00. Intro: Gwillt [Alethan]

[Alethan]

Gwillt chances a look over the edge to see what is making the snarling sound.

[dmw71]

Peering over the edge, Gwillt notices what appears to be a giant wolf (or wolf-looking creature) chained to the side of the cliff near the base of the waterfall.

[Alethan]

Gwillt slips back away from the edge so he can just see the two men.

Ever mindful of his surroundings, he takes a moment to check the area around him again. He is slightly concerned by the amount of excrement he saw earlier and doesn't want whatever made the mess to catch him unawares.

Once he's made sure he is still alone, he goes back to watching he two men.

[dmw71]

Gwillt, ever aware of his surroundings, spends a few moments observing the two men in the canyon below.

He observes the standing human, the one who caused the eruption of growls and snarls from the wolf (or wolf-like creature), laugh at the creatures' outburst. He appears to speak to the lying down human, who subsequently rises to his feet. The two begin to cautiously cross the canyon floor, closing to within approximately 100 feet of the chained up beast.

[Alethan]

Ah... One is not the aggressor to the other, he realizes.

Not that it matters much to him.

He further examines the spike and rope to see if it has been recently added or if it has been there a while.

[dmw71]

Gwillt examines the spike and rope. While both appear to have supported frequent use, both appear to be quite sturdy.

[Alethan]

Curious as to what the two have in mind with the chained creature, he continues to watch them, unobserved (he hopes).

[dmw71]

From the relative safety of his overhead vantage point, Gwillt watches the pair as they slowly approach the wolf. Battling to hear over the sound of the rushing water, he believes he overhears a shout, then observes the two humans dive in opposite directions. An instant later, a javelin, appearing to have come from the same general area as the wolf, is witnessed as it lands between the pair.

[Alethan]

Gwillt chuckles to himself. They thought someone would chain a dire wolf to a wall for no good reason?

Where does the rope lead down, in relation to the chained animal? Does it drop within the range of the chained beast?

[dmw71]

Your best guess is that it drops down just outside of its range.

[dmw71]

You notice the pair of humans assume a defensive position. One appears to speak but, from your distance, it's impossible to make out the words.

[Alethan]

Gwillt, unsure of the situation below, continues to observe. He isn't going to jump into a fight unless it serves him in some way...

[dmw71]

Out of the corner of his eye, Gwillt notices yet another humanoid figure emerging from the forest on the far side of the canyon, not far from where the current humans he's observing were first spotted. This new figure is still too far off to make out any details, but it appears to be heading towards all the action taking place just beneath you.

Lost for a moment in trying while to make out as much detail of this newly arriving figure as possible, Gwillt is quickly snapped back to his current situation when he thinks senses movement and hears voices a short distance behind him.

[Alethan]

Gwillt quickly scrambles up, hoping the roar of the falls covers any sounds he might make in his haste, and moves to the nearet cover that is not in the direction of the voices.

[dmw71]

Even with the voices from from roughly that direction, Gwillt is able to quickly scramble back the short distance into the forest from which he emerged and take cover behind a tree. The concealment it provides is not absolute, but the best he can manage at the spur of the moment.

A moment later he observes a pair of short, ochre-colored humanoids with long arms, flat faces, pointed ears and a wide mouth with of fangs approaching. "Morbi condimentum, urna at pretium tempor!" yells the one at the other in a language unfamiliar to him. "In quis nisl sem. Praesent quis lacus laoreet lacus ornare!" replies the other in an equally angry tone.

They're carrying short swords at their hips, and are so busy apparently arguing with each other they don't seem to notice you as they make their way towards the rope.

[Alethan]

Gwillt sets his bow aside, as quietly as he can, and puts his hand on the hilt of his scimitar, ready to draw it, should the need occur.

[dmw71]

Gwillt is able to swap weapons without notice. The two passing creatures are far too interested in whatever they're debating to pay attention to anything else that is taking place around them. Their argument looks to almost turn physical when they reach the edge of the cliff and the rope. The two seem to push, shove and wrestle each other with one of them finally winning the right to climb down first. One after the other, they begin to lower themselves down the rope to the area below.

[Alethan]

Once they are both on their way down the rope, he'll retrieve his bow and ready the arrow again.

Then... In a sudden stroke of genius, he quickly scans the area for a rock that is portable and at least as large as his head.

If he can find one, he will carry it mostly to the edge, then push it the rest of the way, trying to remain hidden from the two creatures as well as the two men below.

He will shove the rock over the edge exactly where the rope goes down the cliff.

He expects one or both of the following to result from his action...
-the rock hits one or both of the creatures, causing them to fall.
-the rock makes noise such that the two men at the bottom of the cliff notice the approach of the two creatures.

[dmw71]

It takes a bit of searching to find a suitable rock, but a rock Gwillt does find. Perhaps it's a bit larger than he had hoped, but he is quite certain it will do the trick.

Gwillt rolls this nice-sized rock to the edge of the cliff, careful to not allow it to roll over without properly positioning it. He looks over the edge of the cliff and the situation below has changed considerably since last he looked. He leans forward a bit to be able to view the progress of two creatures descending and they appear to be in quite the hurry. His attention is quickly drawn to the wolf. Three creatures, similar to the ones climbing down the rope, are doing everything in their power to contain the beast while a fourth is frantically working to free it from its restraint. The original two humans he spotted have apparently been joined by the third human previously seen crossing the canyon. It appears as if a melee is on the verge of erupting as the trio attempts to decide how to proceed.

---

The rock is ready to roll, but I'll allow you a chance to consider the events taking place below before having you actually push it. If you still do want to carry out your original plan, just say the word.

[Alethan]

Roll the rock.