Jousting

**Jousting** is a sport between two players on their respective horses: each player must hit the shield on their opponent's left shoulder with a wooden lance or knock them off their horse.

## Jousting around Jerde

It is a popular sport in Pelarin (Palguenia) and Ardesch that spread to other countries, such as Heronoja, Siangwaan, Rukania, and Bujan. In fact, jousting is Jerde's most popular sport, more than soccer, hockey, archery, boxing, wrestling, and basketball.

Ardesch is considered as the birthplace of jousting.

Jousting has different rules in different countries, to the extent that the Ardeschen and Pelarins are very serious about their local rules being practiced properly. Hooliganism is a notorious vice among many jousting teams across the world due to the popularity of the sport among younger men and boys: the most notorious cases of unruly fans are in Siangwaan, Marnos, and (ironically for a very polite country!) Heronoja.

In the world, two companies produce the most jousting equipment for public audiences, although thousands of smaller and international companies also thrive and exist due to their proud popularity. They are Jouster's Wonderland in the eastern hemisphere, and Vitaezja in the western hemisphere, both of whom are friendly rivals of each other.

In the east, from Siangwaan to Kikori, Jouster's Wonderland provides the best-quality equipment at low, affordable prices; while Marnos and various western nations, especially most of Esami, use Vitaezja products. Vitaezja provides bonuses and services to make up for durable but dull-looking equipment, from extra jousting classes to festive discounts.

### Siangwaan

In Siangwaan, jousting is very popular among southerners, who send their sons to compete in jousting tournaments or cheer or jeer at their favourite contestants. Such raucous behaviour is often stereotyped as drunk and vulgar in other provinces.

Jousting was introduced there from Heronoja, popularised by the Waxeroi who migrated to the southern farmlands. Later, other Siangwaanians brought their homeland kin to far-off Sevraeja, where they learned to improve their jousting skills. At one time, the national jousting team of Siangwaan mostly consisted of Heronoi, leading to complaints about "the Republic becoming more stupid".

Miet Cheung, capital of Zu Zeuk Province, proudly boasts itself as the Sports Capital of the South, as it served as the southern headquarters of Siangwaan's national jousting team.

In Siangwaanian pop culture, jousting is one of three characteristics of the region's vulgar subculture. The other two are cussing (mostly in Bujanski) and heavy metal music, two deranged noises that almost always accompany jousting matches in the region!

### Heronoja

In Heronoja, jousting is supposed to be the more "refined" version of another sport, chariot racing, which was already one of several venues in the otherwise-strict nation where people unleash the most vulgar curses from their thirsty lips. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of the sport with younger males, many jousting championships became less formal and more vulgar over time.

Many Heronoi like to send their daughters to compete in women's jousting matches, mostly to show off how good their children are. Some Heronoi women also compete to sports matches just to find a boyfriend, causing their teammates to make fun of them for not focusing on fame, money, and skill.

### Prisapura

The continent of Esami has two jousting hubs: Saptarpura in southeast Prisapura and Ok-gol in northern Ragise. Both Prisapura and Ragise have the best jousters in the whole continent. Every year, both countries send their best champions to compete in jousting matches to see which of them will prevail. Pradarbas, a port along the western coast, is also known for its prestigious jousting sports clubs composed of princely snobs, and has a bitter rivalry with Saptarpura every year over winning a national championship. The Pradarbasis also send many of their finest sons to go and fight other jousters to win medals and trophies, and simply more records in the top scores in continental or global jousting contests.

### Bujan

The people of Bujan have a name for jousting hooligans: "kolobniki", "footballers". The Bujanski word for "football" is "kolobok", named after a mythical sentient lump of bread. It mocks their obsessive rage and brawling, comparing them to the mobs of supporters who rage away at every football match.

Ironically, most of the members of Bujan's national jousting team are of Arnadjanai descent - so they are stereotyped as blonde, strong, and too stupid to represent such a nation of intellectuals; because most Bujanski people are not very interested in jousting, whereas Arnadjanai love it because it's violent and noisy.

