Waldemai comes in, because no one can keep him from the fights.

Waldemai has joined the Benches.

Elyse arrives right behind, sauntering her way into the training center. Thumbs tucked into the low slung belt around her waist, and the weapons sheathed therein - taking a place on the benches and stretching her legs out to get comfortable.

Bear, an giant dog, Squee, the Flying Squirrel, Echo arrive, following Darren.

Elyse has joined the Benches.

Lethe has joined the Benches.

6 Thrax Guards arrives, following Cassima.

6 Thrax Guards, Sorrel, Cassima arrive, following Galen.

6 Thrax Guards have been dismissed.

Caspian has joined the fighting grounds.

Astraea has joined the Benches.

Galen has joined the fighting grounds.

Darren and Echo (who is afk for a few minutes) come strolling in to the training center, chatting as they walk. When they arrive in the center, he motions towards the benches and moves to have a seat.

Darren has joined the Benches.

Lethe finds her way to a good a seat.

Astraea rolled into the training center clad in steel with two swords on her left hip. She offers curt nods to everyone present and finds a seat on the benches. When Darren and Echo come in she positively beams and slides down the rows to sit next to her kinfolk. "Good to see you out and about Darren."

Narses arrives, following Leona.

Sabella steps into the training center and she stands near the exit for a moment, looking unsure if this was where she wanted to end up. She lets out a sigh and finds a seat., folding her hands and settling them on her lap.

Caspian stands in the center of the training grounds, stretching, leaning side to side, getting that spine nice and limber for the upcoming fight. He smiles to the crowd, waving towards them, calling to the people as he rises. "Good morning everyone, thank you for coming. I know I preformed a Rite of Gloria a few months ago, but with the upcoming battle I decided to preform another one."

Sabella has joined the Benches.

Agnarr has joined the Benches.

Waldemai cheers Caspian's speech.

Lightly armored, Agnarr plops himself on a bench. He doesn't appear to be in any mood to fight, instead sprawling out and nodding Caspian's way, although there is something of a sour look on his face.

"Hey, I'll never miss an opportunity to get out of the house." Darren notes to Astraea, "You know, when I can justy shirking my duties for a few hours. It helps that Echo agreed to meet me for a few drinks beforehand." He grins at this, quieting down as Caspian begins to speak.

Brady hurries into the Training grounds, looking excited. He sees Caspian and Galen already in the fighting grounds, and quickly rushes to find a seat.

Leta was standing by the weapon racks, and offers a nod in Caspian's direction as people gather for the rite and the benches start to fill. She hops over the small barrier in her way to get to her seat, where her cloak and sword and lute already rest, and takes a moment to fasten the sword at her side as she looks out across the gathering crowd.

Leta has joined the Benches.

Lady Juliana Pravus is not clad in steal but she does have leather on under the deep blue cloak and yes she even is carrying a slim rapier at her side. The lady steps into the training center quietly to not interupt, finding the first seat to watch the comming combat.

Brady has joined the Benches.

"Before we begin," continues Caspian, speaking loudly so others can hear him. "I would like to ask of you to do something with me." He smiles to the crowd, looking across the benches. "I ask you to take a moment to pray, ether out loud or quietly, to Gloria. Pray for her blessing in the upcoming battle, so that we may have the courage to face a dangerous and powerful foe, and pray for honor in combat, so that those who survive the battle can hold their head high with pride and those who fall can pass to the wheel or to paradise with no regrets." And with that, he closes his eyes and lowers his head.

Leona steps into the training center with the unhurried steps of one who's been here a time or two - or three even. She looks around and, seeing a crowded bench - and one Grayson princess sitting on her own? She gives a wave to those she knows at the other benches and then goes to take a seat by Sabella, stretching her long legs out and mumuring quietly, "Hey Sabella. Good to see you again. You survive last night alright?"

Leona has joined the Benches.

12 Thrax Elite Guards, Crow - Thraxian Steward, Lilybelle - Fluffy Maine Coon arrive, following Victus.

Echo has joined the Benches.

And then, exploding forth into sight like a comet passing through space was Prince Galen Thrax, his armor well prepared and cleaned, his hair perfectly placed, that pristine mustache almost seeming to have a personality of its own as it sat on his face like a hairy ornament. On each of his arms was a beautiful woman, this is Galen after all, what else would be expected! On his right, Lady Sorrel Wyrmguard dressed in her own colorful and brilliant armor, and on his left, the dark clad brilliant visage of Princess Cassima Thrax. "Thank you both, I love the two of you," he says softly to them, pulling away from them and lifting both hands in a wave as he descends to the fighting grounds, a smile here, a nod there, a wink...Maybe two winks yet yonder. Upon reaching the grounds the man offered a deep bow to his opponent, and awaited him to finish his speech, prepared himself to take a moment of prayer.

Elyse bows her own head, the hat she wears shadowing her face further. She'd seen a few companions drift in, but makes no move to call or motion to them during the prayer itself. Waiting until the continuation of the rite to lift her head.

