Page 143 - Tomb of Annihilation

The gnashing heads belong to three zombies that are BRONZE SHIELD
chained to a pulley bolted to the ceiling on the south The bronze shield hangs from the wall on leather straps.
side of the door. The pulley is set up in such a way that It radiates conjuration magic to a detect magic spell or
when all three zombies move away from the door, they similar effect.
heave it open. The zombies won't move while fresh If the chariot, the sarcophagus, or the treasure is
meat tempts them from the balcony, but if they are suc- disturbed, or if the shield is removed from the wall, the
cessfully turned, they raise the door as they flee toward hunter embossed on it animates. Each round on initia-
the south. tive count 20, it flings a magical spear of force at the
The door weighs 1,000 pounds. Characters with a nearest character it can see, ignoring any creature that
combined Strength score of 33 or more can lift the door. has bowed before the faceless bronze statue. The hunter
The zombies attack any creatures they can reach. With- can't see any creature behind the front-facing side of the
ers and his tomb dwarves replace destroyed zombies
shield. When it hurls a spear at a creature, the hunter
within 24 hours.
makes a ranged spell attack (+10 to hit) and deals 18
(4d8) force damage on a hit. A target reduced to 0 hit
1
22. PAPAZOTL S TOMB
points by this attack is disintegrated and turns to dust.
To stop the shield's hunter from attacking, a character
must blind it by draping something opaque over the
Six glass cauldrons brimming with humanoid bones line
shield (such as a sack or cloak) or turning the shield to
the walls of this tomb, at the center of which stands an
face a wall. The shield can also be destroyed; it has AC
ancient chariot bearing a bronze sarcophagus with trea- 15, 10 hit points, and is immune to all damage except
sure strewn atop it. Paintings on the chariot's body show force damage. If taken from the room, the shield van-
ishes and reappears on the wall between the statues.
a tall bird with a long, sharp beak. On the south wall, a
bronze shield bears the embossed image of a Chultan SARCOPHAGUS
warrior carrying a spear, below an inscription that reads, The sarcophagus contains the brittle skull and bones of
"Bow before no one." Four bronze statues stand on ped- an eblis (Papazotl's animal form; see appendix D).
estals to either side of the shield. They depict Chultan
TREASURE
warriors: one holding a sword, two with spears, and one
The following treasures are strewn atop the sarcopha-
missing its face.
gus: a gold tore (250 gp), three gold cups (75 gp each),
five gold cloak pins (25 gp each), and an amulet of
health. The amulet turns to dust and is destroyed if it
Papazotl's bones are contained within the sarcophagus,
leaves the Tomb of the Nine Gods (but see "Lost Trea-
but they are well protected (see "Glass Cauldrons" and
sures," page 189).
"Bronze Shield" below).
Papazotl's Spirit. The spirit of Papazotl tries to in-
habit any character who touches the amulet of health
ADVICE FROM THE SPIRITS
(see "Spirits of the Nine Trickster Gods," page 129).
Any characters inhabited by the spirits of Nangnang or
When Papazotl's spirit manifests, read:
Obo'laka receive advice when entering this area:
• Greedy Nangnang encourages her host to grab some Strange shadows shift across the walls, forming the out-
who, even in death, might seek to protect him. I
of the treasure from the chariot.
• Nervous Obo'laka warns its host that the cauldrons line of a long-legged bird. Its beak stabs at you as a voice
contain the bones of Papazotl's most zealous devotees
echoes through your mind: "You will do as I command!"
GLASS CAULDRONS If the spirit successfully inhabits the character, give the
Disturbing the chariot, the sarcophagus, or the treasure player Papazotl's card (see appendix F). If the attempt
lying atop it causes twelve skeletons to crawl out of the fails, the spirit returns to the amulet and waits for an-
glass cauldrons (two per cauldron). All the skeletons act other character to touch it.
on the same initiative count. A cauldron disgorges one
additional skeleton at the start of the skeletons' turn 23. BOTTLED GENIE
each round until the cauldron is destroyed or the tomb
is cleared of interlopers. When no enemies remain, any
remaining skeletons return to the cauldrons. Ancient cobwebs fill this narrow corridor, whose mid-
Destroying the cauldrons stops the flow of skeletons, point features an arched alcove. Within the alcove, a
as does bowing before the faceless statue ("Bow before I
dusty bottle stands on a table.
no one"). Each cauldron is a Large object with AC 15,
22 hit points, vulnerability to bludgeoning and thunder
damage, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The bottle is stoppered and contains a dao named
A detect magic spell or similar effect reveals an aura of Keshma al-Wazir, who was trapped centuries ago by
conjuration around the cauldrons. An empty cauldron Acererak. Anyone examining the bottle spots the genie
weighs 500 pounds. waving from within and hears her muffled voice calling
out. Keshma speaks Terran only. At first, she orders the

CHAPTER 5 j TOMB OF THE NIN.E GODS