Delving Along the Tunnel
Continued From Planning Outside Mimmarudla
Summary
The party travels down into the depths for a time totaling something like 4-5 hours until the stream they have been following ends in a waterfall. Here the stream must be crossed to continue and there are, in fact, remnants of an ancient rope bridge. The party engineers a solution and crosses.
[ Original Page]
The DM: As the party remembers, you have come to a place where the stream is running through a crevice/rut about 7 to 10 feet deep. There is only a left-hand route along the edge. The tunnel seems to be drifting steadily to the right, with the stream in the bottom steadily growing in depth.
You come to the place where the wooden plank leans against a wall. Nothing has been disturbed throughout this journey, from when you were here yesterday, except that a tick carcass has been half-devoured, and the zombrat carcasses have decayed quite a lot. The shrieker and jelly are both much desiccated.
It is about noon, what with preparations before leaving; but you're not absolutely certain of that time.
Mikael: Seems like only one way to go, so shall we forge on?
Engelhart: Wait... it's the second time we've been to this conspicuous plank, supposedly a former part of a stock.
Kneeling by it (not touching it): Is there anything else that's unusual about it, Alexis?
The DM: It's fairly desiccated; touching the wood, it powders your fingers. But it is what it appears to be.
Second time, yes. This is where you quit and turned back.
Engelhart: Nay, I believe we went quite a ways further still (though to no appreciable effect).
Well, what can I say: let us forge on, my comrades.
Rob: yes, let's go forward
Lothar: Let us continue.
The DM: This was my last description. You wanted to go further, but I suggested that you were hungry and you decided to stop.
I'm going to just presume that you're willing to stick it out for a while, since you've made an effort to be here.
You push on for two HOURS ...
The stream deepens until it is jumping and rolling through a trough ten feet deep and fifteen feet wide, though the stream itself is half as wide.
You hear a water fall; not a roar, but definitely the sound of falling water smacking rock. You emerge from the tunnel into a vast cavern, four hundred, five hundred feet across. It is impossible to judge. The stream falls away into the floor, about seventy feet below you ... it breaks against rocks and then, right after, it flows into a large watery pool, covering virtually the whole floor of the cavern, except for some islands of stalactites, perhaps fifty, that poke up from the surface like sharp, ten foot cones.
The ledge on the left side of the stream stops here; but across the stream, about fifteen feet beyond, it continues.
The bridge at one time was made of immense wooden cords, a foot square on the end and ten feet long. You know this because you can see the logs in the stream bed, where they have collapsed in neat, even arrangement. The stream flows over them before dropping into the depths. The nearest is only six or seven feet below the edge of the walkway you've been using to make your way along.
The DM: On the other side of the break, the ledge continues along the right wall of the cavern, apparently climbing and climbing upward, until you lose track of it.
Lothar: Anyone have a leap spell?
Mikael: I do not, unfortunately. And I'm not a very good swimmer, either.
Engelhart: Clarifications...
Is there any remaining structure, on either side of the trough, to which we might affix rope?
How is the ground, packed dirt or solid rock?
Mikael: I can stitch together rope, if need be. I can also create a tool (if we need like a hammer).
Though we still need to get across.
Rob: If we could prevent hypothermia, someone could swim across.
I have taken the coil of rope. Our swimmer would be atached to it for his/her safety, and that would get the rope across.
But then again, hypothermia ...
An alternative, maybe an athletic person could, once its armor and backpack is remove, just jump the 15 feet. It seems doable if the other side is on the same level.
The DM: Apparently, on close inspection, there were stone pillars that supported the bridge, but these have crumbled along with the sides of the stream edges. You can see one such pillar laying on the bottom of the stream (the planks are on the surface just below it). Presumably, the others are far below at the bottom of the fall.
The DM: Because the wooden cords are near the surface, ordered in parallel to each other, you don't have to swim. You can walk over the cords.
Mikael: I think I may be the most nimble in the group, so perhaps I should go ahead first?
The DM: Embla has sure-footedness ... better than dexterity.
Engelhart: Stone pillars, right.
And on the far bank, any protrusions?
