Legend of Ransera

The proof was there. Ultimate proof to demonstrate the powers that be of Zaichaer had coordinated their various branches properly for events of the season especially in having the Riverland Corps hold their festival first. For the first time Dakkur felt he was really welcome in Zaichaer compared to his cold, uncaring hostess and the usual flair of racism the local humans directed to non humans just like him- he just had to revisit the Riverland Corps' festival the moment he had another chance to hop into it. No more stuffing himself silly this time. He learned his lesson the first time just a few days ago. In any event at the rate he was eating back then, he may as well be considered to have eaten his fill for the entire season already which if true, would mean the money he saved on food he could put into the fun stuff without a second thought. So with his plan being to avoid the food, the good food... unless he was hungry and needed the energy anyway, actually, definitely if he was hungry and needed the energy since it would be far too long to go back home to get his fill, Dakkur shifted his focus towards the carnival performances, the local music and the games.

One thing Dakkur wondered about was the idea of the performances other than to draw people to the festival. What did any have to do with the military? It came up in a conversation he had with another festival goer as they both got their snack from a cart, yes, Dakkur totally fooled himself when he said he was to avoid the festival food but to his credit he did his best to, like, forcing himself to think of the other distractions of the festival to overwhelm his food cravings or eyeballing every new amusement. The conversation was overheard by a member of the Riverland Corps who joined in to give his own take of it. Firstly the Riverland Corps was one of groups responsible for managing the logistics of the military which, "yeah I know. I was sitting in on that forum thing a few days back" just like a lot of others did so imagine Dakkur's surprise when the corpsman said he knew of Dakkur- how many other red giants were around the festival? Dakkur wanted to leave and avoid the corpsman if he could, it was embarrassing to know how funny his ignorance of the topics in the forum and been made a joke among those in the Riverland Corps running event.

"Sorry for my ignorance then." Dakkur said once he realized he could not escape without making it awkward which continued the conversation. If there was one way to remedy ignorance, it was education and the corpsman decided to give Dakkur a quick run around the performances- something nice from being entertained from Dakkur's earlier discussions. To start, "so all the events planned this season is just one big recruitment drive for talent?" Yes that, and to display the skills and power of the military and to practice their skills, and to increase awareness... "wait. Hold up. Practice? How are you practicing with all this?" The corpsman showed Dakkur all the tents and stalls and carts and tents and animals, "all this is a part of logistical arrangements?" it made sense as the explanation went on, something about efficiency and reliability. But that did not explain "what's with the animals?" Oh even simpler. The military had animal handlers for mounts and dogs and birds each with their own specific functions, "and the lions?" Oh, that was some extra fun for the scouts. The display of skill and power then.

A display of skill and power... "does that apply to the knife throwing and the sword swallowing and the tightropes?" Yes, unless it was one of those things the Riverland Corps was doing for fun like the scouts with the lions or some other actual performers they hired just to keep the economy going. Ah, there it was again Dakkur thought. Money, money, money. The only thing which mattered in logistics. He did not think such performers would be needed, or would need the Riverland Corps to give them the work because there should always be a demand for their skills. The man who had the snack with Dakkur, still with them for the tour then chimed in that sometimes it was not about letting the money flow but also to establish and maintain a good relationship with certain members of the community. A surprising bit of input Dakkur did not expect, "are you a member of the Riverland Corps since you know a lot about this?" but no, it was nothing like that. The man was just another talent hired by the Corps for performances, Dakkur would not have known since he was out of makeup and costume.

So as a first stop since Dakkur brought it up, the knife throwers. Without a doubt these were not hired performers but part of the Riverland Corps as they were in uniform. The question was whether or not they specially trained in throwing knives just for this event or if there was a reason why they would need to throw knives as a part of the military which equipped them with firearms. That question was answered quite easily. One, everyone expecting to enter combat should have a knife as it was a good back up weapon and was small and light enough to make a toss if they needed that one last attack. "Try it?" Dakkur asked, he did not want to be a performer and wanted to decline but after a quick show of it the corpsmen all around decided to make an impromptu knife throwing competition. So much for discipline. Mr Clown too was going to join the game and Dakkur had to ask what made him so confident, "why do you think you are going to win this?" as opposed to someone trained for it. In the interests of fairness none of the corpsmen present was going to compete but one could never tell who was in the crowd.

Dakkur had no training for throwing knives which was why he decided where accuracy was needed yet unavailable, he would rely on the tried and true moratallen ways and use strength to power through it. It was not just Dakkur though but everyone which the corpsman thought had the wrong method which got this treatment. They did not need to tell Dakkur he was holding the knife wrong, he was already aware there was a high probability that was the case. The comment of the way he stood though left him to pause wondering what exactly they meant. Him and many others on the podium as Dakkur could see plenty of blank looks. This brought to a simple demonstration of throwing their knives at the target but before the participants could do anything, a few corpsman came up and did some corrections, except for Mr Clown, Mr Clown said he knew what he was doing and then was content to being left alone.

What was it called... the Riverland toss? Apparently something not suited for a fight under most circumstances but adopted by the Riverland Corps because sometimes they needed help making decisions, whatever that means. Held at neither the blade or the handle but at the middle of the knife, it was akin to sailing the knife into the air- like a paper airplane. "Why not use pap-" Hush, it was time to toss and Dakkur did the Riverland toss. Full force! He did not even need to be accurate and ended up doing a lot better than all the other participants as two of his knives embedded themselves into the target while the other flew so far away someone had to retrieve them. All save for Mr Clown. Dakkur had no idea what he was doing but could see the performer in him so he thought Mr Clown had no designs on winning and just wanted to entertain people to lighten the mood.

One knife.

Two knives.

Three knives.

Mr Clown juggled them in his hands in a deft performance which could only suggest a lot of practice and along with everyone else watching Dakkur could only clap but the claps abruptly stopped when Mr Clown too started tossing his knives; they flew into the air rather quickly and if Dakkur could remember right they barely even touched the man's hands before they were already moving forward. Swish, swish, swish.

One knife.

Two knives.

Three knives.

"What the fuck was that?" Dakkur asked after the competition was over because the entire display seemed impossible. Well the Riverland Corps had the Riverland toss and so did the performers of the streets have their own styles hidden as acts. What Mr Clown did was just one of them. Nothing better than to catch someone off guard by distracting them with a sudden performance and then immediately turn them into a pin cushion before they even knew what was happening. "I thought you folk were all about bringing joy and cheer?" Dakkur asked because what was described to him seemed to be more of pain and suffering. Mr Clown's answer was rather inconclusive and Dakkur decided to not press the matter further before he continued on with his explorations of the festival on his own.