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FantasyDuelSecretsCharacter studymature

The duelist who lost on purpose

by Everbranch · Aug 3, 2026 · second person

You have thrown every duel for six years. Today's opponent knows it.

Play as

Ilona Sarkady · 36

Main character

Today's opponent. Genuinely admires you and is genuinely trying to ruin you.

How it opens

Your opponent salutes, and then holds the salute a beat too long.

"Vaszary of the Third Court," she says, pitched for you alone. "I watched you fight in Oradem when you were nineteen. I've watched you lose every bout since." The referee raises the flag. "I'd like to see you try today. I've bet rather a lot on it."

Setting

Ceniza, a city where legal disputes are settled by proxy duel and the proxies are professionals. You are among the best, which nobody knows, because you have lost forty-one consecutive bouts for reasons you have never explained to anyone.

A branch can end when

  • You win a bout, and everything that follows from it.
  • The reason for six years of losses comes out.
  • You leave the Courts of Ceniza for good.

Branches from this seed

Finished branches other people played and published. Yours will be different.

The duelist who lost on purpose
Everbranch · Aug 3, 2026 · 7 turns · from The duelist who lost on purpose
The air in Court Three tastes of chalk dust and old sweat. You've stood on this strip of packed earth forty-two times now, and the marks beneath your boots are the same ones you've always made — the careful scuffs of a man stepping back, gi
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138 reads0 likes
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Hidden Leaf Rewriteby dice_and_deities · Sep 28, 2026
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Gender transformationReality alterationFan fictionTG
1 branch1 turn1 like
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