Our heroes invade the Yuan-ti temple to have a showdown with their BBEG, Ras Nsi. And we say goodbye to one of our own.

When last we left our heroes, while on a search for magical puzzle cubes to unlock the Tomb of the Nine Gods, they realize that a gang of Red Wizards of Thay had already collected two of them. A huge battle ensued at the homebrewed Red Wizard Camp. Our heroes survived, took possession of the cubes, and gained a sweet little base for their operations. They picked up some sweet magic items to boot, but we’ll talk about them later.

There was just one cube left to collect. Sadly, it was it the hands of their worst enemy, the Yuan-ti; a race of snake men that have harassed, attacked, defeated, enslaved, and attempted to kill our heroes at multiple times throughout the campaign. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Needless to say, my players hate the Yuan-ti. Yet now they find themselves working with them in order to secure the final cube.

The Yuan-ti in question is an alluring reptile named Fenthaza. She is the shaman of the tribe, the second in command, and a conniving snake in the grass. She has the last cube and she is willing to give it to the players only if they kill her boss, Ras Nsi. This is very convenient because killing Ras Nsi is at the top of my players’ list of things to do. Of course, killing Ras Nsi is merely one way to obtain this final cube. The book does a good job of presenting multiple ways for the players to infiltrate the Yuan-ti Temple and gain this cube, but for our campaign, killing Ras Nsi was the best way.

Our heroes will be smuggled into the temple disguised as prisoners to work as slaves. At some point, they will be given the chance to retrieve their weapons, then make their way to Ras Nsi’s chambers and murder him. Fenthaza even offered to transform one of our heroes into a Yuan-ti using a dark magic ritual. This is very similar to the ritual that Roland was almost forced to undergo back in Session 13 but was saved at the last minute. This time around, Gwen seriously considered doing it. This would have given them a huge boost to their stealth checks and likely get the drop on Ras Nsi. In the end however, Gwen chicken out and stayed human, although she still had the shaved head of a Red Wizard in a failed attempt to disguise herself as part of that group. This was probably for the best, because Gwen would have to suppress the urge to do evil things, which is definitely I thing I would have made her do. I’m surprised that Thames didn’t just cast disguise self again right from the start, like he did during the last rescue, but c’est la vie.

Today, everyone stayed as their original form, for now. As part of the ruse, their weapons were confiscated, but they were allowed to keep a dagger in their boot. Good thing they each just got a shiny new dagger +1 off the wizards they killed last session. They were bound hand and foot, then gagged and blindfolded before they were roughly jostled into the temple by a few Yuan-ti loyal to Fenthaza.

I’ve wanted to run this session for a while now. I love a good “Heist” adventure, but it has been difficult to squeeze one into this jungle campaign. We had a decent Theft mission back in Session 23, and an aborted one in Session 32, but neither was a true heist. This isn’t either, but it’s the best I can do. I’ll throw my group into an unfamiliar location, allow them time to do a little recon of the area, then set them loose to attempt an impossible mission; assassinate a target in hostile territory. Oh, and rescue a kidnapped ally before he is killed. Can’t forget about Bucketboy. I also need to plan an emotional and thematic farewell for Theo since this will be his last session with us before he goes off to college. Dude! Forget planning for your future and all that higher education crap, stay here with us and kill more monsters!

As the party is led through the temple, I describe what they can sense without the use of their eyes. There is the steep slope at the entrance to the temple, which by the way has the awesome if obscure title of Fane of the Night Serpent. I’ll forgive you if you forgot who the Night Serpent is since the book barely gives her any attention. Dendar, the Night Serpent, is the god of the Yuan-ti, who is destined to destroy the world by swallowing the sun in an epic cataclysm. The Yuan-ti plan for the apocalypse is definitily not allowing some petty lich to steal every soul on the planet, as Ras Nsi is trying to do. This silly argument over which way is the best way to destroy the world is at the center of the rift that exists between Ras Nsi and Fenthaza. But the Ras Nsi/Acererak apocalypse is almost upon us, so our party will have to support Fenthaza’s sun swallowing plan. For now.

Back to our blindfolded tour of the temple. After the entry ramp, our heroes are pushed through a wide cavernous room that smells like a barn and is filled with the clicks, squawks, and growls of several dinosaurs that echo off the walls to their right. To their left, they smell the scent of incense, and then they hear the sound of a gong, followed by several footsteps running toward that area. Something important is probably in that direction. But instead, our heroes continue straight ahead for some ways, then turn left down a narrow corridor that slopes further into the earth. The heat is rising in this hallway. Suddenly, they are turned down a right hand corridor, away from the heat and nearly back the way they came. But then they stop at a door which meant this was a new hallway. The Yuan-ti guards knock and our heroes are led into a new room that smells of leather and oil. The hissing voice of an old man calls out, “Just leave the stuff, but don’t mix it with the others.”

Our heroes are led through another door on the other side of the room. They hear the click as this door is locked behind them. Then it is down another new hallway until it opens up into a very cool, damp room. The blindfolds and restraints are removed, and our heroes are shoved to the cold, hard floor as the Yuan-ti taunt them, “Welcome to your new home, for the ressst of your ssshort, missserable livesss.”

