As Jalen Rivers stood guard, looking over the scene as everyone took their place and the final preparations were rushed through by some Starkhaven locals, a woman caught Jalen’s eyes briefly. He shook his head, his mind sure that he recognized the face or that perhaps he should recognize the face. But before he could get a second look she had gone. He could have tried to follow her, but the likelihood of finding her in this crowd was slim. So instead he kept his position.<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://greywardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/arcanehorror1.gif)</div>A loud gong sounded, letting everyone in attendance know that the tournament had officially begun. From a high position in the built stadium, the Prince of Starkhaven, Sebastian Vael stood up so that all those in the arena could see him. He stood tall and looked regal in white and blue as he looked over the arena. The crowd went silent as he began to speak. “Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to one of the finest cities in the Free Marches, the city of Starkhaven. Loyal to the Maker, Andraste and the Chantry. And it is mine and Starkhaven’s honor to host this year’s Grand Tourney. Me and my family are pleased to welcome all these fine warriors into our lands. From Templars to Bards. Assassins to Reavers. This is the tournament were all fighters prove themselves, and one person can become the Grand Champion of the Free Marches. So to the fighters, good luck…………….and to the spectators, enjoy the festivities. Let the Grand Tourney begin!”<br/><br/>With his words spoken, he sat back down with the rest of his family. A master of ceremonies went over the rules, which included no magic and that the fight must stop as soon as an opponent yields. After all the rules had been laid out, the first fight began. The first fighter looked far to skinny to be a fighter, and seemed to struggle even under his light armour. Some of the spectators laughed, some booed. But nobody seemed to like this skinny kid that stepped into the fight arena. The second contestant however was a big Quanari, one that Jalen had seen before from the mass of Quanari camped outside Starkhaven. He assumed that he had been sent to be the Quanari’s representative or to demonstrate the Quanari’s abilities. Either way he didn’t give the small kid a chance.<br/><br/>The fight began and the small kid ran at the Quanari Warrior, swinging a sword that was much to big for him. In comparison the Quanari stood perfectly still, until the sword was almost on him. He quickly and deftly pushed the sword away with his axe and then cut back across his opponents body in one swift motion, killing the skinny kid with one blow as he crumpled to the floor. The crowd booed such a quick fight as the Quanari looked down at the kid and started to turn away. And then Jalen heard a scream before his brain figured out exactly what his eyes were seeing. Behind the Quanari Warrior, an Arcane Horror swirled up from the ground and let out an animalistic noise. The Quanari turned around and suddenly found himself locked in a Crushing Prison spell. The Quanari was stuck and in obvious pain as the crowd reacted, most trying to get away from the Arcane Warrior.<br/><br/>Jalen moved forward to get involved but another member of the Starkhaven Guards was closer and approaching fast. The Arcane Horror spotted the Guard and threw out a fireball, which engulfed the guard in seconds as the Guard screamed and his flesh burned quickly. The Arcane Horror’s sights then set on Jalen, but Jalen quickly threw up an Arcane Shield, making his resistance to the fireball that hit him high enough to not burn him out right, but he couldn’t move closer. So instead he cast a Petrify Spell, locking the Arcane Horror in place.<br/><br/>It was then that he realized he had been reacting on instincts, and that he had case two spells, in front of thousands of people and the Prince of Starkhaven, a man that now hated the Circle of Magi and mages. He cursed himself as he felt the heat around him subside as he watched the Arcane Horror struggling against the spell that had stuck him in place.<br/>