C07
The players were:

Warren Gillett, King Warren, was only in 68th place after the first two 
rounds of the tournament.  His first hero was named King Warren, and the 
second hero was Lady Marsha.

BigMike was just behind Warren in 71st place.  His first Hero was Fatman, and 
did not hire a second Hero.

Little Puppy, Slayer Of Dragons had the best finishes in Rounds A & B, 
resulting in a 16th place standing - the edge of advancement!  His two Heroes 
were Orchid Blossom and Little Puppy.

Arlis (Ilira, Jareth bar Belford) was in 82nd place after Round B.  Arlis's 
two Heroes were The Postman and Arlis.


The first few turns are very entertaining, as all the heroes search the ruins 
and the roleplaying is at its strongest.  Some samples from the players 
include:

BigMike:
Fatman himself plods on to the city of 07 where he dismantles the town and
its guard from outside the city with his great magic.  Upon entering the city
he recieves word from the south that the city of 11 has been taken.  As he
stuffs himself on the spoils he decides on a whim to rename 11 and 07.  He
wisely chooses the names of Calorie and River Fat for them respectively.

As he rests he sends a witch to tame the Giant Bats of the surrounding hills
and forests for his personal use.

Word of his conquering reaches all of the northeast.  The peasants of nearby
cities and villages tremble at his coming.

The blubber spreads for the first time.


Little Puppy:
It is sung by the bards, taught in hist'ries of war
How on August 10, 2364
In a small farming hamlet named simply 03,
In the foothills of the Coast Range not far from the sea
A hero arose and he said "It's begun --
The warlords move out, armies march at a run!"

The people, they stared at their self-named protector,
Not yet in his twenties, this one was no Hector;
He stood five feet four, his chest, it was flat, 
A little asthmatic, with acne, at that.
He was not one to put fear in your heart if you'd cross him.
He said, somewhat meekly "My name's Orchid Blossom..."

A man in the crowd shouted:  "What of the Great Puff?"
Another called: "Or Babyseal, she was tough?"
"Even Pollywog, yes, even he could cause fear!
Little Puppy said he'd *protect* us, do you hear?
These were the heroes we'd thought would fight for us!"
And Orchid he saddened to hear this cruel chorus.

"These heroes, though great, cannot come to this war.
They are indisposed, though I can't say what for.
I'm the last commander the Puppy can call
If not me, I'm afraid, you'd have no one at all."
The peasants, disheartened, looked up at the peaks
And they feared the attackers who'd be there in weeks.

Arlis:
A lone figure walks slowly through the desolate remains of what had once been 
Aerolandia.  He crests a hill and looks down into the pitiful remnants of a 
once great city.  He pauses, turns as if to walk away...but then slowy, he 
turns back.  Shaking his head as if he can't quite believe what he is doing, 
he makes his way down the hill and across a bridge into the city. 

The tattered remnants of a uniform adorn his arms and chest, a uniform 
salvaged from a corpse that had long since stopped needing it.  As he glanced 
at the faded emblem on his sleeve, an idea slowly came to him.  After all, 
hadn't he been an actor before the War?  (Well, his critics didn't think so, 
and audiences _had_ laughed at him when he had tried to recite Shakespeare, 
but surely this required almost no skill.)  Yes, it was worth a try.

At 04 (Black), a hostile crowd defended the city gates.  But holding aloft 
his bag, he announced that he was a representative of the Postal Service of 
Restored Aerolandia and began to pull out letters.  Within moments, he was 
inside the gates, surrounded by a large and increasingly friendly crowd.  

"What's your name, mister?", asked a youngster.

"Why, you might just say that I'm The Postman", he replied.

Unfortunately, King Warren did little roleplaying through the whole game.

Little Puppy, in addition to being a sterling roleplayer, also proved that he 
is more than capable of dominating a war.  King Warren made one tragic 
mistake when he left both of his Heroes underprotected in a city, and Little 
Puppy's Hero Orchid Blossom slew them both in a single battle.  King Warren 
was never able to fully recover from this mighty blow, especially since he 
had lost his demon on the water just a turn earlier.  In the north, Arlis 
began an assault on BigMike in response to BigMike's buildup of forces on 
their border.  Little Puppy continued his methodical conquest of King Warren, 
but kept a few troops on his northern border to capture a few of Arlis's 
cities.  The implied agreement between the two powers in this game was that 
strength would be respected and weakness punished - and Little Puppy was more 
than happy to punish any weakness that he saw in Arlis's defenses.  As the 
game progressed, King Warren went into Standing Orders as the hopelessness of 
his position became more and more clear.  Not long after that, BigMike also 
went into standing orders under Arlis's pressure, and the war boiled down to 
a conflict between the two powerful Warlords.  Each Warlord dedicated a 
number of armies to conquering the cities of the combatants who had no heart 
for further battle, but a mighty battle between the two that were left was 
brewing!

Arlis:
The Postman looked at the latest dispatches from the front, and a tear welled 
up in his eye.  It was only too clear -- despite the protestations of peace, 
Babyseal and her mad dog general Orchid Blossom fear the resurgence of a free 
and unfettered Postal Service.  Thus it is ever with tyrants, for the 
greatest enemy of tyranny is the free exchange of ideas.  Alas, there is 
little the straggling survivors struggling slowly to salvage Restored 
Aerolandia can hope to do against Babyseal's totalitarian war machine.  But, 
vows the Postman, they shall not give up -- not until the last letter of a 
free people is ripped from his dying fingers!! 

Little Puppy's reply:
Protestations of peace?  Good Postman, I recall only protestations of war. 
True, I did suggest that we demilitarize the zone between us in order to 
better attack our respective enemies, but it appears to me that we are both 
left with mere "mopping-up" operations on our distant fronts, and we may as 
well attend to the task at hand.  Perhaps also the Fatman will appreciate the 
pressure easing off just a bit...

In any event, I want to make it clear that my fine young hero Orchid Blossom 
has my complete support in his efforts to expand our defensive realm.  We 
have no desire to halt the resurgence of a "free and unfettered Postal 
Service".  We are simply intent upon seeing it in the hands of efficient 
private industry.  In this way the small and weak might one day, with 
cleverness, prosper.  True, the current contractor is having trouble meeting 
demand, but my...employer...is certain that in short time the efficiency of 
the market will prove a boon to even those over whom you have cast your 
bureaucratic net.  Welcome our moves, Great Postman, for in Pax Puppia lie 
the future aspirations and dreams of all Aerolandia.

-- Little Puppy, Slayer of Dragons
   Defender of Things Both Weak and Small
   And Yipping Tormentor of Greater Warlords


As usual, Little Puppy put up a sterling roleplay, and Arlis's roleplay was 
strongest when interacting with Little Puppy.  BigMike's roleplay was unique 
and interesting, but very short-lived.  Unfortunately, BigMike and King 
Warren's lack of strong roleplaying did detract from the overall 
entertainment value of the game.  The difference in Warlords expertise 
between the top two players and the other two players made this game not very 
competitive and not as interesting to read for strategic value.

The game ended with Little Puppy's armies overrunning the entire world except 
for one city, which Arlis had garrisoned to the teeth.