The night finally comes, and what a night it is. The moon is new, only the stars are in the sky. The only light on the streets is from the rows of hot coals lying on both sides of the road. The coals get hotter and brighter the closer you get to the center of the city, behind the Patriarch's chamber, where a massive bowl-shaped courtyard rests. The entire population of the Hurakan tribe is gathered, and plenty of visitors from other tribes are present as well. You all travel as a group with Hayder and his family.
Here, at the Patriarch's Pavilion, the coals from the streets converge in an intricate circular design. Towards the edges of the Pavilion, raised areas allow you to view the entire thing, Shadya can tell you that it is one of the many words for "wind" in Sairundani. This particular instance of the word has a reverent connotation.
The Sairundani people are dancing and singing, though not in unison. Children hop over the lines hot coals, some daring ones even walk on them for brief periods. Towards the raised Pavilion edges, cloths have been laid out with food. Many 'exotic' fruits from the central lands are available for the taking, and plenty of Stormbrew ale is ready for drinking.
As the evening progresses and even more people arrive, Hayder takes his leave, as he will be one of the judges in tonight's Test of the Fifteen Winds. Before too long, a slow rhythmic beat emits from the center of the Pavilion. Slowly, very slowly, the beat picks up pace, and the people begin to gravitate towards it, quieting down as they do so. After a while of this, the beat reaches a quick, steady rhythm, and the crowds are mostly silent.
The beat is coming from a musical band of Sairundani, one of them with a massive drum. The others have instruments, and one suddenly begins to sing. His voice is smooth and powerful, and as he sings, he moves like a snake. After one verse, all of those gathered pick it up. Shadya knows all the lyrics, and Lasair recognizes the tune as the Song of the Winds United.
As the whole of the city sings and dances, the five judges come up over the edges of the bowl and descend through the crowds to the center, where they sit on large cushions. Among the judges is, of course, Hayder, and Shadya also recognizes Sabil, the Patriarch. They are followed by three young people: Rais, a woman in her thirties perhaps, and another young man. These, presumably, are the dervish initiates.
To the beat of the band and the voice of the gathered Hurakan tribe, the three take out their scimitars and dance. Their movements are elaborate, complicated, but smooth. Their dance turns into an orchestrated fight, involving flips and turns, tumbles and jumps. They must have rehearsed, because they seem to predict each other's every move perfectly. The chorus swells and the beat grows faster, and suddenly the song ends. Some drunken voices continue singing, and a few people laugh, while at the center of the bowl, the three initiates have arrived at an impasse; their bodies are contorted in improbable positions, and each has one of their blades at the neck of another.
They hold the position for a few moments, waiting for the ambient noise to die down, and then the woman belts out a few words in Sairundan. At first her voice is a little unpleasant and she takes too many breaths, but she recovers quickly. Still holding the impossible position, Rais joins her. Then he soloes for a verse. His voice is light and clear, much nicer than the woman's. And after Rais, the next man sings. Shadya translates quickly for you, they are each saying why the gods favor them and they should escape the battle alive and victorious.
After the third man sings, there is a pause. And then all three break out into a harmonized chorus. As they sing, they break the position and back away from each other, bowing as they step backwards. Then each turns out, to the crowd, and falls to their knees. The woman sings, in accented common, "Thank you, Halor!" The young man sings, "Thank you, Phyrah!" Rais sings, "Yes, thank you both," and all three sing together, "For wind and strife, freedom and life!" They cross their swords across their chests and fall backwards.
The crowd comes to life and roars its approval, and starts an impromptu chorus of the Song of the Winds United. The five judges each stand, and all five give their approval to each of the three initiates. A cloaked figure descends from the edge of the bowl carrying a tray with eight cups on it. A judge gives each initiate a cup, and on a count they all drink, to uproarious cheers from the crowd. Rais has a huge smile on his face, he looks up at Shadya with glints of water in his eyes. Then he turns his gaze to someone else in the crowd, a girl, ah yes, it's Asima. She waves at him, and he falls over.
The crowd laughs, but then the woman falls over too. Now shouts of concern are coming from the horde. As if on cue, every single person in the center of the bowl, judge and initiate, all collapse to the hard stone ground. The crowd goes crazy and swarms the center of the Pavilion.
[sblock=Spot DC: 5]The cloaked figure left the center ring moments after the drinks were taken off the tray.
[sblock=Spot DC: 10]The cloaked figure disappeared into the crowd, not go back up the cleared aisle, the way the dervish initiates and judges came.
[sblock=Spot DC: 15]Someone in a cloak is just now reaching the lip of the bowl, towards the north east.
[sblock=Spot DC: 20]That someone who's escaping over the lip, that can't be the drink deliverer. The cloaked figure from the ring ditched his cloak somewhere in the throng of people. It was a man, with brown hair, much like the man guarding Hayder's chamber. Anyway, he's uncloaked now, but lost in the mass.
[sblock=Spot DC: 25]Wait, there, you see him![/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock][/sblock]
