Post by Priss on May 2, 2012 9:53:25 GMT -5
Her people called it the 'uvan letokxtrr'. The 'day of games', or simply the 'game day'. It was a long standing tradition among the Plains People and a custom going back to the earliest days of the Pali Riders. A chance for the People to gather, trade, swap stories, and compete in challenges of skill and expertise. Sometimes tribal disputes were resolved through the outcome of these games. The major uvan letokxtrr took place twice a year, where all of the tribes gathered among the sacred branches of the Teyr'utrali (White Trees), but smaller and more localized uvan letokxtrr occurred across the plains several times a year. Gatherings of four or five tribes.
This uvan letokxtrr was one of the smaller variety, and by distinction would allow those of the People that were not one of the Tultxayo Clans. Outsiders were not allowed into the greater uvan letokxtrr, those events were exclusive to the Plains People, but any smaller "day of games" would usually welcome People from other Clans for their trade goods. It was always good to see the skills of kinfolk from the forests and the seas.
It was a full day of contests, and it was called a "day" of games, but the event actually took place over several days. It took a day to set up the areas for the contests, to erect the pavilion for the feast that would take place at the end of the game day, and to engage in trade and basic social gatherings. The second day was spent in a mass hunt, with each tribe participating in the event, to gather enough food to feed everyone at the end of the game day. The final day was a final opportunity to trade, to make connections between tribes, and to break down the small tent city that sprang up on the first day.
The 'day of games' was a mass of activity and a delight to the senses. It would always start with a ceremonial dance, with songs to the glory of Eywa and recognition of the legendary deeds of each tribe that heeded the call to the event. Then there would be the games. Contests of skills at riding, in both individual and group categories, were the most numerous and hotly contested games, but there were many competitions testing marital skills. Contests of archery, of unarmed combat, of axe and knife throwing, of staff and stick fighting, and of physical capacity. Running, acrobatic, and climbing skills could all be tested during the course of a day. Even if only as few as three of the People were entrants the contest could still be arranged. For bragging rights were the reward for the victor, and that was a currency as good as any among the Plains People. A tribe could add such a victory to their litany and brag about it at the next uvan letokxtrr. Stories could be told for generations.
Ni'ul'ulyuey was proud of the fact that she had brought a new game to the day of games, and she was sure her name would be a part of her tribes litany for generations to come. Her people had long been experts at mounted combat, but that combat was virtually exclusive to mounted archery. It was not possible to engage in any heavy kind of melee combat from the back of a pali, the impact would knock the rider off of the pali if it was sufficient to kill a target. Her people long used spears from pali, but this was only for an initial attack and it was expected that the rider would dismount with that attack. There were many that specialized in this form of attack, making a spear attack and dismounting in the same motion, but none had ever attempted to retain their weapon while making an attack.
Ni's mother, expert crafter that she was, had given Ni the key to adapting a whole new form of combat. Some bone and thinly cut wood, molded and fashioned with a supple covering of Talioang leather, and crafted into a saddle for her mount, and the all important stirrups that hung from each side. This allowed her to rise up on her mount and deliver a thrust with her long spear, and maintain possession of the weapon. She had displayed this new form of battle a year ago, at a great uvan letokxtrr, and several other tibes had assimilated and adapted this technology into their own groups. This uvan letokxtrr Ni'ul'ulyuey hoped to challenge others to a jousting competition. She saw a few hunters from other tibes arrive with saddle variations that spoke clearly they were following her example, so she knew there would be other that she could challenge. She was looking forward to showing off the form that she had created, and possibly learning from the ways of others that had two good arms with which to fight.
She was dressed in ceremonial colors, her body painted with a white paste made from the droppings of small aerial animals, and her face streaked with yellow and crimson. She even wore decorated bone arcs out of her lower lip piercings. Her leathers were fringed for the event and her left arm was totally covered in a decorated sleeve. Those that gathered to these events with any regularity had already heard the story, of the hunt that had cost Ni her father and the use of her arm. The sleeve was decorated in honorable memory of her father, and would easily mark her for other tribes.
Of course, before she would be allowed to show her skill at the spear, she would compete in the tests of equestrian skill. She was preparing her pali, a dark colored example of what was typical for the leaner plains species, and not what the untrained eye would consider markedly impressive. What Ni knew, and what another of the Plains People might recognize, was that this mount was hungry for speed. He wanted to run. He couldn't stop from shifting his weight between each side. He was not nervous, he was excited, and he wanted to explode into action. He would be hard for a rider to control, even the link would not serve to reign this high-strung steed. One would have to carefully embrace this energy without losing control to it.
Ni was looking forward to the next riding contest, a flat out race between individuals, as she knew she stood a good chance with this pali under her. Her only concern was that she knew this mount and she knew he would be compelled to use himself up in the first hundred meters. The race was a full kilometer. It would take all her skill to balance the speed that would be needed with the endurance that would be crucial to her goal of victory.
