New Years Joy Festival - Archery Contest - RPLOG
Participants
Date
10/1/482
Log
It's a pleasant morning. The sun is rising above the horizon, the air is starting to warm, and large festival-tents have been set up near the tournament grounds. Everything is well-organized, with solacious guards making sure the peace is kept, and merchants setting up stalls where food and drinks can be gotten, warm and cold.
And then, of course, there are those preparing for various games to be played throughout the day, from archery to a full-on joust... Freesword for a day.
A small ocelot steps up in through the archway into the tournament grounds, unaccompanied. Dressed in a well-fitting tunic and with well-groomed fur, he looks more like he's about to try to impress a noble than engage in a day of physical activity. He looks up at the posted schedule, tail flicking inquisitively, and looks around for someone he can follow along to where he's supposed to go.. or the face of someone he knows.
Seldom does an archery competition around Firmament go down without Cassidy making an appearance. Today was no exception, her love of the sport of it drawing her like bugs to a flame. Dressed in thick dress to keep out the (relative) winter chill, and a sun hat on her head, she stood by to size up the range, and mingle a little with other participants.
Lyas enters the tourney grounds with his siamese companion at his side, looking around with interest. Such a large event would draw the tabby's attention under any circumstances - there's mischief to be had in a distracted crowd - but considering the focus of the events... well, the Cat is... rather eager to be a participant, actually. Life, Freesword work, and... less savoury activities have left him fairly confident in his fighting ability. And any decent cat loves a chance to show off!
The tabby reaches out to his companion, pulling her hand up to his lips for kiss while he gives a mocking bow. "Where to?" he asks, tail flicking. "We get to be 'Freeswords for a day', did you hear?" His eyes crinkle in mirth. Stepping out in the interest of fairness to the common folk doesn't seem to be on the table for the Cat... "Where d'you think we should try our skills?"
Leighton was making her way around the grounds, if only to visit every trader selling sweets and baked goods to the audience. The satchel she was carrying was bulging by now with various foods. She looks like she's rather enjoying herself too, humming incomprehensibly as she sucks on a sweet of some sort. Her eyes are of course drawn to the contestants, idly looking them over, as if picking on to support.
Oh, the smells. The smells that waft through the festivities are exciting and wonderful, drawing Kris in despite some reservations. The shark carefully moves amongst the those that mill and meander, and when she catches wind of archery, her frills perk. Smoothing down her skirt, Kris heads towards the event, interest peaked and attention fertive. Even if she'd grown more used to firearms, she still had a bit of experience with the bow, and a contest tickled her fancy!
Much like her companion, Aleera is wholeheartedly drawn to events like these for a... variety of reasons, really! A love of revelry, a love of mischief... and, in this instance, a love of showing off. She moves at Lyas's side, her eyes surveying the crowd, the vendors and, of course, the people who are already taking up positions at the archery range. Still, as he kisses her hand, the siamese's gaze flicks back to Lyas and she flashes him that familiar, toothy grin of hers, "It's been ages since I held a bow," she glances back to the range, "...but I wanna try my hand at it."
With that, she takes the other feline's hand and tugs him right on over to where the other competitors are setting up, although once they do reach it she twirls around to face him, brings his hand up to give it a kiss just like he had done ot hers, and quickly asks, "Do you want to join too or will I see you after the game, luv?"
Those wanting to participate in any of the games are quickly ushered towards a small training-grounds, where bows, wooden swords, and lances in various sizes are provided, to hold, to test, and to practice with. There are even a few targets to practice with, although with already a dozen beings from all walks of life being present, they'll have to share those targets.
"In the interest of fairness, bows will be provided," offers one of the assisting beings, gesturing towards a rack of simple longbows, before rushing over to a rather inept noble, holding his bow the wrong way. "No magic, and above all, the goal is to have fun. You've got a good few more minutes to practice, before the first archery competition starts. If you need any help on how to use the bow, let one of us know, and we're happy to assist."
And of course, at the same time, many other beings are being ushered towards the stands, set safely -behind- the archers, away from the targets... Just to make sure a stray arrow doesn't wind up creating a tragedy.
