That evening, the five adventurers surrender their horses to stable hand for the Axe of Mirabar. "These beauties will be just fine, gentlemen. Just fine. Harshnag demands it, after all."
The next morning, they set out on foot and begin their trek up the Khedrun Valley, where, hopefully, Harshnag the Grim will be awaiting them. The sky above contains very few clouds, and the sunlight dazzles everyone's eyes as it reflects off the snow-covered world around them. The jagged peaks of the Spine of the World loom larger than life to the adventurers' left, and to their right flow the icy waters of the Mirar. Much farther to the right, on the other side of the valley, they can see the northern edge of The Lurkwood, its ancient trees heavily frosted with a coat of ice and snow.
Approximately one hour later, the group spies Harshnag sitting atop a massive boulder on the northern bank of the river. He hops down, nods silently, and gestures to the east with his greataxe. "We follow the river valley for a few days,"he explains.
Harshnag elects to remain rather aloof as the group travels. He does not initiate conversation. Nor does he interrupt, or comment on, any discussion that takes place among the five adventurers. During each of the first two nights in the valley, he encourages the group to make a large fire and to be warmed by it while he sits and rests somewhat distant from its warmth. "Nothing to fear here in this valley. Be comfortable while you can,"he comments.
Harshnag proves to be right. Nothing of note takes place during the two-day eastward journey through the Valley of Khedrun. Very early on the third day, the group comes to a large gash in the northern wall of the valley. "Here. This is the pass,"says Harshnag. "We must now leave this valley. The way will be hard."
Random event/encounter (day 3 of journey/day 1 in the Spine):
Weather: 6
Terrain: 3
Creature: 2 (45) (2)
After a few hours of beginning the ascent up the mountain pass, the group sees three crag cats, gathered over something they have killed. Initially, the cats seem ready to stand their ground and forbid the group from passing by, but Harshnag hurls a boulder into their midst, causing them to scatter.
Random event/encounter (day 4 of the journey/day 2 in the Spine)
Weather: 5
Terrain: 2
Creature: 4
Early in the fourth day of the journey to the Eye, the first genuine challenge confronts the group. The path along which Harshnag has been leading the group has been obstructed by a rock slide. Hundreds of rocks, boulders, and masses of ice and snow are blocking the way; the group has no choice but to make a vertical climb of approximately 75'. Doing so will allow them to pass by the rock slide and reach the path that continues on the other side.
With his enormous arm span and long legs--he's nearly 23' tall--Harshnag is able to reach a variety of handholds and footholds that will allow him to make his way past the troublesome area. For the rest of the group, however, they will need to scale the icy, snow-covered mountain wall, move laterally to their right approximately 20', and, lastly, descend the mountain wall to reach the mountain path once again.
"Hrm," I say looking at the formidable obstacle before us. "Maybe we can make the climb a little more bearable with this."
I hold up my new little toy, an Immovable Rod.
"It can hold somewhere around 4 tons of weight once activated. We just need someone to turn it on near the top, then hang this grappling hook on it with a couple of lengths of rope. At the very least it will prevent us from falling if we are each tied to the rod while we climb."
I muse at how to get the rod up high enough. "Harshnag!" I call. "Could you help us secure a line?"
Harshnag, holding the Immovable Rod between his right thumb and forefinger, narrows his gaze at the strange metal object and says, "Placing your trust in this, are you? How curious."
He then places the rod and two ropes--each with a grappling hook secured to one end--in his belt and deftly climbs up the wall of icy rock to everyone's left. Upon reaching the top of the rock slide, he clings to the mountain with one hand and holds out the Immovable rod with his other hand. He pushes the button, as instructed by Rixton, to activate the rod, which then defies everyone's imagination by floating in the air, perfectly stationary. Harshnag hangs both grappling hooks from the rod, allowing the two ropes to dangle down to where the five adventurers stand. The frost giant then scrambles down the face of the mountain and stands on the other side of the rock slide. The group cannot see him, but they hear his voice. "It has been done as you asked."
