ToA: Session 12

### Spelunking with D-Squad:

Having previously cleared the sunken temple of its former giant serpent host and successfully defeating the vile ghouls above ground, D-squad now found themselves with some spare time in an only mildly perilous situation. They decided to hastily prepare coverings to keep the wounded Aaracocra out of sight while they adventured on-wards, into the deep.

The members of D-Squad all had their individual hopes for what might be uncovered in the sunken temple. Would it bring treasures ripe for the picking? More evidence of the complex and fascinating mythologies? A clue to help explain the foreboding feeling of having wiped something ancient from existence? Possibly, but there was only one way to find out.

Into the darkness they went, to revisit the macabre crossroad marked by a pile of bones. The temple had previously had 4 hallways but one had already succumbed to the heavy earth and collapsed leaving 3 left to explore. One pathway lead out to the river and seemed of little interest so D-Squad forged down the pathway leading deeper into the jungle. Along the way they observed and partially recorded carvings on the walls describing a curious rite involving gifts of milk being given to a serpent and a possible name "Vinay Bava".

The intrepid group forged on-wards past the failing worked walls into a tunnel that had presumably been forged by the mighty serpent only to find it getting uncomfortably narrow, where they D-Squad luckily were able to dodge a meeting with some nasty spiders.

They eventually cleared all of the catacombs that could be reached easily finding the great serpents nest which bore evidence of having received similar gifts as those depicted in the carvings.

### On-wards! Straight into Danger:

D-Squad regrouped above ground and helping the wounded Aaracocra, made their way back to their raft to continue the journey upriver. However they quickly found out exactly what had been shadowing them previously along the river as they now faced a group of armed Kobolds milling around the raft. Would D-Squad survive its encounter with these jungle savages?

Tune in Next time on.....

Well actually E51U02 aka Bucket aka Diplobot, successfully entered into parley with the Kobold group that introduced themselves as the Covenant of the Blessed Dagger in service of Siberys which consisted of a number of armed individuals led by a shaman. This led to an outcome D-Squad did not typically find themselves in as they setup an equitable trade of items between the two groups.

The items traded were:

100g of Jade, The dead petrified animals from Nangalore, 50g of gemstones, and the totally still active stone eggs from the recently explored tunnels.

FOR

A Bundle of Sticks (+1 saving throw ), a monkey skull (automatic successful death saving throw, x2 hit dice heal) and a perpetually moving automaton cog (can probably be used by Daedalus).

After a fruitful trade, conversation ensued. We soon learned that the kobolds had met with none other then Artus Cimber. They had been very interested in the artifact that he was carrying, as they themselves were suffering from the spreading sickness of the jungle. Seeing as they didn't have it, he clearly wasn't interested in parting with him. Wishing to extract more information, the party decided to stay a while and listen.

Will D-Squad leave in peace with a new native ally, or will their war-ravaged psyches get the better of them? Will they ever make it back to civilization? and what exactly did the two groups discuss during downtime?

**Find out next time on Tomb of Annihilation.**