by Justin “J’ortsa” Thibeault
As the grounds are cleared, and the last visitors finally leave, the air is quiet. Here J’ortsa stands, among his countrymen and the wildlife of Creathorne. What happened here? Well, it is simple. Countess Naralia held her annual fun and games, and fun and games were said to be had by all, at least the ones that this one has asked…
The day started as all good days start, with J’ortsa and Onyx having carriage troubles. Once that had been sorted out, we were on our way again. Luckily, we were not delayed by much. However, when J’ortsa arrived he found the limited tournaments had already started! Which was ok, because he had more important tasks to attend to, grilling. Now J’ortsa had not ever grilled before, but luckily Eric is a fantastic teacher and this one was able to grill up all the food for the hungry visitors!
After lunch was had, the unlimited tournaments began. And Khajiit was finally able to participate in some of the fun. First up was a grand melee gauntlet, which lasted quite a long time, but not nearly as long as it could have been. The rules were simple, be the first to win two times in the grand melee, winners of previous rounds go to the center of the circle. And the Knights of Blackwood swept the field, one by one. First was Sir Tao, followed by Sir Bones, then Prince Saegan, and lastly Sir Vesper. This one cannot remember who won the grand melee overall, but he does know that Warlord Saka and Vesper decided to play a game against J’ortsa. After Vesper killed Fansy, he looted his bow and began shooting at this one, and Vesper with his quick thinking and penchant for mischief, convinced Saka to attempt to corral J’ortsa to make it easier to shoot him. J’ortsa was faster than the arrows, and deftly dodged every arrow that was fired at him, after the first one that took his leg. It was a wonderful experience. There was also Squire Alias who was running across the field shouting “POTIONS” in an attempt to survive and make a quick sale, very smart, but it did not pay off to keep him alive unfortunately.
Many other tournaments followed after that, alas, J’ortsa cannot recall the order. But he does know that during the Spirit and Steel tournament, where he paired up with Squire Griffin, the matches were very tough. J’ortsa recently came into possession of a Northern Alliance throwing axe, and after throwing it at the marshal’s face, at his request, it passed inspection. J’ortsa did forget he had it a few times, much to his chagrin. But he did not forget for the Spirit and Steel tournament, where he prepared it with an armor-piercing shot and lobbed it at Squire Ryu, however the axe curved and wound up striking her Spirit, Saka, right in the chest, cutting Ryu off from her support. Then when Griffin and J’ortsa went up against Heda and Bones, where another expertly thrown axe took her arm out as the match started, cutting off her repair item use until she could heal her limb. Shortly after, she attempted to raise Bones but J’ortsa quickly ran forward and struck her arm before she could raise him. It was a moment of glory! And made J’ortsa feel very proud of his skill, or some would say luck, because he does admit the axe was definitely a lucky shot.
In between the tournaments J’ortsa was participating in, he and Onyx were called over by the Countess. She then told Onyx to hand back the tabard they had received earlier in the day after they had misplaced their own tabard, and instead were told to keep the tabard they were borrowing from this one. And the Countess bestowed upon J’ortsa a patch, making him a full-fledged member of Creathorne.
After the fun 2-path tournament, where J’ortsa took third place out of three combatants, the marshals announced that the next tournament would be 3v3’s, and the three 2-Paths decided to team up and rain hellfire upon our foes. Which did not happen, the other teams of three were all fighters, and they slaughtered us, but J’ortsa did get one lucky shot against Saegan after Saegan killed Saka and left his back exposed, leaving the perfect opening for a well-placed Armor-Piercing shot to the back, which was immediately followed up by Sir Nos executing J’ortsa. So, the victory was quite short-lived.
The tournaments began to wind down and the final Champions Battle was had. With none other than Prince Saegan taking the crown and winning the tournaments overall, a well-deserved victory. For his efforts, he earned a small box! Which did not house a boat, but a small dragon looking creature. This one did not get a good look at it, but he assumes it was a dragon. This one is excited to see everyone again at next year’s event, and perhaps next time, there will be even more fun and games, if that is possible. J’ortsa thanks you all for coming and making the day so spectacular and the children for helping the Countess recover her lost items, you will be remembered for your valiant efforts.
May your path lead you to warm sands,
Justin “J’ortsa” Thibeault