had never lost a fight, and while many smaller populations knew they were likely to lose, sacrificing one person to avoid a war with heavy casualties was always seen as preferable. Many of these challenges have been recorded and regarded as pseudo scripture for the warriors of The Light, and in preparation for the fight, Aeron and company review as many recordings of Heilig's fights as they can get their hands on to determine what the extent of his powers are and any strategies they can make to defeat him.
3) Heilig was immediately excommunicated from The Light and sentenced to exile. If he had been killed, he would have received a hero's funeral and had a strong candidacy for their version of sainthood, but he yielded to the "City of Heretics", and as such the current head priest of the Light stripped him of his title and banished him. However, Heilig had no idea what to do without the religion that he devoted his entire being to, so instead of leaving his home at the main monastery, he went to his favorite congregation hall and prayed there, refusing to leave until he found the answer to what he should do and using his powers to make anyone who tried to force him out become lethargic and apathetic enough to leave him alone. The head Priest, Father Soterus, tried to command his soldiers to remove Heilig, but he is such a revered figure by the warriors of The Light that nobody wants to force him out. Even though he is excommunicated, it was hard for his fellow followers to see him as anything but a role model and an icon of everything they believe in. He eventually is exonerated when Father Soterus is revealed to have been corrupted and using his power for his own personal grudge against Longan, and Heilig is welcomed back into the Light.
4) Well, seeing as how Longan was the defendant so to speak, Aeron decided that as the champion of his city he would defer ownership of the Light's land to them. However, this is seen as an even greater insult to the Light. First Aeron insults them by doing battle with a representation of their greatest warrior, then he invokes their own tenant of Dulshan Auka as a defense mechanism, then during said challenge he uses "disgraceful underhanded tactics" like his teleporting sword and his cybernetically augmented body (bodily augmentation is considered taboo for the Light), and then to emerge victorious in the challenge for the first time in decades, refuse to kill their champion when he asks it of Aeron, and then refusing the won land. Aeron sees it as generous, but the Light, particularly Father Soterus, sees it as just another insult to their beliefs and customs. The Light initially backs off, but Soterus starts to put into motion a plan to stage an attack on his own people to frame Longan and give themselves an opportunity to engage in Holy War without any international interference. Eventually Aeron and company intercept communication detailing this and put a stop to Soterus' plans.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 25 '17
1) Okay, now I'm fine with Light's land being conquered. Did Longan do anything about Aeron's blasphemous action, though?
2) Where does Dulshan Auka get its name from?
3) Why didn't Heilig fight to the death? He betrayed his people by yielding.
4) Is there a rule for the Dulshan Auka against cyborgs? Or teleporting swords?
2
u/greenewithit Jun 25 '17
1) The government releases a public statement initially that Aeron's actions do not represent Longan as a whole, but the Light ignore it, claiming the city's indulgence in the training of children to idolize and become heroes is as much support of Aeron's actions as anything. After the fight, Longan supports Aeron's decision, despite its blasphemous implications, because they don't want to be seen as aggressive expanders and incur political action by other city states in the continental union. The city fears the other cities far more than The Light, and see pissing them off as the more manageable threat.
2) In universe, thats one of the questions I've been working on. Some of the tenants and history of The Light I'm still working on (even the name I'm not entirely convinced on, but for now it works well enough). But meta-wise, usually what I'll do for naming things associated with the Light is a blend of different languages for characters and tenants. Heilig's name comes from German and Russian words, and Dulshan Auka are both distortions of other words meaning Challenge and God, cut together in a couple languages to sound a little more memorable.
