Tomb of Annihilation - Session 07
General Summary
After the party has paddled upriver for a few hours, Akachi points towards the western shore. Rising from the jungle a few hundred feet inland are the crumbling remains of a stone tower. From its side hangs a tattered white banner with a golden circle in the center—the sign of the Maker.
While the rest of the expedition remains riverside with the canoes, the adventurers head towards the tower to investigate. Approaching more closely, they see that the tower is surrounded at a radius of 50 or 60 feet by the remains of a low stone wall a few feet tall. Gaps in the wall have been filled with freshly cut wooden stakes facing outwards. Within are the opening to a well, a collapsed tent of the same style as they saw at Camp Righteous, a flayed animal carcass covered in flies, and a pile of burnt humanoid corpses. The rusted iron door to the tower is closed.
Dolan shouts out for Niles Stanton, but there is no answer. Chibuzo, Ixtli, and Dunch all try to climb a nearby tree to gain a vantage point into the tower but are defeated by the rain-slick wood. Finally, they approach cautiously.
The tent contains nothing of interest. There are half a dozen burnt bodies in the pile; all are human, and all were wearing the holy symbol of the Maker. The dead animal looks to have been a boar. The carcass was in the midst of being butchered.
Chibuzo knocks on the door to the tower, but there is no answer. Dolan tries to push it open, but it gives only slightly, as if something is obstructing it. "Who's there?" a hoarse voice whispers in Asturian.
"Friends from Port Nyanzaru," Dolan answers. "We have orders from Nera Blacktyde for Niles Stanton."
"Stanton's dead," the voice answers bitterly. "We're all dead." After a moment, there is the sound of something heavy being dragged across the stone floor, and the door opens wide enough for Dolan to poke his head through. Sitting on the floor is a disheveled, visibly dehydrated man with a deranged look. His left leg has been shattered below the knee.
Dolan hands him a waterskin. The man takes it almost automatically but suddenly begins to panic. "Where did this come from?!? Is it from the well? Stay away from the well! It's in the well!"
"What's in the well?" Dolan asks.
"I don't know," he answers with a sob. "It took them. It took Stanton."
"Did you burn the bodies?"
"We did that when we got here. Some who died... came back and attacked us. So we burned them. Stanton said we had to."
Dolan casts a healing spell on the man, reviving him somewhat, though his leg remains broken. Chibuzo quickly runs back to the canoes, and returns with Bellin, General Voss, and an improvised stretcher.
Dunch and Bellin get the wounded man onto the stretcher and begin carrying him towards the river. But they have barely stepped out of the tower when four brownish tentacles erupt from the well. Ixtli and Chibuzo manage to dodge, but Dolan and Bellin are both seized. The wounded man falls roughly off the stretcher and begins to scream.
The tentacles drag Dolan and Bellin down into the mouth of the well, which opens into an underground limestone cavern, a cenote. A pool of water fills the cavern to a depth of four feet or so. Atop a rocky outcropping in the middle of the pool is a creature like a giant living stalagmite, some ten feet tall, with half a dozen tentacles, an enormous red eye, and a great mouth with multiple rows of stony teeth. Dolan blasts the roper with magic missiles as it draws Bellin into its jaws and bites deep.
On the surface, two more tentacles emerge from the well. One seizes Ixtli, not only binding his limbs but sapping his strength. His attempt to bite it fails, but Chibuzo manages to sever it with sword and yklwa.
In fury Dunch steps over the wounded man and attacks the other tentacle, but it remains intact. Chibuzo then jumps onto the lip of the well and stabs it with his spear, invoking the power of Atsu's Lance. There is a flash of lightning, and the tentacle explodes into stony, bloody chunks.
Gazing down into the well, he sees the damaged tentacles fall off from the roper, and replacements shoot forth. One grabs Chibuzo, pulling him over the edge. He falls thirty feet to the pool below but manages to break his fall somewhat by grabbing hold of one of the vines that surround the mouth of the well. When the creature tries to bite him, he keeps himself from its jaws by bracing himself with his legs on either side of its mouth. Dolan fires another barrage of magic missiles at the creature, while Bellin—still in a tentacle's grip—rallies Dolan and Chibuzo to greater efforts with a battle cry.
Above them, more tentacles fly forth from the well. Drawing his sword, Voss severs one before it can seize him, while Ixtli drags the wounded man back into the tower and out of their reach. Dunch climbs down a vine to join the fray but is seized by a tentacle before he can attack. Dolan, still in the enervating grasp of another tentacle, is drawn towards the gaping jaws and savagely bitten. He blasts it with more missiles, while Bellin hacks at its body, cutting through the stony exterior into the flesh below. After cutting himself free from a grasping tentacle, Chibuzo screams a war cry and charges the creature, stabbing and cutting.
