Chapter 20: The Forbidden City

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

A grin curls across Iago's lips and he nods along with Cruloc's assessment. "Shall we lay a wager on how long they remain virgins, my friend?" He chuckles and continues.

[1d20+2]=6+2=8

[Urson]

Zahra

Zahra looks from one man to another, shaking her head. In the middle of this wilderness, in a ruined, ancient city, on a trail that a geko would be scared to travel- and you still can't think of anything more than spreading your seed?

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

"Exactly!" she says, in reply to Zahra. "Do you men always think with your...well, no need to even ask that, seeing as how I already know the answer!" she hisses, glaring holes through Iago in particular.

[ChubbyPixie]

Save vs. Spells (12): [1d20]=10

"Grandfather... have you ever heard anything so beautiful?" says Kiri. "I thought we descended into danger, but I see I was wrong. Beauty can exist anywhere."

Grandfather, as usual, does not reply, but Kiri's amulet seems to depict an eye-roll of weary disgust.

[Inferno]

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Before Sunset. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm







Emanating from the epoch-blasted ruins far below, a sweet song of yearning lures the men to their deaths.

Like sailors drawn to shipwreck by the sirens' call, they cannot resist. The male adventurers plunge reckless and eager down the narrow cliffside path!



Tied to them, Dahinna and Zahra are pulled along in the deadly breakneck stampede!


Actions?! (Everyone, please roll an Ability Check vs Dex on 1d20 or fall from the cliff!
You all may post IC, but only Dahinna and Zahra have free will.)


Map:

X marks the PCs' position





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/14, Spells: 7/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 45/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/19
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 32/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 29/29
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 31 rounds

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

The warnings of his female comrades go unheeded and Iago picks his way nimbly down the sheer cliff, intent on finding the source of the lovely sounds.

"Where are you?" He muses aloud. "You cannot hide from Iago..."

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc's tugging on the rope becomes more frantic, and even more rigid is his determination to move quickly along the path cutting into the towering cliff wall.

"Come!" he coaxes his beefier companions, cocking an ear toward the dulcet tones swelling from below. "Let us erect a monument of stone to their ravishing beauty!"

Dexterity check (13 or lower) [1d20]=3

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Tied at the back he doesn't act like an anchor to rein in the wild horses running down the track. He calls Gnasher to follow. "C'mon boy. Keep up." He tries to overtake the next in line with a bit of sprinting.

Grigor cliff Dex check vs 17 [1d20]=8

Cruloc

Cruloc's tugging on the rope becomes more frantic, and even more rigid is his determination to move quickly along the path cutting into the towering cliff wall.

"Come!" he coaxes his beefier companions, cocking an ear toward the dulcet tones swelling from below. "Let us erect a monument of stone to their ravishing beauty!"

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

"Slow down!" she yells at the men. "Have you lost your minds? You're going to kill us all!"
Dahinna draws her sword attempting to cut the rope from her waist (unless she can easily untie it?).

DEX check (18): [1d20]=2

[ravenn4544]

Amethu... deftly dances along the narrow trail! The voices gently massage and influence his will and - but some muscle memory enables him to easily avoid a tragic fall.

Dex (11) [1d20]=1

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra stutter-steps as she is dragged down the trail, trying to keep her feet.
attribute check [1d20]=15

She slashes at the rope as she goes.att [1d20+4]=14+4=18

[Inferno]

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Before Sunset. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm






High upon the vertiginous cliffs, the adventurers plummet headlong down the precarious path!

Quick as a flash, the blades of Dahinna and Zahra whisper from their sheathes and sever the cord that pulls them along with the doomed men!

This results in Grigor being cut free also, but he runs past the women, zealously keeping pace with those who are still bound together.

Then disaster strikes. Kiri the man mountain comes off the treacherous path! The armored giant plunges down and Amethu, Iago and Cruloc are instantly jerked backward mid-stride, throwing them off balance! The rope that ties them to Kiri drags them hard toward the cliff's edge as Grigor hurtles right for them! (Male PCs, please roll an Ability Check vs Dex on 1d20 to avoid catastrophe and take an action!)

