SCENE 6 – Scaling Ridge

This scene is initially for the Scouts who have gone on to gain entry to Ridge Village. Other characters who have remained behind should continue their story-line for the meantime in Scene 5 – Bandit Camp.

Ridge Village MAP: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=169430319776982&set=o.124545270899171&type=3&theater

Having crossed the Pebble Pass of Whitewater River, circling around the woods to your left you come to the Southern Gate of Ridge Village, where the road rises toward the North as the main road across the top of the rock outcropping on which the village stands, The East-West road you had previously travelled on, parallel to the Whitewater River, runs at ground level through the center of a canyon across which the famous Bridge is located.

To your left you see the almost sheer, gently sloping cliff face. It has balcony levels running along it, and cliffside dwellings protruding out from it, and many doors and windows. Your scouting senses determine that you may be able to gain access up into the village, should there be a stairs or similar in the cliff face. Indeed upon further exploration you discover a hinged metal grill on a ledge at just above head height, large enough to squeeze through.

You make a decision to explore this in preference to the direct approach up through the sacked village. Although open to merchants throughout its history, Ridge is also given to being a fortification. Now that it is overrun by bandits of the Blue Rag Gang, who are expecting you because of Garm Nightblade and Sila Silvercat, a sneaky entry seems the wiser option.

The grill is locked and an appropriate SKILL roll will be required. Do either of you have lockpicks? Otherwise it may be forced with a -2 modifier.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/

Remember to enter FBAFF as campaign, to save the dice result.

Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco;

Having hauled yourself up onto the ledge, you successfully pick the lock of the metal grill. It is a little rusty but swings open with ease and a pleasing squeal sound.

The tunnel is narrow and you will need to decide who is to enter first. Also, the goblin scout Runkle is not tall enough to climb up to the ledge, so it seems likely that Draco will have to jump down, lift Runkle, and climb back up himself. After which exertion the trapper is out of breath and -1 Stamina point to be regained upon resting briefly.

@Runkle;

Draco opens the grill, jumps down, lifts you to the ledge and climbs up beside you. You will both have to decide who is to enter the narrow tunnel first.

Draco Wolfsbane: @Runkle “You must be part troll scout, to be as heavy as you are……you want to take the lead here? or cover our rear?”

Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout

@ Draco
“Yeah, thanks for the lift up. I don’t really mind being either position.”

Draco Wolfsbane: @ Runkle “i’ll take point then incase there are any locks ahead of us and we cant get turned.” Draco draws his sword and moves forward cautiously

Gamekeeper Jim James the tunnel slants upwards slightly. A dry green dusty scum clings to the rock walls and manages to smear itself to your hands and knees. Some way in it drops abruptly onto a spiral stair well. It goes up, and down. The space is carved directly into the mountain itself, rather than having been built out of bricks. It is a strange shade of grey with an ochre tinge. Perhaps it is originally ochre and has fades with age. There is dust settled on the stairs. Nobody has been here for quite some time.

Draco wolfsbane: @Runkle “it seems logical that up would lead to the camp…. but perhaps it would be wise to have a quick look downwards first? what do you think?”

Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout
@ Draco
“Not sure what we’d find down there, if anything. But I suppose it couldn’t hurt to look around for a little bit.”

Draco Wolfsbane: Draco moves down the spiral stairwell, keeping an eye out for traps and signs of anything suspicious…..

Gamekeeper Jim James One story down, the stairs are blocked by a sturdy metal grill set into the walls that prevents further descent. Although after a moment you see that a hinged gate is built in the center of the grill, there is some enchantment upon this door as it cannot be opened by leverage, and the lock has no keyhole but a rune set upon it. Cold air and silence blow up from the darkness below, and a dry smell. You begrudgingly leave this area and continue upwards.

