2 Halfshav skilled veteran guards have been dismissed.

Alis could not resist being here, though she has absolutely no idea which type of tea drinking she's here to support. Instead, she shall enthusiastically greet both Katarina and Cristoph and make sure she weasels her way into the very front of the crowd so that she can actually see the event as it unfolds.

Katarina has joined the Noble Seating.

Making their way to the noble seating, Medeia and Haakon arrive a little early so they can settle in. If she's able, the woman waves and mouths 'good luck' to Brianna. Aside to Haakon, she notes, "I feel like I should be surprised that Duke Laurent is in another duel. I'm more surprised I'm cheering on his Champion."

Georgine reaches down to pet the head of the giant fluffball of a doggo curled up by her feet. The animal's eyes, however, are very alert with anyone getting close earning a longer evaluation.

Chiara, Jimothy, a spirited paint horse arrive, following Appolonia.

Most honor duels fought between Champions do not involve tea, but this one does. A small table has been set up with a nice tea service in the center of the dueling ring, and there is tea available as refreshments for those who will not be participating in the duel, with honey and other sweeteners available by taste. Sorrel walks out to the table in an aeterna gown -- not armor -- and carrying with her a red chair in which to sit. She seems otherwise unarmed. She sets the chair down by the table, then turns to the audience with a charming smile. "Welcome to the duel to settle the disagreement between Duke Cristoph Laurent and Princess Katarina Valardin over how much sugar one should put in one's tea. When Lady Brianna Halfshav, my opponent arrives, we will have a prayer to Gloria for a fair and glorious fight to prove the worthier cause: too much sugar or not enough sugar!"

Like Alis, Sir Bhandn couldn't resist being here, but he knows just which side of this equation he supports: both! It's /tea drinking/ after all. Yet this one concerns a specific aspect of tea drinking, and that's whether sweet tea is bad tea. It's not, which is why he seats himself such as to declare his support for Katarina's love of honey and sugar.

Bhandn has joined the Commoner Stands.

Following the crowd gathering, Cirroch arrives with Sasha riding on his back, her head tucked in over his shoulder. He heads up to the noble seating, then finds a spot and leans back to plop Sasha into the seat before speaking normally /booming voice/ to Brianna, "Just throw a plushie at her!" He then takes his own seat next to Sasha.


Katarina is dressed in what could be called by many observers 'a breezy summer dress kissed by the luminous morning sun.' The bright colors go well with her skin tone, and the breeziness mixes well with her fluffy sable ringlets that make her seem slightly taller than Alis most of the time. Slightly. She's also wearing one of her veils, matched to the dress and hiding her face from just under the eyes on down. The Princess graciously greets those who come to greet her, and takes her own seat near the front. When Sorrel speaks, she cups her hands to her mouth (over the veil) and adds: "Honey, as well!"

Sasha giggles as she is plopped into the seat, fondly smiling to Cirroch as she then sits next to her. Her hand reaching up to hide her giggling at what Cirroch shouts.

Haakon asides to Medeia on the subject of another duel, "Folk must have wanted for sport," as he sees Medeia into her seat before taking his own and turning a steady eye on the field as Sorrel arrives for the duel in a.. gown? "...Huh."

Brianna strides into the ring, tall and elegant in trailing aeterna, a ridiculous crown of golden horns and jewels atop her head. She also is unarmed, and unarmored, taking the seat opposite Sorrel's at the table. A servant in Halfshav livery follows her, carrying a chair much like Sorrel's, but upholstered in blue. The chair is placed down and Brianna stands beside it, laying one hand down on the back of the chair. "A prayer before tea?" she asks, loud and slow, like a child in a pantomime. "I /suppose/," she 'relents'.

Elizabetta, a disapproving lady-in-waiting, Lily, an aloof lady-in-waiting, 6 Grayson House Guards, Clark, an exasperated guard arrive, following Sabella.

Winter, A Highhill Puppy arrives, following Kiera.

