The sections that follow contain information that will help you run this part of the adventure smoothly. For each day that the party travels through the wilderness, follow these steps:
- Using the poster map, identify the hex in which the party is currently located. Don’t share this information with the players if the party is lost; otherwise, show the players the party’s location by pointing to the appropriate hex on their map of Chult.
- Let the players determine what direction the party wants to go, and whether the party plans to move at a normal pace, a fast pace, or a slow pace (see “Travel Distances” below).
- Let the players choose a navigator, then make a Wisdom (Survival) check on the navigator’s behalf to determine if the party becomes lost (see “Navigation” below).
- Check for random encounters throughout the day.
- At the end of the day, check to see if any party members are dehydrated (see “Dehydration” below).
Where’s Artus Cimber?
Artus Cimber and his traveling companion Dragonbait are good-aligned NPCs who can help the characters accomplish their goals. Both are described in appendix D. During the adventure, Artus and Dragonbait are either searching for Orolunga or gathering supplies and information in Port Nyanzaru. They can be encountered anywhere on the peninsula. Characters have a small chance of meeting Artus and Dragonbait as a random encounter.
If Artus and Dragonbait don’t appear as a random encounter, here are a few places where they might be found:
- Camp Righteous (exploring the ruins)
- The Heart of Ubtao (spying on the Red Wizards)
- Jahaka Anchorage (trying to free prisoners trapped in the pirates' dungeon)
- Kir Sabal (gathering information from the aarakocra or Princess Mwaxanaré)
- Orolunga (consulting with Saja N’baza)
- Literally anywhere in the jungle, fleeing from a pack of screaming ghoul, a horde of cannibalistic tribal warrior, or a tyrannosaurus zombie
Artus is reluctant to reveal why he’s exploring Chult. He tries to get a sense of the characters' intentions before saying too much. Once he’s confident that they’re all on the same side, he’ll swap whatever he knows (which is as much as you want to tell the characters) for whatever the characters know. Once Artus and Dragonbait become aware of the Soulmonger and the danger it poses, they’re more than happy to help the party destroy it.
Any party that includes Artus and Dragonbait will have an easier time overcoming the adventure’s challenges. However, Artus is being hunted by the forces of evil. Frost giants, the Zhentarim, Xandala, Valindra Shadowmantle (see “Heart of Ubtao” later in this chapter), and the Red Wizards of Thay can appear at any time and try to capture Artus. If Artus believes that his presence is endangering the characters, he will leave the party and take Dragonbait with him.
Travel Distances
On the map of Chult, each hex measures 10 miles across. Characters moving at a normal pace can travel 1 hex per day on foot through coastal, jungle, mountain, swamp, or wasteland terrain. They can travel 2 hexes per day if they’re traveling by canoe on a river or lake. The rate of travel up or down river is the same; the rivers are so sluggish that current is almost imperceptible. Without canoes, the normal rate of travel along a river is the same as through the surrounding terrain. Canoes move 1 hex per day through swamp.
If characters move at a fast pace, the easiest way to deal with their progress is to roll a d4. On a roll of 3 or 4, they advance 1 additional hex that day. Characters moving at a fast pace take a -5 penalty to their passive Wisdom (Perception) scores, making them more likely to miss clues and walk into ambushes.
If characters set a slow pace, roll a d4. On a roll of 1 or 2, they advance 1 fewer hex that day (in other words, 1 hex by canoe or none by foot). On any other result, their caution is rewarded, and they travel the same distance as a group moving at a normal pace. Characters moving at a slow pace can move stealthily. As long as they’re not in the open, they can try to surprise or sneak by other creatures they encounter.
Tracking Miles
Instead of tracking movement by hexes, you can keep track of the actual distances covered (10 miles per day at a normal pace, 15 miles per day at a fast pace, or 9 miles per day at a slow pace), but this is likely to be more bother than it’s worth if the group switches pace from day to day.
A character with a flying speed of 30 feet can travel 4 miles per hour.
Navigation
Have the players designate one party member as the navigator. The navigator might be an NPC, such as a guide, and the party can switch its navigator day to day.
At the start of each new travel day, the DM makes a Wisdom (Survival) check on behalf of the navigator. The result of the check determines whether or not the party becomes lost over the course of the day. The DC of the check is based on the day’s most common terrain: DC 10 for coasts and lakes, or DC 15 for jungles, mountains, rivers, swamps, and wastelands. Apply a +5 bonus to the check if the group sets a slow pace for the day, or a -5 penalty if the group is moving at a fast pace. It’s possible to get lost on a river by following a tributary instead of the main branch.
If the check succeeds, the navigator knows exactly where the party is on the players' map of Chult throughout the day.
If the check fails, the party becomes lost. Each hex on the map is surrounded by six other hexes; whenever a lost party moves 1 hex, roll a d6 to randomly determine which neighboring hex the party enters, and do not divulge the party’s location to the players. While the party is lost, players can’t pinpoint the group’s location on their map of Chult. The next time a navigator succeeds on a Wisdom (Survival) check made to navigate, reveal the party’s actual location to the players.
Dehydration
Characters who explore Chult need plenty of water to stay hydrated. The water found in rivers and on the ground is unfit for drinking unless it is boiled first. If they have a rain catcher (see “Buying a Special Item,") characters can use it to collect rain and then store the water in portable containers.
At the end of each day, any character who hasn’t drunk at least 2 gallons of fresh water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer 1 level of
Characters traveling with beasts of burden and other animals must keep them fed and hydrated as well. See “Food and Water” in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for basic requirements based on creature size. Dinosaurs and other creatures native to Chult can forage for food and drink as long as they are in their native habitat.
Diseases
The following diseases can affect giants and humanoids exploring the jungles of Chult. Remember that lesser restoration and similar magic can cure a disease.
A Cure for Dead Characters
If a player character dies while exploring the wilds of Chult, an NPC guide might suggest that the party take its dead member to the ghost village of Mbala. A powerful witch is rumored to dwell there. According to local legends, the witch forged a pact with the Lord of Bones, a god who granted her the power to create zombies that retain their former personalities. For more information on the socalled witch, see “Mbala” later in this chapter.
Mad Monkey Fever
A magical mist creeps through the jungles of Chult. Contact with this thin, blue, odorless mist can infect giants and humanoids with mad monkey fever. A
A giant or humanoid that comes into contact with the mist must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become infected with mad monkey fever. The infected creature gains a random form of long-term madness (roll on the Long-Term Madness table in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) that manifests
Shivering Sickness
Insects native to the jungles and marshes of Chult carry this disease, shivering sickness. The easiest protection against it is a coating of insect-repelling salve on all exposed skin (for the cost of insect repellent, see area “Buying a Special Item”.
A giant or humanoid that takes damage from Swarm of Insects or from giant centipede, giant scorpion, or giant wasp is exposed to the disease at the end of the encounter. Those who haven’t applied insect repellent since their previous long rest are exposed to the disease when they finish a long rest.
A giant or humanoid exposed to the disease must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or become infected. A creature with natural armor has advantage on the saving throw. It takes
Once symptoms begin, the infected creature regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice and no hit points from a long rest. The infected creature also has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls. At the end of a long rest, an infected creature repeats the saving throw, shaking off the disease on a successful save.
Throat Leeches
Minuscule parasites known as throat leeches infect the water in Chult’s forests, swamps, and rivers. Any giant or humanoid that swallows tainted water must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be infested with throat leeches. Immediate symptoms include throat inflammation and shortness of breath. After
Explorers can avoid contracting throat leeches by drinking only rainwater or water that’s been boiled or magically purified.
Random Encounters
Chult is home to an immense variety of plants, beasts, monsters, and intelligent beings. Random encounters with the local wildlife are inevitable and help to make the party’s expedition a memorable one. Appendix B contains guidelines for generating random encounters in the wilderness.
Undead Territory
Undead creatures have nearly pushed human civilization off the peninsula, except for a few isolated outposts where Chultans and their allies take refuge behind walls. Map 2.1 shows where the undead are thickest. Characters passing through territories marked with black skull-and-bones icons are likely to have random encounters with undead. The likelihood of an undead encounter increases in territories marked with red skull-and-bones icons. Most guides know these territories well. Where undead are concerned, traveling by river is safer than traveling by land, both because undead are poor swimmers at best and because it’s easier to pour on speed in canoes and escape across the water than to flee through tangled jungle.
Locations in Chult
Map 2.1 depicts the Chultan peninsula with key locations marked. The same map appears on one side of the poster map. The remainder of this chapter describes these key locations, which are presented in alphabetical order for ease of reference.
If there’s a particular site that you want the characters to discover and explore, you can move the site so that it falls along their path, and give it a new name if necessary. For example, the goblin village of Yellyark doesn’t have to be in the location marked on your map. You can place it anywhere you want, or create another goblin village that has a similar configuration. Many other locations described in this chapter are just as adaptable. In addition to relocating a site, you can add or remove monsters and traps to make it harder or easier.
Aldani Basin
The Soshenstar and Tath rivers flow out of this marshy upland basin, which is a popular feeding ground for dinosaurs and swarms of biting insects. Tall plateaus and walls of dense foliage enclose the marsh.
The basin is named after the aldani, a race of lobsterfolk. Many Chultans recall childhood fables about the eerie lobsterfolk that lived in the rivers and lakes of their homeland. No reliable witnesses have reported an encounter with aldani in decades, so most Chultans believe the aldani perished. In fact, the lobster folk retreated to the secluded lakes of this basin, where they’ve kept hidden for a century.
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.
When the sky is clear, the Heart of Ubtao can be seen floating above the marsh from up to 50 miles distant (roll 1d4 each day to determine how many hexes away it’s visible through the mist and heat haze). See “Heart of Ubtao," for more information on this location.
Ataaz Kahakla
The river canyon called Ataaz Kahakla (“Gorge of Death”) inspires wonder in most people who see it. The cliff walls, which vary from 50 to 200 feet high, are lined with row upon row of coral. It’s all dead, but it retains its rainbow colors, making the canyon into a breathtaking, pseudo-underwater seascape. Mixed in among the corals are intact skeletons of plesiosaurs, giant sharks, and other sea creatures.
Ataaz Muhahah
Shown in map 2.2, Ataaz Muhahah (“Laughing Gorge”) is a gaping chasm crossed by an ancient stone span called the Monkey Bridge. The structure got its name from the monkeys that perch on its walls and hang by their tails from its underside. The monkeys are a mix of living monkeys and ancient carvings that are part of the bridge. Most of the carvings have been damaged by time, but the skilled artistry remains apparent.
The living monkeys chatter and shriek continually, and the gorge echoes with the sound of their cries. Occasionally, the echoes from up and down the gorge overlap in a way that transforms the cacophony into haughty, gloating laughter. When that happens, the terrified monkeys fall silent for several minutes as the “laughter” dies away before resuming their chatter.
Symbolic mazes are carved prominently onto the bridge and its supports. Any Chultan and most guides can confirm that maze symbols and the solving of mazes are associated with the ancient worship of Ubtao. A character can recall this information with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Religion) check.
Shrine of Ubtao
A stone shrine stands at the midpoint of the bridge. It consists of an imposing statue of a Chultan warrior wearing a war mask, hunkered down like a panther ready to pounce. Like the monkeys elsewhere on the bridge, the carving is highly stylized. Bright gems flash in its eye sockets.
A human skeleton lies crumpled near the statue’s feet. Several of its bones are obviously broken, but it’s impossible tell whether these injuries happened while the person was alive or were caused by scavengers after death.
The statue is, in fact, a stone golem created to defend the bridge against ancient invaders. It attacks anyone who desecrates it (including trying to remove its eye gems, which are purely decorative and worthless), who damages the bridge, or who passes the shrine without making the proper obeisance to Ubtao. The required homage involves placing a fingertip at the center of one of the bridge’s mazelike carvings and tracing an unbroken path past the statue. Guides who are natives of Chult would know this. The symbolic labyrinths aren’t terribly complex; the biggest difficulty comes from the lichens and moss growing over them. If these are cleared away with a knife or other tool before tracing the maze, it can be traced properly with a successful DC 5 Intelligence check. If it’s not cleaned first, the DC increases to 10. If it’s cleaned by scraping with bare hands, the golem interprets that as tracing the maze incorrectly and attacks. Tracing the maze with a dagger or other tool counts as nothing; it must be done with a finger.
If the golem has the opportunity in combat, it pushes enemies off the bridge. The golem is so heavy that it has advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to resist being pushed. It doesn’t pursue enemies off the bridge unless they continue using ranged attacks or spells against it after retreating. The skeleton lying at the statue’s feet is all that remains of a human explorer killed by the golem. It has long since been picked clean.
Bridge Gap
Part of the bridge has fallen away, leaving a 20-foot gap. The stone at either edge looks crumbly and unsafe.
The 20-foot gap is too long for most characters to cross with a running jump. A jump from the high edge to the low edge, however, is effectively only 15 feet, while jumping from low to high is effectively 25 feet. Crumbling remains of the parapets shorten the distance by another 5 feet, but landing on one of those thin surfaces requires a successful DC 13 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check; a jumper who fails that check slips off the stone and falls into the gorge (a 100-foot drop).
Hanging Vines
Hundreds of vines hang below the bridge. Characters can cross the gorge under the bridge by moving handover-hand from vine to vine and swinging across the gap. This doesn’t activate the stone golem at all, but it requires two successful ability checks: a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to scramble across the vines and swing across the gap without falling, and a DC 10 Wisdom (Animal Handling) to make the passage without setting off a panic in the monkeys that consider the vines their home. If the Animal Handling check fails, the character is attacked by 1d4 baboon. The animals fight normally, but the character hanging in the vines has disadvantage on every attack roll and ability check while under attack.
Ataaz Yklwazi
Blades of black basalt thrust up from the floor of this deep, volcanic canyon to create a forest of sorts: one that can easily draw blood from unwary trekkers who brush against the ebon piles that are as sharp as the razor-edged weapons they’re named after.
Ataaz Yklwazi (“Gorge of Blades”) forms a gateway of sorts to the Valley of Lost Honor from the north. The valley is the domain of firenewts. They protect it by patrolling the gorge and ambushing any intruders they believe they’re strong enough to defeat. A typical patrol consists of four firenewt warrior mounted on giant strider (see appendix D for both creatures' statistics).
The gorge is also the favored hunting ground of a female young red dragon named Tzindelor, dubbed Tinder by those who’ve seen her and survived. The treacherous terrain is littered with the charred skeletons of Tinder’s victims. If the characters take a long rest in the gorge, they encounter the dragon at the end of their rest. For more information on Tinder, see “Wyrmheart Mine”.
Bay of Chult
Ships must pass through the Bay of Chult as they come and go from Port Nyanzaru or the beaches west of Fort Beluarian. The mouth of the bay is watched over by Aremag, a dragon turtle with a blind, milky left eye and a piece of its shell missing. Aremag demands that ships toss treasure into the bay to appease it. Aremag then gathers up the loot and hides it in its lair, which no one has yet found.
If the characters enter or leave the Bay of Chult by ship, Aremag appears:
The sea ahead roils and churns, and waves crash over the bow of your ship, driven by saw-toothed hills rising from the heaving foam. Water streams off the rising crags like rivers crashing down a mountainside. At last the emerging island stops growing in size, although the sea around still tosses your ship like a drifting feather. Then a huge blast of steam erupts from the waves, and through the drifting, rainbow-crossed mist, you see an immense beak and a milky eye the size of a hogshead cask staring blindly in your direction. As the water calms, you also spot a dozen or more shark fins circling the ship.
Aremag speaks first in Draconic; if no one answers intelligibly, it switches to Aquan.
During the negotiation, the dragon turtle slowly circles the ship. At first, characters must continually circle the deck of the ship to maintain face-to-face contact with the creature, but eventually it creates an eddy that causes the sloop to revolve at a rate matching Aremag’s motion. It should be obvious to everyone that the dragon turtle could easily sink the vessel.
Aremag demands tribute for safe passage but doesn’t specify an amount. Those aboard must throw valuables into a sack, in view of Aremag, until the dragon turtle is satisfied with the offering. Aremag extorts a different amount from every vessel, depending on how rich it suspects the cargo to be and how greedy it feels at the moment. To determine the minimum value in gold pieces Aremag will accept, roll 2d4 × 50 gp. As each fresh offering is displayed and added to the sack, the dragon turtle roars “More!” until the total reaches or exceeds its minimum. If characters act ridiculous about this-adding only a pittance at a time, for example-Aremag impatiently blows a blast of steam breath above the ship and slaps the hull with its tail, causing everyone not below deck to make a successful DC 15 Strength or Dexterity saving throw or tumble overboard. The bay is full of reef shark, and anyone who stays in the water more than 3 rounds is attacked by 1d4 of them.
Some negotiation is possible. A successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check can persuade Aremag that the passengers have no more to give, provided they’ve placed at least 50 gp of value into the sack. Only one character can make the check; others can aid, if they contribute a convincingly pitiable plea to the argument. The check is made with disadvantage if the sack contains less than 100 gp in value, or with advantage if the sack contains 150 gp or more. Every time this check is tried and failed, Aremag reacts as described above, as if characters were adding only a few gold pieces at a time.
When the offering is sufficient, Aremag announces “Heave it over!” The bag can be tossed onto Aremag’s craggy back, into his mouth, or directly into the water. The dragon turtle submerges without further talk, causing the ship to pitch and roll violently until the sea calms down. Characters can watch the enormous disk of its shell swimming down into the clear water of the bay until it disappears in the lightless depths.
Camp Righteous
You come upon an abandoned riverside camp strewn with wreckage. The tents are moldy and tattered, and all the permanent structures appear to have burned to the ground. Two intact rowboats are tied off to a short dock.
North of the camp is a ridge, built into which is an 80-foot-tall stone statue carved to look like a man with a crocodile on his back. Between the statue’s feet is a stone archway leading to a dark tunnel. To the left of the statue is a crude animal pen with a small, panicked bird running around inside it. There are no other signs of life.
When the Order of the Gauntlet first brought its war against undead to Chult, its members established this base camp (map 2.3) around an ancient Chultan shrine, which local guides call the House of the Crocodile. The shrine wasn’t the focus of the order’s activity, but it was an object of intense curiosity. Despite being in ruins, the shrine’s traps were still active, and they overcame the order’s attempts to reach the heart of the shrine.
The overconfident visitors neglected to build defenses around the camp, believing that their own strong arms were sufficient protection. A couple months ago, they were proved tragically wrong when hundreds of undead swarmed out of the jungle and overran the camp. Only a handful of warriors escaped from that slaughter. No bodies remain in the camp; the remains of everyone who died defending it have either been buried by the second wave of templars (now at Camp Vengeance) or dragged away by jungle scavengers.
When characters arrive, the camp is being watched by a party of Batiri goblins consisting of two goblin per player character. Leading the group is a goblin boss named Yokka. The goblins wear wooden masks and hide in the foliage north of the camp. They believe the shrine is cursed, so they avoid it. However, Yokka had a vision of a treasure inside the shrine that could make him a great figure in his tribe, so he and his followers have spent the last tenday trying to work up the courage to tackle the shrine’s traps. The arrival of adventurers is a great boon from Yokka’s point of view. If they defeat the shrine’s traps, he can simply take its treasure from them as they emerge. If they don’t, they might at least weaken the shrine’s defenses.
Yokka’s band bedevils the party without revealing its presence until the final moment. For example, if no guard is left to watch over the party’s boats, the goblins steal them or knock holes in their bottoms. If all the party members enter the shrine, the goblins set up an ambush outside. If all else fails, the goblins use horns and animal calls to draw the attention of nearby undead (1d8 zombie and 1d8 skeleton) or aggressive beasts (a hungry allosaurus and 1d4+1 axe beak).
1. Command Tents
Templars from the Order of the Gauntlet removed everything of value from these tents when they came to inspect the scene of the disaster. A character who pokes around in one of these tents has a 1-in-6 chance of stirring up a poisonous snake.
2. Soldiers' Tents
All the tents are ruined one way or another. Most were slashed by claws or weapons during the fight, and all the canvas is at the point of disintegration from mildew and jungle rot.
3. Burned-Out Shrine
During the battle, overturned lamps started fires in the templars' partially built shrine, setting ablaze the stockpile of material that was meant to become permanent barracks. All that remains is a burnt-out ruin.
Treasure
A silver holy symbol of Torm (25 gp) still hangs by a leather thong from a peg on the shrine wall, overlooked until now.
4. Animal Pens
The templars kept swine in this pen for food. They’re long gone, but a fledgling axe beak with 6 hit points and no effective attacks (0 XP) has gotten itself trapped inside the enclosure. If characters leave it alone or set it loose, it causes no problems. If they attack or harass the bird, its squawks attract five adult axe beak, which crash out of the jungle 2 rounds later, ready to fight whatever they meet.
5. Latrines
During the attack on the camp, one templar’s courage failed him, and he hid from the undead by climbing down into the southernmost latrine. He survived the attack but couldn’t climb out of the reeking pit by himself, and he died of thirst within days.
Treasure
Characters who search the dead templar find a suit of scale mail (ruined), a warhammer, and a pouch containing five assorted gemstones (10 gp each).
6. House of the Man and Crocodile
This shrine was built centuries ago by Chultans. Carved into a stony hillside, its entrance lies between the feet of an 80-foot-high stone statue depicting a man carrying a crocodile on his back. Any Chultan can identify this as a figure from local mythology and can recall the story for the characters. If characters ask a Chultan what the statue signifies, read:
In the early days of the world, Man stood by the banks of a river, frightened. Crocodile raised his head from the water and asked, “What troubles you, cousin Man?”
Man said, “I must cross this river, but I fear to enter the water alone, because it teems with your brethren.”
Crocodile replied, “It’s true, you would not be safe. But I will carry you across the river safely on my back, if you promise to return the favor.” Man agreed, and Crocodile bore him safely across the water.
When they reached the far bank, Man asked, “How can I repay you?”
Crocodile replied, “I wish to see the realm of Humans, but I fear to go there alone, because it teems with your brethren. You must carry me on your back across your realm.”
Man had been tricked, but a promise is a promise, so he carried Crocodile safely on his back across the entire realm of humans, a journey that lasted many years. He also swore, in his anger, that never again would Men and Crocodiles be friends, and so it has remained to this day.
This tale is a hint that can get characters safely past the traps in the shrine.
Man and Crocodile
None of the traps in the shrine will be triggered by two characters who are imitating Man and Crocodile, with one riding on the other’s shoulders. Those characters can still be injured by a trap that’s triggered by someone else; they just won’t trigger it themselves. Navigating the shrine is difficult, however, for a two-person piggyback team. There’s a recurring danger that they’ll lose their balance or the rider will fall off. Any moment when they’re not carrying or riding one another, they risk setting off traps like anyone else. If the rider is at least one size category smaller than the carrier, the carrier makes requisite Strength and Dexterity checks and saving throws with advantage.
Ledges
In a few places, the floor of the shrine rises 7 feet, forming a ledge. No check is needed to climb a ledge solo, but the ledge’s height makes it difficult to see what lies ahead. A rider/carrier team probably is tall enough to see over a ledge, but to climb it, the carrier must make a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check; the rider can aid this check. If the check fails by 5 or more, both of them sprawl to the lower floor and, for 1 round at least, they’re just two individuals, not a rider and a carrier. If the check fails by less than 5, they tumble forward onto the upper terrace, sprawl apart, and probably set off whatever trap is on that level.
Spotting Traps
Unless indicated otherwise, a trap can be spotted with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check. It’s best if just one character makes this check, and only the first check counts, no matter how many times the search is attempted. If players insist on having everyone crowd in and search for traps, goblins might steal the party’s canoes or rig traps of their own.
6A. Concealed Pit Trap
The ceiling here is 23 feet high and draped with cobwebs, and the stone-tiled floor is covered with a thick layer of mud, creepers, and blown-in leaves, so attempts to spot this pit trap are made with disadvantage. An individual who crosses this section of floor has a 50 percent chance of triggering the trapdoor and dropping into the 20-foot-deep pit, taking damage from the fall as normal.
