Mike (Grod Sangaree) has departed from our company, but Billy (Mebble) has stepped up to take his place. The rest of our group all show up on time: Tim (Anpago Yost), Chris (Tonk Sangaree), Chuck (Darg Sangaree), Bruce (Longfellow Yost) and Paul.
There are several magical objects currently migrating about the group with no fixed home, including a pair of Gloves of Swimming, an Ironwood Chest and a Cloak of +1 Resistance. Longfellow Yost takes the Gloves of Swimming for the moment, with the understanding that if anyone else needs them he will give them up. Anpago Yost indicates that he is a wizard and needs a magical cloak, so he gets the Cloak of +1 Resistance.
The departed Morgan Sangaree has been buried in the graveyard at Crobin's Crossing along with his masterwork longsword and masterwork instrument. The characters find out in their absence that the local bard Sparrow has composed a ballad in Morgan's honor, a ballad that makes him out to be the best bard the world has ever seen. He has been performing this ballad in the public spaces of the town for some time. When the characters return to Crobin's Crossing, complete strangers approach them and offer their condolences on their loss.
The characters travel back as far as their hometown of King's Wood to gather a replacement for Morgan Sangaree and to bid farewell to Grod Sangaree as he heads off to his new career as a headsman for Lord Chopfist up North. When they arrive in town, they are greeted by Mebble, a halfling of short statue, bright red hair and blue eyes. Uncle Enzo Sangaree recommends him as a new member of their company. Mebble claims to be some kind of archer or ranger and from his dress is obviously a woodsman. Or thinks that he is. His credibility is enhanced by his giant riding boar, a mean-looking creature with tusks that could disembowel a dragon. Longfellow Yost looks at the creature and mourns, "Oh, poor Yellow-Tusk..." Anpago Yost pats him on the back and tells him, "Circle of life, dude. Circle of life."
Mebble tells the characters, "I hear you folks are supposed to be going to Highthrone, but you've been having trouble actually getting there. I can help guide you." Tonk Sangaree offers, "It wasn't our fault, dude! First there were the undead, and then we went shopping, and Longfellow wanted to be a druid, and... and... Oh whatever, go ahead and help us find Highthrone."
The characters establish that they still have a cart and a mule.
The characters resume their journey to Highthrone. After a day on the road, they meet some pilgrims of Fahrlangn, the God of Travel. Some of the characters know that when the followers of Fahrlangn go on a pilgrimage, they don't go to a specific location. They just travel until they are done. This process is called the Eternal Pilgrimage. There are several rules to the Eternal Pilgrimage. For example, a pilgrim must travel for at least eight hours a day, must not travel over the same territory twice, and must offer hospitality to anyone they meet. In accordance with this last, the pilgrims offer the characters hospitality.
The lead pilgrim is a devout fellow named Fils Bonden. He asks the characters their business, and is rather skeptical of their subsequent claim to be merchants. He points out that they don't seem to be carrying anything to sell. Tonk Sangaree admits that the characters are not really merchants, their older relatives won't let them handle money. But they are serving as an advance party for other family members who are merchants. Oddly, Bonden has heard of the Sangaree family. Their patron deity is Fahrlangn, and various family members have donated quite a lot of money to his church.
Satisfied that the characters are not random passing psychopaths, Bonden asks, "Are you going to the Tournament in Oakwood?" Tonk Sangaree practically drools out, "There's a tournament? When?" Bonden tells him that it started a day ago, and will continue on for another two days. It is based around the Feast of Pelor the Sun, and will include some contests of arms and strength.
Upon hearing that the festivities might include feats of strength and skill, Darg Sangaree perks up and demands that the characters attend. Nobody is willing to raise any objections to this plan.
Bonden gives his regrets that he and his companions will not be able to join the characters there, as they are heading to the Northwest. He has personally devoted his life to the Eternal Pilgrimage and will travel until the end of his days, or until there are no more roads for him to walk. Tonk admires his dedication, meanwhile whispering, "Fanatic..." to the other characters. Darg Sangaree gives him a dirty look, commenting, "We prefer to call it 'faith', you miserable heathen."
Tonk Sangaree asks Fils Bonden if he has heard anything about goblin attacks out of the Spider Woods. Bonden indicates that such attacks have become very rare these days, and the people down South are currently more worried about the depredations of the pirate Black Tom. He is known to trade in slaves, and sells them in the Dragon Kingdoms, a coalition of city-states ruled by dragons. Longfellow Yost comments, "So, their tax codes, they must be fairly regressive?" Darg pipes up, "Yep! They're Draconian!"
