Nangalore
24 Uktar, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Day 42 of 79
Nangalore, Jungles of Chult
Asharra, the spiritual leader of the aaracokras living in the monastery of Kir Sabal, instructs the adventurers to travel to Nangalore, the Garden of Lost Dreams. There, they must find the Black Orchid, an extremely rare plant that will allow Asharra to perform the Dance of the Seven Winds, a ritual that will bestow the gift of flight to every one of the adventurers.
A fantastic edifice rose up out of the jungle: a hanging garden of exotic beauty.
Water streamed down the steps between two massive elephant carvings. Beyond them, a broad, flooded avenue ran arrow-straight for more than a hundred feet before ending at a carving of a tyrannosaurus face. Water poured from the tyrannosaurus’s jaws and flowed the length of the concourse to drain down the steps in front of the garden.
Five-foot-high terraces flanked the boulevard. Low archways—three on each side—were built into the terrace walls. These archways were in various stages of collapse, as were the tunnels beyond them. Beautifully carved, larger-than-life stone faces were mounted between the arches.
Nip'hto, an elven ranger, couldn't help but be in awe at the beauty that was Nangalore. It reminded him of the palatial gardens elves loved to build in their home forest. Asharra said the great garden was built to honor Zalkoré, a vain Omuan queen, who was the great grandmother of Princess Mwaxanare and her brother, Na. Its builder, Thiru-taya, was Zalkoré’s foremost general and consort. In their time, the garden was called Ka-Nanji, the Hanging Garden of Dreams. Ka-Nanji was a palatial retreat from the intrigues and pressures of Omu, and the beautiful, tiered garden was praised as a worthy tribute to the queen.
A wild profusion of plants grew on the upper terraces, and multicolored parrots and canaries flitted and sang among them. To the north, a dilapidated brick dome rose above the tyrannosaurus-head waterspout. Smaller, bell-shaped domes surmounted the highest terraces to either side of the wondrous garden.
The four adventurers had traveled by canoe, on the River Olung. It only took several hours to reach Nangalore from Kirs Sabal. Thanks to centuries of silting and erosion, one of the river's tributaries flooded right up to the gate, making the site easy to reach by canoe.
They saw several crocodiles in the water. The crocodiles didn't seem too interested in them so long as they remained in the canoe.
They had tied their canoe at the bottom of the eastern terrace then climbed the roots of a huge tree to the garden above. At the top, they couldn't help but be amazed by the variety of plants and birds they saw. Untamed overgrowth couldn't hide the fact that this garden was clearly a haven for exotic plants that didn't grow naturally in the surrounding jungle. Unfamiliar flowers, towering ferns, and even stranger plants resembling giant pine cones or lily pads spread and tangled everywhere. Many of the plants grew to the size of average humans. Some grew even bigger. Bright canaries flitted between many of the plants. Parrots with striped beaks squawked at the group as if the adventurers were trespassing upon their idyllic domain.
The garden was beautiful but the adventurers couldn't stop and admire it for too long. They had to find the black orchid and return to Kir Sabal so Asharra could complete the ritual.
Bolte moved ahead of the group. Nip'hto and Alice stayed together. They kept alert for any sign of danger. Atwix made his way to an upper walkway rising 10 feet higher than the garden terrace to get a better view of the surrounding area. At the southern end of the walkway was a bell-shaped dome of sculpted stone. The dome was beginning to crumble with age. At the western side of the garden was another walkway. The dome there was wrapped and draped with webs covering a statue that was barely discernible through the thick webs.
Suddenly, the group heard Bolte yell in surprise as a giant plant with huge leaves engulfed him. Nip'hto was standing next to the half-elf rogue but the plant apparently couldn't swallow them both.
Atwix and Alice attacked the plant with their range attacks. Nip'hto hacked at the plant with his blade. Trapped inside, Bolte felt thick liquid begin to cover him. The liquid burned wherever it touched exposed skin. Bolt realized his leather armor was slowly being dissolved. The plant was clearly carnivorous. It trapped its victim then slowly dissolved the meal to be absorbed by the plant.
He managed to angle his hand in a way so he could use his dagger. But without any leverage, he struggled to stab at the plant from inside. He could only hope his friends outside could free him before there was nothing left of him to rescue.
Bolte heard something hit the plant from outside. Small tears appeared allowing a small amount of light to enter. He saw the tips of arrows lodged in the thick leaves. A breath later, Bolte heard a tearing sound as Nip'hto sliced wide open one of the plant's leaves. The entire plant quivered once then spread its leaves wide open. Bolte stepped out of the dead plant. Alice saw his skin and armor had melted away in some spots. She immediately cured Bolte's wounds with a healing spell.
