"Well, shit," says Mucks as he looks on up. "Uh, not tryin' to make people sprint across the damned bridge or nothin', but I'm hearin' bad sounds."
The miller takes his rope off and, quick as he can, tries to secure it to the nearest sturdy thing so others can hold onto the rope as they cross.
Garwen, Sharyn and Roscoe tie each other off to the rope and wait there turn to cross one at a time trying not to stress out the old planks. They use their torces to look up into the murder holes of the gate house to see if they see anything that Muck heard.....
Seeing the previous 4 make it safely across Storhan shrugs and carefully crosses the planks.
Wipan shakes his head at the cut-purse's bravado and carefully ties the rope around his waist before gingerly making his way across the moat, cringing at every groan and sag of the wood. Once across he shakily unties himself and attempts some deep breathing exercises to steady himself.
'Sometimes... I... just... get.. a little... worked up.' Wipan exhales between gulps of air.
One by one, the group carefully makes it across the planks without incident. The keep is immediately before you all, and is even more menacing and imposing when you're close enough to touch it. You assemble on the crumbling stone walkway leading to the half-raised portcullis.
You hear the sounds that Mucks warned about, strange animal-like sniffing and the sound of claws against stone. It sounds to be coming from above you, just beyond the great stone wall.
As you gaze beyond opening, you can make out a large courtyard in the distance. It's overrun with weeds and dried plant growth, and in the low light you make out what appear to be ruined husks of structures.
Apart from some of the sniffing and scratching, it's quiet. Very eerily quiet, as though things are afraid to make any sound.
If there is no where to climb over the ruined wall with the rope, Roscoe and Company will make their wway under the Portcullis and look for a way to block it open. That way, at least so if it tries to close, someone could crawl under it to escape.
Candy keeps a lookout for the source of the strange noises and everyone starts making preparations to go inside the courtyard. Mucks and Gregor start searching for large stones, logs, or the like to drag under the portcullis, as Roscoe and Company are. Gregor, of course, complains the whole way.
Mitsy eventually crosses, convinced now that no ambush awaits on the other side; followed finally by Shyrin with the end of the rope. She is appreciative that the rope is returned and looks up at the walls with a long, reflexive whistle.
"Can't say I'm a fan of taking the front door when we aren't invited, but it sounds like we aren't exactly unknown either. Anyone mind if we look around for a way in that doesn't look like such a death trap?"
As Shyrin is speaking, Diego is already moving along the walls to the right. He taps the stones along the way, listening to see if any sound weak. Should he reach the far end of the castle, he'll peer around that side as well, looking for potential options.
Garwen is big, agile and lucky. He takes the rope and ties it around his waist and starts to climb. He tries to keep to parts that are stable but also with plenty of handholds...
Strength bonus +2
Agility bonus +1
Luck bonus +1
Storhan watches Garwen struggling to attempt to scale the wall. While not openly laughing at the other man, he grins from ear to ear.
Wipan stands back, slowly collecting himself. 'It wasn't that bad, I've survived my first encounter with a strange creature AND crossed a yawning chasm. It's just like in the story books. It's just like in the story books.'
The young, frail man continues to repeat his mantra quietly to himself.
Garwen starts climbing, realizing the wall is more daunting than it looks. He makes it up about 20 feet with great effort when he puts his foot in the wrong place. The stone beneath crumbles and takes his balance with it.
He plummets to the ground below, bouncing off the wall and tearing down moss and growth with him. He lands hard on the rammed earth embankment at the base with a sickening thud!
The dust from the disturbed earth settles and Garwen lies still on the ground, bloody, bruised and broken, his eyes staring emptily into the darkening sky above.
Roscoe and Sharyn are shocked and saddened a the death of their friend. They do their best to cover the body and protect it from wild animals or worse. They also collect his 30 cp, Dagger, Fine Tools, Flint and Steel before saying a few words.
"I guess we head to the front door."
