Tomb of Annihilation - Session 06
General Summary
The last time Chibuzo visited this place, during his training with Akachi three or four years ago, the Asturian camp did not exist. But the statue of the man and the crocodile loomed overhead then as it has for hundreds of years. The statue commemorates an old Marakuran story of the early days of the world, when a man stands on a riverbank too frightened of the water to cross. A crocodile offers to carry him on his back—until he climbs off—in return for the same. The man agrees, but once the crocodile is on the man's back, he refuses to get down until the man has carried him across the land for many years.
There was once a shrine to the old Marakuran god Ubtao under the hillock where the statue sits. It's said that the worshippers of Ubtao stored a gift from the god there, protected by traps and wards, to be used at great need. Akachi warned Chibuzo away from the place.
A light rain is still falling as the party of adventurers advances slowly along the river. Coming closer to the camp, they see many collapsed tents, some with slash marks or bloodstains. A few Batiri arrows are scattered about or embedded in the ruins. A command tent near the centre of the camp is still standing, while a second large tent nearby has collapsed. Investigating the two boats still tied at the dock, they find that holes have been knocked in both. In the south part of the camp rise the partial walls of a burnt-out building.
They find no bodies at all, but trails in the dirt and the underbrush suggest that a number of objects have been dragged out of the camp and into the jungle. Chibuzo surmises that ghouls or other scavengers must have dragged the corpses away. There is also a small graveyard south of the camp, but every one of the dozen graves has been dug up and is empty.
Having seen no sign of any threat, the group splits up to investigate. Dolan explores what remains of the burnt building; it seems to have been a shrine to the Maker, while also serving as a storehouse for construction material. Nailed to one of the posts that still stands is a leather thong large enough for a necklace and bearing a holy symbol to the Maker. "Lyla Grafton," the inscription on the back of the symbol reads: "May you always walk in the Maker's Light." He also finds the remains of a few casks, with a lingering sweet smell of tej. One of the casks is still intact.
Dunch and Ixtli explore the standing command tent. Among the smashed furniture they find a leatherbound book half-buried in the sand, as well as a few rough maps of the terrain surrounding the camp and a set of cartographer's tools. Dunch takes the tools to gift them to Dolan later, who has the training to make use of them. The book is a log of the camp's history and seems to have been penned by Commander Niles Stanton himself. Ixtli pages through the book to the last entry, from only a few days ago. It reads:
Woke up to sound of horns to the east and from across the river. Mustering the men. I've got a bad feeling about this.The maps record the templars' efforts to explore the jungle and are most detailed along the river and to the east. One of the maps shows the course of the Soshenstar upriver to the south. Not too far from the camp is a set of falls, the Gurara Falls, and then further south the Tugela Falls, the last waterfall before the Aldani Basin. An 'X' has recently been marked on this map just past the Gurara Falls. Chibuzo explores the collapsed command tent, lifting the canvas overhead as best he can. The clothing and other items he finds suggest this may have been the commander's tent. Turning over the cot, he is startled to uncover a green snake the size of his arm—a highly poisonous variety. He drops the canvas and quickly backs away. Exploring the rest of the camp, Chibuzo pauses to consider the agitated two-legged bird in the animal pen. He recognizes it as an axebeak, a juvenile judging from its size. It's unlikely that the templars would have kept such a creature, and he surmises that it likely wandered into the pen and trapped itself. He climbs atop the 80' statue and scans the area. He can just see the expedition's camp downriver, and, in the opposite direction, the Gurara Falls. The rest of the surrounding jungle shows nothing out of the ordinary. The party reconvenes at the entrance to the shrine. A sign nearby has been toppled over. It reads: "Danger. All personnel are to keep out. By order of Templar Stanton." Notwithstanding the warning, they decide to investigate, and step through the portal into the dark interior. Chibuzo summons the light of the Gem of Brightness and they look around. A cobwebbed ceiling looms some 20' overhead. The floor is covered with mud and dead leaves that have blown in from the outside. The corridor they are in extends some 20' and ends in a ledge 7' high. At the foot of the ledge is a decapitated Batiri. The group advances cautiously but is still caught unawares when—after they have advanced about 10 feet—the floor opens underneath them. Chibuzo, Ndidi, and Ixtli leap back to safety, but Dunch plummets into the 20' deep pit below, nearly breaking his ankle. Dolan, bringing up the rear, is not caught by the trap, and throws down the end of a rope so that Dunch can clamber out. The pit is some ten feet long and covers the entire width of the corridor except for narrow, six-inch ledges along both walls. Dolan decides to edge his way slowly along the ledge, while the others leap across the pit. As Ixtli lands on the far side, the group hears a clicking sound, and four massive blades come whirling at them from out of narrow slots in the walls. The scything blades are