Arrival

Syndra Silvane teleports herself and the characters to Port Nyanzaru’s Harbor Ward, not far from the harbormaster’s office (area 13). Read:

You appear in a tropical city under the blazing sun. The familiar sounds of a harbor-creaking ropes, slapping waves, heavy barrels rolling across cobblestones-mingle with voices shouting and cursing in an unfamiliar language filled with clicks, inhalations, and singsongy words that make it sound almost musical. The aroma of unfamiliar spices and tropical fruit mixes with the wharfside smells of fish, tar, and canvas.

Beyond all that, Port Nyanzaru is an explosion of color. Buildings are painted in bright shades of blue, green, orange, and salmon pink, or their walls are adorned with murals portraying giant reptiles and mythical heroes. Every building sports baskets and clay urns of colorful flowers or is draped in leafy, flowering vines. Minstrels in bright clothing adorned with feathers and shells perform on street corners. Multicolored pennants and sun awnings flutter atop the city walls. A crowd of children dressed in feathered hats and capes races past you, squealing in delighted terror as a street performer costumed as a big-toothed lizard stomps and roars behind them. The whole city seems to be bustling, sweating, laughing, swearing, and singing.

Syndra recommends that the characters secure rooms for themselves at either the Thundering Lizard (if they’re looking for a raucous time) or Kaya’s House of Repose (if they want a good night’s sleep). Both inns are located near the Red Bazaar (area 18). Meanwhile, Syndra heads to the villa of the merchant prince Wakanga O’tamu. There she intends to stay for the remainder of the adventure. If the characters express interest in accompanying her, she’s more than happy to introduce them to Wakanga (see “Merchant Princes”).

When describing the sights and sounds of Port Nyanzaru, emphasize the heat, the humidity, the exotic sounds and smells, and other unique aspects of Port Nyanzaru. Some of its notable features are described hereafter:

• Medium and Large dinosaurs are used as beasts of burden to haul two-wheeled carts, to hoist heavy loads on cranes, and to tow boats along the canals.
• Dinosaurs compete in weekly races through the streets. These brightly painted racing dinosaurs are fast, vicious, and barely under their riders' control.
• Flowers, green plants, and vines grow everywhere, seeming to spring out of the building stones themselves. The profusion of greenery needs constant tending to prevent roots and shoots from damaging buildings or tile roofs.
• The city’s defensive walls and towers are topped with colorful awnings to shield guards from the sun and rain.
• All streets within the city walls are paved with cobblestones or flagstones, and they have deep rain gutters as much as 2 feet wide. Residents of Port Nyanzaru pay little attention to any but the heaviest deluge.
• Tabaxi minstrels wander the streets, performing for anyone who tosses them a few coins.
• Walls divide the city into districts, and the open archways above the streets are painted with murals of dinosaurs, mountains, and mythic heroes.
• Crumbling ancient buildings covered with vines and lichens indicate the city’s great age.

The ground floors of most buildings are made of stucco-covered stone and have tiny windows to keep out the heat at street level. The upper floors have bamboo or thatch walls with enormous windows to let in the breeze, under broad thatched or tiled eaves. All buildings are richly decorated with paint, ivy, and vivid flowers. Some are painted in symmetrical, geometric patterns of straight lines and sharp angles, while others portray animals, monsters, landscapes, and heroes in a stylized manner unique to Chult. Where space permits, buildings traditionally include a walled yard or garden.

All the city’s water comes from rain, so every building has a cistern or wooden barrels to catch water running off the roof. Every public square is built around a fountain or rain basin. With so much water running downhill, Chultans also make excellent use of water-driven mechanical gadgets. Many buildings have water wheels built into their cisterns. Rainwater running through spouts or channels turns the wheel, which pumps water into pools, turns millstones, powers bellows or lathes or saws, or accomplishes any other labor-saving or amusing task Chultan engineers can dream up.

Side Quests

As the characters explore Port Nyanzaru, they might encounter NPCs who need their help. Given the urgency of their mission, characters might be reluctant to take on side quests. They are under no obligation to complete them; however, completing a side quest can lead to unexpected rewards and discoveries.

Introduce as many or as few of these side quests as you like. The NPCs who trigger them can be encountered anywhere within the city. If you can’t decide which side quest to choose, roll a d10.

Side Quest Picker

Collect a Debt

1. Collect a Debt

K’lahu (N female Chultan human thug), a bookie who takes bets at Executioner’s Run (see area 3), asks the adventurers to come with her as she collects a debt. The pay is 10 percent of whatever is collected on the 500 gp debt, which is owed by a man named Taban (N male Chultan human gladiator). Taban refuses to pay anything until he’s beaten down to 20 or fewer hit points, whereupon he offers up a pouch containing ten 50 gp gemstones. Ashamed by his defeat and eager to redeem himself, Taban offers to join the party as a follower, demanding no pay for the duration of the adventure.

Quest: Collect a Debt

K’lahu a bookie who takes bets at Executioner’s Run, asked us to come with her as she collects a debt. The pay is 10 percent of whatever is collected on the 500 gp debt, which is owed by a man named Taban.

Create a Distraction

2. Create a Distraction at Fort Beluarian

Rokah (N male Chultan human spy) works for the Zhentarim. The Zhents believe that pirates have formed an alliance with the Flaming Fist. Rokah has orders to infiltrate Fort Beluarian and find proof so that the Zhentarim can blackmail the fort’s commander. He asks the adventurers to escort him safely to the fort and create a distraction so that he can ransack the commander’s quarters. As a reward, Rokah offers to cover the cost of a charter of exploration (50 gp), which the characters will almost certainly need if they want to avoid future confrontations with the Flaming Fist. Rokah also offers to introduce the characters to two wilderness guides—a pair of tabaxi siblings named River Mist and Flask of Wine (see “Finding a Guide”)-and pay the guides' fees.

Quest: Create a distraction

Rokah works for the Zhentarim. The Zhents believe that pirates have formed an alliance with the Flaming Fist. Rokah has orders to infiltrate Fort Beluarian and find proof so that the Zhentarim can blackmail the fort’s commander. He asked us to escort him safely to the fort and create a distraction so that he can ransack the commander’s quarters. As a reward, Rokah offers to cover the cost of a charter of exploration (50 gp), which we will almost certainly need if we want to avoid future confrontations with the Flaming Fist. Rokah also offers to introduce us to two wilderness guides—a pair tabaxi siblings named River Mist and Flask of Wine-and pay the guides' fees.

Escort a Priest

3. Escort a Priest to Camp Vengeance

Undril Silvertusk (LG female half-orc priest of Torm with darkvision out to a range of 60 feet) is a representative of the Order of the Gauntlet and newly arrived in Port Nyanzaru. She needs to deliver herself plus a packet of dispatches from her superiors to Commander Niles Breakbone at Camp Vengeance. Undril was led to believe she could simply buy a horse in the city and ride to the camp, but now that she sees the terrain and conditions, that’s clearly not possible. She hopes to join any expedition headed up the River Soshenstar. Undril is quite attached to her chain shirt, but she’s not unreasonable when presented with good arguments for shedding the armor. If characters gain Undril’s respect, she’ll intercede strongly on their behalf if any difficulties arise with Commander Breakbone (as they’re likely to, as discussed in chapter 2).

Quest: Escort a Priest

Undril Silvertusk needs to deliver herself plus a packet of dispatches from her superiors to Commander Niles Breakbone at Camp Vengeance. Undril was led to believe she could simply buy a horse in the city and ride to the camp, but now that she sees the terrain and conditions, that’s clearly not possible. She hopes to join any expedition headed up the River Soshenstar.

Explore the Aldani Basin

4. Explore the Aldani Basin

Inete (LG female Chultan human acolyte of Savras) has had disturbing visions of red-robed wizards operating a secret base somewhere in the Aldani Basin. The head of her temple, Grandfather Zitembe, has too many other things on his mind, but he’s given Inete permission to investigate. Inete would like to accompany the characters' expedition for safety, if characters are heading toward or through that region. She’ll provide her own food and supplies, and “donate” another 100 gp to the expedition’s expenses. She insists on stopping by the temple of Savras to gather her belongings and urges the characters to come along. If they do, the characters can meet Grandfather Zitembe (see area 7).

Quest: Explore the Aldani Basin

Inete has had disturbing visions of red-robed wizards operating a secret base somewhere in the Aldani Basin. The head of her temple, Grandfather Zitembe, has too many other things on his mind, but he’s given Inete permission to investigate. Inete would like to accompany our expedition for safety, if we are heading toward or through that region. She’ll provide her own food and supplies, and “donate” another 100 gp to the expedition’s expenses. She insists on stopping by the temple of Savras to gather her belongings and urges us to come along.

Find Artus Cimber

5. Find Artus Cimber

A half-elf named Xandala approaches the characters and claims to be Artus Cimber’s daughter. Feigning worry, she asks the characters to help her find him. Artus can’t be found using magic, but Xandala has heard that Artus left the city with a reptilian man who doesn’t talk and smells funny. Both were last seen heading into the jungle. Xandala wants the Ring of Winter in Artus’s possession, but she doesn’t share this with the characters. Summerwise, Xandala’s pet pseudodragon, thinks the quest for the ring is too dangerous but has given up trying to talk sense into its mistress. Good-aligned characters might be able to turn Summerwise against Xandala, or at least get information from it that they can use to thwart Xandala’s plan or to aid Artus.

Quest: Find Artus Cimber

A half-elf named Xandala approached us claiming to be Artus Cimber’s daughter. She asked us to help her find him. Artus can’t be found using magic, but Xandala has heard that Artus left the city with a reptilian man who doesn’t talk and smells funny. Both were last seen heading into the jungle.

Help a Dyeing Man

6. Help a Dyeing Man

Omala (N male Chultan human commoner) is a master colorist at the dye works (area 23). He recently bought some dancing monkey fruit on the black market and used them to make and sell dye. Shortly thereafter, he received an iron token from the Ytepka Society—a grim warning. He wishes to atone for his crime and seeks an audience with Kwayothé, the merchant prince who controls the legal sale of fruit. Fearing for his life, Omala asks the adventurers to accompany him to Goldenthrone (see area 4), where he plans to beg for Kwayothé’s forgiveness. He has no money to offer the characters as a reward. Kwayothé is willing to forgive Omala’s lapse in judgment provided the characters agree to kill a man named Shago within the next 10 days-no questions asked-and speak of the deed to no one. Kwayothé tells them that Shago works as a guide out of Fort Beluarian. If the characters fail in this task, Kwayothé has Omala sentenced to Executioner’s Run (see area 3) for his crime.

