Wristband Race War

Wristband Race War — Ch 2.1

A new hand takes the helm, an old friend vanishes in a puff of smoke to chase the spotlight, and a rival with a grudge dangles four tickets in front of the crew: first band to reach the city where the very air hums with magic keeps them. But a race is a simple thing until someone lifts the tickets clean off your wrists — and the road to the Battle of the Bands runs straight through a slum, a street chase, and dreams that whisper tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Why does Xeros keep catching glimpses of memories that aren’t his? The show hasn’t even started, and something is already watching from the wings.

Chapter / Episode	2.1 — Wristband Race War
Arc	Battle of the Bands
GM	Chris
Date / Duration	2024-11-13 · ~3h (gameplay from 00:15:28)
Party	Xeros (Dave), Nortle (Steve), Basil (Brin), Foulclaw (Jesse)
Joins / Departs	New DM: Chris takes over (rotating chair). TBD departs the party for Magus; the crew are inducted as [[The Lashïngs
Ends on	Dawn over the Magus fairgrounds — race won, wristbands kept, a stage slot suddenly open, and a whole festival of trouble waiting

Synopsis

Chapter two opens with a change at the table: Chris takes the DM’s chair as the group’s rotating storytellers pass the baton, and the party gathers once more in the town of Lashara — where the century-old gnome Lashara, its namesake, calls a small council. She lays out the wound at the heart of the world: a hundred years ago the necromancer Zen au Kouréas, maddened by grief, tried to reshape reality during The Forgotten Hour, and though she and her fellow Heroes of the Forgotten Hour — Jock Bjorn, Old Man Jenkins, Father ITYS, and Levitas — fought him (with the tabaxi wizard Gray Star at their side), the apocalypse was only blunted, not stopped. The Veil Tears it left behind are stirring again, and the ITYS faith is on the rise. Lashara tasks the crew to find evidence of the reawakening and formally inducts them as Lashïngs — during which Xeros mischievously strums his Lying Lyre, leaving the induction officiant unable to tell the truth (he tries to marry Basil to her own half-brother) and Foulclaw briefly shrunk into a tiny, adorable, thoroughly nihilistic owlin.

By morning TBD is gone. A pre-recorded scroll flickers to life in a burst of smoke and light: his band Killasaurus made the finals of the Battle of the Bands at Magus, and — reminded by Lashara’s talk of The Forgotten Hour — he’s also going to fetch his old field-study notes from the School of Magus library, buried since his expedition to the Swollen Wastes. He signs off with a “rock on” and vanishes, leaving the crew to follow. On the road north the party runs into Ax El Rose and his band Roses and Gunzes (Slush Slasher, Doof, Itzy Straddle, and drummer Steve Drumler), an old rival who loves nothing more than needling Xeros. Ax El wagers four Battle of the Bands wristbands on a footrace to the Magus ticket booth — and Xeros, ever the long-gamer, immediately plants a level-5 Suggestion that sends the whole band charging south to Kren chasing a rumour of tall redheaded groupies who do not exist.

Choosing the chase-friendly route, the crew cross The Sweep into the Commons, the slummy edge of New Old where the Lashïngs move freely — and the instant they arrive, a wiry teen picks all four wristbands clean off their arms and bolts. The three-success street chase that follows is the episode’s beating heart, and every member of the crew solves it exactly the way you’d fear. Xeros opens by Distorting a fistful of gold to look like 3,000 pieces and lobbing it at the thief’s feet — which stops the kid cold by triggering a full-blown riot, a screaming crowd clawing over money that (Xeros later shrugs) was really only 300. When that clears, he pulls out his violin and Pied-Pipers the whole street into a skanking mob to open a lane. Nortle, back from training with Rex and itching to debut his new draconic breath weapon, warns the table that a bad roll means “someone’s going to light on fire” — then rolls badly and nearly barbecues Foulclaw, who escapes with one singed tail-feather and a “do a barrel roll!” from Xeros. It falls to Basil, who nat-20s a rooftop leap on her Boots of Leaping, drops in from behind a stack of crates, and trips the thief face-first into the cobblestones. He turns out to be a parkouring tabaxi kid who lifted the sold-out tickets to impress a girl — Xeros, suddenly feeling “like a piece of crap,” pays him off, and Foulclaw presses a pamphlet into his hands for the road. Pushing on through the night, the party makes camp, formalizes itself as the Gilded Lily, and by dawn reaches the fairgrounds of Magus — beating Ax El’s band, who turned back when a traveler told them Kren was a lie. At the ticket booth the star-struck tiefling attendant Fran Dressa slips Xeros a secret: Jaime Hetfield of Meta Lica got “indisposed,” and there’s an open slot in the Battle of the Bands. “I already have the band together,” Xeros grins — as the festival, and its Limp the Imp Bizkit, opens up before them.

