Milling about high above the canal, the group cannot immediately decide on what to do with the horses, risk their lives jumping the canal, leave them here in some manner, or something else. On a positive note, the baboons don't look to have raised any type of alarm, as you see no activity going on within the canals. Indeed, they seem quite abandoned, though you can see some droppings (presumably from the monkeys) on the ground.
Rhune looks toward the jump. "Hmmmm.......don't know about you but that is a dangerous one false misstep and they could die...." she leans forward to pat the horses neck. "If you want, I could try first and take a rope across .......everyone could leave their gear here and tie it to the rope and then once everyone is across we could bring the equipment across." Slipping off and removing all but the saddle Rhune lays her bow and quiver down as well, keeping the sword....then slowly waking the horse to the edge and scanning the distance and the building across......removing some debris from the site. Rhune then remounts and turns her horse back to the party, "I am the lightest." She waits for the others to make the decision.
Tolik turns to answer. "It is not just the horse's life you risk. It is your own as well. I'm sure that'd put a real dent in Asif's mood..." he smiles gently, then continues, "Plus, what does that solve? We get across this canal, but what if there is another, and getting out? And the feat would not be accomplished with one horse, but many times over... I for one could not get this beast to jump that." He looks at the horse he had been riding. "I think we need a different solution, but hell, I don't know anything bout horses.
"Then the only thing to do would be to leave the horses here to fend for themselves and hope that they are alright." Rhune replies...."If that is what everyone wants to do then okay with me. But we need to decide quickly before those ape's return."
Ratlin nods, "I agree with Tolik, that and there may not be enough room for the horses to jump back across."
"Does anyone see a way where we can travel down and leave the horses here? I don't want to risk my horse in an attempt to jump from here to the roof of another building, for I don't have a clue how to get back from there. However I think we have to get down here somewhere."
"Rhune's proposal is perhaps the best. Just make sure you are tightened fast to the rope when you decent. Or does anyone see another way?"
Ullar tries to find out a large rock which he can lift, so that he can put a rope, tied to the reigns of the horse, under it.
And so the plan is made, simple as that. The horses are harnessed to heavy rocks while the group descends. With the help of some ropes, and some physical effort, you make your way down fairly easily. Only Dakath among you has ever rappelled down from a rooftop to the floor in front of it but it's not a terribly difficult when you don't have to be completely silent, or so he assures you. In any case, the descent is made with no one harmed.
Tolik glides softly down, and sits comfortably against the wall. As he watches the others struggle to get down, he tries to appear as bored as possible, but his amusement shows through.
Ullar, concentrating to get down safely, sees Tolik gliding down. He watches the elf in amazement, than makes a mental note when he sees the 'amused-look-of-boredom' on his face.
When Dakath has descended he waits below for the others to follow him. As he watches the others descend he can't hide the grin on his face.
Arkady tries to copy Dakath as best he can on the way down, his enthusiasm for a new experience overriding any fear he might feel. When he gets to the bottom he sketches a picture of the descent into his journal.
Dakath overcome with curiosity wanders over to stand at Arkady's shoulder "What is the purpose of your journal my friend ?"
Arkady smiles and shows Dakath his drawings. "I try to record all of my experiences that I may recall them with vividity when I look back on this. Also a scientific mind keeps detailed notes and drawings of all phenomenon so that it can be studied objectively. Plus when I have a clever idea I need to write it down before the voi......before I forget it." Arkady closes his book and looks at the floor a flush rising up his neck.
Dakath, grateful for the glimpse at his journal, studies his drawings carefully. Until Arkady falls silent, Dakath looks at him for a moment before tactfully changing the subject. "That's an excellent idea, perhaps I should take a leaf out of your book, when I was a merchant I kept all my figures up in my head. If I'd of written them down I would of provided all that unnecessary work for his Lordships Tax inspectors." He grinned at Arkady "I just liked to minimize their workload."
Ratlin has a white knuckled grip on the rope on his way down and his lips are pressed into a tight line as he tries to calm himself.
Watching Ratlin go down the rope, Tolik is overcome by a sudden bout of coughing, but a close look shows he is trying hard not to laugh. "That's the way, you'll get down one way or another," he calls.
Ratlin shoots Tolik a look that would freeze his feathers if it could.
Making your way down, you see many smallish buildings, all cut into the canyon faces. Simple stone blocks, crudely manufactured, make up the buildings, which are quite simple as well. Peering into the nearest one, you see what must be the lair of the baboons you encountered above, for there are piles of hair and some very crude bedding, along with bones, what look like human bones.
There are dozens of these small buildings along the gulley you are in, and from above you could see that there were several such gulleys. If all contain such baboons, you might be in trouble. To your right side, the buildings end and the canyon continues, while to your left there are many more, including one larger building with double doors and a building that appears to cross well out into the canyon, unlike the others. Beyond that, from your estimation from above, lies the ruined tower itself, to which you could approach by walking between the two irregular buildings along the canal.
