Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-209.7.3.188-20160303204000/@comment-28388246-20160511002530

Blademaster Jauffre wrote:

Well the Way of the Voice became a commonly practised thing amongst Nords. So using the Thu'um in Nord culture for warfare basically died off.

Now, a duel is, both according to Imperial and Nordic rule, a fight to the death OR (as Admiral Richton stated) when the losing side surrenders. Some may say there's some sort of Old Nord duel but this is a myth, without evidence. Now, Ulfric killed Torygg, while you might say that it was a fight to the death so it was justified. In short, this is the duel:


 * Imperials and Nord alike recognize a noble's obligation to answer a challenge of honor.


 * Once a challenge is issued, the higher the rank of the party is, the higher the obligation to fight.


 * If the victim (in this case, Torygg) was bullied, intimidated, or goaded by a stronger party (in this case, Ulfric) with suspect motives, magistrates often convict the stronger party (Ulfric) of foul murder.

So according to the rules of engagement Ulfric did murder Torygg.

1. He goaded Torygg by challenging him in combat, had Torygg denied he would have lost his position and a lot of respect, this would also have caused a new Moot to be set.

2. Ulfric was (obviously) the stronger party, having fought against the Reachmen and the Dominion. While Torygg only had martial training.

3. Ulfric was suspected to want to usurp Torygg's throne. Later dialogue with Ulfric himself also adds up to -- but doesn't (directly) confirm -- this. Seeing as he already starts acting like the High King before the Moot occurs.

I thought the Thu'um wasn't widely used because it was so hard to learn. I get your point, though - not a common weapon. Ulfric himself says he didn't need the Thu'um to kill Torygg; he was making a point with it. (Personally, I think it's akin to bringing a bazooka to a sword fight, but that's me.)

So would the duel have been considered fair if it wouldn't have happened immediately... if Torygg would have had time to prepare? Or would it be more likely the Magistrates would have prevented the duel from occurring, and ignored Ulfric's challenge entirely?