Call for Baron's Council

[Reign]

A posting from Reign's agent, Gabriel was posted to the cork and sent to the DoS offices as well as each Baronial Manor;

Senior Baroness Reign Raa has been located and is presently recovering under medical supervision in New Haven following a serious incident connected to ongoing irregularities surrounding the Ward of Gondar and the dueling rings.

While Baroness Raa is expected to recover, she sustained significant injuries during the course of her return and remains under observation. We respectfully request privacy and patience while she regains her strength.

In light of recent events and continued concerns shared privately and publicly by multiple duelists across the Arena community, Baroness Raa would like to formally call for a Baronial Council to discuss the present state of the Ward, recent anomalies connected to the rings, and the broader implications these incidents may have for the safety and continuity of sanctioned dueling within Rhy'Din.

Additionally, it is with regret that we confirm the loss of the New Haven Baronial ring during the incident in question. At this time, the ring’s whereabouts and status remain unknown.

Further updates will be provided when appropriate.

— Gabriel Shaw
Representative and Acting Public Liaison for Senior Baroness Reign Raa

[Partly Cloudy]

It was at Villa Cadentia that the missive found Gatito. After reading it, he quickly penned a response to be sent to Reign's representative.

Mr. Shaw,

I am happy and grateful to hear that Baroness Raa has been located and is expected to recover from her ordeal.

Please inform her that I am available whenever she feels up to leading the Baronial Council meeting and will meet her wherever she needs, whether that be the Arena, her hospital room, or somewhere else.

As well, please pass along the following contact information to her. This is my personal mobile number, should she desire to contact me directly.

Merci beaucoup.

— Gatito Lindo
Baron of Cadentia and Warden of Twilight Isle

[attached was the mentioned contact information]

[Alasdair Galloway]

To all Barons and the Duel of Swords Community:

First, my apologies for my absence. I had to return home due to a family emergency. While there, I became aware that the Ward itself was responsible for the issues with my father, which really shouldn't have been possible. To make a long story short, it was only upon my recent return that I saw this was not an isolated incident.

In light of what happened with Baroness Reign and the apparent loss of her ring, we are officially suspending challenges until further notice until we can find a solution to the issue. Regulation duels may continue, but are unsanctioned and each dueler must understand the risk they put themselves in.

With congratulations and apologies to Madness winner Matt Simon and runner up Gatito Lindo, we cannot offer the normal prizes for challenges this year and will instead work with each individual for an appropriate prize.

I will state in the past when the Ward had malfunctions, it appears that it required a trade of rings which led to a reduction of titles. I don't know if this will require the same solution, but I wanted to mention this as a possibility and put it up to the Baron's Council to discuss.

The staff looks forward to the Baron Council's input.

Alasdair Galloway
Duel of Swords Coordinator

[Goldglo]

Too little, too late, Alasdair. Way to throw the life preserver after the drowning already occurred.

Others of us have taken matters into our own hands. You've stayed out of things this long, you may as well continue the trend.

In matters relating to this meeting of the Barons, I will attend.

--Matt

[Mairead Harker]

To the Barons' Council, Duel of Swords Management, and the Swords community at large,

Firstly, I'm glad to read Mr. Shaw's announcement that Reign has been found alive and is recuperating.

While I am no longer serving as a member of the Barons' Council, I would like to offer the following, primarily historical information that may help the Barons in making their decision. After searching in various archives, sifting through messages on the cork, and asking some of the elders for their recollections of times before my birth, I learned that this is at least the fourth time the Ward of Gondar has malfunctioned.

A notice posted on this cork (copies of several documents attached) on 21 Mar 1999, written by Auritan the Meek, attests to finding a written record of a match to the death between Queen Luthien Tinuviel of Mountainside and one Prudence O'Shaunessey. The then-guardian, Vol de Morta, had ransomed the protection of the Ward claiming that such a match was the way to reinforce the Ward's protective energies. While this battle was taking place, Athlstan with the aid of Laird Iain MacKensie and others was sent into the other dimension (possibly what is referred to as The Rift) to fight Vol de Morta. Athlstan was victorious and gave up his corporal form to become the Ward's guardian. Auritan's account was verified by Jonalyn Nenshen Starfare, the former Queen of Westridge, who stated she was a witness to those events. While some might say that the sacrifices of Prudence and Athlstan were made of their own volition, this is still one death and one exit from this plane ( I could find no proof that Athlstan is, in fact, currently deceased) that can be attributed to the Ward malfunctioning.

