When he arrives, trailing a long way behind @Calypso, he is wet. Not still dripping, but very clearly damp with a salty aroma wafting off of him. He marched to the ring dragging behind him a still-wriggling beast of the sea. The fish was a juvenile black-tipped reef shark - about four feet in length. Its gills gasped endlessly but it was helpless to resist being dragged behind Leviathan.

He had wanted to make an impression. How many of these landlubbers here at this event even tasted a shark?

Leviathan deposits his entry with a beaming grin and then saunters towards Calypso and the stranger with him. She always seemed to have interesting strangers around, collecting them around herself like Levi collected pearls. He regards @Violarum with a bullish smirk. "'Fraid us Blackmont have this tournament in the bag already." He says us meaning Calypso. "But I'll save ye a scrap when we're through...maybe."

a smile that could light new york city

code by corvus

Come on, was it so obvious that he was tense? He was only ready to snap at shadows and his tail beat could stir a breeze. His ears twitched forward, irate both by the fact that @Ástríðr could read him and because he was secretly hoping to see one of these fabled, highly ritual pride challenges. "I didn't want to see one anyway. Sounds too fancy." Lies. He snorted and shook his head disdainfully. Whatever these prides were doing... this tournament or whatever... it pissed him off. Like it was so fancy and pretentious and did that striped lady really need to proclaim the rules? And why wouldn't Astrid be included? Why couldn't he be included? He hadn't wanted to join until he heard the suggestion that he might not be allowed. Nobody was going to allow him anything. No fancy pridelanders at least.

He looked back down at her and mirth flexed around his lips, while his brows remained wrought with frustration. "Well, we can just invite ourselves. How high can that bitch count anyway?" Four rounds of fights... maybe she couldn't count higher than four, which tbf was still better than Vermier who could only count to three. Aurochs could count to at least five, himself.

he was intrigued by this place of stone and blood, the yawning chasm an intriguing space that had clearly drawn many before him. the crowd, too, intrigued him -- he looked from face to face and found no familiarity. still he felt no rush to leave, there was the promise of a good fight in the air and alaric was damned sure going to watch.

he settled back a good distance from where the most of them had gathered, around yet another unfamiliar face. it would seem he was not the only spectator, but he made no immediate move to approach the others that were sitting. instead he settled himself away from the rest, tail curling around his paws as venomous eyes moved from challenger to challenger.


+10 Observe a fight_{BG — ART — CODE}

he'd heard of this tourney through the grapevine and immediately he was in. no hesitation. the bear lumbers to the pit, drawn forward by the smell of fresh meat and fresh meat. his entry fee is clutched between his jaws -- ready to add to the pile as he joins the growing group. he doesn't care about the food pile ( which was steadily growing, even with all the vultures lurking nearby ) nor about the bragging rights the woman at the center of all spoke of. instead, he is focused solely on the familiarity. what better way to spend the afternoon than with a fight? eagerly he shifts on his paws, ruby gaze sweeping across the crowd. eager and intent, excited for the first time since coming to this island.

+5 Study the weather or an astronomical phenomena

---

Pandora followed @Ástríðr like a shadow, like a bodyguard. Now that they shared a bond beyond a friendship, she felt driven to her all the time, wanting to be with her all the time. Though it didnt mean she would fill comfortable being around so many lions, and she feared even more that Astrid could get attacked or worse. Ears were low as her eyes cold yet distrustful glared at all lions present, ready to fight or help her family escape should things get awful. She sat by Astrid and @Aurochs' side, closer to the band leader then the yearling, just because she trusted Astrid more than anyone else. Settled, blushing her cheek against the vikings cheek, she watched. The wind flew through. She looked up to the skies, they seemed clear of clouds, she didn't feel pressure in the air that could announce any climatic changes. But either way she would keep and eye and study any changes.

BG — ART by SleepyKyju — CODE

The orange faced lady was excited and proud as those who sought to join arrived as well as onlookers gathered in the stands. First was the marvelous and strong Greyblood woman. @Morrigan who wasted no time in throwing in her entry to the pile before calling out a greeting to move to a good spot in the arena. “Pleasure to see you again Morrigan I do hope you find your opponent thrilling.” She called to the Cove Queen with a grin.

Watching the dark woman get ready she was both excited and disappointed at the same time. Arjana wanted to sit back and watch all the fights, but she knew her own bloodlust would just make her irritated if she didn’t participate in at least one round of fights. Speaking of irritating things though, her grey gaze turned to @Walpurgis as the other Rainforest pride-member arrived and just assumed the food was going to be just for them. Sure she did hope to win the prize pool, but had the dense female not listened to a word she said before?

Raising a brow at the lioness she took a deep breath before letting out a sigh. “The food isn’t being gifted to me, to the pride.” She bluntly said looking into Whopper’s eyes. “You want to eat all this food? You must WIN four fights today.” She tried to explain in simple terms. Though she suspected some of the non-fighters watching had other ideas about the food pile.

Turning her attention away from slow minded loudmouth that was oddly enough growing on her the Noble nodded her head to @Ragna, Saga and @Calypso as they arrived. Scanning over the womenfolk she was glad to see such a large gathering of strong female fighters here. That wasn’t to say the men were lacking though. Looking at @Violarum she gave the young lion a smile before her attention turned wide eyed at @Leviathan and his epic entrance with a shark of all things. Now she wasn’t one for seafood, but she liked a man with his type of style. “May, May what a splendid hunt that must have been.” She purred with excited mischief laced in her voice as she eyed the shark before giving the Merle’d pirate a wink.

