Adventure #1 - The Jolly Toad

O.O.C. - I'm back!

Talmut will join Maius in inspecting the writings and artwork, going so far as to make notes will his ink and paper, as detailed as time will allow.

"Perhaps a climb up will offer a better vantage?"

GM Edit: OOC: Welcome back.

After Talmut and Maius are done looking around, Elodie says, "So, do we want to try to get out here, or go back to the other door and see if the giants are gone? I have a few ideas that might work, if we want to try going through the hole in the ceiling here...but if anyone else has ideas, I'd love to hear those as well. Before we leave, though...Jeremiah, did you want to try to get that black arrow back?"

If anyone asks, Elodie will briefly explain her ideas:

• Use Fire Bolt to heat one of the old swords and bend it into a makeshift grappling hook
  
• Tie a few spears with the rope dangling from the middle, throw the spears out of the hole, and pull down so that the spears get caught over the hole (probably would not hold that much weight--the lightest person should probably try to make this climb)
  
• Climb a pillar and jump
  
• Tie the rope to the end of the shovel handle and throw it up to the hole, trying to get the shovel "lip" to catch on the edge of the hole
  

"I'm fairly certain that the only other door we passed on our way to this room was the door that we escaped from the giants through...so if it's okay with you, Jeremiah, I'm going to try to heat this sword so that we can bend it a little."

Elodie will fetch one of the swords from the previous room and place it on the ground in front of her, and attempt to strike it multiple times with Fire Bolt to heat it enough to bend it. She will hit it with the shovel to try to shape it...

Cast Fire Bolt x 4
FB Damage = 1. Craft (Weapons) = 14 (12 + 2). Shovel Damage = 2.
FB Damage = 5. Craft (Weapons) = 18 (16 + 2). Shovel Damage = 5.
FB Damage = 6. Craft (Weapons) = 8 (6 + 2). Shovel Damage = 6. Mending = 8 hp repaired.
FB Damage = 4. Craft (Weapons) = 16 (14 + 2). Shovel Damage = 3.

Cast Mending to prevent breakage, as necessary.

GM EDIT: OOC: Added damage rolls

Glitz wrote:Elodie will fetch one of the swords from the previous room and place it on the ground in front of her, and attempt to strike it multiple times with Fire Bolt to heat it enough to bend it. She will hit it with the shovel to try to shape it...

FB Damage = 1. Craft (Weapons) = 14 (12 + 2). Shovel Damage = 2.
FB Damage = 5. Craft (Weapons) = 18 (16 + 2). Shovel Damage = 5.
FB Damage = 6. Craft (Weapons) = 8 (6 + 2). Shovel Damage = 6. Mending = 8 hps repaired.
FB Damage = 4. Craft (Weapons) = 16 (14 + 2). Shovel Damage = 3.

OOC: Functional short swords normally have a hardness of 10 and take half damage from fire, while trying to "bend" them with sheer strength calls for a DC of 24 ... but since these swords are NOT functional (their integrity has been compromised by centuries of neglect), we'll reduce both by 5 (so, hardness of 5, bend DC of 19). Also, since, you are not trying to "break" them, you can use a Craft (Weapons) roll in place of a strength check. Lastly, we'll say that any damage roll over 5 gives you a +1 on the strength check. (Since you can use Mending at will, any actual "damage" to the blade is effectively irrelevant).



First set of rolls ...

At first, it doesn't seem like Elodie's plan is working. She fires a fire bolt at the blade and whacks it with a shovel, trying to reshape the ancient metal ... but it doesn't budge.


Second set of rolls ...

Elodie keeps at it. After another bolt of fire and another whack with the shovel, the venerable blade bends. It's not quite where she wants it, but it's getting there.


Third set of rolls ...

Trying to improve upon the curve, Elodie hits the weapon with another bout of flame ... followed by another shovel strike. This time she has manages to break the actual weapon, but isn't able to bend it any further ... fortunately, she was able to repair the damage with more of her magic.


Fourth set of rolls ...

She tries again, but to no avail. Looks like her initial success is as far as she's going to get. Still, the blade is bent and could conceivably be used as a make-shift grapple ... it's not a great grapple, but it's something.


OOC: The bent sword can be used as a grapple hook ... but if anyone rolls a natural "1" on their climb check, we'll rule a mishap occurs and the "grapple" comes loose while they are mid climb. At any rate, the sword is now ruined ... and the shovel is damaged (it took 1 hit point of damage).


