Ghyll:Day of Champions
The Day of Champions is held on YinYin 12th Jole every year. The highlight of the day is the final game of Bindlet Ball for the year, where the championship is decided. At the time of writing, we are in the 55th year of the Day of Champions. Last year's winning team were the Glossfordshire Maurlons, who beat the Evesque Warriors 6-1 in a record game time of 5 hours and 17 minutes.
It is traditional for the Day of Champions game to always be held at the Folktown Hyperbolic Bindlet Ball Arena, being the largest arena of any in the Ghyllian League. The Day of Champions is gazetted as a holiday in all towns in the region -- even if the day were not an official holiday, the population at large would treat it as one. Should the championship game exceed a day in length, the holiday is similarly extended. This was taken to its extreme in -21 EC when the game lasted nearly seven days. By this time, everyone was heartily sick of the holiday and associated party and returned to their normal lives with a collective sigh of relief.
Although the championship game is the day's greatest expectation, this does not mean it is the only significant event. In keeping with the celebratory nature, the Folktown Council organises a parade of jesters, muses, and other chaotic persons as entertainment. On one celebrated occasion, the Council found a troupe of minstrels that played Freege Horns. This was the first time these instruments had been seen south of the Evesque Valley and they were a great hit. Other attractions of the day include large arts, crafts, and gourmet food markets. Merchants come from many lele away to participate.
At the end of the day, there is a traditional feast where the members of the Folktown Council are bound to serve all comers from a large array of bay marees. Huge quantities of Adlorst wine are consumed, making the following day somewhat of an ordeal for most. This time of servitude presents some special risks to the members of the Council: at last count, there have been eleven assassinations at these end-of-day events. The most notable was when Baron Smallwood’s uncle, Iain Underholm Smallwood, was attacked by an unidentified assailant who sprayed his victim with Adlorst wine and then threw Ball Lightning Liqueur over him. The resulting conflagration caused Iain Smallwood to melt in front of bystanders, and the assassin avoided capture (it may only be coincidence that the next issue of the Folktown Records was its best selling ever - so much so that a second and third printing were required.)
Citations: Bindlet Ball, Freege Horn, Iain Underholm Smallwood.
--Dok 23:22, 28 Sep 2004 (EDT)
