[Petals & Thrones] Session 4: Tourneys & Tarantulas

Session IV

During the week, Victor practiced the policy of it being better to ask for forgiveness, & sought out Caspar from the Order of the Third Eye. Thus, he traded the shoggoth tentacles for the three wands (he kept the web & paralysis for himself, Bridgitte got the lightning wand).

Both Orders, Lion & Wyrd, approach Ramshorn in their full array. Their's some initial concerns among the players, but they ultimately decide to go forward with all three events. All three proceed to fail to get past the preliminary rounds at the archery round, the rangers trouncing each of them.

The mêlée portion is interesting, as to be able to hit someone, the subsequent Constitution save is exceptionally difficult to overcome. Bridgitte, surprising everyone with zero proficiency in great swords, somehow manages to be the last person standing and wins this round of the tournament. The jousting tournament results in Victor & Bridgitte losing against their respective Lion Knights, but Roland manages to overcome his opponent.

While waiting for the hunt to organize and announce the intended quarry, I resolve the conversation opportunities available. Their three Persuasion checks are reasonably successful, Roland doing remarkably well for his -1 Charisma modifier and lack of training. Victor increases his boasting of their prior fights pretty well for joining in the boasting with Dame Leona & Talon.

Vincent is chosen as the person to accompany in the hunt for the male huntsman (Roland preferred Dame Leona, but was outvoted). They follow Vincent's lead, ultimately slaying the three wolf spiders and the male huntsman with surprising ease. After a short conversation with Vincent & Prince Darius as part of the victory acceptance for their group success at the tournament, they head back to the Accidental Gryphon to nap.

Before the name, they are approached by Trym Tosscobble, who is currently not doing anything for the upcoming week due to Goldblum experiencing some financing trouble. They hire her bardic services for the standard 15gp rate, enjoy a lullaby (Victor's still hurt from the fight huntsman's bite), and set out for their mission (with a short interruption of Goldblum offering them a 600gp reward for taking out the goblins).

While searching for the goblins, they are ambushed by two tiger spiders & a tarantula, their ambush lead to a remarkably potent damage output. All three of the PCs were bloodied before the second round. Roland practically solos the rest once he starts swinging. Exploring further, they walk around the territorial owlbear and run into the werewolf pack again. Roland, still decently smelling of huntsman ichor from the prior night, gets the werewolf's attention; Victor throws down some Persuasion, convincing the werewolf to lead them to the goblin camp as thanks for slaying the beast that killed the werewolf's mate. En route, the werewolf warns the party that the hobgoblins & bugbears smell "wrong," warning them that they have made dark pacts with the humans.

Takeaway
Our players are disappointed that practically the entire session was taken up with this tournament, and that they aren't any closer to advancing to the next level.