It took a moment for our heroes to get used to their dim surroundings. They were in a roughhewn cave filled with the constant drone of dripping stalactites. A thin layer of wet, moldy straw acts as the bedding and bathroom for our miserable heroes. A few mongrel Yuan-ti Broodgaurds (the ones that look like squat, fat lizards) were standing watch over our heroes and a few other prisoners. There are a couple of kobolds, a Batiri goblin, and a mangy tabaxi that is not Bag of Nails.

I avoided having any human prisoners since that would entice my heroes to mount some sort of rescue mission and we don’t have time for that. This is a shame because the book provides an excellent list of prisoners that if given the time I would have loved to have added this complication into the campaign. But frankly at this point in the adventure, your players will just want to get into the Tomb of Horrors (I mean, Tomb of the Nine Gods) and this sort of added obstacle will come off as a distraction. As we will soon see, just finding a safe haven for a single NPC will become a needless pain in the ass, and take up more time than it should. Time we don’t have.

We don’t even have time to meet these new unimportant prisoners; this is Theo’s last session. Let’s move it people! To move things along, some new Yuan-ti broodguards  arrive to take the new prisoners to their new menial prisoner assignments. I will say, this chapter does an excellent job presenting this weird, creepy race of slimy snake men and includes some excellent lists to add to the fun. In addition to the list of prisoners, there is a complete roster of the temple and how each room responds to an emergency. There is also a list of reinforcements that arrive if the party lingers too long in the temple, including a bad-ass Yuan-ti Abomination that is never mentioned in the adventure proper and only exists on this random monster table.

But my favorite list is the list of slave labors, a batch of ridiculous chores that could only exist in a temple run by a pit of sentient evil vipers. This list of tasks includes: Cleaning out the dino cages, which went to Thames. Assisting a Yuan-ti in the poison distillery was assigned to Gwen. Scrubbing the blood in the Yuan-ti bathing room of was given to Martic. Lastlt, Roland was tasked with cleaning out the Yuan-ti nests in Area 18. There were two other potential tasks. The first, rearranging the storeroom, will be assigned to the entire party later. The last chore, feeding a dead prisoner to the hydra, I ignored completely. I already ran a hydra combat in Session 33 and I need to focus on Ras Nsi.

When I split the party like this, I often run each bit by pulling the player out of the room and playing it separately. Sometimes this is important. For example, say the party sends the thief to sneak around and report back in two minutes. The Thief and I have our private adventure, which takes longer than two minutes. Cut back to the party, and see what they do when the two minutes pass and they have no idea what has happened to the thief. The results are often hilarious. But this isn’t that moment.

These slave chores are just a bit of flavor text that won’t affect the greater outcome. As I play through each player’s task. Everyone can hear about it live and I will assume that each player would have described each task to the absent members. The only thing which could screw this up is if one player decides to go rogue and attempted to escape his captor right now. This would set him on a solo mission and uncork a whole bunch of unplanned complications. Fortunately, I had specifically told my group that they would be presented with a moment to escape and to wait for that signal. Even more fortunately, they waited.

Each player had their moment reveling in the creepy, inhuman society that is Yuan-ti. Each got to travel to a different section of the temple, picking up new details for the mental map they were trying to draw in their heads. Each got a cryptic clue that might be useful later. And each passed their CON save (added by me) that would have given them a level of exhaustion due to the back-breaking menial nature of their tasks. As soon as the last hero arrived back in their slave pen, another Yuan-ti was already yelling at them. “What are you doing? Resssting! You’re day isss not done yet. Follow me.”

This new Yuan-ti led the full party out a new door and into a storeroom. From the smell, our heroes realize that they had been here earlier. A giant constrictor snake slithers out from behind some crates. Incredibly, the snake speaks in the same voice they previously heard. “Thank you Glyssta, these four will do nicely. You may go.” Turning to the party, he says, “My name is Azi Mas. Yes, I am a talking snake. No, I won’t tell you the story why.  You four will open all the boxes on that wall there, tell me its contents, then store the boxes where I tell you.” The party starts to work but as soon as the Yuan-ti exits, the sentient snake tells them to stop. “Alright, listen up. Your equipment is in that box in the corner. Ras Nsi sits in the throne room which is northeast of here. Make your way there, kill Ras Nsi and his followers and Fenthaza will keep her promise to give you the last Cube and safe passage to the Tomb. Now go. You only have about an hour before some patrol comes through here and notices you gone.” I wonder if this is the sign they were waiting for?

I love reverse dungeons, where the players are dropped in the middle of a mysterious maze and need to find their way out. In most dungeons, if you get overwhelmed and need to retreat, you can reverse your path to get back to the entrance and safety. But there is no such safety in a reverse dungeon. Retreating to the beginning just puts you back in the middle. No matter what, you have to keep exploring new and dangerous paths, praying that one of them will lead to salvation. This dungeon isn’t quite that confounding but I still wanted it to feel special. So I recreated the entire dungeon map for my players.

I used the dungeon tiles that came with the D&D Campaign Terrain Case, but you could recreate what I did by using 1-inch grid paper cut to size. By starting with the central temple, the rest of the complex fit conveniently around it using the 5-by-5 grids of the dungeon tiles. This allowed me to lay down a new section of tile as the party moved through the dungeon. Most sections ended at a door or other obstruction that kept the next room out of sight. Who knew what lay beyond. Every new tile I placed increased this fear of the unknown. Every intersection sparked a debate over which way to go. Every door led to doubt and indecision. I love it!

