Old friends, new enemies, a reunion no one saw coming, jousting tournaments, tense negotiations, and a heist!

When last we left our heroes, they struggled to solve what I considered to be a simple coded message, the were inducted into the ranks of the secret Ytepka Society, and they were treated to a fortune telling encounter involving some cryptic Nordic Runes. Lots of secrets last week. They are currently on a mission to infiltrate the Flaming Fist outpost at Fort Belaurian posing as explorers trying to mount an expedition. That’s the easy part. Next, they are tasked with snooping around the place looking for evidence that proves the Flaming Fist is colluding with a band of cutthroat pirates. That’s the not so easy part.

I am excited and anxious to run these sessions. Excited because there are a lot of cool things here and a lot of nice payoffs for things I’ve set up earlier. Anxious because there are a ton of details to keep track of and this will likely begin a quest line that will lead them far away from the main storyline. It wouldn’t be so bad if the Death Curse was not activated, but it is, and the pirate subplot is a huge distraction to that. I can’t worry about that right now, so I’ll just focus on managing all the moving parts of Fort Belaurian.

Let’s start with the chain of command for the Flaming Fist. The Fist is the military wing of Baldur’s Gate, a country far to the north that is attempting to profit off this “primitive” land of Chult. As such, it has a similar command structure to our modern-day army, but with its own unique flavor, based around the themes of fire and hands, hence The Flaming Fist. Starting from the lowest, the ranks are: Fist, Gauntlet, Manip (short for manipulation), Flame, Blaze, and Marshal. In modern military ranks, these equate to Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Captain, Major, and General. There seems to be no rank of Lieutenant in the Flaming Fist. In the book, the highest-ranking officer is Blaze Liara Portyr, and she answers to no one here in Chult. This poses a real problem when confronting her or convincing others about her evil deeds. But that is the least of your worries. There are over 100 other NPCs in this location and keeping track of them can be a real chore. Hopefully this will help.

The descriptions for Fort Belaurian are spread out over five pages in the book (6 if you count the unique stat block for Blaze Portyr in the back of the book) so I created the single sheet above just to keep everyone on the same page. You can download a PDF of that One-Sheet here: ToA Fort Belaurian Roster. On the sheet, I list all the locations, who can be found where, plus the chain of command, and I provide names for some the lower ranking officers that the book neglects to mention, such as the three Gauntlets in charge of the three squads of Fist soldiers, and names for several random Fists in case the party interacts with some and asks for their names. Which they will. You’ll notice that I added one additional NPC, Sir Miles Farsight, who actually carries a higher rank than Liara Portyr, but I’ll speak more about him when the party meets him.

We have not had much need for stealth thus far in the adventure, so I really want this Flaming Fist section to be the “Stealth Mission” of the campaign. They have been hired to sneak in to find information, not murder everyone, but players are unpredictable. I need to convince my group that a murder spree would be suicide and morally reprehensible. The boss, Liara Portyr, may be evil but the rest of the Fort is not. Yet despite describing the massive size of the location, and the vast number of people here whom are sincerely friendly, welcoming, and not evil, my group is still thinking, “I bet we could still take it.” How can I steer them away from this path to ruin? With a Big-Ass Map!

Sometimes size does matter. The map I made for Fort Belaurian is 4 feet by 2½ feet. For perspective, that’s almost twice as big as the fold-out map of Chult provided with the adventure book. To make this map, I divided up the map provided in the book into twelve sections using Photoshop, magnified each one up to fit a full sheet of paper and taped them all together. In my Tomb of Annihilation Resources Page, I will provide all twelve sections of this map, so that you don’t have to go through as much work. Just go to the Maps section of that post, and when you go to print them, select “Print to Fit” in your printer options. Enjoy.

