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[howandwhy99]

[DAY 68 – MidSummer Feast 00, CY 81]

MidSummer’s Day was the longest of the year. When Ben awoke he saw that many of the inhabitants were already awake and celebrating. Even Igor was awake, but looking thoroughly exhausted. “At least he looks better than last night,” Ben thought. Outside, Captain Radcliffe was gallivanting around dressed in a fine new suit with yellow lacework and a long bright yellow cape. Everyone else was dressed in his or her finest clothes as well. Many had obviously worked on their suits and dresses for many months in advance. Tables had been set out in the main square and people were lining up in front of the food line. Lord Radcliffe stood up on a table and started speaking. Ben could not quite make out what he was saying. Many in the crowd were talking and Dalin was pointing at Radcliffe’s clothes with a puzzled look on his face. “Did he forget he’s a peasant?” Trying to talk over the noise, finally Lord Radcliffe shouted, “LET THE FEAST BEGIN!” Huzzahs and hoorays came from all around.

The “peasant” Radcliffe served the meal for the day: gruel and gruel. It was wet and runny, but had a strong flavor, a truly horrible one. Fortunately some of the “nobles” had cooked sweetcakes on the side. It was not in tradition, but everyone was still hungry. Mirel explained how the day’s events would go. The tournaments were to be run one after another. And the feast of gruel would last the whole day. Not really done serving food, Radcliffe ran over and began the Archery Contest. Dalin, Dram, Mirel, and Ormand the Redd all joined in to compete. There were a number of other competitors too. Everyone shot five arrows and who ever had the best score would be winner. Ormand the Redd had a bad case of stage fright and shot poorly. The others did well, but Dram far outscored anyone else in the competition with a 74. As a trophy, Radcliffe awarded him with a life-sized golden arrow. “Ooohs” came from the audience. A cask of ale was opened and everyone cheered. Mugs of ale were had by all.

The Strength Contest was next. Dram, Dalin, Mirel, and Ormand competed again. Darius arrived and joined in too. He introduced a friend he had made named Pax. Pax was easily the largest man any of them had ever seen. He looked as strong as a bear, even stronger maybe. Muscles bulged all over his body. The contest rules were outlined. Radcliffe handed the first in line a long, thick steel bar. Each tried to bend the bar as best they could. Amazingly, the two who did so the best according to Radcliffe were Dalin, who was a slim man, and young Mirel. “It must be how they leveraged it,” thought Ben. Pax had done no better than the others using only his two hands. Still, Father Ben could see no difference in the bar from when the contest started. Mirel and Dalin each made one more attempt to bend the bar. Dalin prevailed handily. “You’ve won…... a brand new bar!” called out Radcliffe. And ale was had by all.

The third contest was the Tournament of Arms. Contestants were given wooden swords and randomly paired off. The first to reach 5 hits while sparring would win their match. Roland the quartermaster competed and beat Mirel. The large man Pax beat Ormand the Redd who looked unsteady with his weapon. Dram beat Father Ben quite easily who also did not know how to swing his blade. Dalin bested a youth who was scared and had just seen him win the strength competition. After a short rest the second round began. Pax was fooled by Dalin and lost before he knew what had happened. Roland and Dram fought in a long pitched battle, but Dram persevered and landed the final blow. After another pause, Dram and Dalin squared off against each other for the tournament championship.

Each had fought and caroused together since the first time they had met. It was strange watching them compete head-to-head, friend against friend. Both fought spectacularly and the fight was a marvel to watch, but in the end Dalin won out and took the prize. Lord Radcliffe asked him to kneel and presented him with a finely crafted sword. Ale was broken out in celebration. Pulling it from the scabbard Dalin saw it had the dwarven forge mark of an anvil with two hammers crossed above. It was just like his other sword found in the armory below Xavier. Darius ran over and inspected the blade too. “This is the sword I sent as tribute to the dwarven kingdoms! Someone has stolen this sword!” Darius explained, as Radcliffe came over that he had sent a letter and the sword he had found in “you-know-where” to the dwarven nation in petition for their aid. “This sword was traded in for supplies,” said Radcliffe. Two men, both had smelled ghastly, had traded the weapon for black rope, daggers, and other supplies a few days ago. The party understood. Turko and Zerk had killed the messenger and stolen the blade. “Now the dragon knows we were petitioning the Dwarven Kingdom,” whispered Darius to others.