OPEN | the grand tourney!

[poleaxed]

WHO: All Y'all.
WHAT: It's the Grand Tourney! Like a normal Tourney, but grand.
WHEN: August Now.
WHERE: Kirkwall.
NOTES: Sports... injuries?

Every thousand days, the Grand Tourney is organized in the Free Marches, and all the City States-- and even challengers from farther abroad-- come together to celebrate the freedom of the Marches. This year, the event was intended to take place in Tantervale.

When that, uh, fell apart, the tourney was hastily moved to the relative safety of Kirkwall.

Festivities begin early, with musicians and entertainers coming from all around to entertain lords and ladies as they set up tents. Food vendors complete the picnic atmosphere-- you may not be able to get a seat in the stands, but the hills around where the field where it all takes place makes the event easily viewed by all. Jesters, bards, troubadours, food vendors, all are happy to serve and make the event lively and lovely-- for a price.

The first event is the Joust. The announcer goes through everyone's names, their origins, the part they play, so the crowd knows who to root for and who to boo. Before the individual bouts begin, the jousters are expected to ride around the field collecting favors.

The second event is the Quintain. A similar setup to the Joust takes place, with announcements and cheering, gaining favors, etc. The major difference-- besides the content of the event itself-- is the hastily erected judge's stand, where they can view the skills of each comptetitor. Some scores are met with cheers, some with boos. Some competitors schmooze with the judges before their bout. It's all very classy.

In the intermission guests are invited to play a game of tug-of-war over two large piles of flowers and flower petals. As the loosers will discover, there's a pit of mud underneath the flowers. Hopefully you brought a second pair of clothes, or maybe you just don't care Edgard.

If tug-of-war isn't your game, there's drunken archery. Darktown's very best (worst) booze has been generously donated (appropriated) for the event. One shot to begin, and more shots for every subsequent shot of your bow. Landing closer to bullseye garners more points, and prizes can be collected for high point scores. Nothing particularly valuable, it's more like carnival fare-- stuffed toys, shiny gems (they are colored glass), wood carved in various shapes (some lewd). The most expensive prize is a hangover cure potion (it does not work).

The final event is the ever-popular Melee, where several one-on-one matches take place simultaneously, until someone is either undefeated or the least defeated. As with previous events, each combatant is announced to the crowd and expected to walk around the stands, receiving favors. However, they're expected to do this between every match in the melee, as their popularity rises... or falls.

During all of this, the ever-noble Pas d'Armes event is taking place. If you wander away from the event at any time, Gabranth will be there, at a nearby bridge, judging and / or fighting anyone who wishes to pass. Of course, if you wish to pass without issue, he will accept a favor from you. At the end, he'll be crowned with a white wreath of flowers, in a 'peace offering', and that is the sign that the tourney is done.

Not counting the partying into the night. No medieval camping trip is complete without waking up half clothed in a field, right?

JUST TELL ME WHO WON ALREADY.fine, fine, jesus.

THE JOUST

1st Place: Tony Stark, The Iron Man (Erroneously called 'The Man of Iron' at least once by an announcer. Several people in the stands asked if he was made of iron, why he was called that, what is he doing, why.)
2nd Place: Weary Winona of Wycome (Never took off her helm, which was shaped like a woman's face and painted like she was crying.)
3rd Place: 'Sir Sullivan of Bonneville'(Who might just be Edgard in disguise, however legend has it he's actually an undead noble trying to reclaim his family's honor in the joust. This legend was started by Jone.)
Crowd Favorite: Ellis, The Bachelor (He was, at one point, mostly just a mass of favors, which may have been why he didn't rank. The crowd screamed his name repeatedly and at one point threw flowers at him while he was riding past.)

THE QUINTAIN

1st Place: Derrica, the Rivaini Raider (The chant 'carry me home' began during her bout, and continued whenever she walked near the field.)
2nd Place: Derek, Son of Derek, of the Ostwick Dereks (The 'carry me home' chant continued during his bout, as some confusion arose over whether Derrica was a distant relation of the Ostwick Dereks.)
3rd Place: Madame Noir of Hasmal (A ghostly pale woman wearing only a black gown during her match, there were rumors she'd bribed the judges with money or a low neckline.)
Crowd Favorite: Beth Greene, The Lady of the Green (Rumor has it that she was a wild woman who came from the forests just to compete. This rumor was also started by Jone.)

THE MELEE

1st Place: Pierre the Virtuous of Hambleton (On a particularly sunny day, some suspect he only won because the reflection from his bald head.)
2nd Place: 'The Dark Jaguar' (Who may be Erik Stevens in disguise. A nighttime assassin, he appears from nowhere during a fight usually with the aid of a conveniently placed piece of hanging black fabric but shhhh.)
3rd Place: Laura, Lady Nightshade (Rumor has it she threw her fight to get third place, but everybody who knows Laura knows she'd never do that... right?)
Crowd Favorite: 'The Acolyte' (A young man of roughly the same height and build as Benedict Artemaeus, the crowd really responded to how nervous, yet trying to be brave, he looked.)