Quest: Help a Dyeing Man

Omal is a master colorist at the dye works and he recently bought some dancing monkey fruit on the black market and used them to make and sell dye. Shortly thereafter, he received an iron token from the Ytepka Society—a grim warning. He wishes to atone for his crime and seeks an audience with Kwayothé, the merchant prince who controls the legal sale of fruit. Fearing for his life, Omala asked us to accompany him to Goldenthrone, where he plans to beg for Kwayothé’s forgiveness. He has no money to offer us as a reward.

Help the Lords' Alliance

7. Help the Lords' Alliance

Lerek Dashlynd (LN male Illuskan human spy), an agent of the Lords' Alliance, offers to trade a sailing ship for an accurate map of Chult that shows the exact location of the ruins of Nangalore and Orolunga. Lerek represents wealthy Waterdhavian interests, and the offer is genuine. If the characters present such a map, Lerek has a cleric cast augury before agreeing to buy it, to make sure he’s not buying a fake. Once he’s convinced that the map is genuine, Lerek arranges to have the promised ship arrive in 10 days.

Quest: Help the Lords' Alliance

Lerek Dashlynd, an agent of the Lords' Alliance, offered to trade a sailing ship for an accurate map of Chult that shows the exact location of the ruins of Nangalore and Orolunga.

Hunt Pirates

8. Hunt Pirates

The harbormaster, Zindar (see area 13 and appendix D), is a secret member of the Ytepka Society. He knows that three pirate captains are attacking merchant ships heading to and from the Bay of Chult. The pirate ships are called the Dragonfang, the Emerald Eye, and the Stirge. Zindar has permission from the merchant princes to offer a bounty of 2,000 gp for each pirate ship that is captured and brought into port, and a bonus 500 gp for the capture of each pirate captain.

Quest: Hunt Pirates

The harbormaster, Zindar, knows that three pirate captains are attacking merchant ships heading to and from the Bay of Chult. The pirate ships are called the Dragonfang, the Emerald Eye, and the Stirge. Zindar has permission from the merchant princes to offer a bounty of 2,000 gp for each pirate ship that is captured and brought into port, and a bonus 500 gp for the capture of each pirate captain.

Save an Innocent Man

9. Save an Innocent Man

Belym (LG male Chultan human commoner) is distraught because his husband, Draza (LG male Chultan commoner), has been sentenced to Executioner’s Run for stealing. Belym asserts that his husband was a victim of mistaken identity and sentenced without a proper hearing or trial. He’s been unable to persuade anyone in authority that Draza is innocent. He’ll give the characters 25 sp (all his savings) if they can help Draza from the sidelines so he survives the run. Draza is about to be thrown into the pit with a pair of velociraptor, so the characters must act quickly. Both the authorities and the gamblers take a dim view of interference.

Quest: Save an Innocent Man

Belym is distraught because his husband, Draza), has been sentenced to Executioner’s Run for stealing. Belym asserts that his husband was a victim of mistaken identity and sentenced without a proper hearing or trial. He’s been unable to persuade anyone in authority that Draza is innocent. He’ll give us 25 sp if we can help Draza from the sidelines so he survives the run. Draza is about to be thrown into the pit with a pair of velociraptors, so we must act quickly.

Seek Wisdom at Orolunga

10. Seek Wisdom at Orolunga

Eshek (NG male Chultan human acolyte of Savras) stumbles up to the characters in the street and whispers,

Stumbling character

“Speak to the wise guardian of Orolunga, east of Mbala. She can direct you to that which you seek.”

Then he collapses, unconscious. When he awakens moments later, Eshek has no memory of the last 12 hours aside from a driving need to find people matching the characters' descriptions. He’s as puzzled by what just happened as the characters probably are, but he’ll help them however he can. At the very least, he knows where Mbala is from speaking to porters who’ve been to Camp Vengeance.

Quest: Seek Wisdom at Orolunga

Eshek, an acolyte of Savras stumbled up to us in the street and whispered,

“Speak to the wise guardian of Orolunga, east of Mbala. She can direct you to that which you seek.”

Then he collapsed, unconscious. When he awoke moments later, Eshek had no memory of the last 12 hours aside from a driving need to find people matching the our descriptions. He’s as puzzled by what just happened as the we are, but he’ll help us however he can. At the very least, he knew where Mbala is from speaking to porters who’ve been to Camp Vengeance.

Locations in the City

Shown in map 1.1, Port Nyanzaru is a city of walls within walls. Burgeoning wealth has driven the city’s richest residents to raise defenses against the jungle’s dangers, and possibly against the dangers they perceive from the city’s less-well-off districts, which all lie outside the main wall. The walls are impressive barriers of massive, fitted stone. Like other structures in Port Nyanzaru, they’re decorated with colorful paintings of geometric designs, animals, and mythic figures.

The city is defined by four steep hills. The western-most hill, called Temple Hill because it’s home to the temple of Savras, is completely walled off from lower ground. A wide stone bridge crosses on arched columns from Temple Hill to Throne Hill, site of Goldenthrone. A second bridge connects Throne Hill to the southern slopes, site of several merchant princes' villas. East of the harbor, the Hall of Gold gleams atop the city’s tallest hill, Mount Sibasa, which is connected by bridge to the neighboring Yklwazi Hill (pronounced yick-ul-WAHzee), site of the Grand Coliseum. Steep, stepped streets and terraces surround each hill.

Outside the main walls are three slums: the Old City to the southwest, where many buildings are remnants of older, pyramidal construction; Malar’s Throat to the south, where buildings cling to the walls of a lush canyon spanned by rope bridges; and Tiryki Anchorage to the southeast, where explorers and river folk gather.

About half the city’s population lives crowded together outside the walls, where they’re always exposed to sudden attacks by carnivores or undead. A volunteer citizens' brigade keeps watch for approaching danger.

When residents of the outer wards hear the long blast of warning horns, day or night, they scramble for the safety of the Market Ward and Merchants' Ward until the all clear sounds.

Troubleshooting

There’s enough happening in Port Nyanzaru that you won’t need to rely on random encounters to keep things interesting. That being said, if the players seem restless, use the random encounters in appendix B to spice things up a bit as they’re gathering supplies for their expedition. At any time, the party might run into Volothamp Geddarm (see “City Denizens”). Volo’s familiarity with Port Nyanzaru makes him a font of useful information. If the party doesn’t already have a wilderness guide, he advises characters to secure one before they enter the jungle. Volo might also suggest that characters partake in the dinosaur races (see “Things to Do”).

If characters visit Wakanga O’tamu, he gives them the wizard’s journal in his possession. If the party has not yet secured a guide by the time they meet Wakanga, he suggests that the characters arrange one through Jobal. Volo can facilitate an introduction. For more information on guides and their rates, see “Finding a Guide”.

Old City

Three ancient, vine-covered ziggurats tower above this crumbling ward. The whole district is a juxtaposition of ancient and decaying (but still occupied) stone structures interspersed with flimsy new huts and longhouses of bamboo and thatch.

The Old City is run by “beggar princes” in a mocking parallel to the merchant princes of the city proper. They have no official authority, but each of them sits atop a web of debts, favors, incriminating information, and loyal muscle that allows them to get things done with an efficiency that the merchant princes sometimes envy. Unlike the merchant princes, whose positions are based on wealth that passes from generation to generation in the same family, the identities and even the number of the beggar princes changes continually.

The Old City is run down but it isn’t a slum or a haven for thieves. Most of the residents are lower-class laborers or struggling artisans who can’t afford the higher rents of homes inside the city walls.

1. Beggars' Palaces

The Beggars' Palaces are the two largest ziggurats of the Old City. Shops and tenements of bamboo are jammed onto the terraces of the ziggurats in wild profusion. The upper levels are cleaner and less crowded than those near street level. A narrow wooden bridge connects the upper levels above the press and noise of the street.

2. Executioner’s Run

The road through the Old City splits around a rectangular, stone-lined pit 15 feet deep, 50 feet wide, and 200 feet long. The original Amnian residents built it as an arena for a highly competitive ball game, and it still provides cheap entertainment for the locals. Velociraptors, panthers, or other hungry beasts (a juvenile allosaurus is a guaranteed crowd pleaser) are set loose in the pit, then convicted criminals are dropped in at one end. Any criminals who make it alive through the gauntlet of carnivores to the far end of the pit can scramble up knotted ropes and win their freedom, along with the adulation of the crowd. Spectators line the walls for these spectacles-including representatives from every level of Port Nyanzaru society, not just residents of the Old City. Bets are placed on which criminals will survive, which will die, how far runners will get before a beast brings them down, and how many kills each animal will rack up.

A handful of Chultans have become celebrities by surviving multiple dashes through Executioner’s Run. It’s been suggested that some people continue committing crimes solely because a conviction is the only way to get tossed into the pit, and betting is always heaviest on a repeat offender.

Occasionally an animal manages to leap or scramble out of the pit and runs amok through the terrified crowd. Moments of such high peril provide a perfect opportunity for bystanders to become heroes in the city and earn favors from the merchant princes.

Quest: Save an Innocent Man

Belym is distraught because his husband, Draza), has been sentenced to Executioner’s Run for stealing. Belym asserts that his husband was a victim of mistaken identity and sentenced without a proper hearing or trial. He’s been unable to persuade anyone in authority that Draza is innocent. He’ll give us 25 sp if we can help Draza from the sidelines so he survives the run. Draza is about to be thrown into the pit with a pair of velociraptors, so we must act quickly.

3. Refuse Pit

An enormous sinkhole serves as the city’s garbage dump. Every type of refuse gets tossed here, up to and including dead bodies. It’s a festering scar of garbage, rancid water, and vermin. Rats, insects, and ravens abound. Ghouls are sometimes seen prowling through the pit in search of fresh corpses.

Although the level of refuse in the pit rises and falls, the pit never gets full. This is thanks to an unknown number of otyugh living at the bottom and eating their fill daily. They’re content to remain in the bountiful pit, but they’d quickly pounce on anyone careless or unlucky enough to slip on the greasy edge and fall in.

Merchant’s Ward

The western half of the city is called the Merchants' Ward because it’s the site of the Grand Souk and because many of the merchant princes' villas are there. In general, this is the upper-class section of the city. The majority of the city’s merchants and traders actually live and work in the Market Ward.

4. Goldenthrone

This palace serves as the meeting place for the merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru and is recognized as the seat of the city’s loose government. It was built decades ago by an Amnian trader and is one of the most opulent structures in the city, rivaled only by the grander temples and the merchant princes' villas. An honor guard of eight Chultan gladiator is always on duty, to keep away loiterers in the daytime and thieves in the night.

Goldenthrone is the best place to meet any of the merchant princes without an appointment. They rarely meet with visitors who show up unannounced at their homes. During the day, each merchant prince has a 1-in-6 chance to be at Goldenthrone, accompanied by a retinue of aides and guards. Characters must wait 1d3 hours before being given an audience. In fact, the merchant princes have few day-to-day responsibilities when it comes to running Port Nyanzaru, so unless a meeting is being held to discuss city business, the delay is just a tactic to underscore who’s in charge. If the characters have interesting news, they’re likely to obtain an audience and to be given as much of the merchant’s time as they need.

