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Player's Introduction
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Kendall: Can we climb the ledges?
Game Master: There is only sheer rock, and the top seems to be angled so that there's nothing for a grappling hook to catch on to.
Kendall: Is there anything to secure a rope to?
Game Master: Yes; there are trees on both sides.
Kendall: I'm going to toss my grappling hook and attempt to secure a rope on the other side, then tie a noose on the other end around the rope, and attach another rope through the loop of the noose so that I can pull the rope back from the other side.
Game Master: Done.
Kendall: "How about if I shuttle across giving you each a piggyback ride, and then carry across our gear?"
Others: "Ok. We'll wait by the edge for you to get back"
Game Master: You get Torv, Pirt, and Qualinesti over; while you are carrying 'Limna over, a bolt of lightning strikes the tree on the far side. The electrical spasm causes Kendall with 'Limna to jump off the rope, and the thunder blast knocks Torv, Pirt, and Qualinesti over the edge. You fall seventy five feet onto rock.
Qualinesti has a fractured femur.
Torv has a tibia/fibula fracture, and some broken ribs.
Pirt has unknown injuries; he is knocked out by the impact.
'Limna has two broken arms.
Kendall is able to roll and reduce the damage, but he will have some severe abrasions.
Limna: I'm going to pray over myself, and then lay hands on Qualinesti, Pirt, Torv, and Kendall.
Game Master: You feel a lessening of pain as the bones begin to slide into place.
Kendall: I'm going to search around the sides for a route up.
Game Master: The sides are sheer rock and slippery rock; you can see almost nothing now. It's unclear whether you'd be able to find a route up on a sunny day; you can't climb out now.
Kendall, Torv, Pirt: We're going to search for a way out.
Game Master: You don't find anything.
Pirt: I am going to pray that a way out may be found.
Game Master: The rain begins to grow less intense, and, after about an hour, the sun begins to shine. You notice that the walls have streaks of talc reaching up to the top.
Kendall: Are there any visible climbing routes?
Game Master: No.
Kendall: "Torv, may I borrow your dagger?"
Torv: "Here you go."
Kendall: I'm going to start seeing if I can carve holds in the the talc, hoping to find a way to the top.
Game Master: In about three hours, you get about two thirds of the way up, before coming to the end of a streak which is not within any reasonable distance of any other.
Kendall: I'm going to climb down and rest for a while.
Torv: What's the status of the rope?
Game Master: It's lying coiled at the edge.
Torv: Are there any small rocks around?
Game Master: Yes, there are.
Torv: I'm going to throw rocks at it to knock it down.
Game Master: You can't throw any rocks higher than about thirty feet.
Kendall: I'm going to stuff rocks in my pockets, and climb up the talc trail to throw rocks at the rope.
Game Master: You get about halfway through before knocking it down. It falls about ten feet to your right, and goes down about twenty feet.
Kendall: "Geronimo!!!"
Game Master: You barely manage to stop yourself sliding before you reach the tip.
Kendall: I'm going to climb up, scare away any animals, and ferry the gear across, then from the other end, pull across and reanchor the rope, and help the people up. [pause] Wait. I'm going to rapell down the side and carve handholds.
Game Master: There are a couple of raccoons who have helped themselves to your food, but no other animals. You manage to do what you wanted to.
Kendall: "Thanks for letting me use your dagger, Torv. Here it is."
Torv: "You're welcome."
Game Master: You continue on, and early the next day come to a fork in the path.
Pirt: What does the map say?
Game Master: The map shows only one path.
Pirt: Is one side more sharply angled, or wider, or more worn?
Game Master: Both are equally angled, equally wide, and equally worn.
Pirt: I'm going to study the map to see if I can find any hints.
Game Master: [pauses] You don't find any.
Qualinesti: I'm going to do the same.
Game Master: You don't find any, either.
Kendall: I'm going to pray for a word on which path to choose.
Game Master: You remember the words of an author:
And I said to him, "Sir, give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he said to me, "Put thy hand into the hand of God. That will be better to thee than a light, and safer than a known way."
Kendall: Do I receive anything else?
Game Master: No.
Pirt: "God has sent us on this quest, and I am sure that he desires that we succeed. I think we should just pick a path, and trust God that it will be the right one. Which one do you suggest?"
Kendall: "Say, left."
Torv: "How do you know? Did you receive a word from God?"
Kendall: "I don't. I didn't. But I'm trusting in him."
'Limna: "Is that okay for everyone?"
Others: "Sounds fine."
Pirt: "Well, let's go, then."
Game Master: You go along, and as you go the hunting becomes more difficult. You come to the last village before the cave, where you purchase five days' worth of provisions, and go along... four days later, you're almost out of water, having just enough to get back, and haven't been able to find any along the way. It looks like another good week's journey until you get to the cave.
Pirt: Has there been any rain or any indication of rain?
Game Master: No. You've come across a couple of dry creeks.
Pirt: "I say that we go along and pray to find water."
Qualinesti: "We could go back to the village and ask about water sources."
'Limna: "Yes, we could, but that would mean taking a few days' recovery from dehydration. It would mean a long delay."
Kendall: "Point."
Pirt: "I think that this is the third test."
[After a continuation of deliberation, they decide to continue.]
Game Master: Two days later, you come across an abandoned well which, while tbe wood holdings, the rope and the bucket are hopelessly rotted, Kendall is able to climb down into to replenish your waterskins. Four days later, you come across a cavern twisting into the earth.
Pirt: I'm going to light my lantern, hold my breath, and walk in.
Game Master: It takes your eyes a little while to adjust to the semidarkness, and then you see an old man with a flowing, white beard, wearing a coarse woolen cloak, sitting in a chair. There is a fire in the corner of the cave.
He stands up, raises his hand in benediction, and then says something in his tongue. [pulls Jane, 'Limna's player, aside.] He said, "Greetings, travellers. I have been waiting for you."
'Limna: Unless I indicate that I'm having a private conversation with Munra, I'm going to interpret so that you can just speak for him. [to others] "He said, 'Greetings, travellers. I have been waiting for you.'"
['Limna interprets for the interaction.]
...
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