The Betrayal of Dewberrious

Act I

It was a dark time in the Land of Dadelous The Buccaneer team from the South was nearing the end run in a decade of dominance.

A new power was brewing in the central part of the Floridanus led by the villainous JD Robbinous the enlister. The Enlister brought with him a honed expertise from the distant land of Calif to usurp the crown that had for so long rested in the hands of the warriors from Dadelous.

Hence Robbinous secured the services of the finest mercenaries in the central land to thwart the South and usurp the crown.

Meanwhile, the great General Dewberrious recognized the coming of the storm, and knew that to restore order and the crown to its rightful place; he would have to begin training young warriors throughout Dadelous if the South was ever to regain the power.

General Dewberrious had a keen vision for talented warriors, and filled his stables with what he knew would be the future heroes that would regain the crown.

The General faithfully cultured and tended the development of these warriors, and this is where our story will focus for in fact 5 years hence in large part due to the very warriors that Dewberrious had prepared, the crown once again rested in the Southern lands.

But despite that victory and the regaining of the crown I must digress if you are to understand the true betrayal of Dewberrious.

Dewberrious as we have learned played a large part in training the southern warriors, among them his own adopted son Hallsious. But there were many others, their names are known throughout the land but not as pertinent to the betrayal of Dewberrious as the one. For that story we must return to the past.

Dewberrious was in the process of developing his warriors when he was approached by the nefarious Duke Nophonious, who had brought his son to the general for training. Nophonious entrusted the development and skills of his young progeny to Dewberrious with familial adoration, but it was merely a front to hide his true toxic and self interested passion.

For more than 6 full rotations, Dewberrious had done his best to prepare the young Nophonious for battle, he had led the Dukes son to fruitful campaigns in the junior divisions but now it was finally time for his ascension. In the Two Thousand and sixth rotation since the passing of the prophet, the adolescent Nophonious was promoted to senior warrior and readied for battle.

Too soon may have been his ascension, for many times he was defeated in battle. The impious Duke could not accept the lack of fortitude that his brood was displaying, and proceeded to disseminate a multitude of pretexts for the failures of his descendant.

“Too small are you my son, but you will grown and along with that so will your powers” he said.

"When larger a warrior you are, then will you vanquish the opposition, and you will be unchallenged in the land.”

But the nefarious Duke failed to recognize the presence and threat of a greater warrior than his own on the horizon.

To be Continued...

ACT II

A year had passed since Duke Nophonious’s son had ascended to the senior ranks and began to battle with the top class of warrior. He had struggled to keep pace despite the faithful teaching of Dewberrious. But now a new season of battle was fast approaching, and the prodigal son had grown in stature and in girth.

“You are bigger now my son, surely you will dominate your class” said the Duke to his son. “No one will stand in your way.”

But the Duke had forgotten that Dewberrious had an adopted son of his own that was to ascend to the rank of senior himself this season. Yet Dewberrious’s son would surely suffer the same fate as had the son of Nophonious, for he was but a miniature warrior weighing it at under 100 stones.

Nophonious’s son However was now coming down to the 103 stone class from 110 stones or more, an unmistakable advantage, or so thought the Duke. The Season began and the Generals son Hallsious did not seem to be affected by his lack of stature, readily and frequently defeating opponent after opponent of larger mass.

The Duke took notice and thought it but a fluke. Still, he decided to err on the side of caution by foregoing what was to be the first encounter between his son and the son of Dewberrious in the Homesteadian games. The Duke proclaimed that his son had developed a mysterious illness that prevented his participation in the games, and held him out of competition.

The season was now in full swing, and Hallsious remained undefeated, the first true test of his valor however was fast approaching, as the Gmacus tournament was but weeks away.

The day came when the leaders of the various factions held a meeting to decided the rank of their warrior so they might be seeded for the Gmacus. Although undefeated in battle, Hallsious was new to the senior clashes, and was seated but 3rd in his class, behind the Dukes son and Mauricious the Pirate.

His Commander and the General were unperturbed however, for they were confident hat Hallsious could prevail.

The Gmacus tournament had arrived, and Hallsious was greeted with an unfavorable position in the battle Draw; he would have to face a seasoned opponent early in the contest named Armanious Harrisious. Harrisious was a warrior of impressive dimensions, likely the largest warrior in the 103 stone class.

Early in the battle Hallsious looked out matched, but his heart was large and his stamina great, he fell behind early in the contest but in the end used his superior stamina to outlast Harrisious and move on in the championship round.

The day had finally come, the battle between Hallsious and Nophonious was set,and it would take place when the orb of fire reached it’s zenith. There was excitement in the air, and the spectators wagered on the outcome. It was clear that Hallsious would be the underdog, and that made him a crowd favorite.

The General that had trained Nophonious now sat opposite him in his own sons corner of the pitch, from which he would command his warrior in battle. There were murmurs of displeasure from those present because they perceived an unfair advantage in Dewberrious presence in his son’s corner.

The battle began and Hallsious came out with a ferocious assault on Nophonious. It was all Nophonious could do to keep the little warrior at bay. Nophonious employed a tactic of defense and continued to back himself up to the out of bounds line so as to limit the potential success of his opponent’s ferocity.

It was not long before the contest official (Eddious Medinious) summarily warned Nophonious to reciprocate the attack or risk being penalized. Nophonious scored a glancing blow, but Hallsious scored with a counter offensive of his own.

Hallsious attacked relentlessly, and as the match wore on he managed to score a contest winning maneuver on his opponent in the final minutes of the battle.

The Duke angered by his son’s loss and unwilling to concede that the little warrior was superior screamed foul. His contention was that his son had been victimized by the contest official due to the presence of the famous general residing in Hallsious’s corner.