One story above the air shaft through which you entered is a rusty door set into the wall. It is marked with peeling paint in the shape of a crudely drawn skull. This being Allansia the skull of course has horns on its temples and fangs rising from the lower jaw. If you choose you can make a World Lore or SKILL test for further information. http://www.invisiblecastle.com/roller (remember to enter FBAFF to store the result) There is a rank smell of chemical coming from the room beyond. The stairs continue upwards. Roll Dice invisiblecastle.com This die roller is based on the excellent OpenRPG, and uses exactly the same opt…ions.If you know how to use dice in OpenRPG, you know how to do it here.See more 29 November 2011 at 08:06 · LikeUnlike · o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco rolls a SKILL test. 30 November 2011 at 18:53 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Die roll for draco wolfsbane Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: Nov. 30, 2011, 11:52 a.m. 2d6 → [4,4] = (8) skill roll to identify skull motif on wall. 8= SUCCESSFUL ROLL!! 30 November 2011 at 18:54 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The skull is that of Krsh the god of Death. 30 November 2011 at 18:59 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco wolfsbane: @Runkle “maybe its some sort of mortuary ahead….or crypt! anyway…..onwards…” Draco checks the door for traps and then will ease it open as quietly as he can. 30 November 2011 at 19:05 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The door is plate metal and its frame is bolted directly into the wall. There is a keyhole and no handle. 30 November 2011 at 19:07 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James I should mention that the skull door is in the side wall of the stairs which continue to spiral upwards. 30 November 2011 at 19:23 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @Runkle “any ideas on this door? or will we just continue upwards?” 30 November 2011 at 19:26 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout @ Draco “Whatever it is can’t be good. These bandits may be up to more than we thought. We should probably look around more and see what’s going on.” 1 December 2011 at 01:08 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco wolfsbane: Draco edges up the stairway…..wary for danger! 3 December 2011 at 11:39 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The stairs are dimly lit by sunlight periodically entering through small shafts from the external cliffside. One story higher up the stairs, there is a wooden door set into the side wall, as the stairs continue to climb higher. The door has a round twisted wrought-iron handle. 3 December 2011 at 22:45 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco examines door for traps, listens at door, then eases it open….. 4 December 2011 at 09:38 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The door latch is easy to open in a welcoming way and the door is smooth on its hinges. Inside is a comfortable sized room containing wooden furniture; shelves, cupboards, a sturdy table, a bench and a few chairs, surround the walls. There is a dust sheet over something against one wall. It is gloomy so you cannot make out any further detail other than there are various items here and a thin layer of dust on everything. It appears to be a once well used room. @Runkle: Your goblin eyes spy an oil lamp on the table, next to a small box. 4 December 2011 at 17:39 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco makes a search of the shelves and examines the cupboard. <ooc> and assumes Runkle will light lantern 5 December 2011 at 18:30 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James With a few cushions and a good dusting, it could be a nice room. It quickly becomes evident that it is some sort of adventurers base-room. It is also apparent that nobody has been here for a generation or more. On the table is an oil-lantern next to a pouch of heavy wax candles. There is a half-full box of matches! The Shelves & Cupboard contain (in random order); Books and scrolls. Mostly old and brittle. It is too dimly lit in here to read the book titles or examine the scrolls at this time. Theya re all fragile and likely to crumble to dust. A wooden box of coily glass tubes and glass beakers, test-tubes, metal lab kit tools, a bunsen burner. A tankard of paraffin. Hermetically sealed glass jars of dried herbs, unlabeled. Glass vials, a few have faded labels, of coloured dregs; potions for sleep, manna, courage, strength, agility, each with 1d6/2 shots left in it. Box of leather polish and metal polish, dry rags and brushes. Small keg with a Dwarf rune on it. 2 bottles, one containing a miniature ship, one corked with an Elven script on the label. The picture and colour suggest it to be honey-brandy. There is also a small writing bureau with a drawer, containing a few quills, metal nibs, parchment scrolls, ink jars in black and red. It also contains a key ring with 4 bronze keys of different sizes Ok thats enough description for the minute. There is more stuff in this room; a wardrobe and a dust sheet covering something big. There are backpacks on a bench. 5 December 2011 at 20:52 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: “mmm, nice stuff….” Draco takes half the candles and matches and deposits them into a pocket, leaving the other half for Runkle. He also takes the paraffin and ring with keys on it. 5 December 2011 at 21:04 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod ‎@Runkle “you choose the potion vials you would like and i’ll take the others. Same with the dwarvern keg and two bottles.” 5 December 2011 at 21:06 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco moves to investigate the backpacks. 5 December 2011 at 21:06 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The more you carry, the heavier your load; the slower you will be. There’s no encumberment rules in AFF (thankfully – it killed AD&D) but its something to be aware of, if you’re too laden down I’ll impose modifiers on your Skills and actions. Just a warning. 5 December 2011 at 21:08 · LikeUnlike · 1 o Gamekeeper Jim James There are two backpacks; one of mouldy canvas, one of leather and good. The canvas bag is mushy and rips open in your hands so it seems logical to stash everything from it into the other bag. Contents; a wetstone, a wrap of 5 brown paper wrapped tubes with a paper wick on one end, a light-weight brown cloak, two small hessian sacks rolled up, a tinderbox, a pendant in the shape of a flared sun, a waterskin (empty). 