Women are also a common sight in Bujanski jousting matches, even as they form most of the people in a stadium, from the raucous audiences to the hilarious jousters. Like their male counterparts, Arnadjanai women enjoy mocking incompetent jousters with very rude and coarse songs, like "Smack Your Head If You Are Happy Enough" or "Is Your Lance a Toothpick?"

The word "davai!" can be heard everywhere on Jerde due to Bujanski influence. It means "go ahead", to cheer on one's favourite sports teams or players. If a player loses, he is instead greeted with curses like "mudak!" ("You fool!"), "idi na khui!" ("You are stupid!"), or "pashol na khui!" ("We lost!", originally "You better get lost!").

### Rukania

Rukania, a land of knights and horsemen in armour, is a huge fan of jousting. Like its rivals, Heronoja, Prisapura, Okgol, Siangwaan, and Ragise, a lot of young men (and some women) love jousting too much. Sometimes they mock their northern neighbours in Sevraeja as "stick wavers" because they are not as interested in jousting as they are.

The jousting manual, "The Teachings of Sir Larasenko", is popular among jousters across the world. Its author was from eastern Rukania, from a clan that kept raptors, hence the dragons in its emblem. Originally, it has 378 volumes, which have been simplified to just 10 chapters in most commercial copies. The size of the original also led to entire jousting cafes and sports bars, complete with many bookshelves filled with all or most of the volumes for players to study from.

Jousters from all over the world go to Rukania to improve their skills or learn more about the world's most popular sport. In fact, jousting academies in Rukania are seen as more prestigious.

Jousting is so popular in Rukania, more so than its birthplace in Ardesch, that people who said that they hated jousting in public would be beaten up by gangs of angry fans.

### Sevraeja

Although jousting is not as popular there as in Rukania to the south, Sevraeja also has not one, but two, national jousting championships.

The town of Čečoljeńna at the south is one of many jousting hubs across the vast republic, with a Siangwaanian-majority district being popular among jousters all over the country.

### Azgo

Modern Azgo has hundreds of jousting teams and thousands of fans, mostly men. It is known for its extremely vulgar and rude behaviour by its national jousting team's fanbase, that some of its neighbours regularly play against Azgo's jousting team only for the fans to perform for other fans.

That was how some men and women from Azgo were able to become famous, usually by some speech or stunt; more so than their country's best jousting champions!

Azgo has a strong rivalry with Gimbarish in the north, and Arantar in the west. Both rival fanbases look down on the Azgovian fans as stupid mobs, but even they rarely play with each other due to Arantar's abusive treatment of Ontemazei and supremacist bigotry. So instead, Gimbarish teams up with Turodaron, Josol, or the New Republics because they are seen as more reasonable.

## Masters of Jousting

Aside from Rukania and Ardesch, seen as the hubs of jousting, several other nations are honoured as the greatest of all jousting champions across the world.

* Siangwaan - Cantonese Chinese
* Heronoja - Mycenaean Greece
* Ardesch - Germany
* Kikori - Kikuyu/Kenya
* Rukania - Ukraine/Kyivan Rus
* Prisapura - India
* Ragise - Korea
* Gimbarish - Ancient Egypt

Like dozens of nations in the world, Azgo's jousting fans seethe with envy and rage because they are usually not considered as among the top jousting nations.

## Siangwaanian rules

“All of you have only four tries to hit your opponent’s left shoulder plate [pauldron]. You get a single point for a hit, five points for a broken lance, and ten if you knock your foe off his or her horse. In addition, if you throw your opponent off his or her horse, you have won any remaining rounds.”

“NEVER, under any circumstance, hit the other horse or its rider’s face; and never, ever dodge your opponent’s lance or whack him or her with yours. Do not slow down, lower your body, or raise your reins before your opponent.”

“And if any of your lances’ tips touch, you and your opponent must try again, even if you managed to throw your opponent off his or her horse afterwards.”

