Quest #28 "Kegenstien's Expedition Over the River"

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Gets his 50' rope back out of his pack. Afraid there are no spikes in my gear, but here's this. he hands it over. How high do you think that is?

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

"If some of you think are nimble enough to climb the rock wall, then, be my guest. I'm not doing it." She kicks a little rock and crosses her arms, casually looking the other way, taking a look at the other side of the river.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Dark Cave
Moonday, 22nd of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Sunny, Hot, Humid, Buggy

While the others keep a look out for them, Keyon and The Knife grab Keg's rope and start climbing up the cliff wall.

The first section atop the cave mouth is easy enough to climb, with lots of alcoves and hand-holds along the cliff to aid their ascent. Once they get to the top, they see the area Elnaerel described to them from below. There is a lot of dried seaweed mixed in with driftwood, cloth, and a few other items that appear to have been washed up here in bad storms and high seas. The outcropping of rock is extremely uneven, with erosion slowly eating away at the natural structure.

Climbing up a bit further puts them at the highest point of the cliffs in this area, offering a limited view of their surroundings. They notice the wall of black cliffs continues as far as they can see to the east along the sea shore. Keyon shades his eyes, not sure if the ruined black tower he sees out on another outcropping of cliffs well off in the distance is real or just some trick of sunlight and shadow. The Knife and his knife aren't able to see the lone structure from this distance, so they are no help in identifying the mystery.

The waves of the Azure continuously bash against the lower cliffs at the water level, creating a soft and peaceful motion to your ears, despite their hidden power. When the pair look to the north, they see that the cliff wall which makes up the eastern half of the south shore also extends off into the jungle as far as they can see. That cliff wall seem to grow in elevation along with the natural rise of the island. They can see the first portion of the river where it runs into the sea, but everything beyond that is hidden by the mass of greenery that grows directly up to the cliff wall. There are no signs of yellow ogres anywhere.

Actions?

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Keyon 6/6
Keg Woodwright 10/13
Elnaerel 10/10 2/3
The Knife* 5/5
Feanol 4/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM
Darklin Sylvanas 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

She goes and checks on Darklin after he gets out letting him know she's happy he got out safely. Watching Elnaerel work on his wounds she'll offer any help she can give. When he says he's going to take up the guard post "Thanks again I guess I'll stay here as not to be in your way".

After watching Keyon and the Knife make their ascent she will get out her instruments and make some readings of the sun, and mark them in her logs and with the map she is starting to make.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife holds his hand above his eyes and squints. "No. Sorry, Keyon. Still can't see any tower."

"So what's next? See if the others want to come up and look for your tower? Or go back down and leave the tower for next time?"

"I'd like to check out the tower. But...what if someone...or something...is living in it. And doesn't want visitors? Maybe we should save it for the future. The Knife steeples his fingers. "Still...we could explore a bit up here. If it's as far away as you say, a bit of reconnaissance now would be helpful for a future trip".

He peers back over the edge and giggles. "Ha! It's not often a gnome gets to look at the top of other people's heads. Do you think they'll come up here? Elnaerel didn't sound very keen. Feanol and Darklin will probably come up. We can tell them we've found a wizard's tower. Those magic-using types are always wanting to steal each other's spell books."

[Darklin2]

Feanol

She goes and checks on Darklin after he gets out letting him know she's happy he got out safely. Watching Elnaerel work on his wounds she'll offer any help she can give. When he says he's going to take up the guard post "Thanks again I guess I'll stay here as not to be in your way".

After watching Keyon and the Knife make their ascent she will get out her instruments and make some readings of the sun, and mark them in her logs and with the map she is starting to make.

I will be OK, Feanol. Just have to get back on my feet. You are welcome. That is what you hired me for. To make sure you make it home. Stay to the rear of any thing that happens and I will try to get to you. Planning is what helps keep you alive out here. It doesn't always work but an escape plan is always a must. I'll watch the trail. You stay close here. I'll be back soon.

[Bluehorse]

not 100% clear who is up and who is down.

Keg looking up cups his hands and hollers. what do you see? Is there a path we can follow? Should the rest of us come up?

[OGRE MAGE]

Keyon and The Knife are the only ones who made the climb up so far.

[Jernau35]

The Knife

"YES!" The Knife shouts back. "Keyon says he can see a wizard's tower! Come and see for yourself!"

"It's easy! Follow the rope! We'll hold it for you!" The Knife considers the size of the Norseman. "Well...maybe not you! Send someone light first!"

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Hearing the yelling returns to the others.

What's going on. Someone fall??