5 December 2011 at 21:17 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco touches the pendant gingerly…to see for reaction. if nothing happens, he puts it on……if nothing happens, takes it off and puts it back in pack. He does the same with the cloak (dreaming of an enchanted cloak from his childhood pretendings) and if nothing happens, he discards onto table. Draco decides to ditch his flintlock pistol and the empty waterskin and take the backpack with remaining items. (wetstone,5 tubes, two small sacks, tinderbox, pendant) 5 December 2011 at 21:37 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco decides to use the paraffin on his wooden torches and disregard the empty tankard. he then moves to investigate wardrobe, checking for traps first. 5 December 2011 at 21:41 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: Nothing happens when you wear the pendant. The cupboard contains a few clothes hanging up; a chainmail tunic, a dark green hooded cloak with pockets, a little black dress, some leather thigh boots, a light grey shirt, two pairs of pantaloons both purple and baggy, and a warm fluffy fur scarf. 5 December 2011 at 21:44 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco creeps forward and lifts the corner of the sheet…..sword ready, he whips it off quick!! 6 December 2011 at 05:38 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Justin Asin (OOC) Woah! Good bit of stuff happened in the two days I was away! Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout Runkle did indeed light the lantern. “Nice place!” @ Draco “Any of these potions could come in handy. We should take ’em for us or someone else in our group. Not sure what the Elvish or Dwarven marks are, but the keg is probably ale or something.” Runkle takes the brandy and potion bottles. 7 December 2011 at 01:30 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James As Draco whips the dusty canvas from the furniture, the air is filled with it and causes you both to cough. Tiny dust particles form a sparkling cloud in the lantern light. You both cover your mouths and look at the items on a weapons rack. two long coils rope and grappling hooks (the triple-hook types) 2 halberds (short poles with blades on the end) a scabbarded broad-sword (2 handles) a finely crafted short sword a curved scimitar (short sword) a broken crossbow and a quiver of nine bolts a strap-on leather band with 3 small throwing daggers a black leather waistcoat with smooth metal studs all over it a sturdy bo-staff Obviously there is much more equipment stored here than you can carry between you. 7 December 2011 at 19:56 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @Runkle “take something if you wish and we’ll leave the rest and come back for it…if we can. as we are going up though i think it would be wise for me to take a rope with us.” Draco takes a rope and hook and puts in the backpack. When Runkle has finished draco replaces the sheet and heads out to the stairwell. 7 December 2011 at 22:30 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco is ready to close door (after Runkle also leaves) and carry on up the stairs, ……cautiously… 7 December 2011 at 22:31 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The weight of your laden packs is cumbersome as you are both used to traveling light, and the stairs are steep. At the top of the stairs is a strong wooden door. It is locked. There is a large keyhole in a bronze plate. There are no hinges on this side of the door. 8 December 2011 at 05:55 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco sets his backpack down and checks lock for traps. he then tries the 4 bronze keys to see if one fits. if it does, he turns the lock, listens at door, and if all sounds quiet, opens door carefully. 9 December 2011 at 18:17 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James Although the 4 bronze keys are all different sizes, ranging from small to large, none of them fit. 10 December 2011 at 20:31 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco puts the keys back into his pocket. “ah well, back to the basics then…..” Draco mutters to himself. Draco attempts to pick the lock. 11 December 2011 at 11:16 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: Dec. 11, 2011, 4:25 a.m. 2d6 → [6,4] = (10) roll for picking lock on door at top of stairwell SUCCESS!! 11 December 2011 at 11:26 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco picks the lock and eases door open….. 11 December 2011 at 11:27 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The door opens onto a balcony ledge, overlooking the treetops of the woods to the East of Ridge. There are three doors (including the stairs), through arched doorways. The central one is bolted and barred. The far one has an open door with steps leading up. To the left of the balcony is another balcony, there is a gap between them. On the other balcony is a man wearing pale clothes. He has a wicker basket and is releasing doves from it. You watch as they fly up into the sky and circle around. “Fly, my pretties, fly!” He says in a high pitched voice. Then he sees you and freezes, his eyes wide in panic. 13 December 2011 at 11:41 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco races across the balcony and jumps the gap, with the intention of catching this man. (assuming gap is not huge!) 13 December 2011 at 17:54 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: The gap is approximately 9 feet across. There is a low ledge around both balconies, three feet tall. There is a drop of several stories to the ground below. It is quite a long way down. A SKILL or Jump SpecialSKill roll is most definitely required. 13 December 2011 at 20:24 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Die roll for Draco Wolfsbane Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: Dec. 13, 2011, 10:37 p.m. 2d6 → [5,5] = (10) SKILL roll check to leap accross balcony gap SUCCESS!!! 14 December 2011 at 05:38 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: The startled man says “eep!” and drops the basket he was holding. He cowers to the ground in a fetal position. In his high pitched voice he pleads; ’Don’t kill me, please mister bandit, don’t kill old Arle, I can help you, show you secrets of Ridge, show you treasure. Only don’t kill old Arle, please mister bandit, take pity on an old defenseless man." He looks up at you with one eye that seems as beady as those of the pigeons he has jut released. Arle wears shabby grey clothes, is very skinny, surprisingly tall, and has bushy white hair. 14 December 2011 at 18:16 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: draco quickly frisks Arle for hidden weapons and then gets him to his feet with draco between him and his doorway. @Arle “relax old timer….what were those birds released for? the truth now or (draco indicates the balcony edge)….over you go!” 14 December 2011 at 19:39 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: You see that this balcony has a winch mechanism with a long rope, there is a large strong wicker basket with it, at the far end of the balcony where the railing has a gap. “Oh please don’t