“If you fail any of these rules, you lose points, and if you hit your opponent’s horse or their face … *yerrrrr out!*”

## Notable jousting competitions

### Western World International Championship

Venue: Grand Multi-arena, Shanchazorra, Olan Province, Bujan

Date: October 1960

Competing countries: Bujan (host), Irajon, Baido, Meninsko Een, Pinoguni, Ragise, Marnos, Rukania, Sevraeja, ... (total 38)

### Jousting Championship Junior League

Venue: Muk Gan Hippodrome, Muk Gan, Siangwaan; Serillons, Auntevin, Pelarin; Amsedesh, Hasokto, Gimbarish; Nyrravind, Vixarni, Nolworra.

Date: November 1986

Competing countries: Siangwaan (host), Baesorja, Nolworra, Pelarin, Krinaretz, Prydain, Anguillis, Fiera, Ardesch, Rexoria, Varn Venn, Peren, Vocersia, Iruwasa, Gimbarish, Josol (16)

Special guests: Marnos, Turodaron, Kalambour, Hothro, Arantar, Valexar, Tebwe, and Kikori. (16+8=24)

Rules: Each team has eight contestants, all of them can only be males. In total: 24 countries x 8 contestants = 192 contestants

Notable contestants:

* Touma the Faris (Gimbarish)
* Maxornos (Marnos)
* Kaidarjoz (Arantar)
* Gworofando (Siangwaan)
* Andaxabeso (Siangwaan)
* Yang Zao (Siangwaan)
* (five other Siangwaanian boys: two more Heronoi, a Siangwaanian, a Josolchir, and an aborigine)
* Dwonaquori (Heronoja)
* Gwenörindöjo (Heronoja)

## Notable jousting teams

### National

* Heronoja National Jousting Team ("Moon Bearers")
* Siangwaan National Jousting Team ("Keilin Riders")
* Marnos Jousting Team ("Bad Black Kitties", "Hasty Hound Foxes")
	+ Unfortunately depicted as drunks and alcoholics, like their fan club.
* Royal Rukanian Jousting Team ("Golden Knights")
	+ Seen as snobs who always wear armour and pink-gold tabards, but liked for their witty songs.
* Sevraejan National Team ("Dragon Sailors")
* Kikori National Jousting Team ("Dawnbringers")
* Prisapuran Jousting Team ("Bhima's Heralds")
* Ragisean Jousting Team ("Gjebaek's Sons")
* Ardeschen Jousting Team ("First Knights")
* Gimbarsian Jousting Team ("Little Medjai", "Sons of the Medjai Knights")
* Azgovian National Jousting Group ("Gryphon Chicks")
* Bujanski Jousting Team ("Tiger's Fangs")
* Irajonian Jousting Association ("The Bears")

## Local

### Bujan

* Starij Province Jousting Team ("Sharks"), JT "Starijeskij"
	+ Colours: dark blue, light blue
	+ Rivals of the West Buron jousting team, leading to a lot of mockery in the rest of Bujan. One common slogan whenever the two unruly teams have a single match is "Whoever loses, we win!" (Čto berjes-tærjatǐ, nās berjom-pobæditǐ!)
	+ The women's wing is one of the biggest women's sports fanclubs in all of Bujan, being almost-entirely made of Arnadjanai.
* West Buron Jousting Team ("Reapers, Jackets"), JT "Zmarij Buron"
	+ Colours: black, red
	+ Fittingly these are also the colours used in Vozonid funerals, leading to occasional morbid themes like "Reapers".
	+ Yet also a laughingstock among other Bujanski jousting fans due to its string of defeats and fans' hooliganism. In slang, "Zmaburonik" (a West Buron fan) has become a word for "a loser".
	+ One separate fanclub is mostly made of Ontemazei men, being known as the "Weeds in the Crack" or "Cracklings". These are seen as the zmaburoniki fans that are more-liked due to their less-unruly attitude, in spite of their hooliganism and shirtlessness.
* Lindas Jousting Team ("The Forest", "The Pink Mob", "Pink Boys Club", "The Shameless", "The Proud Monsters", "Little Rukanians", "Peremozhtsi"), JT "Lindaskij"
	+ Colours: green, white, sometimes white and pink. The pink was originally from the majority of its fans being Ontemazei hooligans.
	+ The frequent, unashamed use of pink led to derisive nicknames like "the forest" and "proud monsters". So the fans decided to yell in Rukanian, to show another society that is proud of the colour pink. Because of their celebration of Rukanian traditions from the use of pink, some Rukanian sports clubs decided to invite them to play at local championships; as the colour pink is also used by them to celebrate their monarchy.
	+ Now one of their best-known names is "Peremozhtsi", which is Rukanian for "the winners".
	+ Ontemazei fans from Lindas tend to be rivals of their West Buron counterparts.