On a successful DC 10 Athletics check, a character will, without incident, ascend the rope, move the necessary distance laterally, and descend the rope to reach the other side of the hazard safely. The result of a failed Athletics check will be determined by a roll of the die (d8):
Die roll of 1 = character falls 70' and takes 7d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 2 = character falls 60' and takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 3 = character falls 50' and takes 5d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 4 = character falls 40' and takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 5 = character falls 30' and takes 3d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 6 = character falls 20' and takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 7 = character falls 10' and takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage
Die roll of 8 = character falls less than 10' and takes no damage
I'm not assuming that everyone wishes to try this; therefore, I will not make the Athletics check for everyone (only for Carrow on behalf of Rashek)
Carrow looks up at the magical rod from which the ropes are hanging. "This will make quite a story, won't it?"
The ranger seizes a rope, places his boots against the face of the rock, and begins to climb...
(Athletics check for Carrow: 19 | Result, if unsuccessful: 6)
...and with relative ease he joins Harshnag on solid, stable ground on the opposite side of the rock slide.
I look up the rope, taking in the daunting height, and let out a low whistle. "Well, it was my idea." I take a deep breath and begin the arduous climb. One way or another, this is going to hurt.
Athletics: 11 | Result on a failure: 4
Slowly, painfully, I lower myself to the ground on the other side and collapse in a heap. My arms ache, my legs ache. The cold ground feels great on my sore muscles. "Next time, let's just move the rocks," I say with a ragged breath.
"Other magic users can teleport or fly, but not you, no you can just blast things with lightning. Wait, that's amazing, nevermind, let's see, I'm feeling lucky."
Athletics 17
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Grumbling about the cold and having to do athletics shenanigans Ladrian says "This is not my strong suit. I'm a people's person not a traveling adventure!" he continues to grumble while starting to climb but a gust of wind and his own grumbling cause him to distract for a few seconds. Ladrian starts to feel his hands slipping from the rope, despite the gloves he looks up dramatically to his friends, locking eyes with them in a moment of silence before solemnly saying: "Oh, oh." He his unable to continue holding the rope and fells, as if in slow motion several dozens of feet down the mountain "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH." you can hear Ladrian scream "OUCH!" he seems to hit the mountain hard "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" he continues to drop "OUCH!" he hits the mountain again "AHHHHHHHH" down he goes again, with a mixture of screamings for falling and screams of pain from hitting the mountain multiple times
Damage from the fall (7d6):30
Ladrian is way down the mountain compared with everyone else (around 70 feet). His body is in an awkward position but he finally manages to open his eyes, confused with the fall and hoping for non-lasting damage "Dung. I knew we should have claimed ownership of Nightsone and started a cult there". He grimaces with pain "At least it was warm and they had wine. Plus minions." he closes his eyes for a bit "I need to rest a bit to regain my strength." he closes his eyes again for a few seconds
OOC: Ladrian likely used his action climbing the rope, I'll give the others opportunity to roleplay this, but Ladrian will next cast some Cure Wounds on himself and will try to find a way up.
So, just how difficult will it be for Ladrian (who's now somewhere below Vigan) to return to the mountain path? The dice (d8) shall decide!
For Ladrian to make the climb unassisted:
Die roll of 1 or 2 = DC 20
Die roll of 3 or 4 = DC 15
Die roll of 5 or 6 = DC 10
Die roll of 7 or 8 = DC 5
If Vigan drops a rope to Ladrian, then -10 to the DC. And the roll is...6
Ladrian's mishap not only leaves him with several severe cuts and bruises, it leaves him clinging to the mountainside approximately 40' below his original starting point. Gazing up toward Vigan, Ladrian can gauge that the climb isn't overly difficult, and having a rope to assist him would make it very easy indeed.
