A Keep On The Borderlands: Arrival

[Axel]

Sh'aah

Having secured the rope to the bed, Sh'aah made to climb out the window. With one leg outside he paused and glanced back. "Undo the rope when all are down," he said, before swinging the other leg over and beginning a careful backwards descent.

The half-orc reached the bottom and stepped away from the rope, crouching into the tower's shadow. As Comoray climbed down Sh'aah scanned the ground between the tower and the cliff , trying to understand how long he would have to cross the space and get over the cliff edge - at least until a sentry might spot him. Sh'aah was fairly confident that he could keep himself out of sight - for a big creature he could be quick and quiet when needed - but the priest was a different matter altogether. So long wearing heavy armours had made his movements more stiff and jerky than the ranger thought strictly necessary.

 

[Dr Simon]

Sh'aah and Comoray move carefully across the compound, using the derelict chapel and outbuildings for cover. Sh'aah can see like a cat in the starlight, Comoray finds it harder going, but both are aware that the dwarves can see in total darkness, and the journey is tense.

However, they somehow manage to get to the far end of the waystation, by the foot of the southern curtain wall. Below them, about 5-10 ft. down the cliff face, is the dark opening. Beyond, a long drop down a 500 ft. cliff into the dark valley, where a tiny ribbon is glinting silver shows where the river flows.

 

[Shayuri]

Arcata watches the two descend, clearly conflicted about whether to go or stay. Perhaps also about letting them go as well.

"There is such a fine line between caution and paranoia," she says quietly to her knight and companion. "Are we on the right side of it this time?"

 

[Axel]

Sh'aah

The half-orc ranger halted a few steps short off, raising his left hand so that the night-blind human would not run into the back of him... "Is there,"he grunted, pointing at a deeper pool of shadow against the mountain side. "Sh'aah first. You wait, count ten after I gone. Listen hard." He glanced about, seeking some place to make the rope fast too, and finding none.

Without further ado, Sh'aah turned and dropped over the side. He felt his way more than saw it. A foothold for the left, then the right. Jam your fingers into the crack, lower the right leg. There! With patience and caution he scaled down the rock face, body tight against the mountain as if he was embracing it.

climb check 1d20+6=18

 

[Kaodi]

Comoray listens intently as he counts to eleven, just to be sure, then quietly follows the half-orc as best he can. It is rough going, as the Brother does not have any training in rock climbing and does not have the half-orc's night vision, but his strength serves him fairly well.

Climb: 1d20+3=11

 

[Dr Simon]

Comoray and Sh'aah scale the cliff down to the opening. Inside is a room with a flagstoned floor - it would seem to be a cellar to the tower above, exposed by erosion or a landslip some time in the past. Corroded metal rungs lead to a trap door in the ceiling, and a rough-hewn tunnel leads deeper under the waystation into pitch blackness.

 

[Kaodi]

Comoray pauses to look at the door quizzically. In a low voice he asks, "Do you remember seeing a trap door in the tower, Sh'aah?" The brother carefully climbs up the metal rungs, wary of them giving way under his weight.

 

[Dr Simon]

OOC: Just to clarify, there are two towers, one at each end of the compound. This cellar is under the other one, not the one that the PCs are staying in.

 

[Kaodi]

OOC: Oops.

Comoray looks down the corridor into the darkness. "Perhaps if you scout ahead a bit you might find the tunnel twists and turns in a way that will disguise the light of a lit torch?" he whispers.

 

[Axel]

Sh'aah

Sh'aah grunted at the priest's question. Checking that the rope and grappling hook were still secure and over his shoulder out the way, he set off down the tunnel. Before passing through the opening he turned and said, "I tap two, is good." Turning back to the tunnel Sh'aah levelled his spear, grasping it in two hands, and went forward, quietly and with care.