The Swamp of Champions
Hex 16.16.02
Connects to: to be added.
In Thring, the Law of Blood states that blood must pay for blood - either the blood of the offender, of the monsters they slay, or of the champion who stands for them. This latter clause allows nobles to be represented by champions in trial by battle in order to determine their guilt. Over the years, the law has been loosened to allow trial by battle to be used in other cases besides murder - mainly because nobles and commoners agree that it is damned good day’s entertainment. Furthermore, tradition holds that the lord of the castle may decide the exact terms of the duel - what weapons, whether to the death, the first cut, etc. However, because of the Law of a Year and a Day, most castles have had their duel terms set in stone long ago.
At Castle Tarengael, due to the somewhat unusual predilections of the first duke, Ulthar the Loved, the form of duel is known as the Battle of the Hand. The combatants are required to wear full plate armor, but have no weapons. The goal is to wrestle the opponent into the Duke’s Hand - a full-size trebuchet built into the trial chamber. The victor must then pull a lever to release the trebuchet, flinging his unlucky opponent through a skylight and out across the fields. The bodies land on the far side of a ridge, in a noxious swamp where beggars dwell.
Poor folk hang about in this swamp when a duel is taking place, hoping for a chance to strip the loser of his valuable armor. Meanwhile, kinsmen of the two combatants hang around waiting to see off the looters and eyeing each other off. The law states that the disgraced loser of the trial cannot be moved from the swamp for three days after their death, during which time their kinsmen hold vigil to protect the corpse from desecration. This vigil is especially onerous in the summer months when the swamp becomes humid and the body begins to decompose inside its armor.
Connections:
- The Sparrow Knight once lost a Battle of the Hand but survived thanks to his feather token (16.16.10).
Hooks:
- What are the terms of the duel at other castles in Thring?
- What exactly where the strange predilections of the first Duke?
- What have the poor folk of the swamp scavenged off corpses? Any family heirlooms of special importance?
- Who has fought in the Battle of the Hand? Did they win, or lose?