Quest: Help a Dyeing Man

Omal is a master colorist at the dye works and he recently bought some dancing monkey fruit on the black market and used them to make and sell dye. Shortly thereafter, he received an iron token from the Ytepka Society—a grim warning. He wishes to atone for his crime and seeks an audience with Kwayothé, the merchant prince who controls the legal sale of fruit. Fearing for his life, Omala asked us to accompany him to Goldenthrone, where he plans to beg for Kwayothé’s forgiveness. He has no money to offer us as a reward.

Quest: Kill Shago

Kwayothé is willing to forgive Omala’s lapse in judgment provided we agree to kill a man named Shago within the next 10 days-no questions asked-and speak of the deed to no one. Kwayothé told us that Shago works as a guide out of Fort Beluarian. If we fail in this task, Kwayothé will have Omala sentenced to Executioner’s Run for his crime.

5. Merchant Prince’s Villa

Each merchant prince has a private villa in the city. These residences have beautifully plastered walls adorned with bright murals, patios and arcades festooned with fresh flowers, garden courtyards open to the sky, and enormous cisterns equipped with water wheels to power fountains, fans, and kinetic sculptures.

None of the merchant princes is likely to meet player characters who show up unannounced at their doors unless the characters did something noteworthy (such as winning a dinosaur race, stopping a rampaging carnivore, or completing an expedition that made significant discoveries). The exception is Wakanga O’tamu, who welcomes any adventurers traveling in the company of Syndra Silvane.

For details of a sample villa, see “Merchant Prince’s Villa”.

6. Grand Souk

The Grand Souk, or market, is one of the three beating hearts of Port Nyanzaru-the others being the jewel market and the Red Bazaar. True to its name, the Grand Souk is the grandest of the three.

Traders from up and down the Sword Coast come to this market to buy timber, spices, medicines concocted from jungle plants, dinosaur skulls and claws, iron, tiger pelts, carved ivory, Batiri and grung handiwork, colored feathers, tropical fruit, monkeys, plesiosaur meat, and all the other riches of Chult. Business begins before the sun comes up, and dealing doesn’t stop until well after darkness edges across the city. It’s a noisy, jostling, aroma-rich circus. Guards are numerous, but less numerous than the urchins and pickpockets. Street performers and tabaxi minstrels add to the cacophony. Colorful awnings protect the market from sun and rain but also trap the heat and smells.

Everything listed in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook can be purchased in the Grand Souk. Unusual items might not be available (elephants aren’t found in Chult, for example), but a merchant can always be contracted who’ll bring an item to order, for the right price.

7. Temple of Savras

Savras is a deity of wizards, fortune tellers, diviners, and those who unfailingly speak the truth regardless of whether listeners want to hear it. His symbol is a monstrous eye, or a crystal ball filled with eyes. Savras’s temple is one of the oldest, grandest buildings in the city. The tiled roof of its great dome resembles an unblinking eye, staring skyward.

A deity devoted to revealing the truth might seem to have a weak draw in a city of merchants, but Savras was widely worshiped in Chult long before the Spellplague. In those years, Savras’s clergy were valued because they could keep tabs on the activities of the inscrutable yuan-ti. The snake people still loom large as bogeymen in the imaginations of Chultans, but nowadays the clergy of Savras scries into more mundane matters: portents around business affairs, the outlook for newborn children, and affairs of the heart.

The head priest of the temple is Grandfather Zitembe (LG male Chultan human priest). When the characters meet the priest for the first time, he’s in the midst of a heated conversation with three members of the Zhentarim (NE male Tethyrian human assassin) who are looking for Artus Cimber. The Zhents have come to the temple to see if Zitembe can cast a spell to aid in their search. Although the assassins offer payment in the form of a 500 gp ruby, Zitembe senses their evil intentions and shoos them away. The assassins seem hesitant to leave without satisfaction, but the arrival of the characters changes their minds, and they depart with scowls on their faces. The characters' timely arrival makes Zitembe predisposed to help them.

If he’s approached for aid or advice in tracking down the Soulmonger, Zitembe’s first reaction is to express disbelief that the death curse has anything to do with Chult. If characters give a compelling argument or make a donation to the church of at least 25 gp, Zitembe agrees to “consult the guides.” This ritual takes 24 hours, during which Zitembe sees visions of “a jungle city far to the south, enclosed by cliffs and crawling with snakes” and “a black obelisk draped in vines.” He dared not peer any deeper, but he urges the characters to seek out this city and the obelisk.

Quest: Seek the Obelisk in the City

We consulted Grandfather Zitembe, the head priest at the Temple of Savras in Port Nyanzaru about the Soulmonger. Grandfather Zitembe saw visions of “a jungle city far to the south, enclosed by cliffs and crawling with snakes” and “a black obelisk draped in vines.” He dared not peer any deeper, but he urged us to seek out this city and the obelisk.

8. Temple of Gond

The boxy stone temple of Gond looms behind the royal docks. It’s popular among Port Nyanzaru’s many artisans, craftspeople, smiths, ivory carvers, and hydro-engineers. Where most such temples have a forge as a centerpiece, this one features an immense fountain whose water jets shift continually to create amazing shapes. It’s all done with nozzles and valves moving on cams, driven by the city’s plentiful water pressure.

9. Temple of Sune

Isolated atop a rocky formation in the sea, the temple of Sune is reachable only by an elevated causeway from Temple Hill or by boat. Steep steps wind up the cliff from the temple’s small harbor. When seen from a distance, the temple’s roof seems to float in midair-an illusion created by mirrors lining the outside walls. Inside, Sune’s faithful and casual visitors alike can partake of public baths, receive lessons in applying makeup and styling one’s hair, and learn to dress in a manner that suits the individual’s body, profession, and the climate. Newcomers to the temple must make a Charisma check. Those who score 15 or higher are welcomed as brothers and sisters of Sune; those who score 10 or higher are offered friendly advice on how to improve their presentation; and those who score 9 or less are greeted with sad, sympathetic looks and surrounded by a crowd of coddling devotees.

10. Jewel Market

The jewel market is intentionally styled as a miniature, more exclusive version of the Grand Souk. Its chief business is buying and selling the rich supply of jewels that are dug out of Chult’s mines, but many other rare luxury items are also traded here. This market is largely secure against pickpockets and thieves, thanks to the privately hired security agents patrolling it openly (guard) and undercover (spy). All of them work for the merchant prince Zhanthi, who has a monopoly on the jewelry trade in Port Nyanzaru.

Harbor Ward

Port Nyanzaru’s harbor can accommodate ships of all sizes. The enclosed, eastern portion of the harbor is reserved for the use of the merchant princes, but the rest of the docks are available for use by any ship.

If the characters wish to travel by sea, they can book passage on the Brazen Pegasus at a cost of 10 gp per day (for the whole party). A 60-foot sloop built for speed, she has a single mast flying a square mainsail plus two triangular foresails, one aft sail, and a small topsail. All that canvas gives her a top speed of 10 mph under ideal conditions.

The Brazen Pegasus is captained by Ortimay Swift and Dark (CG female rock gnome bandit captain with darkvision out to a range of 60 feet), who is both clever and calm. The first mate is Grig Ruddell (N male Illuskan human veteran), a hulking man whose face is almost hidden by a heavy beard streaked with gray. Other than shouting orders at the crew and conversing in low tones with Captain Ortimay, Ruddell barely speaks. The remainder of the crew consists of six sailors (N male and female bandit of various ethnicities).

Characters might assume that Ortimay’s chief business is smuggling-and they’d be correct. However, she is happy to take adventurers wherever they need to go. She knows about the dragon turtle in the Bay of Chult and expects the characters to provide the necessary tribute. She also knows that pirates prowl the waters around Chult, though her ship easily outruns theirs.

There are no permanent shelters or cabins on the main deck of the Brazen Pegasus. A tarp can be rigged across the aft portion of the deck for shade from the tropical sun. The sailors sleep on deck when weather permits. The lower deck houses Captain Ortimay’s cabin and the cargo hold, which doubles as the crew’s cooking, eating, and sleeping area in foul weather.

11. Royal Docks

The term “royal” dates back to the age when Chult was ruled by true kings and queens instead of merchants. Now these docks are reserved for the exclusive use of the merchant princes and those diplomats, dignitaries, and influential foreign merchants whom the merchant princes want to flatter with privilege or impress with magnificence.

12. Statue

The statue at the center of the harbor represents an ancient Chultan king in full regalia, resplendent in a loincloth of leopard skin and a headdress of feathers, shells, and tyrannosaurus teeth; draped in a cape of girallon fur and monkey tails; and wielding the traditional oval shield and yklwa of Chult. Residents call it Na N’buso, the Great King.

The statue isn’t nearly as ancient as the mythic king it portrays. It was erected just five years ago, at a time when Port Nyanzaru was flexing its new mercantile muscle, to impress on foreigners that Chult is an independent land with a glorious history. Few who see it fail to get the message.

13. Harbormaster’s Office

Outside of the harbormaster’s office is a bulletin board that provides the names and whereabouts of several wilderness guides (see “Finding a Guide”). The harbormaster is a half-gold dragon named Zindar. He’s seldom in this sturdy, airy building, however; most of his time is spent dealing with the hundreds of disputes, traffic jams, and other minor problems that crop up every day on a busy quayside. Zindar finds that his imposing personal presence gets issues resolved more quickly and more to his satisfaction than any number of subordinates can accomplish. Clerks in the office seldom know exactly where Zindar is at any time, but messages can be left for him; he’ll leave a reply within 1d6 hours.

If characters present themselves as adventurers, Zindar offers them a quest (see “Side Quests”)

14. Lighthouse

A flame burns atop the lighthouse day and night to guide ships through darkness, fog, and rain to the harbor. Various powders can be added to the fire to create thick columns of colored smoke that can be seen from Fort Beluarian and from the mines along the Bay of Chult.

15. Fort Nyanzaru

The fort contains a winch for raising and lowering an immense iron chain stretched between the fort and the lighthouse. When the chain is raised, no ship can sail into or out of the harbor. The chain hasn’t been raised against attackers in decades, but it’s used occasionally to prevent a ship from slipping out of the harbor with criminals or contraband on board. The fort also mounts two ballistas that can launch heavy bolts or canisters of alchemist’s fire. Its garrison consists of a noble (the castellan), four veteran (officers), and forty guard loyal to the merchant princes.

16. Warehouse District

Goods of every type being shipped into or out of Port Nyanzaru are stored in these warehouses. Canals are cut between the rows of warehouses, allowing ships to be towed by harnessed dinosaurs directly to the desired warehouse for easier loading and unloading. A large ship can easily block a canal, so good traffic management is required; that’s one of the harbormaster’s responsibilities.