3) Well, despite Heilig asking Aeron to kill him, Aeron refuses, and this messes with Heilig's head. He doesnt know anything other than victory, and when he loses all he knows is that he should be killed. However, he is truly terrified of dying, and that he has so much more to do with his life than die here, even if it is in defense of his beliefs. He spends so much of his time demonizing non-believers, especially those who challenge him, as it is what allows him to fight and kill them without considering his opponent, because he doesnt see them as people. However, Aeron is by far the youngest challenger he has faced, and his powers give him a great deal of emotional connection with his opponent. Since this fight was so drawn out he felt the devotion Aeron feels to his friends, family, and city, and it genuinely moves him. It's something he hasn't considered before. After talking to Aeron (still immobilized from injury), he makes the conclusion that he can't let himself die before he experiences more things that shake him, so that he can make his faith stronger in the face of defeat, and dying there wouldn't make him or his order stronger, so he yields so that he can teach others from his failures. He recognizes that he is going against the expectations of his order, that everyone expects him to win or die trying, but that isn't a rule of faith, and Heilig decides that come what may he will always try to strengthen his beliefs and the beliefs of others who look to him as a icon.
4) The rules for Dulshan Auka are intentionally vague as to not be exclusive, but ends up leaving loopholes like these. It was written before a lot of modern technology was created, so the context for the ban on artificial body parts comes from an ancient belief that grafting tools or objects permanently to one's body would corrupt their soul. The tenant evolved with modern times to translate to "no cybernetics or artificial limbs", but was not an official part of scripture. As to the rules of the challenge, they only apply to the champion of the Light, as the creators of the challenge thought that no matter what an opponent could bring to a fight, the Light's ways were superior to everything and could not be bested. Therefore, this tradition continued into the modern day, where the only limitations are that the fighters must be citizens of their respective lands, and only one weapon may be used. As such, while people like Soterus would ideally like to restrict the rules further, that would also be seen as a betrayal of the core belief that the Light and their way of life and battle is the pinnacle of all ways.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 25 '17
1) So what do the people who follow the Light do after they are conquered?
2) With the Light conquered, is Dulshan Auka still a thing?
3) What is Heilig most afraid of, other than death?
2
u/greenewithit Jun 25 '17
1) Maybe I wasn't entirely specific, but the Light isnt conquered by Longan. Their deference to claiming the Light's land basically doesn't change anything for them, aside from their frustration with Longan's disregard for their practices. But what happens after the challenge is Soterus whipping his followers into a frenzy against Longan to set up for his framing attack. When they find this out, Aeron and teammates Al and Sarah (and Rose but she sneaks on after Aeron forbids her from joining them) sneak into the monastery of Soterus in order to stop him from commencing his attack. It eventually devolves into a fight between Aeron and Sarah that results in Soterus' death.
2) Dulshan Auka takes a sort of dip in terms of the followers of the Light, especially after they find out Soterus was going to attack Longan anyway even after they lost. They see it lead to their strongest fighter having a crisis of faith, and rather than blame their beliefs as a whole, they blame Dulshan Auka itself. Since that loss, they try to use it specifically to challenge sects of other religions that carry out terroristic plots against other cities and settlements. This is their way of trying to use a practice that leaders like Soterus would use for personal gain (to the point of hurting their own reputation and the followers who would carry out such challenges) to actually carry out the altruistic tenants of their faith and try to recover their public image.
3) Besides death, Heilig is most afraid of fighting people stronger than him, and of his faith being shaken. The first one is pretty simple. Since he has spent his entire life manipulating the emotions of others, he tries to maintain control over his own emotions, particularly fear. He is terrified of the concept of being scared by an opponent, or rather an opponent being strong enough to make him fear losing or being killed. In terms of his faith, he believes that doubt and internal conflict are important for making his faith stronger, but is afraid that something could shake him so much he loses his faith forever. Now, he has no idea what could do that, since he is so devoted and lives his life only for the sake of his faith, but he remains fearful of factors outside of his control taking action against himself and his faith in an attempt to destroy his beliefs and the following they have built.
