Despite the fact that Marcon made the jump and Tortetarte is attempting it himself, Theren decides to patiently wait for the other end of the rope to be tied to something so he can shimmy across using the rope.

Safely across, Marcon secures the rope at the strongest point he can find, remembering that Anchor's weight will be a concern. This done, he turns and calls to the bridge's far side.

"If someone would bring my things, please, you can all cross easy as Tenser's Proposition!"

Anchor, having moved closer to the broken bridge along with his compatriots, watches as they make their attempts at crossing the large gap.

He let's out a quiet cheer as he sees Marcon make it across, but it is cut short as he watches Tortetart's attempt. Anchor would never claim to be an expert at long jumping, but in his opinion Tortetart's technique seemed lacking.

Picking up Marcon's bag, Theren uses his Monk training to quickly and gracefully cross the secured rope to the other side. Theren hands Marcon his supplies, "here you go."

With a graceful leap, Marcon has cleared the broken section of bridge and landed safely on the other side. Tortetarte attempts to follow suit and, while he does manage to make it to the other side, his grace is somewhat lacking. As such, he catches a foot on the shattered end of the bridge and ends up knocking his noggin' on the far side of the bridge- once again ending up unconscious! Theren, wanting no part of this nonsense, waits patiently for the rope to be tied before essentially cartwheeling across the rope, graceful enough to put even Marcon's previous landing to shame.

Ahead of you, all the way across the bridge is a pair of windowless stone gatehouses. One of these has a caved in roof and seems to have taken a serious bit of structural damage. Between them is a set of oak doors set with iron hinges of the sort that can be barred from the inside. At the moment the doors are closed and no one else is in sight beyond your motley crew.

That being said, Tortetarte did hit his head pretty damn hard and will need to make a death saving throw.
@KermitKing

Tortetarte continues to dream if the time he was younger, and during a sparing match with one of his many siblings, took a mighty blow to the head. He does not know why this memory as emerged after all this time.

Seeing Tortetarte tumble, hit his head, and then not get back up sent Anchor into action.

Anchor moved quickly towards the gap in the bridge and stuck his trident into a solid plank and launched himself across towards the other side.

Tortetartes eyes open, and he realizes he was out for a touch.
‘Why thank you Ankre, I seemed to have miss placed my footing there.’ ‘Have all our friends made it across yet?’

Tortetart remeains lying down for now.

Nodding his thanks to There, Marcon grabs his pack and gazes in concern where Torletarte and Anchor had gone. Seeing the turtle-man's stir, the young warrior gives a happy shout.

"Well done, Master Anchor! A regular Shalosh Bright banner, no comrade left behind!"

As a super brief recap: Marcon, Tortetarte, Anchor and Theren have all crossed the broken section of bridge to stare down the closed doors of the gatehouses guarding this side of the bridge. Meanwhile, Ealwald and Galen have thus far refrained from joining in on the investigation. What will our brave adventurers do next? Only time will tell!

"Well, I haven't come this far to NOT fulfill my errands."

Marcon Astoro, warrior, traveler, failure, moves to the door and strikes it three times with a fist. Whitetabard's "Etiquette In The Courts Of Faerun" no doubt covered this situation, but having only skimmed that Dusty tome, he improvises.

"Hail, the fox and rose!" the Tumari shouts with all the might his lungs can muster. "Travelers seek refuge! Long have we travelled to sample the hospitality of Nightstone, and we hope to find her welcoming!"

Other than the faint sounds of wind and water, there is no reply. Fortune favors the bold!

Tortetarte comes to his senses and gets off the ground, brushes off his knees, and dabs at his tender skull. ‘That’s going to smart later’

“Well Marcon, it looks like we must be the ones who knock”

Tortetarte walks to the gate house door, and slams his shield aggressively against the door.
He then goes into a guarding stance... just in case

Still nothing...

Carpe diem, gentlemen!

Tortertart grabs the very obvious handle on the Guard House Door, and pulls on it, if that doesn't work, he then pushes really hard.

Finally gathering the required courage, one of the "brave" adventurers finally decides to try the front door.

Everyone roll reflex saves.

Though this door can clearly be barred from the inside, it seems as though no one has done so. As such, when Tortetarte attempts to open it, he meets very little resistance. Swinging slowly open, you can see one of the all-too-familiar boulders that have been strewn about the town several feet in. In fact, for anyone glancing around the inner bailey, the large quantity of boulders present would make it clear that this was the most heavily bombarded location in the town. The door of the gatehouse to the right- the one of the pair that appeared partially collapsed, is swinging loosely on its hinges and shards of shattered wood and other items litter the area around the entryway.

Trading bow for sword and shield, Marcon moves forward,checking the gatehouse's for signs of survivors or loot.

While one of the gatehouses is shut tight, you can see some of the inside of the ruined gatehouse. Right inside the badly damaged doorframe is a large pile of rubble and debris centered around a large boulder that appears to have come crashing through the ceiling. There is blood crusted on some of the rubble and at least one body lying on the ground in a puddle of dried blood. Other than that, the inner bailey seems deserted.

So, while Marcon is currently checking the Western gatehouse and the rest of the party seems to be standing cautiously at the main gate. To your left, the Eastern gatehouse still remains closed and short distance away- about 30 feet from the gate, the doors to the keep are also closed.

Seeing Marcon take the lead in ahead of Tortetart, Anchor follows. Passing Tortetart, he pats the Tortle on his shell and says, "Best to stay behind us for now, my friend. I feel the tides ebbing, and with it my Goddess's presence."



With Marcon checking the Western Gatehouse, Anchor heads to the Eastern gatehouse door and opens it.

Marcon calls back to the group.

"A stone through the roof here. Nothing seems to has survived, unless one of Evard's old tricks is in play."

As he bends to examine the scene more closely, the young warrior smiles despite himself. For all the necromancer's infamous impiety, the dry wit of Evard's grimoires was oddly charming.