THE HARVEST TOURNEY Attention all! Ebony will be hosting a Harvest Tourney, to commemorate the turning of the season! The tradition is one Raisa has carried to Alacritis from Old Ebony, and the wolves who have come along with her should be at least vaguely familiar with the concept! In this post I will offer information on the lore of it all, the rules, and a synopsis of how it will all go down. LORE The Harvest Festival has been celebrated for centuries. It is among the oldest traditions known to Ebony wolves. While once intended to show reverence for the gods and pray for a mild winter and bountiful harvest, it is now more akin to a simple celebration of bounty and a chance to show off your skills and knowledge, and to bond with your friends and allies. In Old Ebony families from all over the Xanilov's range would come together in the central lands of the court. The small folk would have the chance to compete against High Lords and Ladies, and earn honor for their families. Marriages were agreed to, plans were laid for the following year, but it was largely a time for recreation. THE TOURNEY OF NEW EBONY Raisa will be keeping the old traditions largely alive, with one major difference. Any wolf from any pack aligned with Ebony will be welcome within their lands! I would like to see a large turn out, and as so I will be imposing certain rules to ensure the safety of those in attendance. We all love drama, I know, but I would like this to be a enjoyable, light hearted gathering, all in good fun! This tourney will be composed of several major themes: The Melee, the Sage's Commune, the Feast, and the Gathering. I plan on asking to admins if sub-boards could be created within Ebony's lands for the Tourney, but if not for the sake of keeping threads moving, we will be using a system of tagging to mark threads! For example if you would like to put on a hunt thread for the feast, I would ask that you name your thread ?[FEAST] Insert Witty Title Name Here.? Similarly, you would use [MELEE], [SAGE], and [GATHERING]. Now, onto how these sorts of things will go. Each of the above activities will be directed towards gaining renown within the alliance, and earning respect amongst your peers. Because come on, who doesn't want to become a legendary hero sung of in lore and song? At the end of the tourney, I would ask the alphas of the allied wolves to come together and decide on the finest warrior, hunter, healer, and sage among the pack wolves. This will be based on the wolf who scores the highest within their melee spar, the hunter who brings down the most/largest prey animal within the time of the Tourney, the wolf who shows the greatest knowledge of healing and the wolf who shows the most wisdom. I realize that some of these things will be rather hard to judge by, which is why I will be relying on the insights of my fellow judges. Note that alpha's will not be able to compete! (Sorry Erani :P) I ask that melees take the form of short spars, only two rounds at most, and be completed as soon as possible for the sake of judging. If you would like to have more than two wolves compete that's fine, but the alpha's decision will be based on score, as mentioned above. In the event of a tie, well... We'll figure that out later. The Sage's Commune will be a sort of think tank for the medicine and tactics minded wolves. Those of intellect might come together in this thread to get to know one another, share their ideas and remedies, for the interest of all packs involved. Feast posts will be geared towards reaping the bounty of the land. You make take these in any direction you wish, either as a small gathering or a grand event! As for Gatherings, these are simply generic posts for wolves of separate packs to come together! RULES 1. OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE: There will be no aggression, maiming, or killing within the Tourney times. Any foreign wolf that breaks the peace treaty will forfeit their sanctuary within Ebony lands, will receive in kind what they have done (eye for an eye,) with the possibility of being force claimed by Raisa to do with as she wishes, depending on the severity of the crime. All alphas who sanction the presence of their followers must agree to this, or they will not be allowed to join. Any Ebony wolf who breaks the peace treaty will be demoted to Jester, and receive what they have given, eye for an eye. Punishment may be given by Raisa, the opponent they had harmed, or the alpha of the foreign wolf's pack, pending on the wish of all involved. 2. Good sportsmanship is expected. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. 3. All wolves will be expected to show equal respect due to the station of the wolves they face. An Ebony wolf would show Song the same respect they would show Raisa, and the tier structure of all packs will remain, and is expected to be observed. 4. All wolves will be expected to respect the Ebony lands, and wishes of the natives. Those suspected of deceit or trickery may be asked to leave. The guests will be just that, guests. Do not abuse this privilege. I'm sure in time I will be adding more to this <3 For now, this is what I've got! The tourney will last from April 2nd, with threads being wrapped up as needed! The closure of the tourney may be given a date later on, but as it stands it will conclude when the alphas feel it has run it's course.

Count Friction in :D this sounds super fun! Can't wait!!

I'd like to think that ?owyn and her family will be showing up at this wonderful festival!

You've got all of my characters interest. XD

Elsa will be there definitely and if ?owyn and Birch will be there than you can bet Ian will be there too!

Yay! This will be awesome. Kaliska, Hermes and Shilah will be there for sure. I'll have to wait on Baldur.

Fugue will totes be there. And if any Valhallans attend, Flamesong as well. I may even throw in Bravo if he meets any Ebons any time soon :)

SO EXCITED! vaughan will be all up for that<3

-Slides back in-

So I was thinking about maybe having Minka as an ally or a member of Ebony so she would be there too?

Nat's sooo in.

Kaala, Haku, Sage, Sound and Eros are all in :D

Max and my other boy Ravine will definetely be appart of the tourny

Alp is interested, Cru will def go (he's rogue, are rogue's welcome?)