Now that I got my B.A.M., I fill it with as many minis as I can cram into it. Just at the entrance, there are a dozen guards at the gate and on perimeter watch, plus a few rugged mercenaries, an armorer who seems a formidable fighter and some adolescent squires who were enthralled by the caged tiger that the party had captured. Yep. If the group decides to go murder hobo, they’re gonna have to kill some kids. Inside the inner fort, there are dozens and dozens of people bustling about. Another dozen soldiers, more mercenaries, a score of tribal warriors, plus merchants, commoners, nobles, priests, guides, farmers, stable hands, bartenders, minstrels, courtesans, and more freaking kids! And that’s before you get to the dozen soldiers patrolling the massive, formidable, well-defended “castle” at the back of the fort. Wisely, my players immediately rethought their plan of taking this place by force.

The session was a blur of conversations. They spoke with the armorer, Korhie Donadrue, broke up a bar fight, haggled with the merchants, and asked about purchasing a charter, to which they were told to check with Blaze Portyr in the Main Bailey. More importantly, they got to meet three more of the terrific jungle guides provided in the adventure, including one that, I swear, Roland has a major crush on.

First, is the druid Qawasha and his vegepygmy companion, Kupalua, but I prefer its nickname, Weed. I tried to play Qawasha like the Lorax, constantly going on about the trees, vanquishing undead, and preserving the natural splendors of Chult; he was a little insufferable. Musharib, the albino dwarf, was just as crazy as the one-armed dwarven guide back at Nyanzaru. I never got this character right, and I did not properly play the unique jungle spin on these dwarves and he came off exactly like his mountain cousin. The last guide was Shago, the gladiator that kicked Roland’s butt during the Trickster Trials back in Session 8. Back then, the group was bummed when they could not hire him for their first expedition, so I expected them to hire Shago on the spot. But while Roland was definitely a star-struck fan boy, the group decided to hire Qawasha, mostly because the group lacks a good spellcaster.

As they made their way toward the Main Bailey, the group was on the lookout for anyone they could ply for some inside information. So, I gave them Benedict. He is the well-meaning but wimpy soldier, like Captain America before the super serum. Technically, he isn’t even a Fist yet, but he’s trying, so he gets stuck with all the menial chores. The party finds him carrying some stuff when some bully soldiers trip him, sending him sprawling into the dirt. Sensing there was an injustice occurring, Roland leapt to the rescue. Roland severely admonished the miscreants, assisted the aggrieved victim, and made a new friend. They made a date for drinks and to learn all about joining the Flaming Fist, like how many guards there are, what shifts they work, and where Liara Portyr keeps all her secret stuff; you know, usual questions.

By the way, the group came up with a plan to pretend that Thames, the dragonborn, doesn’t speak any Common and then maybe someone will slip up and say something incriminating. It didn’t really pan out for them. They got a few salacious rumors but nothing earth shattering. But it was hilarious to watch Martic (who speaks draconic) fake translate every conversation held in the dragonborn’s presence. It was extra funny, because it drove the player Wes nuts that he wasn’t allowed to speak during any of the encounters, and every time he “spoke” in draconic, Martic would intentionally translate the wrong thing. I especially enjoyed this because the players didn’t know it but Liara Portyr speaks draconic and was never fooled for one second.

As the party headed into the main Bailey to speak with Blaze Portyr, a rather dashing and rakish rogue in an elegant red peacoat and a jaunty tri-cornered hat brushed past them going out as they were coming in. The group asked if he looked like a pirate, and I enthusiastically said, “Yes!” I forget which one, but one of the PCs followed the pirate captain. This rogue was Laskilar, who is the most “normal” looking pirate captain, and the one I deemed was allowed to enter the Fort. The player could have followed him all the way to his ship moored at the Belaurian dock and I would have made up some adventure on the fly if needed, but the player gave up the chase and ran back to the rest.

