Tomb of Annihilation: Episode 7
A large part of the fun of being a DM is dealing with the unpredictability of your players. You can plan for certain events, and nudge them into doing what’s necessary for the story, but ultimately they are the arbiters of their destiny.
The Party:
(Jon) Alathar — Half-elf Bard
(Terry) Harden — Dwarf Barbarian
(Matt) Illiyum — Gnome Illusionist
(Stacy) Torven — Lizardfolk Monk/Druid
The Path:
Camp Vengeance, Port Nyanzaru, Firefinger
“Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places.”
J.K. Rowling — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Elation at swiping a magical Alchemy Jug and some platinum coins was quickly dissuaded by the sight of a clan of goblins setting fire to the party’s sole mode of transportation — their canoe. A group of goblins like this usually wouldn’t cause too much trouble, but since the group was a bit singed from the traps inside the House of Man and Crocodile, it made things a bit harrier. Fortunately, Torven was able to dole out some Goodberries while Alathar cast Sleep and evened out the odds. As Harden flew into a rage and defended his friends, a well-placed Cloud of Daggers from Illiyum took care of the final goblins.
Qawasha and Kupalué doused the flames on the canoe. This attack from the goblins was part of the adventure, and I particularly liked the timing, since the group was going to have to start off anew. I’d given them what I thought were a number of leads that they could follow:
1. They’d met Artus and Dragonbait who were seeking an oracle at Orolunga.
2. They could still look for Vorn —I could place its control amulet in an upcoming random encounter.
3. They’d heard Harden’s friend Sturm was perhaps captured and held at Hhrakhamar.
4. A lizardfolk tribe war in the Valley of Dread, which was admittedly quite far except…
5. I’d dropped a few hints from other adventurers and the Flaming Fist at Fort Belurian that the nearby Jahaka Anchorage was a hidden alcove of pirates who would have access to a ship.
I was hoping for them to try all of these. I figured I would have Qawasha push the need for a ship, which would lead them to Jahaka Anchorage. That area was an optional location for Artus and Dragonbait to be captured prisoners, which I figured would be a fun rescue/escape on a ship. Also Orolunga had a lot to do with chwingas, which was why I had them interact with chwingas earlier and develop a relationship.
Torven’s player reminded me that he had the Cunning Artistry ability which let him harvest bone and hide to create certain items during a short rest. He figured he could repair/build a canoe after a few days. I allowed for a Widsom (Survival) roll, which was quite high, and decided that they had a rickety canoe put together, but it was slow and close to breaking. The team still had to decide where their destination should be however.
They looked at the great map that the adventure provides, and talked it out. Eventually they decided that since they’d met Artus before (and he had a connection to Mezro), and Mezro was a “famous” city in Chult, that a clue simply had to be there. They would canoe back to Port Nyanzaru, re-supply (again), then set out for Mezro.
Unfortunately, in the adventure book the painfully short entry for Mezro is mainly backstory, ending with this sentence:
Neither treasure nor clues remain for the player characters to find here.
That was not going to be very satisfying for my players. They were dead set on going there, so I kissed goodbye to my Jahaka Anchorage plans, and went to the DM’s Guild. Thankfully, there was a great supplement available called Ruins of Mezro, and it was even co-written by one of the authors of Tomb of Annihilation, Will Doyle. I embraced the new direction for the group, as they set off on their journey.
They had a purpose, and I didn’t want to slow down their progress too much. They got into some combat encounters, and developed some spell-combination tactics that works quite well. A favourite became Qawasha using Entangle then Illiyum casting Cloud of Daggers and finally Alathar topping it off with Heat Metal. They even managed to take down a Zombie T-Rex with this kind of experimentation.
“They’re capable of great things, but potential doesn’t equal success.”
Nnedi Okorafor — Akata Witch
The dangerous trek through the jungle continued. They found some abandoned treasure, and rare plants. One day, a playful faerie dragon tried to prank Alathar by pulling on his hair and farting something awful near his face. The party managed to be good sports, so the faerie dragon offered to answer three questions for them. Through that, they learned more about how Ras Nsi was commanding an army of Yuan-ti now, instead of undead.
