<div align="center"><strong>GM NOTICE</strong><br/><hr/><br/><strong>THE BATTLE OF THE EMERALD SPIRE RUINS</strong></div><br/><hr/><br/>Your strike forces have been organized and placed accordingly in three separate areas of operation.<br/><br/><em>As travelers emerge from the Echo Wood underbrush, they find themselves staring up at a ruined keep guarding a broken central tower, all made of smooth green glass.  It's obvious that a grand battle took place here many years ago, and the clearing around the ruin is barren, with sickly weeds struggling to rise from the magic-blasted earth.  Melted chunks of twisted glass pepper the ground, lending a green hue to the clearing's light.  Despite the damage, however, the glass of the keep itself seems to have avoided the ravages of time, with those pieces that survived the initial cataclysm unmarred by pitting or cracks, clean of moss and other clinging debris.</em><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>Area A:  The Switchback</strong><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/nUeyTdS.png)<br/></div><br/><em>The stone staircase that led up to the tower's door is now nothing more than a rubble-strewn cliff.  On the tower's south side, a dirt path winds up the steep embankment to a pitch-black doorway.</em><br/><br/><strong>In Round One:</strong>Tem's strike team waited for word on Cass's strike team.  During that time, a goblin meandered out from the ruins and discarded what appeared to be human remains.<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Group One:</strong>Shani and Tem await Cass's call.<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Enemy Phase:</strong>The goblin suddenly spins around to look back at the ruins as a cacophony of barks fills the air.<br/><br/><strong> "What is it?"</strong>the goblin yells.<br/><br/><strong> "I do not know!"</strong>responds a goblin obscured by the darkness.<strong> "I think the dogs smell something!  I will check."</strong><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>Area B:  The Ruined Staircase</strong><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/MNeEDLn.png)<br/></div><br/><em>The ruined staircase that led to the tower's north entrance has collapsed under its own weight, but the top of the stairs still remain.  There is a ten foot wide hole in the keep wall, created in some long forgotten war.  It looks like one can enter the keep through the hole.</em><br/><br/>The CLIMB DC is 15!  The staircase is roughly 15 feet up.<br/><br/><strong>In Round One:</strong>Vendi attempted to climb up the ruined staircase but was unable to do so.  Mouser successfully clambered up and is in the process of lowering a rope.  Damira skipped.<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Group One:</strong>Vendi climbed up!<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Enemy Phase:</strong>Just moments after Vendi sets a heeled foot atop the ruined staircase, nearby hounds start barking raucously.<br/><br/><strong> "I do not know!"</strong>Someone in the darkness calls out to someone else.<strong> "I think the dogs smell something!  I will check."</strong><br/><br/><div align="center"><strong>Area C:  The Secret Entrance</strong><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/zv40q6P.png)<br/></div><br/><em>A steep cliff, sixty feet in height, confronts you.  The rock is brittle and crumbles in your grasp.</em><br/><br/>THE CLIMB DC is 20!<br/><br/><strong>In Round One:</strong>An inebriated Edan climbed up the cliff-wall and made it to the top.  Victor and Cass are waiting for a rope.<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Group One:</strong>Victor and Cass make it up the rope once Edan lowered it.<br/><br/><strong>In Round Two, Enemy Phase:</strong>You can hear hostile dogs barking within the ruins.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>GENERAL NOTICE:</strong><br/><br/>Please post in the game thread regardless of whether your character skips their turn.  It's easier for me to keep track.<br/><br/><strong>NOTE:</strong><br/><br/>The enemy stirs from within.  It is now Faranal, Ishtar, Mouser, and Damira's turn.  They have until 11:55 p.m. EST on 6/29/2018 to post.