D'ogryn tries to get the attention of Rabalar.
Perhaps some of us could climb up the wall to our right and get a birds-eye view of what lies below. We might even find a way to avoid any traps and proceed without being in the water. I would suggest maybe one or two until we are certain it is safe. the bring the rest up.
D'Ogyrn looks upwards on his side of the wall and can see that it slopes upward maybe forty feet. The walls are covered in moss, ferns, loose small vines, some are thorny vines and all sorts of wildflowers. At about twenty feet or so he sees a narrow ledge right above Soros and then another one just above Naia and Edan at about twenty-five or thirty feet that runs towards the narrow until it gradually fades into the wall. Above that is the ridgeline full of ferns, wild grass, saplings and trees. On the other side near Zove the wall is steeper and less forgiving but there appears to be shelf about thirty feet up just ahead of Zove. D'Ogryn realizes that this could have easily been the ambush point and yet they choose to move further back into the glen and into that narrow. He is not sure exactly what it is that Rabalar or Zove sees but from his vantage what he sees now is not good.
The Glen
Updated map: Goblin Encampment Map
"On into the ambush, or back and around through the traps? If we go up these walls, they'll jump us while we're climbing. Not the right place for that."
Naia hesitates a moment, still looking to where she heard the whispering above. She then trudges slowly toward Rabalar.
D'ogryn looks up at the wall as if inspecting it to see where the handhold will fail if he climbs up. He then looks to his left into the narrow water way and the ambush site. His eyes return to the right and towards the area where they began.
They know we are here but I do not think they know what exactly is here. Let us make our way back and take the ridge line. I spent a summer helping my brother with cleaning up some adventures chests that were left behind at the inn. He bought the locked items for a copper each. No one had a key and the adventurers never came back. I was pretty good at opening them up. I think the same concept would hold with traps. I mean you need the tumblers to fall in the right order for the lock to open and you need to just do the same so that a trap does not go off right. I got a decent eye for odd things like that so I could take point on the traps if you like?
Naia frowns, stares ahead, looks up at the sheer walls, then looks behind, squinting into the distance.
"It does seem wise D'og. Though now I'm here, and soaked through, I'm keen on staying here - slogging back does not appeal to me. Perhaps I and another might stay here, and spring our own ambush when the rest of us come from the...another way?"
Separating is usually a bad idea but in this case it could work to our advantage...that is if all goes well.
He gives another look at the cliff face.
"Looking out through the crevasse, unless you are using a bow or long-ranged magic, you will be very hard pressed to contribute from here. I wouldn't recommend it with your weapons."
Naia nods.
"But I can hold my breath for a long time. If I dispense with this damn'd hauberk, I can swim close with my harpoon and a few javelins and give them quite a surprise when they are focused on you. And Okware can swim right? A big...cat should give them some distraction..."
Separating is usually a bad idea but in this case it could work to our advantage...that is if all goes well.
He gives another look at the cliff face.
[dice=Perception]1d20+5
The sides in most parts are nearly impossible to climb with limited places to put your hands and feet but luck may have it the party appears to have stopped in the best place. The sun seems to leak through this area and keep the face of the rocks a little dryer here and the surface appears more forgiving to a climber. D'Ogyrn even sees an old thick vine or two that he might be able to test and use to climb up to the ridgeline.
Zove smirks, casting a glance at hunt crazed predator ready to spring an attack at the slightest pin drop "There's enough sport in fishing to interest him but his true love is fowl..."
Zove looks around the area directly surrounding her and the party. There are some small saplings (no taller than a foot or so) and some vines most ranging from 1/4 inch thick to and 1 1/2 inches thick. Ferns, wild grass, and such that is about it. The trees appear to be on the ridgeline above the glen.
"I can provide magical protection to all within a limited proximity to me, therefore I will accompany the division of our forces most likely to directly engage the goblins - I believe they will benefit the most from additional defense."
The Glen
A few minutes pass since Rabalar heard the chatter from the other side of the Narrow.
Well then let us get this little party started. I will climb up there. Give me some rope and I will tie it off to make it easier for us to climb up if we need to. If not I will see what is going on from up there.
As he starts to climb.
keep an eye out as I am going to be vulnerable on the side of this cliff.
Soros cocks an eyebrow as the cook begins his climb, surprised by both his courage and skill. "We shall do what we can, but I don't know that any of us can follow your ascent."
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Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs.....WTF am I thinking
D’ogryn seems to climb up the first ten feet with ease. For a cook he seems to have the grace and agility of a house cat. He seems to find hand and foot holds with little effort as he traverses wall.
Climb +1 bonus for exceeding first roll by 5.
Has begins the second leg he slips on a hand hold covered in slime and moss. He hangs by one hand for few moments and then attempts the climb again.
Climb
After the brief pause he manages to traverse the wall another eight feet and is now sixteen feet up and halfway to the first ledge. D’ogryn discovers the hardest part is the climb is by him as this area is dryer.
Climb DC15
Climb +1 bonus for exceeding first roll by 5.
The nimble chef appears to slip again but this time as he tried to move sideways to gain a better set of hand holds. He again pauses and retries by now his fingers and hands are scuffed up, starting to cramp, and he realizes this is more effort than he first thought it would be but he manages to get to twenty feet.
Climb +1 bonus for exceeding first roll by 5.
It seems he hit his stride and manages to get to just below the ledge and he is now almost thirty feet up the wall. Now that the group looks up they realize how difficult this climb really is. He again appears to kick up with his legs and attempts to whip his right elbow up over the ledge.
Climb +1 bonus for exceeding first roll by 5.
