"Are you sure you want to leave this to an open tournament, consul?" asked Antonius skeptically, sitting beside Remus on a temporary viewing structure. The two were seated near the edge of the shared Sect-Reman military encampment, in the plains outside of Gan Que (Peacock Screwing) City.

"I posted the contest almost a year ago, Antonius. I have no intention of backing down now." replied Remus. "Besides, whomever is to be my singulare and bodyguard should have no trouble winning the contest; otherwise they are not fit for the job."

Antonius's frown remained. "I still feel that such an important job should be determined by appointment, not left open to anyone."

"Oh, don't worry, it's hardly an 'open' position." Said Remus with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Asked Antonius, with the tired resignation that came of prolonged exposure to the consul.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just enjoy the contest. The challengers should be presented soon."

Remus and Antonius--with varying degrees of trepidation--turned to the combat area; a matted-down dusty circle of dead grass that had been used for a great deal of sparring during the time the two armies had been encamped. The area was ringed with tents of varying degrees of permenance and craftsmanship. Many military personel had ringed the area, in anticipation of the semi-formal auditions that were soon to occur.

"People of Rema and the Violet Fate Sect!" Remus began in Latin, before pausing to let a translator echo his words "Today we are gathered to witness an important contest, one which is of great importance to my personal safety! As you know, reports of espionage and assassins in the world are mounting. But I, rather than hide from my people for the rest of my days, would prefer to take on a singulare--a bodyguard--who will serve to protect me from attempts on my life, both at home and abroad. Today, we have 18 finalist challengers who will compete in a non-lethal arms tournament. The victor will become my singulare. Without further ado, let us see the contestants."

From two larger tents at the opposite end of the combat area, and the challengers began to walk into the arena.((M: Apologies, but I will not make up names for 14 random people)) . Eight of the challengers were clearly ethnic Remans, but there were a few challengers from nearby nations, including a man from the Geferlich Horde, A Khajiit, a man from Perditia Nova, with the remainder hailing from the Violet Fate Sect. However, notable among the last group was Personal Apprentice Chu Yuyan.

"Is that Chu Yuyan?" Asked Antonius with a somewhat strained voice. "What is she doing here? Isn't she a higher-up in the Violet Fate Sect?!"

"The tournament is an open tournament, Antonius. Chu Yuyan is welcome to participate." Remus, despite his level voice, could not keep a smirk from his face.

"You're planning something." Said Antonius accusingly. "What is it?"

Remus did not respond, and instead looked forward to where the tournament was about to begin.

The tournament consisted of one-on-one nonlethal combat, with the individual's choice of melee weaponry. All contestants who were not actively fighting had to remain in the tents, so as not to gain an unfair advantage by watching their opponents. To win, a challenger need only tap their opponent with their weapon. Despite these simple rules, many of the matches went on for minutes, with one or both challengers carefully dancing around the attacks of the other.

The contest continued, tournament-style, with challengers being eliminated as they lost. After a number of matches, only the Khajiit (named K'der), 2 Remans (named Balbus and Nonus), and Chu Yuyan remained. As this was the final four, they would square off at the same time, in two pairs, and the winners would be forced to immediately enter the final combat without opportunity to recuperate, making stamina and speed of great importance. Nonus (wielding a bastard sword and buckler) squared off against K'der (with two handaxes), while Balbus (with two cutlasses) squared off with Yuyan (carrying only a wooden quarterstaff).

As soon as the gong sounded to signal the beginning of the match, both Nonus and Balbus leaped for their opponents, looking to press hard for the advantage. Balbus immediately swung his left sword at Yuyan, which she blocked with a clumsy two-handed thrust of the quarterstaff, resulting in the sound of a hard impact echoing throughout the area. Similar sounds were produced as Balbus pressed his-heavy handed offensive, forcing Yuyan to take more and more steps backwards.

K'der (the khajiit) seemed to not be faring any better, as he was being forced to defend himself against heavy thrusts and swings from the sword-wielding Nonus. Despite his large weapon, Nonus remained light on his feet, pressing the khajiit ever backwards.

Balbus had pushed Yuyan nearly to the edge of the legal arena, and seemed to have grown increasingly confident. He leaped forward, with clear intent to go for a finishing move. It was at this point that Yuyan underwent a sudden transformation. Her previous flat-footed stance as she almost immediately, as she almost danced away from Balbus's blades on the balls of her feet. As his momentum carried him into a stumble, Chu Yuyan delivered an almost delicate tap to his neck with the quarterstaff, while holding a very light and dynamic pose. Frustrated that he had been outsmarted by such a simple ruse, Balbus snorted and threw his blades into the turf, where they stuck quivering, then stormed from the combat area, without so much as looking at Yuyan.

On the other side of the arena at the same time, K'der seemed equally disadvantaged, though judging from his stance and posture, this was a more genuine predicament than the farce put on by Yuyan. Though she effectively blocked all strikes, K'der was unable to press the advantage. Still, he kept himself at a safe distance from Nonus with his constant movement, so when he made an especially clumsy strike, K'der was ready to sieze the opportunity. He pinched the blade betmeen the handles of his axes, then used the hooked blades to wrest the smord from his opponent's grasp, sending it several feet to the left and rear of K'der, outside of the legal area. Disarmed save for his buckler, Nonus raised his arms, allowing the Khajiit to tap him with an axe, eliminating him from the tournament.

