Tychris' Tomb of Annihilation IC

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Jack, Secret, Old City

Expertly eluding the guards was no small feat, but with the help of a now borderline rioting crowd, and some deft maneuvers by Jack the pair of miscreant saviors made it look easy. They rounded the corner, passing by some squalid fishing huts at the edge of the walls, and uneasily gazed at the high walls patrolled by guards. Yet if any of them recognized the pair, spotted them, or had even heard of what happened they didn't make motion of it. Finally scuttling down to the most optimal mound of earth for the shrine to be placed on outside of city grounds, Secret began the construction of her makeshift dedication to Lathander, and after an hour of assembly stood before her completed work. The sun was still high in the sky and it reflected the light expertly. The young Divine Soul Drow felt a stirring in her spirit, a sense of warmth, and honor.

Spoiler: Secret: Charm Received

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You gain a Charm of Sunlight. As an action you can ignore the penalties of Sunlight Sensitivity for 10 minutes. Once you do so, the Charm vanishes from you.

Srirak, En Route to The Thundering Lizard

Caught off guard by Srirak's sudden walking, the young chultan woman rapidly moved to keep pace with him, and stumbled a few times as she spoke "My name is Inete Zuhul and I must explore the Aldani Basin. I've had disturbing visions of red robed figures operating out of a base in the Aldani Basin. If you're headed their, please I beg of you, take me with you. I will provide my own food and shelter, I won't get in your way, and even chip in on your expedition expenses. I've told Grandfather Zitembe of this but he's too preoccupied with maintaining the temple...."

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Wakanga O'Tamu's Villa

"Entertainment!" He puffed his chest out slightly "Volothamp Geddarm deals not in entertainment! My guide describes dozens of the fantastical and mundane creatures of the world. Things as terrible as Hags or as glorious as the Ki-Rin! My lady, you'd be a fool to prowl deadly jungles as these without my wizened words!" He began to steadily drink a cup of tej.

"Mr. Geddarm, for how long shall we be graced with your presence here? I am aware that you are a busy man." Wakanga said after a brief sip from his cup.

"Oh, I could stay for a round or two, but I do need to be getting to delivering the rest of these books! Utimbe!" He began to whistle and lackadaisically click something in Chultan to the servant waiting outside before returning to his nearly empty mug.

[PepperP.]

Lyndal

Lyndal sipped from her cup as she listened to Aleandrae's exchange with the writer.

"I'm sure you're right, Master Geddarm." She set down her cup and rested her chin in her hands thoughtfully.

"Doomed to be mauled by unknown creatures if we don't have your wonderful tome and yet the price is seemingly out of our each, deservedly so for such a magnificent volume, I'm sure." She sighed woefully.

"It is a real shame, my current unblemished state suits me so well. I don't suppose Port Nyanzaru has a lending library, does it? Perhaps we could borrow a copy from it." She smiled at her host and the rest of his guests hopefully.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

Without trying to be rude to their host (Aleandrae figured that conducting business in the home of a merchant prince would be acceptable, after all), the Bard quietly asked Volo the price of an unsigned copy. "Should it prove useful in our venture, perhaps I might send it to you for your signature one day, Master Geddarm."

[Tychris1]

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Wakanga O'Tamu's Villa

Feh, loaning out a fifty gold piece book full of lore and experience is a foolhrglblasdfdsssss" Volo began to mumble and gutter his words unintelligibly as he instinctively started drinking another cup of tej before slowly fluttering close his eyes. Wakanga for his part did not mind the business exchange at his table, in fact it brought a smile to his face. A scrawny servant from before, ostensibly named Utimbe, walked through the drapes of the dining room, and with him carried a platter of fine glassware in one hand and a tattered water damaged journal carefully in the other.

"Speaking of loaning, I would like to give your expedition a gift," Wakanga manifested a ghostly hand to pluck the book carefully from the servant, who now went to preparing more drinks for Volo, and floated it over to Aleandrae "This is a journal taken out from the jungle fifteen years ago. It belonged to a wizard exploring Chult. I hope it is of atleast some small use to you two."

Slowly, Volo stirred once more, and continued his thought on the error of loaning out his work instead of hoarding it.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

"Oh, thank you, your grace!" The bard gushed at the gesture, and after taking a quick drink to wet her lips, Aleandrae accepted the floating book. She held it for a moment, examining the cover before cracking it open. "That is very generous of you."