Fortunately, Oakwood is on the way to Highthrone, so the characters would go past the place anyway. They arrive in town desperately aware of the fact that they look like carny folk: their group includes a bear, a toad, a young gnoll, three war dogs, a halfling and a riding boar.
Oakwood is primarily supported by the lumber industry, a fact that causes Longfellow some measure of anguish. It seems to have a population of about 2500 folk. Most of the local shops are currently closed; the characters deduce that this is because all the shopkeepers are off at the Tournament.
It doesn't take the characters much time to learn that the Tournament Grounds are outside town to the South and that the characters are not able to participate in the Tourney proper because they are not of the nobility. However, the woodcutter the characters talk to indicates that commoners are allowed to participate in the Melee and the Behourd. The Melee involves fighting between two teams of five, while the Behourd is a one-on-one contest between two men armed with clubs and dressed in leather armor. The woodcutter and is somewhat upset because he has to work today and can't attend. He is particularly upset because there are some new merchants who have just arrived, and have some very neat stuff.
The characters have no choice but to visit.
The first things the characters see at the Tournament Grounds are the guest tents. There are a lot of impressive pavilions brought by the nobles who intend to compete in the contests. There is a marketplace Southeast of the guest tents. The tents in the marketplace are primarily plain, but off to one side is a cluster of very colorful tents that look like they have only been set up today. Further South are the stables and the jousting yards. Finally, the Duke of Oakwood has a huge, ornate tent South of the yards. The bleachers for the Melee and the Behourd are nearby.
The characters find a wall of shields near the stables. Occasionally a squire will come over and consult a registry on a nearby desk, then strike one of the shields with a hammer. This is meant to be a signal that some noble is going to be participating in a contest.
Both the Melee and the Behourd are fought with blunted weapons (subdual damage only). Missile weapons are not permitted in the Melee. Neither are locking gauntlets. It costs 250 gold for a team to sign up for the Melee. Tonk announces, "I'll cover it!" He gets less enthusiastic when he learns that most of the prizes are not worth enough to cover the registration fee. The Behourd only costs 20 gold per person. Everyone except Longfellow signs up and pays their money.
Tonk pays the registration fees, then advises that the group head over to Fashion by Thom to get a quick family crest sewn up. Thom is a very fashionable elf with huge ears who is quite willing to provide a little something. He also manages to sell each of the characters fine traveling clothes for 40 gold each (Tonk pays for most of this).
With their new finery arranged, Anpago and Darg announce that they want to purchase Behourd-legal clubs. They make their way to the colorful tents of Legendary Weapons, where they talk to an old man who suggests that his shop isn't the best place to buy simple weapons - minimum price for anything he sells is 2300 gold. All of his weapons are enchanted, and each of them has its own unique history. Anpago and Tonk walk out of the place and go to MacPaddy's Head-Crackers to buy themselves simple clubs. The shop owner tries to sell Tonk a masterwork enchanted club made from bones. He says that it was made by a hag who loved children, even though they went right to her hips. Tonk declines and takes Anpago off to find another vendor.
Anpago finds himself incredibly frustrated in his quest for a quality club vendor. He talks to a dwarf who sells flutes that mimic various animal calls. The dwarf is able to sell him a flute that sounds like a toad, but is almost offended by the idea that any of his products might be used as blunt weapons. Finally, Anpago confesses his troubles to Darg, who scratches his head in confusion and explains that clubs are nominally free in the standard price list. Darg holds up a rough piece of wood he just picked up near the sawmill and explains, "See? Club! Heavy wood, hit people with the big end. Why you need to make this so difficult?" Anpago fumes and picks up another bit of scrap wood. Tonk practically falls over laughing, only narrowly avoiding accidentally drowning in the mill pond.
As the characters head out of the marketplace they hear a vendor crying out, "Nobody who has worn this charm has ever been killed by dragons! They get killed too quickly by all the poisonous snakes it attracts."
Anpago howls out, "I'm going first! How much damage does a club do?" Longfellow watches from the sidelines while preparing lots of Cure Light Wounds spells. Anpago finds out that he has been matched against a local favorite, a warrior named Zog, the local Constable. He is bowlegged and blonde. His turn-offs include women with communicable diseases and cabbage soup. His turn-ons include long walks in the wilderness and things that die the first time he hits them. Anpago can feel his manhood shriveling in the face of Zog's clever insults.
Anpago strikes deliberately and gets first blood on Zog. The two of them crack at each other for quite a while, exchanging vicious club strikes. Finally, Anpago manages to deliver a solid strike to Zog's leg. There is a tremendous cracking sound and Zog sags to the ground, dropping his club. Anpago walks off, victorious. Hoping to score a couple of points with the local constabulary, Longfellow casts two Cure Light Wounds on the defeated Zog and gives him a friendly pat on the back. Anpago is awarded five points by the judges.
