As expected, the city contacted the party with their official invitation to the tournament not too long after the incident with the goblins. Mid-afternoon, they'd gather to meet the other teams and introduce themselves. It was an excellent opportunity, and Alvec could easily pour more fuel on the fire. How to announce himself was a big question. No one here knew who his family was. He'd not used his family's name yet and had hoped to make do without it. So far, they were doing fine, but the temptation was there. Name-dropping them at the festival's announcement would generate a lot of buzz among the arcane spell casters. It very well could create some business for them as well. He'd been grappling with the question for a while.

"Hey, Mavec, can we chat?" Alvec said as he fell behind the rest of the party. Mavec nodded and followed suit.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Does the name Reynore mean anything to you?" Alvec asked.

Mavec paused momentarily and repeated the name in his head a few times. Weren't they a really prestigious family of wizards? One of them was the head of conjuration at the Capitals Academy. They weren't royalty but were often employed as advisors in the banners and beyond. "Yeah, fancy wizard family. Pretty damn powerful ones, I hear." They weren't so powerful as to be known outside of arcane circles, but that explained why Mavec was being asked the question."Why do you bring it up?"

"I'm..." He paused momentarily, unsure what the best way to say it even was. How do you just casually say your grandfather created a bastard branch from one of the most prestigious families in the arcane world as far as the Empire was concerned. "Snaptail was just a nickname I started using. My family name is Reynore. The Reynore's... I'm from a bastard branch, but even so, I could evoke their namesake at the festival. I'm not sure I should, though."

"What's the con to it?" Mavec asked.

"Anel would hate it. I'm sure I'd suffer some sort of bullshit backlash from her. She's the woman who should have been my grandmother. Head of Conjuration at the Royal Academy. Additionally, I feel like I'd lose a little bit of satisfaction. Does that make sense? I'd rather make it alone than coast along on their namesake," he frowned.

"It sounds complicated. Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but hey, I'll bear the brunt of whatever blowback you face with you. We're a team and a damn good one at that," Mavec replied. "So just do what feels right."

What felt right, huh? He felt like he deserved the same advantage that the others of his name had been given. He felt denied those opportunities, yet he also thought it would be too easy. He'd come this far by his intellect and drive. He could go further, too. There was no reason to start leaning on a family who had done nothing for him but toss out complications into his life. It was bad enough that he'd had to write Iridel and message him. That was a matter of security for the Empire, though, on the first account and fear on the second.

The group arrived to find the stands already quite full. It felt as if the bulk of the city was there to see who this year's contestants would be. They were ushered into a large tent where various groups were hanging out and discussing amongst themselves. With sixteen teams of five, there were nearly 200 people under this tent once you factored in staff, animal companions, and familiars. The teams seemed to be mainly keeping to themselves, only mingling at the edges.

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The banners were the easiest of the groups to spot. Pacta alone cut an impressive visage in the room. She wore no armor, just a white gi, a robe often worn by martial artists, and a red armband representing her work with the Red Banner Army.

Naya rushed over to her straight away. "Pacta! I can't wait for round two!"

"As excitable as ever, Naya. How have you been since Cellocht's party?" Pacta asked, giving a short bow to her.

"We've been good. Cellocht gave Alvec a compound that used to be owned by a martial chapter. We've had some adventures and have fought devils four times!"

"That's alarming," Pacata responded.

"Yeah, but honestly, it hasn't been that bad. Our group has been pretty good. Not to mention, our neighbors are so nice. Edis was a scout in the Green Banner Army and now runs a boarding house. We have a painter living next door, a wizard, and many more. Then there are other strange but cool people like the lawyers and Ben, and how could I forget Muscle Angel? That's what Bait calls the Aasimar barkeep down the road from us."

The two continued their chat enthusiastically as Illaria and Alvec approached the representatives from the Blue Banner army. The two members in front of Illaria waved.

"Commodore told us we'd be running into you. He didn't say anything about having to fight you, though. Not looking forward to this, even if it gives the blue banner two chances to gain some glory," The one on the right said. He was a rough and tumble-looking man who was thin and athletic. His hair was cut short and brown. His face was covered in a thick stubble.

"I'm hoping we don't directly clash unless it's in the finals," Illaria said, extending a hand to him. "Dannon and Jud, this is Alvec. He's a wizard, too."

"Shield wizard," Alvec added, patting his mithril buckler.

"That doesn't sound viable. You should stick to range and tricks."

"Just you watch; I'll show you how viable it is," Alvec said.

"I'd put my money on Alvec," Illaria said playfully, pulling out a gold coin. "You boys want to bet against my intuition?"

"No thanks; I've seen you fight enough to know that if you're willing to lay out gold, he's not to be trifled with."

"He killed a devil just the other day," Illaria said, smirking.

"Hey, it wasn't just me. You stabbed him a few times, too, and if I remember, Bait landed a shot, as well," Alvec replied.

"Where is that little goblin anyway? I brought him a small gift. Sea-salted cheese. They were selling it in Ac-Aziza."

"Oh, he's around here somewhere," she said nervously, casting a glance toward the other goblin tribe. "I suppose I shouldn't be leaving him alone for too long. He's apt to be getting himself into some trouble with the other goblins if we aren't there to, uh, supervise," Illaria said, glancing around the room. There were an obnoxious number of Goblins in the room, enough that her usual tactics of looking for his green head or sniffing him out, Dahn spare her, weren't exactly good options.

"Want me to message him? Pretty sure I can pick his mind out just by thinking cheese in various directions," Alvec said, raising a finger to his temples.

"No, we needn't find him yet. There are enough other goblins here that he'll not cause any worse of a scene. Besides, isn't that Mavec speaking to those other goblins now?" Illaria said, pointing him out.