"Regarding your wonderful book, Master Geddarm, if what my colleague suggested is not agreeable to you, perhaps some other arrangement could be made?" As Aleandrae spoke, her eyes flicked over to the merchant prince, and she flashed him a quick smile, just slightly suggestive, before returning her gaze to the journal. "Though we are light on liquid capital just now, we have other skills, other assets that may be put to use by way of payment. For myself, I am adept at the playing of several instruments, just to name an example. Alternatively, one interested in our success might consider an investment to be repaid at a later date. We plan on setting out in search of something, and who knows what we might find along the way that could fetch a price in the markets?"

[PepperP.]

Lyndal

"Your Grace, what a generous surprise!" Lyndal clapped her hands happily as Aleandrae grasped the book from the air. She listened to the other woman's pitch and chimed in quickly.

"Oh yes, we would be ever so grateful if an agreement might be made for the use of one of Master Geddarm's wonderful books." She followed the bard's lead and leveled her most charming smile upon the Merchant Prince.

"It would be a shame if we couldn't bring back all the treasure we're sure to find due to being ravaged by an obscure beastie." She wrapped her arms around herself.

"I can hardly bear the thought!"

Spoiler: ooc

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ooc Aiding Oth

[Jade_Tarem]

Done with her prayer to Lathander and basking in his warmth, Secret rises slowly, turns to Jack, and delivers a glorious non-sequitur. "I wanna race a dinosaur. Not, like, on foot. Do a street race. Maybe for money! The Dawnbringers never let me do a street race back in Waterdeep!"

[Tychris1]

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Wakanga O'tamu's Villa

The Merchant Prince's eyebrow wiggled as his dark eyes flicked between the blue haired tiefling and the blue eyed sorceress. He looked to Volo. They shared a glance. Volo nodded his head understandingly and took out an unsigned copy of his tome from his satchel.

"I do not deal in loans, my fair ladies, but in services and tokens rendered. Perhaps we can... discuss such terms at length under more private conditions. Say at sun down?" His smile grew infectiously. His magical hand moved to Volothamp's and drifted the Guide over to Lyndal. Wakanga clapped his hands together in excitement, having seemingly recalled something. "Why, Master Geddarm, you'll be meeting with all of the other Merchant Princes today! My friend, would it be too much of an imposition to parley a meeting between these intrepid adventurers and Jobal?"

"Well, I wouldn't be averse to the company."

"I'm sure you wouldn't." Volo cringed at the sound of Gertrude's cracked voice very slightly.

[zabbarot]

Srirak, En Route to The Thundering Lizard

Srirak continued along without slowing or looking at the girl. "I do not yet know where I am going. Talk tomorrow, after Grandfather Priest gives an answer. Do not be misunderstanding though. I am cleric of Semuanya, not some gold hoarding, dragonsick mercenary. I am on mission. You follow as long as you can keep up."

[CockroachTeaParty]

Adding to the general din of the bustling city streets was the sound of a bell.

Clang-a-blong-clong-a-dong

Said bell was attached to a goat, which was being led down the street by Bean. The gnome spoke with the goat as if they were old friends.

"I'll have to introduce you to my other friends. That's where we're headed now; I'm supposed to meet them at an inn. Or a tavern. Perhaps an inn-tavern? Oh, do you have a name? Do you like it? Would you like a new one? I was thinking 'Clarabell' but maybe that's because I like your bell. Thank you for helping me carry all of those fun things I bought."

Crawling up her left sleeve like a wind-up toy was a large lustrous beetle. When it reached the top of her shoulder and tickled her cheek with its antennae, Bean would pick it up, turn it around, and have it crawl back down her arm.

Finally reaching the entrance to the Thundering Lizard, Bean tied the goat to a nearby post, making sure she wasn't too close to any hungry-looking dinosaurs that might be similarly bound.
"I'll be back in a moment. I've got to find a good place to keep you until we set off on our adventure!"

With that the little gnome stepped into the establishment to see if any of her newly made companions were around.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bean can speak with small beasts; whether the goat deigns to reply is up to her.

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Srirak, The Thundering Lizard

Inete seemed slightly taken aback by the lizardfolk's words but nodded her head in agreement "Of course, I understand complete-" The door to the Thundering Lizard slammed inbetween the Lizardfolk Shaman and the Savrasian adept "ly.... See you tommorow!" She cried out from the other side as Srirak was presented with a pulsating heart of rambunctious energy with Siward seemingly at the center of it like a festival captain.

