Return to the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, Part 1
General Summary
8 Marpenoth, The Year of the Duplicitous Courtier (1496 DR)
Somewhere east of the Mistcliffs Mountain , Chult
The adventuring group known as S.M.A.L.L., which stood for Seekers of Mystical Artifacts and Legendary Lore, made their way northwest through the jungles of Chult, having left the safety of Camp Vengeance days before. The group was led by Dr. Anry 'Neverwinter' Bones, an archeologist from the famed University of Suzail in the country of Cormyr. In 1494 DR, Neverwinter had served another group of adventurers as a guide in Chult. With their help, Neverwinter found the hidden shrine of Tamoachan, a shrine he believed was built by ancient Mazticans centuries ago, or even a millennia ago, when seafaring Mazticans made their way across the Trackless Sea to explore unknown lands east of their ancestral continent. Neverwinter first heard of the possibility that Mazticans may have arrived in Chult from Lucas Spellburg, Chief Archaeologist at the Conclave of Silverymoon where Neverwinter once worked. A letter Spellburg wrote to Neverwinter alluded to this possibility. Dear Dr. Neverwinter Bones, My esteemed friend, I have come upon recent information regarding an ancient and nearly forgotten city named Tamoachan. Located somewhere east of the Mistcliffs, the mountains on the northwest side of the island, Olmans/Nexalans who ventured from the continent of Maztica had indeed traveled across the Trackless Sea and had built a shrine dedicated to a lesser being named Zotzilaha. This being was said to be the child of Camazotz, the "bat god". However, Zotzilaha's function translated loosely to ‘vampire god’ – or was it ‘death god’? – and this shrine was built to simultaneously give worship to it and bind it to one place. Only their greatest warriors and shamans would be allowed to trek there, as the entrance was hidden deep below the labyrinthine streets of that place. Great and terrible challenges await in those halls, from poisoned darts to monstrous foes to fearsome servants of the ‘vampire god’ himself…alas, I am unfit for such a trip!” Think of it, Never: piles of gold, enchanted ritual daggers and platinum-gilded masks of the animal gods, elder curses and wards… oh how the heart aches for what it cannot have. Go and seek out the city of Tamoachan. If I yet still live when you return, please visit and share what you have seen and hopefully brought back from Tamoachan. Your friend, Lucas Spellburg, Chief Archaeologist, Conclave of Silverymoon Neverwinter had, in fact, found the hidden shrine in 1494 DR. However, the dysfunction of the adventures known as the Amazing Bastardos he was hired to guide in Chult to find the lost city of Omu became unbearable, to the point Never felt his life would have been forfeit if he remained with the group. While exploring the first tier of the hidden shrine, Neverwinter made the difficult decision to leave the group. Alone, he made his way back to Camp Vengeance and eventually to the capital city of Port Nyanzaru. There he took a ship to Faerûn and made his way back to Silverymoon. As the adventuring group ventured deeper into the dense and treacherous jungles of Chult, the air grew thick with humidity, and the sounds of the wild became increasingly eerie. They were on a perilous quest, seeking a hidden shrine deep within the jungle. Unbeknownst to them, their journey was about to take a terrifying turn. As the sun dipped below the towering canopy of trees, casting long shadows across the jungle floor, the group entered a clearing. Within the clearing lay ancient ruins. With light provided by spells and torches, Dr. Bones recognized the ruins as Maztican in origin. Pictoglyphs carved onto stone walls and columns depicted human warriors playing a game involving a type of ball. Other pictoglyphs showed warriors who lost the game being sacrificed to a large bat-like humanoid. A large gaping hole was also visible in the clearing's center. "That's where I climbed out when I left the Amazing Bastardos two years ago," Neverwinter said. "We can climb back down the same way. The shrine is right below us." "How deep is it?" Mask asked. "Over twenty feet deep," Neverwinter said. "It was a hard climb, but not impossible." "Luckily, I bought a grappling hook and fifty feet of rope at Camp Vengeance," Sein said. "Do you hear that?" Mask asked everyone. "I don't hear anything," Sajen said. "Exactly," Mask said. The clearing was shrouded in an eerie silence that seemed to defy the teeming life all around. Not a chirp of a bird, nor the buzz of an insect, could be heard, leaving an unsettling stillness that hung in the air like an ominous warning. Suddenly, Neverwinter Bones felt something quickly move past him in the shadows. He felt a wave of pain wash over him as a thin slice appeared on his leather armor. Blood seeped out of a wound in his chest as he realized he had just been attacked by something