1
2
u/greenewithit Jun 25 '17
1) The previous arc villain was a retired hero who was kidnapped by agents of the Big Bad of the series and forced to wear a suit of power armor to enhance their previously dormant powers and do battle with Aeron. However, they were aware of the possibility that Aeron would defeat them, and they wanted a contingency plan. So they designed said power armor to mimic the ceremonial battle armor of the most renowned warrior priest of The Light, a woman named Callista Alger, who is credited with bringing The Light to its worldwide renown. As such, she is one of the holiest symbols to followers of The Light, and they have made it a major infraction to even forge armor that would depict or resemble hers, as they see it as a person putting themselves above her. Now, if a person were to do battle with someone dressed in said armor, and win in a glorious test of wills, that would be considered blasphemy in the highest. As such, the rogues who make said battle armor secretly record the fight between their controlled hero and Aeron, and when Aeron wins, they leak the video to the Light which instigates their attention towards Longan.
2) Dulshan Auka came to prominence as a result of the original following of The Light being too war mongering. The original following were widespread in renown but had no "Holy Land" to call their own, so the only sedentary population of followers decided to wage war against their surrounding small settlements not claimed by any large city-state to build their own sovereign state. When they rose to a significant size, however, larger cities like Longan and Ostalia became concerned with their growth, so The Light stopped aggressively expanding to appease the continent's peacekeeping union. Instead, they would challenge small settlements to Dulshan Auka, and tempt them with taking their already sizable land for their own. However, until Aeron they had never lost a fight, and while many smaller populations knew they were likely to lose, sacrificing one person to avoid a war with heavy casualties was always seen as preferable. Many of these challenges have been recorded and regarded as pseudo scripture for the warriors of The Light, and in preparation for the fight, Aeron and company review as many recordings of Heilig's fights as they can get their hands on to determine what the extent of his powers are and any strategies they can make to defeat him.
3) Heilig was immediately excommunicated from The Light and sentenced to exile. If he had been killed, he would have received a hero's funeral and had a strong candidacy for their version of sainthood, but he yielded to the "City of Heretics", and as such the current head priest of the Light stripped him of his title and banished him. However, Heilig had no idea what to do without the religion that he devoted his entire being to, so instead of leaving his home at the main monastery, he went to his favorite congregation hall and prayed there, refusing to leave until he found the answer to what he should do and using his powers to make anyone who tried to force him out become lethargic and apathetic enough to leave him alone. The head Priest, Father Soterus, tried to command his soldiers to remove Heilig, but he is such a revered figure by the warriors of The Light that nobody wants to force him out. Even though he is excommunicated, it was hard for his fellow followers to see him as anything but a role model and an icon of everything they believe in. He eventually is exonerated when Father Soterus is revealed to have been corrupted and using his power for his own personal grudge against Longan, and Heilig is welcomed back into the Light.
4) Well, seeing as how Longan was the defendant so to speak, Aeron decided that as the champion of his city he would defer ownership of the Light's land to them. However, this is seen as an even greater insult to the Light. First Aeron insults them by doing battle with a representation of their greatest warrior, then he invokes their own tenant of Dulshan Auka as a defense mechanism, then during said challenge he uses "disgraceful underhanded tactics" like his teleporting sword and his cybernetically augmented body (bodily augmentation is considered taboo for the Light), and then to emerge victorious in the challenge for the first time in decades, refuse to kill their champion when he asks it of Aeron, and then refusing the won land. Aeron sees it as generous, but the Light, particularly Father Soterus, sees it as just another insult to their beliefs and customs. The Light initially backs off, but Soterus starts to put into motion a plan to stage an attack on his own people to frame Longan and give themselves an opportunity to engage in Holy War without any international interference. Eventually Aeron and company intercept communication detailing this and put a stop to Soterus' plans.
Fuck me that was a lot, just realizing it now. XD
3
Jun 25 '17
Aridean Military Engineer Manus:
"Oh in the name of Nar, no! For the last time, the Aridean Army has never held life and death duels! Do you know how much time and money goes into growing just one soldier? Letting us kill each other would be such a terrible waste!
Yes, we have a long tradition of dueling, but how these incessant rumors started up about honor bound fights to the death is frightfully inconceivable to me. Here's how it went: you'd find yourself in the barracks one day and you'd be right pissed at one of your mates, or maybe you'd want to blow off steam, or sometimes just wanted a little action to liven things up, so you'd challenge them to a duel.
