Oruch Means

SUMMARY: Rona's investigation of the Oruch warriors who were compelled to attack the Mythwood leads her to lose a fight with a Stormcloud Oruch. Fortunately, Razen is there to back her up. Sort of.

It's a beautiful crisp fall day, and a number of local martial organizations have taken the opportunity to schedule some public displays of their members' martial skills. There have been sword-dancing performances, wrestling competitions, fencing matches, archery competitions, all sorts of things. Fun for the whole family! Or at least those members of it you want to punch in the face.

Right now, people in the audience have been invited to challenge the local reigning champions, with donations being pledged to local charities based on how long they can stay in the ring. Rona, who is mostly here to chat up an Oruch from the Stormcloud tribe who has visited Alexandria for the festival, has taken the opportunity, and the two are facing each other in the ring with blunted swords and no armor.

For one half-ourch it is indeed a lovely day. Not because of the weather, though that has turned out spectacularly for the events of the day. No what's so beautiful about it is all the combat that is going on. People fighting in every way. Fistfights, wrestling, using practice weapons, or real ones. There are a few clerics standing around he noticed, just in case someone gets seriouly hurt, but so far it's just been good fun all around. Razen's stripped down to just his tunic himself, looking for another challenger to his winning streak when he notices Yelrona with her Ourch challenger. He stops in his tracks and smiles, lifting one hand and cheering on his friend. "Go Yelrona!"

The man Rona is facing is well over six feet tall and built proportionally, looming over her with a blunted greatsword larger than she is. Rona seems both outmatched and unfazed, starting the match with a charging longsword swing that connects firmly with his ribcage. He retaliates with a cheerful laugh and a two-handed overhand swing that just barely misses, deflected by her buckler, and is followed up by a skillful pivot that clouts her on her left arm. "_That_'s gonna leave a bruise," she observes. "Hey Razen!"

"Hey Yelrona!" Razen yells back excitededly, pleased to have been noticed among the crowd. It's not as easy as one might think considering his height and breadth as many of the people here are of a likewise build. Most of them waiting to get their chance at the next fight. He watches their fight for a bit, struggling not to yell out suggestions to the two combatants.

The thing about Rona is, while she may not be the best fighter around -- at least without magical assistance, which she is foregoing under the circumstances -- she's probably among the most perceptive people in the square. So noticing Razen wasn't really a challenge... unlike this fight, which definitely is. She makes a good account of herself, landing several powerful blows against her opponent, whose bulk admittedly makes him a difficult target to miss... but by the same token, his strength makes his swings hard to avoid. Ultimately they connect about equally often, but he can both dish out and accept more punishment, and she is ultimately knocked to the ground by a strike to the head.

Her opponent puts his sword up immediately, offering her a hand up, and she dazedly waves away the cleric who rushes over. The two contestants chat intently for a time before Rona nods and joins Razen.

"Having a good time?"

"A great time! That was a great fight. You did a good job against him." Razen's complement is accompanied by a warm smile and a clasp on her shoulder that is a bit firmer than it should be considering that she'd just been knocked over onto the ground. "Who's your friend?" His eyes linger over the ourch with distinct interest.

"Thanks!" Rona replies, only wincing a little at his grip on her bruised shoulder. "I figure if I'm going to lose, I might as well lose with style, right? And his name is Dalenn, from Stormcloud," she explains, waving vaguely in the direction of his tribe. "Which is one of the tribes I was telling you about the other day, so I figured I'd --" she starts, then stops with a sudden realization, laughs, and continues with a smirk "I can introduce you, if you like?"

"Dalenn." Razen muses the name a little and nods at her mention of the oruch's clan as well as the wave of her hand in the direction that the clan lies. "I see, so you're asking him about his clan?" He smiles at her laugh and then grins readily though there's a light flush on his cheeks. "Would you? I would love to wrestle with him." There's a keen light in his eyes.

"No doubt," she observes dryly. "And, sure, come on," she says, moving to catch up with her erstwhile opponent.

