Tuesday, September 11, 2018

"The King of Feathers" - Tomb of Annihilation, Chapter 28


After defeating the crimson necromancers of the lich queen and interrogating their new prisoner, Thazma, the party continued to the compound of the grung. They trudged through the waist-deep, sometimes shoulder-deep water past the ruins of the royal palace to the right. The tower of the palace was slowly orbited by hundreds of dark flying leathern-winged reptiles.

They arrived at the grung compound and were met by nearly a dozen archers and warriors, some with red skin some with orange. The gold-skinned chieftain emerged from the flooded compound flanked by two orange-skinned guard to greet the party and their newly acquired mercenaries. He inflated his throat sac in a display of intimidation and spoke in his native language.

"Orvex, get up here and translate!" called Xoc-Wik.

Orvex Orcammas translated the words of the chieftain.

"I am Chief Yorb. Why have you returned to this holy sanctuary? Although we thank you for saving our precious offspring-" the chief paused to consult a guard on the name of his offspring before continuing, "-our precious one hundred eightieth offspring Imbok, you were politely informed that as an outsider you were not welcome here and would be sacrificed to Nangnang should you retrun."

Imbok waved excitedly from the wall. Zeynap waved back.

Zeynap said, "We apologize for our unanticipated return. We were unable to understand your words the last time we were here. We have returned with an interpreter to translate so that we may ask you a great favor."

Chief Yorb's bulbous eyes narrowed, "What is this favor?"

Apparently Jones blurted out, "We need to go inside that shrine!"

Zeynap winced and inhaled through his teeth.

Chief Yorb replied, "Absolutely not! This is a sacred place! You may not enter without first offering a suitable gift to great Nangnang!"

Zeynap diplomatically inquired, "What kind of gift may we provide?"

Chief Yorb once more consulted with his guard. He turned back to make his proclamation, "Go to the something-something and slay the great beast known as the King of Feathers!"


CHAPTER 28, "THE KING OF FEATHERS"

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.
  • Chak'sa - Apparently's honker (parasaurolophus) companion.
  • 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 Bahamut (Dragonborn Paladin) in the service of Bahamut, sent on a holy mission to join the expedition to destroy the Soul Monger. 
NPCs
  • Eku - a mysterious shape-changing wise-woman from Chult, hired as a guide.
  • Tony - rough and tumble dinosaur wrangler who wished to learn from Apparently, possibly from 19th century Boston on Earth. 
  • Orvex Ocrammas - translator and guide for hire; rescued from the Fane of the Night Serpent.
  • Thazma - a Crimson Necromancer in the service of Unglaub the Lich Queen, reportedly knows the location of the entrance to the Tomb of the Nine Gods. 
The Something-Something
"The 'something-something'?" inquired Zeynap dubiously.

Orvex replied, "I didn't know that word. What's a 'gombuke'?"

"Whatever, what's a 'King of Feathers'?" asked Xoc-Wik.

"It is a great beast that walks on two feet with a large horn growing from its nose. It is covered in the most radiant plumage. For too long the King of Feathers has preyed upon our kind and we have been helpless to stop him! Do this and I will consider your favor."

"Where is this.. 'gombuke'?" inquired Zeynap.

"It is one hundred great leaps towards the rising sun," was Chief Yorb's answer.

Zeynap blinked in confusion, "How big is a 'great leap'?"

Chief Yorb explained, "Ten hops," he stretched his arms wide to indicate distance, "a hop!"

Argent did some math, "So, twenty-five hundred feet that way."

"That corresponds with the amphitheater," suggested Xoc-Wik.

"Got it," said Zeynap, "Chief Yorb, you've got a deal!"

DM Note- I couldn't say "Go to the Amphitheater". A grung has no idea what an "amphitheater" is. I even told the players I was stuck in how to describe where they had to go. So I came up with "gombuke". Then I realized that a grung wouldn't know what a "foot" or "meter" was. I thought, "what unit of distance would a grung use?" so I came up with the "great leap" of 25 feet and a hop of "about 3 feet.

The Shambling Mound
 After once more crossing the flooded swamp in the center of the city, the party decided to take a short rest outside some ruined buildings on the northern edge of town.

While they rested, a massive tendril of vines and roots reached out from a nearby ruin and grabbed one of the mercenaries revealing an ambulatory vegetative mass. Apparently and Argent rushed to his aid, cutting him free, while Xoc-Wik loosed arrows from across the street. Zeynap unleashed a barrage of eldritch blasts. The mercenary archers formed a line and loosed volleys into the shambling mound. The now freed mercenary joined the other spearmen and formed a line to protect Chak'sa.

The mound turned its attention to Argent and the spearmen rushed in to attack and the shambling plant-thing was soon destroyed.