Our heroes used the descriptions I gave them during their slave tasks to figure out the map and the correct path to take. Thames correctly guessed that one hallway led to the dino pens and about a dozen guards. Martic and Roland identified the hallways they had traveled that led to dead ends or inhabited areas. Gwen was regretting not taking up the offer to be turned into a Yuan-ti, but at least she had that crude map she found during her task. The party surmised that no one had travelled down one particular hall to the north and they hoped that it led closer to Ras Nsi. Is does, but first this hall led to the most impressive room of the dungeon, The Ceremonial Chamber.

This room is filled with cool, macabre details but it is also rather complex. There are multiple levels that aren’t readily apparent on a flat map, with several raised platforms, ramps, multi-level exits, an ornate fountain at one end and a small balcony overlooking the whole room. The grand feature of this room is the awesome and gross blood pool that is fed by the snake statue fountain and is a major part of yuan-ti rituals and ceremonies. I wish that I had the time to build an actual scale model of this room to use as my battle map to properly evoke the grotesque grandeur of this room. We’ll have to settle for my usual hand drawn flat map.

Incredibly there is no scripted encounter here, but there is a mention of what the ritual looks like and how it affects the rest of the temple complex. If we had more time and had we done a more traditional crawl of this dungeon, I would have had the party stumble upon this ceremony in the middle of some sacrifice ritual, probably involving the kidnapped child Bucketboy to wring the maximum amount of evil drama out of the encounter. We don’t have time to play out my Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom fantasies, but I have to put some sort of encounter in this incredible space.

Our heroes have entered the room via the south doorway. Immediately after finishing the description of the room and before any players can blurt out what area they want to explore, the door in the northeast corner opens and in slithers a trio of Yuan-ti. Two are the Type-1 variety with a snake head and human body. The other is a Type-3 yuan-ti with a human head and torso but the lower half is that of a giant snake. Statistically, both types are equal, but I always play that the Type-3 are higher in the pecking order of yuan-ti society. If this were the military, Type-1 are the corporal and sergeants, while the Type-3 are the lieutenants and captains. There is also a Type-2 with a human head and body but snakes for arms. But WotC never made a mini for it and thus no one ever uses this type. Yeah, I know they make a Pit Master Yuan-ti mini that looks like a Type-2, but I just ain’t the same.

The two groups stare at each other in disbelief for a moment. Then both remember the giant gong on the west side of the room. Our player heard this gong when they first arrived and deduced that it was used to alert the entire temple when needed, like ringing a dinner bell. Sure, our heroes could kill the three eventually, but if the Yuan-ti managed to ring that bell first, then all hell would break loose. Thames, tried to deceive the yuan-ti by finally casting disguise self, turning the dragon-born into a yuan-ti broodguard, whom have been the traditional escorts throughout this complex. Thames didn’t know that it is unlikely that slaves would be escorted here except during a ritual. But it was a valiant effort, so I gave Thames a chance, DC15. He rolled a 4. The lead Yuan-ti’s eyes narrow as his forked tongue flicks past his devilish grin.

Suddenly both groups began sprinting toward that all important gong. This penultimate fight ended up being even more exciting than the actual final battle to wrap up this whole Yuan-ti story line, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Martic is able to reach the gong first and puts his body between the gong and the yuan-ti. Before it can get past Martic, the gong is rendered irrelevant by a well-placed silence spell from Gwen. But not before the yuan-ti yells for help. It doesn’t alert the whole temple, but more Yuan-ti arrive in the form of a half dozen broodguards and a nasty pureblood who really enjoyed whipping Thames earlier during his slave task. Thames made it his mission to destroy that snakeman personally.

Now, since my spellcasters like to hide in the back, I had another pureblood sneak up from behind, ostensibly investigating all the noise coming from this area. This turns out to be the Gwen’s task master, Xopal the poison brewer, making this another personal battle for one of my players. Now I got all four players fighting four separate battles. This is great. Our heroes can’t focus fire on any one enemy at a time, and my bad guys can’t gang up on a single hero. This fight turned into a real slug fest; just waiting for one side to gain the upper hand.

Like any great battle, it didn’t start off well for our heroes. They were outnumbered three to one, and both spellcasters were in the midst of melee combat. The ranger was about to get overwhelmed by Yuan-ti until he cast his go-to thematic spell, web, upon himself! Oh sure, he was stuck, but so was everyone else. And this kept them at bay just long enough until help could arrive. Eventually, Roland, Gwen, and Thames each took out their singular foes, allowing them to rescue the surrounded Martic; turning the tide of battle and scoring another win for the good guys. But we aren’t done yet. We still have the main event.

Our heroes correctly surmise that the final battle lies just beyond that northeast door, so let’s review what I consider to be the true Big Bad Evil Guy of the adventure, Ras Nsi. In the book, Ras Nsi is really no more than a glorified henchman; just another goon to be killed before getting to the more famous final boss, Acererak. This betrays the canonical lore of Ras Nsi, undermines his true intentions, and makes him a weak and pathetic idiot. He is so stupid that he doesn’t realize that the Death Curse, which is killing him, is caused by his alliance with Acererak. According to the book, once Ras Nsi learns that Acererak has played him for a fool, then Ras Nsi will assist the players in their efforts to stop Acererak. This is so unsatisfying.

