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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1202522" data-attributes="member: 1210">A Difficult ClimbHis fingers dig for purchase.  His breath is short and his calves are screaming as he stretches up, pushing hard with his toe to avoid falling from the mountain face.  Even with the path they found, the climb is nearly impossible.  For an instant he feels his toe start to slip, and then Thelonious' rough grip snatches at his wrist, pulling him up onto the ledge.  With a shudder, Federico collapses, whining.  His arms and legs are trembling, his tail's between his legs.  The poor, weak kobold* has been having more trouble with the climb than anyone else, but even so, the entire group is sore and tired from their exertions.  But they're making progress up Steeple Mountain.They pause for a moment to catch their breath, then continue up the trail, scrabbling over rough rocks and clambering up natural steps.  They work together, and by midday they've come to a dreadful sheer cliff.  Even with the climber's kit they borrowed from the mayor, our heroes know this is a treacherous and potentially lethal section of the mountain.  Again they pause for a moment."Looks almost like the mountain's been carved against climbing," Coco pants.  His twin sister, Ed, bursts into tears.  Thelonious ties off one end of a rope.  Sandy gulps, takes the other end, and carefully picks his way across the cliff to the other side.  He never looks down- it's probably an eighty foot drop.  Once he reaches the other side, he takes a deep breath and ties the other end of the rope tautly to a sturdy shrub.  "All right," he shouts.One by one the party starts clambering across.***Brother He's face is smooth as he continues his ascent of the mountain.  He's never seen the sun before these last few days, and it's a marvelous revelation to him.  Though it hurt his eyes at first, he adjusted within the first few hours.  It's amazing, how far he can see- and the colors!  Much more vivid than by torch or witchlight.  But he is ascending, and must discipline his mind to do so.  The ascension to the top of a surface mountain is symbolic of his spiritual ascent, which of course has only just begun.  But as he transcends his body and mind, so too must he transcend his environment.  Suddenly Brother He's train of thought is interrupted by a terrible warbling scream from above him.  He whips his gaze up.  There!  Above him- a group of climbers- and one falling, falling, down towards him.***When it's Ed's turn to climb across, she hesitates for a long moment.  Instead of using the rope to aid her in climbing, she tentatively steps onto it, balancing precariously.  "Careful," Coco cautions as she walks out slowly across the rope.  Ed's heart thuds in her chest as she eases her way across and steps off. Coco steps up after her.  He makes it halfway across, and it's tricky; there's considerable wind- and he loses his balance.  For an instant he flails his arms, trying to get it back, and then he's starting to fall.  His fingertips brush against the rope, but not enough.  He shrieks as the cliff whistles past him.  Then there's a flash of bone-shattering pain and everything goes black for Coco."NOOOOO!!!" howls Ed.  "NOOOOOO!!! NOOOOO!!!"Below, Brother He lowers the arm he raised to shield himself from the splatter of blood and organs that burst from poor Coco's mouth as he died.  He can hear the cries of grief above him.  After a moment's consideration, he arranges the body and builds a quick cairn for him; then Brother He begins to climb up the cliff, towards our heroes, to offer his condolences."Who are you?  Why are you here?" asks Thelonious, studying the figure before him.  He sees a pale halfling, clearly one of the so-called deep halflings from the Underdark, dressed in simple robes."I am Brother He," the monk replies.  "I am on a journey of spiritual ascent.  To symbolize this, I must climb this mountain.  And you?""We're following some missing children," growls Dogfish.  "Looks like they were kidnapped by goblins.""Children!" Brother He exclaims.  "Perhaps I can help somehow.  I would be glad to."Ed is weeping for her brother; the group decides to pause for a snack and to decide whether to continue forward...*Str 1, poor thing.Next Time: Nothing like rolling rocks on adventurers!</blockquote>

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