Tolik looks carefully at the buildings, then asks, "Anyone else in favor of seeing what's inside those buildings before heading to the tower?"
Arkady nods vigorously. "Da. I would like to explore these ruins before advancing. This may help us keep our backs safe, as well as we might find something useful or interesting." Arkady sketches the canal dwellings and the baboon nest while he waits for a decision to be made. "Oh!! And don't forget I have a monkey to cook!"
"Blech!" says Forte, grimacing in disgust.
Ratlin grins, "It's no worse than the rumors of Orcs eating candied elf ears."
Rhune just simply looks over at Ratlin then turns away, but if he looks he will see her hand slip up to her delicately pointed ears.
Tolik groans again. "You can't eat that. Really. I'm glad you want to go into the buildings, but leave the corpse. It won't do you any good in there."
You can hear echoing through the canals the sound of whooping and hollering, almost certainly baboons, though whether it is the ones who fled from you or others you cannot tell.
Pulling out her bow and knocking an arrow Rhune remains alert to her surroundings....shivering at the sounds of the whooping and hollering. in a low whisper, "So do we go by the buildings or try find another way around?"
"I bet the buildings would be more easily defended if those apes decide to come after us too." Tolik adds.
Ullar nods. "Rhune and you are right. I think it's safer to check out these buildings before heading to the tower. However, there are lots of them, so let's only pick the largest and then continue onwards to the tower."
"Anyone who has a problem with that plan of action?" Ullar asks, looking around to the rest of the group.
"No I don't but checking out the buildings would indeed be a good idea." Rhune replies
"Tolik's plan sounds good," agrees Forte. "And we can search the other buildings after we're done with the tower. If we want to." Forte turns to Amibar, "What do you think we should do?" he asks in all seriousness.
" Wh.. Who me?" Amibar is startled as Forte pops the question (G). " I don't know... it sounds good to me," he blurts.
Ratlin says softly, "I suggest we clear this section out so we don't get ambushed from behind."
"I don't think we can. Next time, they might not run away. Wouldn't you and I have been in a heap of trouble if they hadn't." He cringes, thinking of joining the piles of bones in the dugout they looked in. "Plus we shouldn't linger more than we have to, especially in the open. We'll be seen."
"I will be more prepared for it this time," Ratlin replies coldly.
Pietro looks around all the time. "Seems to me that these ruins are the perfect place for some old-fashioned ghost stories." Even though his words are light, you can see Pietro is a little bit nervous as well. He is holding his sling just a little bit too hard.
Dakath listens to the hollering of the Baboons for a moment before looking towards the large building with the double doors "Well I suggest we explore this area first." He turns to face Forte "after all last time we found ourselves a mace, didn't we ?" he grins at the big warrior.
"Yes, we did!" responds Forte with a grin.
Ullar, seriously doubting if that last remark of Dakath is doing Forte any good, eyes the warrior with curiosity, wondering if he is up to another 'exploring' mission.
Forte turns to Ullar. "Hey, Ullar, let's explore that building. Then maybe you can get a sword and I can get my sword back." Forte thinks for a moment, then adds, "Unless we find a magical sword. Then you can keep my old one and I'll keep the enchanted weapon," he says, teasing the ex-gladiator. "And if there are any stone guys throwing acid blobs, I'll charge in.....second. Right after you, Ullar!" the large warrior laughs, trying to hide a little nervousness at the memory of the acid.
Arkady watches the exchange with amusement. "Acid?? Really?? Forte can we talk about that? I would be quite interested in your experiences."
"Uh, sure, Arkady." Forte looks puzzled for a second, but then says, with a shrug of his massive shoulders, "I don't remember much, but the next time we camp for the night, I can tell you about it."
Rhune places an arm on Forte's shoulder in a comforting way ......remembering the incident fully.
Forte smiles kindly at the elf.
"Excellent. I look forward to it. Do you mind if I take notes??" Arkady says with considerable excitement.
"That's fine with me," Forte answers.
A burst of laughter comes from the huge body of the warrior. "Yeah.. yeah.. well.. ehm.. in that case.. I'll take some stones with me, since Kyo is no longer with us and his 'crude' spears saved our asses. Jeez.. that was a close one indeed!"
"But.. I'll use my dagger this time.." says Ullar, while putting Forte his sword in the scabbard on his back ".. since these animals are pretty fast. I can always use my handaxe if necessary" he adds, with a wry grin.
"Arkady, are you joining the front row with us?" says Ullar, while walking towards the closest building picked for examination.
"By all means! Thank you for the invitation Ullar." Arkady draws both his black blades and shaking away a vision of green ooze heads to the front to stand with Forte and Ullar. "Where shall we begin this exploration gentlemen??"
