Page 176 - Tomb of Annihilation

its crushed shell. Once the mouth has been fed, it disap- The murals on the walls tell the story of Ch'gakare (pro-
pears and the door into area 26 swings open. The door nounced chuh-GAH-kah-ree), a Chultan warrior who
locks and the spell resets if the door is closed again. stole his king's prized steed: a mastodon named Ghom.
If a character tosses anything into the mouth that As punishment, the king's sorcerers banished Ch'gakare
isn't a phosphorescent crab, the mouth spits it out. If and Ghom to the Nine Hells, but the two fought their
the character is within 10 feet of the door when this way back home. On his return, Ch'gakare chopped off
happens, the door wraps its tongue around the charac- the king's head and turned his skull into a jeweled chal-
ter and swallows the character whole. No attack roll or ice. Any character who studies the murals and succeeds
saving throw is required. A character "devoured" in this on a DC 15 lntelHgeoce (History) check recognizes the
manner is teleported to area 57. legend and can recount it. The murals show Ch'gakare
and Ghom fighting spined devils, bearded devils, barbed
D IVING CAGE devils, horned devils, and erinyes.
A rusty iron gate on the side of the cage provides ingress
for two Medium or smaller creatures. The cage radiates ADVICE FROM T HE S PIRITS
transmutation magic to a detect magic spell or similar Any characters inhabited by the spirits of I'jin, Obo'laka,
effect, and bestows the effect of a water breathing spell or Shagambi receive advice when entering this area:
on any creatures within it. The stout bars grant half
• Unpredictable l'jin wants to ride the golden mastodon!
cover against attacks originating from outside the cage.
• Nervous Obo'laka is afraid of the golden mastodon
Using the winch, a character on the steps can lower
and urges her host to not provoke its anger.
the cage 20 feet to the Jakebed, allowing characters in
• Uthe challenges faced by Ch'gakare and Ghom are re-
the cage to easily harvest 2d6 phosphorescent crabs
counted to her, wise Shagambi concludes that the hall
from the muck.
was constructed to present similar challenges.
The creaking descent of the cage draws the attention
of the aboleth in area 65. If the aboleth's crueler person- G OLDEN MASTODON
ality is dominant, it attempts to enslave any characters When the characters first enter the room, the 10-foot-
in the cage. If it succeeds, it sends them back to the sur- high mastodon statue is facing the entrance. The stat-
face with orders to entice others down into the depths. If ue's lifelike qualities owe to the fact that this is Ghom,
the aboleth's childlike personality is dominant, it swims whose body was preserved in magical iron and covered
over and uses its telepathy to strike up a friendly conver- with a thin layer of hammered gold, and whose tusks
sation with the divers.
have been set with gems (see "Treasure" below).
The inscriptions on the statue are written in Old
R OWBOATS
Omuan. They read as follows:
The two rowboats have the names Predator and Prey
etched into their transoms. A detect magic spell or simi-
lar effect reveals an aura of transmutation magic around Let your bones watch over my treasure, brave Ghom.
each vessel. Each boat can hold up to four Small or As you carried me from the inferno, so shall I rise from
Medium creatures and their gear, and each contains two
death to defend my riches.
oars, an empty wooden bucket, and a 50-foot-long coil of
hempen rope.
Predator. Creatures aboard the Predator have advan- Scratches on the floor beneath the stone cog indicate
tage on at.tack rolls while the boat is in the water. A filled that it can rotate, yet no amount of pressure budges it.
bullseye lantern hangs off the boat's bow. Any search of the top of the statue reveals a star-shaped
Prey. Creatures aboard the Prey have advantage on indentation on the back of its head. Those who have
saving throws while the boat is in the water. seen the gold lever in area 61 recognize the lever's star-
shaped handle as a perfect match. If the lever is claimed
67. HALL OF THE GOLDEN MASTODON and set head-first into the indentation, read:
A character who searches for traps in the tunnel ap-
proaching this room notices a block of stone lodged in
A thunderous trumpeting sound erupts from the mast-
the ceiling with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Percep-
odon's trunk, causing a block of stone to seal off the
tion) check. The block remains there until the room's
trap is activated. room. The cog under the mastodon's feet then begins to
revolve, letting the statue face each of the murals in turn.
A life-size golden statue of a mastodon stands atop a
one-foot-high stone cog at the center of this room. jew- The block of stone fills the space in the hallway indi-
cated on map 5.5. Any creature under the block when
eled tusks sweep from its jowls, and its trunk is raised
it falls must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On
in a roar. Inscriptions coil around the statue's body, and
a success, the creature moves out of the block's way in
murals on the walls show a Chultan warrior riding a living whichever direction it prefers. On a failed save, the crea-
mastodon through a series of hellish landscapes. In each ture takes 55 (lOdlO) bludgeoning damage. If this dam-
scene, a different breed of devil assails them. age reduces the creature's hit points to 0, the creature is
crushed to a pulp; otherwise, it is shoved into the room.

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