Storms of Change, Part 2

[Verbatim]

"Beware of the pit, there be more snakes in there than Set himself could handle."

Turning his head to the side, Dunathar looked above and wondered what could be breathing so loudly as to carry all the way down to them. Pointing to the ledge and to the hill itself, Dunathar begins unslinging his pack and checked to make sure climbing would not cause his weapons to fall from his belt.

"The path around the pit seems to be safer for everyone, but I'm not wanting to get any closer to those serpents than I have to. I'll take my chances with the straight shot up."

That said, Dunathar begins scouting out openings to test his weight on and begins the climb slowly up the hill.

OOC: Climb take 10 if possible, 5 if not.

 

[silentspace]

As Dunathar speaks aloud, he hears the breathing go irregular, breaking its steady rhythm. There’s a sort of snorting sound, a grumble, then regular breathing again. Someone is asleep above! Filbert is distracted by the other sounds around him and can’t hear the breathing.

Dunathar:

Spoiler

Dunathar moves expertly up the rocky hillside, moving closer to the sounds. Climbing over a rocky ledge, he sees a sleeping half-orc, wearing studded leather with a longbow and a bastard sword. It’s sort of a crow’s nest, with natural-looking rocks and shrubs forming a low wall from the outside. Towards the back of the lookout post is a narrow tunnel leading downward into the hillside a few feet, ending in a small, three foot high door.

The half-orc wrinkles his nose and mumbles something, but continues sleeping.

 

[Verbatim]

Actions:As he looks down and spies the sleeping senty, Dunathar's first instinct is to plunge his bone handled dagger quickly into its throat, but he knows that would not be what is best for them at the moment.

Pulling the morningstar free as quietly as he can, Dunathar aims for the creature's temple hoping to knock him out so that the others could speak to it.

OOC: Sneak attack for subdual/k.o. damage

 

[silentspace]

Dunathar:

Spoiler

Raising the morningstar up over the half-orc's head, Dunathar swings down, aiming not to crush his skull, but to knock the half-orc unconscious. The morningstar connects with a *thunk* and the half-orc's head lolls to the side, clearly unconscious. [19 pts subdual damage]

The sentry's position is about 25 feet up the slope. From here, you can see Filbert standing below by the pit, partially concealed by the fog. You cannot see the others.

 

[Verbatim]

Moving quickly, Dunathar looks down to Filbert and waves down to the small priest.

Once he has his attention, Dunathar points to the longer way up and makes a motion for someone to come up that way.

That done, he begins to remove the sentry's weapons and looks for anything to secure him with, as well as a gag for his mouth for when he awakes.

OOC:Its official, when I get the chance, Dunathar is taking a level in Ranger. I warred with the thought of a fighter, but thus far, he has Ranger/Rogue stamped all over himself.

 

[silentspace]

OOC: You can do 3.5 Ranger if you prefer

Dunathar searches around but doesn't find anything to tie up the half-orc with, having left his backpack down below! Dunathar stands ready to smack the half-orc if he regains consciousness, waiting for someone to come up with a rope.

The others approach carefully and study the ascent. It will be difficult for some to climb. [You can Take 10, taking 2 to 2 ½ minutes per person. But some might not make it even on a Take 10. You cannot take 20. On closer inspection, you think the DC is a little higher than 15.]

Meanwhile Mirena whispers to Filbert “Are we all going up? Should I take the animals and hide them? I can backtrack and hide them behind one of the hills that we passed, a few hundred yards back. I can be back in 5-10 minutes. Or do you want me to stay outside with the horses?”

 

[silentspace]

OOC: I play that when you Take 10, you actually get a roll. The minimum you can get is a 10. If you roll higher, you get the higher roll. Lower becomes a 10.

 

[Manzanita]

Manzanita Sparrow

OOC: It seems that if you slip when climbing, you might fall right into a snake pit? Is it still all foggy around?

Manzanita frowns as she surveys the scene. "I am not willing to risk that climb unaided. Perhaps if we hauled each other up with rope. In any case, the ones we were tracking had horses and heavy armor. Surely they didn't make that climb. Either that is not their lair, or there is another way in. It is looking like they were bandits and this is their home. Filbert, can you follow the tracks any further? I have no rope. Anyone else?"

 

[silentspace]

OOC: There is no chance of falling into the pit to get to the lookout post.

The morning fog still surround you, but as sunlight streams over the mountains and into the valley, the mists start to dissipate...

 

[silentspace]

Filbert surveys the ground again, aided by Alyssa. He's certain the tracks lead right to the edge of the snake pit. There are traces of other horse tracks, but they are much older.