sI: The Ruined City of Tomoachan
General Summary
Certain associates and members of the Historical Preservation Society were contacted by a mysterious patron, whose only revealing symbol was a rose stamped into waxen letters received by the select individuals. The letters detailed a kobold who claimed to know the whereabouts of the ancient city of Tomoachan, capital of the ancient and long lost Olman empire.
When the chosen adventurers and scholars convened in person, they also met with Yarvin TImbers and the aforementioned kobold, Yusdrayl. Yusdrayal had heard about the location of Tomoachan some time back from someone she referred to as "the Outcast" who had come in and destroyed her home.
After several weeks of jungle trecking the historians arrived at the lost site of Tomoachan, and were quickly abandoned by Yusdrayl later that same day. Setting up camp in a glade fitted with tall grasses and fresh water, the historians set out into the ruined city to study what they could find.
Several days of scholarly work ensued. Yarvin would set up his stock of goods in a quartermaster tent, while Cal, Colorado, and Row entered the ruined city. Maps of the ruined streets and walkways where sketched by Cal in the time that Row and John investigated key points within the city. Most important of which was the still mostly intact ziggurat at the center of the capital's streets and walkways.
Infront of this ziggurat was a large disk buried in the ground before the northern stairs made of pure gold with religious carvings on its face. Setting up preliminary dig sites in an attempt to remove the disk, the treasure hunters would find themselves surrounded by native tribals, painted white. In an instant the ground beneath the treasure hunters opened up, and plunged them into the tombs of the capital below.
Several hours were spent cataloging the items and their interactions with the half-domed altar.
After Row sprung the trap, it was held open by two pitons and rope, while a path through the wood was melted away by Cal's use of acidic spellcraft.
Guardian
Creature
Entering the room first, Colorado John spoke with Hetecatl and Kalka-Kylla, being told to head eastward for an exit from these ruins. The two gods expressed that they would not likely be strong enough to take on the "Pimply One".
Moving the Block
It was Row who discovered the seperated seams of the movable block, and with the help of Cal and Colorado the scholars pushed it aside revealing a hidden chamber.
Trapped Doors
Sleep Gas
Treasure
Reading the doors, Colorado gave mixed signals to his fellow scholars on weather they should be opened or remained sealed. The conversation would be interupted however by the sound of further structural collapses nearby.
The Vault of Chicomoztoc
(Chee-koh-MOZ-tok, the place of seven caves)You are in a long, narrow chamber, running east-west. In the center of this apartment is a domed shape on the floor. In the east wall is a blank-faced stone door. The west end of the room is blocked by fallen stone and rubble, apparently the result of a collapse. The two side walls appear to have several niches cut into them.
The shape in the center of the chamber appears to be a small alcove, protected by a half-dome with the open end facing toward the door in the east wall. This alcove is set in a recessed, shallow, tiled well, one foot deep and ten feet wide. The alcove itself is four feet high. The recess contains some sort of display.
The display appears to be a diorama depicting a hunting party of Olman warriors, in feathers and deer-hide garments, in a mountainside scene. Some have pulled down a stag with the aid of a dog, another group is cleaning a small mule deer, and others have cornered a panther with their spears. A scout watches the panther from an outcropping above. He holds a metal staff with a loop in its end. It looks like a shepherd’s crook.
The three niches on both the northern and southern walls are five feet wide and about three feet off the floor. Each niche contains a diorama depicting some aspect of tribal life. The six-inch-tall figures in all of the displays appear to be made of stucco, realistically and brightly painted. The scenes portrayed represent fishing, farming, religion, warfare, the creation story, and crafting.
A cave-in completely blocks the west end of the chamber. At short intervals, small amounts of rubble and dirt come spilling into the room. Several large stones appear to have wedged themselves tightly, closing the collapse.
Several hours were spent cataloging the items and their interactions with the half-domed altar.
The Hall of Thrashing Canes
The stone walls of this corridor are carved to resemble a stack of bamboo-like logs. The passage slopes down from a single door on its western leg, the lintel of which has been crafted to represent a stylized cavern entrance. It leads to double doors of beaten bronze, worked to resemble a forest of seaweed.
Pressure Plate
There is a pressure plate halfway down the hallway that triggers a trap when weight equivalent to that of three or four humanoids is on it.
If the trap triggers, several of the logs swing out from either wall and buffet the party. Those in the plate’s area when the trap triggers take 7 ( 2d6 ) bludgeoning damage and are pushed 5 feet down the slope toward the double doors. Once they swing out, the stone logs don’t swing back and thus effectively block the passage, since they bar the way from ceiling to floor with only a 6-inch gap remaining between the logs.
After Row sprung the trap, it was held open by two pitons and rope, while a path through the wood was melted away by Cal's use of acidic spellcraft.
Roost of the Conch
This room is constructed of large stone blocks, buttressed in the corners. The walls are wet and slimy, and mud covers most of the floor in a thin coating. To the east and west may be seen stone doors recessed in the wall, and to the north a set of stairs leads down.
In the center of the chamber sits a large polished boulder amid a pile of smaller rounded rocks. The boulder is five feet tall and colored brown with dark streaks and spots. Leaning against it is what appears to be a bamboo staff.
