From the journal of Lythande Syldorei
The month of Saraneth has been a busy one, busy with preparations for our trip to Pitax. Zander has demonstrated his skill in sewing to make tabards and sashes for us and our guards to wear with the insignia of Neotellus embroidered on them. We've also prepared wagons to transport us, and much effort has gone into making certain that Neotellus will be safe in our absence.
Our journey has taken us south into the territory surrounding the city-state of Mivon first, as there are few roads in this part of the world. We came first to Jorox, which is mostly populated by gnomes and thus is very different from the sort of town I'm accustomed to. The residents of Jorox largely make their living by crafting weapons. We had a pleasant visit with the mayor of Jorox and shared some elderberry wine with him. But we did not have enough time to spend exploring the town as we remained their for only an evening.
As we approached Mivon we met a company of soldiers in the service of the Swordlord of Mivon. They had been sent to meet us and escort us into the city where the Swordlord would join us for the remainder of the journey to Pitax. Mivon as a city is very similar to Restov in both its structure and the design of the buildings. As we've now become much more interested in how a town should be organized and what one needs to make a functioning town, we all observed these details with great interest.
Once we arrived at the Swordlord's fortress we were reunited with Arravis de Vray and his cousin Morrissa. Morrissa had fully recovered from the injuries she suffered when attacked by the ogres. The two of them joined our group for the remainder of the trip to Pitax, which gave us an opportunity to ask many questions of Arravis about the relations between Mivon and Pitax. It seems that Pitax has been somewhat provocative toward Mivon of late, possibly indicating that they wish to claim some of Mivon's territory. When I wondered why Pitax didn't pursue the unclaimed lands to the south of its borders, Arravis explained that they probably desire the cultivated lands of Mivon rather than the wilderness to the south. Arravis also confirmed that to the best of his knowledge King Irrovetti would not attend the tournament.
When we left Mivon the next day we were accompanied by the Swordlord and his much larger entourage. After we crossed into the territory of Pitax we were met by a group of Pitax soldiers, who insisted on searching all the wagons. The search was cursory and seemed intended more as a display of power than to find anything. The soldiers were brusque and behaved as if they would have been glad to start a fight, prodding the horses and setting everyone on edge, but nothing came of it and they let us go on our way.
We came next to a town called Sarain, which is known for producing wines. But the most notable things we observed there was that the town had a large statue of the king prominently on display, and there were portraits of him displayed everywhere as well. Swordlord Selline had remarked to us that the king of Pitax is only interested in himself, and the prominence of his image certainly made that seem true.
When we came to the town of Pitax, we skirted around it to reach the location where the Rushlight Festival would be held and did not have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of what King Irrovetti's capital is like. The festival grounds are located beside a stream and near a small lake. A coliseum has been constructed where the most important contests will be held, but there are other games of chance and competitions to take place around the lake and along the stream. Vendors have brought their wares to sell, and representatives from other nations have sent envoys who set up silken pavilions around the lake known as the Royal Blue. As we saw in Sarain, images of the king are displayed everywhere, as well as the flag of Pitax. Arravis told us that the king enjoys entertainments and has numerous enslaved artisans creating artwork to celebrate him. When I met him in Restov I thought him brusque, but the picture of him that comes from his kingdom is more concerning.
We were met at the festival grounds by a man named Nunzio Arpaia who introduced himself as the Master of Ceremonies. He gave us details about how the festival works, particularly the competitions, and explained all of the various locations before showing us where we could have our pavilion set up. From our spot we could see the two much larger pavilions set up at either end of the oblong coliseum. One was the royal pavilion, and the other was the staging pavilion for coliseum events. When asked, Master Arpaia confirmed that King Irrovetti was not present, although he gave no reason for the king's absence.
Master Arpaia also told us what the prize would be for the person who won the most contests: a golden, gem-encrusted statue of a cyclops that had been found near Pitax and was believed to be an artifact of the ancient cyclops kingdom that once existed in this part of the world. When he told us this we all exchanged looks. Later we agreed that it was an unusual reward, but Master Arpaia appeared quite proud of it.
Master Arpaia also explained the rules of the contests at the festival to us. The rules of the contests are few: competitors must not kill one another, they must harm no spectators, and they must not be caught cheating. I was disappointed that the rule was only to avoid being caught, rather than to avoid cheating altogether. The main contests are to be a contest of strength, a contest of archery, a contest of boasting, and a midnight joust which sounds more like a drunken brawl by the description he gave.
After we met Master Arpaia we also saw other ministers of the King's court, including his Minister of Arts Bonnske and Grigori, the Minister of Happiness. I don't understand what purpose a Minister of Happiness serves. And Minister Grigori certainly doesn't appear to be a person of happy disposition.
There is a menagerie among the amusements here. I am glad that I had a collar made for Goldwing before we left Lorewynd, so the operators of the menagerie won't be tempted to add him to their collection of exotic creatures. He is restless with the crowds and has flown off to the nearest high point to overlook the festival grounds.
Today we decided to go out and look into some of the games that are offered outside of the coliseum. We started our day with a contest eating pies. I'm afraid I haven't the stomach for that sort of contest, but Chahana was impressively capable of consuming a considerable amount of pie. She won another pie, which she took back to the pavilion and later shared with our guards and servants.
