Following Lord Etienne Dubois's public statement to the Knightly Orders, the remaining rounds of the Cycle of Growth Tournament were hosted throughout the week. While festival goers from the capital investigated the sleepy Burdigala town for the source of Saturday's sudden end of the dueling, it would not distract some of the remaining knights from going to the tournament field early in the mornings with the Dubois Lord, to complete the final qualifier rounds before the real tournament began. While the crowds were notably smaller than they were on the scheduled date, vendors still found an opportunity to peddle their wares to those that did show up. Perhaps due to the reality of a Reinard in the Chancellery, or perhaps the craftsmanship of the toymakers, the Red Fur Fox plushies were a notable favorite amongst the nobility, with local townspeople remarking that many young Duchesses and their peeresses held several of the woodland creature imitations in their arms for the weekend. And even though many of the locals stuck up their noses as they dined on luxury cheeses and wines in the springtime air, a great many pies also filled the scented air of the festival. All in all, despite some of the merchants starting to pack up a few of their crates, the festival was far from over. And the Dubois Lords new that they needed to keep the show running as smoothly as possible in order to keep their name relevant in the Pays-Sud courts. The first quarterfinal round saw two Bloodcast Knight square off against one another. Lazarus Lupenzi, a long time veteran of the Order, was to challenge Lady Marisa Solisti, the Imperial Court's Mistress of Prowess. When Lord Etienne gave the signal to begin the match, Lupenzi was the first to step off with his blade, perhaps knowing that his age required him to take the initiative in order to not hesitate. Despite the senior Bloodcast's show of momentum, his initial strike was skillfully blocked by Solisti to earn her the first point of the round. Following up on her parry, the Mistress of Prowess proceeded to counterattack, disarming the Lupenzi Knight in the process. With an look of surprise turning into a nod of approval, Lazarus rose up his hands to yield the match, before applauding his Bloodcast sister-in-arms who was now set to compete in the semifinals. The next fight saw the Ward of Fae Wilvamair Arnyn face off against Sir Rafael Carano of the Blackguard Order. Once the match began, Wilvamair proceeded to step off, preparing to deliver an aerial strike to the Eronidas Knight. Rafael however would prove to not be a pushover, much like other Blackguards whose real prowess was still only heard of in rumors coming out of the Vultar-Montanian Hegemony. Much like Solisti did before, Rafael blocked Wilvamair's initial attack, before countering with a well timed swing of his greatsword, earning himself two points for the round. Despite having fight left in him, Wilvamair was well aware of the Dubois rules of engagement, and gracefully acknowledged his loss as he stepped over towards the sides to watch the rest of the upcoming matches. Quarterfinal Round Three saw the Viridian Shieldmaiden, Dame Theresia Kaeppler, up against Aesgeir av Hedryll of the Great Oak Order. Once the match began, Kaeppler bunkered down with her signature Cross-Shield, intent to follow the age old fighting doctrine of Jeanne d’Arcoulais, which was to use a stalwart defense until before striking when the enemy least expected it. Aesgeir however was not the typical levy soldier, or even Sendrassian Allar for that matter. He was a Great Oak Knight, and was not foreign to the concept of a challenge. Sporting his sword in one hand, and an axe in the other, Aesgeir began to move in a zigzag movement as he closed the gap between him and the Shieldmaiden. Theresia however was not keen to fall victim to her opponent's erratic motion, and simply held her position as she slowly pushed the tip of her sword along the right side of her Cross Shield. This however was precisely what Aesgeir was waiting for. As Theresia suddenly thrusted out her blade, Aesgeir used the side of his axe to parry the blade, earning him a point in blocking the incoming attack. However, now with his opponent's weapon seized by his axe hand, and determining that the Cross Shield would take some time before it could slam his body away, the Great Oak knight to a sidestep towards Theresia's exposed right side, before ceremoniously tapping her shoulder with the side of his blade. This move would earn him his position in the semifinals, while Theresia moved off to the side as well, making a mental note of another technique to not use against a more agile opponent. The final round of the quarterfinals seemed to many more akin to a fashion show than an actual fight (which to the Burdigalans was a nice change of pace to the usual fighting warriors they already saw before). On one side was Duchess Émilienne Eledhwen, a Lion Pelt Knight who had also earned herself the token rose of the Jousting Event from Humaira Reinard just a few days ago, an action which went over very well by the local residents, who were complete suckers for the Code of Lyon being acted out between the two noblewomen. Her opponent was the Bloodcast Knight Lyonel Deceres, who despite the reputation of his order dressed in a manner which rivaled his Pelter challenger. Émilienne would be the one to take the initiative, before being parried by Lyonel. However, as the Bloodcast attempted to follow up with a counterattack, his sword was blocked by the Eledhwen Beorl Axe, causing the first tie of the day to take place. Seizing up on he momentum, Émilienne attemtped to make one final strike with here axe, but was bested by Lyonel who took a few steps out of the way, capitalizing on the Beorl Axe's greatest design flaw, its weight. With his dodge sucessful, all it took was a brief tap on the Duchess's gauntlets to call the match for Deceres, ending the quarterfinal rounds with an applause by the Burdigalans (though it would anyone guess if it was the wine doing the trick, or genuine interest to see the semifinals.) After a few hours of preparations, and to allow the next suppliers to stock up the wine and cheese for the semifinals, the town crier once again summoned the small crowd to the tourney grounds. Unlike the quarterfinals, there was a notable uptick in the amount of spectators. As they watched people trickle in, many of the Knights started to put two and two together: Burdigalans were generally indifferent to knighthood, and were more interested in the romantic portrayal of chivalrous warriors competing over women, family, and other narrative tropes which most warriors had grown up hearing about. Though even with the crowd preferring to see the Melee though fantastical rose tinted glasses, the remaining four competitors would not be dissuaded, and began to prepare for their matches. The first semifinal round saw the last remaining Knight