New Ring in Design

[DoF Archive]

Date: 7/19/1999 5:40 PM Central Daylight Time
From: JuxLowdye


Finally, Jux's training was nearing completion. Soon, he would have his first shift in the Outback. He had spoken to a couple of the other callers, and they had told him that they each had a special ring they like to use. Though it seemed that most preferred the Pit.
Jux visited the Outback during the off hours, looking around and trying to come up with something to catch the eyes of the patrons. Finally, he thought he had it.
During his training with the United Solandra Special Operations Teams, he had undergone extensive hand to hand combat training under less than favorable conditions. One of his favorite, and among the more deadly, was the Bridge. It was a fifty foot long suspension bridge made of apparently rotten wood planks that seemed ready to give way at any moment.
Unlike most bridges of its kind, the one at the Camp didn't have a handrail, or handrope, or anything of the kind. Instead, every ten feet there was a sharpened spike of wood extending up from the plank on one side or the other. In the very center of the bridge spikes extended from each side of the bridge. The spikes were coated with grease to discourage their use as a balancing tool. The spikes in the center had small spikes covering their
surface, about every two or three inches to further discourage their use for balance. The bridge itself was about 10 feet wide and anchored on either end to the ravine wall.
Jux had always liked that bridge because he seemed to be the only one who could keep his balance long enough to dislodge the instructor. With only a few modifications, he was sure that would draw a crowd. Perhaps change the spikes to simple poles.
The bridge would not be able to be strung over a ravine, but the balconies were about the right distance apart. He was sure that he could attach tracks to the balcony so the bridge could be moved if the need arose.
Now, the participants couldn't be expected to fall to the hard ground if they fell from the bridge. Perhaps a pool of some sort under the bridge. Perhaps even filled with something other than water. Perhaps even a Jell-O and mud mixture. A smile crept over Jux's face as he considered the possibilities. Seeing Jesse Troyn covered in mud and Jell-O would be worth all the work he would have to put into this project. And with the Bridge on tracks,
it could even be moved over the Pit. That way, even if the duelers were dislodged from the Bridge, they could fight on in the Pit.
Jux sketched out a quick, rough draft of his plan and walked in to the living room. Trini still wasn't back from Town with the boys. Jux jotted down a note on the pad on the desk in the Study, then looked it over to make sure she would understand it.

Gone in to Rhy'Din. Be back as soon as I talk to Rask about something. Don't worry about dinner, I'll grab something there. Love you, Juxtor

He jumped in the Jeep and headed in to Rhy'Din. He loved the Ranch, but hated the 2-hour drive to and from Rhy'Din every day. Maybe he should just try those blasted transporters. The thought sent a shiver through him.
Finally arriving at the Outback, he parked the Hummer outside and hurried to Rask's office, eager to show him what he had planned for the patrons of the Duel of Fists.

{TBC as soon as Jux gets approval from Rask }

[DoF Archive]

Date: 7/25/1999 4:42 PM Central Daylight Time
From: RDI Rask



:: Rask had been very busy lately, what with finalizing the dates for the new Opal quest and having just seen another Diamond quest completed.

He returned to his office with the intent of correcting some more homework that had been recently turned in by a few of the new employees of the Outback.

As he sat at his desk, he realized that one of the papers at least was not homework. It appeared to be some sort of incredibly dangerous design for a ring.

Rask liked the idea immediately.

With no hesitation, he quickly wrote out a letter to the genius behind this design giving him full support to create the ring.

As an afterthought, he added a small notation stating that any injuries that would occur as a result of using this ring would be the sole responsibility of those fighting in the ring, and that in no way would the Outback be held liable.

Finally, he instructed the RDI responsible for the construction of this ring to include a small sign on both ends of it, informing the patrons of this policy ::

[DoF Archive]

Date: 8/1/1999 4:14 PM Central Daylight Time
From: JuxLowdye

Jux had spent much of the previous week clearing the woods from a fair sized portion of their ranch. He had cut down only a few of the trees around the small river running through the lands, instead clearing the areas closer to the house. He would be needing a lot of wood fo his project.
After cutting down the trees, he took the time to chop them into managable sizes. Most of what he would be needing would be 6 or 8 foot planks. These would have to be thick enough to hold the weight of most of the patrons, but thin enough to add to the danger. Once he cut the trees into twenty foot sections, he hooked those sections up to his team of horses and dragged the wood back to his small mill that he had discovered to be at the northern
border of their land. The mill was run by a large water wheel.
Finally, he had several logs ready to be cut. He trimmed them down with the water-powered saw. After he had a block of wood several feet wide and high, he cut that block into 10 inch wide and 4 inch thick planks. He set those twenty foot planks aside as he cut the rest of the wood. After he had cut nearly a hundred of the twenty foot planks, he still had six sections of wood left. He cut these into four-by-four's twenty feet long. Two of these
he cut into eight five foot lengths. These would be the spikes, so to speak.
He took the planks and cut them into lengths of eight, six and five feet. These would be the bridge itself. He checked his drawing and verified the lengths before cutting all of the wood. The bridge was to be about twenty feet long, which would require twenty-four of the planks. The first four planks on either end would be eight feet long. The next four would be six, and the middle eight planks on the bridge would be five feet long. The gaps
between the longer boards would be almost six inches, but the gaps between the middle eight would be less than an inch. There would be four of the four-by-fours in the middle of the bridge, and another four six feet from those to either end of the bridge. The final four-by-fours would be used to support the bridge on the ends.
Once Jux had all of his wood, he built a model bridge from the scraps. This bridge was half the size that the final would be. He strapped the planks together with the hemp rope he had bought the day before in town. He cut the holes for the supports, which were only 10 feet long, then cut fastened the center poles in place. These were a little more difficult to get in place. He cut the holes exactly as wide as the posts. Then he wedged the
posts into the holes and wet them. He kept them wet for almost a day, to help them swell. Finally, he allowed the wood to dry, causing the posts to be permanently wedged into the holes, almost as though they had been cut from the same block of wood. He strung a rope-rail along the posts for his smaller bridge, as it was to be used over the small river.
Finally, he loaded all of his wood into the small wagon he had found in Rhy'Din some time back. He hitched up a team of six morgans to the wagon and drove them to the house. He unhitched the horses once they got him to the house and set them free in the pasture for the day. He walked into the house, calling out for Trini and the twins.

