We return to Port (again), make new allies and new enemies and the adventure officially begins.

When last we left our heroes, they went on a fake expedition to fool some NPCs that they will probably just kill anyway. They ended up in a forgotten Chultan Shrine that gave them a ton of clues (but few answers) about a dozen mysteries that the group has been exploring: What is important about the ancient city of Mezro? How was it destroyed? Where is the lost city of Omu? Who is Artus Cimber? Why do a roving band of frost giants want him so bad? What is the deal with Ras Nsi? Is he alive? Is he dead? Is he undead? And why is he such an asshole?

Following this Shrine, I want my players to head further into the jungle. Specifically, I want them to find the treasure of Alucius Alphonse, an explorer who died over a hundred years ago and whose footsteps my players have been following since the beginning of the campaign. Then I want them to meet one of the ancient barae, Chosen Paladins of Ubtao, sworn to protect Mezro. Then I want them to “discover” the ruins of that ancient city. But no, my group wants to head straight back home and begin a very long, tedious, and not-important-to-the-main-story side quest dealing with some pirates. My group is still at the Shrine, so let’s roll up some random encounters for the trip back to town. And maybe get them lost. Maybe, say, 100 miles south lost.

This was the session that I became completely sick of random encounters. In the beginning, I loved them. They really made the Land of Chult seem extra is everyway; extra mysterious, extra special, and most important, extra dangerous. But there is one other extra that I didn’t count on: extra long. Random encounters still take just as much time to run as story encounters. Because Chult is so big and the distance between named locations is so vast, usually 4-5 days or more (assuming you don’t get lost), that the campaign has fallen into a rather predictable rut; One or two sessions of actual adventure followed by a “travel” session as we try to get to the next location as quick as possible.

I have tried to make these encounters relevant to the story, and I had expected that the party would spend some time collecting animal specimens, which is the job their patron hired them to do. But my players have had no real interest in that part of the campaign, they’ve only managed to capture a half dozen animals and most of them were by accident. And even when the random encounters don’t involve combat (as these three don’t), they still take time to run, but they don’t make a compelling post to read. So yes, I am combining two sessions in one again for this post.

Up first was the Almiraj, the cute, wittle, bunny wabbit with the unicorn horn. This is also the embodiment of another trickster god, I’jin. For this encounter, it is just sitting on the jungle path munching on a blade of grass. I want my players to try and capture the creature and add it to their menagerie, like they are supposed to do. This would lead to a merry chase where I can show off I’jin’s superior dexterity. But my group wants nothing to do with it and shouts at it until it hops away. Classy.

Next, the group stumbles upon the corpse of a huge frog. Not a Froghemoth mind you, I still haven’t painted that mini yet, just a really big frog, the size of a human. This particular frog has the blade of a sword sticking out of its back, meaning the sword is in the belly of the beast and he was killed from the inside. Dissecting the frog, they uncover the half-digested body of a halfling still holding onto the sword. This is my favorite of the Dead Explorers encounter table. I made the short sword magical (+1), and finally the ranger accepted a magical item. Thus far, he has given away every other item that was intended to go to him. They also discover some gold (38!), a large gold nugget, and a slimy set of thieves’ tools.

The last encounter (which was actually the first played) is a reworking of an encounter from the Port Nyanzaru side quest list. I just need a plausible NPC to be wandering out here in the jungle. Fortunately, I have just the guy that I set up back in Session 14. “As you make your way through the thick jungle, you hear the unmistakable sound of another creature crashing through the foliage, heading your way and making no effort to be stealthy. What do you do?” Obviously, they draw their weapons. “Instead of a monstrous beast, a pudgy man wearing torn and frayed noble attire staggers out of the jungle. His eyes appear glazed over. Falling into your arms, he says in a monotone voice, “Speak to the guardian of Orolunga, east of Mbala. She knows of that which you seek.” His head slumps, but moments later he looks back at you with clear eyes and screams, “Ahgh! Don’t kill me! Who are you? I don’t have any money!”

My players promised not to kill him and asked him who he is. The strange, dishevled noble recountes, “I was on an expedition to Mezro when we were ambushed by snakemen. My brave guides told me to run and sacrificed their lives to save me. I don’t remember anything after that. Where am I?” It suddenly dawned on my players who this guy was. I love it when a seed I dropped three months ago blossoms into a beautiful flower of recognition and remembrance. My players all cried out in unison.

