Striding out into the ring, Zebulon is wearing a set of stock high quality steel armor with no tabard or sigils inscribed. The armor looks to be made in the far south, judging by the design of the metalwork. The tall, dark skinned man can only be seen by his face within the helm, a slim noseguard bisecting half of his face. As he enters the ring, he raises his arms high, a wicked looking scimitar in his dominant hand. He lowers his arms and walks to the center of the ring, a hand cupping the side of his mouth before he speaks. Which he would have done, if he hadn't just dropped his blade for no reason, like Fate itself just jerked it from his hand when he wasn't looking. He stops to bend and pick it up and get a good grip on it and then continues as if nothing happened. "Ladies and gentleman, nobles, commoners and those who fall in between! Welcome to the next match in Round One of the Tournament of Champions! Tonight, I, Sir Zebulon Whitewake, will be fighting Mistress Adalyn Clement to first blood! Who's ready for a fight?!?"

Waldemai cheers for the fighters, and the fight!

A small retinue arrives with Elgana and Bliss leading them, a pair of guards in Redrain livery following behind the ladies. The Redrain walks arm-in-arm with the Whisper, leaning in to whisper something to the other woman before she just smiles and looks about. "Where shall we sit? I am happy where ever you are," she offers as a pause is taken so Bliss can decide where to direct them, and then off they shall go.

Karadoc has joined the Commoner Stands.

Adalyn comes in, already prepared with her armor donned and her sword in its scabbard in hand. She sets down a little pouch from which a soft peeping comes from "No, don't be scared, Beaky. It isn't going to be a fight to the death. Just a little sparring match, that's all." The chick is petted as the announcement's made. Wincing, she turns and goes to the field, but not before making sure Beaky is well out of harm's way.

Seated in the front row of the noble section, Kalani sets her medicine bag on the empty seat beside her, casually leans forward and props one elbow against the railing, sets her chin in her hand, and watches the show begin.

Agatha mills about the crowds, rousing some rabbles and trying to keep them pumped up. And hey, if there are quiet patches? Well, the big red bear is noisy enough to make up for it. "RAWR! Yeah! We're ready for a fight, right?" She waves upwards, trying to get a good loud, garish cheer going.

Someone let one of the King's Own out for the evening. Erela finds herself sitting on one of the bottom benches one knee crossed over the other. Her black hair is left down today, though the few streaks of silver can be seen. She's not wearing her armor tonight, just the tabard over her white shirt, black pants and boots. There's a round of applause when she sees her friend in the ring, "Come on Zeb."

Tilting her head in to listen to Elgana, Bliss smiles as she hears the woman's words, then tilts her head back to let out a loud 'Whoop!' in the direction of Zebulon and Adalyn, raising her free arm to throw her fist into the air in encouragement of the fight that's about to happen. With that question being asked, she motions her head over to the Commoners Stands. "If you don't mind, your highness, I wouldn't mind being with the rest of the crowd," she says with a laugh. "More ready than you!" she calls over to Agatha, letting her voice carry.

Bliss has joined the Commoner Stands.

Wynna has joined the Commoner Stands.

Elgana has joined the Commoner Stands.

Lucita releases Karadoc's arm to clap for the initial speech given and blinks as he takes a seat. A good natured shrug is given and she moves to take a seat beside him.

Lucita has joined the Commoner Stands.

Elizabetta, a disapproving lady-in-waiting, Lily, an aloof lady-in-waiting, Clark, an exasperated guard, Valor, a small brown and white corgi puppy arrive, following Sabella.

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

Wash has joined the Noble Seating.

Verity gives a small dip of a curtsey to a few that she spies as she weaves through the crowd gathered. Hearing the duel starting, she gives a polite clap of her hands before she leans over to speak with Karadoc and Lucita.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Lys before departing.

Agatha has joined the Commoner Stands.

Mistress Tailtwitcher, a pleasingly plump feline clawmaiden leaves, following Lys.

Sabella comes running in, huffing and puffing and holding up silken skirts. "Am I late? Is it over? Is it--oh no, everyone's still here. Whew!" She takes a moment to adjust her hair, then her dress, and starts heading for the nobles section. "I was afraid I'd be so late I wouldn't know who was hitting who with what and then everyone would know I was just not up on current events." She chatters to no one inparticular.

Wash settles into a seat and hails Sabella when she joins. He gestures to the seat next to him.

Sabella has joined the Noble Seating.

Mirari checked dexterity + smithing at difficulty 29, rolling 41 higher.

The fight begins with the initial scouting of Adalyn's gaurd and measuring her stance as Zebulon makes a few tentative swipes with his scimitar. Each is easily parried, but the last leaves him exposed for a hit from Adalyn that dings into the armor in his left side, leaving no damage. They continue to circle eachother like predators in the wild, neither giving an inch nor getting a bite of the other. Slashes and jabs parried or armor taking the brunt of any hits. Thus far, the two seem evenly matched and no blood has been drawn.

Adalyn gets her helmet on and salutes Zebulon before their fight begins, her body held taut as she prepares for the contest to begin. He is likewise measured up, eyed carefully by her, her eyes narrowed. As they swing they wind up missing eacth other, causing her to growl slightly. Not exactly the fast-paced thing she imagined it to be.

