This is a Group 1 Thread.  All groups can now see it, but characters elsewhere do not have this as character knowledge.

In the last harbor you saw across the ocean, a man in a feathered hat handed out documents, each one entitling the bearer to a month of food and lodging (drinks not included) at a place called the Guesthouse at Deluzion Break.

As good a place as any to make a new start in a new land.  Where was that, exactly?

“Montebon” the man with the feathered hat said.

Montebon. A small, up and coming kingdom, known for a few things- rugged terrain, an ambitious and forward looking queen who wants progress for her kingdom, Dwarves, and something called “Chaos Farming”.  It gets mentioned in letters and reports now and then, whatever it is, it sounds lucrative because people talk about how they get more crops than they did back in the old world… or maybe that’s just propaganda.

And Llamas.  Animals as fearless, hard working and durable and often as irascible as the Dwarves.  Montebon has Llamas, you've heard.

You accepted the certificate… which, you later learned, wasn’t handed out to just anyone.  The Man in The Feathered Hat seemed to be selecting.

And now you are on a ship, one of the nimble double hulled Honoan vessels, having spent six weeks crossing the ocean.  Your destination was on the horizon two hours ago.  Now you see it, drawing nearer by the moment.  A great cliff along the sea, stretching for miles.  It has a great gash in it, as if some cosmic ax struck the cliff and broke it, carving a deep gorge from top to bottom.

That, according to the crew, is Deluzion Break.  The boat heads for a stone dock at bottom of the cliff, at the location of the gorge.  It arrives very late in the day.  The crew has no intention of staying, they look worriedly at the sky.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:33, Sat 22 Aug 2020.

+1 lodging document!

Lehai keeps it together and manages not to immediately jump off the ship to solid ground as soon as the vessel stopped moving. Instead, they calmly open every pouch and pocket to see if all their belongings are still there ... looks like it. Sounds like a green light. If ooooonly the ship would dock faster!

Lehai cannot stand the sea. There are no animals to hunt, no caves to hide in, no interesting landmarks ... the fate of the journey depends entirely on this ship. And having to wait feels like sitting in a cage. But this pet peeve has been carefully hidden from the crew and the other passengers. To them, Lehai is just a gentle human soul without much to say, often staring out sea towards the infinite horizon.

What are they so worried about? Lehai notices how concerned the crew looks. Oh, silly me. It must be the weather. After all, the storms on the sea are a realistic fear.

But then again ... IS IT the weather?! The ranger studies the sky for signs.

18:49, Today: Lehai Quandar rolled 4 using 1d20+2. Nature check: What's the weather gonna be like?

With their destination in sight at last, Qui-Lin had gone below to gather her things and prepare to depart their ocean-going home.  Just as she would in a city, she'd spent the voyage learning the ins-and-outs of the ship - the nooks and crannies, the gangways, the rigging even.

Now she wore the resplendent silk robes she'd arrived onboard with, rather than the brown traveling clothes she'd spent most of the journey wearing.

"They want to be gone before dark," she mused aloud, to herself.

"Aye" The white haired elf answered Qui-Lin's musings as her thoughts reflected his own. His voice wasn't gruff per se but it wasn't filled with the smoothness that most would attribute to his people. Aelar was sitting comfortably with his few belongings on his person and ready to be carried to their destination. His attire hadn't changed once along the entire journey, leather armor beneath his clothes that seemed to be made of mostly nature-found materials.

He held in his hand a smallish fruit that by this time would seem almost common place on his person. A fuzzy-fleshed golden-meaty fruit that he had seemingly an unending supply of along the journey. Any who had asked had been offered a fruit before and would have found it delightfully sweet and fulfilling. They were small enough that you could pop them in the mouth and chew them whole in one bite but large and fuzzy enough to make it not the easiest of tasks. Knowing him there were probably several more where that one came from.


Taking a bite out of that golden kiwifruit he savored it for a moment and watched the stone dock approach, the cliff-side looming over them. "Couldn't imagine why this place would scare anyone off."