As Garwen begins to lose his hold on the wall the grin quickly fades from Storhan's face. 'No...' he manages to groan out before Garwen comes to an end on the ground in front of the group
'It's just like the story...' Wipan falls silent hearing Garwen contact the ground.
Both sheepishly stand ready near the grieving group.
Diego checks around the corner of the wall and looks right and left. Beyond the stones of the walkway is a thin stretch of earth upon which the keep rests. It's about two feet wide until it plunges downward.
To the right you see a large tower jut out at the far end of the keep . It looks to be daunting to walk over without falling. To the left, the wall stretches about 20 feet and stops in a sharp corner. It looks more feasible to carefully walk along and make the turn, though you are uncertain what may be beyond.
Looking into the courtyard, you see some embers of sunlight poke through the western wall, suggesting that a section may be lower than the rest of it.
Rosco says,
"I don't see any problem walking around the outside just to see but we better hurry, it's gonna get dark soon and you don't wanna fall down that hill and end up like Garwen."
Candy lets out a loud 'Oooo' as she notices the sunlight poking out near the Western wall. "That way, then!" she says. "Come on!"
Mucks lets out a loud, thoughtful 'Hmmm' sounds that gives the impression he's milling his thoughts. Unbeknownst to everyone, he's just yawning with his mouth closed. But Gregor seems to decide it sounds good, so he lets out several loud 'HMMM!' sounds himself as he follows Candy.
Storhan and Wipan follow the pair into the courtyard.
Wipan watches the Candy and Mucks braving the narrow ledge around the keep. 'I'm not sure that's such a good idea, after what happened to Garwen.' he mutters low to himself.
Storhan stands near the entrance to the courtyard and keeps an eye near the Western side where the light shines in. He shifts his focus between the interior courtyard and the rest of the group to watch their reactions as a way to judge the progress of the pair.
Sharyn and Rosco follow Mucks around to the west side.
Diego also returns from his venture east, along the front walls, just as everyone else ventures around west. "It's pretty tight going that other direction, hopefully this fares better." He occasionally glances behind them and down the hill as well, to make sure that nothing spills out through the portcullis or up from that tree that intends to get the jump on them.
Shyrin stays near the front of the pack, with her rope coiled and hung over her shoulder and short sword in hand in case it becomes useful.
The group makes their way around the tight corner, staying as close against the wall as possible. As they inch north along the narrow patch of earth, they discover the source of the opening from the courtyard.
The keep’s massive wall has collapsed here, spilling cyclopean stone blocks down the rocky slope. The blocks are precariously balanced atop one another, like a titan’s game of dice.
The fallen blocks look like they can be climbed with some care to gain entrance into the keep, but it will require caution every step of the way. Some of the blocks look unstable.
Roscoe has everyone tie off to the rope then begins to lead the way trying to find the most stable path....
"Be careful everyone. Stay close and keep both hands free for balance."
Shyrin is more than happy to provide the rope, glad to see it come to use. "Those stones don't look very stable. If they slide, we're all gonna be pulled with.
There's some holds that require a bit more of a stretch for Mitsy than the others, but Diego is happy to lend a hand where he can since he's directly in front of her.
Shyrin keeps up the rear, beginning with her sword free and prepped to slice the rope in case there's a landslide. Her few connections with this group aren't worth her life yet. If everything continues as planned, she sheathes the blade and eventually is the last roped person to ascend the rock pile.
Storhan waits by the portcullis for the first member of the party to appear in the courtyard.
Wipan begins to grow anxious after the last person rounds the corner. 'I don't know about you, but I'm feeling awful...' the young scribe looks about the front of the keep.
'Exposed? Yeah, I suppose so. Better to get caught alone, together, than alone, alone.' Storhan sets off carefully along the edge after the group, Wipan following close behind, pressed against the outer wall.
When they reach the collapsed portion the pair fall in helping others up and then climbing the wall themselves.
