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Session 0 / Part 2, The Test

Paldegora 

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Session 0 – 2022-11-05

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Xavier here! I had a nice rest and am ready to get on with the telling of the story of "The Company Clandestine".

Let's see where we left off. Ah yes, we ended after the battle with the Goblins in the swamp. 

Everyone gathered above the cliffs looking further up the hill. Cal-El-Dor and X'or had both taken some damage. Angelique healed them with her only two "Cure Light Wounds" spells. Then, Cal-El-Dor took the lead and moved to the top of the hill to see what was ahead for them. Beyond it was a downward slope into a valley covered with a low-hanging fog. The road was a switchback, zig zagging its way down the hill. From here, he could tell it split into three paths at the bottom. In the distance he could see a tower. He couldn't really see the paths well enough to tell if one of them led to the tower directly or not. He continued down the hill and the rest of the party followed.

As they reached the bottom, they had to decide which path to take, Cal-El had been watching for tracks as they moved along. There were boot prints going forward ahead of them, and until now, none of them went back the way they came. Down at the bottom of the hill, where the roads branched off in different directions, there were some return tracks. The tracks were booted and went down each path, but it appeared that the two side paths were mostly attempts to move forward, but for whatever reason, the tracks usually returned to this split and went down the center path. The party opted to go down the center path. Cal-El took the lead with X'or and the rest following about 20 yards behind. That's about how far he could be from the rest of them and still be seen. As he progressed, it became darker and more clouded in the misty fog. They continued until they reached a set of boards set to cross a body of water to an island. The boards were very wet and old. They were likely very slippery and may not even hold up to someone like X'or stepping on them. It was decided that they put no more than one person per board as they began moving across. 

Cal-El crossed the first board to the second board. When he stepped on it, Eryn followed on the first board. When Cal-El made it to the third board, Eryn moved across the second board and Symon crossed the first board. This continued with Angelique being next on the boards and X'or being last. As they reached the other side, Cal-El jumped off the board, avoiding the thick muddy patch just off the board. Eryn followed suit then Symon and Angelique. When X'or made it to the last board, a javelin landed next to Eryn. Before anyone could react, a second one struck her and she went down with a sickening sound and a horrible wound, unmoving. The sound of the strike was heard by all and it was very apparent that they were being attacked by creatures on either side of the water. They were in a cross fire between two sets of Lizard folk. 

Symon moved back quickly to pull Eryn away from the battle area, trying to keep her from being struck again. Angelique was approached by two of the Lizard folk, before she could do anything to help her. Two more crossed the water to attack X'or while he was on the boards. Another one headed for Cal-El. It took a couple of minutes but X'or, decapitated the two of them attempting to strike him. Cal-El took out his. Angelique was able to prevent herself from being hit and manage to damage the two attacking her, but the two survived until X'or and Cal-El made it over to help her. They died quickly after that. Angelique moved to Eryn to see what she could do to help her. Cal-El moved to her as well. It was too late for bandaging the wounds. Angelique had to pull out a scroll to cast a spell to stabilize her. It took a second scroll to get her up and moving again. 

They continued on and crossed the island only to come to another bridge that had mostly fallen in. There were stretches of boards with gaps. The first gap being right at the beginning. Eryn suggested a board from the bridge behind us to bridge that gap. X'or went back to the bridge and brought back a board and placed it to give them a path to the first board of this new bridge. It was treacherous but they made it most of the way across the bridge. Then they came to a point where there was a large gap between the two structures. It was far too far to jump. Eryn asked if X'or, being so strong, and with her being so light, if he thought he could toss her across the opening. He thought he could. He hooked his hands together and she stepped into it pushing off as he heaved her over his shoulder. It was a great throw followed by a perfect landing on the first set of boards that were not underwater. Eryn took out her silk rope and created a lasso which she threw back to X'or. He tied it off on his end to the supports for the end of the bridge. Eryn tied the other end to a tree about 10 feet up. Each person crossed holding the rope. Still, almost everyone got a little wet. X'or and Symon, both got a lot wet, but they all made it across.

They continued on the path before them. The path ended a ways ahead and the ground before them was still very swampy. Angelique offered her staff to Cal-El and he used it to test the ground around him to find a path where he could step and not sink too far. He indicated that the rest should follow in his footsteps as much as possible. Eryn followed next followed by Symon, Angelique, and then X'or. At one point they had to back up and go a different direction. They continued in a roughly northerly direction. They had to veer east at one point and pass between two bodies of water. As Cal-El just started to clear it on the other side, they were attacked by Zombies in the water. Angelique, their Priestess of Naa, pulled out her holy symbol and turned three of the undead, sending them scurrying away from them. The rest of the party dispatched the remaining two and they continued on. They eventually cleared the swamp on the north side and found themselves on solid ground finally. 

Before them were two impassable cliffs. There was a small path between them. It was the only path they could take.

Well, we'll get to what happened after that, once I've had my breakfast. The coffee that my wife is brewing downstairs is calling me. I'll be back soon.