Session 37 - Pies, Drinking & Jousting (recap)

In this session, our party had a fight, ate some pie, drank some beer, danced on tables, and won a joust…

Admonishing Zoyana

• Right after the archery contest, Leosin pulls Zoyana aside: “you heard that part about this being a lawful city, right? Paladins and all? What do you think the Hellriders might think if someone was reported for, say… casting unwanted magic on another person?”
  • The conversation did not go well.
  • Zoyana felt attacked, and the party felt Leosin’s tone was hostile and aggressiveness inappropriate.
  • There were hostile words said on all sides.

The Pie Eating Contest

• The town square of Elturel had been converted into a massive outdoor dining area, with long tables and benches laid out in rows. Armored Hellriders showed contestants to their seats. One table was set apart from the others, the only one with a tablecloth, located closest to the buildings where the mountains of pies were prepared. The pies themselves were savory, semi-circular hand pies. The prevailing joke among many of the guests is the question of whether the halfling hand pies are made with real halfling hand.
• The pies are served on a wooden plate marked with a number and the double-sun emblem of Elturgard - are the plates are the things counted for scoring purposes.
• Pliny (Persuasion 28, nat 20) walked into the square with a swagger and said “I’m going to win this thing”. One of the Hellriders saw and heard him and vibed with his energy. The Hellrider smiled, said “Yeah, you are,” and sat Pliny at the cloth-covered table.
• Zoyana, in her moodiness, walked off in search of nature to blow off steam. She was still quite pissed at Leosin for “being a douche” (and keeping her out of jail)
  • She ultimately found herself in the gardens at the crest of the hill that held the creek that watered the town.
• Aegar grabbed a seat near the fringes, more interested in a meal than the contest.
• The High Overseer’s poison-taster took a bite out of the first pie of the evening, and then blew a trumpet to signal for everyone to begin.
  • Pies were served, plates were emptied and stacked for scoring, and Hellriders oversaw the contest to prevent cheating.

Zoyana takes a walk

• While Pliny and Aegar enjoyed their pies, Zoyana took a walk to clear her head and play her pan flute.
• After some time in the gardens, Zoyana turned around to rejoin her friends.
• Not far back down the hill, Zoyana noticed a travelers cart, brightly colored, fully enclosed, and pulled by a single mule. It had a curtain rather than a door closing off the back of the cart.
  • “You lost there lassie?” as out popped the head of a half-elf with a big smile on her face.
    
  • Z: “No, I’m not lost.”
  • “Or are you looking for something then? Need some wares and the like? I’ve got odds and bobs and things. What have you need of?”
  • Zoyana didn’t skip a beat: “I have need of dark vision goggles.”
  • “Dark vision goggles?” The lady looked up, “in the city of endless sun.”
  • Z: “I figured I could get them on a discount.”
  • After some discussion of Zoyana’s ability to pay, the lady disappeared into her cart. Zoyana heard banging. And then a hat was tossed out of the cart, fluttering to the ground. Followed by a book. “Oh there it is!”
  • The lady stepped back out of her cart wearing black metal frames with giant white orbs for lenses and little black dots in the center. “Are these what you were looking for?”
• Zoyana asked to try them on and use the darkness of the cart to test them (and sneak around to see what else was in the cart)
  • Inside, the cart was filled with an eclectic assortment of items and goods: a glass bell that is looks like it’s fully encased in glass with a bunch of bees buzzing around on the inside, nicely laid out on some black felt a fully intact mouse skeleton, a glass tube with what looked like a smaller and thinner petrified octopus tentacle. And every assortment of weird items of yarn and fabric and all kinds of crazy eclectic stuff on shelves and in drawers.
• They had a small mismatch on price: Zoyana offered 75gp, the lady requested 2,000. Zoyana walked away muttering about “no way they’re worth 2,000”. The half-elf admonished Zoyana for not knowing the value of magical things, and the two started off in opposite directions.