All whilst the bewitching dream-song grows louder!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. Cruloc, Iago, Amethu and Kiri are tied together.

Behind the DM Screen:

Kiri: Dex check (12): [1d20]=13 Fails by 1.

PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/14, Spells: 7/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 45/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/19
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 32/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 29/29
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 29 rounds

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

The massive and recondite Kiri falls, and Cruloc is pulled off his feet and over the ledge to plunge to certain death, his body to be broken on the mist-shrouded rocks far below!

Dexterity check (13 or lower) [1d20]=4

But he is a Cimmerian. He trusts his hands above almost all things, and they do not fail him. Fingers like chisels find their way into notches and crevices in the rock, arresting his fatal descent. His bares his teeth in silent agony while his joints scream under the unbearable strain of the rope about his midriff snapping taught. Muscles surge in his torso as he fights his way up, dragging his body and the weight of several men along by sheer strength alone. His hands find depressions, places to dig in where there seems nothing to grasp. He moves up the wall inexorably with a savage determination, finally reaching a stony projection and heaving himself up and onto it.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

Dahinna watches mouth agape as the men plummet onward down the slope...and then gasps when Kiri falls.
"Zahra, those dumbasses are all going to die if we don't do something!"

Hugging the wall, Dahinna moves as quickly as possible toward the men, trying to work out a plan in her head as to what to do.
"You got any ideas?" she asks, not looking back at Zahra.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra doesn't answer Dahinna, just grabs the rope and gives a mighty heave.
ST: 18/62 Bend bars/Lift gates: 25% pecentile [1d100]=13

[ravenn4544]

Amethu's eyes fly wide open beneath his mask as the group starts to tumble over... but grabs ahold of a rocky outcropping until his fingers bleed!

Dex (11) [1d20]=10

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Grigor cliff Dex check vs 17 [1d20]=12

Looking behind at the stumbling others means he is not looking ahead, which might be just as well if he hits a tree trunk or cliff wall face on rather than continue to race into thin air.

Gnasher runs barking at his heels, to him this is a chase game.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

The Zingaran lends his weight to the struggle and uses the motivation of the unearthly voices to push himself onward, snarling at the delay. "Come! We'll not catch them like this! Such beauty oft flees a man's touch as mist flees the sun."

[1d20]=1

[Inferno]

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Before Sunset. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm







On the steep, unforgiving cliff, Kiri plunges off the narrow path and threatens to pull three of his companions down with him to certain death!

Like an anchor tethered to their waists, the immense weight of the giant drags Amethu, Cruloc and Iago to the precipice as they claw at the bare rock!

Suddenly, Kiri recites a magic word from the distant East and, impossibly, he is weightless as a feather! By then, Zahra the amazon reaches the rope and helps the frantic men pull themselves back onto the thin trail on the canyon wall!

Kiri's considerable mass instantly returns as the men splay in a clambering heap! Dahinna reaches them while Grigor and his hound sprint past! Iago snarls at the delay, "Come! We'll not catch them like this! Such beauty oft flees a man's touch as mist flees the sun."

Then from the mists below, the sonorous voices rise; alluring, orphic, entrancing. Vague shapes take form, materializing out of the vapor like a dream of sun-kissed beauty.

The men leer with eager anticipation and then all turns to nightmare.



The rapturous singers are revealed to be inhuman monsters; gigantic vultures with the faces of maidens, pale and haggard with a hunger that can never be sated! Sweet melody also transforms to horror as they abruptly screech like murderous birds of prey!

The revolting shock jolts the men out of their impassioned trance! (All PCs now have free will)


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 5 feet. Cruloc, Iago, Amethu and Kiri are tied together.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/14, Spells: 7/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 45/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/19
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 32/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 29/29
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 28 rounds

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

"Don’t stand there like torch-startled does!" bellows Cruloc to his companions. "Arm yourselves and cut these crones from the sky!"

Attack w/ spear [1d20+2]=6+2=8

OoC: With a roll of 8, the point is moot, but he'll brace his weapon if the harpies dive at him. He'll attack if they go for someone else.