Once the pit opens, a narrow ledge remains around the outside edge. The ledge can be traversed safely with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, but a character with someone riding on his or her shoulders makes the check with disadvantage.
6B. Blade Trap
The ceiling here is 23 feet high and draped with cobwebs. Each individual that passes through this section of the corridor has a 50 percent chance of triggering scything blades that sweep out from concealed wall niches. Any creature in the 10-foot-square section of hall between the blades must make a DC 13 Dexterity throw, taking 18 (4d8) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Once identified, the trap can be jammed by hammering spikes or metal blades into the niches and succeeding on four separate DC 10 Strength checks (to hammer in the metal solidly enough). Each successful check jams one scythe and reduces the trap’s damage by 1d8.
6C. Puzzle Floor
To reach this section of hall, characters must climb a 7-foot-high ledge (see “Ledges” above). The area north of the ledge forms a 16-foot-high terrace, the floor of which is tiled in a four-by-four pattern of squares. There’s just enough room for a person to stand at the top of the ledge without stepping on the tiles, but beyond that, the pattern covers the floor from wall to wall, clear back to another 7-foot-high ledge that separates this section of hall from area 6D. The wooden door at area 6D has a similar four-by-four pattern carved into it. A character atop someone else’s shoulders can see the entire pattern, but a person of normal height can’t see the bottom row of the pattern on the door-and that’s unfortunate, because one square of that bottom row on the door glows faintly (roll a d4 to determine which square it is). Even if someone can see that area of the door, the glow is so faint that a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check is needed to notice it.
The pattern on the door corresponds to the pattern on the floor, with the bottom door row matching to the floor row closest to the characters. If an individual applies more than a few pounds of pressure to any square except the one corresponding to the lit-up square on the door, magical flames blast out from the walls. Every creature on the terrace when the flames appear must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the correct tile is stepped on or depressed, no flames are triggered and a square in the second row on the door lights up-again very faintly. As characters advance across the floor tiles, the ledge blocks more and more of the pattern on the door, always making it hard for characters to see which square is lit unless they are riding on the shoulders of a companion.
The tiled pattern on the floor can be crossed safely by stepping only on the squares that light up on the door, or by a two-person rider/carrier team. Putting pressure on any other square triggers the flames. This trigger and trap are magical, so they can’t be disarmed or jammed mechanically. Casting
6D. Puzzle Door
To reach this door, characters must climb another 7-foot-high ledge, above which the ceiling is 9 feet high. A wooden door at the back of the ledge has no apparent handle or latch. To open it, the four lit-up squares must be touched, in order from bottom to top, by a rider/carrier team emulating Man and Crocodile. The bottom two squares must be touched by the carrier and the top two by the rider. If the squares are pressed correctly, the door swings open into area 6E. If wrong squares are pressed, the squares are pressed in the wrong order, or they’re pressed by the wrong people, a
6E. Treasury
The floor of this dusty, 40-foot-high, 20-foot-wide chamber is littered with dinosaur bones. Webs stretch from the walls to a 30-foot-tall central pillar, coiled around which is a narrow stone staircase, its steps covered with dust. Carved into the pillar are reliefs of a man carrying a crocodile. The reliefs follow the stairs to the top of the pillar, on which sits a large, beautiful, ceramic jug.
The staircase that spirals around the pillar is 2 feet wide, and each step is 1 foot higher than the one below it. Whenever a character who is carrying another character starts his or her turn on the staircase, both the rider and the carrier must make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If both checks fail, the rider and carrier fall. Otherwise, the team maintains its balance.
Trapped Steps
There are thirty steps in total. Each of steps 3, 10, 17, and 23 has a
Treasure
The jug is an
A rider/carrier team trying to descend the stairs while carrying the
Camp Vengeance
Through the foliage, you see a crude timber fortification—a walled compound with watchtowers and tents inside it, encircled by a ditch bristling with sharpened stakes. A large gatehouse faces the river, on the shore of which are four rowboats tied to a wooden post.
Scattered around the fort are piles of charred human corpses and flayed animal carcasses swarming with flies.
The corpses around the fort (map 2.4) are the remains of beasts and undead that attacked the camp. The camp dwellers took meat off the dead dinosaurs and other beasts to feed themselves, leaving the rest to rot.
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.
A handful of warriors of the Order of the Gauntlet escaped the undead onslaught against Camp Righteous by retreating up the River Soshenstar toward the Aldani Basin. Three days later, they ended their retreat by digging in on this spot. Eventually they got word of their situation back to Port Nyanzaru, and they’ve since been reinforced. Their original, small camp has been transformed into a fortified base far more capable of withstanding attack than Camp Righteous ever was.
That’s not to say the camp is a hale and healthy place. Unwholesome vapors and clouds of insects descend on it from the pestilential Aldani Basin lying only a few miles to the south. The knights stationed here are disease-ridden and exhausted from their constant battles against giant jungle carnivores by day and undead horrors by night.
The templar in charge is a devout worshiper of Tyr named Niles Breakbone (LG male Chondathan human noble), a man who’s dedicated to everything the Order of the Gauntlet represents but poorly suited to commanding a post like Camp Vengeance. Aside from Commander Breakbone, the standard garrison at the base consists of fifty-eight people, though the actual number of effective warriors at any given time is usually lower due to sickness. Breakbone has two captains under his command: Ord Firebeard (LG male gold dwarf veteran) and Perne Salhana (LG female Tethyrian human veteran). Reporting to them is a fighting force comprised of eight veteran and twenty-four guard. This is supplemented by a religious corps of six acolyte led by Sister Cyas (LG female Chondathan human priest of Helm). Technically, the religious templars are part of the fighting force, but in practice, they spend most of their time tending the sick and wounded. Finally, the fort is supported by a ragtag troop of Chultan hunters and scouts consisting of fifteen tribal warrior led by Lorsa Bilwatal (CN female Chultan human scout) and Niles Breakbone’s longtime friend, Wulf Rygor (CG male half-elf scout).
1. Boats
Although the camp gets much of its food by hunting, it depends entirely on rowboats and canoes coming up the River Soshenstar to bring replacement soldiers, armor, weapons, arrows and bolts, medicine, tents, cots, boots, clothing, and just about everything else. After the disaster at Camp Righteous, Commander Breakbone would like to have enough boats on hand to carry most, if not all, of the garrison to safety in case the camp is overrun. That’s seldom the case.
2. Gatehouse
The camp is ringed by a 20-foot-deep ditch lined with sharpened stakes backed by a stout, 12-foot-high log palisade. The depth of the ditch isn’t apparent because it’s perpetually filled with muddy water. The spikes are too big to be effective against undead but they’re dangerous to Large and Huge beasts. The gatehouse is heavy enough to withstand a charging triceratops, and the gates are never opened without an express command from one of the camp’s top three officers.
The gatehouse consists of the ground-level entryway, an upper floor that serves as an armory (all of the garrison’s spare weapons and armor are stored here because it’s one of the few places that remains reliably dry), and a roofless fighting platform surrounded by a palisade that gives three-quarters cover against attacks made from the ground. Two guard are stationed atop the gatehouse day and night.
The rampart under the palisade impedes the camp’s drainage. The entire compound is riddled with puddles and ankle-deep mud, which make it a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other vermin.
3. Watchtowers
Each watchtower has a defended top level (providing three-quarters cover) that looms above the camp palisade. A lower level consists of a wooden floor raised several feet above the ground and enclosed with a combination of thin wood and canvas to create a reasonably dry living space. Lorsa Bilwatal, Wulf Rygor, and their cadre of Chultan scouts have their quarters in these lower watchtower billets.
Theoretically, each watchtower is staffed by two guard day and night, but personnel shortages sometimes reduce that to one guard or force the knights to take turns on watch.
4. Animal Pen
The knights built this pen for swine, but the camp proved too unhealthy for them and they all died. The current livestock consists of four sickly goat.
5. Field Hospital Tents
These tents are filled with sick and dying soldiers of the Order. At any given time, each tent holds 2d6 patients suffering from a range of maladies. The acolytes tending the sick are themselves so ill and exhausted that they can’t make effective use of their magic. Any help the characters provide is greatly appreciated, especially if they donate
6. Command Tent
Commander Breakbone understands war well enough when it involves battle lines, waving banners, trumpets, and supply trains, but this war of ambush and creeping through the jungle only mystifies and frustrates him. He spends most of his time in his command tent, poring over inaccurate maps and reviewing reports about the camp’s supplies. His two immediate subordinates, Ord Firebeard and Perne Salhana, do a commendable job of managing the camp in the absence of effective leadership from Breakbone.
Commander Breakbone has two immediate problems. If characters arrived by boat, he needs them to carry messages and seven sick soldiers downriver to Port Nyanzaru. Each soldier is suffering from mad monkey fever, shivering sickness, or throat leeches (see “Diseases”.) If characters arrived on foot, Breakbone insists that they lead a detachment of his soldiers (consisting of four guard and four tribal warrior) on a two-week patrol back in the direction they came from; their orders are to destroy any undead they encounter. If either request is refused, Breakbone orders the characters arrested and tied hand and foot in separate guard towers, to await trial for insubordination during a military emergency. If they’re found guilty, the penalty is to be stripped of all gear, tied to trees in the forest, and left for the carnivores or the undead.
Quest: Carry Messages
Commander Breakbone, at Camp Vengeance has tasked us with carring messages and seven sick soldiers downriver to Port Nyanzaru. Each soldier is suffering from mad monkey fever, shivering sickness, or throat leeches.
Quest: Undead Patrol
Commander Breakbone, at Camp Vengeance has tasked us with leading a two-week patrol back in the direction we came from; our orders are to destroy any undead we encounter.
Sufficiently powerful characters might actually win a fight against the entire camp, but even if they do, they’ll be marked for death by the Order of the Gauntlet wherever they go in Chult (and potentially elsewhere in the Realms). If characters escorted Undril Silvertusk to the camp and gained her respect (see “Side Quests,") she will intercede on their behalf and persuade Commander Breakbone to let the characters go. Otherwise, they’ll need to win over both Ord and Perne with persuasive arguments to avoid Breakbone’s judgment. Each of them can be swayed with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, but only if the character making the check has a sound case for leniency.
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.
7. Soldiers' Tents
Each tent is intended to house four people in reasonable comfort. They have log floors to keep the occupants above the mud, and reed-filled cloth mattresses for sleeping on. None of the material, however, is suitable for long-term use in Chult. The canvas is riddled with mildew and fungus, dampness quickly seeps up through the floors, and vermin of every imaginable variety thrives in the mattresses.
8. Latrines
Anywhere but Chult, these latrines would be excellent. Here, daily rain floods the pits and flushes their contents through the camp. As if that’s not bad enough, the wooden structures are sinking into the soft ground around the pits, threatening at any moment to collapse utterly. Most soldiers in the camp avoid the latrines and instead relieve themselves in the jungle (if they can volunteer for outside work details) or over the top of the palisade wall. Either option is safer and more sanitary than using the latrines.
The Cauldron
Lava pouring into the sea from nearby volcanoes causes immense columns of steam to continually erupt from this bay. This steam combined with billowing clouds of ash and black smoke from the volcanoes give the bay its name. No sea life survives in the bay-the poisoned water is perpetually covered by a layer of floating soot-and vegetation along the coast is all dead and coated in ash.
Dungrunglung
The grungs of Dungrunglung (map 2.5) toil under the tyranny of their despotic king, Groak, who is obsessed with summoning the goddess Nangnang and mating with her. To please their king, the grungs have erected a 60-foot-tall mud shrine, where Groak plans to woo the goddess and where she, in turn, can bless him with generations of god-touched, royal Groaklings.
Although grungs are traditionally scheming, greedy, and generally unpleasant to deal with, the grungs of Dungrunglung are experiencing desperate times. Ghouls and zombies threaten their existence, and grung poison is ineffective against the undead. Consequently, the grungs are strongly incentivized to use outsiders to solve their undead problem instead of making slaves or meals out of them.
King Groak holds absolute sway in Dungrunglung, and his subjects follow his orders without question. However, should the balance of power shift firmly to Krr’ook or Roark (see “Grungs of Dungrunglung” below), the grungs do not hesitate to tear Groak limb from limb in a cathartic frenzy. At some point during the adventurers' time in Dungrunglung, they will be approached in secrecy by Krr’ook.
At any given time, Dungrunglung is home to grungs representing all castes and colors. There is only one gold grung (Groak) and one red grung (Krr’ook). For grung stat blocks and more information on grung castes, see appendix D.
The grungs speak no language other than their own, which complicates any dealings with them. How they treat adventurers depends on how strong they appear:
- If the party appears weak (few in number or needing assistance), 1d6+6 grung with green skin (warriors) surround them as soon as they enter the thorn maze, and press them to attend an audience with the king. The grungs attack and subdue characters who resist. If the adventurers accept, they are taken through the maze to the shrine, where they are received by King Groak. He offers sanctuary and talks of the great ritual to summon Nangnang. Once the characters are rested, Groak commands them to help Krr’ook make final preparations.
- If the party looks capable of putting up a good fight, they are greeted by 1d6+6 grung with green skin (warriors) once they reach the settlement. The grungs welcome them to Dungrunglung and beg the characters to hear what King Groak has to say. Groak entreats the adventurers to be part of his divine destiny, and to aid Krr’ook in completing the preparations to summon Nangnang. He offers Dungrunglung’s hospitality as well as information about Chult in exchange for their help.
Characters who offend King Groak are thrown in the prison pit (area 7). There, they are approached in secret by Krr’ook, who tries to explain her dilemma. If the party agrees to help her, Krr’ook will find a way to free the party members to aid in her task. Prisoners who are deemed “not useful” will either be roasted over a fire or sacrificed to Nangnang during the Great Ritual.
Grungs of Dungrunglung
The following grungs have key roles to play in Dungrunglung. For grung statistics, see appendix D.
Groak (gold grung elite warrior wearing a circlet of blasting) is the lovestruck king who seeks to woo the goddess Nangnang. Charismatic but unstable, Groak can swing from friendly to homicidal in the span of a few seconds. Because of this, his people dare not even whisper a harsh word about him. Groak wants to be seen as a visionary and a romantic, and he loves to hear stories of the outside world. However, he threatens anyone who dares to question his inflated self-image. Groak tolerates adventurers as long as they entertain him, generally agree with everything he says, and are willing to aid him in his quest to realize his divine destiny to become Nangnang’s consort.
Krr’ook (red grung wildling) is a grung priest who fears the king’s madness. She whispers favorable signs and omens in the king’s ear to keep in his good graces. Secretly, Krr’ook suspects that the Great Ritual to summon Nangnang will fail. Consequently, she fears for her life. She approaches the adventurers to see if they can help her fool the king on the night of the ritual. If Krr’ook senses anything out of kilter, or if the ritual goes awry, she scapegoats the adventurers and delivers them straight into the king’s infantile wrath.
Roark (orange grung elite warrior) is a dutiful and dangerous grung warrior, dedicated to his mad king. Roark thinks all this goddess-summoning nonsense is distracting from the real issue at hand: defending Dungrunglung from the undead. Secretly, Roark’s loyalty is to the tribe first and Groak second, but Roark is dutifully abiding the king’s obsession for now. He is suspicious of adventurers yet open to help in defending his village from the undead.
1. Thorn Maze
Dungrunglung is surrounded by a 20-foot-high maze of magical, twisted vines. The outer wall bristles with thorns that zombies mindlessly skewer themselves on in their attempts to swarm over it.
The maze has one visible entrance to the north and numerous secret entrances elsewhere around the perimeter. A secret entrance is simply a well-hidden doorway that requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot.
The maze’s passages are open to the sky and magically change configuration every minute or so, turning passageways into dead ends, and vice versa. Whichever character is leading the way through the maze must make six successful DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) checks to find the entrance to the settlement (area 2). Each successful or failed check represents 1 minute of searching the maze. Between each check, roll a d20 and consult the Thorn Maze Encounters table to determine what, if anything, the characters encounter. Characters can avoid the maze entirely by flying over it.
Thorn Maze Encounters
| d20 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-9 | No encounter. |
| 10-12 | 1d6+6 grungs (green-skinned warriors) on patrol. |
| 13 | 1d3 assassin vines blending in with the surrounding walls. |
| 14 | 1d4 ghouls lost in the maze. |
| 15 | A harmless yahcha beetle. |
| 16 | The characters hear a throaty croak that sounds at once both lusty and forlorn. Its source cannot be ascertained. |
| 17 | 1d6 zombies lost in the maze. |
| 18-19 | A concealed pit 5 feet wide, 10 feet deep, and lined with poisoned wooden stakes. The lead character spots the pit with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. |
| 20 | An interior secret door. It requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot. |
2. Main Entrance
If the characters exit the maze at this point, read:
Through an opening in the maze wall, you see a small lake surrounded by reed huts, ferns, and lily pads. Rising up from a flat island in the middle of the lake is a 60-foot-tall shrine made of painted mud bricks, shaped in the likeness of a giant frog. Stairs climb from the lake shore to an open doorway carved into the frog’s fat belly. Patrolling the shrine’s perimeter are several small, frog-like humanoids with bright orange skin and shortbows.
Four green-skinned grung (warriors) emerge from nearby hovels to confront strangers who approach the shrine unescorted. They attack if no one speaks the correct passphrase in Grung (“Roook, roooook, erp”). If a fight breaks out, reinforcements in the form of twelve grung arrive in 2 rounds. The grungs in area 3 begin shooting arrows at the same time.
3. Groak’s Isle
Marshy shores surround the shrine, which is 60 feet tall and made of carved mud blocks painted with natural dyes. Patrolling its base are eight grung elite warrior with orange skin. They wield daggers and shortbows, and are loyal to Roark first, King Groak second. Strangers who reach the island without a grung escort are attacked.
4. Shrine
The interior of the shrine is one large, hollow room. Just inside the entrance is a clear pool of water that ranges in depth from 2 to 5 feet. Phosphorescent fungi illuminate the pool with soft, dreamy hues. Short, frog-like humanoids of different colors are fussing with the fungi and tossing flower petals into the pool.
At the back of the shrine is an elevated semicircular basin of water 10 feet high. Wallowing in the basin is a grung with gold skin. On its brow rests a golden circlet. An orange-skinned grung perches nearby, shortbow at the ready.
The shallow pool at the front of the shrine is where Krr’ook (a red-skinned grung wildling; see the “Grungs of Dungrunglung” sidebar) and her assistants (six blueskinned grung) prepare for the Great Ritual by tending the phosphorescent fungi and scenting the water with delicate perfumes. Removing the fungi from the pool is forbidden, by order of King Groak.
The elevated pool at the back of the shrine is fed by an underground spring. King Groak (a gold-skinned grung elite warrior with a
Treasure
King Groak wears a
The Great Ritual
Once the Great Ritual is complete, King Groak expects Nangnang to materialize and speak words of love, praise, and reassurance to him. Fearing that the ritual will fail, Krr’ook has concocted a desperate plan to fool the king but needs the adventurers' help to pull it off.
Krr’ook’s Plan
A while ago, Krr’ook found a box of
Moment of Truth
The ritual happens at night. Fires are lit throughout the village, whereupon scores of common grungs enter the lake and watch the shrine. King Groak dons ceremonial garb made from reeds and wild orchids, and awaits his love on the steps of the shrine, wringing his rubbery hands with anticipation.
To fool Groak, the characters must paint an image of Nangnang on a surface or craft some other representation of her, then use magic (if they can) to give it a semblance of life.
Whoever gives voice to Nangnang must “sell” the illusion with honeyed words, in order to convince King Groak that he has won a special place in Nangnang’s heart. Finally, the ritual must end with Nangnang’s departure, handled in such a way that King Groak won’t suspect he’s been fooled or abandoned forever. If Nangnang or her words ring false, King Groak orders the deaths of Krr’ook and anyone believed to have aided her.
Making Nangnang
To fool Groak, the party must succeed at three or more of the following tasks. Have the characters make the requisite ability checks in the following order:
- Painting or crafting a representation of Nangnang requires a successful DC 12 Intelligence check. Using
Nolzur’s marvelous pigments grants advantage on the check. - Animating Nangnang convincingly requires a successful DC 12 Charisma (Deception) check. If multiple characters contribute, have one character make the check with advantage.
- Convincing Groak that Nangnang’s words are genuine requires a successful DC 15 Charisma (Deception or Performance) check. If the words are delivered in a language King Groak doesn’t understand, the check is made with disadvantage. (Groak speaks Grung only.)
- Selling Nangnang’s blessed departure requires a successful DC 15 Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion) check. The check is made with disadvantage if her words are spoken in a language other than Grung.
End Result
If the characters succeed at three or more checks, King Groak is thoroughly duped and very happy for the foreseeable future. Characters who request his help will receive it, no questions asked. If the party’s trickery is discovered, King Groak orders his subjects to attack them. The attacking force consists of sixteen grung elite warrior (including Roark) and forty grung. Groak retreats to his elevated pool in the shrine and makes his final stand there.
5. Grung Hovels
Dotted about the shores of the lake are several squat huts made from swamp moss and reeds plastered together with mud. The huts range from about 15 to 25 feet in diameter, and each has a single, low entrance. Some have small, round windowlike openings, and a few have stout mud chimneys.
Each hut is large enough to accommodate six adult grung plus 2d6 baby grungs (noncombatants). All the occupants of a given hut belong to the same caste, and thus have the same color skin (except the young, which are all dull green-gray).
6. Lake Grunglung
Lake Grunglung is really just a large pond covered with lily pads and duckweed, where slow-moving catfish gulp at the surface for air. The thick, muddy bottom is littered with the bones of the grungs' feasts.
7. Prison Pit
This dug-out pit is 5 feet deep and covered by stout, wooden bars. Prisoners confined here are guarded around the clock by two green-skinned grung (warriors) until they can be cooked and eaten. Any items taken from the prisoners are entrusted to purple-skinned grungs in the nearby hovels (see area 5).
A character in the pit can throw aside the prison bars with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check. Before the check is made, each guard makes one opportunity attack against the character attempting the check.
Firefinger
Rising high above the jungle canopy is a 300-foot-tall, naturally formed spire of rock with smoke issuing from a flaming beacon at the top of it. The walls of the spire are sheer and dotted with small caves. Frail-looking ladders hang from narrow ledges at various heights.
The rocky pinnacle called Firefinger (map 2.6) is an ancient Chultan signal tower. Before the Spellplague toppled them, many such towers were used to send messages between cities via colored flames at night or colored smoke during the day. Firefinger is one of the few still standing, if not the only one.
Firefinger has been taken over by a flock of pterafolk that preys on hunters and explorers along the River Tiryki. The tower is a perfect lair for the pterafolk; in clear weather, from its 300-foot-high vantage point, they can spot anything moving on the river less than 10 miles away, and its sheer walls and crumbling ladders make it potentially lethal for anything without wings to attempt the ascent.
If Azaka Stormfang (see chapter 1) is with the characters, she insists they attack the spire. She suggests waiting until nightfall or rain, if none of the characters think of it. If characters refuse to attack the pterafolk, Azaka leaves their service in disgust.
The best way to approach Firefinger without being spotted by the pterafolk is to stay under heavy forest canopy and cross open areas only when rain or darkness limits visibility. If these precautions aren’t taken, have the party make a DC 12 group Dexterity (Stealth) check. If the group check fails, the pterafolk mount an attack from above. The attack force numbers two pterafolk for each party member. If the pterafolk become outnumbered, the survivors flee back to the spire and warn the others (in which case, the characters have lost the element of surprise).
