The Sunless Citadel (IC)

[Grimror]

After a day of walking in the grueling heat, the sun finally begins to hide its bright and burning face.The overgrown Old Road winds through rocky downs, old-growth oak trees with web-like moss clinging from their branches, and past several abandoned farm shacks. The lonely road is empty of all travelers; save for you, your companions accompanied by the unending cries of the locusts all around you that mark the approaching darkness.

You finally come across a deep ravine that you can only presume hides the Sunless Citadel somewhere within its depths. At the road's closest approach to the cleft, several broken pillars jut from the earth where the ravine widens and opens into something more akin to a deep, but narrow canyon. Two of the pillars stand straight, but most of them lean against the sloped earth. Others are broken, and several have apparently fallen into the darkness-shrouded depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine.

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Gamad StoneGotz

So this is the spot where the ancient gnomish tomes are telling about a forgotten city I guess … now probably infested with evil and wicked power.
Gamad leans to see the pillars more closely.
Could be a powerful protective monuments which the spells inside them are long gone … or just some stone pillars to brace a bridge that fell centuries ago to the mercy of the ravine.

 

[Boddynock]

The young warrior strides up beside his dwarven companion and examines the pillars and the ravine before turning and saying, "Oho, my stout friend, so we have arrived. What do you think we will find in this ancient hole in the ground, eh?"

Then he laughs, claps the dwarf on the shoulder, and sits down, leaning against one of the pillars. He fishes an apple out of his pack and bites appreciatively - and noisily - into it.

 

[Malvoisin]

Falariel takes a swig of water from her skin, allowing the cool liquid to wash the travel dust from her dry throat. She then approaches the pillars and looks them over to see if there are any markings or indentations on them. She also peers down into the crevasse, to see if she can tell how deep it is.

In response to Hunolf, she says, "Foul, deceitful goblins, if the good folk of Oakhurst are to be taken at their word."

She pauses a moment, looking at the sky. Then she asks, "Nightfall approaches. Should we see about making our descent into the ravine now, or wait until morning?"

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Gamad, Dwarf Evoker

Goblins you say
Gamad replies
Those abyssal creatures lurks in every hole and niche, Oh, I like to put my hands on those creatures and show them some dwarvish manners.
Turning to Falariel he adds
Lighting up a fire on the threshold of the ravine is like building a lighthouse on the shores of the Nyr-Dyv, our foes will see us from miles. We better descent down and find our own niche to camp.
He says and peer into the darkness of the crevasse

 

[Malvoisin]

Falariel

Fala looks around at the wide open fields, and nods in agreement with Gamad. "Yes, too indefensible, too open. How to descend then?"

The elven priestess looks down into the ravine for handholds or an embankment...any way to easily climb down.

 

[Grimror]

Falariel conducts a quick sweep of the area and discovers a few things of interest. A sturdy and thick knotted rope is tied firmly to one of the posts nearest the ravine and descends down into the darkness, though even with her darkvision, she is unable to determine where the rope ends. There are also holes carved into the wall, apparently for climbing - though they appear much older than the rope. Lastly, Falariel determines that several small campfires were lit around the pillars somewhat recently, and that whoever made them made sure to hide their remains from casual scrutiny.

((I'll need to know in what order you guys descend into the ravine. Also, I'll be posting a mini-update in the OOC thread shortly concerning rolling dice and what not.))

 

[Mista Collins]

Eating his last bite of apple, Talus tosses it on the ground and rubs his hands on his breches to remove all the juice. "Ahh, a knotted rope for climbin' and I say climbin' is what we do."

With that, Talus takes ahold of the rope. "Anyone joining me?" And continues down the rope; hand over hand with great ease.

Climb of 26 (1d20+6; 20)

 

[Boddynock]

Hunolf finishes his apple, sucking the core noisily to extract the last of the sweet juice, then tosses it aside and stands up. Picking up his axe, he slips it into the loop on his backpack. He then strides to the edge and tests the rope which Falariel has found.

"Let's go!"

Pausing only to draw his dagger and hold it in his teeth, he grips the rope firmly in both hands and steps out to climb down the dizzily beckoning ravine.

[sblock=OOC]The Sunless Citadel; at the ravine's edge; Climb check with knotted rope (1d20+4=7)[/sblock]

 

[Malvoisin]

Falariel

"How kind of the goblin scum to leave a rope for us to climb."

Then, thinking better of it, Fala amends her statement. "Unless someone else has paid a recent visit to this forsaken place?" Fala takes a glance down at the campfire remnants, but then shrugs. "Ah, well. I suppose the answers to these questions lie below."

She gestures for Gamad to proceed next. "I will bring up the rear."

Once the unusual spell-casting dwarf has made his descent, Fala will grab ahold of the rope and slowly make her way down, mindful of her armor's weight.

Falariel climbs down into the ravine. (1d20-2=10)