The BlackSand Tournament I: Round I, Duel I

From Arvid Terror of Penguins

"BlackSand?!" Arvid hummed almost in disbelief. She never thought she would have ended up in such a god-forgotten place. “What a well fitting name for this dusty city” she laughed out while running by a small merchant cart and stealing a red apple. The poor merchant yelled in vain as Arvid jumped away and quickly disappeared around a dark corner. “So much fun!” she shouted with her usual wide smile, always so prone to turning into a loud laugh.

Arvid was a tall girl for her age, or at least that was what everyone told her. “And beautiful”, she chuckled. She came from the north, from a rich family of fishers that had built a mini empire by taming, training, and trading penguins. But she could not deal with the fish stench. “Definitely not”. From a young age she had been rebellious and never once wasted the chance to run around pretending to be a warrior from the stories she so dearly loved. Sometimes she even managed to steal a penguin or two to train with. “Penguin Punch” she shouted as she pumped her right fist in the air like she used to do when she was a kid.

Arvid was so invested in the idea of becoming a warrior that her mother funded her fighting lessons and bought her the shiny mail armor she wore. “Love you mummy” she smiled.

Her dream of being a warrior was what brought her to BlackSand. She happened to be with her older brother on a fishing trip near the city when a crow dropped news of the legendary BlackSand tournament. “Legendary my ass” she laughed. In fact, no one had ever heard of it and it indeed appeared to be the first time it was ever hosted. “At least I finally have my chance to fight.”

While she had trained for years, she had never been in an actual fight. And, thanks to the Seven Sisters, her brother was too busy to keep tab on her whereabouts today. So as soon as she had a chance, she signed up for this duel thing.

Proudly wearing her plate helmet and holding her round shield, she trotted through the Main Street heading to the tournament arena. But calling it an arena was a big stretch. A few rows of bleachers on the right and a wooden fence on the left functioned as perimeter to the fighting area. The ground consisted of that annoying, black, granular sand that seemed to cover the entire town. “It feels cheap. But at least there is a crowd” she thought, as a few tens of people were taking their seats on the wooden bleachers. That weird Wizard with the round stony-looking face was calling everyone’s attention. He then proceeded to eloquently introduce the legendary tournament. After some scattered applause from the fans, he initiated the fight.

Arvid made her way to the center. It was time for her duel. The Tournament had allowed for a trial fight the day before, where she ended up surrendering to this Qamar person. But this time she was ready to fight.

On the other side of the small arena, her opponent ceremonially drew his sword. “What the heck, I forgot my sword again” Arvid murmured quietly, embarrassed. A loud snap followed, and her opponent’s sword magically lit on fire. The crowd cried with excitement and started clapping to the unexpected flaming sword.

Arvid’s eyes widened in shock: “ah fuck…”

From Qamar Combatant the Rune Riders

Qamar’s night had so far been quiet. For months now he had been stationed with the Mercenary Camp. A band of twenty-ish warriors camped in the East lands selling their swords to the best offer. But the past couple of weeks had been awfully calm.

So, for once, Qamar got excited when a black crow landed in the Camp with a message. The message promised gold coins to whomever won some sort of tournament in a city called BlackSand. “Gold coins? That’s all I need to know” Qamar grunted as he threw the fancy letter into the fire in front of him. “I will never get how these crows know where to drop stuff, oh well” But Qamar dismissed his own thoughts and resolved to get to sleep before starting his journey to this BlackGround or something city.

Qamar didn’t know much about that place. He had only heard some stories about a once glorious city in the West that was now totally gone. “Ah what a pity” Qamar sighed. He had never been curious about history. In fact, he had never really been curious about anything at all. At a young age he had been adopted by a jungle tribe of warriors. All he knew growing up was fighting. No more no less. “What else is there to do?” Qamar asked Feix, his loyal jaguar sitting next to him.

The next morning, Qamar gathered his few belongings and headed out of the camp. After years of training, he was quite muscular, with thick arms and broad shoulders that made up for his relatively short body. Few fellow mercenaries waved their goodbyes as he crossed the camp wooden gates. “Maybe I should have told them about this” Qamar thought, but no use now. The majority of the camp had been summoned to what seemed like a potential war brewing far East.

A few weeks later, Qamar finally made it to BlackSand. He was surprised by how desolated it felt - he could only see a handful of people on the streets and only a few inns and shops. He decided to seek shelter for the night and inquire about the tournament early in the morrow.

In the morning he headed towards the arena people called the “Astral Plane.” As he approached the empty pit to sign up for the tournament, Qamar was approached by a wizard with a non-human head that looked like a round dark stone. He was holding a red feather and some parchment: “Your name?” the Wizard asked. “Qamar” he replied.

