"The Skeleton Key" - Tomb of Annihilation, Chapter 33

Bramble led the others through the narrow pipe. It was a tight squeeze but even Argent was able to make their way. The pipe ahead was sealed. Bramble pushed on it and the seal popped off. Within was another tomb. A sarcophagus adorned with carvings of frog-men known as grung sat atop a pedestal in the center of a large pentagram drawn with salt. Five waist-high pedestals, each topped with a magically burning candle flame. A pile of bones sat near one corner of the room. The pipe opened near the ceiling in the corner near the bones.

Bramble climbed out of the pipe head fist and fell to the floor. She rolled to the side to get out of the way and stood up. Zeynap tumbled out after her. Bramble pointed at the salt, "Don't touch that!"

"Got it," said the warlock.

The bones began to move and assembled themselves into an animated skeleton. A large bony growth shaped like a key protruded from the back of the skeleton's skull. The skeleton began shambling towards the sarcophagus. Its shuffling feet would soon violate the circle of salt!

CHAPTER 33
"THE SKELETON KEY"

THE EXPEDITION

• Bramble Wolf - a theran barbarian wise-man (Wildhunt Shifter Druid) searching for the legendary origin of his tribe, recently transformed into a woman by a magic fountain.
• Apparently Jones - a blue-skinned demijin caravan guide and animal trainer (Air Genasi Ranger) from Akasa, the land of sky mountains. Having failed to find work in Port Nyanzaru as an animal handler, she has joined the expedition to the interior as a scout.
• Xoc-Wik - a b'alam warrior (Tabaxi Fighter) from the jungles of Bres, searching for those responsible for the destruction of his tribe.
• Zeynap Shiravadakar - a Eusebean smuggler (Human Warlock) bearing the spirit of a celestial unicorn.
• Argent Truth-Sayer - a golden azi knight errant of Bhamut (Dragonborn Paladin) in the service of Bhamut, sent on a holy mission to join the expedition to destroy the Soul Monger. 

NPCs

• Orvex Ocrammas - translator and guide for hire; rescued from the Fane of the Night Serpent.

Stop the Skeleton
Zeynap rolled to the right. He came up and loosed an eldritch blast at the shambling skeleton.

There was a flash of light within the tunnel and Apparently was magically  transposed with Xoc-Wik! The feline b'alam rolled out of the pipe and quickly stood up with arrow drawn, "What's happening? I have no idea where I am!"

"Shoot that thing!" shouted Zeynap.

Xoc-Wik loosed a magical arrow at the skeleton. It exploded, sending fragments of bone flying throughout the room. The key-shaped skull fell to the ground.

Zeynap picked up the skull to examine it while Argent pushed himself out of the pipe. The key was as large as a man's arm. It did not appear to fit anything in the room.

Bramble explored the perimeter of the room, running her hand along the wall and closely examining every detail. She found a section of wall on the far right that popped open revealing a hidden passage.

Bramble looked into the dark hallway. Bramble's bestial night vision saw a twenty-five foot long corridor. There was a niche carved into the left wall about halfway down the corridor. The passage was filled with draping cobwebs, indicating lack of use.

She turned to the others, "No one touch anything! Argent, come take a look a this!"

Argent carefully explored the dead-end hallway. When he reached the niche he saw a dusty glass bottle sitting atop a low table. He picked up the bottle and brushed away the dust. Inside he saw a tiny portly man wearing a white turban, loose silk pantaloons, and a short vest. He had dark black skin, pointed ears, and thick red lips. The little man was waving and gesticulating wildly.

Argent held up the bottle and said, "Hello?"

The little man replied in a language Argent did not understand. He appeared to be pleading. Argent shrugged, tied the bottle to his belt, and rejoined his companions.

"What is it?" asked Bramble.

"Nothing important." was his reply.

Awakening

While Bramble, Argent, and Zeynap stood by the secret door Xoc-Wik, standing on the other side of the room, asked if he could open the sarcophagus. Bramble told him to go ahead.

Xoc-Wik carefully stepped over the outer perimeter of salt.

A large creature appeared out of nowhere. It was seven feet tall with a bloated batrachian body and long muscular limbs, each terminating in wickedly sharp talons. It had lumpy gray skin and small fish-like fins on its back and elbows.

The creature looked elated, its thick rubbery lips smiled revealing rows of sharp triangular teeth. Everyone in the room heard a voice in their heads as if broadcast telepathically.

DM Commentary- I don't know why, I just wanted to play the grey slaad as a self-aware wise-ass foul-mouthed trash-talking douche-bag. Be warned, the following section contains some pretty graphic profanity.

"Thank you I was so bored! You have no idea how long I've been sitting in there with nothing to do." The creature pointed at Xoc-Wik, "I'll be with you in just a second.  You're very important to me so please hold on." It turned towards the others across the room and pointed, "Fireball on them!" The far corner of the room erupted in a fiery explosion. The creature turned back to the stunned Xoc-Wik and smiled, "Now, for you," It reached above its head, "I summon the great sword of FUCK YOU!" A red crystalline blade formed out of mid-air, he thrust it at Xoc-Wik and shouted, "Stab! Stab Bite!"

Xoc-Wik wailed in pain and retreated to the far side of the room. He quickly loosed an arrow at the monster. The arrow exploded into a thicket of thorny vines that quickly took root into the floor and ceiling.

Argent took a defensive position and said a prayer of blessing for Bramble and Zeynap. Bramble called upon the spirits of the forest to attack the griseous creature with no effect. Zeynap's eldritch blast found its target and its magnetic effect pushed the creature away, breaking the line of salt.

The grey monster roared in laughter, "Oh yeah! I'm out! Now I can leave this shit hole!" It pointed at Xoc-Wik and shouted, "But I'm not done with you, baby! I got a tattoo on my back that says SUCK MY DICK with an arrow that says SEE OTHER SIDE FOR MORE INFORMATION!"

Xoc-Wik winced.

The grey creature became invisible!

Bramble glowered at Zeynap. Zeynap sheepishly shrugged, "It tricked me!"

The party scanned the room but could locate no hint or clue to the monster's whereabouts.

The creature suddenly appeared next to Xoc-Wik and bellowed, "First I'm going to stab you, then stab you again, then wrap my mouth around your fat head because it looks SO MUCH like a BIG DICK! I might bite a little!"

Xoc-Wik whimpered a little as the large grey monstrosity continued its relentless attacks. 

Bramble closed her eyes and called upon a nature spirit to illuminate the grey foe with glittery dust. The grey monster became illuminated with a sparkly aura.

Surrounded as it was by the shining aura, the creature realized that it was pointless to try to become invisible or create an illusion. So, frustrated, it began ripping apart the vines and thorns impeding its movement. Xoc-Wik loosed an explosive arrow into it and Zeynap injured it with an eldritch blast. It looked around, becoming increasingly desperate. This wasn't any fun anymore.

It held up its hands, "Okay! Okay! I know we got off on the wrong foot. There was a misunderstanding. A miscommunication, whatever, it was my fault! Let's just pause for a minute and talk about this."

The others hesitated.

"Look, I don't want to be here, right? I was imprisoned here by that ASSHOLE Acererak! He kidnapped me and forced me to be the guardian of some stupid frog god. Except I'm a Slaad! I am NOT a frog! We just LOOK like frogs! That right there is what you call racial profiling!"

They continued to hear his offer.

"So, here's what I propose. I don't want to be here. You look like YOU don't want to be here. I say we get the fuck out, right? I can open a dimensional gate and take us all to my home- Slaad-land. No, wait, listen! It'll work! You can't go like that, obviously. For this to work I'll first have to transform you into tiny Slaad young. You'll have to crawl in mouth. Don't worry! During the journey you might experience some mild mastication followed by some moderate swallowing. It's perfectly natural, all a part of the plan! Do we have a deal?"