hurt old Arle!” the beady eyed man begs. “My birds, my birds. I train them you see, I am just stretching their wings before supper. Nothing more, sir, good bandit sir. Yes thats it, just giving them a quick flap around before…” His eyes bulge wide and he stammers, his bottom lip trembling. “Bu bu bu… ARRRGH!!” He yells and makes a dash for a very narrow door behind him, to your left. You must decide whether to grab at Arle or look to your right and see what he was so afraid of. 14 December 2011 at 19:46 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: draco grabs Arle (assuming Arle has just seen Runkle) 14 December 2011 at 19:57 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: You lunge out and manage to grab hold of Arle by the clothes at the scruff of his neck, in doing so he spins around. The old man flaps his scrawny old man arms around frantically but to no avail. He is staring at something over your shoulder. His eyes are huge and he is evidently terrified. Spittle and ‘b b b b b’ are coming out of his mouth. You can smell something that smells strangely of an acrid chemical type of smell. @Runkle: You watch as your companion makes a heroic leap over the balcony rail and lands on another balcony too far for you to jump. It is an impressive leap. You hear an old mans flutey voice begging him for mercy and then the sounds of an old man apparently being tortured. It surprises you that Draco would for no apparent reason behave in such a way. And then you see from your vantage point, that hanging down from above and peering over the far balcony only a few feet from Draco, is that giant flying leech creature which you and Draco first discovered in the giant tree on the road past Mudwood village. Its mouth is dripping with silver venom, pigeon blood and white feathers. You have never seen a monster smile before, but the expression on its mouth full of needle sharp teeth is most definitely that of a dirty dark smile. Draco does not yet seem to have noticed it. 14 December 2011 at 20:25 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco pushes Arle away from him (towards door) and rolls away to his right, to come up sword ready, facing threat. 14 December 2011 at 20:31 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: The flying leech is peering down at you from the top of the balcony, tilting its head toward you. It has pigeon feathers dripping from its maw on strings of silver drool. It lets out a long hiss of satisfaction. You hear Arle slam a wooden door shut and the sound of a bar being dropped in place. 14 December 2011 at 20:42 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @Leech “Damn you to the PIT….you’ve had this coming…” Draco slashes at the creatures wing. 14 December 2011 at 20:49 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Die roll for Draco Wolfsbane Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: Dec. 14, 2011, 1:50 p.m. 2d6 → [2,3] = (5) Draco attacking flying leeches wing SUCCESS!! (Sword skill 14) 14 December 2011 at 20:51 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: The creature wrinkles its lips and hisses violently at you. Your sword slices with ease through its thin leathery concertina’d wing. It plummets, and you lean over the balcony in time to watch its falling body coil over itself like a twisting knot as it falls. And then just before it hits the ground, it rights itself and swoops abruptly upwards, disappearing into the nearby woods. You notice Runkle the Goblin staring at you from the balcony opposite. The scar on your arm is itching. 14 December 2011 at 21:10 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco watches with a grim saisfaction as his nemisis plummets to its doom……only for his smile to fall as quickly as the creature rights itself at the last moment and fly off!! @Himself “Cursed son of a b…….! i’ll wear its skull by the Gods!” 14 December 2011 at 21:13 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco takes a moment……@runkle “can you believe that!? more lives than a Khare gutter cat……” Draco taps gently on the barred door. @Arle “hello? are you still there? the creature is gone, come out…..” 14 December 2011 at 21:16 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James There is no sound from behind the door. Draco relives the last few minutes and remembers there is a very narrow flight of steps leading straight upwards behind this door. There is a similar door to the right of this one, and further along the balcony is a more normal size door, like the ones on the first balcony. There is also the winch, and a wicker basket previously containing Arles doves. 14 December 2011 at 21:49 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane@ Draco moves to the normal size door, checks for traps, listens, and opens door. (to determine whether it has stairs behind it and if they go up or down) 14 December 2011 at 21:55 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The door has a keyhole and a door handle, it appears to open outwards (toward you), there are no apparent traps. Draco is bemused that people on this continent are not so paranoid that they protect every door with traps. Perhaps they are a friendlier people than the inhabitants of Khare. Or more forgetful. The door is barred from the other side and does not open even when the handle is turned. 14 December 2011 at 22:04 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco does wonder about such lacksey door security……then remembers an old lesson when one in three locks hid a poison needle…..‘Only The Dead Regret’…….It is apparant to him that he must return to the other balcony. He quickly checks the basket first then attempts (much more carefully this time!) the jump back. 14 December 2011 at 22:17 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Die roll for Draco Wolfsbane Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: Dec. 14, 2011, 3:18 p.m. 2d6 → [3,5] = (8) draco jumping back over to first balcony. SUCCESS!! 14 December 2011 at 22:18 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James OOC> Congratulations on your leaping success Draco! I was worried in case you fell to an untimely end. 14 December 2011 at 22:19 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco then collects his backpack, grins at Runkle, and moves to the door with the stairs heading up….. 14 December 2011 at 22:19 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod <ooc> you and me both! i think Draco would retire happy as long as the Flapcoil gets it first! hahaha 14 December 2011 at 22:21 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James OOC> Its day will come… 14 December 2011 at 22:23 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout @ Draco “Nice moves there! What was up the old guy and flapcoil? The guy thinks we’re bandits?!” 