Interlude
Harvest Festival in Elturel
After seven days of travel, they reached Elturel, spotting the glowing orb on the horizon from miles away. Landin explained that it kept the undead out of the city. The others wanted to know how the inhabitants managed to live in constant light, and as they entered the town, they noted with interest that all the houses had shutters and heavy curtains. They also quickly realized that they had arrived in the middle of the annual harvest festival. Banners decorated the streets, bards performed on corners, merchants bargained with farmers for wagonloads of squash, and vendors offered various fun or tasty items.
The group first went to Ontharr Frume's home, where his manservant greeted Landin warmly and (much to his discomfort) congratulated him on passing his paladin trials. Ontharr himself was not at home, however, having gone to the Pair of Black Antlers for "the games," so the PCs headed in that direction. Landin stopped at a street stall on the way and bought Ariana a candy apple with a pinwheel speared in the top.
They found a large group of people gathered in the innyard behind the tavern. Nearly all of them were members of the Order of the Gauntlet; Landin recognized several people he knew, and he tried to shrink into the background so they wouldn't notice him and ask about his paladin trials. Meanwhile, Ontharr Frume, a burly paladin who looked like a dwarf except that he was six feet four, stood on a platform gesturing with a tankard of beer as he announced the upcoming competitions. There were to be four events--an archery contest, an arm-wrestling contest, a drinking contest, and "the dash for the lady in lace"--and the order was to be determined by the crowd's applause. All events were open only to members of the Order of the Gauntlet, or guests of members.
Archery Contest
The archery contest was first. Ariana fluttered her eyelashes at a tall, skinny young fighter named Tilon and got him to sponsor her as his guest. She took her place alongside five other competitors. The first round was an easy shot at a target, and they all succeeded. Then the target was moved back. One man's bowstring broke on his first attempt, and he was forced to withdraw. Two others missed the target and were eliminated. The target was moved back again. Ariana shot straight into the bullesye; both of the other remaining competitors hit the target, but farther from the center. Then the target was suspended from a tree and pulled with ropes to make it move. One more competitor was eliminated after making three quick shots which all missed. The second aimed carefully and managed to hit the target. Ariana tried to aim; her first arrow went wide, but she had caught the rhythm of the target's movement, and a fast follow-up shot landed once again in the center.
Ontharr Frume announced that there would now be a tiebreaker elimination round. The target was taken down from the tree and moved back even farther than before, and the round length was shortened. Ariana's rival aimed carefully but missed the target; Ariana once again sank her arrow right in the bullseye. Her competitor congratulated her, and her sponsor beamed with pride.
Ontharr Frume held up the prize for all to see: a quiver of Ehlona with ten enchanted (+1) arrows. "We proudly award this to--er, what's your name, young lady?"
"Ariana yr Nusrah el Jassan," she rattled off.
"...Ariana!"
In addition, he placed a crown of leaves on her head which would entitle her to free food and ale in the tavern for the rest of the day.
Drinking Contest
Next was the drinking contest, to see who could drink the most ale in the space of thirty seconds without throwing up. Aric and Atex quickly found sponsors so they could enter this event. Ariana decided to give it a try as well, as did a barmaid and a squire.
Atex started in strong, downing three mugs of ale in the time it took for Ariana to drink two and the barmaid and the squire to drink one each. Meanwhile, Aric was the first to be eliminated, throwing up after only his second ale. "How can you people drink this?" he sputtered. "It's terrible!"
Atex continued at his breakneck pace, slurping down three more mugfuls to Ariana's two. The barmaid and the squire both dropped out, leaving just the two of them. The speed of their drinking caught up with both of them at once, and they were eliminated simultaneously--but Atex had finished seven ales, while Ariana had only five. As soon as Atex was finished throwing up, Ontharr lifted his hand and hailed him as the winner. The prize was a pair of eyes of charming (symbolic of beer goggles).
Arm-Wrestling Contest
Ontharr then announced the arm-wrestling contest. Aric stepped forward eagerly. Ariana mischievously held up Landin's arm, pointing at his muscles, to volunteer him. Ontharr spotted Landin for the first time and urged him onto the platform. Ariana also entered the competition--the only woman to do so--as did her sponsor, Tilon. Atex declined to enter this event, saying he preferred to cheer from the sidelines.
The event was organized as a series of elimination matches. In the first round, Aric faced a powerful-looking man with a black beard. Aric took an early lead, but the other man rallied and forced his arm down to the table. "How do you people handle being so weak?" Aric moaned in frustration as he stepped down. "A year ago, I would have snapped your arm off!"
Landin won his fight quickly. A still-tipsy Atex led the crowd in three huzzahs. Landin blushed and did his best not to look at Ariana.
Ariana tried to use guile to win her match. She winked at her opponent as they started, throwing him off somewhat, but he still was able to push her arm halfway down. She then frowned as if in pain; the man looked at her in concern, and she took advantage of his distraction to push his arm back up to the starting position. He grinned and pushed her arm back harder, saying, "I won't fall for that next time!"
