The Tournament

(kilo here you can introduce your dancer)

The Tournament of Wizards is held in Derbeny of all places, the little town a a bustle of activity, as this was no small contest of skill. In Addition to the Combat Tournaments divided by tiers in which  hundreds of wizards would be participating, there were smaller potions, and enchanting tournaments. Merchants, and entertainers had also flocked to the scene, selling food, and luxury items, while musicians, bards, and dancers entertained those who had come to make coin for themselves . Smaller games were set up too, contests in which one would for a small fee test their magical skill to earn prizes or money. It was quite a lively affair, but Valstad was not here for entertainment, perhaps he would enjoy some soon, perhaps one of the  merchants had something valuable. First he  had to turn the bloody sack of goblin heads he was carrying in to the Darneby mayor.

Ephraim sits on the bed of an inn room he has rented out for the tournament , garbed in a crisp and clean dark violet long coat trimmed with crisp white.With a slight grunt he tugs on his enchanted brown leather gloves and stands. These gloves work the same for him as staffs do for others , letting him use his particular loose and quick witted style of casting with efficiency in the matches to come. On the back of his stylish long coat is the emblem of his masters guild The Horned Pegasus , a white unicorn head wreathed by two magnificent wings.With an anxious grin he looks to his mirror and checks himself out, his master Aron had sent him the gear yesterday said he had gotten it specially tailored. The old man was king but often spent money just for the sake of it, Ephraim nods at his appearance and rushes out of the inn towards the makeshift arena where the trials are being held.

There was one set of entertainers in particular who drew the majority of the crowds. They were beautiful; clad in colourful costumes that flowed out behind each dancer as they moved, paint decorated their faces, in surreal yet fantastic patterns. Drums beat a soothing melody that flowed and echoed around like a snake. It was organised chaos; the majority of the dancers seemed to be warming up, getting ready for something. One girl in particular prepared to mount a tightrope, donned in shimmering black, rather revealing, clothing that swept out behind her in the wind. Her face was painted a pale ivory, with golds and crimson makeup surrounding each eye and continuing off to appear like fire. She sparkled and dazzled brightly whenever the light hit her just right. Her hair shone a bright gold. A male voice boomed through the tempo of drums, introducing her as the Sun Maiden. He wore an equally glittering jacket, with a symbol of a flame surrounded by delicate coils: the symbol of the Corvus Venatici. It would be recognised by all.
Embers crept through the long pit directly underneath the rope, that burst into long flames that reached to the sky when the Maiden put one foot on the rope, eliciting a gasp from the crowd. The tempo and pitch of the drumming increased at the same time, an exciting and fast rhythm. She grinned, loving the attention, before beginning her routine. She danced and leapt and rolled and flipped effortlessly along the thin cord that kept her falling into a painful demise. With each movement, the flames echoed her as if it were a living creature, more of a part of her routine than simply an element of danger and thrill.

Ephraim watches passingly in appreciation, the show is wonderful, and the performer is obviously very skilled. However he has places to go and cannot stay to enjoy the spectacle.

Master Aron brought with him an air of worry it weighed on him heavily, in fact a few other mages flown in from the capitol brought the same air of worry with them, when asked about it by a younger wizard they gave cryptic answers, such as. "This is not the time to discuss such things, enjoy the Tournament. Cryptic was their nature today it seemed, butt something was certainly wrong somewhere.

Valstad turned the heads into the mayor, and was paid well for it, before going back outside to enjoy the festivities, he ended up being drawn to some little circus act with fire, and stuff. While he was watching he saw someone in the crowd working a lightning bolt spell, it was aimed at the woman atop the tight rope, Valstad acted quickly, and as the lightning bolt flew towards the performer, a glyph appeared blocking its way. When to bolt hit the glyph it became a spray of comparatively harmless water vapor.

