Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn

Before beginning her trance, Nym would use her last spell slot to spend ten minutes casting a quiet Prayer of Healing on the group, though the throbbing at her shoulder and abdomen was still there. She made sure to give Eilistraee's Vigilant Blessing to Chrys since she was taking up the next watch before beginning her meditations. Still paranoid that they might be awoken again. If not by the second troll that had escaped, then something else that had heard or smelled the fight. But the next time that Nym awoke was to the sounds of the rest of the group stretching and talking, her eyes clear and rested, though she was looking outwardly as rough as the rest of the group. Not as bad as Chrys though... The corners of the drow's mouth drew down as she eyed the dwarf. It was rather apparent that she hadn't gotten enough rest. Looking to the rest of the group she agreed with Kess and Lumen and further tried to persuade, "It's just another hour or two... And if we push on it might do more harm than good in the long run. We can keep watch for Duskbringer." 

Taking out her water skin & her mushroom bread, Nym would offer some to whoever should want any while breaking her fast. Smiling a bit at Kess' concern for her wounds, she would take a quick peak at her shoulder and stomach. There was only the faintest discoloration discernable on her dark skin and no scarring. "No infection so far thanks to Eilistraee's healing and some  rest. And I, um... I was very impressed by your moves last night." Feeling awkward at the compliment for some reason and filling the odd feeling with more mushroom bread while she stared at her knees. 

((The group heals for 12 before resting))

“To be honest with you, I’m surprised myself… all of the training I’ve done in the last few years is is truly paying off. Thank you!” Kess would reply with a little laugh, seemingly oblivious to the awkward energy of Nym’s question before taking note of poor Chrys’ tangled mane. “Oh Chrys… let me help you with that. That can’t be comfortable.”

If she could, Kess would use a Prestidigitation cantrip to help tame the tangled jungle upon the dwarven maiden’s head, before turning her attention back to the group… her gaze falling upon Lumen.

”So, now that we find ourselves with a moment of peace… it occurs to me now that with Krackle’s departure, you are the only man of our little band , Lumen,” Kess offered the half-orc somewhat of a teasing grin as she sat across from him on her knees, sipping at some water from her water skin as she took a moment to casually smooth out her skirt and wipe the dust from it; she’d have to get her dress mended when they finally reached civilization again. “How does it feel to realize you are perhaps the most gods-blessed bard in all of Faerun, let alone a man, to have the unparalleled fortune to travel with us ladies all by yourself?”

The smirk that spread over Kess’ face as she said this was telling; she was clearly enjoying having a bit of fun… though clearly it was at Lumen’s potential expense, also placing him firmly in the focus of four skilled and adept maidens of various talents.

((Belatedly realized roller didn't actually roll for some reason so rolled in character sheet. The group heals for 7 HP before resting.))

Lumen smiles and accepts the offer of mushroom bread with a grandiose bow of thanks. "It's been a while since we've had decent home-cooked food, with a real kitchen putting out good work -- almost seems like a year, though I know it's only been a matter of a tenday or two -- so thank you for this bread. I'm not sure I've tried this exact kind." He asks how it's made, and if it comes from the Underdark, and silently wonders how old it is. He thanks Nym again for the offer to heal, but oddly enough, he stayed out of harm's way during that fight and he was unharmed.

He takes out his lute and begins humming and plucking out a soft low melody, one that he's come to know Chrys enjoys. 

As Kess begins to speak to Chrys and then Nym, his eyes close a bit in thought, letting them speak without interruption. It's not until he hears his name that his eyes open a bit, and Kess's statement plays back in his mind. His eyes open wider, and when she asks her impish question, a half-smile spread to the corner of his mouth. The music changes subtly, from atmospheric and calming to quixotic and gently probing, and then finally arcing up into bombastic and dramatically self-aware.

The music stops abruptly, and his two sinewy blue-green arms reach skyward, back arching in a languid stretch. His voice, when it reappears, is not quite performative, not quite jaunty, and yet somehow in on the joke. 