“I know who you are! Your guides were Faroul and Gondolo. You gave them a map. Your name is Sheron…, Theron…, something Silverhammer.”

“Theron was my great-great-grandfather. I am Feron Silvermace. And yes, I was on a quest to retrace my ancestor’s footsteps. But how do you know all this? Are Faroul and Gondolo still alive?”

“Oh, they’re still alive. But when we catch them, they’re gonna wish they were dead. We rescued them from a Yuan-ti temple.”

“Í am overjoyed. I knew that if anyone would be able to save themselves, it would be those two. So, they rescued you from a Yuan-ti temple?”

“NO! We rescued them! What is it with these two?” I love being able to keep rubbing the group’s arch-nemesis in their faces. “But forget those two. What did you say to us when you first saw us?”

“Umh, don’t kill me?”

“No. Before that.”

“I didn’t say anything before that.”

“Yeah, you did. Something about Orolunga and somewhere else.”

“I don’t remember any of that. I am on a quest to reach Mezro. Is that what I said? I used to have a map but I lost it.”

When I first mentioned this guy way back when, I had no idea how he would play out in the adventure. At the time, he was just an excuse to hand my players the above map which is only meant to be an easter egg to the original Ring of Winter novel and not the spark of any new quest line. I knew at some point, he would re-enter the story, but I left it open as to how. Maybe captured by grungs, or searching around Mezro, or maybe he’s a zombie, another victim of the jungle and Ras Nsi. But this way, as another lost soul with a strange prophetic vision was perfect. My group really gravitated to this guy. Maybe I could use him even further.

We talked about the map, his ancestor (who knew Artus Cimber), Chult past and present, and Mezro. The players mentioned that it is on their list to go there. Feron asked if the group would help him find Mezro and take him there. The party said yes, but that they must go to Port Nyanzaru first. Feron could not agree to this. “Oh no. Civilization is noisy and stifling, not like this serene jungle. I wish never to set foot in a city again.” Despite their obvious love of this NPC, the group’s response was shockingly blunt: “Okay, bye.”

I tried to prevail on the PC’s charity and the NPC’s patheticness. “Uhm, okay. Would you happen to have any food? I’ve eaten nothing but grass and grubs for a month.” Here have some rations. “Oh, thank you. Good day to you, sir. Uhm, do you have any weapons. I just got this rock.” Sure, we got this off some lizardfolk. Here’s a dagger, a sword, and a spear. “Ah yes, a giant toothpick. Well, I’m off then… Uhm, which way is Mezro?” Just head south. “Yes, south. Of course. How silly of me. I guess I’ll be going then. I wish you well on your journey.” He walks away in the opposite direction, The party corrects him. You’re heading north. South is the other way. “Oh, you said south. Yes, of course, you said south. South it is, Cheerio.” Out of excuses, Feron disappeared back into the jungle. The players discussed his chances. “Think he’ll make it?” “Hell, no. He’s a dead man.” Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Moving on. Based on my arbitrary rules of travel, the party was due to arrive back at Port on Saturday, or Wongsiku in Chult. But I want them to arrive on Sunday (Ubsiku) for reasons. Since they have a stegosaurus (they named it Stu), I tell them it is too heavy for the ferry. They have to waste a day travelling up river to the nearest ford. This will put the players back in town just as the latest Dino Race is running by and I decree that after 10 months of adventure, right now is the time to begin the actual adventure. Finally.

“As your party enters Port once more through the Tiryki Gate, you come upon a throng of people along the sides of the empty boulevard. The cheering crowd, along with the waving banners, blaring trumpets and thunderous roar of approaching hooves, tell you that another dinosaur race is about pass by. From around a bend, the galloping horde of dinos charges into the square. Suddenly, a half dozen men, hardened warriors in full armor materialize right in the middle of the square, directly in front of the rampaging beasts. With them, wearing expensive flowing robes, is an elegant lady reading from a scroll. She too is about to be crushed. What do you do?”