Like any warehouse district, this one is largely deserted at night, making it a good spot for secret meetings and other mischief.

17. Dry Dock

Port Nyanzaru isn’t famous for building ships, but many vessels that come here wind up needing hull repairs-especially those that had run-ins with typhoons, pirates, or Aremag the dragon turtle (see “Bay of Chult”). It’s easy work for dinosaurs to drag ships out of the water into the drydock so holes can be patched and barnacles scraped off.

Market Ward

The Market Ward is where most of Port Nyanzaru’s regular shops are located and where most of its tradesfolk, merchants, and other middle-class residents live and work.

18. Red Bazaar

No one knows how the Red Bazaar got its name. One story is that the label comes from the huge slabs of dinosaur meat sold here and the resulting buckets of blood that stain the rain-washed gutters, and that’s probably as good an explanation as any.

The residents of Port Nyanzaru shop for their daily needs at the Red Bazaar. Unlike the Grand Souk, which deals heavily in durable goods and luxury items, the Red Bazaar deals in everyday needs: locally produced meat, vegetables, tropical fruit, tej, light tropical clothing, insect repellent, rain catchers, and other household goods. The buyers and sellers in the Red Bazaar are predominantly locals.

Inns

Two noteworthy inns are located near the Red Bazaar. The Thundering Lizard caters to a raucous clientele, and a bed for the night costs 5 sp. Kaya’s House of Repose is much quieter, but a bed for the night costs 1 gp. Wilderness guides are known to frequent both establishments, looking for work (see “Finding a Guide”).

19. Fish Market

Seafood is a staple in Port Nyanzaru, both because catching fish is easier and safer than hunting dinosaurs, and tender fish tastes better than tough reptile. The fish market is a great place to buy the day’s meals. Prices are higher in the morning, when quality and selection are also better.

20. Grand Coliseum

This stone arena is the site of gladiatorial games (usually nonlethal, but accidents happen), bloody animal combats, and spectacular circuses. The best gladiators become celebrities and earn fortunes. Statues of the arena’s greatest champions line the tops of the Grand Coliseum’s walls, including one of the city’s current merchant princes. (Ekene-Afa gained fame and fortune as a gladiator before retiring from the arena to become a trader and politician.)

Events are held on most afternoons; only special shows are held after sundown, as the coliseum depends on natural light. During the week, the bill features qualifying matches, consolation bouts, and other small events. Major events, championships, and special extravaganzas are staged on holidays. A holiday show might include a battle between “heroes of legend” and “pirates” (all portrayed by gladiators), a bloody match pitting velociraptors against tigers, or even a contest of mages battling captured ghouls, skeletons, or zombies.

21. Hall of Gold

This magnificent structure is a temple to Waukeen, but residents call it the Hall of Gold for its shining, golden roof and for Waukeen’s focus on trade and wealth. Mount Sibasa is the highest point in the city, and when the sun is shining, light glinting off the temple roof can be seen for miles out at sea. Some city residents swear that the roof is sheathed in pure burnished gold, but it’s only paint. A wide stone bridge connects Mount Sibasa to the Grand Coliseum on Yklwazi Hill.

The chief priest of Waukeen in Port Nyanzaru is Sibonseni, Mother of Prosperity (LN female Chultan priest). She is one of the city’s most influential residents after the merchant princes, and she enjoys tremendous support from every layer of society for the temple’s charitable work and for its support of civic improvements. In fact, the temple is also one of the city’s richest banks. When Mother Sibonseni travels through the streets, she rides in an elegant sedan chair accompanied by drummers, singers, dancers, and temple aides who distribute fistfuls of copper coins to the poor. Needless to say, this causes traffic jams, but the people of the city love her.

22. Public Bathhouse

Port Nyanzaru is a very clean city thanks to the cleansing rain, and its residents are also scrupulous about hygiene. Most would be repulsed by the thought of a day without a bath. Dozens of small bathhouses across the city operate like private clubs, but the public bathhouse is open to everyone and is run by the priesthood of Sune (see area 9). It’s both egalitarian and elegant: wealthy merchants and dock laborers rub elbows in the tiled baths and marble-floored changing rooms. There is no charge, but bathers are requested to leave a donation to the temple of Sune befitting their station in life. Because Chultans are justifiably proud of this facility, even the poorest try to leave at least a copper piece in the giant clamshell by the entrance. Many independent masseurs and masseuses are on hand to massage weary muscles; these services cost 2d10 sp.

23. Dye Works

Along with cleanliness, Chultans love colorful clothing. Textile weaving is not one of Chult’s native industries, because the jungle isn’t suited for growing cotton or raising sheep. However, the jungle and the sea provide everything necessary to concoct vibrant dyes in a rainbow of colors. Merchants import light, plain fabrics, which are dyed in vibrant colors and patterns at the dye works before being sold locally or exported back to the regions where the cloth originated. Local tailors craft the fabric into the long shirts, knee-length pants, sarongs, and kilts favored in Port Nyanzaru.

The cliff below the dye works and the sea around it are perpetually stained bright orange, blue, red, green, and yellow, depending on what colors are being dumped from the vats that day. People employed at the dye works are easily recognized on the street because their hands and feet are likewise brightly stained.

Malar’s Throat

This region outside the city walls is Port Nyanzaru’s slum district. Two sheer, jungle-draped ridges flank a deep ravine. Ramshackle buildings cling to the sides of the ridges, each structure seemingly built atop the lower one’s roof. During heavy rain, runoff pours down the ravine, through Ubtao’s Jaws (the large gate in the city wall facing Malar’s Throat), and down the paved streets to the harbor, often sweeping along unattended baskets, dead animals, and even clumsy or unlucky Chultans in its tow.

Foot bridges of rope and bamboo hang above the ravine. Some of them are 200 feet long or longer and sway a hundred feet above ground, terrifying the faint of heart. Skilled thieves have been known to drop hooks on thin lines from the bridges and “fish” purses right off victims' belts.

24. Temple of Tymora

Tymora’s temple is built like a sturdy blockhouse of heavy stone. It’s not an elegant structure, but residents rely on it to be a safe refuge when floodwater pours down Malar’s Throat or when the alarm horns blow and there’s no time to reach the safety of the city before undead swarm up the ravine. The people who live in Malar’s Throat don’t consider themselves especially lucky, but what little luck they have, they attribute to the Lady’s presence among them.

Tiryki Anchorage

This district east of the city is populated by animal trainers, river folk, explorers who need inexpensive lodging, and other rough-and-tumble sorts. Smugglers prefer the unregulated docks of the anchorage over the policed and inspected docks of the harbor, despite the shortage of dock workers and beast-powered cranes to assist in loading and unloading.

Unlike Malar’s Throat and the Old City, Tiryki Anchorage has no fortified temple or ancient stone ziggurats where residents can take shelter against undead or carnivores. Most people dash for Tiryki Gate when the alarm sounds and hope to get through before it’s locked ahead of them. Fortunately, the animals in their pens are more sensitive to approaching enemies than humans are, so few creatures are able to sneak into the area undetected.

25. Dinosaur Pens

Most of the beasts of burden in the city were trained out here, and they’re penned up at night. Ankylosauruses and triceratopses are the most common in that role. Dinosaurs trained for street racing are also stabled here. Most Chultan handlers have a +5 bonus to Animal Handling skill checks, and they work with the same animals day after day.

City Denizens

Chultans comprise two-thirds of Port Nyanzaru’s population. The city’s remaining inhabitants are foreigners, many of whom are profiteers or adventurers seeking either to plunder Chult of its riches or to help protect the city against encroaching monsters.

Volothamp “Volo” Geddarm

Characters can encounter Volo anywhere in Port Nyanzaru. For more information on him, see appendix D.

The legendary world traveler is in Port Nyanzaru to deliver signed copies of his new book, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, to the merchant princes (some of whom he knows well, and others he claims to know well), and to promote his latest work. Characters are most likely to encounter Volo in one of the city’s inns or taverns, or in a merchant prince’s villa.

Volo is a font of information, but not everything he says is true, despite his hearty avowals of accuracy. He won’t venture outside Port Nyanzaru under any circumstances.

If the characters buy a copy of Volo’s book (50 gp for a durable hardcover edition), they can put it to use. Any time they want to know lore about a particular monster described in the book, give them useful tidbits from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. Do not impart game statistics, since such information would not be available in-world. If this reference is unavailable, use the information in appendix D.

The personable Volo is more than willing to share 1d4+1 rumors from the Jungle Rumors table, which he’s overheard since arriving in Port Nyanzaru.

Chult Rumors

Merchant Princes

Seven merchant princes rule Port Nyanzaru, each one with an equal vote in matters of state. All are Chultan. Their single qualification is that they’re the seven richest people in the city. Their seat of governance is Goldenthrone, an old, regal Amnian palace overlooking the bay. A merchant prince who retires can yield his or her position to a family member or someone else of immense wealth agreed on by the majority.

The merchant princes surround themselves with loyal family and underlings, but they also employ foreign mercenaries both as city guards and as personal guards. Most of these mercenaries are Zhents, and where one finds the Zhentarim, one can also find Harper spies.

The merchant princes have specific monopolies on all merchandise sold in the city. Characters in need of gear or supplies must deal through these individuals directly or their consortiums indirectly. The only alternative is to resort to the black markets in Malar’s Throat or Tiryki Anchorage.

Ekene-Afa

Deals in weapons, shields, traveling gear, rain catchers, saddles, wagons, and canoes

Ekene-Afa (LG female Chultan human gladiator) won numerous gladiatorial contests in Port Nyanzaru’s arena before she invested her winnings into financing her first trade deals. She is a legend among the common rabble who grew up watching her battles. Her husband, Kura, is a painter, and they have twin teenage sons named Soshen and Tiryk. Soshen is a city guard, and Tiryk is a popular dinosaur racer. Both were named after Chultan rivers.

Ekene-Afa sells nonmagical weapons and shields of every kind, but most of her inventory consists of flint daggers, yklwas with wooden shafts and obsidian tips (see “Buying a Special Item,") and shields made of wooden frames with layers of reptile hide stretched over them. Ekene-Afa pays Wakanga O’tamu to place permanent enchantments on a select few of these items, which she sells at the prices listed in the Magic Shields and Weapons for Sale table.

Magic Shields and Weapons for Sale

Ifan Talro’A

Deals in beasts and beast training

Ifan Talro’a (NE male Chultan human noble) is a greedy, conniving man supported by influential and dangerous friends among the Zhentarim. He is jealous of Wakanga O’tamu’s magical power and Ekene-Afa’s reputation from the arena. Talro’a sells animals that can be trained as mounts or pets, including dinosaurs and flying monkeys. The yuan-ti of Omu secretly pay Talro’a to warn them if treasure hunters are headed south into the deep jungle. He uses flying snakes as messengers. Talro’a doesn’t know for certain that the messages go to yuan-ti, but he strongly suspects it.