Ras Nsi is a 6000-year-old demi-god, not a fool. He is the creator of the limitless hordes of undead that plague Chult and he is the one who has sent scores of minions to wreak havoc and kill our heroes. He is the one who mercilessly taunts our heroes, kidnaps their friends, and is the cause of all their pain. He is the big bad evil guy of Chult, and he needs to die. My Ras Nsi also knows that the Death Curse is killing him and he does not care. So long as the world is destroyed, his goals are met. He is willing to die for his convictions, making him a very dangerous enemy.

All this was revealed in Session 38 during a James Bond-esque villain monologue at a contentious dinner with Ras Nsi. It was also here that Ras Nsi revealed that he had kidnapped the group’s favorite ally, an urchin named Bucketboy, as a contingency plan to ensure our heroes compliance. In addition to killing Ras Nsi, Bucketboy will need to be found and rescued before Ras Nsi realizes that our heroes have betrayed him. Two years of anticipation are about to culminate behind that northeast door, so let’s try and plan a proper thrilling combat and go out with a bang. But we got some work to do first.

To start with, Ras Nsi, as written, is a wimp. He has 127 hit points minus 1 hit point per day that the Death Curse has been active in your game. In our game, it has been 95 days since the Death Curse began, meaning Ras Nsi has a whopping 32 hit points! That’s a single fireball! And our journey involved DM induced teleportation and flight to get to Omu. It could have been much longer. On top of that, if you play the adventure as written, the Death Curse has been active for 20 days at the start of the story, lowering his hit points even further. Ras Nsi could have been dead before we even got to Omu. My advice: Ras Nsi has 127 hit points (I should have made it 150) whenever your players first engage him in combat. If that means that he had 222, or 336, or 1000 hit points at the start of the Death Curse, that’s fine. On this day, he has 127.

Also, Ras Nsi cannot heal. So why would he ever enter into combat? He wouldn’t. But that’s boring, so fine, he’ll fight. For now. In the very least, Ras Nsi should cast false life at the start of combat. Cast it at 5^th level since his 5^th level spells are useless. This will give him 1d4+24 temporary hit points. It’s better than nothing. Then once Ras Nsi is reduced to half his hit points, I would cast it again, and give serious thought to having Ras Nsi run away using expeditious retreat. Yes, these are the wimpy spells given to your Boss Fight. My Ras Nsi doesn’t mind dying if the Death Curse is permanent and he has won, but there is no way he would allow these annoying “heroes” to kill him before the mission is complete.

As for his other spells and abilities, they also suck. Ras Nsi is way more bark (or in his case, hiss) than bite. His Yuan-ti command ability is fine, but nothing the party hasn’t seen before. His ability to change into a snake is useless this late in the game. Due to his health liability all his melee skills are pointless, including his tail constriction and his wasted Flame Tongue longsword. He just would not enter melee combat and risk getting swarmed.

That leaves his spells which are shockingly mundane. The necromancer spells are story appropriate, but again, not practical for this fight. The rest of his spells feel like generic wizard nonsense. But I want to play Ras Nsi as written so that we can say that our heroes beat this boss as intended. Plus, I already boosted his hit points as mentioned above and thought that would be enough. In hindsight, I wish I had revamped his spell list to give him more defensive spells, especially against ranged weapons. But my biggest regret is not using his listed polymorph spell during the battle. This would have given him extra temporary hit points, making him more useful in battle and it would have been cool to have him transform and fight as a giant ape or crocodile. Too bad a T-rex is beyond his challenge rating. Okay, quit whining. Let’s fight!

Our heroes attempted to sneak into the throne room, but I can always count on one of them boning their stealth roll and they did not disappoint. Before they can even peek around the corner, the voice of Ras Nsi calls them out. “There’s no need to hide my Stalwart Adventurers, I can smell the stench of humanity upon you. Trying to sneak up on me. I’m disappointed. Are we not warriors? Or are we rats skulking in the dark?”

Gwen stepped out into the room, followed by the others. Not seeing her kidnapped friend here, she yelled out, “Where is Bucketboy? If you’ve hurt him…”

“Oh my, you are a feisty lass. You would make a spirited concubine if I were not concerned about you stabbing me on our honeymoon. As for the boy. He’s around. Somewhere. He’s a smart lad. I rather like him. I’ll have to kill him for your betrayal of course, but I’ll be truly saddened to do it.”

Looking around, our heroes are in a large throne room. At the far end of the hall atop a raised dais, Ras Nsi sits(?) on an ornate golden throne build for Yuan-ti physiology. Several Ras Nsi devotees, those of the snake headed variety are fanned out around the room. I removed the listed Broodguard brutes because the room was already too crowded. I wish that the room were bigger to spread out the bad guys. But there is an enormous humanoid Pureblood, who looks like a roided out wrestler covered in scales from head to toe. We will come to learn that his name is Sekelok because he speaks in the third person and says such witticisms like, “Sekelok will rip off your arms and beat you to death with them,” and “Sekelok will tear open your chest and feast on your heart!” Charming. Oh, and there are four ghouls lurking behind Ras Nsi’s throne.

Ras Nsi continues, “You are earlier than expected. I would have been surprised if you didn’t betray me. But I didn’t expect you here so soon. How did you get here so quickly?”

Thames, still disguised as a Yuan-ti Broodguard, cries out, “That’s for us to know and you to die!” I can’t  remember what he actually said, maybe it was just, “Fuck you, Ras Nsi!”

