A. Duran Reports In.

Duran goes to his family’s tents, where he is greeted by his two older brothers Breen and Cullen. Both are surprised to see Duran – though Cullen seems glad, Breen’s attitude is unfriendly. They allow Duran to enter the tent where he finds his father seated among incense, praying. Duran learns from his father – as Cassick and Vermillion learn outside from Cullen and Breen – that his father delivered the three horses set as the wergild for the killing of the chief’s son. However, the chief denies having received the payment. Duran also learns that his mother, Alena, is out trying to finalize marriage arrangements for his sister, Gabria, in the hope that she can join another clan and take a dowry with her before the family loses all of its holdings. Duran then reports to the tents where the Council of Tribal Chiefs is meeting, to present himself and declare his intentions to claim the highest Warrior’s Laurels during the Conclave.

Outside, Athron has surrounded himself with an audience, regaling them with tales of their adventures and how Hamal favored them. The cleric wins over a large number of old and young alike with his story-telling, and the sympathies of the crowd start to turn in favor of Duran and his traveling companions.

Meanwhile, Vermillion asks around to learn about who the other Clan teams will be the next day for the “capture the flag” contest the next day. He learn that the Saymar Clan, who wear the orange cloaks, won the previous year and will play the defenders at a wooden stockade. Mehtar of the Talon clan (with blue cloaks) has hand-picked his team in the hopes claiming the honor for his clan.

B. A Near Sweep.

The PCs are encouraged to compete in the various contests the first day. Vermillion and Cassick engage in some friendly betting on the side with members of the crowd on each contest. Vermillion wins the dagger toss and Broc comes in second in the standing archery. Duran wins the mounted archery contest, and both he and Broc sign up for the trick riding contest. Duran completes the course faster than anyone else, failing to make only his fast mount – much better than his baby sister Gabria. Broc, however, finds his horse balking several times at jumping obstacles, and has one of the worst times in the race. Throughout these contests, Vermillion watches the others, especially those identified as being on Mehtar’s team – Mehtar himself wins the footed archery contest, and comes in second in the trick riding.

Broc and Athron then engage in the wrestling contest. Although urged by a number of Middle Redding clansmen to join the contest, Boeden declines. Both Broc and Athron advance through several rounds, until Broc faces another North Redding barbarian. Both end up raging, and the other eventually pushes Broc out of the ring.

The crowds bet heavily against Athron when he faces the barbarian in the last round – and are stunned when he not only stands his ground, but also defeats the much larger man. Lodur, son of Rigg, thanks both Broc and Athron for being such worthy opponents.

The spectators are wildly enthusiastic about the skill shown by the PCs, and they receive many invitations to sit by campfires and join in the clan celebrations.

DM’s notes: For something that is so short in the post-week write-up, this week took an incredible amount of planning. I brainstormed with AJ for how to make maximum use of the Ride skill, in which John had invested a lot of skill points, and to come up with other contests where the other PCs could shine. There were a lot of index cards filled out, for quick reference on Ride, grapple, etc.