Solsday, 3rd of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

The Morning sun shone upon the field of the Gorian encampment. Sounds of roosters crowing could be heard from the valleys and fields of the Dolok Mulajadi. The cool air of the mountain so clearly felt upon the skin.

Josias stood next to his companions as well as the warriors of Rumaparau and Hutangali. In a section of the field near their encampment, the Gorians and their allies had held a regular Solsday liturgical service. As it was, there were over a thousand people gathered for the service as they stood barefoot upon the carpets set out on the grassy ground.

The young men were currently stood in front of a makeshift altar made up of some tables with a crucifix placed on top of it and a bible as well.

The Ephorus Ludwig also stood in his liturgical vestments as he blessed the young warriors. He was assisted by Reverend Timotheos who carried a bowl of blessed oil. Reverend Steinmann was also there, carrying with him a ciborium filled with consecrated hosts of bread. Another reverend followed suit with a chalice of the consecrated wine.

The Archbishop had blessed the young warriors – fifteen in total – one by one. Each of them he crossed on the forehead with the blessed oil before he administered to them the sacraments. The Gotilon tournament was about to be held in an hour or so. Because of that, the protestant kings of the Halaklands had decided to hold a general blessing for their young warriors before it started.

After the blessings were administered to the warriors, the priests of the three realms quickly began administering the sacraments to the whole congregation. It was all done in the nick of time as after the final blessings by the archbishop, a messenger from the Raja Malim had come to inform the kings that the tournament was about to start.

And so Josias and his company made their way towards the main field and courtyard followed by the rest of their clansmen and elders. When they reached the courtyard at the summit in front of the gates to the dungeon portal, they were greeted with a bustling scene.

Thousands of people had gathered, seemingly even more numerous than during the past three days of the ritual ceremonies. The altar of the ceremonies had been dismantled and what was there now was an open field. Around the field now lay carpets and tribune stands for people to enjoy the spectacle from. In addition to that, twenty one ornate chairs had been set around the court. Behind each chair was a banner flying the colours of each Halak realm.

It was obvious that those chairs were set there for the kings of the Halaklands. More than half of the kings had already taken their seats along with their immediate families and elders who were sitting upon the carpets around the chairs.

Josias saw his grandfather and family – along with the rest of Goria's elders – taking their designated seats. Josias and his companions were ushered by one of the retainers of the Raja Malim towards the field. There, they lined up along with the rest of the young warrior representatives of the Halak realms. In total, there were one hundred and five warriors representing twenty one realms. This included the Raja Malim's realm of Matanitao.

Most of the young warriors stood there without wearing any armor or any other sort of protective gear. Many – including Josias – even stood bare chested save for an ulos cloth draped over their torso. Some of the warriors also wore shirts, but those were still very simple and practical in design. As always, Josias wore his distinctive red ulos head cloth tied up for combat.

As the young warriors were getting ready, the sacred gondang music filled the air of the whole 'arena'. Josias felt his heart beat as he took in the atmosphere. Looking around, he was now in the focus of literally tens of thousands of spectators. He'd never before seen anything like this and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous.

Josias shook his head and cracked his knuckles to steel himself. Looking at his sides, he could tell that his companions were just as excited as he was. Well, at least Mateus and Johannes looked pumped like him as they did a few stretches to prepare. Hesekiel - as always - maintained his steely-eyed look even at the center of such attention.

Sadrach looked a little jittery so Josias placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder to calm him. Sadrach nodded at Josias' gesture before he breathed out to calm himself.

With all the contestants ready and the crowds roaring cheers, the Raja Malim rose from his seat as he headed towards the center of the field. He approached a raised podium before meeting the gazes of the kings, elders, and the crowds that had gathered.

The Raja Malim raised his hands to calm the crowd. It was only after they had quieted somewhat did he begin his address. And so with a firm and loud voice enhanced by aura did he begin to speak.

"By the grace of the creator, Mula Jadi Nabolon, and the providence of the three Gods, Batara Guru, Mangala Bulan, and Soripada. I greet you all! Ale hamu, akka pomparan ni Si Raja Halak! Horas!! (O you, brood of the Raja Halak, greetings!)" The Raja Malim greeted.

