[center][h2][color=fff79a]Endar Drayen[/color][/h2][/center]

Endar looked to the mage. Her face was a little flushed from her dancing. And then to the man, the ex-gladiator. He seemed... sullen, somehow.

[color=firebrick]"...Come on! I don’t see your nursemaid about, so why not have some fun before the others arrive? You look as if it would do you some good!”[/color]

[color=f6989d]“You might consider taking her up on that, milord. I can stand around and look pensive while waiting for the others in your stead,”[/color]

[color=fff79a]"I... ah, as much as I appreciate your offer, Ashley, and your advice, Kailea... I do not believe it would be sensible for me to carouse in the crowd. You are free to do as you wish, but as long as the mediators are watching, I must conduct myself in such a manner that befits a sponsor and a noble."[/color]

He was going to continue, but something caught his attention. Some way down the street, people were moving to the sides, backing away from something he couldn't quite see. Stepping forwards, he craned his neck upwards - before stepping back in shock as the crowd parted fully.

Approaching the arena with their head held high was a creature, a Beast, with the torso of a man, but the colouring, the head, and tail of a serpent of the Sands. Dark blue in colour, almost similar to the night sky, it was swaying gracefully with each 'step' it took. Endar found himself stepping away, in a mixture of awe and fear, knowing that the sight before his eyes was a Naga.

A bone flew through the air, and struck the Naga on the back of its hood, on its false eye. The crowd became quieter than it had been even after the sight of the Beast, so far from home, who turned momentarily to look at where the bone had rolled.

It had come to rest at the feet of a young man, who was looking at the Naga with a sneer. And, but for a pair of scars marring his face, one across his eye, the other at a diagonal across his nose, he might have been handsome. But the look of contempt on his face was the far greater mar.

"Where d'you think you're goin', scaleback? That's the gladiator's arena."

[center][img] https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/cfff6c72-8c77-4aeb-81eb-be4d2a616957.jpg[/img]
[color=slateblue][h2][i]Chapter 1; Oriens[/i][/h2][/color]
[h3][i]Secrets and Truth[/i][/h3][/center]
The Gladiators have formed their team, and now they must fight. Will this unconventional team form bonds strong enough to keep them together?
The Tournament of Risha begins tomorrow… and the aim is to compete in the largest tournament of all Oriens.