Darg is next in the ring. He fights against Wencel, Squire to Sir Volkoff. His opponent is only about half his size, and looks quite worried. Darg simply beats the poor fellow into the ground. Then heals him afterwards and helps him off the field. Wencel sits on the bleachers near the characters. They notice that several other people walk up to him and ask if he is okay. Darg scores three points.
Tonk is next. He draws Smith, a sullen young man who serves as Squire to Sir Yorik, a Knight whose family crest consists of three thistles. Go figure. Tonk fells Smith in two blows. Tonk scores four points because Smith never managed to touch him.
Mebble saunters out onto the field. He finds that he is matched up against a priest of Kord who is wielding a "maximum legal" club two-handed. Longfellow yells, "Ten silvers on the priest!" Anpago counters, "Ten silvers on the halfling! Go get him, Squeaky!" Mebble squeaks, "WHAT!?!" Longfellow makes an additional bet of five silvers that the priest takes down the halfling without taking a hit. Mebble quickly makes this moot, as he hits the priest. The priest then calls upon the POWER OF KORD! His STR goes up by five. Mebble delivers a series of strikes as the priest discovers just how hard it is to hit the small, elusive halfling. The priest falls down after Mebble delivers a crucial hit to his nads. Longfellow loses 15 silver to Anpago. The other priests of Kord laugh at their felled compatriot. Mebble gets four points.
Anpago draws a slumming knight, Sir Saunders. He is a big bear of a man. It takes Sir Saunders only four strikes to knock Anpago out. Anpago gets one point for taking it like a man, plus twenty gold from a side bet with a spectator that he could take more than three blows from the guy.
Darg comes up against he priest of Kord that Mebble took down in the first round. He figures that if a halfling can put the guy down, he should be able to stomp on him Old School. Plus, he knows that priests of Kord can only call on the STRENGTH OF KORD once per day. Darg hits him strongly twice, driving him into the ground on the second strike. The third hit takes the priest out. Darg scores five points for winning without being hit.
Tonk is next. He finds himself facing Sir Saunders, who it turns out has STR 20. Tonk decides after one mighty strike that he'd better go for the disarm option. He manages to disarm the guy after sustaining several crushing blows, winning the match and scoring three points. Afterwards Sir Saunders congratulates him, "That was a truly excellent match! I did not think that anyone in the Behourd could beat me! Come around to my tent for some mead!" Tonk nods and moans, "I took 29 points of damage... Oooh..." Anpago staggers by offering, "Don't worry, I took 39 points of damage."
While providing some first aid, Longfellow and Darg notice that Tonk's blood seems strangely blue. Neither of them know what the problem is. They take him to the three old women in the healers' tent. They tell him that the color is just an illusion, and ask if he wants to pay 60 gold for healings. Anpago walks up and tells Tonk, "Oh hey, it was just a prank. Here, you want a beer?" Tonk is still clearly confused by multiple head wounds because he still hands over 60 gold to the wise women.
Mebble's next opponent is an older Squire, a lad of perhaps 18 years of age. He is younger brother to Sir Christopher, whom he works for. He gets roundly applauded by the crowd for a solid hit that knocks the Squire's shield away. And then he puts the fellow down and gets six points for his trouble.
Anpago is matched against a rough-looking city guardsman from Port Delour. Anpago sucks up a steady diet of damage from the guy. He has no style or technique, but he has obviously been in a lot of fights. Every fight this guy has been in has been just like this. Anpago gets hit six times in a row and falls to the ground. He gets zero points for the match.
Darg is next. He is facing the same city guard that just knocked Anpago silly. The battle turns into a drag-out bloodfest that leaves Darg with three hit points left and the city guard unconscious on the ground. Darg gains three points.
Tonk's third battle is against Sir Christopher's squire. They basically beat each other into submission. The fight is a draw, with three points to both. Mebble comments, "You know, I've known children who've grown up in the time it took for that fight."
Mebble's final battle is against the city guardsman. He takes seven hits in a row (one better than Anpago) before he sags to the ground. He gets one point.
The final scores for the characters are: Mebble 12, Darg 11, Tonk 10, and Anpago 7. Mebble gets a masterwork shortsword as a prize. Darg gets a moonstone and silver ring (worth about 100 gold). All of the characters gain experience from their battles:
| Anpago | 1200 (and a level) |
|---|---|
| Mebble | 2800 |
| Tonk | 2000 (and a level) |
| Darg | 1700 (and a level) |
Tonk heads over to Sir Saunders' tent to drink mead. He finds out that Sir Saunders has a very unassuming Squire with a stutter, and a practically limitless capacity for mead. As far as he can tell, the knight sees no reason to consume any actual food beyond mead. Tonk very cleverly decides to not try and match him.