🎵 Song Recap (rhyming — drop into an AI song generator)

Scheme: AABB verses + chorus. Suggested vibe: swaggering ska-punk road anthem.

(Verse 1) New hand on the wheel and an old friend’s flown, A scroll full of smoke says he’s chasing his own; The gnome gives a mission, a badge and a name — We’re Lashïngs now, kid, and we’re here for the game.

(Chorus) Race for the wristbands, race for the show, Toss the gold high and watch the whole street go! Magus is waiting where the magic runs wild — First band to the booth, so hop, bunny, hop, child!

(Verse 2) Ax El says race and I’ll bury the lie, Send ‘em all south for a girl in the sky; Then a thief on the wristbands goes tearing away — Through the Commons we chase him the whole cursèd day.

(Verse 3) Distort up the gold till the crowd loses its mind, Turtle breathes fire and the owl’s singed behind; A leap off the roof and a foot in the street — The bunny brings justice and cobblestone-meat.

(Chorus)

(Outro) Dawn on the fairground, the rival undone, A slot on the stage and a battle to run — Tomorrow and tomorrow keeps whispering low… But that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight — it’s the show.

📋 Point-by-point breakdown (player catch-up — everything that happened)

1. 00:01:46 · 🎭 RP — Chris takes over as DM: rather than one storyteller, the group will rotate the chair chapter by chapter. Quick character re-introductions all round.
2. 00:04:01 · 📖 Lore — Nortle returns from a hiatus training under the dragonborn Rex in the Swollen Wastes, learning Rex Kwan-Do — gaining a draconic breath weapon, a changed voice, and quitting his stogies (a Retcon stretched to “a couple months”).
3. 00:15:28 · 📖 Lore — At Lashara, the gnome Lashara convenes a council and recaps The Forgotten Hour: the necromancer Zen au Kouréas nearly cut the world apart; she and her fellow Heroes of the Forgotten Hour — Jock Bjorn (TBD’s great-grandfather), Old Man Jenkins, Father ITYS, and Levitas, with the tabaxi wizard Gray Star — fought him, and she founded New Old afterward.
4. 00:26:19 · 📖 Lore — Lashara left New Old over conflict with the ITYS religion and founded her own city; now she fears the rumored reawakening of the Veil Tears and the faith’s return to the city of ITYS is real, not a scare tactic.
5. 00:29:39 · 🎲 Mechanic — She tasks the party to gather more evidence of the reawakening and invites them to join the Lashïngs and form their own guild.
6. 00:52:19 · 🎭 RP — During the induction, Xeros plays the Lying Lyre; the Princess-Bride-ish officiant fails his save and can only lie (he nearly marries Basil to Nortle), and Foulclaw rolls a nat 1 → shrinks into a tiny nihilistic owlin for an hour.
7. 01:00:08 · 🎲 Mechanic — Worn down, Lashara declares them all Lashïngs anyway and pays the party 200 gold each; they land on a guild name — the Gilded Lily — with lily merit-badges from Foulclaw.
8. 01:05:48 · 📖 Lore — Next morning TBD is gone; a pre-recorded scroll announces Killasaurus made the Battle of the Bands finals at Magus, and he’ll grab his old Swollen Wastes field-study scrolls from the School of Magus library while he’s there.
9. 01:10:49 · 🎭 RP — On the road the crew meet rival Ax El Rose and Roses and Gunzes (Slush Slasher, Doof, Itzy Straddle, Steve Drumler); Ax El dares them to a race for four wristband tickets.
10. 01:25:53 · 🎲 Mechanic — Xeros casts a level-5 Suggestion (from his Crystal Ball of Telepathy) to send Roses and Gunzes south to Kren chasing imaginary tall redheads.
11. 01:29:32 · 🧭 Travel — Chris introduces color-coded travel events; the party picks the Commons route (a chase) over Epicunum (murder mystery) or Jenkins City (a boat).
12. 01:35:26 · 🧭 Travel — They cross The Sweep to the Commons, following hidden Lashïngs symbols past the gallows and the Children’s Crusade cemetery.
13. 01:37:47 · ⚔️ Combat/Chase — A teen thief snatches all four wristbands and flees; Chris runs a three-success skill chase.
14. 01:43:48 · 🎲 Mechanic — Xeros throws Distorted gold (300 looking like 3,000) to riot the crowd, then plays a Pied-Piper violin that sets the street skanking to clear a path.
15. 02:00:18 · ⚔️ Combat — Nortle’s new draconic breath goes wide and nearly torches Foulclaw’s tail feathers (Foulclaw saves); his boomerang misses too.
16. 02:18:52 · ⚔️ Combat — Basil nat-20s a rooftop leap on her Boots of Leaping, ambushes from behind crates, and trips the thief onto the cobblestones for the third success.
17. 02:22:22 · 🎭 RP — The thief — a wiry teenage tabaxi — confesses he stole the (sold-out) tickets to impress a girl; Xeros pays him off, Foulclaw gives a pamphlet, wristbands recovered.
18. 02:32:08 · 🧭 Travel — Pushing on at night the party gets lost, makes camp, and Foulclaw leads a “we’re officially a party now” devotional; lurking kobolds decide not to risk it after hearing the tale of the converted Choldreth.
19. 02:41:39 · 🧭 Travel — By dawn they reach the Magus fairgrounds and win the race; Ax El Rose’s band turns up behind them, having learned mid-journey that Kren was a lie (“Schrödinger’s Kren”).
20. 02:46:33 · 🎭 RP — At the ticket booth, super-fan attendant Fran Dressa is charmed by Xeros; she tips him that Jaime Hetfield of Meta Lica dropped out, leaving an open stage slot.
21. 02:56:41 · 📖 Lore — Chris tours the fairgrounds — main-stage tent, The Thirsty Maiden, Another Man’s Treasure, the Kaw Kaw Nevermore Theater, Choldreth mud-wrestling, and Limp the Imp Bizkit’s fix-it shop — and the session ends on the festival’s opening morning.