that flew with supernatural speed. The group suddenly heard a low, haunting screech echoing through the trees. The source of the screech became apparent a breath later. At the edge of their light sources and sight, they saw a thing out of their worst nightmare. Nearly eight feet tall, the monstrous creature was a grotesque fusion of humanoid and bat. Its head resembled that of a nightmarish bat, with enormous fangs protruding from its gaping maw. A pair of leathery wings, dark as midnight, spread out from its hunched back, twitching nervously. The creature's wickedly clawed arms were covered in a greenish stone armband and hung folded against its body like a praying mantis. In one claw, it held an oversized dagger made of sharp serrated obsidian. The group could see the malevolence in its blood-red eyes, which glinted with a cruel intelligence. The adventurers, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this monstrous entity, scrambled to defend themselves. Weapons were drawn and spells were prepared, but the creature was not an opponent to be taken lightly. With a screech that pierced the night, it lunged forward, slashing at the group with its razor-sharp dagger. It struck Neverwinter again, its sharp weapon nearly severing the archeologist's right arm. Sein, seeing Neverwinter's grave situation, rushed towards him. The paladin grabbed Neverwinter and pulled him towards a crumbling wall nearby, hoping it would provide some cover against the flying creature. He then handed Neverwinter a potion of healing. "Thank you," Neverwinter said. He drank the potion, which eased the throbbing pain in his arm a little. "Don't thank me yet," Sein said, smiling. "We're not out of the 'jungle' yet." Meanwhile, Mask, using his enchanted slippers which gave him the ability to walk up surfaces like a spider, quickly ran towards a tree and moved up its forty-foot length. Dogee, his pet blink dog, stood guard at the base of the tree below while Mask readied his bow. "Time to end this," Zantix said. As the creature began to circle back towards the group, Zantix cast a Polymorph spell at it. As Zantix aimed his magic at the flying nightmare, his Polymorph spell crackled with potent energy, attempting to transform the deadly creature into a docile cow. However, the creature's innate resistance to magic, perhaps honed through its dark existence in the jungles of Chult, allowed it to miraculously withstand the spell's effects. The enchantment fizzled and sputtered, leaving the creature unaltered and still a menacing presence in the jungle clearing. "Let's see it try to resist this," Sajen said a breath later. The wizard let loose a fireball that trailed the flying creature. The blossoming ball of fire reached it and exploded, enveloping the creature in a huge ball of fire. But the creature flew on, barely singed by the blast. "How is that possible?" Sajen said. "It was a direct hit." Sajen now found himself in grave danger as the creature flew back and closed in on him, its fangs dripping with blood it had licked off from its dagger. As the creature dove towards Sajen, Sein ran towards a fallen pillar nearby. The paladin then used his momentum to jump off the pillar towards the fast-approaching creature. As he met the creature halfway, he quickly intoned a silent prayer to his deity. As if in response to his prayer for aid, his blade flared with white-hot intensity. His blade struck the creature as it flew past him. As he landed back on his feet, Sein realized that his blade, even with the intense heat emanating from it, did little to hurt the nightmarish creature. "That thing can't be killed!" Sein yelled in frustration to his fellow adventurers. Desperation took hold of the group as they realized their predicament. "That thing must be Zotzilaha," Neverwinter yelled above the creature's fearsome screeching. "We cannot win a battle against it here. We need to jump into the hole now!" With no other option, they all ran towards the gaping hole. Without hesitation, they dove into the pit, hoping it would provide refuge from the monstrous menace. Mask, having mounted Dogee, commanded the blink dog to teleport to the others below. Sajen was the last to make it to the hole. Before he could leap in, the creature landed next to him. Sajen was momentarily transfixed in terror. The creature towered over the halfling wizard. With its malevolent eyes gleaming, it lunged at Sajen, its obsidian dagger dripping with blood and glinting with deadly intent. The creature's unnaturally long arms shot forward, slashing through the air with a terrifying speed. The dagger's sharp edge struck Sajen's throat. A swift second attack left a deep hole in Sajen's chest as the creature stabbed him. Sajen gasped in agony as he felt the searing pain of both deadly strikes. In that harrowing moment before darkness overtook him, Sajen realized he was about to die. Unconscious, the halfling wizard's body tumbled into the hole and into the dark depths below.