“So eloquent, as always, Thames. How fitting that you should disguise yourself as the lowest of our kind, as if you know deep down that you are not fit to even pretend to be a true Yuan-ti. Clearly I misjudged you and your rabble. I offered you your miserable life for what it’s worth, but I see you have chosen death. We shall be happy to oblige. Have at you!” Roll initiative.

My Yuan-ti rolled poorly, and our heroes got to draw first blood. Gwen went first and chose to… hold her action. She knows I like to throw evolving complications in my encounters and she wants to be ready for it. Martic went next and for the first time in the campaign he drew his oathbow, claimed Ras Nsi as the enemy whom has wronged him, and unleashed a hail of arrows at his nemesis. Little did I know that this action would compromise all of my plans for this encounter. Roland went next and called out Sekelok for a one-on-one slug fest. It was to Roland that Sekelok spewed all his trash talk while slowly getting his ass kicked over the course of 15 rounds. Thames unloaded one of his multiple eldritch cannon spells, doing some minor damage to Ras Nsi (who at least has resistance to magic).

I had planned to have my “complication” come in the middle of the fight, but since Gwen had held her action and I didn’t want to tie her up for the entire combat, I did it here. Just before Ras Nsi acted, the door on the east end of room opened and in came Bucketboy, appropriately carrying a bucket of water. He demurely called out to Ras Nsi, “I’ve retrieved fresh water from the stream, sir. What does my master require next?” Ras Nsi looked from Bucketboy to Gwen and back to Bucketboy. Then with a wicked grin he said to the hapless orphan, “Excellent work son. But I’m sorry your services will no longer be required,” as he prepared to cast a devastating spell.

Gwen, still holding her action, cried out, “I run to Bucketboy, wrap him in my arms and use the Cape of the Mountebank (see Session 34) to cast dimension door. I teleport to the temple room next door and tell Bucketboy to hide behind the tapestries we saw earlier. If none of us come out within ten minutes, I tell him to save himself, leave this dungeon and make his way to the western ruins and find a man named Orvex who will help him. And I end my turn.” Okay, that earns an inspiration token.

In the split second it took to save Bucketboy’s life, Ras Nsi cast a fireball (I told you, generic mage) that engulfed the room, hitting everyone else with some major damage (no one made their save). It’s a good thing I got this hit in, because the rest of my bad guys didn’t do jack squat! To be fair, Sekelok did a decent job tuning up Roland, but the rest could barely land a blow. All their attempts at mind control were thwarted, mostly because half of our heroes were resistant through item or spell but these bad guys don’t know that. The ghouls couldn’t paralyze anyone and Ras Nsi couldn’t cast any more fireballs without hitting his own group. Another reason this room needed to be bigger.

Meanwhile Martic was turning Ras Nsi into a pincushion and Thames was destroying the rest of the Yuan-ti. When Gwen the cleric re-entered the room with her goody-two-shoes turn undead skills that was the end of the ghouls and the turning point of the battle. Then Martic hit a devastating crit that brought Ras Nsi down to a mere 30 hit points, and it was time for our bad buy to exit stage right. Right out the secret door in the back of the room.

This is where the oathbow nearly derailed Martic’s journey. I had given out this magic item along with some others, because it was long overdue to give my players some magic items. For the ranger, I wanted a bow. There are hardly any cool bows in the Dungeon Master Guide and the oathbow seemed to be the best choice. But I didn’t read the fine print. Now that Martic has claimed Ras Nsi as his mortal enemy, if Ras Nsi is not killed here and now, then for the next seven days (basically, the rest of the entire campaign) Martic rolls with disadvantage on every attack roll. This is just a terrible handicap to have in the final Tomb. But I also want Ras Nsi to get away!

Of course, James read the fine print, and knowing the curse that awaits him, a panicked Martic gives chase. Thames takes off after Ras Nsi as well, leaving Roland and Gwen to finish off the more than a few Yuan-ti that were still alive in the throne room, including the very bloody and even angrier Sekelok.

The madcap chase through the Fane of the Night Serpent was short but memorable. Martic burst into Ras Nsi’s bedchamber but Ras Nsi was gone. A faint flutter of a curtain on the far wall hinted at where he’d gone. But before Martic could investigate, five flying shields smash into him from all sides. These shields were supposed to boost Ras Nsi’s armor class in a final stand here in the bedroom, but I treated them like animated swords with the following stats: AC 12, hp 10, +3 to hit, 3(1d4) bludgeoning damage. And I don’t want these shields to tie up the players with more combat; just be a fun nuisance.

Martic took damage from three of them before bursting through the curtain and finding a dead end. There was just a swirling pattern of magic on the floor that reminded Martic of the teleportation circle that they had used in Orolunga (Session 35). Even though he is not proficient in Arcana, I gave Martic a roll, since he recognized what this was. If he passed, he would be able to follow Ras Nsi to the correct location as he fled. If he failed, Martic would travel to a random circle. He failed.

Martic arrived on the balcony overlooking the Blood Fountain in the main temple. The room was empty (Bucketboy was hiding behind the curtain.) There was no easy way down from this perch, and Martic knew he was on the wrong track. He stepped back into the circle to try again. Meanwhile, Thames had entered the bed chamber, seen Martic vanish into thin air, then he too was assaulted by the flying shields, getting hit by two of them. Dashing across the room, Thames entered the circle and rolled his Arcana check…

Back in the Throne room, Gwen and Roland were in danger of losing the battle. Their companions had abandoned them too soon and the odds were not in their favor. Gwen was down to single digit hit points and Roland was right behind her. Down to her last spell slots, Gwen cast blight on the lone Yuan-ti malison, shriveling that vile snake man into a dead wrinkled prune. Finally, Roland had had enough of Sekelok’s trash talk and with back to back smites for a ludicrous amount of damage, Sekelok’s serpentine mouth was finally shut, permanently. Gwen went to chase after her friends and Roland was about to follow, when the cleric told the paladin to check on Bucketboy. They never even had time to loot the bodies.