Player Characters

Character	Player	Race	Class	Note
Xeros	Dave	Tiefling	Bard	Emo ex-boy-band frontman of Year Xeros; solves everything with gold, charm, and a good long con
Nortle	Steve	Tortle	Monk	Socially-anxious ninja-turtle; back from training with Rex with a new dragon’s breath and a new voice
Basil	Brin	Harengon	Fighter	Fierce, gem-obsessed, she/her; rooftop leaps on her Boots of Leaping and a foot for every thief
Foulclaw	Jesse	Owlin	Sorcerer	Church of ITYS missionary with pamphlets ever-ready; converted a Choldreth spider (nobody believes him)
TBD	Chris (GM)	Goliath	Wizard	Adrenaline-junkie rock star; departs to the Battle of the Bands, while Chris runs the table this arc

NPCs

NPC	Role	Note
Lashara	Gnome Lashïngs leader	Century-old founder; convenes the council, tasks the party, inducts them as Lashïngs
Ax El Rose	Rival frontman	Human lead of Roses and Gunzes; loves needling Xeros; wagers the wristband race
Slush Slasher	Roses and Gunzes	Guitarist in Ax El’s all-human band
Doof	Roses and Gunzes	Bandmate; first to salivate over Xeros’s fake-redhead rumour
Itzy Straddle	Roses and Gunzes	Bandmate
Fran Dressa	Ticket-booth attendant	Fran-Drescher-voiced tiefling super-fan; tips Xeros to the open stage slot
Limp the Imp	Fairground tinker	Runs Limp the Imp Biscuit’s Fix-It Shop; “just wants to break stuff because everything sucks”
Jock Bjorn	Historical (mentioned)	Famed sea explorer and TBD’s great-grandfather; fought Zen in The Forgotten Hour
Old Man Jenkins	Historical (mentioned)	Fought alongside Lashara; hung at the Commons gallows
Levitas	Hero of the Forgotten Hour (mentioned)	One of the founders who battled Zen a century ago
Father ITYS	Hero of the Forgotten Hour (mentioned)	The founder-hero who fought Zen; a century ago he went by Father TEIN (“The End Is Near”), and is spoken of today as Father ITYS (“I Told You So”)
Gray Star	Tabaxi wizard NPC (mentioned)	Fought against Zen in The Forgotten Hour alongside the founders — an NPC, not one of the named Heroes
Amla	Elder (mentioned)	Elder of the “children of Amla” — the Choldreth; Foulclaw claims to have converted one