DM Note- Random encounter to add some spice. I thought about throwing a second shambling mound but I didn't want to go overboard on a random encounter.

The Amphitheater
The party traveled around the northern edge of the great elevated boulevard and arrived at an open area covered in shoulder-high grass. Two-hundred yard away a stone amphitheater rose above the grass and small trees. The amphitheater was a semi-circular structure of step-like seats. Three large stone pylons faced the seats of the amphitheater. They lacked entrances or windows. Shards of what appeared to have once been massive statues lay broken in the grass.

DM Note- The players asked me "What are those buildings?" 

Because I couldn't tell from the map and I didn't have a ready answer, I turned it to them, "What do you think they are?"

They started throwing out ideas. Somebody asked, "Is there a door? How about windows?" 

My answer was, "You tell me. Does it have doors? Are there windows?"

Using this method, the players described them as giant pedestals for statues that have toppled over and lay in heaps of rubble in the muddy grass. 

It's always good to let players come up with uneccesary details. Plus it clues them in that those structures aren't important and gives them the ability to be creative or come up with something useful for them.

They advanced slowly through the tall grass towards the amphitheater. Apparently spotted large five-foot wide tracks made by a three-toed creature sunken into the muddy ground. Their gait indicated a creature of immense size, at least thirty-feet tall. The tracks occasionally disappeared mysteriously. Perhaps the King of Feathers flew?

The area within the semi-circle formed by the amphitheater was devoid of grass and muddy. There was no sign of the King of Feathers.

The muddy area was strewn with the bones of hundreds of dead animals and humanoids. There was no sound, no insects, no birds, no wind. The silence was eerie.

From here they could see nine tunnels leading underneath the seats of the amphitheater. No doubt mighty gladiators once emerged from those tunnels to do battle. Each tunnel was topped by the statue of a different trickster god of Omu.

Argent pointed at the stands, "The archers will be positioned there and there. Chak'sa and the mercenaries will watch Thazma way over there. Chak'sa will honk his horn if he sees the King of Feathers." He pointed towards the fourth tunnel in the center of the semi-circle, "We'll wait in there for the King of Feathers to return."

The Terror in the Dark
They cautiously entered the tunnel beneath the stands of the amphitheater. A stone ramp led down to a room containing stone benches and an ancient dry fountain. Shards of glass from hundreds of broken bottles littered the floor. Mud tracks from a clawed foot the size of a man's hand led into and out of the tunnels.

"Do you think its young live down here?" inquired Zeynap.

"Maybe," replied Apparently.

"Good," said Argent grimly.

They advanced cautiously. Zeynap created a magical light to illuminate the stone corridors in scintillating rainbow hues.

There was the sound of claws running on the stone floor. The sound echoed down a series of corridors that disappeared into the darkness. There was a flash of movement. The tip of a tail disappeared around the corner. Suddenly a feathered face of a reptile with a head the general size and shape of a  medium sized dog appeared around the corner.

Zeynap launched an eldritch blast into the darkness after a partially obscured creature.

One of the creatures burst out of the darkness. It was bipedal with legs like an large bird, a long whip-like tail, and a dog-like head filled with tiny teeth. Each clawed foot ended with a long curved scythe-like talon. The creature bolted forward, leaped, and pounced on Zeynap, its teeth snapping inches away from Zeynap's face. Zeynap repelled the beast with his eldritch blast.

Everyone attacked the creature and it was soon destroyed. Another creature appeared and pounced upon Argent. After killing the second beast, the sound of more could be heard in the darkness.

Argent called out, "Retreat! We didn't come here to fight these! We'll figure something else out."

The party turned to exit the tunnel. They heard the sound of Chak'sa's honking warning them of danger.

They emerged from the tunnel and saw a massive bipedal creature with a long tail,  two muscular legs, tiny arms, and a head the size of a boulder. It was covered in brilliant plumage. A single large horn grew from its nose. Its mouth, large enough to swallow a man whole, was filled with dagger-like teeth.

The King of Feathers had returned!

All Hail the King
The King of Feathers saw intruders within his home territory. He lifted his head and roared.


The King was still in the area of tall grass almost two hundred feet away. It started charging towards the intruders.

The team moved into position. Argent moved out of the tunnel. Apparently summoned two spirit bears to intercept the King of Feathers about sixty feet away.

DM Note- According to Apparently's player, the bears are now named "Hydra Bait" and "Snake Bite".

Zeynap moved out of the tunnel and towards the right. Apparently, Xoc-Wik, and Orvex stayed in the entrance to the tunnel.

From his safe vantage point, Xoc-Wik was able to launch an arrow into the King of Feathers that burst into magical energy. Vines and thorns and roots burst from the ground to wrap around the King's three-toed feet. The King lifted its feet from the entangling mass in annoyance, roared, and disappeared in a poof of silvery mist!