Cristoph is here! He's arrived quietly and with little fanfare, speaking politely to the people that he's passing and seems to be in generally good spirits all around.

"Please, no plushie abuse!" Alis protests, looking amused as she glances over her shoulder. But, being short, she probably has no idea who shouted what.

Once settled, Medeia 'mm's and glances around at the others present. She gives Alis and Katarina a polite nod before turning to greet the Sannas. "Marquis and Marquessa Sanna, lovely to see you both. Here to cheer on Lady Brianna?" Her eyes follow Haakon's to the field and narrow at the sight of the Champions in aeterna gowns. "This shall be... unique."

Sorrel bows slightly to Brianna, then turns back to the audience for the duel and raises her hands. "Gloria! We pray that you may smile upon this duel today so that we may settle through combat the eternal question of 'how much honey and sugar is too much honey and sugar in tea'. We pray that you may bless us with the skill to strike true and the honor to know when to yield!" She nods once, then turns to Brianna and moves to sit down for tea. Still, there's no indication of how the two women intend to combat one another.


Katarina applauds excitedly after Sorrel's prayer. When Sorrel and Brianna are sitting down, Katarina turns to face the many rows of seats behind her: "I will dedicate Princess Sorrel's victory to Artshall, for providing the best honey to go in my tea~!"

Cirroch looks at the /table/ and where the two champions are sitting. Looking to Sasha, "Poppet, maybe we should have brought a plushie for Bree to strike the other one with?" He leans forwards a little looking to Medeia, "Good to see you as well Lord and Lady Eswynd, of course we're here for Brianna."

Brianna takes a seat, sitting tall and straight-backed, cheating out toward the audience. "Thank you very much for inviting me to tea, Princess Sorrel," she says in that too-loud, stilted tone. "It was a very kind of you to invite me. Shall I pour?" She picks up the tea pot and, making sure the audience can see, she pours into Sorrel's cup first, then her own. "What a lovely bit of weather we have been having."

"Yes, quite, Lady Brianna," Sorrel replies as she reaches for the pot of honey and pours honey into her cup until tea starts running over the brim slightly. It is a lot of honey, and the viscous sweetener easily replaces the tea, which even with its heat cannot dissolve the honey fast enough. Her chair is also angled towards the audience, and her gestures are large so that all can see what she does.


Katarina narrows her eyes above the top edge of her veil, watching the tea preparation with the intense focus usually only seen in people who have a /lot/ of money they don't have riding on a horse race.

Georgine looks at Cirroch in a little bit of confusion as he stands and walks over to whisper to her. Her confusion grows further, but she murmurs a reply.

The tea is not /that/ hot anyway. It's been sitting out here for a bit, after all. Brianna faces the audience and gestures widely with both hands. "There is not a cloud in the sky. We are blessed." She turns back to Sorrel. "My goodness, Your Highness. What have you done to your tea?" Her eyebrows shoot up and her mouth opens into an o of highly exaggerated surprise.

"Here, my lady! Let me show you!" Sorrel enthuses to Brianna with a smile that is almost manic in intensity, and she shifts to pour honey into Brianna's cup. Way too much honey. Really, again, an unreasonable amount of honey. She's practically dumping the honey pot contents into Brianna's tea.

From where Cristoph is standing, he nods his head when Sorrel dumps most of the honey pot into Brianna's tea. He seems to think this is a legitimate retelling of events.

Medeia stares at the spectacle at the table with an expression of amused horror. "That is absurd..." she mutters.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Brianna cries, her Northern accent thickening almost comically. She stands up, picks up her teacup, and throws the really-not-very-hot-at-all tea into Sorrel's face. "TEA MUST NOT BE SWEET! WE MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED TO ENJOY THINGS!" she roars, flipping the table. The tea service goes flying.


Katarina, meanwhile, is leaning forward in her seat, elbows on her knees, fingers steepled and fingertips gently tapping against one another as she watches all of this like a hawk eyeing a field mouse.

