Shipwrecked! Exploration "Writer's Guild"

[Fisher]

Elias
Nodding in agreement, Elias continued to follow the others to the hills.

"Who do you suppose left these marks? Besides that altar, there has been little sign of natives or any civilization."

[storyteller]

You approach the hills. Following the marks on the trees, you're now at the foot of the tallest hill. You spot a path leading up the hillside. The path looks narrow and precarious, and the hillside is steep and rough and rocky in places, but someone has hewn rough stone stairs into the side of the hill where ascent would have otherwise been impossible without ropes or ladders.

[smartaleq]

How's the visibility here? Could we leave someone/a few people at the bottom of the steps in sight of the ones climbing?

[storyteller]

The path winds around the hill, so you won't be able to see any people left behind if you walk all the way up. Otherwise, visibility is good. No fog or heavy undergrowth here. Only a few small bushes grow on the slopes of the hill.

[jagadaishio]

Maria

Maria draws her sling but doesn't yet load it with a stone. The hill makes her nervous, because of how dangerous of a position climbing the steps will put them in. She continues to scan for any signs of foot prints or other signs of humanoids (or anything else unusual).

[smartaleq]

Gil is at a loss for how to best approach this situation. He'll defer to Roostin and Maria's judgment for the time.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Having little fear, and not really knowing what everyone is all worried about, Epswitch begins the long climb up the staircase to the top of the hill. Nice stairs. At least that is a sign of intelligent live on this island. Knowing my luck and bunch of grubby dwarves made them.

[TwoCents]

Roostin

"Well, I don't see as much has changed. We still know dang-all nothing about this island and we still think that there may be somebody not very friendly living here. I say we stick together, climb up carefully, and see whut is whut." Roostin bowed to Epswitch and prepared to follow him up the stairs. He stayed behind a few steps, far enough to have a chance to catch the halfling if he started to fall down the steps but not so close the two would be caught in a common disaster if a step loosened.

[storyteller]

You begin the long climb. The fearless halfling takes point, Roostin following close (but not too close) behind, and Maria going third and looking for footprints or other signs of intelligent life. Gil is last, looking a little hesitant while he climbs up the uneven stairs.

Halfway up the ascent, Maria suddenly stops and picks up something she spots behind a loose rock. It's a toy rat, made from cotton cloth, with black buttons for eyes and a piece of string for a tail.

Maria finds no footprints, but then again, the ground is quite firm here and any tracks left are likely to be swept away by wind or rain in a matter of days.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

When the footsteps up the hill stop suddenly behind him, Epswitch also stops and turns to look. Seeing Mara(maria?) with that toy, Epswitch smiles. "Awh, just like I had when I was a kid."

With a smile, Epswitch renews his climb, hopeful he'll find a whole clan of halflings.

[jagadaishio]

Maria looks the toy over to see how old it looks, then stashes it in her bag before starting again, continuing to sweep for any traces of inhabitance.

[Fisher]

Spoiler

Show

You begin the long climb. The fearless halfling takes point, Roostin following close (but not too close) behind, and Maria going third and looking for footprints or other signs of intelligent life. Gil is last, looking a little hesitant while he climbs up the uneven stairs.

Halfway up the ascent, Maria suddenly stops and picks up something she spots behind a loose rock. It's a toy rat, made from cotton cloth, with black buttons for eyes and a piece of string for a tail.

Maria finds no footprints, but then again, the ground is quite firm here and any tracks left are likely to be swept away by wind or rain in a matter of days.

Spoiler

Show

Did Elias get lost somewhere along the path?

[smartaleq]

Elias is in front of Gil

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Epswitch continues the climbs the darn hill. Who built this hill so high? Who wanted to be able to get to the top so bad they'd carve freaking stairs into the side of it?

Finally getting to the top, Epswitch looks around and whistles. "The view is almost as good as that cliff thing."

[storyteller]

The toy has tiny bite marks on it but it doesn't seem to be very old.

You reach the top of the hill. There's a monument there; a circle of standing stones. Its diameter is about 20 feet and there's a stone slab in the center of the circle, maybe an altar.

You can see the surrounding terrain well from here: the forested are continues in all directions around the hills. Far below and to the north of your location, you also notice a stream flowing to the northeast through the hills and towards the marshland.

[TwoCents]

OOC: Oh, we are soooooooooooo in trouble...

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Epswitch runs up into the circle of stones and climbs up on the big stone table(alter) and says, "Ha! This is much better place to build a settlement than that place the dwarf choose. We can see everything for miles. There is only one way up, so we can protect against wild animals." Epswitch smiles and spins around and around looks at everything and dreaming and then says, "Oh, and the vertical supports for the structure are already in place. We just need wood for a roof and walls."

Looking around at the vegetation, Epswitch does concede, "It may not be the best place for the chickens though. Perhaps down by that stream. Moving water is so much better than a stagnant pond. At the very least, I will look into moving my operation over there."

[jagadaishio]

Maria

Maria's mouth drops at the sight of this structure. "We might be in trouble," says Maria, immediately moving throughout the place. Her eyes and hands test every inch of the structure for any sign that their presence here may start a small tribal war.

Spoiler

Show

Taking 20 on both Search and Survival checks to find any such evidence, the results are 21 and 22, respectively.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Still in awe of this place, Epswitch barely hears the woman speak and when he finally does hear and comprehend her words he is puzzles. Yes, Common was a second language for him, but still, he'd been speaking it for years.

He looks around and around and finally says, "Trouble how? I mean.. what could possibly give us trouble?" His mind races through outlandish possibilities finally picking the most possible of all of them and says, "Do you think this may be the crown of slumbering buried titan?" Still standing atop the alter, Epswitch doesn't even have to look up to stare at her breasts face while he talks.

[jagadaishio]

Maria

"This looks like a sacred place. We may be trespassing on someone else's land," she says as she continues to search the place.

[smartaleq]

Sacred this and sacred that... We've found plenty of rubble, and not a whole lot of trouble. Gil agrees with Ep, we should move here, and set up traps... we could better see boats coming too!

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Momentarily confused, Epswitch says, "Wait.. you think that fat dwarf already claimed this?"

Epswitch hops down and heads to the top of the stairs and then starts searching adding, "If anyone has already claimed this, they had better have marked it or left a sign or something."

{{ Take 20 on search. Examine area within 2-3 meter of the top of the stairs. }}

[jagadaishio]

Maria

"No, the fact that this structure is standing implies that someone else built it. I'm checking now to see if it's ancient and abandoned or still owned by some sort of local people," said Maria, cocking an eyebrow at Epswitch's statement. "If it's ancient and abandoned, it would be the perfect place to situate a new home, though."

[TwoCents]

Roostin

"Hey, that toy whut you found was in pretty good shape. That means there was somebody nearby with little ones not too long ago, right? Ah ain't sure that we ain't getting into a world of hurt, but Ah don't know whut we can do about it anymore. Ah think we all got to be ready for trouble, though."

With that, Roostin also began to search the area, starting with a circuit of the hilltop.

Listen: (d20+4)[22]
Spot: (d20+4)[23]
Search: (d20+0)[2]

OOC: If the standing circle is 20' diameter, how big is the hilltop?

[storyteller]

You take a closer look at the standing stones and the stone slab. Maybe a certain "fat dwarf" would be able to tell you how long the stones have been there, but it is evident that someone has been using this site recently: dried splatters of what appears to be blood can be seen all over the stone slab and on the ground around it.

The stones bear some kind of runic inscriptions.

The hilltop is roughly circular, about 50' in diameter.

OOC: 100 xp, everyone! No exploration quests on week 6. More about that in the main IC thread a little later.