[b]Kalaya![/b] Oh no! As you keep her attention with swordplay and conversation, a great mountain of a lady (a blacksmith, by her leather apron) sneaks up behind the highlander! Her wooden sword raises high, higher, held in both hands as she sweeps down before the warning can escape your throat and-! The highlander catches the sword in her bare hand. The blacksmith’s eyes go wide as saucers, then wide as dinnerplates as she strains with all her might, but her sword stays caught fast. A spin, swatting your own strike away, and in one great heave both sword and smith go tumbling across the field. The highlander snorts, and you swear you see smoke puff from her nostrils. “What is this, a fight or a tea party?” She gives you no time to answer; she’s prepared one of her one. With a shout she’s upon you, raining down blows that leave no room for conversation or mistakes. To call her form sloppy would fall short of the mark. Your trained eye knows by the twist of her arm and the lurching, always-forward posture that this girl’s never seen a trainer for more than an hour. Has she even used a shortsword before? But she’s [i]fast.[/i] She’s [i]strong,[/i] and you feel it every time your guard catches one of those terrifying swings the wrong way. And she has a complete disregard for pain and her own safety. A feast of openings lies before you, how many do you take advantage of? How many [i]can[/i] you take advantage of, brave knight? Why doesn’t it ever seem to slow her down?! Your own training finally pays off, feint into parry into blades caught and crossed, and still she pushes you back, back, to the edge of the arena! You dig your heels into the earth, you drop to your knees, you throw all your weight against the tide, and at last you stop. Teetering on the edge of diaster, the highlander towering over you. Her blade presses ever closer. Your arms tremble to hold her back. She grins, right in your face, and are you surprised when you don’t see fangs? “Name’s Han. Nice to meetcha, Knight.” A taunt. A challenge. A test, for the one who put this whole tourney on. Because the only deeds that will earn Han’s loyalty are ones that get the job done. Look around you, Knight, past the festival you’ve set up, to the N’yari roaming the highlands, the demons clawing at the edges, and the Dominion pulling the Flower Kingdoms under their spell. Where are the defenders of the Kingdom? Where are the princesses who swore we could live lives of peace? What are they up to, while the rest of us watch our worlds crumble around us?! They’re [i]gone.[/i] They’ve left us alone, and help isn’t coming. So it falls to people like Han, and the few knights who give half a damn about their duty and have the strength to do something about it. So. Kalaya. Are you strong enough to do something about it? [Rolling to Fight with Daring: 6 + 6 + 2 = [b]14.[/b] Taking a String on Kalaya via provocation, inflicting a Condition through violence, and seizing a superior position. Kalaya chooses one in return.]