Kingdom of Lexina

[Kaneki]

The jousting tournament is annual event in the kingdom of Lexina, and is just a few days away. It is meant to bring the far reaches of the kingdom together. In Lexina there are two different races in the kingdom: humans and elves. The elves are slaves of the humans, being the physically weaker of the two races. Humans and elves aren't allowed to breed, but sometimes half-elves are born. Those half-elves are usually rejected by both races, and either banished from the kingdom or killed.

Alston Bradshaw is pretty famous in the kingdom because he has been the champion of the annual tournament for the past decade. Today they were having a dinner for all those participating in the tounament, and a festival for the people of Lexina, so he started making his way towards the castle. As he was walking through the crowds of people that were in the streets of Lexina, a few were already congratulating him. As if they knew he was going to win, but he knew that there was going to be tough competition this year. This was probably the biggest jousting tournament that he's ever been in, because there has been more knight's competing in the tournament than ever before. He heard that there was going to be one new knight that would be entering the tournament. He was curious to know more about the new contender, he only knew that he was from the outskirts of Lexina, and he was the only one that he had never met before. The likely hood of the having a match together is probably low though, or unless he becomes one of the finalist with him. 'I wonder if he's going to be any good..I better not let my gaurd down though, i have to stay focused duing the match.' he thought to himself as he walked towards the castle. It was usual for him to think about new contender's this way to see if they were actually worth versing.

 

[That Butler]

Valken Windshire was the name of this new knight in the tournament. In fact, Valken was new to being a knight in general. His father was a knight himself, though he was too old to continue participating in such tournaments. He'd won his own fair share of them back in the day, and so there was some excitement going around that the son of Mathias Windshire would be participating in the tournament this year. The news would likely come as a surprise to those who knew Mathias as a person rather than just a name. They might not have known that he had a son. In fact, many would question just who Valken's mother was, seeing as Mathias wasn't married. To their knowledge, at least. Secret marriages happened on occasion. Maybe Mathias had just wanted to avoid the fuss.

The ride to the tournament had been long and nerve-wracking for the young knight. His horse was more prepared for this tournament than he was, in Valken's opinion. Sure his father had taught him how to joust, but Valken didn't think he was all that suited to jousting. The heavy armor worn by jousters didn't work for him. It was too hard to move, and so he'd had some alternative armor made for himself. It was lighter, thinner, and not as complete as the armor worn by the other knights. It let Valken move, though, and that's what mattered to him. Just so long as he didn't take a hard hit to a thin spot in the armor. He knew his father was worried about him getting killed in this tournament. That armor really wasn't safe, but it was Valken's only choice if he wanted to have any chance at all of winning even a single joust.

Valken was wearing his light armor as he rode the final hours of his journey, wanting to look professional when he arrived. His father, unfortunately, wasn't able to come to the tournament this year. Even if it was his son's first--and possibly last--one. He was engaged in too many important affairs at home, and so Valken rode in alone. Perhaps that was for the best, though. His father would attract too much attention if they arrived together.

 

[Kaneki]

Alston was just in time for the dinner and the castle looked elegant as always. There was a large retangular table in the middle of the dining hall, cutlery, a plate and a wine glass were placed neatly in front of the white chairs that surrounded the table. The light of the sunset coming in from the few windows in the room, made the peach wall paper shine like gold. The room also had three crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and marble flooring with a unique design to it. Although he has been here many times before it was all still breath taking.

As he approached the table he noticed that there was a piece of paper on each plate with a different name on every one. 'A seating plan? This is new' He said to himself. As everyone was getting settled in, he walked to the very end of the table and found his name. He was fine with this spot because he was a quite guy and liked to keep things to himself, but had a violet temper if you got him angry. As he sat down he noticed an unfamiliar name written on the piece of paper beside him 'Valken Windshire'. 'That must be the new guy participating in the tournament. If he doesn't hurry up he's going to be late. He doesn't want to make a bad impression on the king now does he?' He thought.

 

[That Butler]

Valken thankfully did arrive on time. He gave his horse to a stablehand before following an elf servant into the castle. Since this was Valken's first time here, he had absolutely no idea how to find his way to the room where he'd be staying, or even the dinner. Thankfully the servant did--he wouldn't be a very good servant if he didn't--and a few minutes later Valken was at the room he'd be living in for the duration of the tournament. He quickly got his armor off in preparation for the dinner, throwing on an appropriate outfit before having the elf lead him to the dining hall.

Most of the other knights had arrived by this point, dressed in their best to make a good impression on the king. Valken blended right in where the clothing was concerned--his father had told him exactly how to dress for this dinner--and he didn't attract too many looks as he made his way around the room to find his seat. Well, no more looks than he deserved, being the new knight at the tournament. They were analyzing him, taking in the sight of his slender figure and shorter stature than your average knight. His hair was brown and long, tied back in a low ponytail, and his eyes were the same shade of blue as his tunic. He had a blue headband on, as well, to cover the tips of his ears. Though they were nowhere near as pronounced as the ears of a full elf, he was still paranoid about them. With good reason, seeing as being discovered for what he was would mean his death.

He found his place near the end of a table, noticing that the two places on either side of him were already occupied. He managed what he hoped was a friendly, confident smile before sitting between them. It wouldn't be good to look just as nervous as he felt right now. Being around so many people wasn't something he was comfortable with.