Peering over the edge of the path, Vigan spies Ladrian a distance below him. "Nothing broken, my friend?", he shouts down. "Use this rope, and don't fall again!"
Retrieving a length of rope from his backpack, he casts it down the mountainside towards his companion, and holds his end tight.
Ladrian, gripping the rope firmly, methodically and cautiously makes his ascent toward Vigan. The bard reaches the mountain ledge safely and now faces the reality that he must, once again, attempt make his way up and over the rock slide.
(With the rope, the DC for this attempt was 0, automatic success)
Huffing and puffing from the climbing "Thanks Vigan, Nothing too broken, but a lot of bruises that are going to hurt like hell tomorrow." He looks up to where the rest of the party is "Guess I need to try again. Let's get this over with." He looks to the rope once again and tries to climb, without falling.
Athletics: 9
Ladrian is almost at the top when he slips once again...
Failure result: 6
He falls more or less 20 ft, close to where Vigan is still standing trying not to laugh too much at Ladrian
Fall damage: 11
"God. Damn. It." Ladrian is pretty angry right now, mostly at himself.
The icy mountain terrain continues to show Ladrian no mercy; he loses his grip and his footing for a third time and falls (taking 7 bludgeoning damage). Fortunately, this time he has landed on the mountain ledge next to Vigan.
As Ladrian assesses his new set of injuries, Harshnag clambers up the rocky face of the mountain and then down again to where Ladrian and Vigan stand. "We will lose no one on this journey."
The frost giant then looks at Ladrian and says, "If you are willing, I will carry you. You need only to lash yourself to my back."
A successful Athletics check (DC 12) is necessary for Harshag to successfully carry Ladrian up and over the rock slide; Harshnag has +9 on all Athletics checks. If he were to fail, the same 1d8 damage table would be in effect.
Harshnag lowers himself to one knee, and Ladrian throws a loop of rope over one of the frost giant's shoulders. The rope creates a rudimentary bandoleer that will help Ladrian to stay safely attached to the giant as he makes his climb.
With a careful but steady pace, Harshnag makes his ascent up the wall of ice-covered rock where he reaches the top of the rock slide debris. After one lateral move to his right with a giant reach of his arm, Harshnag slowly inches his way down the mountain face to where Carrow, Rixton, and Andor are standing.
When all is seemingly going well, the chunk of rock that Harshnag is gripping in his right hand suddenly pulls away from the mountain. Andor, Carrow, and Rixton watch in terror as a 24' tall frost giant with Ladrian clinging to his back begins to tumble down the mountain. Try as he might, Harshnag cannot regain any sort of grip; so he and Ladrian smash into the ground, each sustaining 8 bludgeoning damage.
Miraculously, giant and bard land in the best possible place--a large drift of snow that breaks their fall considerably. Eventually, both of them emerge from the snow. Harshnag softly mutters, "I am sorry, small one."
It didn't happen as he had hoped, but Ladrian, at last, has made it past the rock slide. Only Vigan remains.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ladrian
OOC: Ladrian suffered 56 points of damage adding all the falls, out of the 60 max hp he has. He has currently 11hp because he casted Cured Wounds before re-trying this last attempt.
You can now see steam raising from Ladrian, such is his seething rage with all of this situation. "Never mind about that." he says with his teeth closed to the giant.
He turns to the others before saying with an icy tone:, matching the environment "This never happened. If you talk about this ever again, I'll make sure you'll pay."
He then casts Cure Wounds twice exhausting his spell slots for the day
Cure Wounds #1: 11 Cure Wounds #2: 10
Then, looking at Vigan who still has to climb he casts Bardic Inspiration (1d6) just for good measure, to allow him to get back up with ease. "We're wasting too much time here. Let's go."
Andor
"I only need a few things, mostly rations and I'm ready."
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
That evening, the five adventurers surrender their horses to stable hand for the Axe of Mirabar. "These beauties will be just fine, gentlemen. Just fine. Harshnag demands it, after all."