inescapable. Despite their best efforts, Dunch, Ixtli, and Ndidi are all injured; Chibuzo fails to dodge and is wounded more seriously. Dolan pauses his advance, teetering precariously on the ledge while the others pick themselves up and Chibuzo casts a healing spell on himself. Ixtli grabs the lip of the ledge overhead and pulls himself up to peer at what lies ahead. A ten-foot-long platform extends to another ledge 7' high. The platform is covered by a 4 by 4 grid of tiles, each some 30 inches square. Expecting another trap, Chibuzo climbs atop Ixtli's shoulders, and Dunch hands him the headless corpse of the goblin. Chibuzo carefully tosses the body onto the nearest tile. Gouts of flame erupt from the walls for a few moments, singing Chibuzo's eyebrows and burning the corpse. Once the flames have stopped, Chibuzo reaches out with his yklwa and flips the still-smouldering corpse onto an adjacent tile. Nothing happens. Leaning forward, Chibuzo manages to push the goblin's remains forward to one of the inner tiles. Fire erupts once again. The flames are inescapable; despite his best efforts, Chibuzo is badly burnt. Ixtli lets him down, and Dolan, having inched across the ledge, casts a healing spell on the worst of his burns. The group decides to retreat, but even their departure is somehow ignominious, as Ndidi fails to make the jump back over the pit. Chibuzo is lowered down with the rope to retrieve her, and Dolan kindly heals her with the power of the Ring of the Oracle. After they exit, Ixtli puts the warning sign back up. Deciding that the camp is safe for the rest of the expedition to approach, Chibuzo climbs atop the statue again and signals using the Gem of Brightness, holding it aloft for some twenty minutes. Meanwhile, Dolan and Ixtli search around the statue and the cliff for any sign of another entrance to the shrine within but find nothing. The party then rests while waiting for the other members of the expedition. Ixtli takes the opportunity to peruse the journal. It begins with the founding of the camp April 1, 1202 AR, about one year ago. In his first entry, Stanton invokes the Maker's Will and promises to bring His righteous fury to these lands. Browsing ahead, Ixtli finds a few references to the shrine. Early in the days of the camp, one of the aspirants broke a leg in the pit trap, which Stanton notes will reset itself overnight. In December, the templars caught a goblin prowling around the shrine entrance. To their questions, it confessed that it was acting on its Queen's command to seek out the "Heart of the Stone God" within the shrine. The goblin was executed. More recently, in March the camp guards encountered more goblins spying on them. Stanton recorded his suspicion that there was a goblin camp across the river. Ixtli learns one other item of note: Stanton had an ambition to set up a second Azrinath camp somewhere to the east. The rain eases as the day wears on. Shortly after midday, the expedition's canoes appear from downriver. General Voss is particularly keen to hear what they've learned, and to inspect the ruins of the camp for himself. As Dunch and the others converse with the general, Chibuzo sees Gero near the entrance to the shrine, surveying the stonework and carvings with great interest and making sketches in his journal. He hurries over in time to hear Gero mutter "fascinating!" to himself. "Don't go in there, Gero," he says commandingly. "It's very dangerous. We tried to explore it and almost died." Gero affixes him with an inquisitive look: "Tell me more." Chibuzo relates what happened in the shrine while Gero takes notes and makes sketches. When Chibuzo's tale is done, Gero considers. "I have some spells that might be able to help, but none of them memorized. We would need to camp overnight and then try in the morning. What do you think, brother? Is whatever might be in this shrine worth it?" Chibuzo hesitates before finally replying, "I don't think it's worth the risk." Gero nods: "I trust your judgment, brother." Elsewhere, General Voss looks over the ruins of the camp and shakes his head. "I met Stanton during the War," he tells Dunch. "He was a good soldier. But this doesn't seem to have been his forte. Where are the camp defenses? He didn't even erect a stockade." Before they depart, Chibuzo decides that some fresh meat would be welcome at camp this evening. He draws his bow and kills the axebeak with a single arrow in its throat. He guts and plucks the bird, and the expedition leaves the remnants of Camp Righteous with its carcass in tow. They also take the cask of tej. A few hours pass. The rain picks up again, and a fog rises. Through the mist they hear the sound of the falls as well as deep, animalistic moaning and snorting. Approaching more closely, they come upon a brontosaur and its two calves bathing in the river under the falls, directly adjacent to the clearing and portage path on the western side. The beasts are huge. Even the calves are 12 or 15 feet tall, and the mother is some 70 or 80 feet long. Not wishing to appear to be threatening the calves, the expedition keeps on the far side of the river and comes to ground on the opposite side of the pool. Unfortunately, this side has no convenient spot to beach their canoes, and the foliage rises more thickly, with many small trees that will need to be cleared before they can make camp. They are about half an hour into the task when the brontosaurs wander off from the pool and into the jungle. They quickly move to the much more convenient clearing on the other side of the river and set up their camp. The axebeak is roasted over the fire; the meat is stringy, and not particularly flavourful, but