"""Horas!!""" Everyone there returned the greetings of the Raja Malim in thunderous unison.

"I am once more thankful to all of you who have participated within this beautiful festival! That you all still grace our beloved island with your presence, I consider a blessing. But the joy has not yet ended, brothers and sisters! In this next phase of our celebration, we welcome to this most sacred field the coming of our youths! The pride and joy of our peoples as they gather here to test their mettle against one another, and in doing so, to show all the prowess of our successors!!"

The crowds cheered even louder at the Raja Malim's introduction to the tournament event. It was of course the main event of the festivities. It was the stage at which all the Halak realms would show-off the battle prowess of their young warriors. It was a 'sword-measuring' competition all things considered. Josias chuckled to himself at the thought that crossed his mind.

The Raja Malim soon began a short prayer to the ancestors and the gods before he was given a long scroll of parchment by one of his retainers. From the scroll he began to read off the names of all the warriors representing the Halak realms within the competition.

It took quite a bit of time for the Raja Malim to list off all the names of the fighters. That along with their clans and the relations they had to prominent members of their community. Even the Raja Malim's own grandchildren were participating in the tournament.

After reading the names, the Raja Malim gave one final word of encouragement to the young warriors. When he got off the podium, another elder took his place to explain the actual mechanics and the rundown of the tournament. To this, Josias put his full attention in order to better understand the strategies that he needed to devise.

So the tournament itself would be held over a number of days. A week at most depending on how the fights would be conducted or if any unforeseen circumstances were to happen.

The tournament itself would be divided into two major stages. The first stage was the 'Babak Horong' or the group stage which would take up the first day. In this stage all one hundred and five warriors representing twenty-one royal teams would be divided into three large groups. Red, Black, and White according to the colours of the Bonang Manalu.

Each group would consist of seven teams. Each team would be given a singular banner with the symbols of their realms on it. And each warrior within the team would have a cloth coloured according to their larger groups tied to one of their arms. The cloth that was tied would also have a number written upon it to denote a team number.

The rules of the first round were simple enough. The three teams would fight each other for a certain duration of time in a great battle royale. The main goal of each large group is to take the flags of at least four teams of a group. A team that loses a flag is not automatically disqualified and may try and recapture it within the allotted time.

The catch is that warriors that have had their cloth removed from their arms would be out for the rest of the round. At the end of the allotted time, the scores would be tallied in accordance with the amount of flags and arm-cloths captured.

Additional rules to the first round were that it was a match to see one's physical prowess and team work. Any use of aura for the first match would be strictly forbidden. Only the use of martial arts and blunted weapons would be allowed for the match. In that regard, use of magic was also strictly forbidden from the first round in the case that any spellsword would try to get ideas.

Any discovered infarction of the rules would result in an immediate disqualification of the offending team. The match would then end when either a group had lost four flags. If until the allotted time for the match was up and no team had lost four flags, a count will be done based on the number of arm-cloths taken.

Though warriors who had lost their arm-cloths would be out of the battle, there was no stipulation that said that they weren't allowed to take the armcloths collected by another team. Josias made sure to make a mental note of that little fact. For all he knew, such technicalities might even win him a secured victory in unforeseen circumstances.

The two larger groups that had won the first match would have their arm-cloth scores tallied per-team. After making a ranking, they would then continue on to the next round of brackets. The losing team on the other hand, would have their own brackets to determine the two teams that would continue.

With all the rules having been explained, the Parmalim elder called upon the twenty one teams to send forth a representative. The elder held two bowls filled with lots that each team would pick. One lot would determine the specific number of each team – from one to twenty one. The other lot would determine which of the three groups each team would be a part of.

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The position of team captain for the Gorians obviously fell onto Josias. His companions didn't even bother saying anything as they motioned him to step forth and draw their lots. Josias cleared his mind as he steeled himself going forward.

As he was walking, he looked around to see who the other team captains were. Josias was especially interested to find out who would be leading the Hutangali team with the rivalry between Prince Panghirimon and Prince Hasianta. Well, it wasn't much of a surprise when he saw that the elder prince took the captaincy.

