Climbing Hook

“Anyone climbing a mountain should be well equipped. Only the skilled (or desperate) should attempt it without a climbing hook.”
-Excerpt from a letter by the adventurer Silka Binsendengler, 1028 FB

Many adventurers take climbing rope along on journeys, and some bring climbing hooks as well. Anyone setting out to climb up mountains or down valleys or shafts probably wants to return safely, and hooks make this possible.

Climbing hooks usually consist of one or two pointed steel rods bent at a right angle and connected with a ring. Even thick climbing ropes can fit through this ring without problems, and the thicker the rope, the safer the climb. Climbing hooks attach to almost any wall with the aid of a simple hand hammer and some muscle, but be careful to attach it to solid rock. Doing otherwise may trigger a rock slide. In a pinch, climbing hooks can serve as steps on steep inclines that do not otherwise offer reasonable footing.

Thieves and spies usually don’t have time to employ climbing hooks, which is why they prefer to use grapnel hooks instead. Mountaineers, on the other hand, keep both in their packs. And of course, climbing hooks are most useful when combined with a climbing rope. A hero may use them as hand-holds, but this would slow the climbing rate considerably and require a great number of hooks, besides.