Reuniting

• Not long after, the party found Zoyana.
• Aegar asked how she faired:
  • Z: “I don’t like it here. How long do we have to stay?”
  • Pliny: “I have a few more events!”
  • Aegar frowned: “Pliny has a few more events. We have to put on a good face, so that we can get what we need. We need these people in order to accomplish our desires, we do not need to like them. But know that. We will have your back, okay? I do not like it here either.”
  • Z: "So what do we have to do to get what we want?
  • A: “We have to play nice and impress those that are in charge. That is something that I, unfortunately, excel at and if you are comfortable with it, I do not mind taking the lead here.”
  • Z: “Oh God, please, this is bullshit Aegar. Some lady tried to charge me 2,000 gold pieces for goggles of night. In a place that’s perpetually light outside!”
  • A: “I do not believe we have the funds for that well.”
  • Z: “It’s not even that we don’t have the funds. We’re not, at least I’m not, a fucking sucker like they go for 100 to 500 gold pieces. 2,000 gold pieces, that’s fucking bullshit.”
  • Zoyana told a little more of finding the cart and what the half-elf looked like.
  • A: “Perhaps we can track her down. Leosin is going to want us to participate in the Games, so that we can impress Ontharr Frume.”
  • Z: “To dance like little fucking monkeys is what you’re telling me.”
  • A: “Such is the courtly way”
  • P: “As long as there’s no more pie. That pie was too much.”
  • Z: “What do you want me to do Aegar, because I can go hide in the forest until Pliny has filled himself with pie and booze and… another thing that starts with ‘P’”
  • P: “Weren’t you gonna do the the booze? I wasn’t… Pliny’s not drinking.”
  • Z: “You’re not drinking?”
  • P: “What? No, I’m a new man…”
  • A: “I think it best that we stick together. I think we are better together than we are apart, but um, I think you can do what makes you comfortable as well.”
  • Z: “No, I can’t because last time I got my tits ripped off so…”
  • A: “I believe Leosin was out of line. He is new to our group and does not understand us.”
  • Z: “He sucks”
  • A: “Be that as it may. For the for the present moment we do need him. That may or may not be the case later on. And if I recall the three of us were rather prickly toward each other when we were first… exploring together.”
  • Z: “Well, not even you were that big of a dick.”
  • A: “I am, gentlemen.”
  • Z: "All right. Let’s go drink some shit. Fuck some shit up.
  • A: “And”
  • Z: “And dance like fucking monkeys.”
  • A: “And fight some shit as well.”
  • Z: “I want to fight some shit right now. Let’s go fight some shit Aegar.”
  • A: “Let’s.”
• They reconvened briefly with Leosin, confirmed they were “all good”, and headed for the drinking contest.

Ontharr Frume

• In the town square, a bunch of the tables have been removed, replaced with kegs and high-top tables lined with beer steins.
• A fat old Paladin in full plate saw Leosin and started walking over, an entourage of a few other paladins and squires in tow.
• Leosin looked over his shoulder at the party: “Everything’s going to be fine. Trust me.”
• As Leosin turned back around, the guy reached out a hand and pointed: “Why you slimy double-crossing no good swindler. You’ve got a lot of guts coming here after what you pulled.” + He jumped forward at Leosin for a sucker punch… and then grabbed Leosin in a giant bear hug, lifting him off the ground. “How you doing you old pirate? So good to see you!”
• Leosin stepped back a little sheepishly and replied, “the Cult”
• The paladin stepped forward and then craned his head back around toward Leosin: “The Cult. Always the cult. Look around…” and gestured widely towards the tournament. “The cult is why we’re out today”
• The paladin saw Pliny and pointed: “Nice shooting elf”
  
• He then spied Zoyana: “Hello. What have we here?” And he stepped over and looked down to Zoyana.
  • “I’m Ontharr Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet and host of these small festivities. and who might you be?”
  • Z: “I’m Zoyana”
  • Leosin stepped between Frume and Zoyana and grabbed him by the shoulder: “Come on you old charmer” and pulled Frume away (and waved the party on toward the beer contest behind Frume’s back)

