The Archery Tournament - by Jay
Falnaar took his place on the podium. A small crowd was beginning to gather and Falnaar noticed some of them from the market or as contestants in today's festivities.
As he stood and waited for the contestants to check in, his mind began wondering on the history of this small town he calls home. He eyes drifted to the south and he could see the ominous looking willow trees of the Brackbog. He remembered the stories well that he had heard from his father about the frogmen that had attacked from that very swamp. His mind's eye began to see the dark shapes moving from the green water and slithering there way into the town under cover of the morning fog that is still an everyday occurrence in Foggyton. Foggyton was nothing more than a small wooden fort then with a few buildings and no true leader.
But look at her now. What once was a forgettable crossroad is now a booming frontier town. Thanks to the abundance of lumber and the natural harbor it is now known throughout Golandor as a place to have your ocean vessel crafted or repaired. Even now as he thought of this he could smell the fresh lumber smell from the docks and he could hear the hammering of yet another product of Foggyton.
His eyes then wondered to the west where the foreboding trees of the West Wood could be seen in the distance. What an irony he thought. The forest that has made Foggyton famous has been the one to claim most of its inhabitant's lives. He can still see the faces of the terrified loggers returning from expeditions deep into the wilds of the ancient wood. At first they won't speak of what they have seen, but a monthly wage thrown onto the bar of the Sleeping Wyvern later they're lips seem to loosen and the tales that spring forth would keep Golandor's best Bards employed for months! Tales of creatures that can blind a man with a look, or of ghosts that chill the very air, and yet more of the strange noises and brief glimpses of things moving just at the edge of your vision.
Falnaar finds himself clutching the railing of the makeshift podium with white knuckles and has to shake himself back to reality. He has been joined by the Counselor, he looks grim and old, Falnaar thinks to himself but still exchanges the needed pleasantries with the wheel chair ridden man. Falnaar notices a far off gaze in the Counselors eye that seems to suggest his mind is on more pressing matters than this tournament to honor the Queen.
Falnaar receives word that all contestants have reported in and is given a list of each one. He scans it nonchalantly, noticing pretty much the same list as the year before, except for one or two new names. He leaves his station at the podium and moves to the first contentant. With this, he clears his throat and faces the gathering crowd.
"GREETINGS Citizens and Visitors to Foggyton on this 17th Day of Ulban in the year 720 CT. I invite you to a day of revelry and sportsmanship to celebrate the supreme rule of our most exalted Queen Ellewin Gwenevar Araganos. The people you see before you will compete for us today to see who is the master archer in all of Foggyton. The winner shall receive thirty golden royals and this fine leather quiver." Here Falnaar pauses for the applause and praise for the fine reward to die down. "Let us now meet the contestants in today's event!"
"First is Lady Teldona." There are mixed applause as the young lady turns to the crowd.
"Second we have Angoran, the reigning champion of the Queen's Day Tournament, SIX YEAR'S RUNNING!" This draws a large applause from the crowd and some of the men exchange coins here and there winking at one another or looking at the man dressed in forest colored leathers and feather tied in his long hair with approval.
"Third is the honorable Gulham of our Town Militia!" Gulham turns stoically to the crowd and gives a small bow, the crowd still claps heartily for him and some of the men exchange more coins nodding their approval of Gulham.
"Fourth in the line is Thinlar also of the town Militia!" Thinlar gives a weak wave and gets a weak applause in return. He looks to be easily the youngest competitor and the blush in his cheeks shows that he knows it.
"The next contestant is Corbeon from the Sea Splitter!" Corbeon waves his bow in the air and smiles he gets a mixed response until somewhere in the back of the crowd a loud voice is heard to say "KNOCK 'EM DEAD CORBEON!!!" the crowd turns to see a slobbering drunk Glog barely standing and yelling out other unintelligible praises.
"Our next contestant is the Musician Jyhazen Silversong of Vinequar're!" A mixed response is heard from the crowd as a slender elven looking man bows low to the crowd sweeping his wide brimmed hat low to the ground in the process. He then blows a kiss to a woman standing close to him in the crowd.
"Next we have Sid…" Crickets can be heard in the distance…someone coughs.
"Faldin another Deckhand from the Sea Splitter is our next shooter" Glog again blurts his approval in his own way saying, "FALDIN!! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU'RE THE BESHHHHT ARCH…AR…BOW-GUY I KNOW!" Glog then hits the ground and the crowd laughs and turns back to the speaker.
"Our next shooter is Jaquith another member of the town Militia!" Jaquith turns and bows to the crowd curtly. Some of the militia in attendance clap their approval.
"Darnoth…Yet another Militiaman is our next shooter!" Someone in the crowd yells, "Seems the tournament is safe but what of the town!" This draws a good laugh from all in attendance except the Militia who cross their arms or give the speaker a knowing look.
"And last but not least is the beautiful Lorian!" Some claps can be heard.
A look of surprise comes across Falnaar's face after announcing her. He moves away from Lady Lorian toward the podium and turns his eye toward her with a raised brow of scrutiny. He then motions her away from the line of other contestants with a wave of his finger. Guards move in closer to accompany the lady from the line. She protests under her breath, but goes without incident.
Falnaar then addresses the crowd, "We're sorry, it seems Lady Lorian will not be competing this day." There are murmurs and hushed voices in the crowd until Falnaar continues his description of the format and rules of the Tournament.
With that out of the way he officially begins the competition with a wave to the first shooter Teldona.
Teldona pulls back her bowstring and let's loose a straight shot that arcs nicely across the sky and lands with a determined thud on the small target 100 yards away. The crowd bursts into applause as Teldona waves to them.
The next shooter is the champion Angoran. He takes steady aim with his intricately carved longbow, let's loose the arrow and a shrill whistle of air can be heard as the arrow streaks home and thuds very close to the middle of the target. The crowd whips into a small frenzy over this shot and some of the men share glances of future payments with each other.