14 December 2011 at 23:30 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @Runkle “Thanks, i thought the old guy was going to raise hell on us……seems he thought we were bandits though. never got the chance to set him straight due to that…that…damn flying menace! cant understand how its tracking us….smacks of magic to me. anyway, the old man was called Arle and he released pigions though for what real reason i never determined. maybe the flapcoil got them all anyway. enough hanging around here anyway, lets move.” Draco proceeds up the stairs sword in hand….. 15 December 2011 at 18:36 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The steps lead directly up to a small cellar containing shelves of stored food along the walls to the left and right. Half the food is probably stale. That which is preserved in glass jars might be alright. There is not very much here. It seems nobody has been here in some time. At the far end is a step with another wooden door atop it. 16 December 2011 at 21:19 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout Runkle listens for anything on the other side of the wooden door, then checks to see if it’s locked. 17 December 2011 at 02:01 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James It is unlocked. Only a simple latch. There is no sound from beyond. 17 December 2011 at 08:47 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @runkle “we may be getting close….people dont tend to store food very deep from their dwellings.” Draco takes a moment to tie the blue rag at his arm like the bandit fashion. Draco checks for traps, listens, and opens the door… 17 December 2011 at 11:11 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James Narrow arched stairs lead up to a tiny kitchen. A slim wooden door with a sun carved in it is directly opposite the cellar stairs, to the left of a shuttered window through which can be seen a gloomy narrow alley outside. The window is in front of a wooden table with two chairs pushed under it. There is a metal basin hanging on the wall adjacent to the window. Against the same wall on your right there is a grandiose and ornate wrought-iron stove with a pipe up through the wood beam ceiling, with flat plates on top of a double doors. In the corner is a pile of kindling logs and a box containing coal, the whole kitchen smells a little bit sooty. Metal cooking pans hang from hooks on the walls and ceiling around the stove. A third door on the same wall as the cellar stairs, also to your right, presumably leads further into the house. To your left is a work surface on top of cupboards, and rows of shelves across at head height. There are crumbly baskets on the shelves. It all seems a bit dingy as though nobody has been here for some time. Wafts of black smoke are occasionally blowing through the alley outside and into the kitchen, which has no glass in its shuttered windows. 20 December 2011 at 13:38 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco wolfsbane: draco decides to explore through the door to his right, to check out the rest of house. (keeping low and quietly….) 20 December 2011 at 17:56 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The door swings easily open. A short hall leads to a heavy door. To the left is a steep straight staircase, almost a ladder. There is an opening on the right into a square room, behind the kitchen. It contains a square table in the center and old cushions pushed against the walls. A large shuttered window is closed, on the same wall as the front door. The ceiling is made of the same stone as the rest of the building, it is not bricks but seems to have grown into shape from the mountain itself. 8 January at 17:33 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco wolfsbane: <ooc> welcome back GK!! <ic> Draco decides to look in the small open room on the right and search it. 8 January at 17:45 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James there is very little in the room, the cushions are tube shaped for sitting on, they don’t appear to have been used for quite some time. You are by now of course beginning to realize that this is an abandoned or empty house. The wooden shutters are held together by a connecting bar that slides down onto a latch. There is the smell of burning coming in from outside. 8 January at 17:49 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco opens the shutter to see what is burning (hoping its not the house itself!) 8 January at 19:49 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The room fills quickly with grey smoke, causing you to choke and stinging your eyes so that you cannot see. Do you wish to close the windows or retreat into the kitchen? 8 January at 20:45 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco slams the shutter closed and races out of the room and back to the kitchen. @ Runkle “we need to move, the place is burning!” Draco tries the slim door with the sun carving. 8 January at 20:50 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout Runkle keeps his head low to avoid smoke inhalation and follows Draco. 9 January at 01:00 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James A lingering taint of rancid black smoke clings to your nostrils, clogging your senses and drawing attention to the burning town outside. The back door leads to a narrow alley between tall buildings at least four stories tall, their roofto…ps hidden by smoke. The ground level of the alley is clear other than the occasional waft of smoke so you can see doors and windows to the left and to the right. Both ways open out onto wider streets, the left is closer, from here you can see out over the top of the woods and the eastern road that you have traveled for days. The right leads to a main street of the town.See more 14 January at 11:36 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco moves stealthily to the right to get a good view of whats going on in the town. @ Runkle “what can be happening here? is the town under attack!?” 15 January at 10:43 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James the smoke smells of wood, pitch and barbecued animals 4 February at 14:29 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: draco sneaks a look at the main street 4 February at 14:32 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco; The main street slopes slightly, down on your left toward the South Gate and up on your right toward the chasm, over which the famous Bridge crosses. It is deserted. The sounds of life usually associated with towns is completely lacking. This is unnerving. Although you can occasionally hear the sound of somebody shouting in unfamiliar cant, from somewhere to the right. 4 February at 14:43 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco heads down to see if the south gate is secured. 