Queen's Tournament


At A Glance


The Queen's Tourney, also known as the Tournament of the Throne, is an immense event that takes place outside the walls of Rhuvael every five years. It is held on the end of a decade and the middle of the decade like clockwork. The event is over two weeks long and features entertainment, goods and knights from all over the Western Lands and beyond. The multitudes come from all over the continent to compete in the jousting, grand melee, martial challenges and many other events that are scheduled in a bewildering way to ensure that it all fits.

Due to changes made after the Queen left, the Tournament has no entrance fee only a requirement that a knight compete in an Eorldom Tournament that same year. This served to attract even more chivalric competitors and spread silver throughout the kingdom of Rhone. Previously, a foreign knight could only compete if they were invited by a Rhonish knight or noble but since 5 ET this is no longer the case.


EVENTS AT THE TOURNAMENT


There are a number of different events that take place all over the Fields as well as inside the city. The tournaments lasts just under two weeks and there are activities for knights, retainers, ladies and children. While distractions abound in and out of Rhuvael; it is the knights that people cross the peninsula to see here. They come for the pageantry, the drama and, of course, the violence.

Chivalric Events

The Knightsmarch
The traditional parade of the competitors through the Great Gate of the city and led through lined streets to the grounds of the Northwall keep. It is there that knight names are checked through the rolls provided to the Master of Arms adjudicating the tournament.
Swords Crossing
A gathering of the finest knights in the Land requires a crossing of steel *& iron to prove their worth! The swords competition is one of the first events taking place alongside the Clashing of Arms. The prize for the competition is fairly well-matched to the those readied for the Tournament Champion.
Clash Of Arms
This competition is well-received by the audience as it displays all the many ways and different tools used to kill a person. As with the other bouts, the weapons will be rebated and wrapped to ensure the least chance of injuries that could remove a knight from continuing to compete in later events. The Clash and Crossing start on the same day and one of them takes place in the afternoon while the other commences in the morning so that all can watch the chivalry in the Kingdom of Rhone and be heartened by the entertainment that lurks everywhere.
The Champion's Joust
The joust competes heartily with the Grand Melee for audience and drama. It is fast becoming the most sought after event. Jousting allows for breaks and visits from friends and well-wishers but sometimes they alone just cannot sell it. The grounds set up for the Joust hold nearly a dozen lists so that the Tournament will be resolved before the First Snow. The competition between those who make the Champions Chair is fierce and, like most tournaments, the final members of the Champions Square come together on the following day.
The Messenger's Gauntlet
A particular horse race that also involves a significant amount of martial skill is popular enough that it is held most years provided the weather cooperates. A rugged outdoors competition involving rough contact between the competitors, obstacles, and various tasks to be attempted and raise one's score. Being the first is not always the way to the prize.
Grand Melee
The most popular draw of the Tournament, this multi-day event uses the western edge of the fields where it is more wooded but the cover and distractions will require hard work to stay focused. The Melee is a rolling affair with members coming on and off again on a regular basis to keep their endurance and their blood high. The Tournament ends with the final round of the Grand Melee after two days of non-stop fighting; it is not believed that any knight has competed for more than a few hours.

Other Contests Of Skill & Prowess

Threaded throughout the two weeks, there is an endless array of foot races, horse racing, obstacle challenges, and many other ways to stand out from the crowd. The more official of these are the Archer's Stand with longbows, as well as competitions for the self-bow, the crossbow, spear-throwing... if it is an activity and can be betted upon--the Tournament has it all.