is at least fresh. That evening, Korb, Mokomoko, and Dunch are on watch when they hear movement and moaning from the jungle. They quickly alert the rest of the expedition as eight zombies emerge from the undergrowth and lurch towards them. Korb, Mokomoko, and the adventurers fan out to protect the camp. Chibuzo fires an arrow at one of the zombies and casts a spell that hurls a rain of thorns at the ones nearby. Ixtli's arrow strikes a zombie with devastating force, and its head explodes into a pulpy mass. Akachi, Dunch, and Dolan also attack with arrow, crossbow bolt, and magic missiles. The undead advance, clawing at the living flesh of the guards. Korb and Mokomoko fight back valiantly, but Mokomoko is severely injured, and Korb goes down under the swarm. Ixtli's arrow strikes a zombie still smouldering from Dolan's magic missile. Ndidi leaps on it, clawing, but it is an arrow from her companion Chibuzo's longbow that brings it down. Akachi pierces another zombie with two arrows, and it collapses. Dolan sprays the horde with more magic missiles. Switching to melee combat, Dunch bellows in rage and charges, swinging his battle axe. As Mokomoko disengages, other guards seize their weapons and move to defend the camp. The undead advance, clawing at Dunch's shield and wounding Ndidi. Ixtli stabs and kicks at one of the leopard's opponents until an arm falls from the battered undead corpse; Ndidi finally tears the rest of its body apart with her claws. Chibuzo drops his bow and draws his melee weapons. A thrust from his yklwa mangles a zombie's torso, and his short sword slices keenly through its putrid flesh, but its undead fortitude somehow keeps it standing. Dunch unleashes his fury in a mighty overhead axe swing that cleaves a zombie in two. Akachi continues her missile fire; another guard, Shale, steps forward to stab a zombie with his spear. But it is the Asturian knight Bellin who makes the next kill, finishing with her longsword a zombie previously hit by Dolan and Chibuzo. The porters and other noncombatant members of the expedition move back from the line of battle towards the river, even as the sounds of battle draw another eight zombies out of the jungle. With a few well-placed kicks and the swing of a battle axe, Ixtli and Dunch bring down the last two of the initial wave. The second wave approaches. Chibuzo and Akachi fire more arrows into the horde, but Dolan decides on a different tactic. He speaks a few arcane words and, with a gesture, enlarges Dunch to twice his normal size. Now over twelve feet tall, the raging half-orc towers over the approaching zombies, his shield and axe equally gargantuan. He bellows in wrath. The undead advance. Ndidi pounces on the nearest zombie, knocking it down and tearing its throat out. The thing shudders and lays still. Chibuzo fires another arrow, while Dolan sprays three more of the zombies with magic missiles. Ixtli and the expedition guards strike with their spears. Dunch hammers a zombie with his axe, but it somehow stays up. The horde swarms forward. Shale is clawed multiple times, and Ixtli, Bellin, and Dunch are also injured. Chibuzo draws his melee weapons once more and closes with a zombie that already has one of his arrows protruding from its left thigh, and a puncture wound from Ixtli's spear in its right shoulder. He spears it through the gut, but it does not fall. He slashes it deeply across the chest, but it only groans, and still does not fall. Finally, Ndidi leaps, and the zombie goes down under her claws. Some of the expedition guards are now fighting zombies among the tents at the edge of the camp. Akachi draws her scimitar and moves forward to help them defend. Dolan strafes the horde with another volley of magic missiles, while Ixtli continues his melee attacks. From above, Dunch swings his axe and smashes a zombie into a maggoty pulp. The undead advance, wounding Shale and Ixtli. Another rakes its claws across Dunch's left leg; infuriated, the barbarian pulverizes the zombie with a single blow. Another zombie falls to Ixtli's obsidian spear and clawed feet. In the pitched battle near the tents, Shale, the scout Rahima, and Akachi slash and stab the undead but without apparent effect. Chibuzo resumes his arrow fire, while Dolan casts a speck of flame into the face of the nearest zombie. Its head bursts into flame but it snarls through blackened teeth and keeps coming. Dolan hurls another particle of flame at it, but accidentally burns Dunch's leg instead. Seething with rage, Dunch strikes with his axe and mangles the flaming zombie into a singed, shapeless mass of flesh. Only two of the zombies are left now. A barrage of attacks from Chibuzo and the guards strike them, but somehow they remain standing. Finally, Akachi's scimitar stops one, and Ixtli's spear finishes the last. In the aftermath of the battle, Dunch swiftly returns to normal size, and the injured bind their wounds or receive healing. The corpse of the dead guard, Korb, spurs a debate. He was Asturian, and his compatriots demand that he be buried, and swiftly, in accordance with the Maker's will. To the Marakurans in the party, this seems senseless. Just as happened with the graves at Camp Righteous, ghouls from the jungle will surely dig up and eat the corpse. "That will be in the Maker's hands," Bellin states gravely. In the end, the Asturians clean the body and dress it for burial, perform a ritual of prayers and hymns, and lay the corpse in a shallow grave. They pile all the large rocks they can find atop it as a cairn. The night passes uneventfully. The next day, a cool wind blows. The expedition portages up the trail and prepares to embark again.