[DoF Archive]

Date: 9/20/1999 7:24 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Juxtor Lowdye

Jux had loaded the wood into the trailer he had found for the Jeep a few days earlier. He hooked the trailer to the Jeep, and drove it around the front of the house. Walking into the barn, he found his tools he would be needing right where he had left them. After gathering them together, he put them in the Jeep and walked into the house.
After kissing Trini, Charlie and the twins, he jumped in the Jeep and drove to Rhy'Din, parking at the back of the Outback. He unloaded the wood and set it just inside, then started taking what he needed to the balconies.
He attached the anchors for the bridge to the balcony, then started stringing the rope for the bridge. It was tricky getting the rope from one balcony to the other, but he managed fairly well. He lashed the ropes to the poles he had attached to the rollers earlier. He was careful not to fray the rope, as this would likely be a popular ring at some point.
Once the ropes were strung, he gathered several of the planks together. He walked out carefully but dextrously to the center and began laying out the planks. These would be lashed to the support ropes with a thinner, yet stronger, rope. Once he had the narrower center planks laid out, he started on one side and began laying the others out, each slightly longer than the others.
Finally, the planks were in place and lashed tight to the support ropes. He tested the device he had installed to move the bridge, and found that it worked as well as needed. Then he ran out on the bridge, jumping in place in the middle of the bridge to make sure it would hold his weight.
Finally satisfied that his bridge would hold, he gather his tools and put them back in the Jeep. Before leaving, he moved the bridge to one side so it would be less noticeable until he was ready for its christening. That would be the first night he and Trin work together, hopefully.
Now came the hard part: Figuring out how to keep the duelers from breaking their necks if they fall off. He dropped a note on Rask's desk letting him know that the bridge was up, but not ready to be used just yet.
He jumped in the Jeep and drove toward the house. He had at least two hours to think about it, especially since his tape deck wasn't working in the Jeep. Another thing he would have to fix.

[DoF Archive]

Date: 10/10/1999 5:16 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Juxtor Lowdye



Jux had hoped to have his new ring settled and organized by the time he and Trin started their new night. He had spent nearly two weeks planning how he would call the duels there, and trying to decide what he would place under it to prevent the duelers from breaking their necks if they fell out.
He thought he had it several times, but then he'd discussed it with Trin, and she pointed out a problem or something that wouldn't work. Jux took this in stride, but quickly decided that the ring would not be ready for their first night. Especially since that night was only a week away.
A week passed, and he still wasn't any closer to the solution than he had been. That night was their first official shift together. They had discussed it and decided that he would keep the list while she called most of the matches. They really weren't expecting a big turn out. There had barely been a week's worth of advertising, and the only place it was posted was on the board with the schedules. Matt had forgotten to get an announcement on
the standings listing, and the bulletin board at the Outback was once again acting up.
So, when 8 o'clock came, Jux and Trin walked into the Outback, ready to be bored for at least the first half of their shift. When they looked in, they saw only a single dueler. Shortly after they arrived and opened the rings, another dueler came in and Trin called the two to a ring.
Before that duel was even finished, Jux had filled nearly half a page with duel requests. He sent a couple more to Trin, then took one of them for himself, making the appropriate notations. Before the night was over, Jux had called four duels, and Trin had called twice that number.
The rest of their shift went by in a blur. Jux remembered seeing Goon at some point come barreling through the doors. He remembered being thankful that he wasn't in the path of the Goon express.
Jux constantly called out to the crowd that he was keeping order in the requests, and was looking to have a full sheet to pass to Goon and Rask when they arrived. Unfortunately, most of the patrons who weren't dueling were content to simply sit and talk for a while. Not that this was a bad thing, just that Jux had wanted to have a list for Rask when he arrived.
When their shift was over, Jux walked Trin out to their Jeep and, after holding the door for her to get in, walked around to the driver's side and climbed in. Before he had even gotten the Jeep out of Rhy'Din Town, Trin was sleeping next to him. With a wistful smile, Jux drove them to their home, some two hours away. When they arrived, he gently lifted his wife from her seat in the Jeep and carried her up to their room. Sometime during the
night, she woke up and went to check on the children, then returned to snuggle against Jux as he slept through the night.