Ixtli attempts to climb down a vine but loses his grip and tumbles into the water below.
After more magic missiles from Dolan, the roper's rocky exterior is beginning to split, the cracks oozing blood. Bellin strikes it twice more, chunks of rocky flesh flying from the impact.
But it still lives. Grappled by a tentacle, Dunch misses with his battleaxe, while Chibuzo parries another tentacle with his yklwa. The roper's stony teeth bite deep into Dolan once more and he falls unconscious, dying.
Finally, Chibuzo plunges his short sword into its eye. Its tentacles spasm briefly before falling limp, releasing Dunch, Bellin, and Dolan. Chibuzo hastens to cast a healing spell on the sorcerer, whose eyes flicker open as he regains consciousness.
Bellin calls up for a rope while the others search the pool. Among the bones and other scattered detritus are a few spears, scraps of leather armour, and shields, some of which are still emblazoned with the sign of the Maker. One of the spears is different: older, with a stone tip, and carved in intricate, hieroglyphic-like patterns that to Ixtli's eyes are stylistically similar to Anasazi script. Feeling a kinship with it, he takes possession of it. They also find a belt pouch containing three potion vials that Dolan adds to his belongings to identify later. Scattered across the bottom of the pool are a number of old Marakuran gold coins that they recover, as well as a few yellowish orange gemstones, citrines. They also find two silver discs like the others carried by the templars of Camp Righteous. One bears the name of Celia Bracker, the other that of Niles Stanton.
After they climb back to the surface, General Voss informs them that the wounded man evidently couldn't withstand the stress of the roper attack and has died. The disc of the Maker he wears gives his name as Dovan Hornwood. Searching for writings or other items of note in his belongings, Chibuzo finds a valuable spyglass concealed in a pocket of his cloak, which he takes for use in his scouting.
By now it is mid afternoon. The adventurers wish to press on before dark, but Bellin and most of the other Asturians demand burials for the bodies of their fellow believers. It takes about an hour to dig shallow graves for the seven intact corpses at hand. Dolan assists with the burials, while Akachi, Chibuzo, and the other Marakurans wile the time away skipping rocks in the river.
Eventually the party embarks again, paddling for the remaining hours of daylight before making camp. That evening, Mokomoko asks Chibuzo for a game of Anuli, a traditional Marakuran board game. Chibuzo wins easily; Mokomoko seems too intimidated by the difference in their social standing to relax.
Morning dawns dimly under heavy clouds and pouring rain. As they break camp in the muddy terrain, Chibuzo comments to Bailey, "I'm starting to think your complaints about our weather may be justified."
Before they depart, Gero casts a spell of Identify on the aged spear Ixtli brought forth from the pool. The engravings along its length are ensorcelled; when the spear takes a life, it draws forth vitality from the dead that passes to the wielder, giving temporary protection against injury. The writings give it the name Blood Spear.
At about noon the expedition arrives at the fifth and last falls: the Tugela Falls, the least impressive of the falls on the Soshenstar. The river descends only some twenty feet in elevation across numerous small tiers. At the top of the falls, a nine-foot-tall statue on a plinth stands in the middle of the river. It depicts a man with crossed arms, facing upriver. There are heaps of skulls piled around its base.
After scouting the path to the top of the falls, Chibuzo decides to investigate. Despite the heavy rain, he succeeds in lassoing the statue's neck and securing his rope to a tree, then wading through the slow-moving river. He loses his footing midway through the channel but makes it across.
The statue is in a classical Marakuran style, similar to the thirty-foot-tall statue in the harbour of Port Nyanzaru. The weathered skulls piled around its base look to be goblin skulls. The front side of the statue is carved in grooves to form a maze: a symbol of the vanished god Ubtao.
There is something unnatural in the carving that causes Chibuzo to call for Dolan to join him. After making his way through the river, the sorcerer examines the carving, then traces a path with his finger to the end of the maze. As he finishes, he feels a sensation of warmth travel up his arm and into his mind, granting him a one-time ability to cast the spell Find the Path.
The portage to the top of the falls is short, and they resume their journey. The Marakurans sing a traditional song to commemorate the last of their travels on the Soshenstar.
By nightfall they have arrived at the Aldani Basin. The river widens into pools and marshland, with patches of high grass and clumps of trees. They find a spot of solid ground at the edge of the marsh and make camp in the rain, which has let up a little since morning.
General Voss, Gero, Akachi, and the adventurers discuss their next moves. By foot, sticking to the flatter, drier grassland surrounding the basin, they are some two days from the base of the plateau where the ruins of Mbala are to be found. They could instead travel most of the distance by canoe, but the frequent need to portage across grass and mud means that the travel time would be about the same. They resolve to leave the canoes, and travel by land.