Thames casts vortex warp on the lady and teleports her to his location. Gwen yells to the other men to jump out of the way. Roland casts speak with animals and attempts to halt the dinos in their tracks. Martic runs into the square and attempts to knock one of the men out of the way. Okay, Gwen, give me a Persuasion check to be heard over the crowd, DC20. You rolled a 15? No sorry, you fail. Roland, give me an Animal Handling check to get the dinos to stop. 13? Fail. Martic, give me an Athletics check to push through the crowd and get there in time. 6? You really fail. Okay, you can’t get to him in time and now you are in the path of the dinos. Give me a Dexterity save to dodge out of the way. 18? Oh, thank heavens, you pass.

“Martic, after stumbling into the path of the charging dinos, you are barely able to roll out of the way and avoid being crushed yourself. Gwen and Roland neither the men nor dinos hear your pleas. The massive surge of dinosaurs plow into the oblivious soldiers, mowing them down and killing them instantly, their mangled bodies lying in the street. The crowd gasps in horror at the carnage. The town guard quickly moves in to deal with the chaos. At least Thames’ spell succeeded and the noble woman says to her savior, “Thank you for saving my life. My name is Syndra Silvane. I must ask that you take me to Wakanga O’Tamu right away.”

From the beginning, this is how I planned to introduce Syndra Silvane to the campaign. It solves most of my issues with the adventure start as written. It removes the railroading and hand waving that the original opening forces the players to deal with. In my game, my players have earned the right to be here in Chult, they weren’t just zapped here by magic. My way also allows the players to be at least a little experienced (in life and with the jungle) before being tasked to save the world. But most importantly, it removes the age-old question, “Why is a group of first-level nobodies hired for the job in the first place?” This way, they weren’t. A much better group was hired. But when they failed spectacularly, our heroes were the next best (and only) option.

Some things could have gone wrong. The players might do nothing to help. Syndra could have died. A player could have died. They could have saved everyone. But I was fairly certain that the group would at least try to save the damsel in distress. For once, I was glad that they had that overpowered vortex spell in their bag of tricks. I figured that the very hard (but never impossible) DC score would keep them from saving the lot. Even if they managed to save one or two, I had contingencies. They might have saved a life, but the soldier’s leg would be shattered, ending his career. Or it could have been the weakest member of the group who might then join our group as a hireling, like Grum. At the time, there was a chance that my other son might join the group. He could have been the lucky one they rescued. He didn’t, but there are always options. As it is, our heroes saved the right person and take her to Wakanga to find out what’s going on.

Conveniently but not coincidently, my group has been working for Wakanga for some time and they take Syndra to his abode. Once there, I start the adventure proper and Syndra explains what she knows about the Death Curse. It is not much more than what the players already know, but she confirms the soul-sucking, resurrection-dwindling nature of the Curse and she states that her research has targeted Chult as the source of the danger. Then she prevails upon our heroes to take the place of the Society of Stalwart Adventures that she had hired for the job but had just met their grisly demise.

Two players are immediately on board, no questions asked. The other two are on board, but they wanna play “What will you give me for all my hard effort?” I’m always bored when players act transactional and I don’t know why. I guess I just hate haggling in real life and I am naturally cynical so I always feel that the players are holding the adventure hostage while trying extort more fake fantasy money and magic items out of the DM who just wants to run the adventure. I hate haggling! It doesn’t help that the book is unclear about what Syndra can offer recalcitrant players. I probably threw some gold and healing potions at them just to move on.

Zindar tells the group “In four days will be Princemeet, one of the four days of the year when every Merchant Prince gathers to make policy for the next three months. You will be invited to talk about the Pirate threat, but I warn against speaking about the Death Curse. The pirates affect trade, all the Princes will want to stop that, but we must be cautious about the Death Curse until we know just who is on our side and we don’t want to start a panic. Thanks to you, the Yuan-ti plague was stopped and many Princes consider that crisis over and will ignore our cries of another catastrophe. But until then, enjoy a few days rest. You’ve earned it.”