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

"Best wishes out there." She says to Darklin as he heads off. Soon the Knife's yelling for them to come up has caught her attention. She'd like to go, and is happy to see Darklin return.

[Bluehorse]

Keg

Nods. Toss down the rope and we will start going up one at a time.

He looks over to the women. Ladies first.
I'll keep guard down here til everyone is up, then send my gear up before I try it. No sense in making it harder than it has to be.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

She's standing guard, her back turned to the group. TK's information catches her attention. "I wizard's tower up there? I didn't see anything like that from the dist- Ah! Whatever, I'm coming." She nods at Keg when he offers them (the ladies) the rope. "I'll go first if you don't mind, Feanol, I think I'll be able to lend a hand for the top." She sighs before making the attemp up. She wasn't planning for any of this, but she tries to conceal her distaste for this idea.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Black Cliffs
Moonday, 22nd of Goodmonth
Midday, Sunny, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Looking about 8 miles or so off in the distance, Keyon is sure that he sees the ruins of some kind of tower. But TK doesn't see it at all.

A plan is formulated to get the rest of the group up to the top of the cliffs with rope so they can decide their next move from up there. After a good deal of effort and time, everyone either climbs or is lifted up above the cave mouth and joins the pair of rouges atop the natural shelter.

Looking around at the accumulated refuse in the immediate area before following their kin's gaze over the mass of wet black rock, Feanol, Elnaerel, and Darklin all confirm that there is a definitely a structure a good ways off along the cliff face, sitting high above the pounding waves. Attempting to discern a possible path to get there is a different story however, as the terrain here is akin to extremely porous and uneven volcanic rock. Travel along the tops of the cliffs is obviously possible, but progress would be slow due to the uneven features and areas where one would need to follow around the large outcroppings already cut away by the scouring seas. The elves guess that normal walking time up here could be halved, or less.

Keg looks in that direction for a good long while, but he sees no such thing on the distant horizon, wondering if the whole thing is simply some kind of optical trick of the sun or some such thing.

Actions?

Keyon 6/6
Keg Woodwright 10/13
Elnaerel 10/10 2/3
The Knife* 5/5
Feanol 4/4 1/1 CL, DM, RM
Darklin Sylvanas 8/8 1/1 CL, DM, RM

[Ahlmzhad]

Feanol

With Darklin back in sight Feanol volunteers to go next. Reaching the top she take a few to catch her breath and then will join in viewing the surrounding area.

[Bluehorse]

Keg

For his part believes the elves. If you say there is a tower out there, I believe you. Knew an elf once that could spot the difference in a sparrow and a starling at a mile away. What else do we see from up here? he makes a slowly circle, looking in all directions.

[Paladin]

Keyon

He shades his eyes and squints. "Well...I don't know what sort of tower it is, but it's there. Perhaps one of the others has keener eyes than I do. But I'd say it's eight miles distant and in ruins, whatever it is."

He gazes over the rough terrain. "What do you think, Keg? Shall we travel up here or backtrack and go aground?"

[Jernau35]

The Knife

The Knife raises his eyebrows. "It's a ruined tower? Well that's good and bad news. It means there's probably no evil wizard living there to zap us. But there are probably terrible monsters lurking in the rubble." He points at the sun, high in the sky. "It's only about midday. We could walk until mid-afternoon, then decide if we want to turn around and come back here to the cave before dark."

The Knife looks off in the direction of the tower again, then looks north. "There's another way we could go. A certain KILLJOY, who shall remain nameless," He points at his sword scabbard and makes a face. "has asked me to point out that the trip to the tower is probably far too dangerous and we'll all get killed".

"He suggests that we could go north along the cliffs for a while, then climb back down and return to the cave. Or the river if we need to go back to town".

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel is really surprised to find a tower up here, almost to the point that she can't believe her eyes. "That Killjoy of yours, Knife, is right. Something here, way off everything else, ought to harbour something ominous. Probably too dangerous for us. It'd be better if we just try to remember where it is and come back later. We should try to keep our goal in mind, and walk along the cliff to the north to see if we can spot some place for a new settlement. That will be of more help to the townies, for sure."

[Darklin2]

Darklin

Darklin shimmies up the rope and makes it to the top.

Which direction is that tower you spoke of? It must be one of the Old structures said to be on this island. I was sent here to find an ancient Library and that could be it. Once we are finished with this quest I plan to organize one to reach that tower. I am told there is a library beyond all imagination there. If that is it then we all will have knowledge to learn beyond reason.

But we should continue down the rock cliff to scout as far as we can to find the Ogres and a new settlement site. That was our original objective. If we must we can sleep tonight in the cave. Up here should make good travelling and swift too.