Ratmas Boneass: Tournament in District One

It's a wonder it didn't happen sooner - always proud of being the pinnacle of District achievement, proud of being the location with the number One directly attached to its name, the first District has notably lagged behind its Career brethren in Two and Four when it comes to the latest in grand showcasing and spectacle. And, in a twist that may or may not be correlation, One finds itself as the District who has had the longest Victor drought amongst the three Career districts for the first time in, well, at least a generation or two.

With Two snapping a more-than-twenty-year-long streak with the legacy from the 80th and Four having won themselves a victor in an actual legitimate Games in Beck Hailsham in the last few years, it is One that finds themselves on the back foot this time around. On paper, it seems they have much to be proud of, their last three victors going by the names Shore and Fray and Le Roux - but that could not be further from the truth. The former now goes by a name originating in Eleven and has dropped out of the public eye yet again, the middle rarely shows up to any sort of event sober or even presentable, and the latter remains a black sheep of black sheeps, the last of a trio of unlikely winners that not only are estranged from their Career heritage, but in some cases actively eschew it.

This will not do. One must regain its honor, one way or another. And if that means following the tried-and-tested format originated in Two and adapted by Four, then so be it.

---

Continuing the trend I've started over the last couple of years, I will once again be hosting another tournament over Ratmas, this time in the last of the three Career districts. Like Two with trying to train a new victor, like Four living in the shadow of their more grandiose cousins, One is currently on the back foot when it comes to encapsulating fame from the Hunger Games, and has adopted this format from the others in its own attempt to generate momentum, hype, and glory.

For this tournament, (ideally) four people from each house will sign up, submitting an actual Career character of theirs between fourteen and eighteen (smols not allowed for this tourney) where you would therefore be sorted into a bracket and engage in duels, complete with dice and blitz length in character posts and all.

The rules are similar to the last two years' and are quite simple. Being carried over are; first character to twenty five damage loses, winner moves onto the next round, loser is eliminated, instas do ten damage bc we don't want death here, and any permanently altering injuries such as severs and stabbed out eyes may be included only at the target's discretion. In terms of differences, the weapon limit imposed last year is abolished - One has no particular qualms with what weapon a Career uses as long as they can kick ass with it, leaving any sort of weapon that has been found in the Hunger Games up for grabs.

Like last year, this event will be a four day affair, with each day equaling one round of the tournament both in character and out. This will give people time to write things out and take things at their own pace - although blitz length posts are still highly recommended and the fights will be closed at the end of each day regardless as to whether it's finished in character or not.

Ideally, we'd have exactly four from each house sign up, as that's the maximum number from each house allowed in this event, but I won't impose a hard limit so long as y'all agree that if more than four from one house sign up that not everyone will get in. Additionally, if you have multiple D1 Careers that you want to enter, you can throw them all at the signup sheet and I'll chose the one I feel would be most interesting to have in the the tourney. Please do note that non-Careers are generally discouraged from applying, though I am open to being convinced if you can give me a very good reason.

I will generally be favoring individuals that did not partake in last year's tournament when it comes to signups all else being equal, but do not let this dissuade you from signing up regardless - everyone who signs up will get points for their house regardless as to whether they participate in the tournament or not. Plus, it's always nice to have alternates in case we get any no-shows.

The first round of the tournament will start on noon PST on January 3rd, and each round will go for exactly 24 hours unless all fights finish before the time limit has been reached. Signups will close at 11:59pm PST tomorrow, or a bit over 27 hours from when this post was posted. The signup form is below:

Name:
House (House Color):
Character(s) you are entering (with links):

Everyone that signs up automatically gets 5 points both for their house and themselves, with 2 points earned for every match won and 1 point earned for every match lost. This signup is assuming you will be around enough over four days to finish a blitz length fight in a roughly 24 hour period. The winning character will earn three free tesserae to be put on them good for the next eligible Games the writer can partake in (87th for most of you except for Yoya [who won] and whomever ends up GMing them, in which case it'll be the 88th).

And of course, as always, if there are any questions, just @ me on slack!