I need to note here that Athlstan has not been heard from in many years. That might be a contributing factor to succeeding malfunctions including the present one. In his message, Auritan the Meek signed himself as [Guardian (for the nonce) of the Ward of Gondar]. My most recent and further research of the cork's ancient messages shows that Athlstan did return. The message from Auritan states that Athlstan returned from the other dimension and named him as successor. Because of a magical artifact, Auritan did not take Athlstan's place on the other side. It's not clarified whether or not Athlstan went back. That I could find, Auritan has not been heard from in many years, either.

This begs the question, what sentient being or presence has been minding the store when it comes to the Ward of Gondar? To my knowledge, the baronial rings do not have a permanent sentient presence attached to them like the Opals do.

The next malfunction of the Ward was during the Overlord reign of the Blindfold Proxy, 23 Sep 2002 - 30 Dec 2002. His challenge for Overlord shows that the Blindfold was the name of the organization or business that he represented. Some have attributed the malfunctions to a pair of statues((*)), that are still present in the Arena, but I could find no definitive proof on record that they were, in fact, the reason.
What is recorded is: Charlie Jericho, a former dueling official, died in a match during this time; her opponent, Ria Graziano, was severely injured, and the malfunctions ended when his reign did. A press release from the Wrecking Crew verifies the death and injuries.

The third malfunction, during the time of Shakira's Overlord reign, between 30 Oct 2003 and 4 Jun 2004, is the only incident on record associated with a reduction in baronial rings. There were thirteen baronial rings.((**)) The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 12th were, until August of 2019, believed to have been taken across The Rift. There are stories and speculations about the 4th, 5th, and 6th rings having been left in the care of people beyond the Rift. The last known sighting of the 9th was when the sitting Baron, Goon, disappeared right after a tournament.

The 12th is associated with the murder of its last Baroness, Jenia Aedroud. There is a notice, posted on 18 May 2004 from former dueling official, Rory Laurent, who has the gift of psychometry or some form of it, attesting to having used her gift to see Jenia's last moments of life. It is because of Jenia's death, that it became known something was amiss with the Ward. While I believe Ms. Laurent's account of what her gift allowed her to see, I'm finding it disappointing that much like now with information not being made public in a timely manner, that the outright murder of someone within what was supposed to be a warded ring, was hidden. Ms. Laurent states that Athlstan's (the former guardian of the Ward) daughter committed the murder under Shakira's instructions. That ring disappeared and, while presumed to have gone into the Rift, was not known to have been carried by anyone.

That brings me to the 7th ring, currently called the Ring of Cadentia. It's on record that Aelric Shadowmane volunteered to carry the ring across the Rift. We can speculate until the cows come home, as my Gran says, as to why it resurfaced and what happened to Aelric. However, none of that will change the fact that it either returned or never left. It also won't change the fact that no one seems to have questioned when it reappeared. It does, however, open the possibility that other rings, particularly the 12th, is still here, but in hiding. Could it be that the rings have become like the library books in the Momus Athenaeum and go home when they are ready?

Respectfully,

Mairead E. Harker


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copies of referenced documents were attached to Maggie's post.
21 Mar 1999
Good Patrons of the Duel of Swords:

There have been questions of late penned upon this board concerning certain aspects of the Ward of Gondar. I wish to offer explanation, for those who would listen.

In my wanderings through the Arena late at night, one time I came upon a secret place (at least I assume it was secret, for no one else has ever been there since I discovered it). In this small closet, there was a book. It appeared to be a very old transcription of some writings from the cork. (I still have the book, and would be glad to share its knowledge with any who would ask me privately.) In the book there is a detailed account of events leading up to a Deathmatch that occurred some time back between Queen Luthien Tinuviel and the lass Prudence O'Shaunessey. Herein, I should like to recount some of the 'facts' of the matter, based on that account, for those who might have interest.

