PM

OOC: I get the image of Borimer dragging the gnomes along as fast as their feet can carry them like dogs on leashes across a precarious bridge.

lol me too

Kahan casts a spell then follows behind Borimer.

After Kahan gets partway across, Hatchman tells Didit, "Go!  I'll be right behind you."  He will wait until Didit is about 1/3 of the way across before sprinting across.  He draws his sword and has it at the ready.

Borimer begins running across the bridge, dragging the gnomes behind him...

There are 8 gnomes tied to ropes, and two elderly ones on Borimer's shoulders.

Before he gets one third of the way across, 4 gnomes fall.  Borimer stops to hold them as they dangle from the ropes.  His strength is great, but the knots--not so much.  One of the ropes comes loose, and a gnome falls screaming down into the chasm.  Borimer now only has 7 gnomes.

He continues across...

The bridge is swaying widely from side to side by the time he reaches the center.  A heavy wind is blowing between this crevasse between the mountains.  One of the gnomes topples over the ropes, taking two others with him, and again Borimer must stop to help them up.  But the rope moves and slices as Borimer backs up, creating tension and cutting across the sharp edges of the broken wood slats.  He finds it difficult to move with 2 elderly gnomes on his back.  And then it happens.  The topmost gnome falls loose, hitting the next gnome below him, and all three of them go screaming to their deaths into the chasm.  He notes that one of the gnomes who has just fallen is Junar, your friend and guide for the last day.

Borimer now only has 4 gnomes left (plus 2 on his shoulders).  He continues across...

Again, Borimer has no problems with crossing, but again the gnomes can't keep up.  This time, the wood slats break beneath the unsteady feet of the gnomes, and all four of them fall through.  This time, however, Borimer is able to pull them all back to safety.

Borimer is now only 100 yards from the end of the bridge and the safety of the next cave.

However, it is at this time that the giants make their way onto the scene...

Kahan is following behind Borimer, watching the tragedies unfold from a 100 yards or so back as the tumbling bodies of the gnomes fall down into the clouds below.  Then he has to worry himself as his own balance is lost from the bouncing, unsteady bridge.  He finds himself toppling over the edge...

But he catches himself, noting when he passes the 1/3 mark.  He makes it to the halfway mark without further incident.  It is about this time that the giants arrive...


Didit and Hatchman remain at the cave.  Didit has bought some time with her spell, as it has genuinely seemed to confuse the giants.  But upon Hatchman's command, and seeing the rest of her companions at least halfway or more across, Didit runs to catch up.

She sprints...and makes it 1/3 of the way across without any problem.

Hatchman is there when the giants get through the mist and size up the situation.

There is not just one or two, but 8 of the mountain giants.  One of them is some sort of shaman or leader.  He points at the bridge and yells, [Language unknown: "Foril ma io hou!"]  Two of the mountain giants run to do his bidding while the other 5 look down at the nuisance human paladin, pulling out clubs and giant-sized spears and smiling...

Borimer stops and unloads the remaining gnomes, "Go to the cave quickly and find the others!" He runs back at full speed to aid the paladin, still having no intention of praying.  Don't look down, don't look down, don't look-

*stopping as soon as the giants arrive, leaving the gnomes at the 100 yard mark
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Wed 07 May 2014.

Hatchman sees the giants, knows he is outnumbered and the situation is helpless, and he turns and runs across the bridge as quickly as possible but at least staying behind Didit to keep her protected, sheathing his sword as he does so.

"Run!" he says.  Then, just before getting to the bridge, he throws the key from the downstairs crypt that he took off the giant's neck. "Here's your key!" he tells them, hoping to distract the nearest ones enough to let him escape.

"NO!  Don't go back.  It's suicide!  They said they are going to cut the bridge!"  Tahldar shouts to Borimer.

Borimer sees Hatchman take the better part of valor when Tahldar's warning reaches his ears, and so he turns back and runs for the end of the bridge and the cave entrance beyond.

Didit no longer cared about the spell and so began running for dear life. Everything had gone from bad to worse and then straight into nightmare land. She regreted the moment she had decided to stay behind, she had blindly gone ahead with what resulted in the greater good, but that had been stupid, she was no warrior, there was nothing in her befitting of a hero, she was just a scared, tired and wounded girl who needed being rescued herself. She was in panic and wishing this was all a terrible nightmare and that at any moment she would wake up in a random tabern or inn, back then when her only worries were hiding from orcs.

Kahan continues on, going as fast as his unsteady and very uncoordinated feet can take him. He prays to himself as he continues forward, hoping the others behind him hurry up and that the giants have a harder time than he knows they will with the bridge cutting ceremony.

OOC: I had some really bizarre rolls again, and not in your favor.


Hatchman's ploy successfully distracts all but one of the giants.  He jumps on the bridge and begins running.

While Kahan and Didit continue on as fast as they can, the giants scramble over each other for the key.

But the giant who is not distracted lets his spear fly through the air at Hatchman.  (Critical hit.)  The blow is devastating to Hatchman as he is skewered by a spear the size of a pole.  He flips over the edge of the bridge and...[critical miss on saving throw]...plummets and tumbles as he falls down into the clouds and into the crevasse below.