Is any of us a good enough swimmer/jumper for attempting this task? (doubt it, but..)
Given the stream is only 7,5 feet wide, how steep is the incline of the sides of the trough?
Mikael: I can bring a coil of rope, a spike and a hammer and we can create a line the rest of you can hold as you cross?
Mikael: Yeah, or Embla. That is definitely better.
Engelhart: (Oh, it was actually simpler than that, ok.)
I propose that we feed Embla a line of rope (tied about the waist), a hammer and one-two spikes.
May 23, 2018 at 2:20 PM Alexis Smolensk said... Embla?
Engelhart: Beaten to the punch again. But yes, this is the general idea.
I bless (with lowercase "l") the rope and Embla's effort.
The DM: There's a chance she's about five minutes behind you in the tunnel, dealing with human needs.
Rob: (Oops, missed the actual stream was actually only 7.5 feet across. That shouldn't too hard to cross then)
I think we can send Embla or Mikael (whichever wants actually) with some rope tied to them, so that we can hoist them back if they fall.
Once on the other side, they can hold or secure the rope that will help the others.
The DM: How will they secure the rope on the other side?
Rob: I think the current plan is to equip them with a hammer and 2 spikes to do so.
Rob: [should we wait for Embla or send Mikael? 7.5 feet isn't long and we'll tie you to the rope to make sure you don't fall]
Engelhart: Mikael: will you go, comrade?
The DM: Spikes are hammered in crevices between rocks; these are not sheffield steel pitons, but wrought iron. The walls and ledges of the cavern are damp, unfaulted limestone. You can't drill a spike into them.
The DM: Mikael?
Rob: Well then I guess the first to cross will have to hold on tight to the rope and serve as anchor ...
The DM: Which will make weight a relevant issue.
Rob: indeed. But with 50feet of rope we can make it so that the rope is tied to the second person to cross and is also held by people left on the left bank.
Engelhart: Ok, I'll go. I'm a swimmer, if it comes to it...
Engelhart: I begin discarding my armour, laying the backpack to the side and weapons.
Rob: I will hold the rope as well as I can.
The DM: As you take off your armor, you ask yourself, "How is this getting across once I'm on the other side?"
Engelhart: Once it is done ad I'm stripped down to my crucifix, I tie the rope about my waist with some help and off I go.
Engelhart: We'll loop the rope across the inside of it, if need be. Reasonable, yes?
Embla: [My apologies, all. I had an appointment that ran late]
I can haul much of Engelhart's stuff in my pack - after crossing once, I can empty it, return, fill it, and cross again.
Rob: We can, but how much do you weight?
Rob: Yes yes, we can do it in several trips.
The DM: I get it, Engelhart, but you didn't answer the question. Armor doesn't come off in one piece, but in about 20 pieces. Does anyone have a sack to carry the armor across in, now that it is in all these pieces?
The DM: I have Rob's weight, with equipment, at 207 lbs. And Engelhart, near-naked, at 171. If there's a jerk, Engelhart's fall could pull Rob right off his feet.
Embla: I have my Stavanger tabard - can I knot it up into a suitable container?
Engelhart: Backpack to the rescue, I hope.
Engelhart: Since Embla has caught up with us, it seems more prudent to have me stand with Rob as counterweight to our nimble half-orc.
Will you do the honours, Embla?
The DM: Most armor pieces will not fit into a backpack. But I will accept Embla's tabard solution.
Please roll a d20, Engelhart.
Rob: "I have Rob's weight, with equipment, at 207 lbs. And Engelhart, near-naked, at 171. If there's a jerk, Engelhart's fall could pull Rob right off his feet."
Could Embla and Mikael help me hold the rope?
The DM: Yes, Rob. I suggest that's a good idea.
Engelhart: Well, since we're already with momentum: I roll a 9.
Hope this gets me across... or at least not dead.
Embla: I support Rob on the rope
The DM: Engelhart, you must first ease yourself down to where you can stand on the first cord, or fabricated log. It is solid and above the surface of the water. You can feel the coolness of the water as you get close. You're glad you left your boots on, because the cord is slippery and the leather gives purchase.
