If there was something Blai had been excited for in the festival, it was this event. Drawn by the outdoors and by nature, and an enthusiast of beast of all kinds since his childhood, he'd definitely been very excited about Thranta from a young age... although as a member of a small house, he had more limited chances to ride than other nobles.
As he had remembered when he took the chance to fly with Ziandra's hints a few days back, this was one of the things he actually missed about Alderaan during his long times away. The feeling of freedom, the close connection with the Thranta, the companionship.... it was an incredibly exciting and almost religious ritual for him.
That didn't mean he didn' take the race seriously, though. Choosing a slim, agile Thranta named 'Gale', he happily took some time to get acquainted with it before mounting it. Establishing a connection between rider and mount was an important part of Blai's approach to riding and to the race, so it was imporant to get off on a good start.
And that they did. They set off to a blindingly fast start from the Launching area, and cut across the criss-crossing winds of the Coastal Region in no time, the pair quickly making their way to the front group of the race - with Lana close behind and Zeno flying pretty much side by side with him. It seemed like the scholar barely had eyes for anything but Gale and the course, however.
As they came to the infamous Malazi canyons, he reined the Thranta in and came in with a more careful and paced approach, letting Gale rest a bit after their initial sprint. He did his best to keep a close and intimate connection with the beast while respecting it... and that it did, although the cautious approach cost them the lead of the race as Lana overtook Gale and Blai, and Yulastranza and Jocasta practically aligned with them as they were reaching the end of the narrow canyons.
Blai connected with the Thranta again, trying to push it forward again as they made their final sprint, all but ignoring the treacherous wings. They arrived safely, Gale in much better condition than many of the other Thranta... but Blai refraining from push the beast further meant he had no chance to reach Lana again, and saw Garth, who guided his Thranta through the last miles of the race at a frenzied pace, and also Yulastranza overtake him before the finishing line. His skill was enough to beat the queen and finish just before Jocasta, though - and his excitement with the race itself, his results and his newfound rapport with Gale made for a
very happy and unusually cheery and taklative xenobio nerd at the festivities back at the palace.
OOC:
Leg 1 - Aggressive Stance - Thranta strain +1, Steps needed: 3-1 = 2
Round 1 - We are One
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 1: Aggressive Stance. Step 1: We are One. Xenology vs Hard, Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Intense Focus. 1 Strain for Blai (IF), 1 Strain for Thranta (WaO+Aggressive).:
3eP+1eA+2eF+1eB+3eD 3 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph, 2 Dark Side
-
3 Successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph, 2 Dark side; No Dark pips.
Final Result:
3 Successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph
Thranta Strain taken: 1 (We are One + Aggressive Stance) + 1 (threat) = 2
Total Thranta strain: 2/12
Blai Strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 1/13
Steps completed: 1 + 1 (Triumph) = 2/2
Leg 1 completed in 1 round!
S/T/A = 3 / 1 / 0
Leg 2 - Brutal Stance - Thranta strain +2, 1 Difficulty upgrade, Steps needed: 5-3 = 2
Round 2 - We are One (Posting reroll after dice goof as asked by GM)
D7 MA - Rerolling miscoded Leg 2: Brutal Stance (2 Steps). Step 1: We are One. Xenology vs Hard, Brutal upgrade Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Res + Outd (rem 3 S), Intense Focus. 1 Strain for Blai (IF), 2 for Thranta:
3eP+1eA+2eF+1eB+2eD+1eC 3 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph, 2 Light Side, 1 Dark Side
-
3 Successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph, 2 Light side; 1 Dark side; 2 LS pips converted to successes
Final Result: 5 Successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph
Thranta Strain taken: 2 (We are One + Brutal stance) + 1 (threat) = 3
Total Thranta Strain: 5/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 2/13
Steps completed: 1 + 1 (Triumph) = 2/2
Leg 2 completed in 1 round!
S/T/A = 8/2/0
Leg 3 - Defensive Stance - Steps needed: 4
Round 3 - Glide
No roll needed
Thranta Strain recovered: 2
Total Thranta Strain: 3/12
Total Blai strain: 2/13
Steps completed: 1 = 1/4
S/T/A = 8/2/0
Round 4 - We are One (Roll description cut short on Orokos as it was too long! Copying the whole description I'd written here)
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 3: Defensive Stance (4 Steps). Step 1: Glide (2 Strain recovered, 1 step completed); Step 2: We are One. Xenology vs Daunting. GM Upgrade. Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Researcher + Outdoorsman (ignores 3 Setback), Intense Focus. 1 Strain for Blai (IF). 0 Thranta Strain. Ziantha upgrade.:
4eP+2eF+1eB+3eD+1eC 2 failures, 2 advantage, 3 Light Side
-
2 Failures, 2 advantage, 3 Light side; 3 LS pips converted to successes
Final Result: 1 Success, 2 Advantage
2 Advantage converted to 1 Boost for next roll
Thranta Strain taken: 0 (We are One) = 0
Total Thranta Strain: 3/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 3/13
Steps completed: 1 = 2/4
S/T/A = 9/2/2
Round 5 - Basic Control Roll description cut Intense Focus, but it's been used as in all other rolls.
