Green Dukes Run Away From Colorado Mines Orediggers 2-1 for Second Straight Win

The Duqueswood University Green Dukes earned their second consecutive victory of NCBB Season 45, besting the Colorado Mines Orediggers 2-1. With touchdowns from freshman catcher Zindari Dawnwind (elemental lore) and sophomore wardancer Curswyn Redgrass (independent study—vengeance), the Green Dukes pulled off the win despite being down a wardancer and suffering 6 KO’s and casualties. The Orediggers chaos dwarf team, who out-blocked the elves more than 2 to 1, got their lone TD from hobgoblin lineman Brandon Kines, who also had a completion on the day.


Zindari Dawnwind scores the first touchdown of her career to put Duqueswood up 1-0

“Look, if they kept score with blocks and casualties, we’d likely never win,” said Duqueswood University Coach Gerric Smithson. “Fortunately, touchdowns still matter for something in this game, at least until the NCBB gets an orc for commissioner. Thankfully, I believe there’s a rule that league commissioners can’t eat human children, so I think we’re good for now.”

The Green Dukes got off to a strong start in the match when a short kick allowed Redgrass and Dawnwind to wreak havoc in the Orediggers’ backfield before they could secure the ball. As the Colorado Mines’ surehanded junior hobgoblin Remington Wham bent to pick up the ball just one yard off the line of scrimmage, the wardancer and catcher had already sprinted and dodged their way beside and behind him. A well-timed shove from Redgrass forced Wham to step on the ball, which then bounced right into Dawnwind’s hands.

Wham quickly whirled around and lunged at Dawnwind before she could escape. Grabbing her by the hair, he sunk his teeth deep into her forearm, sending her to the pitch screaming as the ball bounced away. Before any Orediggers could scoop it up, however, Green Duke senior line-elf Greeny Bullwind (history of dirt) blitzed in and took down one hobgoblin marking the ball with a forearm shiver.

Seeing her opportunity to make a play dwindle as the Orediggers’ dwarves began to trundle back toward the ball and senior Green Duke treeman Oakward Weatherborn (communications) struggled to hold off the team’s bull centaurs near midfield, Dawnwind bravely got to her feet. With one good hand, she snatched the ball right from under Wham’s large green nose, dodged away from another lunge, and ran for the touchdown, leaving a trail of her own blood behind her.

“The pain’s not bad,” said a bandaged Dawnwind after the game. “What stings far worse is just the dark and shameful knowledge that a hobgoblin placed his mouth upon my flesh.”

Undaunted, the Orediggers put together a punishing drive after receiving the ensuing kick cleanly. With Kines matriculating the ball up field behind a wall of dwarf and bull centaur blockers, the Orediggers pushed through the Green Duke defense like a miner’s shovel methodically digging into (and desecrating) the sacred ground. Thus, Kines was easily able to score the tying touchdown just before half time.


Kines easily runs for the tying score amid a throng of blockers

Down four players to start the second half, Duqueswood settled back into their Tree-ka-poo Dakka offense, sending Weatherborn deep as if he were attempting to receive the kick. Once the ball was in the air of course, all six other Green Duke players raced back so that senior thrower Bryden Branch could scoop up the ball. The plan was then for to get behind Weatherborn and the rest off his team deep in his own territory to hopefully draw the Orediggers defense forward and then run around them. There was only one problem with the plan—Branch bobbled and dropped the ball.

“There’s no excuse for that, I know,” said Branch. “But I swear when I looked up the field I saw this dark vision looming behind their team. It was as if a great cloud of chaos energy had formed itself into the form of a giant minotaur but with the head of ... a donkey. It was only there for a moment, and then it was gone, but still … It was horrifying."


An artist’s rendering of the strange vision Branch experienced as he fumbled the pick up to start the second half

With the ball on the pitch, the Orediggers charged forward rather than cautiously hanging back. Galloping at full speed, both bull centaurs, Bennett Grilik and Cayden Snadrider, shoved Branch back from the ball and stood over it, their hooves ready to pulverize the hands of any elf that dared reach for it.

In a stunning display of athleticism, Weatherborn moved 2 whole yards to blitz Grilik off the ball, swinging a heavy bough into the bull centaur’s bear chest and knocking him off his hooves. Dawnwind then dashed in, grabbed the ball with one hand, waving her other arm in Snadrider's face to distract him with red blood still caked there so she could cleanly dodge away and hand the ball to Redgrass.


In an uncharacteristically fleet-rooted blitz, Weatherborn charges toward Grilik moments before taking the bull centaur down with a bough to the chest

Suddenly, Branch’s failure to pick up the ball looked like a stroke of genius. With all of the Oredigger’s defense pushed forward, Redgrass was able to cut toward the northern sideline, leap clean over dwarf blocker Israel Arden—to avoid slowing down to dodge around him—and break into Colorado territory. Two elf blockers behind Redgrass bracketed Wham, whose frenzied wrestling skills gave him the best chance to take the wardancer down, and Redgrass was quickly able to put more than half the field between himself and any Oredigger defenders.

The rest of the Green Dukes used their speed to race up field and screen off the pursuing hobgoblins and dwarves for much of the rest of the half. Meanwhile, Weatherborn kept both bull centaurs tied up with his branches so that Redgrass could continue to milk the clock near the goal line. The stalling tactic paid off, as Redgrass crossed the goal line with less than a minute left, offering the Orediggers no time to mount a response and earning Duqueswood a 2-1 win.

“Sometimes I’m glad these blessed little tree lovers won’t let me use any paper for a playbook,” said Coach Smithson. “Because that was one play you definitely couldn’t draw up.”


Redgrass scores the winning touchdown to bring the Green Dukes to 2-2 on the season. Note: many in Duqueswood and throughout the realm continue to wonder why exactly Redgrass looks the way he does. As scribes have probed more deeply into his possible origins in the distant Florenwood, they have read of an ancient legend of creatures called blood elves who were born from tears of grief and blood of murder. But, of course, these are but mere stories told to frighten elflings, and such a creature would surely never be allowed to attend a university.

Additional Game Note:

Spinleaf Sapling Missing From Duqueswood


Archival magecast image of Mirlin Spinleaf’s return-to-the-forest ceremony, when his essence was thought to enter the now missing sapling planted on his grave

Prominent Duqueswood philelfthropists Myrvis and Scyntia Spinleaf recently filed a missing tree report with the Duqueswood University Office of Public Safety, claiming that the sapling their deceased son Mirlin Spinleaf was planted beneath 2 years ago has suddenly vanished from the Duqueswood Forest. Scribes from the university have confirmed that the tree planted atop Spinleaf’s grave has indeed gone missing, but the public safety office has declined to open an official investigation.

“Duqueswood University bears no responsibility for off-campus incidents,” said Vice President for Student Safety Baerys Pondripple. “Additionally, whether or not Mirlin Spinleaf’s essence now inhabits this tree, the university bears no responsibility for a student's safety after that student is dead.”

The Spinleaf family expressed their disappointment in the decision in a strongly worded statement delivered to local scribes. “Considering our support for this university as lead donors on the new elfletic center and as co-chairs of the Parents Council, it is equally disappointing and alarming that the university is not taking this incident seriously,” read the statement. “We will not rest until the tree imbued with our son’s essence is found and either returned to the forest or turned over to us for replanting.”