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The exposed roots of the Ironclaw trees twist into the mud and swamp water. Vines, trees and ferns block vision beyond a few feet. The ground is soaked and spongy. All is in shadow: the sun shows only a brief glimmer through the jungle overhead.

Riverwind bends down and examines the ground. "Tracks," he says. "Many creatures passed through this area within the last few hours. They look reptilian, not human," he says.

Laurana shakes quietly, it was fine to talk about her skills but.. When it came to it, she was scared.

"Are we going in that?" she asks attempting to sound casual, she fails.

-------

Sturm checks his weapon, secures his pack and waits for the group to head off.
"How do we want to deal with the order?"

"Tanis!" The kender clutches at the half-elf and points. A snake, as big around as Caramon's arm, slithers past them and into the ooze before them.

"We can't walk through this!" Tanis gestures at the swamp. "Maybe we should turn back."

"No time. And there's no other way," Riverwind says. His voice sounds strange. "And we can get through--I know a path."

"What?" Tanis turns to him.

"I've been here," the Plainsman says in a strangled voice. "I can't remember when, but I've been here. I know the way through the swamp. And it leads to--" He licks his lips.

"Leads to a broken city of evil?" Tanis asks grimly when the Plainsman does not finish his sentence. "Of course," Tanis says softly. "It makes sense. Where would we go to find answers about the staff--except to the place where the staff was given to you?"

"And we must go now!" says Riverwind insistently. "We must be there by midnight tonight!"

The Plainsman takes the lead. (The rest of the marching order is up to you all.) He finds firm ground around the black water and, making them all walk single file, leads them away from the road and deeper into the swamp. Trees that he calls ironclaw rise out of the water, their roots standing exposed, twisting into the mud. Vines droop from their branches and trail across the faint path. The mist closes in, and soon no one can see beyond a few feet. They are forced to move slowly, testing every step. A false move and they would plunge into the stinking morass that lays foul and stagnant all around them.

"Tasslehoff, why don't you follow Riverwind?" Goldmoon asks in a friendly voice. "Then you can see exactly where it is safe to walk. Laurana, you could go next. I'll follow closely behind." Goldmoon is set to get them moving, to arrive in Xak Tsaroth in time.

Raistlin leans on his staff and stays to the middle of the group, testing the ground ahead of him carefully as he walks. "Even if we find the city, Riverwind said there was a great evil there. We had best be on our guard." he advises in his quiet raspy voice.

"I can do that." Laurana says shakily, seeing the look Tanis gives her she straightens up and gets ready to go.

Caramon slips in behind Raistlin. The big warrior keeps close enough to offer a helping hand if needed. "Any ideas what the "great evil" could be guys?"

"Could be just about anything!" Tas says. "A demon, maybe? I met a demon once, you know. It all started when I found this ring someone dropped. I put it on, and I started teleporting to different places, until eventually I found myself in this evil wizard's lair..," he goes on.

Suddenly, the trail comes to an end in dark swamp water.

"Now what?" Flint asks.

"This," Riverwind says, pointing. A crude bridge, made out of vines twisted into ropes, is attached to a tree It spans the water like a spider web.

"Who built it?" Tanis asks.

"I don't know," Riverwind says. "But you will find them all along the path, wherever it becomes impassible."

"I suppose we shouldn't throw stones at a gift of the gods," replies Tanis. "At least we don't have to swim."

Riverwind goes first, finding the journey across the bridge unpleasant. The vines are coated with slimy moss, which makes walking precarious. The structure swaps alarmingly when touched, and its motion becomes erratic when anyone crosses. However, the ranger makes it across to the other side, ignoring the strange eyes watching him hungrily within the dark water he crosses over.

Tas goes next, finding the whole experience quite interesting. As he crosses the bridge, though, he gets distracted by the eyes he sees through the murky waters and when he leans over to see better, slips and falls off into the muck below.

The kender quickly surfaces and spits out some of the water as he dog-paddles to stay afloat. "Oops!" he says. He grins up at the others, completely oblivious to the five foot long black snake that is swimming right toward him from behind.

"Water moccasin!" Riverwind calls out to the kender while pulling out his bow. "Watch out, it's poisonous!"

Tasslehoff looks over his shoulder just in time and dives down to narrowly avoid being bitten. He resurfaces a few feet away, and the snake quickly turns back to face him.

===========================

Riverwind makes a DEX check (1d20): 6, passes.
Tasslehoff makes a DEX check (1d20): 18, fail.