The girl had just finished juggling knives high into the air, and was now doing some simple handstands and backflips. Too focused on the routine, she hadn't noticed the person casting a spell at her, but the flash of sudden light distracted her, as well as the symbol that appeared in front of her. She wobbled, a dangerous thing that could ruin their reputation, but she played it off well, and simply improvised with some other acrobatic move. She knew she'd have to finish this off quickly, as her mind was elsewhere, focused on what had happened and she wouldn't be able to do as well. So she slowed, stepped carefully into the centre of the tightrope, before raising her hands above her head. The drums increased even more, as a flame climbed high into the sky, obscuring her momentarily. The fire then dropped and went out, the drums ceased playing suddenly, and the dancer had disappeared.
A little squeal of surprise and delight came from the back of the crowd, as the girl had somehow reappeared there and had pulled a penny out from behind the ear of a young child who looked like he could have used a few more coins. She handed it to him, with a bright grin and a dramatic flourishing bow to the audience who turned to look at her. She then hurried off, to find a member of the Corvus so they can inform her on what happened, and maybe chastise her about the mistake she had made. One of them motioned towards Valstad, and she changed quickly inside a tent into more comfortable, casual clothing, removing the facepaint, before going off to find him. She would hopefully not be recognised now, as she made her way towards her savior. The man who had introduced her before, was now informing the crowd that they will be having a short break to set up, when really they were afraid for their lives and the lives of their fellow performers.

"Get down you idiot!" the very untactful wizard tackled the performer to the  ground, as another lightning bolt was aimed at her from somewhere in the crowd, but missed and it struck someone in the audience dead. The wizard Valstad had to throw up a magic shield to keep them from being trampled by the now fleeing Audience. Someone seemed to be trying to kill her.

Cerise was sent to the ground, trapped beneath the wizard. Her face turned crimson, but a gasp escaped her lips as she spotted a body crumpling to the ground, and she automatically curled up in on herself as the stampede of feet passed.

The wizard just frowned until the crowd passed over them, he then stood, and looked around for whomever may have been the culprit , but they were already gone. He didn't so much as offer Cerise a hand up.

Cerise wasn't bothered by this, and jumped up with ease. She forgot to thank him, before rushing towards where her group was to make sure they were okay.

(can they have been killed?)

(I'd request not, but I don't know how I would mix Cerise up with the others if that is the case.)

(She has to leave to protect them?)

(It could work)

Valstad rolled his eyes, and began to look around the area until he found a card on the ground, he frowned deeply as he examined it

Ephraim's head snaps up in the direction of the sounds , eyes narrowing as he sees the light show from afar. Quickly it subsides and he writes it off as part of the performance before continuing on his way.

Valstad walked over to the admittedly rather dense performer, and handed her the card he had found, on it was a crystal dagger; The symbol of the deadliest assassins guild in the kingdom, on the other side of the card was a dancer. The meaning was clear, she had been marked for death.

"What is this?" She asked, plucking the card from his hands with a slight frown. She flicked it over a few times to look at both sides, before understanding dawned on her. "Oh, shit..." She had heard tell of this mark, that whomever is targeted will die no matter what, that the assassins were nothing more than phantoms who took you silently in your sleep, that those who lived a dishonorable life would be punished severely. Of course, she understood a lot of this were just stories to keep one up at night, but... why target her? If they wished to disband the Corvus Venetici it would have been more beneficial to target the ring leader or someone who held more authority than an obscure little dancer...

"Right good luck with that." Valstad said as he turned to leave, he had done enough work for free today, he wasn't a charity, he could probably help her, but someone would need to pay up.

"Hey, wait," She said, grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving. She had to look up at him, as she was rather challenged in the height department. "Thank you, for saving me."

"Don't get used to it i'm not one to work for free." Valstad said to her coldly, as he stopped to look at her. Valstad was a poor orphan he knew that if you don't look after yourself no one will.

"Oh, do you want money?" She asked, in a genuine offer. She was evidently rather naive.

"If you're hiring me, i'll help for... twenty gold pieces." The wizard said giving a price semi reasonable for the work

Cerise sized him up, which was a rather odd expression for someone so small and cute and naive looking. He seemed pretty adept as a body guard, though there was always the option to remain with the troupe, but they weren't fighters. If she stayed, they'd be caught in the cross fire when the assassin returned for her. She couldn't do that; they were like a family to her. But could she leave them? It was all she had done, all she had known all of her life. She had relied on them for everything, and their patrons. "Fifteen." She said, a smile forming. She wasn't entirely sure if this was a good idea, what if he was an accomplish, leading her away to kill her? But it was better than her being the cause of everyone she held dear.

Normally the wizard would have walked away at the price cut of twenty five percent off his asking price, but his heart hadn't quite shriveled up, and turned black yet, so he said  "Fine" instead giving her a deal