Cave of Golden Tears - 1 Report

General Summary

You are fleeing for your lives. Three days ago you left Quodeth in search of a legendary ruined city and a cavern of gold in the jungles of the Ghan Peninsula. Yesterday you left your boats at a small landing on the banks of the Ghan River, but at dawn beastman scouts picked up your trail. Scores of savage warriors are pursuing you through the jungle. You can hear them grunting and hooting to each other behind you, while sudden flights of jungle birds and the sounds of thrashing brush makes it clear more are closing in.   You break into the open for a moment, and discover an old stone roadway crossing your path. What do you do?     Bronan the Wildbearian , Skar , Ralornan and Zath Sev Hide and Divert the attention of the pursuing Beastmen. Through the use of Skar's tracking and woodland skills and successful hiding the party evades the pursuing Beastmen.  

Background

  You came to the jungles of Ghan on the trail of a wild story. A few days ago, a jungle trader named Jodom stumbled out of the jungle and died in delirium shortly after, but not before telling his story. Near a nameless ruin in the Mozar Vale, Jodom's party was set upon by beastmen. Fleeing the bloodthirsty savages, the trader blundered into a cavern temple.   Here Jodom discovered a stone throne on which sat the gigantic mummified corpse of a mighty king of old. Rivulets of liquid gold slowly ran from the dry eye sockets of the dead king, solidifying into gold stalagmites around the body. Jodom snapped off a chunk of gold, and made his way back to the outpost of Ghanport. There he died shortly after he was tended by priests of Set, who took the gold tears and admonished Jodom's household that it was better not to dabble in the jungle's secrets.   After speaking with Jodom's servants and other traders in Ghanport, you set out to find this wonder for yourself . . . but, as you've seen, this is beastman territory.  

Mozar Vale

  No other parties of beastmen seem to be nearby at the moment-this seems like a good chance to get moving again. From the old ruined guardhouse, you can spy the steep limestone bluffs of a tall hill a mile or two away to the northwest. The old, overgrown road continues toward the north. You know that the Ghan River and the place where you landed lie several miles behind you to the south.   The Bear-Downers notice wisps of smoke in the distance which seems to be just down the path. The proceed in that direction.  

Abandoned Camp

  The trail leads beside a swampy lowland broken by several large, open lakes. Near one lakeshore you find the remains of a destroyed camp. A tent lies in tatters, and packs of provisions have been torn open and scattered around the area. Two half-devoured humans lie dead here, ripped apart by some jungle predator.   Two crested eagles are perched on high branches a couple of hundred feet away, watching for likely prey. They are hard to see from the campsite.   A careful examination reveals that the dead humans are dressed in black leather armor and hooded robes. Their weapons are missing.  Ralornan  finds a holy symbol of Set lying beneath one body.  Skar determines that the camp is a day old, a giant sloth attacked it, and that several survivors packed up and marched north-west along the trail.   After fending off attacks from the Crested Eagles The Bear-Downers take a short rest to recover from minor injuries.  They continue north-west following the tracks left from the campsite.  

Temple of Moz

  A stone ruin stands on top of this steep jungle ridge. A wide plaza or terrace of heavy stone serves as the base for a ruined building with thick walls and a simple corbel roof, now collapsed in places. Ancient bronze doors hang crookedly in the entrance, and a number of strange statues-each depicting a tall warrior with not-quite-human features, dressed in ancient arms.   From this vantage you can make out the muddy brown ribbon of a river below you to the southwest, while seven or eight miles to the northeast, another hilly area climbs up out of the jungle floor. But as you get your bearings, you note that the jungle is eerily silent here.   As soon as Bronan strode into the Temple of Moz, 6 skeletons rose from piles of bones on either side of the stone altar to protect the Temple from thieves and scoudrels. The Bear-Downers easily defeated the undead menace and decided to bed down for the night in the relative safety of the temple.     Zath Sev made a close examination of the statues to attempt to identify the warriors as janni, one of the races of geniekind. No janni civilizations are known to exist in the current day, but old texts suggest that genies or their descendants once lived in Thule. The beastmen are afraid of these ruins and will not come within sight of this place.   The stone altar had a hidden compartment which Ralornan found with a careful search. Inside was a tattered silk pouch with eight malachites worth 10 gp each, and a periapt of health. The treasure was concealed here long ago by a priest who tended this temple.

Rewards Granted

• eight malachites worth 10 gp each
• a periapt of health
• 5 Crested Eagle Feathers