In the time of Athlstan's second rule as Overlord of the Duel of Swords, there was a Guardian of the Ward of Gondar named Vol de Morta. At the time, Vol de Morta actually controlled the spells that returned healing to those duelists who were injured, and he thrived on the blood spilt in the rings. Eventually, being corrupted by the power of life and death that he wielded, Vol de Morta ransomed the Protections of the Ward for a Deathmatch between Queen Luthien and one other. His claim was that he needed the rich nourishment that only a duel of Honor ending in death would bring.

Vol de Morta gave Queen Luthien a choice between dueling the Overlord or a lass named Prudence O'Shaunessey. The decision was made that Athlstan would duel and the lass Prudence would be his second. Then Queen Luthien, perhaps driven by despair, attacked the Overlord outside the ring one eve, attempting to end his life, but succeeding only in severing his right arm. Since the Overlord could no longer duel, Prudence, being his second, was required to step up.

Before the Deathmatch could be arranged, Dalamar Ar'Daumon challenged for the Crown and was victorious over Athlstan. (For those who worry about such things, Athlstan was hampered with dueling left-handed, so Lord Dalamar fought him blind-folded.)

Anyway, some time after that Challenge, the Deathmatch was fought between Queen Luthien and Prudence O'Shaunessey, with the tragic outcome that Prudence gave her life for the preservation of the Ward. Meanwhile, Athlstan, Iain MacKensie, and one called Raven, used the diversion of the Deathmatch to send Athlstan into the other dimension to fight Vol de Morta. Athlstan was victorious, and gained control of the Ward, giving up his mortal presence to live for a time in that other dimension. And thus, he remained Guardian of the Ward until that fated night that I walked into the Arena after hours, whistling...

Now, good Ladies and Gentlemen, those are the 'facts' of that time for as much as I can verify them. I hope this clears up any misinformation that may be traveling 'round the Arena. As I said, I can show any who ask the original manuscript from whence these assertions were taken. And further, be it known that if some of these 'facts' still be in dispute, I would be glad to listen to further evidence, and make changes accordingly.

With humble regards and well-wishes to all from one of such meager knowledge,

~Auritan the Meek
[Guardian (for the nonce) of the Ward of Gondar]
[Humble Bearer of the healing Stone of Earth]
[Servant to the Realm]

Auritan
--
22 Mar 1999

Not that tis needed, but thine accounting is accurate, for I wast present during the duel wherein the Queen of Mountainside, Luthien Tinuviel didst sever the Cleric's arm ast well ast having felt the presence of the entity, witnessing its presence stalking the arena one eve, ast well ast being present during the fateful eve wherein Prudence wast slain and Athlstan didst place his life on the line for the protection of those who do dance the dance of steel ast well ast his sacrifice in battling the entity.

Jona
---
15 Feb 1999

To the Patrons of the Arena:

Lords and Ladies, I bid thee all a good day. As many of ye perhaps already know, I currently am the Protector, the Guardian as it were, of the Ward of Gondar, that complex interlinking of spells attributed to, and named for, the first Overlord of the Duel of Swords, which protect the duelists herein from serious injury as they pursue this fine sport.

By way of short explanation for those who may not be aware of my present duty as Guardian, I was selected by the Cleric Athlstan to assist with this honored charge as he burst forth from the Ward's dimension one eve, having been called back from his place of Guardianship to the mortal realm by the voices of the dead and dishonored seeking retribution for their demise. I should have been sucked into that other void in his place if it weren't for the
intervention of the healing Stone which hath become a part of my very existence. As this exchange is well documented elsewhere on this board, I will not dwell on the details herein, for thus is not the purpose of this missive.

In my short humble tenure as Guardian of the Ward, I have discovered much about the spells which protect all who duel in our Rings. However, I lack significant knowledge of the creation of the Ward, and to this end, I am seeking those who may have direct knowledge of the formation of the Ward. If any of ye were around at its inception, I would appreciate any knowledge that ye might impart as to its creation. Records that ye might have, or even memories, would be appreciated.