The adventurers then carefully made their way to the garden's center where a dilapidated brick dome rose above a tyrannosaurus-head waterspout. Except for Nip'hto, each took turns leaping across moss-covered rocks across the garden's flooded avenue. Alice slipped and fell in the water but discovered the flooded avenue wasn't that deep. She could reach the bottom with her feet. She carefully climbed to rejoin Atwix and Bolte on the other western terrace.
Bolte moved ahead. He suddenly heard a puff of air being expelled from a plant he moved past. Looking at the plant, he saw a tall plant with three large colorful flowers slowly moving towards him before he passed out.
Alice saw movement in the tall grass near where Bolte collapsed. Someone stepped out and moved towards Bolte. Alice could have sworn the shape had been a half-elf. But he hadn’t looked like any half-elf she’d seen before. Wispy hair hung to his bony shoulders, which jutted out strangely. The half-elf's torn leather armor had hung loosely around his torso. Its gaunt face turned towards her. Thin vines covered most of the half-elf from head to toe growing out of the half-elf's body. Bright yellow flowers with splashes of purple grew out of the vines in various spots. Along with the smell of decomposition, Alice detected a strange musky smell coming from the half-elf.
The creature made a noise, something between a hiss and a rasping, gurgling inhale. It began to lumber towards Bolte. Alice, a cleric of Tempus, thought the half-elf resembled a zombie. They had encountered zombies in the hidden shrine they had explored weeks before with Neverwinter Bones. But this thing was unlike any zombie she had ever seen before.
Alice rushed next to Bolte. She wasn't sure if Bolte was still alive or dead. She quickly cast a spell that would prevent him from dying.
The plant zombie moved closer to Alice and the unconscious Bolte. One of its arms reaching out to grab Alice. She stumbled back avoiding a bony finger that nearly scraped her arm.
Three arrows suddenly sprouted out of the zombie's chest. It stumbled forward then fell facedown onto the grass.
Alice looked behind her. Nip'hto had shot the zombie from the other side of the garden!
Atwix saw the plant with three bright flowers moving. He took out his bow and shot it. The plant quivered once. Its flowers then dropped limp and hung motionless from the plant's tree-like trunk.
Atwix moved next to Alice while she shook Bolte. The rogue's eyes open as if waking from a deep sleep. After healing Bolte again, the three continued on through the garden.
Nip'hto, who remained on the eastern side of the garden, made his way to an enclosed garden to the north. An open archway led inside the enclosed garden. Once inside the enclosed garden, Nip'hto barely spotted through the tall plants a set of stairs at the other side of the garden. The stairs led up to the garden's eastern walkway.
The plants in the enclosed garden were like nothing Nip'hto had ever seen. Their shapes and sizes were fantastic. Their colors were like gems sparkling in the sun. Enclosed by 10-foot-high walls, the strangely beautiful garden imparted a sense of serenity.
Nip'hto carefully made his way to the stairs. He had just taken several steps when he detected a sudden movement nearby. Another plant similar to the one that rendered Bolte unconscious grew just a few feet away. It had blended in perfectly with the other colorful plants around it.
The plant stood nearly 6-feet high. It had three bright, trumpet-shaped flowers. Each was as large as a human head and each one a different color: intense red, vivid orange, and bright yellow. All three flowers suddenly opened their petals. The orange flower expelled a small burst of pollen. Nip'hto's tried to cover his nose but wasn't fast enough. He had breathed in the pollens. He felt light-headed. He struggled to keep conscious as he moved away from the plant, shaking the urge to sleep aside. Semi-conscious, he barely managed to dodge a stream of fluid shot out by the yellow flower. The stream arced over him, striking the garden wall. Smoke hissed from where the liquid landed melting away a small hole on the wall. Nip'hto knew it was acid. He kept moving. He stumbled away as the red flower shot out a thin vine that wrapped around the ranger's neck. He tugged free of the vine, spun on his right heel and let loose an arrow that buried itself in the plant's trunk. The three flowers quivered then dropped to the plant's side.
Shaking off the urge to sleep, Nip'hto breathed a sigh of relief...only to realize his mistake.
The garden suddenly spun around him. His eyes rolled back as he began to lose consciousness. Before hitting the soft grass, he saw another plant just like the one he had just killed growing out of the ground about a foot away from he stood seconds before.
The plant's vivid orange flower had just released a small cloud of pollen.
And Nip'hto had breathed it all in.
Session played on December 23, 2020
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