“Very well…” the wizard said “an Anuuah warrior I see!?” That comment left Qamar quite surprised “How does he know about my origins?” “You will be starting now” the wizard quickly instructed him, pointing him towards the middle of the fighting pit.

Waiting for Qamar was a tall, blond girl wearing a flamboyant armor. “Where’s her weapon?” Qamar observed. “This will be only a trial” the Wizard shouted. “You may now proceed.”

“A trial?” Qamar hesitated as he reached the center of the pit. But that hesitation gave his opponent an opening. The girl punched him hard in the stomach to then land another punch straight to his face. After the initial shock, Qamar took a few steps back. Quickly drawing his sword, he hit his opponent on the head, knocking her out.

“Stop, stop now, she surrenders” the Wizard intervened. “Good skills Qamar. Come back tomorrow when we will officially commence the tournament.” Confused Qamar left.*“What…What is going on…was that a test?”

The following day seemed to be a much bigger deal. As Qamar re-entered the pit, tens of people were in the crowd waiting for the fight. “Things getting serious now.”

Shortly after, that same wizard he saw the day before, “was it Azazef or something?”, shouted some fancy words and announced the start of the duel.

It felt so good to fight again. “Let’s do this right." Qamar drew his sword with his right hand and in an instant the blade lit on fire. The crowd roared with excitement. “Let’s fight” Qamar yelled.

From Shaman Azazel of the Astral Plane

“Let the inaugural duel of the BlackSand Tournament commence” Azazel announced ceremonially. “And so it finally begins” he thought with relief.

The warrior named Qamar immediately drew his sword, which quickly lit on fire. The crowd went wild.

The warrior named Arvid looked shocked at the mere sight of the flaming sword. However, she quickly regained her exposure and started charging with her shield firmly held in front of her. But Qamar seemed to be expecting it. With a swift move to his right he avoided the enemy’s charge.

The crowd clapped and cheered!

Arvid recollected herself and this time threw a kick to her opponent. Surprising him. Her kick hit his face and cut his left cheek.

Arvid kicked again and hit Qamar’s torso, but this time with limited damage. Qamar then swung his sword, looking for an opening, but Arvid lifted her shield at the last second to prevent the hit. She then jumped back a few feet to recover her defensive stance, and to put some space between herself and that burning blade.

It was Qamar’s turn to attack. He lifted his sword high with both hands and charged at his opponent. He then swiftly swung the sword down with all his strength, aiming at Arvid’s right shoulder. But she anticipated the move, once again raising her shield in defense. The sword hit with a loud, clanging sound. Arvid managed to parry, but that was a heavy hit.

The flames of the burning blade jumped onto the shield, lighting it on fire. Arvid gasped and screamed with surprise. The heat of the flames quickly forced her to throw her shield to the ground.

Qamar didn’t wait a second. With another swift move he aimed his next swing to Arvid’s left leg. Defenseless, Arvid had to jump flat on the ground, barely evading the attack.

This time Qamar paused, giving Arvid’s an opportunity to stand back up. But as she was standing, Arvid grabbed a fist of sand and threw it at Qamar’s face, blinding him for a moment. Qamar also lost balance and Arvid took the chance to threw a strong hook to his jaw, pushing him to the ground. The crowd gasped in surprise as Qamar fell and dropped his sword.

Arvid immediately jumped on Qamar, aiming a few more punches to his head. But Qamar was quick to respond and firmly grabbed her wrists stopping her attacks. He then pushed her away gaining enough space and time to stand up. He quickly run back to his sword before Arvid could. At the same time Arvid headed to her shield that was now laying on the ground, flames extinguished. However, the shield was still scorching hot. In desperation, she hurled the shield towards Qamar, hoping to cause some damage. But she missed, eliciting some laughs from the crowd.

Qamar, now seemingly upset at the trickery of his opponent, took the opportunity to charge again. This time holding his flaming sword only with his right hand. He swung, but missed as Arivd lunged to the right. But he then caught Arvid’s next kick with his free hand. In shock, Arvid lost balance and started to fall to her left. But before she could react, Qamar swung his sword hard and hit Arivd’s helmet with the sword pommel. A loud snap echoed as the crowd held their breath. Arvid gasped after the hard hit and immediately lost consciousness. Qamar let go of her left foot, as she dropped to the ground.

“What a fight” someone from the crowd shouted and a loud cheers followed from the bleachers. “Qamar! Qamar! Qamar!” they chanted.

Qamar stood proud; that fight was over. He had won.

“Congratulations to Qamar Combatant the Rune Riders” Azazel shouted. “May your name be remembered as the first champion of a BlackSand fight” he concluded as the crowd exploded in claps and cheers.