Later they walked into a field of mantraps — large carnivorous plants like venus flytraps, but for people. While Harden and Illiyum were entangled, a trio of pterafolk swooped down on the group and tried to pick them off. Before the party could rally a solid defense though, the enemies slapped Qawasha to the side, and made off with Kupalué in one of their talons.
Qawasha was distraught. He begged the party to help him rescue his friend. Harden remembered from some rumours and warnings he’d heard in Port Nyanzaru that some “terror folk” lived at an ancient tower called Firefinger. After looking at the map and seeing that they were only a few miles away, they determined it was their best option for completing a rescue.
They staked out Firefinger, and saw pterafolk coming and going from the top of the ancient signal tower. They decided to wait for nightfall to better hide from the pterafolk’s keen eyesight. They climbed up to a small cave where a few giant wolf spiders lay, but quickly took care of them. They scaled up a chimney to the next cavern, where a family of stirges slept, and they were just as easily disposed. So far, they hadn’t made any big sounds that might alert the pterafolk, and hadn’t taken too much damage either.
To continue climbing, however, they’d need to cling to the ledge that led to a ladder which rose to a third cavern. Torven was getting impatient. He could see Qawasha was aching without his friend Kupalué, and wanted to be a lizard of action. As he had recently been taught by Qawasha the ways of the druid, he had the ability to Wild Shape, and transform into a rat. Going around the ledge would presumably be easier for a scurrying little rodent.
When a character stepped out on the ledge, there was a chance for a gust of wind to blow them off, and unfortunately, that roll came up. Unsecured, Torven the rat plummeted straight off the ledge and down into the jungle below. It happened so fast, the party was too in shock to even react to it.
The party raced down to find Torven and see if he was alive. I was prepared to chalk this up as the first death of the group, but the rolls said it was not to be. Torven had in fact survived — just barely. Nightfall was coming to a close, and the group didn’t want to waste any time resting and losing the cover of darkness. They filled Torven with magic healing, and got back to scaling Firefinger. This time when they came to the ledge, they tied everyone to Harden to ensure his strength would be enough to keep anyone from falling.
Harden successfully went first, and couldn’t help but explore the cavern on his own a little bit. He saw an Aarakocra tied up in a corner. As he got closer, he stumbled upon a group of pterafolk elders huddled by a fire. Harden grimly smiled and began his barbarian rage. As the rest of the team came across the ledge to his cavern, they could hear the sounds of combat. Harden was demolishing these pterafolk. One snuck by Harden and almost managed to get away, but Alathar took him down before he could make a sound.
Now they were all huddled in the cave, right under the beaks of the pterafolk. They untied the aarakocra and asked him what he knew. He said his name was Nephyr, and he was from Kir Sabal, a monastery of the aarakocra birdfolk. They’d be happy to welcome the party and aid them if they helped him escape alive. But he mentioned there were eight more pterafolk up above, which is probably where their friend, Kupalué, was being held.
The group formulated a plan. There was a chimney in their cave that led up to the peak of Firefinger. Torven and Alathar would do some recon there, while trying to lure the pterafolk down to the cave. Anyone who came to fight hand-to-hand would have to go against Harden. And anyone who kept there distance would face the wrath of Illiyum’s many spells.
Alathar got up to the top and could see a group of pterafolk. Illiyum cast some cantrips to get the attention of them, as Alathar and Torven picked off the stragglers. Alathar cast Viscous Mockery and Torven used the remaining Wild Shape he had available to turn into a gorilla. Illiyum and Harden obliterated the rest of the pterafolk, as Qawasha happily found Kupalué. The rescue was a giant success.
Nephyr was grateful, and implored them to come visit the aarokocra in Kir Sabal so he could repay them. Until then, the party had their sights set on the Lost City of Mezro. They’d been in the jungles of Chult for 32 days at this point, and they were not going to let up now.
