Omu. Orvex Ocrammas. Papazotl's Shrine.

Written by RealmsDM

10 Nightal, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Day 58 of 79
Ruins of Omu, Jungles of Chult

After arriving in Omu, what many in Chult refer to as The Forbidden City, the group rescued a human male scholar named Orvex Ocrammas.
Orvex had run into a walled ruin after being chased by crocodiles. After he was rescued, Orvex explained he served as a scribe and translator for a large group of Red Wizards who had arrived in Chult nearly a month before. He met them in Port Nyanzaru and had joined their expedition in search of Omu.
They arrived in Omu a few days ago. The day before, while investigating some ruins in the southern party of Omu, the ruin they were in collapsed burying him. The Red Wizards left him for dead. He managed to free himself but had gotten lost in the city. Orvex said he could translate Old Omuan, and his studies of Omu's carvings taught him the legend of the nine trickster gods which he recounted for the group:

Long ago, the god Ubtao hardened his heart and vowed to weep for the people of Omu no longer. The rains stopped, the jungle withered and died, and death swept through Omu.

One morning, a wise zorbo emerged from her hollow tree and spoke to the dying Omuans. To convince Ubtao of their worth, she decided to cook him a stew made from all their good qualities. Catching such virtues wouldn't be easy, so she asked a wily almiraj to help her. The almiraj snuck recklessness in the pot, which she saw as a virtue, and Ubtao spat out the stew when he tasted it. From that day on, Obo'laka the zorbo and I'jin the almiraj became terrible enemies.

At noon, a brave kamadan hopped down from her rock. She saw the evil in the Omuans' hearts and decided to lance it like a troublesome boil. The kamadan fashioned a holy spear, but she left it by the riverbank and a crafty grung stole it. In her rage, Shagambi the kamadan forgot all about the Omuans and chased Nangnang the grung forever across the sky.

When evening came, a wily eblis stepped from his reed hut. He didn't like the Omuans, but without them he'd have no one to play his tricks on. The eblis sent a marsh frog to reason with Ubtao, but the frog was angry and decided to wrestle the god instead. This amused Ubtao, so he gave the frog tentacles to make it stronger. When Kubazan the froghemoth returned to Papazotl the eblis, he chased Papazotl into the swamp with his new tentacles.

That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao's palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi's burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie. When Wongo the su-monster found out how Moa had betrayed him, he vowed to catch the jaculi and eat him up. All the while, Unkh the flail snail lived deep under the earth. The noise of the other animals fighting made her slither up to the surface, and when day dawned over her shell, the light blinded Ubtao and made his eyes water. Life returned to Omu, and the people built shrines to honor the animals who'd saved them.

Orvex said the Red Wizards were searching the ruins of Omu for shrines built for the nine trickster gods.
Since their arrival, the Red Wizards had found Kubazan's Shrine which lay in the southern part of Omu. The other shrines are believed to be scattered throughout the city.
Orvex added that in Kubazan's Shrine, the Red Wizards found a stone cube, measuring three inches on each side. The Red Wizards had learned that the cubes were necessary to gain entrance into the Tomb of the Nine Gods, located somewhere beneath Omu.
Orvex also mentioned that the Red Wizards had learned that a being named Ras Nsi, who had been responsible for creating the hordes of undead that have plagued Chult, is also in Omu. The Red Wizards do not know what Ras Nsi's plans are or what he's doing in Omu.
Despite the obvious risks, Orvex offered to join the adventurers. He said he looked forward to exploring more of the city and unlocking its secrets.
It turned out the ruin they were in was Papazotl's Shrine.
Inside the shrine, they found a chamber beyond a set of heavy stone doors. In the chamber's center, stood an empty pedestal. Six statues faced it from alcoves on the walls. They depicted bare-chested humans with the heads of different animals: a lizard, a jaguar, a lobster, a toucan, a bat, and a frog.
After solving a riddle, an ornate stone cube emerged from a hatch on the pedestals' surface.
They had found their first puzzle cube!

Session played on February 3, 2021

Adventurers:
Alice (Female Human Cleric of Tempus)
Atwix (Male Drow Fighter)
Bolte Bastardo (Male Half-Elf Rogue)
Nip'hto the Tiptoe (Male Elf Ranger)

NPCs:
Zartan, the Jungle Lord

Orvex Ocrammas

Papazotl's Puzzle Cube