Ifan has no family and no close relationships. He is naturally distrustful of everyone.

Buying Beasts

Ifan Talro’a employs dozens of merchants throughout Port Nyanzaru who not only serve as his spies but also sell domesticated beasts that can be used as companions, mounts, or pack animals. Flying snakes trained as messengers are popular with the Zhentarim, and Talro’a sells them to no one else.

The Beasts for Sale table lists the creatures available for purchase in Port Nyanzaru. Statistics for the hadrosaurus, the deinonychus, and the flying monkey appear in appendix D. See the Monster Manual for all others.

Beasts for Sale

Jessamine

Deals in plants, poison, and assassination

Jessamine (N female Chultan human assassin, her hit point maximum reduced to 58) doesn’t speak often. When the council finds itself divided on an issue, however, Jessamine usually casts the deciding vote. Most of her body is hidden under billowy robes and tightly wrapped black bandages.

Jessamine trades in plants, herbs, poison, and sanctioned assassination. Murder is illegal in Port Nyanzaru, as it is almost everywhere, but Jessamine has a monopoly on “sanctions”-writs that allow a killing by ordained methods (usually poison or stabbing with a blade). For an added fee, her agents will carry out the assassination, with results guaranteed. Poison is her specialty, and she has a vast personal collection. She sells all the poisons listed in the Poisons table in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide at market prices.

Twelve years ago, Jessamine had a brief but torrid love affair with an Amnian sea captain. The “fruit” of that affair is a shy daughter named Ymezra. Under Jessamine’s watchful eye, tutors are teaching Ymezra the skills she needs to take over the family business one day.

Jessamine’s Curse

Before she went into business for herself, Jessamine worked as an assassin for a Calishite pasha. She died on a mission, but her benefactor paid a handsome price to raise her from the dead. As a result of her misfortune years ago, Jessamine is now suffering from the effects of the Soulmonger’s death curse. She covers her rotting flesh with scarves and bandage wrappings, and she is predisposed to help any adventurers actively trying to end the death curse.

Jobal

Deals in guides and sellswords

Jobal (NE male Chultan human scout) made a fortune as a wilderness guide when the party he was working for discovered a stunning cache of Chultan gold and jewels. Miraculously, only Jobal survived the gauntlet of undead and dinosaur attacks, making it back to Port Nyanzaru in a canoe laden with treasure. There’s no doubt he’s led a life of adventure; his body bears many scars from his escapades. His chief spy, confidante, and consort is Aazon Talieri (NG male Tethyrian human spy). Jobal trusts him implicitly, and Aazon’s loyalty is beyond reproach.

Because of his dealings with explorers, Jobal has an intense interest in maps of Chult. He would pay the characters handsomely for Syndra Silvane’s map, if he learns of its existence. If they refuse to sell, he’ll resort to theft, and eventually to murder.

Hiring a Guide

If the characters visit Jobal in search of a guide, he recommends that they seek out one or more of his guides in Port Nyanzaru (see “Finding a Guide”.) Jobal assigns Aazon the task of escorting the adventurers to whichever guides interest them. Jobal doesn’t require payment up front, since all guides in Port Nyanzaru are required by law to pay him a fair cut of their earnings.

If the characters follow Jobal’s advice and accompany Aazon, give them copies of handouts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 as Aazon introduces the party to various guides in the city.

Kwayothé

Deals in fruit, wine, ale, tej, oil, perfume, and insect repellent

Kwayothé (NE female Chultan human priest wearing a ring of fire resistance) is calm and contemplative in a way that’s vaguely menacing. She worships the fire god Kossuth (pronounced kaw-SOOTH) and likes torturing others, particularly if it involves fire and hot coals. Kwayothé has two consorts-a succubus named Ixis and an incubus named Indar. These fiends take the forms of beautiful Chultans.

Kwayothé grew up in the streets of Port Nyanzaru, poor and destitute. She despises nobility and wants to destroy every last vestige of the Chultan royal families. She considers Zhanthi her mortal enemy and has grown impatient waiting for the old noblewoman to die. Although she hides her contempt well, Kwayothé is forever meddling in Zhanthi’s business and family affairs. If Zhanthi is aware of Kwayothé’s hostility toward her and her family, she’s elected not to show it.

Kwayothé employs traders who make their own tej and insect repellent. For more information on these special items, see “Buying a Special Item."

Wakanga O’Tamu

Deals in magic and lore

Wakanga O’tamu (LN male Chultan human mage) is the only arcane spellcaster among the merchant princes. He’s a long-time friend of Syndra Silvane, and he’s something of a dandy who’s easily seduced by smart women-or perhaps that’s only a carefully constructed public image. Unknown to his peers, Wakanga is sympathetic to the Harpers and allows them to use his villa as a safe house.

Wakanga deals in knowledge, information, lost lore, potions, and scrolls. He knows of the death curse but little else about it. If the characters seem committed to ending the curse, he’ll help them as best he can, including selling them minor magic items (see the Magic Items for Sale table). Wakanga has a monopoly on these items in Port Nyanzaru, so characters either pay his prices or go without. As much as he wants to help, he’s unlikely to extend credit; all purchases must be in coin, gemstones, or jewelry.

Magic Items for Sale

Wizard’s Journal

In his collection, Wakanga has a tattered, water-damaged explorer’s journal that was brought out of the jungle 15 years ago. It describes a wizard’s explorations of various places in Chult, but not in enough detail to locate them on a map. The unnamed author does, however, make many mentions of his only traveling companion: a shield guardian named Vorn. If the characters befriend Wakanga, he gives them the journal and shows them on Syndra’s map where it was found (he accurately indicates the hex containing the guardian; see “Vorn” in chapter 2 for more information). The journal contains a picture of Vorn’s control amulet but provides no clues to the amulet’s current whereabouts. As reward for finding and retrieving the construct and its control amulet, Wakanga offers a spellbook containing fifteen randomly determined spells (roll a d6 to determine the level of each spell).

Quest: Find Vorn

In his collection, Wakanga has a tattered, water-damaged explorer’s journal that was brought out of the jungle 15 years ago. It describes a wizard’s explorations of various places in Chult, but not in enough detail to locate them on a map. The unnamed author does, however, make many mentions of his only traveling companion: a shield guardian named Vorn. Wakamga gave us the journal and showed us on Syndra’s map where it was found.

The journal contains a picture of Vorn’s control amulet but provides no clues to the amulet’s current whereabouts. As reward for finding and retrieving the construct and its control amulet, Wakanga offered us a spellbook containing fifteen spells.

Zhanthi

Deals in gems, jewelry, cloth, and armor

Zhanthi (NG female Chultan human noble) has royal blood in her veins, and few have the courage to dispute the wise, old trader. She’s a secret member of the Ytepka Society (see “Factions and Their Representatives”) and she has forged ties with the Zhentarim so that she can monitor the organization’s activities.

Zhanthi trades in gems, jewelry, colorful Chultan cloth, and nonmagical leather, studded leather, and hide armor. Her son, Shago, is a guide stationed at Fort Beluarian. Shago sends regular reports to his mother about what’s happening at the fort, but he’s not her most reliable spy among the Flaming Fist.

Zhanthi is one of very few people who’ve stumbled onto evidence of Liara Portyr’s secret arrangement with the pirates, but she keeps this knowledge to herself for the time being. Zindar, the half-dragon harbormaster, is looking for adventurers to dispose of the pirates, while Zhanthi is putting up the reward money.

Merchant Prince’s Villa

Each merchant prince maintains a lavish villa where he or she lives and conducts private business. These airy, opulent mansions include guest quarters for important visitors and trading partners, and they’re patrolled by loyal, well-drilled guards at all hours.

Map 1.2 provides a sample floor plan. Each villa is both a palatial tropical home and a fortress. The outer walls are 8 to 12 feet tall, up to 2 feet thick, and topped with carnivore teeth, slivered seashells, and broken glass that glitters colorfully in the sun but also deters intruders. Any character who climbs over the wall must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 2 (1d4) slashing damage from the sharp objects.

You can customize a villa by assigning the following decorative motifs to each merchant prince:

• Ornate weapons, shields, and framed paintings are displayed throughout Ekene-Afa’s villa, as are squawking parrots in gilded cages.
• Ifan Talro’a decorates his villa and gardens with relics and vases plundered from Chultan ruins, and colorful flying snake swoop and glide through the spacious hallways.
• The walls and pillars in Jessamine’s villa are painted with colorful serpents, and decorative stone fountains and fonts share a similar serpentine motif.
• The walls of Jobal’s villa are festooned with silk draperies, tapestries, and the mounted heads of beasts.
• Kwayothé’s villa reeks with scented perfumes, and bowls of fresh fruit can be found throughout. Oil lamps and braziers are kept lit on honor of Kossuth.
• Wakanga’s villa is lit with continual flame spells, and soft music (created by magic) plays throughout. Doors to private chambers have arcane lock spells cast on them, and flying sword are mounted on the walls, ready to attack on Wakanga’s command. The occasional floor rug or hanging rug might be a rug of smothering in disguise.
• Zhanthi’s villa is decorated with standing suits of goldplated armor and large potted plants, and the bejeweled skulls of Zhanthi’s ancestors rest in wall niches.

Lower Level

Paintings, statues, murals, frescoes, tapestries, and oil lamps meant to impress guests decorate this level.

1. Entryway

This pleasant, breezy, tiled courtyard includes a splashing fountain and green plants. Visitors can refresh themselves in a washroom to the left of the entrance before meeting residents of the villa. The entry portico is always guarded by 1d4+1 gladiator recruited from the merchant prince’s extended family or hand-picked for their loyalty and fighting prowess. These guards are always on alert against tricksters and magicians trying to gain entrance to their master’s home, so they have advantage on skill checks and saving throws against attempts to distract, bamboozle, or charm them.

The ceiling of the entryway is two stories tall. In some homes, it’s open to the sky. In those cases, the fountain is sunk into the floor and doubles as a drain for rainwater.

2. Sitting Area

This is both a waiting area and a meeting area for guests who aren’t known to the villa’s master, and therefore won’t necessarily be given access to the inner chambers of the house. Decorative columns support the arched doorway from area 1. Rugs and comfortable pillows are arranged on the floor. Narrow windows look into the garden, but these double as arrow slits in case visitors aren’t as friendly as they claim to be.

3. Grand Hall

A magnificently tiled floor is flanked by two sweeping staircases that ascend to the upper floor. Decorations are in keeping with the individual merchant prince’s taste and specialization.

4. Guest Rooms

Most of the right side of the house is devoted to accommodations for guests. Three private sleeping rooms with attached baths, plus two sitting rooms and access to the garden, make this far more luxurious than a typical inn.