Back inside the Bailey, I laid out the interior map, making sure to note all the guard positions so that my group could make plans for breaking in here later, ’cause this is the Heist Mission! They took note of the large ventilation hole in the ceiling, the balcony on the second floor, and the giant wood-carved statue directly below the hole in the ceiling. This thing is covered in bird poop and dedicated to some guy they didn’t recognize. This is the Grand Duke of Baldur’s Gate, Ulder Ravengard, but he is irrelevant to the adventure, so let’s move on. They also noted the inexplicable dinosaur pen (who would keep dinos inside their home?) in the northeast corner, until they realized that these raptors are probably more alert that the human guards. We’re gonna have to be real careful sneaking around here.

At last, the party was introduced to the queen of this “castle”, Blaze Liara Portyr, which sparked a terrific joke that lasted throughout the entire campaign. When Liara asked for their names, everyone gave their first and last names. When Liara asked Roland for his last name, he replied, “Just Roland.” From this day henceforth, our paladin has been known as “Roland Just Roland”. Now, every time he mentions his name or someone else refers to him, at least one player will quickly add in the “Just Roland” part as soon as the name is said. Followed by heavy sighs and eye rolls from poor Roland’s player, which makes it so much sweeter. Moving on.

Most “leaders” that my group has encountered so far have been insane, incompetent, rude or all three. My group was surprised to find that Blaze Portyr was polite, friendly, and quite competent. She is still evil, but she makes her money off these crazy adventurers, so she’s gonna play nice. Getting straight to business, my group asked about acquiring a charter. A big deal has been made about this silly scrap of paper. It’s been mentioned by several NPCs, the group had to murder a bunch of Flaming Fist soldiers out in the jungle when they didn’t have one, which is how they got their first hireling, Grum, and it is the excuse for this group to go snooping around this place. Given all the decent handouts the book does provide, I am shocked that this isn’t one of them. So, I made one.

Of course, this legal and binding contract is filled with misleading legalese and clearly favors the Flaming Fist during any contract disputes. For example, protean rights give the Flaming Fist the ability to change any part of this charter to best suit their needs and the current tax rate is deliberately unspecified meaning they can charge whatever they want. Even the phrases in Latin do not favor the players, one says, “Don’t be late” and another says, “Let the bearer beware”. I added the 60-day time-limit to the charter, to give players enough time to mount a proper expedition, but also require them the keep paying the Fist’s extortion fees. Here is a clean PDF so you can print your own: ToA Flaming Fist Charter. Also on the ToA Resources Page, I included just the Flaming Fist seal if you want to write your own.

I also made several blank copies, since I expected that they would get the idea to steal some and forge their own charters. But during the subsequent heist they never actually took any, nor did they steal the red ink that Portyr uses to sign the contract. If they ever try to forge one on their own, it will be a pretty high DC to pass inspection.

Of course, Blaze Portyr has some side quest missions to dole out. I gave them the Ghoul Hunter quest and instantly regretted saying “ghoul” because now I gotta paint all my ghoul minis. I should have just said undead. I gave them the Strangers in a Strange Land quest because the group was already curious about this frost giant invasion and that storyline will come to fruition in a few weeks. I did not give them the Shilku Reconnaissance mission because that will take them in the opposite direction of all the other quest lines and I’ve already dumped too many things on their plate. Their list of “Things to Do” is now two pages long.

Throughout the conversation, which was made more tense because nobody was speaking truthfully and everybody had an ulterior motive, the group kept attempting to scope out the area. They memorized the layout of the room, tried to read the papers on her deck (a shipping manifest) and took note of the constant stream of people coming and going; reporting events to the Blaze, giving her papers to sign, asking for new orders, etc. Portyr handled all these distractions in stride and never missed a step. If the party ever got on her bad side, she would make a formidable foe. Meanwhile, Thames was still pretending he couldn’t speak Common, but would make snarky comments in draconic, which, thankfully, Portyr seemed oblivious to.

Finally, the conversation came around to the punchline for a joke that I set up back in Session 4, over six months ago. During that session, the group had a near-miss encounter with some sea hags. During that encounter, our heroes rescued a man who had been shipwrecked and captured by the hags, who had removed both his eyes, blinding him. This mystery man remained unconscious for the remainder of the journey to Port Nyanzaru, and they never learned his name, only that he was from Baldur’s Gate and was travelling on to Fort Belaurian.