Cirroch watches the table fly in amusement "Finally, we're getting somewhere."

Georgine winces -visibly- when that poor unloved tea service, the one crafted by hands of skill and passion, gets shattered.

Squealing in a surprisingly girlish manner as Brianna throws tea on her and then upends the table, Sorrel stands defiantly. "HOW DARE YOU?! I WAS GOING TO DRINK THAT!" she cries in mock horror as she wipes tea from her face. Being unarmed, she picks up her chair and heaves it over her head, moving like she might strike Brianna with it. "DEFEND YOURSELF!"

Sorrel wields a sturdy chair.

Brianna lifts her chair over her head, facing the audience fully and roaring, "TO ARMS!"

Brianna wields a solid chair.

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

Alis squints at the entire pot of honey being poured into a cup of tea. "Did you really... the whole thing?" is wondered of Katarina, and then Cris. "Come on, that's totally an exaggeration." Scoff. But oh look! There are finally weapons drawn. As it were. "Well alright then. I hope nobody gets splinters, those are awful when they're pulled."

"It should be a crime, what you just did to all that tea!" Sir Bhandn hollers from where he's sitting. He might espouse sweet tea, but there's a cardinal sin happening RIGHT NOW with that upended table.

The chairs are brandished! They clash! The Champions face off now over tea!

Georgine's clawed hand shoots up to cover her laugh.


"I did not in fact pour an entire pot of honey into anyone's tea," Katarina says to Alis, sounding a little snooty about it. "And I gave Princess Sorrel /very detailed/ instructions on how I prepare it! But, yes, Duke Cristoph /did/ say that we must never be allowed to enjoy things~."

"Maybe not the entire honey pot. But she dumped so much honey and sugar into the tea at once that I'm not convinced there was any liquid." Cristoph snorts at Katarina's comment, "Yes, that sounds exactly like something I would say. I'm practically the..." he searches for a good phrase. "Guardian of fun. The Guard of Fun. The Fun Guard."

Haakon barks out a sharp, abrupt laugh when the champions begin smashing each other with their chairs. Shortly thereafter, he's back to stoic silence.

"Oh!" Medeia exclaims. "Clever," she says of the chairs as weapons. "Well, if any get a splinter, there's a physician present."


"You see? He is so committed to not allowing us to enjoy things that he will not even be snappy with his wit," Katarina says, turning her head away from Cristoph and Alis in a very intentionally over-dramatic motion, as though she's been grievously insulted.

Brianna swings her chair by the legs in dramatic circles over her head before smacking Sorrel in the midsection, once, and then twice, letting out wordless, feral combat screams with each strike.

Kiera hms at Crristoph's remark from where she sits. she's slipped in somehow "the reverse ordering of the words may ,in fact, imply something different" she notes

Georgine is still glancing at that shattered tea service. "Maybe I could piece it back together with some stygian or star iron or something." Her attention snaps back to Bhandn, speaking softly with him while Maggie, the wunderfluff, pushes into a seated position with the smacking of chairs.

"And none of us ever exaggerate a thing." Alis deadpans, after listening to both of them.

Sabella comes in just after the fight has started, moving over to take a seat and saying with excitement and some confusion, "I thought they were going to have a tea fight! As in, sit politely and discuss things in ways that amounts to small slights until one of them left in a perfectly polite way that still let it be known that the person remaining at the table was the victor! I suppose this is another more literal way to do that, I imagine many people often imagine such a scene in their head at afternoon tea."


Katarina responds to Alis's joke by keeping her nose turned up and folding her arms. And then opening one eye to keep watching the fight. And then pretty quickly just going back to watching the fight. "Princess Sorrel!" she calls. "For Artshall!"

Medeia waves at Sabella and smiles in amusement. "Your highness, you're not supposed to mention the things we envision in our heads during afternoon tea."

