News

The House of Teken`Duis officially attended their first event at the Moots of 1097 (although as stated earlier, much of the House had been active before this). The moots brought the House into recognition with the Tarantula faction as we asked for and received our place on the council.

The Moots were hard times for the Tarantulas but we learnt there and then who were our allies and to a large extent; who would cross us. The Saturday was the date of one of the largest `all faction` parties to be attended with Teken'Duis as the host. We had 5 and a half faction leaders in our esteemed tent at one point; unsurprisingly Teken`Duis is no longer estranged to any of the other factions.

I (Khaza`Rea) met up with many of my abbil from other Houses and enjoyed the event to the full (although I still owe Mordred one). The bears were enthusiastic to right a wrong against my sister (the Matron of our House) whilst the Wolves were fickle on who they were at war with! Bran Mab-Morrigan, a close friend of mine and an inspiring leader (for a human) was given a generalship of the non-humans; I know he will not let anyone down.
The Dragons proved themselves to be honourable and are now respected amongst Teken`Duis. The goblin section of the Vipers somehow managed to upset everyone and got continually beaten (by the Bears and a Tarantula skirmish unit led by Kruelleth).

The future for Teken'Duis is no longer bleak. Once again we have come back against odds and this time we are here to remain. It seems now that all we have is the Gathering to wait for; and I assure you; this shall be a great year for House Teken'Duis and all of it's allies!

Lloth Ultrin!



THE GATHERING
Wet All Year

The Gathering was massively different for the Tarantulas this year; no longer were we being attacked aimlessly by all the other factions. Instead the factions (especially the Dragons and the Bears) were amicable and friendly; even to the point of letting of letting us into their camp with few questions.

Throughout the first three days the Tarantula's managed to increase their relations, due to work from the ambassadors, with all the factions but as always; there were old and new enmities to be conquered.
A group from the Vipers who had the coincidental mis-fortune of attacking Teken'Duis members several times caused trouble on these grounds and the Vipers haven't done much to improve their standing with us by their treachery on the battlefield (they switched sides before the battle leaving us hopelessly outnumbered).
The Harts did a ritual to discover the Paladins powers, which to some was a source of worry and others, amusement. This was simply because; why do a ritual if you`re never going to use the results?

The Beer Tent
This has got to be the place where more fights started (including the tournaments) and always provided a source of amusement to the Drow. The beer was too expensive (£2 a pint?) and at one point they even ran out of pint glasses (probably the Bears)!
Oh, and the bars "Pond Weed" lived up to it`s name!
On the other hand though; the wine was pretty good...

The Camps
Once again the Tarantula`s were positioned 'out of the way';yet this time had not toilets or stand pipe (there was no water running to our part of the 200 acres).
We did, however, have a lack of faeces and an electric fence (that was fun).
Our camp fire (although half the size of the Dragons) was a haven for illicit jokes and wisecracks; no names Sa'dor!

Mordred
Mordreds last bout with Lord Rhino of the Lions ended with a victory(?) for Mordred and an extra victory in the guise of Alias. Alias (the Pendragon) walked into the ritual circle (even though he had been warned countless times about his inability to confront Mordred) and confronted Mordred.
After a short battle Alias was defeated and destroyed as Mordred decapitated him with Excalibur.
The next day Floris Brand gave himself up so that the Pendragon may return to the world; the Pendragon has now returned and Mordred is somewhat...inhibited.


The Undead
1) The whole Gathering was frought with massive Undead hordes. They went around the various factions in turn and eventually arrived at the Tarantula`s gate where they put up a strong fight. Some of the more dangerous ones were dishing out fatal wounds to the best of our warriors.
The other factions (especially the Dragons) aided us and together we defeated the Unliving masses (combined with an Incantor wedge of 75!).
2) Another incident with the undead occured when they came round looking for one of the colour mages with little more than a portrait! (More on this later).
3) A Wraith adorned in black visited the differing camps leaving nothing but destruction in it`s wake. Eventually it seemed to grow tired and perhaps left to terrorise some other innocent mortals.

The Battle
The sides were Tarantulas, Dragons, Bears and Wolves against the Harts, Lions, Vipers, Gryphons and Unicorns. The Dragons supplied only a small force (due to the treacherous ground and dangers involved) whilst the Bears fielded a great unit along with the Wolves. The initial plan was excellent but the lack of strength on the Tarantulas left flank caused us to reconsider the position and play the shield wall at a different time. The Tarantula shield wall (led by Valkarn, Paladin Captain) was exceptional. They held against almost impossible odds, giving other units opportunities to form smaller skirmish units, (which is what we do best) and lead devastating attacks on other factions.
The Harts ritual proved to be ineffective since they didn`t capture a single one of us and at one point I had four Hunters on myself. The Drow fought hard and well, we lasted against 8-1 odds at one point.
Accusations aimed at the Tarantula`s leaving the battle field early are:
1) Unfounded
2) Probably seen through the bottom of a beer glass
3) Prejudice (against the Tarantulas? Never!)
I`d like to say again we Tarantula`s kicked ass this year and as one of the smaller factions we made a massive impressions (just goes to show, size doesn`t always matter, ahem).

I think I`ll close with what a human said to me (translated to Drowish):
"Drushii jabuckessen inbau ssinssrigginurl weth monild."


Olath Z`Resst

The great city of my noble blood, Olath Z`resst has recently fallen and been retaken. Teken`Duis has not long been at this location and it seems there is so much more for us to learn that neither myself or my honoured sister knew. The Gasharin are being pushed back away from Teken`Duis' homelands but I doubt this is the last we shall see of them.

My thanks to all the warriors who died in the bitter fighting, your skill is commendable. I also hail each and every Orthae Orbb Sargtlin who retook the temple of Lloth deep within the city. Soon perhaps, the score shall be settled.

Dro Elamshin