"And that," Leona can be heard very carefully from the benches, "is my brother. Such as he is," she adds with a cheer and a wave at Galen.

Victus has joined the Benches.

Juliana has joined the Benches.

Lethe kneels her head and says a silent prayer.

Sabella smiles over at Leona and nods as she shifts on her seat. "It's good to see you again as well, I believe my sister introduced you as Leona, yes?" She offers the woman a smile and gestures towards the ring. "He's your brother?"

Sorrel offers Cassima her arm to lead her over to sit on the benches, offering a beaming smile to Leona as she goes. She seems to be in a grand mood, with smiles for her companion as well. "Dame Leona," she greets with enthusiasm. "I think this is going to be an exciting fight!"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." Victus is meandering into the training center. Late to the party, but thankfully not late enough to miss the event. He makes some exaggerated gestures for his guards to disperse. Enjoy themselves. Not like they actually would, being the wizened reavers they were. Eyes dart from bench to bench. Eventually he spots Leona at one and decides to claim a seat beside her, with hushed greetings all around.

Sorrel has joined the Benches.

Juliana was about the bow her head when cousin Galen makes his entrance and the girl smirks shaking her. 'It has to be a family thing..." said with a chuckle before she bows her heads to make the requested prayer.

Cassima has joined the Benches.


Cassima Thrax detatches herself from Galen's group, but keeps her arm linked with Sorrel as the pair find a seat, apparently near Leona. "As much as these things can ever be," the black-haired woman agrees with the other black-haired woman beside her. "Let us hope neither are terribly hurt before the real fighting is to begin."


A fight has broken out here. Use @spectate_combat to watch, or +fight to join.

Once the prayers are over, Caspian calls out to the benches, "Also, it seems a few of you never been to a shrine before, because you talk to people while others are praying. Don't worry though, I don't cast blame, who among us hasn't?" He lets a little laugh and turns to Galen, bowing to him as he speaks, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Thank you Prince Galen for participating in the Rite. Lets have a good fight for Gloria and the faithful." He rises up and draws his knife. "Whenever you are ready, your highness."

Caspian wields Freedom.

Astraea waves to Lady Sorrel and the Thraxian princess with exuberance before she bows her head and begins to pray with a creeping blush in her cheeks.

"Thank you for the opportunity to be part of such," Prince Galen would say to his opponent, a warm smile given briefly to the man before he slung his spear from his shoulder unhooking its strap. "I must insist though, whenever you are ready," his smile faded to a smirk, both hands grasping the handle of his spear a quick spin would be given, tossed into the air and caught in perfect time as to allow the spear tip to stab into the ground.

Caspian checked dexterity + legerdemain at difficulty 40, rolling 6 higher.

Sorrel offers a cheerful wave to Astraea in response to her greeting, looking quite exuberant herself. She pauses a moment to offer her own silent prayer to Gloria.

Caspian twirls his dagger in his fingers before tossing it behind is back, catching it with the other hand and twirls it again before tossing it to his left hand. He gets down low, nodding to Galen. "Ready, lets do this."

Galen takes serious damage.

Galen takes serious damage.

Caspian checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 30, rolling 22 higher.

Only a few hits in and Caspian is proving to be a tough opponent. His strikes hit against Galen's armor with force and the man dodges and weaves against the spear, sliding out of the way or blocking it with his red bladed knife, smiling to the man as he grins, and then puts some distance between them by preforming a back flip inbetween the flurry of blows, getting a little distance between them.

Fast, it was always the fast guys! Clearly Galen was going to have to switch up his strategy, and though pain in fact stung through his body, the Thrax only grinned the more, his grip tightening on his spear, his feet shifting just slightly under him, "You're too damn fast and flippy!" he commented across the way.

Brady cheers loudly from the benches, whooping and clapping.

"C'MON GALEN!" Victus roars from the sidelines. "THAT'S MY FUCKING COUSIN AND HIS IRRITATINGLY NICE MUSTACHE!"

"I'm pretty sure I came out of my mom's womb doing a somersault!" Caspian calls out back to Galen with a wide grin given his way, getting low to the ground, then springs forward, moving forward to press the attack once again.

Sorrel raises her voice encouragingly, and shouts, "GALEN! LISTEN TO YOUR HIGH LORD AND WIN THIS FIGHT!"

Astraea looks at Sorrel with a bit of surprise but rises to her feet and cheers in a show of solidarity,"Get em!"

Leta points a finger at Caspian after the back flip, and shakes her head. "See, that's hard to do with a pollaxe," she notes and lets out an overblown sigh. Her eyes stray from the field to Agnarr and back, "Silver's made for spending, anyhow. But that's a fair plan, that is. Sounds good to me, not counting the whelps - can't see that happening. You can always take up farming or the wine trade or something."