As you gather by the collapsed blocks and observe the stones, you begin to discern which ones look safer to climb upon and which ones look unstable.
Roscoe
Sharyn
Both Roscoe and Sharyn stare at the rocks but don't see anything. They look around at the others and back at the rocks.
"They all look the same to us? Anyone see anything dangerous? We don't"
Wipan
Storhan
Wipan considers the rocks for a moment and shrugs. 'Engineering was never my strong suit' He steps back, hoping someone else will figure a way over.
Storhan steps up and almost immediately sees a steady path. 'Follow me, use the stones I do' Storhan carefully picks his way up the rubble, giving time for those behind him to see which stones he's using.
The group follows Storhan over the blocks he's noted as safe. As the last adventurers get over the blocks, one gives out under all the weight and the blocks collapse and tumble down the slope, causing a deafening crash of stone against stone as large clouds of dust rise into the air, darkening the surroundings.
Nobody is hurt, but as the dust settles the dislodged stones reveal a narrow, rocky shaft descending 14 feet before opening into a small cave at the foot of an enormous, rune-carved portal.
Roscoe says...
"What the heck? I sure don't wanna go down there. Maybe later. I say we keep checking things around up here. I don't think our missing friends are going to be there?
Likewise, Shyrin can't help but utter her own curses as the rocks shift and tumble down the cliffside. It's muffled by the tremendous clamor of the crashing stones, but her visible reaction is also rather extreme.
"... been me crushed under that," are the last string of words, and only ones to be heard as the rock slide falls silent.
"I agree with Roscoe," Mitsy pipes up. "Let's make sure this is clear before we walk into any potential dead ends, yeah?" She also flashes a telling look at Diego, as if to say, If we came here for treasure, the buried kind tends to be the best. So make a note not to get too far without checking out that business! Yeah, her looks are fairly verbose like that.
Diego takes a moment to survey the ground, looking for obvious tracks are struggle. He's no tracker, but he's seen a footprint before.
Storhan looks around the courtyard after getting clear of the rubble, waiting for anything to jump out.
The cutpurse moves forward, giving space for those behind him to climb in. When the rubble pile collapses, Storhan cringes, and doesn't unclench until the clattering stops.
Wipan attempts to decipher the runes around the portal from a distance.
Diego sees several footprints in the mud, and there appears to have been no effort to conceal them.
A set of tracks leads through the mud to the southeastern tower. Another trail of prints leads to a nearby well .
Of concern is that the prints seem to be a mix of different creatures -- human footprints, the tracks of large creatures with only three toes, hawk-like talons, and what appears to be slither marks.
Storhan peers down the shaft to look at the runes. He can't quite make them out fully, but it looks like with more time to study them it may be possible to decipher them better.
the burning purge,
which scours the earth
the <something>, stilling <something>
the baleful <something>, heedless to supplication
the raging tempest, <something>
banes four <something> gate:
Fire, <something>, Storm and <something>
Diego draws the others' attention to the tracks, blatant marks through the mud toward the tower and the well. "Either they aren't very sneaky," he whispers, "or they want us to foolishly think as much. I'd wager the former, in earnest."
"Hold on." He suddenly notices the peculiar tracks that don't resemble human footprints in the least. "This is a mess of all manner of strange... things? Whatever it is, be prepared for it not to be human... or elven, or dwarven...." Smiling at Mitsy he adds, "though I haven't ruled out halfling."
----------------------------
Since the well is fairly conspicuous, Diego follows the tracks there first. Because he's venturing out a bit on his own, he'll try to keep a look out in all directions, constantly pausing to twist and survey. He cautiously peeks into the well to see if any remnants of the captured citizens (or at least their valuables) may be evident.
Diego moves forward quietly. A barren ridge of black stone rises from the overgrown courtyard. A low stone wall marked with eerie sigils is built atop the crest of the stone, marking a well. A stout block and tackle frame supports a single thick chain that plunges into the inky blackness. A soft moan rises from the well, like a faint cry for help.