First Part of Your Test

**"First Part of Your Test"** is the fifteenth episode of *Mountain of Mystery*, airing on June 20, 2023.

The session was DMed by TanisJr93 and hosted on his channel on Twitch.

## Summary

*...continued from session fourteen*
Having been woken from her dream by Prints, Trouble explains that the party needs to find Jean Goldcrest and describes her encounter with the multiversal monstrosity attached to the Abyssal shard she carries; the two visit Cash's room, waking him and persuading him to use the Sending Stone his father had given to him. He transmits the message: "You alive, old man?" Several moments later, he receives on "Ca– –other– –side– –get–" in response, and realizes that his father is likely on another plane of reality at the moment. Trouble confirms that Cash had been unable to find his mother the previous day, and suggests that Siobhan might be able to locate both of the Cleric's parents.

Cash dons his armor and steps into the hallway, banging his warhammer against his shield to wake the rest of the party; Aboukir accidentally tears the door to his room off its hinges and emerges dressed in a full-length flannel sleeping gown and holding his own warhammer, and Kahlan emerges half-dressed from her room holding her scimitar. Both return to their rooms to get dressed after learning that everyone is uninjured, and the party convenes downstairs in the common room ten minutes later, finding Sado and Thava drinking tea, having already completed their morning run, and Lazarus reading a book, having used an potion of watchful rest to stay up through the night.

Trouble describes her dream to the collected parties, after which Siobhan suggests that she and Thava will locate Jean and Sound of Bells will locate Elowynn, while Trouble's party confronts the dragon in the Labenda Swamp. Kahlan questions the advisability of splitting the group, and Siobhan reminds her that The Searchers only know to pursue Trouble, since most of the world was made to forget that the Protectors of the Scales ever existed. She also suggests that Shiloh return to Trostenwald after finishing his business in Zadash, and requests that Trouble's party meet with her again at Shiloh's tavern when their contract is complete. Bells also gives Prints three potions of acid resistance that she was able to brew the previous day.

Both parties have breakfast together before Shiloh and Siobhan head upstairs to pack and Thava and Bells head out into the city. Prints then discusses her concerns with the group over the fact that they will be hunting a dragon because of a deal she made, and the rest of the party confirms that they understand the risks and choose to accompany her anyway; Pearce briefly interrupts the conversation to inform Lazarus that he will be away from Zadash for several weeks on assignment. Sado also pledges his aid to the Tabaxi, and the group leaves the tavern, stopping at The Vulnerable Vagrant to buy a Cloak of Elvenkind for 200 gold and a Cloak of Billowing for 50 gold; Kahlan and Prints also break away from the group to visit Sparkhammer Smithing, where the Sorcerer purchases studded leather armor for 45 gold, after which the party reconvenes and departs the city toward the north.

During the journey, Prints sends out a thought of appreciation to Endless. The weather becomes stormy as the party travels through the day, and as evening descends, they find that the only location that might have been suitable for a campsite has been flooded; they continue onward, and Lazarus casts *Light* on Aboukir's keffiyeh, pushing into the night in search of a place to make camp. Nearing midnight, the group remains surprisingly energetic as they travel, and Sado finally spots the light of a farmstead and a barn as the rain lessens slightly. The rest of the party catches up to him shortly as an older half-elven man exits the barn and spots them, beckoning them toward the house, introducing himself as Viktor, and asking if any of them know any healing magic.

Cash confirms that he's a cleric, and Viktor explains that there are a couple of men in his barn who are injured from a confrontation with a creature; as he leads Cash, Prints, and Lazarus across the property to the barn, the Tabaxi spots the figure of Endless near the door. Viktor explains that the men are all that remains of a party that had previously passed his farm going in the other direction on their way to hunt a dragon. Inside the barn, the group is struck by the acrid smell of dissolved human flesh, and finds two men: one wearing heavy armor that has been severely dented, gouged, and melted, and the other wearing light armor with acid burns on his face. The more heavily armored man is missing one arm and bears a massive gash across his chest from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and Prints quickly spots the figure of Endless standing above him before telling her: "This is the first part of your test."

The Reaper explains that the dying man is afraid, and instructs her to comfort him and convince him to move on. Prints suggests that Cash help the lightly-armored man while she kneels beside the heavily-armored man and takes his hand, at which point the world around them freezes and Prints sees a nearly transparent figure standing above the lightly-armored man. She realizes after a moment that the transparent figure is the spirit of the heavily-armored man, who explains that he can't leave because he promised his brother that he would survive the mission; they had confronted the dragon, but been overwhelmed by it, after which the man had to leave their teammate Eoin behind in order to deliver his brother to the safety of the farmstead.