The only problem with my start to the adventure is that we are behind schedule. The book begins with the Death Curse having begun 20 days before the start of the adventure. I intended to start my Death Curse during our second expedition into the jungle (presumably the one traveling to Mezro). But I had not expected to spend over six months of real time just getting through the first trek (where they got TPK’ed by the Yuan-ti), so I moved up the time table. But then they got sidetracked by the Flaming Fist and these Pirates, so in our game, it is now Day 40 of the Death Curse. More than half of the victims I added to the game (including the first victim they found, Gatura, and the Tabaxi thief they rescued from the Yuan-ti temple, Houndspurr) have already died, as well as three more of Thames’ old army buddies. Thames is not doing well. These visions of his comrades’ deaths have haunted his soul. This has been great for thematic flavor but hasn’t spurred them on to actually do something about it. Maybe Syndra can motivate them along.

One thing they were very motivated to do is annoy Ras Nsi. They had two sending stones connected to him and they spent the downtime writing messages meant to antagonize him, which is why I gave them to the players in the first place. I kicked things off with another dire warning that gives a peek into Ras Nsi’s motivations. The now recognizable voice of Ras Nsi rises out of a stone, “Stop now. I have sworn to protect Mezro with my life. Your actions will ruin that. Leave Chult and enjoy what little life you have.” Roland grabbed the new stone and replied, “What? You gonna have to clarify. Do you want us to stop killing undead? You’re very unclear. By the way, new stone. Who dis?”

The voise replied, “Stop playing stupid, you know this is Ras Nsi. I do not explain myself to the hired help. Leave Chult now or face my wrath.” Gwen quickly grabbed the reply stone. “Ras Nsi Wafu is it? (Proving to him that we have learned his full name.) You who brought about the fall of Mezro and its people? (Proving they don’t know as much as they think.) The curse you’ve laid upon this land is unforgiveable.” I had to wait til tomorrow for the response, “You know nothing. My deeds are honorable and my hands are clean. My soul is prepared. How’s yours, Gwen? Or Roland’s? Or Bucketboy’s?” (Proving that Ras Nsi is delusional, yet still one step ahead of our heroes.) I really need to arrange an in-person encounter with this villain. Soon.

When we weren’t pissing off the bad guy, we ran through a bunch of quick scenes to either gain a new side quest or set up a future encounter. From the book’s Side Quest list, the group met Lerek Dashlynd of the Lord’s Alliance. He tracked the group down to their ziggurat-warehouse-zoo and proposed that if the group would provide him with a map showing the locations of Nangalore and Orolunga (to remind them of the place that Feron Silvermace told them about yesterday) then he could give them possession of their own sailing ship. At the very start of our adventure, the group saved a sailor, Carlos, when their boat was shipwrecked and they have been very keen on finding him another vessel to crew. The players immediately said yes to the opportunity for their own ship and marked “Find these Places” on their To Do List.

Then on the docks, they saw the still smoldering ruins of a ship, half sunk in the harbor. They learned that a group of red robed wizards had just arrived in Chult, but when they failed to get through customs, they blasted their way out of Port Nyanzaru and into the jungle. Thames was very interested in tracking them down, since these wizards of Thay murdered his family. Now I can finally justify having some encounters with these guys.

I had really wanted the group to hire a new guide for the next expedition. Their druid guide had refused to enter town and his contract was almost up. If they had gone to the guides’ hangout, they would have discovered Faroul and Gondolo hawking their services, still taking credit for all the heroic deeds that the players have done. This would have led to a merry chase around the bustling streets and alleys of Port Nyanzaru. The chase could end with their nemesis escaping the player’s wrath once more or maybe they get caught and beg for their lives by trading the treasure map they own. I have not yet run a chase encounter in this campaign and I was looking forward to it. Alas, they never went near the guides, so I’ll have to find some other way to get these jerks back into the action.

They did take an interest in one NPC; Xandala. She is a haughty high-elf in noble dress who approached the party because they have earned a reputation as an honorable group who gets thing done. She is looking for her father, Artus Cimber, who vanished one day from their home in Cormyr. She has finally tracked him here to Chult only to learn that he disappeared into the jungle alongside a lizard-man who smells funny. She wants to hire the group to find him and bring him back to Port safely so they can be reunited. The book doesn’t list an offer, but my Xandala offers 500 gold now, and another 500 upon his return. When asked how the party will recognize him, she gives them a locket, but makes them promise not to lose it, since it is the only thing she has to remember her father.