Everyone looked at Bramble for guidance. Bramble shook her head, "No deal."

Xoc-Wik terminated the slaad with a magical arrow. It exploded into glittery motes, leaving no body.

DM Commentary - The players LOVED the foul-mouthed slaad! He was very fun to play and the players hope he'll be able to return. Slaad can regenerate, so you never know. Maybe he isn't really dead! By the way, in my head-canon, his name is Chaad. Chaad the Slaad. 

NangNang

Once the grey slaad had been defeated, the party gathered around the sarcophagus. Argent removed the lid revealing an earthenware jar. He opened the jar and found ashes. Zeynap noticed Argent was tapping his foot. The tapping turned into head bobbing. The head bobbing turned into shoulder shrugging.

Zeynap asked, "Are you dancing?"

Argent stopped moving and clenched his fists, "No! Azi do not dance!"

Zeynap said, "Oh, I could have sworn-".

An ethereal green mist formed before Argent. The mist coalesced into the visage of an older humanoid frog. The grung smiled and did a little dance with its shoulders. Argent accepted the spirit into his body.

Argent now possessed the spirit of NangNang, the trickster god of the grung. He could hear loud boisterous music and felt a compulsion to dance. He also felt greedy and selfish. He looked into the jar and found a petrified egg slightly smaller than his fist. He put it in the pouch on his belt.

"What was that?" inquired Zeynap.

"Nothing. It's mine." replied Argent, uncharacteristically.

"What's that jar?" asked Bramble.

"Also nothing. Also mine." was his reply.

Zeynap distracted Argent while Bramble deftly and surreptitiously removed the jar from Argent's belt. She held it up and examined the little man within.

"I think he wants out," said the theran wise woman.

She uncorked the bottle and poured its contents onto the ground. Black sand poured out.

Black sand continued to pour - more sand than could possibly fit within the bottle. Bramble poured out a three-foot tall pile of black sand on to the ground.

The sand then began to swirl as if blown by a dust devil. It whirled and coalesced into a man-sized figure like the little one they saw in the bottle. The man had smooth glassy black skin like jet. Its clothing seemed to be made of colored glass but it moved as if alive.

The portly black man said, "Mekka-Lekka-Hi, Mekka-Hiney-Ho!" He then forced an exaggerated blink which made a cartoonish "Bloink!" noise.

"Can you understand me now?" he said. His voice was squeaky and friendly, like a charming uncle.

Bramble nodded.

"Ah, excellent! Thank you, good madam! Salaam to you! I am Mister Popo! I have been trapped within yonder bottle for who knows how long! In fact, do you know what year it is?"

Zeynap told Mister Popo the year by Eusebean reckoning. Argent corrected him and told him the year by Xanian reckoning. Bramble and Xoc-Wik, hailing from forest tribes, both shrugged.

Mister Popo looked momentarily confused, "No, no, that doesn't help at all. Oh well. If you don't mind, I will take my leave of this dreadful place and return to my home in the realm of Geos. As a reward, I will point out that there is another secret door at the end of that hall there. Now if you will excuse me."

Mister Popo raised his arms and a portal opened up above him. The portal was a black sphere that radiated a whirlwind of purple lightning. Mister Popo looked worried, "No! Wait! That's not right! That's not supposed to-" He was cut off as he was sucked, spinning, into the dark sphere and disappeared. The sphere of dark energy vanished.

Bramble shrugged, "Well, okay then. I am tired! Who else is tired? Anyone else up for some rest? This place seems perfect."

The party decided to rest for several hours to regain their strength and vitality.

Argent's Nightmare

Argent closed his eyes to get some rest. He was soon dreaming of standing on a dark lake of still water. He could see his arms and body illuminated as if by moonlight but no source of light could be seen. The gentle ripples in the water below reflected indistinct light. Ahead of him he saw a young human girl with long stringy wet black hair. She wore a wet night shift and water dripped from her pale skin. She held a red ball.

She spoke with a disturbing voice that echoed through Argent's mind, "You do not belong here. You will fail in your mission. You are doomed to die like the others."

"Who are you?" inquired Argent, cautiously.

"I am what lurks beneath. I will devour you, eventually. You will become - part of me."

"Are you the soul-monger?" He asked.

"No, though as I am tasked to defend it we shall come into conflict. So that I know what it is that I shall destroy, tell me your name."

"Argent" said the paladin.

The girl smiled, "Excellent."

Argent woke from his nightmare, his heart racing. He was drenched.

After their rest, Argent would tell the other members of the party of his dream. Zeynap recounted a similar dream he had experienced the last time he slept. However, unlike Zeynap's restless experience, Argent was able to slumber after his nightmare.

Papozotl's Tomb

There was no sense of day or night in the small room, so when the party felt sufficiently rested they prepared themselves for the next chamber.

They opened the secret door at the end of the short corridor and entered into a large dark room. At the center of the room was a tall platform atop which was a gilt chariot piled with gold and treasures. Atop the chariot was a medium sized sarcophagus decorated with images of long-legged birds known as iblises. The platform was surrounded by four pillars supporting bronze statues of warriors, each carrying different weapons. The face of one of the statues was featureless.

Along the perimeter of the room were six large cylinders made of thick glass. Each of the cylinders was filled with bones and weapons.

Behind the chariot and statues was a dais, behind which a large bronze shield embossed with the image of a Chultan warrior brandishing a spear was affixed high on the wall. Words written in ancient Omuan adorned a plaque below the shield. Bramble found that through the spirit of Moa she could read the text. "Bow before no one." She said.

Zeynap replied, "Bow as the dead god intoned. We should bow to the statue with no face."

Bramble looked incredulously at Zeynap, "Duh!"

Argent said, "I should go collect that gold."

Zeynap and Bramble both shot back, "No!"

Argent regained his normally stoic composure and sheepishly looked away.

Zeynap entered the room and climbed onto the dais before the shield. He solemnly bowed to the statue with no face. He then climbed the platform and onto the chariot and carefully opened the sarcophagus.

Strange shadows played against the walls, forming the silhouette of a long-legged bird with a long sharp beak. The silhouette spread its wings and collapsed back into Zeynap. Zeynap didn't get a choice as the iblis-god Papozotl took control.

Papozotl was a strident warrior. He demanded obedience and discipline. He encouraged Zeynap to take more command of the party and took umbrage at the "insubordination" of his "underlings".  Still, he saw potential and pledged to mold Zeynap into a proper commander and tactician.

Xoc-Wik, seeing the effect Papozotl had on Zeynap, wailed, "I don't know that I want a spirit!"

Further examination of the room revealed three animated zombies chained to a system of pullies at the door. There were holes in the door that allowed the zombies to see what was on the other side. If the zombies saw someone outside the door, their movement towards their victim would keep the door closed. The zombies were currently straining against their chains in an attempt to move towards their victims inside the room. This action caused the doors to swing open, revealing a passage to the atrium beyond.

The party quickly dispatched the zombies without incident and returned to the atrium. 

Wanderings

Sunlight filtered down through the vine-choked ceiling into the atrium.

The party discussed their next step. Proceed to the next level? Try again to open the sarcophagus of I'Jin?

They decided on I'Jin so they returned to the room with the green face on the floor. The sarcophagus was still there.

Orvex and Apparently sat there. Orvex looked bored. He looked up and saw the return of the party and he leaped up to greet them. He told them that Apparently magically switched places with Xoc-Wik over a day ago. She had brain fever and wasn't much of a conversationalist. He had to survive off her rations and he could only hope they survived. He was very happy to see them alive and well.

