DUEL

"The adversaries must equally share the Sun. Competitors should position themselves in a way that neither side gains an advantage when the Sun is directly overhead."

Sachsenspiegel Dresden Codex (14th century)

Duel is an armed combat between at least two individuals within predetermined rules. Derived from the same root as the Latin word bellum (war), duellum (one-on-one combat) has historically been a method employed by different civilizations to resolve conflicts arising from the desire for property and dominance in settled societies.


The earliest examples of written rules for duels, dating back to ancient times, can be found in medieval German kingdoms (referred to as Kampf or Kampffechen terms), Italy, and Britain. Among the Vikings, there were practices known as holmgang, allowing two individuals to engage in combat under specific conditions. Duels, believed to have emerged for the identification and judgment of criminals, became a means for knights to gain superiority with the strengthening of feudalism. With the Renaissance, dueling rapidly gained popularity among the aristocracy and evolved into a method of challenging opponents under the guise of preserving personal honor, especially with the widespread use of firearms in the 16th century. Despite attempts by the Roman Catholic Church to ban duels, the interest in dueling, owed to the romanticization of knighthood, persisted.

Dueling was considered a privilege of the aristocracy, and prohibitions against it remained mostly on paper. While nobles, mercenaries, and imperialists engaged in duels as a hobby to preserve honor, the common people were engaged in a duel against exploitation and hunger. The code of challenging was so systematically structured that detailed rules for specializing in sword and firearm categories were published in England from 1770 onwards. The rise in societal awareness from the second half of the 18th century increased opposition to duels. The proliferation of law enforcement, coupled with the increased effectiveness of legislative and judicial organs in states, and the stability achieved in the application of civilian laws, contributed to the decline in popularity.

In the early 20th century, dueling was declared completely illegal in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the United Kingdom. Duels in Asia were generally conducted with the permission of rulers and religious authorities. Ancient texts like Dharmashastra specified a series of rules, including strict permission and ritualistic elements, for these duels. For example, in ancient India, duels (niyuddha) were considered a way for the warrior caste (kshatriya) to die honorably in battle rather than peacefully in bed during old age. The use of a weapon not banned in the same category and quality, waiting for the opponent to retrieve their weapon if one of the opponents dropped it but still had the strength to continue fighting, were some of the rules. Otherwise, it would be considered both a dishonorable act and a serious sin. Duels known as carok in Indonesia and hagit in the Philippines involved the use of agricultural tools such as sickles and machetes. During the clash, participants were required to wear sarong-like garments called sarongs. In Japan, duels were highly significant in the samurai class during the Edo period.

In the New World, duels were part of daily life without class distinction. In each phase of the pillaging of the Americas, duels served as the sole practice for resolving disputes. However, despite persisting in some southern states until the 19th century, dueling rapidly lost its prevalence after the American Civil War.

In Western practice, dueling is based on a code of honor between the parties. It is mandatory for the rivals to be from the same social class, but this constraint remains nominal. Each duelist must have at least one second, who determines the physical conditions and rules of the duel, witnesses the duel, and assists the duelist in preparation. Rejecting a duel offer after a challenge is considered losing and dishonorable. In duels, usually fought with swords and daggers, the first one to shed blood is considered the loser. In the case of firearms, when the agreed-upon distance is reached, a specific number of shots are allowed.

Throughout history and mythology, duels often appear. The epic of Gilgamesh illustrates the struggle between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, while the Iliad depicts the duel between Achilles and Hector. In the Far East, the famous swordmaster Miyamoto Musashi is said to have won all sixty duels he engaged in. The renowned poet and writer Alexander Pushkin participated in twenty-nine duels and lost his life in the last one in 1837. Upon hearing the news of the poet's death, unrest began among the people gathered in front of his house, almost turning into a riot. Fearing the situation getting out of control, the police secretly took the poet's body and buried it. Pushkin's successor, poet and writer Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, claimed in his poem "The Death of the Poet" that Pushkin's death was the result of a murder committed by the repressive attitude and indifference of the Tsarist regime, and he himself died in a duel in 1841.


"The Three Musketeers," "Cyrano de Bergerac," "Hamlet", "Dune", "Scotsman", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" are some examples of fictional duels in literature and cinema.

Duel in the World of Darkness: Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Challenges are embraced as a natural part of the Garou community. In any place and time, challenges typically unfold in three different ways:

1. Confrontation: It is a confrontation that ends with one of the adversaries lowering their gaze. Although a harmless method, the parties may go mad and attack each other.

2. Skill Game: It involves the mutual testing of knowledge or skill. Both types usually end with one of the parties showing signs of submission and accepting defeat by withdrawing (honorable surrender).

3. Duel: Clashes with klaive, fetish weapons, are rare and always end in death. Klaives are rare weapons made of pure silver, usable in Garou forms, and with a connection to a warrior spirit. They are precious legacies passed down from hero to hero. However, these weapons impose both physical and supernatural burdens on their carrier. In the game mechanics, due to being made of pure silver, the carrier incurs a -1 penalty to the gnosis score. Klaive wounds inflict aggravated damage on both Garou and other supernatural beings.

