QUOTE:
Noble Knights,

The Stratega Zora, who established this Turney, has asked me to say a few words. She is unable to be here in person as she is with the Byzantine army sent to the north to fight the Norsemen.

Lady Zora named this Turney to honour Tomyris, the Queen of the Massagetae in Central Asia over five hundred years before Christ. It was Tomyris who defeated and decapitated Cyrus the Great, he who established the ancient Empire of Persia. In winning such a victory, Tomyris achieved renown as one of the great Warrior Women of History.

Well you might ask, "what has Tomyris to do with us here in Moesia?" And indeed I did not know, but Zora was able to enlighten me. The Massagetae were part of the ancient people known as Scythians, and roamed a vast range from the East of the Caspian Sea to the West of the Black Sea, where we now stand. After defeating Cyrus in the East of her range, Tomyris rode west, to what is now Dobrudsch and Moesia, and here established the city of Tomi, now known to us as Constantia. For this we honour her with our valour today.

And so without further ado, I say let us get to the melee and thence to the first round of duels!