"Any luck with the sarcophagus?" asked Bramble.

"None," replied Orvex.

After some additional examination and experimentation and analysis of the clues, they once again abandoned the sarcophagus.

They decided to explore the ring-shaped corridor. They turned left at the four-way intersection and continued to the next four-way intersection. They returned to the atrium. Moonlight was now filtering through the ceiling.

They went into the room with the devil face on the floor. The mouth was once again cloaked by darkness. They could not see into the tomb below. The sarcophagus was gone.

"What? How?" stammered Bramble.

"Let's explore!" said Argent.

"No," replied Bramble worriedly, "We should go back."

They retraced their steps and returned to an atrium dappled in sunlight. The sarcophagus was where they left it.

The party decided to progress down to the next mezzanine. As when they descended from the first level to the second, the mezzanine magically grew darker as they descended - as if entering a different world. Instead of the smell of rot and decay of the second level, now the air was permeated by ozone. Weird purple moss grew on the walls. Dozens of small eyes popped open within the moss and followed their movements.

They passed near a wide corridor to the left. A few feet in two bronze statues stood along the wall facing each other. A heavy chain draped between them as to say this section was currently closed.

The Death of the Yellow Derro

Their objective was the tomb of I'Jin so they passed that corridor and continued to a smaller corridor beneath the one that led to the room with the devil-face in the floor.

The thirty-foot corridor ended with the statue of a man with a jackal's head facing the entrance. The jackal's mouth was open and light could be seen from the room beyond. 

Argent cautiously approached the statue. He looked into the mouth of the jackal and saw I'Jin's burial chamber. The sarcophagus once more sat atop the funeral barge! 

Before he could say anything he noticed that a section of wall to the right lowered. A squat derro with a yellow turban entered. He stepped onto the hieroglyph tile floor of the room. Before he could take a second step, swarms of locusts emerged from the mouths of the four sphinxes in each corner. The cloud locusts enveloped the derro, devouring him, leaving nothing but a pile of bones and clothing and a bronze shield - the same pile they saw when they first entered the tomb from above.

Argent realized he was observing an image from the past. He told the others what he saw. Bramble took Argent's place at the jackal's mouth and watched the scene replay. 

Seeing no other way in, they decided that the third corridor on the far side of the atrium must lead to the entrance to the tomb. They continued around.

Reflected Hall

The party explored the passage on the far wall. The passage split left and right. The right passage ended after only fifteen feet though some kind of small ventilation duct was visible. They opted for the left.

The left passage opened at the end of a long hall. The hall was bisected by a shimmering magical curtain of water. Four pairs of statues flanked the hall along the wall, each pair of statues staring across the hall towards its counterpart. Each statue had the body of a human but each pair bore the head of some animal. Each pair bore a different type of weapons. The weapons appeared to be removable.
The stork-headed males carried handaxes. The lizard-headed females bore maces. The panther-headed males brandished blowguns. The hawk-headed females were unarmed. The goat-headed males carried sickles. The frog-headed females bore tridents.

Argent grabbed a mace from the lizard-headed statues and tried to cross through the curtain of water. The water was released in a massive torrent that slammed Argent and the others into the rear wall. The water quickly drained through gaps and cracks in the floor.

Argent held up his hand to silence the others before they could talk, "Wait, I have an idea." He took the the trident from the frog-headed statues.

"Why the trident?" asked Bramble.

"It's used in fishing and is associated with water." replied the dragonic azi.

Bramble found that he couldn't argue with that logic.

Argent walked through the re-formed curtain of water with ease. He turned and shrugged.

The hall on the other side of the curtain of water was the mirror image of the previous side. Argent grabbed two tridents from the frog-headed statues on the far side and returned through the curtain of water, again with no ill effect.

Bearing tridents, Argent, Zeynap, and Bramble effortlessly crossed through the curtain of water. They turned around and handed the tridents to Orvex, Xoc-Wik, and Apparently who followed behind.

Chamber of Opposition

The party continued down a side corridor at the end of the hall of reflection. The passage turned right. There was an alcove ahead in the middle of the corridor on the right. Argent stepped into and found a door which he opened.

Within he found a large stone cauldron filled with what appeared to be piping hot soup. The iridescent light cast by Zeynap's magic revealed a dark figure standing opposite the font. It was the silhouette of Argent, black as shadow but with form. It presented its back to the party, as if it it were a dark duplicate of Argent facing away towards the far wall.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Courage in the Face of Darkness" - Tomb of Annihilation, Chapter 32

At Bramble's direction, Zeynap climbed into the onyx coffin, Bramble climbed into the rusty coffin, and Argent climbed into the silver coffin. Each turned their respective keys.

Orvex called out, "Hey! Shome buttonsh jusht appeared on the sharcophagush!"

"Push them!" was Bramble's reply.

Orvex pushed all three buttons.

Zeynap was bathed in life-draining energy. It was uncomfortable but he gritted his teeth and suffered no ill effects.

Bramble felt a slight tingle but suffered no harm.

Argent was flash frozen and barely survived the ordeal!

Orvex called out, "Shomething's happening! The sharcophagush is opening!"

The three adventurers reset their keys and opened their coffins. The lid to the sarcophagus had opened, revealing the desiccated remains of su-monster named Wongo, trickster god of Omu!

In Wongo's simian hands was a large heavy mace.

Wongo's mummified remains sat up and looked around. His eyeless face blindly scanned the room. It opened its mouth and emitted a silent scream.

CHAPTER 32
"COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DARKNESS"

THE EXPEDITION

• Bramble Wolf - a theran barbarian wise-man (Wildhunt Shifter Druid) searching for the legendary origin of his tribe, recently transformed into a woman by a magic fountain.
• Apparently Jones - a blue-skinned demijin caravan guide and animal trainer (Air Genasi Ranger) from Akasa, the land of sky mountains. Having failed to find work in Port Nyanzaru as an animal handler, she has joined the expedition to the interior as a scout.
• Xoc-Wik - a b'alam warrior (Tabaxi Fighter) from the jungles of Bres, searching for those responsible for the destruction of his tribe.
• Zeynap Shiravadakar - a Eusebean smuggler (Human Warlock) bearing the spirit of a celestial unicorn.
• Argent Truth-Sayer - a golden azi knight errant of Bhamut (Dragonborn Paladin) in the service of Bhamut, sent on a holy mission to join the expedition to destroy the Soul Monger. 

NPCs

• Orvex Ocrammas - translator and guide for hire; rescued from the Fane of the Night Serpent.

Wrath of Wongo
Orvex fell backwards and cowered in the corner of the pit. Zeynap climbed out of his coffin and ran to the edge of the pit. He looked down and saw the ancient mummified remains of a su-monster weilding a stone mace. The mummy turned its eyeless face towards Zeynap. The Eusebean warlock clutched his head in pain and staggered under the power of the soundless scream. Zeynap was overwhelmed by the psychic power of the mummified su-monster.  The mummy climbed out of the pit and clawed at the stunned Zeynap.

Argent climbed out of his coffin and ran to Zeynap's aid, shouting a prayer of blessing to the dragon god Bhamut. Argent stood with Zeynap. The holy presence of the dragon-man knight buoyed the spirits of both Zeynap and Bramble and they were able to dismiss the aura of fear broadcast by the mummified god.

DM Note- I created a custom monster for the mummy of Wongo that combined a su-monster and a mummy and the magic powers of the Mace of Terror. I gave the mummy a fear aura that would have kept melee fighters away, plus the Mace of Terror's fear attack. As it turned out Argent is a Paladin and he and anyone standing within ten feet of him was immune to all fear effects. Well, poop! All my cool attacks were negated. Argent's player had never seemed so pleased! 