OOC: That's my take on a Goodberry ;) something he's had lots of on the ship since it's just one spell slot at the end of the day for ten berries throughout the day.

Atraxus stands at the prow of the ship, a grin on his face. Land is always a welcome sight after a long journey at sea. As the ship nears the coast, he squints and strains his eyes to scour the coast of this new land for details---and perhaps sight of one of those remarkable llamas.

When the ship reaches the dock, Atraxus deftly lifts his pack carrying his belongings. He slips it over his shoulder. He nods to the crew, thanking them for a safe and mercifully uneventful voyage. He gives a sideways glance at the crewmembers looking to leave port, but decides against asking them why. The voyage is over, and they owe him no answers. Instead, he joins the other passengers who have disembarked.

"It's always good to stand on solid ground after a long time at sea," he says to no one in particular. "Especially when the ground belongs to your intended destination."

The cliff before you rises about 400 feet above the ocean, but it’s not a straight, sheer drop.  The lower half is a jumble of broken rock, ledges, clefts, and great plates and spurs of stone jutting out from the mass of the cliff.  A switchback path snakes upwards through it, cutting through some of it, ending in a broad ledge.  From there, you can make out a wooden scaffold built into the split in the rock frames a staircase and a hoistway.  This rises into a structure at the top of the cliff.  Not ON top of the cliff, built along the side of it, right at the split.

Something is up there, built onto ledges and crevices both natural and not, there are six stories of rambling structure- balconies, windows, stairs, catwalks and terraces. The uppermost story rises above the top of the cliff, the rest is built beneath it.  A wooden bridge crosses the gap in the cliff, and there is more structure on the other side.

At the ocean side, there is only the stone dock and a narrow beach.  You can tell by the lines of the algae and barnacles that during high tide, (There's a ranger and a druid present, this sort of thing is obvious to them)  most if not all of the beach is gone, and the water laps against the irregular rise of stone directly.

Just to remove any lingering doubts as to what that odd sprawl at the top of the cliff is, there is a sign at the base of the gap in the cliff, at the end of the dock.   It says “Deluzion Point Guest House” and there are two arrows.  One points to the switchback path.  The other, straight up.

The sign is decorated with painted flowers.. drawn very, very small.

"Wow," Qui-Lin said, shading her eyes and scanning up... and up, till she was almost bent backwards.  "That's impressive." Her eyes scanned all the details and features.  It had a certain charm.

"I like it," she announced with a grin.

Daladain stood on deck as the ship docked, drinking in the salty sea air. He had eventually gotten used to the mom emend of the ship, having spent the first few days retching up everything from his stomach, so much so that he thought he would never survive the trip. But that had passed, and now he quite enjoyed the swell of the sea. It was certainly different to the smell of the streets back home, the smell of dirt, shit and death...

At the dock he said his goodbyes to the crew and disembarked quickly. He sensed that they didn’t want to linger, so he did his best to allow them to depart without delay.

He looked at the signpost. Up the path, or up in the air. An easy choice, he supposed. He looked around at the other travellers stood on the dock. “As I have not yet mastered the ability to fly I will be taking the winding path. Would anyone care to join me?”
This message was last edited by the player at 05:50, Thu 30 July 2020.

Lehai has their eyes tacked on the eastern horizon. Not just any storm ... but a magical one. "How uncanny ..."

But there is no point in scratching your head over a mystery that is a few hundred feet away from being solved. Surely the host at the guest house knows more about such anomalies ... unless this is out of the ordinary and something to worry about. Lehai gets off the ship - ironically being the last person to do so - and wanders up towards the switchback path to the strange building.

Lehai doesn't bother saying goodbye to the crew - a quick nod of "thanks, man" will do - but the other passengers are a different number. They share the same destination and it would be unwise to show them the cold shoulder. Lehai takes a deep breath, slows down and turns around to the others. There used to be a time when socializing wasn't this nerve-wrecking. It can't be that hard to channel the old Lehai Quandar, the same one who like hugs and hot chocolate, rather than the guilt-ridden ranger from shortly after.

