1 chapter 1

The crowd was louder than ever. The arena was packed this year, and it was difficult to sneak in. Luckily you and Varys, who you consider to be your best friend, knew about the slightly cracked wall that had a hole just big enough for the two of you to crawl through. You were able to make it to the middle section of the arena. Trying to get front row seats would be too risky, as nobles tended to have that area reserved and you may run into a guard asking to see your ticket. The middle seats were crowded and provided anonymity. It was also provided a decent enough view of the tournament. The middle and top sections didn't have assigned seating; they were designed more like areas for the masses to watch. Even though there were a few benches, most of them were old and broken. A few people had brought their own wooden stools to sit or stand on and fathers had their children on their shoulders so they could see. You arrived just when the pre-tournament ceremonies were about to start. Music was being played…there was also dancing and horse tricks providing entertainment to the crowd.

You found the pre-tournament events to be a good time to discuss tournament strategy and this year's competition with your friend.

After several minutes, a horn blasted to signify the first match was about to begin. You stood up on your toes and strained to see the arena floor. Walking in were two teams, each wearing garbs and shields from their respective house. The team on the left have sigils of Griffins with white and black colored patterns while the team on the right has sigils of Horses dressed in brown colors. They are about to do combat with wooden swords, clubs, and staffs. Varys decided it would be a good time to make a bet with you. A game you often played with each other even though you knew neither of you had the coin to pay the other. Varys was kind enough to let you take first pick of the teams.

You chose the left team (Griffin)

Another horn sounded, and the men from the right side, the Horses, charged. You noticed the left side, the Griffins, charged as well, but they were much more organized and made sure they stayed close together. They soon formed a semi-circle the enemy. When the right side charged one of the eager aggressors ran further up ahead then his comrades. He soon engaged in combat with the left defenders and found himself surrounded. He was quickly put down. The fighting continued until only the one side remained standing, which happened to be the left side, or the Griffins. Two of their men had fallen, but all in all they were mostly intact. A few watchers booed, this certainly was one of the quicker arena battles you had seen, usually it was chaotic with men having individual duels all throughout the arena. People often wanted to make a name for themselves, as this was the most common way to get into the single matches. It seems the left team decided to use a different strategy instead. You found the Griffins team to be smart for using an alternative strategy.

In truth, winning wasn't really the point of the team battle. Both sides were compensated well, what really mattered was if the crowd was entertained. It was supposed to be a disorganized brawl to get the crowd excited for the main event. By making it a quick fight, it resulted in some of the people being disappointed. Perhaps the Griffins did not know this, or didn't care. There was a brief intermission before the main event. Vendors walked around selling food and trinkets. A couple fights broke out on the top stands, which resulted in a small detachment of guards having to be sent to break it up.

Next up was your favorite knight, Sir Robert Gale. He was your favorite for a good reason…not only was he considered one of the best swordsmen in the realm, he had the love of the people as well; he often would donate his winnings to the poor or use it in outrageous ways. You fondly remember one tournament where Sir Robert Gale tossed a bag of gold up into the stage, causing a near riot to break out. He hadn't done that since. He also employed your father, which may be an even bigger factor of why he is your favorite knight. Your father worked as a stable hand for Sir Robert, taking care of his prized horse Midnight. Your father grew up as a farm hand, and had always taken to horses well. It was said that Midnight was the fastest horse in the realm, but also one of the wildest. Other horse trainers and stable hands refused to work with Midnight, saying he could never be broken in, but that didn't stop your father. He was able to get the horse under control and take care of her like no one else could. Sir Robert Gale took notice and hired him immediately.

Sir Robert was going to fight Thrall, a noble warrior from the far east. Many people were shocked at Thrall's size. He was huge. His hand was bigger than some people's faces, he also stood around 7 feet tall. Your initial reaction when you saw him was to feel sorry for his horse. He seemed uncomfortable on his mount; for him the joust was more of a formality. The two knights lined up across the arena as the flags and rope were setup to distinguish the sides. You saw your father feed a carrot to Midnight, which seemed to make her forget about the crowd and calm her down. Sir Robert Gale was wearing light armor, while Thrall was in heavy plate mail. When the jousting area was fully prepared, Aldric, who had been the tournament announcer for as long as you could remember took stage and raised his arms for the crowd to be silent.

