The unearthly roar from the tomb had Lambrac turning around in concern, sword ready, fearing that the crypt wasn't done with them yet. Several long moments later, he left the occupant to its slumber, or its captivity. But as they pressed on, back into the steaming jungle, he came to wish they'd lingered in the cool, dead area some more.

On the way, Lambrac had a look at Abbas's chosen tree-branch, and produced a whittling blade to carve a more manageable grip on the times while they waited for the wild man. There wasn't much more he could do for the rest of the club, but the occasional knob or twig gave it weight and spikiness anyway.

OOC: Just cosmetically: Craft (weaponsmithing or whatever), untrained: 9

*

Lambrac looked dismally up at the cliff-face, regretting ever choosing to follow the wild man. Had he completely misinterpreted them? Had he led them all this way just to be on the wrong bloody side? Were they lost? "It's doable, but dangerous. That moss looks slippery." The Lantanna clambered onto a boulder that sat lopsided in the earth, and tried to peer into the dark crevasses, but with little success. "I don't fancy going through those cracks either. Creatures might lair in them."

Turning to look at the wild man, he asked "Is there another way around?" and made circling motions around his upraised left arm.

Thaniel looks up at the daunting rocks then back at the wild man. "It would be strange for him to bring us here to water without any means of retrieving it, save for mimicking a lizard. Levitiation would have served us well. I should look into it," he adds absently, making a mental note to start researching the nature of gravity.

Abbas said nothing as he examined the crevasses and rockwall.  After finding a few areas of potential use, he nodded slightly to himself and unbuckled a few straps to release a coil of thick rope bound to his backpack.  Brief, deft movements also removed a leather cover to another pouch that held a collapsible grappling hook, attached to one end of the rope coil.  The elven warrior briefly checked the binding, and the knottings in the rope, then tried a few practice casts to re-familiarize himself with the weight, and set about to hook it up near the top to assist the climb.

Once securing was successful, Abbas opened a pouch to reveal a travel-sized hammer and pitons set on thongs clasped together to the backpack.

"I will take my time climbing, having never been overly blessed with great strength.  For safety, wait until I reach the top or have fashioned a piton relay point in any rough area.  I am going to try to keep the knotted rope by corners or the crevasse entrances in secondary, and that should make it a fairly easy climb, once I can secure the grapple."

As if to bely his words, Abbas' self-preparation efforts seemed exactly what was needed, for his first cast flew straight and true the full height of the rock wall and secured solidly.  He nodded at the apparent good grip, and moved forward to test it - others would not pay with injury if there was an issue.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Sat 21 Jan 2012.

Jibril just smirks to himself as he watches the others try to scramble to become the alpha male of the group.

"Are we done with all the chest beating? Perhaps we should let the wild man climb to the top for us, since he's been swinging from vines and hanging from trees for the Gods know how long. Maybe, just maybe, he can do it better than any of the rest of us here."

He adds his last point with dripping sarcasm. "I am a city boy, and we don't climb, unless it's up the social ladder."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Sat 21 Jan 2012.

Krogan shrugged and let one of the others try the climb if they wished.   He'd volunteered to help, but if the others would rather do it, it wasn't a problem for him.  He had no burning need to risk his life for the others if they didn't need him to, after all.

Scampering through the trees and making himself visible once in awhile, Zane drops down near the gnome and grunts. He seems intrigued by her and then wanders over towards Fareeda. A bit of a grin forms as he gets rather personal, moving very close to her. With the occasional grunt, he pushes onwards and oddly grunts towards the males as if challenging them whenever they grow near to the woman. Looks like alpha male is proving a point, or trying to.

When they arrive at the falls, he swiftly moves to the water high above like a mountain goat climbing a mountain. He whistles a few times and stares down at them, beating on his chest. When he sees them debating, the jungle warrior slips down to them and hangs from several vines staring at them.Aqua! Aqua! Up."

Turning to look at Abbas, he grunts again and glares at Jibril. Dropping down on all fours, he looks around like a wild animal and sits, rubbing his dirty chest.

It seemed a fair amount of testosterone was rising up with the jungle steam - and not just from the naked back of the feral man. The appearance of the delicately attractive druid Asha, along with Fareeda's undecided, or perhaps hidden intentions, had sent many of the boys haywire and the first expedition into the jungle was turning into something of an alpha male contest.