Near the base of the spire, characters find the body of an elf lying in the mud. Most of his limbs are broken, the ribcage is crushed, and broken twigs and torn leaves are stuck in it what’s left of his clothes. This unfortunate explorer was captured on the river, flown to Firefinger, stripped of valuables, then tossed off the top of the tower to his death. Not far away, the characters find another body, and a third, and so on as they scan around the base of the tower. This same fate awaits any character captured by the pterafolk.
The rope-and-wood ladders mounted to the spire are ancient and crumbling. Each character who ascends a ladder to the next higher level (from the ground to level 1, from level 1 to level 2, and so on) must make a DC 8 Dexterity (Athletics) check. If the check succeeds, the character reaches the next level safely without damaging the fragile ladder. If the check fails, a few rungs of the ladder are damaged and the DC increases by 2 for everyone following behind the climber. If the check fails by 5 or more, the ladder is damaged and the climber falls-quite possibly to his or her death, unless precautions were taken (roping characters together, for example).
Pterafolk glide around the spire constantly except when it’s raining. They don’t pay much attention to the spire itself, since they arrogantly believe they’re safe in their stronghold. Characters might take elaborate precautions to avoid being spotted, but they’re surprisingly safe as long as they reach the spire unseen. During rain or at night, there’s no chance they’ll be spotted climbing the tower. During daytime in clear weather, a circling pterafolk spots climbers with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check, unless characters have taken other precautions.
Firefinger’s caves were formed by erosion and have ceilings that range from 7 to 10 feet high.
Level 1. Abandoned Cave
A ladder clinging to the south face of the spire ends at this level, which is 60 feet above ground.
The pterafolk don’t use this cave, the most prominent feature of which is a 10-foot-deep pit. The shortest distance across the pit where characters can use a long jump is 15 feet. Climbing into or out of the pit is easy and requires a successful DC 5 Strength (Athletics) check. However, the first character who enters the pit disturbs four giant wolf spider that nest in crevices along the pit walls. Only a character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 17 or higher is not surprised when the spiders attack.
Reaching Level 2
A rock chimney leads up to level 2. It’s a 90-foot climb with plenty of handholds but several tricky, twisty spots; a successful DC 8 Strength (Athletics) check is required to ascend or descend it without the aid of climbing gear or magic.
Level 2. Stirge Cave
A ladder clinging to the south face of the spire ends at this level, which is 160 feet above ground.
The pterafolk don’t use this cave. However, the chamber in the northeast corner is the lair of nine stirge, which cling to the 10-foot-high ceiling. They don’t react unless multiple characters enter their lair or someone brings in a torch or other open flame, in which case they attack.
Six months ago, an explorer who was captured by the pterafolk managed to escape and descend this far before falling prey to the stirges. Her desiccated corpse is slumped along the northern wall of the stirges' chamber, and the glint of gold and gems can be seen through tattered clothing and a rotting purse.
Treasure
Characters who brave the stirges and search the dead explorer can recover 15 gp, a gold and carnelian ring (60 gp), and two onyx figurines representing chwingas (50 gp each). See appendix D for more information on chwingas.
Reaching Level 3
Clinging to the west face of the spire is a ledge, above which is a ladder leading up to level 3. Whenever a character crosses the ledge, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, a sudden gust of wind threatens to blow the character off the ledge. The character must make a DC 9 Dexterity saving throw. If the saving throw fails, the character falls to the base of the spire unless he or she is secured by ropes.
Level 3. Pterafolk Nest
This level is 240 feet above ground. A ladder clinging to the west face of the spire connects this level to the one below.
Pterafolk elders inhabit this area. They’ve constructed a traditional nest that’s better sheltered from wind and rain. The southwest chamber is home to four elder pterafolk (13 hit points each; see appendix D). They spend most of their time tending their fire (which makes the chamber stiflingly hot and smoky) and carving grisly totems from the bones of their enemies.
When the pterafolk have prisoners, they’re confined to the eastern portion of this cave. Currently, there’s one prisoner: a male aarakocra named Nephyr. He hails from Kir Sabal and was ambushed by pterafolk while on patrol. His wrists, ankles, and beak are bound with rope, and he has no weapons. He knows that at least eight pterafolk live on Firefinger’s peak, but he has no idea how many are there now.
If the characters set him free, Nephyr is grateful. Before departing, he urges the characters to visit Kir Sabal and petition Asharra to perform the Dance of the Seven Winds. This dance, he says, is part of a magical ritual that grants nonflying creatures the ability to fly. Once back at Kir Sabal, Nephyr spreads word of the characters' heroism. Characters gain advantage on Charisma checks made to influence the aarakocra of Kir Sabal from that point on.
Reaching Level 4
A 50-foot-tall chimney ascends to the pinnacle of Firefinger. The chimney contains plenty of handholds and requires a successful DC 8 Strength (Athletics) check to climb without gear or magic. At this height, any significant noise in the shaft alerts the pterafolk in area Level 4. Pinnacle to the presence of intruders.
Level 4. Pinnacle
The spire’s pinnacle is flat and roughly 40 feet square. The edges are crumbling away; it wouldn’t be safe to stand too close to any of them. Vines and low brush grow in profusion. Bones and scraps of meat from dozens of creatures are scattered everywhere.
A crumbling stone tower rises another 30 feet above the northern corner of the platform. A roaring flame floats in the air, hovering above the tower. Tumbled debris from the tower is heaped around its foundation. Three humanoid creatures with needlelike beaks and leathery wings are worrying the last shreds of flesh from well-chewed bones near an open doorway into the base of the tower.
Firefinger’s pinnacle is 300 feet above ground. When the sky is clear, characters can see over 20 miles around the tower. More importantly, they can make out the scattered plateaus, the Peaks of Flame and other volcanoes and mountains ringing the southern coast, and the enormous gaps in the jungle canopy that mark the Aldani Basin, Lake Luo, and the Valley of Embers.
Pterafolk never use the chimney between level 3 and level 4 other than to occasionally drop food to a prisoner. The top of the chimney is surrounded by rocks and low bushes, providing enough concealment for three Medium creatures. Hiding from the pterafolk requires a successful DC 12 Dexterity (Stealth) check, with advantage at nighttime or when it’s raining.
Six pterafolk lair atop the tower, including the flock’s leader, Nrak, who has 40 hit points. Nrak is a hate-filled creature with a scar that begins at the top of its head and cuts down the right side of its face and chest to below its right wing. If Azaka Stormfang (see chapter 1) is with the group, consider adding more pterafolk to the fight; she swings the balance heavily in favor of the attackers. Additional pterafolk circle high overhead and can join the fray at any time. Pterafolk won’t hesitate to shove a character who foolishly stands at the edge of the tower. They can jump from the tower, circle around on the wing, and use their dive attacks to great advantage.
Firefinger’s beacon is a magical plume of fire that puts out tremendous heat. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of the flame takes 10 (3d6) fire damage. Any creature that enters the flame or starts its turn there takes 35 (10d6) fire damage. A successful
Treasure
Inside the tower are crude nests and four moldy wooden chests. The chests aren’t locked. All together, they hold 2,000 cp, 730 sp, four gemstones (50 gp each), and a
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.
Fort Beluarian
The flag of Baldur’s Gate flies over this wooden stockade. The whole structure sits atop a 10-foot hillock, the sides of which are shaved vertically to make them steep and difficult to climb. The fort’s main gate faces west. On the east side of the stockade, a tall keep holds a commanding view of the surrounding wilderness.
Fort Beluarian’s elevation and lack of a ditch allows the stockade to drain well even in heavy rain. The fort (map 2.7) is garrisoned by Flaming Fist mercenaries. Immense wealth passes through Fort Beluarian-enough to make the nobles and merchants of Baldur’s Gate rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
Commanding Fort Beluarian is a lawful evil Flaming Fist blaze (major) named Liara Portyr, who answers directly to Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’s Gate. Liara is 47 years old and has held her post for the past three years. To her, a posting in Chult feels like a test of mettle, but to many of her subordinates, it feels like banishment. The garrison consists of a castellan named Gruta Halsdottir (LN female Illuskan human knight), three corporals (veteran), and fifty-four privates (guard). The garrison operates in three eight-hour shifts, with one corporal (gauntlet) and eighteen privates (fists) on duty during each shift.
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.
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.
Unknown to her boss, Liara is in league with pirates based out of Jahaka Anchorage and earns a tidy profit from their exploits. Liara’s spies in Port Nyanzaru furnish her with ship manifests and departure schedules, which she passes to the pirates via a
Although she’s a villain of sorts, Liara Portyr has no reason to be an enemy to the characters. She spends most of her time managing the security of her stronghold, going over field reports, and sifting through reports from her spies in Port Nyanzaru. She admires adventurers, and as long as the characters do nothing to antagonize her, she can provide them with useful advice and material aid against the myriad threats lurking in the jungle.
Liara is puzzled by reports coming from her patrols to the south. They’ve crossed the trails of large creatures in the jungle that don’t match anything known to live in Chult. If the characters are planning to explore the region between the east coast and the River Tiryki, or they’ve already been there and seen anything unusual, she’d be grateful for any light they can shed on the mystery. (Her patrols are seeing signs of the frost giants searching for Artus Cimber.)
Given that Baldur’s Gate is a member of the Lords' Alliance, it should surprise no one that a handful of alliance operatives are sprinkled through the garrison. The Emerald Enclave has expert guides stationed here as well. One of them, a druid named Qawasha (see “Finding a Guide”), comes highly recommended.
The main reason adventurers have for visiting Fort Beluarian is to buy a “charter of exploration.” Baldur’s Gate lays claim to everything east of the Mistcliff and north of Kitcher’s Inlet, and now that Mezro is picked clean, it’s trying to extend its claim south to Refuge Bay. No one (including the merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru) has the force in Chult to dispute this claim. So within its territory, the Flaming Fist does as it pleases, including demanding that explorers buy charters. A charter grants permission to the holder to explore Chult and plunder its riches, but half of an expedition’s proceeds and discoveries must be turned over to the Flaming Fist. The charter costs 50 gp, which is treated as a down payment on the split of profits. In addition, those who buy a charter can hire up to six Flaming Fist mercenaries (guard) to accompany them for the very reasonable rate of 1 gp per tenday each. It’s easy enough to launch an expedition from Port Nyanzaru without a charter. The only risk is that if a Flaming Fist patrol runs into an expedition without a charter, it will attack the expedition and confiscate its gear.
Everything being shipped in or out of the fort goes through Beluarian Landing, which is nothing more than a stretch of beach with a few log buildings above the tide line. Ships anchor a half-mile offshore, and people and supplies are ferried back and forth on rowboats. Six Flaming Fist guard defend this station; their chief duty is rowing the boats back and forth. In case of danger, they can barricade themselves inside the stoutest log building or row out to sea until whatever threatens them loses interest and wanders away.
The trek from Beluarian Landing to the fort is 14 miles along a well-marked trail. This trail is not patrolled.
Agents of the Flaming Fist
If the adventurers spend a day in Fort Beluarian, Liara Portyr becomes aware of them and dispatches a guard to bring them to the great hall (area 10C). Adventurers who refuse the summons are banished from the fort. Those who agree to meet with Liara are asked to serve the Flaming Fist. For each service they perform, the characters receive a reward. Characters who decline to serve the Flaming Fist are welcome to continue about their business, but anything they wish to buy in Fort Beluarian costs five times the normal price from that point on.
Ghoul Hunters
Portyr asks the characters to help rid the jungle of ghouls. If the characters are up to the task, Portyr gives the party a free charter of exploration. For every severed ghoul head the characters bring her, she’ll pay them 20 gp. (She has enough money to cover the reward for up to eleven severed ghoul heads.)
Quest: Ghoul Hunting
Liara Portyr at Fort Belarian asked us to help rid the jungle of ghouls. As a reward, Portyr will give us a free charter of exploration as well as 20 gp for each severed ghoul head we bring her.
Shilku Reconnaissance
Portyr asks the characters to set sail for Shilku Bay, conduct a one-week reconnaissance of the destroyed village of Shilku, and return to Fort Beluarian to report what they’ve seen. If the characters accept the mission, Portyr pays for their food and passage and gives the party a free charter of exploration. If they complete the mission, the characters are given free meals and guest rooms (see area 10J) whenever they visit Fort Beluarian, and each character receives one potion or scroll chosen from the ones available in the stores (see area 10G).
Quest: Shilku Reconnaissance
Liara Portyr at Fort Belarian asked us to set sail for Shilku Bay, conduct a one-week reconnaissance of the destroyed village of Shilku, and return to Fort Beluarian to report what we’ve seen. She has paid for our food and passage and if we complete the mission Portyr will give us a free charter of exploration.
Strangers in a Strange Land
Flaming Fist scouts have spotted giant footprints south of Fort Beluarian. If the characters find out who or what is making the tracks, and discover where they’re coming from and what threat (if any) they pose to Fort Beluarian, Portyr will reward them with five magic arrows (see area 10G). If the characters accept the mission, Portyr gives the party a free charter of exploration. To complete the mission, the characters must locate at least one group of frost giants as well as their longship (see “Hvalspyd”). To complicate matters, Portyr doesn’t believe any report that claims frost giants have landed in Chult and won’t pay up unless the characters back up their claims with compelling evidence (such as a frost giant’s severed head or a giant-sized weapon).
Quest: Investigate Giant Footprints
Flaming Fist scouts have spotted giant footprints south of Fort Beluarian. If we find out who or what is making the tracks, and discover where they’re coming from and what threat (if any) they pose to Fort Beluarian, Portyr will reward us with five magic arrows and a free charter of exploration. We need to bring back sufficient evidence of the threat to satisfy Portyr.
1. West Gate
The main entrance is closed by two massive wooden doors with bars that take eight people to slide aside. Because the area is patrolled and the fort has excellent all-round lines of sight, the gates stand open during the day, except when heavy rain restricts visibility and allows the possibility of a sneak attack. The western gatehouse walls are 20 feet high, and the parapets are patrolled day and night by six guard. The walls ringing the rest of the camp are 12 feet high, but they look higher from outside because of the fort’s elevation.
2. Ore Gate
Despite its name, this secondary gate on the south wall of the fort has nothing to do with ore. It’s a sally port the fort’s defenders can use to launch counterattacks against enemies assailing the main gate. It stays solidly closed and barred most of the time.
3. Armorer/Weaponsmith
The iron mines of Chult provide everything the garrison needs to make weapons, armor, and metal tools and implements. Korhie Donadrue (LG male Chondathan human spy) is the chief armorer for the fort. Having spent years as an adventurer himself before becoming a smith, he enjoys having adventurers and explorers spend time in his work area, swapping tales and sharing news of the world.
Characters can buy most types of weapons, ammunition, and armor here, at prices 25 percent above those listed in the Player’s Handbook. Donadrue would charge them less, but the prices are set by the Flaming Fist.
4. Bazaar
A dozen traders live within the fort and manage its bazaar. Soldiers from the fort are only a tiny part of their business. Most of their trade involves selling gear to explorers and supplies to miners. The traders also buy and sell gems, hides, animal parts (feathers, teeth, and so forth), and small animals. Their prices are 50 percent higher than those in the Player’s Handbook, due to the remoteness of the station.
5. Temple of Helm
Fort dwellers pray to Helm for protection against the dangers of the land. Shilau M’wenye (LN male Chultan human priest) is in charge of the temple and accepts donations. His father was a Chultan priest, and his mother was a Shou mercenary posted in Chult. He always tries to see the best in other people without judging them.
6. Stables
Horses aren’t native to Chult, and the climate (and its many pests) are hard on the animals. Still, a few Tethyrian members of the Flaming Fist brought their horses to Fort Beluarian with them, and they’re now a part of the culture of the fort. The horses seldom leave the immediate vicinity of the fort; they’re all but useless in the jungle.
The stable has stalls for a dozen horses. Only seven are stabled there now (two riding horse and five unarmored warhorse).
The stablemaster is Thaeven the Bald (N male Tethyrian human commoner with Animal Handling +4). He takes excellent care of the animals, to the extent that’s possible in this climate, while complaining constantly about the impossibility of taking proper care of horses in this climate.
7. Jousting Field
The main reason horses are kept at the fort is for jousting. Tournaments are held once a month, and lesser bouts occur when enough people have time off or when two Flaming Fist members have an issue to settle between them.
Tethyrian soldiers stationed at Fort Beluarian brought their chivalric panoply and pageantry with them, but they’ve combined it with a jungle aesthetic to create something unique. The usual symbols involving falcons, dragons, suns, and so forth give way in Chult to leopard-skin tabards, dinosaur-themed heraldry, helmets shaped like snarling panthers or swooping pteranodons, and armor bedecked with tyrannosaurus teeth and parrot feathers.
Wealthy merchants from Port Nyanzaru sometimes make the journey to attend the jousting tournaments. They camp around the fort in colorful pavilions and place outrageous bets on the outcomes of matches.
8. Flaming Fist Provisioner
The fort provisioner, or sutler, is a store that serves the soldiers of the Flaming Fist exclusively. It doesn’t have much variety and the prices aren’t great, but some elements of the garrison appreciate its “no civilians allowed” policy. It sells basic necessities during the day and serves food and drink in the evening. The store is run by a sharp-tongued old man named Jaro (NG male Chultan human commoner).
9. Flaming Fist Barracks
The barracks are the sleeping, eating, and general getting-out-of-the-rain space for the fort’s enlisted garrison.
On particularly stifling nights, many soldiers abandon the barracks and sling hammocks in the guard towers. The breeze atop the walls provides some cooling and relief from insects.
10. Inner Bailey
This bastion is a fort within a fort. The bailey is 20 feet tall at the peak of the roof, and the attached palisade is 16 feet high, so the whole structure can be seen from outside Fort Beluarian. The gates are always open unless the fort is under attack or patrols have reported unusual amounts of undead in the neighborhood. In the event that the outer wall is breached and the main enclosure overrun, the garrison would retreat to this redoubt for its final defense.
10A. Courtyard
The bailey’s central courtyard is open to the sky. It can be sealed off with heavy gates and stoutly defended by even a handful of soldiers. A boardwalk is installed around the courtyard, so people don’t need to walk in the mud when rain pours down.
A wooden statue of an armored man stands in the middle of the courtyard. The statue portrays Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’s Gate, leader of the Flaming Fist.
10B. Raptor Pen
Six Hadrosaurus and four Deinonychus (see appendix D for both creatures' statistics) are housed in protected stables. The hadrosauruses serve as mounts for small, fast-moving patrols or as pack animals for larger, longer patrols. The deinonychuses are used for hunting-like dogs, only far more vicious. These animals are well respected by the soldiers of the garrison.
The head trainer for the fort’s reptiles is Rahl Zuberi (CG male human Chultan tribal warrior with Animal Handling +4). His face and arms are covered in tattoos and scars, and he’s missing half of his right hand; tooth marks are still clearly visible in the scar tissue. Despite Rahl’s ferocious appearance, he’s a jovial prankster who spends most of his off-duty time telling wild stories at the provisioner or one of the ale tents in the bazaar, in exchange for free drinks.
10C. Hall
The great hall of the bailey is where most of the fort’s military business is conducted, and where Liara Portyr meets important visitors. It resembles a hunting lodge, with dinosaur heads and skulls mounted on the walls and the pelts of exotic animals hung like tapestries.
Liara carries a set of keys to the locked storeroom doors (area 10G) and the iron strongbox in her quarters (area 10I). If the characters meet with her, she offers them one or more special quests (see “Agents of the Flaming Fist”).
10D. Kitchen
This kitchen serves the camp officers and guests, and prepares special meals during feasts. The enlisted troops are largely responsible for preparing their own food by squads; most of that is handled in the barracks area.
Sigbeorn Dunebar (NG male Illuskan human veteran) has logged more years in Chult than any other living member of the Flaming Fist, and he loves it. When he grew too old for fighting and patrolling in the jungle, he volunteered to transfer to the kitchen. Now he’s not only the head cook but, more important, is responsible (under the castellan) for ensuring the fort always has an adequate food supply.
10E. Castellan
The castellan of Fort Beluarian is Gruta Halsdottir (LN female Illuskan human knight). As castellan, she’s second in command to Liara Portyr, and she’s responsible for every detail of the day-to-day functioning of the fort. If a soldier breaks the rules, Gruta decides on the punishment. If a patrol is overdue from the jungle, it’s her duty to find out why. When strangers arrive, Gruta is the one who greets them, finds out why they’re here, and decides whether they deserve any of Liara Portyr’s time.
This chamber is Gruta’s office; her sleeping quarters are upstairs. Her duties take her all over the fort, so she’s not often here during the day. She carries one set of keys to the locked storeroom doors (area 10G).
10F. Bell Tower
The bell tower rises another 10 feet above the thatched roof of the bailey, making it 30 feet tall overall. In a normal day, the bell is rung twelve times: it’s rung every four hours to signal the change of watch, and it’s rung 10 minutes before each of those to signal that a change of watch is about to occur. At the change of the watch, it’s rung a number of times equaling the number of the watch: once at the start of the first watch, twice at the start of the second watch, and so forth. On what the garrison calls “the wake-ups,” it rings once.
In the event of a camp-wide alarm, the bell is rung continuously for at least a half-minute. The tolling can be heard from 2 miles away by creatures in the open, or 1 mile by creatures in the jungle.
10G. Stores
Reserves of vital supplies are kept under lock and key in these two chambers. The door to each room is locked, and Liara Portyr and Gruta Halsdottir carry the only keys. Each door is made heavy wood reinforced with iron bands (AC 17, 20 hit points, immunity to poison and psychic damage), and its lock can be picked with thieves' tools and a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
The types of supplies stored here include mundane items such as paper and ink, locks, clothing, boots, rope, lanterns, lamp oil, and candles.
Treasure
The second room contains four
10H. Gauntlets' Room
This ready room was intended to house a squad of soldiers assigned to regular guard duty in the bailey, but it’s been taken over as quarters by Sigbeorn Dunebar (see area 10D) and three other veterans who serve as corporals (gauntlets) in the Flaming Fist garrison.
10I. Command Quarters
Liara Portyr sleeps in the southern chamber, while Gruta Halsdottir sleeps in the smaller, southeastern chamber. Both rooms contain books, clothes, and other personal effects.
Treasure
A character who searches under the bed in Liara Portyr’s chamber finds a locked iron strongbox. A character using thieves' tools and succeeding on a DC 18 Dexterity check can pop it open. The box contains 220 gp and a
10J. Guest Quarters
Important guests sometimes come to the fort: a merchant prince from Port Nyanzaru, a high-ranking officer of the Flaming Fist, or a noble from Baldur’s Gate. Such individuals are housed in one or more of these chambers.
Characters might be given the use of one or more of these rooms if they do something to earn that privilege. Examples include turning over a valuable discovery to the Flaming Fist, leading a counterattack against assaulting undead, or bringing proof that they drove off an incursion by frost giants.
Heart of Ubtao
A massive chunk of earth and rock torn from the earth drifts over the swampy forest, about two hundred feet above the ground. A petrified tree towers above the stone, with its stone roots protruding from the bottom. Between the shape of the rock and the branching of the tree’s limbs, it creates the impression of a gigantic stone heart hanging in the sky. The impression is only made more gruesome by the red liquid dripping from the roots.
You see a cave mouth in the side of the slowly rotating “heart,” and a staircase winding from the cave up to the flattened top where the petrified tree stands. The staircase definitely isn’t natural; it was carved with tools into the rock.
The Heart of Ubtao (map 2.8) is an earthmote—a massive chunk of earth held aloft by magic that can’t be dispelled. It hovers 200 feet above the ground and rotates slowly counterclockwise, completing one revolution every hour. Chultans call it the Heart of Ubtao because the earthmote is vaguely heart-shaped, and the petrified tree adds the impression of veins and arteries. The dripping red liquid is rainwater that was stained by filtering through iron ore deposits in the rock.
Chultans who’ve seen the earthmote believe it’s actually the petrified heart of the god Ubtao, and they consider it sacred. Priests of Ubtao used to travel here on the backs of flying dinosaurs to seek visions inside the heart and to beseech Ubtao to return. Many Chultans would be incensed to learn that the Heart of Ubtao has become the lair of an undead monster.
