Page 75 - Tomb of Annihilation

opening is 15 feet in diameter, and the shaft drops 15 rest of the city, Alisanda promised Artus that she would
feet to scummy, black water. The lip and walls of the cis- return to Chult when the city was no longer in peril.
tern are brick-lined. Artus won't endanger the Mezroans by revealing
The water is 40 feet deep and so murky that it's heav- the truth about their city. Although the Ring of Winter
ily obscured. Unless characters have blindsight, they makes him immortal, he has grown impatient in the in-
must feel their way with their hands. About 20 feet tervening years and longs for Alisanda's return. He vis-
below the surface, the bricks have been pulled from its the ruins from time to time to see what, if anything,
one wall to create a hole. Characters searching with has changed. When he's not at the ruins, he's searching
their hands find it with a successful DC 10 Dexterity the jungles ofChult for Orolunga, another ruined city. in
check. A narrow, 10-foot-long tunnel leads from the the hopes of consulting with a prescient guardian naga
hole to a cramped, completely Hooded chamber. In the believed to dwell there.
chamber is a tied sack made from human skin. It con-
tains six onyx gemstones (50 gp each), a spell scroll EXPLORING THE RUINS
of comprehend languages, and ten adamantine ingots The ruins that were left behind form a circle. Four main
(10 gp each) stamped with dwarven runes. These are avenues to the north, south, east, and west meet at a
identical to the ingots found in Hrakhamar (see "Hra- central plaza. The whole ruin has subsided over the cen-
khamar," page 60). turies, so that water from the River Olung Aows over the
If characters miss the hole in the wall as they're ancient wharfs. Crumbling, vine-covered buildings rise
searching down the cistern wall, they find a heap of above the flooded streets thac are now more Like canals
bricks on the bottom of the cistern. Searching upward than roadways. The site is eerily quiet.
from the discarded bricks leads them to the hole au- The ruins have been thoroughly ransacked by the
tomatica Lly. Flaming Fist in the name of Baldur's Gate, and Flaming
Fist patrols still visit the site regularly- partly as train-
PTERAFOLK NEST
ing for new recruits, partly to make sure nothing was
A flock of twenty pterafolk nests in a cave just below the
missed. Neither treasure nor clues remain for the player
southern lip of the plateau. It can be reached by climbing characters to find here.
down the cliff face, but characters who scout the area
carefully and succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) MISTCLIFF
check locate a chute in the rocks 70 feet back from the
The Mistcliff is a 1,000-foot-high wall of volcanic rock
cliff. This chimney is wide enough for a Small creature,
that stretches for 200 miles along Chult's west coast.
or for a Medium creature who's wearing nothing heavier
There is no beach whatsoever, just immense, jagged
than light armor, to squeeze through. After worming
rocks and plunging, crashing waves. If that isn't enough
down 30 feet, it drops into the back of the pterafolk cave,
to keep most people away, the cliffs are home to large
which is roughly triangular in floor plan: 30 feet wide at
aarakocra settlements, as well as nests of pteranodons
the mouth, 60 feet deep, and 20 feet high. The pterafolk
and quetzalcoatluses.
are unaware that this back entrance to their cave exists.
The pterafolk keep no watch, believing their cliffside
NAN GALORE
retreat is impregnable. Stealthy characters can enter the
cave unnoticed. At any given time, 2d6 pterafolk (see This great garden (map 2.12) was built to honor Zalkore,
appendix D) are present in the cave. The rest are out a vain Omuan queen. Its builder, Thiru-taya, was
hunting, but they'll return before nightfall. Zalkore's foremost general and consort. In their time,
Treasure. In the back half of the cave are the bodies the garden was called Ka-Nanji, the Hanging Garden
of two partially eaten explorers. A discarded backpack of Dreams. Ka-Nanji was a palatial retreat from the in-
near them contains 6 gp in a pouch, a silvered dagger, trigues and pressures of Omu, and the beautiful, tiered
and a potion of greater healing. garden was praised as a worthy tribute to the queen.
Unceasing flattery festered with poisonous vanity in
MEZRO Zalkore's mind until she bargained with an erinyes to
retain her youth and beauty forever. The erinyes ful-
Nothing about this Chultan city is what it seems. By all
filled the deal by transforming the queen into a medusa.
accounts, Mezro was destroyed by the Spellplague, and
When knowledge of her evil bargain spread through the
its ruins indicate as much. In truth, the city's immortal
realm, the army forced Zalkore to abdicate and exiled
defenders- the barae-used their god-given magic to
her to Ka-Nanji, which became known ever after as Nan-
transport the entire city to a paradise (a magically con-
galore, the Garden of Lost Dreams.
structed demiplane, far from prying eyes). Empty ruins
Believing that Thiru-taya was among the generals who
were left behind to create the impression that Mezro had
exiled her, Zalkore defaced all the statues and portraits
been destroyed. It is not known if and when the Mez-
of him in Nangalore. She learned he had stayed true to
roans and their city will return.
her all his file, through decades of imprisonment and
One of the barae, a human paladin named Alisanda,
disgrace in Omu, only when his ashes were brought to
is wed to Artus Cimber. The two fell in love more than
the garden for interment, as was his dying wish. Zalkore
a century ago, after Artus helped defend Mezro against
cultivates hallucinogenic plants in the garden, because
the evil warlord Ras Nsi and his undead horde. Before
only in their narcotic, lotus dreams can she conjure up
she allowed herself to be spirited away along with the
the face of her dead love.
CHAPTER 2 I THE LAND OF CH ULT