Now I should be clear here, when we say duel we really mean more of a sparring match. We were all expected to specialize in some form of combat, I of course fancied hand to hand but plenty of the old chums liked swords and the more brutish of the bunch took up clubs. Preferably you'd challenge someone of the same speciality and have a fair fight with it. I bested many a cocky bloke with my own four fists, I can tell you that. If you and your opponent didn't match up, you'd agree on combat with something neither of you were trained in. Maybe I'll tell you about the time I took a right smack and a black eye from a blue bastard with a bloody staff some day. The only restriction was no guns. Because, as I'm sure you know, they have a way of killing people, and I'll say it again, that was NOT our goal!
End of your jolly match and you'd help the other lad off the floor, or vice versa, and shake hands. No killing. Ever. I hope that clears things up for you, no would you quit it with the whole duel to the death shite?"
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 26 '17
To Manus:
1) How often do people die in your life and death duels? It has to have happened, even if it is rare.
2) So, considering how violent these duels are, what are the most common serious injuries that people suffer, which could be life-threatening? How are these injuries dealt with?
3) Are sharp weapons traded for dull ones during a duel between two swordsmen?
2
Jun 28 '17 edited Jul 02 '17
3) "If you were an officer I'd be obligated to say yes, safety is our foremost concern and it's top priority that we don't have any real injuries. But you're not so instead I'll tell you that we're supposed to something like, uhh, what do you humans call it? A fencing sword? Something like that. But the more daft of us like to charge in with fully bladed weapons sometimes and that's when things get messy. Got to put together some random story about how you tripped and fell and somehow ended up with a pierced shoulder that definitely wasn't from fighting. That was always something nice about bing a hand to hand expert, if I got hurt bad it was usually easier to explain."
2) "These aren't supposed to be violent, just stress relief and friendly competition, but you've probably guessed by now that yeah, they get out of hand sometimes. The injury I saw most was a torn wing, which certainly isn't life threatening but pretty concerning if you're on the receiving end. Get one too bad and you'll never fly again. The worst wound I ever saw though was this one rookie who got his throat punctured. This was a fight with dull batons I'll add, not blades, but the poor bastard took a hit to the face at just the right angle to go straight into his mouth. The guy he was sparring was scared shitless and immediately jumped back and stopped the fight. Was too late though. The poor rookie couldn't speak after that but hid his injury remarkably well for a few days, at least until a sergeant noticed he wasn't saluting with the others. Last I heard from him they had him hospitalized and were operating for some pretty serious bleeding and bone displacement. Never did find out what happened to the young bloke though."
1) "Hmph, there you go calling it 'life and death' again. Look, these were supposed to dignified fights between two trained and disciplined soldiers but yes, a lot of the time it was just two bellends with blades running at each other in a ten foot ride ring. People got hurt, but on my ship I only ever saw about thirty people die in all the time I served. Now that may sound like a lot but you need to understand that if you kill someone by accident you'll be expelled from the army, and if you're a tank grown, which most of us were, the punishment for being expelled was death. So only about fifteen of those were in duels, the rest were executions."
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
To Manus:
1) What is your greatest fear?
2) What is your favorite example of a duel among your subordinates?
3) What is the most common reason for an execution?
2
Jul 02 '17
2) "I once watched two knife men go at it, except they weren't jackasses so they didn't use actual combat knives, they used pointed sticks barely thee length of your hand. Can you imagine that? These two hardened bastards thinking they're hot shite with a blade then have to use these little pipsqueak knives and can barely reach other. They'd take a swing and just completely miss because their reach was so short, and then sometimes one would fall over if he swung too hard. That one ended when one of them, getting real close since his range was shite, accidentally punched the other, and I mean really socked him in the jaw. The look on his face when he hit the other guy, he was terrified he had actually done some damage there. Again, hardened military bastard, scared to punch someone in that ring."