Bramble called upon the spirits of nature to create a sphere of fire next to the mummy.  Apparently, recovering from her brain fever, dashed down the hall, ducked under the broken fan blades, and stood at the entrance to the room. She sent several arrows into the mummy to little effect.

The mummy's eyeless face glared at Argent and performed its silent scream. Argent bared his draconic teeth and bore through the assault. The mummy moved away from the sphere of flame and engaged Bramble, clawing at the theran druid.

Zeynap regained his senses and attacked the mummy su-monster with eldritch blasts. Bramble called the sphere of flame and moved it into the mummy. The mummy burst into flame and fell to ashes. The stone mace fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Bramble picked up the mace and the spirit of the trickster god Wongo hovered before him. The su-monster looked impatient and angry and anxious to enter Bramble's body. Bramble took a chance and accepted the spirit.

Bramble found the she could converse with the spirit that shared her body. Wongo explained that the mummy was not his doing. He said that he had been defeated and killed by the necromancer Acererak and imprisoned within this tomb. He shared with Bramble his ability to broadcast a psychic scream that stunned opponents. In addition, Bramble felt a compulsion to act rashly without thought or concern for others.

Speak No Truth to the Doomed Child
Bramble spent an hour examining the mace while the others rested and recuperated from the fight. She decided to give the mace to Argent to carry.

They exited Wongo's tomb and made their way to the next corridor to the left.  The corridor was about thirty feet long. Thin beams of sunlight shone through the cracks in the ceiling and vines and bushes clung to the wall. A ten-foot tall skull occupied the entire wall at the end of the corridor. Two small flames burned in the eye sockets of the skull. Its jaw was agape and large enough for a man-sized creature to climb through. They could see a room beyond that was illuminated by other small beams of sunlight.

Argent approached the skull cautiously, gently testing each floor tile before putting his weight on them. He peered through the skull's gaping jaw and examined the room behind. He called Orvex forward to help identify anything important or read anything in ancient Omuan.

They saw a fifty-foot by fifty-foot room. A sarcophagus adorned with carvings of coiled serpents occupied the center of the room. Trees and bushes grew in the corner and vines and roots draped from the high ceiling. Shafts of sunlight shone through cracks in the ceiling. Since they were several hundred feet underground they knew it had to be magical.

DM Comment- Apparently's player calls them "Magical Solatubes".

Something was located on the far side of the room, obscured by the sarcophagus. Argent sent Orvex back to the corridor entrance. Argent crawled through the jaws and entered the room.

Bramble said that one of the flames in the eye sockets went out.

Argent now saw behind the sarcophagus a waist-high marble pedestal. The skull of a child floated above pedestal illuminated by a shaft of light.  A telepathic voice spoke to Argent's mind. It was the voice of a young girl. She was afraid and alone in a dark room. She could hear Argent but could not see him. She said her name was Nepartak, granddaughter of Queen Napaka of Omu. Despite Argent's attempts to calm her she became increasingly agitated and confused at being imprisoned within the darkness.

Bramble entered the room and strode towards the sarcophagus.

Nepartak asked, "Who is that? What is happening? Why can't I see you?"

Bramble could now hear the telepathic voice of the girl - and so could Wongo. Before Argent could say anything, Wongo replied, "Because you're a disembodied voice inside a floating skull!"

Bramble threw open the sarcophagus and saw within the remains of a large jaculi wrapped in silks. A staff carved of white wood lay atop the remains. The head of the staff resembled a serpentine jaculi.

The disembodied voice of the girl began to scream in shock and horror at the terrible news. The hovering skull burst into green and yellow flames and began to rise. Simultaneously, thousands of hideous discarded spider husks began pouring out of hundreds of small holes in the walls. The discarded spider husks were magically animated and swarmed towards Bramble and Argent.

Zeynap, hearing the commotion, called out, "I'm coming!" He dashed down the corridor and began to climb through the open jaws. The jaws clamped down, trapping him! Zeynap cried out in pain but could not force the jaws open. Apparently ran up and tried to help him to no avail.

The skull rose thirty feet into the air. A ball of fire burst from the skull's flaming aura, expanding with explosive force throughout the entire room. Argent and Bramble covered their faces against the fiery explosion. The spider husks in the room were incinerated.

More spider husks poured out of the walls!

Argent called upon the holy power of Bhamut to turn away the animated corpses before him. The bulk of the spider husks retreated into their warrens. Only a few dozen continued to advance.

Bramble called upon the new psychic powers imbued upon her by the spirit of Wongo to momentarily stun the skull. As she did so, she and Argent was swarmed by the dead spider husks!

Argent and Bramble did their best to remove the spider husks from their body but found the effort difficult.

The skull recovered from its momentary inaction and attacked Bramble and Agent with fiery beams from its eyes. Zeynap paused in his escape attempts to send an eldritch blast at the skull but the burning skull raised a magical shield and deflected it.

Argent and Bramble did their best to remove the spiders from their bodies while attempting to avoid the magical fire of the floating skull. Bramble called forth a small bolt of lightning from the ceiling that caused the skull to crack.

With Apparently's help Zeynap was eventually able to free himself from the jaws. He backed into the corridor and the skull's jaws reset to an open position. Both flames returned to the eye sockets. He leaned down to get a view into the room and attacked the skull with another witch bolt. Electricity surged from Zeynap's fingers into the skull. The skull screamed and exploded into a hundred small fragments.

Argent and Bramble destroyed the remaining spider husks. Apparently and Zeynap opted to stay outside the room.

While Argent prayed for the remains of Nepartak, anointing the skull fragments with holy water, Bramble picked up the serpentine staff.

A mist formed in front of her and coalesced into the spirit of Moa, the trickster god of the jaculi. Bramble eagerly accepted her entry. Wongo was less than pleased and the two spirits did battle. Wongo lost and was cast out.

Bramble said to herself, "Good riddance!"

Nightmares
Bramble became acquainted with his new spirit companion. Moa could tell no falsehood but she allowed Bramble to share her ability to become invisible. Moa expressed her disgust at the terrible mess left behind by that horrid brute Wongo. Bramble liked Moa. The party returned to Wongo's tomb to get some sleep.

During their rest each member of the party was plagued with nightmares. Zeynap dreamed that he hovered just above a placid lake surrounded by complete darkness. A dim indistinct light from no discernible source allowed him to see himself and the gentle ripples of the water below him. Ahead of him nearly forty feet away was a young human girl perhaps eight years of age. Her dark black wet hair clung to her head and draped over her tiny frame. She, too, was dimly illuminated as if by moonlight. Her face was obscured in shadow.  She wore a wet shift as if she had been swimming. In her hand was a dark red ball.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello?" responded Zeynap with trepidation.

"Will you play with me?" she asked.

"Um, no?" he replied.

The little girl looked crestfallen. Her lips began to quiver then curled up as she prepared to cry. She let out a horrid wail of sorrow which turned into a deafening scream of anger.

Zeynap bolted awake, covered in water. He would get no rest.

The Second Level
After their rest the party gathered their equipment and planned their next move. They decided to explore the underground creek. They crossed the mezzanine and carefully passed the green devil face. Their pitons had been removed and the inner door had been closed. The tall peaked window had been repaired and all the broken glass had been removed.

Bramble took a deep breath, "Alright, plan B,"

They returned to the mezzanine and descended the first flight of stairs. As they did so they paused to look down and examine the bottom of the atrium. The floor of the atrium was cloaked in darkness and mist. They could just make out four large pillars. The top of each pillar was decorated with a metallic square - each a different metal. Standing atop each pillar was a four-armed stone gargoyle.