"Pop out a boob!" Atex shouted helpfully from the crowd. "It's the only way you're going to win!"
But the man was simply too strong for Ariana. He forced her arm the rest of the way down, saying, "Sorry--can't go easy on you just because you're a girl."
"That's okay," she answered sweetly. "I wouldn't want to hurt your pride."
Tilon, taking his seat at the next table, called out to her, "Don't worry--I'll avenge you!" He defeated his opponent in short order and then told Ariana, "Milady, if I win, you may have my prize."
She gave him a dazzling smile. "Oh, how generous of you! How gallant!"
In the second round, Landin faced the black-bearded man who had defeated Aric. He pushed the man's arm halfway down; the other man forced Landin's hand back to the starting position, but with a burst of strength, Landin pinned his arm to the table.
Meanwhile, Tilon quickly defeated Ariana's former opponent. It would be Tilon against Landin for the final! Ontharr presented them both to the crowd. "Cheer on your favorites--and the winner gets to wrestle me!"
For a moment, it looked as if Tilon might win, but Landin came back from behind to slam his arm down. Tilon was left massaging his wrist and exclaiming at Landin's strength. He apologized to Ariana for his failure to win for her and offered to make it up by buying her some ale later.
Landin smiled at Ariana, then blushed. Ontharr held up his hand and announced, "The champion! C'mon, lad--you've already won, but let's see if you can beat me!"
Ontharr won the friendly match, but with some difficulty. "You've gotten much stronger, but it's good to know I've still got it," he said, tousling Landin's hair. He then presented Landin with a ring of protection and told him to wear it in good health.
The Dash for the Lady in Lace
Finally, Ontharr raised his arms one more time for silence. "It's time now for the event I know everyone has been waiting for--and then we can get down to some serious drinking!" (Cheers from the crowd.)
"More drinking? You're trying to poison me," muttered Aric.
"It's time for the dash for the lady in lace! As usual, Farmer Grigorin has volunteered to let us use his paddock for the event, so let's head over there." The group moved to a large, fenced-in area abutting the innyard. "The good farmer has also supplied the lady for today's event," Ontharr announced, gesturing toward a steward holding a young black pig with a lacy veil attached to its head.
While Ontharr explained the rules of the chase, Ariana whispered to Landin, "Hold your shield out before you on the ground."
"Why?" he asked.
"Just do it!"
When he did as she requested, she crouched down behind the shield and changed into the plainer of the outfits she'd taken from Frulam Mondath's clothing chest. Landin turned eighty shades of red but couldn't resist sneaking a peek or two.
All of the PCs decided to enter this competition. They lined up at the entrance to the paddock, along with several other contestants. The rest of the crowd clustered just outside the fence, shouting encouragement. At a signal from Ontharr Frume, the pig was released. The chase was on!
The pig promptly took off toward a patch of mud, with the crowd in hot pursuit. They soon found themselves slogging through ankle-deep mud, and Atex fell flat on his face. Aric, right behind him, tripped over him and also fell face-down.
While they tried to navigate the mudpit, the pig suddenly turned around and ran straight back toward them! Landin reached for it, but met only empty air. Ariana got her arms around it briefly, but it wriggled free and dashed back onto the grass over the backs of Aric and Atex. Landin and Ariana dashed after it, followed by Aric and Atex once they were back on their feet. The rest of the pursuers blundered into each other and fell down in a tangled heap in the middle of the mudpit.
The pig reached the fence and veered to the side, hugging the edge of the field. Landin intercepted it at an angle, but it kicked him in the chest and ran off again--straight toward Ariana, who picked it up and just managed, with difficulty, to hold onto it! The crowd cheered wildly.
But the event wasn't over yet. Ariana still had to carry the squealing, squirming "lady" to the paddock entrance. And from the way the other contestants were eyeing her as they struggled to their feet, it appeared that tackling her was considered fair play. Landin helped Ariana keep hold of the pig while Atex used his mage hand to throw mud in the face of the woman at the head of the pack. She fell forward, the rest of the group tripped over her, and they all thrashed about in the mud pit again.
But Aric lunged forward with a gleam in his eye, shouting "I'm not going to lose again!" and tried to grab the pig away from Ariana. He missed, however, and Landin conked him with an elbow. They promptly got into a shoving match. Ignoring the mayhem behind her and encouraged by the shouts of the spectators, Ariana hurried to the paddock entrance, where Ontharr Frume was waiting.
"One more thing before you claim your prize," he told her. "You have to kiss the lady!"
Ariana screwed her eyes shut and gave the pig a quick peck. A wild cheer went up. Ontharr announced, "And the winner of this event is this young woman ... what was your name again?"
"Ariana yr Nusrah el Jassan."
"Yes--she is the winner!"
More cheers. Ariana put down the pig, which ran right back to the mudpit and wallowed in it. Tilon stepped out of the crowd, applauding wildly. Ariana bowed to him. Ontharr then presented her with a pair of boots of speed as her prize, and the spectators started drifting back toward the tavern.
, but her attitude was more like "We're all tired, so stop hogging the best bed."