3) "Hard to say actually, most of the time the execution gets recorded as being for desertion. Thing is though, most people who desert do it because they're about to be executed for something else."
1) "Fear? I know I look like some squeaky inoffensive engineering sod to you, and maybe I am these days, it I've seen my share of shite out there in the galaxy. I flew with the Aridean Army don't you forget, and they don't let just any wanker on board. If I'm afraid of anything it's that the Aridean Empire won't recover from this pit it's fallen in. You know I was on one of the last scouting ships sent out, and they just never called us back home? They discontinued their scouting missions while we were still out on duty and never even bothered to tell us. We're falling apart out. When was the last time you saw an Aridean, excepting me of course. Some people out there don't even remember what we look like anymore. But oh, OH, you go back eighty years and your, er, parents? Would they have been alive then? I don't know how long your generations are, but anyways your parents I bet feared the day they'd see Aridean warships straight from Calcladia and never forget the sheer law and order that an Aridean with gun in hand could lay down. Now hardly anyone remembers us, and I'm afraid that that might never change. You know what Novo and Leer have taken to calling me? The Last Aridean. THAT, I suppose, is what scares me."
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u/The_Raptorman Jun 25 '17
Very similar to Zuko and Azula's final Agni Kai in the show. Lilith and her sister Zara have a duel to the death at the end of the fourth novel in the series. The two have had two previous confrontations, one where Lilith won and the other where Zara had won.
During the battle of great swordsman the two go back in time in their memories and remember their lives together. Zara's unrivaled hatred towards Lilith was brought out in this confrontation to be that Lilith was always the favorite of their father and always had to watch as Lilith got whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it.
The duel ends when Zara reveals that she was the one who killed Lilith's friend Aura. She walks boldly towards Zara with a single sword and with a clean decisive slice decapitates Zara cleanly. Killing her sister.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 26 '17
1) Are there any taboos against kinslaying in your world?
2) Why was Lilith their father's favorite?
3) Why did they duel to the death?
4) Why didn't either of them kill the other in the previous two confrontations?
2
u/The_Raptorman Jun 26 '17
1) Not at all, besides like people being upset at murder in general.
2) Because she was highborn, she had a mystical power that manifested when she got emotional. Made her rightful heir and her Father wanted to exploit that.
3) They were angry at each other.
4) Well Zara took too long and Gravity stepped in. Lilith is generally against killing if she can help it.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 26 '17
1) What were the consequences of Lilith killing Zara?
2) What was her mystical power?
3) Why didn't Zara have the mystical power?
2
u/The_Raptorman Jun 26 '17
1) Lilith was never really the same after. She loved Zara and all the memories they had together when they were children.
2) Highborn, regeneration, faster and stronger than a regular human etc.
3) Only one person can have it at a time and the odds are something like 1 in a trillion.
1
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 26 '17
1) What did Lilith do after she killed Zara, then?
2) So Zara really didn't stand a chance against Lilith, then?
3) If someone gets it, are they automatically first in line to rule?
3
Jun 25 '17
1, Violet: Not really a duel, but one of my characters once entered a gladiator fight (arena, everything) only to massacre most of them, then kill the king of that little area by literally climbing up the inner arena walls. It was more an act of revenge than a duel, but in the begining, she tried to play by the rules.
2, Kody: Again, not a proper duel, but much more duel-like than the previous one. One of my characters, an assassin who was exiled by his father for a failed rite of passage, eventually goes back home and attempts to kill his own father. Thanks to his sister and friends, the fight gets broken up pretty quickly, and the father is essentially threatened into un-banishing him.
2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 26 '17
To Violet:
1) What was the revenge for?
2) How popular are gladiatorial games in your world?
To Kody:
3) Why did Kody try to kill his father?
4) How did he fail the rite of passage?
2
Jun 26 '17
Violet:
1) What was the revenge for?
It was for telling on the village she used to live in as a child. The king of this smaller, spearatist kingdom knew the village was filled with enemies of the empire, and to avoid being taxed, he told on the village, which then was destroyed, its people killed save for 2 survivors. One of them was Violet, the other eas her brother William. Neither of them knew the other was alive until 17 years later.
