My Time in Chult

1 Arrival in Chult

1497, Myrtle 1

I decided today that I’m definitely going to answer Syndra Sylvain’s request for help. I wish I could say that my motives are pure, but I want more than to just help my dad. I need to show him that magic is not a curse. That I can use it for good. The promise of a reward doesn’t hurt either.

And there’s no way in the Abyss that I’m going to be a dentist. My father is such a flaming scale!

I had already purchased and packed all my equipment days ago, when I first heard about Syndra’s expedition, so I grabbed it all. On my way out the door, my father stopped me and gave me yet another lecture. I didn’t really lie to him, but I sure didn’t tell him where I was going! He thinks I was going to dentistry school. Ha! I’m never going back there!

At Syndra’s I met my companions. I tried to withhold judgment but, honestly, I was a little disappointed. Of course, who am I to talk—a sorcerer who can only cast spells half the time. At least I’ll get a lot of practice soon. She gave us each 50 gold pieces, which is frankly more trusting that I would have been. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was more money than a few of my companions had ever seen before.

After a little pep-talk, Syndra accompanied us to Chult—Port Nyanzaru to be exact—via teleportation. It was raining harder than I’d ever experienced. I felt like an Arakakra in a Merrow’s den! I think my clothes are ruined.

Chult is a fascinating place. Everything you’ve ever heard about it is true! It was hot even while it was raining. I didn’t know such a thing was possible. Even the people are exotic looking.

We watched the funeral procession of the Merchant Princess Jasmine. Apparently she was in charge of the assassin’s guild. Nobody seemed to know if it was the death curse or just a regular assassin that killed her. At least the peasants next to us.

As if a funeral weren’t enough excitement for our first day in town, an explosion tore through the night. Syndra went to see her friend Wakanagu Otama, while we—lowly adventurers that we are—went to investigate. There we found a dwarf wizard named Thorin whose magical school had seen better days (including yesterday). He was missing an instructor named Trish. More importantly his tome was stolen. It had all his notes about the death curse. We’re going to need that book if we want any chance of stopping the curse. We searched through the school to no avail.

While there, the weirdest thing happened. Words appeared in the sky, taunting us. This is what they said.

Somebody, I can’t remember who, suggested that it might be a pauper’s graveyard, but Thorin said the poor are buried in the trash pile. Ugh. What an uncivilized company. Nevertheless, we set out to find it. I searched the rim for an entrance, but Henryk just jumped right in. I don’t know if he’s brave or just a fool. Or maybe he simply likes being dirty.

It turns out that he found an entrance buried under the trash. Exactly how, I may never know, but I guess that’s why we Syndra sent all of us. He opened the door and saw some more words in the air:

So he did just that—he jumped right in. So did Belanor. I tied my rope to a large bone (must be from a dinosaur). Bryn went down and suddenly his voice stopped. It was really weird. As the last one left in the garbage, I decided that I should climb down.

The chamber that we ended up in had two doors on either end, a hole in the top where we came down, and two creepy eyes in the ceiling. I felt like I was being watched, but I’m sure that was just my imagination. I suppose it’s obvious, but I didn’t like the place. After looking around for a while we opened one of the doors (I don’t think directions in the room bore any resemblance to directions in Chult—based on information I would learn later I think we might have been in another plane).

Inside the room was a little child asking for help. Pell, Henryk and Bryn went inside, but I stayed near the door with my crossbow ready. Belanor stayed behind as well to watch the rear. Honestly, I was quite glad for him and didn’t think him a coward. Bryn jibed me a little about staying behind. Ugh. That guy has the manners of a drunken hill dwarf on Ghuregbuzramerag! I nearly lost my temper and cast a spell at him. Luckily, I didn’t because it probably would have turned out wrong anyway.

As they neared the child, one of them set off a trap which brought a huge wall down in front of the door. Luckily, I wasn’t standing in the door way or I would have been killed! I heard some pounding on the other side of the door, but couldn’t tell what was happening on the other side. They tell me the floor started tilting to dump them into a furnace of some kind. I’m willing to take their word for it since I don’t have much desire to test it for myself.

Anyway, I didn’t know any of that, I just knew I had to save them. I quickly looked at the wall in front of me and noticed some gears. It didn’t take long before I figured out that it controlled the trap, and how to reset it. Who know that Automated Dentistry would come in handy. Though I have to say that it’s a small miracle I learned anything at all from Lord Tanglebeard. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so boring.

Everyone was okay after I reset the trap, but I don’t recall hearing more than a brief “thanks” from Pell. Hmm. I guess I’ll have to find joy in adventuring in places other than gratitude from one’s companions. I really shouldn’t expect good manners from this group. It’s no wonder my father never let me have friends outside the nobility. My dad’s such a warty goblin nose!

Gaa! I really need to stop thinking about my father. Nothing good ever comes of it.

Anyway, Belanor and I stayed in the main room ready to rescue them again if they needed it. They found a secret door with an automaton and lots of parts inside (or so they say—I didn’t look).

Finally, it was time to try the other door. Opening it revealed a solid wall though. Henryk found a secret door there though. Honestly, what’s the point of making a door, putting a wall behind it, and then hiding a secret door right there? Whoever made this place was as addlepated as a beaver in Anauroch.

I waited for others to go first this time too in case something happened, though nothing did. On the other side of the door was a walkway with abyss on either side. It lead to a platform at the end with some sort of control panel. Farther out, with no walkway to them, were three platforms made of ice with flames underneath. On one was the the missing teacher Trish. On another were three children, and on the last is what looked like a book! I knew right then we had to save the tome. I hoped we could save them all, but we had to save the tome.

Bryn read the following text.

Pell and Belanor remembered seeing a magnifying glass in the store room, and ran back to get it. They returned chased by the automaton, but Belanor blocked the door and held it against the automaton’s weight. He makes a flaming good rearguard. In the meantime, I cast Message at one of the kids hoping they might have some useful information, but they didn’t know anything. I am proud to say that Message worked the first time. Though I have practiced Message quite a bit (it was very useful in my Orcish Dental Hygiene class), it was nice that I didn’t choke under pressure.

Anyway, by the time Bryn got back and started pushing buttons the rest of us were on the platform. I was on the left nearest the book. Bryn pushed some button the the platform split in three pieces and each went to hover above the one of the platforms. Luckily, none of us fell off.

Bingo! I was right where I wanted to be—in saving range of the book. Unfortunately, I was about 20 feet above the platform, and my rope was still tied to the bone to get us out of this place. Pell, who happened to be with me on this portion of the platform didn’t have any rope with her. Fangs of the mistress!

Just as I was forming a plan of what to do, that slug-brained Bryn pushed some button and the flames started flaring. The platform with the book started lowering into the flames and away from me. Time slowed and I saw clearly what would happen if I didn’t rescue the book. We wouldn’t be able to cure the death curse, and I would have to return home and become a dentist. To the Abyss with that!

I jumped down, grabbed the book (yep, it had a dragon on the cover so it was the right one), and tossed it carefully to Pell. Thankfully, she caught it. I’m not sure I could have forgiven her otherwise. I glanced around. There was no way that I could jump back up to the platform with Pell, but the children’s platform was just barely close enough. Or at least, it was closer than anything else.

My platform was sinking and the kids’ platform was raising, so I got as much of a running start as I could and jumped like a beholder was after me. I was barely able to hold on to the ice. I’m happy to say I was able to hang on long enough for the kids to help me up (but you could have guessed as much since I wouldn’t be writing this if I had fallen). The kids and I eventually made it to Bryn’s portion of the platform. Henryk (who actually had rope) had managed to tie Trish to the rope and hold on himself. Bryn pushed some buttons the platform reassembled reuniting us and giving us a way out.

As we made our way out (I guess they gave back the magnifying glass to the automaton and he was happy) I stayed in the back with the kids, recovering from the shock of what I had done. I really didn’t know I had it in me. Bryn actually seemed impressed as well. Nothing like the dentistry to inspire heroics. Scales! I will not be a dentist.

On our way out the villain gloated by sending us this message:

We took Trish and the tome back to Thorin. He seemed to think it’s the work of Acererak, some evil lich from another plane. Whoever it is, I can’t say I’m looking forward to more messages from this guy. I never did like poetry.

Thorin also mentioned something about a “traitor” living and trying to assemble “The Dreamer’s Amulet”. We also left the kids we had rescued with Thorin. He didn’t seem too excited by it, but perhaps they can help him rebuild his school.

We made our way to Rohr’s House of Repose, so the sane among us could get some rest. Henryk and Belanor went to The Roaring Dinosaur instead. I guess so they could get drunk and do whatever it is lower class people do when they are drunk.

I feel like I learned a lot today. Like some major insight is just around the corner.

2 Gathering Clues

1497, Myrtle 2

Today was less exciting than yesterday. Frankly, that’s fine by me. Entirely too much happened yesterday for my taste. We learned quite a bit today, but we still don’t know where we should go. Hopefully, we’ll be able to decide tomorrow.

When we met up with Henryk and Belanor they brought along someone new. I think his name is Walking Death or something. He’s a bugbear. Well, I guess I’ll take whatever help I can get. But that doesn’t mean I trust him. The bugbears used to raid our estate before we moved into town to become dentists. Ugh. Flaming dentistry!

Anyway, we ended up meeting with several people today as well as doing some last minute outfitting. I bought some more comfortable and native clothes from a guy named Claven von Sharon. He was clearly not from Chult, but had gone fully native. His clothes looked authentic at least, but were a little better quality than some others that we saw. I bought some bug repellent as well as quite a bit more rope. My uncle used to say, “You can only be forgiven for making a mistake once.” I wonder what else I’m going to wish I had more of.

But now on to the more interesting parts of the day.

We visited Grandfather Zitembe, the high priest of Savras, in the hopes that he could help us find Artuscimber. Apparently, he has a powerful artifact called the Ring of Winter which might be able to help. When we arrived, he was being roughed up by some thugs who also wanted to know where Artuscimber was. We ran them off, but I don’t know if it will really help him. The poor man needs a bodyguard. Anyway, he told us that Artuscimber is immune to scrying magic, and therefore he can’t help us find him.

Thorin gave us a ring and told us to give it to Groduck who is a diviner. We found him in the Drunken Hippo tavern in Teryki anchorage. I have to say that Teryki is not the sort of place that I would normally go. But we are desperate for any information, and sometimes the lower classes are willing to part with their information more easily.

When we got there Groduck was being bullied by a few ruffians, and it became clear that they had poisoned him. There was some sort of charm that could heal him, but it was swallowed by an electric blue lizard of all things. Well, it didn’t take long for some of my more hot-headed companions to attack the low-lifes. To make matters worse there were several other, nearly identical, lizards running around in the chaos. After fighting for a little (my magic worked perfectly thank you very much), Bryn ran into the fray and cast a thunder spell which hurt many of them quite badly.

At that point, I decided it was safe to try and retrieve the charm from the lizards. I waited until I was near several of them and cast Sword Burst. It worked just ask expected and I killed 3 of the buggers. I found the charm and set about trying to revive Groduck. I did not want him to die. I’m not sure exactly what I did, but he eventually recovered and was able to talk to us.

At first he didn’t want to help us and pretended not to know who Thorin was, but we gave him the ring, and he said he would see what he could do. After we left someone mentioned they thought the ring had the sign of Asmodeus on it. If that’s the case, we might be in deeper than I thought.

Finally we took a ride in an air ship to get a good view of the whole city. I don’t know that we learned much that will help us, but it was kind of exciting. Someday I should learn to fly with magic.

Over all, the day went smoother than extracting the teeth from a gelatinous cube. Unfortunately, we have about as much to show for it.

3 An Excursion Upstream

1497, Myrtle 2 cont.

As we were getting a few things ready we met a half-orc, named Undril Silvertusk. He did in fact have silver inlaid in one of his tusks. The overall effect was quite striking—it almost made me wish I had tusks so I could inlay them similarly—but the workmanship was sloppier than a gnomish automatic diaper changing machine. He said that his family had been ambushed by goblins and his siblings taken captive. He begged for our help, and must have had the aid of magic, because he convinced my companions to help rescue his family. I can’t believe they were willing to do it! Sure, it’s a sad story. But guess what—sad stories happen everyday! Not to mention that we have an urgent mission—and it’s not to save every humanoid from dealing with the inevitable loss of his family. I really hope we don’t miss our rendezvous with Groduck.

Nevertheless, they decided to go and so I had to as well to make sure they didn’t get into trouble. We talked to a few guides and finally settled on one named Hew Hackinstone. He lost one of his arms to a red dragon. He must be either more foolish than a kraken is wet, more unlucky than magical dice, or more experienced in the jungle than my cousin Turaur is with women. He seems to know what he’s doing, so hopefully it’s the latter. At the very least he’ll help us avoid dragons.

As we were leaving, another guide, named Salida, offered to come with us. She practically forced herself on us. She’s coming along to help us row our canoes! According to her Hew will soon lead us astray, and we’ll be begging her to be our guide. I have no doubt that she plans to charge us double at that point. She has nothing nice to say about the other guides, which means she’s either very a very good guide, or as I suspect, a misanthrope braggart.

We left a message for Groduck, that he can find us through Thorin if need be. He’s undoubtedly our best lead at this point, and I really don’t want to miss what he has to say. I hope we finish this little diversion soon enough to talk to him, but if not maybe he can get in contact with us as we are making our way upstream. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would go out of his way to get back us though. I really hope he doesn’t die.

We packed everything in a few canoes that we bought. I’m a little worried that it’s imprudent to buy the canoes before we even know where we’re going, but I’m told that traveling by river is much easier than hiking through the jungle, which I’m inclined to believe. So we’ll probably travel by river at least for a while.

The jungle is actually rather beautiful. I probably spent more time that I should have looking at the jungle and wondering at all the exotic plants, animals, and birds. At one point Henryk cast a fireball at a large snake (probably 20 feet long!) and scared it away. I need to pay more attention to the dangers of the jungle

and less to it’s beauty or I’ll end up as dead as a succubus’ thrall. So far, my insect repellent seems to be working, which is comforting giving the number that are constantly about—even in the rain.

We saw some goblins and headed to shore to investigate. As soon as we landed, they sent a bunch of spiders to attack us. At least that’s what I assume since I heard goblin speech and then a dozen little spiders swarmed out and attacked us. I say little only to distinguish them from giant spiders—in truth they were larger than my hand and nowhere near as good looking. I was bitten several times and could feel the poison. Luckily, I’ve always been hardy, and I wasn’t hurt much. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Trish. She was hurt quite badly by the spiders, even to the point of collapsing. Pell healed and comforted her. I’ll just have to make sure she’s around when I get hurt like that.

While others focused on the goblins, I was able to kill several of the spiders at once using Sword Burst. That’s the second time it’s come in handy against multiple creatures. So far no spell casting mishaps either. In fact, after the fight Salida told me I had done a good job with my spells. She said she had seen people who had studied for years who couldn’t do as good a job! I was as shocked as if I had seen spectacles on a Beholder, and I’m afraid I made somewhat of an orc of myself. I hope that doesn’t lessen her opinion of me. I suppose I should consider whether she’s just trying to flatter me for some reason, but she hasn’t shown any signs of inhibition when talking about others, so I must assume that she is honest to a fault.

After the others finished dispatching the goblins, we burned the bodies. Burning the bodies prevents them from coming back as undead, which Hew says is a big problem in Chult. The ancient curse of Ras Nsi or some such. Anyway, after verifying with Hew and Undril that they were the same goblins who attacked our half-orc friend, we retreated across the river to spend the night and plan our next actions. I hope not all our days are that long. I don’t remember ever being so tired. That said, I feel like I learned a lot, I even feel like I have more control over my magic now.

4 Carbuncles, Ogres, and Goblins, Oh my!

1497, Myrtle 3 – full moon

While on watch last night, Pell and Belanor saw some weird faceless creature called a Chiwanga. I think it scared them a bit. They also talked with Jango, a Moon elf that happened across our camp. He tried to convince them to go immediately to the goblin cave. Luckily they didn’t. I was asleep at the time or I would have spent my last breath convincing them that leaving the camp at night is a bad idea. Once, on a hunting expedition, one of my father’s servants went out at night by himself (foolishly he was unarmed) and was killed and eaten by wolves. I strongly suspect there are things in Chult more dangerous than wolves!

On my watch, a small purple feline with a large jewel in it’s head came to the edge of the clearing, stared at me for a second and then left. At first I was scared. It wasn’t large, but you never know what sort of magic a strange creature might have. Hew, who was on watch with me, told me it was a carbuncle, and that the stone in it’s head is magical. It enhances a person’s magical ability. If I had known that I might have tried to kill it! Who couldn’t use a little magic boost in their pocket. I briefly considered going into the jungle to try and find it, but that would have been as foolish as trusting your teeth to a bugbear dentist.

The rest of the night was uneventful. For breakfast, Hew caught a snake, which Salida didn’t like. Snake isn’t my favorite, but she seemed to object on moral rather than culinary grounds. I thought she was tough, but I suppose everyone has their own foibles. Maybe I should ask her more about it though since has been pretty astute so far.

After breakfast we sat around trying to decide what to do. It turns out that Hew is as brash as a goblin with a new war axe. I used to think the fact that he survived a run-in with a dragon meant that he was good, but I’m starting to wonder if it just means he’s a fool. Anyhow, at that point 3 spider dancer goblins came wandering out of the jungle. We were all surprised, and there was a brief scuffle (if you can even call it that), before the goblins escaped into the (relative) safety of the woods.

Belanor was able to track one of them, the rest we had no luck with. When Belanor returned, he related that he had come upon a group of raptors, but had escaped their notice and returned. That man is luckier than Orthunk—the first owlbear to escape his creator! We really need to stick together in this gods-forsaken land or we’ll end up like a zombie at a cleric convocation.

Unfortunately, it’s wasn’t but long before we realized that Pell and Belanor hadn’t followed my (as-yet unspoken) advice. While trying to decide what to do, we noticed that they were gone. We found out later they had followed a Chiwanga. we rushed off to try to find them, and it’s a good thing we did.

The chiwanga lead them (they related later) to an ogre, his pet dinosaur, and a goblin who was strung up in a tree. Pell’s inexperience in the jungle caused her to be spotted by the dinosaur, and they began fighting for their lives. We heard the commotion and rushed to their aid.

I cast some Catapult spells. My eyesight went funny for a second after one of them, and I thought I had messed up somehow. After that the little buzzing insects were more distracting visually than usual, but I didn’t notice any other side effects. I kind of wonder if it was some sort of magical fluke, but I’m going to count it as another flawless execution. I probably shouldn’t even be writing this in case my father ever reads it and holds it against me.

Nevertheless, we were able to kill the ogre, the dinosaur (who smelled very bad) ran off, and the goblin introduced herself as Gug Gug. She had helped us attack the ogre, out of thanks for Belanor severing the rope with an arrow. After that Pell healed the goblin without even knowing anything about it! I guess they are brave and noble, but to me it sounds on par with trying Rosenthald’s at-home magical tooth-extraction kit.

Gug Gug explained that the Spider Dancers had fallen under the control of a wizard named Tapiwa, and that she was the only one who escaped that fate. I have to admit that I was a little moved by her recounting of the events. That still doesn’t mean I think we should waste time trying to rescue them, but no doubt my companions will be all the more determined to do so. And, if we are lucky, we might win the gratitude of a goblin tribe. It’s easy to see how useful their help might be given that they know the dangers of Chult.

5 Untimely Deaths

1497, Myrtle 3 cont. – full moon

Gug Gug led us to a small cave. It was actually quite difficult to get through. I’m not normally claustrophobic, but given the variety of unfamiliar fauna, and the difficulty I would have had to defend myself I was a little scared. I’m very glad I bought new clothes in Port Nyanzaru because I got filthy crawling through on my stomach! It was also completely dark, so I wouldn’t have even been able to see what was attacking me. Luckily my magic was some comfort—I could always produce light if I needed to (assuming the magic actually obeyed me).

Finally we cam to a room, that seemed to be an old Gnomish temple. There were murals of Calidoren Smoothhands stealing the heart of Ogremoch. I wrote a paper on the symbolism of that myth as a child, and it’s had a special place in my heart ever since.

Gug Gug said the room hadn’t been used for quite some time. And it certainly looked it with cobwebs everywhere. I took special care not to burn any of them in my torch. I was afraid burning a little spider by incur the wrath of a big spider, and we really need to sneak in quietly.

We made our way farther through some natural caverns. I have to admit, I was as lost as an Aarakocra in Dentistry 101. I will have to rely on someone else can get us back out if we need to leave in a hurry. I was thinking about this problem when we noticed some goblins ahead. We had put out our torches to go undetected, so I couldn’t see anything. We all tried to be quiet, but I lost my balance a bit and accidentally kicked a rock. It was small—no bigger than an ogre’s incisor—but it was enough to get the attention of one of the goblins. I heard the goblin come towards us, and I was sure we were going to be found out. Before that could happen Gug Gug stepped forward and spoke to the goblin. Of course, I have no idea what they said—goblin language is as incomprehensible to me as dental piercing.

It didn’t take sight or a goblin speaker to know what happened next, however. The goblin attacked poor Gug Gug! The sheer treachery of it made me feel quite sorry for her. Nevertheless, my sighted companions quickly dispatched the goblins, though one escaped from what I heard. Gug Gug told us that Tapiwa expects Artuscimber to be in the area soon. I doubt that Tapiwa is right, but keeping the Ring of Winter out of the wrong hands might be sufficient reason to delay our quest for the source of the death curse.

As we regrouped, we looked in the room where Pell and I had hidden. Of course, we hadn’t noticed it (given that we couldn’t see), but there was a dead goblin in the middle of the room. It had been drained of blood inside a blood-rune circle. I barely know enough about blood-runes to be able to recognize what they are, I certainly couldn’t read them. Nevertheless, I felt quite clearly they had been used for evil. Gug Gug recognized the blood-drained victim as Gizorg the erstwhile leader of the Spider-dancers.

Henryk [ed: was it Henryk?] got too close and the Gizorg’s spirit came and spoke to us. She explained the sad story of Tapiwa’s ascent to power and her own corresponding demise. With Gug Gug’s help, we were able to convince her of our good intentions, and she even promised us a magical sword if we freed her people from Tapiwa without killing any goblins. Since we had already made the same promise to Gug Gug, we readily agreed.

We worked our way to where Tapiwa had set up his headquarters. There were a few goblins there, as well as one of Silvertusk’s family. Tapiwa had some powerful fire spell, and the entrance bottled us up so that we all took lots of damage before we finally dispatched the corrupt wizard. My magic was ineffective—he dodged attacks faster than a mongoose—but at least it worked without backfiring.

Trish, who knew Tapiwa from her master’s school and immediately started arguing with him, was sadly killed by the evil mage. It wasn’t clear their previous relationship—we’ll have to ask Thorin. Given the death curse, there’s nothing we can do to bring her back either. Gug Gug also died, though she was briefly animated by the vengeful spirit of Gizorg. Her anger must have been powerful indeed, to perform such an act of magic, especially in these days of the death curse.

Belanor brought the wrath of Gizorg and Gug Gug upon us by accidentally killing one of the goblin’s in Tapiwa’s thrall with an arrow. Luckily, Gizorg either realized is was an accident, or that Tapiwa was a more immediate threat, and continued to fight our enemy. Not too much later, the odious conjurer was finally killed by an infallible arrow shot by Belanor. I couldn’t help but think of the myth of the goddess Pendalroon whose kiss simultaneously created and destroyed kingdoms.

After he died the goblins were no longer under his control, and very confused. Pell quickly turned her attention to Trish and Gug Gug, but as I previously mentioned they were beyond saving. With her last breath Gug Gug (or perhaps Gizorg) told us the location of the magical sword. You really can’t believe all the bad things you hear about goblins.

One of Silvertusk’s family was still alive, so at least they had a happy reunion, and plan to continue on to Camp Righteous. We spent the rest of the night recovering and having a funeral for the poor deceased goblins and Trish. Pell gave a beautiful eulogy. I’m not too proud to admit that I teared up. I don’t think that I could ever have felt so close to someone so soon in my old life.

Frankly, I’m not sure who I’ll miss the most. Obviously, I felt responsible for Trish after we were able to save her from the malevolent poet. On the other hand, Gug Gug may have been a goblin, but she was noble both by birth and action.

We rummaged through Tapiwa’s journal, and found a few clues, but nothing definitive. He believed that the “Old Lady of Mbala” might be able to help him, or that the answer might be in Orolunga. Hew said he knows this latter place, and there is a great sage who lives there, so indeed the answer might be there. He apparently truly believed that he would be able to find Artuscimber, despite what we had heard about Artuscimber’s immunity to scrying magic. He planned to kill the fabled adventurer and take the Ring of Winter. His journal contained the following poem that must have come from the heinous poet of whom we are all too familiar.

Although I can sympathize with his predicament, I can’t excuse his actions. Nevertheless, I feel that we are all being shuffled around the Chult like pawns in some cosmic game. Perhaps now isn’t the time to wax philosophical, but I can’t help feeling introspective after so many deaths.

6 Ogremach’s Bane

1497, Myrtle 3 cont. – full moon

This morning we got up to find the goblin’s magical sword. We crossed the river and went 1000 goblin paces (as best we could guess). We found some disturbed ground and Bryn turned into a giant badger and dug it up in a frenzy. It was simultaneously fascinating and disturbing to see such a display of raw digging ability. I should also note that badger teeth are more interesting when they are large. I thought Mr. Fogosh was exaggerating when he said that in “Introduction to Animal Dentistry”.

We pulled a chest out of the hole and inside it was a sword and a bunch of small denomination coins. Pell suggested that we return the coins to the goblins since we were only offered the sword in payment. This seemed like a reasonable request and the party acquiesced. After hauling it across the river—which was as unpleasant (and likely dangerous) as extracting a cave bear’s molar—we set the chest down in the spider clan’s main chamber. This caused an unanticipated reaction (though in retrospect it was inevitable). The goblins rushed and fought to get as many coins as possible for themselves. We had hoped we might win favor with the tribe, but I think we might have actually caused more problems. I must remember to never underestimate the greed of individuals. Given the state of affairs with the goblin tribe, we found it prudent to return to our camp to spend the night.

As we prepared to leave we saw a boat coming from upriver. In it were a competent (and therefore potentially dangerous) man and a lizard-looking companion. The man said he was going to Orolunga to visit Saja N’Baza, a guardian Naga there. His companion, known as Dragon Bait, could change his smell to indicate his mood, but was otherwise uncommunicative. Pell seemed to enjoy the creature’s company, but Henryk and I didn’t trust the man. He wanted to stay the night with us, but that would mean we have to stand guard against him as well as the night. We gave him a cold enough reception that he eventually took the hint and left. He likely would have made a good companion but sometimes you have to trust your instincts. Pell, it seems, would befriend a devil without a second thought.

Most of the night was uneventful, but during my watch we heard some crashing in the jungle nearby. Hew said it was likely Grillians, large vicious apes. Hew seemed a little disappointed when I opted not too spy on them. But what could I have learned? I already know what ape incisors look like.

1497, Myrtle 4 – normal weather, no wind, very dry, hot

At dawn we broke camp and headed back to Port Nyanzaru. Upon arrival Salida went about her business. I don’t think she’s going to come with us again unless we pay her. I can’t blame her, but I am a rather sad. Hew is competent enough—if a bit brash—but I’d rather have Salida along as well.

Henryk had taken the goblin’s magical sword, and attuned himself to it over night. He wanted to get rid of it, so we went to Wakanagu Otama to try and sell it. We couldn’t talk to Wakanagu himself, and his representative didn’t offer us enough, so we declined to sell it. It finally came out why Henryk was so eager to have it gone—it can talk! Can you believe that‽ A sentient artifact! I can learn so much from a sentient artifact. I had to teach myself everything I know about magic. A week with an ancient sword that can talk would be worth a year of trying to figure things out myself. It could probably even teach me how to wield it effectively (and I know nothing about swords)!

Now, don’t think I haven’t heard the dangers of sentient weapons—this isn’t my first supernumerary tusk removal—but I think the value of such a weapon outweighs the risks. Henryk had called it the Gnomish Razor (it is indeed of gnomish make), which I don’t think it appreciated much, since it called him Red Haired Boy in return. I decided to call it Ogremach’s Bane in reference to the mural we found in the old gnome temple, and it seemed to prefer that.

On our way back from Wakanagu’s we heard a lot of commotion nearby at the dock. We ran to see what was the matter, and found a large dinosaur, similar to the kind they call King. It had killed several people already and was rampaging as the people fled in pandemonium.