"Beaches, am I right? The sand is so coarse and rough and gets everywhere ..."

Dangnabbit.

"I mean", Lehai clears their throat and looks at Daladain, "I would love to."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:15, Thu 30 July 2020.

"The flowers are an interesting touch," Atraxus says as he inspects the sign. "A bit odd that the writing is so small."

When Daladain mentions taking the path, Atraxus nods in agreement. "Might as well. I'd like to see what this town has to offer newcomers."

"Aye." Aelar agreed with Qui-Lin again, a smile cracking his features as well.

"Flying or climbing." Was his response to Daladain. "I know a man who would climb that wall as a monkey... Not me though, not today." And he hiked up his pack and began following the others as well. He looked back at the thin stretch of sand. "Won't be much of a beach once tide comes in. Best we get to the high ground soon as we can. Though I doubt it would reach any part of this path."

To Atraxus he simply said, "I hear they have llamas." As if that was offer enough from any town. Though to be honest he'd never seen one himself.

"I wonder if they've another set of signs like this at the top. One pointing along the path 'To the Docks' and another pointing down 'The Quick Way'."

"I, too, have yet to master the art of flying," Qui-Lin replied to Daladain with a wry smirk.  "So yeah.  Let's get walking."

In reply to Aelar Siannodel (Moonbrook) (msg # 11):

Daladain grinned. “Some people think falling is painful. They are wrong. Falling is easy, it’s the landing that hurts.”

As they began to walk he introduced himself to his fellow travellers. “I am Daladain, but my friends call me Dal.”

Lehai tunes down their speed so as to let the others catch up. This is not the time to get nervous, they remind themselves, this is only scary when you hold yourself up to high standards. Stop feeling like it's important to be liked by these people. The ranger clears their throat to draw some attention.

"I am Lehai Quandar", they say in a cold tone. "My friends call me ... Lehai Quandar."

Ready to advance.

Aelar nodded as he followed them up the cliff-face path, "Dal. Lehai. I am known as Aelar. Anyone care for a fruit?" The one he had been eating was already gone and another produced from his pack.

    The path upwards snakes between outcroppings of rock, some of them jutting out as if to protect the cliff with great jagged stone spikes.  It looks like no familiar rock formation, but despite the fact that some of the stones appear quite sharp, doesn’t look at all unnatural.  Just… odd. Perhaps a Dwarf with some geology training would stop to examine it... but the party just sees it as different.

 Lehai could easily climb between the rock outcroppings but doesn't have to.  The path is here and available.  The rocks are rough and sharp, but the path, though steep, is smooth.  Obviously a lot of work has gone into creating it.  It rises along the cliff face by a series of switchbacks, at two points actually cutting through the cliff in tunnels.  The end of the second tunnel brings you to a great ledge.  The ledge is a natural stone sill, varying greatly in width but in the 5-20 feet range.

This long terrace has an unusually flat, even surface, like someone was trying to create a road along the cliff.    It goes on for miles. The cliff wall above is much steeper, close to sheer, so that the with the exception of the odd fissure or gap, or features such as the stairway in the large gap called Deluzion Break, climbing above is dangerous unless one is a capable climber.

  But the switchback tunnel has brought you to the ledge only a short distance from the scaffold-enclosed stair and hoistway.  There are ropes here, trailing up and out of site, and a small sign near one reads, “Pull Bell Rope For Hoist Service”.

Again, the writing is accompanied by little drawings of flowers.

"Well met," the Half-Orc says, nodding to each person as they make introductions. "I'm Atraxus." He reaches up and pulls the bell rope for the hoist service.

"Qui-Lin," she replied.  Then, "You know that's probably not free, right?" as the Half-Orc rang the bell for a hoist.

"Oops," Atraxus remarks, his face blanching as much as a Half-Orc's complexion can. "That thought didn't occur to me..."

