Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse...

Picking up on the loose ends of Day 2, Lucy Bottom had to stop to massage her horse's fetlocks - Lucy proved a dab hand at getting that nag back on its feet (6,6, 2.3) and lost just an hour before she could get back in the race.

Poor Phlaag had serious work to do to achieve the same thing. He, like all the other drivers, have tool kits stored under their wagons but working alone on a broken axle was not easy even with ogre strength to lift the chassis up. He lost 8 hours and is probably glad this happened now and not at the back end of the race when such a disaster could not be recovered from.

The drivers also have camping gear with them and are bound to stop for a minimum of 6 hours every night (when Wizard Control only protect camp sites and do not patrol the route ahead). Overnight, there is a challenge to the legitimacy of Hrothgar's set up - he appears to have  a "huge, eight-legged beast called a 'Throat' which snorts and swings it’s wide, flat tail from side to side. The mighty-thewed barbarian glances about, his cart filled with treasures from the last sacked temple. Atop the glittering gold and precious gem encrusted trinkets a bejewelled ex-temple maiden sits...'  Wizard Control investigate and pronounce themselves satisfied that it is all an illusion and the barbarian has a standard wagon and horse (as for the maiden, she's real enough and should help wile away those long lonely nights on the road).

Day 3 sees the competitors exploding out of the western gates in the Great Wall encircling Khaboom and its forests and if the cracking speed most drivers aim to maintain is not to impact injuriously on the horses, those drivers had better have looked after their steeds well...

The dice rolls are:

-  Lucky     3 (critical fumble)

- Phloog          10

- Phlaag      11

- Lucy Bottom   8

- Ivy           6

- Gibby Honeydew       8

- Tommy Two-Time           7

- Kangaroo Jack       18 (DARO)

- Buzz       6

- Chet the Centaur           13 (DARO again)

- Dalup the Dwarf       9

- Rainbro       11

- Hrothgar      6

 This long flat stretch of the race sees Chet the Centaur stretch his legs and kick his heels as he extends his lead with only Kangaroo Jack (who fairly bounds at the reins as he urges his horse to greater haste) and Dalup within spitting distance,

Of the other drivers, those worthy of note are Phlaag who fails to reach the Great Wall by the end of Day 3, Tommy Two-Time (whose horse looks in rather a sorry state one moment but then looks as fresh as daisy the next - questions may be asked!) and Lucky, who is struggling to justify his name (they get changed easily enough on Khaghtch'an if they no longer fit).

Lucky's horse shudders and comes to a slithering, sliding stop as it takes in sharp shards of metal scattered over the road by some anti-dwarf villagers. It looks hideously bad for both horse and rider but at the last moment the horse and wagon shimmer and shift to the left, avoiding the danger but getting shaken up on the rutted tracks off the road. The dwarf stops to check over his animal and his cart but all is fine and he loses only 30 minutes.

Day 4 will require careful map-reading skills as the destination for the pick-up is announced: a no-mark hamlet called Pillbox way out in the sticks. It looks as if the choice is either to skirt the mountains - to the south or to the north - or to pick a route through the passes. At least it's not winter.

More 2d6 rolls please!