8 January 2022

ACT I Flaming Fans and Dino Hijinx

Our gang of intrepid adventures arrive at Syndra’s house and the are in full swing. Eventually you are all ushered into a small room and Syndra, Cadgar and Seeu explain that the Head Takers guild would like to expand into the far off land of Chult. You are to be given enough coin to procure a modest holding in the main port city and are to begin the process of expanding the influence of the guild in the city. There will be competition however as there are numerous other Guilds and Merchants already established in Port Nyanzaru, it is your choice if you align us to these guilds or if we go to conflict with them, you are all relatively well established members of the guild by now and you have our full backing.

With that Cadgar drops a purse of 2000 gold onto the desk and takes his leave. As he does Tanros notices something is slightly off with the way Syndra is holding her self. “Are…you…ok…Do… you…feel…all…right…?. Straightening up Syndra checks her nose for blood.. My dear I must admit there is an altera motive from my side. It all started a few weeks ago. I have tried everything, neither Herbal or Magical medicines have been able to help. It appears that anyone who has crossed to the other side and returned is effected. The only information I have been able to gather is the source of the Curse seems to have come from Chult. I will accompany you all to Chult and help with the business setup and take care of that side of things if you hunt for a cure to the curse.

Now friends we have two options. we can hire a boat which will take us about 10 days or we can have some fun and head to candle keep and get there much faster…..

After some debate the party agree to head to candle keep and soon they are stepping though a dimension door to Chult. As the flash of teleportation subsides they fin themselves in what looks to be an enormous sinkhole that serves as the city’s garbage dump. Every type of refuse gets tossed here, up to and including dead bodies. It’s a festering scar of garbage, rancid water, and vermin. Rats, insects, and ravens abound. Ghouls are sometimes seen prowling through the pit in search of fresh corpses.

The group manage to haul themselves out of the pit however Syndra in her weakened state slips and falls back into the put, disturbing a pack of raptors who where feeding on the near by refuse. They immediately see new pray and begin to advance. Seeing this Sho Lin leaps down the pit however looses his footing and is jumped on by three raptors who quick knock him unconscious.

Surprised by the deadliness of the creatures the part begin desperately scrambling down into the pit and attacking raptors, while the rest of the party desperately defend Syndra, Celsta stabilized Shao Lin.

Blarstuldraerr, Tanros and Zaarl manage to kill a raptor each and a combination of Baalmelgart and Vin manage to drive off the rest. Tentatively Sho Lin gets back to his feet and after a short rest the group continues into the city proper.

The road through the Old City splits around a rectangular, stone-lined pit. The original Amnian residents built it as an arena for a highly competitive ball game, and it still provides cheap entertainment for the locals. However now predators are set loose in the pit, then convicted criminals are dropped in at one end. Any criminals who make it alive through the gauntlet of carnivores to the far end of the pit can scramble up knotted ropes and win their freedom, along with the adulation of the crowd. Spectators line the walls for these spectacles — including representatives from every level of Port Nyanzaru society, not just residents of the Old City. Bets are placed on which criminals will survive, which will die, how far runners will get before a beast brings them down, and how many kills each animal will rack up. There is a great amount activity going on around the pit area, it looks as if there may well be an execution soon.

Moving deeper into the city the group pass a pair of massive ziggurats and into the merchant quarter. The Merchant quarter is a hive of activity however there is one person who stands out like themselves as not being native to the area. She approached the group.

A half Orc female priest approaches, she is dressed in fine cloths which and is covered in the sigils of the Order of the Gauntlet. “You look like a band of adventures and i was wondering if you could help me. My name is Undril Silvertusk and i must get to Camp Vengeance to deliver a package to the commander. I am hoping we can rap up out merchant venture here and I need to deliver the message to the commander. I have recently arrived from Baldur’s Gate with the mistaken thought that I could simply ride to the camp, however this dam Jungle has proven far too dangerous. In terms of reward, I can sell you our old Merchant palace. Shall we say 1000gb for passage and 1400 should i be needing medical help”? Tanros haggles and managed to get the price down however thinking he was the business man of the group, ties to intimidate Undril. Although she may be new to the area she is not new to the world and as a half ork is not intimidated easily. She scoffs and increases the price once more and tells the adventurers to get out of her sight until they are ready to go.