When the group inquired about this man, Liara Portyr responded with a mix of shock, admiration, and irritation. “That was you? I don’t think you realize the magnitude of what you’ve done. He is the Marshal for this entire continent, who had travelled here unannounced for a surprise inspection. He is still alive and doing as well as could be expected, though still blinded by what the hags did to him. He has been trying to find his rescuers ever since. And here you are. He will want to see you right away.” Roland immediately exclaimed, “He can see?” Portyr called for the guard who entered immediately, another factor to consider during the heist. “Take these people to see the Marshal right away.” As they left, she whispered to the guard, “Don’t let them out of your sight.” This was overheard by Thames and posed more questions for the group.

The party was led to an upper bedroom, where a man lay on the bed with bandages over his eyes. No doubt this was the same man our heroes had rescued barely 50 (game) days ago, yet it seemed like ages. The guard announced their presence and then stood outside the open door with yet another guard who was posted here, keeping an eye on our heroes (and the marshal) and clearly listening to the conversation. The man sat up in bed with great enthusiasm, “My saviors at last! How good to finally see you. Well, to meet you anyway. My name is Sir Miles Farsight.” My players burst out laughing. Thank you! Good Night!

I’d like to say that we settled right down and got to some serious roleplaying but the visual puns were relentless: “I see what you did there.” “Here’s looking at you, kid.” “I got an eye for detail.” “See you later, alligator.” Keep your eyes peeled for any guards.” “I spy, with my little eye…” “Look, up in the sky, it’s a… oh, never mind.” et cetera. Even today, whenever anyone fails a perception check, someone says, “Miles Farsight would have seen it.” Like Roland Just Roland, this joke has been the gift that keeps on giving.

Once things did calm down, our heroes grew to love this guy even more. They really saw eye to eye socket. Clearly, he is not involved in whatever shady business Portyr is up to. He knows that Portyr has him “under watch” for his own “protection” but he suspects that she just wants to keep him “in the dark.” Literally. If the heroes can find out what is going on, Sir Miles Farsight wants to know about it. The problem which comes up later is that in his current state, Farsight cannot see any proof given to him and Portyr will deny everything. My players have vowed to somehow restore Farsight’s vision. Add it to the To Do list.

Incredibly, at the conclusion of the Pirate subplot, there actually is an item that will solve this problem. I swear that the level of synergy that this single homebrewed NPC created was completely accidental. I didn’t originally intend to shipwreck my players, then the hags were a rolled as a random encounter. I created an unnamed victim just to show off the creepy hag ability to harvest eyes and make magic items out of them. Much later, I named him and made him Portyr’s lame duck boss. This happens gives the players an otherwise unavailable roleplay option for the Flaming Fist storyline, if they can solve Farsight’s problem. At that time, I had not yet read the Pirate section, so I didn’t know that it happens to have the perfect solution to that very problem. D&D kismet at its best.

After this reunion, our heroes were treated like special guests and given a room near Farsight’s, but they weren’t allowed further down the hall toward Portyr’s rooms. They were also invited to dine with the senior officers later that evening. But first, Roland had his date with the beleaguered recruit, Benedict. They met at the tavern to get Benedict drunk and loosen his lips, but they didn’t need it. Benedict can’t keep a secret to save his life. He confirms that there’s something going on with some shady characters, but he’s only ever seen one (that’s Laskilar). Benedict also points out a shifty tej merchant from Port Nyanzaru, named Uzoma, who was currently sitting in a corner of the tavern. He is always here at the Fort and has many secret meetings with the Blaze. (At one point Martic cast Hunter’s Mark on the guy, but this thread never went anywhere.) Oh, and by the way, Portyr doesn’t keep her important stuff in her office; it’ll be in her private rooms.