6 February at 05:42 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: You walk between tall stone buildings, covering your mouth with your cloak when the occasional waft of stinking smoke insults your breath. Most of the smoke is making its way upward while the road slopes down and around toward a cr…ossroad, the southern road leading to the Gate. You can see the South Gate before you reach the crossroads. It is an arch identical to the East Gate where the rest of Brantus crew and some others are waiting. The south road leads into pastoral plains stretching toward a cloudless horizon. There is nobody around.See more 18 February at 11:24 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: @Runkle “what the hell is going on here?….where is everyone….” Draco turns east towards the museum and moves to investigate. 18 February at 15:49 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The museum is a large square building four stories tall. It has windows on the upper floors only and a wooden door with glass panels. This is locked. A hand carved and painted sign above the door says Museum. Through the glass the room is too dark to see much beyond some cabinets behind and to either side of the door, forming rows. 18 February at 18:55 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco sees no-one around, so kicks the door in and enters the museum. 19 February at 09:59 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout @ Draco “I guess the bandits scared all of the townsfolk off. Or maybe something worse.” Runkle enters the musuem along with Draco. 19 February at 20:40 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James OOC: my bad when writing about the museum, I used memory instead of checking the map, to pinpoint where in ridge it is. “bottom right” was the reply, and that is where I have been writing from. I have only just now got around to discovering… the map shows it on the bottom right of the Northern half of the town, not the bottom right of the Southern half of the town as the story text indicates. Therefore I have not included a description of the crossing of ridge valley by bridge, which is necessary to get to the Northern half of the town. YOU ARE ON THE SOUTHERN HALF the museum has now been relocated and the map is to be considered wrong. Sorry about any confusion.See more 26 February at 18:44 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The museum is an old building. It has a corner tower which narrows and then widens at the top to contain an observation room. The interior is dark. There are windows on the upper floors but they are all shaded. The interior space is open o…n three levels with two wide balconies running around the exterior of a large square building. There are many artifacts here, sculptures from the southern desert, historic items from the local rural agricultural communities, and most of the items relate to the history of Ridge village itself, which given that it houses its own museum is probably quite full. Many of the objects have a scroll displaying the legend associated with the item. The layout is that walk-ways are formed between larger objects and cabinets full of curio’s. The open central space contains larger items, there are large objects hanging between the balconies. You find yourself abruptly face to face with the skeleton of a giant ox, facing the doorway.See more 26 February at 19:22 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco takes a quick look at all the cabinets to see if anything catches his eye…… 27 February at 18:49 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout What language are the guide scrolls written in? 29 February at 01:17 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco; There is nothing of particular interest to you at this time, it is all historic artifacts. Anything juicy is elsewhere. @Runkle; The scrolls are in Common tongue (“human”) evidently this is primarily a human settlement. 1 March at 17:31 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco investigates the tower. 2 March at 21:35 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The tower is on the far right corner of the museum; you will have to navigate your way through exhibits first. It is quite gloomy in here which is another reason there does not seem to be that much of interest jumping out at you. You have… wondered into a section of artifacts from the Desert of Skulls south of the Southern Plains. This includes several sarcophogus and well posed mummies as well as several other artifacts such as alabaster ornaments and a cabinet of talismans. There are also musical instruments including a big leather padded drum beater. There are also “funerary and statecraft” objects that you do not recognize any purpose for. Also there is a display of several skulls fom which the Desert of Skulls takes its name. A scroll gives some information about them. They are not all entirely human and some have horns. There is a huge metal sun wheel strung from the ceiling and forming a partition wall. Alarmingly you can hear a hissing noise from the shadows around you. It is not the same loud, aggressive, rage-filled hissing from Mij’s “flapcoil” monstronsity. This hissing is coming from several directions at once, is quieter; confident and sinister.See more 4 March at 22:15 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco lights one of his torches and draws his sword….. 4 March at 22:36 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James As soon as Draco lights the torch, the Museum comes to life. The flame of the torch sends flickering shadows in all directions and causes the closer items to glow up eerily larger than life. Most of the museum falls into blackness by contra…st. You are at a crossroads with passage space leading off in three directions. Draco rapidly searches around for the source of the hissing but it has abated and there is no signs of its source. A wooden sign hanging from overhead announces that the passage to your right is “the Explorer Lorren Ridge Collection”. Directly opposite this passage is a large, low, red clay urn of towering Bamabo plants; it is drying out, obviously has not been watered for some time.See more 5 March at 17:25 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco keeps an eye out but continues to the tower… 5 March at 18:52 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: You continue forward, ignoring a culdesac area to the right which is packed with curiosities, noticing many interesting artifacts along the way. The passageways seem to be something of a labyrinth, however you soon find yourself at… the tower base. Runkle has to run to keep up with your long strides. The ground floor of the Tower is supported on one corner by a large pillar which has banners hanging from on it, battle standards of two opposing sides during the Siege of Ridge. There is a square wooden staircase running around a shaft in the center of which is a water feature; a miniature working example of a contraption for bringing river water up the cliffside to the village. It is currently inactive. There is a pool of dark water which occasionally splashes as if something is living in it. The stairs also lead to the wide balconies that run around the edge of the museum interior. The hissing sound has returned, closing in on you from behind and from a passage to your left along the back wall. There is also a passage along the wall to the right, parallel to the one you came up.See more 5 March at 21:06 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco makes up the stairs to make a sweep of the balconies. @Runkle. “Keep an eye on these stairs and make sure nothing comes up to surprise us. shout if there’s trouble!” 