The Beer Drinking Contest

• Pliny: “Right. I’m not sure if I’m drinking guys, but I’ll take a seat at least.”
• Aegar: “We respect your decision.”
• Zoyana: “In our family, we leave it there. It is available if you choose to have it…”
• Pliny then started with some expert advice:
  • “Alright guys, so what what’s important is that you want to blow into the stein.”
  • “What that’s going to do is it’s going to create a backdraft. So as you blow in, you suck in, and it’s going to shoot and it’s going to pull it at a quicker rate, so you can down the beer stein faster.”
  • “Blow. Swallow.”
  • Aegar: “Thank you for this advice.”
  • <There was definitely no mention of water in this conversation>
• As the party came into the square, they saw that half the tables from the pie-eating contest have been removed, and barrels lined up around the edges of the square. The head table was still set apart from the others, and was still the only one with a tablecloth.
  • Where contestants were set before to only one side of each table, contestants for the beer drinking competition were set across from each other. It was obvious by the space between the pairings that these were head to head competitions, whoever drinks their beer fastest gets the Stein back on the table wins. If you both don’t finish your beer, you are both eliminated.
  • The steins were serviceable, one pint each.
• Ontharr Frume kicked off the drinking contest with a toast, holding a giant stein that was really a little keg with a handle on it:
  • "This is a serious and proud situation.
    
  • Faith is our most potent weapon against evil.
    
  • I have faith that you will drink strongly, and honorably.
    
  • To the last man standing!"
• Round 1:
  • Pliny was paired with a dwarven woman.
    • Pliny looked over at his dwarf, raised his stein in cheers, and downed it in a smooth, single motion. He was done before she really started drinking.
  • Zoyana was paired with a white-haired human guy who was missing some teeth
    • The human enjoyed his beer, and Zoyana won her match easily.
  • Aegar faced off against a little halfling lady (who looked nothing like Zoyana)
    • At the call, Aegar took his glass and blew the shit into it, covering his scaly face in bitter liquid. Drinking half the pint that was left came easily.
  • At the far end of the table, a fist fight broke out between two people, and the Hellriders quickly pulled them apart and exited both from the competition.
• Deep discussion of Aegar’s need to loosen his throat muscles and be better prepared to swallow ensued.
• Round 2:
  • The party were paired with three humans that almost looked like triplets. Three human males in their early 20s, quality frat bros.
    • Zoyana and Pliny pound theirs quickly. Aegar, confused about blowing and sucking, was beaten soundly by his frat bro.
    • The others wondered if Aegar could use some water to practice.
• Round 3:
  • Zoyana was paired with a male dwarf so young he had peach-fuzz for a beard and Pliny faced a 50 year old woman who looked like she bathed in whiskey.
    • Aegar offered advice to Zoyana’s young dwarf: “Make sure you blow in as well”
    • The kid drank his beer slowly, savoring the flavor. It seemed unclear how it was that at three rounds in he’d won his other two, given the leisurely pace. He did not, in fact, “blow and suck.”
• Round 4:
  • For Pliny, it felt like he was reliving Round 2: he faced off against a triplet human frat boy, while Zoyana faced off against a little middle-aged gnome lady with a bulbous nose.
    • Pliny kicked the shoe of his frat boy to mark his shoe and know which was which.
    • Zoyana politely cheers’d her gnome.
    • Pliny (Con save 11) was crushed by his frat boy, while Zoyana won handily.
    • As Pliny turned to commiserate about being bumped from his own contest by this little twit, he was met by a massive beer-burp from Zoyana, who smiled and swallowed down the headfoam that bubbled from her mouth.
• Round 5: Semi-final
  • The frat-bro Kyle was paired with a dwarven woman, and Zoyana was paired with a hulking firbolg giant person.
    • The firbolg leaned over and smiled, but Zoyana whipped the stein up and down before the giant could even lift his glass.
    • Kyle lifted his arms in celebration and yelled “Yeah!”
• Round 6: Final with Kyle
  • Frume stepped up and addressed the crowd: “To the winner goes this alchemy jug. From this item, you can pour the nectar of the gods, or if you choose… water, or if you’re smart, you can pour mayonnaise. It’s your choice each day.”
    • He lifted his keg-stein: “To the last man… or woman… standing!”
  • Zoyana (Con save 24) pounded her last beer, while Kyle (Nat 1) sneezed into his beer and then spilled the rest, disqualifying himself.

The Joust

• More crowds than they had yet seen at the tournament flocked to the north field. The High Overseer and the guests of honor sat in a high box with a blue canopy. Ontharr Frume and his group sat in the box next to them.
  
