Shipwrecked! Exploration "Writer's Guild"

[storyteller]

OOC: with ropes the DC is 5, so you don't even have to roll. You can secure the ropes with pitons, for example.

[jagadaishio]

Maria calls up to Epswitch, "Are there caves up there?"

[lawful_evil]

{{ So.. I'm a bit confused... Where on the map are we? How did we approach the cliffs from the bottom and still approach from the inland side? Wouldn't that mean that the ocean was lapping at the top of the cliffs?

I assume that "t" on the map means 'forest' or 'tree covered'?

Where on the map would the pond and/or the original beach landing be?

It seems like, from the map, that we could have approached these cliffs from either side by just walking around(unless this is like a plateau or something). I'm wondering why Epswitch risked his life to get to the top.

Not sure if there are any caves, but you didn't say anything about them, so I'll answer no.
}}


Epswitch

Epswitch looks around again to make sure and then says, "No. No caves. No nothing. No villages, no cities, no smoke trails rising from the forest or anything that suggests intelligent life."

{{ Take a 20 on a spot check to look around. }}

[storyteller]

I mentioned that above the ledge, there are some openings on the wall. You didn't say that Ep wants to investigate them so I didn't write anything about them. I understood he went straight to the top.

And no, Ep didn't risk his life for nothing. The walls of the cliff are simply too steep to walk up. The checks were necessary.

You are now in the map square with the third ^ symbol in the southeastern part of the map, the one you could already see before the map update. The symbols t (forest) and . (beach) are the same as in the map I posted earlier in the IC thread. The locations of the pond and stone circle have not changed either.

[lawful_evil]

{{ What I mean is... We walked along the beach, found the cliffs and climbed up? Right? Now that I'm on the top, I could walk to the west and then to the south and end up back at the beach. Am I on a plateau or mesa?

I guess I don't understand the 'side view' aspect of this.

Side View of Mesa/Plateau
         E
    SSSSSR
    SSSSS
    SSSSS
    SSSSSL
    SSSSSS
    SSSSSS
    SSSSSS  GMR
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWW

R = Rope Attachment
L = Ledge
S = Solid Rock
E = epswitch
W = Water
GMR = Other players

Side View of Cliff at Water Edge
                                   E
                               SSSSSR
                          SSSSSSSSSSS
                      SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
                 SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSL
             SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
         SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
    SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  GMR
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWW

R = Rope Attachment
L = Ledge
S = Solid Rock
E = epswitch
W = Water
GMR = Other players

Both of those are consistant with your picture. I'm just trying to understand what this looks like.
}}

Epswitch

Calling down again, "None of the caves in the cliff face have exits on the top." Epswitch uses the piton and hammer to better attach a piton to the top and then transfers the rope from the lasso'd rock to the piton. He then calls down, "The rope is now secure."

[storyteller]

Yeah, you could call it a mesa. If viewed from above, it would look like a banana, the inner curve of which embraces the sea.

Side view of the place where Ep climbed up:

          E__
         /  I
   Ledge I  I
        I    \
________I    I       Sea
             I____________________
              \
               \
                \
                 \   Seabed
                  \_______________

[lawful_evil]

{{ Great. Now, that was useful. I've totally got the visual. }}


Epswitch

Calling down again, Epswitch yells, "Not much here, you want me to check out those caves?"

[jagadaishio]

"Yes. They could be useful if they're large enough to serve as shelters."

[TwoCents]

Roostin

"You want anybody else to come up there and watch your back?"

If invited, he put down everything except the spear and another coil of rope and began to climb. Once on the ledge, he readied his spear and prepared to follow Ep into the caves.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Epswitch calls down and says, "Come up if you like. The view is great." Epswitch climbs down and to one of the cave entrances. He says, "Okay, I'm going in." Its a cave 30 feet up a cliff, what kind of wild animals could possibly be hiding in it. Jumping bears?

Climb down to the cave and step/climb into it. Stay within a couple feet of the opening until his eyes adjust to the light/dark. Call down to the others, "Its pretty dark inside. Did anyone bring some fire?"

[Fisher]

Elias
"I've a lamp here if that'll help," Elias calls up to the people above.

Lugging the small amount of supplies over his shoulder, he begins to climb upward to deliver the light source. Upon reaching the top, he carefully lights the lamp to illuminate the dark cave. After the fire sparks to life he cautiously looks about the surroundings, looking for anything of note.

Spoiler

Show

Taking ten on the climb check: 11
Spot Check: (1d20+2)[11]

[smartaleq]

Gil

Seeing the ropes secured and everything in place, Gil follows Elias up to the ledge. Un-interested with the cave, Gil surveys the island, now realizing it is much bigger than many of them thought. He points to the distant hills, and shrugs at the others. Writing in the dirt of the ledge "Hills next?"

[storyteller]

Elias and Epswitch check out the caves. Only one of them is big enough to fit in comfortably. It could be used as a shelter for a small number of people. You notice narrow cracks and openings on the walls, but they may be too small for even Ep to crawl in.

