(Gamma World) Not a Test #92 - The Fair-Town Queen's Joust

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers,  have decided do let their secret Toard Jakey facility lay low, after an odd, and radioactive break-in.  It's time for the Queen's Joust in Fair-Town, and every member has an agenda....

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Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. Last year's jousting champion of Fair-Town.  

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: a nearly 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.

Thunnelda Haycock:  A peculiar local woman, who has a penchant for wandering the surrounding territories for particular oddities, but has become the fiancé of Lathar

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The second day of the Queen's Joust in Fair-Town had brought some reasonable results, including a victory for returning champion, Lathar Bracken.  But the disappearance of Squiggles had forced a replacement jouster to be found.  Lathor was uneasy when they appointed Elona, blue-skinned Kirothian Chief and former lover of Lathar, as Squiggles' replacement.

Soon Lathar realized his ex was the least of his issues.  Elona's competition was one Thunnelda, the current fiancé of Lathar...

Lathar got a first row bench for the joust, still flabbergasted by his fiancé signing up for the joust behind her back.  

No one questioned where Thunnelda got a horse from, or a bath, or make-up to cover her black block facial tattoos.  If it wasn't for the hinge-covered armor, no one could recognize her....

Thunnelda cleans up well... but by who?

THUNNELDA VS ELONA

Neither of the women were proficient riders, much less professional jousters.  Languid mounts and glancing hits plagued the passes.  Despite a sudden attack by an escaped gaggle of geese on the last pass, Thunnelda wins 2-0! 

After some quick celebration, the Explorers investigated some betting action. Most of the betting action was literally underground, in root cellars, all run by a gang of mole rats.   Reading through the action sheet, Lathar easily smiled:  He was 3:2 odds to win the whole thing for a second years in a row. 

"I wonder what the parlays are...."

Pete made some domars providing insider information about Lathar and Thunnelds, but it didn't see to adjust the line...

Pete placed bets for the Explorers, a parlay having Lathar winning, and much higher odds for Thunnelda winning it all. 

The night, Lathar, Pete, and Sonny returned to the Clockwork Carnival, celebrating their success and trying to figure what was going on with Thunnelda.  Pete started conversing with the townsfolk.  

It appeared Fair-Town took in a number of refugees, improving defenses, but avoiding the fighting down near KIA.  There was never any contact with the Overlord of Bonn-Parr like Riverbend had, although there were a LOT more mutant animals visiting this year...

Day 3 of the Tournament

It was a wet and muddy morning.  Sonny had already wandered off to the markets to find items on his Restorationist shopping list.   While Pete and Lathar were eating, Squiggles finally wandered back from where he came.  He was dressed in his foppish, frilly Renaissance outfit, with near tears and holes.  Heck even patches of his fur were missing!  

Squiggles sits at the table, "Anyone have any.... man, I have a headache.  I love this town, but it always does a number on me..."

Pete:  What the hell happened to you? 

Squiggles: Two words, my friend.  Best Party Ever!  He took the cup of syrup and sucked it down in one sip. 

Thunnelda finally arrives, even fewer words than normal.  

Lathar: Hi, Babe...

Thunnelda: Whatever.... She walked towards the main door.

Lathar:  Where are you going?

Thunnelda:  Getting ready to kick your ass later.  

After many months, Pete finally found a craftsman in the market that could craft the cloak he was dreaming of, and for only 200 domars.  The Minstrel Stitchweaver asked for a week to be ready.  He also alluded to a cool costume the queen was wearing for the joust final.  

GROG THE ROCK TROLL VS THUNNELDA

It seemed like Grog could simply pushover the untrained Thunnelda, but the girl from Riverbend bobbed and weaved. There was no way to unhorse the behemoth, but all she needed was her lance to land true once. 

Grog!!!!!

Thunnelda wins 4-3! 

LATHAR VS SIR CARRION

The muck and the mire bogged down the passes for Lathar and the mutant vulture.  

Sir Carrion

After the first pass, Sir Carrion and his mount slid right into the Joust Souvenir tent,

Fair-Town Souvenir Tent, RIP

With the second pass, Lathar only disarmed Sir Carrion, the lance flying into the crowd and killing a pie vendor.  

On the third pass, both registered light hits, causing SUDDEN DEATH.  

Lathar kept No-Name out of the mud long enough to build up a head of steam and garner another light blow to win, 2-1. 

THE JOUST FINALS - THUNNELDA VERSUS LATHAR

With a full crowd in attendance, the Queen of Fair-Town makes her appearance.  As she chases her tail while sitting in her throne, she begins chasing her tail, flames shot out, a design by Minstrel.

The Queen! 

Lathar and Thunnelda traded equal blows on the first two passes.  Maybe is was fixed, maybe it was the mud, perhaps it was second thoughts, but Thunneld failed to reach the strike zone, thus earning Lathar 1 penalty point. 

Lathar wins 4-2.  

Thunnelda didn't even stay for the awarding of trophies.  Lathar earned his spot on the town council, and received a plasma lance.... which appeared to be a light up novelty item found at the Toard Jakey.  

The "Plasma Lance" Batteries Not Included

Pete collected his winnings and the Explorers tried to figure out how obnoxious "TWO-TIME JOUST CHAMPION LATHAR BRACKEN" could be .

GM Notes:  We actually used "To Cry a Joust," our normal HMGS convention game rules for the jousting sub-game.  The joust betting information was crafted by my ChatGPT Gamma World conversation that keeps going.  So many parlays, so many side-bets, which I quickly commandeered as a random event/critical failure list. 

Steve's quote from halfway in the session:  It's like we're in the diner scene from Pulp Fiction.  We've been all wandering in multiple directions, and all arrived back here....

Next: #93 - The Azure Oracle