The second mezzanine was darker than the one above. The walls were carved with devil faces and the air reeked of death and decaying flesh. A bronze plaque was attached to the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

The ring is a path to another tomb.
The dead abhor sunlight.
Only a jewel can tame the frog.
Bow as the dead god intoned.
Into darkness descend.

Into Darkness Descend
They entered the first narrow corridor to the left. The thirty foot corridor opened into a small fifteen foot by fifteen foot room. The walls of the room were decorated with more skulls. A large bas relief of the green devil face was carved into the floor of the room. The open mouth of the devil face formed a pit in the center of the floor. No light penetrated the open mouth. They thought they could hear the sound of a girl crying far away.

Zeynap dropped a glowing stone into the mouth. It disappeared. Bramble stuck an unlit torch into the mouth and removed it with no ill effect.

Apparently said, "Into darkness descend."

Bramble then tied a rope around herself, turned invisible and lowered herself into the devil's mouth. 

I'Jin's Tomb
Bramble descended through absolute silence and darkness for a bout fifteen feet and emerged through a shaft in the ceiling of a large room. She hung thirty feet over the floor of the chamber. The floor was covered in tiles decorated by strange hieroglyphics. Four large sphinxes sat in each corner of the room. Magical flames burned in the air above their heads, providing warm illumination.

In the center of the room was a fifteen foot dais on which sat a long thin vessel shaped like a canoe. The golden vessel was covered in beautifull and intricately carvings of the single-horned rabbits known as al-miraj. Atop the vessel was a ornately decorated gold chest encrusted with jewels. She landed on the dais and saw that it was safe. She tugged on the rope and was pulled back up.

She told the others what she saw. They tied the rope to a makeshift spike made from the remnants of the broken crowbar which they hammered into the stone floor. They climbed down the rope and landed on the dais.

There was a single entrance to the room located on one wall. Near the entrance was the desiccated body of a derro, an homely humanoid of short stature with misshapen teeth and thick fatty jowls from the subterranean cities of Polarion in the far north. The derro wore a yellow silk turban. A bronze shield lay near its body.

The party huddled on the dais and examined the chest. Argent picked it up. The dais was immediately surrounded by a shimmering column of force that extended from the floor to the ceiling. Argent put the chest back down and the column of force disappeared.

Zeynap asked the others for an indulgence. He was curious about the body of the derro.

He zapped the body with his eldritch blast. The blast had a telekinetic pulling effect that dragged the body towards the dais. He blasted it again. The body was close enough to grab and drag onto the dais. The body was badly damaged by the blasts. They found some gems and two crystal eyes in a carry-bag.

Apparently tied her rope around herself and gave the other end to Argent. She pushed off the dais and floated gently a foot or two over the floor. She drifted over the bronze shield and picked it up off the floor. She reached the wall and pushed off with her feet, propelling herself back towards the dais. She landed with dexterous aplomb.

They tied Apparently's rope around the chest and affixed it to the rope dangling from the shaft in the ceiling. They climbed back up and pulled the chest out behind them.

Back in the room with the devil's face floor they examined the chest. There were no keyholes or obvious method of opening the chest. Bramble called upon the spirits of nature to dispel the magic of the chest.

Suddenly the magical darkness within the devil's mouth became a swarm of bat-shaped shadows! The swarm filled the room like a cyclone of fluttering darkness, biting and cutting everyone within. The party responded by cutting and slashing at the darkness. With each counter-attack small bits of darkness would burn away into nothingness. Soon the swarm of darkness had been dissipated. The hole in the floor was no longer a dark void. The room below was clearly visible.

Unable to open the mystery box, the party decided to leave it and return later.

Spoilers
Bramble held her hand up to stop the others, "Hold on, I have an idea. I'll be right back."

She turned invisible and quickly ran downstairs to the third mezzanine. She passed a large door with three head-sized holes. The room within stank of rotting flesh. The walls of the third mezzanine were dark and encrusted with thick purple lichen. She quickly descended the stairs and found another bronze plaque on the wall.

Walk through water with weapon in hand.
Slake your shadow at the font.
The vulture is the first step.
Right the gods.
The walls of history tell all.

She ran back upstairs and became visible.

"Find anything?" inquired Apparently.

"Nothing useful. Let's keep going." said Bramble.

DM Comment- Because Bramble was invisible, I allowed Bramble's player to read the plaque but she couldn't write it down so I didn't give the player the handout. He had to memorize it.

The Ring
The party exited the room of the devil face floor back into the atrium. They entered the next corridor to the left. Halfway down the sixty foot corridor was a four-way intersection. Each corridor to the left and right arced upwards and out of sight. Ten feet down the corridor to the left was the dead body of a strange goat-faced man in yellow wizard robes.

Apparently levitated herself once again and pushed off down the corridor. She expected that she'd need to levitate up to follow the arcing passage but to her surprise gravity curved with the corridor. She continued drifting for about 160 feet and eventually reached another four way intersection. The intersection was identical to the previous four-way intersection. The atrium could be seen to the left.

She muttered to herself, "The ring is a path to another tomb." She pushed off the intersection and drifted back the way she came. She stopped her movement by grabbing the body of the goat-faced man. She searched his remains, taking a spellbook, a journal, a pen and ink set, and an ornate staff. She took a moment to read some passages in the journal. Bramble cleared her throat. Apparently gathered the goat-man's belongings and pushed off again towards her waiting party where she recounted what she saw.

Drown Your Sorrows
The corridor ended in a large room. The vaulted twelve-foot ceiling of the room was supported by four pillars. A coffin rested atop a plinth in the center of the room. The floor was tiled in alternating black and white marble squares. The room reeked of wine. The four corners of the room were each decorated with  a large devil face made of green marble , mouths agape and large enough to squeeze into.

Moa warned Bramble that this tomb did not look as if it belonged to one of the trickster gods of Omu and that the style was distinctly not Omuan.

The party cautiously entered the room. The floor was sticky. Argent walked up to the coffin and opened the lid. Within was a wooden plaque that read, "DROWN YOUR SORROWS".

Argent picked up the plaque, "Drown your sorrows? What does that mean?"

As if on cue, the ceiling outside the entrance began to descent. Orvex and Xoc-Wik managed to back up out of the way as the massive stone block sealed the only exit.

Valves opened in each of the green devil faces and thousands of gallons of dark red wine began to pour into the room. The wine spewed with the force of a cataract and the room began to flood. First ankle deep, then shin, then knee.

The party rushed to the sole exit and tried to remove the massive stone cube blocking the way. No one could lift it or move it. No weapon could damage it. Zeynap's spells had no effect. Bramble, transformed into a massive ape, was unable to budge it.

Without warning the wine came alive and attacked! The wine rose up and enveloped Bramble, Argent, Apparently, and Zeynap. Tendrils of wine lashed at them and grabbed their arms and legs. Each member of the party slashed and stabbed wildly at the animated wine around them as the room continued to fill.

The wine stopped attacking by the time it had reached their shoulders. Zeynap crawled atop the coffin to do his best to stay above the rising liquid. Soon the wine was nearing the ceiling and they were running out of air. Zeynap was feeling trapped and was becoming desperate. His temper began to fray.

Argent, as a holy knight of Bhamut, was immune to fear.

Apparently was unconcerned at her situation and maintained a calm demeanor throughout the ordeal. Her demijinn heritage allowed her to hold her breath indefinitely.

Argent, Apparently, and Bramble tried their best to push against the raging current of the wine in an attempt to find and stop the source. Bramble transformed into a small shark and swam up the current. She found the source of the wine in a large rapidly draining tank. She returned to the tile room and transformed back into her human shape.

