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Dust & Duskwights
On a whim, I decided to check out this Grindstone fighting tournament that happens just outside of Ul’dah near the end of every week.  I’m not entirely sure what I expected, but the crowd was unbelievable!  Not just the crowd of spectators, but the sheer size of the field of combatants.  It was easily fifteen to twenty fighters, if not more.
The first fight of the night that I spectated was between an Elezen and a Roegadyn.  It was easy to tell right off the bat that the Elezen was nervous, not that I blame him.  The unholy terror that was the mass of scar tissue and immovable muscle that was his opponent is something that might haunt my worst nightmares for a long time to come.  Were I a betting miqo’te, I would’ve wagered against him then and there.  Alas, there don’t seem to be bookies a this event, so I simply watched and enjoyed the show.
As predicted, the Elezen lost to the Roegadyn, but not without putting up a fight.  I turned my attention to watch a Hyur and a fellow miqo’te duke it out, but somewhere near the end, the Elezen from the first fight came over to talk to me!  I have to say, it was unexpected, I didn’t really expect the fighters to notice anyone watching or to care much if we did.  He introduced himself as Grenat and his Elezen companion as Theronault.  I half suspect there’s more to their friendship than meets the eye, given how much Theronault fretted over him.  Not that it bothers me any, but they didn’t make mention of it either.
The three of us watched the remaining bouts together, finding our favorites and cheering them on, even if our chosen miqo’te heroine “Chocolate†lost in the final round to some white-haired hector with a propensity for excessive violence.  Eventually, Grenat and Theronault had to depart, so I watched the Championship bout between the brutal warrioress and a woman named Piper which, sadly, ended with the former winning overall.  A disappointment, but at least I didn’t leave empty-handed.
I had potential new contacts, after all. Â And contacts always meant more work.
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