World Jousting Tournament — Zoluren Qualifier Results
419|1|10. Reality warped slightly as the Elf was thrown through the rift and landed mostly on his feet at the Stables. People were milling around, waiting for the festivities to begin and barely noticed the Ranger as he dusted himself off from the astral trip
“Ah, Moon Mages,” he spoke softly to himself with a grin before glancing around and stealthily making his way up to the podium where the crowd was waiting.
“I want to thank you all for coming today,” the Ranger began, “to the first qualifier of the world championship joust!”
The crowd began to wake up and cheer; the event they had been waiting for was finally beginning.
The Elf grinned as he watched the crowd and hoped for even more to arrive. He knew a lot of work had gone into preparing the Zoluren Mews for the event and he hoped that the jousters delivered today on that promise of entertaining matches.
He spotted a Paladin in her regal armaments entering the Mews and smiled as he motioned to her.
“The Divine Avenger Isharon herself will be taking the registration from all the jousters so we can arrange you in your proper tiers. We look forward to seeing the feats of arms today that will be boasted about tomorrow,” he finished with a grin as the Paladin looked at him, clearly expecting a pun or bad joke. He grinned, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a long wait.
The assembled jousters came and quickly spoke to Isharon, who thoughtfully nodded at each that spoke to her before writing down their details on some parchment. Quickly arranging those that had come up to her, she delivered the document and stood off to the side of the podium, serenely watching the crowd. She waved to the small children that scampered across the Mews, nodding and likely judging which ones she could mentor into being future Paladins.
The Elf grinned before stepping up and calling out to the first competitors.
“Can we get the Arcane Aerella and the Energetic Emzer up to the field!” he yelled out above the roar of the crowd.
The pair quickly mounted and saluted each other before thundering toward one another. Time after time they went back and forth, each run a lance breaking heavily onto the shields. Splinters of lances flew into the stands and barely missed the audience as Emzer struck the final blow to win the match.
The next few competitors all came up in quick succession: Aislynn the Accurate, Targhhryen the Triumphant, and Kurlay the Konqueror all came up for their first tier match. As the dust settled, Kurlay stood as champion with the sweat of victory in her eyes.
“The armorsmith wins!” the Elf yelled out after the final pass. Isharon yanked Kurlay off her horse and over to the victory pavilion.
“For the second tier of competition we have another great showing today of the provinces! We have Navesi the Newswoman, Chrysagon the Chevalier! Saragos the Slayer! Padhg the Pirate! Rhoslyn the Ready, Zhirrisk the Zany!” The crowd cheered them on as they lined up, and when they were called, they stepped up to the jousting line on their horses. Lances were broken upon shields, helmets, and bodies. Jousters were thrown from the saddle to violently land at the feet of the crowds who cheered them, helped them up, and attempted to steal their armor before they were beaten down (okay, this last part didn’t really happen). Finally, Saragos proved to be the champion with an unseating of his final opponent, his wife Navesi.
The Elf announced the tier two champion as Isharon snagged Saragos for the winner’s stand and the next round of contestants stood ready for their chance at glory.
“Kaelie the the Kindhearted, Mythorhad the Mighty, Netherlich the Nice and Ephic the Explorer, please prepare yourself for the crucible of the joust!”
All that were called grinned at each other and nodded as they saluted the crowd and each other before they tested their mettle against each other. Majestic falls from their horses met with groans of pain from the blows as one by one each competitor was knocked out. Finally, Ephic stood triumphant. Isharon kidnapped him as the two contestants for the final tier stood up to be announced.
“Mazrian versus Hebion! This is the heavyweight fight we have been waiting for all night!” The Elf cried out as the two took each other’s measure. They saluted briefly before spurring their mounts on at a dangerously high speed toward each other. There was the dust and crash of contact, and the crowd gasped as Mazrian rode out of the carnage.
The crowd cheered and Mazrian was quickly yanked out of his saddle to join the waving champions.
“We want to thank you all for coming and look forward to seeing these potential world champions jousters at the finals in the upcoming months!”
The crowd roared and cheered, throwing booze, chicken legs, and other items around as they enjoyed the final moments of the madness. Finally, they began to saunter off into the enfolding darkness of the night. The champions, laden with the spoils of their victory, said goodbye before retiring for the evening to rest and heal from the trauma of the event on their bodies.
The Elf snuck into the shadows and grinned. The next round of jousting was going to be fun he knew, and he looked forward to seeing who else would try this feat of arms.
Tyrrum Kuldarn
Reporter, The First Land Herald
Sponsored by
Jesterly Jousters and Joyful Jeerers!