Tomb of Annihilation: Episode 13
Showing your players the whole map of a city will inspire them to explore. Omu is a gigantic playground, and the map is filled with interesting features that beckon you to discover as much as you can about them. Since you can see the whole city, you’re empowered to take in all that you observe and make the decisions on where to go for yourself. The actual art ends up influencing you, which makes it feel like you’re looking at a real place.
The Party:
(Jon) Zorel — Aasimar Paladin
(Terry) Harden — Dwarf Barbarian
(Matt) Grender — Human Wizard
(Stacy) Torven — Lizardfolk Monk/Druid
The Path:
Omu, Kubazan’s Shrine
”Wits and swords are as straws against the wisdom of the Darkness…”
Robert E. Howard — The Phoenix on the Sword
Artus and Dragonbait led them south to Omu. They passed a down airship, the Star Goddess, caught up in the trees, and rescued them from a influx of zombie girallons. But they refused to slow down for heroic deeds. They could taste how close they were getting. They still needed to pass a Wisdom (Survival) check to find the hidden city, but with Artus by their side, it was merely a formality. He parted a section of trees and soon they came upon the sight they’d been hunting for in Chult — the Forbidden City of Omu.
They’d been through a lot as a group, and I want to recap the events for them to remind them what they were fighting for. I made one of my longer videos, but a lot had happened to the party. They were Level 6 now, and half the original party was dead (or missing). A story like that needed to be commemorated properly.
I found a great post online about adapting Omu for higher level players. My players weren’t higher level, but a lot of the ideas shared in there were really great. Some that stood out to me: having two Tabaxi hunters lamenting their friend, Bag of Nails, who had gone mad; the dinosaur King of Feathers forcing his combatants to fight him one-on-one through dimensional displacement; and a much larger presence of Yuan-Ti guarding their lair, and including a splinter faction which makes the whole next chapter a lot more engaging.
The Tomb of Annihilation Companion also had a chapter filled with great extra locations in Omu to make the city feel more alive. Both of these were great resources that I used to full effect.
My players came upon Omu near the waterfall spilling into the city. At this point, Artus and Dragonbait ceased to accompany the party, wishing them well in Omu. Harden wanted to know which way was safest to proceed into Omu. I had Artus push them to take the southwest entrance instead, since some “introductory” events occurred there, but it probably would have been worth it to go through the waterfall and really feel like they were sneaking into the Forbidden City.
They went to the traditional entrance and descended the steps. They were on their toes, cautiously looking around for clues and danger. Torven spotted a snake wriggling around nearby. As he approached it, a couple crossbow bolts came at him over the hillside. The snake transformed into a yuan-ti malison, and the party realized they were in an ambush. The team got a chance to use some of their fancy new moves. Grender cast a Scorching Ray to hold some of the yuan-ti back. He and Torven were attacked fiercely by the yuan-ti, and had to quaff some healing potions. Harden tried to absorb some of the blows, but there were too many of them. Zorel called upon his aasimar ancestry and used his Radiant Soul ability to sprout two wings from his back and unleash his fury on the enemies. They were joined by two tabaxi warriors — one that looked like a panther, and another like a leopard.
Eventually, the yuan-ti were defeated. The two tabaxi, Copper Bell and Hooded Lantern, greeted the party peacefully. They said they had come here with their leader Bag of Nails. Bag of Nails had hoped to communicate with his lost nephew by finding a great treasure, the Navel of the Moon. But once they entered Omu together a few days ago, he began to go mad. Harden was intrigued, and inquired more. Bell warned that Bag of Nails was the greatest tabaxi hunter of all time, and now roamed Omu looking to slaughter anyone with his magic bow.
Hooded Lantern believed his destiny called for him to face the King of Feathers in single combat. Zorel found this very honourable. They talked about how the King of Feathers was a feathered Tyrannosaurus Rex who stalked all who entered Omu. Zorel was enticed by this idea, and commended Lantern for his daring. Bell then warned of the yuan-ti, who took over the east side of the city. The party thanked them for the warnings, and wished them safety on their way.