The adventuring group known as S.M.A.L.L., which stood for Seekers of Mystical Artifacts and Legendary Lore, made their way northwest through the jungles of Chult, having left the safety of Camp Vengeance days before. The group was led by Dr. Anry 'Neverwinter' Bones, an archeologist from the famed University of Suzail in the country of Cormyr. In 1494 DR, Neverwinter had served another group of adventurers as a guide in Chult. With their help, Neverwinter found the hidden shrine of Tamoachan, a shrine he believed was built by ancient Mazticans centuries ago, or even a millennia ago, when seafaring Mazticans made their way across the Trackless Sea to explore unknown lands east of their ancestral continent. Neverwinter first heard of the possibility that Mazticans may have arrived in Chult from Lucas Spellburg, Chief Archaeologist at the Conclave of Silverymoon where Neverwinter once worked. A letter Spellburg wrote to Neverwinter alluded to this possibility. Dear Dr. Neverwinter Bones, My esteemed friend, I have come upon recent information regarding an ancient and nearly forgotten city named Tamoachan. Located somewhere east of the Mistcliffs, the mountains on the northwest side of the island, Olmans/Nexalans who ventured from the continent of Maztica had indeed traveled across the Trackless Sea and had built a shrine dedicated to a lesser being named Zotzilaha. This being was said to be the child of Camazotz, the "bat god". However, Zotzilaha's function translated loosely to ‘vampire god’ – or was it ‘death god’? – and this shrine was built to simultaneously give worship to it and bind it to one place. Only their greatest warriors and shamans would be allowed to trek there, as the entrance was hidden deep below the labyrinthine streets of that place. Great and terrible challenges await in those halls, from poisoned darts to monstrous foes to fearsome servants of the ‘vampire god’ himself…alas, I am unfit for such a trip!” Think of it, Never: piles of gold, enchanted ritual daggers and platinum-gilded masks of the animal gods, elder curses and wards… oh how the heart aches for what it cannot have. Go and seek out the city of Tamoachan. If I yet still live when you return, please visit and share what you have seen and hopefully brought back from Tamoachan. Your friend, Lucas Spellburg, Chief Archaeologist, Conclave of Silverymoon Neverwinter had, in fact, found the hidden shrine in 1494 DR. However, the dysfunction of the adventures known as the Amazing Bastardos he was hired to guide in Chult to find the lost city of Omu became unbearable, to the point Never felt his life would have been forfeit if he remained with the group. While exploring the first tier of the hidden shrine, Neverwinter made the difficult decision to leave the group. Alone, he made his way back to Camp Vengeance and eventually to the capital city of Port Nyanzaru. There he took a ship to Faerûn and made his way back to Silverymoon. As the adventuring group ventured deeper into the dense and treacherous jungles of Chult, the air grew thick with humidity, and the sounds of the wild became increasingly eerie. They were on a perilous quest, seeking a hidden shrine deep within the jungle. Unbeknownst to them, their journey was about to take a terrifying turn. As the sun dipped below the towering canopy of trees, casting long shadows across the jungle floor, the group entered a clearing. Within the clearing lay ancient ruins. With light provided by spells and torches, Dr. Bones recognized the ruins as Maztican in origin. Pictoglyphs carved onto stone walls and columns depicted human warriors playing a game involving a type of ball. Other pictoglyphs showed warriors who lost the game being sacrificed to a large bat-like humanoid. A large gaping hole was also visible in the clearing's center. "That's where I climbed out when I left the Amazing Bastardos two years ago," Neverwinter said. "We can climb back down the same way. The shrine is right below us." "How deep is it?" Mask asked. "Over twenty feet deep," Neverwinter said. "It was a hard climb, but not impossible." "Luckily, I bought a grappling hook and fifty feet of rope at Camp Vengeance," Sein said. "Do you hear that?" Mask asked everyone. "I don't hear anything," Sajen said. "Exactly," Mask said. The clearing was shrouded in an eerie silence that seemed to defy the teeming life all around. Not a chirp of a bird, nor the buzz of an insect, could be heard, leaving an unsettling stillness that hung in the air like an ominous warning. Suddenly, Neverwinter Bones felt something quickly move past him in the shadows. He felt a wave of pain wash over him as a thin slice appeared on his leather armor. Blood seeped out of a wound in his chest as he realized he had just been attacked by something that flew with supernatural speed. The group suddenly heard a low, haunting screech echoing through the trees. The source of the