Without hesitation, Henryk rushed in and tried unsuccessfully to calm the beast. He was bitten so badly I feared for his life. I tried to distract the dinosaur by catapulting a man’s walking stick at it. I missed, however, and it didn’t pay me any attention. Bryn ran in, in the form of a bear and was mauled so badly that he turned back into a druid. He quickly turned into a bear again, but in the mean time Belanor cast a spell and succeeded in charming the monster. All of the victims were so mangled not even Pell could save them.

Zyndar the harbormaster rushed up and thanked us for calming the monster. He said that it had likely escaped from an illegal dinosaur shipment. He seemed to genuinely care for the creature despite it having the scariest set of teeth I’ve ever seen—and believe me I’ve seen far too many teeth! Zyndar indicated that the dinosaur would likely be taken back and killed because of its rampage today. He suggested that we might take it outside of the city and keep it for ourselves, or at the very least let it go. Bryn and Belanor took it outside the city to do just that. It would be very handy if we had a properly trained and tamed dinosaur, but I put the chances of Belanor being able to fully train a dinosaur in one day as about equal to my chances of being able to fix its broken tooth without losing a hand.

We finally made our way to the Drunken Hippo to meet Groduck. He said he expected us sooner. He told us that his patron (who remained unnamed, but we believe to be Asmodeus) said “What you are looking for is to the west of the Peaks of Flame”. On our map, the Peaks of Flame are on the far south of the continent, so we have a ways to travel. Groduck also extended an offer of further information in exchange for as yet unspecified services. I have to admit that I’m considering it. Sure, I’ve heard the rumors that the Marquis of Margrave made a pact with Asmodeus, and we all know what happened to him. But the stakes are too high to not at least consider what we might learn from such a knowledgeable being. I know my companions don’t approve, and I can’t blame them. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do anything. At the very least, I would like to exhaust some of our other avenues first, including anything I can learn from Ogremach’s Bane.

Speaking of Ogremach’s Bane, it wants to know everything, especially about gems. That likely means it has a lot to teach me, if I can just get it to tell me. I suspect that might be akin to pulling a land shark’s wisdom teeth.

Next, we went to talk to Thorin. He mentioned the old lady of Mbala, about whom we already knew. Other than that he seemed drunk, charmed, incredibly over worked, or all three. I personally don’t think we can trust him anymore. He didn’t even remember his students Trish or Tapiwa!

I took advantage of his condition to borrow one of the books from his office. I chose one called “Rare and Legendary Jewels of the Realms”. Amongst all the books about elemental planes, advanced treatises on various magical disciplines, and other venerable tomes, that’s the one Ogremach’s Bane wanted the most. As I mentioned Ogremach’s Bane is very interested in Jewels for some reason. Hopefully, this book will give me some leverage over the animate sword. I must be careful of Ogremach’s Bane, but we are too desperate to turn down any aid we can get. Even the slightest delay could mean the difference between saving my father’s life—and showing him that my magic is not a curse—and failing utterly.

7 Jessie’s Quest

1497, Myrtle 4 cont. – normal weather, no wind, very dry, hot

As we were walking through the city, we noticed a wanted posted for Artuscimber. And guess who it was. It was the man who wanted to stay the night with us. The man with the funny smelling lizard. I swear to you by Tyr’s bicuspids that it was the same man! I can’t decide whether I’m sad we made him leave or not. From everything I’ve heard, he would almost certainly be able to help us, but he’s also very dangerous. With Ogremach’s Bane we already have our quota of knowledge wrapped in danger.

According to Belanor (whom I have as yet no reason to distrust) the dinosaur he was caring for found a herd and ran off. After this, Belanor joined us in the city and we were summoned by Alphred, a servant of Jessie, the daughter of the late Jasmine Princess of Assassins, whose funeral we watched on our first day in Chult. It was only 3 days ago, but I have learned more useful things in those 3 days than I did in my entire career at Lord Pentley’s Preparatory School for Gentlemen.

Anyway, we went to Jessie’s palace to hear what she had to say.

She is younger than I expected—about twelve I would guess—and she’s worried that she’s going to be outmaneuvered by the other Merchant Princes. She suspects that one of them might have had her mother killed while the death curse is in place to prevent her being resurrected. Jessie believe that the Old Lady of Mbala can help resurrect her mother. Because of that she wants us to smuggle her out of the city with her mother’s body and take her there. Tapiwa found out how to find Artuscimber in Mbala, so the Old Lady must indeed be powerful and wise. It’s sort of on the way to the Peaks of Flame, so it might be good to stop there. As the daughter of a Merchant Prince she has access to resources, but probably not once we leave the city. I’m afraid she will be more of a fognott [ed. an ingrown tusk] than a canine.

Especially difficult will be her request to go without a guide. Her mother and Jobal weren’t on the best of terms. In fact, she suspects it might have been Jobal that had her mother killed. However, we don’t know how to find Mbala without Hew (or another guide), so we convinced her to meet us outside the city from where we would leave so that Hew (if he is her enemy) wouldn’t be able to send word back to the city. We also plan to keep her hidden and her identity unknown for as long as possible. We’re going to leave early tomorrow. Pell stayed with Jessie to find out as much about her as possible. Ogremach’s Bane asked that I buy jewels before we leave, so on our way out I discretely—I doubt the others would understand why it’s important—asked Jessie to bring some with her.

We all went to run our separate errands for the night. I went to Wakanagu’s house to talk Syndra about Ogremach’s Bane. Of course, I didn’t ask her about it directly. I did ask her about gems though. She told me a little about gem magic. It’s very ancient and only practiced in Chult. She didn’t know much about how it works, but she told me that that merchant princes of weapons, magic, and gems all disagree how gems should be sold. So asking about gems might garner some unwanted interest. The gems come from Dwarven mines in the west, so I’ll ask Hew about it tomorrow. I remember that he used gems with his axe before, so I bet he knows a lot about them.

Syndra herself looked significantly weaker than she did just three days ago. I asked if she knew of any sentient swords in Chult, but she said she didn’t. She said that when dealing with sentient weapons one must be very careful. If the goals of the weapon and the wielder are not aligned, then conflict is inevitable. She must suspect I have a sentient sword of some kind. I’m not happy about that—I may have tipped my hand too much—but it’s better her than someone else.

1497, Myrtle 5 – cool, strong breeze, very little rain

We set off early today, meeting Jessie and Alphred outside the city. We took two canoes, and I rode with Hew. I talked with him, as casually as possible, about gems. He almost told me what some of the different gems (Bloodstone, Azurite, what else did he mention?) were good for, but he stopped himself. Their proper is use is a Dwarven secret. He used to work in the mines not too far west and offered to take us there, but I think it’s too far out of way, and too hard to explain to the others. Not to mention that the gems are still as much a mystery to me as why anyone would want to be a dentist.

As we continue upriver, Henryk noticed some raptors just in time waiting to ambush us. The were smaller than the one that attacked us in the city, but much more numerous. We had a brief fight in which I cast Chaos bolt twice to good effect, and with no unexpected repercussions. I definitely feel like I’m getting more control of my magic. Pell really showed her worth with a magical hammer which helped immensely. We ate roasted raptor and are keeping several of the others for food. We cut them into pieces in the hopes that they won’t be able to come back as undead.

8 A Stitch in Time Saves Five

1497, Myrtle 6 – light rain

Last night I experienced dreams as vivid and lifelike as any in my life. I was weilding massive power, the kind I have always dreamed of, against a veritable army of red-haired goblins. I woke feeling more confident—in my own abilities and in our quest—than I have in a long time.

Not long after breakfast, Hew discovered the body of Princess Jasmine in the boat. He was furious that we hadn’t told him what was going on. We were luckily able to calm him down by explaining what we had done. So now he knows all about Jasmine and Jessie, but hopefully he will choose to do nothing about it. He has a magical axe, so it’s conceivable he has a magical means of communication.

Most of the day was spent in traveling up river—thankfully without incident. I read quite a bit of my book on Jewels, but most of what I’ve learned can be better summarized by reading the book itself.

As we disembarked to set up camp for the night we saw a herd of large flightless birds. They are called axebeaks, and on Hew’s suggestion we kept traveling for a while. There’s no need risking our lives over something as trivial as a camping site. It does mean that we traveled on the river until it was a little darker than I would have liked.

1497, Myrtle 7 – light rain

As we were traveling this morning Belanor found the ingredients for an antidote. I suspect that will soon come in handy, though we can always hope not. In the future he has said he might even be able to find the ingredients for a healing potion. That will definitely come in handy!

During lunch a group of eight lizard folk wandered into our camp and wanted food. Bryn gave them good berries which, after some initial distrust, they enjoyed and allowed us to go about our business without further molestation. The past few days have been blissfully free of combat.

A little farther on, Hew mentioned there was a shrine to Ubtao which Pell was interested in. I’m not entirely sure why she is interested in Ubtao specifically, but we decided to check it out. Hew noted that is has been deserted for a long time and perhaps we should avoid it. But faint hearts never won fair ladies (though in this case it was Pell who urged us on, so I suppose the saying doesn’t quite fit), so we entered.

As we went farther into the case, saw many murals. One was of a person leading an army of undead. Another was of a figure controlling the weather and so on. These represented the nine champions (called barae) of Ubtao. He left them in charge when he went of to do whatever it is that gods do when they tire of the mortal plane.

We came to a room with a few charred corpses on the floor as well as runes etched into the far half of the floor. There was also a silver torch lying on the floor. It was as eerie as as Professor Middlemore’s theory of tiny monsters that eat your teeth, and so we advanced slowly.

Henryk, either out of bravery, curiosity, or stupidity (you can never quite tell with Henryk) picked it up the silver torch, and was instantly beset by a fire elemental and some smoke elementals. I cast Witch Bolt, but missed and the rest attacked (Bryn in the form of a dinosaur). The second time I hit with Witch Bolt, and we polished them off with a few solid attacks from everyone.

The silver torch glows of it’s own accord, which is somewhat interesting. I was investigating the murals when Bryn said that the runes were magical except for a twisting path leading to the door on the other side of the room. Though we didn’t test it, I think it’s safe to assume that stepping on one of the magical runes would be akin to letting an orc dentist loose in your mouth.

Bryn led us through the maze without incident and we went up stairs on the other side. It culminated in a room. In the middle was a pedestal with a magical sphere on it. There was a door with a cube and another with a sphere. In the hopes that the sphere would fit and open the door, I foolishly grabbed the sphere off the pedestal and it exploded. None of us were killed, but I felt rather stupid for not even searching for a trap before I touched it.

Despite the fact that none of us were killed, we were all injured so we decided to go back and rest for a while. After we decided that, I felt the strangest sensation, as if time itself were running backwards. We found ourselves back in the rune-floored room without the sphere, and without any injuries. Moreover, Hew was there again even though we had told him to watch over Jessie and Alphred. It’s as if we went back in time, but we can still remember our previous/future actions. Perhaps we merely saw into an alternate reality. Professor Middlemore was always going on about an infinite number of different worlds that all differ slightly. He was a crazy old man, but maybe not as crazy as I thought.

We decided that, since we were fully healed, we might as well try again. Bryn recast Detect Magic and led us through the maze again. This time in the room I looked at the pedestal and found some runes. Although the sensation of going back in time wasn’t particularly pleasurable, I suspected I wouldn’t (permanently) die if I messed up. So I tried something a little foolish in rubbing out some of the runes. It was a bit of an educated guess, and it turned out that I got a little lucky and it worked. Now, I have to remember exactly what I did in case I need to do this again…

My guess was right that the sphere allowed us to open the door. Inside was a small-ish room with 4 statues in the corners. They are in Chultan dress with upraised arms, and in front of each is a box with an open lid. Their content are a mysterious:

• a small vial of clear liquid - magic - smells like potion of healing
• perfectly ripe banana
• gold nugget
• live canary

Belanor talked to the canary which said it had been trying to find some way out but had never been successful. He pulled it out of the box, and that point the door started to close. Pell hurriedly tried to prevent it from trapping us by sticking her shield there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly strong enough, and was smashed into two pieces. The statues started to come to life even though we quickly replaced the canary.

9 A Taste of Death

1497, Myrtle 8 – light rain

Bryn immediately started running for the door and disappeared. I had no idea what sort of fell magic might have caused his disappearance. I found out later he had turned into an ant to escape notice. Well, it certainly worked. That might be a very useful trick in the future in the future.

Before I could even react, one of the golems smashed me into the ground. I have never hurt so much in my life. Time slowed down as I crumpled to the floor and felt bone after bone break under the preternatural force of the golem’s fists. I am truly not trying to make an excuse for my ignoble death, but the golem, I believe, was even stronger than the dinosaurs we have faced. And there were four such behemoths. As I felt my spine buckling, I knew we were doomed, though I wondered if we might get a second chance by going back in time. I wasn’t sure in that moment whether I wished for the bitter-sweet release of death (and an uncertain afterlife given the death curse), or whether I wanted a second chance and a second chance to die.

A second later I was magically revived. The only one who can do such a thing is Pell. My dear, sweet, foolish Pell. Didn’t she know I would be of no use? Couldn’t she see we were all doomed? As I struggled to get my wits about me I felt for a second excruciating time my bones snapping, and this time I knew immediately that I was dead. They told me later that the rest of the “fight” went about as you would imagine.

I was transported to a gray plane which, based on descriptions, was the astral plane. But I was soon yanked (I can use no other word to describe the sensation which was pleasant only when compared to my recent demise) into a foggy blue city. As I looked around I soon saw my mother, and slightly later my brothers Hansy and Jürgy! I was surprised and saddened that they were dead. I can still think of no other explanation for their presence in that place.

“Hey Thergood! What are you doing here?” my mother asked bewildered at my sudden appearance. “We were in Brocklhaven [ed. our estate outside the city], and then I ended up here in the City of Judgment. Later your brothers appeared as well.” She was clearly alarmed and it pained me to see her in such a state. But before I could do any explaining of my own, we heard screams and people yelling “It’s coming!”

I looked and saw a flying monstrosity in the distance sucking people in. It was revolting and terrifying, and I knew instinctively that it would devour our souls if it had the chance. We ran and hid, but before we could talk even a little more I felt the rewinding sensation for the second time today. I never even had a chance to explain to my mother what was happening to me or why I simply vanished.

I have often been told that the afterlife is a better place, but I can no longer believe that. I never wish to see the blue haze, for I have never been so scared in my life. At least the golems didn’t give me a chance to feel fear. It was as if I could feel the jaws of doom closing in on my—the incisors biting not into my flesh, but my very existence.

Rewinding through one’s death is an unforgettable experience. It was wonderful to be back alive and away from the soul-eater. But the pain of my death was just as intense as it had been in the forward direction, and even more surprising. When the rewinding stopped we were back in the outer room, the sphere in my hands. I had just disarmed the pedestal. On the bright side, at least we didn’t have to start back downstairs.

Sobered and in shock, we all related what happened to us. Bryn as I mentioned had turned into an ant and escaped under the door. He’s the only one of us with any sense it appears. Henryk died and caught a glimpse of me in the City of Judgment as well as an old friend of his. Belanor arrived there as well, though barely long enough to see an old acquaintance of his.

Pell was the last to die—the poor girl had to watch the rest of us die. After Belanor died, she saw a rift open and a huge purple stag-horned satyr-looking creature exulting that it was free. She said as things started to rewind the creature didn’t simply rewind like everything else. Rather it grew angry that it’s freedom was being taken away.

Needless to say we were all a little nervous to enter the room again. The pain of dying is enough to make one hesitate, and none of are really sure if we can be saved twice from the same death. And I definitely don’t want to visit the City of Judgment any sooner than I absolutely have to. I just hope my mom is okay.

Interestingly, Ogremach’s Bane doesn’t remember anything. It doens’t have a memory of having entered the room at all. I concentrated on what I had seen, but it can’t see the pictures in my mind. It says that it can only sense my thoughts. It can, however, read the book while it’s in my bag.

After much deliberation and review of what happened to us, we decided we had to try again. This time we examined everything in the room carefully. The clear liquid was in the box closest to the door. Straight ahead was the ripe banana. To the right, the ill-fated canary, and in the far corner, the gold nugget. The walls were decorated with a mural of a Titan attacking the ancient city of Mezro. Something that we missed the first time, though it should have been obvious, was that the boxes were exactly the right size to fit in the other door. An orb to open the first door, and a box to open the second. So obvious in retrospect, but we were a little too excited last time. There’s nothing like dying a swift painful death to teach a person caution.

We did find one clue—a poem that read

Unfortunately, it was still not obvious, but we finally decided on a course of action. We would all leave the room, Henryk would pick up one of the boxes, and we would see what happened. That way only one of us would die and, hopefully, we could try it again with a different box if need be. We would not remove any item from the box in case that was a trigger. The only question was which box to choose. We finally decided on the clear liquid. It was the only one which was not yellow, and also the only liquid. It turns out that we guessed correctly because nothing happened when Henryk picked it up. He was able to walk out of the room without an adverse effects. Our relief was palpable.

Henryk hesitated slightly before trying the box in the far door, we were all apprehensive about what horrible death lay behind the next door. But it soon swung open easily to reveal the room behind. In the center of the room was an orb—clearly magical—on a pedestal. Behind was a portal. On the other side of the portal was a constantly changing plane. In it a skeletal dragon was battling many blue frog-like creatures. The view on the other side was constantly replaying as if stuck in a time loop, which considering our recent adventures it probably was.

The dragon looks at us—straight through the portal and directly at us—and at the same time one of the creatures (a Slaad) jumped through the portal. We heard someone yell (whether out loud or in our minds I can’t say), “Defend the orb!” I’m not sure whether we were defending it from the dragon or the Slaad since they both seemed likely to be evil. Nevertheless, defending the orb from all comers seemed like a reasonable thing to do.

What happened next was a bit of a blur to me. I was trying understand what I could before it was too late. I do remember that Belanor shot through portal and his arrow turned into a carrot. The Slaad was tougher than I expected based solely on its looks, and we had trouble dealing with the single one who had come through the portal. We were lucky there was only one or we wouldn’t have stood a chance. At one point the stress got to me and I became frustrated with the ineffectiveness of my magic, which hadn’t been working that well. I drew Ogremach’s Bane in a fit of frustration and rage and attacked the Slaad. I was never any good at sword play—much to my father’s disappointment—but guided either by luck or Ogremach’s Bane itself I dealt the creature a devastating blow. It was still not enough to deter the creature, however.

Henryk, simultaneously brilliant and foolish as usual, broke the orb with his sword. The orb appeared to have shifting and swirling mazes inside, but the mazes all escaped after it was broken. The remnants were left devoid of magic. The Slaad lost interest at that point and slipped back through the portal. Henryk may have saved our lives, but at what expense?

The skeletal dragon appeared in the room with us, and after noticing our terror at the presence of a dragon, transformed into a female halfling. She introduced herself as Amoriel, a servant of Ubtao. She explained that she used the portal to create “life mazes” to judge the dead and then added, “Now that the portal is broken, I don’t know how I will judge who is worthy, but it’s better than letting it fall into the hands of the Slaad. They would have twisted it to their evil purposes.” At least she didn’t seem angry with us for Henryk’s rash act.

She had used her time magic to give our party second chances when battling the temple’s defenses. She needed our help in her battle with the Slaad. I hope she doesn’t regret that choice now that we destroyed her orb. After all, if we die in Chult this won’t be the last time we see her. At least, I hope—I’d rather meet her than the flying abomination again.

According to Amoriel, Pell’s father isn’tk dead because she hasn’t seen him in the City of Judgment. She say him once before when he was searching for the Lost city of Omu. He was headed to Nangalore him because he thought there was information to be had there. She also explained a little about the history of Nangalore since we were unfamiliar with it. It was a blessed city until the queen had a general killed. For this evil act Ubtao cursed the city.

Amoriel was reluctant to tell us any of this for fear of interfering with mortals.

It looked like she was about to leave and I blurted out, “What do you know about gems?” She explained that some of the barae were proficient in gem magic. One of them didn’t want to hide Mezro away, and he ceased being a barae. The temple we were in dedicated to Raeburton (one of the barae). But other than those tidbits she didn’t know much about it.

The last thing that Amoriel did before she left was look directly at Ogremach’s Bane and say, “Hi Chaz. How are you?” I felt Ogremach’s Bane bristle and growl “I hate that name.”

Amoriel had said that the temples defenses were now inert, so on our way out Bryn grabbed the gold nugget, Henryk the banana, Belanor the canary, and Pell still had the magical silver torch. Henryk had taken the potion on our way in to the portal room. Most significantly, in the middle of the life maze orb I found a stone that seems magical. I took it and will try to attune myself to it tonight. Ogremach’s bane assured me that it’s not a gem, and he lost interest in it at that point.

We made our way back to the entrance where Hew was talking with Alphred and Jessie. He was insisting that he had spent time inside, but Alphred and Jessie swore he hadn’t. Similarly, Hew marveled that we came back right behind him. We exchanged a knowing glance and let it go. we then went back to our camp and prepared to stay the night.

As we were tending our wounds, Henryk found some little creatures where the Slaad had mauled him. They look a bit like little tadpoles and I suspect they might be magical. I’m keeping them in a jar where I hope they won’t escape.

Today definitely gave me plenty to think about. To the point that I didn’t even read any of my book (though I’m sure “Chaz” did).˙

10 A Goblin Ruse

1497, Myrtle 8 cont.

We decided to rest for a little while, though Jessie, Alphred, and Hugh were a little confused as to why we were so exhausted. Unfortunately, not long after we began resting Pell (who was standing guard) heard something in the jungle and went to investigate. She ran back screaming about insects. She was being chased by a swarm or two of insects with mandibles would make an orc envious (I was to find this out the hard way later).

Since they were only insects, I tried creating a bonfire on the swarm, but it wasn’t very effective, they must have heat resistance. In retaliation I suppose, they attacked me and got in my clothes, biting me severely. I’m afraid I lost my cool after all that happened and I started slapping them desperately. I will say that it wasn’t the most effective method. Finally, Bryn killed the last of them and Hew inspected me to make sure that I didn’t contract a disease. He says I probably won’t. It would be very embarrassing if I had survived the temple and the fight with the Slaad, to be killed by mere insects. On the other hand, maybe insects are not “mere insects” on this unholy continent.

At that point, we decided to travel farther upstream before making camp. Hew told us his story, which does explain a bit about him. He and his family lived in Wyrmheart mine. They had to leave for a while (he didn’t offer an explanation as to why), and when they returned the mine was filled with fire newts. They eradicated them from most of the mine, but at the last minute a dragon rose up and breathed fire killing most of his company (and family). The dragon laughed at Hew, and didn’t even bother to kill him.

Later, Hew snuck back in with the intent of dying in battle, but the dragon said malevolently, “I’m glad you came back. I’m still hungry,” at which point it ate his arm. Needless to say he desires the death of the wyrm. Perhaps we can do that after we break the death curse. Doing so in the other order would be foolhardy (even more foolhardy than fighting a dragon to begin with).

We eventually set up camp for the night I’m hoping to attune myself to my magical stone.

Myrtle 9 – Rainier, Normal Temperature,

The night passed uneventfully. After attuning myself to the stone, I believe it gives me the ability to cast many more spells. Even spells I’ve never practiced! I’m not entirely sure what price I will have to pay, but it does seem that I might not be able to entirely control the magic. I will have to restrain myself from using it when it’s unnecessary.

As we traveled upriver, we saw a large crocodile in the river. Henryk cast a firebolt and scared it off. Hew told us a story about crocodile carrying a person across the river on his back. It was a child’s story, but his telling us indicates that he’s becoming more comfortable around us. That’s two stories in one day. Hopefully, that means then in the thick of some future battle we’ll be able to rely on him.

As we were traveling Ogremach’s Bane tried to convince me to go looking for Ogremach’s Heart. It is said that he who possesses it can control Ogremach. That would indeed be powerful, and might help us in our quest, but the only hint that Ogremach’s Bane had as to it’s whereabouts was “between the two rivers.” I’m afraid that’s not enough information to justify trying to find it. He did tell me where in the gem book it talks about Ogremach’s Heart, and I promised to read about it. Maybe on the way back…

We arrived in Camp Righteousness, but all was not well. It looks to have been abandoned for several days at least. Our party (I sometimes like to think of us as Thergood’s Avengers) split up to see if we could find any survivors. Hew and I went together into a large statue.

I say into because the statue encompassed the entrance to a tunnel. Hew and I entered but hadn’t gotten too deep when I noticed a pit trap (luckily I noticed before either of us stepped in it), and we went back to confer with the others. The tunnel clearly went back much farther than we ventured and I fear that it may be the origin of the destruction.

In the meantime, Belanor talked to an Axe-beak, who jabbered about “nightwalkers”—perhaps undead—as well as “green people”—perhaps goblins. Henryk said the tents to the North had been cut or torn open and there was blood in them. Bryn and Pell were looking at some buildings and as we joined them they found a corpse in a latrine. Bryn went down and to check it out and found 5 obsidian gems (and some other less interesting things). They seem worth about 10 gold or so each. Ogremach’s Bane was ecstatic when I ended up with three of them. One was my share, Pell (bless her sweet little eye teeth) gave me one, and I bought one from Henryk. I tried not to let my glee show too much to my companions. I will finally be able to see what Ogremach’s Bane can do with them.

As we searched some more tents, Henryk found a log book. The last log was from the third of Chess (about 2 months ago). My previous worry about the tunnel was borne out by the log. It was too old and musty to read the entire book without damaging it, but we could read a few things. It talked about “another expedition into statue” that was “dangerous” and they wanted to “get to heart of it.” I asked Ogremach’s Bane to read it for me since he doesn’t need to turn the pages and risk damaging it.

At this point things got a little crazy. Bryn saw a goblin hiding, which then started running away. Pell magically commanded it to come back, and it obeyed. I cast Detect Thoughts, but there was nothing interesting—he was too scared to have any coherent thoughts. Before I could probe his thoughts any deeper we noticed some goblins stealing our canoes! This goblin had only been a diversion.

Immediately, Bryn turned into a raptor, ran to the river, jumped into one of our canoes (which swayed but didn’t tip over), and ravished one of the goblins. The poor thing never even knew what hit it. Pell ran at the goblins screaming, but before she made it to the river, I was able to cast Chaos Bolt. I was holding one of the gems (as directed by Ogremach’s Bane) and I obliterated one of the Goblins. I focused everything I had into the attack, so I can’t say for sure how much using the gem helped, but I can definitely say that it did. When I looked later the gem was drained of it’s color, and was no longer worth anything. It had become a rock just like any you might find at Brocklhaven.

Ogremach’s Bane relished using the gem. I didn’t notice too much at the time because I was so excited myself, but thinking back it makes me nervous, perhaps even a little scared at how much he enjoyed it. I’ll definitely have to stay in control. Given that he can read anything that I’m writing, I might have to switch to shorthand. I just wish I had practiced a bit more in “Dental Record Keeping for the Working Dentist.” But even knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I could pay any more attention to Mrs Swagglebump than I did.

Anyhow, Bryn dove into the water and turned into an octopus. He attacked the other canoe which had started to get away. And, in fact, two of the goblins did get away. They got across the river, and run into the jungle with two of our packs. Or rather with two of Hew’s packs. Hew was furious to have lost them, though he said it was largely non-essential supplies. Unless we get afflicted with certain types of illnesses that is.

11 Beset by Undead

Myrtle 9 cont.

As we were cleaning up after the fight with the goblins, Belanor’s dinosaur came to him and with a goblin in his mouth. Almost like our cat Vinci used to bring mice to my mother (I really hope she’s not dead yet).

We nearly dispatched him before he could speak, but he was dressed differently than goblins who attacked. Luckily for him, we allowed him to speak long enough for Brumblegrupp (the miserable creature’s name) to explain that his tribe (the Buzzing Hornets) had been attacked by the Sleeping Crocodile tribe—those very goblins which attacked us. I used a spell read his thoughts and he seemed to be telling the truth. Moreover, he said he could help us get past some of the traps in the statue and so we let him live. Our recent interaction with the Dancing Spiders tribe no doubt helped us trust (to some extent) that goblins can be noble.

While we were discussing Brumblegrupp’s fate, Ogremach’s Bane told me what he’d read in the log book. The people had deciphered writing on the wall, and believed there are treasure and secrets inside. The most notable of which is a gem once owned by Ras Nsi—one of Ubtao’s barae. The paladins believed they needed to find the gem, and I believe that if it truly belonged to Ras Nsi then it cannot but help us in our quest. Whether we can find it is of course another matter.

After we finished cleaning up we decided to enter the tunnel. We left Hew and Alphred (Jessie insisted on accompanying us) outside to keep them safe and to watch our equipment. If they ran into trouble Hew would blow his horn to summon our help. The rest of us went into tunnel and we saw three sets of goblin footprints. I pointed out the trap in the floor and we went around it. The goblin footprints, however, went right over the top. Apparently, they were too small to trigger it.