After draining four flagons dry, Sir Saunders claps Tonk on the shoulders and says, "So, you're going to Highthrone, huh? Lemme tell you about the best place in the city. It's called Liere's Corner. They have some of the most beautiful women you'll ever meet, and the inn adjoins a separate building accessible through a cellar passageway, just in case you'd like one of the waitresses to entertain you. Very nice indeed. Plus they have the best tea in the whole valley."
In return, Tonk tells Sir Saunders about the candy shop in the D'Tarascon town. Sir Saunders seems to relish the idea of good salt-water taffy.
The Melee rules are simple: no spells, no permanent damage (so everybody is mostly at -4 to hit), and if you take three hits or lose your weapon somehow you're out. Magic weapons are okay to use. There are five teams entered, including the characters. Every team except for the characters' team are composed entirely of nobles, and every single one of them is wearing heavy armor and carrying a heavy weapon. The team to beat is made up of a bunch of knights, including Sir Saunders, who are the favorites from the joust.
Tonk charges one group of knights and disarms one of them, then sucks up enough hits to take him off the field. Longfellow takes two hits and loses consciousness, amazing the other characters with just how fragile a druid can be. Darg is the next one out. He observes that the characters' team is getting cleaned out the quickest, with the possible exception of the yellow team. Mebble and Anpago are the last remaining members of the characters' team. Until they get crushed. Eventually, the team the characters spent all their time fighting wins because they're far less damaged than the favorite team. At the end, Sir Saunders is left alone, fighting against three guys. And gets taken down.
Anpago points out that the characters can hold up their chins because they were not the first team to be taken out, and initially fought the team that eventually won. Plus they were underequipped and fielded two characters that were not actually fighter-types. The characters get a copper trophy. And 640 experience points.
The Melee was held early upon the last day of the Tournament. As they stagger from the field the characters notice that all of the brightly-colored tents are now gone. The characters are briefly concerned about illusions and teleporting faerie bazaars, but are happy to hear some of the locals mention that they actually saw the tents packed up and driven away last night.
The final event is the Pageant, which consists of the local knights and nobles acting out historical stories for the commoners. This year, the story is of Sir Melkun's fight against the Goblin King Croone. Sir Melkun fought a valiant but doomed defense against the raging goblin hordes. In his last battle he was forced back to his castle. At the darkest moment of the tale the invidious Goblin King summons dark powers to shatter the castle and all the defenders. Sir Saunders won the joust and has the honor of playing the part of High Marshal Toombe, leader of the human army that finally faced the Goblin King and forced the goblins back to the Spider Woods.
Tonk takes every opportunity he can to tell squires and knights that there were gnolls in the Murdersome Woods, working for the goblins in the Spider Wood. He explains that the characters killed all the gnolls they could find, but that there could be more.
Late that night, a page summons the characters to appear before Duke Morris. Anpago mourns, "Oh no, we're under arrest for fear-mongering." Duke Morris turns out to be a fairly stout, hearty man. He is also very informal, which is odd for a Duke. He starts out directly, "I've heard some rumors about goblin spies, and I want to hear the truth from the source." Tonk tells him everything the characters know about the recent gnoll infestation, including the claim that they were planning on spying on the soldiers in the keep at Crobin's Crossing.
He thanks the characters for the information and sends them on their way.
The characters make it to the base of the mountain unmolested. Tonk comments, "I was really getting worried about that gang of sailors." There is a small settlement at the mountain's base that serves as a way-station for the flying ships that come out of Highthrone. There is a big landing dock with cradles for the ships around the edge of the settlement. Two vessels are docked when the characters arrive.
The characters head over to the cradle docks where a harried official tells them they can buy passage to Highthrone if the captains are willing. He thinks that Captain Bondshea is offering a rate of 30 gold per person for passage to Highthrone. Another local tells the characters that the Aerie Guard keeps the region fairly safe, and that they work on a path up, so it only takes a couple of days to get to the city.
The session ends with the characters preparing for the trip up the mountains to Highthrone. The characters have gained different quantities of experience points:
| Character | Experience Gains |
|---|---|
| Anpago | 1840 (and a level) |
| Darg | 2340 (and a level) |
| Longfellow | 640 |
| Mebble | 3440 |
| Tonk | 2640 (and a level) |