8: Lost Limbs

[burke]

Móric furnishes Drugan with a bird cage, a couple of belts and an old table leg and from these the carpenter-wizard is able to fashion a peg leg and a hook prosthesis. After some practice, Drugan can hobble around with the peg leg just fine, but running is out of the question. The hook is certainly more useful than a stump, but Poncho has to be careful so as not to put his eyes out with it.

OOC: The hook can be used as a one die weapon, but if a six is rolled the hook becomes stuck to the target.

As for restoring the lost limbs, Móric knows only of two strong wizards in the area. One is Ral, a formidable wizard of fickle disposition and the other is Partha, abbot of the Temple of Sorrow. Both have their abodes in the mountains to the east of Esperance, but neither is especially renowned for any prowess in the healing arts.

[danhem]

"Well my friends, now that we are, for the most part, whole again shall we return to the tunnels? How about starting with the first door we passed by in the room to the southwest of the stairwell? I'm itching to find some more gill men and in no hurry to return to that evil slime."

While waiting for his comrades to respond, Charles remembers some questions he had for their host.

"Moric, what do you know of this strange green substance? Is it intelligent or evil? What's the best way to dispose of it? What would happen if we burned an entire room of the stuff?"

OOC: What is our shield situation? Charles has Drugan's tower shield and his own target shield which he previously offered to Quinlan. Now that Poncho is out of the archery business he may need one as well. Alwyn lost his to the slime. Any others?

[Hogscape]

Quinlan: "The plan is sound Charles. Next time I suggest opening a door. Ignore. Let that be the party's watchword... Ignore Quinlan..."

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

Drugan will modify his staff so it can double as a crutch!

That should speed him up a bit ( I'm all "Long John Silver now ;D ).

"Look on the bright side, now no one will ever slam a door on me again"

[burke]

OOC: Danhem, I take it you meant the northbound door in the room with the hidden corridor.

The tunnels under the tower are as deserted as before, no sounds echo through halls except the odd drip of water.

The door is situated in a 5' recess in the wall and opens easily enough. As you open the door to a crack you are greeted by the sound of rushing water.

A 20' wide stream cleaves the 50' by 80' room in two, curving slightly to the south as it exits the room through an opening in the west wall. Your entry is recessed into the south wall, 10' from the west. The remains of a stone bridge across the water is still visible, but it has long since crumbled away. Your torches are too weak to reveal what awaits on the other side.

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

"Where there is water the Gill-Men or those damnable tentacle beasts might be around, so lets be careful"

"Lets investigate this side throughly, check for secret passages or traps and then when we're done we'll approach the ruins of the bridge in formation, shields forward and wizards ready to cast if anything comes out of the water"

"When we get close enough I'll light a couple of torches and toss them over to the other side, so we can see what to expect before any attempt to ford the stream"

"Charles if we meet more tentacle beast be careful, it would be a shame if your trident got dragged down into the depths"

[burke]

The torches reveal that the other side is bare, except for a closed door in the middle of the north wall. Also the water is much too deep to ford and the current seems quite strong.

OOC: Danhem, I forgot to answer Charles question earlier. Móric doesn't know anything about the green slime.

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

OOC: Are the remains of the bridge sturdy enough to secure a couple of ropes to to make a two strand bridge using them as the base.

By two-strand bridge I mean a lower rope to walk on and an upper rope hold onto and steady yourself with.

If it's not lets go back to the tower and fetch some supplies and I'll make us a quickie bridge with the tables we found in the Gill-Men dining hall and kitchen.

[burke]

OOC: There is not much left of the bridge, but the stone floor is sturdy enough to hold a piton. But how would you fasten the ropes to the other side?

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

OOC I was going to throw the ropes across and using a few trident heads as makeshift grapnels secure the line, but that won't work without sturdy uprights from the bridge to attach them to.

OK, lets grab the two big tables from the Gill-Men dining hall and the large table from the kitchen if it is needed and we'll either make a quick bridge or if the stream is too wide we'll make a sturdy raft and make a grapnel so we can drag the raft across on a line. It will also give us a sturdy anchor point so our raft won't drift away.

Edit: While we're grabbing tools from the tower we'll get some tar to make the raft good and watertight.

Edit#2: If we have to go with the raft lets keep the legs as uprights and use a little rope to make some safety railings so it will be harder for a tentacle beast or gill-man to drag someone over the side. We can always use the raft again later to reach the monolith in the other room.

[danhem]

OOC: Before we start building a raft, why don't we investigate the other unexplored tunnel in the area (the one after the secret passage to the northeast of the river where we fought the tentacle beast). They may link up at some point.

[Hogscape]

Quinlan: "Good call Charles, lets see what we can achieve on foot first."

[burke]

The tunnel goes 30' eastward and opens up into a large oblong cavern with a 20' wide stream running through it from the northeast to the southwest. Your entry is on the western bank and the cavern stretches some 90' northward and is approximately 60' across at its widest point. The cavern is a dead end, unless you want to swim up against the current.

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

Drugan favors his comrades with an abashed smile.

"Well gentlemen shall we get to it?"

[Porkbelly]

Poncho: "Right back to the bridge it is then!"

OOC: How wide is the gap between the bridge sections? Pole vault or long jumping distance? I'd prefer to get across quickly if possible.... Otherwise those tables should make a fair pontoon bridge , perhaps we can set it downstream shored up against the cavern walls.

In response to Alwyn's earlier post... you're right welcome to my bow, sorry there are only four arrows remaining.