KingLeon/DynasticChallenges
The Peleps Taradon School of Challenges
This system of duel etiquette is the one in main use by the Dragon-Blooded Dynasts at large. Those who are familiar with multiple systems of rules call it the Peleps Taradon School, who was the first to publish manuals on the proper rules and mannerisms one must use to initiate, challenge and fight duels.
That said, the meaning of "duel" and "challenges" should be better defined; they can be of any task, not necessarily combat, not necessarily even physical feats. Mostly, however, they are used by one Dynast challenging another to a martial duel.
What follows is an excerpt of Taradon's original guide, still published for Dynastic interests by his granddaughter. The fifth edition is considered superior to the first four, and Taradon's masterpiece. Some very martial-oriented primary schools have even included it in the daily lessons on social etiquette.
The Fifth August Edition of the Noble Challenges Wrought between the Chosen of the Dragons reads in the much-quoted passage on “presenting oneself”:
"One must constantly be aware of how one presents himself in the process of challenging another Dynast. Remember: nothing has a strict definition, especially in the mercurial world of Dynastic social trends, so the entire effect of one’s appearance and composure must be taken into account to properly project one’s outer message. To challenge another while carrying a peace-bonded daiklaive has many various meanings; the challenger does not feel the Challenged’s surprise attack poses any threat, the challenger feels the Challenged is such an honorable individual as to not even consider such a thing, the challenger is so lazy as to challenge another with their weapons still secured. The opposite is just as variable; a Challenger with an non-peace-bonded weapon might be making a grave offense at the challenged Dynast’s honor, by implying they might attack unexpectedly; or a challenger might be saying that he feels himself so weak compared the subject of his challenge as to require a freely-grabbed weapon. It does not matter that peace-bonds are trivial ties of ribbon, easily snapped by any Dragon-Blooded. The implications of various actions and non-actions are important to consider, lest one gives off an improper outer image, hurting one’s reputation.”
Statements such as these in the manual have caused the rules of challenging to become increasingly bizarre and freeform, and sudden acts of creativity and, at times, excessiveness. Cynis Jikoh challenged Mnemon Eri to a duel wearing no armor but a jade bracer, while standing on her head (Eri, a senior officer in the Legions and former student of the Cloister, replied by standing on his head and quoting a two-hour long quote from the Immaculate Texts). Most challenges, however, come down to a collection of simple choices… a single choice will not make an outward image, so a Dynast must carefully create a supportive sympathy of effects to show their intent plainly. An average Dynast will carefully choose the armor, weapons, bonding and types of boasts after a reading of Teradon’s pamphlet, and decide on which slaves, bodyguards, friends and relatives will accompany them to the challenge.
Bringing a gift to a prospective Challenge is in good taste, but not necessary, and is normally only an token item or sum, unless the Dynast has some other interest in mind (such as challenging the other Dynast in order to be accepted as their mentor). It is considered uncouth to challenge another Dynast in the middle of polite conversation, so most Dragon-Blooded will challenge the prospect immediately, normally in some short but suitably moving speech or poem that relates to the reasons behind the challenge. The challenged is given a few minutes to consider the proposal, and must either accept or decline. If the challenged declines, it is taboo for the challenger to challenge that Dynast again until Calibration has passed once more. If the challenged accepts, the two immediately must bargain and trade conditions and head prices. In either case, the challenger must respond in some manner that is at least equal to the effort the challenger put into the challenge; to fail has little real consequence, even with social reputation. However if the challenged can respond in a way that exceeds the challenger’s initial speech or poem, then the challenged will gain great face among his peers for his quick wit and power of persona.