…Thames has teleported into a hazy brothel of some kind. The room was filled with divans, sofa beds, pillows, and the air was filled with the smoke of a dozen hookahs. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the fleeing form of Ras Nsi slithering down the hall. He seemed to be flying as he fled, moving at an incredible speed. (He had cast expeditious retreat like the coward he is.) Martic was nowhere to be seen. Just then, a dozen hands tried to grab him and hold him down. A half dozen Pureblood concubines, both male and female, were trying to grapple Thames and prevent him from giving chase. Incredibly, Thames was able to throw them all off and resume running after his quarry, just as Ras Nsi turned a corner to the right.

Thames ran to the end of the harem hall. In the book there is a hidden portcullis that leads back to the temple room. I sealed this area off with a secret door and added a normal door that led to a spiral staircase going up to the surface and Ras Nsi’s escape plan. At this moment, Martic arrives at the correct teleportation circle. He actually failed his roll again, but randomly traveled to the correct one. He sees the hazy harem with several Yuan-ti Purebloods sprawled out on the floor and a Yuan-ti Broodguard running down the hall. Martic calls out, “Thames, is that you?” just as the concubines cry in unison toward Martic, “There’s another one. Get him!”

Like Inigo Montoyo chasing Count Rugen, Thames yells back, “He’s getting away!” Martic bolts down the hall, bowling over the purebloods before they can even stand. Martic and Thames race up the stairs trying to catch Ras Nsi before he gets away. Again. They burst out of a trap door onto the roof of one of the surface buildings. Ras Nsi is not on the roof. He is flying away on the back of a giant Pterodactyl, cackling as he looks back at our heroes who failed to catch him. With a mock salute, he sails away toward the horizon.

Infuriated, Thames hurls a lightning bolt at Ras Nsi, but he is already out of range and it fizzles out before it can reach its target. Martic nocks his last arrow, pulls the string til it nearly snapped, and let it fly. But Ras Nsi still has 30 hit points and even if the arrow hits, it won’t be enough to kill…

Critical Hit! By the grace of the gods, Martic did 40 points of damage with a single arrow. The arrow struck Ras Nsi in the back, pierced his evil heart, and burst out of his chest in a spray of blood. Ras Nsi slumped over the back of the pterodactyl, then slid out of the saddle to plummet over 100’ onto the hard jumbled stones of the ruins below. After 6000 years of terror, Ras Nsi, despot, necromancer, genocide murderer of the Eshowe, and disgraced paladin of Ubtao, lies dead, his face frozen in a look of shock and horror that a mere mortal could ever defeat him. And unlike “Stranger Things” and “Critical Role”, the cheers of joy at our table were real.

Thames and Martic scramble across the ruins, reach Ras Nsi, and loot his body. They find his flametongue long sword, a pouch with 50 platinum, 100 gold, and 30 silver pieces, and most importantly a sending stone. A sending stone is the fantasy method of sending short (25 word) messages over great distances. This is the way Ras Nsi has been able to communicate with his Yuan-ti forces all over Chult. Normally, these stones come in a pair, but our heroes have discovered several stones over the course of the campaign. Now they have five. This new stone is the master stone that connects the other stones to each other. I added these extra stones so that the party will have a brief way to communicate with each other, like a medieval walkie-talkie, for the numerous times I expect the party to become separated with the Tomb. You’re Welcome!

If Gwen had been there, I’m sure she would have collected Ras Nsi’s head as well. But she wasn’t, and our less butchery heroes headed back into the Yuan-ti temple, leaving his corpse intact. That’ll be a mistake they’ll regret. Gwen had attempted to follow the group but she was rebuffed by the flying shields in Ras Nsi’s bedroom. She was severely injured and couldn’t risk getting killed while she was all alone, so she never even got to search this room for treasure either. Dejected, she headed back into the Ritual Room to find Roland and Bucketboy.

Bucketboy was there, safe and sound in the middle of the room, but there was no sign of Roland. A tapestry had been torn down from the eastern wall and a previously unseen secret door was open behind where the tapestry hung. Gwen ran to Bucketboy just as Martic and Roland entered the room via the secret door. This is where the harem, the escape stairs, and this room intersect. The door was opened when the harem fled the area. Gwen held Bucketboy in her arms and said, “Are you okay? What has happened to Roland? Did he not come find you?”

Bucketboy replied, “I am all right, Mistress Gwen. I don’t know what happened to Roland. He came into the room, called my name. I came out of hiding behind that tapestry. Then a beam of blinding white light shone through the ceiling, engulfed Roland and he vanished, right before my eyes. Where he once stood there was just this mark on the floor.” Looking to where Bucketboy was pointing, there was a curious brand that had been burned into the very stones of the floor. It was a circular pattern that looked like a maze. Our heroes easily identified it as the symbol of Ubtao, the creator god of Chult who, legend has it, vanished centuries ago, never to be seen again, abandoning Chult and her people to their fate.