You step forward on the second log, and feel it give; apparently, it's been supported by a shelf of sand for perhaps several centuries ... and as you step on it, the sand gives, and so does the log.
You grip the rope, feeling your body shift to the left, towards the fall; but the rope catches you and as you find your footing again on the first log, the second rolls up and tumbles over the edge; and as the river stream changes its course, rushing though the gap, the third log gives and slides off the fall in turn.
The fourth, fifth and sixth logs remain where they are. It is a 30 inch hop to the fourth log, now the next log.
You hear the logs hit the rocks below, one, then the other, in two hollow bangs.
The DM: [Well, Engelhart is safe. Let's stop.
We'll play from 8ish to 2pm my time tomorrow; that's 10pm London time and 4pm Eastern. Be well]
Mikael: Engelhart, do you want to come back and have me try? I am much lighter
Engelhart: Yes, Mikael, by all means, as soon as my pulse settles, I make my way back to your side and, once you're properly attached, bide you better luck, joining with the others on holding fast to the rope.
Mikael: I am here.
I will take off my backpack, put my spellbook inside of it, as well as the dart I hold. I weigh about 111 pounds in total.
Does anyone have gloves I can borrow?
Engelhart: Have mine. They may be a bit sweaty.
Rob: [here]
Lothar: [Here]
Mikael: I gladly take them. Anything for additional purchase.
"So, is the plan I take a coil of rope with being held by all of you? Bring it to the other side, so that you all you cross using it to help not fall?"
Rob: "That's about it yeah." "When you're on the other side, the next person to cross will be held both from our side and your side"
Mikael: "Got it." I tie the end of the coil about my waist, and give the group the rest. "Please remember to give me addition as l slack when I have to make that leap."
I am wearing boots as ne Engelhart's gloves, and I begin to carefully navigate to the first log.
Engelhart: This means, Mikael going first, that he should be followed by the next lightest party member and so forth, correct?
Something to the effect of: Mikael, then Lothar, then Embla, then Fjall, then Rob and, lastly, stout young redbeard (me).
Or maybe the more portly folk should go in the middle, provided with rope support from both sides? Physics is hard, when you're a creationist...
What say you, good folk?
Mikael: Whomever goes last is gonna have the same trek as me. It may make more sense for me go come back after the second to last run and then do the last trek. Let's see how it goes, though.
As for order, yes, weight makes sense, but Embla should be second to last (she is sure-footed and needs the least help).
Rob: I agree with the first order, not that I think it makes that much of a difference. Whatever happens, any crosser will be held by all the others. What changes is how many there are on each side.
(I'd like to point out this crossing will be fun when we attempt it on our return trip, potentially wounded and with enemy pursuing us. Can you think of a way to make the back trip easier? other than try to fix the rope on our side if that is even possible?)
Mikael: So, I recommend:
- Mikael
- Lothar
- Fjall
- Rob
- Engelhart
- Mike y el comes back
- Embla
- Mikaela brings the rope back
Mikael: [OOC: My autocorrect is terrible and I will try and work on my typing. I post via phone, and this site isn't super-mobile friendly.]
Lothar: So long as every crosser is roped to all the others we should be fine, I don't know that the order matters very much in the grand scheme of things.
The DM: [here]
Mikael drops, as Engelhart did, to the first cord. Clenching the rope, it's a bit of a leap to the next log, but he lands without needing a dexterity check. From there, he scrambles up the next (formerly 5th) cord, then the next, and boosts himself up onto the opposite ledge.
Easy.
Mikael: I pull the rope taut and motion the next person across, doing my best to brace myself
Lothar: I cross next in a similar fashion.
The DM: You will find, from here, that it is a relatively easy scramble. None of you need make another dex check (Engelhart uncovered the only issue), so we can say that you are safely on the other side.
If you want to take stock, restore yourselves and so on, we can continue along the other side.
Mikael: Whew. I hand Engelhart back his gloves (thank you), put my spellbook back in my belt and put my backpack on, dart in hand.
I am ready to move on when everyone else is.
Rob: So I take the rope back on me then. Let's continue forward!
The DM: The next post is up.
Continued on It Feels Like You've Been All Day at This
