ToA: Session 41

## **Going down the Baiyou**

The Squad spends hours travelling deeper and deeper into Ghoul country. They spend time meditating, thinking on the waters and their spirits, and taking note of the ruins and lands around them. Neb notices the ruins most, how many of them are covered in newer carvings of serpents, overtaking older designs. Old ghoul charms lay waterlogged and rotting in the shallows.
Kinlek considers the history of the land, and realizes that the tales of a great series of eruptions had led to the change in water that flooded the area they traveled then and there, and that it may have beent his change that flooded Omu. After some discussion, Kinlek figures it will take five to six days to make it to the outer edge of Omu. With that in mind, the members of the group find ways to spend the time. Fargus tries to center himself as he rests, to grip the new broken reality in his mind. Neb reaches into the leylines and feels into the serpentine nature of the area around them. He feels a familiar sense of necromantic energy, a disturbing feeling. It does not do well to calm him, as he had hoped.

## **A Hive of Scum and Villainy**

As the raft floats down the squad catch sight of an island that is nearly half taken up by a ruined temple, sinking down into the waters. There on the island the squad sees a fire and a group of five sat around it. Surveying the camp, they realize the five are made up of two ghouls, a savage tribesman in a bat mask, a colorful lizardman sharpening sticks, and lastly a blue grung. The grung, named Lung Lung, is speaking to the others, telling them of the apocalyptic destruction of his home, Grung Lung Dung. He claimed to have seen the great serpent vanish from the night sky, and proclaims he will gain his vengeance and to force Raznee to give him what he desires. Barely containing his rage, he tells them of the force of nature, the very power of the jungle itself, rising up in the form of four warriors who washed away his people and tore the great nation of Grung Lung Dung assunder. He alone will avenge his fallen people. The yuan-ti ghouls listen on, the lizardman seems to barely be listening. The Tribesman, Tariro, decides to play his flute and sing a song about the romance of the Bat and the Jaguar. And as they go on, the squad move into place to take remove them.

## **The Four Horsemen (give or take one)**

Neb takes point, sneaking his way up the back of the temple and to a ledge above the camp. While he does that, Kinlek uses a spirit that takes the form of an eagle and flies into the sky above them. Fargus will approach from the other side, after bringing the raft in with Artus and DB. Once in place, Neb starts off by assassinating Tariro. He points straight down at the tribesman and fires his blasts in immediate sequence, so tightly packed with power that they shoot straight down the center of the Tribesman, from the top of his head, down his spine, and into the ground again, dropping him and sending the others to their feet. Before they can react, Kinlek's spiritual eagle lands on the ledge above Neb and from his mouth he releases a great torrent of water that washes the ghouls towards the water, where DB is headed to finish them off. Kinlek's spirit eagle stares right into the eyes of Lung Lung, who screams that it is them, the warriors of the jungle. Neb then appears out of the shadows above Kinlek's spirit eagle, lit up by the moon, and says "I believe you called us a force of nature?" before blasting the grung back towards Fargus. As Fargus calmly walks off the raft and up to the ruins, he asks the lizardman if they had more in the temple, before camly striking down and killing one of the prone ghouls. The Lizardman, terrified tells them they have not even been inside the temple yet, while Lung lung goes to take his vengeance and attack Fargus. After stabbing Fargus, he stares on in horror as the dwarf barely reacts, only to cut off both of Lung Lung's arms, and leave him for dead. Lung lung's final words are "Grung Lung Dung" While the lizardman attempts to edge his way to the water, Neb appears behind him and invites him to join them at the newly lit fire, and talk.

## **A Moment's Rest**

After the last ghoul is dispatched by DB and the camp is retaken, they plan to interrogate the Lizardman, who upon seeing Artus immediately bows to him, referring to him as a demi-god, carrier of the blue ring across the sky. Kinleck notices the lizardman is a priest of Inti, a sungod, which makes it very strange that he was camping with ghouls and grungs and cultists. He introduces himself as Manko Kapak, and says he is from Koachoa and that he was there searching for the source of the taint in collaboration with Kir Sabal. Eventually he leaves them an offering of trail mix before leaving to return to Koachoa.

## **Fangs in the Night**

After Manko has left, the squad look over the bodies of the dispatched enemies from before. They find the sword on LungLung is just an average sword after all. One ghoul is carrying a dried frog covered in strange, unknown sigil. The other ghoul has a bracelet of some sort. the tribesman also has a bracelet and a bag of what appear to be mezzro runes. But more strangely, Neb notices that the tribesman is healing and slowly turning into mist! With memories of past encounters sparking in his head, Neb jumps to his feet and blasts the body's head twice, sending the mask on it flying and leaving behind a skull, that has a pair of prominent fangs. Kinlek hurries over and disintegrates the body with radient damage. Whatever regrets might have been around for the attack before, especially from DB, are calmed at learning one of them was a vampire.

After putting the bodies to rest, the squad retire into the temple for the night to examine the magic items, and get some sleep--finally underground for Neb and Fargus. Unfortunately the sleep is not an easy one, as the pull of sickness surrounds them in their dreams, and the presence of Raum lingers around them. In the nightmare, Raum appears looking weakened and ragged and desperate. He runs to us, grabs us, is about to say something only for the dream to end before Fargus or Neb could hear what he so dearly needed to tell them.

This can only mean good things to come, surely.

**Items get: Fargus recieves "The Licking Frog". Kinlek recieves the "Bracelet of Alacrity". And Neb recieves the "Bag of the Sneak".**

**Vampires, liches, and ghouls, oh my! Will the squad manage to keep up with this ever-growing group of big bads? Will they ever hear what Raum had to tell them? Should Neb have given Manko one of the black lotusses? And what will they encounter next time on Tomb of Annihilation!**