• Spectators exchanged wagers and craned their necks to see the approaching riders, gleaming in their heavy armor and letting banners fly from the tips of their upraised lances. A platoon of Hellriders forced the crowd to clear an approach to the outer fence.
• Zoyana and Pliny were directed to the holding area where the riders staged, while Aegar rode with the other participants.
• Of the 10 riders participating, two failed to make the jump. One got hung up on the fence, the other was thrown from her horse.
  • The crowed “ooh”’d and started heckling them as they also clapped for the rest who made it over.
• Round 1:
  • Aegar faced a young knight in polished silver armor and purple wings decorating his great helm riding a grey courser.
  • Pliny bet 25gp at 2:1.
  • The opponent’s squire addressed the crowd in moderate tones: “My Lords, My ladies: Sir Horace of Cormyr, Slayer of Dragons. The Purple Dragon Knight.”
    • The crowd replied with a muted bit of applause.
  • Pliny didn’t realize that the participants would be announced by the squires until he saw the other squire do it. He ran out quickly and yelled:
    • “My ladies, My Lord. Talking about lords, have you ever seen someone who can walk on water quite like this dragonborn? The man. The myth. The legend. Aegar of… wherever you need Aegar to come from. And here he is…”
    • Pliny pulled a random piece of colored fabric from his bag and started waiving it and chanting “Ae-Gar! Ae-Gar! Ae-Gar!” (and then waived Zoyana to start chanting with him)
    • Pliny, uninspired by the crowd, pulled out Dragon’s Lullaby and played a little diddy about Aegar.
    • The crowd didn’t start booing, but the betting did calm down a little bit.
  • At the sound of the horn, both knights charged forward.
  • 1st pass: The purple knight connected with Aegar’s shield, knocking Aegar’s lance wide.
  • 2nd pass: Aegar brushed the lance aside, but bounced his own lance off the shield.
  • 3rd pass: The purple knight connected again, avoiding Aegar’s lance. Aegar narrowly stayed on his steed.
  • 4th pass: Aegar finally hit, catching the purple knight high in the shoulder, and knocking him from his saddle
  • Payout: 75gp total.
• Pliny commended his friend: “You were great! Aegar, you are to jousting what Zoyana is to drinking. And I’m second to everybody and everything, so I don’t even know what I’m good at any more. But it was incredible.” and in the process gave Aegar Inspiration. He then followed with Enhance Ability to help him stay on his horse.
• Round 2:
  • Aegar faced a dragonborn in this piecemeal armor of bronze and black steel riding a mangy looking horse. He was served by a kobold squire dragged the lance on the ground because it couldn’t hold the lance upright.
  • Pliny let 50gp ride, at 1.5:1.
  • 1st pass: the dragonborn skewered Aegar, but ran chest-first into Aegar’s lance. While the mangy horse galloped forward, the dragonborn didn’t. The crowd erupted before the dragonborn even hit the ground.
  • Pliny led the kobold in front of the crowd and read him a sonnet about a kobold who was never seen again, and then admonshed the kobold: “After the words just I said to you, you still would have been better than the gentleman that you just announced this crowd.”
    • The crowd, arms raised and ready to cheer, start looking around with confused looks of “what just happened?”
    • Pliny: “Bet on Aegar!”
      • Crowd: “Aegar!”
    • Pliny: “To the moon!”
      • Crowd: “To the moon! Aegar!”
  • Payout: 125gp total.
• Round 3:
  • Aegar faced a sliver bearded dwarf mounted on a giant boar, wearing the black armor of one of the Hellriders.
  • Pliny let 100gp ride, at 1.5:1.
  • 1st pass: the boar, expecting the horse to be spooked, veered into the lists when the horse didn’t jump and the dwarf missed wildly and swayed far out of Aegar’s reach.
  • 2nd pass: the dwarf missed, and Aegar hit, but both riders kept their saddles.
  • 3rd pass: both bounce off their shields.
  • 4th pass: both bounce off their shields again.
  • 5th pass: the dwarf breaks his lance on Aegar, while Aegar returned the favor with a little extra umph. The dwarf was not quite able to hold on, and dropped from his saddle.
  • As Eberk who Laughs at Devils fell, the crowd started to boo.
    • Eberk stood up and yelled. And then turned to Aegar and back to the crowd, yelling: “Aegar!”
    • Aegar gave the dwarf a formal bow as the crowd erupted in a chant of “Aegar!” Eberk bowed back before mounting his boar and riding back to his stall.