THE OVERALL WINNER OF EVERYTHING:
Ser John 'the Anointed John' Pembroke of Tantervale
...who trained for this every day and is a professional Tourneyman, and whose win for Tantervale really lifted the spirit of the game to a high note, so how can we be bitter, really.
(Note to 1st placers in other events: this means he beat you in your event.)

[ooc Also final reminder that you don't have to have signed up for an event to have your character participate!!!]

Comments

I will never complain!

[icasm]

Tourneys usually are, in my experience.

[ Loki has a drink in hand and gestures in greeting with it, inclining his head with a little bow. The most recent fireworks display has just dissapated, with people oohing and ahhing and chattering about it. ]

Loki Laufeyson, at your service. Are you one of Riftwatch's many outsiders as well?

[ The man is tall enough, certainly. ]

[arkitect]

I believe 'outsider' sums it up quite succinctly, yes.

[likely in more than just the basic sense of not being from here-- really, he thinks he might prefer the term.

that little bow's answered with one on emet-selch's end as well, a hand over his chest.]

Emet-Selch. A pleasure-- though I believe I may have met more of our own number than those who belong here, by this point.

[icasm]

Well met, Emet-Selch. There are many of us here, by my understanding. How many, exactly? Now that I don't know. Perhaps there is someone who is record-keeping that does. [ He frowns a little. ] Possibly Madame de Foncé knows.

[ Loki just presumes that Emet-Selch already knows of her. Her survey seemed very... thorough, amongst other things. ]

How long have you been here, if you don't mind my asking?

[arkitect]

[if the quirk of one corner of his mouth is any indication-- yes, he is definitely familiar with the name.]

Entirely possible, yes. I wouldn't be surprised to find she had a list-- I would say arranged in some particular order, but she did sound opposed to rewriting things. I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting face to face to ask, however, it hasn't been too long since my arrival.

[a wave of one hand, there, just idly brushing it off.]

A few weeks. Several. These short intervals are more difficult to measure-- less than a year, certainly, but... no, I don't believe it's been so long as to be half of one.

[icasm]

Oh, likely arranged by arrival date, I'd presume.

[ He makes a considering face. ] It would keep her from having to rewrite anything, actually.

Unless someone arrived more than once.

[ At Emet-Selch's explanation, Loki nods; this is an easy place to lose oneself to the passage of time, in his opinion. ]

What do you think of it here?

[arkitect]

Well, any situation does have its outliers.

[imagine two of someone arriving at the same time. theoretically, this is completely possible, and would be both a mess and interesting to watch.]

But on the whole, I suppose this place is... acceptable enough. It isn't at all where I expected to find myself next, and it is quite the annoyance to find my capabilities altered; compared to the alternatives, however, I have found it tolerable.

[icasm]

[ Loki is imagining it. It would be an unmitigated disaster, perhaps, and he'd love to see it up close and personal. Two separate versions of the same concept, from different worlds, different backgrounds.

Granted, he already has to deal with the repercussions of having a native version of himself around, ostensibly.

There are more than a few of us who find what we were once capable of limited while we are on Thedas. It's more than a little frustrating, certainly. ]

[ He tilts his head like a curious bird. ]

What were your alternatives, if you don't mind my asking?

[arkitect]

Well, on consideration-- no, that wasn't entirely correct. There was at least one decent alternative: I may well have found some rest. The last time I meant to settle in for a century or so, I was very thoroughly interrupted.

[sometimes you intend to just chill in the void and then your coworker refuses to let you...

in company with someone who also didn't originate here, it's far easier to give answers in terms of things like centuries, but he does still take care he isn't being loud about it. not whispering or anything, but ensuring it all remains at a conversational volume that should blend in with the chatter all around.]

Of course, rather than ending up here, it could very well have been somewhere completely inhospitable... or worse, boring.

[icasm]

[ Loki, for his part, nods along as Emet-Selch speaks. It doesn't surprise him that the other man has centuries of living in his experience. Those with the greatest powers tend to be older than humans, at the very least, and Loki's been public with being older than the average mortal of any stripe. ]

There are a lot of things to be said about Thedas, but that it is boring is not one of them, certainly. [ That it's insane and possibly doomed, however... ] What is the world you are from like?

[arkitect]

[it's been (truck horn blaring in the background) millenia, it's fine, squeenix tells me nothing and i give them my money anyway and say thank you.]

