Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Just DO It!
Session 32
Having made the fateful decision to hole up at the top of a windowless spire as enemies approached, the party now found themselves trapped like rats. They had beat back the first assault by the Tattooed Men, but from the nearby stairwell came the sounds of many more, blocking their escape.
Donning the Ring of Invisibility, Kane approached the opening unseen…
“No, we wait. He has gone to fetch them…” floated up from the room below.
Kane pulled back from the stairwell, whispering urgently to his companions, “They gather their strength for another assault. We must flee through the hole blasted in the wall of the chamber above. We can lower ourselves by rope, then find horses within the city upon which to ride forth…”
Endithas frowned in the direction he thought Kane’s voice had come from, “What? We can cut our way through them! You can wear your enchanted ring to observe their positions and strength before we strike…”
“What if there are more in the invisible room? We’re not exactly in great shape,” Caasi whispered. She looked around the group, and almost all were visibly wounded, some of them severely.
The question was enough to give Endithas pause, and his expression softened.
“Clearly, we must flee by rope down the outside of the tower,” Belgarath began, nodding sagely at his own counsel, “and then head overland to the west until we locate the slain wizard!” he finished, an avaricious gleam in his single eye.
“Your greed for the sorcerer’s secrets is plain, Mage, and would be the death of us!” Kane intoned from nowhere in particular.
“I have an idea…” Kalasandr began, then paused until all were looking at him, “…we secure the ropes and throw the ends down the outside of the tower…”
“Exactly! That we might secure the fallen Mage’s spellbook!” Belgarath interjected excitedly.
Kalasandr ignored the one-eyed Mage as he continued, “…but we don’t climb down them…”
“Yes, yes, ye-wait, what?” Belgarath who had been nodding along in agreement looked up sharply.
“…instead,” Kalasandr continued, unperturbed, “I climb to the roof of the tower, secure a rope, and bring the rest of you up. Then we pull up that rope and we hide up there until they go looking for us. Then we sneak out of the city.”
The rest of the party stared at Kalasandr in stunned silence for several moments, the looks on their faces resembling nothing so much as awe.
“Well,” Caasi finally broke the silence, “I guess that’s settled.”
11th to 13th of Eirmont, AC 999
Characters: Caasi, Endithas Wolfram, Kane, 1 war dog and 1 hunting dog (belonging to Kane), Belgarath, Mearl (Belgarath’s Henchman), and Kalasandr; Vandelay, Roland (Vandelay’s Henchman), Taras and Stephan were also present as NPCs
Deaths: None
Mortal Wounds: Kalasandr smashed the side of his head on some rocks, damaging his right eye.
Levelled: None; the party hasn’t been able to return to civilization to claim XP for the last few sessions!
A plan devised, Mearl moved to further barricade the stairwell with the remains of the Jade Statues. He was grazed by an arrow from below for his troubles. Most of the rest of the party headed to the room above, quickly tying off a rope to be thrown down the outside of the tower.
Kalasandr exited through the hole the tower’s former inhabitant had blasted in its side, quickly and easily scaling the exterior to the roof. He secured his own rope to the top, and the party spent the next hour hauling everyone, including the dogs, onto the roof of the spire.
Satisfied that all was in place, Kalasandr turned to Belgarath and said, “Now I’ll go get your damn book!” before swinging over the tower’s edge to climb down…
Kalasandr’s player stood, dice in hand, telling me he would climb down. I had just enough time to start asking for clarification (wanting to know whether the Thief would use the fixed rope or not) before he rolled. Predictably, the roll came up a natural 1. The player cursed floridly as the whole table burst out laughing. I then explained what I’d wanted to clarify, drawing another round of cursing. As Judge, I was now left with the dilemma of adjudicating what was reasonable versus what was intended versus what was said, with a character’s life on the line (Kalasandr was down to 4 hp, and the fall to the roof of the surrounding buildings was some 80’). Finally, I decided the Thief had indeed been so overconfident as to descend unaided, but had likely done so from the same spot he had come up. That meant the fall was much shorter, only to the floor of the top chamber some 20’ or so below. A failed Climb Walls roll meant falling at the halfway point, and as it was barely 10’, I gave Kalasandr a Save versus Paralysis to avoid damage. The Thief promptly failed his Save, and I rolled a 6 on d6 for falling damage!
The Thief slipped and fell, landing with a sickening “Smack!” on the rubble-strewn floor of Golthar’s bedchamber. Caasi immediately clambered back down the rope, tending to the mortally wounded Thief. His right eye had been squashed where his head had struck the rocks, and his body had been broken by the fall. Without healing, Kalasandr would not last a day, but Caasi had exhausted her prayers to the Immortals. Endithas descended, and Kalasandr’s still form was gingerly hoisted back to the roof by Mearl.
As the party re-hid themselves, the gloaming fell across the ruined city. Hoots and hollers rang out from the darkened streets below, as a horde of Goblins boiled into the streets, screeching as they streamed towards the tower. Within minutes, the sounds of both men and Goblins came from within the top of the tower, the Goblins screaming abuse as they discovered the ropes and the apparent escape of their prey! The party slept fitfully through the rest of the night, the sounds of Goblin search parties, and occasionally the beating of leathery wings, interrupting the night watches.
Morning dawned cold and grey, and the party was stiff and sore.
I decided the terrible conditions, while still allowing rest for the spellcasters, meant they couldn’t naturally regain hp.
Caasi set about calling on the immortal patrons of the Church of Karameikos to heal the party. They then spent another day of rest, remaining hidden atop the tower, with Caasi tending to their wounds.
A second cold and uncomfortable night meant everyone would now be at -1 to Rolls and Throws until they warmed up considerably, or had a comfortable night’s rest. They still couldn’t heal naturally, either.
While uncomfortable, the party was now mostly healed, and they decided to venture down from their hiding spot. Belgarath’s owl familiar, Stikini, checked the tower. A group of Tattooed Men were busy gathering books and strange equipment from Golthar’s chambers and carrying them away.
Once the men had finished, Belgarath and Kane climbed down the rope, with the intention of the Mage using Uncanny Gyration to lower Kane to the rooftops below the tower. The plan immediately ran into its first snag when Kane donned his ring, and Belgarath could no longer see him to cast the spell. The elf reluctantly removed his ring, and the pair waited until its enchantment could again be used. Belgarath then cast his spell, and began lowering the Elven Ranger as he slipped on the ring and became invisible. Once again, the inability to see the elf proved problematic, and Belgarath erratically lowered him as best he could, until the elf slipped beyond the spell’s range, and fell the final ten feet or so.
The elf landed nimbly on his feet, if a little hard, and took a trifling 2 damage.
Kane then headed north across rooftops and gullies, leaving the city in search of the dead Mage’s spellbook. Belgarath’s familiar unerringly guided the Elven Ranger to the fallen Mage’s corpse, and, after looting it…
Including a secret pouch, thanks to his sharp elven eyes!
…Kane began circling outwards in search of the lost spellbook. Once the book was found, and little the worse for wear, he headed back the way he had come.
Upon reaching the base of the tower, the still-invisible elf was shocked to discover the roof he had dropped from was out of reach, and the building’s sheer walls were beyond his ability to climb. Locating a door, the elf glanced into a darkened and web-shrouded room, before attempting to use the door as a ladder. The first attempt failed, unceremoniously dumping him to the ground, but he then jammed the door in place with a dagger, and finally managed to clamber to the roof.
At a word from Kane, Stikini relayed the message that the elf was ready, and the party lowered two ropes from the top of the tower. Kane ascended, and the group hunkered back down to await a chance to leave the city.