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 3: Defensive Stance Step 3: Control. Survival vs Daunting. Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Outdrsmn (Rem S), Intense Focus.:
3eP+1eA+2eF+1eB+4eD 2 Light Side, 1 Dark Side
Forgot boost gained from last roll, and had stupidly forgot I needed another round here so I typed Leg 4 on the description, but this extra boost should have gone here
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 4: Aggressive Stance (3 Steps). Step 1: We are One - Forgot Boost from last roll!:
1eB (Description wrong, should be for Leg 3 Step 3!)
1 success, 1 advantage
-
So total: 1 Success (from boost), 1 advantage (from boost), 2 Light side, 1 Dark side; 2 LS pips converted to successes
Final Result: 3 Successes, 1 advantage
Thranta Strain taken: 1 (Basic Control) - 1 (advantage) = 0
Total Thranta Strain: 3/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 4/13
Steps completed: 1 = 3/4
S/T/A = 12/2/3
Round 6 - Glide
No roll needed
Thranta Strain recovered: 2
Total Thranta Strain: 1/12
Total Blai strain: 4/13
Steps completed: 1 = 4/4
Leg 3 completed in 4 rounds!
S/T/A = 12/2/3
Leg 4 - Aggressive Stance - Steps needed: 3
Round 7 - We are One
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 4: Aggressive Stance (3 Steps). Step 1: We are One; Xenology vs Hard. GM Upgrade. Destiny Flip. Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Res + Outdmn (Rm 3 S), Intense Focus.:
4eP+2eF+1eB+2eD+1eC 3 successes, 2 threat, 1 Light Side, 2 Dark Side
-
3 Successes, 2 threat, 1 Light side, 2 Dark side; 1 LS pip converted to advantage
Final Result: 3 Successes, 1 threat.
Thranta Strain taken: 1 (We are One + Aggressive Stance) + 1 (threat) = 2
Total Thranta Strain: 3/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 5/13
Steps completed: 1 = 1/3
S/T/A = 15/2/3
Round 8 - Basic Control (Posting reroll after ANOTHER dice goof, as asked by GM)
D7 MA - Rerolling miscoded Leg 4: Aggressive Stance (3 Steps). Step 2: Basic Control; Survival vs Hard. Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Outdoorsman (Rm 1 S), Intense Focus.:
3eP+1eA+2eF+1eB+3eD 4 advantage, 2 Light Side, 1 Dark Side
-
0 Successes, 4 advantages, 2 Light side, 1 Dark side; 2 LS pips converted to successes
Final Result: 2 Successes, 4 advantages
4 Advantage converted to 2 Boosts for next roll
Thranta Strain taken: 2 (Basic Control + Aggressive Stance) = 2
Total Thranta Strain: 5/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 6/13
Steps completed: 1 = 2/3
S/T/A = 17/2/7
Round 9 - Basic Control
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Swift Thranta, Leg 4: Aggressive Stance (3 Steps). Step 3: Basic Control; Survival vs Hard. Thranta Suit (Boost), Animal Empathy (2FD), Outdoorsman (Rm 1 S), Intense Focus.:
3eP+1eA+2eF+1eB+3eD 3 successes, 1 Light Side, 1 Dark Side
Adding 2 boosts from previous step (which was rerolled later due to dice goof, as asked by DD!)
D7 MA - Thranta Race. Leg 4, Step 3, Rolling 2 boosts gained from Step 2 (that was rerolled due to dice goof):
2eB 2 successes, 2 advantage
-
Total: 5 Successes (3+2 from Boost), 2 advantages (from Boost), 1 Light side, 1 Dark side; 1 LS pip converted to success
Final Result: 6 Successes, 2 advantages
Thranta Strain taken: 2 (Basic Control + Aggressive Stance) - 2 (Advantages) = 0
Total Thranta Strain: 5/12
Blai strain taken: 1 (IF)
Total Blai strain: 7/13
Steps completed: 1 = 3/3
Leg 4 completed in 3 rounds!
S/T/A = 23/2/9
Final Results (after soooo may goofs, oof!)
Race completed in
9 rounds
Tie breakers
Total Successes: 23
Total Triumphs: 2
Total Advantages: 9
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Also for the fun:
Tentative standings for now? (Updated up to Kellen Rist)
Lana: 7 rounds (NPC)
Yulastranza: 8 rounds (NPC - tie-breaker?)
Garth: 8 rounds (STA: 24/2/21)
Blai: 9 rounds (STA: 23/2/9)
Jocasta: 9 rounds (STA: 18/2/6)
Queen Solara: 10 rounds (NPC but rolled - STA: 25/3/15)
Miyi: 10 rounds (NPC - tie-breaker?)
Galen: 13 rounds (STA: 31/1/31)
Xero: 15 rounds?? (NPC - did he finish?
)
Ziandra: 17 rounds (NPC)
Joran: 18 rounds (NPC)
Cynella: 19 rounds (STA: 27/2/37)
Kellen: 21 rounds (STA: 26/1/10)
Tethys: 23 rounds (STA: 14/1/26)
Keyhote: 37 rounds (STA: oh god I thought about it but no.... won't even try)
-------
Katarzyna: Out in Leg 4 (STA: 22/1/7)
Aurilie: Out in Leg 3 (STA: 12/2/8)
Zeno: Out in Leg 3 (STA: 4/0/7)
Riss: Out in Leg 2 (STA: 8/0/10)