Valindra Shadowmantle works for Szass Tam, the most powerful lich among the Red Wizards of Thay, though she is not a Red Wizard herself. She found the heart and converted it into a base to use while her minions search for the Soulmonger. Her orders from Szass Tam are to seize control of the Soulmonger, if possible, or destroy it otherwise. Valindra created a
Characters who explore the Heart of Ubtao are certain to meet Valindra. She’s considered the possibility that adventurers might cross her path, and she won’t necessarily be hostile toward them. Her mission is to seize the Soulmonger by any means; if adventurers can help her achieve that, she’ll use them.
Valindra is an elven lich, with these changes:
- Valindra is neutral evil.
- She speaks Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, Elvish, and Infernal.
- When preparing her spells, Valindra can swap out any spell on her list of prepared spells for another wizard spell of the same level.
- As a bonus action, Valindra can mask her shriveled flesh and appear to be a living elf. This magical illusion lasts until she ends it as a bonus action or until she uses her Frightening Gaze legendary action. The effect also ends if Valindra drops to 30 hit points or fewer, or if
dispel magic is cast on her. - She can’t take lair actions in the Heart of Ubtao.
With her ability to appear as a living elf, Valindra can easily conceal her lichdom and her association to Thay. She presents herself as a scholarly wizard who wants to “imprison” the Soulmonger; that way, its unique magic can be studied while it’s safely quarantined from the world. She argues that destroying it should be a last resort.
Valindra believes that the Soulmonger is hidden somewhere in the ruins of Omu. She shares this information with the characters even if she suspects they’ll betray her down the road, because in the meantime, they might weaken some of Omu’s defenses.
If the characters have no way to reach the earthmote when they first encounter it-or at least, no way for everyone to reach it-eventually they spot an elf woman looking down at them from the staircase. After a few moments, she hails them in Elvish, asking their names, why they’ve come, and so on. If this conversation goes well, she opens an
The lich has no interest in killing the characters as long as there’s any chance they could be useful. If a fight breaks out (and there’s little reason one should unless the characters start it), Valindra lets her undead servants deal with the adventurers, then slips through her
1. Petrified Tree
A swarm of bats inhabits this hollow, petrified tree. The bats emerge each evening to feast and attack any other warm-blooded creature that enters their lair. At the bottom of the tree is a gaping hole that opens in the ceiling of area 4.
2. Staircase
These stairs are smooth and don’t show much sign of wear. Only a handful of creatures have walked on them: Valindra, a few of her servants, and the priests of Ubtao who made pilgrimages to the heart. There’s no risk of falling off unless a character does something foolish, but the height is dizzying.
3. Cave Entrance
The floor of this entrance slopes up slightly toward the inside of the heart, so water streams out through it continually. The cave mouth appears natural, unlike the steps outside it.
4. Valindra’s Lair
This cave is musty and dimly lit by daylight filtering down through the hollow, petrified tree trunk 20 feet above. A pool of dirty rainwater occupies the central 20 feet of the floor, between natural pillars formed by the roots of the petrified tree. Three tall bookcases stand against the wall to the right of the cave entrance. A desk and several wooden crates stand against the left-hand wall. Opposite the entrance are two open doorways into smaller chambers and, between them, a large iron cage.
Valindra’s undead patrols sometimes capture luckless explorers and bring them here. Prisoners are kept in the iron cage while Valindra questions them, then disposed of in the swamp. The cage is not in use when characters arrive, unless you choose to place Artus Cimber and Dragonbait here as prisoners.
As a lich, Valindra isn’t bothered by how dank and uncomfortable the cave is. If that subject comes up, she explains that as an elf, she has no need for a bed or for hours and hours of sleep; she simply meditates for a while at her desk each day. The rest of her time is spent poring over her maps and histories, searching for likely hiding spots for the Soulmonger.
Treasure
The bookcases are filled with books, scrolls, tablets, and maps, all about Chult in one way or another. They cover history, geography, culture, and natural philosophy in great depth, but all of them predate the Spellplague. Valindra would literally kill to possess Syndra Silvane’s map, if she learns of its existence. Her spellbooks aren’t here-they’re safe back in Thay-but the shelves do hold two spell scrolls of arcane gate.
5. Undead Guardians
Stuffed in this closet are six Chultan zombie and two girallon zombie. They stand here inertly until attacked, or until Valindra calls them out to fight or act as servants.
6. Teleportation Circle
Valindra’s
Hisari
This ruined yuan-ti city stands in the jungle at the foot of the Crown, a fuming volcano that marks the western end of the Sky Lizard Mountains. A powerful ward similar to that of an antipathy/sympathy spell prevents yuan-ti from entering the city. Many of the serpent folk who once dwelled here have since relocated to Omu.
The earth swallowed half of the city, which rests in a sprawling underground cavern that has never been warmed by the sun. The rest of Hisari remains above ground, engulfed by vines and creeping flowers. Every brick and pillar is coated in moss, and a latticework of roots and ash covers the city’s cracked, golden domes.
Hrakhamar
Nearby volcanic eruptions forced the dwarves to abandon Hrakhamar (map 2.9). They always intended to reoccupy and reactivate the forge when it was deemed safe, but that day never came.
Firenewts moved in and put the forge to work crafting armor and weapons for themselves. A small group of albino dwarves lurks in the jungle nearby and keeps watch on the forge, but their numbers are too low to challenge the firenewts.
If characters travel within 10 miles (1 hex) of the forge, four albino dwarf warrior spot and approach them. Their spokesperson is blunt-talking Sithi Vinecutter. She lays out the problem (“firenewts have taken over our ancestral forge”) and proposes the solution (“kill them”). As a reward, each character will be allowed to take twenty 1-pound ingots of refined adamantine from the forge, and the dwarves will lead them to the location of a crashed “flying boat” from some far-off land (see “Wreck of the Star Goddess”).
Quest: Kill the Firenewts
We met some Albino Dwarf Warriors and their spokesperson, Sithi Vinecutter, asked us to help her with a problem. Apparently firenewts have taken over their ancestral forge and her proposed solution is that we should kill them. As a reward, each of us will be allowed to take twenty 1-pound ingots of refined adamantine from the forge, and the dwarves will lead us to the location of a crashed “flying boat” from some far-off land.
The dwarves offer to stand guard outside while the characters rid Hrakhamar of firenewts. If the characters seem underpowered or in need of a guide, Sithi offers to accompany them. She remembers the layout of the forge but doesn’t know how many firenewts are inside, or where they might be hiding.
When the forge was operated by the dwarves, it was linked by trade roads to Shilku Bay and other points on the peninsula. Although those roads have endured a century of neglect, in the vicinity of the forge they were of dwarven construction, and not even a century of disrepair can erase a dwarven road. The roads are buried under ash in the Valley of Lost Honor, but where the mountains rise above the ash plain, the road can be spotted easily and followed to the forge entrance. A character who makes a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check while examining the road sees scorch marks indicative of firenewts or other flame creatures using it.
When the characters reach Hrakhamar, read:
The entrance is a 10-foot-tall arched doorway beneath a massive relief carving of a crossed hammer and tongs.
Two iron doors were fitted to the entrance, but one lies on the ground, completely rusted off its hinges, and the other sags so badly it appears as if it could collapse at any moment. Several buildings once stood outside the forge, but they’ve been reduced to their foundations.
The entrance gradually narrows to just 5 feet wide by 10 feet high. The tunnel proceeds this way, sloping downward very slightly but with occasional staircases leading down, for three-quarters of a mile before reaching the forge proper. Scorch marks cover the walls and floor.
1. Magma Rift
The dwarves exploited a volcanic rift in the heart of Hrakhamar to smelt iron and adamantine, which they lowered into the magma in clay crucibles.
A cavern of molten magma bubbles and flames before you. The cavern walls are lined with metal gantries and cranes that support immense crucibles of scorched clay. Huge chains stretch across the cavern, apparently to shuttle multi-ton buckets of ore across the lava. The heat takes your breath away, brings water to your eyes, and bakes your skin. From where you stand, the only obvious way across is via a narrow stone trestle built for rail carts. The sound of rhythmic hammering comes from somewhere beyond the magma rift.
The magma is 10 feet below the level of the gantries and the rail cart trestles. Great chains span the rift in two places, allowing ore to be hoisted across in buckets.
There’s no danger of falling if characters cross the magma on one of the two rail cart trestles. A successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check is needed to cross hand-over-hand along one of the chain conveyors. On a failed check, the character falls into the magma. A creature that falls in the magma or starts its turn there takes 55 (10d10) fire damage.
2. Smelter
The hammering sound grows louder, but it’s not coming from the chamber ahead. This enormous, rectangular chamber is a working smelter. A rectangular pit in the center of the room is filled with molten iron. Six devices of dwarven design and make, arranged around the pit, siphon off the liquid metal and draw out the impurities. A smaller pool in the southeast corner holds what appears to be molten silver.
Creatures that look like a mix of humanoid amphibians and elemental fire are tending to the machines. So far, they haven’t noticed you.
The hammering sound comes from the east.
Eight firenewt warrior work here. They’re involved in their tasks and not expecting intruders, and the chamber is noisy, so the firenewts are surprised unless characters move around openly or otherwise draw attention to themselves.
The central pit contains molten iron. The smaller pool contains molten adamantine, not silver. A creature that falls into either pit or starts its turn there takes 55 (10d10) fire damage.
The crane to the south (overhanging area 1) is used to lower a crucible of ore into the magma river until the ore is liquid. Liquified ore is rolled along the tracks into area 2, where it’s dumped into the appropriate cauldron.
3. Armory
The dwarves' enemies coveted the riches of Hrakhamar. To defend their trove, the dwarves stockpiled weapons and armor in this chamber. The firenewts haven’t bothered most of it; they prefer their own weapons over heavier dwarven designs, and the dwarves' armor doesn’t fit them.
This chamber includes six each of battleaxes, greataxes, mauls, morningstars, war picks, warhammers, and heavy crossbows, plus two hundred crossbow bolts and four suits of dwarven half-plate armor. If characters are led here by Sithi Vinecutter, she’s willing to let the characters take one weapon apiece.
4. Forge
Molten iron and adamantine from area 2 is hoisted into the northernmost of these two chambers, where it’s cast into ingots. Some of the metal was worked into tools and replacement parts on the anvils in the room, but most of the iron was moved to the treasury (area 6). Adamantine ingots were sent to the southern portion of the forge, where the massive stamping hammer in the center of the room pounded out impurities. The pounding sound heard throughout the forge comes from this machine-driven hammer.
When characters arrive, four firenewt warrior are in the northern chamber, and six firenewt warrior are working in the southern chamber under the supervision of a firenewt warlock of Imix. See appendix D for the firenewts' statistics.
Iron Lever
The hallway between areas 4 and 6 is featureless except for a heavy iron lever set into the north wall 20 feet from the door to area 4. The lever is in the down position and can be lifted easily. Doing so extends the walkway across the magma to area 6, if the trap there caused it to retract. Moving the lever while the gantry is extended causes gears to grind for a few moments deep in the rock, but nothing else.
5. Stores
In these chambers, the dwarves stored supplies of every kind, from food to leather aprons to protective goggles to parchment and ink. The firenewts looted all of it. Now the chief features of these rooms are “nests” of ancient dwarven clothing, insulated gloves, and other padded material that the firenewts sleep on in shifts. The smell in this area is horrid, like burning hair mixed with burning rubber. A disturbance in any of the chambers awakens and draws in all the firenewts in the storage area.
The northwest room is unoccupied. In the northeast room, three firenewt warrior play knucklebones with dwarven knuckles. Four firenewt warrior sleep in a heap in the middle of the southwest room. The southeast room contains two Firenewt Warlock of Imix arguing quietly over whether to denounce the warlock in area 4 for heresy against Imix. See appendix D for the firenewts' statistics.
6. Treasury
Two suits of dwarven half plate armor stand on either side of an adamantine-banded iron door. These suits of armor were beautiful once, but now they’re scarred by weapons, scorched by fire, and smeared with filth. The door has two locks, one above the other.
The dwarves sealed their treasure vault before leaving Hrakhamar, and it’s remained sealed to this day. Despite their best efforts, the firenewts have been unable to force the door or defeat the locks.
Locked Door
The door’s upper lock is embedded in an adamantine frame resembling a stylized form of the dwarven rune for “beginnings.” The rune can be interpreted correctly by a character who reads Dwarvish. The lower lock was originally embedded in a golden frame in the shape of a stylized dwarven rune for “endings,” but the firenewts scraped away the gold and used it to decorate their shrine to Imix (area 7). Scarring on the door hints at what used to be there; it can be interpreted correctly by someone who reads Dwarvish and makes a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check. Each lock can be picked with thieves' tools and a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
The lower lock is trapped. The trap can be spotted with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check, but it’s impossible to disarm or bypass. The trap is triggered if an attempt to pick the lower lock fails by 5 or more, if the wrong key is used in the lock, or if it’s opened by any means before the upper lock. The trap causes the metal gantry between the treasury and the forge (area 4) to retract west, leaving a 40-foot gap across the magma. The bridge can be re-extended only by lifting the lever in the corridor from area 4. The lever is too far away to be manipulated with mage hand by anyone on the treasury side of the magma river.
The keys to the treasury were within the firenewts' grasp. However, they failed to recognize the keys for what they were and incorporated them into a statue they built in the shrine of Imix (area 7).
Side Chamber
The solution to opening the door lies in a seemingly empty side chamber near the treasury. Anyone searching this room turns up a curious box tossed into the corner. The box is made of iron and resembles a book, and it opens from both sides, rather like the front and back covers of a book. One side bears the dwarven rune for “beginnings,” the other bears the rune for “endings.” Opening either side reveals the impression of a key in the iron plate. The original keys for the treasury were stored in this box.
With all the tools of Hrakhamar at their disposal, copies of both keys can be made from these impressions by a character who has proficiency with smith’s tools and who makes a successful DC 10 Intelligence check. Sithi Vinecutter has the needed proficiency if none of the characters do. Musharib (see “Finding a Guide,") also has the necessary skill. After three failed checks, the box’s impressions are ruined, and the box can no longer be used to mold new keys.
Treasure
The treasury contains the stockpiled wealth of Hrakhamar. Thousands of iron and adamantine ingots are neatly sorted, stacked, and crated. Each iron ingot is worth 1 gp and weighs 10 pounds. Each adamantine ingot is worth 10 gp and weighs 1 pound. If she is present, Sithi Vinecutter allows the characters to collect their reward, though she watches them closely to be sure no one takes more than twenty ingots.
Resting atop one crate is a gauntlet made of gold and sized for an adult dwarf. The dwarves of Chult call it Moradin’s Gauntlet, and it’s customarily worn by the overseers of Hrakhamar. It is finely crafted and worth 2,500 gp, though a wealthy dwarf would pay twice that much to acquire it.
7. Imix Shrine
It’s unclear what the dwarves used this area for, but the firenewts converted it into a shrine.
The reek of sulfur and burning flesh assaults your nostrils as the tunnel opens into a small chamber. At the northern end of the room is a five-foot-tall statue made of iron, copper, gold, and silver, crudely hammered together into a form suggesting something vaguely humanoid but also fiery. Four firenewts worship before it.
The worshipers are two Firenewt Warlock of Imix and two firenewt warrior (see appendix D for the firenewts' statistics). They fight to the death.
The statue weighs 150 pounds and represents Imix, the evil, fiery primordial at the center of the firenewts' militarized, theological society. The statue has little artistic merit (firenewts are passable smiths but poor artists). If the gold and silver are separated from the other metals, they’re worth 20 gp and 400 sp, respectively. An albino dwarf or a character skilled at smithing could smelt out the valuable metals with the equipment in Hrakhamar in a few hours.
A character who makes a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check while examining (or smelting down) the statue of Imix recognizes an object hammered into its flames as having once been part of a key. It’s the only bit of adamantine on the statue, and only the toughness of adamantine prevented it from being hammered out of all recognition. Once the adamantine fragment is picked out, a more careful search turns up a second fragment of gold, so thoroughly hammered that it’s barely recognizable. These keys once unlocked the door to the treasury (area 6) and are beyond repair; so little of them remains that not even a
8. Smoke-Filled Caverns
The size and shape of this area are impossible to determine. Clouds of roiling smoke sting your eyes, and drifting embers burn your throat as you breathe. You can, however, barely make out what looks like a lantern farther back in the smoke.
These linked caverns are the lair of two smoke mephit. What the characters perceive as a dim lantern is a
All of area 8 is heavily obscured. Characters can move 10 feet per round by following a wall with their hand; moving faster than that means taking 1 bludgeoning damage from banging heads and shins into stone protrusions. After 2 rounds in the smoke, each character must make a successful DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of his or her turns or gain a level of
The mephits aren’t interested in attacking adventurers directly, but they’ll gleefully loot the bodies of anyone who collapses in the smoke. If cornered, they beg for mercy. They offer to trade information for their lives if a character makes a successful DC 10 Charisma (Intimidation) check. They know the forge is infested with firenewts, where the newts' giant strider mounts are kept, and that two dwarf prisoners are tied up in the cells due west of the mephits' lair.
9. Cells and Passage to Wyrmheart Mine
Firenewts are notorious torturers and eaters of humanoid flesh. Prisoners are tied up, gagged, and tossed here until the firenewts decide how to inflict the most intense and longest-lasting pain on them. Most prisoners are dead within a tenday, but they wish for the end much sooner.
Dwarves are the exception. There’s much about the workings of Hrakhamar the firenewts still don’t understand. Captured dwarves are tortured for hints about how the foundry’s tools and machines work. Two luckless albino dwarf warrior are tied, gagged, and blindfolded here when characters arrive. Their names are Laz Drumthunder and Malkar Stonegrist. Both are wounded and have 1 hit point remaining. They are also starving, dehydrated, and suffering from 5 levels of
The tunnel winds southward 40 miles to Wyrmheart Mine, which has been taken over by the dragon Tzindelor and her kobold minions (see “Wyrmheart Mine”.) The tunnel is passable and the rail cart tracks are intact for the full length, but encounters with carrion crawler and giant spider are guaranteed. As characters get closer to Wyrmheart Mine, they might also encounter bands of kobold. The albino dwarves know where the tunnel leads but are quick to warn characters about the red dragon that has taken over Wyrmheart Mine.
10. Mine Cart Bay
The dwarves parked their ore carts and flatbed rail carts here when they weren’t in use. Two of each are still here, and both are in minimal working condition.
The firenewts use the area as stables for twelve giant striders. The giant strider are tethered, but the tethers are meant only to keep them from crossing the westernmost line of cart tracks and wandering through the tunnels. An angry or alarmed strider can easily break loose, and these vicious creatures become both angry and alarmed when they see humanoids who aren’t their firenewt masters.
As soon as a non-firenewt enters area 10, the giant striders begin stamping, growling, and straining at their tethers. Beginning on the following round, 1d3 giant striders break loose each round and attack or join in an ongoing battle. They don’t attack firenewts, and a firenewt can hop onto a giant strider and ride it as a mount using the standard rules for mounted combat.
Hvalspyd
The Hvalspyd (the name means “whale spear”) is a longship sized for frost giants: 250 feet long, with sails made from white dragon wings. It’s anchored 100 yards off a beach along Chult’s northeast coast, 70 miles north of Kitcher’s Inlet. It’s impossible for the giants to hide the vessel; anyone sailing down the coast can’t miss it.
The Hvalspyd sailed south from the Sea of Moving Ice with a crew of twenty frost giants. Three frost giant remain aboard the ship-two stand guard while the third rests. Two more frost giant watch the sea from the beach. The other fifteen giants have split into five search parties of three giants each, and are searching the jungle for Artus Cimber and the
At the behest of her lord, Jarl Storvald, Drufi led this expedition to retrieve the ring. Storvald wants it for reasons explained in the adventure Storm King’s Thunder. He believes that with the
The frost giants are out of their element in tropical jungle. They regard it as the worst kind of hell imaginable. They have no intention, however, of failing their jarl and letting the
Frost Giant Search Parties
Drufi’s search party includes two male frost giant and a pair of winter wolf. Each of the other four search parties consists of three frost giant and 1d2 winter wolf. The frost giants can’t move through the jungle without leaving a trail. If characters encounter giants, they’re likely to see evidence hours or days before the actual meeting: trampled brush, broken or uprooted trees, gigantic boot prints, 3-foot-high runic trail markings carved into trees or etched onto boulders, and winter wolf droppings. Chult has many gigantic carnivores, so a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check is needed to identify these indicators as foreign to the jungle; if the check succeeds by 5 or more, the source is recognized as frost giants. A Chultan guide has advantage on this check but won’t make the leap to frost giants. That idea is just too far-fetched.
So far, the giants' searching has roamed from the coast to the River Tiryki, and from the ruins of Port Castigliar to the northeastern mountains. Drufi has seen Fort Beluarian from a distance and Port Nyanzaru from across the mouth of the River Tiryki, but the giants avoid Flaming Fist patrols. For their part, the mercenaries and scouts from the fort have seen many puzzling signs in the jungle to the south, but they haven’t yet concluded they’re dealing with frost giants. The giants' next step will be to push farther south. At some point (determined by you), they’ll return to the Hvalspyd, sail south to Refuge Bay, and start the search afresh from there. Obviously, this is a very inefficient way to search an area as large and as dense as Chult, but Drufi has no better idea.
Drufi has no reason to attack or kill the characters, should they meet, unless the characters attack her or if she suspects they know more than they’re admitting about the
Any meeting between the characters and the giants will be more dramatic if it occurs after the characters' first encounter with Artus Cimber. If they admit they’ve met him but can’t (or won’t) tell Drufi where he is, she has all the reason she needs to capture the characters and torture the information out of them.
Treasure
The Hvalspyd’s stores have been mostly depleted, and the frost giants didn’t bring treasure with them on the expedition.
Ishau
The coastal settlement of Ishau sank into the sea. Now, the village’s stone buildings sit completely underwater in Refuge Bay, a few miles from shore. Hunter sharks and reef sharks glide among the sunken ruins, competing with plesiosaurs for the position as top predator-but all of them fear and avoid the vicious sea hags who occasionally scour the ruins for human remains and waterlogged trinkets.
Jahaka Anchorage
Three pirate ships use Jahaka Anchorage (map 2.10) as a haven: the Dragonfang, the Emerald Eye, and the Stirge. All three are sailing ships (see chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). See the “Pirates of Jahaka Anchorage” below for information on the captain and crew of each vessel.
Only one pirate ship is docked at the anchorage at any given time. A second ship rides at anchor outside the harbor up to a mile away, ready to defend the anchorage. The third ship is always at sea, usually prowling for victims. You can randomly determine which ships are where. The captain of whichever ship is docked commands the anchorage from aboard his ship.
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.
The anchorage is sheltered inside a sea cave. It’s damp and echoing, but at least the cave keeps out the daily rain. The pirates outfitted it with a pier and a ramshackle fort built from scavenged planking, old barrels, deck grates, spars, and whatever else they could scrounge. It incorporates a warehouse where they stash their stolen booty until it can be sold (area 4), a cell where captives are held until they’re ransomed or sold (area 5), and a tavern where the pirates carouse (areas 6A-6C).
The three pirate captains are in league with Liara Portyr of Fort Beluarian, who gives them information about vessels sailing into and out of Port Nyanzaru and helps the pirates sell their stolen cargoes. Ships flying the ensign of Baldur’s Gate are usually left alone, as a condition of Portyr’s cooperation. The Flaming Fist commander is kept apprised of upcoming naval patrols originating from nations on the mainland, and she passes this information to the pirates via a
Even more than their deal with Liara Portyr, the pirates' most important asset is this hidden base, and every pirate must swear a blood oath to protect its secret location. Any ship that sails within visual distance of the anchorage is attacked and chased, if necessary. The Brazen Pegasus (see “Harbor Ward,") has a good chance to escape because she’s so fast; other ships are unlikely to get away.
