The party are sent by Aces High to compete in the annual Tournament of Fableland while surreptitiously keeping an eye on proceedings to make sure no one destabilises the current status quo or, in the words of Last Resort, “blow it up”.
On the way, they encounter an angry flock of goosehawks and their baby goslingeyas. They defeat the goosehawks, steal their eggs and Honest Jack sets fire to their nest to cook one of them. It doesn't taste great.
Eventually, barren land gives way to a patchwork of small fields and farmland which appear to be farmed without any automation. The town of Fableland stands behind a wooden palisade, reinforced with metal sheeting. They are greeted by a farmer who speaks with a smattering of archaic words. A few decay seekers shamble up, attracted by the technology that outsiders have brought into the kingdom, but they are easily dispatched by a guard named Straight Shooting who also mentions King's treasure vault.
Within the gates of Fableland, the party first meets King Valiant who signs them up. Last Resort comes up with the team name Trebuchet, after a particularly attractive piece of siege equipment she'd like to see mounted on Wretched Export's shoulder. The team leader is explicitly not Last Resort.
In the tavern, which bears only the name Tavern, Team Trebuchet meet some of their competitors, including Feral Instinct and one of his trained raktors, Fableland native Farmer Brown, and River Turned, a various vyxian in plate armour. Last Resort is particularly intrigued by Grey Beard the wizard's claims of magical ability. It soon becomes clear that Grey Beard is actually the roleplaying character of Starlit Dream. The fake beard and elf ears stuck to the side of her chirrid exoskeleton are somewhat of a giveaway.
In the first match, Team Trebuchet defeat the Farmer team, despite their ingenious attempt at using a scarecrow to exploit the “last team member standing” rule. In the second round, they face Grey Beard - actually Starlit Dream and her group of friends pretending to be magical mirror copies of Grey Beard. They are not particularly effective and some are quite traumatised by real violence. Last Resort attempts to cheer Starlit Dream by upgrading her wizard staff prop to fire grenades. It explodes.
Coming into the semi-finals, they are up against River Turned's knights who have so far sailed through. They quickly determine that the knights are actually security bots welded into suits of armour and what's more, they're suffering from decay. Once her ailing bots are put down, River Turned surrenders, putting Team Trebuchet through to the finals.
In a climactic final bout, Team Trebuchet is very nearly defeated by Feral Instinct's trained raktors, Blue, Alpha, and Gamma, but snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
While Honest Jack and Wretched Export plan their talents for the Contest of Skill, Last Resort races after Starlit Dream.
After witnessing a spectacular display of skill by Feral Instinct and Alpha, Wretched Export attempts to impress King Valiant and the audience by constructing a fully-functioning trebuchet. The trebuchet works exactly once… flinging Last Resort up through the tavern roof and then flying into pieces. This disastrous display is quickly forgotten when Honest Jack burns the tavern down.
While all the guards inside the town are busy dealing with the fire, the party realise that Straight Shooting, who is mysteriously unknown to both King and his sheriff, has vanished. Realising he is an imposter, King Valiant directs the party to his secret vault behind the throne. There they catch Straight Shooting in the process of robbing the vault. They take the brigands to the gaol and put them in the stocks. In thanks, King Valiant offers them each a knighthood, though Last Resort gives hers to Alpha the raktor.
Team Trebuchet return for the grand melee. One by one, the competitors fall until it is only Wretched Export and Honest Jack left. Honest Jack appears sure to triumph with his flaming sword but through sheer determination, Wretched Export powers through the flame to stand victorious as champion of the melee.
However, the tournament has attracted many, many decay creatures outside of the walls and so begins a surprise fourth event - defending the kingdom. Team Trebuchet fight through waves of decaying monsters, finally defeating a giant mechanical mining scorpion.