Prints learns that the man's name is Jarrek and his brother is Josef, and she assures the man that he did the best he could have done, promising that the party will do everything they can to help his brother. Josef admits that he's afraid because he doesn't know what will come next, and Prints reveals that not even the reapers of souls know what happens after they die, assuring him that the psychopomps actually look forward to the next great journey. Josef asks if Prints is afraid, and she admits that she is more fearful of what Jarrek will experience having to live after the rest of his party died; Josef asks Prints to tell Jarrek "that if anyone of [them] should make it, it would be him. It *should* be him," and she promises that his brother will hear those words.

A moment later, a glow emanates from the spirit's hand as he reaches toward Prints, and she hears Endless instruct her: "Now reach out, and lead him to the other side, Prints." She takes the hand of Josef's spirit, feeling an icy sensation that is soon replaced by a radiating warmth more comfortable than she has ever experienced; the silhouette shines briefly, and then fades away, and the world around the two of them begins to move again as Cash cast's *Cure Wounds* on Jarrek, healing the worst of the man's wounds. Prints then spots Endless in a corner of the barn, and hears him assure her: "Well done." She nods as Cash casts another healing spell, after which Trouble casts her own healing magic as well.

Viktor returns to the barn with water and food, thanking the party for their help and offering them the use of the barn for the night; he assures them that he will see to whatever Jarrek wants to do, and gives blankets to Cash and Kahlan to wrap Josef's body. The party retires for the night, and Prints again finds herself sitting at a campfire in her dream as she is visited by Endless, who admits that the task might not have been as easy as Prints had imagined. He tells her that helping Josef to accept his death was the first part of her task, and that the next will be coming, after which he sits with Prints and places a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He assures her that he was right about her, and she admits that she wasn't sure if she could trust him; he explains that there are many things in the world that are not as they seem, and admits that he is one of those things.

Having taken watch along with Kahlan, Cash notices that the rain eventually stops around the farmhouse about thirty seconds before it stops everywhere else. Around dawn, Viktor delivers breakfast to the barn, and by the time the party finishes eating, Jarrek wakes and joins them; Viktor assures the man that he can stay until he's healed enough to travel, and that he will lend him a wagon to transport his brother, and Jarrek asks the party to help the remaining two members of his party – Luka and Eoinn – if they find them alive, or to lay them to rest if they find them dead. Jarrek explains that the dragon has quite a few underlings that like to set traps, and reveals that the creature calls itself Umbrah; he then returns to the barn, and Prints follows to pass along Josef's message, after which Jarrek hugs her and thanks her for helping to ease Josef's passing.

The party resumes their travel after breakfast, reaching the southern border of the Labenda Swamp by midmorning and finding it choked with mud after the rainstorm, continue into the forested wetland and fending off swarms of mosquitos along the way.

*...continued in session sixteen*
## Notes

* The events of the session occurred on 26-27 Cuersaar 839 PD.
* Trouble was played by DM TanisJr93 for the session due to Megquins being unable to play.
* Alternate titles for the episode include, but are not limited to:
	+ "I See Dead People"
	+ "What Will Come Next"
	+ "For Your First Time"

## Quotes

* "As long as you all fight together, you'll never be alone." – Siobhan Oldman
* "Prints: the one thing that I know is that you took a huge risk to save Trouble’s life. Offered something that most of us would have not in the moment. And for that, I will see that your quest is done, whether any of us die or if we all succeed." – Sado Thuliaga
* "You are dimensionally-imposing, my friend." – Lazarus Oldman
* "This is the first part of your test." – Endless
* "This man is holding on. He is afraid. You need to comfort him and convince him to move on." – Endless
* "I– I cannot leave him alone. I– I promised him he'd survive this, and he doesn't look like he will." – Josef
* "We were hunting a dragon, and it– it got the best of us. I was able to get him and our other friend, but they were too heavy to carry with my wounds, and I... I left Eoin behind, but..." – Josef
* "My friend Cash is already going to heal him; he'll be fine. I don't know what I can do for you; I can just promise you that we will do everything we can to help your brother." – Fresh Prints
* "I... I am afraid. I don't know what will come next." – Josef
* "Yeah. Funny story about that. I asked a god of death what comes next when *they* die, and they didn't even know. But they weren't worried; in fact, they were looking forward to it. If anyone knows what to think, it would be them.
* "I'm more afraid of what your brother will go through being alive when others are not." – Fresh Prints
* "That if anyone of us... should make it, it would be him. It should be him." – Josef
* "Now: reach out and lead him to the other side, Prints." – Endless
* "That is the first part of your task. The next will be coming." – Endless
* "I told you, I have faith that you can do this. You proved tonight that I was right." – Endless
* "There are many things in this world that aren't as they seem. I can promise you that I am one of them. But there will be– there will be a day where that might change." – Endless

## Episode

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