THE COMBAT OF MORTALS!

Deep beneath the sea that stretched in and about the archipelago, that includes the island of Cadia, lies the dominion of a great kraken.  This particular kraken, Kyrateato, believed himself a great king of the depth, a great Zee King and had the right to claim anything as his for he had the might to ensure it.  His power is partially due to his immense age – Kyrateato was among the first to awaken this cycle and already he had lived for untold centuries before in Toril's great Trackless Sea.  Though after so long with such power, few have proven to be of any considerable threat and a great boredom has set into the aging mind of this Zee King.  That is until an idea too delicious to pass up hatched before his mind's eye.

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The sun rose as it does every day slowly above the listless sea just beyond Sol's Hope's port as two large shark fins could be seen rising just the water's surface.  Several sailors grabbed harpoons and began to make their way to a readying vessel, in order to make a quick hunt of these sharks, as the fins rose and began to reveal two Humanoid shark-men, weresharks, standing upon strange planks of wood.  Frightened and bewildered by this new sight, one of the men left loose a bellowing horn and many began to gather, including adventurers and guards.  The two twin weresharks seemed to ride the planks into the air upon unseen currents and with wide toothy grins they began to shout out to the host before them,

“I am Otodus!” Spoke the one wearing a blue tunic whilst the other, in a red tunic cried out, “I am Cretalamna!”  

And in unison in a loud echoing shout, “Together we are the Heralds of the Great Zee King Kyrateato!”  

They nod to one another before Otodus continues, “This day, is a joyous day!”
“Indeed it is, indeed it is my brother!” calls a grinning Cretalamna.

A nodding Otodus brings himself to center, “The Great Zee King wishes a grand tourney, a melee, a festival of combat and battle!  And he has deemed you all worthy to take part in it!”

The gathered crowd doesn't seem too pleased with the idea of a forced entry into some sort of tourney and they let it known with their boos and displeasure with shouts such as, “Who da fuk is this Cry-eat-O and why he wants to do this?”  To such lovely comments as, “Get the archers, just kill these creatures!”  While some of the more intelligent among the crowd share their thoughts, “I don't think this is optional, a real potential danger rests here if weresharks are messengers...”

Taking center and clapping his massive hands together, attention is drawn to a serious looking Cretalamna despite a large grin still crossing his face, “Indeed my friends, this invitation is compulsory to answer, refusal to take part will invite the Great Zee King's wrath, the wrath of a -Kraken- upon you!”

Laughing and crossing back in front of his twin, Otodus held up his hands and waves them down to try to calm the worries of the crowd, “Oh his wrath will come only if you do not take part!  And who wouldn't take part in this great venture?!  There will be prizes, such as victory earning your settlement continued existence!  The Great Zee King will come with his champions, mortals such as yourself gathered and raised in his dominion, in a tenday and the COMBAT OF MORTALS will begin!!!!”

The twin weresharks spin about and thrust their fists up into the air and chant “Kyrateato!” over and over before the two turn sharply and ride their unseen currents down into the sea and vanish.

A hush washes over the gathered crowd before a steady mummer of worried and curious voices leads to a shouting match among several factions present.  Soon the guardsmen and adventurers of various walks calm the peasant folk and many begin to determine if they will take part in this and some even rush to the academy to find any documentation of this Kyrateato.  Even as the crowd slowly disperses the talk among the folk of Sol's Hope is of this tournament for quite some time.

Vrass
While on a supply run in town, the news of the two emissaries was relayed to Azar and Corrien. Azar reassured those he speaks with that his medical aid would be available to any contestants upon their return. In private, he and Corrien decided that such a fight is not in their best interest to get involved in, especially as they were not even residents of Sol's Hope.

Ste'fentheren
Curious about the fuss that they overheard from the town, Amendil and Willow made their way to the docks. Their bows in hand, but arrows not yet drawn, they listened to the proclamations of the weresharks. Amendil cast a worried glance at his wife and whispered in the elven tongue to her. "Many of these people cannot fight. We must join the tournament and protect our new home."

Aermane
Faerra stood at the docks listening to the words of the two weresharks. She was no stranger to outlandish events from her time in the Deadlands, but this was certainly one of the stranger sights she had seen. When their speech was over, she headed back to the cabin to tell Roman of what she had heard. His lips curled into a grin. The two hunters had found a new high paying job - now they needed only to convince the town to sponsor their entry.

Blackwood
Natasha walked along the docks to flirt with the sailors there as they went about their business, all the while inspecting their cargo for anything that might strike her fancy. She picked the occasional pocket too, not out of need for their paltry coin, but rather out of the thrill that she might be caught. When the weresharks arrived, the Tiefling quickly moved behind some large crates and watched them. She wrinkled her nose at their challenge, and began to wonder if she and Bella would be better off camping out in the desert for a bit. She cursed under her breath as she realized the young half-elf might just want to test her skill in combat in this tournament, though. When the announcement was over, she returned to the inn to relay the news.