As we proceeded further we found some sword traps in the tile floor. We marked them in case we had to come back. Brumblegrupp, desperate to prove his loyalty, offered to walk on them to try to set them off. We didn’t take him up on it—such a thing would be incomprehensibly vulgar.

After a short time we came to a wall about 10 feet high with a ledge above it. Brumblegrupp climbed to the top and saw two companions burned bodies. There must be some sort of fire trap on the ledge above.

Bryn and Pell went up next to look at the tiles. Pell noted that the art has faded, but the traps have not, highlighting first that we need to be careful, and second the priorities of the builders of this monument. They noticed runes on the walls, so I did my duty and ascended, but sadly I couldn’t understand the runes.

There are 16 large tiles on the ledge, in four rows of four. At the other end is another wall with a ledge above it. According to the log book, the “second tile from top in the first row, second tile from bottom in the last row” are safe, i.e. not trapped. The paladins didn’t make it past this point, and noted that they had many injuries up to now, so we are quite lucky to have been unharmed so far. Either that or these paladins are idiots. Which, given some experiences I’ve had with paladins, I’m not prepared to reject.

• Key
• ↑ direction of travel
• F - Fire trap
• B - safe as noted in the book
• S - safe as tested by Henryk

Henryk decided to try and find a safe path through to the next ledge—he’s not afraid of fire. On the first tile he tried, he triggered a trap. I was watching the runes on the walls of the room and noticed which lit up. However, paying attention to the walls caused me to get a little singed when it triggered. I was able to avoid the majority of the blast, but afterward I went back down to entirely avoid the possibility further pain.

It wasn’t long before Henryk found the way through, and he and Bryn climbed up the next ledge. There they found a door with a pattern in the middle. It was four squares by four squares matching the pattern of safe tiles below. There were other magical runes on the door, and the art was better preserved. To the sides of the door were loose pebbles on ground.

Henryk and Bryn tried pushing buttons on the door, but there was an explosion which pushed Bryn [ed. Or was it Henryk?] pushed off the upper ledge and triggering the fire trap in the process. This cause which caught several of us unawares. In fact, poor Brumblegrupp died, but Pell revived him and healed the rest of us.

As we were returning to try and figure out the door, we heard Hew’s blowing, horn summoning our help. We started scrambling back down, but the two zombie corpses came back to life as zombies and started attacking Henryk, who was the farthest back.

Pell ran to the entrance and saw a bunch of zombies and skeletons outside of the tunnel’s entrance. She also say Hew and Alphred in the river rowing downstream. Pell yelled back to us what was happening outside, so I dispatched one of the goblins (with yet another spell that worked flawlessly), and hopped down leaving Henryk to take care of the last goblin by himself, of which he is entirely capable.

A goblin in the midst of the undead was clearly controlling them by some magical means. He called on us to surrender and show him how to get past the traps and he would let us live. Belanor responded by hitting the goblin with a well placed arrow. The goblin ran and hid. I don’t know how he could expect us to parley when his tribe had previously stolen our and he was controlling undead. I would rather have every tooth removed with Arvield’s fully-automatic, hydraulic powered, root-severing, tooth extractor, than help that goblin find the gem of Ras Nsi!

So we fought and fought. Finally, it became clear (after Jessie was hit) that it was a fight we could not win and Brumblegrupp asked the goblins to call off the undead. Bryn went and made a deal with the goblins (for there were more that one in the group) that would buy us some time. We were to find our way through a few more of the traps and then show them how to get in. I’m pretty sure that they plan to kill us but, on the other hand, we don’t plan to help them. Hopefully, once we find Ras Nsi’s treasure we’ll have the power to fight our way out. Such deception is dishonorable but no less dishonorable than the goblins.

Belanor could not let go of his desire to kill the goblin mastermind and wanted to exit and try to kill the vile creature by himself. I had an idea. The ceiling of the tunnel is very high, and despite all the undead guarding the entrance, I thought that Belanor could escape unnoticed if he could crawl out via the ceiling.

Since attuning myself to the magical stone, I’ve wanted to try casting another spell. It may very well be dangerous, but I thought now was as good a time as any to try something dangerous. After all, we don’t have much to lose. So I offered to cast Spider Climb on Belanor so that he could sneak out. Such was his hatred and our desperation that we all agreed. The others got far away in case something went horribly awry, and it’s a good thing they did. I cast Spider Climb successfully, but some floating octopus-like creatures appeared above us. They seemed frightened and fled out the entrance. If only I could have told them not to go that way, because we heard dozens of arrows loosed and several wet sounds as the hapless creatures hit the ground, surely dead. Certainly not an ideal outcome to casting a spell, but it could have been much worse. No one in our party was hurt, and Belanor was able to climb perfectly.

Belanor snuck out without being seen—it was beginning to be dark—and took up a vantage point far above the undead hosts. After watching for a little he saw the goblin chieftain and loosed an arrow that flew true and felled the diminutive leader in one shot. Of course, we knew nothing of this at the time but I, being closest to the exit, heard the shrieks of the goblins companions and could sense that the undead were loosed from their magical compulsion.

Truly we must be blessed by the gods in our quest.

12 The Mysteries of the Crocodile

Myrtle 9 cont.

After a while the undead gave up shooting at Belanor. Being merely undead, they can’t have realized the futility of engaging half-elf bastard from a distance, so perhaps they ran out of missiles. Regardless, they kept us pinned inside with Belanor outside. I stayed nearer the entrance while the others went back to the door that had stymied us before.

Brumblegrupp mentioned that the temple in whose bowels we are is a statue of a crocodile riding a man. The story Hew told might be relevant after all! As they searched the door for clues on how to enter, they found the following verse

Luckily, Brumblegrupp’s knowledge of goblin tactics, and his own experience in goblin battle stacks, he rode on Henryk’s shoulders. Together they attempted to open the door by pushing all 4 buttons at same time. This apparently did the trick and the door opened.

Bryn, who hadn’t seen much action recently went running out into the night, cursing Hew. I was equal parts worried about his safety and his sanity, but he did end up returning later.

After the door was opened, Belanor came in and the two of us joined the others in the recently revealed room. There were two sets of goblin footprints in the room, one going in, and one coming out. I still wonder how they got there. The goblin chieftain seemed desperate for knowledge of how to get in, yet clearly some goblins had been inside recently. Perhaps they were from a different clan?

Pell cut down some old spider webs to clear prevent any unpleasant surprises. The walls were decorated in reliefs of crocodile men. One half of the room has elementals and primordials, and the other half has more recent deities. Directly in the middle is a depiction of Ubtao.

The only other objects of interest in the room were a set of spiral stairs leading to the top of a pillar. On the pillar was a belt and a ceramic jug.

We heard groaning from behind the pillar, and soon a goblin corpse started shambling down the stairs. The back of it’s skull was caved in, and its dress indicated it was from the crocodile tribe, at least according to Brumblegrupp—though I have no reason to doubt him on this matter. This poor zombified goblin was easily dispatched, but Brumblegrupp accidentally triggered a trap on the third step from the bottom. We were all hit by lightning. We really need to be more careful.

We decided to rest and so we took up spots we determined to be as defensible as possible. We closed the door with Henryk and Brumblegruppp outside in case the door were to lock us in. In this we were perhaps overlay cautious, but in other things, not cautious enough.

Belanor climbed to the top of the pillar, which was perhaps 30 feet. There he saw writing that said it was the gem of Ras Nsi, but the gem itself was nowhere to be found. He did find the belt and the urn, however. As soon as he touched the belt the roof began to collapse. The next thing I remembered was the gentle hand of Pell restoring me to consciousness outside the room.

Before we had a chance to recuperate more, we heard Hew’s horn (it always seems to happen at the most inopportune times) and we rushed outside to see that Alphred, Bryn, and Hew had come came back. Hew drew the undead away from the entrance of the temple, hopefully he can take care of himself—he has so far. The rest of us fought off a skeleton and a zombie, though nothing worth speaking of. Did I just write that? Little more than a week ago that would have been the greatest adventure of my life, but now it seems hardly worthy of the ink or paper required to record it.

We set up camp outside the temple (we were all a little nervous about going back inside the temple).

Myrtle 10 – Heavy rain, nearly storming

We spent an uneventful night, as did Hew for the most part. Upon finding us again he recounted his adventures of the previous night which amounts to mainly being able to stay ahead of the undead without getting too far ahead.

The jug, which is now in Bryn’s possession, is a magical jug capable of producing different liquids everyday. The belt on the other hand, was given to Brumblegruppp and gives him the strength of a Hill Giant! Surely our enemies will be surprised when the pipsqueak lifts an elephant over his head and throws it at them!

We went through our equipment on the boat. Luckily, I had carried much of my stuff with me because what I left on the boat had been gone through. In particular, my rain catcher was damaged, much of my insect repellent was ruined, and the Slaad eggs were missing. Overall, it could have been much worse.

We tried hard to find the gem of Ras Nsi—we finally realized that it must be the gem that the goblin chieftain (killed by Belanor’s expertise), used to control the undead. After all, that’s what the gem was rumored to do. We tried tracking the goblins farther, but were unable to do so. The rain ruined their tracks.

We decided to go farther upstream toward Camp Vengeance and Mbala. The rest of the day passed without much incident. We passed a Wooka tree, the nuts of which supposedly shed magical light when you crack them. However, the tree was filled with little furry bear looking things called Zorbos. Hew informed us that they can be dangerous so we simply traveled on.

I read the gem book for most of the day, though Ogremach’s Bane said it was the boring part. On the contrary I found it quite interesting and have learned a lot. On the other hand, I supposed Ogremach’s Bane already knows most of this information. I spent a little time trying to fix my rain catcher, but to no avail.

Myrtle 11 – light rain

We started out early this morning. I did some more reading, and tried to fix the rain catcher, but got so frustrated I threw it overboard. We have other sources of water anyway. Especially now that we have a magical jug.

As we rounded a bend, we saw a wizard in red accompanied by 3 guards and 2 skeletons. Though I’ve never met one, he might be one of the infamous Red Wizards of Thay. He certainly had the manners one would expect from their kind. We told him we were going to Camp Vengeance and he laughed. “You’re all going to catch what they are going to catch,” he said. I cast detect thoughts but didn’t learn anything I couldn’t have learned by just observing him. It was an unpleasant experience.

Arriving at Camp Vengeance was even less pleasant, however. The wizard was right in that at least. Outside the palisades were charred human corpses, and flayed animals. Flies and other vermin were everywhere. As we arrived, one of the guards yelled for the gate to be opened and we came inside. He was reprimanded (and rightly so) for letting us in so easily by a tough looking dwarf with a read beard.

The dwarf’s name is Ord Firebeard of the Neverwinter Firebeards. He remembered Brumblegrupp from Camp Vengeance, and seems like a decent fellow. Unfortunately, the camp itself is a mess. There are sick people everywhere (Pell and Brumblegrupp did what healing they could, I could think of no way in which I could help). They are outnumbered only by the mud and filth in the streets. It’s obvious that these paladins are as unprepared for life in the jungle as they are to bend in their obedience to foolish regulations.

Ord recounted that when Silvertusk arrived about two days ago, and she gave Commander Breakbone a letter from Alastair Bole. He doesn’t know what it said, but he took half the men of the settlement and headed for the Mistcliff mountains (according to our map the mountains are quite far). He said he had to go kill an Aarakocra necromancer there. It appears that the Aarakocra had asked for help dealing with the necromancer before, but Breakbone didn’t leave until the letter came. He further instructed that his tent was to be left unoccupied while he was gone, so we will stay in some otherwise unoccupied tents. We may not get much sleep though, if the stories the inhabitants—and the corpses outside—tell are true. Every night the undead attack. We’ll help out how we can, but we have to get to Mbala. Our mission is more important than the lives of a few paladins, fools that they are.

13 Zombie Dinosaur Attack and Mbala

Myrtle 11 cont. – light rain

We hurriedly cut a few trees so that we wouldn’t have to sleep in the mud. The soldiers have been instructed not to leave the palisade, but surely they can see the value of not sleeping in the mud? The locals—and there are a few of them in the camp—seem to understand a little better what should be done, but they also don’t seem to mind the mud.

Belanor and Henryk helped out with first watch. Camp Vengeance has 5 towers, and they took the south and west towers. It’s a good thing they did—at least if we assume they have better eyes than the soldiers, which I do—because the camp was attacked from that direction by a giant zombie dinosaur. What the locals called a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Luckily, I have taken to sleeping in my clothes, and it paid off last night. I woke to the sound of the alarm, grabbed Ogremach’s Bane and my gems, and stepped outside. It took me a moment to get my bearings, but I watched as the dinosaur vomited a zombie onto the south tower where Henryk was stationed. I felt a shock of horror as I envisioned my father forcing me to clean the monster’s teeth! Then Bryn ran up the stairs of said tower and cast magical Faerie Fire on the creature, making it much easier to see in the dark of night. Ord, and the soldiers all stumbled out of their tents. Ord ordered his men to fire on the abomination. I cast witch bolt, scoring a hit and locking on.

Pell attacked it with her magical hammer and Brumblegrupp did something that I never expected to see. He jumped onto it. Or at least it looked like what he was trying to do. He wasn’t able to get a grip though and fell to the ground outside of the palisades. At that point I wondered if I would ever see him again. If the zombie dinosaur was the only hostile creature out there then he had a chance, but if there were other hordes beyond the fence that I couldn’t see… well I don’t want to dwell on it.

The soldiers fired another volley and brought the poor wretched being to its finish. It fell over and crush much of the palisade, some of which it had tried to eat. Luckily, everyone escaped being crushed under the putrid flesh, and the mass of the body mostly filled the whole it created in the palisade. After a brief deliberation, we decided to all retire again until it was our turn to watch. Luckily, the rest of the night passed without incident.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Belanor snuck into Commander Breakbone’s tent and found the letter from Alastair Bole which caused Breakbone to leave so quickly. In it Breakbone was censured for incompetence, specifically failure to form alliances with a few groups, one of which was the Aarakocra (the others were the lobster folk, the goblins, and the grung). It’s no wonder that he left in a hurry to help the Aarakocra, as if cleaning his teeth before visiting the dentist would save him from tooth-rot.

The letter continued that he was to be replaced by Captain Sal Hana. Captain Hana, however, left with Commander Breakbone. Perhaps it was hoped that he would die during the expedition. No, I should be more charitable even to the likes of Commander Breakbone.

Myrtle 12 – Light rain, very hot, windy

The next morning we woke to almost no rain, which is to say, similar to the rainy season at Brocklhaven. We helped repair the palisade before we left. The other thing we did was inform Ord Firebeard of the letter, and communicated with Undril Silvertusk in the hopes that she could turn the party around. Then we broke camp and went upriver toward Mbala. It was a day full of hard work, but not much interesting to write about.

Myrtle 13 – Light rain, normal, no wind

We traveled further upriver, and I read more of the gem book. I’m nearly done. It really is an interesting book. I would like to get my hands on some gems to see if I can learn to master them. Unfortunately, there isn’t anyone to teach me except Ogremach’s Bane, and I’m not sure how willing (or able) he is to teach me.

Myrtle 14 – Light rain, normal, no wind

We arrived today at the spot where Hew said we should disembark and start overland to Mbala. We hid our canoes and began carrying much of our equipment overland. The going is obviously more difficult than on land, but Brumblegrupp sure can carry a lot for such a small thing. He never seems to get tired either.

Not much happened on our trek through the woods. The weather was pleasant, or at least as pleasant as I have ever seen it. At one point on the trip we saw a larger non-zombie dinosaur. Remarkably similar to the kind that attacked Camp Vengeance a few short days ago. It was battling a large dinosaur of some other species. We went around them and their titanic duel, and they didn’t see us.

Myrtle 15 – Heavy rain

Today the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain is coming down so hard I can barely see 100 feet ahead of me. Around nightfall, however, we finally caught sight of our destination. A plateau rises some 2000 feet above the jungle floor. When the rain slows we can see the trail up the side. At the top are clearly the ruins of Mbala. I certainly hope we find what we are looking for at the top.

We decided to pitch camp at the bottom and climb tomorrow, since the trail looks treacherous and the light and rain won’t help at all. I have been too tired to even read any of my book on gems these past few nights. I hope that we can find some rest in Mbala.

Myrtle 16 – Heavy rain

The rain was no better today than yesterday day. It was probably no more than 3 miles and a few switchbacks to get up the mountain, but it sure took us a long time. Between the primitive condition of the trail and the unrelenting downpour, it lead to a truly pessimal experience.

Near the top of the trail we started to enter Mbala proper. There were actual stone steps cut into the cliff and reliefs on the “walls” to the sides of these steps. The reliefs depicted all sorts of Chultan scenes—jungle predators, volcanoes, etc. We reached a wooden gateway with heaps of human skulls. Belanor mentioned that he sensed fae within a mile. Unfortunately, his senses don’t tell him anything about where or what kind. And of course, both of those are incredibly important things to know when dealing with the fae (or anything else for that matter).

The view from the top, however, was spectacular. We were able to see for miles around. Hew pointed out the “Heart of Ubtao”, some earth motes far in the south east. That would be a wondrous place to visit. I wonder what sorts of magics keep them floating in the sky. Ogremach’s Bane thinks there must be powerful gems there.

To the west we can see a large ziggurat–the land of Orolunga. A sage is said to live there, it was mentioned in Tapiwa’s journal, and Artuscimber himself was traveling there when we saw him. After what happened today, I think that might have been a better destination for us as well.

We entered Mbala and looked around. There is one hut about 3000 feet south of gate, with a questionable wind chime in front. An old lady out front. Her name is Nanny Pu’Pu and she is without doubt the “Old Lady of Mbala.” She was pleasant to speak with, though a bit unnerving, and we discussed our purpose in coming to Mbala. I can’t tell whether she is fae.

There is a price for overcoming the death curse, namely another soul to take the place of the departed. In addition, she would require the services of Jessie for one year. Ostensibly Jessie would help her clean and keep her company, but one never knows. I had cast Detect Thoughts in an attempt to ascertain her true intentions, and she seemed to be telling the truth, though perhaps not the whole truth. While speaking of the spell and payment, she was thinking of Merkle (a demon lord who might have such power), and imagining pushing a gem (!) into the skull of a creature.

Her house if full of knick knacks, skulls, books, etc. I tried to get close to some books hoping that Ogremach’s Bane would be able to read them, but it seems I have to actually be in possession of the book for him to have access. I wasn’t too surprised by that, but a little disappointed.

We spent quite some time deliberating. Long enough that my Detect Thoughts wore off before I thought to ask her if she knew anything about Tapiwa. She claimed she didn’t, but I think she was hiding something. She had to have known, and I bet he was planning to use the goblins as sacrifices to her dark magic.

I feel like I’ve learned a lot, and I’m becoming more confident in my magic. In fact, I think I might be good enough to try casting a new spell or two.

14 The Search for Orolunga

Myrtle 16 cont – Heavy rain

One offer Nanny Pu’Pu made was that if we killed a particular white dragon (which lives about 10 miles to the south), she wouldn’t ask for a soul—she would provide it herself. That doesn’t really change the morality of it, of course, and we are still reluctant. Nevertheless, we were all a bit surprised that a white dragon would live in Chult.

Henryk went outside where he saw a flying monkey and later found an area of disturbed ground. As he started to dig it up, a hand came out of the ground and started groping around. It belonged to a flesh golem. This revelation by Henryk upset Nanny Pu’Pu, who yelled, “You woke Bob!” She tried to explain it away, but anyone who creates flesh golems is someone to be wary of. As if we didn’t have enough reason to be wary already!

Unfortunately, Jessie is determined to bring her mother back. We cannot seem to talk her out of it.

Nanny Pu’Pu offered to let us stay the night, and despite our misgivings, we are doing so. Given that we still haven’t been able to decide on a course of action yet, it seems our best bet. I only hope we can escape without any curses. She also said she could show us a loved one. Although I would very much like to know where my mother is, and in particular if she is dead, I was reluctant to give Nanny Pu’Pu any more power over me than necessary. Often these magics require permission that once granted is difficult to revoke.

I was surprised that Henryk took her up on the offer. He seems to be the most distrustful of her. Perhaps he misses his sister (for that is who he asked to see) more than he lets on. There may be more to him than I originally thought. What he was shows was confusing to him, and even more so to the rest of us. It was a vision of something or someone (perhaps his sister) at the bottom of the ocean with a sea monster. Like I said, I have no idea what it means and he hasn’t volunteered much. He always seems to change the subject when I bring it up and I don’t want to push the issue—it’s important we remain friends. The truth is we have much larger problems to deal with than what might or might not have happened to his sister and I think we both know that.

Henryk and Bryn decided to sleep outside. The rest of us, myself included, slept inside though we took turns keeping “watch.” Most of us would sleep while one would engage Nanny Pu’Pu in conversation to prevent us being put under a spell. Looking at her house, I was unable to find anything that looked magical. No books or gems in particular. She went in and out of her house all through the night, often leaving us unattended (though I suspect not unwatched).

I tried to talk with her to gather as much information as I could. She knows gem magic, and offered to teach me if I have time. It seems she knows my weakness and is not above playing to it. I really think that if I could learn gem magic I could become one of he world’s most powerful sorcerers. Perhaps that’s just Ogremach’s Bane talking though. He too is all too aware of my ambition.

After we settled down for the night, Belanor asked Nanny Pu’Pu to show him his lover. Belanor thought I was asleep at the time, and to be honest, I drifted in and out of consciousness during the vision, but I did notice that he was willing to give up some fingernails in exchange for the vision. He must be more desperate, and perhaps lovesick, than I had thought. He isn’t foolish enough to part with a piece of himself for no reason.

Myrtle 17 – Cold; Light wind; Normal Rain

This morning Nanny Pu’Pu again tried to convince us to do things her way. She showed me the biggest gem I’ve ever seen. Needless to say, Ogremach’s Bane went berserk with desire. He showed me a vision of us using the gem. I was able to withstand the direct blast of a dragon’s breath with no harm. Nanny Pu’Pu offered me an introductory book, “Gem Magic in 21 Days” by Tafima, if I would take the gem and have it in the presence of the white dragon when it dies. If I then returned her the gem she would give me the book. To be sure the book looks very important as I think it would allow me to actually learn to wield the immense and forgotten power of gems. The book I have is interesting to be sure (at least parts of it are), but I don’t have the necessary background to understand it all. And much of it is about history rather than the actual practice of gem magic.

We decided that we could not kill the dragon, time is too short, and such an expedition would be very dangerous as well. Leaving the gem behind enraged Ogremach’s Bane, but I think it might be for the best anyway. Who knows what sort of magics she can perform with it, even while it is in our possession? If I thought that the worst she would do is spy on us, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it, but neither am I a fool.

Eventually we decided that we had to leave Jessie behind. No threatening, cajoling, or pleading could convince her to come with us. Even Alphred decided to abandon her. He will accompany us until he finds a convenient place to return home.

After we had gotten down from the plateau and made camp, Henryk sold us on the idea of sneaking back to check on Jessie that night. Although I thought (rightly as it turns out), that we would not see any signs of mistreatment, we all agreed and snuck back up.

Nanny Pu’Pu was not at her house and Jessie looked completely happy and healthy (though she didn’t see us). We followed Nanny Pu’Pu’s foot prints to a cistern in the middle of the ruins, and Bryn turned into a giant octopus to explore it. He traveled down into the cistern and through a tunnel. There he saw Nanny Pu’Pu reveling in her various (presumably magical) treasures. He was able to make it back out without being seen, and we left for good. I was actually somewhat comforted since the complete lack of valuable items in her possession was a little disconcerting. Now at least we know that she is hiding something.

We traveled the rest of the day with nothing worth writing about.

Myrtle 18 – Extra hot; Very little rain

We spent all of today traveling. There was little rain, but that merely meant that it was even hotter. I sweat so much that I don’t think I could have gotten any wetter if it had rained.

Around noon, Pell climbed a tree to get some eggs. She was tired of eating good berries and rations. While she was in the tree, she saw a dirigible. It was flying a skull and crossbones flag, so she came back down to avoid it’s attention. I think that was a little unfortunate. I consider it likely that we could have overpowered the pirates (in my experience they are untrained rabble), and then used he dirigible to travel much faster while simultaneously avoiding the dangers of the jungle. On the other hand, I know as much about flying a dirigible as Brumblegrupp knows about oral hygiene. Once it passed we didn’t really have any hope of catching it. Perhaps we will see another.

Myrtle 19 – Extra Cold; Tropical Storm

Today was much colder than normal, and the weather horrible. So bad in fact that we made hardly any progress. At it’s worst the winds toppled trees and the rain came at us sideways. If I didn’t know better (and to be honest I don’t), I would have said that the storm was magical in origin. I’ve never experienced such horrific weather.

Syndra sent a magical message to Henryk indicating that Jasmine is back in Port Nyanzaru and says we were involved with her return. So, until we can get more information, we’ll have to wonder who Nanny Pu’Pu killed. Was it Jessie herself? Is her year of service now as a flesh golem? I cannot banish such thoughts even though I doubt they are true. Nanny Pu’Pu surely has plenty of souls that she can harvest when needed. And unless I misjudged her, she honestly seemed lonely.

We sent a message to Jessie asking what had happened, and she replied with “Doing fine, thanks, my mom is alive. Teleported to Nyanzaru after raising her.” Sadly, I still can’t shake the feeling that she’s going to regret her decision.

Myrtle 20 – Normal Rain;

More traveling today. The weather was much more pleasant, however. Perhaps as pleasant as any weather in Chult can ever be, which is about as pleasant as taking notes during Mrs. Swagglebump’s lecture with two broken arms and a persistent itch.

At one point today we came face to face with a massive stegosaurus. No matter how often I see such creatures I’m surprised at how large they are up close. Hew instructed us to stay still. It came within inches of us, smelling us and enveloping us in it’s stiflingly humid breath. Eventually it lost interest and wandered off. After it was gone, Hew was genuinely relieved that we had escaped unscathed, and so was I.

As we traveled further Bryn announced that we were nearing a safe haven for Emerald Enclave. Since I saw no indications of such a thing, he must have seen some sort of Druidic blazes. Not long thereafter we met Thersten, a Druid worshiper of Mielikki. Some scouts from his group have been to Orolunga, and will accompany us for a small donation. Honestly, it seems worth it to me. Hew is great, but these Druids live in the area and know it better than he possibly can.

Henryk asked them about Artuscimber, and they said that he was here a few days ago. They also assured us that bad luck goes to anyone who talks to Nanny Pu’Pu. As if we needed that caution! I worry about Jessie. My only consolation is that she would have gone with or without us. This way she at least made it safely to Mbala.

Myrtle 21 – Very Rainy

As we traveled with Thersten he told us to beware of the Yellow Musk: a flower that can turn you into a zombie. That would have sounded far-fetched a few short weeks ago, but I realized I never doubted it’s veracity for a second. This jungle might even be less pleasant than four years of Dental School. We are also to be wary of blue fog that travels around Chult. If a person goes inside they become insane. Just another item on the list of things to avoid I guess.

On a lighter note, Henryk was introduced to dancing monkey fruit. It’s pretty much what it sounds like. Henryk voluntarily ingested some and proceeded to accost us with a display of his terpsichorean abilities. I have to admit it was somewhat humorous seeing his plebeian boogie. At one point I felt the desire to dance myself, but resisted.

Myrtle 22 – Very Rainy

Not much happened today other than seeing the dancing monkey fruit used against it’s namesake. All in all, Henryk was a better dancer than the baboon.

Myrtle 23 – Normal Rain

Today, a not unpleasant day for travel as far as Chult is concerned, we arrived at Orolunga in the morning. It was a massive Ziggurat with 4 levels. The jungle encroached directly to the base of the structure. We looked around a bit, partly to see if we could find signs of Artuscimber, and partly just to check out the area. We found nothing interesting in either case.

The steps to the first level, which were among the steepest I’ve seen, were very difficult to climb. They were overrun by vines, and soon with thorns. The higher we got, the more thorns there were, and the more painful it became. I soon gave up to try to find a better way up. Henryk persisted for some time, but came to realize that he couldn’t make it the whole way without something to heal him from the loss of blood to the thorns which (unsurprisingly) seemed to actively resist his climbing.

Bryn disappeared—turning into an ant as it happens—and eventually reappeared on the first landing. At that moment we saw a chiwanga rush up the stairs as if the overgrowth were helping it instead of impeding. It was carrying an orange and purple orchid.

15 The Oracle of Orolunga

Myrtle 23 cont.

We decided the best course of action would be to emulate the natives, so we went looking for an orchid to let us pass the treacherous vines. They must be plentiful because it wasn’t long before we found a whole patch of them. With the flower in hand, the thorns parted for us with the same ease as opening a Hobgoblin’s mouth with Orchardpant’s Hydraulic Jaw Opener. They closed behind us just as easily.