Roland also learned that Benedict is miserable here. He wanted to join the Fist because it was supposed to be the best paying job around. But when he got shipped of to Chult, the Flaming Fist fronted the cost to send him and now he has to work off the debt with a two-year unpaid internship. And if he ever wants to go back, that’s another two years. He’s awful at fighting, all the soldiers abuse him, and if he keeps screwing up, they’ve threatened to send him out on patrol in the jungle, which is practically a death sentence. He never should have left his farm.

I was making all this up as I went and really laying it on thick, so I wasn’t totally surprised when Roland asked, “Say Benedict, how would you like to come work for us?” Benedict jumped at the offer. By the end of their time here, Roland had paid off Benedict’s contract and he joined the ranks as the party’s new animal wrangler. The best part was watching Roland and Gwen, who acts as the party treasurer, argue whether or not to use 50 gold out of the party gold to pay for this useless NPC. Then, I also got to sit back and watch as the group planned out the heist.

I had expected for Martic to be the primary heister, since he is the ex-thief with all the sneaking abilities, but Thames insisted on doing it and he had the sneak trump card, Invisibility. He wanted to first cast Alter Self to change him into a guard and then cast Invisibility, but they are both concentration spell, so no go. I also made him take off all his clanking, clanging artificer stuff. Then they used the Officer’s Dinner, which I held in the building just outside the Main Bailey, because for some reason, the Bailey has no dining room, as a distraction. While the others engaged Portyr, Farsight, and the Flaming Fist officers in idle chit chat, Thames pretended to be sick. As soon as he left the building, he turns invisible and the heist is on!

Sadly, it wasn’t really much of a heist. Just Thames rolling a bunch of stealth checks whenever a guard got near him. I would occasionally roll a guard’s perception check, but with disadvantage since I consider an invisible Thames to be “heavily obscured”. Some tense moments came while waiting for someone to one the front door so Thames could sneak in before it closed, then the dinos in the paddock reacted to the new smell but it ultimately did not tip off the guards, and of course, the stairs to the second floor creaked loudly. Once on the second floor, Thames had to keep sneaking in and out of rooms to avoid the patrolling guards. I was bummed that Thames made every single roll, but mostly I was bummed that they never used the ceiling skylight, rickey balcony, or the poop covered and unsecured statue for the heist. Rats.

Eventually, Thames made it to Portyr’s bedroom, quickly searched the place and found the locked strongbox hidden under the bed. This could have been the end of the heist. Thames is not a thief and he can’t cast knock without turning visible and alerting all the guards. You were supposed to send the thief on the stealth missions, not the giant, lumbering, and unskilled dragonborn. But Thames owns a set of thieves’ tools for some reason and he asks to give it a try. Okay, sure, you can always try, but you’re gonna have to roll a… (rolls before I finish my sentence) “Nat 20!” And the crowd goes wild. Okay, fine. Whatever. You open the box.

Inside the box, Thames finds the 220 gold (a surprisingly small amount for a crime boss), and the sending stone she uses to contact the pirates. This adventure has far too many uses of the spell sending, and we seriously abused this even further. I also added some “smoking gun” evidence, including shipping manifests stolen from Port Nyanzaru and even a contract between Portyr and the pirates detailing how the Flaming Fist will provide intel on ships leaving Port Nyanzaru in exchange for 25% of the booty and a promise that no ships from Baldur’s Gate will be attacked. This is it. We got her!

Except we can’t use any of it. Yet. Thames is conflicted. We don’t know how many people are in on the scheme and who would defend the evil Blaze Portyr. The only person they trust is blind and cannot see the evidence. Portyr would deny everything, claim it was a forgery, and have our heroes arrested. If we take the evidence back to Port Nyanzaru, Portyr will know that the jig is up and warn the pirates, and we still don’t know where they are hiding. Thames looked to his fellow players for a group decision, and to their credit, they said, “Don’t look at us, we’re not there.”

