[sblock=DarwinofMind]
Thanks for passing that on. Can you play Shorrin until he's back?
Also, since you never gave me an Athletics check,
I'll roll for you.
[/sblock]
Larinza heaves the sled foot by foot up the trail, barely noticing that Janus hasn't been pulling his weight. By the time she reaches the top she's barely out of breath.
Shorrin has more trouble, despite his formidable strength: he's not used to this terrain, and his feet often slide on the loose rocks. Murphy finds himself suddenly taking most of the weight of the sled from time to time as Shorrin loses his balance. Usually he quickly recovers, but near the top he loses his footing completely and falls backwards! The entire weight of the both the sled and Shorrin comes down onto Murphy, who digs in his feet and tries his hardest not to let go! All three slide down the trail for about 15 feet before coming to a stop, resting precariously on the edge of a switchback, just inches from going over the side. In fact, Murphy's left leg DOES go over the side, and as he twists himself back from the edge he gets a brief, dizzying look at the ice 180 feet below. It's only thanks to his solid footing that the sled was brought to a halt instead of having its momentum carry both it and him to meet that ice.
After a few moment's rest, Shorrin and Murphy climb the last 20 feet again - more carefully this time - and are able to see for themselves the clearing Balth described: the fire, the body, the snow, and the narrow path winding back into the forest of pale trees.