screech became apparent a breath later. At the edge of their light sources and sight, they saw a thing out of their worst nightmare. Nearly eight feet tall, the monstrous creature was a grotesque fusion of humanoid and bat. Its head resembled that of a nightmarish bat, with enormous fangs protruding from its gaping maw. A pair of leathery wings, dark as midnight, spread out from its hunched back, twitching nervously. The creature's wickedly clawed arms were covered in a greenish stone armband and hung folded against its body like a praying mantis. In one claw, it held an oversized dagger made of sharp serrated obsidian. The group could see the malevolence in its blood-red eyes, which glinted with a cruel intelligence. The adventurers, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this monstrous entity, scrambled to defend themselves. Weapons were drawn and spells were prepared, but the creature was not an opponent to be taken lightly. With a screech that pierced the night, it lunged forward, slashing at the group with its razor-sharp dagger. It struck Neverwinter again, its sharp weapon nearly severing the archeologist's right arm. Sein, seeing Neverwinter's grave situation, rushed towards him. The paladin grabbed Neverwinter and pulled him towards a crumbling wall nearby, hoping it would provide some cover against the flying creature. He then handed Neverwinter a potion of healing. "Thank you," Neverwinter said. He drank the potion, which eased the throbbing pain in his arm a little. "Don't thank me yet," Sein said, smiling. "We're not out of the 'jungle' yet." Meanwhile, Mask, using his enchanted slippers which gave him the ability to walk up surfaces like a spider, quickly ran towards a tree and moved up its forty-foot length. Dogee, his pet blink dog, stood guard at the base of the tree below while Mask readied his bow. "Time to end this," Zantix said. As the creature began to circle back towards the group, Zantix cast a Polymorph spell at it. As Zantix aimed his magic at the flying nightmare, his Polymorph spell crackled with potent energy, attempting to transform the deadly creature into a docile cow. However, the creature's innate resistance to magic, perhaps honed through its dark existence in the jungles of Chult, allowed it to miraculously withstand the spell's effects. The enchantment fizzled and sputtered, leaving the creature unaltered and still a menacing presence in the jungle clearing. "Let's see it try to resist this," Sajen said a breath later. The wizard let loose a fireball that trailed the flying creature. The blossoming ball of fire reached it and exploded, enveloping the creature in a huge ball of fire. But the creature flew on, barely singed by the blast. "How is that possible?" Sajen said. "It was a direct hit." Sajen now found himself in grave danger as the creature flew back and closed in on him, its fangs dripping with blood it had licked off from its dagger. As the creature dove towards Sajen, Sein ran towards a fallen pillar nearby. The paladin then used his momentum to jump off the pillar towards the fast-approaching creature. As he met the creature halfway, he quickly intoned a silent prayer to his deity. As if in response to his prayer for aid, his blade flared with white-hot intensity. His blade struck the creature as it flew past him. As he landed back on his feet, Sein realized that his blade, even with the intense heat emanating from it, did little to hurt the nightmarish creature. "That thing can't be killed!" Sein yelled in frustration to his fellow adventurers. Desperation took hold of the group as they realized their predicament. "That thing must be Zotzilaha," Neverwinter yelled above the creature's fearsome screeching. "We cannot win a battle against it here. We need to jump into the hole now!" With no other option, they all ran towards the gaping hole. Without hesitation, they dove into the pit, hoping it would provide refuge from the monstrous menace. Mask, having mounted Dogee, commanded the blink dog to teleport to the others below. Sajen was the last to make it to the hole. Before he could leap in, the creature landed next to him. Sajen was momentarily transfixed in terror. The creature towered over the halfling wizard. With its malevolent eyes gleaming, it lunged at Sajen, its obsidian dagger dripping with blood and glinting with deadly intent. The creature's unnaturally long arms shot forward, slashing through the air with a terrifying speed. The dagger's sharp edge struck Sajen's throat. A swift second attack left a deep hole in Sajen's chest as the creature stabbed him. Sajen gasped in agony as he felt the searing pain of both deadly strikes. In that harrowing moment before darkness overtook him, Sajen realized he was about to die. Unconscious, the halfling wizard's body tumbled into the hole and into the dark depths below.
Report Date
06 Oct 2023
Zotzilaha, child of Camazotz
Comments