"My dear, graceful, brave, and devious friend Kess, I'm sure you might find it hard to believe that in fact, all bards in Faerun consider themselves gods-blessed. I am indeed graced with the presence of four charming, brilliant, strong, reliable, yet attractive ladies, with an invitation to perform for them several times a day -- an invitation that has not yet been revoked. I am indeed gods-blessed," Lumen says, before his cadence turns a bit more thoughtful. "Even if we are stalked by shadow cult assassins, creatures that go bump in the night, dragons, spiderkin, and even our own intermittently possessed druidic party member. You've all been helping me along for all this time with nary a peep or complaint. I should consider myself doubly lucky to not have been left on my own days ago. A grumpy, half-orc, half-human bard who doesn't fit in with many of the traditional ideas of what bards look and sound like. I have no idea where our path will go from here, but I'm lucky to walk it with each of you."

A soft, acoustic version of this song wafts out of his lute as he leans back against a log.

Chrys muzzily mumbles her thanks to Kess, before crawling back into her blanket and throwing it over her head.  Though she doesn't catch much of the conversation, the music playing softly under the voices lulls her back to sleep.

(She'll keep sleeping until long rest is achieved, unless you guys want to move on.)

While Chrys dives in for a couple more hours of sleep, you prepare for the day, and watch the sun climber higher into the sky. Knowing your direction of travel today, and that you'll have to descend the cliff, you wander back over to inspect and perhaps figure out your exact strategy for getting everyone down safely. Inspecting the bluff, it appears to be about 50' high, and quite rocky, with a number of small pine trees growing out of the side. At the bottom, directly below you, you see the corpse of the dead troll lying with twisted and broken limbs at the base.

The cliff looks like it would be possible to climb down, but perhaps difficult, especially for those not adept at such activities. Walking from side to side, there it extends for quite a ways on either side, and only gets steeper. A relatively quick observation indicates that this is clearly the easiest place to descend. As you look out over the trees below, you can see the clearing off in the distance, which you guess to be the ruins of Vehlarr.

Eventually, Chrys stirs and wakes from her extended nap, finally feeling refreshed, but with yet another tangle in her thick head of hair. 

Nym shrugs awkwardly at the comment as Lumen accepts her offering of bread. "It's just shroom bread. All kinds of mushrooms and fungus grow in the dark and putting it in bread helps it stave off other kinds of fungus....for a bit. An makes it taste a little better."  The bread is...decidedly not fresh, being a minimum of five days old, but true to the drow's word, it hasn't gone bad, simply stale. 

An amused and intrigued smile slowly stretched Nym's lips as Lumen replied to Kess. Her foot unconsciously moving with the beat he was creating with his music. The drow's eyes seem to grow brighter as any one would when captivated. He certainly was as charming as bards in tales tended to be. She was still figuring out the group dynamic, near outsider that she still was. "Traditional or not, I'm glad our paths crossed." Eyes flicking from the bard to the elven warrior and then the others. 

While Chrys finished her rest, Nym took the time to stretch her muscles and peer down the cliff, rotating her left arm and shoulder carefully and thankful that she had full range of motion with minimal soreness. She wasn't looking forward to the climb down, already getting out her rope and checking for any fraying.

Lumen also checks his rope and tries to see if their collective rope supply is enough to get them down. But then there’s the question of getting back up without the aid of rope. He wonders how anyone gets to this elven town in the first place.

You find that a single 50’ rope is just about long enough to reach the bottom, and there are trees you could use to secure it at the top. Two tied together are more than long enough. 

Also, thinking back to yesterday, you remember that Nym’s navigation was a little off at one point, and you were traveling off course for at least a couple hours. With Vesper’s help, you were able to correct, but that still meant you were a mile or two off of your intended trajectory when you reached this point. If you had stayed on course, you would be further to the west, away from this cliff.

Chrys wakes up blearily and begins to battle with her hair.  She gives up after a token attempt, packs her things, and then stomps over to the others, looking over the cliff.  "We goin' down here or lookin' for an easier way down?  I ain't keen on climbin' right here to be honest.  Not after we rolled the troll off this here cliff," she points out.  "Might be somethin' feedin' on it below right now."