The next morning, they set out on foot and begin their trek up the Khedrun Valley, where, hopefully, Harshnag the Grim will be awaiting them. The sky above contains very few clouds, and the sunlight dazzles everyone's eyes as it reflects off the snow-covered world around them. The jagged peaks of the Spine of the World loom larger than life to the adventurers' left, and to their right flow the icy waters of the Mirar. Much farther to the right, on the other side of the valley, they can see the northern edge of The Lurkwood, its ancient trees heavily frosted with a coat of ice and snow.
Approximately one hour later, the group spies Harshnag sitting atop a massive boulder on the northern bank of the river. He hops down, nods silently, and gestures to the east with his greataxe. "We follow the river valley for a few days," he explains.
Harshnag elects to remain rather aloof as the group travels. He does not initiate conversation. Nor does he interrupt, or comment on, any discussion that takes place among the five adventurers. During each of the first two nights in the valley, he encourages the group to make a large fire and to be warmed by it while he sits and rests somewhat distant from its warmth. "Nothing to fear here in this valley. Be comfortable while you can," he comments.
Harshnag proves to be right. Nothing of note takes place during the two-day eastward journey through the Valley of Khedrun. Very early on the third day, the group comes to a large gash in the northern wall of the valley. "Here. This is the pass," says Harshnag. "We must now leave this valley. The way will be hard."
Random event/encounter (day 3 of journey/day 1 in the Spine):
After a few hours of beginning the ascent up the mountain pass, the group sees three crag cats, gathered over something they have killed. Initially, the cats seem ready to stand their ground and forbid the group from passing by, but Harshnag hurls a boulder into their midst, causing them to scatter.
Random event/encounter (day 4 of the journey/day 2 in the Spine)
Early in the fourth day of the journey to the Eye, the first genuine challenge confronts the group. The path along which Harshnag has been leading the group has been obstructed by a rock slide. Hundreds of rocks, boulders, and masses of ice and snow are blocking the way; the group has no choice but to make a vertical climb of approximately 75'. Doing so will allow them to pass by the rock slide and reach the path that continues on the other side.
With his enormous arm span and long legs--he's nearly 23' tall--Harshnag is able to reach a variety of handholds and footholds that will allow him to make his way past the troublesome area. For the rest of the group, however, they will need to scale the icy, snow-covered mountain wall, move laterally to their right approximately 20', and, lastly, descend the mountain wall to reach the mountain path once again.
Rixton:
"Hrm," I say looking at the formidable obstacle before us. "Maybe we can make the climb a little more bearable with this."
I hold up my new little toy, an Immovable Rod.
"It can hold somewhere around 4 tons of weight once activated. We just need someone to turn it on near the top, then hang this grappling hook on it with a couple of lengths of rope. At the very least it will prevent us from falling if we are each tied to the rod while we climb."
I muse at how to get the rod up high enough. "Harshnag!" I call. "Could you help us secure a line?"
Harshnag, holding the Immovable Rod between his right thumb and forefinger, narrows his gaze at the strange metal object and says, "Placing your trust in this, are you? How curious."
He then places the rod and two ropes--each with a grappling hook secured to one end--in his belt and deftly climbs up the wall of icy rock to everyone's left. Upon reaching the top of the rock slide, he clings to the mountain with one hand and holds out the Immovable rod with his other hand. He pushes the button, as instructed by Rixton, to activate the rod, which then defies everyone's imagination by floating in the air, perfectly stationary. Harshnag hangs both grappling hooks from the rod, allowing the two ropes to dangle down to where the five adventurers stand. The frost giant then scrambles down the face of the mountain and stands on the other side of the rock slide. The group cannot see him, but they hear his voice. "It has been done as you asked."