“You know how you let yourself think that everything will be all right if you can only get to a certain place or do a certain thing. But when you get there you find it’s not that simple.”
Richard Adams — Watership Down
Grender had hidden for cover in a nearby guard house, and called to the party to join him once the tabaxi left. They came, and could see walls filled with graffiti:
“Fear the fangs of Ras Nsi!”
“Erik, I’ve gone in search of the nine shrines. V.”
“The puzzle cubes are the key.”
“Beware the frog monster!”
“Who is Unkh?”
“All hail the King of Feathers!”
“The snakes are not what they seem.”
“Kubazan = bravery. Shagambi = wisdom. Moa = ?"
The party wildly jotted these down and discussed what they could mean. They thought the nine shrines and puzzle cubes seemed to be connected. The names like Unkh and Kubazan were interesting, though they couldn’t place them. They could place Ras Nsi though. They’d learned of his ancient treachery on their travels, and through Artus.
Harden thought looking for the nine shrines was a good idea, but Torven was worried about crossing the King of Feathers. Zorel wasn’t scared of that, but Grender offered to use his raven familiar to scout ahead for them, to know if it was safe. As he did so, Harden suggested they scale along the side of the city where it was safer, until they were forced into the more dangerous middle. Grender’s familiar came back, and they made there way west. They kept as close to the cliffs as they could. They pointed out an interesting looking building on the map and headed there.
They arrived at a pool of murky water stretched out before a vine-draped shrine. Rope bridges that spanned the water were now tangled with other debris. They applauded themselves on finding a shrine so early on. They approached the shrine, and came to a locked gate. Musharib told them that above the gate, written in Old Omuan read, “Kubazan urges us to tread without fear and to give back as much as we take.”
But they couldn’t get past the lock. Torven curiously peered into the pool. He wanted to Wild Shape into a creature that could swim, but he wasn’t a powerful enough Druid. Zorel noticed some eye stalks poking out of the water, and warned his friends. Harden spoke with Musharib about what they could do, while Torven and Grender tried to pick the lock of the door. They thought they succeeded, but instead a Glyph of Warding spell protected the lock and cast Fear on everyone by the door. Grender and Torven were sent flying back into the pool, and a giant Froghemoth roared and began grabbing the party with its tentacles and attempting to swallow them whole.
The froghemoth was incredibly strong, and only some well-placed Shocking Grasp spells from Grender and Reckless Attack hammer swings from Harden got them out of trouble. After a lengthy battle, they searched the pool and found a stone key hidden in a frog statue’s mouth. Harden chastised the group for acting foolishly and grabbed the key for himself. He opened the door to the shrine.
An alcove on the far wall held a pedestal with a stone cube on it, while a relief carved into the back told the story of a monstrous frog fighting a crane. Wooden beams surrounded the perimeter of the room. It looked like someone would have to hop from beam to beam. But Zorel had a better idea. He cast Misty Step and transported in a flash right beside the cube. He was about to grab it, until Grender shouted out not to. He reminded the group of Kubazan’s warning, that they had to give as much as they took. The party discussed what it could mean. They thought if they placed something on the pedestal just as they grabbed the cube, that could count. Harden reminded Zorel he had a half-filled waterskin, and urged him to use that. Zorel tried it out, grabbed the cube, and nothing happened — it worked. He cast Misty Step again and the party escaped the shrine.
They examined the cube. It had Omuan-style art on it, and depicted a large frog with tentacles. Grender spoke up. He said this must be one of the nine puzzle cubes they would need to grab from every shrine. Smiles creeped onto their faces, and they walked more briskly to their next destination. Now they knew precisely what they had to do.
They had almost met their doom at the first shrine, so they’d be more careful from now on. They knew the Red Wizards were in the city, and had promised to ally with them as per their agreement with Valindra. For now though, they were on their own.
Previous: Episode 12
Next: Episode 14
