Those seeking fresh air and a view much prettier than that of hardy evergreen and rocks come to the Courtyard to lounge around. Although while this place might seem to be for pleasure it is also a place of pain and hard work. Training dummies are set up away from the expansive gardens and benches where their fellows can either gaze at the plantlife or watch them get their arses handed to them. Training dummies are set up inside a wide circle floored with hardened dirt. This circle is roughly fifty feet in perimeter and is a place where Hollow Training takes place. Novices seem to avoid this place if possible but the higher ranking Knights come here often to train and learn.
Often it is wondered if the benches were set up for people to enjoy the gardens, which with their high foliage and delicious fruit bearing trees and aromatic flower, along with their calming fountains and soothing ponds are quite a beautiful sight. Or if they are there for bored comrades to laugh and joke about those inside the circle who are learning from deceased knights and typically getting more bruises, lumps and scrapes than they have clear skin. And it does not matter what rank you are, no one leaves the circle without at least several new bruises to wince at.
Although the circle is typically used for training it is also well used by those seeking to settle a score with rivals. Boys, and girls, tend to get antsy and snap out at others, especially if the other person in question is spreading nasty rumors. The circle allows for them to get out their anger at others in the form of a duel. Only in very rare cases is the duel a fight to the death and typically it is heavily monitored by ghosts and living officials as the younger, and sometimes adult, participants hack at each other with pointy, sharp objects of their choosing. The agreement is that the winner of the duel is the winner of the argument. And people can be champion for others who can't fight as well. The dueling has cut back on most of the hallway brawls and catfights that tend to erupt when a good sized group of individuals is placed together and given weaponry.
*Hollow Training- Ghosts of Death Knights past come to being in a flurry of wind and solidifying of mist. They come whenever one steps into the circle and they stay the duration of one's stay. They are there to help train the rising generation of Death Knights and it is with them that the old moves and traditions are remembered by the newest of the ranks. They help those of every rank become better fighters and better people.
