Page 101 - Tomb of Annihilation

in Old Omuan: "Shagambi teaches us to fight evil Once it rises up out of the pedestal, Shagambi's puzzle
with honor." Reliefs on the monoliths show Shagambi cube can be safely removed.
overseeing Chultan warriors as they train with spears
and swords. 4C. G LADIATOR CELLS
The door to the shrine is not locked, but it hangs This hallway contains four cramped cells behind iron
heavy on its hinges. It weighs 600 pounds, so one or portcullises. The portcullises are locked in place and
more characters must have a combined Strength score can be raised only with a knock spell or by stepping
of 20 or higher to push it open. on the pressure plate in area 4D. Each cell contains a
Chultan gladiator made of painted clay. Each gladiator
4B. ARENA GALLERY is a golem-like creature with a bronze spear in one hand
When one or more characters enter the shrine, read: and a wooden shield in the other. It has the statistics of
a gladiator, with these changes:
Steps descend into a fifteen-foot-high, moss-covered • The clay gladiator is an unaligned construct with an
room. Four statues of Omuan warriors stand in alcoves Armor Class of 17 (natural, shield).
• It has a climbing speed of 30 feet and can climb diffi-
to either side, overlooking a barred gladiatorial pit in the
cult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, with-
floor. Each statue looks like it was meant to hold a spear,
out needing to make an ability check.
but its weapon is missing. On the far side of the cham- • It is immune to poison damage as well as the
ber, a stone pedestal stands conspicuously bare. A relief charmed, frightened, and poisoned conditions. It
on the wall behind it shows a monstrous jaguar with doesn't need to cat, drink, sleep, or breathe.
• It doesn't speak.
six snakes protruding from its shoulders, fighting off a
• It can't make ranged attacks, and it can't be disarmed.
squat, frog-like humanoid armed with a spear. To the left
A clay gladiator lights if attacked or when called to
of the relief is a narrow tunnel with stairs leading down.
the gladiatorial pit {area 4D). If reduced to 0 hit points
outside of the gladiatorial pit, the gladiator disappears
The statues can't be moved from their alcoves, and they along with its possessions, reappears in its cell at full
are impervious to damage and spells. The tunnel in the health with spear and shield in hand, and returns to the
north wall slopes down to the bottom of the gladiatorial gladiatorial pit if it can. If defeated in the gladiatorial pit,
pit (area 4D) and leads to a cellblock beyond (area 4C). the gladiator leaves its spear behind before reforming in
The wall relief depicts Shagambi (a kamadan) fighting its cell. The spear can then be taken back to area 4B. If
Nangnang (a grung). Just below, an inscription written taken from the shrine, the spear disappears and reap-
in Old Omuan tells the story of how Nangnang stole pears in the gladiator's hand.
Shagambi's spear (see "Legend of the Nine Gods," page The gladiators can go anywhere in the shrine but can't
92). With a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) leave it. When the shrine has no other creatures inside
check, a character notices tiny holes in the relief. Stuff. it, the gladiators return to their cells, and the portcul-
ing the holes with cloth or wax prevents the poison lises drop behind them.
gas from penetrating through when the pedestal is dis·
turbed (see below). 4D. GLADIATORIAL P IT
Pedestal. The pedestal is a 4-foot-high stone cylinder This pit is 20 feet deep, and its bars are spaced 2 feet
that is impervious to damage and spells. Close inspec- apart. A Medium or smaller creature can easily slip be-
tion reveals a stone hatch in the top of it. Any physical tween the bars, but the walls of the pit are too smooth to
attempt to force open the hatch releases a cloud of gas climb without the aid of climbing gear or magic.
through the holes in the wall relief. The gas fills a 15- Six-foot-high archways stand opposite one another
foot cube directly in front of the mural. Creatures in the at the bottom of the pit, the floor of which is one large
area must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, pressure plate. Applying 50 pounds or more to the floor
taking 14 (4d6) poison damage on a failed saving throw, causes the portcullises in area 4C to rise with a loud
or half as much damage on a successful one. The gas af. clatter, whereupon the clay gladiators emerge from their
fects a creature even if it holds its breath or doesn't need cells and quickly make their way to the pit.
to breathe. The gas doesn't linger.
5. GREAT RIFT
Puzzle Cube. To obtain Shagambi's puzzle cube, the
characters must obtain the four bronze spears from
tained. When all four spears are placed in the hands of I ]
the monsters in area 4C and place the weapons in the
Tumbledown ruins cling to the lip of a rift overlooking a
hands of the four warrior statues. Only by defeating the
lake of bubbling lava.
monsters in the gladiatorial pit can the spears be ob-
the statues, read:
A creature that falls from the top of the cliff into the Java
takes 70 (20d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall and
I ] starts its turn in the lava lakes the fire damage again.
55 (lOdlO) fire damage from the Java. A creature that
The pedestal begins to turn on the spot, and an ornate
stone cube corkscrews up from a hatch in its top.

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