Now that we were on the first platform, Bryn said that he saw the chiwanga go up the next stage with a red feather. This next state was covered in gravel that kept shifting, making the ascent impossible. We descended to look for such feathers and Belanor killed a red parrot, paid his respects to it and nature at large, and gave us each a feather. With Orchid and feather in hand, we had no problem climbing to the second platform.

The path to the top was now covered with snakes. More snakes than I had imagined could exist in one place. I don’t consider myself overly squeamish, but the sight of so many reptiles slowly slithering across, under, and around each other nauseated me. I think we might have given up at that point except that the Chiwanga was right next to us. This gave us hope that he could lead us through as safely as the he had until now, but alas.

The Chiwanga was wearing a mask which looked like a mongoose. He smacked one of the snakes with an orchid until it was enraged. Then he switched to stroking it gently with the feather to calm it. Finally he opened his mouth wide and brought it near the snake at which point the snake crawled inside. You could see it slithering down his throat which bulged rhythmically in a manner equal parts mesmerizing and revolting.

Once no traces of the snake were visible, the chiwanga slithered up the side of the temple like a snake. All the other snakes ignored him completely. When he reached the top he disappeared.

I stood there in shock for a while, trying to work up the courage to follow the Chiwanga’s example (hoping that the Mongoose mask wasn’t important). Almost without hesitation Brumblegrupp tried it and it worked without any problem. Bryn and Henryk went next as well as Cappy, Belanor’s dinosaur (he actually (lovingly?) shoved Belanor out of the after Belanor had excited and soothed a snake and swallowed the snake with what seemed like relish).

Finally, with so many examples, there was no excuse left so Pell, Belanor and I tried it. Swallowing the snake was by no means pleasant, but my time as a faux dental subject was rewarded because I was able to not gag and allow the snake inside. I slithered instinctively up the temple until I reached the top. When I looked back down Pell and Belanor were still below. I guess they didn’t have the practice that I or the others did. They appeared to choking and maybe even vomiting. Pell quickly tried again (she is quite determined) and this time she was able to swallow the snake and slither up to meet us.

Belanor seemed more shaken and decided to take and different approach. He quickly cast a spell and took a running leap. At first I thought he might make it, but the temple itself seemed to stretch and he landed square in the middle of the snakes. The mass of snakes around him began to stir and hiss angrily. I hesitated for only a moment, clearly stunned that his magically assisted leap was unsuccessful, and then jumped back to the lower platform with ease. After steeling himself, he was able to swallow a snake and slithered his way to us.

After Belanor joined us we took a few moments to take in our surroundings. The jungle is actually rather beautiful—when you’re not in middle of it. Bryn said he smelled incense. In front of use sat a rectangular building. We entered together, but once inside I noticed that I was all alone. I heard a voice say, “If you seek to converse with the oracle of Ubtao you must prove yourself worthy”, and in front of me appeared a maze. I could see it from above, and it appeared much like those used by children to amuse themselves during boring classes at school. It turns out I learned something in Lord Tanglebeard’s class after all, since I quickly found the solution and exited into another room. My companions other than Bryn and Belanor soon joined me in the room.

The room itself was rather luxurious. It was filled with cushions, lamps, rugs, tapestries, etc., but above all it was filled with an intense cloying smell of incense. At first it was quite unpleasant, but I quickly grew used to it. As I look back on it, I think it must have been some sort of intoxicant because my mental faculties, and those of my party seemed impaired the longer we stayed. Of course, we may never know.

Apart from our group, the room was populated with three people. We recognized two as being Artuscimber and his companion Dragon Bait. The other was a large snake person, presaged by the penultimate trial. She introduced herself as Saja N’Baza who we knew to be the Guardian Naga of Orolunga.

Artuscimber came to (he had been unconscious) and was very surprised to see us because he thought he had only been here for a few minutes, though it must have been days based on what the druids told us.

Henryk, not remembering that we knew her to be a naga, asked as tactfully as he knows how, if she was a Yuan’ti. “No,” she said and then recounted that after Ubtao left with Mezro, Ras Nsi took up with the Yuan Ti. Mezro will be brought back when it’s safe, i.e., when Ras Nsi is dead. Artuscimber told us that his wife is in Mezro, and so he wants to kill Ras Nsi. The oracle Saja kept getting confused with what had happened and what might have happened and what will happen. I think the intoxicating fumes must affect even her. Ogremach’s Bane says that Saja N’Baza has been there forever, so perhaps she’s merely becoming senile.

We mentioned meeting Amoriel, who also knew Ubtao, and Saja was surprised. She hadn’t seen that happen (which probably wasn’t too surprising given that I’m I think it happened out of time). However, she did ask us to tell her to come visit, a request which I suspect we shall never have the opportunity to fulfill.

She told us a little of the history of Chult, and her visions of the future/past/present. Disturbingly, she see Ras Nsi in Omu trying to end the world with the Yuan’Ti. They are trying to raise Dendar the night serpent—an unspeakable evil. She sees an iron door beneath the peaks of flame, that the Yuan’Ti are trying to open in order to release Dendar. She also sees souls going to Omu, so I think that’s where we have to go. There was something else, something dark–a god of death and destruction coming.

Saja doesn’t know if my mother is dead.

My memory starts getting a little hazy about this point.

I overheard that Henryk is the subject of blood magic. He is locking down a demon. Apparently, he is the last of a line of such humans, and if he dies without an heir, the demon will be released. This must have been what Pell saw when he died in the temple of Amoriel. I don’t think any of us really understand Henryk’s situation.

Suddenly, Saja N’Baza yelled, “Phony! One of your crew isn’t right!” but I really can’t remember anything else about it. I certainly don’t know who she meant. I hope it wasn’t me. Sometimes I feel like a phony. Sometimes my magic doens’t work. But it has been working pretty well recently.

The naga told us that Omu sunk, possibly below a lake. Moreover, it’s difficult to find except from the air. Pell asked how we would find it, and the oracle of Orolunga put a charm on our red parrots feather. They will allow us to fly for a day. I hope that’s long enough. If not, I think I could figure out how to let at least some of us fly.

We left the room and entered another where Artuscimber and Dragonbait (who smelled of roses) were waiting, along with our other companions. Henryk asked Artuscimber to see the Ring of Winter and Artuscimber freaked out. Given the potency of the item, I can’t say I’m too surprised, though I don’t think it helped engender trust. I think we’re going to need Artuscimber’s help to solve this curse.

As we left the building it looked like any old building and we had no problems leaving. I’m fairly certain we can never go back.

Hew and Alfred had made camp, and said they had been there two days! After Amoriel’s temple I really shouldn’t be too surprised about temporal anomalies, but it’s still a little bizarre.

Myrtle 25 –

I spent a little time talking to Artuscimber about sentient items. He said, “I first thought that the ring could be used for good, and that I could change it. I regret some of what it’s convinced me of.” I asked how he resisted the evil so long, and he replied that he was just a good person and it was a struggle everyday.

Together (with Artuscimber and Dragonbait) we decided to go west to the Mistcliff mountains and then through them through the fire lands to the south to the Kobold mountains, the valley of lost honor, and eventually Omu near the peaks of flame. Hew says that to do so, we must go down below the aquifer which undergirds all of Chult. So the “fire lands” may be just another name for the underdark. If so, it will certainly be dangerous, but I doubt it can be as dangerous as the jungle itself. Alphred decided that he didn’t want to accompany us and decided to leave. He didn’t want to go through the mountains and potentially fight the dragon Wyrmheart (who killed Hew’s family).

Myrtle 26 – light rain

We began traveling in the morning when we heard hooting in the trees. We could hear it in several directions. Hew said it was likely Gorillians, but he needn’t have for mere seconds later three ogres and two gorillians (which 4 arms and look awful), surrounded us. A brief but violent skirmish ensued. I think the entire thing lasted less than 20 seconds, but Bryn turned into his favorite dinosaur, I missed with a Chaos Bolt, more gorillians dropped from the trees, Dragon Bait smelled of violets, Pell healed us, many vicious attacks were made by both parties, I scored an impressive lightning bolt on both an ogre and the gorillian chief, Artuscimber used the Ring of Winter to blast cold at Boss Gorillian, and finally Hew killed the last enemy. I was very pleased with how my new spell worked out. I felt like I could do it, like I had mastered lightning, but I was a little surprised it worked so well the first time!

The Gorillian leader melted after he had been defeated. He also screamed that he wanted to kill Henryk

The hooting in the trees moved away, and we searched the bodies. Henryk climed a tree and found a nest. There he found some coins, which he shared, and some magical boots, which he kept.

16 News of My Family

Myrtle 26 – cont.

After the Ogres and Gorillians were vanquished I noticed that Dragon bait smelled like tar and honeysuckle, and he then healed Henryk. My natural inclination is to assume that’s related to the honeysuckle, but really I should not presuppose anything. Who is to say whether tar or honeysuckle is more pleasant to creatures of his kind?

As we traveled farther we saw a few trees which had been crushed as if by a huge, clumsy dinosaur. A short time later Hew found a large pile of scat that he couldn’t identify. Henryk recognized it though—Frost Giant. Artuscimber said they must be searching for him (to recover the Ring of Winter). He claims they have been hunting him for some time, and even killed a great grandchild that he didn’t know he had. This revelation set us all on edge and made us even more anxious to get to the Mistcliffs as soon as possible.

As we set up camp, we heard a group approaching. They consisted of about 15 armed men, who hailed us with, “Stand down we serve the Flaming Fist.” Henryk saluted with what I must assume was the Flaming Fist salute. One of them, a gnome named Twerk Cogbottom, was an erstwhile companion of Henryk (or perhaps the reverse is more accurate given that Henryk is the one who left the Flaming Fist). I didn’t find out until later about their friendship after we had parleyed for a while.

They quickly stated that they were a business. They were looking for a “runaway lordling.” It took me a moment to realize that it might be me. After all, who would care if I ran away or not? But this slowness of thought proved to be my downfall. The thought had barely entered my mind to hide, when the mercenaries recognized me.

My father stepped out from behind the other and told me that he wanted me to come back with him. He had hired the mercenaries to come find me and bring me home. He then informed me that my mother and brothers and sister are all dead. He actually seemed sad when he said it. I know he’s not completely heartless, but I was still a little surprised at the emotion he showed. But that was nothing compared to the bombshell he was about to drop on me.

My father—Helmut Hans Hämerdinger III, the most respectable practitioner of the dental arts, a connoisseur of fine double entry bookkeeping, a collector of late-century Waterdavian hats, an endless trove of dental puns, the bane of adventurous children everywhere—told me that he had been an adventurer when he was younger! My mother and my brother Helmut Hans Hämerdinger IV, had been killed in a wild magic accident, before I was born. Helmut was barely two years old at the time. My father was playing with Helmut when he cast a simple jump spell. As he cast it things went horribly wrong (he wouldn’t give me any more details than that). Luckily, he had enough treasure from adventuring to have them resurrected.

After taking this in, and hearing a few of his stories, I tried to convince him to accompany us. He could help us solve the death curse and get mom, Isabel and the boys back. But he utterly refused. He seemed defeated and depressed, completely unlike his usual stuffy, but confident self. He kept repeating, “Wild magic is too dangerous,” as if just repeating it enough would convince me. I know that wild magic can be dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced. I’m getting much better at it though, and I’m sure I can learn to control it. Especially with the help of Ogremach’s Bane.

As time wore on, my father must have grown desperate, because he tried charming me. It didn’t work, but even if it had, it couldn’t possibly have lasted long enough for me to return home with him willingly.

As our discussion started to break down, I began to take notice of the company he traveled in. I have to find some way to sneak away so they can’t just find me again. The company consists of 15 men-at-arms, the captain, my father, and a priest. The men-at-arms seems competent, though likely not as practiced as the members of my party (should they decide to help me in my domestic struggle). That said, there are many of them and they undoubtedly possess the ability to track me (perhaps even magically), since they managed to find me in the middle of the trackless jungle.

From Bryn’s jug, the men shared enough alcohol to get a bit tipsy, and one suggested an archery contest, with a magical arrow of undead slaying as the prize. We all took part, even though I was pretty sure I wouldn’t win. I cheated just a little in that I cast catapult to try and make the arrow fly more accurately. It worked in that the arrow was more accurate than my others, but it was not good enough. Belanor won by a considerable margin which was no surprise to anyone who knows him.

Brumblegrupp, bless his diminutive molars, mentioned that he was willing to take some of the incense he had from Saja N’Baza and put it on the fire. The hope was that it would calm everyone down and I could slip away and have a full night’s head start. As often happens on this damnable continent, things didn’t go quite according to plan. He was able to slip it on the fire without anyone noticing—even I didn’t notice—but there must have been something about the temple in Orolunga that changed the effects of the smoke. The smoke turned slightly blue and we all began to feel groggy and unable to concentrate. The captain, who apparently had previous run-ins with Yuan’Ti (who are famous for using this type of poison) noticed the feeling and sounded the alarm. It was a little too late for Henryk though who, in a half-drunken frenzy was dancing too close to the fire and breathed in too much of the smoke. When the captain sounded the alarm, he looked up with a confused expression and then fell over, and remained paralyzed for a full ten minutes. The flaming fists kicked the log out of the fire and put it out, as we hauled Henryk away to some place safer. At least no one ever found out how it had happened. Bryn was able to slyly convince them that it was the sort of unfortunate accident that happens all too often in Chult.

Given that many didn’t feel well after that excitement due to the effects of the Yuan’Ti smoke, we all went to bed. My father had gone to bed already. Due to the distrust between our parties we each kept watch, us on the jungle, and they on the jungle and on me.

I kept watch with Artuscimber, or Lance as we call him in front of the others. I confided in him my troubles though he didn’t have much advice for me. His father was a bandit and had been hanged. “It was the only good thing my father ever did,” he said bitterly. I guess my father could be worse. He joined the Harpers to help the world, but became disillusioned. Like everyone else they are more interested in helping themselves than others. He confided that there’s not much point in trying to help the world.

The one piece of advice that he did give is that you can’t trust anyone except yourself, but that Dragonbait had been a good friend. He also mentioned Pontifax, an old wizard friend of his, and showed me some tattoos on his finger of Byrt and Lugg, but he didn’t explain what they were for, only reiterating that you can’t trust anyone.

I, perhaps foolishly, brought up the Ring of Winter again. He immediately looked suspicious and asked why I cared so much about it. I told him that I was in a similar situation, but didn’t tell him about Ogremach’s Bane directly. I can’t tell if he believed me or not, but he at least didn’t ask me to leave, which I took as a good sign. I asked if he could trust the Ring of Winter to always do the wrong thing. He looked thoughtful for a while, as if considering it, but he answered only by reiterating that you can’t trust anyone.

Talking to Artuscimber brought me no new insights, but I did resolve to do what I thought was right regardless of what anyone else said. And in this case the choice is obvious. I have to stop the death curse. I’m not too ashamed to write (especially since it’s likely no-one will ever read this), that I went into my tent and sobbed for a while, both out of frustration for my situation and for the loss of my family.

Myrtle 27 – light wind, heavy rain

I didn’t sleep much last night. I spent much of it planning what I was going to say to my father. In the morning I got blessings and encouragement from my companions before I went to talk to him (though to be honest I was too preoccupied to listen to what advice they gave me). I went in and spent every last ounce of willpower that I had, every bit of logic, and all the dental puns I could muster. I don’t recall ever convincing my father of anything in my entire life, but I needed today to be the exception.

I told him that I needed to learn for myself. That the world is a dangerous place, and that he can’t protect me forever. I explained again and again why I needed to solve the death curse. Why I thought we had a real shot at it. I think what finally convinced him though was that I promised to Send often and to use my magic only when necessary. I didn’t mention Ogremach’s Bane, or my Stone of Control Magic (for so I have dubbed it). I don’t think he would approve of either.

At the end of it all, I succeeded in doing the impossible. I managed to somehow convince my father to let me go! He seemed very sad when he eventually gave in. I sent him off with half my remaining insect repellent. He always hated insects and the outdoors, and Chult is by far the worst place I’ve ever been.

We traveled much of the day, and the jungle began to thin a little as we came closer to the foothills of the Mistcliff mountains. I was lost in thought about my father’s revelation (I had just realized that my magic isn’t from my mother’s side of the family after all!) when we came to a clearing. Ahead we saw three large blue people—the frost giants searching for Artuscimber and the Ring of Winter. Before I knew what was going on (failing to pay attention in Chult can be deadly), and before Artuscimber was able to hide, they recognized us and closed in. They were joined by several ogres, and a few beasts of winter.

Artuscimber yelled at us to run, and certainly fighting multiple giants didn’t sound like a good idea. But Belanor, enraged by the Ogres for which he has a preternatural hatred, attacked instead. Artuscimber, in hopes of buying some time cast an ice wall. A wolf started around the edge of Artuscimber’s wall and engaged with Henryk and Bryn. The leader of the giants, who was closer than the other two, attacked the wall, creating a large hole which he moved through toward Artuscimber. An owlbear created another wall of ice behind Artuscimber (but in front of me and a few others) to cut off his escape.

Almost without thinking, I broke my promise to my father and called upon the Stone of Control Magic to summon a fireball on the giant and several of his companions. I immediately felt that something wasn’t right. The fireball itself was quite effective, but I had pulled too much magic too quickly. Nothing happened right away, but I knew that the magic I had summoned would keep coming with unexpected and uncontrollable consequences. My father’s warning kept flashing in my brain, “Wild magic is too dangerous! Wild magic is too dangerous! Wild magic is too dangerous!”

The giant, with supernatural speed, made several attacks before the rest of us could react, and Artuscimber was cut down. It was clear, that if the giants came into possession of the Ring of Winter then the entire world would be in trouble. There are rumors that the ring could freeze the entire world. Pell rushed in and healed Artuscimber before he died.

Several other attacks took place before Artuscimber stood up and disappeared in a flash of blue light. Bryn dashed away from his attackers, but Henryk heroically attacked the enemies with burning hands. The giant groped around searching for Artuscimber without any luck, and then in rage attacked Henryk but missed him. About this time the magic that I had summoned coalesced and the ground all around me became very slippery and I fell down. I got up and cast witch bolt (even with my recent magical over-extension it was no time to skimp on magic), but the my control of the magic was shaken and I missed.

Henryk was attacked by several of the beasts, including the giant again, who felled him. The giant continued to attack Henryk until we were sure that Henryk was dead. This was proven to us when a large satyr-like demon appeared and began exulting. Before running away, Pell attempted to command the giant to attack the demon, but to no avail. Instead the giant began to flee, whether from fear of the demon, fear of us, or to search for Artuscimber I cannot tell, but Cappy made one last ferocious attack as he left and the giant fell dead. To think that if he could have done that but a few short moments earlier Henryk might still be with us.

17 A New Ally

Myrtle 27 – cont.

Once the giant was dead, I decided it prudent to run away from my companions. The magic was still swirling and bubbling and I didn’t know what it might do. Luckily nothing happened that was too bad. I did turn completely blue, but that’s better than killing my wife and only child. My father was right. Damn him! I now wonder if I’m a help or hindrance to my companions. But until I decide, I need to convince them that I’m safe. I don’t want them to make that decision for me.

Poor Henryk is dead. We prepared his remains for burial and took some of his most valuable assets to help us in our quest. I took the two halves of the broken orb from Amoriel’s temple. I’m fairly certain the magic is gone from it, but one never knows. Perhaps I can study it after this is all over. I also took a lock of his hair in case we can bring him back after we find a cure for the death curse. The find that made Ogremach’s Bane happiest though were two gems: a Tiger’s Eye and an Onyx.

We burned Henryk so that he wouldn’t become a zombie. He took a long time to burn—he always was resistant to fire. Dragonbait smelled of ham and strongly of roses while Henryk burned.

As we continued west, Belanor noticed crisscrossing tracks of a single person in the jungle, as if that person had been wandering around for some time. We decided to follow them for a little, and in doing so found a makeshift camp with a Halfling. He was wearing tattered boots, torn clothes, sideburns every bit as large as Mrs. Swagglebump’s. He was busy failing to start a fire. Everything about him screamed incompetent (at least for the jungles of Chult).

He introduced himself as Johann Alfonz Nettlebierre (he confided that he was born Jason Nettlebeer). He claims that he is a playwright and musician, that he has never been talented with magic, and that he came here on an airship named the “Star Goddess”. Honestly, the last was the most interesting, but it’s gone now of course, and hence completely useless to us.

His pseudonym is “Stanford Elsley”, and he tried to hide his disappointment that I didn’t recognize that name (though it does sound vaguely familiar). He rattled off names of several plays that he had written, but I didn’t recognize any of them. My father always said the theater was a waste. The only reason I wanted to go was to find girls and disobey my father. For all I know I attended one of his shows—I wouldn’t remember anything about it.

It was growing late so we decided to make camp. Which is to say, to make Javier’s camp actually livable. Ogremach’s Bane showed me how to use the Onyx that I found. “Take out the Onyx,” it said and then he began to communicate more directly. I saw myself in combat. We were being pressed on all sides, and they I used the Onyx (destroying it) to create a protective barrier of swirling blades around all my friends and myself. It protected us from attacks by deflecting blows. I don’t think it would help against magical attacks, but it could still be very useful. Perhaps I am still of value to the party. I just need to learn more control.

Myrtle 28 – light rain

First thing this morning Pell, who seems to be doing better than I would have expected (which is not to say good) given her relation to Henryk, decided to try and remove the curse of my blueness. I was half surprised when it worked. It’s probably best to not be blue when we meet other people, but it did remind me to be careful.

We traveled for a while until we reached a small village named Tudelu. We had barely entered the village before a woman came up to us asking if we were from Port Nyanzaru. She was worried about Tapiwa (and rightly so as it turns out) because his entire family disappeared one night. We told her what we could without incriminating ourselves, and also trying to find out any information that she might know about Acererak. She didn’t know anything but she allowed us to search the house.

What we found in her house only made things more confusing. I saw some weird rocks on the ground and my recent interest in gems lead me to investigate. It turns out that one of the stones was actually a petrified cat. We later questioned the lady and she said their cat disappeared at the same time as the family. Perhaps Acererak has a gorgon working for him?

As we left the village I had the premonition that it might be the last we see of people above ground for quite some time. Perhaps forever. Belanor was forced to leave his dinosaur companion because it refused to enter the Underdark. I wonder if it’s not the smartest one of us.

We began searching for deep caves, and after about three Hew found one that he liked the smell of. Dragonbait smelled like lemon. The cave itself quickly became dark, and shortly thereafter it got tight. Several times I was glad that I wasn’t the largest of our party.

Some places we were forced to slide down. Others were so tight that I felt like I was being swallowed by the mountain. I’m sure it was my imagination, but I swear I felt the rock pushing me forward—a sort of stone peristalsis. I must admit, it made me very uncomfortable. I really don’t know if we can get back out that way if the way before us is blocked. I hope Hew knows what he is doing.

Eventually Hew announced that we were under the aqueduct. It continued to get hotter and hotter until we came to a semi-open area. The tunnel itself dropped away into a large pit with what looked like roiling lava. Hew informed us that there are many portals to the elemental plane of fire, and this is one of them. On the other side, about 30 feet away, the tunnel continued.

We decided to use our rope and try to climb across. Brumblegrupp, Johann and Bryn got across without major incident. Then, as Pell was in the middle of crossing, two large fire elementals starting climbing out of the pit.

I was the first to come to my senses and I cast a Witchbolt hitting the elemental nearest Pell. Belanor shot, then the Elemental hit Pell and she caught on fire. We’re definitely going to have to figure out some way to prevent that from happening in the future. A skirmish ensued in which Pell herself attacked the elemental while hanging precariously on the wall. She eventually did start climbing back to our side. We were able to eventually kill all the elementals and some fire bats, thanks in no small part to Bryn who cast Tidal Wave and Ice Wall. Even our bumbling new friend, Johann, dispatched a fire bat.

18 Umber Hulk Nightmares

Myrtle 28 cont. – Hot

After we were sure that the elementals were not returning, the heat waned noticeably. Hew says it was merely a temporary portal to the plane of fire, of which there are many in the fire lands. I’m beginning to like this place less than Advanced Automated Dentistry.

We noticed the remains of a humanoid clutching a treasure chest on a ledge in the chasm. We tied a rope to Johann at his insistence and lowered him down. It turned out to be too heavy for him to haul up, but Brumblegrupp made light work of it. I can truly say I’ve never seen such a strong goblin.

Once we had gotten it to our path, Pell noticed a mark that she said was the emblem of a certain cult of fire that had been (supposedly) destroyed some time ago near her homeland.

Nothing in the chest seemed magical. There were a few (7 to be precise) very fine statuettes, seemingly religious, as well as a bunch of coins. Grupp offered to carry the chest. I can’t tell if he’s just trying to show off, or if he truly likes carrying so much. My only hope is that we live long enough to spend it.

As we continued deeper into the firelands Hew pointed out some Lungwort growing on the walls. He said it can be brewed to cure disease, which made Bryn and Belanor happy. To be honest, disease isn’t what worries me the most down here, but every little bit helps.

We made camp for the night and the strangest thing happened on my watch. Ogremach’s Bane, clearly worried, told me that we were being skried upon. He said if I grabbed my newly found Tiger’s Eye that he could use it block the scrying. Because of the time pressure I decided to trust Ogremach’s Bane and so I no longer have a Tiger’s Eye. I’m a little worried that he it, enjoys using gems, even wasting them. On the other hand, with the visions he’s shown me, I don’t think he wants me to be hurt, so I don’t think he kwould intentionally leave us unprotected.

Nothing else of interest happened during my watch.

We continued in the interminable darkness. I found my spirits dropping. This land is possibly even more oppressive than the jungle. After a while we ran into what looked like a smiling stalagmite. “Did you bring me food?” it asked. Bryn tossed it a good berry which it didn’t much appreciate. Bryn gave it some wine from his magical jug and we managed to slip past. It did let slip that there are dryders ahead. Dragonbait smelled like ham. Maybe I should learn how to magically communicate with smell.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than an hour, magic burst from two locations and we saw 2 dryders retreat around a corner. I tried to jump out of the way, but I and many of my companions began glowing with faerie fire.

Without thinking, Bryn turned into an large dinosaur and gave chase. Then Hew followed as well, but was ambushed by an Umber Hulk. I tried to dispel the faerie fire, but wasn’t entirely successful. I think both dryders may have cast it. The rest of the party moved in closer–we were too far to really engage the enemy.

The rest of the combat was rather confusing for many of us. The gaze of the Umber Hulk seemed to prevent us from doing much. And indeed I only vaguely recollect about half of what I did, let alone what anyone else did. I felt like no matter how hard I tried nothing went right. I talked to my companions and they felt the same way. Can we, perhaps, take this as evidence that we are on the right track and the forces of evil are opposing us? Or do we just not have enough teeth to finish the steak, as my father used to say?

Nevertheless, a few things stood out from our encounter. The first and most important is that Pell nearly died! Luckily, Dragonbait healed her, bringing her back from the brink of death. Second, we nearly managed to kill the Umber Hulk, but it scurried away before we could finish it off. At that point the tide of battle turned, and I remember much more of what happened. The dryders tried to blind us with a darkness spell, but I dispelled it. Brumblegrupp was able to actually jump and perform an incredible attack against one of the dryders on the ceiling of the cave. For such a little thing he sure can jump. And smash.

In the end we managed to kill one dryder and scare off the other dryder and the Umber Hulk. We tried following it, but to no avail. At least it didn’t steal any of our stuff. Bryn refrained from eating a one-eyed abomination and it scampered away grateful that we had freed it from the dryders. Honestly, I haven’t felt this incompetent since my first day in Chult. We will need to be much more cautious from now on.

We took a much needed rest and found loot, dawg! [ed. this portion of Thergood’s journal was illegible]

Myrtle 29??? – Hot

A bit later on Hew yelled, “The floor is collapsing!” But it was too late. Bryn, Belanor and I fell in to a large open cavern and were hurt quite badly. In the middle of it we found a large brass door. We poked around a bit and Johann find a ring with initials GH - “Gandus Hammerfast” (according to Hew, his cousin). Johann tried the ring on and opened the door. It opened to a plaza with many large Efreeti. It isn’t long before we recognize it as the the city of brass, the oldest city in the universe, and found the plane of fire. Maybe we can find something to spend our money on there.

19 The City of Brass

Myrtle 29

After spending an uneventful night recovering (thankfully), we decided to enter the portal to the City of Brass. Brumblegrupp carried the chest with all the money we can use to buy things there. From what I’ve heard we can get many things to help us on our way.

Hew didn’t want to go, so he stayed back. Similarly, Dragonbait went through the portal with us but proceeded to hold his nose, smelt of brimstone and ham, and returned to the other side to wait with Hew. I would have felt more comfortable if they were accompanying us, but I can’t force them.

