"Hey, be careful around those—" Lambrac began, cut short as a swarm of bats burst over Abbas, and the elf lost his grip. "Ashes!" he cursed, dashing to where Abbas might fall, a vain effort to catch him. He was relieved to see Abbas was alright; it was too early for any of them to die.

"Well, we have Jibril here to break your fall..." he offered.

Thaniel watches the melodrama play out many feet above them, though his interest seems elsewhere. "Bats. No real cause for concern, unless he has a fear of them. Even then, it's the fall that would kill him, rather than our winged friends."

Linni scrunched up her nose at the deer carcass as Yaotl dumped it on the ground. "We have to cook it." She instructed the dinosaur, "C.. oo... k." She drew a glass bottle from her belt and held it up for the dinosaur to see, "Cook!" She giggled as he tilted his head and quickly put away the bottle, less he become too inquisitive.

Her banter with Yaotl was broken and she held a hand to her mouth and gasped in surprise as the bats were disturbed and flew out of the cave, briefly covering Abbas like a thick black blanket. She waved back up at him as he called out he was OK, and considered how she would make the climb to indulge in the elfs suggestion of bathing in the cool waters.

"Unless they were vampire bats. Disease could also be a problem." Lambrac replied in a low voice to Thaniel, unwilling to be gloomy but having to acknowledge the possibility. Rabies was a terrible way to go.

"If the water's there, we'll climb up after you, and haul up luggage." he called up to Abbas. Looking down, he offered to Linni [Language unknown: "Us no chit lo th larcomter ngame, Ecutpe?"] realising the gnomeling might be too short to stretch far enough between handholds.

He collected any remaining water-skins and would tie them to end of Abbas's rope once the elf had reached the top. "Water-proof containers, anyone?" he asked around. He had a few extra glass bottles himself, but they all contained dangerous chemicals. He began a circuit, looking anything the jungle might provide that could carry water, such as a large nut or shell, or some bag-like plant.


OOC: Search 25 for more water containers.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:24, Thu 26 Jan 2012.

Fareeda has nothing on her to carry water, having already handed her waterskin to the climbers.  "We only need a bit for now, as long as we can get back here later with proper containers."

Looking up to the top, she calls out, "will we have to haul containers up, or can you re-route some of the water so that it comes down here?"  Turning back to those on the ground with her, she adds, "it would be considerably more convenient if we didn't have to raise and, more to the point, lower heavy containers of water."

Undeterred by the bats, Abbas continued on up the cliff, being sure to skirt round the edge of any more holes. He reached the summit first, followed by Zane and they both disappeared out of sight.

Krogan was struggling, his breath coming in heavy rasps as he struggled from handhold to handhold. He wasn't even nearly half way when his grip inevitably slipped, sending him plummeting towards the ground where he narrowly missed crushing Thaniel like a small bug. A nasty graze was visible on the back of Krogan's head and blood began a slow river down the back of the Orc's neck as he sat up, somewhat dazed. 

Lambrac began searching around for a way to transport water. There were no coconut trees or large-leafed plants around but he did find a berry bush, its thorned branches heavy with orange fruit.

Krogan didn't feel fear when he fell, just disappointment.
Now I'll die before I get to fly again.   Seems unfair somehow. 
Then it occurred to him that he WAS flying, sort of.    Not a controlled flight, but flying nonetheless.
Heh....maybe I should enjoy this while it l....

Then he struck the ground.   His armor was able to absorb some of the impact, along with the soft jungle floor and his own thick hide.
He got up slowly, chiding himself for worrying about his draconic senses when he could have been protecting himself better.    Some days he was wondering how good he really was at this stuff.

Slowly, he walked to the cliff to try again.

Fareeda reaches out to touch Krogan's shoulder before he makes it to the rock wall.  "I don't think that will be necessary.  Let's hear from Abbas first and we can rig up ropes, if necessary."

Lambrac barely had a chance to react this time, returning from the berry bush he suspected was probably poisonous, only to see Krogan fall and hit the ground with a nasty thud. He ran over, but the stubborn was already trying again. "Are you okay?"

"No, he's not..." Jibril adds matter-of-factly. "Clearly, the heat is affecting his mind."

Krogan shrugged and nodded to his friends.
A little bruised, but I'll heal eventually.   Though perhaps I should leave the climbing to the lighter among us.

He didn't like admitting any kind of weakness, but there was no need to do this if there were people better equipped and skilled for it.   They were all in this together, after all.   He had his specialty, and should stick to that.

The elven swordsman reappeared at the cliff edge, a light smile on his features.  Without turning from the group, he made a hand gesture to indicate behind him. "Our jungle guide has been quite helpful indeed.  The water is a giant waterfall, emerging from the rock, into a wide pool, eventually draining back underground."