"I know how to shoot," Lyas shrugs, digging his thumbs into his belt. "I'll join, all right." He steps in close to Aleera, invading her personal space. Nearly nose-to-nose (if only he was tall enough!), he gives her a challenging, yet playful look. "But then, you'd best sign up to the melee, too. I fancy a good tussle." Thumbs still securely tucked away, the fingers of his left hand inch towards the hilt of the sword at his hip. He has his daggers too, of course - but those aren't on show.
As the participants are shown towards the archery range, Lyas slinks after them, smirking at the bumbling noble. "Arrow-head /towards/ the target," he mutters, to Aleera. "Very important point, that. Don't forget." The Cat grabs a bow for each of them, running his hands over his selection to check the weight and flexibility of each.
Cassidy was delighted, truly, to see so many people taking an interest in the bow. The small vixen walks to and fro, watching people, encouraging some, and occasionally offering tips to others if they needed it. Fun indeed. For her, winning was hardly a priority compared to the chance to promote the artform that was archery. Especially with the production of firearms.
Leighton makes her way to the stands, still gawing away at her haul of tooth rotting consumables, though as she spots one of the contestants, Lyas specifically, her smile faulters, and the squirrel tries to hide in the crowd for a moment. While not looking afraid, she does look rather embarrassed. None the less, she follows the crowd to the stands, wriggling her way to the front the best she can.
Terry steps up towards the archery range. The ocelot inspects the bows provided and selects one for himself, preferring one with a weaker draw. He peers around at the other participants, still not recognizing any of the others. He offers a smile on seeing Lyas and Aleera take playful jabs at each other, but returns to the matter at hand by taking a few test shots at the practice targets.
Heading over to one of the longbows, Kris feels along the cord, lightly bowing to feel at the pull. Heading to the alleys for archery practice in the grounds, she pulls up one of the arrows, and, with some reservation, takes a practice shot. When it hits the target, though not a very straight shot from her intended aim, Kris gives a little nod to herself before taking a few more practice shots and familiarizing herself with the feel of the particular bow to get its bearings and leanings.
Aleera quirks an eyebrow as Lyas steps in closer, that grin of hers still plastered over her muzzle, but... even despite how close he gets she doesn't back down for even a second, of course. "The melee?" she echoes, letting out a short laugh before continuing, "If that's what it takes, then I'll sign up, aye! But I've held a sword even less 'en I've held a bow, darlin'." With him being so close to her, the siamese takes a moment to bump her nose against his, but with that, she likewise turns towards the range itself.
She follows right behind the tabby, and... judging by the way she smiles and laughs when she sees the noble fumbling around, it probably took a lot of effort for her to keep herself from pointing /and/ laughing. "Really, now? I was thinkin' it was the other way around!" she murmurs right back to Lyas, her tone, of course, playful. She accepts whatever bow he hands to her, seemingly unconcerned with the details lllthat Lyas tests for.
A tournament of sorts. Could be interesting to watch beings in physical pursuits doing who knows what. Either way, the wasp, clad in his robes, makes his way towards the grounds. In spite being present, and potentially capable, he decides it'd be more entertaining to sit and watch. Though without tooth-rotting consumables, he sits in the stands, antennae bobbing lightly while watching, idly pondering who he needs to catch up with. Again. He needs to stop disappearing like this, doesn't he?
Lyas jerks a thumb towards the range. "Get a few practice shots in?" he enquires. Without checking to see that Aleera will follow, he side-steps past her and lopes off to the nearest unoccupied target. The bow, while not the best quality, feels right in his hands... at least for this shot! The Cat swings it up, sighting and loosing all at once. With a faint /thunk/, the arrow hits the bullseye. Even Lyas is a little surprised by that, though he tries to play it off. "Practice," he grins to Aleera, cockily. "Naught beats it."
Leighton watches as the contestants pick their bows, still munching away at the goodies. When her gaze falls onto the small Ocelot, Terry, she perks up. Atleast she recognised him from the in. Sticking a pair of fingers in her mouth, she whistles at the ocelot, waving with the other hand. "Oi! Good luck!" She giggles a little, sitting down and takes a moment to look at the others in the stands with her, smiling a little.