"Yes... one of the warriors who threatened the Mythwood was from Stormcloud, so I figured this would be a good chance to find out more about him, maybe figure out how he was taken, why he was chosen. Not that I found out much, but, well, the day is still young, right?"

As they approach the fighter, he is pouring a dipper of water over his head. "Ah! My little friend," he calls out to Rona, "are you ready for a rematch so soon? Better to rest, and recover... you put up more of a fight that way."

Rona rolls her eyes at him. "Actually, I was hoping to introduce you to my second," she replies straight-faced. "Dalenn, this is my good friend Razen, Razen, this is my new friend Dalenn."

Razen listens intently as they make their way toward Dalenn, frowning a little in spite of himself. It's an expression that does not last watching Dalenn relax under the pour of water. Much less his boisterous words. He clasps hands with the ourch firmly. "It is nice to meet you Dalenn. Yelrona was just telling me that one of your clan died. May his honor bring honor to your clan." His words are a little solem, but he's smiling now. "So! Will you allow me to challenge you to a bout of wrestling?"

Yelrona grins broadly and steps back discreetly, leaning against the waterbarrel.

"Of course!" Dalenn replies, clapping Razen on the shoulder and leading him back to the ring. Switching to the oruch tongue, he adds "But I will not be as easy on you as I was on your little friend!"

<"His little friend speaks your language, you know!"> Rona calls out from behind them.

The half-ourch laughs and rolls his shoulders, switching to his native tounge as well. "Give me your best Dalenn. If I lose I want it to be against that, not a half-hearted effort!" Razen reaches the ring and settles himself inside it, waving to Yelrona with a grin before turning his attention totally to the effort of winning this bout.

Their match is counted down, and people stand by expectantly watching. Razen holds his charge, measuring his opponent carefully for several long moments and in the end it is he that is rushed. Smoothly he sidesteps the attack, and rolls into Dalenn's side his muscles bunching with the effort of pushing into the other man. Dalenn is actually somewhat larger than he is, but Razen actually manages to turn into the ourch. And then it's off to the races, as they say.

"Go, Razen!" Rona shouts from the sidelines. "Pin him down and show him who's boss!"

Razen takes the fight to the ground, not particularly by Yelrona's suggestion, but the ourch he's fighting tumbles over and he takes the chance to go for a hold. Dalenn isn't about to give up without a fight however, and he wraps one massive arm around Razen's chin. It's luck more than anything that keeps Razen from being choked out right there, but Razen isn't questioning it wrapping his legs around Dalenn's middle and rolling behind the larger man. He gets an elbow in the side for his efforts, but the arm that hits him gets grasped in both arms and Razen /pulls/. It's a flawless hold, but Dalenn manages to break it with pure brute force, and they're at it agian rolling across the dirt to get a hold. In fact they're such a tangle of limbs for a moment it's hard to tell who's going to win.

In the end it's Dalenn again, but both oruch leave the battle clasping hands and laughing. "I almost had you there for a bit, but the way you broke that hold! Your strength is impressive friend! Let me buy you a drink later?" Razen is clearly pleased with the outcome even though he lost. As he approches Yelrona though, he allows his attention to shift to her. "What did you think of the fight!?"

"Oh, were you two fighting?" Rona replies, blinking innocently. "Well, whatever it was, it was _quite_ impressive," she adds before her straight-faced facade collapses. "Seriously though, you are both remarkable warriors. I would not want to face either of you across a serious battlefield without quite a lot of distance between us and Tarien's grace bolstering me." Then, thinking about the clansmen she was forced to kill, she adds "Nor even then."

Her words make Razen flush and he lets out a cough, clearly glad when she changes the subject. Her complement gets a grin and a shrug but his response to it is killed by the expression on her face, and her even more solem words. "Then be glad we are friends and will never meet on the field of battle. Come, we should share a drink after so much fighting."

Yelrona nods. "We should," she says as she collects the rest of her gear. "Dalenn! Join us at the Ox-Strength when you're finished here!"