With humble regard and best wishes for all, I am


~Auritan
[Guardian (for the nonce) of the Ward of Gondar]
[Humble Bearer of the Stone of Earth]
[GrandMaster of the Duel of Swords]



----

07 Sep 2002

To the Duel of Swords organization:

On behalf of my sponsor The Blindfold, and per my prize via the recent tournament of Warlords, I now press challenge upon your Overlord, Cletus Ganderfald. Be this event conducted in one duel or three, it matters not. A time may be arranged through my sponsor's Office of Events.

Scribed by the dueling respresentative of The Blindfold

cc: The Blindfold, attn: Office of Events

--
17 Nov 2002

From the Offices of the Kitsune Foundation
Wrecking Crew Director of Public Notices



The Arena witnessed a tragic event on the eve of November 16th. For unknown reasons, the ward failed to protect Ria Graziano and Charlotte Jericho as they fought in an Arena ring.

After the battle, Charlotte Jericho was pronounced deceased at the scene, and final rights were administered.

The Wrecking Crew staff wishes to express their sorrow over this tragic event, and a memorial shall be held the evening of the first home match, against the Bladesingers.

May Charlotte Jericho rest in peace, and may her spirit be well-remembered.

Ria Graziano is in stable condition and is expected to recover.


--
18 May 2004

The latest public statement of support for the Overlord has made me realize that I have been silent for too long. I am ashamed of my role in supporting Shakira's reign despite my knowledge of the events and I am ashamed of my role in covering up the death of the Baroness Jenia Aedroud. In the past week I have tried to right these wrongs and this public statement is in effort to continue that trend.

I was alerted to the death of the baroness by Chris Graziano, the Supervisor of the Duel of Swords. To keep from upsetting the public, we decided that it would be best to cover up her gruesome murder until we could investigate how a person could be killed within the rings. As Assistant Supervisor of the Duel of Swords I was asked to comment on the rumor of her death by the editor of the Dueling Zone. My statement to him was, in fact, a complete lie.

As some of you already know, I have a limited ability to see a past event when I touch somebody. I touched Jenia's corpse in an attempt to see what her last moments were. Therefore, I am the witness to the murder of Jenia Aedroud that Arithon claims does not exist. I watched Shakira instruct Athlstan's young daughter to slice into the Baroness' chest and I listened to the Baroness' last screams of agony. It is a memory that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Overlord is behind the murder of Jenia Aedroud and has spread her sins to Athlstan's daughter as well.

Rory Laurent

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


((* The history page for Blindfold Proxy shows the following:
As a final note, no further cases of the Ward's failure were reported after the Proxy's descension from Overlord, and the Proxy himself vanished from the Arena. The statues remain, but at some point following the challenge with Dalila the great slab on which they once stood, supposedly made of the same substance as the blades of the statues, had disappeared, lowering the granite figures to ground level. Their blades are still said to glow on those nights with the thickest dueling action.

When I asked about the statues still remaining in the Arena, I didn't see a response as to whether or not they were removed and have written this post with that in mind.

--
** Notes on the baronial rings and including the presumed whereabouts of those that were lost.

I have copied the public notice posts here for the convenience of readers. Since most are from the archives, this also a means of keeping the information readily available should the duelingzone site not be accessible at any given time.))

[Lost Valkyrie]

I wholeheartedly agree with the call to convene the Barons' Council, and I actually have a few ideas.

I shared the following information with the press yesterday, and I will also repeat what I said to them for you all:

I met with Baroness Reign Raa at her home in order to discuss her recollection of what had happened to her during the two weeks she was missing from this plane... and the half-a-day she had spent on that plane, what I believe we are currently referring to as "The Rift". This seems like a classic case of time slippage, though it may not be quite that straightforward; while she consciously experienced half-a-day's worth of events, it seems like her body might have been forced to endure about two weeks of absence given her condition upon return. She had difficulty clearly recalling the things she experienced leading up to the events that immediately preceded her return, and asynchronous time-slippage between body and mind could account for why that is.

The events that immediately preceded her return contain the most crucial information. She encountered a shadow that resembled herself, but did not have the Baronial ring, and correctly intuited that this shadow was the key to her escape. She remembers that she had tried several things to satisfy the shadow--though not any details of what she tried--but the only thing that actually did was giving up her ring. She also doesn't yet clearly remember how or why she gave up the finger along with it, but once she surrendered it, she was able to escape. Giving up her finger during her conscious experience did result in the loss of the same finger, and the ring, on her physical body.

