The party continues rather quietly in the tension created by the continual glowering, chattering teeth, and grumbling of their dwarven captain.
A half hour further into the gorge though is a rewarding sight. Just two feet beneath the surface of the water, straining at anchors tied off too low for the current level of the water, is a barge of such magnitude that only a dwarven priest on a mission from Torag would have ordered it built. In the fenced off cargo area of the barge, you can see a pile of jugs of dwarven wine similar to the one you saw on the beach. Tied securely to the deck you see an enormous block and tackle device -- the kind dwarves use to move large chunks of stone.
Several knotted ropes hang from the gorge above. They do not reach the entire way to the deck though. About ten feet from the surface of the deck the slack is coiled up in loop and loosely bound.
A half hour further into the gorge though is a rewarding sight. Just two feet beneath the surface of the water, straining at anchors tied off too low for the current level of the water, is a barge of such magnitude that only a dwarven priest on a mission from Torag would have ordered it built. In the fenced off cargo area of the barge, you can see a pile of jugs of dwarven wine similar to the one you saw on the beach. Tied securely to the deck you see an enormous block and tackle device -- the kind dwarves use to move large chunks of stone.
Several knotted ropes hang from the gorge above. They do not reach the entire way to the deck though. About ten feet from the surface of the deck the slack is coiled up in loop and loosely bound.
Positively stunned (), Orlan regards the barge with wide eyes.
"Well, I'll be..." he mutters. He squints up at the sky as if looking for a divine entity. "Now, this is more like it!"
He gestures towards the barge for the rest of his companions. "Behold," he tells them, "Me cousin's barge...all tied off nice and neat like...fer what now? Goin' on three months? Well, if'n the barge is alright, maybe those who poled it here are, too. Let's get onboard and see if they left anythin' behind we might be usin'...particularly some dwarven spirits that might warm me bones!"
He gestures towards the barge for the rest of his companions. "Behold," he tells them, "Me cousin's barge...all tied off nice and neat like...fer what now? Goin' on three months? Well, if'n the barge is alright, maybe those who poled it here are, too. Let's get onboard and see if they left anythin' behind we might be usin'...particularly some dwarven spirits that might warm me bones!"
"If you wanted warming up, you just had to ask you know!" Yin pipes up playfully, glad the dwarfs spirits have lifted. Without warning she launches herself at him and hugs him tightly. "I have some spare body heat!"
"But yes.." She continues, releasing the dwarven leader and focusing on the barge again "The hunt for spirits sounds wonderful!"
Sir Manfred eyed the ropes up the cliff musing.
Turning to the tightly wound dwarf, he said "Clearly they went up the cliff here; could it be possible to lift the horses up to follow them? I would hate to leave them behind here." He pats Tankard affectionately.
Everybody except Orlan who is distracted by the prospect of Dwarven wine and the absolutely miserable day he has been having notice that the roof of the cabin part of the barge has been riddle with spears. At least 11 spears are poking out of the barge. The angle would suggest they came from the top of the gorge.
Yin pauses at Sir Manfred's words. "Wow, you really are focused aren't you? I was taking a brief hugs and booze break. I think we deserve it after that trek up-river!" She declares brightly with a small shake of her head, growing increasingly sure that all the knight-in-training could see was his lance, his horse and opportunities for 'glory'.
Kamris looks askance at the knight, "Lift... the.. horses..." he mutters to himself.
Looking back and forth between the spears and the top of the gorge Yin tries to logically work through what could have happened, a feat not acheived easily with the distraction of the prospect of a drink and her being unable to suppress a bright giggle of a laugh at Kamris' words.
You are all on horseback still, correct?
(Arches eyebrow) Of course.
You are all on horseback still, correct?
"We be needin' ta build us a fire so I can dry out a bit..." Orlan suggests, "And maybe take a look at why me cousin's barge has turned inta a pin cushion."
He eyes the rope trailing up the cliffside and squints back at Sir Manfred, "If'n yuh know a way ta get a horse safely up that drop, yuh let me know when yuh find it. The way I figger it, we'd be just as likely ta kill the animal tryin' such a foolish thing..."
He nudges his horse into a brief exploration of the sides of the river surrounding the barge, looking for a place where they might safely leave them. Otherwise, Orlan resigns himself to riding them back downstream to the niche they'd found in the wall, before making their way back on foot for the long climb.
Sir Manfred looks at the ropes leading up to the top of the cliff, the ropes mooring the barge and thinks of the rope he tossed to Lord Orlan.
"Blast it! If only I had paid more attention to the riding master that day we had rope use lessons..."