### Siangwaan

See also: Provinces of Siangwaan

* Mai Gao Province Club (Four Keys)
	+ Where Chang Shong's rival, Zou San, came from with six successive victories. Three at Uorimon Faire championships (becoming the champion of Siangwaan's south), and the other three at *national* championships.
	+ Zou San's mistake was going to the Uorimon Faire of 1986, mostly to show off. He only broke his winning streak.
* Hong Lao Jousting Club (Firebrands, "Arsonists")
	+ Notable for its fans' wild "fireshows" that burned three stadiums, causing other fans to call them "arsonists".
	+ Its champion is Dai Lewng.

### The Bad Boys

These three teams are known as "the Bad Boys" (Sam Pan Ching, Dolmačny) due to their notorious reputation for fights, brawling, and vulgarity that embarrassed the whole region. "The Bad Boys" is also a name for the three notorious elements that characterise stereotypical hooligans: jousting, cussing, and heavy metal music.

* Zu Zeuk Province Team ("Fire Lances"), JT "Z2", JT "Zvesta-Dva" (Two Stars)
	+ Colours: orange, white
* Gwai Yuen Jousting Association ("Blue Sharks"), JA "Gwai Yuen"
	+ Colours: dark blue, blue
	+ Derisively known as the "Blonde Boys' Club" due to having more Heronoi among its fans.
	+ Often in a threeway rivalry with Zu Zeuk's and Ei Ka's jousting teams due to the hilariously vulgar, stupid behaviours from all three teams. In fact, in some championships, anything stupid done by fans would end up as a nationwide meme of the year!
* Ei Ka Jousting Club ("Astronauts"), JC "Ei Ka"
	+ Colours: violet, green
	+ Derisively known as the "Khuilostanian Astronauts" after "khuilo" being used as a mocking name for anyone from Ei Ka. Ironically for a city stereotyped as snobs, the Ei Kavian fans are notorious for being so vulgar and stupid, as a dumping ground for the stupidest people in the capital.

## In other languages

### Jousting

* Bujanski: sošibije
* Rukanian: spezorib
* Siangwaanian: nuè gwán, nuè chēung, má chēung
* Heronoi: turuxari

### Jouster

* Bujanski: sošibnik
* Rukanian: spezorb(n)yk
* Siangwaanian: nuè gwán dáang, nuè chēung dáang, chēung dáang
* Heronoi: turuxono (male, neuter), turuxori (female)

### Lance

* Bujanski: sošib
* Siangwaanian: chēung, baa
* Heronoi: torobi

### Shield or pauldron

* Bujanski: štedok
* Siangwaanian: cheungʟ, chaangʟ
* Heronoi: döwi

### Jousting slang

* davai - (Bujanski, даваі) come on, go ahead!
* kolobnik - (Bujanski, колобнік) a jousting hooligan, a sports maniac
	+ Originally a term for soccer fanatics, as soccer is known as "kolobok" in Bujanski.
	+ колобник < колобок + -ник
* mudak, middo - (Bujanski, мудак) a fool
* Notably in Siangwaan, this is a term used to mock losers in sports matches. This led to the southern part of Siangwaan being called "Mudakistan".
* udar - (Bujanski, удар) a hit, a strike
* udaritǐ - (Bujanski, ударіть) to hit or strike your opponent from his horse, winning the match.
* udar! - (Bujanski, удар) hit him!
* dar! - (Bujanski, дар) "goal!"
	+ This is uttered by fans when their player pushes his opponent and wins the match.
* sošpojob, sošpijob - (Bujanski, сошпојоб, сошпіјоб) jousting fanatic, crazy jousting fan