Kess CAREFULLY peers over the cliff, so as to not accidentally stumble over, just to see if there is in fact anything feeding on a seared troll carcass down below.

Perception: 4

Lumen nods at Nym in silent thanks, gives Kess a bit of an odd look after her lack of response, and then begins to try a descent, looping the rope around his belt and attempting a sort of rudimentary belay, slowly letting it out and walking backwards down the cliffside, looking over his shoulder and between his legs to try to avoid trees and other obstacles. "We'll deal with the other side when we get to the other side. Climbing up will be harder."

He'll stop if anyone objects or has a better idea, but he's trying to get a move on.

Peering down over the edge of the cliff, Kess can indeed see the grotesquely twisted body of the troll lying at the base of the crag, but she can see no other creatures nearby. 

Tying the two ropes together and looping it around one of the sturdy trees that is set back about 10 feet from the edge of the cliff, Lumen wraps the doubled rope around his waist and body and begins lowering himself down using a classic "body rappel" technique, using the combination of friction and his brake hand on the rope to control the speed of his descent. The cliff is not quite vertical, and there are many small outcrops and small trees that allow him to place his feet and keep himself steady as he slowly walks himself down. 

It's a fairly straightforward descent, but when he gets most of the way down, he realizes that the ropes don't quite reach the bottom. Fortunately, the grade of the crag becomes slightly less steep and there are plenty of hand and footholds that would allow him to potentially climb down the last ten feet. Stopping before the ropes run out, he grabs a pronounced tree branch that's growing out of the cliff and shifts his weight off of the rope before downclimbing the final stretch.

(Need an Athletics check from Lumen, and anyone else who repeats the descent. Success to climb down the last part safely is DC10, with failure resulting in a <10' fall and 1d6 damage.)

Chrys sighs and rolls her shoulders, cracking her neck.  "Guess we're goin' down the short way," she says.   "Wait up here first, you guys.  Once I get down, I'll hold the rope steady an' help ya climb down."

Athletics: 21

Taking a firm hold on the double ropes and wrapping then around her body, Chrys backs toward the edge of the cliff, steps down over the edge and begins walking down as she slowly lets the rope out. Her descent is smooth and steady, and her feet easily find purchase on the numerous rocks and small edges that offer her additional stability.  

When she reaches the end of the rope, she grabs the tree branch and finds that she's able to wrap her legs around it and actually balance herself by sitting on the base the branch, while bracing her body with her feet and one of her hands. With the other hand, she's able to grab the ropes and pull down as the next person begin their rappel, essentially doing a "Fireman's Belay," by providing additional friction that helps slows the decent of the person above. Looking down, Chrys sees that it will be relative easy task to finish that last 10' without the aid of the rope when she's done helping everyone else.

Then, as each person rappels down and reaches the branch, Chrys helps them transition off of the rope as they begin the 10' down climb to the ground.

(Still need DC10 Athletics check from each person for the down climb.)

Vesper sighs and begins to rappel down the tree.

Athletics:2

After watching both Chrys and Lumen, Vesper grabs the rope and goes down next. Picking up the technique quickly, she steps over the edge, and lowers herself with slow, controlled speed, aided below by Chrys, who keeps one hand firmly on the ends of the ropes, and walks her feet deftly down the craggy cliff until she reaches her companion. Chrys helps her transition off the rope, and then Vesper carefully climbs down the last ten feet, using the hand and footholds with a surprising display of skill and balance until she reaches the bottom and steps onto the forest floor, about 10 feet away from the dead troll. 

Lumen athletics 18

As he led the way down, Lumen was easily able to transition smoothly off the rope and down climb the remaining 10' of cliff to the ground. From there, he has a good view to watch his companions rappel down the cliff above him, and at the same time, keep an eye on the his immediate surroundings, which are basically a continuation of the forest above; loosely spaced pine trees that appear to get more dense further away from the bluff. He can see the dead troll nearby, but he sees nor hears no other creatures in the vicinity. 

Does the opposite side seem climbable? Identical to the near side?