((OOC - a Hatilude is the name used for competitions like the tournament and the joust in the Middle Ages. Thought that would be a good title for this rp. Any character from the Omaticaya could be present. I am thinking the the rp will be a selection of scenes from contests and would have character building interactions between those games. The first game, as established, will be a pali race. I thought that since all clans seem to ride this would be the easiest contest to start with. Hope to see others join the thread.))
This uvan letokxtrr was one of the smaller variety, and by distinction would allow those of the People that were not one of the Tultxayo Clans. Outsiders were not allowed into the greater uvan letokxtrr, those events were exclusive to the Plains People, but any smaller "day of games" would usually welcome People from other Clans for their trade goods. It was always good to see the skills of kinfolk from the forests and the seas.
It was a full day of contests, and it was called a "day" of games, but the event actually took place over several days. It took a day to set up the areas for the contests, to erect the pavilion for the feast that would take place at the end of the game day, and to engage in trade and basic social gatherings. The second day was spent in a mass hunt, with each tribe participating in the event, to gather enough food to feed everyone at the end of the game day. The final day was a final opportunity to trade, to make connections between tribes, and to break down the small tent city that sprang up on the first day.
The 'day of games' was a mass of activity and a delight to the senses. It would always start with a ceremonial dance, with songs to the glory of Eywa and recognition of the legendary deeds of each tribe that heeded the call to the event. Then there would be the games. Contests of skills at riding, in both individual and group categories, were the most numerous and hotly contested games, but there were many competitions testing marital skills. Contests of archery, of unarmed combat, of axe and knife throwing, of staff and stick fighting, and of physical capacity. Running, acrobatic, and climbing skills could all be tested during the course of a day. Even if only as few as three of the People were entrants the contest could still be arranged. For bragging rights were the reward for the victor, and that was a currency as good as any among the Plains People. A tribe could add such a victory to their litany and brag about it at the next uvan letokxtrr. Stories could be told for generations.
Ni'ul'ulyuey was proud of the fact that she had brought a new game to the day of games, and she was sure her name would be a part of her tribes litany for generations to come. Her people had long been experts at mounted combat, but that combat was virtually exclusive to mounted archery. It was not possible to engage in any heavy kind of melee combat from the back of a pali, the impact would knock the rider off of the pali if it was sufficient to kill a target. Her people long used spears from pali, but this was only for an initial attack and it was expected that the rider would dismount with that attack. There were many that specialized in this form of attack, making a spear attack and dismounting in the same motion, but none had ever attempted to retain their weapon while making an attack.
Ni's mother, expert crafter that she was, had given Ni the key to adapting a whole new form of combat. Some bone and thinly cut wood, molded and fashioned with a supple covering of Talioang leather, and crafted into a saddle for her mount, and the all important stirrups that hung from each side. This allowed her to rise up on her mount and deliver a thrust with her long spear, and maintain possession of the weapon. She had displayed this new form of battle a year ago, at a great uvan letokxtrr, and several other tibes had assimilated and adapted this technology into their own groups. This uvan letokxtrr Ni'ul'ulyuey hoped to challenge others to a jousting competition. She saw a few hunters from other tibes arrive with saddle variations that spoke clearly they were following her example, so she knew there would be other that she could challenge. She was looking forward to showing off the form that she had created, and possibly learning from the ways of others that had two good arms with which to fight.
She was dressed in ceremonial colors, her body painted with a white paste made from the droppings of small aerial animals, and her face streaked with yellow and crimson. She even wore decorated bone arcs out of her lower lip piercings. Her leathers were fringed for the event and her left arm was totally covered in a decorated sleeve. Those that gathered to these events with any regularity had already heard the story, of the hunt that had cost Ni her father and the use of her arm. The sleeve was decorated in honorable memory of her father, and would easily mark her for other tribes.
Of course, before she would be allowed to show her skill at the spear, she would compete in the tests of equestrian skill. She was preparing her pali, a dark colored example of what was typical for the leaner plains species, and not what the untrained eye would consider markedly impressive. What Ni knew, and what another of the Plains People might recognize, was that this mount was hungry for speed. He wanted to run. He couldn't stop from shifting his weight between each side. He was not nervous, he was excited, and he wanted to explode into action. He would be hard for a rider to control, even the link would not serve to reign this high-strung steed. One would have to carefully embrace this energy without losing control to it.
Ni was looking forward to the next riding contest, a flat out race between individuals, as she knew she stood a good chance with this pali under her. Her only concern was that she knew this mount and she knew he would be compelled to use himself up in the first hundred meters. The race was a full kilometer. It would take all her skill to balance the speed that would be needed with the endurance that would be crucial to her goal of victory.
((OOC - a Hatilude is the name used for competitions like the tournament and the joust in the Middle Ages. Thought that would be a good title for this rp. Any character from the Omaticaya could be present. I am thinking the the rp will be a selection of scenes from contests and would have character building interactions between those games. The first game, as established, will be a pali race. I thought that since all clans seem to ride this would be the easiest contest to start with. Hope to see others join the thread.))