Bean, En route to The Thundering Lizard

"I am Redhorn." The beetle communicated to the Gnome Warlock "When is food?" The beetle began to idly chew at a rope placed around the goat. "Food soon?" The beetle along her arm chittered more protestations of hunger. Tying her traveling companion to a piece of wood, the horned beast looked over at the other roped off vegetarians and bleated. Entering the establishment, Bean found herself surrounded by a large, imposing, and energetic atmosphere.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

"Sundown sounds just lovely, your grace." A second meeting with such a powerful figure in the city could only help their cause, Aleandrae was sure. When Volo agreed to set up a meeting with the Jobal fellow Wakanga mentioned, she beamed at him. "We are most thankful for your gracious assistance, Master Geddarm." She snagged a few more bites of food, and then went for one of her map cases. Pulling out the rolled map Gertrude had provided the group, she used her own mage hand to share it with the Merchant Prince. "We have this map at our disposal, your grace. Any further information you can provide to clear it up would be lovely, especially the location this journal was found."

[PepperP.]

Lyndal

"Of course, we'd be delighted!" Lyndal promptly agreed with a sweet smile at Wakanga.

"Should we come by ourselves, or bring the rest of our party along?" She tucked the precious volume away and began to eat her lunch, quite pleased that she and Aleandrae managed to acquire a copy of such an expensive and undoubtedly useful tome.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Bean fished in a small pouch for a mealworm before giving it to Redhorn. "Shush now, you silly. I need to find my other friends!"

Navigating the chaos of the tavern floor, Bean walked across the back of a man passed out face-first on the floor, using him as an impromptu bridge over a puddle of spilled brew. She climbed up on a stool, standing on her toes, until she spotted Srirak and Siward. The big man was busy with a rowdy crowd of toughs, it looked like, but Srirak was less busy, so she dove back into the fray until she emerged at the lizardman's knee.

"Hello Srirak!" she piped over the din, looking up at him with a grin. "How are you doing today? Enjoying this wonderful city?"

She pulled up another stool so she was closer to eye level with him. She dug into a small sack, rummaging through the trinkets and gifts she had purchased for her new friends. The gnome produced a trio of sausages wrapped in a large leaf.
"I bought these for you, Srirak. They looked tasty, and I thought you might like them. I think they're spicy though! So hopefully you don't mind a little tingle on that tongue of yours."

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Wakanga O'Tamu's Villa

The Merchant Prince smiled exuberantly as the young ladies agreed with him though his face niggled slightly with a tinge of confusion at Lyndal's question. "N-No... Just yourselves would be appreciated." The lunch continued unabated, with Wakanga marking the location where the journal was found on the party's map, and Volo drunkenly working his way through conversation. Gertrude for her part did not eat or drink and when questioned on her downtime only politely remarked she had rituals to work. The best place to look for her would be here it seemed. Bidding the lovely ladies farewell, the Bard Sorceress duo accompanied the world traveling author, and overheard a plethora of information regarding Chult.

Spoiler: Volo Rumors!

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Chult was once a playground for a green dragon. Her bones mark the location of a hidden treasure trove. If you travel to Mezro and head east across the Laughing Gorge, then south toward Kir Sabal, you might stumble on the dragon's bones and earn yourself a place in one of my illustrious books!

A ruined city lies up the River Tath, past Kahakla Gorge. Supposedly, no one's explored past the gorge, but that's not true. It's just that the few who made it out alive mostly keep quiet about what they found there. I have it on good authority that the ruins are guarded by a naga who is both wise and generous.

Long ago, a peaceful tribe of fisherfolk called the Aldani angered Ubtao by catching and eating all the lobsters in a river. As punishment for their greed, they were all transformed into monsters that dwell in the Aldani Basin.

Approaching the gated community of the Merchant Prince Jobal, Aleandrae and Lyndal found it to be just as ostentatious as Wakanga's. The open lawn before it was littered with horrifying monsters at a glance, until one stared at them for long, and would realize they were all taxidermy props. Beautiful silk tapestries and draperies festooned the walls of this fortified villa as s man who the adventurer's could only assume to be a Merchant Prince given his tasteful garb stepped outside to greet Volo.

"Volo! Wagwan!

"Jobal! Always a pleasure!"

A cadre of armed guards stepped outside to flank Jobal.

"And I see you have company? You work much faster than last we met you dog!"

They shared a hearty laugh.

Spoiler: Jobal

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[zabbarot]

Srirak, The Thundering Lizard

Srirak absentmindedly waved towards the door as it closed without turning back. Looking across the room, he saw Siward and made a conscious decision not to approach him. Instead he found a spot near where the sun was shining in through a window to warm his back. All he really had to do now was wait. Which he did until been arrived.

"Ah! Hello, Greenbean. I am fine. You are enjoying city?" He did not smile; humans often found it intimidating. He imagined gnomes felt similarly. He was however very appreciative of the sausage. Srirak wasn't actually sure when the last time he had eaten was.

