Page 15 - Tomb of Annihilation

0RUNGS Tabaxi hunters can be encountered anywhere in
These predominantly evil frog folk live in villages scat- Chult. Tabaxi minstrels are seldom met outside Port
tered throughout the jungle. They build their primitive Nyanzaru. Appendix D includes statistics for both. Ta-
structures from mud, vines, and wicker, and are more baxi can also be player characters (see Vo/o's Guide to
comfortable in trees than on the ground. They pepper Monsters for tabaxi racial traits).
enemies with poisoned arrows and leap from branch to
branch without leaving any trail. UN DEAD
Not all grungs are evil. A few are willing to help ex- Over a century ago, the warlord Ras Nsi raised an
plorers in exchange for food or treasure. Evil or not, undead army to conquer the city of Mezro. The army
grungs warn away intruders by hanging the bodies of consisted mainly of dead Chultans raised as zombies
and cannibals transformed into ghouls. Ras Nsi and his
slain foes from trees at the edge of their territory.
Some Chultan guides are aware of one grung village legion were defeated and driven back into the jungle.
due south of Port Nyanzaru, just above the headwater Before Ras Nsi could organize another attack, Mezro
of the River Tiryki (pronounced tee-REE-kee). For more planeshifted away, and Ras Nsi was stripped of his god-
information on this village, see "Dungrunglung,'' page given powers. Declaring himself an enemy of the world,
49. Appendix D contains additional information he threw his lot in with the yuan-ti. The remnants of
on grungs. Ras Nsi's undead army spread through the jungle like a
blight, until now they claim hundreds of miles of wilder-
PTERAFOLK ("TERROR FOLK") ness as their hunting ground. To make matters worse,
These malevolent flying reptilian humanoids swoop Acererak filled out their ranks with horrible undead
down on unsuspecting prey, steal what they can, and creatures such as girallon zombies and tyrannosaurus
retreat to their high lairs to gloat over their stolen loot. zombies (see appendix D), mainly to discourage explor-
The suddenness and violence of their raids has earned ers from getting too close to Omu. As the atropal feeds
them the nickname "terror folk" among other races of on the souls of the dead, it grows in power. Eventually,
Chult. They are natural enemies of the aarakocra. See it will become powerful enough to control these raven-
the pterafolk entry in appendix D for full details. ous undead creatures. Until then, the undead hordes of
Chult have no leader.
TABAXI
Tabaxi are feline humanoids, originally native to the WERETIGERS
western continent of Maztica. Some Chultans refer to Chultans infected with weretiger lycanthropy haunt
them as "cat folk" or "leopard people." Groups of tabaxi the jungle in small families or prides. Everyone in Port
wound up in Chult after escaping from slavers. They Nyanzaru has heard this rumor, but not all believe it.
are a cultured people and seidom evil. A few work as Weretiger prides avoid outsiders, including adventur-
guides out of Port Nyanzaru. Others enter the jungle ers, but a few evil weretigers enjoy making a sport of
in small groups to hunt grungs and goblins for their hunting intruders who come to plunder their land. Since
own purposes. weretigers can appear human, they readily pose as
Chultan hunters, guides, rescuers, or explorers to lure
Goos OF CHULT in prey. These evil wcreligers usually worship Malar, the
god of the hunt. Others continue worshiping whatever
A central figure in Chult's history is the greater god Ubtao,
who long protected the land and Chultan civilization. But deities they revered before becoming lycanthropes.
Ubtao grew angry over his worshipers' endless warring
YUAN- TI
and their reliance on him to solve all their problems. More
than a century ago, Ubtao simply abandoned Chu It, and After being driven out of their ancient city (see "His-
his influence hasn't been felt there since that day. When ari,'' page 60), the yuan-ti claimed the ruins of Omu
he left, the Chultans suffered a crippling spiritual blow, as their demesne. Their spies in Port Nyanzaru keep
but eventually the disunited, warring tribes learned to put a wary eye on the merchant princes, would-be trea-
aside their petty conAicts and unite as one people. To this
sure hunters, and adventurers. Characters might also
day, the dinosaurs of Chult are still revered as Ubtao's
encounter yuan-ti purebloods, yuan-ti malisons, and
sacred children by many Chultans, even though Ubtao
yuan-ti abominations searching the jungle for hidden
himself is no longer popular.
settlemcnt:s and lost treasures.
With Ubtao gone, the Chultans turned to other deities,
The yuan-ti of Omu believe that a sealed portal lies
Including ones introduced to them by missionaries from
distant civilizations. Waukeen, a goddess of trade, is re- somewhere under the Peaks of Flame and that opening
vered by Port Nyanzaru's many merchants. Other deities it will enable Dendar the Night Serpent to enter the
with shrines in the city include Gond (god of craft), Savras world. The god Ubtao was supposed to stand against
(god of divination and fate), Sune (goddess oflove and Dendar, but with Ubtao gone from the world, the yuan-ti
beauty), and Tymora (goddess of good fortune). believe nothing can stop the Night Serpent. They have
Besides spreading word of their deities, however, too
dedicated an underground temple to this serpentine de-
many foreign missionaries also exploited the Chultans and
stroyer of worlds, but they are a long way from fulfilling
their land for profit, which led to many conflicts. The tem-
their ultimate goal.
ples and shrines persist, but most of the clergy are now
Additional information about yuan-ti can be found in
Chultans. Foreign clerics who proselytize too energetically
aren't welcomed in Port Nyanzaru. Volo'.s Guide to Monsters, as well as appendix D.
INTRODUCTION