Sorrel may be outclassed in the feral chair fighting circles. The first hit that Brianna gets on her barely registers, and she swings back wildly with her chair. She shrieks and aggressively moves on the other Champion, only to have the Halfshav get in a pretty nasty hit, knocking the wind out of her. A bit spun down, she sets her chair down and sits in it, holding her hand across her abdomen. "I YIELD!" she calls. "THERE WAS INDEED TOO MUCH SWEETNESS!"

Sabella has joined the Noble Seating.

Brianna moves like she is about to chair-de-grace the kneeling Sorrel, but stops the motion suddenly, setting the chair back on the ground. "Well, at least you're being sensible about it," she says, picking up her fallen teacup and sitting back down, once more straight-backed and proper. The servant in Halfshav livery comes over with a fresh pot of tea and pours it into Brianna's cup. The Halfshav lady looks into her cup in disgust, makes hard eye contact with the servant, and pours it onto the grass, then holds it out again. The servant reaches into a pocket and pulls out a flask, uncaps it, and pours its contents into Brianna's cup. "Much better," she says.

Lady Astraea, a provincial Oathlander, 4 Valardin Knights arrive, following Damiana.


"That teacup was /on the ground/," Katarina says, quietly, because apparently /that's/ what's sent her into a state of shocked disbelief, and not Sorrel's yielding.

Damiana has joined the Noble Seating.

Kiera hms "well at least they didn't ruin any tea cakes in the process"

"Princess Sorrel, do you need a medic?" Medeia stands, calling down to the field.

"Oh, I'm quite sure no one here ever has that thought," Sabella replies to Medeia brightly, though she does look with concern to the field when Sorrel takes that last hit to yield. She grind at Brianna's final move with the tea cup, however, "Careful, Lady Brianna, or you'll find yourself at the end of a challenge concerning what belongs in a tea cup!"

"Ah, yes, Lady Medeia! That would be delightful! Thank you so much," Sorrel calls from where she sits uncomfortably in her chair, wheezing a little from the force of the blow.

The man who claims to guard all fun looks surprised when the chairs are used as weapons initially and then he's wincing because, chairs can really hurt? When Sorrel yields, he puts his hand to his face and starts to quietly laugh. "Amazing." He stands up and claps for the Champions. "Definitely not what I expected to see today. Well fought!"


Katarina recovers from the shock at seeing Brianna drink from /a teacup that rolled on the ground/ long enough to stand up and clap as well, though there's a second or two of lag in the Eurusi woman joining the rest of the applause. "Yes, well fought," she echoes Cristoph. Katarina turns toward the Laurent Duke, hands folded in front of her lap. "Duke Cristoph! By the terms of our challenge, I shall drink my tea as you prepare it for two months. I accept this and do not consider it a burden -- for in two months' time, abstinence will make the honey taste even sweeter when it returns to its place in my teacup. Congratulations, my friend, and to Lady Brianna~. Princess Sorrel, you fought valiantly and honorably, and I thank you for standing as my champion~."

Medeia rests her hand on Haakon's shoulder briefly before wandering down to the field and making a hand gesture to summon her handmaiden - she's carrying the medic bag. After a brief, but thorough, check, she hands a few things to Sorrel to manage the pain and bruising. "Nothing broken, your highness, will just be tender a few days."

Now that the duel is over, Brianna drops character. "You okay?" she asks Sorrel softly, offering her the cup and its whiskey.

Sir Rhys, a Valardin Knight, Laurene, a military adjutant, 8 Valardin Knights leave, following Alis.

Georgine brightens. "Oh! I should have that design ready for you by tomorrow," she tells Bhandn and then she bounds up. In one fluid motion, her dog stands with her. "Lovely to see you again, Sir Yvar."

Sorrel rises after Media sees to her, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, thank you," she says, then rises slowly out of the chair, moving like she feels a bit bruised and sore. "Many thanks to Lady Medeia Eswynd, our lovely medic today! Your aid is most appreciated," she says brightly, then looks to Katarina and bows. "It was my honor to serve as your Champion, your highness. Thank you all for attending!"