Crossing the bridge safely requires a DEX check. (The module actually calls for a DEX check with a -5 penalty, but if we followed that rule, at least half of the party would fall off every time we cross one of these things, and that would be more tiresome than exciting.) If you have forgotten your DEX scores, they're in the Character Stats thread, but I'll repost them here, too:

Laurana - 17
Raistlin - 16
Caramon - 11
Goldmoon - 14
Sturm - 12

Remember, you must roll that number or less on a 1d20 to pass.

Snake's Surprise roll (1d10): 10, fail.

Party's Initiative (1d10): 10
Enemy's Initiative (1d10): 1

(Enemy wins.)

Snake bites at Tasslehoff (1d20): 12, miss.

(Party's turn!)

.T.C.S.F._._._._._._.
.G.L.R._._._._._._._.
._._.b._._._._._._._.
._._._.b._._._._._._.
._._._._.b._._._._._.
._._._.t._.b._._._._.
._._.1._._._.b._._._.
._._._._._._._.r._._.
._._._._._._._._._._.

r – Riverwind
t – Tasslehoff
L – Laurana
G – Goldmoon
R – Raistlin
T – Tanis
C – Caramon
S – Sturm
F – Flint
1 – Moccasin
b - Bridge
Green – Swamp water

1d20 → [15] = (15)

(( may as well get this fail over with ))

Hold on Tas! I'm coming to get you! What the....blurgh....Caramon yanks up a length of sturdy vine and rushes out onto the bridge in a vain attempt to fish out the kender. He slip quickly making a large splash in the murky water.

Goldmoon lays the staff on the ground, takes out her sling and a few bullets and starts firing at the water mocassin.

just a 4, miss, but it was worth a try

Raistlin brings his staff up and tries to hit the snake.
1d20=9

(( Well, not my best roll but I not as bad as it could be! ))

Raistlin manages to navigate the log without too much difficulty.
1d20=10

Laurana just manages to cross the bridge, her heart in her chest, balancing she draws her bow letting loose two arrows at the creature, hoping she misses the Kender and Warrior.

------

Dex Check: 1d20=17 (just)
Attack Rolls: 1d20=16, 1d20=5 Hit Ac - 1 and 9.
Damage: 1d8=6, 1d8=4

Sturm walks slowly over the bridge, letting the others skate if they wish, he holds onto the rail, ensuring he doesnt fall. 1d20=7 (pass)

Reaching the further bank he reaches out his hand, "Tas, Caramon, I have you." He calls, noting the arrows and other protectiles attempting to hit the creature.

Caramon falls in after the kender, causing a rather big splash. Despite his bulk and his heavy armor, though, the warrior is strong enough to surface and stay afloat.

Raistlin crosses the bridge but is nowhere near close enough to hit the snake with his staff unless he jumps in after his brother. Goldmoon pulls out her sling and fire a stone, but it plunks into the water and vanishes.

Sturm and Laurana both cross over to the other side. Once there, the elf maiden draws her bow, fires twice, hitting the snake with both shots thanks to her keen elven eyesight and concentration.

Surprised, Tanis fires an arrow of his own, which finishes off the snake for good. It sinks back into the muck, taking the arrows with it.

Tasslehoff swims over and reaches the shore, with Sturm's help. The knight then aids in pulling the big warrior out of the muck, too. "Yuck," says Tasslehoff. "Now all my maps are soggy," he laments. "But it was sure exciting! Wow!" he adds, quickly changing tones. "You're really good with a bow, Laurana!"

Tanis and Flint cross the bridge now to join the others, leaving only Goldmoon left on the other side.

============================

Caramon attempts to cross the bridge and falls in.
Raistlin attempts to cross the bridge and reaches the other side.
Sturm attempts to cross the bridge and reaches the other side.
Tasslehoff attempts to swim toward Sturm.
Goldmoon fires her sling at the snake (4), but misses.
Laurana crosses the bridge and then fires her bow at the snake (16+3=19, hit) for 6 damage and (5+3=8, hit) for 4 damage.
Tanis attacks the snake with his bow (1d20+3): 9, hit for (1d8): 7 damage. Snake dies.

End Combat.

Tanis attempts to cross the bridge (1d20): 14, pass.
Flint attempts to cross the bridge (1d20): 5, pass.

(OOC: Nice shots. Not much of a random encounter, I know, but the dice can go easy on you just as they can go hard on you.)

Goldmoon walks on the bridge, too. 1d20=18
In her haste, she doesn't pay attention and slips, tumbling into the water.

(do I have to check if she manages to hold on to the staff?)