The Tournament of Silver is a prestigious and highly anticipated competition within the country of Torvahl, during which those of the military may attempt to win a position within the Silver Guard. This tournament occurs once every three years, and each member of the Silver Guard is required to participate once every six years. There are a number of criteria one must fulfill in order to enter the tournament:
- Applicants must have served within the Torvahlan military for a period of five years or more. This criteria can be waived should an applicant be recommended by someone within the Silver Guard, but this is only the case for those who have a substantial history of successfully completed quests on behalf of the Adventurer’s League, which must be deemed sufficiently dangerous by the judges of the tournament.
- Applicants must enter with the recommendation of either a member of the Torvahlan nobility or an acting member of the Silver Guard. In rare cases, the king themselves has been known to submit a recommendation, which waives the other criteria.
- Applicants must submit to a background check, most often performed as a collaboration between the Silver Guard and The Inquisitorium. Should this background check reveal concerning connections to nefarious or treasonous elements, the applicant will be denied.
The tournament takes place over the course of, on average, one week, with competitions beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. The judges of the tournament are generally a mix of current and former members of the Silver Guard, and while the king and queen do observe the competition and reserve the right to declare a winner, it is rare that either exercises this power. Acting members of the Silver Guard are pitted against applicants, and thus the number of matches may vary based on the number of applicants available during that year, though a lack of applicants is very rarely a concern. The tournament is split into multiple stages.
First Stage
During the opening stages of the tournament, contestants are separated by their combat expertise: Melee against melee, spells against spells, and ranged against ranged, where possible. Should a contestant utilize multiple methods of combat from among the aforementioned specialties, attempts are made to match those of mixed skillsets when it can be accomplished. The members of the tournament are then pitted against each other in one-on-one arena combat, and the victor progresses to the next stage of the tournament. Contestants are provided protective wards and enchantments that prevent death or serious injury, but these protections do not prevent the stress that accompanies injuries in combat by design, and a number of healers remain on standby to administer emergency aid to those who become injured. Attempts to bypass or negate these wards for the purpose of causing grievous injury are strictly forbidden, and treated as an attempt on the opponent's life. These safeguards are in place during every stage of the Silver Tournament.
The goal of either contestant is to cause their opponent to forfeit, or fall unconscious. To this end, contestants also receive warding against enchantment-based magic to dampen, but not negate, the efficacy of such spells. While enchantment magic is indeed effective, a participant who relies exclusively on such tumultuous magics is viewed with more scrutiny, as reliability in one’s manner of combat is necessary. Additionally, should one successfully enchant their opponent, they must maintain their hold over the opponents mind for no less than fifteen seconds for the opponent’s forfeiture to be deemed legitimate.
Second Stage
Following the first stage, there is a one-day break in the competition to prepare for the second stage. Participants who lose their match are not eliminated from the tournament. Before the second stage begins, the winners and losers of the first round are separated into two groups. Within each group, contenders are organized into squads of four, with a committee attempting to balance the composition of teams as much as possible. Generally, these teams consist of two frontline combatants, one ranged combatant, and one spellcaster or healer.
Once the groups have been organized, the second stage begins, starting with the winners bracket from the first stage. The second stage focuses on team coordination and cooperation, with two teams facing off against each other in combat. The team that wins progresses further in the bracket, while the losing team is assigned a position in the loser's bracket depending on how far into the winner's bracket they climbed. Once the top three teams are decided from the winner's bracket, the matches in the loser's bracket begin. Elimination from the loser's bracket eliminates all members of the losing team from the tournament, and unlike the winners bracket, only one team may achieve victory in the loser's bracket, earning themselves advancement to the third stage of the tournament.
Third Stage
Following the second stage of the tournament, there is another one-day break in the competition. After this rest period, the third and final stage of the Silver Tournament begins At this point, only 16 contestants remain, and are placed into another series of one-on-one matches against each other. Unlike the first stage of the tournament, matchups are randomized, with no consideration given to the contestants preferred method of combat. Those that reach the final stage of the tournament are expected to show competency against any potential adversary, and as such, all permutations of melee, ranged, or spellcasting prowess are pitted against each other.
