C1E5 — The Tournament

## Sirenixia's Account

After a day exploring the town, Squad 13 gathered to
participate in the tournament in Gullsfoot. It was to be a great opportunity to
gain some wealth and renown, both of which I will need if I want to effectively
make a positive impact in the inefficient bureaucracy of this city. It is
baffling. In Argentax, the strict structure and codes allows for efficient action
and decision making. Here it seems to serve no other purpose than to slow down
and inconvenience every action. It is an unnecessary frustration which make
every interaction to require constant self-control.

I had hoped the tournament would be an opportunity for us to
prove ourselves in a glorious contest of strength against others. A chance to
practice and test our skill against equals. I was not expecting blood sport and
slaughter of animals to entertain the masses. The code tells that one should
not kill unless it is necessary for the greater good, and there is no better
option. Had I known before what this tournament would entail, I should never
have participated. But having already committed to the event, it would be shameful
and counterproductive to abandon my friends. And the poor creatures we fought were
already doomed to meet their end to some other blades if not our own, so it is
possible to view our actions as something of a mercy. Still, it would have been
better never to have occurred.

In the first of three fights, they set us against a pair of
foul, diseased, two headed dog-beasts. Their bites left us sickly and weak,
less able to fight back against them. Despite difficulties, and a number of our
members being knocked unconscious, we prevailed against them. At least the
tournament running were kind enough to cleanse the death dog’s disease from our
bodies allow some time for rest before the second battle.

Here we face two large brown bears, poor creatures almost
certainly tormented early to drive them to violence in the pit. The bears were
powerful, and despite my best efforts to protect my companions, all but Jamra
were laid low before, as I was told after, burned the final beast just before
it put him down as well.

Having successfully defeated our first two foes, we were set
to face the previous days champions. This was a fight I could take part in
without guilt, a fair and willing test among equals. At least, it was once we
convinced the show runners to heal us from the brink of unconsciousness after
the difficulties of the prior battles.

This turned out to be the easiest of the days fights. Agate
and Jamra were able to lay low their mage from a distance before he could be of
much use, and Jamra and I were able to get the remaining three into a position where
we could join our fires to inflict great wounds on each of them.

For our efforts we were rewarded a moderate some of gold. I
will need more if I am to afford improved equipment, but it is better than the
pittance we have received for our work as street sweepers. Hopefully our success
will provide us what we need to begin positioning ourselves to provide help to
the city beyond what their guards should be doing already.

## Jamra's Account

Thus the tournament of Gullsfoot began ignominiously, with me sinking a little bit deeper into shame. Despite the personal debasement, I can at least verify that we comported ourselves well in the arena and clothed “Squad 13” in glory. Our first battle was against a pack of two headed dogs which carried a ferocious bite. This went about as well for me as any of our prior engagements had and before two long they had they teeth in me, adding new scars to my rapidly growing collection. It was Agate who saved us, in the end. Although she was loath to harm the animals, once they showed their true colors she smote them with blasts of green light. I admit felt a faint sense of pride for her when I limped out of the arena. Her achievements are her own and she has come very far already. I have hopes for her, if she can keep a good head safely on her shoulders.

I performed rather better during our next task. When we arranged ourselves to face the foe, I called out instructions for us to maximize our safety, but I was little heeded. Orentha charged out ahead of us yet again, leaving her in an awful position when a pair of brown bears emerged. After a vicious exchange of blows, one was down, yet so were the rest of my companions. Even Agate had fallen, when it dispensed with Syrenixia and finally rounded on me. I proceeded to lower myself even futher in that moment, running away from my friends to cower at the far edge of the field, lobbing what motes of fire I could. It was mere fortune that turned disgrace into victory, as one of my bolts caught in the bear’s throat and felled it. Fortune and cowardice.

For our final fight, I was determined to be more successful. We planned extensively beforehand, given that we would be dealing with human adversaries this time. Agate and I discussed our strategies extensively and she was even able to secure healing for us from the tournament directors. When we entered the arena, I knew we needed to take down our enemies and do it quickly, lest they do us terrible harm. With that in mind, Agate and I opened fire directly on their mage the moment we saw him and he swiftly crumpled under the weight of our fire. I confess that the entire battle was not nearly so perilous as those which had come before, but perhaps it was because we had finally begun to coordinate as a team. Even the surly Orentha was providing good backup to Syrenixia and dealing powerful strikes from behind the enemies back line. When our last foe fell, the crowd went wild, exulting in our success and I could not help but share their excitement. We had done it! The prize purse which totaled nearly 100 gold each only accentuated our victory and for a brief time I felt as if we were on top of the world…