Xoc-Wik's player- "Are you shitting me?"

Argent's player- "It's a BLINK DINOSAUR!! That's awesome!!" 

The King of Feathers continued its charge but everywhere it moved its feet became once more entangled in vines and thorns. The mercenary archers in the stands sent arrows towards the monster but all missed or bounced off its feathered plumage. Zeynap sent his most powerful witch bolt into the feathered monster. Electric energy arced through the air in a continuous stream, causing the King of Feathers great agony.



The King angled around the bears but the bears moved to intercept. Argent rushed out to meet it. To Argent's surprise, the King simply blinked past him, appearing near Zeynap.

The feathered beast opened its great maw and bit down onto Zeynap. He lifted Zeynap off the ground and and exhaled a swarm of angry wasps from deep within its lungs!

Everyone- Because of COURSE it does!



The King then blinked away with the warlock in his mouth, leaving behind a cloud of angry wasps to harass Argent!

Meanwhile, three of the smaller creatures appeared from within the tunnel to harrass Xoc-Wik, Apparently, and Orvex. They were forced to deal with the distraction from behind while Zeynap and Argent battled the King of Feathers.



Argent attacked the King of Feathers with his axe. Zeynap gritted his teeth as the dagger-like teeth ripped into his flesh. Through a herculean effort the warlock was able to maintain his focus and continue sending electric energy into the King of Feathers!

The King of Feathers shuddered and fell, its plumage singed and smoking!

DM Note- I did like 40+ points of damage to Zeynap! The DC for his Constitution Save was over 20! He rolled a 20! Thanks to Argent's bless spell giving him a +1d4, that asshole rolled a 26! It was a pretty epic save!  Zeynap's player described Zeynap, in the mouth of a T-Rex, sending electrical energy all over his enemy like Emperor Palpatine vs. Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. 

They had defeated the King of Feathers!

Aftermath
Argent dismembered the King of Feather's remains both to make easier transport of the head and to prevent it reanimating as a walking corpse. Apparently and the mercenaries set to work building a travois to transport the King of Feather's boulder-sized head.

Xoc-Wik and Zeynap explored the now empty tunnels beneath the amphitheater, finding a golden death mask, a fancy helmet, and a serving platter engraved with images of Omuan feasts.



The Shrine of Nangnang
The party transported the head of the King of Feathers back across the swamp to the shrine of Nangnang. This time they were met with croaks of celebration and the adulation of Chief Yorb and his grung attendants. Chief Yorb allowed them entrance into the holy shrine.

They entered the squat truncated pyramid and found another heavier door overlooking a tile mosaic in the floor. Magical torches illuminated several irregular side chambers, revealing piles of gold coins and bars, goblets, statuettes, and other treasures.

Zeynap began to salivate but the glowing bump on his forehead reminded him of his obligation to Bright Mane, his celestial patron. "I'm not going to touch it!"

"Me neither," agreed Xoc-Wik, "Nobody touch nothing!"

The others nodded in agreement.

They examined the tile mosaic. It depicted a grung  beating a kamadan. Cuneiform inscriptions were woven above and below the combatants. Orvex said the images showed Nangnang the grung fighting against Shagambi the kamadan. He translated the cunieform as "Nangnang teaches us to serve only ourselves.”

"Okay," said Argent dubiously. The Azi dragon-man carefully stepped around the mosaic and tried to open the door. There were no handles, only an inscription that read, " Whoever among you is the richest, bring me your gifts."

He pushed. It would not budge. Others helped but it would not open.

Individuals tried presenting their belongings and valuables as gifts. Still the door did not open. They paused to consider their options.

Apparently had an idea. She scooped up a pile of gold coins off hte floor. The others shrugged and stepped back. She walked up and the door opened.

"Got it!" she said. 



Beyond the door was a small chamber containing the puzzle cube hovering gently in the air in a shaft of magical light. She took it and gave it to Zeynap to add to the collection. They now had eight of the nine puzzle cubes necessary to open- something. They knew not what.

They exited the shrine, the coins tuned to rusted tin in Apparently's hand, "Thought so." She tossed it back into the shrine.

A Rude Surprise
They team made their way back across Omu as the sun set in the west. They returned to their camp site in the gate house. Something was wrong.



They opened the gate and found carnage!

The mace-tail was dead and dismembered. Their equipment had been stolen.

Tony's body was  strung up on a wooden post like a scarecrow. He had been tortured and eventually killed with a dozen nagini arrows. His flayed skin was stretched flat and nailed to a nearby wall. On it was scrawled the message.

FACE ME COWARD!

Apparently covered her mouth in horror. Xoc-Wik's mouth hung open in shock.

Argent bared his draconic teeth, "I'll take care of this. Don't wait for me."

He left the camp and returned towards the city.



To Be Continued...

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