The Duel

  • This is a story about another way the Skyrim War of Unification might have ended - an honorable duel between warriors.

    Chapter 1

    The Skyrim War of Unification has been continuing into a nightmare.  Both the Imperials and Stormcloaks would win small battles here and there, but neither side has done something really decisive.

    After two especially bloody stalemates outside Markarth and Winterhold, the Nine decided to step in and end this ridiculous war once and for all, preferably as bloodlessly as possible.

    Talos appeared to Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak and appealed that the war had "continued on and on, costing thousands of lives on both sides."  He also asked Ulfric if he seeks to conquer "cities devoid of people."

    Simultaneously, Akatosh appeared to Jarl Elisif the Fair of Solitude and made the same appeal as Talos made to Ulfric.

    Both leaders realized the war could weaken Skyrim to the point that the Thalmor to conquer it easily!

    However, the war needed to be settled - there needed to be a winner and loser, but some way that did not involve hundreds of good men on both sides fighting and dying.

    At a summit between the Imperials and Stormcloaks was called by the Nine, Ulric and Elisif both thought of a duel between champions to determine the whole war.

    First, a site needed to be determined - some neutral ground that had been conquered by neither Imperial nor Stormcloak.  Heartwood Mill (and the area around it) in The Rift was selected to be the dueling ground.

    Second, the rules of the duel were established - first, the only sort of magic permitted was healing magic; second, anyone schooled in the Voice could not be involved, as that would give that side too much advantage; third, the duelers were only allowed to attack each other (no other combatants were allowed to be involved.)

    The champions chosen by each side were:

    John Stoneguard, a true Nord who has proven himself in battle for the Stormcloaks several times.

    Irving Litheknife, an Imperial who is very skilled at Stealth.

    The two combatants met at Heartwood Mill; John Stoneguard of the Stormcloaks appeared directly on the field, ready to fight, when suddenly, Irving appeared from behind the Mill’s main house and shot an arrow at him.  John dove out of the way and pulled out his greatsword.  He then charged Irving’s position, but Irving had already leapt from that position, and was fitting another arrow in his bow.

    For three hours, neither man got any sort of advantage – Irving shot at John, John would dodge or block (he figured out that by spinning his greatsword in both hands, it would act like a shield.)

    Finally, both combatants exhausted, both sides decided to rest to allow for healing and healing magic.

     The second round of the duel began – John figured out that Irving was too agile and cunning to fall for a direct charge; perhaps if he tried sneaking around him…

    John attempted to sneak around Irving, who by this point had scaled one of the trees around Heartwood Mill and was attempting to get a better view of the land or get a clean shot at John.

Comments

2 Comments
  • Jake Johnson
    Jake Johnson   ·  July 23, 2014
    Thank you.  I edited it to 531 words.
  • Soneca the Exiled
    Soneca the Exiled   ·  July 23, 2014
    Dude, this is too short, the minimum length for blog posts is 500 words. If you don't make it longer I'm going to have to delete it.