The tourney apparently followed a very specific format, as the herald announced loudly before the first tilt had even begun, held in honor of the war so recently fought and the five warring principalities that had started it , Kakunia, Habadia, Ezvania, Oizen, and Sharjaan.
Five champions had been personally chosen by the crown for the occasion. For the opening round, each champion would select his own opponent to prove himself against, and any knight who managed to unhorse a champion would claim that champion's place in turn. By the tourney's end, the five champions still standing, whether original or newly claimed, would face one another until only a single victor remained.
And it was to him that the favor of Yarzat would go.
Each of the five champions, it soon became clear, was well known enough that Owen had no trouble naming them off.