In the mud around the base of the boulder is a moving shape, looking like a crayfish. It is facing you and seems to be aware of your presence.
Slippery Mud
The floor of the chamber is very slippery, counting as difficult terrain. Any sudden actions, including those necessary for combat, may result in the character taking a spill. A character who uses the Dash action or tries to fight within the room must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. The saving throw should be made before attacks are made. Creatures encountered here are unaffected by the mud.
The creature at the base of the boulder is a giant crayfish. If it is approached, it will advance waving its claws in an aggressive manner and speak. If any member of the party can understand Olman, an ancient language, the crayfish will be heard to say,
“Who is this? Who dares to enter the chamber of the guardian? You had better go, or I will have to discharge my sacred duty! Be off with you before I lose my temper!”
If the party retreats, the crayfish will not follow, but will take to marching back and forth in front of the boulder and will continue to threaten the party if they approach again. If the crayfish is attacked, it will immediately call forth its companion.
The boulder is in reality a huge shell inhabited by Kalka-Kylla, a giant hermit crab. The bamboo staff is one of its legs; a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check enables a character to discern this fact and get a hint as to Kalka-Kylla’s nature before the crab moves.
When the characters enter the room, Kalka-Kylla is asleep and will not awaken unless the crayfish is attacked. Once it is awake, it may attack or bargain. It speaks Olman.
The crab can be reasoned with, if the party doesn’t attack it and can come to terms with it. The crab denies any knowledge of this place, stating that it was brought into these warrens when very young. If asked for directions, it first sends the party to the rubble-filled staircase to the east, and then, if asked a second time, it sends the party to the west.
Entering the room first, Colorado John spoke with Hetecatl and Kalka-Kylla, being told to head eastward for an exit from these ruins. The two gods expressed that they would not likely be strong enough to take on the "Pimply One".
Tomb Stone and Wet Lime
The walls of this corridor are wet and slimy. The stucco covering has become saturated with water and is decomposing and sloughing off in spots on the southern wall, exposing the seams of one of the large stone blocks from which this structure was built.
Wet Lime
Any flesh that comes in contact with the lime will take 1 acid damage per round. The lime must be removed from the skin to stop the damage, and it can either be wiped off or washed away.
If cloth or soft leather is used to protect flesh from contact with the wet lime, the lime will soak through in 2 rounds. Nonmagical leather armor won’t absorb the lime, but each hour of contact with it reduces the armor’s AC by 1, making the armor useless if its AC becomes 10. The lime can’t be removed from the stone, since it isn’t a coating.
After the stucco is scraped away from the seams, the block can be pushed inward by the combined effort of two or more characters with a total Strength of 48 or higher. The stone is about 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet thick. It takes 1 minute to push the plug 10 feet, after which it can be circumvented.
It was Row who discovered the seperated seams of the movable block, and with the help of Cal and Colorado the scholars pushed it aside revealing a hidden chamber.
The Sepulcher of Tloques-Popolocas
(Tloh-kays Poh-poh-LOH-kahs, master of the outsiders)Beyond the plug is a small foyer holding three sealed urns on the east and west sides. To the south are double doors of bronze with glyphs worked into their faces sealed with a soft silver.
Glyphs
The ancient glyphs are scribed in Celestial. If anyone in the party can read this language, or if the message can be understood by other means, the glyphs will translate as “Here lies Tloques-Popolocas, master of the others, who is like the wind and the night! Stay out!” If anyone in the party is proficient with masons tools or a dwarf they can identify the soft silver as mythril.
The doors are locked (DC 15 Dexterity check to pick with thieves’ tools) and trapped. Opening the lock disables the trap. Forcing the doors open can be done with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check, but the act causes a glass sphere on the other side of the doors to break. This sphere is attached to the doors just above the lock, and opening the lock pushes the sphere aside, putting it out of harm’s way.
Someone who examines the door closely with a light source notices the glint of glass in the seam between the doors with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. Even with the lock still in place, the lever on which the sphere rests can be moved by someone who succeeds on a DC 20 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools. The painstaking process in the narrow space takes 5 minutes, and if the check fails by 5 or more, the sphere breaks at the end of the attempt.
If the glass sphere breaks, it releases green, swirling sleep gas throughout the area. Each time a creature ends its turn in this chamber, the creature must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 5,000 years. While poisoned in this way, a creature is also unconscious, and it is unaffected by the passage of time or by other poisons. If magic is used to cure the poisoned condition, the recipient is immune to the poison for 1 hour. A casting of dispel magic using a spell slot of 7th level or higher can also end the effect. The vapors linger for a month unless they are cleared away by a strong wind.
The seal on the urns is made of beeswax and may be broken so that the lids can be removed. Inside is large chunks of salt and dried out organs. The jars with or without their contents are 50gp each and weigh 25lbs.
Reading the doors, Colorado gave mixed signals to his fellow scholars on weather they should be opened or remained sealed. The conversation would be interupted however by the sound of further structural collapses nearby.
Missions/Quests Completed
Arrive at the ruined city of Tomoachan and set up a base camp.
Explore the ruined city of Tomoachan.
Explore the ruined city of Tomoachan.
Report Date
22 Jan 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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