Our heroes had a ton of questions, but they would have to wait. A slow clapping sound came from the raised platform above the blood fountain. Fenthaza stood there as a score of Yuan-ti entered the room from the southern and western doorways. The nightmare speaker of the Yuan-ti spoke to our heroes. “Congratulations. I’m surprised to see that most of you survived. You have done a good thing here, removing a traitor from tainting our bloodline. As promised, I will abide by our agreement. You are free to leave. Go rest, and make your preparations.I shall meet you tomorrow at the Tomb and deliver the final cube. But remember, you still promised to bring me the crown I desire from inside.”

Gwen protested, “What have you done with Roland?”

Fenthaza replied, “I do not have your Roland, nor did I take him. If you have lost one of your own, it is no concern of mine. Now go, before I change my mind.”

There was no deception in Fenthaza and her words. With no recourse and too wounded to put up a fight, our heroes exited the Yuan-ti temple, taking the rescued Bucketboy with them. They returned to their Omu base, having won it from the destroyed Red Wizards of Thay. They were victorious but still felt doomed, having lost one of their own mere hours before their most deadly quest with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

But what became of Roland? Today was Theo’s last session and his Roland was the PC that most fully embraced the culture and heritage of Chult as we traveled. He deserved an appropriate send off and epilogue. We waited for the other players to go home then Theo and I played out Roland’s finale for I had secrets to divulge and offers to be made.

When the white light took him, Roland disappeared from the known world. He found himself in a towering white temple with marbled floors and crystal walls that reflected light in every direction creating a dazzling effect that made it hard to concentrate, let alone see. Then the walls shifted and the dizzying effect ended, leaving Roland standing alone in the vast chamber. He could detect a massive mosaic maze that spread out in all directions on the floor.

A man materialized before him. He was a giant of a man, 9-feet tall, and he was the most gloriously handsome man he had ever seen. He was barefoot, wore a green feathered headdress and a regal yellow dashiki and with his chocolate skin he reminded Roland of the copious kapok trees which grew unique in Chult. His eyes were the turquoise blue of the Olung River and his voice boomed with the deep baritone of the wind through the Mistcliff Mountains. “Welcome, Roland just Roland, fisher of men, servant of Mielikki, and adopted son of Chult. I am Ubtao.”

Roland bowed. “I am honored Ubtao. But where am I?”

“You are in my temple, some call it the Maze of Life. We stand in the very center of the city of Mezro.”

”But Mezro was destroyed over one hundred years ago.”

“I know that you do not truly believe that. No, Mezro was moved to protect it from the destruction of the Spellplague. But Mezro was tricked by Ras Nsi. He devised a way to move the city to this dimension, but hid the way to move it back.”

“But how were you tricked? Isn’t Ras Nsi one of your paladins?”

“I knew of his plans. Ras Nsi has been a faithful servant and has always done what he thinks is best to protect Mezro and her people. Who am I to judge?”

“But his plan is evil. He is evil. You could have stopped him.”

“Long ago, the land of Chult and her people became soft, incapable of making decisions, incapable of surviving without divine, without my, intervention. That is no life worth living. Chult and her people were mere puppets and I set them free. I know you’ve heard the phrase so often attributed to me, but you’ve only heard the first part of it. Yes, each man must walk his own path in the maze of life, in order to be truly free. That freedom. The freedom to choose their way for good and for ill. That is my greatest gift to my people.”

“But your people are not free. They are trapped here. ”

“True, but they freely chose to believe Ras Nsi and this was their reward. And do not presume that I did nothing. I sent them numerous signs, and omens, and warnings, yet still they freely voted to follow Ras Nsi into this abyss. I have always been there for my people, even when they don’t follow my advice. Just as I have always been there for you.” As he said this, Ubtao transformed into the blue mist that chased our heroes through the jungle, then he turned into the tiny chingwa that twice led them to safety, then into the coati prophet at Orolunga, then lastly into the giant T-Rex called the King of Feathers that once winked at Roland.

Roland was at a loss. “I knew there was something odd about that dinosaur. But what do want of me? Why did you bring me here?”

“Actually, it is Ras Nsi that brings you to me. You have proven yourself capable and you have shown that you are a true child of Chult willing to die to protect her. I have one last task, to prove you wise and worthy. Just as each man must walk his own path, they must also be wise enough to know the path they took. Please look at this map and show me the path you took that led you here.”

Upon the marble floor a giant map of the land of Chult appeared beneath their feet. Upon my wooden table I presented the clean Map of Chult. Roland needed to retrace the path he took on the four expeditions that ended with our heroes arriving at the lost city of Omu. This was a fun and nostalgic challenge that really made Theo think. However, this is not a challenge for every player, as many don’t pay as much attention to such details.

But Theo is one of my favorite players and he does pay attention to such things. It was still a challenge but he was able to retrace his steps and look back upon his entire adventure. In real life, as Theo recalled each step along the way, he got to relive all the heartache, joys, failures and success that can only come from a hero’s journey two years in the making.

From his shipwreck in the Bay of Chult, to rescuing Sir Miles Farsight from the hags, to washing ashore at Port Nyanzaru, to their first expedition up the Soshenstar River. They were captured by Yuan-ti, escaped, rescued a dozen slaves, and freed their companion from a tribe of Batiri goblins. Then they got lost and were saved by the sudden appearance of frost giants, the strange blue mist, and Ubtao himself in the guise as a tiny chingwa sprite. And it was there that they gained the spell used to find Omu at the end of their journey. They braved the traps of the Crocodile Man, and saved a squad of lost soldiers from an invasion of undead at Camp Righteous.