The rules of the third stage are otherwise similar to those of the first stage. Defeat during this stage results in elimination from the tournament, but not necessarily from consideration for a position within the Silver Guard, and the assessment of participants is dependent on whether they are a current member of the Silver Guard, or an aspiring one:
- Any members of the Silver Guard who reach the third stage of the tournament have their positions within the order assured. However, they are still expected to participate in the tournament, and the top four positions may receive rewards in the form of gold, favors, or promotion.
- Those members of the Silver Guard who were eliminated twice during the second stage are at risk of having their position taken by one of the applicants, based on how early they were eliminated.
- Contestants who are applying for a position in the Silver Guard are assessed carefully by the judges, the crowd, as well as the king and queen during their third-stage matches. Should any of these applicants reach the top four, they are guaranteed a position within the Silver Guard, with those who are eliminated early receiving an analysis after the tournament
Post-Tournament Selection Process
Once the main events have concluded and a victor been chosen, the tournament has concluded as far as public events. However, there is still a considerable amount of decision-making to be done. Those applicants who reached the third stage of the tournament are gathered to the headquarters of the Silver Guard, along with an equal number of the current members who were determined to have performed the most poorly throughout the tournament. At this point, those members of the Silver Guard who attend this gathering are asked formally whether they believe one of the applicants should replace them.
At this point, any number of those Silver Guard who have brought forth may voice their support for one of the applicants who reached the third stage of the Silver Tournament. This is treated as a matter of honor, and in most cases, many or all of the acting members brought forth will choose to relinquish their position to one of the applicants. These members of the Silver Guard are not, however,
required to relinquish their position. Should one or more of the acting members feel that they are still better suited to the order than the available applicants, their consideration will be noted and reserved until all current members have been given the opportunity to willingly step down.
Once all of the willing replacements have concluded, an equal number of applicants and acting members remains. The positions of both parties now flip: Any applicant may choose to withdraw themselves, or challenge one of the reluctant members of the Silver Guard to a duel, with each individual only being eligible for selection once. From this point, these duels are privately conducted upon the grounds of the Silver Guard training grounds, with the position as member on the line: If the challenger wins, they will take their opponent's position within the order, and should the acting member win, their position is held. However, any current member of the Silver Guard who wins their duel is required to participate in the next Tournament of Silver as well, effectively guaranteeing another three years of service rather than six.
Being released from the order is not dishonorable, unless one fails to conduct themselves with proper decorum when they are selected for dismissal consideration. Oftentimes, those who are dismissed do so respectfully, if not gladly, for those who have served within the Silver Guard are expected to place the protection of the royal family over their own ambitions. Furthermore, the most common reason for one's dismissal is simply retirement, with those who feel they are reaching an age where their prowess in combat has diminished gladly bequeathing their position to an up-and-coming individual of skill. Oftentimes, those who willingly gave up their position will remain for some time to train their replacement as a mentor figure. Those who are dismissed from the Silver Guard are still cared for, and will receive a monthly stipend of gold for a number of years equal to half of their time served, with a minimum of five years. They also may serve within another section of the Torvahlan military, and have little difficulty being appointed to a leadership or mentorship position within any of the other military branches.
In times of great turmoil, occasionally the Silver Guard will decrease in number due to deaths in combat. In this case, the previously described process for appointment to the order is abandoned, with all applicants who reached the third stage of the Silver Tournament being granted positions within the order. If the Silver Guards numbers are diminished substantially, those of the highest positions within the order may send out offers to highly-accomplished members of the military organizations in Torvahl, requesting that they join the order. Should an individual receive such a request and accept, they will make their way to Torvahlis, where they will be assessed by the other leaders, excluding the member who extended the invitation. Should they be deemed suitable to join the Silver Guard, they will be required to participate in the next Tournament of Silver to retain their position.