"I met with Grandfather Priest, a diviner. He will tell us where this artifact is tomorrow, should it exist. Are we sleeping here for tonight?" He spoke between bites of sausage.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

"Ms. Aleandrae Valhiri, your grace. Bard of the College of New Olamn, Waterdeep; originally of Calimport. Archaeologist and cartographer by trade." Aleandrae bowed low in a respectful manner and then indicated her companion. "This is my colleague, Ms. Lyndal Fireheart of Waterdeep. We have just come from the Villa of Wakanga O'Tamu, and he suggested that you may be willing to provide us with a guide for our venture."

[PepperP.]

Lyndal

Tacitly in agreement that Volo was far too drunk to present them properly, Lyndal smiled warmly at the new Merchant Prince.

"It's Lady Lyndal, actually." She corrected her new friend gently. Normally, she wouldn't have bothered but this was a Prince, after all.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. His grace Wakanga named you as the appropriate party to speak to about attaining the services of a guide for a jungle expedition." She repeated the curtsy she gave Wakanga as she chirped her greeting cheerfully.

[CockroachTeaParty]

"Hee hee! Greenbean! I like that. It's rather fitting, isn't it?"

Bean watched as Srirak devoured the sausages and nodded in approval.
"So you've made some progress on some clues! Good! Perhaps we'll be done with our little errand sooner rather than later? Then we can all have a nice celebration party.

I'd like to give Mr. Siward the gift I bought him, but I'm afraid I'll get trampled by all those burly men he's with. Hmm... I suppose we are sleeping here tonight? Maybe? I doubt they have gnome-sized accommodations."

Bean gave a little pout.
"When falling out of bed is a serious danger, you know you're on a proper adventure. So who was this Grandfather Priest, Srirak? Are they from the temple of Gond? Or some other temple?"

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Jobal's Villa

"Wakanga said that?" Jobal arched an eyebrow to Volo who nodded his head in confirmation. The drunken man seemed to have only now recalled his assignment and quickly blustered through reciting a shorthand rendition of what the two adventurer's just said. An unpleasant smile etched itself on Jobal's face, akin to the countless scars that decorated his body, and he nodded his head in recognition of the two foreign women.

"Of course he did, Aazon," He clapped his hands and a young Tethyrian man, tanned by the suns of Chult, and dressed in similar garb to Jobal stepped out of the household to his side "See to it that these friends of Wakanga have appointments set up with my finest guides. Entering the jungle without a guide is a fools errand after all." He turned and began to enter his home once more with majordomo in tow. He briefly gestured for Volo to follow him and the portly man obliged.

"A cartographer? My home land must be a vexing subject for your trade then, Ms. Valhiri. I am familiar with the pitfalls of such a task." He said as a guard opened the door for him.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

"This is my first venture to your shores, and we have been provided with a map, your grace," the Bard answered. "Though it is far from complete, and I hope to add much to it. An excellent guide is something we simply cannot do without, and so I thank you sincerely."

[TheDarkDM]

Siward

"...and once I was finished stuffing his loaded dice down his throat, I decided to test how well he rolled. Down a mountain!"

Siward was having an exceptional time. The day had brought him a patron, a quest, and a good fight, and now he could enjoy some proper drinking. He'd feared that Chult would prove a strange and inscrutable land, but so far it seemed little different from his home in the Moonshaes. Picking up another tankard, he reached over to give Bovar a genial slap on the back.

"I can't thank you enough for the fight, Master Hackinstone! It's been some time since I could really let myself go like that. And such endurance! The prey you hunt must be mythic indeed to sculpt you from stone."

[BladeofObliviom]

Done with her prayer to Lathander and basking in his warmth, Secret rises slowly, turns to Jack, and delivers a glorious non-sequitur. "I wanna race a dinosaur. Not, like, on foot. Do a street race. Maybe for money! The Dawnbringers never let me do a street race back in Waterdeep!"

Jack, Secret, Old City

Jack did a double-take at that, her previous thought process about what to tell Darion grinding to a screeching halt. "What?! Why? That sounds like a terrible way to make money and a great way to lose body parts!"

[Jade_Tarem]

"Well we're not going to make bank taking money from convicted textile vendors!" Secret bounced in place, clearly already enthralled by the idea. "Come on, it will be amazing. Oh! You could race too, and we could agree to split the money regardless of who wins - that would double the chances of us making some money. I bet no one has ever thought of a racing team before!"