Well, for one, magic is far more widely accepted, and broader in scope besides-- not to mention the developments on the more technological side of things. It has been... an adjustment, to say the least.

[icasm]

The lack of available technology is quite... something, here in Thedas.

[ Something unpleasant, generally, if Loki's tone is anything to measure by. ]

They're all terrified of their mages, which is understandable I suppose. Where I'm from one doesn't simply find themselves overrun by a demon in their mind and body unless they go looking for that sort of thing.

[arkitect]

That is... more or less what I am familiar with, but the things we call demons do tend to be more of an external sort of threat, regardless. The way things function here is quite the curiosity-- I should like to study this Fade of theirs myself, if it proves possible.

[look, the world can't just dangle something like that in front of a man and expect him not to be interested.]

[icasm]

There is an entire Research Division.

[ If Loki sounds a little miffed, well. He and the Provost aren't friends, and he's pretty sure he could never work there, despite his own interest. ]

If they don't have a particular subsection dedicated to the study of the Fade I would be very surprised.

[arkitect]

I do have some awareness of the division's existence, yes, given that I've already joined it. My concerns about how possible it may be lie largely with the fact that my magic is foreign to this world.

[that tone gets an evaluating look, though, mildly curious.]

[icasm]

[ Loki raises an eyebrow and inclines his head; apologies for not realizing that Emet-Selch was already aware. But at the other man's look he sighs, and opens his hands a bit. ]

The Provost and I have a bad history, I'm afraid to say. He doesn't trust me, for reasons entirely my fault, and I doubt he'd be interested in giving me much of a chance to change his opinion.

[arkitect]

Not much of an option for you, then, is it.

[but he doesn't seem put off by the admission, really, adding:]

Well, as I've yet to speak personally with the man myself-- you do have the advantage of the first word, should you care to take it.

[icasm]

[ Well. That's both oddly kind and wholly unexpected, somehow, so give Loki a moment to arrange his thoughts into some semblance of order. ]

I tried to take over the planet he's from, is a simple enough start, for a myriad of reasons, most of them not very good ones, but there is that. I'm certain that he would tell anyone who might listen that I'm dangerous, which is true, and a megalomaniac, which is only recently untrue.

That said, I have very little against the man personally, despite his hand the undoing of my plans for Midgard. He's friends with my brother.

[ A shrug. ]

[arkitect]

These things are rarely personal, in such cases. [a slight shrug of his own, at that.] Just as it is rarely personal toward any of those affected by one's efforts, but-- on the whole, I think 'trying to take over the world' would be a common enough effort. It isn't as though it was an attempt to destroy it.

[what empire doesn't try a takeover or two-- what sufficiently powerful person doesn't think about it, honestly? at how many points in a given world's history does someone take their shot? these things happen.]

Only recently untrue, though?

[icasm]

No, it was not personal. [ He hadn't known who the hell Tony Stark was, really, beforehand. ] There was some collateral damage, obviously, but that's the case in any expansion of empire.

Still. The Provost is one of a group who considers themselves 'heroes' and I was definitely the villain of that chapter.

[ He has no idea what's happened in the time since he last saw... either Tony Stark or his future version, but that's neither here nor there. ]

I can admit my failings when it will cost me very little to do so.

[arkitect]

[ah. he makes a face when heroes come up.]

So he's that sort, is he. I'll count myself better off for the forewarning.

[potentially someone to be careful around, or potentially just the type whose company he won't particularly care for; he'll judge for himself, naturally, but it helps to know going in.]

But given the wording you've used regarding that particular chapter, I assume it is also easier to admit one's failings following-- well. Failure.

[icasm]

[ Interesting reaction to 'heroes'. What sort of part has Emet-Selch played in the stories involving others, Loki wonders?

He's not going to ask. Time, place, etcetera, etcetera. ]

Failure on an epic scale, to be quite honest. [ Failure that puts one's entire life choices into perspective. ] Not just the attempt on Midgard, honestly.

[ A slight shrug. ]

[arkitect]

[which works out, because if he did ask, emet-selch would refuse to answer here. time and place.]

Then I suppose one in your position might find being here a sort of reprieve, if it all went so poorly. A bit of distance, a relative lack of connection to the past... unless, of course, you felt you had pressing work to do to follow up there?

[icasm]

No, not really. [ Things that are made easier by knowing he was erased from time (and not knowing what comes after): all of this. ] I know how it is supposed to go, and I am not interested in that path.

[arkitect]

So this may well be something of an opportunity, then, regardless of the... particular trials inherent to being here at all.

[how many of them is that true for, he has to wonder.]

[icasm]

Yes. [ Loki nods. ] Definitely, at least for me.

[ He would guess that most of them — those from worlds other than Thedas — would know the truth of that, even if they don't admit it. ]