My players finally have a name for the man that the giants are hunting. They do not tell Xandala about this danger. They didn’t want to concern her further. Of course they shouldn’t have worried, her story is a scam. She is not related to him and all she really wants is the Ring of Winter that Artus is carrying. As do the giants. And maybe Thames. I must have done a good job lying to my group about her. None of them asked for a Perception check to detect for deception. Or maybe they’re just good kids, and played along. Our heroes asked Xandala where in Cormyr they lived and I deliberately paused when I named its capital, “Uhm, Suzail.” I wanted them to be suspicious, but I think they just thought that I, the DM, took a moment to remember this trivial detail.

One last thing about Xandala, I deliberately ignored the detail about her draconic warlock heritage and her obvious scaly skin. I want my players to semi-trust her, and giving her scaly skin will absolutely convince the players that she is a Pureblood Yuan-ti in disguise, and I don’t want that. She also has a pseudodragon companion named Summerwise, which the book claims can be turned against his mistress. But how? I feel that WotC forgot how pseudodragons work. He can’t speak and has limited telepathy to merely evoke simple ideas and emotions. I’ll discuss some ways to play this creature later, but for now, since he has not yet determined if the party is good and worthy, he keeps his thoughts to himself.

On to the main event. I’ve wanted to have a major encounter with the Merchant Princes for a while now. The book devotes five full pages to them, including distinct trivial details and a full layout of a prince’s villa, but gives no real way to utilize them and their political machinations and personal intertwining. For instance, I was months into the campaign and had created my own Ytepka Society roster before I realized that Zhanthi is a member. Also, her son is Shago, the gladiator that Roland has a fanboy crush on, lives at Fort Belaurian and is a spy for Baldur’s Gate. I’ll have to incorporate all this into the game somehow.

As usual, I made a chart to keep all these guys in orders. Five pages of details is great, but I can never find what I need quickly. I find it very interesting that the political structure of the Merchant Princes is nearly identical to the one for the lost city of Mezro. See Session 24. Except that the Mezro leaders are (mostly) all good, while the Princes are split; three good, three evil, and one neutral. Eerily similar to another political system that I can’t quite remember. Merica! Anywho, my chart is pretty simple: Name, Alignment, merchant domain, and any special notes. I thought it dull that the three “evil” princes are all Neutral Evil, so I modified some alignments. The (YS) is me adding Wankanga to the Ytepka Society. Also note, that the “official” Yuan-ti spy is the Beast Merchant, Ifan, but my group will soon be convinced it is Kwayothe. I still don’t know which way that will play out.

As I said, the book the vague about how to utilize all these guys. My group has managed to pick up Wakanga as a patron, and they’ve had brief encounters with Ekene-Afa at the Coliseum and Kwayothe at her villa (she was a bitch even back then), but they haven’t met the others. Coincidentally, my group is in town during Princemeet, a “holiday” I placed on the calendar at the very start of the campaign and had no way of knowing where the players will be at that time. Princemeet is the one day where all the Princes are on hand in the same spot to discuss matters of state in an old Amnian palace and current Capital building called Goldenthrone. Gosh, I hope there isn’t an attempted coup.

The players are ushered into the Goldenthrone throne room and discover a very similar tableau. The seal of Port Nyanzaru and Mezro is on the floor with the red crown in the center surrounded by seven thrones in a semicircle. Prior to the meeting, they had met Prince Zhanthi and learned that she too is an ally. She is seated on the far left along with Wakanga and Ekene-Afa. On the right, sits Jobal (who looks surprisingly similar to Minsc), Jessamine in tight fitting wraps and veils (the monk), and Ifan Talro’a, who looks like Mr. Witch from the Witchlight campaign. My mini situation today was not my best. In the center throne, sits a young lady who seems very stern and cross and is apparently leading today’s meeting. This is Kwayothe, and I may have tried a little too zealously to make her another antagonist in the adventure. Read on.

It started off innocently enough. The details of the pirate trap were laid out. Zindar the harbormaster would create a fake manifest, allow it to be stolen, then when pirates attack the ship, our heroes and a squad of guards will capture the pirate ship and learn the location of their secret base. For their efforts, the party will be paid 2000 gold per captured (and returned) ship plus 500 gold per captured (and not killed) pirate captain. It should take a month to make the preparations, enough time for a “quick” excursion to Mezro and back. Check back with Zindar in 30 days. Cool.