He introduced Sir Robert Gale who hailed from the Northlands, and the crowd cheered. He then introduced Thrall and the crowd also cheered, but with a little less enthusiasm than before. He reminded the competitors of the rules of the competition, which were very few. The joust would result in three passes, if it even lasted that long. You received 1 point for making contact with your opponent. You received two points if you hit your opponent and broke your lance. Finally, if you knocked your opponent off his horse you would receive three points. Most Knights who were knocked off their horses did not continue the joust and were allowed to withdraw with honor. There was also a rule that if any Knight did not agree with the ruling of the tournament judge they could settle the competition with hand to hand combat. Aldric examined each of the Knights three lances to make sure they were fully wooden, and waived his hand to signal that the tournament could begin. Each knight stood on either side of the arena looking at the other ready to charge at any moment.

A flag in the center was waived and both opponents charged toward each other mounted on their horses. Sir Robert kept his lance up in the air, Thrall lowered his too quickly and had trouble maintaining its aim. At just the right moment Sir Robert lowered his lance and hit Thrall with a perfect strike to his center chest cracking the lance in half, Thrall missed completely. Thrall barely moved, his size and weight made him more like a tank than a human being, and even though Sir Robert's strike was true it did very little damage.

Sir Robert dropped what was left of his lance, and grabbed another from one of his attendees. He quickly turned around and charged at Thrall Again. Thrall did the same, but was not as quick as Robert. Just like the previous attack, Sir Robert lowered his lance at just the right moment. He hit Thrall hard in his shoulder. This time, Thrall managed to slightly hit Robert, but it was brushed aside by his shield. The blow Thrall received seemed more powerful this time and caused him to lean back. He had to drop his lance early in order to maintain control of his horse. Now came the third and final pass.

Sir Robert gave Thrall a few seconds to compose himself and grab another lance, before charging again. Sir Robert began to lower his lance like before, but he did something that Hadrian had never seen him do before. Rather than lower it all the way, he rested it slightly on his shield, so it was tilted up. When the two mean met, he hit Thrall smashing the end point of the lance directly into his face. Thrall lost his balance and fell off his horse. The crowd cheered. Robert took of his helm and held what was left of the lance high up into the air at the crowd. Thrall didn't move. For a few seconds it looked like he could be dead, until suddenly he rolled over and got up. He took off his helmet, which still had wooden splinters in it, and roared something at Sir Robert and started walking forward. Sir Robert dropped his lance, jumped off his horse and signaled someone to give him his sword. Thrall's two attendants ran up and gave him a huge two handed war hammer, which he seemed to wield in one hand like it weighed almost nothing. Thrall and Robert met, and Thrall did an overhead strike at Robert. Sir Robert dodged at just the right moment, and the attack missed hitting the ground with a thud so loud that everyone in the arena heard it. Robert then attacked Thrall, seeing he was open and off balance, but his thick armor made his sword look more like a tooth pick. With surprisingly fast speed Thrall swung his Warhammer around catching Robert nearly off guard. Robert was able to put his shield up just in time to take most of the impact. His shield cracked under the heavy weight of the Warhammer and it caused Robert to fall to the ground shield flying to his side. Thrall then ferociously attacked again. Robert rolled the right dodging the blow. You had only seen Robert in a position like this a handful of times. You pondered for a few moments, thinking what you would do if you were in his situation I would throw sand into his eyes though it would be considered dishonorable but it's better then being smashed to smithereens.

Main Character Stats:

Below is a list of important information:

Name: Hadrian

Age: 15

Current Health: 20

Max Health: 30

Gold: 1

strength: 2

agility: 1

leadership: 1

intelligence: 1

Wisdom: 0

Diplomacy: 0

Melee Skill: 0

Riding Skill: 1

Archery Skill: 0