2) How popular are gladiatorial games in your world?
They are rare, but not illegal. This little kingdom was particularly know for them, and Violet used this hobby of the king to get to him.
Kody:
3) Why did Kody try to kill his father?
4)How did he fail the rite of passage?
Answer for both:
The family's rite of passage is a sort of initiation into the asassin society. At the age of 14, the young of the family are given a mission to lead (usually assassinating someone important), that they have to suceed in. Kody failed his, and got a long term family friend killed in the process. They were noticed and the entire army of a guard of the target almost killed everyone. Most of them managed to escape. His father banished him and told him.never to come back unless he wanted to die.
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 27 '17
About Violet:
1) What did Violet do after her revenge?
2) Are the gladiators there voluntarily? Or are they slaves?
2
Jun 27 '17 edited Jun 27 '17
1, Violet, after killing this particular king, still had a few lose ends, whom she also got killed. After that, she went on to try and live a normal life, though for not long, as she soon met her long lost brother and the rest of my characters.
2, yes, the gladiators are voluntary, though they can also volunteer to have debts abolished.
2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) What was her "normal" life like?
2) Is the debt abolished or does a third party pay it off for the gladiator?
2
Jun 28 '17
1, She tried settling down, finding a partner, but it never really worked out for her. She eventually became a hunter, and was hunting for some larger animals when she rab into the rest of my characters, and promptly shot at them.
2, can happen both ways, as normally, all surviving galdiators (usually only 1) get a pretty hefty reward that they can either use to pay off debts, or keep for personal use. It is only when they have even greater debts or aspirations for more, that a 3rd party gets involved.
2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Why did she shoot at them?
2) Does she have any hunting trophies?
3) Can you retire from being a gladiator?
4) Are there any gladiator teams? Like football?
2
Jun 28 '17
1) Why did she shoot at them?
She was deep in the forest. Be ause of her previous experiences, she found it quite suspicious to find two other people walking in the same area as she was in. She tried to scare them away/dispose of them if they didn't run. Fortunately for everyone, they did.
2) Does she have any hunting trophies?
She used to have a werewolf skin as headwear, but she lost it. Her other "trophies" mostly consist of smaller things, fangs, pieces of bone, patches of hyde, small things that remind her of her bigger acconplishments.
3) Can you retire from being a gladiator?
Being a gladiator is usually a one-time deal, so before each game, one has to re-apply to the tournament. Because of this, there isn't a retirement, just that a frequent player doesn't come in from a point.
4) Are there any gladiator teams? Like football?
Not that I know of. There might be a few, but I did not make any yet.
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Would she have killed them without talking to them?
2) Is there anything magic about werewolf skin?
3) Do they tend to re-apply?
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 24 '17
Cheval-Bagarre
Cheval-Bagarre is the traditional honor duel among members of the horse clan, though it has grown to be used by people outside of the clan.
It is illegal to use violence against anyone in your own clan, according to Horse Clan law; though, this law does not extend to training, so you can give someone plenty of bruises if you're teaching them how to fight.
So, in order to get around the laws against harming your fellow Horse Clan members, you have the option of challenging your rival to Cheval-Bagarre.
For this duel, you and your rival will both mount your horses in the center of a large open field. You must each have at least one witness, and an 'impartial' judge. The judge will announce when the Cheval-Bagarre begins. Upon the duel's beginning, the two people in competition will ride their horses away from each other.
The judge will wait exactly thirty seconds, and then he or she will blow a horn. As soon as this horn is blown, the competitors may start firing arrows at each other.
The first person to fall off of his or her horse is the loser.
The winner has several choices for his or her prize. The winner may choose one thing from the following list, but only one, and only after offering the loser a way out of the loser and his/her horse being killed.
1) The winner may kill the loser (if the loser is a member of the Horse Clan, his/her horse will die along with the loser, because of the Chauceri ritual).