Then it all went downhill when Kwayothe brought up the taboo subject. “Now I want to hear what gossip these heroes have been spreading about this thing people are calling “The Death Curse.” What do you have to say about that?” Here we go. Roland, who has been told not to talk about this, but cannot tell a lie and has no ability to know when to be quiet, told them everything he knows about the Curse. Its lethality, its effect on resurrection, the fact that it steals your soul, and its world-ending crisis. He left nothing out and threw out every name he could remember, including Ras Nsi. Meanwhile, every “good” NPC in the room and every other player at the table did the mother of all face palms.

Kwayothe shot down every one of these “facts” as fake news. She retorted, “Everyone knows that the plague we suffered came from a Yuan-ti lab. It was cured and that is the end of it.” She never mentioned that it was these heroes that cured it. “And this Ras Nsi doesn’t exist. He just a myth.” She adds that these mercenaries are just trying to keep Port Nyanzaru in fear to bilk more money out of them. Then I hit them with a line that I never expected to work. Kwayothe said, “I invoke my right as head of this assembly to speak with one of these rabble rousers alone, without the bolstering of all his “friends”. You, knight (Roland), come with me.” Incredibly, Roland did not object and exited the chamber with Kwayothe to a side room. Thames objected but Roland told him it would be all right. It will not be all right.

As they entered the room, a stunningly beautiful Chultan female is standing at a low table with only one chair. Kwayothe sat in the chair and said “This is Ixis, my assistant. Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite.” Then Kwayothe chuckled to herself. Not getting the joke, Roland stood, waiting to be interrogated. In the real world, Theo and I exited to another room for second and I had him bring a 20-sided die. I told him to roll a Wisdom saving throw. Roland failed and he is now charmed. I treat this charm more like dominate person where Roland can do no harm to Kwayothe or Ixis, who you probably guessed is a succubus. Roland also has to obey their commands and cannot lie to either person.

Roland played it perfectly and answered all Kwayothe’s questions truthfully, including retelling the details about the Death Curse, how they came to Chult, why they came here, and pretty much everything leading up to this very moment. Of course, Kwayothe chose the wrong person to charm, he would have told her all this info anyway. But now I can play that she knows all about the group and she has concluded that they are idiots. She’ll probably still need to kill them later, but that can wait.

Meanwhile, in the main room, I was curious to see who would step up as spokesperson, now that Roland was indisposed. Gwen and Thames did a good job fielding questions while being much less forthcoming with their answers. Martic stood by silently, scanning; watching the room. There are four imposing guards (gladiators) standing in the corners and there is a constant stream of clerks and servants, coming and going, doing clerk and servant stuff. Some of the clerks are talking to some of the guards. Suddenly, one of the clerks throws off his clerk clothes, revealing his glistening scaly skin. “Ras Nsi sends his regards!” as he launches a fireball into the room targeting the “good” side of the Merchant Princes.

The group quickly determined who could survive this initial assault. They correctly guessed that Zhanthi, the eldest, would be killed in the blast. Thames cast his go-to vortex warp and flung her to a corner of the room. I know that vortex warp takes a full action to cast and not a reaction, but the Rule of Cool made an exception. Sadly, Zhanthi wasn’t out of danger as three clerks and three of the four guards revealed themselves to be traitors and attacked, two of them right beside her new position.

Chaos erupted in the Hall of Princes. Everyone seemed to be attacking everyone else. Only one of the guards seemed to be legit and attacked the spellcaster. Three of the Merchant Princes (the “evil” ones naturally) ran for their lives and the Yuan-ti let them go. The Yuan-ti focused their attacks on the “good” ones, Ekene, Wakanga, and Zhanthi. The players moved to protect Zhanthi, but with so many enemies including a 6^th level mage, plus our heroes were missing one member, the battle seemed hopeless. Where the hell was Roland?

When the fighting broke out, Kwayothe ordered Roland to protect her at all costs and he was compelled to obey. They stayed hidden in the room for the entire combat. I felt bad that Theo had to sit this one out, but it was the correct thing story wise. Had the battle gone really badly, I would have had Kwayothe order Roland to move into the main room to cover her escape, but it didn’t come to that.