with Imperial Respect face off with what many considered to be the Knightly Order that wasn't. With the pride of the Blackguard Order on his shoulders, Sir Rafael Carano stepped back into the field, the Eronidas taking time to drop to his knees and look forwards in a distant stare, praying for strength as he steeled himself for the fight that was to come. On the other side was Lady Marisa Solisti, taking the time to adjust her armor as her opponent did his brief meditation, always looking for fighting a fellow Knight at their peak performance. Once Sir Rafael had finished his silent prayer, the man stepped up to take hold of his greatsword before charging forwards with a guttural shout of intimidation. Marisa, looking to demonstrate her Court Title to the public, met the greatsword with her own blade, causing a flickering of sparks to come as both blades contacted each other. The townsfolk, previously occupied with fillings their mouths with cheese and wine, suddenly paused their spectator pleasantries as the sound of metal striking hard against each other. Sir Rafael, surprised at Solisti's direct challenge of his own attack, would be forced backwards by the Bloodcast Dame, before being struck by a second strike from her sword. Having received two strikes, The Blackguard Knight accepted his defeat, but not before pointing his gauntlet towards the Solisti finalist. By his honor, Rafael would even the score one day, declaring a vendetta against the Mistress of Prowess with a single request: to fight her again when the Melee was over, so that the Blackguard Order's reputation would not be weakened before they left the town. The second semifinal round proved to be far more conservative in its performance, though even without many theatrics, it was clear that Aesgeir av Hedryll and Lyonel Deceres were going to give it their all. The Bloodcast Knight started off the match with a burst of momentum, though found that the Great Oak's axe succeeded in catching the blade once more to earn the first point of the match. As Aesgeir went to perform the same trick he did with Theresia a fight before, Lyonel predicted his opponents move and sidestepped in the same direction, all while sliding his sword out from the axe hold. As The Great Oak went to to another overhead strike, he was met with a bit of surprise when he made contact with the Bloodcast's weapon, causing both to earn a point. With a brief intention to try and fight to a draw, Lyonel went in to close the small gap between him and his opponent, only to forget that Aesger's axe was still very much in use. With another deflect from the sword blade, the Great Oak knight would move on to the finals, reminding several Knights who competed to always be wary of a dual-wielding adversary. With the final round soon to begin, runners were sent around the fair grounds to attract merchants from all over, in turn drawing a good portion of the small village to the tournament grounds. Indeed, the final round seemed to have the attendance of the previous weekend, which only put more pressure on Marisa Solisti and Aesgeir av Hedryll to do their very best. While both had definitely earned respect enough to make in in their own side of the bracket, they also knew that only one person to claim the grand prize, and take the title of Master of Melee. In order to allow both time to prepare, House Dubois allowed for a few hours to allow vendors to set up small tables nearby, opening up an ad hoc gambling ring in the process to fully capitalize on the hype of the final round. Though unlike most gambling halls, most villagers only had two things they could put up: their regional wines and cheeses. It would come to a surprise for any late arrivals in Pays-Sud that they were looking at the final round of a Melee Event, as it seemed like the fair decided to pick up their stalls, move a few hundred feet to the north, and plop back down their booths to attract the most customers. Suffice to say, all eyes were on the two remaining Knights. When the town bell was rung to signal the start of the evening, everyone started to shuffle back in their seats, along with the other plushie animals which had not been purchased by the nobility during the Jousting Event. In a more formal dress, Lord Etienne once more stood in the middle of the field to address the crowd, monologuing on narrative romances and the virtue of Knights fighting for their Orders. What was notable was the lack of the prize rose as seen during the Joust, which cultural expert knew was an exclusive aspect of said event. The Melee after all was simply two warriors duking it out on the field, which the average Burdigalan could not relate to, being more interested in a countryside picnic than a test of martial prowess. Though a few visitors from the Leutz Country surely enjoyed the more martial sport, as they sipped on Lorhauser wine, the fortunate choice of drink for the final round. As the Lord concluded his short speech, a simple wave of his hand was all that was needed to see the final match begin. What proceeded next was a fantastical display of red and teal colors dancing in the air, as two combatants dances around in combat. While it was quite the spectacle to see a Great Oak Knight and Bloodcast Dame on fairly even grounds, both in skill and agility, eventually both knew that someone had to win, and another to accept defeat. Even as combatants ducked out of the way from blows to avoid points being added, spectators could see that the Solisti has the momentum going for her, as she followed Aesgeir's movements around the field. While no doubt an admirable hunter most times, today was the day that the Great Oak Order became the hunted. Raising his axe, Aesgeir attempted to parry Marisa's first sword strike, only to be caught by suprise when the axe flew out of his hand to land in the dirt nearby. Lacking his side arm, the Great Oak moved to hold his sword with both hands, still knowing that he had a chance to claim victory. Though unlike his opponent, Aesgeir had spent much of his time working on his dual wielding skills for the tournament, and after claiming victory from his last few rounds, saw no reason to chance tactics. This would prove to be his mistake, as Marisa's focus on a single blade throughout the tournament would see her keep up momentum, delivering a strike to Aesgeir's shoulder, scoring the final point of the tournament. And so, after an evening of a sudden interruption, a desire for a Lord to make good on his word, several days of qualifying rounds, and a final seven matches a week behind schedule, the Dubois Tournament had come to a close. as Lord Etienne walked out to the field to congratulate the Imperial Court's Mistress of Prowess, Knights from all over the empire gave their respects to the victor. Certainly, the results of the Melee and Joust would be remembered by the respective Elder Councils, and those taking an interest in the happenings of Regalian Knights.
