Riding in the 90s¶

2022-Sep-11

• The riders pick their mounts
  • Kleb, using the pseudonym Hugo Estdong, is drawn to the bulette with racing stripes on its back named Funky Cold Medina
  • Rowan prioritizes brute size and selects the largest bulette, Big Ben
  • Rulkorf wants the bulette with the best temperament, which is named I Live in My House
• Magic is allowed, and in fact, anything goes as long as you don’t harm any spectators. The party prepare their gear and spells
  • Kleb decides to push his luck and shoots a crossbow bolt at Ja’an D’enver, who dodges it with an acrobatic leap, and charms Kleb in return
• The twin announcers, Tom and Jeff, do the introductions and count things down
  • Rowan and Ja’an D’enver jockey for an early lead, with Kleb close behind and Rulkorf in the middle of the slower pack
  • Rowan consolidates his lead with a cheeky shortcut past the first hairpin, while Rulkorf knocks Evan Kelmp out of the race with a spray of noxious poison gas
  • Kleb lassos Ja’an D’enver’s bulette, tying them together and gains a small speed boost as his new rival drifts through the turns
  • Rowan sees a widowmaker precariously perched in a forested area of the track. He uses a rope of his own to drop it onto the track at the cost of some speed. The other competitors manage to avoid it, with the exception of the Amazing Majesto, who crashes after Rulkorf cloaks it in a cloud of fog
  • Ja’an D’enver cuts the rope tethering his bulette to Kleb’s, speeding him up and slowing Kleb down. However, the whiplashing rope strikes Kleb in the face, breaking the charm
  • Barack Obama throws an oil capsule behind him to try and wipe Kleb out, but the fighter pushes his bulette harder and tries to take advantage of the lubricant to speed up. Managing to maintain control, Kleb moves back into third place
  • Rulkorf approaches the next tight turn, and using the bond he’s developed with his mount, encourages it to dive underground slightly, banking off the ground to his side and take advantage of the centripetal force (bobsled-style)
  • As Kleb threatens to pull away from Ja’an D’enver, the bard casts a vicious Heat Metal, burning Kleb with his own armor and igniting his oil-soaked apparel
  • Rowan maintains his pole position heading into the second lap and pumps up the crowd as he goes by, assisted by a flaming, roaring Kleb
  • In an attempt to extinguish himself, Kleb tries to copy the maneuver he saw Rowan do earlier and dive underground. He gets a bit too much depth and loses his reins, but thanks to Rulkorf’s earlier ritual, his buoyancy in the liquefied dirt launches him up and onto the back of Ja’an Denver’s saddle
  • Rowan scatters some ball bearings behind him as an additional obstacle
  • Neck and neck, Rulkorf takes a swipe at Barack Obama and doesn’t connect, but throws him off balance enough that he wipes out when Obama’s bulette hits a rough spot
  • Kleb wrestles Ja’an D’enver in the saddle before winning the tussle and throwing him off their shared bulette
  • At this point, the party are the only three in serious contention, with Brennan Lee Mulligan trailing far behind and everyone else knocked out, but realize the circuit has some added obstacles on the second lap
    • A series of log swinging across the track like pendula
    • A number of mages roil the earth, creating a series of moving ramps and ditches
  • The final rankings are:
    1. Rowan
    2. Hugo (Kleb)
    3. Rulkorf
    4. Brennan
  • Rowan wins a kiss from Lavender, to be redeemed imminently