Shortly after we stepped into the other side, we were met by an Efreeti. He seemed surprised to see us, and said “I wasn’t expecting you two days. Why aren’t you in your robes?” to which Johann replied that we were travelling incognito. He also told the efreeti that we would be staying a single day and that Lord Dinggeradonge had been held up. We don’t know who Lord Dinggeradonge is, but I got the impression he’s not a very nice person.

As we talked, the efreeti led us into a large plaza with many creatures of all different varieties. Many more than I have ever seen. It really puts all descriptions of it to shame. There were outsiders, efreetis, fiends, devils, demons, and even a few humanoids. Not to mention all the creatures I didn’t recognize at all. I tried not to let my astonishment show too much. I suspect being seen as a newcomer would not be healthy here.

We all give fake names to the efreeti and tried to find out any local customs. The only useful information he were able to extract was to follow the orders of any efreeti, and not to be out after dark. It was about noon when we arrived and none of us wanted to spend the night in this exotic, and clearly dangerous place. We refused any more of the efreeti’s help so as to not arouse his suspicion when we didn’t do what Lord Dinggeradonge’s crew would have.

It wasn’t long before a little imp found us and was very excited to see the “Curse Breakers.” I was quite surprised that we were known even here. “Call me Drir,” he said and showed us the three green triangles of Asmodeus, which made a little bit more sense as to how we would know us given our previous interaction with Groduck. He offered a contract to pay us 750 GP each in exchange for curing the death curse and doing a little advertising for the Nine Hells. Predictably, Pell refused it without even reading it. A little more surprisingly, Bryn also refused to even consider it. Since it was a contract for the entire party there was no point in me pursuing it further since I don’t think I could convince them to sign it no matter how good of a deal it was. I’m pretty sure I could have negotiated a better deal. The imp didn’t look too bright, certainly not as shrewd as Assistant Professor Tanglehorn. Now, I know that one and a half semesters of Dental Law class doesn’t mean that I am a master of Nine Hells bureaucracy, but surely I could hold my own against an inexperienced imp who found us by pure luck. Nevertheless, given the other members of my party there wasn’t much point. Drir was very clear that the contract was for the party as a whole. One wonders what advantages such a contract could have afforded us.

We walked a bit until we reached a large crowd in a central plaza. There was a dwarf on a raised platform barking to the crowd. Behind him was a huge wheel, easily 100 feet tall. Strapped to it were 8 different creatures—mostly humanoids. In particular, one of the dwarves looked a lot like Hew. Belanor called out to the dwarf (in Dwarvish) and he seems to perk up a little.

The crowd is chanting, “Imix! Imix! Imix!” and the dwarf (uglier than most dwarves?) on the podium starts the wheel spinning with his mind. People are placing bets on the spectacle that we are about to witness. The wheel suddenly stops and two humans, an elf and a minotaur are all incinerated by a massive flame, apparently named Imix.

The grisly scene was over and the crowd starting to disperse, when Johann made his way toward the dais. He offered to buy the Hew-looking dwarf, who was obviously a slave. This he manages to do for shockingly little money, but the dwarf is nearly catatonic. Presumably, several rounds on the wheel would do that to anyone. He did confirm that he knows Hew and that his name is in fact Gandus Hammerfast. Gandus was apparently donated by a human, Lord Dinggeradonge, thereby confirming our earlier suspicions as to that man’s moral character.

After that we hauled Gandus around in chains (so as not to be too conspicuous) we all visited various shops which caught our interest. I spent all my money buying gems. I bought two of each of the cheap kinds (Ogremach’s Bane said that variety is an important as function), and a few of the more expensive kind, namely a bloodstone, an iolite, a carnelian, and a citrine. I also spent an entire 100 gold pieces on a tourmaline. I never thought I would buy gems. A nice jacket with pearl buttons or something perhaps, but not raw gems.

As dusk was falling a large, obviously important, efreeti came down the middle of the street with a long row of humans in tow. Or at least they looked human. The efreeti mentioned Yuan’Ti and that’s when I realized that they were actually Yuan’Ti purebreds. All of a sudden, and without any provocation that I saw, the slaves rose up and started attacking the crowd on either side of the street. Bryn must have seen something or at least that’s what he told the efreeti who believed his story and blamed it on his rival.

Johann, audacious as ever, offered to take the slaves off the efreeti’s hands, and surprisingly, the Efreeti agreed. He didn’t even charge us anything. Apparently, he had only purchased them to anger his rival! We hauled the Yuan’Ti around in chains for a while until we were alone and could let them loose. They had been captured and brought to the city of brass. They are not from the Valley of Lost Honor and, in fact, they don’t like the Yuan’Ti there. They claim to be peaceful in contrast to their bloodthirsty brothren in the Valley of Lost Honor, but they did give us a name in case we run into the Yuan’Ti there. Fenthaza, they tell us, is cruel, but he might help us because he is ambitious and hates humans less than most of his comrades.

After releasing the Yuan’Ti, we quickly headed back to the portal so that we wouldn’t get stuck in the City of Brass after dark. Hew and Gandus greeted each other heartily (it seemed to bring some life back into Gandus), though Gandus brought the news that Bildrion had died on the wheel. Gandus and Bildrion had been ambushed by people with orange and red robes and made slaves. Hew was indignant that we had released Yuan’Ti. He didn’t believe that they were peaceful like they claimed, and I must admit I don’t entirely disagree with him.

We climbed out of the room with the portal and went down the tunnel in the direction we were headed before we fell in. We rested for a while with Dragonbait smelling like lemon. When we told him about Drir’s proffered deal he smelled like baked bread, and then like tar when we told him we didn’t accept it.

Myrtle 30 – hot

I tried to read the black metal hoop today, but to no avail. Even Ogremach’s Bane doesn’t understand it. There seems to be more to it than the marks themselves.

We went farther into the underdark, including crossing more bridges over portals to the plane of fire, but we didn’t have any encounters worth speaking of.

Kythorn 1 – hot

As we were walking along, Johann put his stick through the black metal hoop and it disappeared. When he pulled it back out it reappeared. Brumblegrupp, quite rashly, put his head through and was pulled through in his entirety. A split second later he popped out. He said that inside was a room with walls, shelves, bottles, doors, no windows, very old dwarf corpses, etc. At the mention of dwarven corpses, Hew went in, came back out almost immediately, and said angrily, “Those aren’t dwarves, they’re grey beards!”

In order to better understand what it might be, I cast comprehend languages and, having summoned the wild magic, I ended up standing on tall narrow pedestal [ed. The rest of the party denies that the pedestal was real]. Though I was a little shocked and afraid I might fall, I was able to read the inscription: “Experimental dimensional portal” and then a bunch of numbers (presumably for dates in a calendar that I didn’t recognize).

Kythorn 2 – hot

We ran into a few minor worries today, but nothing worth writing about.

Syndra sent a message there are large numbers of undead outside the city walls.

Kythorn 3 – hot

Nothing but poorly lit rock I’m afraid. I really should have looked for another book on gem magic. I could certainly stand to learn some more and I’m dreadfully bored.

Kythorn 4 – hot

Traveling here is even more monotonous than in the jungle. At least there you can see the passage of time with the sun and moon. Down here there is nothing but rock, rock and more rock. And occasionally a portal to the plane of fire, but even that has lost most of its excitement by now.

Kythorn 5 – hot

Syndra wrote that a large earth elemental battered down the walls of Port Nyanzaru and the undead are getting in. We really need to stop this curse!

Kythorn 6 – hot

Nothing but interminable rock today. I never thought I would say this, but I finally found something more boring than teeth!

Kythorn 7 – hot

Gandus left us today. To be honest he wasn’t much in the way of company. But I guess I can’t blame him.

Kythorn 8 – hot

I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.

Kythorn 9 – hot and rainy

We finally came to the surface today. Oh blessed sky! We are close to Wyrmheart Mine in the Valley of Lost Honor. I’m not sure I really believed this day would come. Soon we must face Tzindelor, an adult red dragon, and nemesis of Hew. I wonder if we can talk him out of it. For now though, I’m just glad to be above ground in the stifling, suffocating heat and humidity of the jungle rather than the oppressive, airless heat and darkness of the underdark.

Kythorn 10 – hot and rainy

We explored the outside of the mine a little today. There is an office and supply shed outside the mine. Hew thinks the dragon will be down at the bottom of a long shaft—250 feet down. There is a mine cart outside that looks like it hasn’t been used in a while.

Brumblegrupp tried to open the door to the supply shed but fails. Johann then opened it with relative ease. Either the man has good technique or is much stronger than he lets on. Inside there are barrels, tools, axes, candles, etc. but no useful food. Some of the tools might still be useful, however. Brumblegrupp then climbed through a window into the office and found ledgers, tables, cabinets covered w/bird droppings, etc. Again nothing that seems immediately useful. We’re going to need a good plan if we want to come out of this alive, let alone triumphant.

20 The Dragon’s Lair

Kythorn 10 – cont.

Belanor and Bryn found some herbs to brew potions of fire resistance which Bryn began to brew. I don’t know that we’ll have enough time to brew enough to be useful, but any is better than none I guess. We can’t afford to waste a lot of time—we should be finding the death curse.

Later, Belanor and Johann snuck into the upper levels of the mine to see what they could learn. There were pictures and sculptures of cheese of all things. The dragon fancies himself a connoisseur it seems. They met a goblin, named Algrupe, who serves the dragon Tenzalore. From Algrupe they learned that some “purple lizard things from across the sea” are her new favorite servants (or more accurately slaves). There are also Firenewts and a few others who serve the wyrm.

Luckily, we decided to camp some distance away. This has the advantage of avoiding any nocturnal attacks from the dragon’s minions, but also means doing any exploration takes much more time.

Bryn decided to go in to learn more about the slaves. We later found out it’s because he knows some of the purple dragon born who now serve the beast. He turned into a red lizard in hopes avoiding suspicion. Inside, he found Claire, a dragon born, and rescued her. I wish I had been there to dissuade him from this rash action, for now the dragon is surely alerted to our presence.

Claire told us of how she was walking in the mountains, a day or two from Baldur’s gate, when the horrible monster came and killed some of her party and took the rest. A dragonborn named Fenwin (who also happens to be Bryn’s lover) is down with the dragon as a special pet. I fear that because of his personal connection he will not think clearly. On the other hand, he is often quick to act, usually as a savage Chultan beast, so perhaps he will plan this assault more methodically because of his personal connection.

Based on Claire’s report, there are ten to twenty fire newts in the mine. She told us a story of a lizard folk who broke his chains and how the firenewts spit fire on him and burned him to the bone.

Kythorn 11 – sunny and rainy

I spent most of the day trying to come up with a plan to recover the mine, but to no avail. Assaulting a dragon in its lair is no doubt one of the stupidest things anyone could possibly do. It already lost Hew his arm and will no doubt lose us our lives. I became rather morose pondering it for most of the day.

Belanor and Johann claimed to have met a dryad, Wimbabride, that gave them three Ryath root potions. Apparently, they make you stronger for a while, but it’s inadvisable to drink more than one.

As I was brooding, I recieved a message from Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep. He informed me that my father had died, and that he had been a Masked Lord! He instructed me to visit the palace at my earliest convenience. I told him that I was currently occupied, but that I would visit as soon as possible. His message gave me something else to brood over which was simultaneously welcome and not.

My father turned out to be a complete root canal! First, he tried to send me to dentistry school simply because I’m not first in line for the inheritance. Then I find out he’d been lying to me about his opposition my use of magic. If he had just warned me I have could learned to control it instead of practicing in secret, risking my life the entire time. Finally, he has the nerve to die without once having so much as hinted that he was a Masked Lord, rather than an elevated dentist! I feel like my whole life has been turned upside down, and mere moments before I must die at the claws of an evil dragon.

Bryn returned and told us that he had infiltrated the base as a lizard again, but was noticed and attacked. He had to summon a large water dinosaur to cover his escape. If the dragon had any doubt before, it can have none now, that it is under attack.

I was only half listening when someone wished there was a back door to the bowels of the mine. Hew said he thought there was. It truly is a wonder that Hew is still alive given how rash and unthinking he can be. I fear his hatred of the wyrm will inevitably lead to his demise.

Kythorn 12 – very rainy

The weather today reminded me of why I was glad to leave the jungle and enter the underdark. The rain was unrelenting. Luckily (or perhaps not–we shall see), we went back into the underdark to look for a back entrance. The passages were winding and small, but it wasn’t too long before we heard the unmistakable sounds of mining.

We approached cautiously, but were met by a firenewt who demanded to know who we were. Belanor opened fire on the brute and we soon dispatched it. We released some Lizardfolk slaves, but at least one other firenewt escaped and no doubt sounded the alarm. The lizardmen told us that Tenzalore’s weakness was his love for a giant frog which he kept in a pond in his lair. The lizardmen also mentioned that Fenwin is kept dressed in a gown that looks like cheese. Bryn blanched as he heard that. They informed us there are about 17-18 firenewts in the lair, including some Imix worshipers.

We continued a ways and came to a large waterfall, then some dwarvish corpses, of which Hew knew the names. Then we came upon a statue of a dragon with a dwarf in its mouth. That was the moment that I truly began to understand Hew’s malice toward the wyrm.

Shortly thereafter, we heard Tenzalore’s resonating, malevolent voice say, “I can sense you. Approach!”

21 To Lure a Dragon

Kythorn 12 – cont.

Reacting the quickest to the dragon’s speech, Johann whispered that he would distract her, and then marched forward without fear (or he’s a better actor than I assumed). He engaged Tenzalore in conversation and got her talking.

Bryn quickly turned into a giant frog identical (to my eyes) to the one we had seen in the pond—one Mr Hoppy by name. Whether he can fool the dragon is another matter though.

It turns out that Tenzalore fancies herself a playwright and had written a murder mystery which takes place on the elemental plane of cheese, or some such nonsense. She’s had a hard time casting the play since whenever anything goes wrong she roasts the actors–surprise, surprise. She wants us to put on the play and, if we are good enough, she will reward us and make us famous. We’ll travel the world putting on her masterpiece. Ha! Even if I had an interest in theatre and trusted that she wouldn’t just eat me and didn’t have a death curse to worry about, I still wouldn’t be caught dead performing that drivel.

Pell and I had snuck around back, but I don’t think we could have surprised her anyway. We all came out of hiding pretended to be interested in her play as we scoped out her lair. She changed into Teifling form and gave us copies of the play to read and practice.

Hew, unfortunately, couldn’t help but antagonize the beast. At first Johann tried to play it off as a joke, but Hew didn’t take the hint and charged in after putting a blue stone in his axe. Tenzalore easily pinned him to the ground and knocked his axe away. I finally sent him a Message to be calm, but he still seemed to believe that we had given up. I can understand his frustration a bit, but this is a dragon we’re dealing with, not an owlbear with a toothache! We’re going to need every advantage we can get.

We practiced the play a bit with Johann coaching us. I was starting to feel that we might be able to pull off a performance that she would be satisfied with, but that still wouldn’t solve our problem—it would just mean we weren’t dead. Anyway, during this time I Messaged everyone saying that if someone saw a good opportunity to surprise her that they should say “Rutabaga” and we would all attack. Dragonbait smelled of ham and brimstone.

As we talked with her it came up that her son, Bas’Malak, lives a few miles away and is abandoning Tiamat to worship Bahamut. She wants him dead or to come back to Tiamat. She says she doesn’t quite have the heart to kill him herself but that if he was dead, she would go to the mainland and move to a large city to enjoy the theatre and produce her play.

We managed to convince her that we could get her son to come see her play. We also convinced her to let Fenwyn come with us. As we left, the firenewts didn’t want to let us pass because we killed one of them, but Algrupe spoke up for us and they grudgingly let us out.

As we were travelling to Bas’Malak’s we went passed a cottage with some smoke coming from the chimney. Brumblegrupp tried to sneak in but was caught. Driftwood Olga, as the inhabitant calls herself, was old and hideous and invited us to come have dinner. We didn’t stay. Meddling with witches is dangerous business, even if she might be able to help us defeat Tenzalore. She must be powerful indeed to live that close to a dragon, seemingly without fear.

Later on, we saw a fire in the distance and two cyclopses talking about snapping turtle bay. We snuck around them, however, and made it to Bas’Malak’s cave entrance as it was getting dark. Bryn yelled in “Bas’Malak?” to which we heard a reply, “Did my mother send you?” He eventually came out and we talked for a while. Pell recognized that he was wearing a medallion of Bahamut, so his mother was at least telling the truth in that regard. He invited us in to his home which was quite comfortably furnished. He kept saying that he’d been redeemed, but that he doesn’t want to kill his mother despite her evil ways.

He became frustrated with this mother after he converted to Bahamut. She kept wanting him to eat actors, but he didn’t want to, so she finally kicked him out. After a while, he recognized Hew, and felt very bad. We eventually convinced him that his mother wanted him dead (which wasn’t even a lie) and that he should help us fight her if it came to it.

Kythorn 13 –

After a good night’s rest, Pell Sent a message to Tenzalore with the intention of angering her and getting her out of her lair and into her sons home. It worked quite well, because we soon heard a roaring from outside. Bas’Malak claimed that he’d never seen her this mad before. I guess there’s no going back now.

We prepared for the inevitable combat. As soon as she came in Brumblegrupp flew into a rage and taunted her. I shot a lightning bolt, using an obsidian for a little extra damage. Not that it did much good—her natural armor is quite formidable.

She then proceeded to breath fire on Dragonbait, Hew, and myself. I was felled, though revived immediately thereafter by Pell. Then Tenzalore attacked Brumblegrupp with her tail, just before Bryn attacked her as a large-headed dinosaur. Bas’Malak, good as his word, attacked his mother who in turn slew Hew. Belanor attacked and Dragonbait healed Hew (smelling strongly of ham), and gestured to a pool in the corner. The pool should at least protect us from the dragon breath and might offer an escape route as well, though Bas’Malak didn’t know where it came out.

Then Brumblegrupp jumped on her back and managed to hang on. I cast Slow on her summoning all my abilities to make it work, but she shrugged it off. I had the distinct impression that nearby chain mail armor would have changed into plate armor. It was a wierd thought but the magic I summon is often unpredictable.

Tenzalore bit Grupp and then clawed Bryn. Trying to frighten us (it worked), she demanded, “Where’s the purple one?” She was, of course, referring to Fenwyn whom Bryn had sent off to be safe.

22 The Defeat of Tenzelore

Pell healed us, Johann scored a mighty crossbow bolt in her side, and Bryn attacked, as did Belanor. Bas’Malak stood rooted in his spot, apparently even he was afraid of her. Though perhaps he had the most right to be. Several of the rest of us were likewise too afraid and didn’t take action.

The fight continued and I was able to successfully cast Slow on her. Because I’ve never practiced Slow, or cast it before today, I had to pull upon the deep magics and, whether in retribution or trying to help I know not, they caused the Dragon and I to instantly switch places. She quickly shrugged off the lethargy, however. Pell kept us alive as we slowly conquered our fear over the next few seconds. Bryn cast a wall of water to help protect us from the wyrm’s breath should she decide to use it. Luckily, she never did. Later Bas’Malak explained that sometimes dragons get stage fright (his mother’s word apparently) and aren’t able to breathe fire when they wish. It’s ironic that her own performance anxieties are what saved us, but in retrospect, perhaps that’s why she was so hard on her “actors” in the first place—to cover up for her own insecurities.

Though Tenzalore was in the middle of everyone due to our teleportation, she did not spend long there. Perhaps the shock of being slow and unexpectedly teleported scared her for she retreated to the entrance of the tunnel. There we heard scraping sounds. When Pell went to investigate she saw that Tenzalore was creating a barrier! We all waited tensely for her to return or do something disastrous, but our waiting was in largely in vain. The only thing she did was move forward and attack Pell, before retreating to her make-shift barricade.

Pell used the same tactic to score a hit on Tenzalore before retreating, and Bryn cast a Tidal Wave which should have done some damage to her, and perhaps the barricade as well. I was finally able escape the fear’s stranglehold on my actions. The rest of us tried to get in position to better take action, but we never got the chance. We felt a giant gust of wind and she was gone. I rushed after her, hoping to score one final blow, perhaps ending her life, but it was to no avail. She was much faster than I and I knew it was useless to try and follow her.

Needless to say, we were all very relieved to still be alive. Hew was very happy that his ancestral mine was restored, though I could tell he had personally wished her dead. Nevertheless, he accounts it to us as having fulfilled our side of the bargain and he lost no time in sending a message to his cousins. Bas’Malak was perhaps the most changed, pledging anew to bring justice to all evil-doers. He saw first hand the evil his mother was capable of.

Bryn, predictably lost no time in finding Fenwyn. Somewhat less predictably (at least to the rest of us), Fenwyn insisted on getting married. She no longer cared that he wasn’t a dragon born. They plan to get married tomorrow and leave for her (now their) home. I know I should be happy for Bryn, but I can’t help but think about how it will affect our chances of finding the death curse, or just surviving!

Kythorn 14 – Normal, no wind, light rain

We awoke the next morning after the best night’s rest I’ve had in a long time. I guess that means that I really believe that Tenzalore is gone for good. I won’t be surprised if I run into her at some point in the future, but I hope that day will be far off.

Pell had spent some time researching the wedding customs of Dragon born, and performed a beautiful ceremony. I think only Bas’Malak wasn’t crying by the end. Shortly thereafter, they left to pick up Claire and head back to Fenwyn’s home. Dragonbait took his leave of us as well. I’m just glad he stayed as long as he did. I suppose he finally realized how foolish we are.

We made our way back to Wyrmheart mine and were greeted by Hew’s relations who had lost no time reinhabiting the mine. The firenewts had all run away now that they faced serious opposition without Tenzalore’s carnassials to back them up.

We looked around and saw several changes. There were fire newt bodies scattered around and Mr. Hoppy was gone, as was most of the treasure. Hew stuck up for us and insisted that we get some of the treasure. We did restore the entire mine to his family, so I think it’s only fair, but I know such things don’t come easily to dwarves, so I am grateful nonetheless.

The dwarves offered to repair any of our armor or weapons as they already had a forge working. Brumblegrupp asked if they could enchant his sword, and although the answer was yes, it would take to long so we declined. Ogremach’s Bane suggested that I have them add a socket to it, which wouldn’t take nearly as long. I suggested this, and although Brumblegrupp was a little confused he agreed, as did the dwarves. They reminded me that it wouldn’t do any good without knowing some magic to put in it, but I just nodded and smiled my best out-of-touch-noble smile and they seemed placated.

Algrup, the obsequious goblin, didn’t want to leave. We told Hew’s family to treat him nicely, but I doubt that will last long. I only hope they don’t kill him.

One thing that I hadn’t noticed before was an Ancient dwarven mural in the throne room. It consisted of a group of humans on top of a mountain kneeling to Ub’Tao.

We will leave Wyrmheart mine substantially richer than we entered it, including some cheese art (I don’t know why anyone would want that), a scroll that Pell seems to understand, a script for a second-rate play that is sure to draw the ire on a large red dragon if it were to ever be performed, and a number of coins. Most importantly to me, however, was a magnificent opal. I definitely have some studying to do before I can use it fully. If only I can find some way to learn.

Kythorn 15 – Normal, light wind, light rain

We left Wyrmheart mine and made our way toward Omu. Or at least, where we expect Omu to be. Belanor stopped by to tell Wimbabride the dryad that the area was now rid of the foul wyrm’s presence. The rest of the day passed without incident, which is not to say, pleasantly.

Kythorn 16 – Hot, no wind, heavy rain

Today was another day in the jungle of the kind I have unfortunately become accustomed. At least now I have the Firelands to recall fondly, or rather, not so fondly.

Kythorn 17 – Hot, normal wind, heavy rain

Ogremach’s Bane has been showing me how to place the proper enchantments on Brumblegrupp’s sword. It takes a lot of time and since I can only do it at night after we make camp, I’m not sure I will finish in time for it to be useful. But I have to try.

Kythorn 18 – Cooler, normal wind, light rain

I think today I finally started to understand a little about gem magic and the enchantments I’m placing. I certainly don’t understand it all—I have lots to learn—but I’m beginning to understand the theory a little.

Kythorn 19 – Cooler, normal wind, normal rain

I was thinking about the enchantment all day today. In fact, it nearly got me killed, but that’s unimportant. I thought I had a great idea about the next step of the enchantment, but when I told Ogremach’s Bane my idea he laughed and said I didn’t understand at all. When he told me what to do next, I realized that I hadn’t understood at all. I guess I have more to learn than I had thought.

Kythorn 20 – Hot, wind, light rain

Today we arrived in the Valley of Lost Honor. I wish there were more to say, but it’s all still jungle. Although I’m growing used to it, I can’t say that I enjoy it.

My insect repellent is almost gone. I’m already dreading the day when it runs out.

Kythorn 21 – Very Hot, no wind, heavy rain

Today the first part of the enchantment was finished. Ogremach’s Bane said that from now on I won’t have to keep supplying power to that part of the enchantment. There is still a lot to do, but I feel like I’m making real progress.

Kythorn 22 – Normal heat, light wind, heavy rain

Syndra Sylvain said today that she fears the end is near for her. She only has a few 10-day remaining, or so she fears. It’s easy to lose the sense of urgency as we trudge through the endless green oven that they call Chult.

Kythorn 23 – Normal heat, light wind, light rain

My insect repellent is now entirely gone. I hope we can get out of the jungle soon—I don’t relish being the main course for the myriad of parasites which surround us.

Kythorn 24 – Cooler, no wind, normal rain

Today we arrived at Omu. Our entire party is giddy with anticipation. It is actually quite impressive. It is a massive basin in the ground with the ruins of a large city at the bottom. A river flows in from the north, there is an old entrance to the south, or we can try to scale the walls. None of the ways look very inviting. I guess we’ll have to decide tomorrow. Unfortunately, the enchantment isn’t done yet.

23 Arrival at Omu

Kythorn 25 –

We decided to eat the feathers that Saja N’Baza had given us and fly down into the city. That seemed like a good idea until some gargoyles started flying towards us. We dived quickly to avoid them and saw a red wizard, calling us to come hide with him from the gargoyles were successful in doing so. However, we were split up and lost track of Hew, Brumblegrupp, and Belanor.

Zemdam, as the Red Wizard introduced himself, had entered the city looking for the Soul Monger. According to him, he’s one of the few, perhaps only, survivors of his party. Given his robes, I am loath to trust him, but his purposes do seem to align with ours for the moment. I have no doubt there will be a confrontation at some point, but for now, I merely watch warily.

The town is well deserted and rougher than a Hobgoblin’s bite. Apparently the Soul Monger is deep in the tomb in the north cliff of the city. Merely arriving won’t be enough, however, since we have to find some “keys” first.

Zemdam has a cube with a snail about 3 inches on a side, like a puzzle. It appears to be a few hundred years old. There is reason to believe that we need nine such cubes to enter the tomb. We entered a building (perhaps an old tavern), and written on the wall (along a warning about a frog monster) was

Erik, I’ve gone in search of the nine shrines, -V

Given the limited flight time dictated by the red feather, and the likely case that we will have to search the entire city for all nine shrines, we decided we should visit the volcano surrounded by open lava tonight.

As we were flying there, we flew past a group of vegetative pygmies surrounding a grung. They took him to the edge of the lava and threw him in. We had enough warning that Grupp positioned himself below and caught the unfortunate grung. We headed to the tower with the grung in tow. The pygmies were not happy, but we were too far away for them to do anything.

we land on the tower

We don’t land

Eembok is the frog man’s name

Fiend w/in 60’ of us

real palm trees outside - 4 snakes (Jacoli) leap out at Johann

words written on wall, like graffiti. but i cant read them

Welcoming to shrine of Moa - Pell knows the language from her father’s

I cast comprehend languages wild magic - I get d10 successful saving throws - 3 Doesn’t say much interesting

serpents and arrow slits in the corridor

cuneiform message

Belanor (invisible) goes in sees a cube on the alter, and lots of statues

He grabs it and flies away, but when he leaves the room the cube disappears

We see bows pointed outside and they start moving out

Belanor drops, but is still invisible. they hit me

On the ceiling - Moa teaches us that secrets hide the truth Snake and a Su-Monster OB doens’t know who Moa is

Death rewards, a thief deceived, truth comes from the serpent’s mouth.

Moa was too honest to lie, so that’s how he bacme the enemy of Jacolay the su-monster and Moa vowed to catch Jacolay and eat him up.

Zemdam finds 2 secret doors in the room, statue of coiled serpents. Head is broken on the floor with cube on ground. Zemdam picks it up and see symbol of serpent

other door statue of coiled serpent with cube in mouth, Johann picks it up.