Dakath wanders behind Ullar grinning "Your complete lack of caution staggers me, I'm going to follow, about 10 feet behind, is that alright ? Let me know if you have trouble opening the door, watch out for traps, ambushes etc."
"You're not going to check for traps?" Forte asks Dakath, with a very surprised tone in his voice. "Isn't that your specialty?"
"Well you both seemed so eager to go charging up there, I didn't want to spoil your fun." he says.
"Okay," says Forte trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably as he starts to laugh, "but when I see an acid blob heading toward me, I'm ducking!"
"I will help you in ducking them as well Forte." Rhune utters with a smile.
"Ah.. by shattering his kneecap if you see one coming?" asks Ullar, trying to hide his laughing from the elven woman's eyes.
Dakath shrugs "Whatever you feel comfortable doing my large fearless warrior friend!"
Arkady bows to Dakath with an exaggeratedly sarcastic flourish. "Please ruin our fun, good master craftsman. The door is yours"
"I can help with that as well." Rhune replies.
Dakath turns to three men briefly "Three warriors with sharp tongues, now be sure not to cut yourselves on long words." with that he turns and draws his dagger before moving towards the building with the double doors, hoping to stick to the shadows he moves close to the canyon wall.
"Well, I am not too much of a fighter, but there is nothing wrong with my eyes. I will watch our back while you are advancing. Do not worry, if more of those baboons some running towards me, I will scream so hard they will run in terror!" Pietro stands there looking at ease, but looking pretty stupid as well with the red and white bandana now covering his head. "Dunno about eating a monkey though, my people refrained from eating monkeys, the story goes that they carry stuff that will make you sick and wither. Then again, I've never seen proof of a person eating a monkey either." Pietro readies his sling, and is looking around intensely. when he tries hard enough, you can imagine that he will be able to see through all the obstacles.
Rhune keeps an eye out on the surroundings paying attention. "If we are going to check out the buildings then let's do it soon.....I don't like this place very much."
The group heads toward the larger building with the double doors, bypassing several smaller buildings on their way to it. Dakath, once given reassurance from the warriors that they are not in THAT much of a hurry, examines the doors.
Once he reaches his destination, Dakath then begins examining the surrounding area carefully before turning his attention to the door. When he can find nothing unusual then he motions the others forward.
He notices that this building is of much nicer manufacture than the other, smaller buildings, fashioned of marble, finely carved. However, the doors and the walls have been defaced with graffiti, yellow paint, scrawls in some very harsh sounding language, and the continuing motif of a ruined tower. Surely the original manufacturers of this beautiful building must be rolling around in their graves.
Reasonably assured that there are no traps on the door, and it being unlocked, Dakath takes a listen before the warriors go in. He hears several harsh voices speaking loudly, apparently not alerted by the baboon cries, nor seemingly much worried about security. The language sounds very familiar to that of the various goblin tribes you have encountered since you entered this part of the world.
Realizing his work is done, Dakath backs out of the way to allow the threesome to smash their way through the double doors and do their business.
And they do, Forte and Ullar on the flanks and Arkady in the middle, able to enter through the double doors at the same time. Following up are the various archers, with Pietro keeping rearguard.
The room is nice and spacious, unlike that of the other building you all looked into. However, it's inside has been as defaced and destroyed as the outside, as the frescoes on the wall have been slashed to the point of being unrecognizable, and the graffiti is within as well. Burning in the center of the room is a crude fire in a pit cut into the soft marble floor.
Of more concern are the eight small yellow-skinned goblins lounging about the place, who rush to attack you!
There is a door on the opposite side of the room, and no other means of egress that you can see. There also does not appear to be anything of value within this chamber.
Forte steps slightly away from Arkady, to give them both room to fight. He waits for the goblins to get close and begins bashing them with his mace. "I really wish I had a sword," he mutters to himself, as he waits for the goblins to reach him.
"BOGA!!" Arkady shouts as he counter charges the goblinoids. He slashes with his blades. His face contorts and twists into a grim mask of hate and pain. He hacks at the goblinoids ignoring his own wounds and screaming a wicked sounding song in his native tongue. In his head the voices scream their pleasure. In his mouth he screams his torment.
Rhune tries to get a shot off with the bow without hitting a party member before dropping it and switching to sword....slipping to cover Asif....or anyone who needs help....."Look out." she calls.
Tolik, only a little in front of Pietro, pulls a dagger out from underneath his cloak to throw at any goblins that he has a clear shot at, waiting for one to break past the fighters. Then he takes another dagger out and uses it to defend himself, scanning for anyone he can help without putting himself at great risk.
Tolik throws his dagger, missing the goblins completely, while Rhune fires off two arrows, both of which are also off the mark.