Next up is Gulham the stern faced guard, he takes aim and let's the arrow fly much quicker than the two shooters before him and the results are much different, his arrow flies harmlessly passed the target and bounces along the ground behind. The crowd lets out a sigh at the first miss of the day. Gulham puts his head down for a second and stands ready to watch the competition.
The young Thinlar pulls back his bowstring nervously and let's a shot go that seams to wobble in the air and lands 20 feet in front of the target. His face turns a dark shade of red and as the crowd laughs he does not look their way.
Corbeon of the Sea Splitter takes aim next and just as he shoots a gust of wind come from the west and blows his arrow off course. The crowd sighs and some people say that he should get another shot. But Falnaar reminds everyone, "The rules state that if the Magistrate deams the weather suitable for the tournament, then the weather cannot be used as an excuse for missing a shot!" The crowd mostly shrugs or nods approval and watches for the next shot.
Next up is the Bard Jyhazen, he aims a short bow, the only one used today, and lets loose an arrow. It arcs slowly and lands on the second outer most ring with a thud. The crowd claps but not a huge applause. Jyhazen seems relieved he hit the target.
Next is Sid…he misses.
Faldin is the next one up he takes careful aim and let's fly with his bowstring. The arrows falls home on the bottom of the target. The crowd applauds and some of the other sailors who know Faldin get louder than the rest.
Jaquith shoots next and his arrow flies badly to the right of the target. The crowd sighs and some boo's can be heard.
Darnath shoots next and the crowd sighs heavily as his arrow also flies to high. Someone in the crowd exclaims, "I feel much safer now!" But everyone laughs and looks nervously at the militiamen in attendance.
After this the contestants shoot their second and third arrows. Falnaar is amazed that of the four militiamen competing only three hits are recorded out of a possible twelve! The crowd gets more on edge as the round goes by. Thinlar's next two shots land hopelessly short and a man in the crowd yells, "Get him a ballistae!" Thinlar looks as though he could bolt to the trees at any moment. The high points of the round come when both Angoran and Faldin manage to hit the very center of their targets. Falnaar cheers when the two archers show why they are the favorites to win the match. In his clapping he turns to the Counselor and says, "Great shots were they not sire!…Sire?"
The Counselor jumps as if awoken from a dream and says, "OH! Yes…Yes…. wonderful shots indeed." He then goes back to his melancholy mood. Falnaar notices the Counselor's gaze seems to be fixed on the West Wood. He shrugs and after the round makes his way down to the target to tally up the score.
"After the first round of shooting the score stands with Angoran in the lead with 17 points. Teldona, Faldin, and Darnoth are tied for second with 14 points. Jyhazen is in third with 11 points. Corbeon in fourth with 9 points and Jaquith in fifth with 7 points. Let the second round of shooting commence!"
The crowd cheers as the archers are shown their next target. A stump cut at an angle two hundred yards away. Thinlar can be seen to slump at the site of the new target. The archers each signal they are ready and Falnaar says, "Good Luck Competitors!"
The second round begins with the arrows streaking down the range almost out of site and the only way the crowd knows a hit has been scored is when they hear the audible crack of metal against wood. Keen observers also note the small spray of wood splinters on each hit. In the first round the only one to hit is Jyhazen. Falnaar notices that Jyhazen has switched to a long bow for this event.
The second round goes by with everyone missing the target. The jokes and jibes start to circle heavily now as the militia is putting on a very bad show, only one of them hits the target and Thinlar's shots barely clear the first set of targets let alone make it to the second one.
After the third round Falnaar again makes his way to the target and tallies up the score. He ambles back and realizes just how impressive this shot is when he's out of breathe returning to the podium.
He clears his throat and announces, "After the second round of shooting the score stands this way. Jyhazen now leads with 21 points. Angoran is now in second with 17 points. Teldona, Corbeon, Faldin and Darnoth stand at third place with 14 points, Jaquith is in fourth place with 7 and Gulham is in fifth with 5 points. But that could all change with the next round. The shooter each get one shot at the one hundred yard target. The shooter closest to the center gets an additional five points!"
After this announcement the crowd starts murmuring about the musician Jyhazen, questions can be heard asking, "Where is he from?" … "Is he the one that's been telling the stories and singing at the Sleeping Wyvern??"…" Do you think he'll beat Angoran?" Falnaar waits until the crowd noise dies down a little and tells the competitors to fire when ready.
Five contestants hit the target and for a moment Angoran has a chance to overtake the Bard Jyhazen when he is the first to hit the target although his shot isn't as good as he wanted it to be. Jyhazen also hits but outside of Angoran. The betting men in the crowd look tense until Darnoth puts a spectacular shot into the dead center of the target. Taking the five points therefore giving the tournament to Jyhazen.
The crowd cheers and Jyhazen can be seen with his hat off waving to them. Men in the crowd tease other men over their recent loss of royals betting on Angoran and shouts of, "I'll win it back next year!" can be heard.
Falnaar motions for Jyhazen to come to the podium and he does so all the while smiling and waving to the crowd. Falnaar then says, "The winner of this year's Queen's Day Archery Tournament is Jyhazen Silversong of Vinnequa're!!"
Falnaar then presents the winner with his quiver of arrows and a pouch with the thirty golden royals in it. Jyahzen thanks him and takes his winnings. He then pronounces to the crowd, " Thank you all! I would like to invite all of you to the Sleeping Wyvern for a celebration of my win and of the illustrious reign of Queen Aragonos!" the crowd cheers at the mention of their beloved monarch.
"The Wyvern Ale is on me!" Jyhazen exclaims with delight and the crowd makes their way to the sturdy inn.
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