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"In ancient times, the Lords of Cao Wei would climb Yuntai Mountain to see the whole kingdom laid out before them. Those days are long gone, but the Mountain remains a symbol of leadership, and today it could, just possibly, crown another king – or rather, a queen. Hello everyone, and welcome to Cao Wei for the penultimate race of the 1454 season of the Imperial League. I'm Sam Tinbru, and with me as always is former IL Team Principal Bob Anmo."

"Hello."

"Where do we start, Bob, there seems to be so much to talk about?"

"There is, this is a place for big swings in the championship. He might not have sealed the crown here last year, but you'd have to say that this was where Feran Andoal really finally turned the tide in his favour over Lucia."

"Yes, and of course it was also where the championship came down to only two riders, with Therese Ikaha falling just too far behind to have a chance of beating Andoal and Aelschu. Incredibly, today there are still five riders in with a mathematical chance of the championship."

"There are, though in Arden Markwe's case it's mostly theoretical. He'd need to win both of the remaining races and basically none of the other contenders to score."

"Even so – and he's a fighter, he certainly won't write himself off like that – to have four riders with a serious title shot with only two races left to go is extraordinary, isn't it?"

"Undoubtedly, we've been treated to a historic season this year."

"Do you think it could be decided today?"

"I think it's extremely unlikely, Sam. I'm sure you've got the permutations ready to go, but it's really such a long shot."

"It is, and you're right, I have. It's easier to talk about the teams competition, in fact that one is very simple. If Temisia don't outscore Royal Hermeia by at least two points here, Royal Hermeia are the champions. How likely is that, do you think?"

"It's a tall order. Just look at the matchups – Feran's Corredeira and Arden's Fleet suit this course, but you'd have to favour Corry in any head-to-head. Meanwhile Lucia's more than got the measure of Gerry Ipemas in the battle of the golds, but neither Olympia or Renner's ever gone well here."

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"Well, that makes it even harder for Lucia to seal the Championship. The maths work out like this: If Lucia wins, then if Feran and Niki Coro are off the podium and Phoebe Tenryuu doesn't score at all, then Lucia takes the championship."

"No way that's happening."

"Not a chance at all?"

"Look at what happened yesterday in qualifying. A spectacular duel between Phoebe and Feran, Arden a little way off the pace behind them, and then an absolute riot among the golds. Nobody would put sane money on a gold dragon even getting on the podium."

"Are you sure? This race can produce some pretty erratic results."

"Let's hope it doesn't, this course is extremely dangerous. Down in the gorge through the first sector, it's so tight, the rocks are so close. I don't want to wish for a boring race, but chaos is the exact opposite of what we want here."

"That's very true. Do you think we'll see the championship swing in the favour of the smaller dragons, then?"

"It did last year, dramatically so. And you know, we've hardly mentioned young Phoebe Tenryuu, but this is absolutely her sort of territory – she was mighty at Aletsch Gorge back in the spring, and this place is very similar. Her team's come on in leaps and bounds, too. She's very likely to leave here leading the championship – Feran might close the gap a bit but he's not going to overtake her."

"I'm sure he absolutely loves that thought."

"Love it or leave it, he's got to lump it. Phoebe's had an astonishing rookie season, and she's really come back on form brilliantly in this final leg."

"You think she can win the championship?"

"You asked me that a couple of races ago, Sam, and I'll admit I was sceptical, but now? You know, I did a little maths of my own-"

"Wow, that's rare from you."

"Shut up and tell me if you think this is a plausible scenario. Let's say Phoebe wins over Feran, and Lucia comes first of the golds but can't catch up to Arden for Royal Hermeia to order the swap. Sound good so far?"

"Sure."

"That puts Phoebe on ninety-seven points, Lucia on ninety-three and Feran on eighty-nine. She could afford to come in behind them both at the Winter Palace and still be champion, provided she was on the podium."

"Lucia first and Phoebe third at the Palace would put them level, right?"

"I saw that too, so I checked, and Phoebe holds all the tie-breakers. If she wins today, that'd be five wins, which would be level with Lucia if she wins at the Winter Palace, and with Phoebe's result from Guicheng she has three second-place finishes to Lucia's one."

"Extraordinary. Well, you make a compelling case, I'll give you that."

"I'm still not a hundred percent convinced. I favour Soot over Corredeira for a lot of this course, it's so tight from the dam down to the bottom, but Feran's starting from pole and he's got a lot more experience than Phoebe. He's wily, and he's never forgiven her for that move back at Gutefjellet. It'll take everything Phoebe's got to get past and keep him behind."

"It's going to be an exciting afternoon, then?"

"Absolutely spellbinding, for sure."