The knock roused him from a deep sleep, without a clue as to how long it had actually been going on. The old man rolled from his bed, tripping over the garbage, dirty clothes and fodder that littered his floor. He shoved on a pair of boots and skidded his feet toward the door.

"Yea, yea, yea..." Dalthid grumbled, "I'm comin'..." he added as he stopped at a disheveled box that acted as a small table. He pulled a cigarra from a metal pan and lit it as it sat in his mouth. The Stennes inhaled deeply before letting the smoke pass his lips and float into the air while the knocking continued. "Look! I said I was comin'..." he shouted as he walked over and yanked the door open. "What?! Crap... damn... sir, didn't know it was you..."
"I still can't believe you live down here." the LM said in reference to the Combat Centre's sub-basement.
"Yea... well... it's home... wanna come in?"
"No thanks..." Jin began as his nose caught the smell that was trying to desperately escape from the Pontifex's chamber, "I have something for you."
"Suit yerself. What is it?"
"Orders."
"Orders?"
"Yea, you've been reassigned."
"What!" Dalthid interrupted, "that's crap! That battle was fair and square... stupid kid thought he could handle two blades at on..."
"You're not getting fired, Dal." Jin interrupted.
"Come again?"
"Mal'ari'carun retired."
"..."
"We've decided that you're to take your post as the new Combat Master."
"..."
"Well?" Jin asked.
"Yes?!" Dalthid said, still in shock.
"Good. Here," the LM said as he shoved a datapad into Dalthid's hand, "your orders, they'll allow your access." With that, the Adept turned curtly and walked away as the notion finally crept into the Stennes's head.
'What the hell just happened?!" Dalthid shouted, causing Jin to stop.
"You got a new job," the Adept reported, "now, don't let me catch you screwin' around!" he added as he left.

Dalthid fell back against the door jamb, in awe, and slid down to the floor.

---

[OOC:]

• Dark Betrayal will be dealt with. I will read what everyone has got and decide on a fair course of action. I have a glimpse of the way Alaric wanted it handled, so that's what I will go by, for the most part.

• Plan on the Championship Ladders at the end of the RoS... and by "plan", I mean, this isn't talk... it's going to happen. Briefly:

*Four (4) Ladders, each culminating in the selection of 1 Champion. That champion will NOT fight in the subsequent ladders, but the combatants that didn't make it can sign up again if they want.
*With the selection of 4 Champions, a final ladder will hack those 4 down to 1. (The 3 who didn't make it will still maintain the title of Champion. More on that later)
*The final Champion will go against your's truly for the title of Supreme Champion. After all, the "Supreme Champion" should be just that, the pinnacle of other Champions.

Those are just two quick things that I want swimming around in your heads right now. The rest will come with time, though there isn't that much that many of you will notice.

BTW, I'm Dalthid, the new Combat Master. I have (usually) less than 24 hour turn around time on mail, so feel free to drop me a line.

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