## Notable jousters

* Brotherhood of Arms
* Chang Gao
* Chang Shong
* Gworofando
* Mjariloz
* Oskar
* Liaocheng

## Gallery

Chang Shong in Siangwaanian jousting armour.Gworofando in Heronoi jousting armour.Paxoti cheering for the Bujanski national jousting team.Farondo, teenage and adultFarondo is a crazy sports fan for his hometown of Gwai Yuen.Chang Shong, winning another round of jousting.Luvalmakhir and her siblings, cheering for Bujan's national jousting team on TV.Two jousting fanboys quarrelling in Bujan
## Trivia

* The author added jousting in his story because he thought it looked cool, and he wanted to see non-European armour in a jousting match.
	+ He based jousting hooligans on football hooligans from Britain, Ukraine, Galatasaray in Turkey (considered the most unruly), and Russia because they looked funny.
	+ The author sometimes joked that the Siangwaanians are basically "Hong Kongers who live like football hooligans and farmers".
* The jousting clubs' names being written as "Jousting Club/Association/Team 'Name'" was based on names of Russian football teams. In-universe, this was due to various countries emulating Bujanski modern pop culture.
* "Kolobnik", a mocking term for football fans that became associated with jousting hooligans, was derived from Kolobok (колобок), a Russian fairy tale about a magical ball of dough.
* A classical form of Rukanian is used as the ceremonial language for jousting academies across Jerde.
	+ This may be how Wiresa's family was able to understand a little bit of this language.
	+ This was based on the usage of French in fencing.

### Siangwaanian jousting

* Zou San, Piu Dak, and Lu Sheng are Siangwaan's best jousters. Of the three, Piu Dak is known as the best of the three, an inspiration to the whole land.
* In 1901 AT, people all over Siangwaan were angry that most of their national jousting team "was made of blonde men", with eleven out of sixteen members being of Waxeroi descent. In spite of continued harassment, they continued to score a few medals until 1904 AT, when they gradually were transferred to other teams. Nonetheless, they also had their own fans who wanted to get rid of the view that "Heronoi are stupid".
* A quarter of all jousters in Siangwaan, as of 1986 AT, are female. Women jousters in Siangwaan have their own separate clubs, so men cannot join women's clubs, and women cannot join men's clubs.
* The reason why three of Siangwaan's young champions went to Uorimon Faire in 1986 AT was to make fun of Chang Shong for riding a live unicorn into the championship, mocking him for being bizarre or unmanly. But Chang Shong himself laughed it off as a challenge.
	+ At the same time, the three players were ridiculed in nationwide pop culture and memes for embarrassing themselves just to pick on "one local weirdo".
	+ One newspaper report read: "KTO BER-JOS POBÆDITǏ?! TRI DOLBOJ\*\*Y, ILI ČAROV-ZAPŌLTELǏ???" ("WHO WILL WIN? THREE FOOLS, OR ONE WEIRD FARMBOY?")

## Metal heaven (LOL)

Any jousting match between the two teams will inevitably devolve into a shouting match between the two teams' fans. One Siangwaanian jousting fan, Tai Lokzang, wrote in his blog a summary of eleven matches that he attended when the two countries met:

"*Every single match between the two republics is Hell raised on Earth. All around you, your ears will melt with the fans' chorus of obscene, repetitive, and mindless profanity, to the cacophony of 11 or more heavy metal songs, played across the stadium when no jousters or horses show up. Yes,* ELEVEN *songs at once, from different bands, drowning out the overjoyed and furious mockery from both teams.*

*It would have sounded like the greatest (and the most drunk) rock concert in the world, but even the sheer loudness will cause your own ears to burst and bleed. You will only bob your head, not out of thrill, but from cringe and literal damage to your ears.*

*I think the jousters and their horses are very, very lucky, since they only get to hear jeering and curses that will never affect them. The speakers stop when even one of them steps into the field, and the fans are considerate enough to shut down all music.*

*If you want to lose your sanity and rock on, this is the perfect place to be: I rate it 11/7, for the stench of alcohol, and the sheer cringe causing my own soul to shrivel and die for a hundred times in a single night.*

*Have fun.*"