Next we came upon a group of people who appeared to represent a mercenary company or school of swordplay and were challenging participants to toss a long heavy pole and try to throw it to ring a bell that was suspended from a tree limb. I made an attempt, but hurling heavy poles is not something I am skilled at. To my surprise Reislin also made an attempt! There was a woman there who cast a strenghtening spell upon herself before lifting the pole, to which no one made any objection. The pole struck the tree trunk and may have caused the bell to ring, but the spectators became so loud over her spellcasting that I wasn't certain the bell actually sounded. Of our group, only Maria succeeded at ringing the bell. Afterward the folk who had devised the game attempted to recruit her, and she in turn tried to persuade them to go to Neotellus.
After tossing the pole, we made our way to another tree where a catfolk woman and her children were giving contestants iron projectiles with ribbons tied to them. The goal of the game was to get the spikes to stick in the tree as high as possible. The higher the projectile landed, the more points the thrower earned. The person with the most points would win one of several prizes that had been made by the woman and her family. Zander had been accompanied by Ramakka, and it was she who won the prize, though later Zander revealed that he had actually won the most points but didn't want to deny his betrothed the prize. Reislin had wanted to win a knitted cap that had ears to accommodate the ears of the catfolk, but she failed to win enough points. She instead purchased a cap from the woman's young daughter, who charged far too much for the cap, but despite her usually frugality Reislin didn't appear to mind the price.
In the evening I joined a group for a time that was singing and dancing various local tunes. It was quite different from what I was accustomed to in Iadara and the sort of music my mother and brother perform, but it was entertaining. After a time, though, the noise and crowd became tiresome and I went to spend time in the company of Goldwing on a hilltop where we could look down on the lights reflected in the water. The pavilions of the wealthiest visitors are arranged around the water known as the Royal Blue.
After I returned to the pavilion, Maria cast a spell to allow us to rest without sleeping, as the festival ground surrounding our pavilion was rather too noisy for sleep. As we relaxed together, she told us that she had found a book in a vendor's stall that had the line in it the Stag Lord's people were using as their pass phrase. She purchased it from the vendor for a few silver pieces. It's called Zudiger's Picnic. It appears to me to be a book written for human children, lacking in the depth and subtlety such a book would hold if it were written for the children of my own people, but not without charm. I wonder why the Stag Lord chose that book. He did not strike me as a person who would admire knowledge gained from books.
This morning we watched a group of children floating simple boats they had made down the stream, then went to the coliseum to participate in the test of strength. Chahana, Maria, Zander and I all competed with participants from Pitax, Mivon, Daggermark and Tymon. We drew lots to determine who would compete with which opponent first and in what order the tests would take place. I drew the first contest, and pitted my strength against Lord Kruk of Daggermark. I feel I did well, though in the end Lord Kruk overpowered me and I lost my bout. He defeated Zander next, and then the local favorite from Pitax, which brought a chorus of angry shouts from the audience. Chahana faced a dwarf, who proved too strong for her. The contest was won by the contestant from Tymon, a purple-skinned individual who appeared to have some infernal blood.
Chahana became curious about the other groups who had left Restov with us, Covenant's party, the Ministers of Restov, and the mercenaries who went to Varnhold. She wondered if any of them had come to the festival. She sought out Master Arpaia to ask him, but he had never heard of any of those people. I had not thought much of Covenant in some little while, and now I do wonder what has become of him and his companions.
In the afternoon there was a contest to build a boat and get it to float down the stream, and Reislin surprised me again by choosing to participate in that. She said that it reminded her of something she had done with her father when she was younger. I suppose that's why I went to the singers myself; it reminded me of singing with my family. The boats the contestants made had to be dropped from a bridge and then float with the current. The 'race' was won by a child whose boat didn't break apart on being dropped and didn't get caught against the shore as Reislin's boat did.
Afterward we went to visit Madame Duclarion's menagerie, which I think we all found a bit sad, especially Zander. If it were possible to persuade creatures to let people and their crops and livestock alone, I would be satisfied to allow them to live. Keeping them captive for entertainment seems cruel to me.
This is the third day of the festival. Reislin continues to surprise me, as she is planning to participate in the boasting contest! Today is the contest of archery in the coliseum. We will be given a bow and six arrows rather than use our own. There are three targets, one close, one farther away and covered in tough hide, and the third set at the far end of the coliseum. We are permitted to shoot at whichever target we like, or all of them. Magic is allowed.
Only Maria chose not to join the archery contest. I decided to try shooting twice at each of the targets. My arrows were never able to stick in the distant target, the first falling short and the second bouncing off. I did manage to hit the nearest target successfully with both arrows, but that was the target that gave the fewest points for success. Reislin used magic to aid herself and had good results, though I think that even wizardry cannot make one a flawless archer. It was no surprise to me that Chahana won the contest. Her skill with the bow will one day contend with the finest archers of Kyonin.
Although the King does not attend, there is a Royal Pavilion by the coliseum. The royal Wardens stand guard at its entrance, though I do not know who it is they guard if the King is not within. They wear armor of a very unusual design that makes them look unlike any living beings.
Next: part 30, Winners and Losers
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