5. Garden

Ferns, potted palms, orchids, and other tropical flowers are cultivated in the garden, which is open to the sky. Chultan plants with useful properties or applications as poison might be found in the garden of a merchant prince with a horticultural bent, such as Jessamine. See appendix C for examples of rare plants.

6. Dining Room

The dining table is very low, just a few inches above the floor. Diners relax on pillows as they eat.

7. Sauna

In addition to daily baths, well-to-do Chultans love relaxing in saunas. Dry heat is a welcome change from Chult’s high humidity. Most home saunas are heated with charcoal burners or hot stones, but in the homes of the merchant princes, a trapped fire elemental provides round-the-clock heat, and a servant or slave is always available to massage tired muscles.

8. Bath

The bath is the cornerstone of a Chultan mansion, even more so than the dining room or family rooms. The family relaxes here during private times, but there’s nothing unusual about a merchant prince holding meetings in the bath with trusted advisors and close business associates. Being invited into the household bath is considered an honor in Chultan society, and treating it as anything less than an honor risks offending the person who extended the invitation.

9. Kitchen

The kitchen is large, high-ceilinged, and well ventilated; otherwise, heat from cooking fires would make it unbearably hot. Stairs lead up to the laundry room (area 14).

Upper Level

The rooms on this level are decorated for comfort. The artwork and other decor reflects the taste of the merchant prince to whom the villa belongs.

10. Library

Chultans are fans of mythical romance, and the city has an active literary community with many book clubs. Port Nyanzaru’s most successful novelists and playwrights concoct stirring tales about legendary heroes who pursue their lovers through unimaginable danger and save them from fates worse than death-which is more likely to involve a forced marriage to someone who doesn’t love them than being eaten by an impossibly huge tyrannosaurus, although monstrous tyrannosauruses make regular appearances in these tales, too.

A character who spends a few hours sifting through the formulaic fiction and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds useful books of Chultan lore mixed in with the romances. Use this as an opportunity to answer specific questions posed by the players. A library won’t reveal the location of Omu, but a book of lore might mention the city and describe it as it was during its height.

11. Family Rooms

The merchant prince’s children, spouses, and other close family members live in these apartments. They are richly appointed with pillows and tiger-skin rugs.

12. Master Suite

The merchant prince’s suite is the most opulent room in the palace. A pleasant breeze blows through large, lattice-covered windows, causing the potted plants to sway gently. The headboard of the master bed is fantastically carved in motifs suggestive of the merchant’s business. Connected rooms contain a small, private bath and a walk-in closet filled with expensive clothing, mirrors, combs, and so forth.

Treasure

The suite contains personal items equivalent to two rolls on the “Gems or Art Objects” column of the Treasure Hoard, Challenge 0-4 table in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. If the room contains jewelry, there is a 50 percent chance it is in a locked jewelry box requiring thieves' tools and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check to open.

13. Guard Room

This guard room is intentionally set in the midst of the family rooms and the master suite. The guards are responsible for safeguarding the family during their most vulnerable time, when they’re sleeping or relaxing in their own chambers. This station is always manned by 1d4+1 gladiator who are fanatically loyal to the merchant prince and richly rewarded for their devotion.

14. Laundry Room

Chultans are as scrupulous about their clothing as about their bodies—a fastidiousness that’s almost essential, given how much everyone sweats in Port Nyanzaru’s climate. Laundry is washed here every day, then hours are spent fanning it to and fro on lines trying to encourage the wet cloth to dry in the humid air.

15. Servants' Quarters

The servants' quarters are isolated from the family sleeping areas for security. There is nothing remarkable about them.

16. Rain Traps

Every room in the house contains (at minimum) a small water basin with running water coming either from a rooftop basin or lifted from barrels or an underground cistern by a water wheel.

Factions and Their Representatives

Port Nyanzaru is the lone civilized hub on a vast peninsula of great wealth. Many factions would like to tap into that wealth, and they all have agents vying for influence in the city or scouting the jungle for opportunities. Some of these can aid the characters, and others will try to hinder them.

Laws and Punishments

The merchant princes can create or alter laws by decree as they see fit, and judges are expected to interpret laws freely but wisely. Such a system would seem to invite abuse and bribery, but the Chultan courts are surprisingly free of corruption.

Slavery isn’t illegal in Port Nyanzaru, but it’s frowned upon, and the merchant princes won’t do business with slavers or show them any legal favor.

Murder is illegal, but “sanctions”-legal permission to kill someone or to have someone killed-can be purchased from the merchant prince Jessamine. The price depends on the prominence of the intended victim, the reason for the sanction, and the wealth of the purchaser. The minimum price possible is 150 gp; the maximum is limitless. The availability of sanctions doesn’t mean they’re common-it’s rare for more than six to be sold in a year. That has less to do with price than with the fact that if word gets out who purchased a sanction, nothing can stop the friends of the victim from sanctioning the original purchaser.

Despite their high ambition, the merchant princes' power is entirely contained in the city. Elsewhere, Chult is ruled by the red law of tooth and claw. An individual is either predator or prey, and the predator might be a mob of undead, a ravenous allosaurus, a grung hunting party, Jahakan pirates, or a Flaming Fist patrol.

Emerald Enclave

The Emerald Enclave is a widespread group of wilderness survivalists who preserve the natural order by rooting out unnatural threats. They struggle to keep civilization and the wilderness from destroying one another.

In Chult, the Emerald Enclave is chiefly concerned with protecting inhabitants from the undead menace. A few guides in Port Nyanzaru and Fort Beluarian are openly associated with the enclave, and a few others are secret members or are sympathetic to its goals. The faction maintains several well-camouflaged outposts in the jungle. They serve as hidden observation posts, not forward fighting positions.

If characters get into trouble in the wilderness, the Emerald Enclave is a potential rescuer.

Flaming Fist

The Flaming Fist is a mercenary company headquartered in (and fiercely loyal to) Baldur’s Gate. The Fist maintains a permanent stronghold in Chult at Fort Beluarian. From there, Flaming Fist patrols strike out into the jungle to “pacify” territory and claim lost treasures. The Flaming Fist has already plundered the ruins of Mezro. Now the mercenaries and their wealthy backers in Baldur’s Gate would like nothing better than to do the same to Omu, but they’ve had no luck locating the lost city. The Flaming Fist’s researchers are convinced the city lies south of Lake Luo but east of the Peaks of Flame, at the western end of the Valley of Dread. Because of the distance from Fort Beluarian, they’re looking for adventurers to conduct an initial exploration of that area and locate what they believe will be mostly abandoned ruins.

The commander of Fort Beluarian and highest ranking member of the Flaming Fist in Chult is Liara Portyr. She holds the rank of blaze (major) and has complete autonomy in Chult, answering only to Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’s Gate. Portyr will happily assign some of her mercenaries to accompany adventurers by sea to Refuge Bay or even to Snapping Turtle Bay-either is an excellent starting point for any incursion into the western reach of the Valley of Dread.

Only six ranks are recognized within the Flaming Fist: fist (private), gauntlet (corporal), manip (sergeant), flame (lieutenant), blaze (major), and marshal (general).

Harpers

The Harpers are spellcasters and spies who covertly oppose any abuse of power, magical or otherwise. Working alone or in small cells, they gather information throughout Faerûn, analyze the political dynamics in each region or realm, and use what they uncover to help the weak, the poor, and the oppressed from behind the scenes. Harpers act openly only as a last resort.

Artus Cimber, a former member of the Harpers, is hiding out in Chult. He possesses an artifact called the Ring of Winter, and other Harpers are concerned lest the ring fall into evil hands. To prevent that, a handful of Harper spies are combing Port Nyanzaru and Chult for clues to Artus’s whereabouts-ostensibly to protect the ring, but exactly what they’ll do when they find it is an open question. Magical efforts to locate Artus are futile, as the Ring of Winter shields itself and its wearer against divination spells and scrying sensors.

Lords' Alliance

A number of cities and settlements banded together to form the Lords' Alliance, a coalition that works actively to eliminate threats to their mutual safety and prosperity. The coalition is loose-some might even call it shaky. Alliance leaders push their own interests above counterparts from other cities, and operatives seek honor and glory for themselves and their own lords at the expense of less powerful members.

A key figure in the Lords' Alliance is Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’s Gate, a city with a vested interest in the affairs of Chult. The flag of Baldur’s Gate flies over the stronghold of Fort Beluarian, which is garrisoned by Flaming Fist mercenaries under the command of Ravengard’s vassal, Liara Portyr. If push came to shove, Ravengard would place the priorities of Baldur’s Gate above those of the Lords' Alliance.

Other Lords' Alliance cities such as Waterdeep and Neverwinter have operatives in Port Nyanzaru, where they undermine the efforts of non-alliance powers such as Calimshan, Amn, and Tethyr to expand their control over Chult’s vast resources. Most of these representatives are open about their ties to the Lords' Alliance and style themselves as ambassadors of their cities, but they also employ covert agents to undermine each other’s plans and carry out less savory tasks. The Lords' Alliance sponsors mapping expeditions into the peninsula, with the aim of finding more treasures or mines it can plunder.

Order of the Gauntlet

Members of the Order of the Gauntlet vow to protect others from the depredations of evildoers. Placing their faith in good-aligned deities such as Torm, Helm, and Tyr, they bring the strength of their faith, their hearts, and their weapons to bear against villainy.

The order has committed considerable resources toward quelling the undead menace in Chult. Its forward base, Camp Righteous, was overrun by undead. The order, undaunted, built a new fortification even deeper in the jungle. Dubbed Camp Vengeance, it has fallen on hard times. Its commander is a woefully inept noble named Niles Breakbone. His lieutenants are more likely to share useful information or offer aid, but only if the characters offer some form of assistance to Camp Vengeance in return.

All members of the Order of the Gauntlet are unflinchingly brave, but many of their expeditions fare poorly or meet with outright disaster when confronted by conditions that confound their training and contradict

Red Wizards of Thay

Red Wizards are in Chult to find and steal the Soulmonger for Szass Tam. They’ve occupied the Heart of Ubtao and are using it as a base. Their leader is Valindra Shadowmantle. She remains at the Heart of Ubtao while her Thayan minions comb the ruins of Omu for clues to the Soulmonger’s whereabouts. For more information on Valindra, see “Heart of Ubtao,".

Ytepka Society

The Ytepka Society, also known as the Triceratops Society, is based in Port Nyanzaru and dedicated to preventing any individual or group from abusing power and upsetting the natural social order. Its members are primarily neutral good Chultans. In many respects, the society’s goals are similar to those of the Harpers.

The Ytepka Society was instrumental in liberating Port Nyanzaru from foreign powers and facilitating the rise of the seven merchant princes. Its members now work tirelessly to prevent the Zhentarim and other dubious factions from taking over the government or gaining undue influence. The Ytepkas also work covertly to eliminate the threat from pirates, but they’ve been unable to locate the pirates' base or track down pirate spies in the city. A handsome reward awaits those who can definitively pinpoint the pirates' base or capture their ships.

