Chapter 3: The Land That Time Forgot

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo takes two more shots at the nearest flying lizard, wondering how much punishment one of these creatures can take.

Attack with Short Bow (THAC0 17): To Hit: [1d20] = 13 Damage, s/M/L: [1d6] = 6
Attack with Short Bow (THAC0 17): To Hit: [1d20] = 14 Damage, s/M/L: [1d6] = 5 That's more like it... Come on initiative!

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan brushes off the memory of his nearly fatal fall through the bridge and stands ready for battle against the attacking monsters. He waits patiently, feigning injury even to lure in the beast, before leaping to a brutal attack (P3)...

Attack: THACO (20): [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14 / Damage: (S/M: [2d4+1] = 4+1 = 5 / L: [3d4+1] = 6+1 = 7)

[wolfpack]

LL lays behind the rock just trying to stay pout of the way

[Urson]

Maskelyn

The gnome shivers in delayed fear, but smiles at the same time. Thank Bugs! I hoped that would be a prank worthy of Him.

Not foolish enough to enter the Darkness, Maskelyn stands off a few yards and throws random rocks toward the sounds of the wounded beast.

If there's any chance of hitting the thing....
[1d100] = 46

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka is happy to see the huge human escape from the bridge hole. He is shocked when he fakes an injury, only to lure the beast in again.

He fires off another stone from his sling at the nearest monster. 3 Trying to blind another so they eventually leave his friends alone.

Attack with Sling [1d20+1] = 20+1 = 21 Damage [1d4+1] = 1+1 = 2

[Inferno]

The Stone Forest of Towering Spires, Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Two. Mid-afternoon. March 26th, 912 CY
Hot, humid, partly cloudy







Like a ravenous flock of starving sea gulls, the gigantic winged predators had formed a wild feeding frenzy at the center of the rope bridge!

The shipwrecked explorers of the forbidden isle brought spells, stones, shafts and slings to bear, enabling Ko-Nan to reach the other side of the bottomless chasm alive!

Now, two magically blinded terrors thrash and roll in confusion, one climbing higher into the sky, screeching (P1), the other further entangling itself into unseen tree limbs (P4)!

Maskelyn the gnome throws rocks up after it into the hovering orb of darkness! Suddenly, the prehistoric raptor (P4) bursts free of the grasping branches and the pitch!

SKRAAAAA!!



Its reptilian eyes dart around for a few tense seconds. Then, disoriented and frightened by the sorcerous shadow still looming above, it quickly flies off in terror!

Two winged carnivores remain (P3, P4), one on each side of the chasm.

On the far cliff, Fiefo LeBratt evades the gigantic talons of one towering winged reptile (P3). Forsaking his forsaken family heirloom, the rat-man backpedals ten feet and nocks an arrow into his shortbow as Adrock dives for cover. Then Fiefo brutally feathers the scaled hide of the monstrous bird of prey (P3) with two more arrows, both sinking deep!



SKRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

The flying carnivore screams in pain and fear!

Chaka the ape-boy hurtles a dead-eyed stone into the elongated skull of the wounded hunter (P3)! KRACK!

And Ko-Nan finishes the job. Lunging at the winged killer with his great axe, the barbarian savagely shears off an enormous bat-like wing at the shoulder. A geyser of hot crimson erupts!



The immense avian beast slumps to the stones! Its huge eyes roll back in its head and its screech dies in its throat, becoming a death rattle!

On the other side of the fathomless gorge, the last rapacious, bloodthirsty giant (P2) snatches up Switch the dwarf in its claws! With a thunderous crack, it spreads its 30 foot wingspan and prepares to take off into the sky with its prey! "Help!" cries the normally stoic dwarf.

"No!" cries Arto. Then, quite forgetting himself, he charges to Switch's aid, brandishing his small dagger! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" he cries as his blade plunges to the hilt!

Switch the dwarven sailor unsheathes a small cutlass trying to defend himself. Aloft and off balance, he cannot land a blow!

Jeojand takes the tether rope from the bridge line and fashions it into a lasso, but fails to ensnare the voracious raptor!

Not wanting to risk impaling Switch, Tullia the half-elven ranger shoulders her bow, draws her long sword and charges! Her blade strikes true, decapitating the enormous winged reptile in one devastating stroke!



The thing's gigantic ruin collapses to the ground and Switch crawls free.
"Th-thank ye," he says to the elf-blooded ranger with a solemn bow of his head.

All goes quiet. The battle on the rope bridge is ended. The adventurers are victorious.


Actions?


Ropebridge Map:



Island map, to date:

X = The adventurers' current position.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 5 Monsters win.
P2 attacks Jeojand (1), Switch (2) or Tullia (3)? : [1d3] = 2 Switch.
P3 attacks Fiefo (1) or Adrock(2)? : [1d2] = 1 Fiefo.
P2, P3 attack Switch and Fiefo: [1d20] = 14, [1d20] = 11. Hits Switch.
Arto charges, Switch attacks P2: [1d20+2] = 15+2 = 17, [1d20] = 12, damage: [1d3] = 2, [1d8] = 3 Arto hits for 2hp.
Tullia charges P2 with longsword: [1d20+2] = 14+2 = 16, damage: [1d12] = 11 Hits for 11hp!

PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 14/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 18/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 6/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 25/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 6/6, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 8/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 24/24

PC Magic:

• Light (Adrock): Target: P1. Duration: 59 rounds.
  Darkness (Maskelyn): Target: Tree. Duration: 5 rounds

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[ChubbyPixie]

Fiefo watches the creature die, the barbarian standing victoriously over the carcass. "Well... I feel like I helped," he says and puts his bow away.

[wolfpack]

Thank Tee-Emz-EE we all survived! Konan allow the goddess to heal your wounds

She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart.

CLW:[1d8] = 7

[Starbeard]

Jeojand stretches his feline muzzle into a yawn and says, "Well, we must not let day to day occurrences set us back. Who is next to cross?" He holds up the lassoed end of his rope quizzically.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She wipes off her sword and sheaths it, surveying the carnage.. Well, at least we are all still here, and not dinner for one of those things. Practically speaking, I wonder if they are edible? Oh, that would be rich, the eaters becoming the eaten. And another one bites the dust.
Let's get across, before something else attacks Who is next?

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan, usually one to detest the use of magic, recognizes this as something different. Something only whispered about in the mines of his home. Taken aback at what he has experienced, he exclaims to L.L. "A shaman!?! Are you a mystical witch-doctor of your clan!?" Not sure what else to say he stammers a thank you. Those around him notice he is more uncertain of how to act at this strange power then his near-death experience on the bridge when a giant flying crocodile stole him away.

[wolfpack]

Yes I am a Shaman of sorts of the great goddess Tee-Emeez-Ee and remember

The witchdoctor he told me what to do

he said

ooo-eee-ooo-aa aa
bing bang walla walla ding dang

ooo-eee-ooo-aa aa
bing bang walla walla ding dang

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka jumps up and down on his haunches, waving one arm frantically at the others across the bridge, trying to get them to cross as quickly as possible.

"Chaka ready! Must keep going! Flying lizards bad!"

If that picture of Tullia is accurate, Chaka would like to follow behind her in the order from now on.

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

While you are chatting, I am going to get across the bridge, before we become appetizers.
She carefully walks across the bridge, avoiding the hole, while tied onto the guide rope.

I am working on it, Chaka. Those beasts are bad.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

The gnome pauses to take a tooth from the dead flyer on his end of the bridge as a trophy. He'll wait his turn to cross, and will do so with much shaking and white-knuckled grip on the bridge ropes.

[Inferno]

The Stone Forest of Towering Spires, Forbidden Island of Xygax the Wizard, Land of One Thousand Towers
Day Two. Mid-afternoon. March 26th, 912 CY
Hot, humid, partly cloudy







The prehistoric flying reptile that escaped Maskelyn's spell of darkness (P4) soars back to its nest with nothing to feed to its terrible, ravenous young.

Meanwhile, far away, the shipwrecked adventurers press on. They carefully, painstakingly cross the rope bridge dangling high above the bottomless gorge.




The thin trail leads them through the bizarre, labyrinthine stone forest...




... and out its western border. Only the distant roars of gigantic reptilian predators break the tense silence of this strange land.

They follow the trail onward for hours, ford a swollen river and begin their final ascent. Jungle foliage is supplanted by evergreens as they climb switchbacks up the steep face of a massive, towering plateau where lightning and thunder repeatedly explode high above them.



As the day grows long, they summit the barren, lightning-savaged plateau and see their destination, miles away in the distance: an ancient soaring spire of iron that desires to touch the gods...

...the dead wizard's skyscraper.



That alien word comes from the lost antiquity of 'Earth That Was' to name the many minarets and monoliths that still dot the Land of 1000 Towers.

Suddenly, KRA-KA-BOOM!!! A bolt of lightning strikes the tower's zenith again!


Actions?!



Island map, to date:

X = The adventurers' current position.





PC Status:

• Chaka: Ape-Boy Thief 3: Move: 12"(6"), AC: 6, HP: 14/17
  Fiefo LeBratt: Rat-Man Fighter 2: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 18/20
  Jeojand: Cat-Man Magic-User 2: Move: 6", AC: 7, HP: 6/10, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Ko-Nan: Human Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 25/32
  L.L. Adrock: Half-Elf Cleric/Magic-User 1/1: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 6/6, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl
  Maskelyn: Gnome Illusionist 2: Move: 9", AC: 8, HP: 8/10, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Tullia Galena: Half-Elf Ranger 2: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 24/24

PC Magic:

• None currently

Player Resources:

• End of the World (game description)
  Strange New World (maps and realms)
  Memory Tapes (the story so far)
  Viewscreen (the story so far in images)

[SpinwardMarch]

Tullia

She flinches at the lightning strike, and drops into a crouch.

Hey, folks, we need to find cover, before we get cooked by that lightning. It hits the tallest object in an area, and I, for one, have no desire to be that object. She looks around to see if there is anything that could be used as cover.

[Urson]

Maskelyn

The illusionist nods agreement. He crouches, but his eyes are locked on the tower, half-frightened, half- fascinated with the play of electric fire over the structure.

I love a thunderstorm- when I'm inside, warm and dry. he grins.

[OGRE MAGE]

Chaka does not want to be hit by lightning. He stays crouched down on his haunches, like normal, once Tullia starts talking about the bolts hitting the tallest thing around.

"Chaka tired! But Chaka think we can make tower by nightfall. Chaka can run rest of way. Find safe place to sleep?"

[ravenn4544]

Ko-Nan stares and stares at the monstrous structure before him. He sighs at the end of it. "No way to approach that unseen. We should hide until dark."