Kahan continues running across as Borimer turns to switch directions again.  Kahan is about 200 yards away when he breaks through some rotting wood planks.  (Critical miss.)  Kahan catches himself (saving throw made) but is now hanging by the boards.

Didit sees what happened to Hatchman and redoubles her efforts.  She makes it about halfway across when the giants finally regain their senses.  They scramble around for a blade since the spears and clubs just won't do.  This has given Didit and Kahan some extra time, but now the nearest giant slashes down at one of the four ropes connecting the bridge to the cave...

The rope snaps...

Kahan miraculously manages to keep his hold on the plank of wood as the entire bridge shakes violently and one of the ropes goes slack.

Didit is not so lucky.  She falls flat on her face onto the wood planks, but she manages to grab the nearest ones and scramble back to her feet to start running again. Now the bridge is lagging and bouncing even worse than before.

The giant gets ready to cut the next handhold rope...

Sensing the impending danger, and very desperate Shapfren remembered a provision she had made for a situation -not like the current one, but a situation none-the less-. She was convinced she wouldn't leave the bridge in time, so she needed to ensure her own survival and quickly. With a quick movement of her arm she unsheated one of her concealed daggers and used it to slash and release a good portion of the now limp rope, leaving enough length of rope manageable enough to tie her own waist in away that would allow her to climb down. That way she could hope to stay in the bridge long enough to be rescued or attempt to escape by other means.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Mon 12 May 2014.

Kahan thanks the gods that they decided to spare his life, at least for the time being. Knowing that things are only going to go from bad to worse, he makes sure the rope he had tied around his waist is still tight before attempting to move across the board, hoping to get to one of the sides so he can grab the rope part of the bridge (preferably not the side the giants already cut). If he can do that, he wraps it around his hand as best he can before the giants cut the other ropes. He plans to let the bridge fall at this point, and simply ride it out, making sure his back is turned to the cliff wall that he will eventually be swinging into.

where is borimer?

Error: I was confusing yards and feet.  The bridge is a total of 350 yards or so long (about 1000 feet).  I meant to say that Kahan is 200 feet away from the far side, and Borimer is 100 feet from the far side (not yards).

So at this point, Borimer is about 100 feet from the far cave, and another 100 feet from Kahan in the opposite direction.

Borimer sprints the last hundred feet to the end of the bridge and lashes one rope to his stump and then grips the other with his one fist.

As far as the make up of the bridge, there are two ropes to use as handholds, one on either side.  There are also two ropes at foot level, to which the wooden planks are attached.  So there are 4 total ropes.

The giants just cut one of the handhold ropes on the far side.  This is not too detrimental yet because there are small ropes tying the handhold ropes to the floor ropes.

then borimer takes the two ropes that didit and kahan are grabbing, and if that's not possible than he takes the bottom two ropes of the bridge and will haul the whole bridge back to his side of the canyon
This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Fri 09 May 2014.

Not quite sure I understand.  Right now, three out of the four ropes are still properly connected, so the bridge is still secure (for a few more moments, at least) to both sides.  There is just a sag where one of the four ropes was cut.

Kahan is hanging by a plank because he fell through, not because of the bridge itself.

(Perhaps in your mind you pictured the entire bridge swinging down and slamming against the wall nearest you, but that hasn't happened...yet.)

Borimer decides the bridge is very secure for the moment and fires off two arrows at the giant who's trying to cut the ropes.

Borimer is firing a called shot from 900 feet away?

Borimer's arrows fly far, but they come nowhere close to hitting the giant...or his hand.

lol that would be quite a heroic shot. I haven't been clear on the distances here for a bit now. Borimer will prepare to help any of his friends when possible.

OOC: Borimer never completely crossed the bridge, but I will assume he untied the remaining gnomes and let them cross the last 100 feet, rather than keeping them in harm's way 100 feet from the edge of the cave.  In other words, Borimer is not tethered to them now.


Currently, here are the distances:

Bridge length: 1000 feet
Borimer: 100 feet from edge (firing arrows)
Kahan: 200 feet from edge (hanging precariously from a wooden plank, feet dangling)
Didit: 400 feet from edge (Continuing forward; I gave her an extra 100 feet or so since the last roll)

Kahan cannot move until picking himself up.

Didit can still continue running/walking/carefully treading up the bridge (please indicate which, as it will affect modifiers to the rolls).

Borimer can go to the safety of the cave, try to help Kahan, or continue trying to get his arrows to fly 900 feet, or whatever else suits his fancy.


Since we are now at feet and seconds, instead of yards and minutes, here are the modifiers:

18 seconds to cross each 100 feet at full speed/run
30 seconds to cross each 100 feet at walk/fast walk
45 seconds to cross each 100 feet at slow/careful pace

For the above times, subtract 2 seconds for every movement score you have over 9, and add 2 seconds for every movement score under 9.  I.e., if you have a 12 Move, you can make the last 100 feet at a full speed/run in just 12 seconds.  If your Move is 8, then it takes 20 seconds.

Modifiers to Dex Roll (with partially broken bridge)=
Running: -6
Fast Walk: -4
Careful Pace: -2

(After a failed roll, a new Dex roll must be rolled.)


Time to second rope being cut:  10-20 seconds
Time until third rope cut:  30-45 seconds
Time until last rope cut: About 1 minute or less.

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:10, Mon 12 May 2014.