Abbas knelt at the cliff edge and proceeded to take a couple moments to hammer in a piton and strap he used to secure the rope to the piton.  He repeated the action slightly out of side, winding the rope around the second piton for security. "If the ladies wish to climb the knotted rope, using the wall to assist, it should be a simple climb.  You can then bathe in peace.  I can work with the gentlemen to pull up the water containers, fill them, and lower them.  When the ladies are refreshed, the men can refresh themselves as well.  If that makes sense to all?"

Fareeda looks quite skeptically at the rope.  "Yes, well... that's quite considerate of you."  She reflects for a moment before proceeding.  You wanted this you know.  A life of adventure rather than separating the drunk or lonely from their gold.  Time to prove that you can handle this.

Coming to this resolution, she starts to climb.  Or not, actually, as she promptly slips off the rope into a rather undignified heap on the jungle floor. 

"Mmmrpmh," comes the muffled voice.  The words need not be heard to recognize the tone of frustration and embarrassment.

Jibril covers his mouth, but he can't contain his giggles as Fareeda lands squarely on her fleshy rump.

Krogan goes to assist Fareeda to her feet.   Not only does he consider it his duty to protect the smaller among them, but he knows only too well the pain and embarrassment of "succumbing to the ground's loving embrace" as his old hunting instructor used to say.

He was debating whether or not to try to climb again, but knew he had to do it.   He'd wait until Fareeda made it.  In fact, he focused his draconic magic on protection, to take the edge of any further falls.
A little late, he chided himself, but better than nothing.

Linni looked at the rope like it was a snake, and frowned up at Abbas as he suggested the climb should be relatively easy. "You're not a gnome." She muttered to herself.

She waited patiently for Fareeda to attempt the climb and was surprised when the dancer fell, slipping off the rope shortly after starting the climb. She shared a smile with Jibril and stepped towards the rope and started to climb while the Fareeda dusted herself off.

For all her hesitations Linni made the ascent with ease and she was quickly standing beside Abbas at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the others with a large (for a gnome) grin on her face. "Nothing to it!"

Seeing Abbas is safe, the odd man grunts. He climbs down to the party, keeping his distance for a moment. His eyes open wide as Linni scampers up the rock face almost as well as himself. A loud grunt comes from him as he beats his chest. He turns to Fareeda and grunts once more, dropping to all fours."Aqua! Splash. Splash. Aqua." Seeming to be aggrivated now, he moves over to the bard, grunts and snears at the cleric before starting his climb again.

The geography sounded peculiar; how could there be a waterfall on the other side of a cliff? How narrow was it? And emerging from the stone and returning to it, leaving no river, was odd but not impossible, he guessed. Well, he couldn't look a gift waterfall in the mouth.

Spoilsport, he thought as Abbas suggested separate bathing. He began collecting the heavier luggage and weapons from people before they began climbing, and lashed the cargo to the end of a free rope, in several manageable loads. He didn't feel right leaving their equipment laying around down here, even though thieves might be many, many miles away. With them came the water skins.

"Hey, Jibril, do you want us to haul you up? I reckon three of us could manage the load." he offered, though not out of any nicety.

Jibril smiles. "Oh you're such a peach. Keep saying such niceties, and you'll be making this haul for water everyday on your own."

Coquettishly, Fareeda calls up to Lambrac, "you would have me climb while you offer to lift him?"  She pouts in what is clearly an affectation, "I didn't think your tastes ran that way, dear."

Using the knotted rope, Krogan would climb up after everyone else, deciding, admittedly belatedly, to wait until everyone else had gone so that he could use his draconic magic to soften any other falls.

He climbed up with a bit more ease, having more to hang onto.   He ignored the banter between the others, still seething over his failure and injury.   I gnawed at him, and he was determined to reprove his worth to the group, whether they needed him to or not.

His teasing backfired, suddenly Lambrac had to desperately clear his reputation. "By all the gods, no, milady. We'd only haul him up along with the rest of the baggage... No, I first offered to carry Linni, but she scampered up like a monkey." He waved up to the young gnome, then returned to Fareeda with a short bow. To be honest, he had thought of offering to help either Asha or Fareeda, but didn't want to seem too eager or desperate about it. "I trust your capability, ladies. Just let me know if you need any assistance."

"I'm not much of a climber..." Asha replied. "But I guess I'll give it a try." She crossed the distance to the dangling rope and gripped it firmly, giving it a small tug to check the security of it's support. Then she backed away.

"You know what? I'm not feeling like a bath." Her voice held more than a hint of trepidation. Instead, she simply patted her nearly-full waterskin meaningfully.

"Why doesn't someone else go ahead"

OOC: For the sake of moving things along...

After slipping somewhat ungracefully onto her backside, Fareeda seemed to get the hang of the rope and began winding her way up the cliff. Linni, much to her surprise, seemed a natural climber and raced up behind her - the rope barely moving under her tiny weight.

The rest of the group waited below for their turn.

Thaniel watches the display and chuckles softly. "My thoughts return to the strange staircase that descended into the ground. There may have been something down those stairs that we could have used as a water carrier. Certainly there is more likely to be manufactured equipment down the stairs than in the virgin jungle."