So, crucially, the Ring of New Haven is in The Rift. Are there any concrete effects on that in the immediate term? Actually... yes!

My astute assistant, one Rowen J. Ilbert, noticed that the area felt different from the rest of the city. We investigated the spiritual energies present, and discovered that the Ward of Gondar is no longer active in the New Haven district. I believe this gives us very clear direction on how to proceed from here.

That is everything I told the press. Here is what I want to tell all of you.

First, I'm going to speculate. I don't much like speculating to the press, but I feel more comfortable speculating with you all. By what mechanism did surrendering the New Haven ring cause the ward to leave the district? Is it because that ring has a concrete connection to the district, or is it because of the symbolic relationship between the district, the Barony, and the ring? We already know that symbolic relationships carry some degree of significance; we can look to the autumn where Salvador's heightened powers spread blight through the districts that he controlled, but not beyond those district's bounds. First, Dockside, until I won the challenge against him. The moment I did, the blight weakened, and we were able to eliminate it the following day. But then he won Seaside, and it immediately returned in that district. So I am confidently speculating that symbolic relationships--that is, our agreement that a given Barony and its ring is associated with a given district--do hold significance in some manner.

There's also the wealth of more concrete information that Maggie has shared about using the Baronial rings to stabilize the ward. I offer my profound thanks for that.

Between all of this, I have a proposal, but I do think it may not be a popular one.

Since we know we need to give up rings in order to stabilize the ward, I propose halving the current pool of Barons in order to send three more rings to The Rift. But I don't mean simply being rid of the Baronial titles for four rings. I think that it would actually have a significant effect if we were to merge the titles somehow, such that each Barony would be associated with two districts. This is based on my speculation from earlier about symbolic relationships. What I'm thinking here is that after we decide which districts to combine, and agree to make it official, each Barony would then have two rings. We give up one ring for the pairing, and upon so doing, we satisfy the requirement that each Barony must give up a ring to free its constituent districts from the ward's influence, and progress toward stabilizing the ward.

If we agree to proceed with this route, we have to figure out which districts to combine. This wouldn't be a redistricting of the city itself, but rather taking two districts and giving the pair a designation that a Barony would now be associated with. I was thinking I would reach out to the city planning department to see what ideas they have. Gatito, you were a former governor. I think your input on this would also be valuable if you are amenable to the idea of combining districts. We can also figure out for sure if we're on the right track this way; New Haven's ring has already been sent through. So if we agree to do this, and agree on which district to combine with New Haven, then I hypothesize that the Ward should immediately leave that district.

We also have to figure out who gets to keep each combined Barony. My idea for that is simple: challenge matches between each Baron in a given pair. The winner gets to keep the Barony.

I understand that this is a lot to ask, and I apologize for that. To make up for it, I would like to offer to be the one to deliver the three additional rings we are giving up to The Rift. I think it's only fair; if I'm going to ask half of us to no longer be Barons to fix this problem, then I should be the one who takes the risk in The Rift.

I know this was a long post that asks a lot, so thank you all for your patience.

-- Trinity Siempre
Baroness of Dockside
Director of Public Safety

[Crash]

Give up three more?

Make it two. If the Wards are screwy n’ whatever the Rift is wants rings, that’s a no brainer. I don’t need this thing if people are getting hurt. Had it almost two years, defended it a few times, haven’t had a challenge in almost a year, I’m good.

I’ll send a cut out of myself to this lil shindig so no one misses me.

-Crash

[Hailey Winters]

The following is written on official stationery of the Baron of Old Temple, and was hand-delivered to the DoS offices, with officially-stamped copies left at all of the other Baronial manors.

My name is Hailey Denise Winters, younger sister and only relative of Old Temple Baron Julia Irene Winters. I write to tell you that Julia has been mentally effected by the Ward of Gondar, and is currently indisposed.