The only remaining air was a small pocket at the very top of the ceiling. Zeynap, Bramble, and Apparently bobbed there while Bramble relayed the plan. Argent was busy pushing against the current at one of the mouths.

Bramble transformed back into a shark. As Bramble directed, Apparently tied her rope around the shark's tail fin.

The flow stopped when the wine reached the ceiling and there was no more air. Bramble swam up the chute in a different devil's mouth. She quickly found a branching pipe. She continued up the branch until she reached air. She transformed back into human shape, completely filling the narrow pipe, and tugged on the rope.

Apparently got the signal and sent Zeynap up the pipe. Zeynap followed the rope and squeezed himself up the pipe after Bramble, eventually reaching the branching pipe and air.

Apparently sought out Argent but could not find him. The wine was nearly opaque. Then she saw a moving glow. Argent had activated the mystical flaming sword of Ras Nsi. Apparently found Argent and led him towards the rope. It was a tight fit but Argent was able to climb up the rope and into the narrow pipe.

Apparently looked around one last time and followed Argent into the pipe.

TO BE CONTINUED...

DM Commentary- The players started to get really frustrated at the wine room. The inability to move or damage the stone block and the high DC (25) to swim against the rushing flow of wine led them to conclude that this was a badly designed death trap and that they were going to die. The appearance of the wine weirds gave them something to direct their frustration towards for a short while. 

 So, two minutes to fill up the room. After that the characters have 1 + CON modifier minutes (min 30 seconds) to get out. Although its not explicitly stated in the book, I assume that the flow stops once the room fills up. After that, they don't need to make impossible Athletics checks to swim against the current, they just squeeze up the right pipe and find an exit. 

I can definitely see less experienced players getting frustrated and losing characters in this room. I thought it was fun but my players would probably disagree. 

"The Devil Face" - Tomb of Annihilation, Chapter 31

Ahead of them was a hallway filled with moss and vines. Daylight and rainwater filtered down through long narrow artificial fissures in the ceiling. Tracks revealed others had passed this way several weeks previous. The end of the hallway terminated in two passages, left and right. At the center of the "T" was the carved image of a smiling horned devil face. The interior of the smiling mouth was an impenetrable dark blackness.

The iron door began to slowly rise.

"Quickly! Get everyone inside! Don't get separated!" shouted Argent.

Argent, Zeynap, Bramble, and Apparently  moved into the mossy hall to allow room for Chak'sa and the mercenaries to enter.

As they did so they absent-mindedly stepped on pressure plates that filled the corridor with a deadly hail of poison darts launched from small concealed holes in the walls. It was a massacre!

All five mercenaries and Chak'sa fell dead. Argent, Zeynap, Bramble, and Apparently were badly injured but managed to avoid the poison.

Orvex, crossing over the slowly rising door, called out, "Whoah! Whoah! Whoah! Shtop moving! Nobody move! There'sh no need to rush! Look! Shee? This door will take like an hour to closhe!"

Argent slapped his head with his scaled palm.

Orvex continued, "Okay, there'sh shomething you should know. I'm not jusht a transhlator. I do have certain.. shkills." He bent down and examined the floor, "Shee? Pressure plates. Let me jusht..."Orvex took out some small tools and hammered a small wedge under the floor. "There. Thish one'sh dishabled."

He crawled upon the floor on his hands and knees. He found and disabled three more pressure plates.

"There, that should take care of that. Now what's she doing?"

He pointed at Apparently, who was bent over examining the dark void inside the devil face's mouth.

She was muttering, "In darkness, it hides." She stuck her head into the mouth to look around.

She was suddenly pulled into the mouth, her legs kicking! She disappeared!

CHAPTER 31, "THE DEVIL FACE"

THE EXPEDITION

• Bramble Wolf - a theran barbarian wise-man (Wildhunt Shifter Druid) searching for the legendary origin of his tribe.
• Apparently Jones - a blue-skinned demijin caravan guide and animal trainer (Air Genasi Ranger) from Akasa, the land of sky mountains. Having failed to find work in Port Nyanzaru as an animal handler, she has joined the expedition to the interior as a scout.
• Xoc-Wik - a b'alam warrior (Tabaxi Fighter) from the jungles of Bres, searching for those responsible for the destruction of his tribe.
• Zeynap Shiravadakar - a Eusebean smuggler (Human Warlock) bearing the spirit of a celestial unicorn.
• Argent Truth-Sayer - a golden azi knight errant of Bhamut (Dragonborn Paladin) in the service of Bhamut, sent on a holy mission to join the expedition to destroy the Soul Monger. 

NPCs

• Orvex Ocrammas - translator and guide for hire; rescued from the Fane of the Night Serpent.

Um, What Just Happened?
The unfortunate death of the five guardsmen was momentarily forgotten as Bramble, Argent, Zeynap, and Orvex stared dumbfounded at the impenetrable darkness within the gaping mouth of the green devil face.

"Where'd she go?" asked Zeynap.

"Give her a second," said Bramble.

They watched the mouth. Bramble called out, "Apparently? Do you need any help?"

There was no answer.

The four adventurers exchanged a worried glance.

Bramble sprung into action, "Zeynap, pull out your rope."

As Zeynap dropped his pack to procure a length of rope, Bramble closed his eyes and summoned forth three brown bears from the spirit world. Bramble then directed the others to tie the rope around one of the bears.

At Bramble's direction, the bear crawled into the gaping mouth.

The rope barely let out five feet. Nothing happened.

Bramble pulled the bear back out, "I don't like it. I'm going in."

The bear was confused but otherwise unmolested. Bramble removed the rope from the bear and tied it around himself. He handed the other end to the dragon-man, "Argent, hold the rope. When these bears out here disappear, that means I'm being attacked. If that happens, pull me back!

He took a deep breath, grasped his staff, and ducked into the devil's mouth.

There was darkness.

The Demon of Darkness
Apparently stood in absolute darkness. It was the deepest most profound most oppressive darkness which she had ever experienced. She called for help but heard nothing. There was no sound. She could not even hear the sound of her own breathing. As a creature of the air and sky who was averse to enclosed underground spaces, this was almost too much to bear. The complete lack of stimuli was disorienting. At least she could feel the ground beneath her feet. She reached out her arms in search of- anything.

Something sharp tore at her arms. She recoiled and back into a solid surface. She drew her short sword and swiped blindly into the darkness.

What was that? She brushed against something! It was- furry? Could that be her attacker?

Another slash tore at her from the opposite side. She cried out in silence. The furry thing was gone.

She reached out again, grasping in the dark. She found hands, human hands. The hands were velvety and clawed. Human-ish hands.

The hands were likewise searching the darkness. Both hands grasped each other. She was being pulled. Her unseen attacker slashed at her again, raking down her shoulder and back.

Sight and sound had returned! She was lying on the ground with Bramble. Both the beast-man and Apparently had sustained grievous injury while in the darkness.

Bramble stood up and moved away from the devil face. He summoned a healing spirit and bathed in its regenerative presence. Apparently got up and did likewise.

Argent stood holding the rope, "The bears disappeared so I pulled. What happened?"

Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the blackness of the mouth. It was a black ethereal silhouette, humanoid from the waist up but trailing into a long train of shadow below. It sported dark bat-like wings.

It was a demon of shadow! The demon clawed at Argent, then retreated quickly into the devil's mouth.

Argent's axe sliced through the demonic shadow as if it were made of smoke.

Argent and Zeynap prepared themselves for another attack. This time, when the demon emerged from the mouth they were ready. Zeynap blasted the demon with eldritch blasts. Argent called upon the holy vengeance of the draconic god Bhamut and smote the demon with a mighty axe stroke. The demon squealed in pain and once more retreated into the devil face. It did not return.

