A Dance with Dragons

[strongworld]

Who: You!
Where: Li Yu Tiao
When: May 24th - 31st
What: The Festival of Dragons!
Status: Open!

That special time of year has arrived when the Typhoon Grips allow safe passage to the Sky Islands. Here on Li Yu Tiao, the Festival of Dragons is about to begin. During this time, the villagers celebrate the koi that pass through their island to spawn and the great dragon that guards their land with its powerful magic.

From the opening, the streets will be filled with music, dancing, and indulgence. Grab some incredible local food and sample the fine alcohol brewed on the island. The hot springs are open to adults in the evenings and offer both separate and communal baths.

From May 25th until the 27th, the Dragon's Judgement Tournament will take place. The tournament is single-elimination, in which combatants can win either by amassing points by connecting with their hits, or by submission. Only nonfatal weapons are allowed and killing is strictly forbidden. The winner of the tournament will gain the title of the "Dragon's Hand" for the next year, and will be gifted with a crimson robe and a golden dragon statue.

On the 30th, a large stage is erected in front of the Dragon Gate. At sundown, the woman decided to be the most beautiful on the island will perform a dance on the stage. She will be dressed in a robe of glittering gold and a headpiece resembling a koi's whiskers. The dance is said to entice the koi into the next stage of their lives. During the dance, a single koi will leap through the gate and be transformed into a great dragon with impressive rainbow-colored scales. It is said this dragon's magic keeps the island tethered to the Dragon Gate and is the source of its wonderful weather. As the dance completes, the dancer's dress transforms into a pair of brilliant wings, and she takes into the air to live as the dragon's bride and protector. The two will then depart together for the mountain's summit. While the dancer is almost exclusively a local villager, it is not unheard of for an outsider to be selected for the role.

Comments

[judgementscythe]

[finally, a real opening. You never swing straight down. We'll have to go over that later.

Lorelai quickly takes a step to the side and watches the baton swing through the air next to her leaving a wide opening to take advantage of. Lorelai firmly plants her left foot in the ground swinging her right up sending a wide kick directly at Kiemi]

[seakingbait]

[Keimi turns quickly, catching the foot against her back. She stumbles forward, catching her balance with her baton.]

Thought I had you there...

[judgementscythe]

Just gives us something to work on when we get back on the ocean.

[she smiles and moves to press her advantage and quickly moves in spins her momentum and rockets a punch directly at Kiemi.]

[seakingbait]

[The punch hits hard, and the young mermaid finds herself back on the floor, but this time she is unable to catch herself. She slowly tries to rise back to an upright position, locking eyes with her opponent.]

[judgementscythe]

[bouncing from foot to foot, Lorelai stays mostly in place. Waiting for another good opening to attack again.]

[seakingbait]

[Keimi slowly rises back to her fin, careful to wipe the dirt from her clothes. She grips her baton tight and returns to the stance she and Lorelai had practiced together so much.]

[judgementscythe]

[she smiles at that. They'd have to work on getting that a little quicker but for now. Clearly Kiemi was getting more confident]

Good. Less room for attack.

[she lunges forward and immediately ducks low, trying to find a good way to get another good shot in. She's not quite finding it though. She darts around, back and forth trying to bring about a good opening.

[seakingbait]

[Being able to move around so much makes Keimi somewhat jealous of human legs. It must be nice to be able to be quick on land. However, if she wants to go on the offensive, she'll have to break up her movement. She ducks down to meet Lorelai and pushes herself into her path, baton extended to block.]

[judgementscythe]

[That's the problem with moving fast. Sometimes you forget that the fin gives Kiemi a little bit more range than a pair of legs would. Suddenly she found the wind knocked out of her as the baton pushed out and hit her in the sternum, sending her stumbling back a few steps gasping for air]

[seakingbait]

[Pressing her advantage, Keimi uses her powerful tail to leap at Lorelai, hoping to pin her to the ground.]

[judgementscythe]

[even with her stumbling she threw herself to the side sending her rolling across the ground causing Kiemi to just miss.]

Hunh. Nice one

[seakingbait]

Oof! [She grunts as she hits the ground, turning into her back and dusting off her top.]

That really hurt...

[judgementscythe]

Almost had me though.

[Lorelai rolls to her feet and dusts herself off to catch her breath.]

[seakingbait]

I'll just get you next time. [She smiles.]

[judgementscythe]

[she smiles in return]

I'll hold you to that.