Strong leadership would no doubt be a necessity in this hostile landscape but too many leaders could prove more of a danger as personal feuds and a desire to show off clouded judgement. The decision would have to be made quickly, if at all...

Arriving at the cliff, Zane wasted no time in shooting up the face, ignoring Lambrac's question of 'another route' as if mocking the idea. It was obvious he had climbed this route many times before, his bare hands and feet gliding from from hold to hold as he launched towards the summit.

Not to be outdone, Abbas quickly retrieved and assembled a grappling hook from his pack. Twirling it nimbly about him, he waited for momentum to build before launching the metal hook skyward. It sailed up the cliff face before curving out and down to latch somewhere above. Without showing even a hint of a satisfied smile, he tugged on the rope, testing the weight as he prepared to ascend.

The rest of the group stood back, unsure whether to join Abbas and Zane in climbing or, like Jibril, stand at the bottom and make snide remarks over their attempts.

Krogan was genuinely confused by Jibril.
I think the heat has gotten to you, my friend.    I was going to climb to the water because it needed to be done, not to prove anything to anyone.   And perhaps your delicate sensibilities would prefer to entrust our water supply to someone we just met, but I think that more than just the wild man should know how to get to the water.     I'll bring some back to you, though.   You obviously need it.
Jibril's behavior was puzzling, but Krogan merely shrugged and tried to climb up as well.

Thaniel looks upwards and grunts. "I'm not keen to run lizard up this cliff. Perhaps Abbas should inspect the water source alone." His hands went instinctively to his own waterskin, and he figures it the right time to take out the stopper and drain it in large gulps. Once empty, he hands it to Abbas. "Be a good lad and fill this for me, please," he says with a smile.

"An excellent throw!" Asha covered her eyes with her hand as the grapnel sailed into the air and hooked itself securely before Abbas began his climb. She glanced around their companions before patting Yaotl's snout affectionately.

"Besides filling the waterskins, how do we plan on bringing water to your airship? Or is this just a temporary measure?"

Jibril just stares blankly at the orc.  Then with a twitch to his lips, he hands him his waterskins.  "You're right. I'm completely parched. Please be so kind to fill these for me."

Krogan nodded, glad that Jibril is coherant enough to notice his own infirmities and the dehydration-induced confusion that had hit him.
Gladly my friend.   I'll be back soon.

Taking care of the group's healer was always a noble effort, he decided.

Lambrac left Abbas, Krogan and the ape-man to scale the cliff, giving Abbas his water-flask. Three was enough to investigate and he could keep an eye on things down here. "I don't think the Professor thought that far ahead." he answered Asha drily. "He actually expected us to hunt animals and fashion their hides into waterskins, but I don't think he knows anything about leather manufacture... Anyway, yes, it's a temporary measure, it only has to last until Jibril here can convince his god to conjure water for him each morning. We only needed to know the closest source in case, ah, anything happens..." He left that hanging at the expense of the puffed-up priest, about to become a little less vital.

Still curious about the larger crevices, he wandered over to the foot of the cliff, and began peering in each one, wondering where they led.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Mon 23 Jan 2012.

Krogan had spent his childhood (if his time with the orcs could be called that), in the mountains, but he'd never really spent time really climbing anything particularly steep.  Life as a orc, even the youngest son of the chief, was dangerous enough without helping it along.  But he took his time and tried to climb up.

OOC:21:03, Today: Krogan rolled 15 using 1d20+1. climb attempt (probably followed by swim.

Linni was glad to be free of the clearing, while the undead provided little challenge to the group they were an eerie foe to face. She would be much more happy following trails to her Uncle's hidden treasures than exploring ancient crypts. As the scream followed their departure she was relieved an impromptu search of the crypt was avoided, even if it meant more walking through the oppressive heat. She watched the wild man as they traveled, as much as she could as she weaved through the trees and laughed as he surprised her landing by her side.

The bravado displayed by the group either was not understood by Linni, who sat next to Jibril on her pack and held her empty waterskin in her hands, or was ignored outright. She gazed up to where the water was and wondered to herself how she would climb the cliffs should she need to. She handed her waterskin to Krogan before he left with the same polite request as Jibril. She couldn't do much in this physical challenge so sat quietly while those much better suited to the task started working.

Yaotl stood at Asha's side, not really interested in proceedings. Carnosaurs were not built to climb, their hugely muscled limbs more for sheer hunting power than agility.

