Into the castle!

[Breila]

(The chest is in the corridor leading to the bridge. It will come in handy once you've managed to put the bridge back into position)

To make things easier to visualise, here is a crude sketch of the bridge "before" and "after"

bridge.png (6.93 KiB) Viewed 5947 times

The central pillar is represented by the yellow triangle, it is made of timber framework and could be climbed. Likewise, the bridge has railings not depicted here that could be climbed (but of course, the structure might move if you do that). The two grey rectangles represent the two buildings joined by the bridge (keep on the left, palas on the right). I guess it is clearly visible that the part of the bridge that connects to the palas is unreacheable when the bridge is in its flipped position.

[Stik]

At the foot of the tilted bridge, Christopher picks himself up and collects his gear, angry at himself - his pride bruised more than his body (dmg roll: 1d3=2). "I shall live," he grunts.

Then he applies himself to the problem of the bridge. It's not unlike the booms used to dip water from wells, or to dunk miscreants. That it unbalanced and dumped him only a short distance from the middle, then didn't sink back down afterwards, suggests that it was fairly well balanced. "Stand clear of the doorway. I will try to reset the bridge."

That said, he walks under the low end, bends his knees, and sets his back against the bottom of the bridge as near to the low end as possible, then tries to lift the end by straightening his legs.

[OOC] I'm thinking that in an ideal world, if this thing were perfectly balanced, a tiny touch would be sufficient to reset it. Of course, the mass of the bridge and the friction of the fulcrum must be overcome, so it won't be that easy. If this doesn't work, the next move will be to climb up the bridge like a ramp or a ladder and hope that once he gets past the midpoint it will rotate back to normal. [/OOC]

[Breila]

Christopher can lift up the bridge without too much trouble, but it stays where he put it. Evidently, the friction is too high to let it swing back completely. He could of course climb the railing as a ladder, and given that he has probably climbed assault ladders in the Holy Land (or at least trained for it), I guess he can do that even in armor. (Nevertheless, I'd like to have a DEX check).

[Stik]

[OOC] So the best he can do it raise the bottom of the bridge to about 8' from the ground. Which means unless he grows fifteen feet taller, he can't reset it completely.
How difficult was it to get the bridge this far? If it didn't take too much force, he'll go back to the gate and get his spear to push with. I would think that the 9' spear might get him another 8' or so of lift, maybe enough for someone at the top to snag the high end? [/OOC]

[Breila]

The bridge moves easily enough so Christopher's plan would be feasible, if they get a kind of grappling hook. Perhaps he should confer with the others, ask for their ideas? The girls have proven themselves good climbers already.

[Stik]

"You lot: find something up there to snag the end bridge with, to pull it down. I'll raise this end as high as I can."
Christopher carefully pushes on the end of the bridge with his spear, mindful to not bend the shaft lest the ashwood break. Striving for his full height and greatest reach, and holding the spear as close to the end, he raises the end until he can't reach to push any higher.

[pixie chic]

Thelma moves to help, and she drags Dale along as muscle. She looks for a pole with a hook on it if possible. Otherwise, she looks for a bit of rope and a pole. "Coming, Eloise?", she asks her young friend?

[Breila]

Eloise and Thelma know that there is a rope with a bucket in the well-house. But it would probably take less time for them two to climb up the framework of the central pillar, then climb onto the bridge and tilt it the rest of the way, than to walk over there, and untie or cut the rope from the well.

[Jenara]

"Crazy warrior." She mutters shaking her head, "How are we supposed to get it back? I mean there must be a hook somewhere around here."

[Stik]

Christopher's forehead creases at the girl's shout, but he says nothing, choosing instead to sigh.

[Breila]

Eloise and Thelma know that there is a rope with a bucket in the well-house. But it would probably take less time for them two to climb up the framework of the central pillar, then climb onto the bridge and tilt it the rest of the way, than to walk over there, and untie or cut the rope from the well.

So what are you going to do? Get the rome from the well-house and try to find a hook, or climb the pillar to balance the brige back into position?

[Jenara]

"You know... I have an idea." Grabbing Thelmas hand she heads back to the opening, "We are going down there, and then we are going up that." She motions to the central pillar, "I think it should work, ready?"

Climb down the wall: 1d100=37 Pass.

Up the tower: 1d100=1 (Best Climbing EVER)

[Breila]

(it would be far safer and quicker to just use the stairs to get into the yard, but if you wish to...)

[Jenara]

(But this is soooo much more fun. )

[Breila]

While the rest of the group watches in some exasperation, Eloise climbs down the timberframe facade of the palas, which is quite some work since the footholds are so slim. the stones of the lowest story are a different matter, she gets down there in no time.

The tower is very easy to scale for the two girls, and once up, they simply need to walk it to the palas to reset it.
It needs the combined efforts of Dale and Saul to lift the chest over the threshold, but they manage, and so the passage now looks safe and clear.

How do you proceed to the keep?