Anyone who wanders into the anchorage from the jungle or from the bay is unlikely to be allowed to leave. If characters stumble into Jahaka Anchorage, the pirates claim it’s a trading post or an exploratory base established by the Flaming Fist or a merchant consortium, and they’ll put up a convincing front to that effect. They’ll do whatever it takes to get strangers off their guard, then kill or capture them.
The roof of the cave looms 60 feet above the water, on average (this varies a bit with the tide). It’s 50 feet above ground level and 20 feet above the top of the watch tower and gantry. Two natural stone columns sit across the mouth of the inlet with only a 25-foot gap between them, so that ships must be carefully towed into the cave by small boats and maneuvered with ropes once they’re inside.
Thanks to its sheltered position and the perpetual mist in the bay, the cave is difficult to find unless a person knows where to look. An alert lookout spots the structures and docked ship inside the cave automatically if passing within a half-mile of shore. At a distance up to 2 miles, a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check is needed. Lookouts at the anchorage notice a ship within 2 miles automatically.
The pirates' first line of defense is a ring of submerged rocks a quarter-mile from shore. The captain of a ship trying to sail though must make a DC 10 Intelligence check. If the check succeeds, the ship gets past the rocks safely. If it fails by 4 or less, the ship strikes a rock and springs a few leaks but suffers no serious damage and can continue seeking a passage through. If the check fails by 5 or more, a rock causes significant damage; the ship lists badly and its speed is halved until the hull is repaired. Striking a third rock causes the ship to sink. The pirates, of course, know where the rocks are and avoid them.
The watchtower (area 6) and the entire elevated walkway from the tower to the warehouse (area 4) have crenelated parapets for defense. These provide half cover. Aside from the pirate crews, Jahaka Anchorage is home to a handful of pirates who answer to the tavernkeeper, Bosco Daggerhand (area 6A)-and only because he’s master of the ale.
Pirates of Jahaka Anchorage
Three pirate ships use Jahaka Anchorage as a base, and their captains have forged tenuous alliances with each other and Liara Portyr of Fort Beluarian. Use the deckplans in appendix C of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to represent each pirate ship, as needed. Each ship’s crew is described below.
Captain Elok Jaharwon (NE male Chultan human wereboar) has no patience or sense of humor. He was first mate of the Dragonfang until a year ago, when he staged a mutiny and hurled the former captain overboard. The other captains are still adjusting to their ill-mannered new confederate, who seems intent on bullying his way toward declaring himself king of the pirates.
Elok wants to stop sending a slice of the pirates' profits to Fort Beluarian, which would end the alliance with Liara Portyr and probably be self-defeating; the pirates could keep more of their profit, but they’d take fewer prizes and incur more risk. The other captains see the disadvantages clearly, but Jaharwon is building a following among the rank-and-file pirates of all three crews.
The Dragonfang’s crew includes a first mate named Mad Kalita (LE female Chultan human spy), fifteen Chultan bandit, three Chultan thug, and a “sea witch” named Eye of the Deep (N female Calishite human druid).
The calculating Captain Zaroum Al-Saryak (LE male Calishite human bandit captain) has a special fondness for gemstones. He wears a coat with glittering gems sewn into it (750 gp) and wears a scimitar with gemstones embedded in the hilt (1,250 gp). His ship, the Emerald Eye, has cabins decorated like rooms in a Calishite pasha’s palace. Al-Saryak is fond of chopping off the heads of those who displease him and dangling them from his ship’s mermaid figurehead. A long-ago injury cost him his left eye and incised a scar in the form of a large X across his face. The ruined eye socket now holds a magical gem that allows Al-Saryak to discern ghostly pathways leading to treasure. The gem works for no one else. Al-Saryak holds the
The crew of the Emerald Eye consists of a first mate named Voltan (CE male Calishite human berserker), twelve Calishite bandit, two Calishite thug, and five Chultan tribal warrior.
Captain Laskilar (NE male Tethyrian human bandit captain wearing a
The crew of the Stirge includes a first mate named Heel (NE male half-orc gladiator), twelve Chultan and Tethyrian bandit, six Chultan thug, and a mad sea priest named Caldos Hellingskorn (CE male Illuskan priest of Umberlee).
1. Jungle Gate
The narrow strip of land between the cliff and the water is closed off by a 15-foot-high wall made of thick palm logs lashed together with stout vines. Their bottoms are set into the ground, and the whole wall is braced up along the inner side with more palm logs. The wall is meant to keep out undead and dinosaurs. The gates are roughly made but reinforced with iron bands and backed by two heavy wooden bars. The pirates never open these gates without the approval of whichever captain is currently in charge of the anchorage.
2. Pier
Whichever pirate ship is in port is tied up at this pier. Cargo is offloaded using the crane at the warehouse (area 4). The pier is covered in slick moss and perpetually in need of repair.
Two small boats are kept here. One is a simple dinghy used mainly for carrying food and water to prisoners in area 5. The other is a small cutter with six oars and a single mast, used for towing ships into and out of the anchorage. Any sailor recognizes that the rowboat would quickly be swamped by waves if it was taken out of the safe harbor, but the cutter could be rowed and sailed on the open sea in an emergency. It has a top speed of 5 mph under sail or half that when rowed, and it can hold up to ten Medium occupants.
A short pier allows access to Sharkbait Rock. Prisoners with no value or who have information they refuse to give up, or pirates who’ve seriously broken the buccaneer’s code, can be lashed to the rock. There they’ll either drown at high tide or be nibbled on by sharks and other predators until their punishment is complete or their tongues are sufficiently loose.
3. Officers' Quarters Ashore
Each of the three captains has one of these chambers for his private use. In practice, the captains seldom use them, preferring the comfort and safety of the cabins aboard their own ships. Instead, the use of these private quarters is meted out as a reward to crew members who distinguished themselves on the latest voyage, and as a result, they tend to be squalid and smelly.
4. Warehouse
All three captains store their booty in this common warehouse. The double door is sealed with an iron padlock to which only the captains have keys. It can be picked with thieves' tools and a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.
A fortified balustrade overlooks the anchorage to the south. The wooden platform extends over the water on pilings, and a crane on the platform serves to lift cargo up to the warehouse. Thrust into the rough-hewn back wall of the warehouse are scores of rusty blades-old longswords, shortswords, rapiers, scimitars, and daggers.
Among the rusty blades stuck in the walls are ten flying sword that pull themselves free and attack when the treasure in the room (see “Treasure” below) is disturbed. The animated blades don’t attack any creature wearing an eye patch, nor do they animate when an eye patch-wearing creature disturbs the treasure.
Treasure
The warehouse’s treasure is contained in numerous unlocked chests, sacks, sealed crates, and casks. The trove consists of 6,400 cp, 2,500 sp, 300 gp, 60 pp, ten gold bracelets (25 gp each), an electrum goblet (25 gp), and two
5. The Cage
Prisoners are held in this large but filthy cell until they’re ransomed or sold into slavery. High waves sometimes wash into the chamber, soaking everyone and leaving puddles on the floor. Palm logs form the bars across the front of the cage; they’re held in place by sturdy pins that must be noisily hammered out before the logs can be lifted out to create a gap wide enough for a Small or Medium creature to slip through. Escape is risky for three reasons. First, pirates on watch atop the tower (area 6) keep an eye on the cage. Second, 1d4+1 reef shark inhabit the water below the cage. Third, the only place escapees can go is the jungle, which is more cruel than the pirates.
Whether any prisoners are in the cell when characters arrive at Jahaka Anchorage is up to you, but it’s seldom empty. Besides captive sailors and merchants, there could also be Harpers, Zhents, or adventurers. Adventurers imprisoned here could be members of the Society of Stalwart Adventurers, a group from Cormyr that maps uncharted places and hunts for lost artifacts. Characters who have not yet encountered Artus Cimber and Dragonbait might find them hiding nearby, plotting to free the prisoners. As a former member of the Society of Stalwart Adventurers, Artus would be motivated to help other society members in jeopardy.
6. Watchtower
This ramshackle watchtower stands 30 feet above “dry” land. It’s surrounded by a crenelated parapet that provides half cover to defenders. A ballista is also mounted on the tower. It can be used against vessels intruding in the anchorage, but it’s primarily for defense against large reptiles threatening the jungle wall (area 1). Two pirates (bandit) are always on duty atop the tower, and more come pouring out of Bosco’s Bilge (area 6A) if the brass alarm bell is rung. A spiral staircase carved into a nearby pillar of rock allows access to Bosco’s Bilge.
6A. Bosco’s Bilge
This structure is built from the hull of a captured ship that was too slow to be used as a pirate ship, but it had one fine quality: it didn’t leak. The pirates hauled it out of the bay, hacked it apart, and flipped it upside down to form a building of sorts. It’s now Bosco’s Bilge, an ersatz tavern catering to the off-duty pirate crews relaxing at Jahaka Anchorage. The room contains benches, stools, and a few tables on a sand floor. It reeks of spilled beer, old food, and stale tobacco smoke.
The proprietor is Bosco Daggerhand (NE male human thug who wears a
Any time of the day or night, 2d6 pirates (bandit) are carousing in Bosco’s Bilge. Another 1d6 pirates are passed out on the tables or floor.
6B. Kitchen
Bosco’s customers aren’t very interested in food, but the simple fare he offers-boiled shark, roasted snake, and other jungle delights-is prepared here. When leftovers become so rancid the pirates won’t eat them, they’re either fed to the deinonychus or sent to the captives in the cage (area 5). The door to the kitchen is always closed, to keep Knuckles from raiding the pantry.
6C. Bosco’s Bunk
Bosco’s private room contains a hammock, a locked sea chest stuffed with clothes and trinkets, a few musty books, and a pile of reeds for Knuckles to sleep on. Bosco carries the key to the chest, or the lock can be picked with thieves' tools and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check.
Treasure
A false bottom in the sea chest can be found with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check. The compartment holds 58 gp, 140 sp, a
Jahaka Bay
Pirate ships enter and leave this bay as they come and go from Jahaka Anchorage. The River Tath plunges down multiple waterfalls before spilling into the bay, so mist perpetually drifts out of the river mouth and across the bay. This mist isn’t especially heavy but its effect accumulates over distance, so it restricts visibility to a few miles on all but the windiest days. The outline of the coastal mountains can be seen from any distance in the bay, but finer details-something the size of a ship or smaller, for example-can’t be discerned from more than 2 or 3 miles distant. Since the bay is about 20 miles wide and 40 miles deep, it’s an excellent hiding spot for pirates. Any ship that wanders into the bay without knowing precisely where to look is unlikely to stumble upon Jahaka Anchorage.
Kir Sabal
An ancient monastery overlooks the jungle from its perch on the cliff of a tall plateau. Stone steps and rickety walkways connect the various buildings, the lowest of which is 500 feet above the ground. The main building has a circular mazelike symbol carved into its crumbling facade.
Every few minutes, bird folk either land at the monastery or launch themselves from its balconies and take to the sky.
Kir Sabal (map 2.11) is home to a flock of aarakocra and a peaceful sanctuary where heroes can find rest and safety-if they can reach it. The aarakocra are also sheltering the last human descendants of the royal line of Omu. If the characters eventually liberate Omu from the evil possessing it, the royal line can be restored.
Originally, the monastery structures could be reached by ascending a path that combined natural stone ramps, steps cut into the cliff face, and wooden walkways built onto the cliff. The ramps and steps are still mostly intact, but the wooden walkways are rotting or missing entirely in many places. The aarakocra don’t need them and have no reason to repair them.
To reach the monastery from the ground, a character must make three ability checks. Each time a check fails, the character must choose between either taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage from a fall or gaining 1 level of
- A DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to climb around gaps in the walkway.
- A DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to cross wide gaps in the wooden walkways by jumping along oddly spaced support beams.
- A DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot rotted planking that won’t support weight.
The climb takes 1 hour, plus 10 minutes for every failed ability check. Unless characters make the climb invisibly, at night, or during a rainstorm, it’s impossible to reach the monastery without the aarakocra knowing they’re coming.
Fifty-six aarakocra live in Kir Sabal, in twelve “nests” or extended family groups. About a third of the aarakocra population are juveniles; the rest are adults split evenly between males and females. They live primarily by hunting in the jungle, fishing along the River Olung, and gardening atop the plateau, where they’re safe from most of Chult’s predators.
The leader of the community is an incredibly old aarakocra named Asharra. The others refer to her as Teacher, and they revere her as a living saint. Asharra is intelligent, ambitious, and somewhat manipulative, but never cruel or insensitive. Asharra is an aarakocra, with these changes:
- Asharra is lawful neutral.
- She has 31 (7d8) hit points.
- She has an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 17, and the following skills: History +4, Insight +5, Perception +7.
- She has the Spellcasting trait described below.
- She speaks Auran and Common.
- She has a challenge rating of 2 (450 XP).
Spellcasting
Asharra is a 5th-level spellcaster who uses Wisdom as her spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13; +5 to hit with spell attacks). She has the following druid spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will):
1st level (4 slots):
2nd level (3 slots):
3rd level (2 slots):
The aarakocra of Kir Sabal lead ritualistic lives and follow strict rules of behavior laid down by tradition and the Teacher. To a large extent, the rules and rituals have taken on a life of their own irrespective of any religious observance.
If the characters approach peacefully, they’ll be welcome in Kir Sabal as long as they don’t harm anyone, disrupt traditions, steal, or lie. Even as guests, they’re expected to spend a few hours a day helping with chores (sweeping floors and cleaning dishes, mostly).
If the characters tell Asharra of their plan to visit Omu and destroy the Soulmonger, she offers to perform a ritual called the Dance of the Seven Winds, bestowing on the characters the magical ability to fly (see the “Dance of the Seven Winds” below). To complete the ritual, she needs a black orchid, which can be found only in Nangalore (described later in this chapter). Asharra can provide directions, but she doesn’t allow her people to go anywhere near the ruins because of the evil, intelligent cranes (eblis) known to live there.
Quest: Find a Black Orchid
Asharra the leader of the Aarakocra community at Kir Sabal offered to perform a ritual called the Dance of the Seven Winds, bestowing upon us the magical ability to fly. To complete the ritual, she needs a black orchid, which can be found only in Nangalore, to which she gave us directions.
Seventeen-year-old Princess Mwaxanaré is the oldest living descendant of the royal families of Omu and the primary heir to the fallen kingdom. She and her six-year-old brother Na (a noncombatant with AC 10 and 3 hit points) are guests of the aarakocra-although “wards” might be a more accurate description. Their great-grandmother, Napaka, was the last ruling queen of Omu; their father, Omek, died in a fall, and their mother, Razaan, was killed by pterafolk. The aarakocra aim to protect the young royals (and their progeny, if necessary) until the evil in Omu is banished. The aarakocra say that they’re doing this solely for the future of Chult, but Asharra secretly hopes that the aarakocra will be elevated to key roles in any renewed Chultan kingdom, if and when it comes about.
Mwaxanaré is vain, headstrong, and impatient to claim her throne. She doesn’t take kindly to backtalk and is unaccustomed to speaking to anyone except Asharra without condescension. In her view, she’s already Queen of Chult; the rest of the world is at fault for not acknowledging that.
Unfortunately, the princess’s whole life has been sheltered at Kir Sabal, so her understanding of the world beyond the monastery is woefully, almost comically, narrow and distorted. For example, she never refers to other kingdoms as anything but principalities or holdings (“the holding of Waterdeep,” “the principality of Amn”); she believes that the other rulers of Faerûn would send thousands of soldiers to her aid in a matter of days if they were aware of her need; and she’s certain the merchant princes of Port Nyanzaru will welcome her return and gladly hand over rulership of the city to their rightful monarch. The world as she understands it is tiny and hungry for her leadership. Mwaxanaré isn’t a fool; for the most part, these are things she’s been taught by Asharra.
Mwaxanaré believes she can garner widespread support to repopulate and rebuild Omu by retrieving a symbolically significant yet long-lost treasure called the Skull Chalice of Ch’gakare (see chapter 5). If the characters claim to be headed to Omu, she urges them to find the chalice and return it to her “for the good of Chult.” If the characters request something more substantial as a reward, she offers them 250 gp worth of choice pieces from her private treasury (see area 5).
Quest: Find the Skull Chalice of Ch’gakare
Mwaxanaré, the 17 year old oldest living descendant of the royal families of Omu, believes she can garner widespread support to repopulate and rebuild Omu by retrieving a symbolically significant yet long-lost treasure called the Skull Chalice of Ch’gakare.
Although the aarakocra treat her well, Mwaxanaré is lonely; the only other human in Kir Sabal is her brother. Consequently, the princess is likely to fixate on one of the adventurers as a potential romantic partner. This attachment will be powerful, fiery, and jealous, and Mwaxanaré is accustomed to getting everything she wants.
Against Asharra’s wishes, the princess forged a pact with the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, ancient beings of the Outer Planes, to become a fledgling warlock. She detests physical labor and puts her
If Asharra suspects that Mwaxanaré might learn disturbing or inconvenient truths about the world from the characters, or that her passion for one of them might lead to tragedy, they become a dangerous presence in Asharra’s eyes-and Kir Sabal is a precarious place for creatures without wings.
Na wears an aarakocra costume he made himself and pretends to be one of the bird folk. He is uncommonly studious and bookish for a six-year-old boy. He is polite, deferential, and speaks softly with a wisdom beyond his meager years. His only outdoor interests are walking among the gardens atop the plateau, where he studies plants and insects, and launching complex flying toys made of wood and folded paper out the window of his room and watching them glide lazily across the jungle. Na would laugh, and then be aghast, if anyone suggested he would make a better monarch than Mwaxanaré.
Dance of the Seven Winds
Asharra knows a ritual called the Dance of the Seven Winds, which temporarily grants magical flight to as many as ten nonflying creatures. The ritual, which takes 10 minutes to complete, can only be performed by an aarakocra elder and requires a black orchid as a material component.
Asharra must grind the orchid to powder, inhale it, and dance in circles around the ritual’s beneficiaries uninterrupted while seven other aarakocra chant prayers to the Wind Dukes of Aaqa. When the dance concludes, Asharra’s wings disappear and she loses the ability to fly. The ritual’s beneficiaries each gain a magical flying speed of 30 feet (allowing them to fly 4 miles per hour). This benefit lasts for 3 days, after which Asharra’s wings reappear and she regains the ability to fly.
When Gargoyles Attack
The gargoyles of Omu and the aarakocra of Kir Sabal are bitter enemies. Aarakocra scouts watch over the distant city, and their brazen intrusion annoys the gargoyles. Once in a while, gargoyles follow a patrol back to Kir Sabal and attack the monastery. If this happens while the characters are visiting Kir Sabal, the aarakocra appreciate whatever help the party can provide. The attacking force consists of ten gargoyle. If six or more are slain, the rest fly back to Omu.
1. Monastery
Six aarakocra inhabit the monastery, living as monks. While in the monastery, they wear prayer bead necklaces and paint labyrinthine patterns on their beaks, hands, and feet.
A large, circular labyrinth symbol of Ubtao is painted on the face of this building, but it can’t be seen from anywhere in Kir Sabal; it’s visible only from the air or from the ground below.
1A. Refectory
The entrance hall of the monastery is also the dining chamber. The aarakocra monks take all their meals here, but it’s also where meetings take place. The aarakocra use backless benches and stools for seats, to accommodate their wings. The table can seat twenty.
1B. Prayer Hall
This is the main hall of the monastery, and it’s an impressive sight. The rafters of the ceiling are fully 60 feet above the floor, and the peak of the thatched roof is 15 feet above that. The space is large enough that aarakocra can fly inside it, though they seldom do for the sake of decorum.
The circular labyrinth symbol of Ubtao is laid out on a floor mosaic 25 feet in diameter. The aarakocra monks spend much of their days meditating while viewing the labyrinth from the lower and upper landings of the staircase. Other aarakocra come here only on special occasions such as weddings, funerals, and holy days.
1C. Masters' Quarters
The aarakocra monks use these sleeping chambers. Each chamber contains a bunk bed and a small table for a candle and washbasin. The monks have no possessions; even their clothes and prayer beads belong to the monastery.
1D. Antechamber
Before entering the shrine, the monks prepare themselves in this antechamber by washing with scented oils, reading from inspirational scrolls, and painting labyrinthine patterns onto their beaks, hands, and feet.
1E. Shrine
A life-size wooden statue of a noble tabaxi stands against the far wall, draped in flowers and beads and wreathed in incense smoke. Unlike the other statues in Kir Sabal, this one is in excellent condition, though it’s still very old. It can be recognized as a portrayal of Ubtao in tabaxi form with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check. The aarakocra don’t know the statue as Ubtao; they revere it simply as a talisman that safeguards Kir Sabal and as a focus for meditation.
1F. Training Hall
The aarakocra monks use this hall for instruction in meditation and martial arts. It contains no furniture except woven grass mats.
2. Cleansing Chambers
Aarakocra ritually cleanse themselves in this building before visiting the monastery. This is also where they leave offerings for Teacher and their mysterious guardian figure (the statues of Ubtao as a tabaxi).
2A. Washroom
The lower chamber contains a wash basin for performing ablutions and smaller vessels of salt, powdered chalk, and gold dust (50 gp worth) for sprinkling onto one’s feathers before visiting the monastery.
2B. Shrine
The upper chamber contains a wooden case with shelves of candles and head scarves for visitors to the monastery. At the east end of the chamber is a 5-foot-tall wooden statue with flowers and offerings of food placed at its feet. The statue is obviously very old, and it’s worn almost smooth by thousands of hands brushing against it, so it’s impossible to determine what it originally portrayed. Offerings left here are picked up daily by Asharra’s servant and placed on the statues in the monastery or the elder’s house.
3. Elder’s House
Asharra and an elderly female aarakocra servant named Yingmatona (pronounced ying-mah-TOE-nah) live in this grand structure. No other aarakocra ever set foot inside. Mwaxanaré visits occasionally, and only Na is allowed to come and go as he pleases. This building is off-limits to the characters unless they’re invited inside. Trespassing in the Teacher’s home is a horrendous breach of hospitality.
3A. Shrine
The lower floor of the house is a single room. Yingmatona sleeps on a mattress under the stairs. A life-size wooden statue resembling a tabaxi stands opposite the door. Flowers and offerings of food are placed at its feet. The statue is obviously very old and carved in the stylized Chultan manner, so a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check is needed to recognize it as a depiction of Ubtao as a tabaxi. This realization is automatic if someone already figured it out in the monastery.
The walls of the chamber bear faded frescoes of floral designs and-somewhat jarringly-mathematical symbols. A section of floor has collapsed from age. Anything falling through plunges hundreds of feet to the rocks below.
3B. Asharra’s Quarters
The upper floor is decorated with frescoes similar to those on the lower floor. The landing atop the stairs has no windows, being set inside the cliff, but it’s dimly lit by two candles (one at each end of the hallway).
The outer room is a library with a single bookcase holding forty-four ancient books. Na likes to come here and read the books, none of which is magical. They cover most areas of knowledge: mathematics, natural philosophy, geography, fabulous creatures, theology, and so forth. All the books predate the Spellplague, so little useful information about Chult can be gleaned from them.
The inner room is Asharra’s personal chamber. It contains a comfortable bed, a nightstand, a few books of Chultan poetry, and a wardrobe holding everyday and ceremonial clothing. Under the bed is a small, closed box holding four
4. Dwellings
The dwellings in Kir Sabal aren’t all identical, but they’re similar enough. Each is occupied by 2d4 aarakocra. A standard dwelling has two or three levels connected by a ladder (the interiors are too tight for flying). Most aarakocra in Kir Sabal have little in the way of valuables, aside from totems handcrafted from wood, feathers, scales, shells, and teeth.