Zemdam’s disappears

Brumblegrupp grabs the frog and we fly away

Embaack takes us to a place north Hops off when we land Lots of monoliths, an arrowhead shaped building Embaack runs ahead

Large gold Grung in headdress Grupp behind and he 4 strong Grungs and other

Try to get them to understand

Cast comprehend languages All females get hungry when they see blood Grungs start

I finally get them to understand

24 Kobolds, kobolds, kobolds

The grungs threw us a banquet, or perhaps the banquet was for something else and we were merely invited. I noticed that there were two red grungs, a few gold, many orange, and the majority were green. I wonder what the significance of their colors are. The children are a dull green. Johann played for them which even the green ones seemed to enjoy.

They began telling a story of some kind and Pell noticed them saying something that sounded like Acererak. I was skeptical at first, but after she pointed it out I noticed it myself. She says that Acererak seemed like the bad guy in the story they were telling. I couldn’t tell myself and I didn’t think it was worth casting Comprehend Languages to try to better understand. I need to do a bit better job of keeping the wild magic at bay–something about one of the red grungs made me think of my father.

We slept on a little “island”. It was slightly elevated and relatively clean. It could have been much worse. Zemdam left. He said the other red wizards have been tracking him. Part of me was relieved, but the another part of me (the part that was thinking of my father I suppose) worries that we have lost an advantage over the red wizards, who are undoubtedly our enemies.

Kythorn 26 – eerily normal weather, low wind, light rain

We awoke this morning and wasted no time in heading to the water temple. Despite appearances, the water was only 2 feet deep surrounding the temple. That was enough to harbor dangers though, in the form of crocodiles. For this reason I decided to not spend much time checking for alternate entrances, and we walked up some slimy steps to the main door. On the door was some writing that Pell was able to (with the help of her father’s journal) decipher and translate as

Papazotl teaches us to bow before no one.

Given that it didn’t seem like a warning, we entered to find a room with a mosaic on floor and a sculpture of a pointy beaked bird attacking a frog-like monster with tentacles coming from its shoulders. Pell translated some more writing on the wall as saying that Ebelus (Papazotl) sent the frog creature to reason with Ubtao. Instead they wrestled, which amused Ubtao, and Ubtao gives it tentacles to make it stronger.

In the following room was an empty pedestal with a hatch the size of a puzzle cube. The room has several statues facing the middle. They depicted men with the heads of a lizard, a jaguar, a lobster, a toucan, a bat, and a frog. There was writing in common:

Behind the bat-headed statue, the wall behind disappeared when examined closely by Johann [ed. was it really Johann?]. There was a passage way about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide. Brumblegrupp went first, then the rest of us followed. It took us to a room that was barely large enough to hold us all. On the wall was a grid in which some of the squares were discolored. When Brumblegrupp [ed. was it Brumblegrupp who touched it first?] touched a square it filled with the first letter that he thought of. By filling all the squares with the letters of the previously mentioned verse, the highlighted squares read “cover eyes.”

We returned to the main room and covered the eyes of all the statues and were rewarded with the appearance of one of the puzzle cubes. This time with the picture of Papazotl the bird.

After exiting the temple, we were fairly close to the large waterfall and several of us wanted nothing to check behind it, but we found nothing of interest there.

We then spent some time trying to find a temple by ourselves. We make our way to a promising looking building, but it was nothing but a derelict market hall. There we saw two veggie pygmies riding moss dogs. Pell looked around and found a tripwire without tripping it. I triggered it with mage hand and huge boulders flew across and hit the other wall. At that point one of the veggie pygmies rode off.

We explore a little more and Pell found another trap, though this time by triggering it. Some pots flew out and hit her, covering her with rotgrubs. Johann and Brumblegrupp reacted quickly, brushing them all off and killing them.

Then it was Johann’s turn to trigger a trap. This time a flask hit him from above and splattered acid all over.

We finally left and Pell saw a kobold going down a hidden stair. We searched where she said it was and succeeded in finding the stairs. At the bottom were a dozen kobolds, one of which was laying on a pile of treasure naked! Though he was one of the less hideous kobolds I’ve seen, I did not appreciate the view.

They also had a the bound veggie pygmy in the room. Perhaps one of the two we had seen before. The unclad kobold said his name was Kokarol and that Acererak had promised to make him a Dragon. He was quite full of himself and we did not disabuse him of his delusions. Instead, we convinced him to let the veggie pygmy come with us. I noticed a few bloodstones in Kokarol’s hoard and purchased one for 65 GP–probably more than it’s worth, but Ogremach’s Bane approved. Johann paid 25 GP to be escorted to the location of another puzzle cube.

One of the Kobolds took us to another shrine and left before we entered. Some of the traps had been sprung and we found the corpse of a Su-monster. The wall read

We found an empty spot where we think the puzzle cube should have been, but all we found were tatters of red clothing, bat guano, etc. So I guess we can conclude that the red wizards have at least two of the puzzle cubes.

We made camp for the night frustrated.

Kythorn 27 – very hot 20 degrees, light wind, heavy rain

During the night we heard noises of something big, but didn’t see anything and weren’t disturbed. We returned to Kokarol’s lair where a kobold noticed us and opened the hatch. Pell paid 10 GP more so that he will tell us the location of another puzzle cube. One that we can hopefully find before the red wizards.

We finally found the building they had marked on our map. On the wall was a relief of a unicorn fighting a bear. We saw an almaraj (like a unicorn rabbit) fleeing into its burrow. Written on the wall was

Eejing teaches us to take the path least expected

Given all this, Johann tried to follow the almaraj down its hole, but was unable to.

Inside was a twenty foot room leading to a hallway. The floor of the hallway was tiled with many different beasts. They were 4 wide and perhaps 10 deep. There was no discernible pattern to their layout.

Brumblegrupp went first (I still can’t tell if he’s brave or just reckless). He first stepped on an almaraj and said he felt really good. Then he stepped on another almaraj and was hit with some poison darts. Then Johann (who I’m sure is merely reckless) stepped on the same almaraj, though he felt no different. Then he stepped on a zebra, and Grupp, not to be out done, stepped on a dragon fly. They kept this up stepping on recklessly and seemingly at random but made it to the other side of the hall without incident. The rest of us followed in their steps.

Then we found ourselves in what must be a maze. But since I spent much of Master Chiprot’s Preventive Dental Care class doing mazes on paper I knew to follow the right hand rule. In this case there were no problems at all and we so found the cube in short order. This one has a picture of the rabbit I’jin.

25 Tabaxi Troubles

Kythorn 27 – cont.

We had barely finished setting up camp when Zemdam returned. He said the other Red Wizards had been captured by some Yuan’ti while searching for a cube. They have perhaps one or two in their possession according to Zemdam. It all seems rather suspicious to me.

Kythorn 28 – light rain

Last night while Pell and I were on watch, we heard something humongous crashing through the trees. We went to investigate and saw something bigger than the largest dinosaur we have seen our entire time in Chult! I couldn’t make out much because the sliver of a moon did not give enough light, but Pell thinks she saw feathers on it’s back.

Pell had the same nightmare again last night, but this time she noticed the staff that the skeletal figure had. She said it was like the staff belonging to Thorin (the dwarf we met in Port Nyanzaru who she knows from her early life), called the Staff of the Magi.

Zemdam sent a message to his fellow wizards this morning. They are being held by the Yuan’ti in the palace area of the city. The wizards claim there is a secret entrance on the south side w/palm trees and thorn bushes and that it will help us (or rather Zemdam, for they don’t know we are coming with) to rescue them.

We began to make our way back to the palace, searching for a convenient place to cross the river. We passed a large building with “All hail the king of feathers” written on the side. Eventually, we came across a downed log which stretched completely across the river. Brumblegrupp was the first to cross (bless his intrepid Goblin heart). We tied a rope around his waist in case he should fall into the river which we know eventually plummets into the lake of lava.

The lava was not the danger that we should have been worrying about, however. We discovered this as an arrow narrowly missed Grupp. A tabaxi archer screamed, “You are my prey!” from the top of a building, sowing panic amongst—I believe—all of us. The jungle gives plenty of cover for archers, and having to cross would rob us of any cover that we might normally hope for. A hoard of camouflaged Tabaxi archers could do great damage.

Pell was the first to recover and cast Bless on all of us within range. The Tabaxi (whose name we later learned was Bag of Nails), shot Grupp with a poisoned arrow and nearly felled him. He then shouted, “You are not worthy to be my prey,” which I found to be quite insulting. If anyone is worthy to be prey, it would be Brumblegrupp!

So great was my distress that I used my last obsidian gem to power my Chaos Bold when I finally took action. Shortly after that Brumblegrupp smote the tabaxi with such fury that he yielded. The whole thing was over so fast that I dare say none of us really knew what to make of it.

Bag of Nails, who looked rather old, claimed to be seeking the King of Feathers to die honorably fighting the monstrosity (this is surely the giant feathered beast we saw last night). He claimed to have misjudged us and offered to host us in his lair. He also claimed to be looking for the Navel of the Moon, a fabled treasure that would allow the possessor to find the way to their loved ones.

Bag of Nails took us into a basement room and gave us some stew that was cooking there. Suffice it to say that he is not a great chef, but we felt it necessary to accept his hospitality (except Grupp who will eat anything). We eventually convinced Bag-of-Nails to join us in our foray into the Yuan’ti encampment.

Grupp decided to rest a bit after his run-in with Bag of Nail’s poisoned arrow, so a few of us snuck ahead to do some reconnaissance. We came across a dozen human warriors with blue triangles on their heads. They were roasting a humanoid figure and began eating it as we watched. Johann thinks the humanoid they were eating was actually undead. I wouldn’t have noticed it myself, but it certainly seemed to be after he pointed it out. I don’t remember being so sick since the time we removed the putrefied molar from Madame Rankpestos’s horse. We returned without further investigation.

Brumblegrupp had rested by the time we got back, so we all left again and, after much sneaking through the jungle, serendipitously found a building shaped much like the previous shrines we have encountered. On the front were needle-like columns, stone doors, and snarling claws. A message was written in what Pell identified as Old Amoan reading

Old Obolaka teaches us to tread warily and to stay in the light.

The doors were slightly ajar, and some Zorbos noticed us and began growling, but didn’t approach. A plaque above the entrance showed reliefs of ancient Amoan people doing various quotidian activities.

As we entered there was a hallway with eight empty torch brackets. Given the inscription, I lit and placed eight of my torches in the brackets.

The hallway ended in an unlocked door which Grupp opened. On the ceiling was a representation of the sun. The reflection in the pool, however, was that of the moon. After some cautious investigation of the water, Johann jumped in. As soon as he was fully underwater, he disappeared. Pell went next, but holding a rope. As she was submerged, she disappeared, but the rope stayed behind. Bag of Nails dove in next.

I eventually went through myself (thoughts of the garbage dump filling me with caution). Upon submerging, one ends up in another pool in another room. On the wall is a mosaic of a bear and an almaraj fighting. Through another door we came to a big room with 8 torches on the wall.

In the center was a (petrified) bald man with his hand on the puzzle cube. Zemdam identified him as Vazh, one of his erstwhile companions. Zemdam, who had cast Detect Magic, noted that all the torches radiated evocation magic, and transmutation magic came from the cube itself. This cube was, according to him, more magical than other the other cubes.

Johann grabbed a torch and, encouraged and guided by Pell, approached the cube. We all saw the strain on his face as his body barely resisted being petrified. He threw the cube into the hall and out the door before it could petrify him again.

I tried to dispel the magic on the cube and failed. I tried again with encouragement and managed to dispel it, but I fear only temporarily. No more than an hour or so. We grabbed the torches and carried them with us out of the building, after which the transmutation magic seems to have failed completely. I believe it will be safe to carry the cube around with us after this.

I didn’t have much time to work on Brumblegrupp’s socketed sword, but I believe that I’m finally close to finishing it.

Kythorn 29 –

Last night as Johann and Bag of Nails were standing watch, we all felt very sick. Bag of Nails starting cackling his old-cat laugh and was struck down by vengeful members of my party before I could even make it out of the tent. We should have known better than to trust a senile old cat I suppose, he must have poisoned us with his stew or something. Luckily, none of us were permanently hurt.

26 Descent into Slavery

Kythorn 29 – cont. normal weather, light rain

Last night, after the trouble with Bag of Nails, Pell and Zemdam heard something that upset them. They thought it was a monstrous creature other than the King of Feathers.

Pell received a sending from Syndra. Apparently, she is getting weak and there are lots of undead attacking Port Nyanzaru. I grow more fearful that we will not be able to stop the death curse. It has already taken my father. Whether we can save Syndra is less important to me, but if we cannot save someone as powerful as her, then I fear all of society will be destroyed before we succeed. If the rich die forever like the poor, the balance of power will be permanently upset.

As we left to find the entrance to the Yuan’ti city, Zemdam turned Bag of Nails into a zombie to do his bidding. We all felt uncomfortable with this for many reasons, but Pell in particular raised objections. This was just more evidence for caution regarding Zemdam.

Pell, somehow, found a passage into the earth. It didn’t seem very used, but perhaps the Yuan’ti are careful to hide their tracks when using it. Belanor cast Pass Without Trace on us and we descended. The magical stealth that Belanor afforded us was more than offset by the clumsy lumbering of Zemdam’s pet zombie, however. Grupp stayed behind to accompany Hew who was quite sick with some sort of Chultan disease. He said it wasn’t serious or contagious, but it sure serious to the rest of us, and we didn’t want to risk it being contagious.

We hadn’t gone too far when the Zombie began talking to a snake-like person. One of the Yuan’ti’s minions, no doubt. And thus any stealth we may have hoped for was moot. The Yuan’ti began attacking the zombie and Zemdam stepped out to stop it, announcing himself as Zemdam of the Red Wizards.

After some back and forth, the creature demanded to take us to Issar, who is in charge of slaves. I asserted that Fenthaza would be very upset if she was not notified of our arrival. I think that impressed them and they sent for Fenthaza. While waiting for her I was able to gather that Fenthaza is not unpopular among the Yuan’ti. One of the monsters claimed to be human once. “If you are lucky, perhaps you can be transformed as well.” Ha! And give the Yuan’Ti power over me? No thank you.

So far we had only seen three snake things, which we almost certainly could have killed but, of course, we still wouldn’t know where anything was. Zemdam Sent a message to one of his friends, but he was captured and there was an anti-magic field in place, so he couldn’t help us, even by giving directions.

After approximately 20 minutes, Fenthaza arrived and we began what my father used to call the Struggle. I remember well how tedious my father’s accounts of his exploits were, so I do not wish to make the same mistake here. Suffice it to say that I was able to convince her that I was special and could be useful to her, that I needed all my companions, and that we would not cause problems. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince her that we should be allowed to keep our weapons and not be made slaves. She claimed this would raise too much suspicion, which may be true. My party was understandably reluctant to disarm. Zemdam, who obviously trusts me about as much as I trust him (i.e., not much), was completely unwilling to lay down his weapons. He cast fire shield but refrained from outright attack. That was fortunate since I have little doubt that my party (and myself) would have been obligated to take up the fight against the Yuan’Ti, thereby alerting the rest of the Yuan’Ti to our presence and perhaps even dying in the process—Fenthaza had not come unattended.

Nevertheless, things did not take that turn. Rather, Zemdam ran away, and based on what I could hear, it seems likely that he escaped. I don’t know whether to be glad of that or not. I saw the fear and anger on his face and believe I have made a mortal enemy. It might be easier if he were captured by the Yuan’Ti, though I can scarce wish that on anyone (except perhaps Mistress Cholag who I always suspected of being part snake).

We were dragged deep into the Yuan’Ti lair. I, and I hope my companions as well, paid careful attention to the layout should we be required to make a hasty escape. Our equipment was taken away with no indication of where it might be stored. We were then thrown into pits for safe keeping. Despair nearly overcame me several times as marched along. What if Fenthaza does not live up to her end of the (admittedly implied) bargain? What if we are not able to actually be of use to her? I fought to suppress these pointless doubts and look on the bright side. If this goes according to plan then we have a powerful ally working from the inside and with some luck (and a little magic) we shall make it out of this much better than we came in.

In neighboring pits were a 10 year old boy with a crown, a man in white robe wearing a Harper pin, a malnourished warrior who introduced himself as Kanush M’Tumbe, and, amazingly, another crew member of the Star Goddess named Oloma Optimar. She was known to Johann and recounted that the other crew members were here but have been slowly dying. She believes she is the last one alive.

Shortly thereafter, we were all sent out on work details. Luckily, we were sent with different bosses. This gives us more experience with the layout of the dungeon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Fenthaza did this on purpose. On the other hand, it may be standard procedure to break up a group to prevent escape attempts.

Pell helped Azimas (an awakened serpent) clean the storeroom. She said he seemed to like her, so that may come in useful. Johann and Belanor helped in the poison distillery. One of the Yuan’Ti there was attempting to make a poison strong enough to kill undead! Belanor was in his element, but Johann tried merely to stay out of the way. Belanor recognized several toxic molds that might be of some use. The Yuan’Ti are more resistant to poison than people though, so it may not be as useful as one might hope.

Oloma Optimar, who showed us a knife she had smuggled in, went to a pool. She was forced to carry the bloody remains of a previous companion. Then she rowed into the middle of the lake, rang a bell and dumped the body overboard. She says that something humongous with lots of teeth ate it and might have eaten her if she hadn’t hurried back to shore. Depending on how things go, I’d like to sneak her and as many others out with us as we can. The difficulty is that the more people we take, the more likely we are to be noticed.

My detail was in the bathing area. I was forced to scrub it. The place reeked of blood and the work was unpleasant–as might be expected in a place like this. It’s not the worst thing I’ve done since being in Chult though. Near the end of my shift, the Yuan’Ti were ushered out, and Ras Nsi himself came in. He was clearly afflicted with the death curse, with his flesh rotting. Perhaps he didn’t want others to see his weakness. Ras Nsi told Sekelok (another Yuan’Ti) that Acererak had promised to heal him, but that the disease’s progession has been speeding up the last day or so.

After my shift was over I was returned to my cell and then taken to talk one-on-one with Fenthaza. I knew that this was the most important meeting of my life. I dared not use any sort of magic, had I even been able to, but I poured my entire soul into convincing her. I believe it worked. The hours spent listening to my father’s political maneuverings finally paid off. I always hated those meetings, but it seems it was worthwhile after all. Somehow I doubt dentistry will serve me that well. I’ll never know my father’s purpose for forcing me to be a dentist.

Anyway, Fenthaza offered to turn me into a Yuan’Ti, or at least the first transformation. My initial and visceral reaction would not allow me to accept, but as I think about it now I wonder if there isn’t a lot of power to be had as a Yuan’Ti. Oh well, the divining teeth have been cast.

I insisted that all my crew and our equipment be released and she acquiesced. I even got her to promise to release some of the other slaves to help us. She hinted that the Red Wizards might be useful, but I felt she was testing me. I told her I couldn’t trust them after what Zemdam did and she seemed pleased by that answer. All in all I got what I wanted out of her. And all we have to do is one little favor, remove a rival for her in a way that can’t be traced to her. The only problem is that the rival is Ras Nsi! Despite his weakened state I suspect he will be a difficult rival. The world will be better off without him.

The plan as she presented it to me is fairly simple. She will call a full council tonight so that most of the Yuan’Ti will be occupied in another part of the compound. Then she will release us, we will get our equipment, make our way towards where we entered, row up the river (she suggested taking a corpse), take the left turn-off to a cavern which connects to Ras Nsi’s throne room. From there, we use the passphrase “white feather” to enter, strike fast and hard, and not let him escape to one of his teleport circles. All of the cubes are in his chamber and he has a magical fire sword. Other than that he has no magic.

She brought me back to my cell after our discussion and unlocked all my friends as well as the little boy, the old man, and a loud man that we haven’t met before. A bell sounded, calling the Yuan’Ti to their meeting. She wished us luck, reminding me what would happen if we failed, and left us to our fate.

27 Dragon Turtles Blues

While waiting for Fenthaza to return, we met with a few of the other slaves who had also been loosed. One was a bagpiper (thankfully without his instrument) named Tardin, who seems more mad than sane (though who can blame him?). The other was a child name Yyrinne. Although a child, she seems strangely capable.

Eventually, Fenthaza returned and unshackled us. She then took a few of the other slaves with her, one of them being a child. This must have disturbed Johann greatly, because he begged Fenthaza to let him take the place of the child. I tried to dissuade him—Johann’s death won’t help us escape or stop the death curse—but he was adamant. He simply said that we should tell others about his glorious sacrifice.

For about ten minutes, there was a performance outside our door, with savage music playing, cheering, and finally screaming from outside. Then a gong sounded, signaling the beginning of Fenthaza’s promised meeting, and the distraction that would allow us to escape. We waited a little while until the path seemed clear and then began to make our way out. We heard a familiar woman’s voice, and then suddenly Salida entered. She seemed surprised to see us, but quickly explained that she was coming to rescue Lamar Dra’al, the Harper mage. She tried several times to convince us to leave with her (and not kill Ras N’Si). No doubt that would be safer, but our mission was never about safety.

As we left, in the company of Salida, we passed the bodies of the recently sacrificed slaves. It was gruesome to behold. Despite my time in Chult and all the death I’ve seen and participated in, I felt nauseous. We checked and Johann’s body was not there—so that at least is good. Hopefully, we can find and rescue him, or perhaps he can escape himself.

As we got to the end of a hall, we came to the chamber with the caged dinosaur. Yyrinne disappeared and soon the dinosaur was unleashed and rampaging around causing trouble. She is capable indeed. It succeeded in drawing the guards after it (and thankfully not trampling us in the process). That gave us a rather straight shot to the armory.

As we were sneaking past a corridor, we saw none other than Brumblegrupp—that blessed goblin! He had all his equipment as well since he had never been captured by the Yuan’Ti. It’s a good thing he did, since we needed his strength to force open the door to the armory. Even with his help, it was difficult enough that I doubt we could have done it without him. Once inside, a large skeletal snake asked for passphrase, but “white feather” didn’t satisfy it.

Yyrinne charmed the snake creature so that it allowed us to get all of our equipment. Luckily our equipment hadn’t been sorted yet, and so was all together. Yyrinne found herself some clothes, etc. from the rest of the supplies in the room. A few of us grabbed a couple other items before we left. Salida was, understandably, urging us to hurry.

I didn’t see any gems. It would make sense that the treasure would have been taken to a different room, but I was hoping. I did get my gems back, however. And most importantly the cubes were still there.

We made it back to the entrance without being seen. There were some Brood guards in the same place we were captured initially. For all I know they were the same exact guards. Salida tried to talk them into leaving, but was unsuccessful. I realized we weren’t going to be able to make progress, so I attacked the first guard with a Chaos Bolt. Salida, Yyrinne, and Tardon made short work of the other guard, who was so surprised he didn’t even react. The first guard ran back into the compound to sound the alarm, but Pell and Brumblegrupp chased it down and dispatched. Unfortunately, not before it attracted some attention (or so we surmised later).

We wasted no time in jumping into both boats (we needed them both to carry us, but we also wouldn’t have left a boat behind us to give chase). We threw the body of the dead brood guard in and took off. We had been warned by Oloma Optimar that there was a massive creature in the lake so we paddled as quickly as we felt we could whilst also trying to be stealthy in the hopes of not arousing said creature. That turned out to be a mistake though leading to the worst of both outcomes. The beast became aware of us regardless and before we rounded a curve and found some cover, we saw some Yuan’Ti on shore staring after us. So they know we were there, it was just a question of whether they can anticipate our moves or not.

The beast, which we later saw to be a turtle, attacked Grupp’s boat. Yyrinne turned rather ugly, and I believe she frightened the monster. I found it rather endearing. Pell attacked with her magic, and Belanor with his bow. Brumblegrupp blessed those close enough to him, and Tardon attacked quite effectively with a lightning bolt. I cast Water Walk all of us using the my stone, and we abandoned the boats. I’m not sure what price the wild magic exacted for that boon, but I felt that it was somewhat distant, but terrible. The Turtle then revealed his true nature by breathing steam on us. I felt like I was protected and didn’t even have to try to avoid the steam. That’s not too say that I wasn’t hurt, but I just feel like it turned out as well as it possibly could. We continued to attack and it breathed steam again, but eventually we chased it away. We did not pursue it—we have more formidable things to worry about, namely Ras N’Si himself.

28 Escape

As we sat for a moment, recuperating and planning, some Ghouls came from throne room and attacked us. No one wanted to waste any of our powerful spells or attacks, but we were able to dispatch them without any horrible consequences, except that Grupp ended up quite hurt.

We entered the throne room which contained an iron throne and a blue triangle on the wall. Ras N’Si was not there! I began to panic, thinking that perhaps our information was bad—maybe Fenthaza had led us into a trap. But no, after some frantic searching, Yyrinne found a secret door. She overheard Ras N’Si talking to something. We think it was Acererak. Ras N’Si was getting his teeth pulled for not doing a better job of getting all the cubes.

Yyrinne tried to quietly open the door to ambush him, but Ras N’Si heard the door and said that he didn’t want to be disturbed. She retreated, and then Grupp tried to sneak the door open a little, but Ras N’Si heard and came to the door. He threw it open to reveal his putrid body, and that of a basilisk by his side. Our search was over, I just wish we had been able to surprise him. It would have made things much simpler.

Yyrinne cast a bonfire in the doorway to deter him from coming out. A look of extreme hatred and determination came over Belanor as he attacked with his trusty arrows. Then, Ras N’Si grabbed Brumblegrupp and pulled him into the fire (which Yyrinne immediately extinguished), and dealt him a terrible blow with his flaming sword. Fortunately, the basilisk missed Grupp, who then wiggled his way free and came back to us.

At that point, I tried my new spell, Vitriolic Sphere. I had been saving it for just such an occasion. It worked even better than I could have hoped, doing damage to 3 creatures–Ras N’Si, the basilisk and a wight that was behind a corner. Ras N’Si ordered Qualu (for such was the wight’s name) to attack. It came from it’s location to the doorway but failed to hit Tardon. It flinched as the lingering effects of my acid took their toll.

Tardon attempted to silence Ras N’Si, but the rotting Yuan’Ti countered the spell. Pell, as critical to our success as always, healed Brumblegrupp and then brought the hammer of her divine just down on the wight, ending it’s unlife. Yyrinne cast Eldritch Blast and Belanor again added to the beating Ras N’Si was taking. He did not give up without a fight, however. He cast a powerful fireball which did lots of damage to all of us. I was able to escape the worst of it, but felt that my run of good luck was through. From now on I will have to survive by my wits as usual. I did savor the pain on the Ras N’Si’s face as the acid did it’s final damage. He asked who sent us, unsure if it was Fenthaza or some other name I didn’t recognize, but no one answered him. The basilisk squirmed as it shook off the effects of my acid, but that didn’t stop it from attacking Tardon again and, this time, connecting.

I was able to line up a straight shot for a lightning bolt which caught Ras N’Si and finished off the basilisk. Tardon succeeded in casting Silence near Ras N’si. Pell healed Grupp and herself while her spiritual weapon attacked Ras N’si. Yyrinne killed Ras N’Si with a final Eldritch blast. I knew she was more capable than her slight figure and seeming inexperience would lead one to believe.

We took advantage of the lingering silence to ransack Ras N’Si’s private chamber as quickly and thoroughly as we dared. We found all the cubes (which is the most important thing) and the black hoop. We crammed as much gold, silver, and trinkets as we could in there. There was a nice harp, a bow, a cloak, etc. but we didn’t have time to look at it—just to steal it.

Just as we were preparing to leave, we heard the music get louder for a second, and then quieter. We all knew that the time had come to make ourselves scarce. We saw Fenthaza coming down the hall with several companions of all different shapes. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, the plucky (and I might add naked) Johann sprinted to us from the middle of the Fenthaza’s entourage. It’s difficult to say, but she seemed genuinely surprised by this. His body was slick with the blood of sacrifices which helped him escape the Yuan’Ti. For that they can only blame themselves.

I briefly tried to talk to Fenthaza, perhaps stall a bit, but it soon became clear that she had no intention of letting us go now that she had what she wanted. I wonder if she would have been as treacherous if I had taken her up on the offer to become Yuan’Ti. I suspect she might have. After all, she was willing to betray Ras N’Si.

We began retreating to the water where we would have the distinct advantage of being able to walk on top. Since I was in front attempting to engage Fenthaza, I was attacked by several of her minions. One even walked through a bonfire cast by Yyrinne to prevent just such a thing. I did take some pleasure in his (or her, it can be very difficult to tell with Yuan’Ti) pain before he hit me and I lost consciousness.