While you contemplate the situation, something causes Kamris' horse to get skittish. Then the other horses, one at a time, begin to jostle and attempt to rear. You see a dark flash as something swims between the legs of one of your horses and then slips under the barge.
What do you do?
Your horses are getting jumpy; whatever is in the water is circling around their feet and then darting underneath the barge before you can get a good glimpse of it. Trunk or Tank or whatever Manfred named his horse lets out a horrific noise and starts to thrash about madly. Blood spurts out into the water. Tugger tries bravely to remain standing and not drop his rider into the river. The other horses are reacting to this and beginning to search for an escape route that doesn't involve plunging into the deep of the river.
Here is an image of the barge.
Most of the barge is underwater. The only parts not underwater are the cabin part and the cargo (mostly jugs of dwarven wine, held down by a thick net). The anchors have been dropped off the right side (the deep end) and the barge has been tied to spikes in the gorge wall off the left side (the shallow end). You have been riding against the current. The barge, if loosened, will head in the direction you came.
The ropes have been left dangling over the cliff about 10' from ground level but are coiled up with a loose hoop knot so that you cannot easily reach them but someone coming down the wall could descend quite rapidly.
Yintarah's horse lets out a howl now. More blood in the water. Again the creature attacks a horse in the rear of the party and then slips under the barge in front of the party.
Your actions?
Initiative order:
Orlan
Kamris
The thing in the water
Yintarah
Manfred
Orlan quickly agrees.
"Aaahh...dang-blasted horses and water!" he mutters, "Hold off the creature with yer lance so's the rest of us can move'em back to land..."
Orlan attempts to lead Yin and Kamris back to the edge of the river and onto any decent-sized bank that he can find in the narrow canyon. Once enough distance is put between them and their adversary...or, if Manfred seems overwhelmed...Orlan directs Kamris to launch a few arrows at the beast...and Yin to use her fiery rays...to help the knight also break away.
Kamris spurs his horse on to dry land. This journey is cursed. The dwarf is a joke of the gods.
As Orlan leads the other rides to a small patch of dry ground above the water level, the five-foot long flash of black and red strikes again at the feet of Manfred's horse. This time, however, both Tankard and Manfred are prepared and the creature changes course to avoid an Manfred's lance.
From your current position, you can still see the barge. You know that something hungry has made it a home.
Plans?
Yin carefully hops down from her horse and onto the patch of dry land. Kneeling down she looks carefully at the water, trying to judge exactly what is trying to chomp at the horses.
Knowledge Arcana (1d20+8=13)
Knowledge Dungeoneering (1d20+8=19)
For Yin.
Yin recognizes the creature cautiously circling around Manfred as a 'Reefclaw'. During her studies of magic, she was taught that these creatures were once the unnatural creations of some unknown wizard but have since come to spread throughout Varisia. She also knows that Shoanti sometimes harvest these creatures for their poison.
Kamris spurs his horse on to dry land. This journey is cursed. The dwarf is a joke of the gods.
"Oh no.." Yin gasps with wide eyes as she spots what's in the water, her gaze quickly turning to the wounds on her own horse to try to confirm her suspiscions.
"Manny, be careful! They're poisonous!" She calls out to their knight-in-training.
Carfully, Sir Manfred guides his horse backwards in a withdrawl maneuver towards the sanctuary of dry land as he looks to make a lance attack as it presents itself. Sweat breaks out on his brow as the word "Poison" floats by...
Ride check: 1d20+5=14
Lance Attack: 1d20+1+3=12
Damage if hit: 1d8+3=4
The creature does not pursue Manfred, wisely prefering the protection of a barge under which it can hide and attack anything that passes by. Orlan's cousin's barge has become a lair and any investigation of it will involve dealing with this vicious predator.
Yin smiles thankfully as the creature chooses not to follow Manfred before returning her attention to her horse. Taking Ember's reigns (after Sir Manfred naming his mount she'd been unable to resist giving a pet name to her own) she gets her horse to walk a little on the small amount of land.
"It didn't get you with it's poison did it?" She asks, mostly talking to herself, her tone concerned as she watches her horse for any sluggish movement or signs of real pain.
"He who sticks his hand in the snake's hole must be sure the snake is not home." says Kamris.
"He who sticks his hand in the snake's hole must be sure the snake is not home." says Kamris.
"I wish it was just a snake" Yin mutters, her hatred for all aggressive water-dwellers bubbling to the fore, water and fire don't mix well afterall.
