Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-29461586-20150301192956/@comment-5583506-20150306192003

Torsdolk leaned in closer so that the young man could hear through the cheering of the crowd. "Patriarch Sturkas Cave-Bear murdered most of our kin unjustly in an ambush. He had hired bandits to carry out the deed, which kind of leaves no proof that he was indeed involved and therefore makes it difficult for us to blame them for their deaths. But I was there! They murdered my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, and her children... even the children! Valkyrie and I were the only ones to get away while they abducted her sister Vilja and her brother..."

He got a lump in his throat as he said the name. "... her brother Hemming. The Wolf Trap they call it. I call it a fucking disgrace in the name of honour! Anyway, that's what this fight is all about. Sturkas wants to settle his score with our clan once and for all by cutting off our bloodline with Valkyrie, officially our last female member and the one should have otherwise carried on the legacy. If he wins then Clan Ghost-Wolf is no more. If she wins, she will get Lilja back and we can assure ourselves that the Ghost-Wolf bloodline will carry on... presuming they haven't killed Lilja as well and just lied to her face about them having her locked away."

-

Valkyrie was bathing in cold sweat as her squires suited her up for battle. Alot was expected of her this day. It had indeed been foolish of her to accept the duel. Her pride got the better of her sometimes; it made her take decisions which would later prove to be foolhardy.

It would have been so much easier to simply refuse him and accept the shame of declining a chance to settle centuries of grudge and hatred. But instead she had chosen the possibility of ending her own clan's last chance for recovery right here and now, well... that was if she lost... but it was a huge gamble nonetheless. And she didn't intend to lose...

The sound from the fighting pit was almost unbearable to hear. The cheers, the shouts, the cries for vengeance and justice. She looked around at the spectators. She recognised several of them. There was Hist-of-his-Kin with Xaleel, sitting in a separate spot of their own with their families and close friends. She could see members of Clan Cave-Bear looking expectantly as their Patriarch suited up in a bulky and thick armor padded with brown fur.

She swallowed hard. Normally she was never afraid or nervous in the face of battle. But this battle would change everything. She couldn't allow herself to make a single mistake. Her family's murderer stood right in front of her and the possibility to avenge them was right in her hands. If she could just get one single blow at Sturkas' head, it would all be over.

She wiped some sweat from her forehead. Her hair had begun to get tousled.

"Steady now, Matriarch", said a squire as he lowered the helmet over her head.

A helmet portraying a snarling wolf's head. Her eyes peered out from its gaping jaws and stared herself full of hatred at the broad-shouldered giant of a man in front of her. It was about to begin real soon. Normally she would have loved the idea of an honest battle, but this one... this one didn't sit right with her at all... It felt as if the entire world was about to fall apart, and that she only had one chance in order to save it. She couldn't fail...

(GTG, will be back later on!)