More Indulgent Pursuits

The Tournament's physical competitions and pursuits are far less strenuous and clearly safer than the many social events that dot the Tournament's span. There exist an endless variety of treat-sampling, dancing, entertainment from all over the Continent, and many other things for noblewomen and others less inclined to the arts of war to pass their time. There are several events that have achieved a certain notoriety and panache over the years.
The King's Secret
Each Tournament, just once and only starting at midnight, the palace halls are empty and the courtyard still. And yet, one can still hear the merriment from outside the royal walls and feel it in your feet. The King's Secret is an invitation-only feast that is held in the cavernous cellars beneath the palace. Even getting an invitation is harder than it looks--each invitation is usually cooked into a confection or street fare to be given out to those attending events. If an individual were to bite into one of these morsels and find something strange in their mouth it is either a bird bone or an invitation to the King's Secret. While it is permissible for commoners to secure an invitation it is often two raucous parties that thunder out from the cellars below the palace. It ends at dawn--for those who make it that long.
The Revel
This roaming street party featuring a smorgasbord of food, drink, comedy, dancing and entertainment like nothing seen before is one of the most enjoyed events. Each Tournament it roams the streets of the city and the aisles of the tournament field and ropes in those who are seen to be enjoying themselves. Such folk are often dragged halfway around the city before the Mockers, the unknown people who sponsor and serve in the Revel every Tournament, deign to let them go. The Revel is a delight for the young and a death sentence for the old or those overly fond of their clean clothes. Many a lord and lady have fled in the opposite direction when the clanging, discordant sounds of the Revel come into earshot.
Street Fairs, Dances & Impromptu Performances Mark The Tournament At Every Step
It would simply be impossible to catalog an entire roster of a Tournament's events, offical and unofficial, without dying on one's feet. There is no finer advice when attending the Tournament for one to simply--Be at ease, take everything in stride and enjoy where you are instead of worrying about where you might be going.

Yet More Entertainments Hinted At...


It is often rumored of even more dangerous behaviors that can be indulged at Rhuvael during the Queen's Tournament if one were to not fear the dark. The city is built on several layers of aqueducts and outflow passages made of stone that outlasts us all. Those many levels still lurk down there and it is always whispered that a multitude of forbidden Pariah Cults engage in flesh-heavy rituals and revels. Cabals of fellcasters and dark dweomers that wander the lightless warrens on behalf of ill-willed incantations. That the smell of blood and sex mingles down there into a brew that muffles sound and morals-heady and alluring. It is said that some mornings one can almost taste the flesh on the steam and smoke that rises out of the pavers.

It is all rumors and shadows, of course, there has not been a Pariah Cult found in the capital city for over two decades. If there were any, they would be well-advised to keep their heads down and mouths shut while the population aboveground swells at times to near twofold the daily population of one of the largest cities on the Continent.

History


Once known as the Tournament of the Throne, it was a grand event that had been instituted by King Adaul as the joust became a prominent activity amongst the knighthood formed by his father. To celebrate the seventh year of his reign, in -123 BL, the King held the first royal tournament and it was a spectacle for which the people of Rhone were unprepared. The initial expenses were staggering but the swell of support and enjoyment of the people encouraged the King to make it a regular event. The five-year span between Throne Tournaments was necessary to fund it each time.

The Tournament of the Throne was held every five years with only a few missed in the next century. During the 1st Giantswar, it was delayed a year but the schedule was not reset due to the divinations expressed by court arcanists that such a change may portend a twisted legacy to it.

After the departure of the Queen's Crusade, the Regent Silar Valagos renamed and rescheduled the Tournament in response to flagging hopes on the fates of so many loved ones who had accompanied her. After the last correspondence from the Eastern Shores was received in 0 BL--that the Crusade had finished their construction of vessels and was setting off into the eastern oceans--there was only silence. There was not a single word and families, noble and commoner, grieved the silence all over the kingdom.

The Tournament was not held in 3 ET as the Regent's advisors did not feel that there were sufficient chivalric attendees left in Rhone. It was scuttled and this caused an immense outcry from those who favored such entertainments. The Regent, convinced by one of these stalwarts, saw the Tournament as a way to restore the pride and cheer of the people.[br[
To raise hearts and hopes, the Regent restyled the Tournament and scheduled it for the next year eschewing the scheduled year as being too longfor the good of the people. It was retitled the Queen's Tourney and its date was moved up by three years to be held in 5 ET.

That first Tourney after the Crusade was clearly bereft of the numbers of knights left in Rhone so the Regent opened the ranks to any and all knights who first qualified in an Eorl's Tournament that same year. He imposed upon each of the Eorldoms to host an early Tournament themselves so that all could share in the economic and morale benefit from such a grandiose occasion. The decision clearly was successful and it was decided that the tournament would continue to be every five years but from the new date. The decision to allow in all knights that qualified was also made for similar reasons. Freelances and storied knights from all over the Western Lands and even from the East came to compete against each other. The Tournament was an economic and emotional boon to a kingdom in mourning.



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