DM Commentary-
I'm very proud of how this scene played out! Here's how it worked.

At the beginning of the fight I had these sheets printed up that allowed me to communicate with Apparently's player in secret. I took the player into a different room and explained how this worked. I didn't want separate the player from the table. I wanted her to still sit with everyone and socialize and have fun. But she couldn't tell them anything about what was happening inside the darkness.

I told her I would write down what happened to her that turn and she would choose a course of action, writing down skill and to-hit rolls and damage on the assumption she had hit as well as her current Hit Points. 

So while everyone outside was standing around figuring what to do, Apparently's player and I were passing a sheet of paper back and forth.

At one point, Zeynap's player said, "Are you having her fill out 'Mad Libs' or something?" That she was forced to fill out Mad Libs inside the darkness became a running gag.

Anyway, on round 1, she performed the search action, hoping to pinpoint her enemy so she could attack it. She found nothing.

The demon attacked her!

On round 2, she attacked blindly. She missed.

The demon attacked her again!

On round 3, the bear entered the room. I rolled randomly to see whom the demon would attack. It attacked Apparently. Scoring a critical hit! Apparently was down to 6 Hit Points!

On round 4, Bramble entered the room. I took Bramble's player into a different room and explained the rules to him. He got his own sheet. 

This time, the demon randomly chose to attack Bramble, scoring a critical hit. Bramble was down to 3 Hit Points!! This caused Bramble to lose his concentration and the bears outside the room disappeared. This was Argent's signal. Bramble searched for Apparently.

On round 5, Apparently searched and found Bramble. The demon got one final attack. I rolled randomly and got Apparently. Uh oh! However, I kid you not, I rolled only 5 damage! 

Apparently was pulled out of the mouth with only 1 Hit Point. Bramble had only 3 Hit Points. It was a nail biter! 

It was fantastic! I had so much fun! The players had so much fun! Everything about the way I did this encounter was original and unique! I was worried about how this would play out but it worked out so well!  

The Tomb Keeper

The group quickly moved away from the devil face and basked in the comforting aura of Bramble's healing spirit wolf. The hallway opened into the center of a wall of a large atrium. The atrium rose over a hundred feet up. Thin beams of sunlight made their way through tiny cracks in the ceiling far above. Vines and roots dangled down. The walls were covered in carvings of skulls and devil faces of various sizes, creating an uneven surface. Roots and vines and lichens clung to the edges.

A ten-foot wide mezzanine ran around the wall of the atrium. Stairs descended on the far wall to the left. There was another dark corridor on the opposite side of the atrium. There were smaller hallways on the near side of the left wall before the stairs and on the far side of the left wall at the end of the mezzanine.

Bramble looked down and saw that the atrium descended another four levels, each with its own mezzanine.

For a brief second he caught glimpse of a humanoid figure on the next lower mezzanine - a pallid hunched creature wearing a green devil-face mask. The creature was laden down with pouches and tools. The figure was short, about waist-high to Bramble. The figure looked up and made momentary eye contact with Bramble. It then dashed towards the right and out of Bramble's sight.

Bramble pointed out what he saw to the others but made no attempt to follow or track the strange figure.

Don the Mask or be Seen

The party moved away from the atrium and carefully made their way past the green devil face. The bodies of the five mercenaries lay in the trapped hallway. Orvex used Zeynap's ten pitons to prevent the inner door from rising. However, the trap floor beyond was open revealing the spike-filled pit.

The corridor past the devil face featured a metal grate in the floor covering an opening from which one could hear slowly flowing water. The corridor ended just beyond in a large gothic window revealing a darkened room on the other side.

Argent and Orvex moved towards the window. Orvex inspected it for traps but found none. The window did not open.

Argent held up his shield, which was enchanted by Zeynap to glow and provide illumination. On the other side of the window he could make out a stone sarcophagus and a room lined with several niches. He could just discern two dark shapes on the far wall.

"Are you going to bust through?" inquired Bramble.

"No, its a sacred space." replied Argent reverently.

"Are you kidding me? This entire place is a death trap! Bust through the damn window!" countered Bramble, impatiently.

Argent sighed and swung his axe at the window. It bounced off the thick glass with a loud reverberating "BONG!"

"See?" he said.

Xoc-Wik rolled his eyes, "Get out of the way!"

Everyone stepped aside and Xoc-Wik sent several magically charged arrows into the window. The arrows exploded, shattering the glass and destroying the window frame.

Bramble took a look around. The beast-man's excellent night vision could see that the two large shapes on the far side were massive zorbos - Chultan beasts that resembled aggressive looking koalas. The zorbos were holding a five foot diameter bronze disk covered in eyes. He noticed that the eyes, although metal, were blinking and looking around the room.

Along the walls were six niches, two on each wall. Each niche contained a throne occupied by the desiccated of an ancient Omuan warrior. Each held a sword and wore a wicker mask.

Apparently reminded everyone of the words from the warning at the entrance, "Don the mask or be seen."

"Right. We need to get those masks. Stay close to the wall. Move to the right," said Bramble as he directed the others.

Bramble and Argent hugged the wall and moved right towards the closest niche. Argent reached out to take the mask. The desiccated body sprang to life. It shoved Argent's hand away and lunged out of its throne with its sword. Argent dodged away.

Bramble, Argent, and Zeynap attacked the animated corpse, quickly destroying it. Bramble picked up the mask and put it on.

The remaining five corpses rose out of their thrones and attacked, two on Argent and Zeynap, the remaining three on Apparently and Xoc-Wik.

As the animated corpses attacked, they would grab at the target's chest, clutch, and pull as if draining the defender's soul from their body. Luckily, none of the party succumbed to the parasitic attack.

On the premise that the bronze disk covered in eyes was controlling the animated attackers, Zeynap directed towards it an eldritch blast. The blast knocked it out of the grasp of the two zorbos. The disk fell upon the floor leaning up against the wall. The animated foes continued to attack!

Bramble noticed that he was completely ignored by the attacking corpses. As additional corpses fell one by one, Bramble instructed the others to don the masks of the fallen.

The remaining corpse guardians were soon defeated and everyone was wearing a mask.

The Spirit of Obo’laka
Upon defeating the tomb guardians, the party closely examined each niche. Bramble found that the wall behind the niche on the right wall was false and could be opened. Apparently found the same on the opposite wall but the wall was stuck tight.

Argent moved in and gave the wall a big push. Something metal on the wall scraped along the ground creating a spark. The area behind the wall exploded. The wall acted as a shield and protected Argent from the shockwave and heat but the force of the blast threw the wall and Argent into the middle of the tomb.

After the smoke cleared the party could smell the acrid aroma of some kind of flammable gas in the dark passage beyond. Additionally, they could hear the sound of slowly running water. They made note of this and turned their attention to the sarcophagus.

Orvex surmised that this was the resting place of Obo'laka himself.

Argent was unwilling to desecrate the sacred burial site and had to be convinced to open the sarcophagus. He removed the lid to reveal the ashes of a long-dead zorbo. A ring lay among the ashes.

Argent picked up the ring and put it on.

In response, the ashes rose from the interior of the sarcophagus, swirling in mid-air as if controlled by some kind of glowing ethereal energy. The glowing ashes took the shape of the menacing zorbo. The apparition tried to move into Argent's body but seemed blocked. Argent curled his draconic lips into a sneer. The apparition hovered before Argent as if waiting for him to make a decision.

Argent said, "We apologize for disturbing your resting place."

The apparition made no sound, it only looked at Argent impatiently.