Changeling: The Dreaming

In the Kithain society, confrontation and duels with classical weapons are preferred methods. According to the Right to Dream clause in their laws (Escheat), no changeling can spill the blood of another changeling, take their life, and deprive them of Dream directly. Killing another changeling causes direct harm to the Dream itself and creates high banality (it destroys dream energy). Cold iron weapons are also taboo and can never be used. Dream-crafted weapons that do not cause physical harm in the physical world are preferred. If a chimera weapon causes one of the parties to lose their life, they depart from the Dream until they are resurrected in a new body with pure dream energy (Glamour).

Vampire: The Masquerade

Among Sabbat vampires who disregard the rules of the Masquerade, dueling (Monomacy) takes on a ritualistic aspect. It is a method of weeding out the weak and useless. According to Sabbat philosophy, the struggle against Antediluvians can only be sustained through the strongest leaders. Before a pack member enters this fight, a blood ritual is performed. A priest chosen from among the Senior Members blesses the challenger's blood. The blessing and weapon-wielding processes differ among Sabbat packs. The methods are specific to each pack's beliefs. Cutting weapons are preferred over modern weapons. In the end, the winner diablerizes the loser to claim their reward. Some conflicts differentiate based on clan. For example, Lasombra organizes chess tournaments with live pawns, while Tzimisce or Ventrue antitribu organize tournaments by hunting each other's human slaves (ghoul) to determine the champion.

Wizard's Duel – Certamen

From the death rituals of the Euthanatos to the martial arts competitions of the Akashayana masters, there are various types of duels used by Tradition members internally. However, Certamen, the wizard's duel, only inflicts the defeated side with the loss of vis and reputation, without causing physical or mental harm. Over time, with contributions from other Tradition members, it has become the official competition format not only within the Hermetic Order where it was invented but throughout the entire Union.

The rules of Certamen were written by the Hermetic Order centuries ago because famous wizards within the Hermes houses considered dueling a lifestyle. Lord Tempus Flambeau (760-843 AD), the founder of the Flambeau House, waged war against other spellcasters, blaming them for his family's loss. It is said that he killed fifty wizards until he encountered Maga Trianoma, who tried to establish the Union, and her Parma Magica[13] ritual. Another important figure is Lord Tytalus, the founder of the Tytalus House (740-807 AD), who is ready to create chaos for the sake of power, claiming to be the generals of the Hermetic tradition. Unable to find anyone to challenge him, he confronted the Queen of the Fairies beyond the Maddenhofen Forest in Germany, but no one has seen him again.

Let the Tournament Begin

When starting the duel, the master or masters (a minimum of one, maximum of three) who are skilled in dominating the Prime sphere, the sphere that shapes the raw material of magic, become the referees of the competition (Certamen Marshall). The referees begin to gather magical energy within the dueling circle. These circles have a structure that directly interferes with static reality with high magical energy, making them preferable to be held in other realities like the Horizon Realms rather than our world, which carries the risk of paradox. Once the referee (or referees) complete the ritual, a kind of magical field covers the circle. The effects of the competition are now completely sealed off from the outside world.

The opponents create centers (Loci) where their vis and sphere energies will be gathered. According to the game mechanics, a pool is created equal to the Quintessence points. The manifestations of the spheres to be used vary depending on the universal quality they represent, the tradition to which the wizard belongs, and the paradigm of the wizard. Then each opponent begins to summon the spheres they are proficient in, creating a pool up to the maximum Arete (level of magical ability) points for each sphere. The level of the used sphere does not matter in the game mechanics.

Example:
"The wizard participating in the competition has a Quintessence score of ten and an Arete score of four. He can use the Entropy, Forces, Matter, and Prime spheres. This participant:

• Has ten points in the Locus (Quintessence score = Locus score).
• Can summon a maximum of four spheres.

His opponent has a Quintessence score of five, an Arete score of three, and can use the Forces and Prime spheres. This wizard:

• Has a Locus level of five.
• Although he has three Arete points, he can only summon two spheres into the Locus because he only knows how to use two.

In the first step, the parties use the Prime sphere to activate magic. Then, in each round, the opponents summon one sphere each. The energy of each summoned sphere transforms into a symbol representing either an attack or defense, according to the preferences of the competitors. In each round, the opponents continue the competition in forms named Gladius (sword) for attack and Aegis (shield) for defense. After each Gladius attack that breaks the Aegis defense, the attacking side steals one vis point from the opponent's center, where they hold their spheres. The player whose vis points are depleted loses."

Flame and Core Memory Wars

In the current digital age, wizard duels are not limited to elaborate rituals. Various dueling types exist, especially favored by those who have delved into digital realms, such as Virtual Adepts. Two notable dueling types are Flame Wars and Core Memory Battles. In Flame Wars, opponents engage in a mutual struggle to break each other's codes. Except for one side giving up (resulting in a temporary loss of willpower points in the game mechanics), this type of duel is considered entirely harmless.

In Core Memory Battles, participants create a server outside Digital Networks using vis energy. Through Quintessence servers they establish, they draw energy to create viruses and launch attacks on each other's servers. Vis servers and viruses have an almost unlimited variety, ranging from simple code sequences to multidimensional structures resembling MMORPGs, depending on the creative power of the participants. Examining the game mechanics, the side that collects 25 success dice wins the duel. If the player's dice fail, it results in the destruction of the vis-coded virus. In the next round, a new virus must be coded. The unsuccessful side also incurs a level of light damage points (bashing damage), which, although initially seeming light, can lead to moments that bring about death. It is not uncommon to come across Netizens, digital explorers who mysteriously lost their lives while at their computers, tablets, or smartphones from time to time.

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