In a agile maneuver he manages to leap over the first ledge and uses his momentum to spring up on a nice size foothold and pop up over the ridgeline and into a field of ferns and wild grass right by a huge weeping willow. He now finds himself on the top of the ridge and forty feet above the party. Below, the party sees him disappear over the ridgeline.
Naia watches D'ogryn with undisguised admiration, smiling through teeth clenched from anxiety. She breathes a sigh of relief as the plucky teen makes his way finally over the top.
Now, with the group moving into action, Naia shuggles out of her chainshirt, and bundles her javelins together with her harpoon. Dagger stashed in her belt and buckler in hand Naia is ready now for an ambush of her own.
D'ogryn scans the area for immediate threats as he slowly places the rope on the floor. A dagger finds its way into his hand without him even realizing that he had drawn the weapon. He felt naked out here in the wilds. He dealt with people in towns or cities. The basics were the same but still he felt out of sorts.
Well that was a fun climb and a stupid move on my part. The gamble paid off though.
When he feels that the are is secured, he lets his eyes roam around to find a strong tree that he can tie off the rope and drop it back down to the others. If they chose to follow him, that was fine. At least they had an easier time of getting up then he did. He starts to look around the area to see what this advantage point let him see. Keeping low he slowly moves around the immediate area.
The Glen
D'ogryn looks about and sees no real threat on the ridgeline. He throws the rope around the willow tree near the ledge and puts a few knots on it and throws it down. As he throws the rope down it tumbles down to the glen shoreline. D'ogryn turns and skirts off following the ridgeline towards the south. He sees his companion's heads below him. He sees Naia stripping off her armor and wrapping her harpoon and javelins together.
As the wind shifts towards the north and the breeze picks up Rabalar can smell smoke coming from a fire that had been recently put out. As he peers down the narrow he can see the small cove area is filled with lingering smoke. As he does the black panther creeps slightly forward sniffing the air and lowering his profile into the water. "Grrrrr..raww" Okware lets out in a muffled low growl. His head moving left to right and back again looking for anything moving inside the pool area.
Soros walks carefully forward as D'Ogryn makes his climb. When the rope drops down, he looks to his remaining companions. "Is anyone following him up?" The wizard notes the large feline's behaviour and readies himself for action. I'm no naturalist but that cat does not seem particularly pleased with whatever it senses ahead.
D'ogryn moves along the ridge line. Keeping low to the ground as he moves. He pulls forth another dagger. He stops and looks over the cliff at those below him.
I am going to take a look from up ahead.
He moves slow and keeps his steps deliberate. As he gets to the edge where the terrain widens out, he drops even lower to the ground.
"These are some very well-organized goblins. They are laying a cloud of smoke to prevent the use of ranged combat against them down there. If we're going to follow the cook, you should get started. They aren't going to wait forever. They'll be coming back to find us."
Naia shivers a little in her wet shirt and breeches, and gives a grim smile.
"Well, I'll either meet them here if they do investigate, or on the other side after D'og and the rest start their ambush. Once they know where the attack is coming from, we'll let them know different soon after..." she offers, indicating herself, Zove and Okware.
"If we attack from above and below, it seems likely our lower force will be the more heavily engaged by enemies. I shall stay down here to provide defensive support."
"That rope is about as safe as it will get unless we walk all the way back out. If nobody else wants out of this trap, I'll try to follow the cook up his rope."
Soros nods at Rabalar as he goes by. "Archers above, infantry below." The wizard then carefully advances to the gap, peering around the cliff walls at the pool beyond before ducking back and addressing his remaining companions in a low voice.
"Zove, Naia, Edan - when we engage, try and stay within 10 feet of me if possible, and I'll try and keep up with you all. That is the boundary of my magical protection."
The Glen - D'ogryn and Rabalar
D'ogryn moved along the ridgeline and kept his profile low. Trying to keep himself concealed from view of anyone on top of the ridgeline and any scouting eyes from below.
Has D'ogryn reached the southwest corner of the narrow he crouched down, almost in a prone position and peered over the edge scanning from west to east and back again as he worked his eyes southward. Has he did he didn't see anything or anyone. He saw a small ridge line that would serve as a shelf on both the east and west side of the narrow about forty feet up covered in wild grass and ferns. He then saw a ledge covered in ferns and tall wild grass about fifteen feet up on the west side of the narrow just past the shelf. Further south on each side there was a log on both sides each about ten feet long and floating near the walls. They didn't seem to move as if wedged or stuck on something. Just above the logs and about ten feet up were ledges and what appeared to be shallow caves and out of those caves smoke drifted out as if from a fire that had been recently put out. The smoke seemed to fill the entire area making it diffcult to see clearly past the first ledges. Nothing moved and he didn't see any goblins.
Rabalar grabbed the rope and used a bit of caution and took his time going up the rope. On several occasions his foot would slip and as he made his way up he realized how difficult this climb was for D'ogryn making the climb all that more impressive. He reached the top kept his profile low and he drew his bow and scanned the perimeter working from the north to the south. He looked below and to the other side providing an overwatch while the assault group moved into position.
The Glen - Zove & Okware
Zove moved up as she did Okare seemed to back up as Rabalar fell back to the rope. Okware was clearly not happy with the situation. The cat's eyes were fixed on the narrow and he was constantly sniffing the air and scanning the south into the narrow.
All Zove saw was a thin veil of smoke drifting towards the narrow from the south. She saw nothing and heard nothing coming from the veil yet from her companion's reaction she sensed the danger within.
Try this one. Combat notes and Skills tabs are the ones I really want filled out at the moment.
Still 'anyone with the link can view' instead of 'anyone with the link can edit.'