5. Royal House
Perched between the monastery (area 1) and the elder’s house (area 3) is a dwelling similar to the ones described in area 4. However, this particular house is furnished for humans and belongs to Mwaxanaré and Na. It is much finer than the others, as befits their royal status.
Treasure
Mwaxanaré has many beautiful trinkets: silver brushes and mirrors, crystal perfume bottles, writing quills made from multicolored parrot feathers, jewels for braiding into her hair, necklaces and rings set with fiery Chultan opals and amber. All together, these are worth 330 gp, but to be caught in Kir Sabal with items stolen from Mwaxanaré means death-and since no one in Kir Sabal would ever steal, suspicion automatically falls on the characters if anything disappears.
Kitcher’s Inlet
The River Olung pours into this shallow bay named after Ilyber Kitcher, a pompous Cormyrean explorer who claimed to have discovered it a few centuries ago. He did no such thing, of course; the inlet’s existence and location were well known before Kitcher missed the Bay of Chult (he was a terrible navigator) and unknowingly sailed down the peninsula’s eastern coast before a storm blew him back within sight of land. There is nothing remarkable about the inlet, other than it provides access to the ruins of Port Castigliar and Mezro.
Lake Luo
This lake sits above an immense geothermal sink, where it’s heated by volcanic vents and by lava streaming down from the Valley of Embers. Portions of the lake are actually boiling, sending up clouds of steam that can be seen for miles. The water is too hot and too alkaline for fish or any other type of aquatic life to survive in it, and the shore around the lake is a dead wasteland of ash and salt flats. Aside from mud mephits and steam mephits, few creatures thrive in the area. The water cools and loses most of its alkalinity as it flows north along the River Olung.
Land of Ash and Smoke
This hellish, smoky sea of black volcanic rock is traced with streams of lava. The Land of Ash and Smoke is a playground for firenewts and for Tzindelor, a young red dragon (see “Wyrmheart Mine”) who likes to bathe in the lava streams. This gray, barren valley is typically 20 to 40 degrees hotter than anywhere else in Chult. It receives only a fraction of the rain that falls on the rest of the peninsula, and what rain does fall rapidly evaporates in the punishing heat. Several expeditions have tried to explore the area, but most of what’s known about it (and shown on Syndra Silvane’s map) is based on visual observations made from atop the coastal mountains.
Mbala
A 1,800-foot-high plateau with sheer cliffs rises above heaps of boulders as large as ships. A narrow path is cut into the cliff face and seems to climb all the way to the top.
The plateau’s sheer cliffs can be scaled, but only with a climbing kit, proficiency in the Athletics skill, and at least 300 feet of rope.
The path is a much easier route to the top. It begins on the north side of the plateau. Through many switchbacks, it winds across the cliff face for 3 miles before reaching the top. The path width varies but averages 5 feet. Tumbled boulders and tangled roots block the path in many places, but as long as characters aren’t being chased by anything, they can clear the obstructions safely. The first ascent takes 3 hours; once the road is cleared, it can be climbed or descended in half that time.
As the characters climb ever higher above the tree line, they are treated to stunning views of the surrounding wilderness. Across the Aldani Basin to the southeast, they can see the Heart of Ubtao, and nestled in the jungle to the west is the ziggurat at Orolunga. Characters who succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check also spot some sort of shipwreck in the jungle, beyond the plateaus to the south (see “Wreck of the Star Goddess”).
About a hundred feet below the lip of the plateau, the path (which is proceeding west across the cliff at that point) veers directly into a natural cleft in the stone face. Steps are cut into the 15-foot-wide crevice, and scenes of jungle predators, flying lizards, and erupting volcanoes are carved in shallow relief onto the walls in ways that make creative use of the natural shape of the rock. When the characters reach the top of the steps, read:
The stone steps emerge onto the top of the plateau beneath a once grand, but now decrepit wooden gateway. The gates that sealed this entrance are rotted away; only their rusted iron hinges and reinforcing bands remain. In their place are heaps of human skulls. Picked clean of all flesh and bleached white by the sun, they grin up at you from the roadway and down from atop towering mounds.
The skulls are all that remain of Mbala’s former residents. The citizens were devoured by a hag posing as a witch doctor. All the skulls show signs of having been gnawed on. The hag is now Mbala’s sole living resident.
To move off the steps, characters must either wade through heaps of skulls or climb over the sides of the staircase and go around the gate. Evidence of a wooden palisade can be seen, but it, too, is almost entirely gone or fallen over.
Mbala was once the seat of a small kingdom. Most of the structures were wood and thatch, and they’re now just crumbling compost heaps demolished by rain, wind, and time. A few stone foundations and overgrown ramps poke up through the debris, indicating this was more than just a simple village.
Nanny Pu’pu
If the characters explore the ruins of Mbala, read:
The only structure still intact is a lone hut about a thousand yards southwest of the gate, at the edge of a boulder field. The hut is made from thatch and animal hides stretched over the rib cage of an immense reptile. Animal skulls, wind chimes, and totems of feathers and shells rattle in the breeze, and smoke drifts from hut.
A creature shuffles slowly around the hut, hunched over in an animal-like posture. You realize it’s a human woman: impossibly old, crippled by arthritis, blinded by cataracts. Her dark face and bald pate are outlined with streaks of yellow clay suggesting the shape of a skull-or perhaps it’s her shriveled flesh creating that illusion.
Nanny Pu’pu, a green hag, plays the part of an ancient crone to the hilt. She claims that all the other villagers were killed over the course of many years by winged creatures that live on the south side of the plateau. She is the only survivor-too stringy or too wily for the predators. She lives on the roots in her garden and the few birds and lizards she catches in snares. If asked her name, she needs several moments to recall that the villagers called her Nanny Pu’pu.
The hag wants two things from the adventurers: for them to destroy the nest of pterafolk on the south side of the plateau (see “Pterafolk Nest” below), and then to become her meals for several months. She’s not likely to attack them openly. She’d rather get them off their guard and pick them off one by one, as she did with the villagers.
Nanny Pu’pu isn’t entirely alone. With a whistle, she can call forth 2d6 flying monkey that live in the trees, and she has a flesh golem buried in a shallow grave outside her small hut. The hag uses the flying monkeys to gather food and supplies, but they won’t fight for her. The golem will, however; it erupts from the earth as a bonus action if commanded to attack.
Rite of Stolen Life
Nanny Pu’pu is a worshiper of Myrkul, the Lord of Bones, and knows a ritual of transformation that can turn a dead humanoid into a zombielike creature. Characters who bring their dead comrades to Mbala can ask Nanny Pu’pu to transform them into the walking dead. However, she does nothing for free. Wiping out the nest of pterafolk is the least payment she’ll consider for this ritual. She might also request a lock of Commander Breakbone’s hair and a few of his fingernails (see “Camp Vengeance,") or one of Saja N’baza’s iridescent scales (see “Orolunga”). Either would certainly be used in casting evil magic.
Nanny Pu’pu is the only creature in Chult who can perform the Rite of Stolen Life. The ritual takes 1 hour to complete and requires three things: a mostly intact humanoid corpse, a gemstone worth at least 100 gp, and, most disturbingly, the sacrifice of another humanoid. If characters are unwilling to sacrifice one of their own to save a fallen comrade, Nanny Pu’pu recommends they capture a goblin, a grung, or other humanoid and bring it to her. Nanny Pu’pu kills the sacrifice, captures its spirit in the gemstone, and magically embeds the stone in the dead humanoid’s forehead. After Nanny Pu’pu speaks a prayer to Myrkul, the spirit of the sacrifice gains the knowledge and the personality of the humanoid to which it is bound, in effect imitating that humanoid’s spirit. When the ritual is complete, the dead humanoid awakens as if from a deep slumber, though it is not alive.
A character transformed by this ritual into the walking dead regains all its hit points and retains its statistics, except as noted here:
- The character is considered an undead, not a humanoid, and is subject to all effects that target undead. The character doesn’t need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe.
- The character’s hit point maximum is reduced by 1d4 at dawn each day, representing the physical decay of the body. No spell or effect can halt or counteract this decay.
- If the character’s hit point maximum drops to 0, the gemstone embedded in the character’s forehead shatters, and the character becomes a corpse once more.
A character that is turned into the walking dead and later raised or resurrected loses all memory of being an undead creature, but it doesn’t lose any levels or XP gained while it was undead.
Treasure
The green hag keeps nothing of value in her hut. Her treasure is hidden in a cistern in the old village. Anyone who moves through the ruins notices the cistern. The opening is 15 feet in diameter, and the shaft drops 15 feet to scummy, black water. The lip and walls of the cistern are brick-lined.
The water is 40 feet deep and so murky that it’s heavily obscured. Unless characters have blindsight, they must feel their way with their hands. About 20 feet below the surface, the bricks have been pulled from one wall to create a hole. Characters searching with their hands find it with a successful DC 10 Dexterity check. A narrow, 10-foot-long tunnel leads from the hole to a cramped, completely flooded chamber. In the chamber is a tied sack made from human skin. It contains six onyx gemstones (50 gp each), a
If characters miss the hole in the wall as they’re searching down the cistern wall, they find a heap of bricks on the bottom of the cistern. Searching upward from the discarded bricks leads them to the hole automatically.
Pterafolk Nest
A flock of twenty pterafolk nests in a cave just below the southern lip of the plateau. It can be reached by climbing down the cliff face, but characters who scout the area carefully and succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check locate a chute in the rocks 70 feet back from the cliff. This chimney is wide enough for a Small creature, or for a Medium creature who’s wearing nothing heavier than light armor, to squeeze through. After worming down 30 feet, it drops into the back of the pterafolk cave, which is roughly triangular in floor plan: 30 feet wide at the mouth, 60 feet deep, and 20 feet high. The pterafolk are unaware that this back entrance to their cave exists.
The pterafolk keep no watch, believing their cliffside retreat is impregnable. Stealthy characters can enter the cave unnoticed. At any given time, 2d6 pterafolk are present in the cave. The rest are out hunting, but they’ll return before nightfall.
Treasure
In the back half of the cave are the bodies of two partially eaten explorers. A discarded backpack near them contains 6 gp in a pouch, a silvered dagger, and a
Mezro
Nothing about this Chultan city is what it seems. By all accounts, Mezro was destroyed by the Spellplague, and its ruins indicate as much. In truth, the city’s immortal defenders-the barae-used their god-given magic to transport the entire city to a paradise (a magically constructed demiplane, far from prying eyes). Empty ruins were left behind to create the impression that Mezro had been destroyed. It is not known if and when the Mezroans and their city will return.
One of the barae, a human paladin named Alisanda, is wed to Artus Cimber. The two fell in love more than a century ago, after Artus helped defend Mezro against the evil warlord Ras Nsi and his undead horde. Before she allowed herself to be spirited away along with the rest of the city, Alisanda promised Artus that she would return to Chult when the city was no longer in peril.
Artus won’t endanger the Mezroans by revealing the truth about their city. Although the
Exploring the Ruins
The ruins that were left behind form a circle. Four main avenues to the north, south, east, and west meet at a central plaza. The whole ruin has subsided over the centuries, so that water from the River Olung flows over the ancient wharfs. Crumbling, vine-covered buildings rise above the flooded streets that are now more like canals than roadways. The site is eerily quiet.
The ruins have been thoroughly ransacked by the Flaming Fist in the name of Baldur’s Gate, and Flaming Fist patrols still visit the site regularly-partly as training for new recruits, partly to make sure nothing was missed. Neither treasure nor clues remain for the player characters to find here.
Mistcliff
The Mistcliff is a 1,000-foot-high wall of volcanic rock that stretches for 200 miles along Chult’s west coast. There is no beach whatsoever, just immense, jagged rocks and plunging, crashing waves. If that isn’t enough to keep most people away, the cliffs are home to large aarakocra settlements, as well as nests of pteranodons and quetzalcoatluses.
Nangalore
This great garden (map 2.12) was built to honor Zalkoré, a vain Omuan queen. Its builder, Thiru-taya, was Zalkoré’s foremost general and consort. In their time, the garden was called Ka-Nanji, the Hanging Garden of Dreams. Ka-Nanji was a palatial retreat from the intrigues and pressures of Omu, and the beautiful, tiered garden was praised as a worthy tribute to the queen.
Unceasing flattery festered with poisonous vanity in Zalkoré’s mind until she bargained with an erinyes to retain her youth and beauty forever. The erinyes fulfilled the deal by transforming the queen into a medusa. When knowledge of her evil bargain spread through the realm, the army forced Zalkoré to abdicate and exiled her to Ka-Nanji, which became known ever after as Nangalore, the Garden of Lost Dreams.
Believing that Thiru-taya was among the generals who exiled her, Zalkoré defaced all the statues and portraits of him in Nangalore. She learned he had stayed true to her all his life, through decades of imprisonment and disgrace in Omu, only when his ashes were brought to the garden for interment, as was his dying wish. Zalkoré cultivates hallucinogenic plants in the garden, because only in their narcotic, lotus dreams can she conjure up the face of her dead love.
Characters can discover Zalkoré’s tragic story by interpreting carvings throughout the garden. If that makes them sympathetic toward her, so be it, but her tragedy didn’t ennoble Zalkoré or make her a better person; it turned her into a monster.
The medusa is not alone in the cursed garden. Eblis serve her as sentinels and spies. Colorful parrots and canaries flock to the garden’s great variety of plants, some of which are hostile toward visitors. Finally, brave Chultans sometimes seek out Zalkoré as a sort of jungle mystic, either to learn the secrets of her hallucinogenic plants or to ask questions about the distant past.
Nangalore lies a half-mile from the River Olung. Thanks to centuries of silting and erosion, one of the river’s tributaries floods right up to the garden gate (area 1), making the site easy to reach by boat. Traveling to Nangalore by foot is a nightmare, since the land within 1 mile is nothing but boggy marsh.
The garden has multiple levels. Map 2.12 uses elevation markers to indicate how high the levels are relative to the ground. Some keyed locations contain multiple levels; for example, area 4 is 25 feet above ground level, with a crumbled 10-foot-high balcony (35 feet above ground level) and a 20-foot-deep pit (5 feet above ground level).
Throughout Nangalore are inscriptions written in Old Omuan. A character with the cloistered scholar or sage background can translate an Old Omuan inscription with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (History) check. A warlock with the Eyes of the Rune Keeper invocation can do so automatically. Otherwise, a
1. Entrance
A fantastic edifice rises up out of the jungle: a hanging garden of exotic beauty. Water streams down the steps between two massive elephant carvings. Beyond them, a broad, flooded avenue runs arrow-straight for more than a hundred feet before ending at a carving of a tyrannosaurus face. Water pours from the tyrannosaurus’s jaws and flows the length of the concourse to drain down the steps in front of you. Five-foot-high terraces flank the boulevard. Low archways-three on each side-are built into the terrace walls. These archways are in various stages of collapse, as are the tunnels beyond them. Beautifully carved, larger-than-life stone faces are mounted between the arches.
A wild profusion of plants grows on the upper terraces, and multicolored parrots and canaries flit and sing among them. To the north, a dilapidated brick dome rises above the tyrannosaurus-head waterspout. Smaller, bell-shaped domes surmount the highest terraces to your left and right.
Four crocodile live in the flooded marsh south of the garden. They ignore characters in boats, attack anyone in the water, and won’t climb up the stairs.
The water flowing down the main concourse is only 1 foot deep, and the current isn’t particularly strong. Originally, the six side branches off the main avenue were roofed over, but two of the roofs have caved in, and three others are partially collapsed. Debris chokes the walkways where the tunnel roofs fell. The roofs that remain intact have vines and roots hanging down from them. The covered tunnels are only 4 feet high and contain a foot of water.
Stone Faces
The four stone visages staring across the avenue between the walkways portray a regal woman (Zalkoré) whose expression changes slightly with each visage. Inscribed above each face are phrases in Old Omuan. The phrases form a message. To get the message in sequence, it should be read from the south end of the concourse to the tyrannosaurus spout while alternating from the left (west) side to the right (east).
Face 1 (lower west) has a bemused expression. The message above it reads,
“This garden is dedicated to Zalkoré, queen of Omu and jewel of Chult.”
Face 2 (upper west) has a condescending expression. The message above it reads,
“Worshiped by her people and by Thiru-taya, who loves BETRAYED her.”
(The word “loves” has been chipped away, and the word “BETRAYED” is scratched into the stone above it.)
Face 3 (upper east) has a stern expression. The message above it reads,
“In this, the tenth year of her reign, may she govern forever in splendor.”
Face 4 (lower east) has a serene expression. The message above it reads,
“And may the gods themselves marvel at this humble reflection of her beauty.”
2. Terraces
Untamed overgrowth can’t hide the fact that this garden is a haven for exotic plants that don’t grow naturally in the surrounding jungle. Unfamiliar flowers, towering ferns, and even stranger plants resembling giant pine cones or lily pads spread and tangle everywhere. Bright canaries flit between them, and parrots with striped beaks squawk at you.
These terraces overlooking the main concourse are home to myriad creatures, many of them dangerous.
A mantrap grows on the eastern terrace between two of the partially collapsed tunnels. When it senses movement within 30 feet of it, the mantrap releases its attractive pollen.
Characters who explore the western terrace encounter six yellow musk zombie lurking among the trees and plants. The zombies blend in with their surroundings, and any character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score lower than 12 is automatically surprised by them. Coiled around the northernmost tree on the western terrace is a yellow musk creeper that uses its musk when one or more characters come within 30 feet of it.
At the north end of the garden, two arched doorways open into the southwest and southeast flower gardens (area 5). Steps still climb up to the doorway on the east, but the western steps collapsed and fell into the walkway below. A character can reach the western doorway with an easy jump and a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to catch the ledge.
Garden Discoveries
A character who spends at least 10 minutes searching a garden terrace for treasure inevitably stumbles upon a hidden creature or exotic plant, determined by rolling a d20 and consulting the Garden Discoveries table. After the party makes five such discoveries, no more can be found.
Garden Discoveries
| d20 | Discovery |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1d4 Almiraj |
| 2-3 | 1 Assassin Vine |
| 4-5 | 1 Chwinga hiding in a flower |
| 6-7 | 1d4 Flying Monkeys perched in a tree. The monkeys playfully hurl dancing monkey fruit at nearby characters. They fly away if attacked. |
| 8-9 | 1d4 Jaculis |
| 10-11 | Menga bush with 2d6 ounces of leaves |
| 12-13 | 1d4 Ryath Roots |
| 14-15 | 4d6 Sinda Berries growing on a bush |
| 16-17 | 1d4 Wildroots |
| 18-19 | Yahcha Beetle |
| 20 | The rotting corpse of a human mage who was strangled to death by an assassin vine. A search of the corpse yields a scholar’s pack, a pouch containing 15 gp, and a folding boat. This discovery can only be made once. If this result comes up again, re-roll on the table. |
3. Spirit Domes
A bell-shaped dome of sculpted stone rises from the end of each upper walkway. The dome to the east is beginning to crumble with age. The one to the west is wrapped and draped with thick webs.
These two domes were built to attract nature spirits.
Western Dome
This dome has been taken over by a giant spider missing one of its legs. The seven-legged arachnid lurks in its webs and attacks anyone who approaches within 10 feet of its home. Characters who kill the spider and search the webs find the cocooned, desiccated corpses of an albino dwarf and a goblin, but no treasure.
Eastern Dome
Three chwinga live in this dome. They emerge from the stone to spy on creatures that pass by. One chwinga is fascinated by tall people and might bestow a charm of restoration (see chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) on the tallest party member, should it take a shine to the party. The other two chwingas are shy and suspicious of strangers.
4. Ruined Palace
Traces of gold-colored plaster still cling to this dome in a few spots, but everywhere else you see old weathered bricks, more than a few of which have fallen through. The larger-than-life-size elephant carvings and the graceful, towering spire are still magnificent sights, even if their glory is dimmed by time and decay.
A character can climb the outside of the dome with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) and peer inside through any one of a number of holes. The top of the dome has been weakened by time and collapses under the weight of a creature weighing 200 pounds or more. Any creature standing on or clinging to the roof when it collapses falls, taking damage as normal and possibly landing in the cistern.
Iron doors on the eastern side of the dome are rusted shut and can be forced open only with a successful DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check-but the impact causes a portion of the ceiling to collapse. Whoever forced the doors open must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Identical doors on the western side of the dome are rusted completely off their hinges.
When characters enter the ruined palace, read:
An 18-foot-tall stone statue of a Chultan warrior in splint armor, wearing a helmet festooned with tyrannosaurus teeth and bearing a shield of intricately patterned leopard hide, towers over the chamber and looms above a wide, octagonal cistern. The chamber echoes with the sound of rainwater dripping from the ceiling into the gaping pit. The face of the giant warrior statue is obliterated by deep gouges, but the rest of the statue remains intact. Clutched in the statue’s right hand is a stone spear, and resting on the floor beneath it is a clay urn. North of the statue is an open balcony overlooking a flooded garden.
Standing to one side of the giant warrior is another statue, this one much smaller. Exquisitely lifelike, it depicts a man reaching for the urn, his face turned toward the balcony. In his lifeless eyes, you see terror.
Stone steps ascend along the curved wall to the level of a second floor, but that floor is almost entirely collapsed. Someone’s been up there, however, because a message of some sort is scrawled across the domed ceiling.
When it was intact, the second floor was actually a mezzanine that wrapped around three sides of the dome. The head, chest, and shoulders of the warrior statue rose above the mezzanine level.
The 20-foot-deep pit contains 1d4+2 inches of rainwater and is home to two swarm of poisonous snakes. The swarms are content to remain in the pit and attack any creature that joins them, except for Zalkoré, whom the snakes obey. The walls of the pit can’t be climbed without gear or magic.
Rainwater pouring into the pit through holes in the roof drains via pipes through the tyrannosaurus spout at the head of the main concourse (area 1). The snakes can also come and go through the pipes, which are 6 inches wide.
Mezzanine Message
The message scrawled on the inside of the dome can be read only by climbing to the mezzanine, but the decrepit condition of the stairs and balcony makes this venture risky. A character who climbs the steps must make a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to move without jarring the flooring; otherwise, the steps collapse and the character takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage from the fall. A Small character has advantage on the check. Without the steps, climbing the inward-curving wall requires a climbing kit and a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.
The message, scrawled in Old Omuan, states,
“True love, faithful general, safe will you rest in Nangalore eternal. None will disturb you while I live. Such is my vow of penance, and for my sins I cannot die.”
Statues
The large statue portrays Thiru-taya. Zalkoré had it commissioned out of appreciation and affection, but defaced it when she believed the general betrayed her. The face is completely destroyed. Gouged across its back in Old Omuan are the words
“Forgive me.”
The smaller statue is actually a petrified adventurer named Gowl (NG male Chultan human scout). He came to Nangalore in search of riches and was turned to stone by Zalkoré while reaching for the urn. Scratched into the floor next to him are the following words, in Old Omuan:
“Once a thief, forever a slave!”
Urn
The clay urn contains Thiru-taya’s ashes.
5. Hallucinogenic Plants
Zalkoré cultivates hallucinogenic plants in these four sheltered gardens. From the plants, she brews a narcotic tincture that allows her to dream of Thiru-taya. Without it, she can’t recall his face.
The plants in this enclosed garden are like nothing you’ve ever seen. Their shapes are fantastic, and their colors are like gems sparkling in the sun. Enclosed by 5-foot-high walls, this strangely beautiful garden imparts a sense of serenity.
A message is deeply scratched into the wall.
Four of these gardens are situated around the palace (area 4). Any humanoid that spends 1 minute or longer in any one of them must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature becomes poisoned. While poisoned in this way, the creature is also charmed by every other creature in Nangalore. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each hour, ending the effect on itself on a success. If any saving throw after the initial one fails by 5 or more, the creature falls unconscious and remains so until it takes damage or until it succeeds on a saving throw against this effect.