Irritatingly nice mustache was all Galen managed to hear from the crowd, and just that was enough to make him literally chuckle mid combat, though as his enemy attacked with speed and precision, he now moved with thought, obviously underestimating his enemy early on. Each attack of his enemies rubicund blade met the spear tip of his, carefully countered as Sparte had shown him, though Sparte used potatoes! And they were not fast and strong potatoes! Still the man fought on, a silent look of praise given to his opponents skill.

"Farming's likely. Not like I didn't used to do it," Agnarr points out in return to Leta, shaking his head as Caspian goes for the backflip. He seems to disapprove of the flashiness, but then brushes it away with, "Sanctioned duel, anyhow..."

Caspian checked dexterity + legerdemain at difficulty 15, rolling 21 higher.

Where before Caspian struck Galen with hard, quick blows, Caspian now finds that Galen meets his blade at every turn with his own. He smirks a little, twirling his blade in his hand before reversing the grip, and steps forward to swipe at Galen's chest with his blade.

Galen takes minor damage.

Sabella is so intent on the fight that she forgets her manners and doesn't say much to the people sitting around her. Her fists are clutching at her cloak as she watches the match, a bit breathless at each attack and parry.

Galen checked stamina, willpower + survival at difficulty 33, rolling 12 higher.

Galen remains capable of fighting.

After a quick dodge of Galen's spear and blocking the next attack, Caspian pushes forward, sliding the blade up the spear before getting right in Galen's face, pushing past the man as he cuts along Galen with the fight winning blow, using both knife and body as he pushes past the man and gets behind him, leaving behind a cut upon Galen.

Kit, the grey fox, a tiny man with a BIG unpronounceable name arrive, following Monique.

The fight was getting too good, Astraea cheered and paced in front of her seat. Eyes diverting to Darren and the others as they say something. She's in it to win it though and can't be distracted from the fight for too long. Even if she isn't participating in the Rite she circles the sands from an appropriate distance trying to get a good look while staying out of everyone's line of sight. As the match concludes she offers a knightly salute to them both. "Well fought!"

Monique has joined the Benches.

Waldemai cheers the competitors. "Well fought! All glory to Gloria!"

Monique slips into the Training Center and looks for a spot, spying Agnarr and heading that way. "Awww, curses and blisters. Did I miss everything?"

Astraea is overheard praising Caspian for: For a spectacular performance! He fought step by step with Gloria by his side.

Galen smirks, a hand lifting to wipe a bit of blood from his face, though pain would certainly be evident in his stormy eyes if anyone other than Caspian were close enough to see it, being the outgoing person that he was, he had a certain facade to maintain, and so, a twirl of his spear would find it tucked behind one arm, as he moved to grab Caspian's blade wielding hand, lifting it high into the air, "Lords...Ladies...And those of questionable sort! I give you, champion of the duel, and organizer of this glorious event to Gloria," he paused, his gaze drifting over the crowd, "NOW LET ME HEAR YOU CHEER FOR MASTER CASPIAN WILD!" at this he released the other man's hand, and brought his across his chest to offer a half bow, "Too damn fast," he whispered to the man, "Next time we arm wrestle." he grinned. And with that, the battle was over, glory was shown, and a trickle of blood ran down Galen's face, but the mustache stood, taking a severe beating without falter.

"Just the entire fight," Sorrel calls to Monique merrily, grinning at the lady cheerfully. "And most of the Rite to Gloria. You caught the very tail end, at least!"

Darren is overheard praising Caspian.

Waldemai cheers wildly for Master Caspian Wild!

Darren is overheard praising Galen.

Leona cheers for Galen and Caspian both. "Well fought, both of you! Honor to Gloria for both of you!" She grins at Sorrel though. "He did pretty well, didn't he just?"

Juliana is overheard praising Galen.

Victus chuckles dryly as he raises from the bench, leaving the lady cousins to walk across the fighting pit. He raises a bottle up to Galen. "Here cousin, drink this shit. It'll make you feel better." What was inside? Why, alcohol of course.

Victus is overheard praising Galen for: Pretty face never backed down.

Victus is overheard praising Caspian for: Fancy.

Caspian lifts his hand up as Galen lifts it, beaming brightly, calling out to the crowd, "AND LETS HEAR IT FOR PRINCE GALEN! AND GLORY TO GLOIRA!" With that, he bows as Galen holds up his hand before rising once again, smirking over to Victus. He turns to Galen, nodding his head, "Good fight. We should do it again after the war. I'm sure after the fires of war harden us we'll give an even better show."

Sorrel grins at Leona as she claps. "He did! He's got a lot of endurance -- to take such blows -- and he never faltered or slowed down," she says brightly, with a measure of appreciation. "This was fun!"

Sabella gets to her feet, standing a bit behind the others as she cheers. Who is she cheering for? It's hard to tell, but she's clapping along with a few others. She pushes her hair over her shoulders and hugs her cloak to her.


Is it fun? Cassima isn't sure. She narrows her eyes slightly and considers the sight before her, as if trying to dissect or digest something in the spectacle before her.