I awoke in Brumblegrupp’s capable hands and saw Pell finishing the spell that must have healed me. I quickly disengaged the enemy and made my way toward the water as fast as I could. I was in no shape to be in combat. Fenthaza succeeded in paralyzing Grupp, who was then hauled to the water by Johann. At that point we heard the party in the large room die down and we knew that if we didn’t escape quickly we would have to fight off the entire Yuan’Ti nation.

Johann had carried Grupp over his shoulder until he was knee deep in the water. In what would have been an amusing reversal, had circumstances allowed for amusement, Grupp stood on the water and pulled Johann out of it, without ever losing contact. Within a matter of seconds they had switched places and Grupp started to retreat around the corner and out of sight.

At just that moment I was knocked unconscious again, but revived when Pell healed everyone. We were all on the water by then and began running away as fast as we could. We managed to escape the crowd in Ras N’Si’s throne room. Some were, no doubt, already scheming on how to best profit from their leader’s demise.

We ran back out to the initial chamber, where it appears no new guards had been stationed. We ran up the tunnel and out as fast as we could and we didn’t stop running until we were “safely” in the jungle.

29 Into Acererak’s Domain

Flamerule 1 - really hot, windy

We hid from the Yuan’Ti in the Zorbo temple, and luckily they did not find us. We went through all the items we had liberated and divided them up as seemed most appropriate.

Tardon took a gilded Moonshay harp, to which he was able to attune, somewhat to my surprise. It seems like much too nice an instrument for him. Grupp took Ras N’Si’s Flametongue Sword and the turtle shell shield. Johann took a goat statue and a cloak of protection. Belanor got the wight’s oath bow, which he will put to good use. Pell kept a nice statuette of froghemeth (with amythest eyes). She said it should be in a museum. She’s always be thinking ahead, instead of just hoping we get out of here alive like the rest of us.

As for me, well, I made out fine. First, I got some bracers of defense. I already feel safer. They chafe a little, but I’ll get used to them. They are nothing like the armor I tried in the past which doesn’t give me enough freedom of movement. I also took Ras N’Si’s grimoire. I can’t actually understand any of, but perhaps with the help of Ogremach’s Bane’s I’ll get some use out of it. If not, I’m sure some wizard would be willing to pay a lot of money for it. Ras N’Si surely knew some powerful spells. Perhaps most useful though, I found a clay urn filled with 30 or so gems of various types. Some look rather valuable.

After morning preparations, we began making our way north to the tomb, giving the Yuan’Ti settlement a wide berth. On the way there we met Zemdam again. There is not a lot of trust between us at this point. Since we found his cube with the rest, we know that he must have given it to the Yuan’Ti at some point. He said that he met a powerful wizard who wanted the cube, so he dropped it and ran. That seems unlikely given the fact that he himself is a powerful wizard. Nevertheless, he also claims to know that we have the cubes, even though we did our best to hide it from him. In the end, he convinced us to take him along. He already knows where the tomb is and so can save us some effort, bu I’m afraid he will betray us at the worst possible moment.

As we made our way to the tomb Zemdam, trying almost too hard to impress us, explained that it was named the tomb of the false gods. The gods forced the people to fight, and so Acererak came and killed the gods. Then he built the tomb and finished by killing everyone in Omu. Based on what we’ve learned about Acererak, it sounds pretty typical of his “justice.”

Eventually, we came to the base of the cliff on the northern side of Omu. There we found a vine covered obelisk, and tunnels going forward and to the right. Above, 3 gargoyles watched, undoubtedly ready to come to life if we made a mistake. An inscription on the obelisk read

We were unsure of what to do, but Grupp, Johann, and Belanor started down the tunnel to the right, thinking that it was less obvious, and therefore less likely to be a decoy. In the tunnel were eight statues (of the nine gods obviously) with basins of oil under them. As they passed, the oil lit on fire. At then end of the tunnel, Pell noticed cracks in wall which led to the discovery of a secret door, and a statue of Unk (the snail) completing the set of nine gods.

Johann took a golden pendant shaped like an eye. He gave it to Belanor, though Zemdam claimed to want it. There is no love lost between those Johann and Zemdam. The amulet gently pulled Belanor back out of the tunnel and toward some bushes to the left of the main entrance. There he found a hidden archway into the cliff. Inside were many stone skulls on the walls. At the end of the hallway nine slots awaited, just the right size for the cubes. We put the cubes in, making sure that the enemies were opposite each other (enemies opposing from the inscription). The cubes glowed and the slab opened. So much work getting those cubes for so little payoff. Now the real test begins.

Some ways beyond, another slab sat blocking the passage. This time there was a lever below a (stone) skull which was sticking out of the slab. Pell entered that section of hallway and a hand came out of the skull holding an hour glass which clearly didn’t have much time left. Without thinking, I jumped back out of the hallway into the previous section, and Brumblegrupp sprinted to the lever and pulled it. The floor immediately fell away and Pell, Johann, Grupp, and Tardon found themselves on the wrong side of a pit trap. Johann and Tardon were killed, though Grupp healed them restoring them to consciousness. Pell rid their systems of the poison that they had also encountered. I must say, I felt somewhat proud that I jumped backward instead of forward, though it could have just as easily been the wrong thing to do. Acererak is more deranged than a toothless wombat.

Given the beating that several of us had taken, we decided it prudent to rest for a while. After about an hour of resting, the lever and floor reset. Once my companions had regained some of their strength we tried again. This time Brumblegrupp, proving to us all that he is not scared of anything, put on the pendant and tied a rope around himself so that we can hopefully keep him out of the spikes. He stepped into the corridor causing the hourglass to appear. He then ran and tried to yank the hour glass out of the hand holding it. It stayed firm, however, and just before it expired Tardon cast levitate on Grupp, thereby saving him from another fall. As the time ran out, the time the floor did not open, however. Rather, the door started to sink. Apparently, the right answer is to not pull the lever. As I mentioned, Acererak is unhinged.

It was at this point, that Hew informed us that he was going to leave and return to his cousins’ mine. I guess fighting a dragon wasn’t as scary as entering this dungeon. I’m not sure I disagree. At least with a dragon you know what to expect.

We didn’t really have much in terms of a farewell, we were too worried about our own future. Nevertheless, we all thanked him, and he wished us well.

Johann led the way for a while and found a trap. After he tired, Pell led out and saw another trap. Then, unfortunately, she missed one and Johann was hit with several darts and was seriously wounded. It’s a good thing we found the traps we did.

After a short while, we came to a T. In the wall directly ahead sat a Devil’s face with utter darkness in it’s open mouth. It was almost painful just to look into. I fear, though I can’t say why, that it is not mere decoration and will somehow be pivotal in our quest.

Down the right branch was a huge chamber, a good 50 feet across with most of it below. To the north a stone staircase led down to lower levels (we were on the highest level). We decided to explore the left corridor first, since it seems like there was less that direction.

At the end of the left branch was a crystal window through which we could see a vaulted tomb on a dais. Also in the room was a bear statue holding a bronze disk and several corpses on thrones, each wearing black masks. It wasn’t obvious how to enter, but on the floor of the corridor there was a grate with muddy water flowing past.

Brumblegrupp tried to open the grate, but it was too difficult even for him. Working together we were able to open it. Grupp went in first, and we all followed once it seemed safe. Well, as safe as anywhere in this madhouse.

We made our way up the current and found a small, very smelly widening in the passage. To the right, toward the crystal window room, we found a door. Grupp opened it, but caused some sort of spark which ignited the smelly gas wounding most of us. The cavern was a little too small for all of us to fit, which was lucky for those not in the room at the time.

Notwithstanding the setback, Grupp finished opening the door and went inside. There was a corpse wearing the mask close to the door. He quickly put on the mask before venturing further, based on the warning of “Don the mask or be seen”. He soon brought back other masks for the rest of us. Whether the mask gambit worked or not we may never know because nothing happened and none of us were curious enough to take off our masks. I’m counting it a success.

All in all there were twelve eyes and six corpses (hence masks), so we weren’t all able to come inside. This was probably for the best since, had something gone wrong, someone would have been outside and might have been able to rescue us. We took cover as Brumblegrupp opened the tomb on the dais. Inside were the bones of a Zorbo. Grupp peered in and found a ring. He took the ring and claims to have encountered the presence of Obo’Laka, the Zorbo god. This he embraced, saying it was a blissful experience. After that, he has started talking to the ring. I’ll have to watch him to see how much he changes, though Grupp talking to inanimate objects is not unheard of.

30 Moa’s tomb

After searching Obo’Laka’s room, we went back into the stream again and went farther upstream. We heard a booming noise throughout that reverberated the cavern and set us a bit on edge, but we continued. Pell cast death ward, and then found a room. The water is deeper in the room and is entering the room through the walls. There seems to be no way to go beyond.

Suspended by chains in the middle of the room was a treasure chest. On the chest it said, “I devour all but the greatest thieves.” Johann and Grupp both checked for traps, and then Johann managed to pick the lock. I guess they teach you more in the theater than I thought. It was both foolhardy and necessary. The chest might have contained something necessary for our journey but, if not, then it was foolish to try something like that in this dungeon. As it turns out it contained 300 gold pieces, a scroll tube with a Remove Curse scroll (this will no doubt be useful), a gold Necklace of Adaptation (useful, but probably not necessary), and a gold tankard with a sad face on the side. The last is definitely magic, but it’s purpose seems to be to start smiling when filled with liquid. It seems pointless, though as I am writing this I realize it might be the sort of thing Acererak would make the key to entering some part of this dungeon. I don’t remember anything from the verses that might apply, but we might not know until we need it.

After none of use died from opening the chest, Zemdam cast Augury to find out that the most direct route to the Soul Monger is to follow the river. Unfortunately, that tells us nothing of whether it’s safe. Nevertheless, without a better idea we followed it to the end. That is to say, we followed it to a vertical shaft into which the water fell and disappeared. On the other side of the chasm was a treasure chest on a ledge. On the way we passed some stairs that ended in a wall which we decided to return to later.

Johann lit a torch and it fell for 2-3 seconds before being extinguished. I used a Lapis Lazuli to help Johann as he tried to climb over to the ledge. Luckily, he made it, though the chest then proceeded to open a mouth and attack him. It wasn’t a chest after all, but rather a Mimic! A danger I have often heard of, but to this point hadn’t seen.

Johann slipped under the attack, but didn’t fall off the edge. Instead, he turned and jumped. This is where his luck ended though since the knot on the rope holding him came undone! He hit the wall underneath us, and significantly below us. He kept falling down, but managed to catch himself at what seemed to be the last possible moment. He slowly, and cautiously, made his way back to us. When he was safe, I created a bonfire on the Mimic, but it jumped off the edge, and who knows what happened to it after that.

We heard something upstream and Tardon went to investigate but didn’t see anything. We considered following the mimic down the chasm in hopes that it would lead us somewhat directly to the Soul Monger. We decided against it however, and took a short rest instead. This left us somewhat refreshed, and with a much better understanding of the items that we had acquired from the real treasure chest. I wonder if the pattern of real then fake will happen other places in this dungeon.

We returned to the stairs, but they ended in a wall. Convinced that it wasn’t a dead end, I searched and found a secret door. With everyone standing back a healthy distance and Pell ready to heal me at a moment’s notice, I opened the door to find another tomb. This time there was a stone sarcophagus with a serpent on it. Stone skulls decorated the walls. There was a small skull in a crystal box in the middle of the room.

As I cautiously entered the room, I heard scuttling insects in the walls, but didn’t pay too much attention to them. I was more concerned about the voice of a young girl that I heard in my mind which asked, “What’s going on?” I walked toward the skull, but that didn’t seem to be the origin of the voice. “Do you know my grandma?” it asked, followed by other questions. I remembered that I was to “Speak no truth to the doomed child,” but unfortunately, as I tried to answer untruthfully I confused and angered it. The skull started to shoot flame and shot up to the ceiling.

Then began a fight that I would rather not remember. I was swarmed by mummified spiders, but eventually we emerged triumphant over the skull and hordes of spiders. Even Zemdam killed some spiders. Sadly, I think that regardless, I did something wrong in angering the girl. Perhaps she wasn’t the doomed child after all.

We searched the room and found a skull like thing poking out to the other side of the wall. We couldn’t really see through it, but we think it must have been a peephole of some kind. Grupp put the glass case which had held the skull into the black hoop. After all, who knows if and when it will be useful?

Belanor was the one who elected to to open this sarcophagus. After some struggle he got it open and found inside a bundle of faded cloth, some Jaculi bones, and a staff. Zemdam picked up the staff and green smoke entered his nostrils. It looked like he was struggling for a while, but before we could react to try to exorcise the spirit, he claimed to have reached an agreement with the spirit and told us not to waste our resources. The staff can be turned into a snake which will obey his commands. It might be useful to scout ahead.

Rather than go down the waterfall, we returned to the huge multi-leveled room (which we saw before we entered the stream under the grate). There, Pell saw a figure with a devil’s face on the landing below which quickly ducked out of sight.

We were all exhausted, so Zemdam warded the area, cast a tiny hut protection spell and we settled in for what we feared would be all too eventful.

31 Separated

At some point during our rest, we heard something outside, and since Grupp and I were doing relatively well, we decided to investigate. Zemdam came with us as well. We carefully left the hut and looked around a little. We didn’t see anything, however, until on our way back we overheard some voices. We couldn’t understand them, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about potential traps, so I used my sorceror’s stone to cast Comprehend Languages. However, Grupp and I were carried away on the surge of wild magic.

We arrived in a room filled with corpses in various states of decay with several showing signs of being gnawed on. The entire floor was covered with them. The walls and ceiling were nondescript except for a torch above a devil face. The same face we had seen in the initial hallway. As we explored our surroundings, we saw what can only be described as an eye stalk hiding amongst the corpses. To find out what was alive, I cast detect thoughts and heard, “Too many. So yummy, but I can take them?”

I told Grupp what I heard and he pulled out his sword, eager for something to do. The creature, whatever it was, was frightened and hid.

We searched the room, but found nothing of interest other than stone levers inside the nostrils of the devil’s face. Suspecting that one led to freedom and the other to doom, I reached toward the left lever while listening to the thoughts of the unseen being. Sadly, the creature itself couldn’t remember which lever did the “funny sucky thing.”

Grupp and I took some rope and tied ourselves together, and then to the devil’s face itself. We hoped that it would protect us from the “funny sucky thing.” I reached in and pulled the left lever, which locked into place. The mouth began to suck us in–I had chosen incorrectly after all. I managed to not fall in for a few seconds, but soon lost my grip and fell through.

The next thing I remember was being awakened up by our other companions (nearly eight hours later it turns out) outside of the little devil’s face in the beginning corridor. Brumblegrupp and I were both there and both have cuts on our left cheeks. Probably related to the fact that we pulled the left lever. Perhaps we get two tries, one for each cheek?

Anyway, Grupp said that he tried to pull the right lever, but that it was stuck. Then he jumped in after me. I didn’t see it, but I don’t doubt that he did just as he said. It wasn’t until we were all reunited that I realized Zemdam was missing. No one has any idea where he might be.

Pell had cast locate object on Ogremach’s Bane and they came to find us. They didn’t find us where they expected, however, since Ogremach’s Bane is also missing! As near as I can tell I’m not missing anything else.

After the joy of our reunion wore off the seriousness of our plight hit us, together with the importance that we keep moving. So we all went through some rooms they had been through before, including one where a statue sucked people in. They helped us get past it and, in fact, I think Grupp and I might have had an easier time than they based on the stories they told.

I noticed a skeleton crawling around on the ceiling, with a funny looking head and Grupp, always full of energy, chased it into a room to the North, which has a magic fountain that we were warned not to drink from. Brumblegrupp dispatched the creature with a mighty leap allowing his sword to reach the ceiling. We took the head with us because it looked like a key, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually was, based on the rest of this dungeon.

We continued a ways south where Pell opened a secret door to stairs going down. Pell led the way and we came to a room with a dais, an iron maiden-like contraption, chalkboards, rats in cages, etc. It looked like someone had been carrying on twisted experiments in this part of the dungeon. There is a door to the south. The contraption was closed.

While searching the room, we found a paper written in Dwarvish, saying “Susceptible to normal weapon damage, must improve,” and “the lightning didn’t work that well.” So I guess we know to save lightning spells for things other than what was created here.

A few of my companions decided that they would sabotage the iron maiden. As they tried it, however, some sort of Dwarf came out of it and began attacking us. We brought down the full force of the Curse Breakers down on its head and made short work of it (though I myself missed completely).

The guardian seemed to be made of parts of different people, and the helmet was stuck to the head. After dispatching the guardian, we finished breaking the iron maiden. We found diagrams and instructions for making flesh golems as well as the necessary tools for the grisly work.

I think we were all relieved when we went left the room through the south door. A spiral staircase led down before branching into two passages: east and west. The eastern passage appeared to be a dead-end, so Grupp and Johann began searching for a door. Eventually Johann found a door which led to a stone fountain.

Johann peers in the pool and sees two old ladies in a room with cages containing people. He hears her say, “Our sister says the time is not right. We’ll kill them when they are at their weakest.” He said he saw me, Grupp, and someone else in the cages. I couldn’t contain my curiosity (though it hardly seems wise for more than one person to view these sorts of things) and I looked in. I only saw it for a moment, but I am sure that the third person was Henryk! How that can be I don’t know, because I saw him die.

Whether it was due my intrusion I cannot say, but the surface of pool exploded and another dwarf guardian attacked us from inside. After killing it with the same ease with which we handled the last one, we were unable to see in the pool anymore.

We searched this room for secret doors (they seem more plentiful than regular doors), and I found one. It opened into the huge chamber, but one level below where we were before. The bottom of the chamber is still about 45 feet below us. We decided we might as well explore this level of the chamber. As we walked along the south wall we passed a door with 3 oval holes at head height. Three putrid faces peered through and made it known that we were not welcome. It didn’t appear that they could harm us however, so we continued on. We found a bronze plaque which read

With that clue, Tardon cast light on himself in an attempt to scare the in the door. It worked and they ran away. Moreover, the door started opening up just as Grupp had guessed. The zombies were actually in harnesses and their running away lifted the door. We entered quickly, sure not to spend too long under the door, should it fall.

In the room were 6 glass cauldrons with human bones in them. A bronze sarcophagus was in the middle with tall, sharp beaked bird. On the far wall was a shield embossed with a warrior. There are a few statues, one without a face. We tried bowing before it, because we remembered in Papazotl’s temple we read to “bow before no-one”. Nothing happened though. We believe that the bones are those of Papazotl’s most zealous devotees that swore to protect him, even in death.

On the sarcophagus were gold cups, pins, and an amulet. Tardon reached for the amulet and a bird-shaped shadow tried to enter his body (or so it appeared). He threw back the amulet and was able to resist the intrusion. At that same moment, skeletons began coming from the cauldrons, and the Hunter on the shield started moving.

32 Papazotl’s tomb

Skeletons swarmed out of the cauldrons. A few of them had a black haze around them. Belanor was the first to react, but his arrows, though they hit, seemed less effective than they should have been. I was the next to react and ran to the south east corner where I lined up a lightning bolt to hit as many skeletons as possible. The skeletons were unprepared for my assault and all three cauldrons on the east of the room were broken as well. Two of the skeletons died outright and the others were gravely injured. Sometimes I surprise even myself.

The skeletons then launched several attacks, against nearly all of us, and to make things worse, more skeletons were formed inside the unbroken cauldrons on the western side of the room. One of the “black” skeletons pointed his finger at me and chanted something. I struggled and thought I might resist whatever magic it was, but all went black. The next thing I knew I woke up after Pell had healed me. By then, only the black skeletons remained and they all seemed scared of Pell.

Tardon then followed my lead by using lighting bolt on the western side of the room. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed in destroying the cauldrons, though there were damaged. Johann threw his bedroll over the shield so that the moving figure (which I had barely noticed) couldn’t see us. Then he tried to shoot one of the cauldrons, but missed.

Belanor finished off a skeleton, and I cast shatter across the room and killed one skeleton and two cauldrons shattered. Another skeleton pointed at me and I couldn’t resist anymore. I fell to the floor as a shadowy glow surrounded me. Again, I awoke after Pell healed me and the shadow no longer surrounded me. Later, she told me that the shadow hadn’t dissipated until it absorbed her first attempt to heal me. I woke just in tome to watch Tardon’s lightning bolt destroy the final cauldron and two of the remaining skeletons. After that, it was merely an act of cleaning up the few that remained. Since they were all afraid of Pell, it was actually quite straightforward.

That’s when we noticed that the entire time Grupp had been bowing to faceless statue, and nothing had tried to fight him!

After the fight was done we headed to the sarcophagus to see what was there. Tardon warned us not to pick up the amulet since it was possessed. I reached for it as I said, “That only happens once.” As soon as I touched the amulet I felt a spirit trying to invade my mind. It took me by surprise because I truly expected it to not happen. But I had already decided what I would do if it were ever my turn to be touched by the ancient gods, and I accepted it in.

Papazotl taught me much in a short time. I feel much more alert, as if I can tell what’s going to happen before it does. I no longer feel any fear of heights. And it helped me realize that some people really are better. And I am one of those people. I think I will take my father’s place in Waterdeep after all. I asked Papazotl about Acererak’s weaknesses, but he wouldn’t tell me. He says he will when the time is right.

Also in the sarcophagus was a gold torc with a heron motif that Pell decided to wear, three gold cups which Grupp took, and five gold cloak pins of which we each took one. Johann took a long sword.

We took a short rest after which I felt much better. During that time Johann found a secret door. Behind the secret door was a dusty corridor. On a small table there was a bottle with a voice coming from it. Tardon could understand the voice, which he says was Earth Primordial. The entity promised to grant us riches if we release it, and that it had been trapped by Acererak. It claimed to be a dao, and will give us it’s personal jewelry. Tardon asked if it will help us fight Acererak, but it responds that fighting Acererak is folly. Tardon requested a bludgeoning weapon because it would have helped fight the skeletons.

Johann lost his patience and started rubbing the lamp. The first thing the dao did was cast magic to speak in common. It gave us it’s massive hammer, arm bands, and sapphire cords (which Johann took), wished us “good luck” and left. We put the big hammer into the hoop because it was too large for any of us to weild.

Doubting that the bottle could be the entire purpose of the corridor, we kept searching until we found a secret door. The door lead to a room with a pentagram ringing a coffin in the middle. The entire thing was ringed by salt. We looked around the room, careful not to disturb the ring of salt. We saw twelve painted wooden Grung figurines on the coffin.

On the north side is a narrow channel that we can’t fit into. Back where we can barely see was a red liquid on the floor. Tardon sent a mage hand up the passage way to bring back a little of the red liquid. It was thin and smelled like wine. Tardon touched and tasted it and indeed it tasted like wine.

After searching the rest of the room, Pell cast augury to determine whether it was safe to cross salt and interact with the coffin. Happy with the result, she stepped over salt, but disturbed some of it in the process. Almost immediately, something invisible started stabbing her.

Tardon cast see invisibility and told us all that it was a grey slaad. I cast witch bolt because it’s one of the few spells that doesn’t require that I see the target. I could tell it connected, but couldn’t tell how effective it was. Belanor missed, then Pell ran outside of the circle. The slaad then cast fireball on Johann, Tardon, and myself before running out of the circle. I cast dispel magic on the invisibility and managed to reveal it to everyone. Several people hit the slaad, before it ran down the corridor.

33 A Slaad, a Ring, a Journal, Oh My!

We let the Slaad go, counting ourselves lucky that it had fled. Pell looked at the details of the grung minis on top of the sarcophagus, hoping to find some clues as to what lay inside. Then Grupp helped her lift the top off the sarcophagus. Inside was a potion (which Grupp took and we believe to be a potion of supreme healing). Next, there was a ring covered in finely carved frogs. Tardon claims the writing on the ring is in the language of the air elementals and says, “may your high priest reflect your own abilities.” Pell took the ring but didn’t put it on right away. Though most of us expected the god’s soul enter Pell as soon as she touched the ring, nothing happened.

The final item in the sarcophagus was a small egg, about the size of large pearl. When she touched that a tendril of slime reached toward her and, still trusting in her earlier divination, she willingly allowed the spirit to enter her.

About this time the Slaad stopped making noise in the skeleton’s room. Tardon, Belanor, and I peered cautiosly into the room where Tardon saw sitting in the corner, maybe preparing to ambush us.

After we had seen all we could see in the pentagram room we consulted and decided that, since there was no other way out, we would have to fight the Slaad. When we entered the other room, however, Tardon was unable to see him. This only served to make us more nervous. We searched a bit and then decided to leave and hope it wouldn’t chase us. Several of us hauled the chains to one of the columns and tied them, thereby allowing us to walk out the door without leaving anyone behind.

Belanor, who had sworn eternal hatred of the Slaad, kept searching for signs of where it might have gone. Several of us were standing in the door way when he found tracks leading under the wagon which served as a tomb. No sooner had he pointed, than the Slaad rushed out from underneath. Tardon had been waiting for something to happen and was able to successful cast Dispel Magic on its invisibility, allowing the rest of us to see it. The Slaad attacked Tardon angrily.

Pell, with new found powers from the frog deity, actually ran over the side of the railing (standing completely sideways at one point) to get a better shot. It turns out that she can walk on walls, which may take a while to get used to. My magic was nearly exhausted, so I used one of my simplest spells to fling a rock at the creature. As luck would have it, I missed. Tardon then proceeded to blind the Slaad after which several people were able to attack it and inflict some damage.

The Slaad retaliated with a fireball engulfing several of us, including myself and then running past us into the hallway surrounding the large chamber. Pell attacked, and then I tried to banish it without success. Banishment is a pretty tricky spell and I guess I haven’t quite learned it yet. Everyone else attacked and Brumblegrupp finally delivered the killing blow. The Slaad vanished into smoke as it died—it must have been summoned, which makes it even more mysterious.

With the Slaad no longer threatening us, we decided to rest for a while. My magical reserves, like those of my companion spell casters, were running very low. We rested in the corridor between the two rooms, hoping that we would at least be protected from casual observation.

While keeping watch, Belanor heard some banging from the skeleton room, but didn’t investigate. Both Grupp and Belanor had nightmares while they tried to sleep. Brumblegrupp dreamed of an old lady eating children in front of him. He heard her say “Who should Peggy Dead Bells eat next?” So I guess we know her name. Grupp dreamed of an old woman with coins over her eyes and ants coming from her. Neither Grupp nor Belanor seemed to benefit from the rest. Luckily, they weren’t as bad off as some of us, though Brumblegrupp hasn’t rested for quite some time.

We discussed the hags a little, and believe they must be below us somewhere. The hag they saw standing over Grupp and I, after our return from the corpse room, had a bag over her head. So that’s three hags that we know of.

We left the hallway for the skeleton room, but someone had taken the blanket off the shield and it tried to attack us as soon as we stepped in. Brumblegrupp rushed to the shield and pulled it off the wall (there was nothing on the wall behind it). As he left the room, the shield disappeared.

Outside in the hallway were Dwarvish runes scrawled on the wall saying “Zombies dead, need replacements.” The matter-of-factness was rather disturbing. Apparently, it happens often enough that it’s barely worth leaving a note about.

We planned to go back through the secret door to some of the previous rooms, but it was locked. Rather than go back upstairs to retrace our steps, we went down the corridor leading east.

We soon came to an intersection. Straight in front seemed to be another tomb. To the right and left were hallways that wrapped up into the ceiling and disappeared. On the left, a little ways from the main hall, was the corpse of a goat-man. Pell walked up to the corpse and took its staff. She then cast death ward on herself and kept walking, eventually walking up the wall and out of sight. At first we thought it was her ability to walk up walls that let her do this, but we later learned that gravity was magically warped so that the hall seemed consistently down.

Johann searched the goat-man’s corpse and found a spell book which I took, a magical ink pot which Pell took, and a diary. The journal detailed the exploits of a group called the Yellow Banners. We didn’t have time to read it carefully, but a quick perusal shows that they arrived in Chult somewhat before us. In fact, they might have gone missing about the time we were summoned. Their party consisted of Devlin Bashire (a wizard from Kalashite whose journal it is), Lord Brixton, Bravos Boulderborn, Seward, and Cephurias.

The journal revealed several interesting, and potentially important, things. First, there was a doppelganger. Second, they lost some object called the Starfallen. Third, they were tossed into the dungeon without their equipment by Ras N’Si (it might have been easier than the way we did it, but I don’t think we could have survived this long without our equipment). Fourth, they wanted to find “the eye” and, fifth, a four armed gargoyle split the yellow banner. I hope to study the diary more when I have some time.

Pell returned the way she had gone. She said there was another intersection and room that seemed identical to the one straight ahead, but she did not investigate. We remembered what was written “the ring is a path to another tomb,” so we suspect that the right and left tunnels wrap around magically forming a ring, and the room above is the “right” tomb. Personally, I want to find out if it forms a ring like the one on my hand, or one more like “Tanglebeard’s Ring” from my Automated Dentistry class in which a fiber is wrapped around and around a tooth before pulling it out. In other words, if we keep walking will we ever get back to where we start or are there infinitely many rooms to explore?