OOC: Do you want to continue your exploration on week 4? The hills maybe, as Gil suggested, or the marshland. You may also change teams now.

50 xp everyone!

[Fisher]

Spoiler

Show

I'd be willing to continue exploring if you guys are. Either Hills or Marshlands sounds fine.

Week 4
When not exploring, Elias will continue to gather food for the camp.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch could go for hills. Marshland doesn't sound fun given his height and the depth of some bogs and all that.

[lawful_evil]

{{Epswitch could go for hills. Marshland doesn't sound fun given his height and the depth of some bogs and all that.}}


Epswitch

Seeing him writing in the dirt again, Epswitch just has to ask, "Do you no like to speak anymore? Who could possibly overhear our conversation? Tiny insect people in those cracks?"

With a sigh, Epswitch scrawls back "Yes OK"

[jagadaishio]

"Hills sound good to me," Maria says after climbing up to the caves and looking out. "We may also be able to use this cave for something at a later date."

OOC:

Spoiler

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How large are we talking with these caves? Enough for two people to squeeze bedrolls into? The size of a small apartment? A large one?

[Fisher]

Elias
"These caves would make a good lookout towards the sea. Maybe raise our chances of seeing a ship passing by the island," Elias quietly mused aloud.

"Probably should return to camp and report our findings soon. Once there we can plan out future explorations a tad better and resupply.

[storyteller]

To the hills, then?

[smartaleq]

To the hills, then?

Yes, we're agreed. Let's continue to the hills in the center of the map. Marching order is Maria-Roostin-Epswitch-Gil-Elias for the woods section, climbing order is the same as for the cliffs.

[TwoCents]

Roostin

"Aye, let's go to the hills. Ah like the idea of maybe setting up a lookout on a hilltop."

OOC: Sorry I didn't get back to it sooner...

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Epswitch carefully climbs down and says, "We just going to leave our rope here? We've got pretty limited resources, seems kind of a shame to waste the rope and pitons."

Epswitch is ready to march. hiho, hiho, its off to the hills we go.

[storyteller]

You head for the hills. The walk through the dense forest is long and uneventful. Towards the center of the island, the terrain becomes hilly and your progress becomes slow and difficult.

Maria spots curious marks on the bark of a large tree. At first it looks like they're three bear claw marks, but upon closer inspection you realize that the marks actually resemble spears or arrows in shape. The three arrows point in the same direction: the tallest of the hills, rising 100 feet above the surrounding area.

|        |
|  --->  |
|  --->  |
|  --->  |
|        |

OOC: To avoid continuity issues with the other team, let's assume that you left a rope for them so they can climb onto the ledge without difficulties.

[smartaleq]

OOC: To avoid continuity issues with the other team, let's assume that you left a rope for them so they can climb onto the ledge without difficulties.

Agreed, -100ft rope


After looking at the mark Maria discovered, Gil makes an ugly face. He pantomimes to the others "three options"
1) press on, watching carefully
2) sneak towards the hill, going slowly but very deliberately
3) return to camp for more help

Gil Advocates 2, and mentions sending Elias for home if we find something worrisome. Gil also suggests the group should spread out some, so that we can not all be surrounded at once.

[jagadaishio]

Maria gives a quick sweep of the area, looking for any human, humanoid, or generally unusual tracks on the forest floor. She holds a finger to her lips and makes a hand gesture to suggest that they should move quietly while she searches. If she finds no tracks, she'll agree with Gil. If she finds tracks, it depends on how many distinct sets she finds.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Taking 10 on survival to find tracks, result of 12.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

When seemingly instructed to keep quiet, Epswitch whispers back, "You think someone is over there? I can sneak over and check it out. We halflings can be quite discrete."

Epswitch begins to move in that direction silently, and starts to hide as he goes, once out of sight of the team.

Spoiler

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Not sure how many hide/move silently rolls you need. Generally, the player isn't supposed to know their roll, so my modifiers are :
Move Silently : +3
Hide : +5

[TwoCents]

Roostin

Remembering the one time he had been part of a "cutting out expedition" to sneak aboard a ship, Roostin used the time while Maria was searching to prepare. He carefully muffled any clinking bits on his gear or clothing and tightened the straps on his makeshift pack.

OOC: He has Alertness, giving him Listen +4 & Spot +4

[storyteller]

You find some animal tracks but no humanoid tracks or anything that indicates that intelligent (humanoid) creatures have moved through this area recently. The marks on the trees could be months, even years old. Ep and Roostin scout ahead but all you find is more of those arrow marks on trees. Each time, the arrows point in the same direction, the tallest of the hills.

[smartaleq]

Gil

Gil writes in the dirt - "to the hills! together". He'll keep a careful lookout for traps as they go.

[lawful_evil]

Epswitch

Having returned from scouting and relayed his information, Epswitch looks to the team and is about to suggest they stop standing around and get moving, when Gil does it for him. Adding his idea, Epswitch says, "You said it Gil."

Epswitch turns to head back in the direction they scouted.