The party was focused on fighting the guards with their massive damage and even more massive hit points. They were never going to turn the tide of battle this way. But then the wizard used his suggestion ability and ordered the guard to “Kill them!” The players realized that the guards weren’t traitors but instead they were charmed by the Yuan-ti. The group began attacking the snakemen. As each one took damage they had to roll a concentration check. When one failed, the hold on that guard would end and that guard would rejoin the side of the good guys.

Eventually, the guards were all “turned” and three of the Yuan-ti were dead, all killed by the guards. Not one party member got a single kill in the battle. Only the wizard was left. He launched another fireball and did some decent damage, but as soon as the battle was lost, he ran out of the room, cast invisibility and got away. Thames tried to vortex warp him back, but I threw a counterspell at him which was so satisfying to beat that OP spell. Next campaign I run; I’m banning that spell.

During the battle, none of the good Princes were killed and afterwards, the cowardly Princes returned to the room, including Kwayothe and Roland. This is where I made a severe tactical error. Since Kwayothe had learned all that she could out of Roland, I released him from his charm. I should have kept him charmed until the next day. But the encounter was over, all the relevant plans were established, and I just wanted to end the meeting so we can move back into the jungle. I was going to end with a cleric of Savras bursting in with another fugue prophesy. But Thames wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

Thames demanded to know what Kwayothe and Roland were doing in the other room and why they didn’t join the battle. Kwayothe tried to play it off that Roland graciously offered to protect the Prince during the battle. Unfortunately, I had already told Roland that he has no memory of the last ten minutes. When Thames asked Roland to confirm the Prince’s story, the aggravatingly honest paladin said he has no idea what just happened. This incensed Thames, who angrily demanded to know what the Prince did to his friend. Swords were about to be drawn.

This is the second time this issue with authority has occurred in the campaign. Roland got put in the stockade for questioning Lord Breakbone’s leadership at Camp Vengeance in Session 18. I know that players suffer from Main Protagonist Syndrome and feel that since they are the heroes of the story, they should be able to talk to anyone in any manner they please. But I don’t play that game. You can browbeat a lowly merchant or two and maybe even threaten a guard, but you do not disrespect the person in charge, especially in public. If you yell at judge in court, you’ll spend the night in jail for contempt. If you make a fool of an arrogant queen, you be lucky if you get to keep your head. And this Prince is an arrogant, evil, and cruel queen.

Here is where I over-played my hand. Since I am in my home and can be as loud as I want, I stood up and yelled at Thames (the character), “Who do you think you are to accuse me in my own court? I am a Merchant Prince and you are a low-bred outsider. You are not of Chult. It is a mercy that I even allowed this audience in the first place. I will not be spoken to with such insolence by the likes of you. Guards! Take this one away. A night in a cold cell should teach him some manners. As for the rest of you, be gone, before I rescind my offer regarding the pirates. This meeting is adjourned!”

The problem with my little outburst is that the players thought it was directed at Wes, the player, and not his character. I totally got carried away and caught up in the moment, but there was no anger towards my players. It was in character for Kwayothe to act this way, but it just never plays out like you think it will at the table. The fact is, I wouldn’t like it if a player (even in character) raised his voice to me at the table, so I have no justification to do it to them. We are not actors and shouldn’t pretend to be. We are just friends playing a game. Act like that.

After the session, I apologized and everyone remained friends and we continued our adventures together. As for Thames in game, the group managed to get him to back down and spend the night in the pokey. After everyone left Goldenthrone, Zindar spoke with the unarrested heroes, “Well that could have ended better. But at least we can move forward with the pirate plan. As for you guys, I recommend getting back into the jungle before Kwayothe changes her mind and decides to hold the first public execution in a century.”

Next week, we go on a jolly treasure hunt, all while we are hunted by ghouls, ghasts, ghosts, and an angry blue dragon.

As always, an NPC can lose their temper, but the DM should not, and Game On!

All the world’s a stage, so don’t act like an ass – A very humbled and sheepish DM

And don’t forget to check out my Tomb of Annihilation Resources Page, filled with all the stuff I use to make this epic campaign even more epicier: My full Campaign Diary, plus Handouts, Maps, Charts, PDFs, Images, and more to use, abuse, or ignore at your peril.

And written specifically for this adventure, read my Explorer’s Guide to Chult to delve into all the legands, lore, history, religion, and culture that I used to bring even more life to this adventure.