Cassidy didn't come expecting to use her own bow, and she isn't left disappointed by that assumption, it would seem. When it starts drawing nearer to the time, she starts mingling a little less, and goes to examine the bows she'll be working with. A longbow, today, that she tests the draw on. And the arrows, too, though mostly to examine the fletchings. She needn't worry about the tips as much on a target shooting arrow. "It's been a while since there's been a tournament like this."
Terry is lucky enough to be looking in the right direction to catch the wave and whistle. He smiles brightly, recognizing Leighton, and waves right back with his bow-wielding hand. He awkwardly holds the bow with both hands as he waits, finding it annoyingly large compared to the ones he generally trains with, but he's not going to complain about it.
Okay, that whistling is not pleasant. The wasp winces as the squirrel looses the ear-piercing noise, before shaking his head and glancing towards them. He is... not as cheery as her, that's for certain, but he does not know them. He ponders a moment, wondering how worth-it such a meeting would be, given their current circumstances. It might be useful to find out where those he needs to catch up with are, so that possibility's on the table. He turns back towards the competition for the moment, watching those who are there to demonstrate their abilities.
Aleera nods at the comment about practice shots, and thankfully she notices Lyas running off /before/ she turns her attention to messing with the bow. Once they do reach those targets though, while he's lining up his shot, she's plucking at the bow's string and adjusting her grip a bit, getting used to actually holding a weapon like this again. Still, she perks up a bit when he addresses her, offering a quiet, "Eh?" before looking to that target... and grinning wide, "I'm glad to see yer eyes are as sharp as yer knives, darlin'!"
With that, she hefts up her own bow, tests the wind, draws the string back.... She even makes sure to hold her breath until she finally looses that arrow, hitting the targets middle band. She places a hand on her hip, "Hm. I guess it's not bad.... I'll do better durin' the actual competition."
Honestly, none of these bows are particularly amazing, despite some of the results achieved by the various beings shooting them. They'll definitely prove inaccurate at best, and . But, by the looks on some of the beings' faces, it's really more about the experience of doing something out of the ordinary, rather than any amount of skill. So much, in fact, that Lyas's second arrow is wildly off-base, managing to *plunk* off of the wooden fence separating the different targets. So much for his accuracy.
Soon enough, the first few beings are led to their targets, groups of six each.
The first six, including the Noble from before, start aiming their bows, loosing shot after shot, to both uprorious applause when someone scores a bullseye, and delighted laughter every time the noble from before finds himself unable to hit the target at all, proving himself quite inept at archery.
And then, the next six are sent out, one by one...
Cassidy takes her spot in the queue, waiting for her time to shoot. She wasn't expecting spectacular results, herself, with the quality of the bow, but that didn't mean she would not do her best. Part of the fun, at least for her, was always doing her best- Even if the goal wasn't specifically to win. When the first volley is fired and the participants moved on, the fennec steps to the front and lines up her own shot...
Lyas is feeling a lot less confident, after seeing the way his second shot veered so wildly off target. "Heck, Aleera, don't stand too close," the Cat murmurs, only half joking. "Like as not, next shot the bow'll snap an' I can't say where the pieces'll end up!" He smirks at the bumbling noble again, wondering if anyone can truly be that bad - or if the guy just gets some weird kick out of failing in front of the crowd? The tabby watches the first six contestants pass them, streaming off the range, before ambling out and picking his target. He holds his bow by the end and waves it around at the crowd - no use being professional when he might shortly be making an ass of himself!
Terry perks up as he's waved at by one of the beings officiating the tournament, and quickly hurries along to his spot in the line. He looks around at the crowd, feeling quite a few eyes on him, and offers a shy wave in return. He nervously fishes for an arrow, then waits his turn, staying focused on the target as he tries to drive away his anxiety.
Leighton giggles to herself every time someone misses by quite a bit, and of course claps when a good shot is made. When Lyas steps up to plate, the squirrel lets off a loud "BOOOO!" Proceeding to give the feline the thumbs down. Immediatly switching gears, the squirrel cheers for Terry. "You can do it!" Stuffing her face with candy, the rest comes out mumbled.
