Tournaments of Avalorn

The Grand Tournaments of Avalorn, sometimes called Dûadian Tournaments, are famous all over Arceiron and renowned for their knightly traditions.

History

The culture in Avalorn and especially that of Dûadia puts a great emphasis on chivalry and knightly honor. As such it is no wonder that knightly tournaments have always held a great importance all over the continent.
It is said that the first such tournament was held in celebration to the coronation fo the first king of Avalorn and that all tournaments to this very day pay respect to all rightful kings and queens that followed since. It is also said that these tournaments are held in respect to the goddess Erzaria and that she watches over all these events and their participants and blesses the winners with her divine favor.
This has lead to a great deal of traditions involved with these tournaments and even though most nations of Avalorn have put their own twist on them, the core structure always remains the same in all nations of Avalorn. Dûadia as the greatest example of the knightly traditions of old is famous for its grand tournaments, but it is not the only nation in Avalorn to host these regular events, far from it. Every nation on the continent tries to honor this tradition. They are just simply less known, due to their smaller scale and renown.

Execution

There are typically two types of tournaments in Avalorn:

• The Grand Tournaments: Huge events that last for a whole week and draw participants from all over the continent.
• Arena Fights: Smaller tournament style elimination matches, that last a day and draw in local participants.

Grand Tournaments

Grand Tournaments are some of the most important events all over the continent of Avalorn and while the tournaments of Dûadia are famous all over Arceiron, all nations of Avalorn take place in this tradition and take turns holding the great tournaments.
Only the 12 biggest and most renowned cities (usually capitals) of Avalorn are allowed to hold a grand tournament, and only a noble ruler of one of these cities can host such an event under his name. Every month of the year one such town is selected to host this week long event and knights, warriors and nobles from all over Avalorn come to watch and participate.

Entrance

To enter a Grand Tournament you need to be a noble of at least Knight status and have aquired at least 50 Renown. The entrance fee to participate in the tournament is 1 Gold Piece. Each Grand Tournament has 32 participants. Should more than 32 nobles request to participate in a single grand tournament, the ones with the most renown get chosen.

Tournament Disciplines

Each Grand Tournament puts its participants against each other in the following disciplines:

• Day 1: Archery Contest (1-3 Points)
• Day 2: Horse Archery Contest (1-3 Points)
• Day 3: Melee Turnei (Mass Foot Combat) (3-5 Points)
• Day 4: Melee Turnei (Mass Jousting) (3-5 Points)
• Day 5: Single Combat with Sword and Shield (5-7 Points)
• Day 6: Jousting (Lances on horseback) (7-9 Points)

Each of these disciplines has its own scoring system and takes place over the course of a whole day. During the 7th and final day of the tournament, a great feast is held and the winners of each discipline receive prizes and renown. The participant(s) with the most points are announced and the winner of the Grand Tournament is declared by the noble ruler, who was hosting the tournament. The Grand Victor may dedicate his victory to a noble lady (or lord) and receives the grand prize of the tournament, as well as great renown for his success.

Prizes

The winners of each discipline are awarded the following prizes:

• 3rd Place: 50 Silver Pieces - 1 Renown
• 2nd Place: 1 Gold Piece - 2 Renown
• 1st Place: 3 Gold Pieces - 5 Renown

The winners of the Grand Tournament are awareded the following prizes:

• 3rd Place: 5 Gold Piece - 5 Renown
• 2nd Place: 10 Gold Pieces - 10 Renown
• 1st Place: 25 Gold Pieces - 25 Renown

Bets

Grand Tournaments are hosted by a noble and allow no official betting on their outcome, but it is common pratice for the local Arena Master (who also hosts he Arena Fights, see below) to accept bets on the winners of each discipline as well as the winner of the grand tournament. He allows no bets larger than 1 Gold Piece per Discipline and no bets larger than 5 Gold Pieces on the Grand Tournament champion. On a correct bet he pays out an amount equal to 150% of the bet.

Arena Fights

Every major town holds arena fights all day long, once a week. They are organized by Arena Masters and everyone is able to participate as long as they are able to pay the participation fee of 10 Silver Coins. Each arena fight always has a total of 16 participants. The use of magic, non-tournament equipment and external help is prohibited and will not only lead to a disqualification from the tournament, but is also punishable by Dûadian law.

Tournament Rounds

The arena fights are held in elimination rounds. Every round, half of the participants are eliminated from the match, either as a team or by order of defeat. During these rounds, each participant is given a suit of armor (either leather armor, chain shirt or chain mail), and randomly selected tournament weaponry, depending on the round type. These weapons may include a two-handed sword or axe, a single handed sword, club or axe and a shield, a spear, a bow and arrows, a crossbow and bolts or a pack of javelins. The exact weaponry and their selection changes a bit depending on the nation and culture the arena fight is hosted by. A combatant with ranged weaponry is also always given a shortsword, a club or a handaxe as a backup weapon.
Every tournament round consists of one of the following types, with the last round always being a 1 vs 1 melee fight, either with sword and shield or a two-handed weapon. There are never more than hald the remaining participants in a single fight, so there are always at least 2 fights per tournament round, apart from the final round. Should a round put teams against each other, the teams are randomly selected and can switch round by round.
There's one hour of time between each round, which participants can use to stitch up their wounds.

• Free for all fight with random weaponry (including cavalry)
• 4vs4 with random weaponry (including horses)
• 2vs2vs2vs2 with random weaponry (no horses)
• 2vs2 with lances on horseback
• 2vs2 with 1 melee and 1 ranged combatant per team
• 2vs2 with 2 melee combatants per team
• 1vs1 with lances on horseback
• 1vs1 with melee weaponry

Prizes

The winner of an arena fight tournament receives a prize of 50 Silver Coins in addition to an item that has been set as the grand prize of the tournament. These items usually consist of armors, weapons or horses from the local town. Apart from wealth, the victor of such an event is also rewarded with an increase to his renown. Winning an arena fight grants 2 renown.
Every time a participant knocks out a foe during a round, he is rewarded with 1 Silver Coin of additional prize money.

Bets

Winning the tournament and knocking out foes isn't the only way an arena fight can be profitable.
The Arena Master accepts bets on the winner of an Arena Fight. Each round the Arena Master accepts up to 5 Silver Coins in bets on the winner of the final round, meaning that if you increase your bet each round, you can bet a total of 20 Silver Coins. It is also possible for participants to place bets on their own win.
At the end of the tournament, correct bets get paid out with a bonus payoff of 50%, meaning that e.g. a bet of 20 Silver Coins gets repaid as 30 Silver Coins.

Major Arena Fights

The biggest major cities and nation capitals, who aren't currently holding a Grand Tournament, usually hold a Major Arena Fight during that week instead.
Major Arena fights follow all the same rules as regular Arena Fights, with the only two changes being, that participants need to have at least a renown of 10 and that the entry fee, together with all prizes and bet amounts is multiplied by a factor of 10.
This means the entry fee changes to 1 Gold Coin, the tournament prize becomes 5 Gold Coins, with a knockout bonus of 10 Silver Coins, and the maximum bet per round changes to 50 Silver Coins. Winning a major arena fight grants 5 renown.