• While Aegar was recovering, the party saw Elric (Frume’s protege) tilt at a tiefling man in silks and a turban with his horns protruding from its sides, riding a slender chestnut mare that looks like it’s built for speed.
  • On the first pass, the both break lances.
  • On the second pass, the tiefling lands an upward blow, unhorsing Elric into the dirt.
  • Payout: 250gp total.
• Round 4: (Final)
  • Aegar faced the tiefling.
  • Pliny let 150gp ride, at 1.5:1.
  • Pliny provided Inspiration to Aegar and addressed the crowd:
    • “Aegar has exceeded all expectations, for me, and you (no disrespect to Aegar). If it’d be okay, in honor of Eberk and his adventures, and Aegar’s here, 1,000 meals will be donated from my winnings today. Give it up for Aegar!”
      • Someone in the crowd: “Aegar the Generous!”
      • Pliny caught on and repeated it: “Aegar the Generous!”
      • The crowd started chanting, while Aegar started grumbling.
  • The riders tilted.
  • For the second time in the competition, Aegar in the first tilt held his opponent still at the point of his lance while the opponent’s mount kept riding.
    • A cloud of dust obscured the flattened body of Amnon-Hesh, and the crowd jumped to their feet.
      • The High Overseer, Frume, and all the honored guests stood and clapped.
      • The crowd chanted: “Aegar the Generous! Aegar the Generous!”
  • Aegar rode in front of Frume and the High Overseer and gave a formal bow.
  • Final Payout: 375gp total.
• Final Prize: Lady Constance, the longsword/lance, and 1,000 gp.
• As Pliny accepted his winnings, he questioned Aegar: “Aegar, you’ve exceeded any expectation, and I think that the thing that you would want most to honor your victory is all of this going to meals. But you tell me if I’m wrong.”
  • Aegar: “I think you should keep some for your trouble, but I would be happy to match your donation whatever you decided.”
  • P: “I’m going to donate 375. All of it.”
  • A: “Thank you Pliny that is… that is very generous. That thing they are shouting, Aegar the Generous, is a misnomer, they should be shouting your name.”
  • P: “I would never even thought to do it without you Aegar. And Zoyana, I think you deserve this” and he handed her the silver chalice from his bag and walked away.
• Aegar turned to Zoyana
  • A: “Zoyana, I think there is something wrong with Pliny. I do not think he is well.”
  • Z: “He needs a win Aegar. He needs a win.”
  • A: “Indeed”
  • Z: “We need to help him win.”
• Pliny sat down a little ways away, thinking about how everything has not been going so hot, and then got up to check in with Leosin and discuss everything that they’d seen.
• As Pliny got up to leave, Aegar caught him: “Pliny, we have the melee coming up, and I want you to be there. I would not have won the joust were it not for you, I would appreciate it if you could assist as well in the melee.”
  • Pliny: "I would be happy to Aegar. I don’t know if I have weapons that will do much, but I’m happy to be there.
  • Aegar: “Wonderful. I will make the arrangements.” And before Pliny could say anything else, Aegar walked off to make sure Pliny’s name was on the Grand Melee list.

Preparations

• Going into the melee, Pliny planned to cast Motivational Speech on the party
• Aegar planned to cast Aid
• Zoyana wanted to investigate some about Purple Mists (Investigation Nat 20+3): occurrences of destructive purple mists coming, of towns disappearing or of things bursting out of purple mists. (She specifically didn’t share information about her own experiences or of the demise of Ragvala)
• Pliny wanted to investigate… something .

Loot

• Alchemy Jug won by Zoyana in the Beer competition
• Lady Constance won by Aegar in the joust
  • Longsword/lance, rare
  • This magic weapon has two forms: a longsword and a lance. In both forms it grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. While you are wielding Lady Constance you can use a bonus action to command it to change between its two forms.
• 1,000 gp won by Aegar in the joust
• 475 gp won by Pliny, donated to feed the poor in honor of Aegar the Generous

NPCs Interacted With

• Leosin
• Thrump, the goliath archer
• The half-elf merchant
• Ontharr Frume
• Frat-bro Kyle and his brothers
• Elric of the Order of the Guantlet
• Eberk who Laughs at Devils
• The High Overseer (from afar)

Locations Visited

• Elturel
• Elturel Garden
• Elturel town square
• Elturel North Field

Experience Per Character