In an uncharacteristic moment of caution for the party, Thames decided to put everything back where he found it. I had him roll a Perception check to see if he could put everything back exactly. He passed but I never told him that, and his roll was low enough that he was never quite sure if he succeeded. Then he snuck back out and returned to the dinner party. No one seemed suspicious, but you never know. The session technically ended here, but there is one small bit of action that occurred next week that I’ll include here just to keep the Flaming Fist stuff all in one post.

Alone after dinner, the group discussed their tentative plan. They know that Portyr is involved, but they can’t prove it. Other Flaming Fist might be involved, but the one person above her (Farsight) is not. When they get back to Port Nyanzaru, they’ll have the Harbormaster Zindar create a fake manifest for a treasure laden ship and allow it to be stolen. But it’s a trap! Instead, the ship will carry our heroes and the Port Nyanzaru militia. We’ll capture the pirate ship that will be sure to attack us and torture the captain to tell us where the hideout is. Then we’ll raid the hideout, capture all the pirates, make ‘em confess, and then arrest Blaze Portyr. Convictions and executions for all the bad guys and we get hailed as heroes! (Unless Faroul and Gondolo somehow take credit for this too.) The plan is foolproof. Nothing can go wrong with it. Oh, and we gotta get Farsight some new eyeballs, ’cause that’s how anatomy works. It’s foolproof, I tell you. Foolproof.

The night passed uneventfully although yet another victim of the Death Curse was claimed by Acererak. As part of my plan to keep the horror of this Curse on the minds of my players, I made an expanded list of NPCs who are dying from it. When one dies, our heroes receive a nightmare vision of the  NPC’s death similar to the nightmare each hero received the night that the Death Curse started. Tonight’s victim is Tlaloc, a temple guard.

“You are a young man exploring the jungle just outside of town alone. Your name is Tlaloc. Suddenly a snake bites you and the searing pain of poison rips through your body as you die. Then an angel appears before you, but this angel is a vibrant hued rainbow snake with feathered wings flying above you. She cradles you in her arms, as she magically removes the poison from your veins and brings you back to life. You awake in your bed and wonder if it was just a dream. But this is no dream. You should have died that day and your soul is past due. Tonight. you die in agony again, and there are no angels to save you this time. As the dream fades, you hear the menacing voice once more, “See you soon.””

This is the third nightmare vision our players have received since learning about the Death Curse. This one was memorable because it sets up the presence of couatls that the players will encounter later in the adventure. My group enjoyed the creep factor of these dreams but it never gave them any motivation to hurry up and stop it. At least Thames’s player, Wes, gave me a list of fellow dragonborn soldiers that he once knew whom had died and been resurrected. Sucker. To screw with Thames even more, I had the first of these guys (Private Clint) die tonight as well and gave him a properly grisly death nightmare. Even worse, I killed off the next guy (Private Vernas) the very next day. With all this death weighing on his mind, Wes roleplayed Thames as a miserable wretch for the next few sessions. Thanks, Wes.

As part of yesterday’s exploration of the Fort, I had set up that there would be a medieval jousting tournament to be held today. Naturally, all my players wanted to be involved with that. Wizards of the Coast mentions this tournament with one line in the book, of course, I mention it to my players, so they’re gonna jump at it, but does WotC provide any clue or rules about how to run one? Noooooo. I had to go hunting through the internet trying to find some good but simple rules to run a joust. I found an excellent set of rules on the website Homebrew Homunculus. They were simple, quick and exciting, just what you want a joust to be. You should check out the link above, but I have summarized the joust rules below.

Of course, no jousting tournament is complete with out an announcer, provided by the stable master, Thaeven the Bald. “Lords and Ladies, welcome to the Fourth Annual Maztica Madness Joust! We got a great competition for you today. Who will triumph? Will it be one of our past champions, Gauntlet Wymar or Gauntlet Perrin? Or will someone new mount up to unseat them? Today, we have four special guests competing. First, is the honorable Lord Saxton from Baldur’s Gate. Give it up for your home town! Up next is Martic Ascendor from Daggerford. Now, now don’t boo too much, it’s not his fault he wasn’t born in Baldur’s Gate. Then from the mysterious Far East, is the imposing Thames Dasow. Don’t get too close kids, his breath is worse than his bite. And lastly, we got… Let me check my notes… Let’s hear it for… Roland Just Roland from some… unnamed fishing village. Sorry son, we use lances here, not fishing poles. Let’s joust!