As @Kazimir arrived she dipped her head to him as well in greeting. The Tournament of Spring was already a surprising success though that was probably due in part to Amaryllis being a particularly rowdy kind of crowd. As the rest of the fighters trickled in and on lookers settled into their respective groups to watch and chatter among themselves Arjana cleared her throat.

“Welcome all once more! To those that missed it I am your host for the Tournament of Spring, Arjana and this is to be a fun thing I am planning to host every spring. Anyways here is how it shall go down. Since sixteen competitors have come forth we shall break it down into four rounds.” She announced when she got everyone’s attention. Pausing for a moment she looked around for a brief moment before going on. “The fight round shall have eight fights and the winners of those shall then face off. From eight, four, two and finally the last round being the last two standing. Now remember the goal isn’t to murder your opponent so keep it to dominance fights only!” As she said the last bit she looked at each fighter gathered.

“There shall be a small respite between rounds for those that need a healer before their next fight can have a break and a patch job. So any healers in the stands who want to offer their assistance between rounds would be much appreciated.” Not only did she address the fighters just then but at the end the crowd as well. After all, a tournament is a good place for healers to practice their craft. Once all that mouthful was out of the way the orange faced lady would assign the matchups by way of having the fighters draw different colored stones at random from a dried hare hide bag and send them all to fight.

• • •

When everyone was split up in pairs she took her stone and tossed it back in the bag in which she left near the food pile before walking off to a less crowded spot in the arena. Adrenaline ran through her as she felt the excitement bubble up inside her. Well it was either excitement or gas, but most likely excitement for she was giddy as she strolled over to a good place to meet her opponent who just happened to be the Lagoon Queen Saga. Ears pinned against her head and legs spread evenly to hold her weight Arj allowed her claws to dig into the hard ground under them as a toothy grin crossed her face. “Looks like it’s you and me Saga. Let’s put on a show shall we?” She purred in a come and get me voice as she braced herself. Brows furrowing she wrinkled her face, eyes narrowed as she aligned her chin protectively over her throat. Even though she said to keep things to dominance one could never be too careful as sometimes the fun can go too far in a hurry.

Arjana vs. @Saga
Dominance match (TOS preliminaries)
Round 0 of 3

Art & Table by Autumn!

	+10 Observe a challenge and learn the results - Arjana vs. Saga (1/2)

Hiccup had been passing by when he’d heard the voice shout out, announcing a “Tournament of Spring”. The curiosity that it sparked in him changed the yearling’s course, and soon he found himself joining an already sizable crowd. He arrived on the sidelines of the battleground and peered into the center of the arena, noting the prize pile. Hiccup was NOT a fighter, but the event had drawn quite the gathering, so he decided to linger and see if anybody he knew would enter — that way he could cheer them on.

The yearling seated himself and listened to the explanation that was provided by the tournament organizer, before the lioness turned to her opponent — Saga, he believed she was. He remembered her from Nero’s challenge. She’d called him her son. That memory made Hiccup look around, wondering if his friend was already there. No, not yet.

So, Hiccup returned his focus to Arjana and Saga, to watch their match.

artwork

PALADIN XP:
+10 Observe a challenge and learn the results - Arjana vs. Saga (1/2)

Nero didn't really want to show, but he figured any chance at studying was worth attending. Being a paladin meant he would inevitably get into brawls, right? So why not go and watch literally a billion fights at once?

By the time he arrived, his mother was already locked in combat with someone else. He knew Saga would win and felt no anxiety about sitting to watch, though he found it peculiar that Hiccup had chosen to come. The albino yearling plunked down beside his friend with a thin smile, always nervous that his presence wasn't necessarily welcomed for whatever reason. Anxiety.

Hey.

CODE • BG

There were already many others gathered in the Pit by the time Khal made his way south, and he found himself the lone Vermedan present when he arrived. Morrigan was already preparing to begin her own fight, him arriving just in time to hear the pairings announced. She hadn't started fighting yet, though, and one other familiar face had grabbed his attention. His long-limbed frame padded toward @Calypso a little bit hesitantly, not sure if she'd want to be bothered by him really since she was clearly here to do her job, "My lady," he began, because he'd been too far in the throes of shock and blood loss to actually catch her name, "I just wanted to thank you properly for saving my life, and get a real introduction before the fights begin. I'm Khal Valour." He wouldn't presume to settle down next to her or anything, and wouldn't have been offended if she'd put him off for the moment either, but honor demanded he thank her now that he was seeing her clear-minded finally. Instead he stood politely and almost as if he thought his large frame could still be small and unassuming.

Absolutely silent as he approached from the southeast and watched as many gathered around The Pit. His interest piqued considerably as he did enjoy watching a good fight, so he was just as eager to sit back and spectate. Casting his eyes first and foremost to @Kazimir in the intent to watch one of his newly recruited members fight. It seemed that he wasn't fighting just yet, instead a bright clay colored woman looked to the woman that he had found for Ecrosia, @Saga. They would be fighting against each other and truthfully, he was excited to see any kind of fight so he got himself as comfortable as could be and trained his eyes upon them.

+10 - Observe a fight (Arjana vs. Saga)