Unfortunately, the shovel suffered some damage, as well, during the operation ... and it is far too heavy for Elodie's mending spell to fix it at this time.

Not quite satisfied with her work, but determined to try to use the sword anyways, Elodie begins to put knots in the her rope to make it easier to climb. Once she has added knots to the rope, she ties one end to the handle of the sword. She hands it to Talmut. "Do you think that your Conjurer's Reach would work from the top of the throne? It might be difficult to help you up one of the pillars, but we can try if it's necessary!"

If Talmut is able to place the grapple with his Conjurer's Reach from the top of the throne, Elodie will take a moment to summon extra strength from the spirits and then begin to climb.

Cast Guidance on self.
Climb Check = 16 (18 + 1 Guidance - 3 Encumbrance)


GM Edit: OOC: The surface is 7 squares above the floor. The throne is roughly 1 square high and so is Talmut. His range with Mage Hand is 5 squares. So, if Talmut agrees to stand on the throne, then he has just enough range to hook the bent sword somewhere near the top of the hole. Assuming he manages to get it hooked around something solid, then this plan could work. (The rules for catching a grapple hook around a suitable object requires you to hit an AC of 5 ... so, really, he could take 10 and do it automatically) ... so, it really just depends on whether he's willing to do it.

 "Well made, Elodie"

Taking the offered grapple and rope, Talmut will climb atop the throne, and then uses his magics to conjure a floating, translucent, copy of his hand.  With a wave, the hand grasps the grapple and shoots up through the hole.  After a moment, the bearded foreigner tugs the rope.

"It seems secure enough...shall I?"

Hand over hand, Talmut begins to ascend the rope.

Cast Mage Hand, take 10 to place the grapple and then to climb the rope.


GM Edit: OOC: Due to the 5% chance that the makeshift grapple comes loose, I rolled a d20 for Talmut's climb. The success of his actual climb can still hinge upon the 8 he "rolled" by taking-10, but I needed a roll to see if the grapple came loose. It did not. I rolled a 14.

Talmut and Elodie make it up the rope with no problem. They find themselves in a saddle-point, between two very steep foot hills; the mountains looming overhead. They seem to be in a small cemetery, with less than a dozen tomb stones ... in fact, the hole they climbed out of seems to be an open grave with the bottom dug out of it.

OOC: Are Jeremiah and Maius following?

After she and Talmut have made the climb, Elodie will look around to try to determine if the group is safe for the moment...she will also try to determine the route to take to get back to the cave, to get back to the horses (and possibly rest another night there, if it's late enough).

Perception (+7) & Knowledge: Geography (+6) checks, please!

Talmut is going to use Engineering to determine the proper equipment necessary to make a hoist to get the urns out of the hole.

Knowledge: Engineering, +9

Scanning the area, Elodie sees no signs of danger. Also, based on the distance traveled and the direction of identifiable mountain peaks, she concludes that the horses are northeast of her current location, and not too far.

__________

Given his current resources, Talmut determines that the easiest approach for lifting the urns would involve constructing a basic frame from a few strong branches. The branches would need to be six to eight feet long to be of sufficient length and would have to be lashed together with rope to create a sturdy frame. Another rope would then be utilized to hoist the branches, using the wooden frame as a sort of "pulley." Using multiple vertical beams would then further reduce the effort required to lift the urns. (A few small boulders could also be used as counter-weights, to further reduce the amount of effort needed, but given the weight of the urns, attaching counterweights is probably more work than actually lifting the urns without them).

Based on this design, a single 50' lift rope could be used, but would offer limited hand space, making it difficult for more than one person to pull. Splicing two ropes together, to create a longer lift rope, would probably be worth the effort. Alternately, multiple "lift" ropes could be used, without bothering to splice them together.

In that case, Talmut would need ...

• Three branches, 6-7 feet long
  
• Two branches, 4-5 feet long
  
• Three branches, 3-4 feet long
  
• Eight short ropes, to lash the branches together (which would probably involved cutting one or more of the existing ropes)
  
• One or more longer "lift" ropes (possibly spliced together).
  

Jeremiah will start to gather the urns together.

Maius will help Jeremiah gather the urns. When the time comes to climb out. Maius will go last, he will help anchor and steady the ropes for everyone else while they climb.

Assuming that Talmut has shared his plan (since Jeremiah & Maius are gathering the urns below), Elodie will say, "Talmut, do you have any rope with you? If not, we'll need to get Jeremiah or Maius to throw theirs up to us."