Once the Challenged has accepted, the Challenger and him join into the Game of Conditions, where the identity and nature of the contest is decided. The Challenged goes first, uttering some limitation on the challenge (“It will be a battle of martial prowess,” “It will take place upon the Fivefold Arena of Elemental Transformation,” “No Sorcery or Charms will be allowed once the fight has begun,” “We will not make any sound louder than a whisper," or “The contest will be whoever can find the mysterious tome The Broken-Wing Crane.”) The Challenger may then set a condition, call, or strike the previous condition from the list of rules (only one action at a time). Either Challenger or Challenged may only veto a condition once in the Game of Conditions, and once this has been done, no further Condition can be added that involves that condition. What defines a Condition? Nothing, the entire concept is freeform. However, to intentionally create a Condition in a way that is longer than a sentence is socially frowned upon. Furthermore, a Condition worded specifically to give you an enormous advantage over the other Dynast is considered cheating, and brings a great loss of face in Dynastic society. It should be noted that many experienced Dynasts make use of the Challenge system to trick youngsters into well-worded but hopeless battles. Suggesting a minor Condition that severely handicaps the other Dynast, letting it be vetoed by the other Dynast and then suggesting an even more disabling Condition is a technique used by many Dynasts, primarily because they had it used on them when they were younger.
Some Conditions are just assumed, unless a contradictory Condition is uttered. That the contest will be not fatal for either side is one of these most basic assumptions. Not using particularly rare or outrageous artifacts (such as Warstriders) is also a general assumption for Challenges. The “when” of a duel or contest is also generally decided after the Final Bidding (see below).
Once one of the two Dynasts calls the end to the Game of Conditions, the Final Bidding has begun. The Challenger will now make his price known, that prize which he shall give if he is to lose the contest. The Challanged will then bid his price, if he loses. The Challenged’s prize is allowed to be up to half of the Challenger’s bid in value; this is intentional. The Challenged has been the one who has accepted the trouble and haste needed to win the contest, while the Challenger has had time to wait for the perfect moment. Thus, the Challenged’s prize is allowed to be greater. Most Challenged, however, bid prizes that are equal to or only slightly lower than the prize the Challenger has offered. Like Conditions, there are few rules on what a bidded prize might be (a valued servant, a lock of hair, a fortune in jade, serving the other Dynast for a year and a day). Generally, an informal discussion is allowed where the two discuss the prizes and what each other would like for the other to bid, thus making the Final Bidding a mere formality.
(At this point, the time and location of the duel are decided on, if these were not set as Conditions (which is normal for location, but not for when the duel is). Then, the two have time to prepare for the upcoming contest, duel, quest, etc.)
In fact, many Challenges are worked out ahead of time, between both parties, prior to the official process of making a challenge. While it’s generally disrespectful to the nature of the Challenge to let this be public knowledge, like Dynastic adultery, it happens quite a bit. Some Dynasts have even staged great mock Challenges in order to fuel rumors that the two hate each other with a passion, when the truth is the two might be secret lovers.
Challenges involving more than two parties work in a manner similar to the two Dynast system of Challenges. These situations, being more complex and less likely, have less rules and traditions attached to them. A fight between two Sworn Brotherhoods is generally decided as if each Brotherhood was a Dynast.
Tepet Gerisono, whose style of Challenges involves a complicated layer of boast making between the two Dragon-Blooded before the Challenge is actually made, adds an extra layer of complexity. This style fell out of popularity several decades ago except within House Tepet, and is almost dead in the Realm, considering the current state of House Tepet. It is believed this system was part of one popular among the Cadet Houses of the Northern Threshold, possibly even further derived from Silver Pact traditions. This connects back to some theories that the very fundamentals of Challenge making (the Game of Conditions and the Final Bidding) are somehow derived from First Age traditions, but there are no references that support it.
Other styles of challenge making are found within several secret societies (especially at the House of Bells and the Heptagram) and even some Immaculate Monks have a very simple system of requesting duels.
--KingLeon
(Opinions? It's over-excessive complexity is intended... fits the Dynastic culture scheme for me. It represents what a Socialize 5 character would know... while lower-ranked characters pretty much only need to know the fundemental process. I'll be running a game where a character is gonna challenge another Dynast to a duel tomorrow... I'll update and tell you guys how the playtest goes.)