A character who has proficiency in both Medicine and Nature recognizes these plants as soporifics after 2 rounds of examination. A character with proficiency in either skill, but not both, recognizes the plants with a successful DC 15 check in the trained skill.
A single character who spends 30 minutes in a garden can strip it of its hallucinogenic plants, gathering 3 pounds of leaves in the process. Jessamine (see chapter 1) is willing to pay 20 gp for each pound of leaves.
Zalkoré and the eblis don’t miss the opportunity to strike while characters are drugged, or to offer them poisoned fruit and wine if they’ve done nothing offensive (see area 8).
5A. Southwest Garden
An open archway in the south wall of the garden overlooks a flooded tunnel with a collapsed roof (see area 1). Written on the south wall in Old Omuan are the words
“Without dreams, eternity is unbearable.”
5B. Southeast Garden
Three tri-flower frond grow in this garden. Any character who moves through the garden can’t help but brush up against one of these beautiful but deadly plants. Written on the south wall in Old Omuan are the words
“Great Ubtao, free me!”
5C. Northwest Garden
The steps leading to the upper walkway are overgrown by tree roots. Scrawled on the north wall in Old Omuan are the words
“For the lies of a few, all must pay.”
5D. Northeast Garden
This garden has been taken over by a mantrap, which lies hidden under other plants. It attacks any creature that’s not Zalkoré or an eblis. Scrawled on the east wall in Old Omuan are the words
“To dream, to dance.”
6. Pagoda
This crumbling pagoda must have been lovely once, with its wide, graceful arches inviting the breeze to blow through, and overlooking the silent pool below. But time, decay, and some bestial presence have given it a sinister air. It smells foul, and dark stains cover the floor and seep down the white steps.
This pagoda houses six eblis that serve as Zalkoré’s sentries and servants. The interior is filthy, with gnawed bones strewn everywhere and the floor thick with droppings. Unless the characters creep through the garden with uncommon stealth, the eblis see or hear them coming, in which case this nest will be empty. Three eblis move to Zalkoré’s lair (area 8), while the others take up positions in trees, on walls, or on rooftops. Their job is not to attack intruders on sight, but to alert Zalkoré and be ready to back up whatever she does.
Treasure
Characters who search through the refuse find some baubles tucked away by the eblis, including a pouch containing seven assorted gemstones (10 gp each), a painted gold bracelet shaped like a couatl (50 gp), and a wooden scroll tube engraved with skeletons, which contains a scroll of protection (undead).
7. Flooded Garden
The water in this pool is unusually clear. A dozen or more large fish, turtles, and lizards swim lazily through it, and waterbirds paddle on the surface. Their ripples obscure something on the bottom of the pool, so you can’t quite make it out, but the bottom appears blanketed in oddly shaped stones.
Bits of shattered stone rest atop a square dais that rises from middle of the pool-evidence of a sculpture that once stood atop it. Part of the sculpture lies in the pool, west of the dais: a large stone face staring up at the sky.
An immense stone bust of Zalkoré once rose above the pool atop the dais. It was the most beautiful sculpture in the garden. After Zalkoré learned the truth about Thiru-taya, she destroyed the likeness of herself in an act of self-revulsion.
The stones in the pool are a 2-foot-deep layer of fish, turtles, lizards, and water birds petrified by Zalkoré as they swam in the water. They’ve been piling up in the bottom of the pool for centuries. The petrified animals could be sold to collectors in Port Nyanzaru for 1 gp apiece. Each one weighs 1 pound. Beneath the petrified animals are the petrified forms of Kwani and Shabarra, two adventurers (CN female Chultan scout) who ran afoul of Zalkoré many decades ago.
8. Zalkoré’s Lair
This bell-shaped dome appears intact: it has no obvious holes in the roof, and the bronze double door hangs squarely in its frame. The doors are closed but not locked. Unless characters have been uncommonly stealthy (or Zalkoré is already dead), the queen is expecting them.
The single, large chamber inside the dome is obviously a royal apartment-or was, centuries ago. Now the bright, floral murals are dim and gray, bits of colored glass are heaped beneath a cracked mosaic, enameled wooden tables are split and tilting, and every bit of cloth is frayed and streaked.
At the center of the room, a long divan stands atop a circular dais. Reclining on the divan is a woman dressed in a flowing robe made from parrot feathers in stunning colors. Despite the heat, her arms, head, and face are covered in feathery veils. Next to her, a black orchid grows out of a large clay pot at the head of the divan. She addresses you in a voice tinged with odd inflections.
Zalkoré
“Strangers have come to Nangalore, my love. What boon do our subjects beseech?”
The medusa isn’t completely insane, but thanks to her plant extract, she continually hallucinates that Thiru-taya is standing at her side. Most of Zalkoré’s comments include him somehow; try to make these references as puzzling as possible for the characters. She also believes that she’s still queen of Omu while simultaneously remembering and understanding that she was exiled here. She can make contradictory statements about herself and her past without any apparent cognitive dissonance.
Characters can have a pleasant, somewhat informative encounter with Zalkoré if they abide by three conditions:
- Disturbing Thiru-taya’s ashes or damaging his statue are unpardonable. If characters did either, then a fight to the death is guaranteed.
- The first time someone makes a disparaging remark about Thiru-taya or refers to his “betrayal,” they draw a furious response from Zalkoré, but she recomposes herself. If it happens a second time, a battle is assured.
- If someone snatches away Zalkoré’s veil, makes a grab for the black orchid, or brings out a mirror, their fate is sealed. If someone asks why she wears a veil, Zalkoré replies that she no longer desires to show her face to anyone but her beloved Thiru-taya.
As long as the meeting remains cordial, Zalkoré can reveal much about Omu. She can direct characters to its general location (“between the fire peaks and the great iron mine of the dwarves”) and warns them that yuan-ti covet the city. She knows nothing about the Soulmonger or the death curse. She’s heard that at least one of her descendants is in hiding with the bird folk of Kir Sabal, awaiting the restoration of the monarchy. (These are examples of how Zalkoré simultaneously thinks of herself as still the ruling queen of Omu as it was centuries ago, and is also aware the city has fallen and she’s in exile. Both situations coexist in her hallucinatory reality.)
Quest: Find a Black Orchid
Asharra the leader of the Aarakocra community at Kir Sabal offered to perform a ritual called the Dance of the Seven Winds, bestowing upon us the magical ability to fly. To complete the ritual, she needs a black orchid, which can be found only in Nangalore, to which she gave us directions.
Black Orchid
Characters in search of a black orchid for Asharra’s ritual (see “Kir Sabal,") find one here, but Zalkoré won’t part with it unless the characters offer her something of equal beauty. As payment, she demands a gemstone, a piece of jewelry, or an art object worth at least 500 gp. (She won’t accept lesser quality goods of equal value.) Zalkoré is also attracted to characters with a Charisma of 16 or higher and will accept one such character as a slave in exchange for the flower. The black orchid in Zalkoré’s possession is the only one to be found in Nangalore.
Poisonous Hospitality
If Zalkoré resolves to kill the characters over an offense but the situation is still more-or-less cordial, she offers food and drink. She rings a silver handbell, and an eblis servant arrives with a tray of fruit and wine. All of it is artfully drugged; the contamination can be detected only by someone who has proficiency in Medicine and who succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check. Zalkoré partakes, but she’s built up such a tolerance that this dose won’t affect her. Characters who eat or drink must make a successful DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour or until they drink 2 quarts of water.
Thiru-Taya
When Zalkoré is reduced to 63 hit points or fewer, she calls out to her dead lover for protection. The spirit of Thiru-Taya answers the call, appearing as a barely visible 10-foot-tall apparition of a Chultan warrior wielding a massive spear of force. The apparition is impervious to damage and spells, and it can’t be turned or controlled. It looms above Zalkoré until she dies or regains all her hit points. Once per turn, when a creature within 15 feet of Zalkoré damages her, Thiru-Taya’s apparition unerringly hits the attacker with its spear, dealing 15 (2d8+6) force damage to it.
Treasure
Most of what remains in Zalkoré’s lair has little value. Her feathered dress is worth 50 gp, if it wasn’t too damaged in the fight (the dress is ruined if more than half the damage done to Zalkoré was slashing, acid, or fire damage, or if she was hit by a
Needle’s Bones
A wide sinkhole yawns before you, the earth around it littered with goblin bones. The opening is 90 feet across and roughly circular, and the stone walls are nearly vertical. Thirty feet down, the sinkhole is filled with murky green water. Hundreds of frogs hop from one floating plant to another.
The massive rib cage and fine wing bones of a dragon rise above the murk. Vines, moss, and lichen hang from the bones. Judging from how much of the skeleton is exposed, the water can’t be more than 3 or 4 feet deep.
The walls of the sinkhole are rough and draped with dozens of stout vines, so climbing into or out of the grotto is easy and automatically successful.
The bones are the remains of Ormalagos, an adult green dragon better known during her lifetime as Needle. She used this grotto as a lair but feared Batiri goblins had sniffed out its location and were getting ready to raid it. Needle was in the process of moving her treasure to other locations when the goblins struck. While the dragon was away, they dumped baskets full of quippers into the sinkhole. When the dragon returned, they trapped her in the sinkhole with vine nets. As the quippers devoured the dragon from below, the Batiri showered Needle with spears from above until she finally died. Nearly the entire goblin tribe perished in the fight, too.
The characters' first impression of the water is correct; it varies from 3 to 4 feet deep everywhere. A search of the muddy bottom turns up hundreds of goblin bones and stone spear heads, greatly annoys the multitude of frogs, and draws attacks from two swarm of quippers. Someone who examines the dragon bones and succeeds on a DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check sees enough regularity in the vines draped across the ribs to conclude the dragon was tangled in a net. To identify the remains as a green dragon, characters must lift its skull out of the water and muck; that feat takes a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.
Treasure
A 10-foot-wide, 10-foot-high secret door in the northwest wall of the grotto conceals a 15-foot-deep alcove. The secret door is carved from natural rock and disguised to look like part of the wall, and all the plants around it are dead. The secret door can be detected with a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check. Characters who inspect the plants around the door and succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) or DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check can tell that the plants were killed by poison. Needle opened the secret door by breathing poison gas on it; smearing or spraying poison on the door also causes it to swing open. Otherwise, a
Needle hid the following items in the alcove: a purse made from triceratops hide, a small box made from two velociraptor skulls cleverly fitted together, and a hollow dinosaur bone with a wax plug at one end. The purse contains 55 gp, 800 sp, and three blue quartz rings (10 gp each). The skull box is worth 12 gp and contains a
Nsi Wastes
This vast tract of jungle was ravaged by blight long ago and never recovered. The plants here are sickly and poisonous. In the heart of this wasteland is the ruined palace of the warlord Ras Nsi: a crumbled stone fortress that once stood on the backs of a dozen giant undead turtles. Its destruction by Ras Nsi’s rampaging undead was so complete that nothing remains of this once-awesome structure except the crushed shells and bleached bones of the turtles, and heaps of stone so jumbled that not even the outlines of the ancient walls can be picked out, slowly sinking into the muck. The chance for a random encounter is doubled in this region.
Omu
The lost city of Omu is described in chapter 3.
Orolunga
All that remains of the ancient city of Orolunga is a crumbling ziggurat watched over by a guardian naga. The naga is thousands of years old and a font of useful information-perhaps the best source of information in Chult. However, she’s not easy to reach.
A massive brick and stone ziggurat rises from the jungle. Two staircases angle up and across the front face, one from the right, the other from the left, to meet at a landing on the second level 30 feet above your heads. That layout repeats on the second level, and the third level, but with each successive layer adding less height than the one below it. The fourth level, 60 feet above the jungle floor, is an enclosed shrine or temple, its walls adorned with labyrinth symbols.
The jungle encroaches right up to and onto this ancient structure. The first flights of steps are choked with creepers, tree roots, and flowering vines. It might have been surrounded by a city long ago, but the jungle is so dense that it would take hours of searching to find buried foundations and tumbled stones.
The ziggurat is encased in magic, which becomes obvious if anyone casts
First Steps
The steps from the ground to level 1 of the ziggurat are 50 feet long and rise 30 feet. A tangle of roots, vines, and creepers covers the steps. Characters can climb the first 10 feet as difficult terrain. After 10 feet, they begin getting scratched by thorns. If they continue, they take 1 slashing damage per foot climbed. After 20 feet, that increases to 2 slashing damage per foot. The thorns regrow as quickly as they’re slashed, burned, or destroyed, and they can’t be parted by magic or by abilities. No damage is incurred for moving down the steps.
After the characters' first attempts to climb the steps, they notice a chwinga standing among them. It’s about a foot tall, and its mask resembles a triceratops' head. It’s also carrying a large orange and purple orchid. After a moment, it charges up the steps; the thorns part before it and close immediately behind it.
To ascend the steps, characters must find more of the orange and purple orchids. They can be found in the jungle in 30 minutes if anyone in the group has proficiency in the Nature skill, or 60 minutes otherwise. Each character climbing the stairs needs his or her own orchid.
Second Steps
The steps from level 1 to level 2 are 33 feet long and rise 20 feet. The stone is crumbling from age and decay. Those who try climbing the steps find that, after the first few, the stone crumbles into gravel beneath them so they can’t make any more progress. However much the characters try to climb and demolish the steps, they never seem to get any worse and the gravel never piles up any deeper.
After the characters' first attempts to climb, they notice another chwinga standing among them at the base of the steps. Its mask resembles a chameleon’s head. It’s carrying an orange and purple orchid and a red parrot feather, and it races up the steps with ease, literally light as a feather on the fragile stones.
Characters can find parrot feathers in the jungle or lying around on this level after just a few minutes of searching. They need both the feather and the orchid to climb the steps.
Third Steps
The steps from level 2 to level 3 (the level of the shrine) are 20 feet long and rise 12 feet. The stairs are in excellent condition, but swarm of poisonous snakes slither over them. If snakes are killed, more crawl out through holes in the stone to replace them, so the swarms can never be destroyed or even weakened. No spells or abilities prevent the snakes from attacking someone who climbs the stairs.
After a few moments of examining the stairs, the characters notice a third chwinga standing among them at the base of the steps. Its mask resembles a mongoose’s face, and it carries a red parrot feather and an orange and purple orchid. At the bottom step, the chwinga whacks a snake with its orchid to make it angry, then strokes the snake’s flank with the feather to calm it down, then lies down facing the snake, whereupon the reptile crawls through the mouth of the mask and inside the chwinga. The chwinga then slithers up the steps like a snake, untroubled by any of the other poisonous snakes. To climb the steps safely, characters must do the same thing, but this stage isn’t automatic. Using the orchid and the feather are easy, but a character must make a successful DC 10 Constitution saving throw after swallowing a snake. Evil-aligned characters have disadvantage on the saving throw. If the save succeeds, the character can slither up the steps safely. If the saving throw fails, the character takes 17 (5d6) psychic damage and can try again, but the DC increases to 11. The DC increases by 1 more with each successive failure.
Saja N’baza’s Shrine
The shrine atop the ziggurat is a simple, rectangular structure of brick. The outside walls are decorated with labyrinth symbols of Ubtao. Beyond the open doorway is a barren, dusty room, but any character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher notes the aroma of incense.
Characters who enter without their orchid and feather find the shrine empty. Leaving and coming back with the items changes nothing; it’s too late. Characters who enter with their orchid and feather find themselves in the same room, but as it was centuries ago. They can enter the naga’s presence once. Someone who leaves and comes back in sees only the bare room.
Read the following to players whose characters find themselves in the naga’s presence:
Hanging lamps illuminate the room, while incense burners fill it with exotic scents and curling smoke. Cushions and reed mats cover the floor, pots of blooming flowers line the plastered walls, and singing birds flit from plant to plant.
An immense snake with iridescent scales rests on a heap of cushions opposite the doorway. It rises slowly to a height of 5 feet, staring directly into your eyes as it moves. Its face is remarkably humanlike, and its tongue flicks before it speaks.
“I am Saja N’baza. What do you seek in this ancient place? Speak truly, for I hear your hearts!”
If the characters haven’t yet encountered Artus Cimber and Dragonbait, the duo might be conferring with the guardian naga when the party arrives. Saja N’baza knows what happened to the city of Mezro (see “Mezro,") and tells Artus that it won’t return as long as Ras Nsi lives. This gives Artus incentive to accompany the party to Omu.
The naga knows through visions that Ras Nsi and his yuan-ti followers are scheming to end the world from their lair in Omu. She doesn’t know much about the death curse, but when characters describe it, she confirms that it fits with various omens tied to Omu. The naga knows that Omu lies between the Peaks of Flame and the Valley of Lost Honor, and she also knows it’s sunken below the level of the surrounding jungle, so the best way to spot it will be from the air or from the nearest high ground.
The naga remembers Ras Nsi’s first uprising, and she urges the characters to kill him both as punishment for his past atrocities and to prevent any possibility of a recurrence. Each character who agrees receives a supernatural charm (see chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) to aid their task. Assign charms to characters that are appropriate to their roles in the party. Characters who seem reluctant might have
Leaving the Shrine
After characters leave the shrine, nothing they do brings them back to Saja N’baza’s presence. The shrine is a barren chamber every time they re-enter. It’s dawn of the next day, no matter what time it was when they entered. They can descend the ziggurat with no difficulty, with or without the orchid and feather; the snakes are gone, the steps are solid, and a clear path extends through the plants and thorns. When they reach the ground, characters see blue tulips blooming all around the base of the ziggurat. The tulips are beautiful but nonmagical.
Port Castigliar
Port Castigliar (pronounced kah-STEE-lee-ar) is a port in name only. In fact, it’s nothing more than a stretch of beach with an abandoned supply depot, seven battered huts made of bamboo and thatch, and a defiled graveyard. Undead drove away the inhabitants long ago, and ghouls dug up the graves.
Refuge Bay
Refuge Bay has a reputation for being a relatively safe place to make landfall. Many explorations of Chult have begun on its white sand beach, which stretches as far as the eye can see around the entire shore of the bay. A Chultan town called Ishau once stood at the head of the bay, but its foundations sank into the sea during the Spellplague. The town’s buildings are still largely intact but they now lie more than a mile from dry land, and they’re prowled by sharks, plesiosaurs, and sea hags.
River Olung
Steaming-hot water from Lake Luo cools quickly as it tumbles down rapids and low cataracts. This river is recognized by guides and explorers as an important boundary. To the east is “normal” jungle; to the west is undead territory. For this reason alone, some expeditions choose to enter the peninsula through Refuge Bay.
River Soshenstar
The Soshenstar flows north from the Aldani Basin to the Bay of Chult, tumbling down waterfalls every ten to fifteen miles.
River Tath
This river springs from the Aldani Basin and meanders westward, passing over waterfalls and through the canyon of Ataaz Kahakla before washing into Jahaka Bay.
River Tiryki
The Tiryki spills from the back of a mist-shrouded canyon and flows north toward the Bay of Chult, plunging over waterfalls every few miles. This makes it arduous to traverse by canoe upriver-everything must be laboriously portaged around the cataracts-and dangerous to travel downriver, lest a canoe gets caught in the current and swept over a waterfall or smashed in rapids. What’s worse, jungle predators and undead prowl both riverbanks. Considering the pterafolk nesting at Firefinger and the grungs living above the gorge, it’s easy to see why the Tiryki is considered the most dangerous river in Chult.
Shilku
This abandoned coastal village was both destroyed and preserved by volcanic eruption. The silent streets are buried in ash, and the harbor is choked with cooled lava. Since Mezro is now largely “cleared out,” Liara Portyr of Fort Beluarian is under pressure from her patrons in Baldur’s Gate to begin exploring and excavating Shilku for the treasures that are undoubtedly entombed there. Such an undertaking would require building a new fort from scratch somewhere on the southwestern coast, and Liara has neither the hands nor the funds for that. She might try to enlist the player characters into making a voyage to scout possible locations for such a fort, if only so she can reassure her impatient superiors in Baldur’s Gate that progress is being made.
Quest: Shilku Reconnaissance
Liara Portyr at Fort Belarian asked us to set sail for Shilku Bay, conduct a one-week reconnaissance of the destroyed village of Shilku, and return to Fort Beluarian to report what we’ve seen. She has paid for our food and passage and if we complete the mission Portyr will give us a free charter of exploration.
Although devoid of human life, the city is far from dead. Mephits, firenewts, salamanders, and other heat-loving creatures prowl its ashen alleys and bore tunnels into cellars long sealed by volcanic stone.
Shilku Bay
Lava still erupts from the volcano that destroyed Shilku, and it flows like a glowing river down into this bay. The sulfurous water is poisonous, so most of the bay’s sea life is dead and the surrounding shore is barren. Safe landing spots can still be found on the beaches along the western shore, but a sailing ship that cruises along the eastern shore near Shilku is likely to lose its sails-and possibly much more-to the red-hot stones that infrequently rain down from the sky or to the burning ash that drifts miles out into the bay before finally extinguishing itself in the stinking, hissing water.
Snapping Turtle Bay
This bay is beautiful beyond compare. Though the sky is dark with clouds of smoke and ash streaked with lightning, the white sand beaches, lush forests, bright coral reefs, and colorful wildlife make this a restful retreat from the horrors of Chult. The shore is not without its dangers, but even they are inviting and wondrous to behold. Tri-flower fronds, mantraps, and jaculis are common, as are the fierce and aggressive giant snapping turtles that give the bay its name. See appendix D for more information on these creatures.
Cyclopes roam the shore and lair in mountain caves overlooking the bay. These simple creatures aren’t inherently hostile, but they are suspicious and wary around newcomers. Any show of malicious intent on the part of strangers is enough to shift the cyclopes from cautious to hostile. They are experts at surviving the dangers of Snapping Turtle Bay, which makes them valuable allies if characters offer them something they want. The cyclopes always need metal tools (shortswords make dandy daggers), and they’re delighted by whimsical magical trinkets. For generous inducements, cyclopes could even be hired to serve as bearers, guards, or guides for an expedition headed north into the immense jungle between the Peaks of Flame and the Valley of Dread.
King Toba
A giant snapping turtle of unusual size (120 hit points) likes to sun itself on the beaches during the day. Chultans refer to the beast as King Toba. Residual magic from the Spellplague has crystallized parts of its shell. The shell’s magic grants King Toba advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Treasure
If the mighty turtle is defeated, sixty crystals can be broken off its shell and sold for 10 gp each.
Snout of Omgar
Once a mountainous peninsula, the Snout of Omgar was split apart by the sea during the upheaval of the Spellplague. A narrow strait allows passage between the mainland and what is now a large island. Mariners and cartographers consider this feature to mark the boundary between the shores of Chult and the shores of Samarach.
Valley of Dread
Explorers entering Chult from the east are likely to trek through this passage, which is contained by the windworn Sky Lizard Mountains to the north and the jagged Sanrach Mountains to the south. The valley of dense jungle is well named; it’s a stomping ground for dinosaurs of all kinds. It’s also home to savage kingdoms of lizardfolk ruled by heartless lizard kings and queens.
Valley of Embers
This burned-out valley surrounds Lake Luo. Most of the vegetation around the southern and eastern shore of the lake has been wiped out by pyroclastic flows, rivers of lava, and drifting ash. Fiery embers belched from the Peaks of Flame drift across the sky and fall like rain onto a blackened wasteland. The marshland north of the lake is wet enough to survive, but the accumulation of ash atop the water has turned into an almost impassable expanse of knee-deep muck. Mud mephits and steam mephits abound.
Valley of Lost Honor
The undead hordes of Ras Nsi wiped out a tribe of Chultans in this valley. The bones of the fallen Eshowe are gone, along with everything else-swallowed up by lava pouring out of the volcano west of Hrakhamar. Firenewts have taken over that old dwarven forge in the mountains, and their territorial claim extends the entire length of this valley. Firenewt warriors mounted on giant striders enforce that claim, making the valley very dangerous for interlopers. Tzindelor, the young red dragon inhabiting Wyrmheart Mine, is the only creature whose might and authority the firenewts begrudgingly respect. Tzindelor and the firenewts leave each other alone for now, but both of them covet what the other has: Tzindelor would like to possess Hrakhamar, and the firenewts would profit from controlling the iron resources in Wyrmheart Mine.