Zebulon takes minor damage.

Agatha turns from trying to rally some noise making from the crowds and calls out, "Sir Zebulon, you smell like ... like cheese sitting out in the sun for a week! Make him extra runny, Goodwoman Clement!" She may need to work on her trash talk game. But it's all shouted with a horribly merry tone.

Mirari checked dexterity + smithing at difficulty 19, rolling 50 higher.

Mirari puts a pink baroque pearl lavaliere in a round oak accoutrements case.

As the fight starts, Kalani settles back, the toe of one boot braced against the bottom of the railing as she feels a grin form on her face as the crowd picks up the merry cheer. She shades her eyes again, glancing at the others seated in the section with a cordial nod but focuses forward on the match.

Erela keeps her attention focused on the two in the dueling ring. Seeing if Zebulon is focusing or if he's going to trip on his feet like he'd done with her. Oh yes. It had happened. She gives a bit of a nod when Adalyn and Zeb seem to be on equal footing for the moment though and she settles her hands on her knees as she watches.

Zebulon takes minor damage.

"Everyone loves cheese, Princess! Even smelly old cheese!" Zebulon calls back to his fellow Champion in the stands. Finally some hits have landed! Unfortunately on Zebulon as Adalyn continues to be like trying to slice water itself. Zebulon grabs at his right thigh where one hit resounded through the armor and left what will be a lovely violet bruise tomorrow. He has a slight limp now as he tries a more aggressive attack at Adalyn, but still for naught! "Why won't you be still, already?"

Mirari checked dexterity + smithing at difficulty 17, rolling 46 higher.

"It's not sporting if she stands still, Zeb!" Erela calls out to the tall Sailor. Then she quiets back down and gives a shake of her head as she watches.

Mirari puts a glass-pressed dandelion ring in a round oak accoutrements case.

"If you want a woman to be still you have to marry her!" Sabella shouts out.

"What fun would it be if I were to make it easy on you," Adalyn quips back, her tone playful just as it was last night when she tried to taunt him. She tries to move in and then swing but she likewise misses even though she has had minor success before. "You're just as... not stilly. You stand still and I will." Hahaha, right.

Adalyn takes very serious damage.

"I tried fighting like a tree for months. Moving is MUCH better some of the time," Agatha shouts helpfully. She looks over at Bliss and Jeffeth in the stands, even nudging the former. "C'mon, show how loud you can be!" She opens her mouth to shout out a roar that turns into a "Daaaaaaaang..."

"Only if you're no good at what you're doing!" Bliss shouts back out in response to Sabella. "If I ever get married, trust me, the woman will never, ever be still." She gives a bright grin, then calls, "I'm liking how you move, Adalyn, maybe you should come see me after?"

Wynna smiles vaguely at Bliss' comment, chuckling under her breath.

Mirari checked dexterity + smithing at difficulty 15, rolling 44 higher.

Mirari puts a black lotus lace choker in a round oak accoutrements case.

Perhaps its the heckling. Or maybe it's just the luck of...no, who are are kidding here? Zebulon doesn't have luck! The dark Knight Captain growls deep in his chest, the sound barely heard in the stands as he takes a few steps back away from Adalyn, as if retreating. Then he digs his right foot into the ground and lifts the scimitar in a high position just above his head and with a primal howl, he kicks off and runs straight at Adalyn, jumping into the air about five feet from her and twisting his body in mid-air to slash downward with his blade and the shoulder of his fellow Champion. The strike hit hard and true, a spatter of crimson fanning up and outward as his blade continues its arc to the ground and he falls to his side into the dirt, rolling as he hits it to come up on one foot and knee, sword raised in a defensive hold in front of him.

Wash applauds the conflict. "Well done! Well struck!" He isn't as fixated on fighting as his fellow Kennex, Ian, but he can appreciate a good duel, generally.

Waldemai cheers. "Well fought! Well done!"

Wynna winces at the abrupt bloodshed.

Erela gives a look to the fight and there's a wince when Zebulon lands the blow that wins it. Well...damn. "That...was not how I imagined it going with the bloodshed." the seasoned Knight states as she looks to Adalyn to see how bad the injury is.

Sabella also applauds enthusiastically, "Yay, hitting!" And then she flinches, "...there's always a healer around here, right?" She glances around and then Elizabetta is leaning in to whisper something. "Oh. Ah, I have to go, apologies Wash. Apparently Isabelle showed up carrying Niklas home from maybe winning a goat? I have no idea what that means, so I better go make sure I don't now own a goat."

Adalyn's momentarily distracted by some of the yelling, the cheering plus the more aggressive manner in which Zebulon attacks allowing for him to hit and hit hard. With a pained cry, she drops her sword and holds her hand to the wound, the fact that she's bleeding leaving her in a state of shock. "Well fought," she compliments him with a shaky voice, her head bowed to him.

Lucita shakes her head even as she claps for both the fighters. "That's Sir Zebulon!"

Mirari checked dexterity + smithing at difficulty 27, rolling 48 higher.

