- Pronoun
- they or she
For significant encounters, one may need a significant location. Places of importance are built in spots that are unusual or set apart. All the better if they're precarious enough to make one wonder at the choice to place them there.
Between each half of the Abbey, on their respective mountain faces, a chasm filled with clouds held one small island of solid ground just above the sea of white vapour. Accessible only by flight, or by cable car, this tiny plateau – only about a dozen yards across – had been flattened and paved in even flagstones of black and white marble to form a circular arena. Over this space, a gazebo-like structure resembling a pagoda had been built, with a high ceiling over it. Wooden rails guarded the edge from any pokémon who might tumble over them, and curved wooden benches around the rim of the arena provided a place for any spectators. For while the ideal of this place was as a shrine for meditation and reverence, in truth this was also an arena – a place for duelling.
The Obstine monks' idea of duelling was a very different concept to that of other cultures, however. Where a Commonwealth townie might expect to walk several paces and fire a pistol, and an Escarpa warrior might expect a serious battle with natural attacks, the monks treated duelling as a form of structured debate. A small box, or chest, at each entrance to the arena held garments of black and white for participants to wear. These garments indicated that they had taken on the ceremonial roles of Truth and Ideals before their battle, or that a spectator was expressing alignment with a particular side. Any monk would gladly explain the basics of this tradition – the nuances and history of it, however, were clearly a weighty subject.
Of course, being a place for contemplation, the monastery's residents made no objection to anyone wishing to visit the shrine simply to talk, or think, or wonder.
Between each half of the Abbey, on their respective mountain faces, a chasm filled with clouds held one small island of solid ground just above the sea of white vapour. Accessible only by flight, or by cable car, this tiny plateau – only about a dozen yards across – had been flattened and paved in even flagstones of black and white marble to form a circular arena. Over this space, a gazebo-like structure resembling a pagoda had been built, with a high ceiling over it. Wooden rails guarded the edge from any pokémon who might tumble over them, and curved wooden benches around the rim of the arena provided a place for any spectators. For while the ideal of this place was as a shrine for meditation and reverence, in truth this was also an arena – a place for duelling.
The Obstine monks' idea of duelling was a very different concept to that of other cultures, however. Where a Commonwealth townie might expect to walk several paces and fire a pistol, and an Escarpa warrior might expect a serious battle with natural attacks, the monks treated duelling as a form of structured debate. A small box, or chest, at each entrance to the arena held garments of black and white for participants to wear. These garments indicated that they had taken on the ceremonial roles of Truth and Ideals before their battle, or that a spectator was expressing alignment with a particular side. Any monk would gladly explain the basics of this tradition – the nuances and history of it, however, were clearly a weighty subject.
Of course, being a place for contemplation, the monastery's residents made no objection to anyone wishing to visit the shrine simply to talk, or think, or wonder.
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