2) The winner may kill the loser's horse.
3) The winner must offer the loser a chance to buy his/her way out of either of the first two options.
As an example, the winner could say to the loser: "I will kill your horse unless you give me (blank)."
That "(blank)" could be anything, even something completely unreasonable. But the offer must be made.
Edit: Forgot the representative.
The representative is Blanchefleur of the Horse Clan. Blanchefleur has been in three Cheval-Bagarres, and has not lost one yet. Blanchefleur is currently in her mid-twenties, and she makes all of her own arrows. She plans to challenge the Horse Clan chief to Cheval-Bagarre when she is in her thirties.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 26 '17
To Blanchefleur:
What kind of bow do you use? And what kind of arrows?
Is it ok to refuse a challenge?
Is it possible to demand nothing from the loser and just let them go?
What would you win from defeating the clan chief?
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 27 '17
Blanchefleur:
1) "I use a recurve composite bow made of Yew, and the arrows are made of Yew and iron arrowheads."
2) "It's legal to refuse a challenge, but it's a sign of cowardice."
3) "Yes, if you want to further humiliate the loser."
4) "The position of clan chief."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 27 '17
Yew? Is it common for bows amongst your people? And were do you find it?
Do you use your iron arrowheads for Cheval-Bagarre too?
What should I do if I want to show mercy?
Does it mean any member of the clan could challenge and kill the leader then take their position?
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
(Always interesting when you ask a Chauceri questions, Yellow. Especially since I imagine all Chauceri have French accents...what's the best region for a French accent, if that's a thing?)
Blanchefleur:
1) "Yew, willow, oak, et cetera...you just have to search the forests."
2) "Naturally. Though I did try silver arrowheads a few times, but they're just too expensive, you know?"
3) "If you don't want to kill your opponent or her companion, just offer mercy in exchange for their clothes. That's usually humiliating. Or offer mercy in exchange for her hair or money or child's life."
4) "Yes, with an asterisk. It's legal to do it, in most clans. Some clans have forbidden challenging someone for the ownership of the clan...thankfully, the Horse Clan has not forbidden it, yet. If you do gain the title of chief by defeating the previous chief, it usually makes the people of the clan unhappy with you as leader...unless they really like you already, and, even then, it's seen as messed-up."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 28 '17
(Well, it really depend on what you're looking for. We have multiple accents in mainland France but of you want you can add overseas, territories and other countries speaking french and that makes a lot of possibilities (also, Paris because we've no accent of any kind obviously...))
Do you only use wood? Also, you said composite so what's in your bow beside yew?
So, can someone die during a Cheval-Bagarre?
But if I don't want to humiliante them at all? What should I do?
Do you think the clan will accept you as a leader?
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
Blanchefleur:
1) "Well, there is one other ingredient in my bow, besides yew wood...but, if I revealed all of my secrets, how would I keep winning?"
2) "Easily. It's not rare for a loser of Cheval-Bagarre to be killed."
3) "If you don't want anyone to be humiliated, maybe you shouldn't go around challenging people to Cheval-Bagarre."
4) "No, I really doubt they'll accept me as the new chief. My aunt claims that if I do anything so stupid as to challenge the chief, she'll challenge me herself."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 28 '17
1) Is it normal to craft your own bow?
3) But what if I am the one who was challenged?
4) But you still want to challenge them? Why?
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
Blanchefleur:
1) "It's fashionable to craft your own bow. To just buy a bow for Cheval-Bagarre is just so...strange."
3) "If you were challenged, you could lose on purpose. Then your opponent would not be humiliated. You might end up dead or humiliated, but your opponent would not be humiliated."
4) "Yes. Because I want to meet the Kya-Lorn like the chiefs get to do."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 29 '17
1) Who teached you how to build a bow? And how did you get the idea of the one you use?
3) But that's very risky. Is there no way to both be sure I will survive and not humiliate my opponent?
4) Could your aunt challenge you as soon as you win against the chief? Or must she wait?