We wanted to be able to find any differences between the (at least) two rooms so we decided to study the room “here”, and then all go up to look at the other room. We entered even more cautiously than usual since we suspect the other room to be the “right” one and this whole room might be a trap. It smelled strongly of wine and hence must be connected to the shaft in the pentagram room. There were four gargoyle heads (disturbingly reminiscent of the four armed gargoyle written about in Devlin’s journal). The gargoyle’s mouths contain valves, but we didn’t turn any them for fear of traps.

Pell studied the imagery on the sarcophagus in the center of the room. There is no special animal or god—rather there are gargoyles on the outside. That solidified our suspicion that this isn’t one of the god’s tombs. Then Pell noticed that the room was lit by light emanating from the ceiling itself. She leaped onto ceiling to investigate and said it reminded her of an illusion.

34 A Bath of Wine

Someone opened the lid of the tomb and immediately the gargoyle heads began spewing wine from their mouths and the door started to close. I noticed soon enough and was close enough to the door that I was able to run through without problem. Grupp and Belanor made it as well. Pell, Tardon, and Johann were not so lucky, however. Soon the door was blocked by a huge slab of rock and it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to escape that way, nor would we be able to get in to help them.

I remembered the little crevice that smelled of wine in the pentagram room, so I ran over there as fast as I could. My plan was to get in through the crack somehow and help them from the inside (if possible). I thought that I could cast gaseous form to get inside and then use a water breathing spell to keep them alive until the trap reset.

I made it around without incident (unsure the entire time as to how quickly the room would fill up). I could see no other way to get in except to use gaseous form, so I cast it and made my way up the little tunnel. Because of the wine in the tunnel I assumed there would be a way to enter the room. However, I couldn’t use it because it was covered with wine, so I began searching for a crack as quickly as I could. It took me longer than I hoped, but eventually I found one that I was able to slip through into the wine room.

When I first entered the room, I could only see Pell—Tardon and Johann were nowhere in sight. The room was covered in probably six feet of wine (about halfway up the wall) by then and I didn’t know what was going on, but Pell looked worried. I saw disturbances in the wine, and then the wine itself (for so it appeared) reached for Pell. It missed her at first, but then dragged her under.

The shock of seeing Pell, who has saved my life countless times, being dragged into the seething liquid caused something in me to break. I had been worried that I might not be able to help and might have to leave the way I came but, when Pell was lost in the wine, I didn’t even think. I reverted from gaseous form, dropping awkwardly into the wine, and attacked the unseen creature with a Witch Bolt. Pell then attacked and killed it, and crawled back out of the wine onto the ceiling.

A moment later I killed another of the beings with a witch bolt. Pell said she thought there were two more, but the room was quickly filling up with wine. I saw Pell channel her divine powers to (I assume since I couldn’t see them) revive Johann and Tardon, who were surely dying.

I saw a lightning bolt, Tardon’s work no doubt, streak through the wine. That’s when I realized that I didn’t have a plan to get out. I had used my spell stone to cast gaseous form so that I wouldn’t actually be able to cast water breathing, and certainly not gaseous form on everyone.

The wine kept rising and we kept fighting as I wracked my brain for a way out. Then I remembered that I had an opal which would be able to teleport us out. It was by far the most valuable gem that I had, and I was loath to part with it, but our lives were at stake. I swam down to try and find Johann and Tardon. It was very difficult to see, but I spent every ounce of energy I had searching for them. I found Tardon unconscious and was able to drag him until I could see both Johann (on the bottom) and Pell (on the surface). I held the Opal in my hand, grateful for the help of Ogremach’s Bane in learning to use the gems. I pictured the “crossroads” outside of the door where Grupp and Belanor were likely waiting, and then I pulled the power from the Opal channeling it into the teleport spell.

Bolgrath’s bicuspid!

Instead of ending up at the crossroads like I had hoped we found ourselves in the corpse room. Or at least a room that looked identical. I should have known that teleportation magic wouldn’t work. On the other hand, there wasn’t much else that I could have done.

Standing in front of us, in the act of casting a spell, was the Dao that we had freed before.

35 Disappearance

The dao demanded we help him find a way Ini.

I persuade the dao to help us

Pell cast augury and get’s Woe for pulling the left lever

Cast cure wounds on Johann

Keshma is the Dao’s name

It starts sucking us in

• Pell
• Johann fails
• I jump in
• Keshma fails to resist
• Pell

We are never heard from again

I show up as Henryk Grupp is really happy to see me Grupp checks my cheek - I don’t have a cheek

Grupp gives me Henryk’s sword, but I don’t have

I escaped from the hags, they recently got a Human and Goblin I saw footprints going up on the north passage, but now there aren’t any

We go down the stairs, Plaque on the north wall says

purple growth on the walls, but nothing we’ve ever seen before

an eye ball emerges and starts watching us

The plaque says

snarling jackal’s head - chamber is visible between the fangs there is a boat inside on a sarcaphagos stone sphinxes, torches, heiroglyphs on floor rabbits on sarcaphagos black hole about

Dwarf with turban and chainmail on tomb - Bravis Boulderborg (recognize), locusts pour out of the sphinxes and devour the dwarf

Henryk was rush in first, sleep with old women later

Grupp gives me the turtleshell shield +2AC and casts shield once per short rest Henryk sword is socketed

Two tomb guardians in the corridor I hit

stone sarcaphogus tentacled frog monster and

we look at frescoes:

1. frog-like behemoth - know down statue of

frog mask lady five coins from hand as if sowing seeds

1. tentacles around the crocodiles stabbing it

frog mask eating a bug

1. find small boy, hunters are happy

frog mask lady cuts head off chicken

1. offer it urns of treasure

frog mask? grasps lit candle

Grupp can read and the god doesn’t like it

statue copper bowl w/rat bones 5 gold pieces

We try to recreate the pictures, but there’s a red light and we all turn into frogs (as if by polymorph–so it lasts an hour). Some bones turn into wraiths…

Henryk has the same starting equipment – I have 5k GP to

36 Frogs and Hogs

Zanice and Mirene came with another group from Syndra Sylvain and eventually got in. They got separated and decided to go down to the staircase. They heard some talking

They see Belanor who then turns into a frog.

I hop out, and bunch of attacks and stuff that I don’t remember

I get hit with a magic missle, then come back to myself I rush in and eldritch blast

We end up killing them all

Nothing under the fresco

Long rest in tiny hut (Zanice)

Watches: Zanice

Near beginning of final watch, one of the tomb dwarves goes in and the goes back down the corridor.

Mirene misty step’s past him and threatens him

Tasha’s hideous laughter, Mirene ties him up. His flesh feels cold.

Long rest finishes

Can’t figure out

Go to doors swing inward embroidered scene of merriment - nobles eating etc.

Mirene opens curtain #1 Behind that is another curtain, w/same scene but depraved blank walls There’s a mug on the wall

detect magic as ritual enchantment magic behind curtain mug is magical with abdjuration

Zanice exposes third curtain - nobles eating peasants etc.

Zanice and Grupp are charmed after they open the last curtain. He was holding the cup.

37 A Golden Boat

Zanice remembers shiny things in the mouth, he gets a

• bent pair of gold spectacles 25 GP
• eye patch with bloodstone 50 GP - Grupp wearing
• platinum hair pin

the head melds into the wall

Zanice detect magic as ritual Gristlehack and I cut down and burn the curtains The purple eyes follow us, especially Zanice

sarcophagus in previous room is also magical

I search, but Zanice finds a secret door opposite the sarcophagus. There’s a golden skull (abjuration) on a pedestal Zanice touches the skull with mage hand there is a tiny tunnel we just move one

Grupp starts crawling through. There is a metal sheet with a minotaur face he lifts it up, but it’s fairly heavy he unties the rope that I was holding to haul him

I go to plate and watch Grupp through it he comes back and says there’s a glowing hole in the floor

there’s a room with carved demon’s eyes flickering flames which caused the glow barrel-shaped room a door at the end of the room

The old room He sees a tomb guardian, larger and shinier one hand on a lever in the wall a window into another room

we see puddles animal warrior murals but the weapons appear real crawlway flush with floor curtain of water on the far end

• Stork-headed males with handaxes
• Lizard-headed females with maces
• Panther-headed males with blowguns
• Unarmed hawk-headed females
• Goat-headed males with sickles
• Frog-headed females with tridents

Gristlehack pulls a woman’s weapon off I grab a blowgun, we all grab something I look around the door, but don’t notice anything

Gristlehack watches through A wall of water comes rushing down

There are four tridents on the wall

More tridents on the north side, Gristlehack grabs one, and tosses another back through Zanice goes through

the hall continues north and there is a door on the right and it goes on the left to the door where we saw the dwarf get eaten

7ft tall jackal headed humanoid w/carvings of locusts one of the locusts appears to be a button and the medaliion is s 6in gold disk w/something behind it

• clay dial with 8 hieroglyphs
• vulture is seen, but it’s locked and you can’t see the other

door steamy font w/shadow behind he comes in and the shadow moves away then he moves away he drinks, and the shadow seems to drink too the steam stops coming out of the font

there are two thingsin the font

• crystal gem that looks like an eye
• crystal mace - to Zanice

opens the other door and it’s a dusty empty room

the font is about a five gallon bucket size

We all look for secret doors, but don’t find any

we create a hut because we’re wimps Grupp pushes button and the boulder lowers the first step is a vulture the dial has changed, and shows a serpent he goes to a serpent and it changes to a reed scarab scepter - a bit of a jump - DC 5 athletics foot urn - right next to sarcophagus

sarcophagus is solid gold - easily worth 1000s animal is uni-rabbit

I missed the last jump, but the dial is blank and nothing happened

I open the sarcophagus, inside are

• spiral (unicorn) horn
• bones of al’miraj

As I grab the horn - light forms into rabbit and I let it in. I get Dex 23 and “I never stick to a plan” You do not like Obo’laka. “Ejeen” is my god the sphinx statues not too heavy, but about 75 lbs - I drag the boat back out to the hole and

Gristlehack grabs dwarves corpse

• Gemstone in turban (500 GP)
• non-magical shield
• 500 GP diamond
• 2 crystal eyeballs, one dark blue, one purple

crystal mace and horn are magical

the sphinxes are not missing eyeballs or anything

Mirene summons 8 giant rats and then goes in she follows behind and they go forward

the floor goes up and Grupp she can see Grupp

Grupp gets back out

38 An unpaid toll

I think the boat is worth 5k to 8k in it’s current form

We go back out a bit and send the rats into a tunnel Grupp follows behind There’s a small room, but in the tunnel the dirt is undisturbed thick layer of dust on the floor and writing on the walls Zanice follows in – prayers to good aligned gods. Axe in one hand, magic coming from the other fist.

I grab a rapier from the other side

theres a balcony and another on the far side with a lever and a statue of a fiend on the one they are on. The statue’s first is transmutation magic. There are platforms, which are magical as well. Zanice notices it’s a statue of a Nycaloth

Grupp throws a rat and misses. The rat disappears in a puff of magic after falling for several seconds. The second rat overshot a little and the platform bobbed.

Gristlehack goes and tries to smash the fist of the

We get ready to go, and some

All the equipment is securely attached to the flesh

We all decide to go down the stairs. A shaft opens in the middle of the floor

• 15 feet deep - probably a way down

4 pedestals

• gargoyle on top of each
• each has tiny slot - 1 inch wide, very thin
• made of copper, silver, gold, platinum

Zanice puts moneey in the slots, but there is no reaction. He puts 10 gold into the platinum instead of a platinum

Gargoyles animate as the

stone slab ; humanoid, hooded cloak, withered left hand extended; Gristlehack lifts left hand, it opens; heads in to the room

• The slab sinks into the floor, revealing a dusty passageway beyond. Relief carvings on the walls depict crowds of humanoids fleeing a black star in the sky, with rays of light extending from it to turn those they strike to dust.
• gold crown with glittering opal in the middle

39 TODAY

Zanice, room has reliefs of people fleeing a black star

giant eagle flies down the pit, goes down, and there’s a loud smack

lots of treasure when Gristlehack knocked over the pillars

• Platinum

  • 640 GP
  • 7200 SP
  • 500 CP

  skeletal remains of person w/apron and tools

• Gold

  • 2 Pt
  • 90 GP
  • 350 SP
  • 500 CP
  • crystal mace

lizard comes from the devil face “Gristlehack! Please take me with you” The (awakened) pet of the the yellow banners’ druid, and was named

We take a (long) rest Watches:

• Grupp & Mirene
  • Henryk has bad nightmares
    • Surrounded by the hags and tortured (more vicious and pointed)
      • Coins over eyes
      • another hag
      • Bag over head
      • In the past it was fun, now it’s revenge
  • Mirene isn’t a type of hag that she’s heard of, not Fae
• Belanor & Gristlehack
  • Gentle repose
• Henryk & Zanice

Mirene feels something (like a child) contacting her “Are you here to play with me?”

39.1 Nightmares

Overheard while Henryk was asleep

40 Second Death

I woke up this morning more refreshed than I had any right to be. Bel’Sheza, on the other hand, had nightmares all night and didn’t look at all refreshed. I felt bad for her—I know well what nightmares can do. Luckily, my nightmares haven’t returned. I’m beginning to think that Thorbik was right—nightmares can’t bother you while you’re searching for their source. If that’s true then my reprieve may be short lived for I think I have nearly found their source! The deeper we go into this dungeon the Rakdos cultists led us to, the more similarities I see between my nightmares and this dungeon’s creator.

We returned to the corridor and walked for about half an hour before seeing any change. It split to the left and right and stretched uninterrupted into darkness for as far as we could see. We decided to go right. Gunthra was in the lead and I was right behind him. After a few minutes and I noticed a trap before he did. I grabbed him by his cloak and tried to pull him back. The poor little thing is always lighter than I remember and I flung him behind me a little farther than I had intended. Trying to compensate for his lightness I lost my balance and shifted my foot a little triggering one of the ubiquitous floor opening traps we have come to expect.

I fell and fell until the opening above me was a tiny pinprick of light. I fell at a constant rate and eventually realized that if I could get a grip on the side I might actually be able to climb back up, though it would be a long climb. Just as I had this thought, however, my surroundings vanished and I found myself in a small room with some strangers outside a door.

I was very confused for a second and could see they were surprised as well. Then one of the strangers, a hobgoblin, asked, “Loquax?” I recognized him then from my time trapped in Barovia. “Gristlehork?” I asked incredulous. I have since read my journal from that time and his name is actually GristleHACK. That’s pretty embarrassing, but underscores why my journal is so important—I can’t trust my own memories!

I asked them if they had summoned me, but they said they hadn’t. They said the dungeon was built by something named “Acererak”, which must surely be the same being as the “Asrok” the Rakdos told me built the dungeon I had started out on. It turns out I’m not in Ravnica anymore, but rather on an entirely different plane! This Acererak may be even more powerful than I had feared. But I should have known that given that I wasn’t able to escape his haunting even in Barovia.

They seemed to think the room was trapped in some way which, if it was built by Asrok, seems a near certainty. I left the room and we propped open the door with some rubble. It looks like they fought some large stone creatures before I arrived. As we worked, I noticed a human skeleton on the wall of the room I had been in with a red candle. I also noticed how hot it was.

A man I didn’t recognize, but whose name was Zanice use some magic to extinguish the candle which reignited in short order. Then he went inside and declared there was nothing magical. Then he extinguished the candle (in the room this time) and Zanice disappeared. Asrok really has an annoying love for teleportation. I wonder if we will ever see him again.

41 Legions of Guardians

We decided that we had no choice but to leave this Zanice to his uncertain fate and we started climbing some stairs as they explained to me what had happened in these passage ways. Down one of the passage ways we found this inscription

We hadn’t gotten far though when Zanice reappeared and told us about how he had barely escaped from some guardians. He told us how to get through some airless room, and then made his way to a room filled with guardians that came alive at the slightest sound. Somehow he convinced my newly found companions to follow him back. If it hadn’t been for Gristlehack and Mirene (who I do not take to be fools) following him, I would not have gone for it seemed a fools errand.

Zanice gave a fireball necklace to Mirene and Gristlehack and cast silence on himself. There was only room for two to fit in the fire room, so Zanice and Gristlehack went first. After that Mirene and I went next.

I felt someone hand me bones and I breathed the air from them as I had been instructed, and sure enough I found myself in a room full of terracotta warriors. I didn’t move for fear of making a noise until I saw Zanice appear and it was clear that his silence spell still worked. Grupp and Belanor joined us last, though they later told us that the door to the fire had closed on them and fire had rained down on them. I then walked onto the ceiling so as to make more room for the others as we “explored” the room.

In truth, there was little in it apart from the warriors. A polished wooden coffin in the middle which I am led to understand is typical of this dungeon as well as a few magical objects that turned out to be teleportation devices.

Zanice lifted the lid of the coffin and inside was a box with gears. Some sort of music box, as well as a magical mandolin. The objects in the coffins contain the souls of gods, by one of which Zanice was already possessed. He struggled, apparently exiling the god that was in his head in favor of the mandolin god. There was some other treasure in the coffin, but nothing else magical.

We all took some time to examine the room and Zanice looked at the teleportation circles in particular. He seemed to decide that the eastern one looked the best and so we all decided to use it. Or rather he told us to and everyone (unable to talk because of silence) decided to follow. Obviously, I could not do but likewise.

Zanice left first and when we came we found ourselves in a room from which he told us to leave. Supposedly, there was some sort of mirror that tried to eat his soul. It could certainly be true in this dungeon, but it could also be him making us rely on him.

Once we were out of the room and therefore “safe,” Zanice gave the old wand that he didn’t want to Grupp, who in turn threw his old god’s ring into the pit. He offered it to anyone that wanted it, but none of us had any desire to invite a god into our head. I do wonder a little if throwing away a magical item is wise, but I do not regret my choice.

After leaving Zanice’s room, we find ourselves in the large open room again and decide to proceed where we were headed before going before Zanice returned. Partway down the hall, there is a stair going down on the right (north) and a chest at the bottom with a lock and a dark room behind it.

Brumblegrupp went down to look at the chest. He forced it open which caused a boulder to fall down right above Gristlehack at the top of the stairs. They both managed to get out of the way but it smashed the chest and continued into the room, where the floor gave way revealing a large pit.

Zanice combed through the rubble of the chest and felt something cold and metallic thing. Gristlehack casts see invisibility and found that it’s a key.

I walked past the pit via the walls, and noticed a skeleton on the ceiling. Or rather, a skeleton key, for it’s head was shaped like a key. I made quick work of it (it wasn’t very tough at all) and kept the key.

The room had four marble columns, and a crystal coffin with different colors in the middle. There were murals of a strange race of minotaurs on the walls. On the far wall was a mural of a maze. The maze was filled with mists and the walls were ever changing. I did not see any exits. After watching it for some time I thought I saw occasional glimmers of color like those coming from the tomb.

The colors of the coffin change according to the following pattern: purple, green, red, black, blue, gold, then back to purple. I has a very tiny key hole but Gristlehack’s key is too large.

Apparently the others struggled to get across the pit, with Zanice barely making it. I have been able to walk on walls so long that I must have forgotten that others might find such a thing problematic. The pit is filled will what appears to be acid, so it’s good that he didn’t fall in.

Zanice casts detect magic and finds abjuration emanating from the sarcophagus, and teleportation from the maze. After studying it with me, Gristlehack touched the maze and disappeared. It was impetuous for him to do such a thing but on the other hand, it had to be done. He appeared in the maze and seems to be doing fine there. However, in the room, several walls lowered an skeletal minotaurs attacked.

42 Today

Remember 12 HP if I kill something

Gristlehack keeps finding nothing

Mirene “Message”s to Gristlehack, but gets no response

Mirene and I can’t find Gristlehack in the maze…

many check out the cells; Zanice, Belanor, Grupp Corridor to a room

egg shaped stone on tip of pendulum in a wooden cabinet with a numbered dial (1-14 evenly spaced) and spokes etc.

one spoke makes a revolution every few seconds, the other is at about He watches to see if it moves. He feels the cabinet….

I notice that the gold dot and green dot and move around in different places

Gristlehack finds a purple crystal key – rematerializes w/the key He takes the key down and tries to use it on the sarcophagus when it’s purple He hears a voice that says “well done.” He gets and arcane mark that will allow him to regrow an appendage

the sarcophagus opens and there are 10 snail shell bracelets and a color changing robe. He picks up the robe. slime comes the folds and “I can help you, at least I think that’s what I’m supposed to do.” He accepts it.

Zanice feels cold hard metallic thing that he can’t see. He casts silence on clock area and then asks Gristlehack to come see the clock.

Gristlehack sees a metal covering to the pendulum with a keyhole. He uses the invisible key to open it. ticking stops open up and it stops moving the gem is huge - navel of the moon detect magic - transmutation from cabinet, evocation from gem

• a piece of the moon
• given by ruling pasha to daughter
• can always find way home
• Can cast daylight and indicates direction of home

Grupp grabs it, nothing happens Zanice takes it

we find a bunch of rooms

• throne room
  • alcoves,
  • humanoids in robes that are painting
    • paintings of our party
    • all of the worst moments
    • We see that Thurgood, Pell, Tardon, Johann, Henryk
      • The sucking room
      • bound and gagged by the hags
      • carried off to somewhere
    • they keep drawing and there’s lots of room
  • if we attack them a T-Rex attacks us
  • hidden staircase – the same we found at the very beginning
• Fifth level
  • Large rumbling of gears
  • Could rotate with control panel
    • opens up different places
  • room overlooks giant chain
    • Sees vortices that flash
    • Planar vortices
    • Mechanus chain built by Modronse
      • Powers all the dungeon
      • Multiple wishes to destroy it
  • Voices that talk to us
    • evil maniacal
    • playful child
  • There is something in the lake, but we avoid that
  • find another skeleton key
    • never grabbed the one on the third level
    • we have all five of them
    • Grupp is haunted and finally remembers that it’s hags
      • protection from good and evil, but has to be timed right
  • Find downward staircase
• We will start after a long rest

We go down

Green smoke, all over rusty iron cage w/3 bodies Gristlehack takes Wind of Warding lid next to cauldron

I put the lid on the cauldron, smoke stops and slowly dissipate There are 3 oddly familiar little creatures on the floor

• straw doll
• faceless child
• stuff monkey with unicycle body

Mirene looks in cage – very dead – quick butchery Grupp notices the bodies seem somewhat like Grupp Thergood and Pell

Straw doll, “you need to run away. The sisters will be back.”

Gristlehack, “what are their weaknesses”

“They don’t have any”

horrible creature on the other side of door

• bulbous and floating

Grupp takes the monkey Mirene takes one and puts it on her pack Zanice puts them in his pack

There are 5 key holes, and they are covered with something

wooden doors on the sides and they all have shapes

• triangle door
  • light from somewhere
  • glass cylinder with lever inside it
  • tiny triangle

Zanice’s Mage hand fits through hold in cylinder tries to pull but not strong enough

Cylinder feels very solid nothing weird about the walls

We go back into the big room and start searching for anything

Mirene finds triangular piece of unknown metal she puts it inside and nothing happens

square room -

• flying sheets of parchment
• metal plate on far wall
  • ghostly lever
• Try to touch lever and hand goes through it

I grab a paper - magic writing

• they all seem to be spells

Mirene grabs spells and

I try grabbing

Mirene grabs a second and they all turn to dust, come back together and initiative

We still have the first few that we took

Mirene uses etherealness and

• There are two hags that are in the plane
  • coins on eyes
  • peg leg
• attacked by hag as she tries to open the
• there is a noise in the main hall, and the seal of the square key hole has been removed

“The hags are watching us”

43 Polygons and Hags

next room (octogon) plaster covered walls 8 skeletons, falling and screaming there is a book in infernal

• one phrase per page - open to the middle
  • See the lever, clear as day.
  • Spin, spin, iron spider.

Zanice sees a secret compartment on the lectern Gristlehack beats on the plaster there are seams in the floor so everyone leaves except who am on the ceiling I start hitting the ceiling and make a hole in it beyond is a giant (sharp) bladed fan in the ceiling that

I stand on the wall

Page 1. Backward, backward, eight to one.

Page 2. Speak the rhyme until its done. Page 3. Keep the spider locked away.

Page 4. See the lever, clear as day. Page 5. Spin, spin, iron spider.

Page 6. Turn their flesh and bones to cider Page 7. Speak the rhyme and meet your fate.

Page 8. Forward, forward, one to eight.

They tie me to the fence

I wait a second and the secret compartment opens up

Zanice pulls the lever, and the octogon seal is open!

Hexagon room six sided mirror - cracked 5 yellow wax, black sigiled candles piggy piggy piggy in dried blood Zanice looks at the room he finds another candle lights all 6 candles from his torch a wooden lever appears on the north side (in the mirror) it doesn’t appear in real life he pulls the lever with mage hand

pentagon room Gristlehack opens it, corridor and room at the end there is a gaunt human male in dusty suit, bows, gestures to the food smells great Gristlehack enters and 3 tabled feast iced cakes vegetable stew beer roast boar “What happens if I eat?” He rubs his tummy

Gristlehack comes back and says there’s a feast etc.

Grupp enters too Grupp inspects the curtains subliminal curtain on the south side Grupp moves the curtain, but there is only wall behind it

Grupp eats some of the boar Gristlehack eats some too Gristlehack, “so where’s the lever in this room?” checks underneath tables They both drink the beer Gristlehack touches the devil mask in the curtain At Grupp’s suggestion, He feeds it some boar a lever appears

There are sounds coming from the top of the stairs… Only have

Zanice casts invisibility on himself and goes to see what’s going on He sees a large number of the tomb guardians and a skeletal robed figure and a red robed wizard talking to him “We aren’t supposed to go down for another 6 hours. Those are the rules…”

Zanice uses gaseous form, as the last lever opens up. The hags materialize and start chanting “now sisters!”

They say they are afraid of Acererak, but more than Zanice wants one of the dolls restored Useful information:

• on this level there is a library, if you find yourself there, his true name is Yaga Ragex.
• only one way to leave the tomb:
  • the ebon pond
  • bones will point the way
  • gives us a black marble – You will need this
• red trail leads to death

All three come, start chanting, light comes out, screams She becomes a little girl – unconscious

• Zanice casts healing word

Their goal is to get out of here before Acererak arrives

The next room has a huge lava pool with crystal cylinder and screams in the air monstrosity like the baby attached to cylinder

44 Today

descending stairs pool of lava crystal cylinder above it 4 tentacles Giant flying skybaby (elephant size) muscles atrophied attached to cylinder by multiple umbilical cords

Gristlehack casts see invisibility on self Gristlehack casts protection from evil & good on Belanor Zanice casts protection from evil & good on Me Mirene long strider on Grupp

Zanice has diamond so he can cast raise dead – if we destroy the Soul Monger

Order: Gristlehack Loquax & Grupp

tentacle lashes out at Grupp

it watches us but doesn’t react

alcoves - bones

There are two

† Cylinder falls down, and sinks, then explosion of lights (souls?). They vanish through ceiling

Atropals eyes go wide, and tries to do something, but can’t hear what it’s saying. It goes catatonic

black pillars leather bag on altar size of a body black drape over the back 8 single-eyed creatures look at us

Zanice cuts open bag, and sees Pell! Mirene heals Pell, but it does no good There is magical writing inside of it – so maybe the hag’s work Zanice kisses Pell Maybe Holy Water might bring her back up – Grupp has some and splashes it on her

She comes awake

Hags tortured us, and they said they needed a sacrifice for the god they are growing.

We broke the tank

So he’s dead

“something about forming the master coven”

Zanice lets one creature out its shackles – we can’t understand what they are saying. Belanor recognizes it as under common.

Zanice hugs it. Starts letting the others free

Gristlehack pulls back drape, there is a hallway with 4 walls. There are 3 paths made of colored tiles. A charred skeleton points to other wall

“Behold the fate of those who defy me” on the wall Mirene and Gristlehack move following the purple path, then go through the door

there is a flash of light, they take cold damage Gristlehack absorb elements, Mirene fire at the other end, Belanor

They open the door and there is a jet black pond in a room

He throws the marble in, it forms an obelisk – he touches it and it disappears

The fire advances, but we all manage to make it to the obelisk and teleport outside to the jungle.

Later we get a Sending from Syndra.

We eventually make it back to the We all get what was promised.

The staff ended up dominating Thorin and he plane shifted to Acererak and something bad happened.

Over the years we feel something is watching us, and we see Acererak

Did Jessie turn into one of the hags?

The urns are phylacteries, but not Acererak’s