Chapter 36

The group wakes to the sounds of the jungle coming alive. Chirps and clicks begin to erupt from unseen birds, the guttural croak of a frog somewhere off in the distance, and the slow rythmic buzzing of insects adds to nature’s symphony. Through it all, a distant howler monkey’s mournful call hangs heavy in the humid air, a slightly haunting start to the new day.

After a brief breakfast of trail rations, they proceed towards the mountain temple in the same order as yesterday. Dolor leads them, cutting back vines and vegetation with a machete, followed closely by Bilwin and Mond. Grindlefoot scampers along the path as lightly as the previous day, unhindered by the dense plant growth, and Gven continues to battle the branches that snap back to attention after his passing.

“Hey farmer, would you mind not aiming every single twig at my face! I could keep a better eye on our path and how to get back to the cove if I didn’t have to fight the jungle too.”

Grindlefoot pauses for a second and looks at Gven, only realizing in that moment that he was causing her any discomfort at all. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about getting back there, I’m a Wanderer. I could lead us back there with my eyes closed.” He points off in the general direction they’ve traveled from, then just as quickly returns to following Mond and the others. “Isn’t this jungle great! It’s almost like it wants us to walk this way by making it so easy!” Gven groans as another branch smacks her in the face.

Around midday, after several hours of walking, they approach a large gorge, roughly 200 feet across to the other side and 100 feet to the bottom. Dolor turns to Bilwin, “does that map of yours show anything about this gorge or the easiest way to get to the other side?”

“Ah, isn’t that map a beautiful specimen of cartography. I could get lost in it for hours, along with a nice tasty beer, of course. But no, it doesn’t show much detail about this gorge, other than the river at the bottom running across the island. Although, I remember from our air reconnaissance that there’s a bridge somewhere close to here. Otherwise, it’s probably a day’s walk either way to get around it. I think the bridge is in that direction,” and Bilwin points towards the east.

Following Bilwin’s direction and walking within the cover of the jungle, they soon catch sight of a stone bridge that spans the gorge. A cacophony of monkeys grows louder as they get closer to the bridge. They can now see that the bridge has statues of monkeys lining the sides every 20 or 30 feet. Surprising them, a deep laugh emanates from the gorge below them and the monkeys quiet down momentarily, whether out of fear or respect, they’re uncertain.

Approaching the bridge, they can see that an ancient road is now overgrown by the jungle plants, only passable by the monkeys and other native animals. The bridge’s stone sides are covered in intricate carvings with geometric themes. Looking towards the other side of the gorge, they see a large stone statue of a kneeling warrior at the halfway point. A human skeleton rests at the base of the statue.

Off towards the west a few miles away, Dolor spies a rock floating a few hundred feet above the river in the middle of the gorge. “Gven, can you make out anything with that oddly placed rock?”

Looking toward the rock and embracing her Eagle totem warrior’s aspect of the beast, Gven is able to see the floating boulder fairly well, but it’s still too far for most details. “There’s a tree living on it and the rock appears to be a little bigger than the root ball. I don’t see anything else of note, but then…a floating rock with a tree is noteworthy, all on its own.”

Mond speaks up, “I believe that’s an earthmote. It’s held aloft by strong magic that cannot be dispelled. Hmm, could be interesting to explore it further, when we have time, that is.”

Turning back to the bridge, Dolor fires an arrow at the warrior statue to see if it triggers any movement or spells. Nothing happens in response, so the group begins to cross.

Curious about the geometric markings on the bridge’s stone railings, Bilwin stops to investigate them and thinks they resemble mazes. Looking closer, he finds references to the gods Moradin and Ubtao, but isn’t sure how that relates to the bridge or the gorge a hundred feet below them.

As they approach the halfway point, about 40 feet from the statue, it suddenly stands up and in a booming, deep voice says “You are not worthy.”

Gven quickly responds with “and who are you to deem us unworthy?” She moves within striking distance of the animated stone warrior and invokes her barbarian rage, holding Tempest Edge at the ready.

Fight choreography

• Gven - Stands ready to respond to any attack from the stone golem.
• Bilwin - Bows towards the stone warrior and humbly says, “we apologize for intruding on your space, this, umm, lovely bridge made of fine solid rock and wish only to pass in peace.” His attempt to persuade fails, so he casts Shield of Faith in front of Gven.
• Dolor - Moves to stand next to Gven, holding Gleaming Blade at the ready.
• Grindlefoot - Slowly backs up while preparing Entangle for the first sign of the golem’s movement.
• Mond - Cautiously backs away from the group, allowing some distance for him to cast a spell.
• Golem - Moving only its right arm, it smacks Gven across the face for 9 bludgeoning damage.
  • Dolor - Reacts immediately and swings Gleaming Blade at the beast, causing 19 damage.
  • Golem - On its backswing from hitting Gven, it smacks Dolor and causes 13 damage.
  • Dolor - As is his way, automatically responds with Hellish Rebuke, causing 20 damage to the golem.
• Grindlefoot - Responding to the golem’s attack, casts Entangle, but it fails to grapple the stone warrior.

• Gven - Misses with both swings of Tempest Edge.
• Bilwin - Casts Guiding Bolt and misses.
  • He then casts Spiritual Weapon, which attacks the golem and causes 5 force damage.
• Dolor - Swings Gleaming Blade at the stone warrior and connects for 19 damage.
  • He then attacks with his second short sword in his off hand, causing 10 damage, but it doesn’t appear to impact the golem.
• Grindlefoot - Casts Healing Word at Gven, for 4 in healing.
  • He then Wild Shapes into a giant ape and moves closer.
• Mond - Casts Lightning Bolt for 29 damage.
• Golem - Palm strikes Dolor for 10 bludgeon damage and then misses Dolor on its backswing.

• Gven - Swings her glowing longsword at the golem, causing 16 damage with her first strike and missing with her second.
• Bilwin - Blesses the others, assisting with their attacks and saves.
  • He quickly casts Bardic inspiration at Mond.
  • The spiritual weapon attacks the golem and causes 10 damage.
• Dolor - Focuses on attacking only with his magical short sword and connects for 18 damage, then quickly uses Second Wind to regain 5 health.
• Grindlefoot - As an ape, he jumps around everyone to attack and misses. He realizes that as a halfling he knows martial arts and decides to create Kung Fu Monkey style. Unfortunately, the non-magical attack doesn’t hurt the golem.
• Mond - Casts Burning Hands for 18 damage and the 8 foot tall stone golem suddenly crumbles to the ground amidst the sheet of flames erupting from Mond’s hands.

Sliding Gleaming Blade into its scabbard, Dolor quietly says, “not worthy, my ass.”

Continuing across the bridge, they discover that the last twenty feet has crumbled and fallen into the gorge below. Fortunately, Grindlefoot is still in the shape of a giant ape and scrambles across the gap while carrying one end of a length of rope. Returning to his halfling form, he ties off the rope to a tree while Dolor secures the other end to part of the stone bridge.

Before they cross the rope, Bilwin casts Feather Fall on the adventurers, then he and Mond make it across quickly. When Dolor reaches halfway, he loses his balance and begins to slowly fall away. Moving quicker than anyone expected, Gven is able to shimmy across the rope and grab Dolor before he’s out of reach, saving him from a hundred foot fall to the gorge below.

They continue on for the rest of the afternoon, attempting to follow the ancient overgrown road while moving towards the mountain temple as best they can.