On a successful DC 10 Athletics check, a character will, without incident, ascend the rope, move the necessary distance laterally, and descend the rope to reach the other side of the hazard safely. The result of a failed Athletics check will be determined by a roll of the die (d8):
I'm not assuming that everyone wishes to try this; therefore, I will not make the Athletics check for everyone (only for Carrow on behalf of Rashek)
Carrow looks up at the magical rod from which the ropes are hanging. "This will make quite a story, won't it?"
The ranger seizes a rope, places his boots against the face of the rock, and begins to climb...
(Athletics check for Carrow: 19 | Result, if unsuccessful: 6)
...and with relative ease he joins Harshnag on solid, stable ground on the opposite side of the rock slide.
Rixton:
I look up the rope, taking in the daunting height, and let out a low whistle. "Well, it was my idea." I take a deep breath and begin the arduous climb. One way or another, this is going to hurt.
Athletics: 11 | Result on a failure: 4
Slowly, painfully, I lower myself to the ground on the other side and collapse in a heap. My arms ache, my legs ache. The cold ground feels great on my sore muscles. "Next time, let's just move the rocks," I say with a ragged breath.
Andor
"Other magic users can teleport or fly, but not you, no you can just blast things with lightning. Wait, that's amazing, nevermind, let's see, I'm feeling lucky."
Athletics 17
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
Ladrian
Athletics: 6 | Result on failure: 1
Grumbling about the cold and having to do athletics shenanigans Ladrian says "This is not my strong suit. I'm a people's person not a traveling adventure!" he continues to grumble while starting to climb but a gust of wind and his own grumbling cause him to distract for a few seconds. Ladrian starts to feel his hands slipping from the rope, despite the gloves he looks up dramatically to his friends, locking eyes with them in a moment of silence before solemnly saying: "Oh, oh." He his unable to continue holding the rope and fells, as if in slow motion several dozens of feet down the mountain "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH." you can hear Ladrian scream "OUCH!" he seems to hit the mountain hard "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" he continues to drop "OUCH!" he hits the mountain again "AHHHHHHHH" down he goes again, with a mixture of screamings for falling and screams of pain from hitting the mountain multiple times
Damage from the fall (7d6): 30
Ladrian is way down the mountain compared with everyone else (around 70 feet). His body is in an awkward position but he finally manages to open his eyes, confused with the fall and hoping for non-lasting damage "Dung. I knew we should have claimed ownership of Nightsone and started a cult there". He grimaces with pain "At least it was warm and they had wine. Plus minions." he closes his eyes for a bit "I need to rest a bit to regain my strength." he closes his eyes again for a few seconds
OOC: Ladrian likely used his action climbing the rope, I'll give the others opportunity to roleplay this, but Ladrian will next cast some Cure Wounds on himself and will try to find a way up.
So, just how difficult will it be for Ladrian (who's now somewhere below Vigan) to return to the mountain path? The dice (d8) shall decide!
For Ladrian to make the climb unassisted:
If Vigan drops a rope to Ladrian, then -10 to the DC. And the roll is...6
Ladrian's mishap not only leaves him with several severe cuts and bruises, it leaves him clinging to the mountainside approximately 40' below his original starting point. Gazing up toward Vigan, Ladrian can gauge that the climb isn't overly difficult, and having a rope to assist him would make it very easy indeed.
Vigan
Peering over the edge of the path, Vigan spies Ladrian a distance below him. "Nothing broken, my friend?", he shouts down. "Use this rope, and don't fall again!"
Retrieving a length of rope from his backpack, he casts it down the mountainside towards his companion, and holds his end tight.
Ladrian, gripping the rope firmly, methodically and cautiously makes his ascent toward Vigan. The bard reaches the mountain ledge safely and now faces the reality that he must, once again, attempt make his way up and over the rock slide.
(With the rope, the DC for this attempt was 0, automatic success)
Ladrian
Huffing and puffing from the climbing "Thanks Vigan, Nothing too broken, but a lot of bruises that are going to hurt like hell tomorrow." He looks up to where the rest of the party is
"Guess I need to try again. Let's get this over with." He looks to the rope once again and tries to climb, without falling.