Neither of the bitten horses seems particularly ill-affected by the ordeal. Surprisingly, they seem less anxious than the horses who were not bitten. Though both are bleeding from the claw marks on their legs, neither seems distressed about it.
"He who sticks his hand in the snake's hole must be sure the snake is not home." says Kamris.
"Aye...or wear a well-made gauntlet," Orlan scoffs, still somewhat surly and nursing a foul mood, "Preferrably dwarven-made, of course..."
He dismounts from his own horse, whom he's recently decided to nickname Unlucky. Then he starts sorting through his saddlebags, removing a length of rope and a bit of dried jerky from his rations. "I say we be lurin' that thing out of the water with this..." he tells them, "Then Kamris can be puttin' a few arrows inta it. Manfred can be chargin' it with his...lance. And Yin can be burnin' it with a bit of her magic."
The dwarf starts to suit up in his armor again, carefully shrugging his chain shirt back into place. "As fer me," he continues, reaching over his back to draw forth his dwarven waraxe, "If that don't be puttin' an end to it, I'll be splittin' it in two. After that, we'll secure me cousin's barge and rest up 'fore we try scalin' the cliff."
He stoically ties off the jerky on the rope. "Now, who's ready to fish?" he asks.
He stoically ties off the jerky on the rope. "Now, who's ready to fish?" he asks.
Random Perception Rolls: 1d20+1=5, 1d20+1=17, 1d20+1=6, 1d20+1=2
Random Initiative Rolls: 1d20+1=2, 1d20+1=10, 1d20+1=10, 1d20+1=15
Sighing with regret at the lack of proper ground for a mounted charge, Sir Manfred dismounts and ties his horse to the grounded lance. He draws his Bastard Sword, and at the proper moment attack the creature in the water.
Attack roll: [20,1,3,1,-2] = (23)
Damage if hit: 1d10+3=12 /2= 6
"I could hit it with fire, although the steam it would probably produce might hinder the rest of you hitting it" Yin points out with a shrug, more than happy to throw the fire any way.
Orlan joins Manfred in physically attacking the beast, once luring it into shallow water with his bit of bait.
Orlan's next 4 initiative rolls... (1d20+2=16, 1d20+2=18, 1d20+2=4, 1d20+2=3)
Orlan's next 4 Perception checks... (1d20+1=6, 1d20+1=9, 1d20+1=14, 1d20+1=3)
After baiting the hook and throwing it in the water, you wait. You wait and wait. After taking a plunge in the icy mountain water (melt off from the snow higher in the mountains), sitting in the sun on a rock is not a hard life but why doesn't the fish bite? Maybe he doesn't like jerky. Or maybe it just takes a while for the flavour of the meat to release.
And then Orlan feels a tug. A tug that almost pulls the line out of even his hands but once he braces himself, it is easy to pull the fish within range and Manfred skewers the beast with his lance. The reefclaw does not release his catch once he's got two claws on it. Orlan, having passed the line to Yin, attacks it with his axe.
The reefclaw spasms and the water roils with his death throes but the Orlan avoids the prickly creature. Even in death, it does not let go.
What do you do with the now-dead reefclaw?
The reefclaw spasms and the water roils with his death throes but the Orlan avoids the prickly creature. Even in death, it does not let go.
"Hunh...well..." Orlan muses, "I guess that's one piece of jerky I won't be gettin' back anytime soon. But maybe after it's fully dead, we can carve off a hunk for the fryin' pan tonight." He looks to Yin, recalling her warning about the creature. "Unless, of course, it's whole body is poisonous ta eat..."
Once the death throes have died down, Orlan takes advantage of the fact that the beast won't let go of the rope to haul it up onto the bank. "Well, will yuh be lookin' at that," he says, stroking his still-damp beard, "Quite a biggun, ain't it?"
Orlan points over towards the barge as he puts his axe away. "Let's be securin' the float. Release some of the ropes so it comes back up. Then, we can be checkin' the stores on board, and those spears stuck in the top. From this distance they don't be lookin' like goblin spears ta me. But we'll see I guess..."
"After that," he continues, "Let's try ta position the barge a little closer ta that rope hangin' from the ledge. Maybe if'n we stand on top of the boat, we can make it a bit easier ta catch hold of it..."
He stares back at everyone. "That sound okay ta yuh folks?"
"Of course, milord Orlan," Sir Manfred salutes, "Not even the river dragon can deter us from our sacred quest!"
He inspects the creature skewered on his lance with some dissapointment, "They don't seem to be as big as they are in the stories though..."