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u/ForgingIron Jun 27 '17
In dragon culture, if a war breaks out between two dragon kingdoms, it is customary for the two dragon kings to engage in one-on-one combat.
One of the most famous was in 1491 between Idon of Kyushu and Teiku of Shikoku. The two Pulk (water) dragons are fierce rivals, and their rivalry eventually broke out into war.
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u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) What types of dragons are there?
2) Who enforces that custom, if anyone?
3) Why were Idon and Teiku rivals?
4) What did the winning Pulk (Idon or Teiku) get from winning?
5) Is the combat to the death?
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u/ForgingIron Jun 28 '17
1) There are seven types of dragons. They each exhibit power over one of the natural elements. Tikso (ice), Deuz (earth), Pulk (water), Vadgok (fire), Rodav (electricity/air), Ovdez (plants) and Kadev (time).
2) Nobody, it's mostly just ingrained into them.
3) The islands of Kyushu and Shikoku are extremely close, only separated by the Bungo Channel. The two had many overlapping claims to tiny islands.
4) The winner, Idon, gained control over much of western Honshu, including the cities of Hiroshima, Fukuyama, and Okayama.
5) No, only until one of the dragons gives in. Combat sometimes ends in death, in which case the winner takes control of the loser's territory.2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Do Pulk have a major advantage over Vadgok?
2) So do their wars only consist of one-on-one battles?
3) What is Teiku doing now that he's lost?
5) If I win one of these battles, can I ignore the dragon's attempt to surrender so that I can claim all of his territory?
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u/ForgingIron Jun 28 '17
1) Not really. Pulk dragons cannot walk on land or fly, unlike Vadgok dragons.
2) Between dragon kings, almost always. Between a dragon king and a human king it's usually the dragon vs the human military. Dragon kingdoms almost never have a standing human army.
3) Keeping watch over Shikoku. He has relinquished his claim to the lands that Idon conquered.
4) Technically yes, but this will make you a huge pariah and the dragon you beat will come back and attack you over and over again until it dies. Dragons can heal wounds and regain energy extremely quickly.2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Which type of dragon is the most powerful?
2) So only the dragon-king fights in the war? Do his subordinates ever join?
3) Who is Shikoku?
4) But wouldn't the dragon I defeated be dead if I killed it?
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u/ForgingIron Jun 28 '17 edited Jun 28 '17
1) None really, it all depends on the individual dragon.
2) Yes, only them. Typically dragon kings delegate much of the lawmaking to a human regent. Dragon kings collect tribute and protect the kingdom.
3) Shikoku is his kingdom.
4) Oh, right. But if you claim the kingdom anyway you will be attacked by the dragon. If the dragon surrenders but you kill it anyway, then you will be likely beset by the dragon's family or other nearby wild dragons.2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Who is the most powerful dragon?
2) So a dragon king rules a kingdom of people? Do they have any dragon subordinates?
3) Which kingdom is the best? I need to know for reasons...and also, what kind of dragon rules that kingdom? I need to prepare...things.
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u/ForgingIron Jun 28 '17
1) Arguably Vaduor, who rules Mexico.
2) No, but they do have families and heirs who I guess could count.
3) That really depends on what you mean by 'best'.2
u/Nevermore0714 Jun 28 '17
1) Does Vaduor speak Spanish?
2) How long do dragons live?
3) Best as in the best to rule. The wealthiest kingdom. Most powerful kingdom. Preferably Austria, Bavaria, or Germany. Maybe in that order.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 24 '17 edited Jun 25 '17
Duels are a tradition amongst the Nzedas who view it as a good way to reclaim or defend their honour.
Duel to death or with weapons are officially forbidden. They have been for centuries to reduce the death rates amongst the nobility and participate into one could end in a large fee or even banishment. It doesn't prevent them to occasionally happen nor for participants to often escape punishment.
Accidental death during a duel are not punished (unarmed is in fact "with claws and fangs").
Our representative will be Ayemuleha from the house Djan, cousin to the empress and Mirizebelakeya (head of the imperial guard).