Factions

Faction	Note
The Lashïngs	Once-secret network of guilds that get things done outside bureaucracy; the party is inducted this session
Gilded Lily	The party’s own new guild/bastion, from “gilding the lily”; lily merit-badges by Foulclaw
Killasaurus	TBD’s band — a Battle of the Bands finalist; the reason he leaves the party
Roses and Gunzes	Ax El Rose’s all-human rival band, headed to the Battle of the Bands
Meta Lica	Metal-parody band whose frontman Jaime Hetfield drops out, opening a slot
Year Xeros	Xeros’s old boy band (spelled with an X) that kept his name after kicking him out
Church of ITYS	Dominant faith led by Father ITYS; Foulclaw’s church; its resurgence worries Lashara
Choldreth	Spider-creatures (“children of Amla”); one supposedly converted by Foulclaw

👹 Monsters

Monster	Threat / Role	Note
The wristband thief	Quarry of the street chase	Wiry teenage tabaxi parkourer; chased, tripped, and subdued (Basil nearly kills him) — really a desperate kid, not Ax El’s minion
Kobolds	Lurking night ambush (deterred)	Sharpen their knives in the dark at camp, then think better of it after hearing the tale of the converted Choldreth

🎙️ Notable Moments

00:01:58 — Chris explains the new format that will run the whole campaign: a rotating DM's chair.

Chris (GM): Instead of having a single dungeon master take us through this entire story arc… we’re each going to take a turn and run a chapter. Xeros: Yeah, it’s a chapter.

00:27:12 — Mid history-lecture, Xeros keeps "checking in" on the emotionally fragile Foulclaw instead of listening.

Lashara (GM): So did you actually have something to say, or are you just checking in on Foulclaw? Xeros: …Empathy. It’s within me.

00:56:30 — Xeros's Lying Lyre has left the induction officiant unable to tell truth from lie; he improvises a very wrong ceremony.

Officiant (GM): (to Basil) You want to marry him? (to Nortle) And… you want to marry her? Basil: It’s like the kiss cam with the brother and sister.

01:05:48 — TBD's pre-recorded goodbye scroll erupts in smoke and light — the spark that sends the whole arc into motion — and Xeros immediately starts trying to talk back to a recording that can't hear him.

TBD (GM): Hey guys, TBD here. Killasaurus has been accepted as one of the finalists in the Battle of the Bands! I couldn’t let this opportunity go. You understand, right? Xeros: Can we answer? Is he going to answer back? GM: No — it’s a pre-recorded scroll. Xeros: Okay — can you get us an address? You can just keep talking through me if you want— Foulclaw: How come you never let anybody finish what they’re saying?

01:26:25 — Xeros doesn't win the race by running; he wins it before it starts, feeding a Suggestion straight to Ax El's one weakness.

Xeros: There’s a lot of really good-looking redheads down in Kren… about six feet tall. Ax El Rose (GM): You know I like my women tall. (to his band) Dudes!

01:44:14 — Xeros throws a fistful of distorted gold into the street to slow the fleeing thief. It works a little too well.

Xeros: I distort value on it… so it’s going to look like 3,000 gold pieces, and I throw it right next to this kid. GM: The crowd goes nuts — there’s a girl screaming, grabbing her cheeks with both hands.

02:00:24 — Mid-chase, Nortle debuts the draconic breath weapon he just learned from Rex — in a packed street, with Foulclaw flying directly in the line of fire.

Nortle: I let loose my draconic breath weapon… if I make the roll it’ll freak him out and slow him down — and if I screw up, someone’s going to light on fire. GM: Foulclaw’s right in the way of the fire flying through — his tail feathers start to singe. Xeros: It’s just like — do a barrel roll!

02:19:31 — With the thief pinned and the party debating what to strip off him, Xeros volunteers his own wardrobe. The whole table loses it (the session's single biggest laugh).

Xeros: Basil, take my pants. GM (Chris): He’s a little too into that… I wouldn’t suggest taking his pants. Xeros: I tailored them to be like ripaways. It’s great!

02:22:22 — Basil has the caught thief pinned and choking; he begs for mercy on the grounds that he's just a kid. Basil is unmoved.

Thief (GM): Please stop — just a kid! Basil: No you’re not. You’re taller than me.

02:44:12 — Ax El's band arrives at the finish having discovered the redhead rumour was fake. Xeros refuses to concede the point.

Ax El Rose (GM): You lied to us, Xeros! Xeros: I didn’t lie to you — if you didn’t make it to Kren, you don’t know what the truth is. Nortle: It’s Schrödinger’s Kren.

02:52:06 — Fran the ticket-booth super-fan quietly hands Xeros the opening he's been looking for.

