Wilderlands: Session 18

 

 

This is part of an ongoing campaign. You can find the other sessions over on the sidebar.

This session was run on September 19, 2022.

 

16 Sweetrain 4433

 

This session picked up where the last left off, with the characters questioning the witnesses to the attack on Arne Skel. As Duycken was talking to Celine, Vargr noticed a small bulge under the right side of her dress. He drew Duycken’s attention to it and the knight asked the young lady if she would allow Sylvianna to inspect her. Celine seemed taken aback but she agreed. The two women retreated to a tent alongside the lists and a few minutes later Sylvianna emerged with a bloody knife.

 

The cleric explained that she found the knife inside Lady Celine’s dress but no found no apparent means of entry for the knife. She explained that it would have been hard for Celine to quickly conceal in there herself and that it would be almost impossible for someone else to have done it without Celine noticing. There was no blood around the hem, sleave, or neck of the dress to indicate that the bloody knife had passed through one of those openings. Celine seemed genuinely surprised at the knife.

 

While the others were investigating the knife, Gwythian approached Lady Ingrid and asked her if her brother had any enemies that might want to kill him. She explained that she did not know of any enemies, but it was possible that someone he had fought in the past might bear a grudge. He also asked the Wolverine if she knew how Lady Elizabeth came to be her mother’s guest at the tournament. She did not know the specifics but told him that Elizabeth arrived with a letter of introduction from the Overlord himself.

 

The characters also cast detect magic on the knife and dress but neither displayed any magical properties. They did notice that all the young nobles had some kind of magical jewelry on them. The estimated that the blood on the dagger was no more than an hour or so old. When questioned, Lady Celine stated that she had changed her clothes about an hour ago to get ready for the evening. Lady Rixia arrived, listened to what everyone had to say and declared that all festivities were to cease for the night, and everyone should retire.

 

Back at the Morely tent, Stranger finally plied Lord Morely with enough wine that he went to bed, giving him the chance to talk to Maxine alone. He explained that he was the voice she had spoken with through the tent the night before. She was surprised but quickly warmed to him. She confirmed the rumor that she gave birth to the Overlord’s illegitimate child, and that they (she did not know the baby’s sex) were taken from her at birth. Stranger explained his own hatred of the Overlord due to the slaughter of his family and asked her if she wanted to work with him for revenge. While she expressed her own desire for revenge, she said that it was outweighed by her concerns for the safety of her child. She asked Stranger to call on at her manor after the tournament.

 

17 Sweetrain 4433

 

Sir Duycken faced Tanya Blan in the first match of the quarterfinals. Once again, Vargr cast shield of faith and bless before he took to the field. On the first pass, both missed. Duycken broke his lance on Tanya’s shield in the second pass and she scored a hit. In the final pass, Duycken missed, and Tanya scored a hit. Duycken was declared the winner on points, 3-2. As he accepted Tanya’s congratulations, Lady Elizabeth called out to him, offering her favor in the form of a flower. He accepted but noticed that she was wearing a ring with a white cross on a blue background. He recognized this as the symbol for House Montu, the very house he was representing.

 

The first wrestling match of the day was Vargr vs. Crow’s Nest, a tall, thin man dressed as a pirate. As she was walking with him to the ring, Tulip explained that, while he was scheduled to lose, she had called for there to be a lot of interference in the match to make him look good. The match was going well and, on schedule, The Giant Klaxor ran in and “distracted” Tulip to allow others to interfere. Magnum and Kogaglo took advantage of this and charged the ring. Vargr grabbed Crow’s Nest and tossed him into Klaxor, breaking the gnome’s nose with the pirate’s head. The crowd cheered.

 

Angered by the pain in his nose, Klaxor finally lived up to his name by shifting into an ogre-sized gnome. Blinded by rage, he grabbed Crow’s Nest be the leg and slammed him into the ground. The pirate’s leg snapped, and he screamed in pain. Tulip immediately ran for one of the hay bales at the edge of the ring while Magnum positioned himself between the rampaging gnome and the injured wrestler. The crowd gasped in terror.

 

Vargr bull rushed Klaxor and the gnome tripped backwards over a row of seats, bringing the giant to his knees. The cleric positioned himself behind Klaxor and applied a choke hold as Crow’s Nest gave him the signal to pin him and end the match. The crowd started to back away, sensing that something had gone wrong.

 

Tulip ran back into the ring and tossed something to magnum. As Klaxor’s head drooped, Vargr ran over and pinned his injured opponent to win the match. Magnum jabbed the object in his hand into Klaxor’s side and the giant fell to the floor. The crowd went wild with approval for the match.

 

The second jousting match of the quarterfinals was Dar, representing Custalcon vs. The Wolverine, representing her mother, Lady Rixia. On the first pass, Dar leaned forward to take capitalize on his height advantage and extend his range. He broke his lance against the Wolverine’s shield, almost knocking her off. Her lance was knocked wide for a miss. The Wolverine was ready for this tactic on the second pass and suddenly shifter her own stance right before impact. She broke her lance and caused the hobgoblin to miss. As they rounded for the third pass, the crowd’s excitement built, they could sense that they were witnessing a higher skill level in the quarterfinals than in the other rounds. Both Dar and the Wolverine scored hits on the last pass, resulting in a tied score. Governor Hetalan asked the judges to vote to determine the winner. Ingrid voted for the Wolverine. Mok voted for Dar. Lord Blackwell briefly hesitated before casting the deciding vote for the hobgoblin. Duycken noticed that Blackwell made eye contact with Lady Elizabeth before voting.

 

 

Stranger managed to score another eight points in the final archery round, bringing his total to 27. This put him in fourth place for the tournament and he was awarded 400 gp.