All of a sudden, he froze, evidently spotting something through the trees. His long torso stretched out into hunting mode - balance perfected by an arrow-straight tail that allowed him to keep incredibly low on the ground.

Yaotl disappeared into the brush, powerful legs launching him like a missile into the jungle. A short, animal cry of alarm from somewhere, quickly silenced with a bony crunch. A few seconds later, he returned, a juvenile deer of some kind limp in his jaws. He dropped the dead animal at Jibril's feet and looked up at the priest, evidently pleased with himself.

"Lovely," Jibril remarks unperturbed, as he pats the dinosaur on the head.  "We have dinner now.  Can you also go fetch us a nice big bird to roast tonight too?"

The race was on. Zane, ape-like, launched up the cliff face, muscles heaving as he climbed. By contrast, Abbas was all elven grace and agility as he made use of his well-thrown grapple to nimbly rappel up the wall. Krogan, who seemed to be the only one remembering to actually take the group's empty waterskins with him, began his own climb. He moved at a much slower and careful pace, not being an overly confident climber. He reached about ten feet from the floor and looked up, grimacing. An expanse of rock filled his vision - this was going to be a long climb...

Meanwhile, below, Lambrac had a look around the lower cliff for any cave entrances but there were none more than a few feet deep. The larger crevasses and holes were much further up the face. Yaotl seemed to have solved the issue of dinner and Fareeda's song rang out over the cliff face, hoping to inspire the climbers.

Abbas took the lead, climbing like a spider as he reached three quarters of the way to the summit. Even Zane could not keep anywhere near the elf's speed, the feral man making it about half way up. Abbas' progress brought him to the mouth of a large and dark cave entrance. He peered in, nose wrinkling at some foul scent. Spotting something, his eyes widened and he made to get out of the entrance. Too late. The elf was engulfed in flapping, chittering darkness. Bats, hundreds of them, swarmed out of the cave, filling the air with their screeching and scratching. Abbas lost his footing on the rock and started to fall but managed to grab onto his rope with one hand, his other desperately keeping the creatures away from his vulnerable eyes.

The swarm disappeared off into the jungle, leaving the elven sword master hanging high above. Even from the ground, the dozens of cuts across his exposed face and hands were visible - luckily his eyes seemed untouched.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:23, Mon 23 Jan 2012.

Asha beams at the young dinosaur, scratching him under the chin and smiling.

"Good boy, Yaotl! That was very helpful." She glances down at the deer, bowing he head briefly.

"We thank you for your sacrifice, friend." The woman whispers as if speaking to the downed deer, before raising her head once more.

Fareeda quite enjoyed watching the menfolk vie for the title of the toughest.  After handing off her waterskin to Krogan, she took her mandolin and started playing an uplifting tavern song for them as they started their climb, working to weave in harmonies to the melody of the sounds of the water above.

"The wild man may be more at home here," she says with a lilt in her voice, "but cheers to the elf's natural skills."  Just then, Abbas reaches the cave and gets swarmed by the bats.  "Oh, my!" she cries as he hangs precariously.  "Someone help him!"  She looks around frantically to see if there's some way to quickly fashion a soft landing for Abbas if he should let go.

Looking up after Fareeda's hysterics, Jibril remarks casually. "Well, that must have hurt. I hope his face isn't permanently scarred now."

"Your concern is duly noted," Fareeda shoots back testily and with undisguised sarcasm.

Krogan tried to climb faster to assist his bat-infested friend.
Which proved to be a mistake.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92LoQ51X8qY

With a loud grunt, Zane scurries up the face. His hands dig into the earth and mud, then to the rocks as he makes his way towards the hanging elf. Gritting his teeth he reaches out with one hand towards the man once close enough and growls like a crazed beast, the bats seeming to not bother him as they fly off.

"It is fine, I am only lightly injured," Abbas assured those below and on their way up.  With the bat swarm flushed out and away, the elf took a moment to wipe the blood from his forehead with the back of one hand, then continued up, at a more sedate pace to keep the blood from his eyes and complete the climb.

"If you can ready the waterskins," he continued, calmly, "We can pull them all up once we have reached the top.  If you see anything that can carry water, we can bring it up as well.  It would also be wise to soak in the water, to restore your body's moisture."  The near-death experience seemed to have had little impact on the resilient, but delicate swordman; thanks to his agility, he weathered what might have resulted in a greater danger to the other climbers below.