6 March at 18:48 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James The museum environment is doing strange things to your minds. The exotic antique objects and items here all individually have unique history, and grouping them together in such an artificial fashion has created a very strange and pervasive …atmosphere. The thin layer of dust on everything seems to add to this. Your minds are flashing with memories of odd stuff that you have moved hastily past in the past five or ten minutes, integrating and making sense of peculiar things seen in the dim light. Draco’s torch is sending flickering shadows out across the room, causing everything to seem alive. It has also reduced your wider vision so that all you can see is that which the torch lights up in immediate vicinity. @Draco: you carry a torch in one hand and a sword in the other. You also carry a heavy backpack full of assorted equipment which perhaps I should point out to you will reduce any further SKILL or relevant Special Skill rolls you need to make by 2 points. Climbing the stairs leaves you panting for breath. The tower is in the corner of the building; there are two balconies, one to the left and one to the right, plus stairs up and down. @Runkle: Can you remember did you also take a backpack from the room on your way up here? If so, he same conditions apply to you as to Draco. Draco has charged headlong up the stairs to the first balcony level, leaving you at the bottom of the stairs. You can hear a soft hissing noise coming from somewhere, multiple directions. You keen goblin ears pinpoint it to the floor level of the passageway to your right and in front of you, as you stand with your back to the stairs. It is easier for you to see in the dim light without Draco’s torch creating brightness and moving shadows all around. You have heard such hissing before. Growing up in the Goblin caves, you used to hunt small Sniks with your goblin brothers and sisters by using forked sticks, which was very pleasing to the adults who consider Sniks to be a delicacy, cooked over an open fire. You remember there was a shaman who used the Sniks for a variety of occult purposes. You begin to wonder if there might be something that you can use as a Snik-catching stick here in the museum.See more 9 March at 16:04 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco decides to drop the rucksack near the stairs and searches the right balconie. 9 March at 18:21 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – goblin scout @ GM I think Runkle is carrying a backpack. … Runkle pulls his dagger out and keeps an eye on the area they are in. OOC Just out of curiosity, what’s a snik?See more 13 March at 15:25 via Mobile · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James You both feel a lot better having set down the heavy backpacks, and stretch your aching shoulders. @Runkle: my apology, a Snik is known to humans as a Snake. … In Goblintongue the word can sometimes also mean ‘snack’, ‘stick’ and ‘laughter’ because of various practical jokes and other associations. None of the creatures make themselves apparent at this time, and the hissing abates. @Draco: The balcony is ten to fifteen feet wide. In places its edge is open to the space in the center of the room, in which objects hang. It has a low wooden rail. It is a ten or fifteen feet drop. In other places there is furniture and similar objects on the balcony edge, and the same all around the wall. The furniture is generally glass fronted cabinets containing historic curiosities. The right balcony is full of exhibits from the famous Siege of Ridge. There are life size models wearing original war costumes of crumbling leather and metal; shields and bows and arrows on the walls, several pitch-fork and pikestaff. It being a largely agricultural region the drafted local soldiery were farmers and the weapons and farming utensils blend naturally one into the other. You find yourself drawn to reading a scroll which explains that the siege ended in a stalemate because the invaders ran out of supplies long before the well-stocked subterranean caverns of Ridge, and so a trade deal was done for food before a river damn further upstream was completed. The townstate agree’d to alleviate future food taxes for the local peasantry if they called off their hired militia. This apparently was the heyday of Ridge as a political empire. The rest of its history is as a major trade center, it being on a crossroads.See more 14 March at 21:41 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco finds nothing to show for the hissing and, after glancing at the curiosities, makes his way back to the stairs. He chooses to leave his rucksack here and climb the stairs…….cautiously… 14 March at 22:53 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Runkle: I forgot to mention in the post above; You sit on the bottom step and study the peculiar black ink symbols that are growing up your fingers. They are stretching to your palms of your hands and your knuckles now. @Draco: … I assumed you were on the balcony already when I posted the last comment. My oops. The area below the balcony on the right side of the museum contains a path that leads back around to the front of the museum, and a connection to further up the previous path you were on with the desert of skulls artifacts. The items along this stretch are largely from the development of various industries that have existed in Ridge, there is a large loom (weaving machine) and some threadbare examples of blankets that were made on it, and a few garments on crude dress stands. They are not very much different from what rural people wear today in this part of the world. There are wooden chests containing more examples of fabrics. Further up are similar, this time made from animal skins. A prize exhibit here hangs on the wall; a dusty old skin from the now extinct giant ox. It is damn big. There are some models made of green clay, a miniature showing a primal tribe hunting the ox into the swamps. There are also dried green clay slabs with giant ox prints on them. Next to this are very ancient sculptures and pottery shards showing imagery of giant ox worshippers. A map shows this tribe and the wild ox to have lived toward the west coast, around what is now known as Oyster Bay area.See more 14 March at 23:13 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – Goblin Scout @ Draco “There’s alot of neat stuff here, but I still don’t see anything relevent to what we are doing here. I also got these weird marks back!” 15 March at 01:12 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco marvels at the Ox skin and wonders what it would have taken to slay such a beast……he then heads up the stairs to the tower top 15 March at 19:09 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco wolfsbane: @Runkle “i see that…..i hope they are not indications of scorcery nearby…..we must be cautious friend.” 