Athletics: 9
Ladrian is almost at the top when he slips once again...
Failure result: 6
He falls more or less 20 ft, close to where Vigan is still standing trying not to laugh too much at Ladrian
Fall damage: 11
"God. Damn. It." Ladrian is pretty angry right now, mostly at himself.
Vigan
The goliath throws the rope down to Ladrian a second time, his face an image of stoic patience. "We could call back Harshnag to help, if you want..."
As Ladrian scrambles up the rocks and ice to rejoin Vigan, Harshnag's deep voice can be heard. "What's happened? Is all well?"
Ladrian
He casts Cure Wounds on himself for: 5
"Silence" he says stubbornly to Vigan and tries to climb again.
Athletics: 6 Result if failure: 6
The icy mountain terrain continues to show Ladrian no mercy; he loses his grip and his footing for a third time and falls (taking 7 bludgeoning damage). Fortunately, this time he has landed on the mountain ledge next to Vigan.
As Ladrian assesses his new set of injuries, Harshnag clambers up the rocky face of the mountain and then down again to where Ladrian and Vigan stand. "We will lose no one on this journey."
The frost giant then looks at Ladrian and says, "If you are willing, I will carry you. You need only to lash yourself to my back."
A successful Athletics check (DC 12) is necessary for Harshag to successfully carry Ladrian up and over the rock slide; Harshnag has +9 on all Athletics checks. If he were to fail, the same 1d8 damage table would be in effect.
Ladrian
Ladrian is fuming but says in a low whisper only the giant can hear: "Fine."
Harshnag lowers himself to one knee, and Ladrian throws a loop of rope over one of the frost giant's shoulders. The rope creates a rudimentary bandoleer that will help Ladrian to stay safely attached to the giant as he makes his climb.
Athletics: 11 | Fall result, if unsuccessful: 4
With a careful but steady pace, Harshnag makes his ascent up the wall of ice-covered rock where he reaches the top of the rock slide debris. After one lateral move to his right with a giant reach of his arm, Harshnag slowly inches his way down the mountain face to where Carrow, Rixton, and Andor are standing.
When all is seemingly going well, the chunk of rock that Harshnag is gripping in his right hand suddenly pulls away from the mountain. Andor, Carrow, and Rixton watch in terror as a 24' tall frost giant with Ladrian clinging to his back begins to tumble down the mountain. Try as he might, Harshnag cannot regain any sort of grip; so he and Ladrian smash into the ground, each sustaining 8 bludgeoning damage.
Miraculously, giant and bard land in the best possible place--a large drift of snow that breaks their fall considerably. Eventually, both of them emerge from the snow. Harshnag softly mutters, "I am sorry, small one."
It didn't happen as he had hoped, but Ladrian, at last, has made it past the rock slide. Only Vigan remains.
Ladrian
OOC: Ladrian suffered 56 points of damage adding all the falls, out of the 60 max hp he has. He has currently 11hp because he casted Cured Wounds before re-trying this last attempt.
You can now see steam raising from Ladrian, such is his seething rage with all of this situation.
"Never mind about that." he says with his teeth closed to the giant.
He turns to the others before saying with an icy tone:, matching the environment "This never happened. If you talk about this ever again, I'll make sure you'll pay."
He then casts Cure Wounds twice exhausting his spell slots for the day
Cure Wounds #1: 11
Cure Wounds #2: 10
Then, looking at Vigan who still has to climb he casts Bardic Inspiration (1d6) just for good measure, to allow him to get back up with ease. "We're wasting too much time here. Let's go."
Rixton:
"I'm just glad you made it over in one piece," I say. "If you find need of a healing potion, don't hesitate to ask."
Vigan
Athletics: 26
After watching Ladrian, and even Harshnag, suffer at the hands of the mountain, Vigan begins climbing, with some amount of trepidation.
Told you the dice had it in for me (nearly)!