The other teams that consisted of people he knew of also had relatively obvious picks for captains. The Rumaparau team had unanimously picked the recently married Prince Hagabeon. And of course, the bloody catholics had picked Alvaro and his best friend as their captains. Josias made a desperate plea to God that he would not be put in the same group as the Inamarians or the Tanjung Narians.

With that in mind, Josias had finally reached the elder who held the bowl filled with lots. After waiting a short moment as some other captains were drawing their lots, his turn finally arrived. The moment of truth had come.

Josias made a small prayer and a quick sign of the cross as he picked his first lot. Josias wasn't a particularly unlucky person, but when it came to things like lots and gambling, he was never the most fortunate person in the room. But the first lot was hardly anything important. It was inconsequential to him what the number of his team would be. Regardless, he drew a '7'. Team seven it would be then in that case.

Crossing himself once more for the second more important lot, Josias closed his eyes as his hand reached for the bowl. He looked away and finally felt the piece of torn parchment and drew it. He saw it was coloured black.

Josias frowned a bit at his pull. He wasn't too much of a superstitious person either, but 'black' was the colour that represented Banuatoru. The underworld, the realm of the dead.

It was clear to him that he was most probably overthinking it but with the current stakes, he could use all the luck and fortunate signs he could get.

He didn't catch too much of a glimpse of what the other captain's pulled, but he did at least see the second lot of the Hutangali. They had also drawn a black. Whether or not it was good thing that he was on the same group as such a fractured team, the Hutangalians were still an allied realm and they were good christians as well. If nothing else, Josias would have no problems being on the same team with fellow christians.

Unfortunately, it had seemed that God had taken that thought a little too seriously and Josias felt that God truly did have a sense of humour.

When all the lots had been drawn, the Parmalim elder had told the captains to line up first according to the group they drew. When they started walking towards their groups, Josias was excited as he saw Prince Hagabeon had also drawn black. The three northern christian allies were united for the first round! A spectacular sight and better than anyone could hope for. Unfortunately for them, their joy would be cut short.

Also walking towards where the black group had gathered were Alvaro and his Inamarian friend, Prince Manuel Hutapadan. Any semblance of a smile was wiped completely off their faces. The catholic princes didn't have much enthusiasm either when they saw Josias and his allies standing there.

The tension in the air was oh so palpable. So much so that neither side even noticed initially that the captains of the Matanitao Malim and the Kingdom of Nabolga were also a part of the black group. Even when the Parmalim elder and a few servants had come to give the group their flags and armcloths, the two sides were still eyeing each other distrustfully.

Finally after grabbing a hold of his team's flag – a black flag with the Halak number for seven and the name 'Goria' painted on it – he turned back towards his team. The other captains also did the same to call over their fighters to the larger thirty-five man group.

It was only the first round, and Josias could already feel that it was going to be a massive pain. Josias gave a silent prayer to ask for patience from God. Patience so that he himself didn't take the arm cloths of his so-called 'group mates'. It was going to be a long and aggravating match to be sure.

***

(List of names for the warriors of the Gotilon Tournament besides the Kingdoms of Goria, Hutangali, and Rumaparau. Skippable content made for fun.)

From the Matanitao Malim Kingdom:

Tuan Somba Nabonar Siparmalim

Tuan Habinsaron Ramot Siparmalim

Tuan Marningot Basa Parbintang

Tuan Hasundutan Rea Parlangit

Tuan Basa Asiasi Harahata

From the Kingdom of Hutaraja Natua:

Tuan Maruhum Napos Siparsangap

Tuan Marihot Natua Parsangkap

Tuan Ropianon Posma Pardengganbasa

Tuan Tongam Partanobatoan Sotalu

Tuan Ringkot Parandangit

From the Kingdom of Hutanaga:

Tuan Gabe Taruli Nagabolon

Tuan Togihon Ramot Rajanaga

Tuan Tangihon Radot Rajanaga

Tuan Andean Roma Nagatorang

Tuan Pangido Bonar Parhunaga

From the Kingdom of Nainiari:

Tuan Pangalusion Tangiang Arian

Tuan Robasa Hotma Arimonang

Tuan Haholongan Denggan Sipahasada

Tuan Halomoan Amana Singkora

Tuan Oloan Gogo Sigumara

From the Kingdom of Tanohisar:

Tuan Andorang Sonang Tanohisar

Tuan Hisar Rohana Tanohisar

Tuan Sintong Maruhum Siparnipi

Tuan Poltak Artamana Nasauli

Tuan Malo Marleak Sinanget

From the Kingdom of Nabagak:

Tuan Mauliate Aleito Bungabagak

Tuan Hapistaron Naek Siparlojong

Tuan Agia Marsak Siparhauma

Tuan Gomos Tanganna Haminaron

Tuan Monang Torus Bajubasar

From the Kingdom of Sibolontiur:

Tuan Torang Tongtong Sibolontiur

Tuan Rihar Marasi Tambor

Tuan Marjora Roha Siparlange

Tuan Hasudungan Narea Siumuli

Tuan Togar Sahala Parholting

From the Kingdom of Aek Rantau:

Tuan Tigor Togap Siparanto

Tuan Lambok Marula Sinatio

Tuan Marasi Panogu Nagugur

Tuan Tiop Hohot Namaraek

Tuan Gogo Marihot Simartani

From the Kingdom of Nabolga:

Tuan Silua Patar Nabolga

Tuan Martua Asi Hatuaon

Tuan Parningot Holong Tambar

Tuan Todos Maula Rajadaon

Tuan Saor Tunggal Siparmata

From the Kingdom of Anak Nagogo:

Tuan Tahi Bonar Simandopang

Tuan Mulia Lambas Najongkas

Tuan Tarida Sangap Siparbulus

Tuan Masihol Somba Sitogaron

Tuan Hadameon Bagas Longo

From the Kingdom of Tamatuak:

Tuan Binsar Bohina Tamatuak

Tuan Tondi Bontor Pasabaron

Tuan Maradian Malo Sipaimahon

Tuan Somabiar Najolo Lumbansonggot

Tuan Sotarduga Bonar Nabohiuli

From the Kingdom of Saorma:

Tuan Gomgom Anggina Pasaorma

Tuan Arinatama Habasaon Parture

Tuan Marolop Sonang Hutaramot

Tuan Lambas Roha Ulungali

Tuan Benget Ampudan Bagadenggan

From the Kingdom of Manahan Arus:

Tuan Aditya Marholong Arus

Tuan Suryawan Sorasuda Sabanabolak

Tuan Jayadarma Soulaon Batuarus

Tuan Adijaya Togar Parholting

Tuan Baskara Hamoraon Sirumaraoang

From the Kingdom of Parik Bolon:

Tuan Indra Jaya Parikbolon

Tuan Denggan Mardongan Sialogo

Tuan Baratayuda Bolon Simareak

Tuan Bayudewa Marsihohot Sialogo

Tuan Panuturi Habonaron Parbasaon

From the Kingdom of Sombanaria:

Tuan Muhammad Abdurrohman Sombasurgo

Tuan Adam Ibrahim Sombasurgo

Tuan Maulana Malik Rajadebata

Tuan Luthfi Maringan Sipangondi

Tuan Taufik Mustafa Sitarsudung

From the Kingdom of Hutabanua:

Tuan Abdul Qadir Hutabanua

Tuan Hamid Tinodos Sipartano

Tuan Firdaus Parlindungan Tola

Tuan Tondi Amrullah Rajadano

Tuan Muhammad Fadil Morihara

From the Kingdom of Tanjung Naria:

Tuan Álvaro Damião Sinaria

Tuan Ernesto Sebastião Sobiar

Tuan Carlos Parulian Saidenggan

Tuan Marcos Octávio Saibolon

Tuan Rodrigo Maruhum Parbulan

From the Kingdom of Inamaria:

Tuan Manuel Rihar Hutapadan

Tuan Rodrigo Naek Marsior

Tuan Teodoro Taruli Sipanguhir

Tuan Tomás Vasco Siporhas

Tuan Alberto Marningot Parbungaran

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