15 March at 19:11 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: You look at your own hands and see there are similar shapes growing up your fingers, touching on your palms and the knuckles on the back of your hands. The second floor balcony stretches to your left and right. You continue up th…e stairs. The third floor has two doors set diagonal in a corners, one facing the center of the building and one in the exterior corner of it. The stairs continue up for another two stories, with windows into which is pouring black smoke, causing you to choke. You press on above it. There is a door, by now you do not know which direction it faces. You continue on up the stairs, which abruptly come up into a square room which has large windowless openings from which you can see for many leagues around. The view leaves you speechless. There is a ladder up to a trapdoor in the center of the room.See more 17 March at 15:50 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Runkle: There is a black snake slithering toward you, it is not hissing. It stops quite close to you and goes into a strike pose. 17 March at 15:51 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco climbs up and eases trapdoor open to check for danger…if safe, he enters. 17 March at 16:54 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin Runkle Gremp – goblin scout Runkle attacks the snake with his dagger. 17 March at 17:15 via Mobile · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Runkle: The black snake is 2/3 the length of your own body. The snake is surprisingly ferocious, it rolls a double-6 which is a Mighty Blow! … http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3419810 You may either roll Dodge special skill if you have it, or use up a LUCK point to test your LUCK and see if you can avoid the severe effects of the Mighty Blow. @Draco: The trapdoor opens into a large eight-sided wooden room with a tall conical roof; you can see suppport beams all the way up. Hanging from the support beams is a mechanism holding a large metal telescope. The mechanism has springs and counterweisghts on it so that despite its weight, the telescope can be maneuvered easily to look through any one of the eight rectangular windows. It is a fabulous telescope, with a variable focus lense. There is also a strange lantern hanging from the mechanism, which is surrounded by small angled mirrors on most sides. A small table against one wall has several boxes on it. One of these is open; it contains three short fat candles. It is windy up this high despite five of the windows being closed with drop-down wooden shutters, the other three are held in place with hooked latches. Again the view from here is wonderful, even without using the telescope.See more Roll Lookup invisiblecastle.com © 2012 Kroozio LLC, all rights reserved. Written by SolidSiteSolutions, Dynamic… Designs, Optimized.By using this site you are agreeing to our Terms of use and our Privacy Policy.See more 17 March at 22:51 · LikeUnlike · o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco makes a search of the other boxes and then uses this vantage point to try and see where any people are or anything strange. 19 March at 21:35 · LikeUnlike o Gamekeeper Jim James ‎@Draco: The boxes contain a few large leather bound books with metal clasps, you guess they are records of some type. The ones at the bottom are quite old. The one at the top has half the pages untouched, and there is one on the side that …is completely unwritten in. They are heavy, as thick as your hand is wide and a foot by a foot and a half. There are also two scrolls. Another box contains three spare mirrors for the peculiar lantern in here. They are unlike any mirrors you have ever seen; curved metal as thick as your thumb in the center, containing glass held in place by clasps. There are clasps on the top and bottom of each mirror to attach it to the lantern. You cannot see most of Ridge itself because the black smoke is covering the area, other than a few rooftops. There are two other towers as high as this one; both are on the far side of the village, across the canyon and bridge. With the naked eye you can see the West, South and East gates. Your comrades at the East gate are hidden behind the gate itself. To the West there are people approaching, a merchant caravan by the look of it. You can see pigeons circling around the village below you. It crosses your mind that considering this is a high point and there are open windows, it is unusual that there is no pigeon dung in here.See more Wednesday at 22:16 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco Wolfsbane: Draco grabs the scrolls and stuffs them in a pocket and goes back down ladder. Thursday at 06:45 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod Draco also attacks snake (with Sword skill) Die roll for Draco Wolfsbane Campaign: FBAFF Rolled on: March 21, 2012, 11:51 p.m. … 2d6 → [5,1] = (6) Draco attacks the black snake thet Runkle is fighting in museum SUCCESS!!See more Thursday at 06:52 · LikeUnlike o Gordon Macleod <ooc> the above was rolled today at 06.53am, dont know why its listing as 11.51 last night!??? Thursday at 06:54 · LikeUnlike o Justin Asin OOC I can’t find my character sheet, but Runkle attempts to dodge the snake.

Gamekeeper Jim James
<ooc>
As technically it is impossible to “scale Ridge” much further up beyond the tower, you are now technically no longer ‘scaling ridge’ and therefore I am moving the story on to the next scene.

Scene 10 – Sacking Unveiled

https://www.facebook.com/groups/124545270899171/doc/378297468857282/

@Draco:
By the time you descend the tower stairs, there is no sign of any snake. All you see is Runkle crumpled at the base of the stairs with his dagger drawn.

@Runkle:
By the fate of the dice, the snake struck a Critical Blow which means you are unconscious, sorry friend.

Don’t worry it’s good for the story – see Scene10!
<ooc> I can’t find your character sheet in here either and the backup has not been updated recently:
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/aff/characters/runkle