Here’s the write up from our latest Tomb of Annihilation session, in which the characters entered the yuan-ti temple in search of the final puzzle cube they need to enter the Tomb of the Nine Gods.
Begin here with Session 0 – Caves of the Cockatrice
30th Nightal, 1495 DR (contd.)
Following their battle with the Red Wizards of Thay, the characters tie up the five mercenaries who surrendered. Certes (still polymorphed into a tyrannosaurus rex) and Tharhul set off through the ruins to find Buzzter’s body so he can be revived while the rest of the group begin a short rest.
When the pair reach the spot where the Red Wizard blasted Buzzter out of the sky, they find a group of kobolds about to butcher the giant wasp with large knives. The sight of the T-rex scatters the kobolds, and Tharhul leaps down from Certes Rex’s back to revive his friend. The dinosaur-wizard chases after the kobolds, wolfing one down and bellowing loudly. To his surprise, there is an echoing roar as another T-rex appears: the King of Feathers!
Tharhul leaps onto Certes Rex’s back and the two of them run towards camp with Buzzter flying alongside and the King of Feathers in hot pursuit! No one in the camp has had time to finish their short rest and recover hit points, so there’s consternation when the T-rexes arrive. The other adventurers try and get out of the way, but the prisoners are tied up and can only crawl. One is crushed to death as the King of Feathers charges into melee with Certes. As the two T-rexes tear into each other, the rest of the party open fire from a safe distance. For once, Vorn is stirred into action and attacks to defend his master. Finally, Certes Rex bites into the King of Feathers’s neck, delivering the killing blow. He bellows in victory. Omu has a new lord!
With the drama ended, the injured characters can finish their short rest. Nanna interrogates the prisoners, learning that Zagmira’s spy inside the Fane of the Night Serpent is a Chultan named Ishmakahl. He will be posing as a servant of the yuan-ti. They untie the prisoners, return their swords, and let them go. Returning to Bag of Nails’s basement hideout, they have a long rest.
1st Hammer, 1496 DR
Certes spends the morning studying the Red Wizards’ spellbooks and copies shadowy retribution into his own.
The party enter the walls of the ruined Royal Palace, heading for the Fane of the Night Serpent. Certes casts invisibility on himself, and Eysleigh gives him darkvision for 8 hours. As the wizard sneaks towards the tunnel entrance, three large venomous snakes emerge from hiding, alerted by the rest of the party’s no-so-stealthy attempts to get into position. But they don’t detect Certes, and the wizard is able to enter the tunnel and reach the pair of double bronze doors at the far end. He returns to the others to report.
Eku casts protection from poison on Tharhul (lasts 1 hour) and the group again try to sneak up on the entrance. Tharhul casts silence to encompass the area, but Nanna is spotted. The snakes transform into yuan-ti malisons and battle is joined.
Once the malisons have been defeated, the party enters the tunnel. Eku and Eysleigh are in the lead, followed by Nanna, Rhamash, Tharhul and Loro Pag posing as their prisoners. Valdro and the invisible Certes bring up the rear. Vorn, Buzzter and Tyke remain outside.
Eku tricks the yuan-ti malison Nauth into opening the doors by claiming to have prisoners to bring to Ras Nsi. Unfortunately, Eysleigh overdoes the hissing when Nauth demands the characters pay a toll, and the malison realises he’s been fooled.
As Nauth and the four broodguards attack the characters, Certes becomes visible when he counterspells Nauth’s suggestion. The noise of fierce combat brings reinforcements from the Hall of War: the pureblood Soakosh and his two chained basilisks, and four more broodguards. Nanna ducks into a side passage where she can see two more malisons, but they do not budge from their guard positions in front of a door.
The basilisks use their petrifying gazes on the party and Certes, Rhamash, Eku, and Vorn feel themselves turning to stone. With infiltration out of the window, Certes casts a fireball which bloodies half a dozen enemies but kills no one. However, the spell enrages the caged triceratops in the next room which stampedes towards the entrance, flattening the injured Soakosh, basilisks, and broodguards in its attempts to escape. Eysleigh summons an earth elemental and commands it to drag Rhamash out of the way.
Certes uses his charm of restoration to halt the petrification, and Eku saves herself with greater restoration. Rhamash makes his save after using Heroic Inspiration, but Vorn becomes a stone statue and is knocked over by the fleeing triceratops. Meanwhile Nanna, who has been taunting the stationary malisons in the side passage, is attacked when an air elemental emerges from the door. Eysleigh sends his earth elemental over there to keep it busy.
A gong sounds in the distance, and the characters hear the sound of reinforcements….
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Richard Green | Game Designer 