Currently there are fewer than fifty active members of the Ytepka Society. They don’t advertise their membership but identify one another using a simple hand gesture: a raised left hand with the index finger, middle finger, and third finger extended, representing the three horns of the triceratops.

When the society judges that someone has damaged the social fabric of Chult or is on the verge of committing a great wrong, it presents a warning by anonymously delivering an iron token bearing the likeness of a triceratops. It’s up to the marked individual to figure out the meaning of the token and take steps to correct the offending behavior or undo the damage. If the person ignores the warning and persists in offending the society, the Ytepkas secure permission from the merchant princes to mete out punishment as they see fit, up to and including a sanction (see the “Laws and Punishments” sidebar earlier in this chapter).

Unfortunately, because of the society’s secretiveness, not many people understand what those iron tokens signify, and there’s a lot of misinformation about the Ytepkas in Port Nyanzaru. The society doesn’t recollect its tokens, either, so unscrupulous types have used old (or even counterfeit) tokens to frighten competitors away from business ventures.

Zhentarim

The Zhentarim is an unscrupulous shadow network that seeks to expand its influence and power base throughout Faerûn. Its members pursue wealth and power through any means, though the public face of the organization appears much more benign-the Zhentarim provides the best mercenaries money can buy.

The merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru hire Zhentarim guards to defend the city walls and Zhentarim mercenaries to protect hunting, lumbering, and mining operations in the jungle and foothills. The Black Network has used this wide-ranging access to the city to set up its own woodcutting camps and mining operations. It also mounts treasure-hunting expeditions. In addition, Black Network spies have learned that Artus Cimber is in Chult, and they’ve assembled teams to find the ex-Harper and wrest the Ring of Winter from him.

Things to Do

Port Nyanzaru offers plenty of distractions for visitors, but the following sections describe four activities that the characters are likely engage in before setting out to explore the darkest reaches of Chult:

Buying a Special Item

Characters can easily find most mundane items for sale in any of Port Nyanzaru’s markets, at standard prices. Anything needed to survive in the jungle is considered a mundane item in Chult. The chief exception is heavy armor, which is rare in Chult and thus commands a high price: triple the Player’s Handbook prices for heavy armor, or double them if the character makes a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to bargain down the price.

The only alternative to buying specialty items through the merchant princes is to deal with the black market, which is highly secretive in Port Nyanzaru; the merchant princes crack down harshly on competitors. Contacting black marketeers takes half a day in the Old City, Malar’s Throat, or Tiryki Anchorage, plus a successful DC 15 Charisma (Deception) check to pose the right questions to the right people at the right time. To determine the black market price of an item, multiply the item’s normal price (see the Player’s Handbook where appropriate) by 1d4+2. If an unusually large quantity is needed, increase the price multiplier by 1.

The following special goods are available for sale in Chultan markets.

Canoe

A canoe can be purchased in Port Nyanzaru for 50 gp. It holds up to six Medium creatures and has a maximum speed of 2 mph. It is otherwise identical to a rowboat (see chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

The sale of canoes in Port Nyanzaru is controlled by the merchant prince Ekene-Afa.

Insect Repellent

Insect repellent can be purchased in Port Nyanzaru in two forms: blocks of incense or a greasy salve. The merchant prince Kwayothé controls the sale of both. Neither kind of repellent protects against giant insects or the vile swarms of insects described in appendix A of the Monster Manual.

A block of incense sells for 1 sp. When lit, it burns for 8 hours and repels normal insects within a 20-foot-radius centered on it.

A gourd or vial of salve, which sells for 1 gp, contains 20 applications of odorless grease. One application protects its wearer against normal insects for 24 hours. The salve is waterproof so it doesn’t wash off in rain.

Rain Catcher

A rain catcher is a simple contraption consisting of a 5-foot-square leather tarp and a wooden frame with legs. When the tarp is stretched across the wooden frame, it forms a basin that can catch 2 gallons of drinking water per inch of rainfall and hold up to 8 gallons. The tarp and wooden frame fold up for easy transport. A rain catcher costs 1 gp and weighs 5 pounds.

Merchant prince Ekene-Afa controls the sale of rain catchers in Port Nyanzaru.

Tej

Tej is an amber-colored, fermented drink made from honey. It’s more common and popular in Chult than beer or ale. A mug of tej costs 4 cp in Port Nyanzaru or 6 cp in Fort Beluarian. A 1-gallon cask costs 2 sp in the city or 3 sp at the fort.

Sale of tej is controlled by the merchant prince Kwayothé.

Yklwa

A yklwa (pronounced YICK-ul-wah) is a simple melee weapon that is the traditional weapon of Chultan warriors. A yklwa consists of a 3-foot wooden shaft with a steel or stone blade up to 18 inches long. It costs 1 gp, and it deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit. Although it has the thrown weapon property, the yklwa is not well balanced for throwing (range 10/30 ft.).

The merchant prince Ekene-Afa controls the sale of yklwas in Port Nyanzaru.

Dinosaur Racing

The city is famous for its weekly dinosaur races through the streets. Dinosaurs are painted in bright designs, and their riders try to steer them along a course that winds around the harbor and the city’s four hills. Spectators are seldom injured, but it’s a dangerous sport for the dinosaurs and their riders.

A typical race day has three races: one for four-legged beasts, one for two-legged beasts, and one no-holds-barred “unchained” race. Many of the dinosaurs involved are juveniles, since fully grown versions can be too large and too difficult for riders to manage. The dinosaurs are stoutly muzzled and have their claws and horns blunted in all but the unchained race.

The four-legged race is dominated by young ankylosauruses and triceratopses, but dimetrodons have also done well when paired with Small riders. Most competitors in the two-legged race are hadrosauruses and deinonychuses (again with Small riders). The unchained race sees racers on anything, including young allosauruses and very young tyrannosauruses.

Racing Dinosaurs

Racing Dinosaurs

• If an Animal Handling check made with advantage due to lashing fails by 5 or more, the animal goes berserk and is out of the race.

Betting

Characters can bet on the dinosaur races to help fund a jungle expedition or earn some extra cash. The racers, the available odds, and the chance to win are listed in the Betting on Dinosaur Races table. Bets can range from 1 cp to 500 gp. Once bets are placed, roll a die for each bet. Losing bets cost the full amount of the wager. Winning bets pay out according to the table. Bets can be for a dinosaur to win, place, show, or do something specific during the race (like attack another racer or throw its rider), so many bets can win in the course of a single race.

Losers are expected to pay up in a timely fashion. Those who don’t are visited by a debt collector backed up by Chultan legbreakers (1d4+1 thug or gladiator, depending on the level and reputation of the bettor). Port Nyanzaru bookies never forget a debt; even a year away on an expedition into the jungle isn’t long enough to erase an unpaid gambling loss.

Betting on Dinosaur Races

Racing

Player characters might get involved in a dinosaur race, either through their own interest or because they’re approached by a racing team. In this case, you’ll need to play out the race. This can be quite a bit of fun, especially if you let players whose characters aren’t directly involved take over at least some of the NPC racers. Encourage everyone to race hard, even if it’s in the group’s best interest for a particular dinosaur to win.

A race runs a length of 300 feet; this is abstract, as a race actually covers a lot more ground. Every round, each rider makes a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check; the DCs for different types of dinosaurs are listed in the Racing Dinosaurs table. With each successful Animal Handling check, the first number listed as the dinosaur’s speed is added to its “running tally.” If the check fails, that dinosaur’s tally doesn’t increase that turn. When a racer’s tally equals or exceeds 300, that dinosaur crosses the finish line. A racer can try to move at the higher listed speed by lashing the animal furiously; in this case, the Animal Handling check is made with advantage, but the dinosaur must also make a successful DC 10 Constitution check at the end of this round or its speed is halved for the rest of the race.

No initiative is involved. Riders can make their Animal Handling checks in any order, or all at the same time. If two or more dinosaurs cross the finish line on the same round, the one with the highest tally wins. If the tallies are the same, the racers tied. In the event of a tie, brawls are likely to break out in trackside betting pools.

In the unchained event, dinosaurs can attack other dinosaurs if their tallies are within 50 of each other at the end of a round. Each dinosaur’s pertinent combat statistics are listed on the Racing Dinosaurs table. If a dinosaur has half or fewer of its starting hit points, the rider makes Animal Handling checks with disadvantage.

For simplicity, riders can’t attack or be attacked, but DMs with a cruel streak might be tempted to relax that rule. Just be aware that if rider attacks are allowed, the event is more likely to become a straight-up dinosaur fight than anything resembling a race. Raising a dinosaur to be a racer is difficult and expensive. Most owners aren’t willing to lose one-especially a fast one-in a weekly bloodfest.

Finding a Guide

Guides can be retained in Port Nyanzaru or Fort Beluarian. All Port Nyanzaru guides must register and serve under the auspices of Jobal, who takes a princely cut of their earnings and findings. The Zhentarim also have a black market network in the city that provides guides. Jobal is aware that this network exists and makes it abundantly clear that guides who fail to register with him will be beaten, blinded, or beheaded.

Guides working for Jobal leave their contact information on message boards outside inns and taverns or at the harbormaster’s office in Port Nyanzaru.

Several guides are described in this section. Some will work for free if characters agree to certain conditions. Otherwise, guides charge 5 gp per day, and payment for 30 days up front is standard, even if the expedition is expected to be shorter than that. A successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check negotiates the price down to 4 gp per day, or 3 gp per day if the check succeeds by 5 or more. Alternatively, guides might forgo wages in exchange for an equal share of treasure.

You can roleplay preliminary meetings and conversations with guides, or simply describe all the available guides to the players and let them choose. To help the party select a guide, you can give players copies of handouts 2 through 10 in appendix E. These handouts give players a sense of each guide’s personality. You can give the players several handouts at once, or provide handouts only for the guides they track down.

Guides as Party Members

A guide who is hired by the adventurers becomes a NPC party member and receives an equal share of XP. However, the guide doesn’t gain levels as player characters do. You can use the optional loyalty rule in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to track the loyalty of a guide who isn’t beholden to a secret master. Disloyal guides won’t risk their lives to save player characters and might abandon the party entirely to preserve themselves. The guides described in this chapter have goals beyond helping the characters survive. Helping guides fulfill their personal goals increases their loyalty.

A particularly loyal guide (loyalty score of 10 or higher) will follow characters into a dangerous location such as Omu or the Tomb of the Nine Gods. A tenuously loyal guide (loyalty score of 1 to 9) might choose to wait for the characters outside the location rather than abandon the party altogether.

Azaka Stormfang

Weretiger (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Azaka, give the players a copy of handout 2 in appendix E.

