Page 118 - Tomb of Annihilation
P. 118

spell reveals an aura of transmutation magic around the
             shield hanging on the wall. The shield bas a minor mag-
             ical property: words spoken by the shield's bearer are
             amplified and sound ten times louder than normal.
               The tortoise-shell shield belongs to Sekelok, and only
             he is allowed to touch it. If a character removes the
             shield from the wall, Ukurlahmu coldly demands that
             it be returned it to its hook, attacking if this instruction
             is ignored.
              5.  FENTHAZAS QUARTERS
             Two type 2 yuan-ti rnalisons stand guard in the corri-
             dor outside this room. Combat in the hallway alerts the
             yuan-ti broodguards in area 6, which arrive in 1 round.
             The room can be described as follows:


               A haze of incense lingers inside the chamber. Faded
               murals decorate the walls, and throw rugs and cushions
               lie scattered on the floor. An engraved chest rests in one
               corner next to a stone urn covered with snake carvings. A
               creature with the head and upper body of a dark-skinned
               woman and the lower body of a serpent coils in  the mid-
               dle of the room.


              Fenthaza, a yuan-ti nightmare speaker (see appendix
              D), lairs here. If an alarm is raised, Fenthaza relies on
              her guards to protect her while she releases the creature
              trapped in the stone urn (see below). Fenthaza tries to
              incapacitate interlopers and confine them to area 8. A
              particularly irksome foe might be shackled to the altar
                                                                6.  SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER
              in area 6, where she can torture it at her leisure.
               One of the more powerful figures in the temple, Fen-  U nJess they are lured to area 5 by sounds of battle, four
              thaza ruled the yuan-ti after their abomination leader   yuan-ti broodguards (see appendix D) stand guard in
              died, and she performed the ritual that transformed Ras   this chamber, one in each corner.
              Nsi into a malison. Recently, her visions have led her to
              doubt Ras Nsi's capabilities. In turn, Ras Nsi has started
                                                                 A bloodstained altar stands in the middle of this room. It
              to cede power to his champion, Sekelok (area 12).
                                                                 has shackles bolted to its top and niches carved into its
              STONE URN                                          sides. Housed in each niche is a human skull. Grooves
              The stone urn stands 4 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds.   run down the altar to gutters on the floor, allowing
              Its stone lid weighs 25 pounds. Trapped within the urn
                                                                 spilled blood to drain into the walls. Clay urns overflow
              is an air elemental that obeys Fenthaza. If the urn's lid
                                                                 with wet bones and gore.
              is removed by someone other than Fenthaza, the ele-
              mental flies out and attacks.
               Fenthaza uses the elemental to hunt down and slay   Fenthaza routinely sacrifices prisoners on the altar. As
              escaped prisoners. Once it has completed its task, the   they die, their blood drains into the pool in area 9. A cap-
              elemental always returns to its mistress.         tured character who insults or otherwise annoys Fenth-
                                                                aza might end up here, shackled to the altar.
              'TREASURE
              Fenthaza carries a ring of keys that unlock the mana-  CHANTING SKULLS
              cles and shackles worn by the prisoners in area 8. She   The altar has six niches (one at each end and two on
              wears a holy symbol of Dendar the Night Serpent (25   each long side). The human skull in each niche radiates
              gp) around her neck.                              an aura of abjuration magic under the scrutiny of a de-
               The chest is unlocked and contains 200 gp, a black   tect magic spell. If combat ensues here, the skulls start
              leather quiver embroidered with a quartz-studded star   to chant in Abyssal. The skulls stop chanting when they
              map (75 gp), and a ceremonial dagger in a gold scab-  are removed from their niches or when combat ends.
              bard embossed with a scene of stampeding jungle ani-  Each skull has AC 9, 1 hit point, and immunity to poi-
              mals (25 gp).                                     son and psychic damage. As long as one or more skulls
                                                                are chanting, all yuan-ti in the room gain the follow-
                                                                ing benefits:

                                                                            C HAPTER-~ I FANE or TH.E  NIGHT SERPENT
                                                                                                                   117
   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123