Welcome to the Jungle
13 Marpenoth, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
Jungles of Chult
After a day of racing dinosaurs through the streets of Port Nyanzaru in which Alice was the victor, the adventurers celebrated along with the rest of the people. It seemed the weekly dinosaur races were an important part of the local culture and always ended with an entire evening of drinking and celebrating. Alice was the night's guest of honor.
The next day, the group was set to meet with Rokah, a man they met the day before. Rokah had offered to introduce the group to a pair of tabaxi guides out of Fort Beluarian in exchange for helping him safely get to the fort manned by members of the Flaming Fist. Rokah also offered to pay for the group's charter of exploration which can only be purchased for 50 gp at the fort.
Thanks to Alice, the group had even secured passage on a ship that would take them to the fort, saving them days of traveling on foot.
However, Rokah was nowhere to be found.
When Kaya was asked if she had seen Rokah, she said no. Just then a halfling walked up to Kaya and said hello. To everyone's surprise, Kaya slapped the halfling who didn't seem surprised by it at all.
"How dare you walk back into my inn after leaving me a year ago without even saying goodbye!" Kaya yelled.
The halfling rubbed the side of his face Kaya slapped. "Sorry beautiful, but I had to quickly return to Silverymoon. Besides I thought it was better if you didn't see me leave."
Bolte stepped up next to Kaya, ready to defend her honor.
"Who's the new guy?" the halfling asked. Bolte noticed the halfling wore a leather jacket, tanned pants, and carried a dark brown leather satchel on his side. A hand crossbow and whip hung at his waist.
Kaya introduced Bolte. She then introduced the halfling whose name was Neverwinter Bones. He corrected Kaya by adding "Doctor" before his first name.
Doctor Neverwinter Bones said he was a professor of archeology from the Universtiy of Silverymoon, a great university of magic and a center of learning and wisdom in the city located in the Silver Marches. He said he returned to Chult following a lead on a possible location for the hidden shrine of Tamoachan. Neverwinter said the shrine, although really perhaps the size of a large temple, was built by Mazticans, people from a large continent of jungles and mystery west of Faerûn. Scholars have always conjectured that Mazticans could have traveled or explored eastward teaching as far as the continent of Faerûn. The archeologist added that Maztica was discovered by Amnian explorers led by Captain-General Cordell and his Golden Legion back in 1361 DR, over a hundred years ago! During the Spellplague of 1385 DR, Maztica was subsumed by the wild magic and sent to the world of Abeir, a twin world to Toril. Toril is where Faerûn is located. According to his research, Dr. Bones said it seemed Maztica had recently returned to Toril during the Second Sundering, around 1486 or 1487 DR. The tabaxi people, who had never been seen in Toril before, emigrated to Faerûn from Maztica. The tabaxi never talked about what changes Maztica may have experienced in her century in another world, besides the fact that there were some strange changes indeed.
Neverwinter Bones said he overheard the others mention Rokah's name. When asked if or how he knew Rokah, Neverwinter said he saw Rokah at the docks shortly after he arrived early in the morning. Neverwinter recognized Rokah, who he said he learned was a Zhentarim spy after dealing with him a year ago. Neverwinter walked up to a nearby Flaming Fist patrol who then apprehended Rokah.
Tanjarra shook his head. "You had our lead to a guide arrested?"
Neverwinter looked at the whole group. "Well, it's your lucky day indeed. If you're looking for a guide, you just found the best there is in Chult. I know Chult like the back of my halfling hand. I've spent a long time in these jungles in search of Tamoachan and can guide you wherever it is you're headed. I even have a current charter of exploration with me. No need to travel to Fort Beluarian at all!"
After talking to one another, the group accepted Neverwinter Bones's offer of guiding them through Chult. In exchange for payment, he asked if they would also help him find Tamoachan. He also asked for an equal share of all treasure found, although he insisted on having first dibs on any cultural artifacts found because he said, "They belong in a museum."
After purchasing supplies, along with two canoes they needed for the long trek through Chult, the group left Port Nyanzaru. After Neverwinter looked at the map provided by the group, a detailed map of Chult given to them by Syndra Silvane, he said it would be best to travel to Camp Righteous first. He learned that the camp had apparently been abandoned two months ago by the Order of the Gauntlet. The Templars, as they’re often referred to, are dedicated, tightly knit group of like-minded individuals driven by religious zeal or a finely honed sense of justice inspired by the gods Tyr, Helm, Torm, and Hoar. Word was, a horde of undead from the jungle attacked the camp. According to the map, the Order of the Gauntlet had built a new camp they dubbed Camp Vengeance, some 40 miles upriver from the abandoned Camp Righteous.
Neverwinter said it could take them 6 to 8 days to reach Camp Righteous by jungle and river, and another 2 days by river to Camp Vengeance.
It took nearly five days to reach the mouth of River Shoshantar. Along the way, they ate juicy Dancing Monkey Fruit which made Brostaff, the bard, dance for a full minute. Thy were also attacked by two pterafolks, and they found a malachite ring inlaid with electrum. The words, "Ygga Raxyg" (Gary Gygax) were engraved on the underside. When the words were spoken, the ring emitted a light bright enough to light up a 20-foot radius area around the ring bearer. The group gave the ring to Brostaff.
When they finally reached the River Shoshantar, they came across several Chultan loggers headed back to Port Nyanzaru. They spoke Chultan, which Neverwinter translated. He passed on that the loggers said the river past Camp Righteous was "swollen" and could not be safely traversed by canoes.
Neverwinter said they'll worry about it when they arrive at the abandoned camp.
Nine days after leaving Port Nyanzaru, the group finally arrived at Camp Righteous.
Camp Righteous was indeed an abandoned riverside camp strewn with wreckage. The abandoned tents were moldy and tattered, and all the permanent structures appear to have burned to the ground. North of the camp was a ridge, built into which is an 80-foot-tall stone statue carved to look like a man with a crocodile on his back. Between the statue's feet was a stone archway that led to a dark tunnel. To the left of the statue was a crude animal pen with a small, panicked bird running around inside it. Besides the bird, there were no other signs of life anywhere in the abandoned camp.
Alice, a cleric, couldn't help but be in shock by the sheer numbers of undead that must have overwhelmed the Order of the Gauntlet for them to quickly abandon their own camp.
Tanjarra and Nip'hto freed the trapped bird, which Neverwinter said was a young 'axebeak', tall flightless bird with strong legs and a heavy, wedge-shaped beak. The bird quickly ran off into the jungle after it was freed.
With the sun starting to set, the group decided to explore the dark tunnel between the statue's feet.
The tunnel farther inside the ridge. The tunnel was filled with traps, which the group overcame. Deep inside the ridge, Atwix with Neverwinter sitting on his shoulders--a clue on how to safely navigate the traps after noting the statue they were in was that of a man carrying a crocodile--discovered a magical jug made of clay. For the next few days, they would discover the magical jug poured out various types of liquids from each of its ten spouts.
After leaving the tunnels, the group set up camp for the night but not before Neverwinter and Nip'hto scouted a short distance up the river to see if indeed the river was "swollen" as the loggers claimed.
It was.
Neverwinter said last year's unusually heavy rain season must have caused the river's water to rise and create the dangerous rapids they were seeing. It was clear they would be risking their lives if they continued on the river.
The two went back to camp to rejoin the others who had finished setting up camp and were finishing their evening meal while the bard, Brostaff, was busily playing a comforting song on his lute.
Session played on May 28, 2020
Plot type
Chapter
NPCs: Doctor Neverwinter Bones (Halfling Rogue Archeologist)
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