West of the village is another of River Chionthar's tributaries, right in the middle of a canyon; a fall would very likely be deadly. Which makes the wooden bridge that looks like it might fall apart if you sneeze on it all the more curious. Its architectural style is goblinlike—which is to say, it's ugly and dirty and half-rotted and looks like it was made from whatever they had lying around—which suggests it wasn't the bridge the villages used to use to get to the temple before they were all slaughtered by said goblins.

From this side of the bridge the party can finally see the temple, and even some of the goblin fortifications around it. Definitely the smoke suggestive of multiple fires using very inappropriate materials as fuel.

Ivetrielle inspects the goblin worksmanship critically.

"..... can we find another bridge, because I think this one might fall if sneezed on and kill us all."

"Do you see another bridge anywhere?"

"Well, no, I just. Logically there should be another. If... the goblins didn't blow it up. Which they might have." Sigh. "Fiiiiine."

"Think on the bright side: if we all die there is definitely no chance that any of us will become squidmen!"

"Joy. Maybe I can even shift fast enough to avoid death by ramshackle engineering."

"Is there a reason you shouldn't want to shift right now and then unshift on the other side?"

"I can't do it endlessly, I’m not that good. Yet. It's... tiring?? Sort of a good tiring where I need to practice regularly to get better at it, but. If I shifted now I don't think I'd have enough in me to shift later at the goblin party."

"How tiring, 'sit down and take a breather tiring' or 'a good night's sleep' tiring or...?"

“Sit down and take a breather. Though it’s more like I sit and meditate and reconnect with myself and the shape I am and can be, but. In practice it’s a short rest.”

"Might it be worthwhile for you to wild shape now then take a rest after we deal with the goblins on the other side of the bridge, then? So you have full use of your abilities, especially when we are so likely to need them later?"

“Mmm. I don’t think it’s worth the time lost.” Also she doesn’t want to hold up the group anymore than she already has. Besides: “I’m not… the term for the type of druid I am is circle of the land? I’m not really a combat shifter. I can, but, it’s, I’m. I’m much better at direct spellcasting? And I haven’t really done any of that. In a real actual fight instead of,” she waves vaguely, “the subterfuge we’ve been doing, I’ll likely stay my own shape. It’s just it’s really useful to turn into a squirrel or something when doing subterfuge.”

"Of course you'd know best about your abilities. I just wanted to give a suggestion.

"Well, then! Time to see how much that bridge can take! One of us at a time, please, Ivy first and Lae'zel last."

"Why."

"Because Ivy is lightest and if the bridge is going to collapse easily I'd rather not be the one to suffer it and you're heaviest and most likely to cause it to collapse regardless."

"Joy," sighs Ivetrielle, but yes, all right. She's also probably the one most likely to survive the whole thing collapsing, so it makes sense for her to go first. Time to carefully walk across the bridge, ready to spring into some kind of action if the whole thing falls apart.

The bridge groans and creaks but doesn't actually break. It doesn't even get any new cracks, despite the numerous already present ones. The four of them can cross without issues.

"Well that was anticlimactic," says Astarion on the other side. "I suppose all of the wooden planks that were going to break have already broken so only the stronger ones have survived."

"And now it's going to fall apart somehow between you saying that and all of us needing to cross back over again," snorts Ivy, who has read an adventure book or two in her time.

"If my lady Tymora wills it so then far be it from me to question Her judgment. I was just speculating on the causality."

“Ahuh. Just so long as you don’t start going on about how you plan to retire tomorrow and can’t wait to see your wife and kids again. That’d be truly pushing it.”

"Me? A wife and kids? I am frankly offended that you would think I'd stoop so low."

"Let's move. We are wasting time again."

"...this time I must agree with our beautiful githyanki companion. Let's go."

"Talking and walking are still not mutually exclusive, you know," she says, as she does in fact get to walking.

"They should be," she says, starting to walk, too. It's clear which of the two she'd rather do.