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Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 12:03 pm
by Joshua
The non-living mount joust is... a little bit of a comedy of errors. Of the 16 contestants, there are 5 mis-fires and breakdowns in the first round. Two are conjurations that fail before they are able to get to the half-way point of the jousting field; three are technology versions that explode or break-down. (Internal combustion engines are 'right out', but that doesn't stop people from trying. The dwarven moon-shine engine was the only one to actually make a fireball.)

Going into the second round, the rock sled made it, there are three reenforced bicycles, two golem mounts (both horse-like), a flying carpet, and a clockwork car (giant spring version).

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:05 am
by Joshua
Second Round: Rock-sled hits the wrong lane and smashes the clockwork car to bits. (Both drivers need immediate medical attention. Which I think they get.) Actual winners are one of the golems and two of the bicycles. The flying carpet advances due to the disqualified rock-sled, (which technically won its joust for betting purposes).

Round Three: Flying carpet and Armored Bicycle win.

Round Four: Armored Bicycle narrowly beats flying carpet.

The formal joust is a bit bigger and takes a little more to set up. Mounts are a mix of war-wolves, battle-cats, and horses. There is currently a small debate on if the centaurs can actually join, of if that will have to be an exhibition joust mid-way through.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:14 pm
by Joshua
The decision is made. Preparing for the first round is the Black-Horse Knight and one of the centaurs, both with lances. First though, an announcement by Grim and Blitz:

Grim (the goblin): "Greetings sports fans! Wow, that last show was a spectacle! Not much blood, but I loved the rock-sled. And the fires are still burning! So, we have an announcement, Blitz?"
Blitz (the gnome) makes a show of rustling papers before realizing the megaphone can't pick that up. "The controversy about the centaurs has a solution. A visitor, Odin, was cleaning up at the joust in Amber. With Dworkin's blessing we have determined that anyone who bests Odin may move straight to the final elimination. This includes defeated participants. To explain the difficulty in this feat, we're going to start off with Odin verses Nessus!"
Grim: That sounds like-

He is interrupted by the two contestants galloping towards each other. At the clash, Nessus' lance shatters and the centaur is forced back onto his knees as Odin rides past.

Grim: Awesome pain! Did you see that? He just... you can't de-horse a centaur but that just happened!

The other matchups are interesting. Again, things like Goblins on war-wolves with lances vs an orc on a battle-coeurl using a mace on a chain. And are likely to go on for a while. Nothing as spectacular as the windup-car explosion.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:28 am
by Joshua
Odin's second match is very different. A teenage orc, son of one of he minor tribal leaders*, nervous and shaking, gets on a slightly oversized charger horse and chooses a traditional orc spear. The orc is clearly outmatched, but is not letting that scare him off.

The match is short. The clash of the two warriors sees Odin effortlessly de-horsing the orc while accidentally** deflecting the orc's spear downward to strike Odin in the leg, piercing clean through the black-horse knight's armor.

Afterwards, the orc is met with a near heroes welcome by his tribe and Odin will limp*** off to meet with Krajk and Alys.
________________
*: Most of the orcs and other residents were paragons back home. Lots of them were tribal leaders or shamans, and that is part of where the internal stress comes from as each believes they are best suited to lead.
**: Anyone with ranked psyche or warfare can tell this was no accident. Odin intentionally did this, perhaps as a 'reward' for the orc's bravery.
***: Odin's wound has already healed, but that's a lot harder to notice.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 8:16 pm
by Joshua
The tournament continues, with the occasional match against Odin after each set. Mostly these are fallen contestants who are trying for a second chance.

One in particular, near the end, is more pronounced. A red orc is badmouthing the teenage orc from before, stating the wound was simply luck. After accusing the orc (and his father) of staging the fight, Odin finally walks over and slaps said red orc with a gauntlet.