Vorn
Standing next to some rocks and ferns is an 8-foot-tall statue, humanoid in shape with bronze fists, iron joints, an adamantine breastplate, and an iron helm with slits for eyes. The rest of the statue is made of sculpted wood reinforced with bands and rivets of adamantine. Scattered around its feet are offerings of food, feathers, colored stones, and skulls.
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.
The statue is actually a deactivated shield guardian that once served as a wizard’s bodyguard. The wizard died from extreme bad luck decades ago-he fell out of a tree during a particularly bad bout of mad monkey fever, hit his head on a rock that knocked him unconscious, and rolled into a puddle, where he drowned. The shield guardian has stood impassive and unmoving, awaiting orders, ever since. A character with proficiency in the Arcana skill recognizes the shield guardian for what it is with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) check.
A character who searches the area and succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check finds footprints in the dirt-evidence of nomadic tribes of goblins, grungs, and vegepygmies that revere the construct as a lesser god. They trim back the jungle vines and creepers that would otherwise swallow the construct, and they leave offerings at its feet. The area around it for several miles is a “neutral zone” where these tribes allow each other to enter without triggering conflict.
Anyone who finds the shield guardian’s control amulet (see “Yellyark,") can animate the construct and take control of it. Reactivating the construct and marching it away infuriates local goblin, grung, and vegepygmy tribes. Random encounters with such creatures are automatically hostile unless characters placate the tribes with treasure or convince them of Vorn’s “wish” to be moved elsewhere.
Wreck of the Narwhal
Through some magical mishap, a seafaring galleon called the Narwhal ended up in the heart of the jungle. It lies upside down, its hull encrusted with barnacles and overgrown with ivy. The crew is gone without a trace, but the old ship still has occupants: a reclusive weretiger and a small tribe of vegepygmies share it. Since the weretiger kills more than he eats and leaves the surplus for the vegepygmies, the tiny community gets along fine. The vegepygmies thrive in the damp, dark area under the ship and in its hold, while the weretiger lives more elegantly in the airy, well-furnished (albeit upside down) captain’s cabin.
The vegepygmy tribe consists of a vegepygmy chief, twelve vegepygmy, and three thorny (see appendix D for the vegepygmies' and thornies' statistics). The weretiger (N male Chultan human) uses no name anymore, but he was called Bwayes O’tamu years ago. He is a cousin of Wakanga O’tamu (see “Merchant Princes,") and the two were quite close as children. The family resemblance is strong; characters who’ve met Wakanga see the similarity when the weretiger assumes human form. The weretiger speaks Common and Vegepygmy, though he’s forgotten much of the former through disuse.
When characters enter the same hex as the Narwhal, roll any die. On an odd result, Bwayes is out hunting and automatically detects the characters' presence before they’re aware of him; on an even result, Bwayes is resting at the hulk, meaning characters are likely to encounter the vegepygmies before the weretiger. If Bwayes detects the characters, he tracks them covertly, out of curiosity rather than bloodlust. He’d like to meet them and find out what they’re after. He’ll even bring them back to the ship and trade gems for wine, if they have any. Unless the characters are accompanied by Bwayes, the vegepygmies are hostile toward them.
If the characters befriend the weretiger and inquire about other places in Chult, he shares the following information:
- The bones of a great dragon lie in a grotto to the southwest. (Bwayes can lead characters to Needle’s Bones if they ask him nicely.)
- Between the River Olung and the Nsi Wastes lie the ruins of a once-beautiful garden palace said to contain treasure beyond compare. (Bwayes can lead the characters to Nangalore but won’t explore it out of respect.)
Treasure
The weretiger’s cabin contains enough scavenged gear to create a set of cartographer’s tools and a set of leatherworker’s tools, as well as an herbalism kit. A battered wooden trunk near the weretiger’s hammock holds an explorer’s pack, a spyglass, a set of Three-Dragon Ante cards (the weretiger doesn’t know how to play), a leather pouch containing four assorted gemstones (100 gp each), and two
Wreck of the Star Goddess
A wooden vessel is caught high in the tree branches, broken into three chunks. It resembles a ship, but there are differences that mark it clearly as not a seagoing vessel. The stern is the lowest piece, hanging precariously by its rigging about 50 feet above ground. The middle section appears to be 15 feet higher, and the bow section is firmly wedged into a nest of branches another 10 feet above that.
A weak voice calls out, “Hallo, on the ground. Can you help us?”
The Star Goddess was a 90-foot skyship from Halruaa. It flew like a blimp, with the aid of an amazing lighter-than-air gasbag. A crew of Halruaan adventurers was using it to explore Chult from the air when it was attacked by a flock of pterafolk. The pterafolk slashed the airbag, and the vessel crashed into the jungle canopy. As shown in map 2.13, the wooden gondola broke into three pieces, which now hang precariously in the treetops at three different heights. The deflated balloon is tangled in the branches above. The crash could have occurred anytime within the past 3d10 days.
Climbing up to the wreck is relatively easy, thanks to many vines in the trees and lines of rigging hanging from the ship. A successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check is enough to reach the ship from the ground. The same check must be repeated to move from one section of the ship to another; alternatively, a character can jump down from a higher to a lower section with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
Crash Survivors
The voice calling to the party belongs to Thasselandra Bravewing, the ship’s captain (NG female Halruaan human noble). She explains the situation briefly before she weakens and her voice becomes too soft to hear from the ground. The other crash survivors include the ship’s navigator, Ra-das (N male Halruaan human scout); the master-of-arms, Falx Haranis (CN male Halruaan human veteran); and three other crewmen named Brax, Nhar, and Veliod (N male Halruaan human guard). Radas and Falx are in the stern section; the other NPCs are all in the midsection.
The ship was carrying supplies, but most of the cargo spilled to the ground when the gondola broke apart. The survivors can catch rainwater in buckets, but they’ve been without food for several days. As a result, all the NPCs have 4 levels of
Undead Scavengers
When characters first arrive on the scene, they see eight ghoul lurking in the foliage below the wreck. Each ghoul has a small blue triangle tattooed on its forehead-the symbol of Ras Nsi. The ghouls have three-quarters cover from trees, and they withdraw from the area temporarily if the situation gets too hot.
A few minutes after characters climb up to the wreck, it’s attacked by three girallon zombie. The monsters approach from the east, and because they have a climbing speed, they can move anywhere on the map as easily as on the ship. The NPCs fight back, but they aren’t very effective given their
Treasure
There is no treasure aboard the Star Goddess or amid the debris under it, but characters can salvage weapons, clothing, and enough supplies to assemble one explorer’s pack and one priest’s pack.
Wyrmheart Mine
A clan of shield dwarves operated this iron mine (map 2.14) up until forty years ago, when it was conquered by a young red dragon named Tzindelor. Hew Hackinstone (see “Finding a Guide,") hopes to reclaim and reopen the mine, and he gladly enlists the characters to his aid (or ropes them in unwillingly, if he must).
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.
Tzindelor has amassed a following of kobolds, who call her Tinder. She occasionally leaves to hunt but spends most of her time sleeping at the bottom of the mine. The kobolds rig their shared lair with numerous traps. Many parts of the mine still show signs of the dwarves' battle against Tinder, including the scattered and charred bones of those who died. The dwarves left three ore carts in the mine, all in working order or repairable. The cart track circling the main shaft is quite steep; not as steep as stairs, but steeper than most ramps. The ore carts are built so that the downhill end (the front) is higher than the uphill end (the back). This allows them to sit level on the sloping track, but they look odd on level ground. A heavy draw rope and harness are hooked to the back of each cart so that a trained dinosaur could pull the heavy load up the track. A stout, lever-operated brake controls its descent.
Carts can be shunted onto the side passages if the tracks are switched using a crowbar (one is stashed near each siding). When characters arrive, the tracks are set to bypass all the sidings and run straight through to the bottom.
Some carts' brakes are in better condition than others. If a brake fails, the cart races out of control round and round the pit until it smashes into the barrier at the bottom of the track. Everyone in the cart when it hits takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 20 vertical feet the cart descended. Those who bail out before the cart hits takes half damage, based on how far the cart descended before they jumped, but each creature must also succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or tumble over the edge of the track and plunge to the bottom of the shaft.
1. Office
This building has walls made of closely fitted stone with large windows, and a wide, overhanging tile roof. It’s now overgrown with vines and creepers, but the structure is still solid.
The door is swollen shut and must be forced open with a successful DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check, but the windows can be climbed through easily. Startled lizards and birds flee through the windows when anyone enters.
The building’s contents have all rotted. Ledgers mildewed into slime long ago. Tables and cabinets are covered with creepers, bird droppings, and the bones of small animals. Stools collapse if any weight is put on them. There’s no information and nothing of use here.
2. Supply Shed
This building is made from closely fitted stones and has a tile roof, but no windows. Portions of the wall are crumbling where tree roots are pushing the stones apart. Gouges and scars show where someone tried to hack through the heavy door with axes but gave up after making little headway.
The axe marks are only a few feet off the ground (having been made by kobolds). The door can be forced open with a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
Dozens of crates and barrels are stacked inside. Several have been toppled over by tree roots growing beneath them. Stored food and water is inedible, but the other supplies are mostly still usable, even if they won’t be especially useful to adventurers. They consist of tools for mining, stone-working, and iron-working, shovels, lanterns and candles, miners' helmets, heavy gloves, spare wheels, axles, and brakes for ore carts, grease, thick rope, tar, brushes, brooms, and so forth.
3. Ore Cart
An ore cart sits on the tracks at the entrance to the mine, held in place by a block under the wheels.
The cart’s metal box is still solid, but one of the axles is broken and the other screeches horribly. The supply shed (area 2) contains the parts and grease to get it rolling again. The old brake looks solid, but each time it’s used, it has a 10 percent chance to fail utterly. This risk is recognized by someone who inspects the brake and makes a successful DC 10 Intelligence check. The brake can be repaired with spare parts from the supply shed.
4. Upper Shaft
Inside the mine, the cave opens into an enormous, 250-foot-deep pit. The dwarves left a stout stone column in the middle to support the roof, and they built a wooden walkway to span the pit from south to north. Despite many broken or missing planks, the walkway is fundamentally solid. Tracks for the ore carts descend around the walls of the pit in a clockwise fashion. Enough daylight filters through the mine opening to create dim illumination to the bottom of the shaft.
The kobolds living in the mine believe (correctly) that this upper level is haunted by dwarven spirits. The kobolds avoid the upper level of the mine except when they must exit or enter. They use the wooden bridge exclusively and never walk along the cart track past area 5.
5. Haunted Forge
This was the dwarves' forge and workshop. Many of the miners retreated here when Tinder attacked, but the dragon incinerated their barricades and then burned them out with her breath. The entire area from the bottom of the steps to the backs of the chambers is scorched and black. A dozen or more (it’s difficult to sort them out) charred skeletons litter the chambers. One dwarf skeleton is more recent than the others (the body has been dead for three years) and not charred; it lies near the base of the steps, in a face-down, head-down position that implies the dwarf died while scrambling down the steps. This was a member of Hew Hackinstone’s expedition who fell victim to the haunted forge.
Six specter haunt the forge, three in each chamber. They are all that’s left of the mine’s dwarven defenders. The first character to enter either chamber is attacked by the specters in that chamber, and those from the adjoining chamber arrive 2 rounds later. The specters can’t leave the forge.
Treasure
Most of the dwarves' possessions were burned or melted by dragon fire, but one skeleton wears a
6A. Ledge
This platform is lit by a torch in a wall sconce and guarded by two kobold inventor. Rough-hewn steps descend to area 6B.
6B. Egg Nursery
Seven small reptilian humanoids guard this room, the walls of which have niches carved into them. Each niche is lined with moss and holds a brown egg the size of a small orange.
Seven kobold guard this room, which serves as the kobolds' egg nursery. These kobolds protect their eggs with flinty resolve. The mossy niches in the walls contain a total of thirty eggs.
6C. Rolling Stone Trap
A tripwire stretches across the mouth of the tunnel where the lower passage joins the cart track. It can be spotted with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check. If the tripwire is missed, each character who passes through the tunnel mouth has a 50 percent chance to trip it and trigger two mechanisms.
The first mechanism is a spring-loaded wooden contraption resembling a claw that swings out from the wall of the mine shaft up-slope from this tunnel to snap across the tunnel mouth. Whoever triggered the trap must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity throw or take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage from the claw. One round later, the second mechanism releases a 5-foot-diameter stone sphere that drops into the cave (marked T on the map) and rolls into the wooden claw across the tunnel mouth, which is demolished by the sphere’s impact-but not before diverting the sphere onto the cart tracks. The sphere careens down the tracks until it reaches area 11, where it derails and smashes into the urds' living quarters. (The urds easily hear it coming and get out of the way.)
Everyone in the sphere’s path must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. Instead of being hit by the sphere, a character who fails the saving throw can opt to leap off the tracks and fall to the bottom of the shaft; this succeeds automatically. The sphere can’t be slowed down by Strength checks because of the steep incline of the tracks.
7. Upper Landing
Two kobold stand guard near some old crates. One keeps an eye on the cart track, while the other watches the stairs to the south. If one kobold falls, the other flees down the stairs to warn its kin in area 8.
Ore Cart
The ore cart north of this area appears to be in working condition, though its brakes have a 10 percent chance to fail each time they’re used.
8. Main Living Quarters
The north passage connecting this chamber to the cart track is trapped with a swinging log studded with spikes. A character moving through the passage has a 50 percent chance to trip the trigger wire, which can be spotted with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check. Each creature in the passage when the log swings through must make a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) piercing damage and be knocked prone.
A fire smolders in a pit in the middle of the chamber, with lizards, bats, and quippers slowly roasting on sticks propped around it. The fire illuminates the cave’s kobold occupants.
During daytime, this room contains 2d6 kobold; at night, that number swells to 6d6 kobold. Day or night, half of the occupants are noncombatants. Unless some loud disturbance has awakened them, the kobolds sleep piled atop one another on mounds of reeds that are infested with small lizards and other vermin.
Shrine
The chamber to the east is a shrine to Kurtulmak. It contains two empty barrels, atop one of which is a 3-foot-tall statue of the kobold deity assembled from bits of metal, glass, wood, and stone. Offerings of food are piled around the base. None of the statue’s components are valuable, but it would be worth 10 gp to any curio collector in Port Nyanzaru. The statue weighs 15 pounds. Other than the statue of Kurtulmak, there is no treasure. Everything the kobolds find of value is surrendered to Tinder.
9. Inventors' Quarters
Old crates and barrels have been converted into sleeping hovels for the tribe’s kobold inventor, two of which are present. The other two are in area 6A.
10. Big Smash
A boulder is precariously balanced on a ledge above the cart track at this point. A rope tied round the boulder passes through an iron ring on the central pillar and through another near the kobolds' chambers. If the kobolds hear an ore cart rumbling down the tracks, four of them race out and prepare to yank this rope, timing it so the boulder smashes down on the cart. They make an attack roll (+4 to hit) against the cart’s AC, which depends on its speed. Rolling at top speed (no brakes), the cart has AC 16. If occupants are using the brakes to control its speed, the cart has AC 8. If the cart’s occupants engage or release the brake when they see the kobolds pulling the rope, to change the cart’s speed, it has AC 12.
If the boulder hits, every creature in the cart takes 5 (1d10) bludgeoning damage. Roll a d6 to determine what happens to the cart and its occupants:
Big Smash
| d6 | What Happens |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | The cart continues down the track unhindered. |
| 3-5 | The cart derails into area 11. Each creature in the cart is thrown out, lands prone, and must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 (1d10) bludgeoning damage. |
| 6 | The cart tumbles off the track and falls 125 feet to area 12. A creature in the cart can make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw to leap out before the cart goes over the edge and falls. On a successful save, the creature lands prone on the cart track. On a failed save, the creature goes over the edge with the cart and takes damage from the fall, as normal. |
11. Urds' Quarters
Once used as a secondary work and storage area for the dwarven miners, this cave now serves as living quarters for eight urds (winged kobold). The urds don’t mingle with their wingless kin and attack intruders on sight, fleeing up the shaft if half or more of them are killed.
Ore Cart
The ore cart on the siding below this area appears to be in working order, but the brake handle will snap off the first time it’s used.
12. Bottom of the Shaft
The floor at the bottom of the shaft is littered with charred dwarven skeletons. A 60-foot-high waterfall pours out of the north wall, forming a large pool about 10 feet deep. All you can hear is the sound of crashing water.
A dozen charred dwarven skeletons litter the floor. Eight of them are ancient and covered with calcium deposits, but four are fresher (they’re from Hew Hackinstone’s illfated expedition three years ago). The kobolds stripped them of anything valuable.
An underground stream pours out of the north wall 35 feet above the cart track (60 feet above the floor) and plunges through the trestle before splashing into a pool on the mine floor. It’s only a thin curtain of water, but it makes a lot of noise and it raises enough mist to keep the bottom of the shaft perpetually damp. The pool is home to 2d6 quipper. A fishing net is rolled up nearby.
Passage to Hrakhamar
An elevated cart track enters a tunnel in the north wall and continues northward (more or less) for 40 miles to the firenewt-infested smelter and forge of Hrakhamar. It’s passable and the tracks are intact for the full length, but encounters with kobolds and other monsters are likely.
13. Audience Chamber
This cave looks out over a much larger cave. Hanging from pegs at the back of the overlook are four ferocious-looking wooden masks and four capes made of scaly dinosaur hide dyed bright red.
When the kobolds have tribute for Tinder or need the dragon’s advice or approval, they send their fawning, groveling emissaries to this ledge overlooking the dragon’s lair. The kobolds don the ceremonial wooden masks and capes before addressing their overlord.
If characters put on the masks and capes before peering into area 14, and they make themselves seem kobold-sized, they have a chance to fool the dragon into believing they’re kobolds, but it’s easy to slip up. First, the kobolds speak only Draconic to the dragon. Second, they fill their speech with flattery and overblown honorifics such as “your titanic, blazing majesty” and “thou unquenchable, unendurable furnace.” Third, they never, ever question the dragon’s proclamations or judgments. Whenever one of these precepts is broken, Tinder can make a Wisdom (Perception) check contested by the characters' Charisma (Deception) checks to see through the ruse. If additional characters are hiding on the overlook during a conversation with the dragon, each must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity (Stealth) check (with advantage if they’re completely out of sight from area 14) to evade notice.
14. Tinder’s Lair
Tzindelor, a female young red dragon better known as Tinder, spends most of her time here, dozing atop her treasure hoard. Otherwise, she’s out hunting and terrorizing her neighbors. Characters have improved chances to sneak up on her from area 12, thanks to the loud waterfall there (either they have advantage on Stealth checks or Tinder has disadvantage on Perception checks, whichever is more appropriate to the situation). The dragon can’t be surprised if kobolds triggered the boulder trap in area 10, and she can’t miss the sound of an ore cart rolling down the tracks or a loud spell going off anywhere in the complex.
The dragon is inclined to kill anyone she doesn’t recognize but might converse with adventurers who have something interesting to say. Being young, she still has much to learn about the world. If flattered and offered a sufficient bribe (offerings worth at least 500 gp), she can even provide basic directions to any landmark within 100 miles of Wyrmheart Mine.
The dragon doesn’t hold back when it comes to using her breath weapon; she loves watching her prey scream and burn in the flames. In a desperate situation, she’s confident she can fly up the mine shaft and escape faster than any intruders can pursue.
Treasure
The dragon’s hoard contains 3,300 gp, 15,000 sp, 45,000 cp, a gold-embroidered scabbard (25 gp), a dragon-shaped medal and chain fashioned from gold (50 gp), a copper mug with jade inlay (100 gp), and a
Old crates and barrels near the south wall contain 1d12 each of dwarf-made breastplates, helmets, shields, warhammers, and battleaxes. One of the dwarf-made battleaxes is actually a
Yellyark
Yellyark (map 2..15) is home to the Biting Ant tribe of Batiri goblins. These goblins wear stylized wooden ant masks and mark the perimeter of their territory with the heads and skulls of their enemies (humanoids and beasts). In this context, “territory” refers to a single hex on Syndra Silvane’s map.
To protect themselves against giant carnivores, the goblins built the important structures of the village atop a “net” of strong, supple tree branches bound together with vines. The net is rigged to a heavy tree, bent down like a giant spring. When a predator threatens to overrun the village, goblins cut the vine and the entire village is rolled into a ball and flung a thousand yards over the jungle! The huts inside are cushioned from impact by layers of leaves and moss; damage to the flexible structures can be repaired, and most of the village’s precious totems, food, basketwork, and spare weapons are saved.
Forty goblins live in the village: Queen Grabstab (a goblin boss), twenty-four adult goblin, and fifteen noncombatant children. For more information on Batiri goblins and their tactics, see “Races of Chult”.
The tribe’s survival depends on getting an early warning of approaching danger, so sentries are always posted around the village. They wear ponchos made of vines and leaves, which give them advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while remaining perfectly still, but impose disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when they move. The sentries also ring the village with tripwires attached to shells and skulls filled with pebbles. Characters who search for such things while approaching the village notice the tripwires with a successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check; otherwise, they’re noticed by anyone with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher. If approaching enemies are noticed by sentries or trigger a tripwire, the village goes on alert, making it impossible to sneak in.
1. Canoes
Three canoes are pulled up on the bank of the stream.
2. Larder
The goblins store fresh meat, fish, and other perishable food in this hut. It doesn’t get launched with the rest of the village; in case of attack, this food is left behind to keep carnivores occupied while the goblins escape.
3. Queen Grabstab’s Hut
The queen’s hut is no larger than the others, but two goblin always stand guard outside. Queen Grabstab (a goblin boss) and four more goblin (her adult children and attendants) are inside, bickering with one another over matters that concern only them. One of the queen’s attendants proudly wears the key to the wooden cage (area 4) on a loop of rope around its neck.
Treasure
The queen wears a bronze and adamantine medallion that has the word “Vorn” etched into it. This is the control amulet for a shield guardian (see “Vorn,"). None of the goblins have any notion the amulet is related to the object they venerate as a minor deity.
4. Wooden Cage
This lashed-together bamboo cage can hold animals or prisoners, as the situation demands. Prisoners are seldom ransomed, since the Batiri have no use for coin. Usually, they’re kept here until the goblins are ready to eat them. One of the goblins in area 3 carries the key to the cage’s crude padlock. A character with thieves' tools can pick the lock with a successful DC 11 Dexterity check. The check is made with disadvantage if the character is trying to pick the lock from inside the cage.
5. Ant Hills
This particular Batiri tribe is skilled at ant husbandry, and the village is situated between three ant hills that are each 10 feet across at the base and stand 8 feet high. The three ant hills are joined together by tunnels.
Damaging or destroying an ant hill causes six ant swarms (swarm of insects) to erupt from an underground nest. Two ant swarms emerge from each hill. The ants ignore the Batiri goblins and go after anything else they detect nearby.
6. Launch Mechanism
The bent-down tree that launches the village is anchored at this point. The launch is triggered by cutting the thick vine, which has AC 15, 15 hit points, vulnerability to slashing damage, resistance to fire and piercing damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, poison, psychic, and thunder damage. The entire mechanism is well camouflaged to prevent intruders from sneaking in and launching the village as a surprise attack. A character who gets a good look at the village in daylight and succeeds on a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check spots the network of vines and the bent tree and recognizes them as a gigantic spring trap. Those with proficiency in the Survival skill have advantage on this check.
Goblins don’t launch themselves in this contraption; it’s too deadly. Anyone inside the net when the village is launched and hits the ground must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.