I just thought I'd take this opportunity to thank all of you fantastic players that make this game such fun to run... and now, to the joust...
After a few moments of indecision, where you weigh the pros and cons of competing despite the danger and your inexperience, you decide that you need to joust. You are a Knight now, and you must accept that there are certain expectations of you now.
You take a moment to write a note to the Duke, telling him of the situation with your saddle and indicating that you have a strong suspicion of who may be behind it. You don't specifically implicate the Count in writing, but you expect that your message will be received.
Alan returns a few moments later, with a fresh saddle in hand. He spends the next few minutes helping you put your armor on, and you make your way to the list. You stand by as the rules are read. Points will be awarded for broken lances, five passes total. Falling from your horse is an automatic defeat. There are 16 Knights competing, including Sir Denton, Sir Percival, Sir Lope (the Count's Marshal), and Sir Melvin, Lady Marna's brother.
Your first draw is against an unassuming young Knight whom you have not met before. After watching a few matches before you, including Sir Percival (who unseats his opponent on the third pass) You head to your horse, and find Lady Marna waiting there for you. She wishes you luck, and ties her scarf around your lance arm. You mount up with the help of Alan, and soon find yourself staring down your opponent at the other end of the list.
After a tense few moments, a shout goes up from the crowd, and you charge forward. You manage to aim your lance well, and you strike lands on your opponent's shield. It glances off, however, and fails to break. His blow misses you entirely.
You turn and charge again, once again managing to bring your lance around. You are suprised to feel the impact, and your lance shatters magnificently. Once again, you opponent misses.
Grabbing a new lance, you make the third turn. You begin to bear down, but suddenly you feel yourself thrown back into the air. Your horse, catching sight of something in the crowd, spooks and rears up, its lack of training as a beast of war apparent. Through a feat of incredible riding, you manage to hold on, but your opponent fails to pull his lance up in time.
You feel a shock as the lance catches your horse on its unarmored flank, as it turned while rearing. Thankfully, he manages to turn his lance so that it doesn't impale your mount, but it smacks against his side painfully, causing the horse to rear again. You hold on again, and walk to the end of the list. Alan examines the horse, and finds a small cut and a nasty growing bruise where the hunter was struck.
As you prepare to forfeit the match, Sir Melvin approaches, offering you the use of his spare mount. You gratefully take him up on his offer, and soon find yourself riding again.
You bear down again, but your fourth pass misses horribly. Your opponent strikes true this time, and you feel yourself rock back in your saddle.You manage to grip with your knees, despite your lack of balance, but you feel the opponent's lance splinter.
Now tied, going into the fifth tilt, you focus as sweat drops down your brow. Once again, you charge, and once again your opponent is square on. You fail to get your lance around, and you get throttled back and off the saddle. You hang in the air for a split second, and then slam onto the ground.
The cheers of the crowd slowly wash over you. You may not have won, but you didn't embarrass yourself, and you haven't been horribly injured. You are helped up, and are given a polite smattering of applause from the gathered crowd. Sir Melvin, Sir Percival, and Sir Denton clap you on the back, and Lady Marna is waiting for you, smiling and beaming at you.
With the events over, all that remains is the feast this evening. Any special plans for it?
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Topic: Lordship: A Suggestion Game (Read 327328 times)