Fran (GM): Jaime Hetfield, the lead singer of Meta Lica, kind of got indisposed, and their spot’s been taken away. So there’s actually a spot open — if you can get a band together. Xeros: I already have the band together.

02:57:14 — Touring the fairground map, Chris unveils location eleven's tenant — a nihilist tinker built entirely on a Limp Bizkit pun the whole table can see coming a mile off.

Xeros: Is Gimp the Imp here, with his emporium booth? GM (Chris): Look closely at location eleven — that’s Limp the Imp Bizkit’s fix-it shop. He just wants to break stuff— Everyone (in unison): —because everything sucks!

🗺️ Locations

Place	Note
Lashara	The gnome Lashara’s city (named after her); the party’s staging point, offering free room and board
The Sweep	The region the party crosses from Lashara toward the Commons and Magus
Commons	Slummy edge of New Old; a Lashïngs travel hub outside Church of ITYS influence; site of the wristband chase, the gallows, and the Children’s Crusade cemetery
New Old	The city Lashara founded after the cataclysm; the Commons is its rundown outskirts
Trinity	The cluster of cities (Commons / New Old / ITYS) where the Church of ITYS is most present
Magus	Preternatural “city of magic” a couple miles from the fairgrounds; host of the annual Battle of the Bands
School of Magus	The magic school within Magus; its library holds TBD’s Swollen Wastes field-study scrolls
Epicunum	One of three routes to Magus (a murder-mystery option the party skipped)
Jenkins City	Alternate Magus route by chartered boat (skipped)
Kren	City far to the south by The Maw; Xeros’s fake “tall redheads” lie sends Roses and Gunzes here
Swollen Wastes	Dreaded region where Nortle trained under Rex and TBD did his field study
The Thirsty Maiden	The fairground’s most popular tavern (honey elixir) with a small stage for up-and-comers
Another Man’s Treasure	Fairground second-hand store selling trinkets, scrolls, and last year’s school curriculum
Choldreth Mud Wrestling Arena	Fairground mud-wrestling attraction behind the main stage
Limp the Imp Biscuit’s Fix-It Shop	Limp the Imp Bizkit’s shop at fairground location 11

🎒 Items

Item	Note
Battle of the Bands wristbands	Four tickets wagered in the race, stolen by the thief, and recovered — the crew’s way into the fairgrounds
The Lying Lyre	Xeros’s lyre; forces a DC-16 Wisdom save or the target lies for an hour; used on the induction officiant
Crystal Ball of Telepathy	Xeros’s body-cam orb (auto-uploads to the Year Xeros channel); stores the level-5 Suggestion and Scrying
Distort Value	Spell/effect Xeros uses to multiply the apparent value of gold (300 → 3,000) and riot the crowd
Boots of Leaping	Basil’s magical boots — huge leaps, no fall damage; key to the chase and cross-country travel
Orb of Aether	The meta “retcon” orb; Nortle uses one to extend his training, and even the DM claims a couple
Veil stones	The “bale stone” samples the party delivered to Lashara for study

⛩️ Pantheon & Lore

Entry	Note
The Forgotten Hour	The cataclysm ~100 years ago when Zen nearly tore the world apart; the world was rebuilt but not saved
Zen au Kouréas	The grief-maddened necromancer behind The Forgotten Hour; his magic left the veil tears
Veil Stone	Necrotic “veil tears”/samples left by Zen’s magic; Lashara studies them and fears their reawakening
Father ITYS	Founder of the powerful ITYS religion; his faith’s resurgence troubles Lashara
Church of ITYS	The dominant faith of the region and Foulclaw’s church
ITYS	City whose people the resurgent faith seeks to reclaim
Rex Kwan-Do	The martial discipline Nortle learned from Rex, granting his draconic breath
Kouréas	The continent the party is on — one of the world’s “big five,” including Krios

Cliffhanger

Dawn breaks over the Magus fairgrounds: the race is won, the wristbands are back, and star-struck ticket-taker Fran Dressa has just let slip that Jaime Hetfield of Meta Lica dropped out — leaving one open slot in the Battle of the Bands. “I already have the band together,” Xeros grins. The show is about to begin — and something is already watching from the wings.

Transcript

Full cleaned transcript: 241113-ch2.1-wristband-race-war-transcript · bundle on the tedit scratch SSD (241113-ch2.1).

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Related: Battle of the Bands · Magus · Lashara · The Lashïngs · Gilded Lily · Killasaurus · TBD · prev: 240925-ch1.7-faunas-garden · next: 241130-ch2.2-mildly-frustrated-at-the-machine