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Siward, The Thundering Lizard

Bovar merely sat idly, deeply concerned by something, and drank sparingly. For their part his drinking companions more than made up for his lack of spirit with gusto and bravado to spare. Tej flowed like milk, a light brawl was had, and many latter year concussions were made. Amidst it all Darion gathered a sparing few rumors that he could suss out to atleast be most likely true.

Spoiler: Rumor milling!

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-Deep in the heart of the jungle is a city built by minotaurs. It’s now overrun by snake people, but even worse things dwell below. In visions, I have seen strange devils screaming in the dark.

-Perched atop a plateau overlooking the Aldani Basin is a ghost village. All the people there disappeared. No one knows why. You can reach the Aldani Basin by following the River Soshenstar.

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Jobal's Villa

As pleasantries and light banter was exchanged, Jobal eventually lead the conversation towards the map in Aleandrae's possession, and finally the young tiefling bard unveiled Gertrude's gifted map. Looking it over, Jobal's eyes went wide, his fingers working over the rough paper as delicately as a sewer tending the loom, and finally his nearly hypnotic state was shattered when he looked up to the two adventurer's.

"I will pay you one thousand gold pieces for this map."

Volo sputtered out his drink.

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

At the sound of the offer, Aleandrae felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. The Tiefling gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. "I, I...ah," she stammered, momentarily at a loss for words. Aleandrae took a moment to collect her wits and shot a glance at Lyndal before replying, "I am humbled by your grace's most generous offer, but alas, I cannot part with it. It was given to us in trust for our use in pursuit of a dangerous task, and so to sell it now would bring dishonor to us...and anger several people I wish to not anger." The Bard forced a smile on her face, though she felt a stab or worry in her gut. If one man was willing to offer so much for the map, what else might others who learned of its existence do? "Perhaps when our task is done, I might return and then we could perhaps discuss something that would work for all involved. Perhaps a copy might be made at that time?"

[PepperP.]

Lyndal

Lyndal's eyes mirrored the tiefling's and she stared at the businessman owlishly for a long moment as Aleandrae displayed far more will power than she might have in the face of such a large sum.

"Yes!" The word burst from stiff lips with more volume than she had intended.

"Madame Gertrude loaned it to us, you see? And we travel with several others. So it is not ours to sell. We would do our names a great disservice if we did so I'm afraid." She looked almost embarassed to be refusing the Merchant Prince his desires.

"We might be able to get you a copy, as my friend suggested." She smiled at Aleandrae with approval of her cleverness.

"If a copy would do for Your Grace."

[Tychris1]

Port Nyanzaru

Aleandrae, Lyndal, Jobal's Villa

The Merchant Prince stared at the two fair ladies aghast, his eyebrows arching in consternation as he nodded his head, and bid for the doors to open and let them out.

"That's most unfortunate. Please. Do return when your expedition is finished with a copy."

And with that the two adventurer's were let outside of the building's grounds proper.

Secret, Jack, Tiryki Anchorage

It takes some sweet talking, a few language misconstructions, and a case of mistaken identity but Secret manages to gather a good bit of information regarding dinosaur racing in Port Nyanzaru. Her "grandmother" informs her of the various teams that do practices or try outs in the outskirts of town and the Drow quickly capitalizes on the endeavor. She tracks down the nearest racing team holding try outs (A local gang known as the Batiri Biters) and is thoroughly grilled by the tabaxi street ruffian outside the wooden pen entrance.

"Good luck." The thug grunted to Secret as she entered.

Several Chultans were inside this wooden pen. Some of them were merely observing while others were in the exhilarating process of trying to handle and suit up a hissing Allosaurus.

Spoiler: Rawr!

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"This is Nasty Boy. If you can ride him for long enough, you get to become a Batiri Biter. Who's up first?"

[Othniel]

Aleandrae

"Well...that didn't go so well as our first meeting with a merchant prince," Aleandrae muttered to Lyndal as they stood outside, map once again in their possession. "He seemed awful keen on getting the map, and I don't expect he's the type to take 'no' for an answer. Best to keep our wits about us and our eyes peeled. But for now...shopping? And then we should meet up with the group before we head back to Wakanga's."

[Jade_Tarem]

Secret eyed the Allosaurus. It was a lot of dinosaur. On the other hand, delay killed more plans than bad luck and bad timing. "I'll do it!" She hopped up and down to make sure her hand could be seen. When guided into the pen, she looked up at the scaly beast, which seemed to be in a bad mood to begin with. That musty reptilian smell permeated the scene, to say nothing of the hint of manure always present when large animals are about. Swallowing hard, she started her climbed up onto the enormous beast and held on tight.

Spoiler: OOC

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Now using inspiration!

Handle Animal: (1d20-1)[19](1d20-1)[4]