For the individual matches, I first pitted each player against a low-level Fist soldier, so that they could each have an easy victory. Assuming they won, they would square up against each other (one of the few times I allowed PvP) before having to go up against one of the stronger Gauntlet officers. Lord Saxon was a last-minute addition because Gwen chose not to participate in the joust. Instead, she walked among the crowd of nobles making bets and (mostly) taking these chump’s gold. I created a sixteen-man tournament bracket and played out all the NPC-only jousts before the session. Now, I could focus on the just player’s jousts.

Of all the competition encounters I’ve run (trickster trials, dino racing) this one was my favorite. It was simple, stress-free, and just plain fun. All three players defeated their first opponents easily. They moved on with the four senior officers and Lord Saxon. In Round 2, Roland Just Roland faced off with Lord Saxon while Martic and Thames had to battle it out against each other. Martic and Roland won their contests, earning Gwen some more coin. In Round 3, Roland and Martic had to duke it out against the two jousting favorites, Gauntlets Wymar and Perrin. Martic lost his match, which was the only time Gwen lost money. But the crowd was stunned when the lowly fisherman defeated Gauntlet Wymar. Despite his Fell-out-of-a-Palm-Tree appearance, the crowd doen’t realize that Roland is actually a paladin, you know, a Knight.

The Final Round was a knockdown battle between the scrappy underdog Roland Just Roland and the Undefeated two-time champ, Perrin. For this fight, I ruled that it was a fight to the finish. Each hit actually went against their hit point total. If neither jouster could unseat his opponent, eventually one competitor would be knocked unconscious and fall out of the saddle. These two opponents were evenly matched and neither could knock the other out of the saddle. The match went on for 10 rounds, when at long last, Roland delivered a crushing blow to Perrin, dropping the Flaming Fist to zero hit points, whereupon Perrin slumped into his saddle and slid to the ground. Roland Just Roland is victorious!

Roland claimed his prize of 50 gold, far less than the gold earned by Gwen in side bets. But more important than gold is the glory and respect gained from the Flaming Fist, a money-grubbing group of mercenaries whom the heroes might have to erradicate eventually. But for now, Roland Just Roland was congratulated, hailed as champion, and entered into the record books as the longest jousting match in Baldur’s Gate history. But this is no time to sit on our own laurels. Adventure awaits in the primordial Land of Chult! Onward!

Later that day, Sir Miles farsight is there to “see” our adventurers off, as is Blaze Portyr. This new excursion also includes the druid guide Kawasha and his odd little plant buddy, Weed, plus their latest hireling Benedict as the animal wrangler. Immediately, Beneduict is traumatized by the caged tiger, which constantly tries to eat this petrified zookeeper. As the party exited the Fort, Blaze Portyr wished them well and then to the dragonborn, she said in Draconic, “Watch your back in the jungle. I hope you find what you are looking for.” As the entourage rolls out of the Main Gate, Thames and the rest are filled with paranoia and fear as they try to recall every single thing that Thames said in draconic while in the presence of the Blaze. Had he said too much? Does she know we broke into her room? Does she know of our plans? Are we screwed? It was the perfect amount of paranoia.

Next week, the campaign makes a radical change as we go on a fake expedition filled with lizardfolk, illusions, and a Chultan shrine guarded by an unexpected foe.

As always, it’s okay to fudge a detail that would ruin your player’s plans, allowing them to win, and Game On!

Good luck, friends. I look forward to see you again. – Sir Miles Farsight, momentarily forgetting that he is as blind as a bat.

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.