D is for Duellist

Why a Be a Duellist?

There is probably no more dashing a figure in contemporary high society than the duellist, a master of arms, fashion, and witticism. A recent invention of the last century or so, they have seized the imagination of people from of all walks of life for their flashy sword and gun play, their trend setting apparel and their mastery of repartee. They earn the envy and admiration of most, yet others fear them too. For despite their finery they are among the quickest and most deadly of fighters. Their skill, while called an art, has reached a high level of sophistication and complexity with few rivals.
They are modern figures, heralds of a new age, one fueled by the opulence of the nobility and their detached sensibilities. Duellists carry the finest weapons manufactured by a small and select group of artisan armorers, and their apparel is no less expensive or rare and changes seasonally with the whims of fashion. Thus it is the ambition of most nobles with an interest in the martial skills to aspire to the duelling arts; a noble unable to deal is seen as provincial and unsophisticated, an outcast in noble society.
For those wanting to enter the genteel classes, duelling is one of the few means of entering it. Many of the duelling teachers are famed warriors who fought their way to positions of prominence, others seek to earn the respect of the nobility by rivaling them in duelling skills, thus many merchants and others hire the same teachers as do the nobles. To become a duellist is to earn the respect and awe of society as a whole.
It is important to note that many of the wealthy have training in dueling including nobles, merchants, students and physicians. Knowing how to duel, even if one never does, is considered a sign of sophistication. Not everyone who duels and duels well is a duellist. Rather, duellists are those who wholly embrace the art of duelling or earn an income from their skills as a duellist.

The Duellists' Roles in Society

The role of the Duellist is deeply rooted in the traditions of the upper classes, and in particular high society. While the nobility have always been known for their martial traditions, their stability, wealth, and power tends to distance the nobility from their proud and sometimes violent past. The art of the duel and its prominence in genteel society ensures that the nobility can still embrace their taste for blood in a refined and highly cultured manner.
In the north, Duellists have a long history, but many of the refinements and the sophistication that the art now enjoys is the result of developments in the Southern and Western Old World. It was in the courts of cultured Estalia and Tilea where the art of the duel first emerged and rapidly was seized upon by the Breton court which added to the art its more refined rules of decorum and outrageous sense of fashion. The Estalians and Tileans perfected the practice, the Bretonnians invented the performance, and the Empire has begun to ape their more polished peers.

The rise of towns and cities in the world and the movement of nobility from their country estates to cosmopolitan areas fuel the success of duelling. It is here where wit and fashion reign supreme and conflict remedied by either a duel of wits or blades. The Duellist is an extension of these ancient martial traditions and the contemporary duellist is just as skilled in their own way as the archaic mounted lord of the past. Duelling serves as a way of keeping one fit and skilled while gaining prestige for both. Rather than warring against one another on the field of battle, nobles and their ilk settle their differences in a more efficient and stylish manner. For less pressing issues, duelling serves as a means of harnessing the more aggressive instincts of nobles and provides them with a socially acceptable outlet for their personal foibles.

Advances in duelling happen at a remarkable rate for there is a large network of traveling professionals throughout the Old World constantly competing against each other and perfecting their skills. Thus it requires constant training and practice to retain one's skill. The imperfect art of duelling with firearms is rapidly changing as well as the demands of duelling call for greater accuracy and dependability. A whole group of elite artisans who specialize in hand-crafting the finest in duelling pistols has emerged, thus spurring a greater sophistication in firearms.

It might seem strange, maybe more important than one's skill at arms is a mastery of the laws of duelling. The rules surrounding duelling are extensive and varied and it may take years, or even decades, to master them as each school of fencing, each culture, and even each court has its own particular customs, laws, and standards regarding duelling. Even if one were to win a duel but do it in an uncouth fashion, they could be mocked and ridiculed mercilessly.

At its rawest, the duel has only two combatants, but to be legal it requires a judge or witness. To be socially acceptable, a duel requires far more than these basic measures. A respectable duel requires two seconds who each assist the duellist, two cartelbearers, one for each duellist who communicate with their equal to negotiate which rules are in use, and a physician to care for any injured or dying. The most absurd of duels involve numerous onlookers and their entourage, servants for all involved, the personal trainers and armourers of the duellists, and even musicians to keep the crowd entertained while negotiations are being exchanged.

The image of a duellist is a romantic one, but the truth is that the art is just as enmeshed in the excesses and extravagance of the wealthy. The studies of the art are prohibitively expensive, thus undergoing training is as much a mark of social prestige as the finery and jewels a noble wears. It is yet another means to distinguish oneself from their rabble below and thus epitomizes the elitism that the wealthy lord over others. For an art, its participants spend a shocking amount of time parading about and putting on performances. So great are the changes that many of the old practitioners see modern duelling as trivializing what is an honorable practice, turning it into something as trite, superficial and innocuous as a garden party.

There is a dark side to duelling as well. The more dangerous and psychotic of sorts use it as a means to carry out murder and terrorize the countryside by relying upon the rules of duelling to shield them from prosecution. Some simply use duelling as a means of dispensing with their enemies in the bloodiest if somewhat socially acceptable manner, and in this manner many have increased their power and squashed their rivals. A successful and bloodthirsty duellist can terrorize their peers with little effort. Others use the duelling laws to commit acts of murder under the premise that the murder took place under a duel. Others challenge hapless victims to a duel to the death for some perceived injustice and then extort a high fee out of them to avoid the duel and thus death. There are also those devious and dishonest sorts who will do anything to win a duel: twisting the rules to their favor, conspiring against the other duellist, resorting to poisoned or sabotaged weapons, or mischievous seconds who may distract rivals.