Page 6 - Tomb of Annihilation

INTRODUCTION

OMETHING EVIL IS TRAPPING THE SOULS That was not the end of Ras Nsi, however. Bitter over
of the dead and draining life from all who his loss of power, he forged an alliance with the yuan-ti
have been raised from death by magic. This lurking in the ruins of Omu and underwent a ritual
worldwide "death curse" not only prevents of transformation, becoming a yuan-ti malison. As a
the raising of the dead but also causes yuan-ti, Ras Nsi imposed his terrible will on the evil
creatures that were previously raised from snake people and became their leader.
the dead to wither and die. The source of Beneath the cracked and broken streets of Omu lies
this death curse lies in a trap-riddled tomb a secret yuan-ti temple called the Fane of the Night
hidden beneath a lost city in the depths of a vast jungle. Serpent, where Ras Nsi holds sway and plots to bring
Tomb of Annihilation is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS about the end of the world. Omu is also home to the
adventure that takes place on the peninsula of Chult in Tomb of the Nine Gods. As the characters explore
the Forgotten Realms. Chult is a tropical wilderness this multilevel dungeon, they encounter the spirits of
composed mostly of jungles, plateaus, impassable Omu's trickster gods and are potentially inhabited by
mountains, and belching volcanoes. You can substitute them. Each god embodies a different alignment, and
a different jungle setting, changing location names as any character inhabited by one gains a special power as
needed. Alternative D&D settings include the Amedio well as a fiaw. The nine trickster gods don't get along,
Jungle of Oerth, the Savage Coast of Mystara, the and they try to push one another out of the characters'
jungles of Xen'drik on Eberron, or a comparable setting bodies. As the gods fight over their living hosts,
on your home campaign world. the characters must deal with the deadly traps and
This adventure is designed to begin with a party of monsters that guard the Soulmonger. Venturing deeper
four to six 1st-level characters, who should advance to into the tomb, they uncover clues about the dungeon's
11th level or higher by the adventure's conclusion. evil architect- the archlich Acererak-and learn that the
Soulmonger is feeding souls to an undead horror called
STORY OVERVIEW an atropal. Once it consumes enough souls, the atropal
will transform into an evil god.
The characters are drawn into the story by Syndra Sil-
Destroying the Soulmonger ends the death curse
vane, a retired adventurer and merchant who, years ago,
affecting the world, while killing the atropal incurs the
was raised from the dead. Now, she's withering away.
wrath of Acererak. Under normal circumstances, the
When she consulted priests, Syndra learned that the
enraged archlich would be far too great a foe for mortal
affliction was widespread and that no spell could cure it. adventurers to overcome, but with the trickster gods of
She spoke to her friends among the Harpers, who deter- Omu on their side, the heroes have a fighting chance.
mined the source of the affliction: an ungodly necroman-
tic device called the Soulmonger. The Harpers received
their intelligence from a lich, but they don't know much RUNNING THE ADVENTURE
about the Soulmonger other than its name and general To run this adventure, you need the D&D fifth edition
whereabouts. Adventurers willing to help Syndra must core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's
travel to Chult, a land of jungles and monsters, to find Guide, and Monster Manual).
the Soul monger and destroy it.
Unknown to Syndra and her allies, the Soulmonger
Text that appears in a box like this is meant to be read
is trapping the souls of the dead and depriving liches
of the means to trap souls in their phylacteries. (The aloud or paraphrased for the players when their charac·
Soulmonger snatches up the souls before they can be ters iirst arrive at a location or under a specific circum-
trapped elsewhere.) Szass Tam, the most powerful lich stance, as described in the text.
among the Red Wizards of Thay, has sent operatives to
Chult to steal the Soulmonger or, failing that, destroy it.
Leading the Thayan expedition is Szass Tam's devoted The Monster Manual and Volo's Guide to Monsters con-
lieutenant, Valindra Shadowmantle. Valindra has been tain stat blocks for most of the creatures found in this
warned that adventurers might cross her path, so she's adventure. You don't need the latter reference to run
prepared for them. Tomb of Annihilation, as all the necessary stat blocks
Also lurking in the heart of Chult is Ras Nsi, a from Volo's Guide to Monsters are included with the new
mythic, villainous figure among Chultans. Ras Nsi monsters in appendix D.
was a human paladin and a sworn protector of the city When a creature's name appears in bold type, that's
of Mezro. He betrayed bis oaths and was banished. a visual cue pointing you to its stat block in the Monster
Rather than redeem himself, he raised an undead army Manual. If a stat block appears in appendix D. the adven-
to conquer Mezro. The would-be tyrant was defeated ture's text tells you so.
and banished once more. Mezro was later destroyed Spells and equipment mentioned in the adventure are
by the Spellplague (or so it seemed), during which Ras described in the Player's Handbook. Magic items are
Nsi lost his power to create and command nndead. He described in the Dungeon Master's Guide, unless the
withdrew to the city of Omu, leaving the vestiges of his adventure's text directs you to an item's description in
undead army to roam unchecked throughout the jungle. appendix C.

INTRODUCTION
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