"Just be honest then", says Lehai. "If you explain it was a mistake and don't use the service they might not charge you for it." They look at the stairs and then back at the group. "Personally, a staircase is all the service I need."


"Not me. This is starting to get weird. I'll see you people upstairs." Lehai climbs the stairs, throwing one last glance over their shoulder.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:31, Sat 01 Aug 2020.

Dal accepted the strange looking fruit and inspected it. After a few moments to took a small bite, and quickly wiped his face as sticky juices ran down his chin. The fruit was sweet and tasty, and he took another bite. He smiled at Aelar. “Thanks, it’s good.”

He trudged with the others along the path. When the big half-orc pulled the rope he paused, curious to see what would happen next. While waiting he looked at the sign, wondering why it had been decorated with little flowers. Maybe the work of a child, or just someone who liked pretty things?

_Tk-chnk

Tk-chnk

Tk-chnk!

It was distant at first, but steadily louder and nearer as the group waited for the lift service.  From behind them the bright clack of metal on stone sounded out with a rhythmic tempo, soon paired by soft grunts of exertion before a hand emerged from the edge of the sheer cliff face.  With a groan and a surge for that last bit of effort, a rather dusty looking Half-Elf woman hoisted herself up onto the plateau, rolled over her side to sprawl flat on her back, and simply laid there on the ground.  It took a few seconds of quiet panting to regain her wind before she raised her fists - one still clutching a climbing piton - victoriously to the sky, albeit while still laid out flat for the time being.

"Whoo!  Gods, that feels great after being cooped up on the boat for so long!" Kealoha wheezed, apparently half-exhausted but wholly satisfied.  Sure, she could've followed the others up the zig-zagging catwalks, but where was the thrill in that?  How could she turn aside a challenge set right in front of her the moment she finally put her boots down on a whole new region?  After a moment of panting for breath she arched a bit and cast an upside-down look over at the waiting group.  "Oh... what're y'all hanging out for?  Are we waiting for something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:10, Sat 01 Aug 2020.

The all seem to have their preferred means of getting up, it seems...

From the ledge, Lehai Quandar takes the stairs, just as Kealoha has arrived at the ledge by climbing the rocks instead of taking the switchback path.

It's still a long way up.  Lehai Quandar has to go up 20 flights of stairs, which is a serious climb but far from impossible.  For the moment, the others are left behind.

Right now, all they have here are a number of thick ropes.  For a while, nothing happens.  They are the on the verge of thinking that maybe nothing is going to happen when they see the ropes tremble and go taut, and then start to move.  There is a squeaking, rumbling noise from above.

Lehai sees the hoist platform, on its way down, and also, something else, too small to see well, going up.  The hoist platform is like a wagon, minus the wheels and horse.  It descends, passes... Like the sign, it is painted, decorated in a "happy" motif.  Wait.. what was that, riding on it... oh well, too late, it's hidden by the wooden scaffold of the stairwell and hoistway.

Shortly thereafter Lehai is still going up and the hoist platform reaches the bottom.  Lehai will reach the top first, that's certain, but it's so much more effort.

The platform is firmly secured to a framework connected to heavy ropes.  It has a passenger.

Other than the transparent wings on the creature's back, it looks like a small... and smartly dressed.. human or Elf, a young male only a foot tall, with bright yellow-blond hair.

He tips a little green hat.  "I'm Zwiddle.  Welcome to The Guesthouse.  Please get in, it's an easy ride up from here as soon as the buckets fill."

Qui-Lin was content to wait and be hauled up.  She did her best to maintain a dignified posture as the hoist jerkily drew down to them.

"Hello, Zwiddle," she smiled.  "Thank you.  I'm Qui-Lin.  These are my companions."

"Well met, Zwiddle," Atraxus replies. He reaches down to offer a handshake to the man who greets them. "I'm Atraxus.

"I, um..." he adds, a bit embarrassed, "was wondering if this service is paid. I pulled the rope without thinking. I spent the last of my coin preparing for the journey, but am willing to work off whatever debt I owe."