Elgana was laughing at the comments Bliss had made and her gaze turned right at the perhaps wrong moment. A wince given by the Redrain. "Well," she says softly. "That is unfortunate." There is clear concern on her face, but she does offer her applause to them both. "Well fought!" she calls before she nudges Bliss and says in softer tones, "Seems you are good at this."

Mirari puts a circlet of draping silver chains in a round oak accoutrements case.

Bliss checked command + performance at difficulty 15, rolling 15 higher.

Erela is overheard praising Adalyn for: Well fought and a well taken hit.

Sabella is overheard praising Adalyn for: Great fight!

Sabella is overheard praising Zebulon for: Great fight!

Sabella has left the Noble Seating.

Elizabetta, a disapproving lady-in-waiting, Lily, an aloof lady-in-waiting, Clark, an exasperated guard, Valor, a small brown and white corgi puppy leave, following Sabella.

Elgana is overheard praising Adalyn for: Well fought!

Wash waves Sabella off. "Goats are good eating." He suggests. "At the very least you should stop him from training it to carry messages."

Mirari puts the last of her work into her accoutrements case and stars to step down the commoner stands, not really wanting to stick around while people are being medically tended to. She is already putting tags on the items she finished as she walks back towards her shop.

Agatha groans at the outcome. She turns to look at her sister and shakes her head. "My cheering has failed you. He likes stinky cheese. I am sorry, sister." But for all her attempts at humor, she is glancing back at Adalyn and Zebulon, just a little fretting as she looks for a healer to head out.

Mirari has left the Commoner Stands.

Erela is overheard praising Zebulon for: Well fought!

Agatha is overheard praising Zebulon.

Agatha is overheard praising Adalyn.

When Zebulon takes that hit and Adalyn goes to the ground, Bliss stands up and lets out a loud whistle, Bliss stands and lets her voice boom out over the sands, putting both hands up to her mouth to amplify the sound. "WELL DONE ZEBULON! YOU JUST WON ME FIVE HUNDRED SILVER!" She gives a sharp whistle after, clapping her hands enthusiastically before she sits down and smirks at Elgana, nudging her playfully. "I'm good at pretty much everything I do, you know," she adds playfully.

Karadoc has left the Commoner Stands.

Zebulon stands up and jogs over to Adalyn, sheathing his blade and picking up hers as he kneels beside her and helps her stand. "Great match, Mistress Clement. Let's see if we can get a healer to patch that up for you? I didn't mean to strike that deeply!" He stands up, aiding his challenger slowly out of the ring. "Thank you all for coming! We hope that you enjoyed the match as much as we did performing for you!"

"Aw, not your fault, Aggie. Your cheering was rather fun," Elgana offers to Agatha with a bright smile as she nudges Bliss back playfully. "Oh, I know you are." She gives Bliss a shake of her head. "Don't spend all of your silver in one place now."

Lucita gives a wry smile at Bliss, "Everything from spars to dancing." She agrees with Bliss then manages to stand as Karadoc starts to leave. "awww, I'd have walked back to the Tower with him."

Adalyn turns to Agatha first, her hand still pressed to her shoulder. "No, I just underestimated..." Gritting her teeth in something of a grimaced grin, she shrugs slightly. Bliss is then pouted at, although the jutting of her lip is unseen as she still has her helm on. "No, it was a good strike," she compliments Zebulon. She gets up onto her feet with his help and she sheathes her sword. "Let me gather up Beaky and then we can go."

Lucita has left the Commoner Stands.

Erela stands as she looks over the dueling ring again, "Do we have a healer around?" she asks no one in particular. Given the slash across her throat she's known many of the healers around here. Though she turns her emerald gaze back to Zebulon when he's helping Adalyn out of the ring and she slips out of the stands.

"I mean," Bliss says to Elgana, leaning in to bump her with a shoulder, then turns her head to say to Agatha, "You'll just have to cheer louder next time. Don't worry. I believe in you. You can do this." Her tone is slightly deadpan, and Lucita's comment earns a wink. "And so much more in between the two." She looks back at the field, and when Adalyn looks at her, she smiles and says, "I'm probably heading to the loser's bracket with you, maybe we'll have some fun together soon?" she wonders with good humor.

Standing from the section in which she's seated, Kalani lifts one hand in a wave, "Here," she calls out and hops down from the stands, medical bag in hand. She hurries over to the dueling ring and approaches at a slower pace oncce there, "I was here yesterday. Dorian said there'd be another duel today, so I thought I'd come help."

Wash stands up, descending the stands to congratulate the victor. "Well done Sir Zebulon." He calls. "Who do you train under?"

Kalani has left the Noble Seating.

Agatha is gonna be quiet for a minute. She's narrowing a gaze a little as she looks from Elgana, to Adalyn, to Bliss, and back again in a circle or two. Puzzled, protective Agatha is trying to read social dynamics again. What could possibly go wrong?

Erela has left the Commoner Stands.

Wynna hums quietly as she watches the proceedings afterwards, her head tilted to the side. People watching.

Seeing Lucita finally, Zebulon waves to her and calls out. "Lady Lucita! Glad you could make it out! Do you need an escort back to the Ward?"