Open Chronicles The Skagg Lake Death Race

[Ledhros Caur]

BOOLEY'S MILL
SKAGG VALLEY
SOMEWHERE IN ARETHIL

The town of Booley's Mill was hosting a unique race. Ledhros had no idea who'd paid the town what to make this happen.

A veritable cornucopia of disparate beings — shapeshifters, winged things, magicians stretching hamstrings — waited at the starting line. Some rode steeds of various kinds; others drove carriages, even chariots. Suffice it to say this race was not standardized. All that mattered was the ability to stay on the racecourse while going very, very fast.

Honestly, Ledhros didn't like his chances. Oh, he'd eaten a stupid amount of fresh bacon while employing mimicry, and now looked more like a giant boar than a half-elf mercenary. He could reach and hold a serious pace in this form. But these...people...looked downright intimidating.

A magical fire burned red. In moments, it would burn green. Then everyone and everything would start blitzing southeast, along the river or through the hills, toward the finish line: the shore of Skagg Lake.

(original image credit)​

THE RULES:

• Take whatever marked route you like, just stay on the paths and don't skip any bonfires.
• Roll a d20 at each bonfire you pass, one roll per posr. Post the results here and note what bonfire you're passing.
  • Roll a 1: Cataclysm. You're out of the race. Write that as you see fit, anything from 'eaten by dragons' to 'distracted by tavern maids' to 'sabotaged by pixies.'
  • Roll a 20: Magical protection. Write that as you see fit. On your next round, if you roll a 1, you can re-roll.
  • Roll a 7: Sabotage. You can sabotage another player by giving them -1 to their next roll. Yes, that means a 2 becomes a 1 and they would leave the race. Yes, that means their 20 would become a 19 and they would lose their burst of magical protection. Write the sabotage as you see fit — building a trap, casting a curse, whatever — just don't 'call the hit'/write them taking damage etc.
• The winner is whoever reaches Skagg Lake with the highest total (the sum of all their rolls).
• Bonfires can't be repeated.

That's all there is to it.

 

[Urberus]

A very old orc with a strange monkey on his shoulder hobbled up to the starting line on his walking staff.

He was already wheezing.

Smiling toothily, Urberus waved at a familiar face amid the crowd in Ledhros Caur, or at least the boar-thing that looked like Ledhros.

Then the fires burned green and they were off.

Urberus began hobbling along toward the hills - and not very quickly.

(4)

 

[Raziel]

As soon as the fires turned green Raziel kicked his steed towards the hills. If one wanted to chest then the hills provided more cover.

And one wanted to cheat.

The other reason he pulled to the right was that two heavy chariots were following the river trail. Raziel had been entirely certain that they were both carrying bows and would start launching arrows at the other racers.

As he set up the hill and beyond the first fire he reached for one of the numerous viles he had tucked away in his coat. No one was paying much attention to the tiefling riding alone. Not yet, anyway.

PASSING BONFIRE 2. ROLL (7)

 

[Kikwi]

On the starting line was a very large crab. On the crab sat a very strange looking owl. It wore a rob, and its head seemed a couple times too large for its body. Its eyes seemed ever more exaggerated.

Kikwi would normally have had his head swiveling around the other contenders, but he was focused this time. He held a long stick over one shoulder.

The fire turned green, and Kikwi swung the stick forwards to dangle a hunk of fish off the end of it. This grabbed the crab's attention, and it clacked its pincers and began to scuttle forwards.

He would stick to the river and use it as a guide to the finish line.

Bonfire 1. Roll 12.

 

[Ledhros Caur]

BONFIRE #2
ROLL: 10
CUMULATIVE: 10

Ledhros took off at a boary gallop, or thought he did. The problem was that, as he broke away from the starting line, all these other bizarre racers were doing significantly better. An owl riding a crab, for example. Ledhros grunted boarily and took the other path, bearing right into the hills.

Yes, this path was much more auspicious. He passed his old acquaintance Urberus — they'd fought at Cregsbend together — and then a tiefling on a steed of some kind, too quickly to see what it was, and felt better.

The path forked. Back to the river? Or farther into the hills? He paused in thought, and to catch his breath. Being eighty percent giant boar and twenty percent half-elf didn't lend itself to extended galloping.

Raziel Kikwi

 

[Urberus]

Bonfire #4
Cumulative: 6
Roll: 3 - 1 = 2

Old Urberus hobbled along, smiling to himself as the others passed him on horses and chariots.

The smile promptly disappeared as one of the riders, a devil-kin with a grin to match, tossed a vial over his shoulder with far too much casualness.

It shattered near Urberus and his monkey shrieked, covering its eyes as a blinding light blossomed even as Urberus sought to do the same with his arm. He leaned on his staff heavily, blinking away stars as his vision swam with motes.

He wobbled unsteadily, coughed, then shook himself and struggled onward again muttering about rash hooligans while the monkey shook an angry fist at the now-distant rider.