It started weeks ago. Julia felt the influence of the Ward tugging on her mind. She instructed me to hide the Ring of the First inside the Cathedral, the Old Temple Baronial Manor, and then ran diagnostics on the cybernetic parts of her brain. That worked for a little while, until a few days ago.

Julia texted me, but she didn't sound like herself. She said she had searched the Cathedral looking for where I hid the ring. She was never going to find it there. I was worried that this sort of thing would happen, so instead of hiding the ring in the Cathedral, I hid it inside my dorm at the Bridei Dolan Center. She said she wanted her ring back, and then she was going to fight all the other Barons for theirs. That definitely didn't sound like the sister I know.

I spent the next couple of days leading Julia on a wild goose chase, blaming the theft on the demon attacks going on in parts of the city. I didn't have lots of time to contact others, but I got ahold of Marcella Brooks, the Keeper of Earth, who also lives on the Dolan Center campus. We arranged a trade off. I lured Julia there, and Marcy retrieved the ring from my dorm.

The ring is now hidden again, somewhere where I'm confident it'll stay safe until the Baron Council decides what they want to do. Julia is now detained inside the Dolan Center campus and will be looked after by me, Marcy, and her fiancé, Old Temple Squire Emery Wren.

I read the things that were left here, about what happened with Reign and the calling of the Council meeting. I'm hoping by then we can bring Julia back to her senses so she can show up, but if you need me to stand in for Julia or even just give my testimony, I'll do that too. If you need another ring to feed into the sands, I'll tell you where Julia's ring is so you can take that one. Whatever it takes to end this. I just want my sister to be okay.

Sincerely,
Hailey Winters, Holder of the Opal MoonBeryl.

[Reign]

A Baron's Council will commence at the end of this holiday weekend, to be moderated by the Duel of Swords coordinators and attended by Maggie Harker at my invitation as a historian. It will be held at the New Haven Ritz in a private conference room with meeting minutes released publicly for posterity's sake. With Crash having retired the title with nothing but my utmost respect, and with Julia out of commission to attend to her health, we ask for the attendance of the following titleholders:

Baron of New Haven Reign Raa
Baron of Old Market Matt Simon
Baron of Battlefield Park Vacia Siempre
Baron of Dockside Trinity Siempre
Baron of Cadentia Gatito Lindo
Baron of Seaside Droet the Bold

Optional Attendees, situation permitting:
Baron of Old Temple Julia Winters
Overlord Salvador Delahada

If any of the above cannot attend (excepting the Optional listed attendees), please let us know ahead of time. At a minimum for catering counts. Nicole's is catering food, Bluebird Sky will have coffee.


-Reign


((Due to the holiday weekend, we'll be writing out an IC Baron's Council at the end of this weekend with a goal of wrapping it up by Wednesday, availability permitting. The DoS coords are moderating despite the hostile takeover vibe, and Maggie is attending as several characters have advocated for such due to her involvement in the storyline to this point. We'll try to post a recap soon after it finishes with any "decisions" made by the Barons. Thanks all!))

[Calamity Wings]

I really don't care about your ward situation. I will not be present at the meeting and I officially abstain from all voting pertaining to this matter.

-- Vacía Siempre

[Reign]

I really don't care about your ward situation. I will not be present at the meeting and I officially abstain from all voting pertaining to this matter.

-- Vacía Siempre

Good.

[Reign]

((For the public's information, this is still ongoing, with oversight from DoS staff. Once we have an update, we'll post it!))

[Alasdair Galloway]

Good evening,

The Baron's Council meeting was held. Staff would like to thank the Barons for this meeting and working to set up a plan which we believe will fix the Ward.

Thanks to the efforts of DiArchLord Salvador Delahada and Baron Gatito, and to Baroness Reign sharing her experience, we have found a way and locations for Barons to enter the rift with their rings. All efforts will be made to bring all rings back as well as recover the ring belonging to New Haven, but the primary goal is to re-stabilize the Ward.

Maggie Harker has volunteered to take the vacant ring of Dragon's Gate across and we graciously thank her and accept her offer.

I am currently monitoring Ward activity across the Nexus, and Ebon is assisting each Baron as needed.

Thank you,
Alasdair Galloway
Duel of Swords Coordinator