She will then start gathering branches to help construct the frame.

Talmut does, indeed, share his plan with the party and proceeds to assist Elodie with the branch gathering.

"I am afraid I am ropeless, as I was robbed by a nefarious ferry captain some weeks ago.  They can tie the rope on the end of the grappling rope and we will pull it up."

"Maius, Jeramiah - we need someone down there to safely secure the urns for lifting.  Should we go get the horses first?"

The plan laid out by Talmut...

• Get the horses
  
• Retrieve the Black Arrow  (though not the best item evah, it is still worth some serious gold to us 1st levellers)
  
• Return to the hole
  
• Get the urns out and load up the horses
  
• Return to Umberfall
  
• Sell our booty
  
• Even up with Randall's sister
  
• Spend booty on hookers and cheap liquor (I suppose this step is negotiable)
  
  
  

 

"Yes, I think the horses would provide an excellent source of power for this task, Talmut. If we are concerned about the arrow, I think it would be easier to go back through the tunnel from this end...remember, Jeremiah pushed the door open from the other side, so we just have to pull it from this side. So even if they piled giant-size boulders up in front of it, we can open it and climb over the boulders. Why don't you and I go get the horses, Talmut, while Maius and Jeremiah go back for the arrow?" Elodie stands near the hole and calls down loudly enough for Maius and Jeremiah to hear.

OOC: See page 16. Heehee.

Once all the materials are gathered, Talmut has no trouble constructing the frame. By the time he is done, Maius and Jeremiah have gathered all the urns. 

__________

OOC: Remember, one of the ropes had to be cut into eight pieces. I adjusted the party inventory, but the ropes are no longer on the horses - somebody is carrying them.

OOC: Also, are Elodie and Talmut going for the horses while Jeremiah and Maius go for the arrow? Or is everyone going for the horses at once and coming back for the arrow? Are you hoisting the urns before after all of that?

Maius will go with Jeremiah to try to recover the arrow.

O.o.C.: I'm down with gettin paid for haulin this stuff back to town! And then, Party Time!

Talmut will join Elodie in searching for the horses.  We will hoist the urns when we have the horses.

Maius and Jeremiah take the torches with them and head back toward the way they came in. (Talmut and Elodie couldn't have climbed with the torches, so now Maius and Jeremiah have them). Neither torch looks like it will burn for much longer -- 20 or 30 minutes at the most.  After leaping over the pit, again, they reach the door. Pulling the door open, they see that the giants did, in fact, pile up boulders in front of the door ... but since it opens towards you, the boulders do not prevent you from opening it. In fact, there seems to be plenty of room to crawl through the space between the boulders. (Hill Giants are not very smart, it seems).

Once they are through the door, they find themselves at the bottom chasm, next to the rough stone stairs. They see no sign of the giants, who must still be in the cavern, above. After a few minutes of searching, they find the black arrow lying in the floor ... it appears to be intact.

- Take-10 on Stealth and Perception  = 13 and 17 for Jeremiah. 12 and 10 for Maius.

They grab the arrow and head back through the door ... mission accomplished.

__________

Talmut and Elodie walk in the direction of the horses ... or, at least, in the direction Elodie believes the horses are. They walk up the side of one of the foothills towering over the hoist and find themselves looking down at the entrance of the very cave they slept in last night. It's hard to believe it's only been a couple of hours.

Quietly, they creep down to the mouth of the cave and peek in ... but it's too dark inside to see the horses. Cautiously, they poke their heads inside ... but they still don't see them. 

They do, however, hear voices. Giant voices.

"Err at den sast av dam?"
"Det Err. Vi Kommur til a spise godt, I kveld!"

- OOC: (Since neither of you speaks Jotun, I won't bother to translate it).
- Take-10 on Stealth = 12 for both of them.

Slowly, they back out of the cave, undetected, and retreat to a safe distance. What now?

Frowning, Elodie whispers to Talmut, "Do hill giants...eat horses? If that's the case, I don't think we'll be making it very far with the urns. We just barely escaped from those giants last time, I'm not about to go traipsing up to the campfire to ask them if they've seen a couple of ponies wandering around!"

A hopeful thought crosses Elodie's mind, and she checks the ground around the cave (as she and Talmut retreat) for tracks, to see if maybe they ran off.

Survival (follow tracks) = 25 (14 + 11)