The Duke began a campaign of subterfuge and malevolence against General Dewberrious; severing a seemingly affable relationship, and exposing the Dukes true colors. The Duke brought his complaint before Queen Goldenious, who loved the General but was forced to decree that in future contest the general not be allowed to reside in his own sons corner.

The General was devastated by the Dukes betrayal, he questioned the many years he had spent training the Dukes son only to be treated like rubbish because he was no longer of use to the duke. But Dewberrious regained his focus and realized that what was important now was to prepare Hallsious for the final battle.

The battle for all fast approached, and 14 new champions would be crowned Kings of Floridanus, but not before two rounds of qualifiers. The warrior Hallsious was ready, and the District battle loomed.

To be continued…

Act III

The Battle drew neigh, and a rematch between Hallsious and Nophonious was imminent. There were whispers and rumblings that the General had taken personal affront to the way he had been treated by many of those whom he had faithfully trained. But none of that would forestall the rematch of these two combatants.

The morning of the first qualifier came, and the warriors weighed themselves as was customary. There was one big difference in the division, and that was that this time it was Hallsious that had received the higher seed due to recent victories against his top two rivals.

Hallsious would have to face the winner of Nophonious VS Mauricious. Most believed that that Mauricious would take care of business and the rematch between Nophonious and Hallsious would not happen, but Nophonious stepped up and won the match, setting the stage for what was shaping up to be a grudge match.

This time the arbiter would be the more experienced Pardonious, highly regarded as one of the top official in Dadelous. But before the match even commenced, the Duke began his rumblings of displeasure with the official. It was unclear whom he would have selected had he the choice, for the other two officials present were just as inadequate for his taste, one being Johnsonious the great (cousin to Hallsious), and the other was Medinious whom he had rejected from previous encounter.

This time Nophonious opened the contest with an early score, but then once again retreated to the safety of passively delaying his opponent’s counters without himself attempting to improve his position.

The arbiter feverishly gestured as if imploring Nophonious to come to the side and attempt to further subdue his opponent, but Nophonious was content to latch on to Hallsious’s legs and secure him in place obstructing his opponents ability to improve his own position.

Pardonious warned Nophonious but when he was ignored he was left with no recourse but to penalize the actions of the antagonist. Seemingly flustered, and unconfident in his ability to finish off Hallsious, Nophonious began to make technical errors and miscues in his starting position.

A flurry at the end of regulation tied the contest for Hallsious, and when the extra period was over, Hallsious had found himself victorious over Nophonious once again.

The Duke spilled out of the seats spewing hatred and venom towards the arbiter and the General, proclaiming to anyone that would listen that his son had been unjustly victimized by the nepotistic official.

He saved no lack of ill intent in his testimony, proclaiming to all that would listen that his offspring would not and could not ever receive a fairly officiated contest in Dadelous because of the admiration and respect that the local arbiters held for Dewberrious.

The regional event approached, and this time it was Nophonious that would have the harder road to the finals. This time he fell to Mauricious, and in subsequent fashion also fell to Harrisious.

Hallsious once again did his part and proceeded once again to thwart the larger seemingly superior Mauricious in the final contest of the qualifier. Nophonious’s loss to Harrisious demoted his position to 4th and final qualifier for the final battle.

Coming out in fourth position almost assured that another rematch between Hallsious and Nophonious was at hand because they would both appear on the same side of the grouping.

Nophonious did his part and advanced past his first two opponents, as did Hallsious. The stage was set, and the third and final contest would decide who the superior combatant was. This time the event would be held in a neutral arena, and with a neutral arbiter. What possible protestation could the Duke come up with next; he must have been assuredly pleased with the circumstances.

The contest drew near, the night air thick with anticipation and excitement once again. But the result would be no different. Hallsious went out with mace’s blazing, and immediately backed Nophonious to the line causing the official to promptly warn him to reciprocate the attack or risk being penalized.

The contest was not close, Hallsious dominated Nophonious from the onset, and the Duke could be seen in his seat in the coliseum squirming and writhing with the agony of seeing a neutral arbiter further castigate his progeny like neither of the previous arbiters had done.

Surely now he must realize that the illusion he had painted for himself that his son was unjustly and unfairly treated was but a mirage of his conscious self struggling to admit that the Generals son was nothing less than superior.

The Duke approached the General to offer congratulations on Hallsious having bested his own son. Then in cowardly fashion reached out for the hand of Hallsious himself and with Venom in his mouth proclaimed “let it be know that you have defeated my son for only the first time, for I still contend that the other two victories were ill gotten.”

It was by the grace to the gods and the Generals strength of will that the General himself did not grab the Duke and pummel him right then and there for his cowardly actions.

Later the next evening Hallsious would again face Mauricious the Pirate, Nophonious who had never so much as spoken a word to Mauricious went out of his way to speak with him now and advise him as to what strategic maneuvers might be employed against Hallsious, and he offered Mauricious good wishes and encouragement.

During the contest, Duke Nophonious could be heard spewing hatred upon Hallsious, imploring the arbiters to penalize Hallsious for this action or that, and vehemently demanding scoring points that never came for Mauricious exposing Hallsious’s flank to the pitch.

There would be delight in the horde that gathered to witness the spectacle. Many now watched Nophonious making a fool of him self as he openly rooted against Hallsious.

With merely seconds remaining in the contest, Hallsious was behind and his championship seemingly lost. But in the true warrior fashion, the never say die spirit in him emerged and he dug deep to find the courage to sling the Pirate onto his flank, secure control and in dramatic fashion become King Earlious Hallsious of the 103 stone class, and simultaneously leaving the Nefarious Duke Nophonious slumped, breathless, and red faced to languish in the truth of his betrayal and his duplicity over a former friend whom he has used for his own purpose but had now betrayed from envy.

The End!