"Hunh...well..." Orlan muses, "I guess that's one piece of jerky I won't be gettin' back anytime soon. But maybe after it's fully dead, we can carve off a hunk for the fryin' pan tonight." He looks to Yin, recalling her warning about the creature. "Unless, of course, it's whole body is poisonous ta eat..."
Luckily, Reefclaw are usually solitary creatures.
It takes a while, even after the lines are loosened and retied for the barge to surface. Using the barge poles will allow you to prod it to the surface and pull it closer to the cliff face. After a half-hour or so of mucking around, you have the thing above the surface of the water and close to the gorge wall.
Getting the ropes down doesn't present much of a challenge as they are now hanging only seven feet above the surface of the barge.
The spears are pretty primitive looking things but they aren't made from scraps the way many goblin spears are. The points are sharpened stone and the shafts are wooden. The ropes, likewise, are crude compared to those that you brought with you.
The mostly eaten corpse of a bat explains what attracted the reefclaw to this barge in the first place. It seems Orlan's cousin encountered the wicked creatures as well.
Orlan searches through the barge to see if his cousin might have left behind any warm clothes he can change into. If so, he once again shucks his armor and puts on the drier stuff in anticipation of the lengthy climb up the gorge. He relies on Yin to determine if the reefclaw is edible. If so, they'll have shellfish for lunch. If not, he breaks out the rest of his rations. Once he's had his fill, he checks the jugs on board to see if any still contain potable spirits...indulging as only a dwarf can in order to warm himself for the rest of their journey.
"I be thinkin' Torag himself couldn't have provided a better repast," Orlan sighs happily, "Yuh can always count on 'im to pick yuh up even at yer lowest point." The dwarf eyes the ropes and ledge above them for a moment. "Now...if only he could lift us a little further. But, ehhh...climbin' be good fer the soul, I reckon. Yuh folks ready ta give it a try?"
Orlan searches through the barge to see if his cousin might have left behind any warm clothes he can change into. If so, he once again shucks his armor and puts on the drier stuff in anticipation of the lengthy climb up the gorge. He relies on Yin to determine if the reefclaw is edible. If so, they'll have shellfish for lunch. If not, he breaks out the rest of his rations. Once he's had his fill, he checks the jugs on board to see if any still contain potable spirits...indulging as only a dwarf can in order to warm himself for the rest of their journey.
"I be thinkin' Torag himself couldn't have provided a better repast," Orlan sighs happily, "Yuh can always count on 'im to pick yuh up even at yer lowest point." The dwarf eyes the ropes and ledge above them for a moment. "Now...if only he could lift us a little further. But, ehhh...climbin' be good fer the soul, I reckon. Yuh folks ready ta give it a try?"
Everything on the barge is soaked but if you could just stay out of the water for a while you might get warm. There is certainly enough dwarven wine to make you forget the cold. You learn the hard way that some of the wine has turned to vinegar. The date stamp on the wine reveals it to be about 30 years old.
What is everyone else doing?
Sir Manfred will help prepare the horses for their absence, hobbling and getting fodder. He will then join Lord Orlan and the rest of the companions in a toast to their victory before attempting a probably humiliating attempt on the cliff.
Kamris sighs at what he now sees as a voyage of the doomed, and assists Manfred.
Yin looks thoughtfully at the reefclaw. "I'm a spell user Orlan, not a cook. Whilst I'm sure some bits of it are edible you'd need someone with at least a pssing knowledge of preparing food.. or maybe alchemy to extract all the poison safely." Slowly she gives a shrug "I guess it depends how adventurous you're feeling, we could just yank out anything that looks like a poison sack" she adds with a daring grin, poking at the dead critter with one of her daggers.
Kamris:
As a Shoanti and a rogue, Kamris would recall that the claws are not poisonness and are generally considered a delicacy.
Is the plan then to scale the 40' of cliffs on the ropes that have been left there? Are there any precautions that you would like to make to ensure a failed climb check is not fatal?
Is the plan then to scale the 40' of cliffs on the ropes that have been left there? Are there any precautions that you would like to make to ensure a failed climb check is not fatal?
"I'm not sure I be trustin' the looks of them there ropes," Orlan squints, "They don't be lookin' sturdy 'nough ta hold the likes of me." He glances over at Kamris. "You be lookin' a bit more lightweight. Are yuh any decent at climbin'? If so, maybe we should send yuh up with muh own rope. It should be plenty long 'nough...and a sight better made. Think yuh can get up there with it and then aid the rest of us? If we go one at a time, should be easy 'nough...and those that've made the top can help haul up the next one."