It was a balmy afternoon at the sport-fighting arena and life here is adjusting to new realities.
If one were to grade the most significant change, there was a new Baroness over the fighting at #1. Contests had promoted the former Baroness into a seat on the Ducal Court and a much grander household. The vacancy in the sport-fighting house had just been filled by a girl fresh out of the Convocation school and her investment, grabbing the first contesting opportunity available and winning it handily with her looks and poise.
The new Baroness was enamored of the gatherings around Mullicynda and was causing some angst in the sport-fighting bullpen - she was not bedding any of the fighters. Beyond that, she wasn't attending matches at all and seemed far more preoccupied with the ways of Kiyami, choosing to send an oldish Matron to sit in the Lady's box and preside over the arena activities.
There was much hope among the stable at a new and far more nubile and alluring Lady in their midst. However, she didn't seem interesting in playing quasi-sexual mind games for her "favorites" as her predecessor had done. This fact did much to sadden the fighters, who miss bedding and virility displays to vie for their Lady's recognition. The new girl seemed to have some affinity for Enis, though not for any reasons that the fighters could understand. There was certainly no customary hanky-panky going on there.
The former Baroness only tolerated Enis' arena behavior because he was now popular to crowds and brought in revenue. The new Lady allied with the Waykeep wild-man, who was familiar with Mullicynda and her acolytes, of which the fresh Baroness was one. She actually encouraged Enis to use his time in the arena to spread the words of Kiyami and the Waykeep covenant.
Today's show in the arena was quite tame, as the fighters were not ginned up to impress a Lady. This was significant change #2. The Matron in the box was already dozing off and the clash between the men was certainly lack-luster, weapons glancing with no particular force or aim. The fighters seemed to just be dancing and waving weapons about in a dispirited way.
All audience interest seemed lost until Enis appeared in the arena. The crowd roared to life sufficiently to wake the presiding Matron, who just twisted her body the opposite way and drifted back into slumber. She didn't seem to notice or care as the burly wild-man made his way to the center of attention and the chanting began.
As for significant change #3, Enis had made phrases of the Waykeep covenant so popular among arena attendees that they were shouted out from the stands like applause. He encouraged this by shouting the phrases back with his booming voice. These days, a few of the other fighters joined in as well, hoping perhaps to feed off the big man's fame. But others in the arena hated this and used these chants as distractions to attack the man from Waykeep.
Of course, the tradition of screaming and shouting by fighters on the attack worked against them and Enis was always forewarned to counter such. One noisy man came at him from behind and the wild-man twisted enough to grab the man, sword swinging, and lift him into the air. The shout that the attacker began with got strangled as Enis spun him about and the man lost his sword to some unanticipated centrifugal force. The sound of some terror came out just before Enis flung the ineffective attacker into the arena wall and all went still. The crowd roared out "The Lord is my strength!" and and the big man echoed it back.
Normally, there would be others to take advantage of the situation, but the strange twitching of the vanquished attacker gave the other fighters pause. "I do the will of the Lord," Enis bellowed and the crowd joyously repeated it, the presiding Matron frowning out of her sleep and plugging her ears.
Another of the sport-fighters raised his arms and called out "I succor my brothers and sisters at the Pass!", not having a clear idea where this pass was, but he got a rousing rendition from the stands anyway and a look of approval from Enis. This exchange is a relatively new situation (Is that #4?) and most of the Convocation beyond the arena is not paying attention to the subversion.
The whole point of sport-fighting is for men to work out their tendencies for action and violence in a controlled and non-threatening way. The old Baroness understood this and she worked diligently to populate her stable of fighters from the most virile and potentially violent men in Convocation society. Things worked because the animistic had a place to be and violence that suited them.
"I protect the Alaed from the evil outside!" The crowd was almost frantic in love of the wild-man. He grabbed the next fool-hardy attacker by the ankle and flipped him end-over-end into the air. The ax in the spinning man's hand flew wide and stuck into a barrier nearby. The ax didn't get hurt but the man fell awkwardly on the hard ground and his neck cracked into another twitching mess. The Convocation would have been horrified at the sight if it had been present, but there were now two fewer malcontents to trouble the island's serenity.
The audience loudly adored Enis and the ease with which he processed his adversaries. It was as if God really were with him (perception change #5), beside the chants. "The Lord will protect his people and ease their defense!"
The Ladies were not here, the Matron on-site was asleep in her responsibilities, and Enis stirred up his eager followers. Stories and cultural debates mean less in the face of a man who obviously could not be thwarted and that God obviously favored. These commoners in the stands would happily go with the Waykeep wild-man wherever he chose to lead them, and that place was across a channel and into the mountain pass above Waykeep.