There was an awkward silence.

Argent finally commanded the spirit, "Begone!"

The spirit dissipated and did not return.

The Rusty Statue

The party decided to explore the opposite passage. The corridor was narrow and allowed only single file transit. The corridor opened ahead. Argent led the way.

Argent looked into the opening and saw a long gallery. The gallery extended thirty feet to the right before narrowing to another corridor. The gallery also extended thirty feet to the left and ended in a niche containing the rusting statue of an armored knight. Shards and flakes of rusted metal covered the floor around the statue's feet. Argent could feel a powerful magnetic force tugging him towards the statue. He gripped the edge of the wall and backed away from the gallery.

Bramble and Xoc-Wik, wearing no metal armor and carrying no metal weapons, moved into the room to investigate. Xoc-Wik bore metal tipped arrows and two silver daggers. Xoc-Wik could feel the magnetic pull against these items but was able to withstand the force. He touched the statue with one of his daggers, confident in silver's ability to resist corrosion. To his surprise, the dagger immediately turned into rust and fell to the floor in large flakes. Xoc-Wik looked angry, "Hey!"

Bramble charged his wooden staff with the power of the spirits of nature and took a swing. The staff struck the statue with magically amplified force, severely denting and bending it. He continued to strike the statue in this way until it was disassembled and lying in several parts on the floor. Only after the statue was destroyed did the others move through the gallery.

The Magic Fountain

The party continued past the gallery, exploring the passage as it continued on the opposite side.

They found a round room containing a fountain crusted with moss. Three marble maidens stood in the fountain holding jugs from which water slowly poured.

Bramble said, "Well, obviously its a magic fountain! I'm going first!"

Before anyone could object, he plunged his face into the water and took a big drink.

He emerged with a puzzled look. He suddenly fell to the floor, convulsing. Argent rushed to his aid.

Bramble's flesh began expanding and contracting as if inflated and deflated by internal balloons. There was a release of steam and light. The steam cleared. Bramble lay on the ground - transformed.

Bramble  was now a female theran!

"What the-?" said Argent.

Bramble coughed and stood up. Argent asked how he felt. Bramble said she felt fine and asked why everyone was staring at her. Argent explained.

"Oh, well. Okay then. I'm going to go again!"

"Wait!" cried Argent as Bramble took another drink. Nothing happened.

Bramble sighed, "Darn. Who's next?"

Argent gulped and stepped forward. He took a drink. He immediately fell to the floor in a nasty seizure. He began coughing up blood and bile. His face looked gaunt and pale. He finally rose from the floor weakened and ill. He looked as if he'd been touched by death itself.

"Well that's no good! Apparently?"

Apparently held up her hands, "No thanks! I already did my stupid thing for the day!"

Zeynap and Xoc-Wik likewise demurred.

The party decided to spend an hour resting and recuperating.

They eventually left the chamber and took a left down the third exit from the gallery.

DM Commentary- 
Bramble's player was downright GIDDY at the magic fountain. It's such a classic dungeon staple. He was very disappointed others didn't give it a try. He wanted to know what the other two results were.

Wandering

The passage took a hard right and returned them to the atrium, left of the previously explored passage and next to the descending stairs. The party took the previously explored passage past the devil face. They noted that the outer door had now closed, sealing them within. The spiked pit now formed a kind of moat between the inner door and the closed outer door.

They also noted that the broken glass has been swept up and the site had been removed of debris. They returned to the tomb. The secret doors had been replaced.

Bramble wondered aloud, "That strange figure I saw earlier must be some kind of caretaker. He's re-setting everything."

They took the hidden door to the left. They found an underground stream and could smell the building gas. They decided to leave without exploring further and returned to the atrium.

The Wind Tunnel

The party circled around the mezzanine intentionally ignoring and not even looking down the large passage.

Xoc-Wik's player said, "What's down there?"

I said, "Do you look?"

Bramble's player interrupted, "No! No, don't even look! Let's just walk past! Ignore it! Don't get distracted!"

They stood outside the smaller passage. The passage was only five feet wide and fifty feet long. The passage was blocked about thirty feet in by huge fan blades. The walls of the passage were adorned with bas relief carvings of thousands of small birds flying towards the blades.

Bramble transformed herself into a small bird and flew down the passage, passing between the immobile fan blades. She transformed back into theran form at the end of the hall.

The passage opened into a large crypt. Immediately inside the entrance was a deep rectangular pit at the bottom of which rested a stone sarcophagus. The sarcophagus appeared to be one solid block of stone. The top was decorated with a carving of a screaming su-monster holding a mace with a large flat rectangular head. The mace head formed a flat surface in the center of the top of the sarcophagus.

On the other side of the room three human-sized coffins rested on raised platforms. One coffin was made of black onyx, one was made of rusted metal, and one was made of bright silver.

Bramble climbed across the pit and approached the black coffin. It was unlocked. There was a key inserted in a mechanism on the inside of the lid. The key could not be removed. She said to herself, "The keys turn on the inside only." She considered the meaning of the clue and climbed inside the coffin and closed the lid. The key turned but the lid would not open while the key was turned. She turned the key back and opened the lid.

She called for the others.

Zeynap looked at Argent, "You know as soon as you head down this corridor the fan blades will start spinning, right?"

"Yes," was his reply.

Zeynap handed him a crowbar from his pack, "Take this. Try to jam it."

Argent held the crowbar in one hand and took a few deep breaths. He sprinted down the hall.

The fan blades started spinning up, slowly at first but quickly gaining speed. He reached the fan blades and jammed the crowbar between the fan blade and the wall. The blade sliced the iron crowbar in half!

"Well, that's not good!" Argent muttered to himself. He called back to Zeynap who had followed him down the hall, "It's tougher than we thought!"

Zeynap shouted over the rising sound of the rushing wind, "I've got a plan!" The Eusebean called upon his celestial patron and cast a spell of shattering upon the blades.

The spell had no effect!

"Oh shit!" was his response. "Sorry Argent!" He disappeared in a puff of rainbow hued mist and reappeared next to the entrance of the crypt.

Argent gritted his draconic teeth and leaped through the whirling blades. He emerged on the other side suffering several deep lacerations and bleeding profusely. He was grievously wounded but he survived.

DM Commentary - 12d10 slashing damage, yikes!

While Bramble tended to Argent's wounds, Zeynap took his time and destroyed the spinning fan with multiple eldritch blasts. Once it was safe, Orvex casually strolled down the hallway and into the crypt chamber.

The Tomb of Wongo

At Bramble's direction, Zeynap climbed into the onyx coffin, Bramble climbed into the rusty coffin, and Argent climbed into the silver coffin. Each turned their respective keys.

Orvex called out, "Hey! Shome buttonsh jusht appeared on the sharcophagush!"

"Push them!" was Bramble's reply.

Orvex pushed all three buttons.

Zeynap was bathed in life-draining energy. It was uncomfortable but he gritted his teeth and suffered no ill effects.

DM Commentary - no damage on a successful saving throw.

Bramble felt a slight tingle but suffered no harm.

DM Commentary - Bramble, as a druid, has no metal.

Argent was flash frozen and barely survived the ordeal!

DM Commentary - 10d8 cold damage! He made his save and took half damage. 

Orvex called out, "Shomething's happening! The sharcophagush is opening!"

The three adventurers reset their keys and opened their coffins. The lid to the sarcophagus had opened, revealing the desiccated remains of su-monster named Wongo, trickster god of Omu!

In Wongo's simian hands was a large heavy mace.

Wongo's mummified remains sat up and looked around. His eyeless face blindly scanned the room. It opened its mouth and emitted a silent scream.

To Be Continued