With that awkward meeting over the party splits up in an effort to find a guide and some supplies. Vin and Belmegart begin to ask around with the more shady characters of town and are lead to the merchant prince Jessamine. She deals in death and assassinations and advises Vin to be careful who is killed without the proper paperwork, lest they be fed to the dinosaurs. She does however ask if they are able to help to save her Daughter.

The rest of the part load up on the supplies needed and hire Azaka Stormfang to be there guide. She has agreed to wave any fee should they assist her with the recover of a family heirloom from the Pterafolk at fire finger.

Gathering together again the head hunters leave the Red Bazaar and begin to make there way to Undril. However a man stumbles out of the crown mumbles seek Orolunga, east of Mbala to the group and then passes out, as he comes too he introduces himself as Eshek but knows nothing of what has happened and takes his leave. Bemused the group continue however something he said resonated with Belmegart who seems curious to find out more.

As they get close to the execution pits the notice a great crowd has gathered and it look that the are in time to see a live execution run.

As they get closer the caged man shouts the adventures. “please help me i am an innocent man this a case of mistaken identity, help me….” Sensing truth in his words Tanros persuades Blarstuldraerr to assist him and agrees to join the man in the pit and help him prove his innocence. Belmegart ask the man if he know where Mbala is and although he does not know himself he agrees to tell him the name of a person who does… Shao Lin leans in and hand him a small mushroom, “Eat this when the time is right it will help….”

Soon the Merchant prince Ifan Talro’a appears to roaring applause. “Friends do i have a treat for you today. We have not One but Three hopefuls to run the gauntlet”. Lets have a cheer for those who are about to die and do not forget the betting shops are now open. 1/1 the Turtle lives, and 3/1 for the big man and 7/1 for that small guy”.

Vin and Zaar move between the crowd, Vin attaches a smoke bomb and meat to the belt of a hapless crowd member and Zaar spills a little paraffin on one of the onlookers. As the trapdoor is raised Belmegart starts playing his guitar and whipping the crowd up to a frenzey.

two pairs of rapters burst from the trap doors hidden in the floor. Tanros manages to entangle the first pair as Blarstuldraerr charges the second. With fear in his eyes the poor man quickly devours then mushroom and begins to sprint.

Surprised, Blarstuldraerr chases after him as Tanros now engages the unstrapped raptors however as he gets towards the end of the pit a trio of deinonychus leap from a hidden trap door and being to stalk forwards.

“Urgh fine ill help” Vin sneers, kicking the helpless man with the smoke bomb attaches into the pit.. As soon as he its the floor the Deinonychus heads snap around and they charge him. Panicking the poor man notices the meat and goes to yank it away however he triggers the smoke bomb surrounding himself and the dinosaurs.

See in all this happen Zaarl franticly tries to set fire to the spectator he poured the oil on… and fails.

Taken aback by his sudden ability to move faster Draza quickly makes it to the end of the run however as Tanros chases after him he is suddenly set upon by a pack of raptors. They drag him down. Blarstuldraerr beheads the closest Deinonychus however he is then also dragged down.

Seeing this Zaarl attempts to re ignite the poor spectator, this time successfully. However by now the action has moved well past his little distraction.. He shrugs and kick the spectator in the pit any way “I mean he is on fire so why not”.

Seeing Blarstuldraerr and Tanros both down the rest of the party finally decide to intervein in a more physical sense, Shao Lin and Vin leap down and quickly dispatch the remaining Deinonychus and Baalmelgart and Zaarl leap down to finish off the remaining raptors (after collecting there winnings first).

There is a thunderous cheer from the crowd and Ifan stands , inclines is head towards the surviving hero’s, and gives them a slow clap.

As first days go its been a long one