That evening, Mokomoko engages Chibuzo in another game of anuli. During the game, Mokomoko suddenly freezes, his eyes going wide. Chibuzo asks with concern, "are you all right?" Mokomoko shakes his head. "Sorry—just something I need to do later." Chibuzo notices him sweating heavily, but Mokomoko insists that he is all right. Chibuzo wins the game, and Mokomoko goes back to his guard duties.
The next day, they stash the canoes ashore, divide their supplies among the porters, and head out across the grassland under a steady rain. The expedition forms a column, with Chibuzo on point, Dunch near the lead, and Ixtli and Dolan closer to the rear.
After a few hours, Chibuzo hears a grunting, squealing animal running towards them. He quickly halts the column and readies his weapons. Suddenly a boar bursts through the grass, its eyes panicked and long, bloody wounds carved into its back. Chibuzo lets it pass and the three creatures pursuing it come into view: reptiles, waist high and some ten feet in length, running on two legs and with great, sickle-like talons protruding from their feet. A pack of deinonychuses!
The guards take defensive positions between the trees to defend the porters. Ixtli rushes towards the fray while Dolan moves to flank the dinosaurs from the left. At the front of the column, Chibuzo strikes the lead dinosaur a savage blow with his sword, then follows up with his yklwa. Ndidi leaps on the creature to finish it, dragging it to the ground and thrashing it in her jaws. Dunch releases his barbarian fury on another dinosaur with a blow from his battle axe. It claws him in response even as three more emerge from the jungle. One joins the attack on Dunch, clawing him twice, then biting him, while another does the same to Ixtli. The last attacks the nearest guard, Mokomoko, but his shield protects him from harm.
Ixtli responds by stabbing, then biting his reptilian foe. Akachi moves up in support and kills it with her scimitar. Mokomoko duels his opponent alone, stabbing it with his spear but taking two deep claw wounds in return. Ndidi is also clawed and bitten.
Dolan advances and casts a healing spell on the bleeding Mokomoko. Chibuzo slashes one creature while Dunch cleaves the head off another.
Three of the monsters remain. Chibuzo gives his foe a sucking chest wound with his spear, but it still lives. Mokomoko and Akachi continue their attacks, then Ixtli strikes a killing blow on a dinosaur with his spear. The creature's blood flows up the grooves in the spearhead and into the weapon. Ixtli feels himself becoming reinvigorated and continues his attack, moving in on Dunch's foe and kicking it in the spine. Dolan kills the same monster with a volley of magic missiles.
Bereft of its pack, the last deinonychus tries to retreat, but Chibuzo and Dunch hack it to pieces.
The column regroups. They harvest some meat from the reptiles and resume their march. By nightfall the rain has stopped. After they set up camp, Chibuzo takes it upon himself to cook the dinosaur meat, foraging for some fresh herbs to season the meat. The meal is delicious, raising everyone's spirits. "Let's drink!" Akachi calls out. The barrel of tej from Camp Righteous is opened and Bellin's squire, Ivan, plays some tunes on his harmonica.
Chibuzo and Mokomoko play another game of anuli, and Chibuzo wins again. Mokomoko seems more reserved than previously, and Chibuzo resolves to keep his distance from now on. He shares Mokomoko's odd behaviour with the other adventurers.
As he has done throughout their journey, Dolan casts Mending cantrips on the expedition's gear to keep everything in good order.
The next day dawns under a clear sky. The plateau is clearly visible now ahead of them, 15 or 20 miles distant. Akachi reports that it rises to a height of some 1800 feet.
They set out through the swampy grass. In the midmorning, Dunch suddenly feels the wolf totem that he wears around his neck grow warm. A huge spectral wolf appears ahead of him, glowing blue and gold. It stares at him, then up at the plateau in the distance. Dunch follows its gaze and sees a metallic glint.
The wolf speaks. "The spirits of the land suffer. Seek the tools of the sky king, and free them."
The Odakotan porter, Wakka, comes up behind him. "Do you see it?" he asks.
"What do you see?" Dunch asks in return.
"Fenrir guides us," Wakka responds. "Do we follow?"
"That's the plan," Dunch answers. The wolf fades away into the jungle.
The rest of the day's march takes place in beautiful weather. As they near the plateau, they can see a switch backed trail leading up its face to the top. The land becomes drier, and more heavily treed.
Directly below the cliff they come upon an overgrown, abandoned settlement, surrounded by the crumbling remnants of stone walls. Part of the mountain above has collapsed and some of the buildings have been crushed by the rubble. This was the lower part of the city of Mbala.