Fencing Club Adventures

	What will the name of this young man be?
Author	Jeff Gibbons
Status	Complete
	Link

Fencing Club Adventures follows Zack Finesse, an amateur fencer who must fight every member of his local fencing club. A simple practice session quickly spirals into an epic tale of diplomacy, romance, and lots and lots of sideplots.

Mechanics[]

The duels in the fencing club usually go by a "point" system, with each hit counting as one point. A health bar system is also in place, and having your health reduced to 0 indicates an instant victory, on account of the person being dead. A KO'd character can be revived by certain characters, currently the (both female) Cleric and Priestess.

Rules[]

Officially, fencing club duels are to follow these rules:

Points: Landing a blow on an opponent grants one point. First person to get to X points (to this point, it has always been 10) wins the duel.
Knockout: Reaching 0 HP renders a character dead, and unable to fight back. Obviously, this gives a victory to the duelist still standing.
Form: The first duel showed us that Zack's slice not count while fighting the Historian. The Historian's stab, done at the same time, did give him a point.
One on One: Fights are meant to be one duelist against the other.

However, these rules are very honor bound, and have no enforcement. If a duelist should decide to get backup, or to fight to the death other than points, there is nothing stopping them physically unless someone steps in. The following are miscellaneous rules adapted by some duelists:

Team Points: Landing a blow on an any opponent will grant one point. In the Cleric's duel versus the Historian and Zack, hitting Zack or the Historian would grant her a point, still requiring 10 hits for a win.

Stats[]

So far, a few stats have been introduced to us.

Health: Having this reduced to 0 is death. Large groups usually share one health bar, with none of the characters dieing until it drops to 0 regardless of how much damage they take, with all of them dieing at once when it does hit 0.
Magic: Required to cast magic. Restored by dramatic moments and by caffeine. This stat is only revealed to characters who have a spell or a magic item.
Strength: How physically powerful a character is. Norman is able to use his massive weapon with little effort due to his Strength being very high, and he able to effortlessly throw Ken through a chair and table.
Agility: How fast the character moves. Sometimes referred to as "speed". This drops in half when flanked on both sides, and can drop even lower when surrounded by more enemies.
Historical Accuracy: This is the alternative to magic for the club Historian, and it is not known if anyone else uses this stat. It is raised by successful skill use regarding historical disguises, and by recognizing historical inaccuracies.
Finesse: We have not seen this stat used yet, but it is available to at least Zack Finesse. It is said to be required to use more complicated fencing attacks.

Plot[]

Zack Finesse attends his first practice session of his fencing club. As an initiation, he is required to do battle with each member of the fencing club at least once. During the session, he accumulates allies and hones his skills with the eventual goal of defeating the all-powerful club President. Meanwhile, tensions begin to boil as the Kendo Club, the Fence Builders' Club, and the Diplomats' Club have all scheduled the use of the room at the same time. A bloody confrontation between the Fencing Club and the Kendo Club seems inevitable.

Characters[]

Fencing Club[]

Zack Finesse - The protagonist and newest member of the fencing club. This is not his real name but a persona he takes on for the club. He currently has equipped a HERO OF A THOUSAND BLADES cloak, a matching hat and a BATMAN-ESQUE UTILITY BELT, distinguishing him as a very charismatic character.
Club Historian - He wears heavy armor and uses the power of History. It is not clear why a fencing club needs a historian. The historian has been fighting alongside Zack since Zack initially defeated him. He has set the GOTHIC PLATE ARMOR as his default armor for the moment.
Club Cleric - The cleric is the only female fencer and occupies the important position of reviving KOd characters. Her ridiculously high speed stat almost enabled her to fight off Zack and the Historian at the same time. The cleric arrived late to this fencing club session and seems highly apathetic about the club in general. However, she has been fighting alongside Zack and the Historian since they defeated her initially.
Club Treasurer - A mustachioed man resembling "Monopoly" mascot Rich Uncle Pennybags, the treasurer fights with the power of having a crapload of money. He has a very drawn-out, convoluted fighting style, in which he changes rules, hires proxies to fight in his stead, and brings in blimps, much to the frustration of everybody. Despite this, he is a highly proficient fencer when forced to fight. It would seem that he does not view fencing as a recreational sport but as some sort of sadistic way of proving his superiority. He is currently blown into too many smithereens for the Cleric to revive him.
Club Secretary - Little is known about the Club Secretary, but it seems likely that he will be Zack's next opponent after the Treasurer. He appears initially as a small man in fencing gear, but like the other characters his appearance will likely change as he enters battle.
Club Armorer - Little is known about the Club Armorer. He is a very large imposing man and regarded as the second most powerful member of the fencing club. Strong enough to stop a plummeting blimp in its tracks. He relished the idea of fighting Zack's team before standard rules were re-established. Logic dictates that he will be Zack's fifth opponent after the Secretary.
Club President - The club President is depicted as some sort of wrathful God giving judgment from on high. A thin man wearing glasses, he displayed a seemingly impossible degree of speed and precision when he carved a strongly worded letter of complaint into a Kendoka's chest. He has never been defeated in battle and it would be foolish to try. He loves pizza so much.

Other Characters[]

Ken Doka - A seemingly random member of the Kendo Club whose role in the story has yet to be made clear. He removes his mask and recolors his robe, setting himself apart as an individual among the spartan ranks of the Kendo Club. He is on a quest to break the curse placed by the Oni-Tiger on Teresa, which prevents her from dating anyone until her seven demonic ex-boyfriends have been bested in combat. Thus far, Green Kendoka #2, Cheshire Cat, Fence Builder #8 and Norman the vampire gladiator have been defeated.
Teresa "Tess" Preece - The priestess in the Kendo Club and the object of Ken's affections. This is not her real name but a persona she gave Zack to stop him bugging her. As a green Kendoka, she is very highly esteemed among the Kendo Club and serves as that group's healer. She is contrasted from the Cleric in that she enjoys her work. She is able to revive people without their bodies or remains present, by reaching into the Sea of the Dead.
The Legendary Oni-Tiger - A near mythic beast that prowled Ken and Tess' neighborhoods when they were children. It committed such atrocities as stealing Tess' panda doll and selling Ken fake cigarettes in junior high. Ken set out to slay it and impress Tess, but quickly forgot about it. It has no relation to the Cheshire cat. Ken later remembers only to discover not only did the Tiger and Tess date, but that the Tiger's curse includes six other evil boyfriends. It has the power to fuse with humans, much like the Cheshire Cat, which it has no relation to.
Butler - The Treasurer's butler is also a fencer of some skill. He seems to be slightly senile, and flashes back to his World War II experiences during a battle.
Maid/Cheshire Catgirl - The Treasurer's maid originally bears a striking resemblance to Alice from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. She can merged with some sort of obese parody of the Cheshire cat, which has no relation to the Oni-Tiger, and gains has the power of invisibility. She has been defeated by the Historian and separated from the Cheshire cat.
Norman - One of Tess' evil boyfriends. Works as a cashier in a pizzeria. Is a vampire. Once tried to forcefully turn Tess. Implies that there is more to the curse than Tess is letting on.