Tomb of Annihilation Session 31 – Midnight Tears

Here’s the write up from our latest Tomb of Annihilation session, in which the characters continued exploring the ruined city of Omu in search of the nine puzzle cubes they need to enter the Tomb of the Nine Gods.

Begin here with Session 0 – Caves of the Cockatrice

---

29^th Nightal, 1495 DR (contd.)

The adventurers are enjoying the hospitality of the elderly tabaxi hunter, Bag of Nails. They talk quietly amongst themselves as their host gets ready for bed. Eku tells Eysleigh she thinks there is something off about Bag of Nails’s behaviour and casts detect thoughts. The spell reveals that the tabaxi is waiting for something to happen at midnight. The characters decide to stay awake just in case. Tharhul casts beast sense and sends Buzzter up into the ruined city to patrol just before midnight. 

---

30^th Nightal

When midnight comes, the midnight tears poison that Bag of Nails had put into the stew everyone ate takes effect. Orvex is killed instantly, while Sergeant Valdro is only saved through the quick actions of the Green who shoves a goodberry into her mouth as soon as she falls unconscious. The others all take 31 or 15 hp of poison damage. 

Rhamash confronts the gloating Bag of Nails and a battle ensues. Tharhul goes unconscious but is revived and delivers the killing blow to the murderous tabaxi. The characters find a gourd filled with poison among his belongings. After doing some healing, they settle down for a long rest.

---

In the morning, the characters decide to explore the shrine perched on the pinnacle of rock above the lava-filled Great Rift. Eysleigh summons an air elemental which transfers the adventurers across to the shrine one at a time. Tharhul sends Tyke into the courtyard where he is attacked by jaculi. Once the serpents have been dealt with, Certes sends a fire bolt into the shrine to burn away some of the cobwebs, then Rhamash enters, crouching down to avoid the arrow slits in the walls on either side of the passageway. Certes and the others follow behind, keeping low.

Up ahead they can see a stone cube resting on a pedestal surrounded by statues of archers aiming their bows at the column. From the corridor, the wizard casts mage hand to pick up the stone cube. As the cube dissolves into smoke, the three covered pits in the corridor swing open. Eysleigh, who is at the back, manages to leap to safety, but Certes, Rhamash, and Tharhul tumble into the pits which have green slime at the bottom. As the slime burns their skin and armour, the trio misty step, leap, and climb to safety, and scrape the foul stuff off.

The air elemental carries Tharhul down the corridor above the open pits so he can peer through the arrow slits into the two rooms beyond – both have statues of Moa the jaculi and stone cubes. Next, the elemental transports Certes to the arrow slits and he uses mage hand to retrieve Moa’s puzzle cube from the mouth of the statue. 

---

Back on firm ground, the characters continue east to Obo’laka’s shrine where they are ambushed by a band of yuan-ti malisons and purebloods. The snakefolk cast suggestion to try and trick the characters into running away and blast the party with poison rays. After a tough battle, the yuan-ti are defeated, and the party have a short rest. Tharhul spots movement amid the trees but finds nothing when he goes to investigate. 

The four characters head into the shrine, putting lit torches in sconces in the Gallery of Carvings. They discover a secret door to the west but cannot open it. After some experimentation with stones and fire bolts, Tharhul immerses himself in the Sun Pool in the next chamber and appears in the Moon Pool in a different room. He returns to the others and gets them to follow. In the Chamber of Sacraments beyond is a lifelike statue of a bald (Red?) wizard standing next to a pedestal; his hand is touching the stone cube. 

The characters find a secret door in the Moon Pool room which Rhamash opens when he presses the image of a key hidden among the wall carvings. The door opens into a passage to a barred secret door leading to the entrance. Certes casts mage hand to pick up the cube, and the adventurers leave via the secret passage. When they are outside, Eysleigh picks the cube up from the ground. He doesn’t turn to stone, and the party have retrieved Obo’laka’s puzzle cube. They have three puzzle cubes left to find and the Red Wizards have at least one of them…

---

If you’d like to keep up to date with my Tomb of Annihilation campaign and other posts, please do join my mailing list – there’s a sign up form below and subscribers receive a free Parsantium supplement.