Azaka (NG female Chultan human weretiger) works out of Port Nyanzaru. She conceals her lycanthropy from the characters for as long as possible and will guide adventurers for free if they agree to help her retrieve an item that was stolen by the pterafolk of Firefinger. If questioned about the stolen item, Azaka responds only that it’s a family heirloom: a wooden mask carved to resemble a tiger’s face. It is actually a mask of the beast.

Azaka has wandered far and wide through the jungle in tiger form. She is acquainted with Saja N’baza, the powerful and wise guardian naga of Orolunga, and gladly leads characters to the naga if they’re looking for guidance.

Azaka stands 6 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds. She will not willingly spread her lycanthropic curse. She is also afraid of heights and will not willingly put herself in a situation in which she’s in danger of falling more than 60 feet. Azaka’s damage immunities do not protect her against damage from falling.

Quest: Retrieve a Stolen Item

We have taken on Azaka Stormfang as a guide. She has waived her fee since we agreed to help her retrieve a family heirloom that was stolen by the pterafolk of Firefinger. The item is a wooden mask carved to resemble a tiger’s face.

Eku

Disguised couatl (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Eku, give the players a copy of handout 3 in appendix E.

Eku is a couatl polymorphed into a middle-aged Chultan woman. She is one of the few who knows the location of Omu, although she doesn’t advertise this fact. The couatl is looking for adventurers to help rid the jungle of the evil that infests it. She’ll work only with good-aligned adventurers.

While in human form, Eku is clothed in light blue robes and carries a walking stick carved in the likeness of a stylized couatl. In this form, Eku stands 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. She is on good terms with the aarakocra of Kir Sabal, and she’s made numerous treks to Nangalore to retrieve rare flowers. Eku also knows about the evil gargoyles that guard Omu, though she’s never fought them, and the guardian naga of Orolunga, whose oracular abilities are legendary. If the characters hire her to guide them but aren’t sure where to go, she recommends visiting the guardian naga.

Eku had great love and respect for the people of Mbala, who were tricked and eaten by a green hag named Nanny Pu’pu. Eku regards the hag as one of the greatest evils in Chult. If the characters travel anywhere near Mbala and Eku is with them, she asks them to help her rid the world of Nanny Pu’pu once and for all.

Faroul and Gondolo

Incompetent fortune hunters (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Faroul and Gondolo, give the players a copy of handout 4 in appendix E.

Faroul (NG male Calishite human scout) and Gondolo (CG male lightfoot halfling scout with 13 hit points) are two dandies down on their luck in Port Nyanzaru. Spoiled and pompous, Faroul was shipped off by his exasperated parents to Port Nyanzaru and told to make his fortune there. Bursting with coin and ready for adventure, Faroul brought along his carousing companion, Gondolo. Together, they thought they’d soon be living the high life on distant shores. Within a few months, they’d squandered most of Faroul’s cash at the dinosaur races and were in debt to numerous bookies and several merchant princes. The only thing they have to show for their months of debauchery is a flatulent racing triceratops named Zongo. They purchased it for the races, but it was hopelessly slow; now they use Zongo as a pack animal.

In desperation, Gondolo bought a treasure map from a fever-wracked explorer who needed cash to buy passage back to Baldur’s Gate. Miraculously, the map accurately indicates the location of Needle’s Bones. This hapless pair hope to be hired by adventurers on an equal-shares basis so they can lead the group to what they believe will be an easily claimed dragon’s hoard.

Faroul is 5 feet 10 inches tall and 175 pounds. He tells great tales of his battle prowess but he uses his shortsword only in emergencies.

Gondolo is 3 feet 6 inches tall and 80 flaccid pounds. He fancies himself a poet, a pugilist, and a philosopher who’ll make up important-sounding facts when he runs out of actual ones. He has a knack for narrowly escaping the jaws of peril and has the normal halfling’s luck.

Hew Hackinstone

Barmy dwarf dragon slayer (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Hew, give the players a copy of handout 5 in appendix E.

Three years ago, Hew was part of a dwarven expedition seeking to reopen Wyrmheart Mine. The expedition encountered Tinder the red dragon. Hew alone escaped, and only after the dragon bit off his left arm. Hew wants to return to the mine and slay the dragon, but he needs a band of stout-hearted adventurers to help him. If the characters hire him as a guide, Hew says he can lead them wherever they want, but he’ll only take them to Wyrmheart Mine.

Quest: Help Hew

Three years ago, Hew was part of a dwarven expedition seeking to reopen Wyrmheart Mine. The expedition encountered Tinder the red dragon. Hew alone escaped, and only after the dragon bit off his left arm. Hew wants to return to the mine and slay the dragon, but he needs a band of stout-hearted adventurers to help him.

Hew is a shield dwarf berserker, with these changes:

• Hew is chaotic neutral.
• He has Survival +4.
• He has resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.
• He has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
• He wields a battleaxe instead of a greataxe that deals 7 (1d8+3) slashing damage on a hit. Hew can’t wield the weapon with two hands, since he’s missing his left arm.

Musharib

Albino dwarf (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Musharib, give the players a copy of handout 6 in appendix E.

Musharib (LG male albino dwarf spirit warrior; see appendix D) will gladly serve as a guide out of Port Nyanzaru, but he is secretly looking for adventurers of the right skill and fortitude to help him reclaim Hrakhamar-or at least to sneak into its treasury and retrieve Moradin’s Gauntlet, a dwarven relic. If there are any dwarves in the player characters' party, Musharib locks onto them and appeals to their love of dwarvenkind to aid him in reclaiming his clan’s ancestral forge. In general, he directs his questions and answers to dwarves in the party unless there’s no way around speaking to someone else.

Musharib is 4 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He carries a wooden maul named Skullbash. His armor is fashioned from the spatulate bones of dinosaurs, and it’s gashed and scarred by weapons, claws, and teeth.

Qawasha and Kupalué

Chultan druid and vegepygmy (Fort Beluarian)

When the characters meet Qawasha and Kupalué, give the players a copy of handout 7 in appendix E.

Qawasha (NG male Chultan druid) is a member of the Emerald Enclave based in Fort Beluarian. The druid travels with a vegepygmy companion named Kupalué, a Chultan word that means “walking weed.” Qawasha often refers to his companion simply as Weed. They communicate with each other using their own unique sign language. See appendix D for vegepygmy statistics.

Qawasha would like to rid the jungle of its undead menace, so he deliberately leads adventurers through undead-infested regions. As he travels through the jungle, Qawasha calls out the names of unusual flora and fauna around him. The druid also has a knack for camping in places where chwingas dwell, and he has experience dealing with the elemental spirits.

If the characters hire Qawasha, he recommends that they also purchase a charter of exploration before leaving Fort Beluarian. Qawasha has witnessed firsthand the Flaming Fist’s mistreatment of adventurers who explore Chult without the requisite paperwork.

Qawasha stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds. Weed stands 3 feet tall and weighs about 30 pounds dry (50 pounds wet).

River Mist and Flask of Wine

Tabaxi siblings (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet River Mist and Flask of Wine, give the players a copy of handout 8 in appendix E.

River Mist and Flask of Wine (CG female and male tabaxi hunter; see appendix D) are siblings in league with the Zhentarim. Consequently, they pay no fees or fealty to any merchant prince; they keep their business quiet, meeting potential clients only in Malar’s Throat or seedier houses in Tiryki Anchorage. They refer to one another as River and Flask.

River is about 5 feet 5 inches and 100 pounds. She wears leather armor and an eye patch. (She lost her right eye in a childhood mishap involving a sling.) River is furtive and uncomfortable in crowds, preferring the jungle where she is truly at home.

Flask seldom speaks except to agree with River, often repeating the last few words of River’s utterance (with a slight lisp) while nodding in assent. Despite this laconic nature, he enjoys being among people and might even be considered gregarious, for a tabaxi. He is tall and lanky (5 feet 8 inches and 140 pounds).

River and Flask can guide characters to Firefinger and Dungrunglung. They’ve also heard stories about and old woman in Mbala who can animate the dead in such a way that the zombies retain the abilities and memories they had in life.

Zhentarim agents in Port Nyanzaru have instructed River and Flask to keep an eye out for Artus Cimber. If they encounter Artus, the tabaxi try to learn as much as they can about him. The next time they return to Port Nyanzaru, the tabaxi report what they’ve seen and learned to their Zhent masters unless they’re incentivized not to.

Salida

Yuan-ti spy (Port Nyanzaru)

When the characters meet Salida, give the players a copy of handout 9 in appendix E.

Salida (NE female Chultan yuan-ti pureblood with Survival +5) poses as a human guide in Port Nyanzaru, but she really works for Ras Nsi. She keeps him apprised of the activity of anyone who’s heading south in search of Omu. They communicate via sending stones. Salida keeps her sending stones in a pouch and tries to join the player characters' expedition as a guide, a warrior, or even as a lowly bearer or paddler.

Salida is 5 feet 4 inches tall and 120 pounds. She is fit and completely looks the part of a seasoned explorer. Her garb covers up the scaly patches of skin that betray her true nature. Salida is skilled at crafting colorful insults and concocting believable lies to cover her true background. Her wit makes her an enjoyable traveling companion—a trait that she leverages to the fullest to join the characters' expedition.

Shago

Chultan gladiator (Fort Beluarian)

When the characters meet Shago, give the players a copy of handout 10 in appendix E.

Shago (CG male Chultan gladiator with Survival +7) is a Chultan and the only son of Zhanthi, one of Port Nyanzaru’s merchant princes. He works out of Fort Beluarian, and although he presents himself as an independent operator, he’s in league with the Flaming Fist. Shago has led many Flaming Fist expeditions into the jungle to clear out undead, despite having a great fear of being turned into a zombie or ghoul.

Despite his fears, Shago knows that the undead must be defeated. This is why he works with the Flaming Fist; the merchant princes bemoan the threat from undead but, other than hiring guards to defend Port Nyanzaru, they won’t pay to take effective action against it. His mother believes she’s “recruited” him to keep an eye on the Flaming Fist, but his sympathies are with the mercenaries and he rarely provides her with any secret or useful information.

Shago is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 220 pounds, with rippling muscles and a friendly smile. His main goal is to impress Liara Portyr enough to earn a rank within the Flaming Fist. While Shago is their guide, characters gain advantage on Charisma checks made to influence members of the Flaming Fist.

Gathering Information

The challenge for characters isn’t getting people to tell them about Chult; it’s sifting the truth from the mountain of rumor, conjecture, and myth.

The best people to talk to are those who actually work or live in the jungle: hunters, guides, and explorers. No skill checks are necessary to get people talking, but to acquire reliable information, characters must go where in-the-know folks gather. For each hour spent talking to knowledgeable travelers, a character can make a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check. If the check succeeds, roll percentile dice and consult the Chult Rumors table to determine what the character learns.

Chult Rumors