On their return, they avoided being eaten by their first encounter with a T-Rex, dubbed the Thunder King, by paddling their boats over a waterfall. Back in Port Nyanzaru, they stopped a Yuan-ti plot to poison the town, avenged Sir Farsight, and joined the honorable Ytepka Society. On their second expedition, they traveled to Fort Belaurian, where they uncovered a plot between the Fort and a band of pirates terrorizing the seas around Chult. Roland wins a jousting tournament, they stumbled upon a ancient Ubtao shrine, and they befriended a lost noble who refused to be rescued. Back in Port Nyanzaru they foiled an assassination attempt upon the merchant princes, branding theselves heroes once more.

On their third expedition, they laid to rest the body and found the buried treasure of the adventurer Aluicius Alphonspe, lost at sea 140 years ago. In the Mines of Yumog, Roland “died”, but they saved the land from a vile, hallucinogenic spore infestation. They encountered red wizards, blue dragons, and frost giants. Then they travelled to the undersea palace of Mainu, one of Ubtao’s Chosen paladins. In the ruins of Mezro, they found Artus Cimber and together with Artus and the help of that lost noble they saved, they defeated scores of enemies in the Battle of Ten Armies. At Firefinger, they saved the life of an Aarakocra named Zephyr, who later repaid the favor by flying our heroes to Omu in time to save the world.

On their fourth and final expedition, they captured the pirate ship Dragon Fang during a monsoon, travelled down the western coast and defeated the remaining pirate scourge at Jahaka Anchorage. Upon the River Tath, they made first contact with a sentient dinosaur race called Saurians, killed the hag who murdered the plateau village of Mbala and received the vision of the prophet of Orolunga. From there they teleported hundreds of miles to the opposite shore of Chult, made a deal with a medusa, had dinner with Ras Nsi, and stumbled at the monastery of Kir Sabal, nearly ending their journey right there.

But all was not lost. The friendships made and bonds achieved forged a new path for our heroes to follow as they flew to Omu, borne upon Aarakocra wings. In Omu, they braved the trials in the Shrine of the Trickers Gods, destroyed the red wizard menace within Chult, then fought, defeated, and killed Ras Nsi, ending his reign of terror once and for all.

At the end, Ubtao smiled. “You have done well, your journey is well remembered, and you have passed your final test. You have walked the path of a true hero and even learned a few things along the way. And yes, it is the death of Ras Nsi that brings you before me today. Ras Nsi is dead. As you know, he was one of my seven Chosen paladins, and there must always be seven. I offer you, Roland just Roland, the position as one of my Chosen. Will you accept?”

Roland was honored but he had some questions. “What does being a Chosen mean? And what would be required of me?”

“First, you would be essentially immortal. You can be killed in combat, but otherwise you will never age and never die. You will have the experience and knowledge of a thousand lifetimes. You can choose one unique ability that will put you above the ken of mortal men. You can choose the control over the dead as Ras Nsi had, though I doubt you would choose that path. You could choose to control animals or plants, though Paladins Sanda and Fipya already claim those abilities. You could read the mind of men, travel great distance with but a thought. But the choice is yours. As to your obligations, you vow to defend Chult in general and specifically the city of Mezro when needed. As such you would be bound to live the rest of your life within the land of Chult. So will you accept my offer.”

Roland’s answer came surprisingly quick. “Great and mighty Ubtao. I am honored by your offer. But I must decline. As generous as it is, your offer denies me a freedom I cannot bear to lose. The freedom to go where I please. Should I ever long for my homeland, or if a people in need live beyond your border, I would not be able to go. As much as I love Chult and have no current desire to leave, I could not live with that restriction for an eternity. I’m sorry, but I must say no.”

Ubtao was not upset, nor disappointed. With a wry smile, he said, “I understand. So be it. You have chosen your path. And I am proud of you. Sadly, for the time being, I can not send you back to join your companions. Having come here, you already know too much that will affect the outcome. But if your friends are smart and follow my signs, I suspect that they will emerge victorious, resulting in the salvation of your world and the redemption of our great city. Come walk with me. There are some who would like to meet you and you have much to see and learn of our fair city.”

As they walked, Ubtao continued, “You know, there has only been one other person to refuse to become a Chosen and you met him once. Artus Cimber declined for much the same reason as you. You two have much in common and I hope your paths cross once more. Speaking of which, may I introduce Alisanda Rayburton, wife of Artus Cimber.”

An attractive young woman with auburn hair and bright brown eyes, only the second non-native Chultan to become a Chosen, gave Roland a big hug. “Please call me Sanda. I’m told that you recently met my husband. I have not seen him for over 100 years. Please, tell me all about it while I show you around.” And thus, we close the curtain on Roland just Roland. Good luck in college, Theo! You are welcome back at our table any time. Hopefully, our paths will cross once more.

Next week, This is it! Our heroes dare to enter The Tomb of the Nine Gods with some surprising new additions to the roster.

As always, do not mourn heroes moving on. Revel in your adventures together and Game On!

Farewell (my friends), may your memory never fade – Bilbo Baggins, at the end of his journey.

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. All the templates and instructions for my Trickster Cubes are found here as well.

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