With both Remans eliminated, K'der spun to face Chu Yuyan. The gong sounded again, but rather than leap directly into battle, Yuyan bent her body slightly in a respectful bow, which the Khajiit returned gratefully. That finished, the two combatants leaped towards each other. Gone was Yuyan's pretext of inadequacy from the previous fight. She entered this final encounter at the height of her ability, seeming almost to float towards the center of the area. K'der moved with a much more natural gait, but with a certain degree of feline grace in his movements as well. As Yuyan had taken up a defensive stance once the two neared each other, K'der delivered the first set of strikes. Now that he was off the defensive, he was able to show off the blinding speed with which he could move his smaller, lighter weapons. Unfortunately for him, Yuyan matched his ever move blow for blow, performing low-engery rotations of her staff to precisely deflect K'der's strikes. After none of his blows made any progress, K'der leaped back, taking up a defensive stance. Yuyan took this opportunity to go on the offensive herself, preforming an acrobatic sideways flip towards her opponent, which she resolved into a series of precise blows.

Antonius looked disapprovingly at her acrobatic display, "She's just showing off now." Remus smiled, then said "Maybe. Though that kind of movement can also serve as an intimidation tactic." Antonius glared at the consul, but Remus was paying no attention to his advisor, instead leaving his gaze firmly on the combatants, or at least one of them. "It wasn't an 'intimidation tactic' and they both know it" Antonius muttered angrily to himself.

K'der blocked every one of Yuyan's strikes adeptly, but already th reason behind Yuyan's choice of weapon was becoming clear. Though the quarterstaff, a simple wooden pole, looked innocent and non-lethal, Yuyan covered a square five feet of area with minimal energy expenditure. After the last fight and this one, K'der could feel his own exhaustion. He had to press the offensive. Catching the staff in the crook of one axe, he spun the staff to the side, while bringing his other axe to bear against Yuyan's exposed torso. It was only when her foot connected with the axe, throwing it from his grip, that K'der realized how far out of his league this Sect official truly was. Left with one axe, and without the time to recover the other, K'der had to favor one side of his body, driving his offense to become more clumsy. It was only a few seconds before Chu Yuyan spun the other axe from his grip with the tip of her staff. This complete, she administered a tap to the khajiit's head. Admonished, the khajiit bowed again, then stepped aside.

At this point, the observers erupted into cheers, and several rushed into the arena to congratulate Yuyan (mostly Remans, as the Sect soldiers seemed more reluctant to approach her). Remus seemed genuinely exited, though only those who knew him well would be able to tell. He was very well restrained. Remus himself wasn't surprised in the least that Chu Yuyan had won, though that didn't make him less excited that it had happened.

While the attention was on Yuyan, Remus reached behind his head, where he retrieved a small crossbow. After drawing the string, he leveled the weapon at Yuyan. Antonius noticed this, and said to Remus in an angry hiss "Are you crazy? You're going to shoot at a Personal Apprentice?"

"Relax, Antonius. The arrow is blunted. But a singulare needs to be able to protect me from an assassin, and an assassin isn't going to approach me with two handaxes or a longsword." Remus depressed the trigger.

Antonius noted to himself that Remus must've been practicing with a bow, because the consul didn't seem like the kind who could take such a shot. The arrow flew directly towards Chu Yuyan's turned head. Just as the arrow seemed about to hit Yuyan, she rotated her staff into the upright position, slapping the arrow to the side in midair. Yuyan didn't turn to look directly at the arrow, even as it stuck into the ground.

"How... What... She just... You planed this, didn't you? She had to have known!" stammered Antonius.

"Actually, this was Fang Mu's idea; I just though it was a good one." Said Remus with a smirk. "Have you noticed that these Sect members seem to have an unnaturally heightened sense of the world around them? It does make Chu Yuyan a good fit for singulare, does it not." Remus smiled and stepped down to the area, where he began walking forward to congratulate Yuyan (Though he didn't leave before resting the crossbow in the lap of the flabbergasted Antonius).

After Antonius came back to himself, he observed from a distance Remus congratulating Chu Yuyan. Remus seemed for too happy. Too genuinuly happy. Antonius narrowed his eyes. Something was up between Remus, Chu Yuyan, and Fang Mu was possibly involved as well. Whatever it was, Antonius was determined to get to the bottom of it. Nothing ever made the consul that happy. Something was awry....

Effect: Personal Apprentice Chu Yuyan of the Violet Fate Sect becomes Singulare and Bodyguard to Consul Remus. This strengthens Sect-Reman relations even further. (This event took place several years ago in-game time. I was just late in posting it)

For those that are curious, the other finalist contestants became an elite bodyguard unit for the Reman government, which accompanies senators, advisors, and ambassadors on trips to foreign lands.