Here’s the write up from our latest Tomb of Annihilation session. The PCs visited Firefinger – the first location they’ve been to in the jungles from the hardcover adventure itself. This session was notable for the players’ terrible rolls, particularly Tharhul’s player who rolled a succession of 1s, both when he was supposed to be guiding the group through the jungle, and in combat. Putting his d20 in a dice jail didn’t help, sadly.
Inside Firefinger, we ran into one of the monster / room size issues Merric Blackman has been complaining about on his blog. Fighting Large pterafolk in a cave that’s 10 feet x 15 feet doesn’t work that well when you are playing on a grid with minis! I enlarged the chamber so the monsters just about fitted, but it wasn’t ideal.
Begin here with Session 0 – Caves of the Cockatrice
12th – 14th Eleint, 1495 DR
Tharhul takes over the role of guide from Wadumu, hoping to lead the party to the ruins of Firefinger on their treasure map. Unfortunately, he takes the group in the wrong direction for three days running. Towards the end of the third day, the characters are attacked by giant wasps, but avoid catching shivering sickness from their stings.
15th Eleint
The characters trudge through heavy rain and arrive back in Bulubo where they started their jungle trek.
17th Eleint
Now travelling in the right direction, the group reaches the deep gorge of the River Tiryki. Eysleigh casts speak with animals and then summons Birdie, telling the dinosaur to scout in both directions and report back. The pteranodon tells him she’s spotted several people camping to the north.
Rhamash and Nanna creep forwards but alert the camp’s occupants when the gnome steps on a twig and it snaps loudly. They come out in the open and are joined by the rest of the party.
The explorers in the camp explain they are lost and one of their number, named Sabra, is suffering from shivering sickness, while another, an elf named Dorandar, has been carried off by pterafolk. Eysleigh cures Sabra’s disease and is given a feather token by the grateful explorer.
The explorers also tell the party something they heard a pale-skinned man whisper to a dinosaur man with a big sword in Port Nyanzaru — that the city of Mezro was not destroyed during the Spellplague after all and its ruins are an illusion. The dinosaur man smelled like honeysuckle. When the characters show the explorers a picture of Artus Cimber, Nanna’s mentor, they confirm he is the pale-skinned man they saw. They spend the night in the explorers’ camp.
18th Eleint
The adventurers climb down the gorge where they must cross the crocodile-infested River Tiryki. They climb trees and attack the crocodiles with spells and ranged weapons, but this plan goes awry when Eysleigh has trouble ascending a tree. The druid is grabbed by a hungry crocodile, escapes, and is grabbed again, as is Rhamash, when the reptiles come out of the water to attack the group.
Once the crocs have been dealt with, Tharhul swims across the river with a rope so that Certes, not a confident swimmer, has something to grab hold of. The characters make it across and climb up the other side of the gorge. They spot the tall tower of Firefinger nearby and pterafolk flying overhead so spend the night hiding beneath leafy bivouacs.
19th Eleint
Eysleigh casts pass without trace so the characters can sneak up to Firefinger without being detected. When they get near the base of the tower, they find several dead bodies, including Dorandar the missing elf. It looks like they’ve been thrown off the top of Firefinger.
The party climb the rickety ladder to the first floor and enter a cave with a pit. Rhamash and Tharhul leap over to the far side, while Nanna climbs down. Four giant wolf spiders appear and attack the group.
After killing the spiders, the characters climb up to the next level. Here, stirges cling to the ceiling above a withered corpse clutching a purse filled with treasure. Nanna sneaks into the chamber and steals the loot without disturbing the tiny terrors.
Next, the party traverse a windswept ledge and ascend the ladder to Level 3. They kill four pterafolk elders seated around a fire, and Rhamash rescues Nephyr, a captured aarakocra. Nephyr comes from Kir Sabal and was ambushed by pterafolk while out on patrol. Before flying off, he urges the characters to visit Kir Sabal and petition Asharra (“Teacher”) to perform the Dance of the Seven Winds. This dance will give them the ability to fly.
The adventurers climb to the top of Firefinger, where a roaring flame burns atop a 30 foot tall stone tower. Pterafolk swoop down and attack the group. The characters take up a strong defensive position inside the chamber at the bottom of the tower and kill four of the large humanoids one at time. The party loot the tower but there are at least two more pterafolk still outside…
If you’d like to keep up to date with my Tome of Annihilation campaign and other posts, please do join my mailing list – there’s a sign up form on the home page and subscribers receive a free Parsantium supplement.
Richard Green | Game Designer 