Grim: What do we have here? Looks like a challenge. Goreskrym says it was a show. Odin says that even the kid has more heart. This will go to the joust! Wait, Odin is dragging the kid away. What's going on? Odin is- changing folks. Into an eight-legged black horse-thing!
Blitz: It's a nightmare.
Grim: Sure is, look at those teeth! You can see why my people hate horses.
Blitz: No. The type of horse is a nightmare.
Grim: Whose nightmare?
Blitz: (long sigh)

Regardless, the carnivorous horse with blood-red eyes kneels to let the teenage orc on*. The clash with the larger red orc is short. The kid's spear easily finds its mark** and dehorses the rival.
________________
*: If someone wants to interrupt here, I can rewind. I guessed no one would.
**: It is clear to most observers that the black charger is doing about half the aiming.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:16 pm
by Joshua
Blitz: Night-mare... a dark horse. Demon horse. Night as in monster... It's... a monster, like the Chimera or Manticore.
Grim: Ooooh!!!!! It's a horse that is a vassal to an evil lord!
Blitz: (whimpers)

So, some minor recaps:
  • Lyra and Endros are talking to Morgana.
  • Alys and Cameron are talking while walking the festival.
  • Krajk is temporarily by himself.
  • Rasanam is talking to Aibne and Cassandra.
  • Harrune and Osmund are leading a dwarf to Morgana. Likely jumping ahead to her throne room.
  • Oberon and Kevin are about to choose who to talk to.
  • The Raven isn't here. (He's talking to Wilson.)
  • Rogbar and Jiga are getting something to drink.
  • Odin is watching the last of the joust.
  • Morek and family have arrived by this point, taking up almost a full bleacher by themselves.
  • Daq is around.... as is almost any NPC from Ht'Gon.
  • Among non-Ht'Gon people, Kizak has recently arrived and Ashara has not left just yet.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 12:08 pm
by Joshua
The final joust is a large bugbear (Dresden style goblin) in plate-mail riding a worg (dire-wolf) verses a small, acrobatic goblin who is horribly violating the rules of the joust. Said small goblin (more of a gremlin, really) is too small to have a valid strike area and has actually leap off of his wolf to dodge his opponent's attack*.

The clash... well, as stated, the goblin leaps off his wolf to dodge the bugbear's lance. To the gasp of the crowd, in response, the bugbear vaults out of his armor** and leaps also. The lance breaks mid-point, allowing the bugbear to whip it around and strike the goblin square in the chest with the hilt.

There is a large cheer. The goblin was not well liked. There's a major celebration afterwards, including the bugbear being doused with a keg of ale.

Thankfully, the javelin and freestyle-toss are easy to setup, and will be happening at the same time.
__________________
*: He is required to land on the wolf at the end, and has to land a valid strike or disqualify his opponent. Not easy to do (which is one reason why there hasn't been a riot over this), but clearly against the spirit of the joust. For example, one previous battle, an orc wrapped a flail around the goblin's leg in miid-flight and pulled the goblin to the ground. This disqualified the orc, as leg-hits are not allowed.
**: Basically, pulled his legs up while riding, using the oversized-plate mail to conceal the motion, then jumping.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:40 pm
by Joshua
The two tossing competitions are happening in tandem, a round of one followed by a round of the other.

The javelin toss has both distance and accuracy rounds. Awards are for best in each round as well as a larger one for the combined best in both rounds. It is well underway by this point. Probably ready to switch from the distance round to the accuracy round.

The freestyle toss is ... less dignified. There are non-awards (You win: Nothing!) for imaginative tossing, distance (Current winner is a clockwork bird that apparently has not landed yet), accuracy (depending on what you're aiming at), etc... some people are using it to blow off steam... and there seems to be several groups (such as the black orcs) that have mini-competitions going. In the orcs case, it's to see who can lob the largest bounder.

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:28 pm
by Joshua
The throwing competition is starting to wind down. There are a few different contenders, who can have names later, if anyone wants to know.

The freestyle toss has added a new category, the Reverse Toss (After a goblin flung himself almost 10 meters when his catapult exploded) and the windup bird that was ahead flew back and landed near the start, so only earned a low score. Honestly, the conversations seem more important and I'm not thinking of good wacky goings-on.

(OOC: I was going to post a list fo who is in what threads, but at the moment, most people seem free or in transition.)

Re: 07.09: For the Honor of Ht'Gon

Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:51 pm
by Wyvern
After her second meeting with Dworkin, Alys moves to catch up with Kizak (currently chatting with Endros), find some refreshments, and spend a bit of time simply enjoying the festivities.

((And apparently she ends up here.))