Return to the Tomb of the Nine Gods, Part 1
General Summary
11 Marpenoth, The Year of the Duplicitous Courtier (1496 DR)
Tomb of the Nine Gods, City of Omu, Chult
After the adventuring group known as S.M.A.L.L. freed Mezcotal, a powerful couatl trapped within an ancient chapel in the Shrine of Tomoachan, it offered to teleport everyone to the city of Omu. Afterward, Mezcotal thanked the adventurers and returned to the celestial planes after rewarding them with gifts. Soon after Mezcotal left, the group heard the sounds of battle nearby. The group ran past the ruined structures of the city of Omu. Within moments, they arrived at the base of a cliff with its upper reaches lost in a dense mist. Nearby stood a fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone draped with vines and black moss. Behind it was a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrowed into the base of a cliff to the east. They also saw four men with shaved heads and red robes fighting against four gargoyles swooping down from the mist. Most of the members of S.M.A.L.L. had heard of the Red Wizards of Thay. The Red Wizards of Thay were a powerful and secretive cabal of arcane practitioners hailing from the mysterious realm of Thay. Masters of necromancy, illusion, and manipulation, these enigmatic sorcerers wielded immense political influence and were feared across the Forgotten Realms for their ambition, ruthlessness, and mastery of the darkest arts. Not knowing whether the gargoyles were something they would have to fight as well, S.M.A.L.L. decided to fight the Red Wizards. The area became a whirlwind of steel, fire, and stone as S.M.A.L.L. joined the gargoyles in their fight against the Red Wizard. The outnumbered Red Wizards soon began to fall against the combined might of the gargoyles and S.M.A.L.L. In time, no Red Wizard was left alive. Zantix, in a gesture of friendship, healed an injured gargoyle. The gargoyles landed and spoke to the adventures. Thanks to Sajen's enchanted helm, he communicated with the stone guardians, who claimed they were tasked with protecting the stone obelisk from any who would seek to damage it. One of the gargoyles said they swooped down from their cliffside perches when a Red Wizard struck the obelisk with a fire spell. S.M.A.L.L. said they had no intention of damaging the obelisk but were looking for the entrance to a place where a powerful artifact called a Soulmonger could be found. The gargoyles said they had never heard of the artifact but were summoned by a powerful spellcaster long ago. After sharing this, the gargoyles flew back up to their perches on the cliff wall. Mask searched two of the wizards since the third had been buried under huge rocks after Sajen had struck at the cliff above with a fireball spell. On one, he found a leather satchel containing nine stone cubes. Each also had what he suspected were magical daggers. It looked like the Red Wizards had arrived with no other gear or supplies, which they all thought was strange. Neverwinter suggested that the wizards may have camped nearby where they left their supplies. The group examined the obelisk and found a message carved into it in Common.
After the adventuring group known as S.M.A.L.L. freed Mezcotal, a powerful couatl trapped within an ancient chapel in the Shrine of Tomoachan, it offered to teleport everyone to the city of Omu. Afterward, Mezcotal thanked the adventurers and returned to the celestial planes after rewarding them with gifts. Soon after Mezcotal left, the group heard the sounds of battle nearby. The group ran past the ruined structures of the city of Omu. Within moments, they arrived at the base of a cliff with its upper reaches lost in a dense mist. Nearby stood a fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone draped with vines and black moss. Behind it was a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrowed into the base of a cliff to the east. They also saw four men with shaved heads and red robes fighting against four gargoyles swooping down from the mist. Most of the members of S.M.A.L.L. had heard of the Red Wizards of Thay. The Red Wizards of Thay were a powerful and secretive cabal of arcane practitioners hailing from the mysterious realm of Thay. Masters of necromancy, illusion, and manipulation, these enigmatic sorcerers wielded immense political influence and were feared across the Forgotten Realms for their ambition, ruthlessness, and mastery of the darkest arts. Not knowing whether the gargoyles were something they would have to fight as well, S.M.A.L.L. decided to fight the Red Wizards. The area became a whirlwind of steel, fire, and stone as S.M.A.L.L. joined the gargoyles in their fight against the Red Wizard. The outnumbered Red Wizards soon began to fall against the combined might of the gargoyles and S.M.A.L.L. In time, no Red Wizard was left alive. Zantix, in a gesture of friendship, healed an injured gargoyle. The gargoyles landed and spoke to the adventures. Thanks to Sajen's enchanted helm, he communicated with the stone guardians, who claimed they were tasked with protecting the stone obelisk from any who would seek to damage it. One of the gargoyles said they swooped down from their cliffside perches when a Red Wizard struck the obelisk with a fire spell. S.M.A.L.L. said they had no intention of damaging the obelisk but were looking for the entrance to a place where a powerful artifact called a Soulmonger could be found. The gargoyles said they had never heard of the artifact but were summoned by a powerful spellcaster long ago. After sharing this, the gargoyles flew back up to their perches on the cliff wall. Mask searched two of the wizards since the third had been buried under huge rocks after Sajen had struck at the cliff above with a fireball spell. On one, he found a leather satchel containing nine stone cubes. Each also had what he suspected were magical daggers. It looked like the Red Wizards had arrived with no other gear or supplies, which they all thought was strange. Neverwinter suggested that the wizards may have camped nearby where they left their supplies. The group examined the obelisk and found a message carved into it in Common.
Fear the night when the forsaken one seizes death's mantle and the seas dry up and the dead rise and I, Acererak the Eternal, reap the world of the living. Those who dare enter take heed:
The enemies oppose.
One stands between them.
In darkness, it hides.
Don the mask or be seen.
Speak no truth to the doomed child.
The keys turn on the inside only.
Neverwinter said Acererak was rumored to be the one who created the dungeon where he kept the Soulmonger.
Unsure of the message, the group gathered together and explored the smaller tunnel to the east.
Inside, alcoves run the length of a narrow tunnel. Each featured a bestial statue standing or squatting above an oil basin that burst into flames as the adventurers walked past.
Neverwinter said the statues depicted the nine trickster gods of Omu. He said each trickster god had a different personality. For example, Wongo was violent and unstable, while Moa was calm and honest. Likewise, each of them also had an opposing god whom they hated. Unkh was the only exception, as she embodied true neutrality. However, regardless of individual differences, all of the trickster gods were ultimately divisive and deceptive. Since they lacked the true power of gods to grant miracles to their followers, they concocted schemes to winnow the numbers of their clerics and pit their followers against each other to assert dominance. Those Omuans faithful to the trickster gods were expected to live by their patron god's mantra, build statues in their name, and compete and risk their lives for their favor and glory.
Unkh's statue was hidden behind a secret alcove. In it, Mask found a golden pendant shaped like an eye hanging on the statue of Unkh.
When they left the tunnel, Mask suddenly felt the pendant tugging him towards the west, past the obelisk.
The group followed Mask and discovered an archway in the cliff face covered by dense growth. Stone skulls peered down from the lintel, and old bones littered the threshold.
As the group walked past the archway, a swarm of bats screeched out from within, startling everyone.
They had found the entrance to the tomb.
Twenty feet from the entrance, a worked stone slab blocked the overgrown tunnel. Grinning skulls marked the slab's edges, with nine cube-shaped cavities arranged in three rows of three in the center.
Neverwinter examined the stone floor and noted bootprints leading into the tomb. The tracks were not recent. He said they may have belonged to the Amazing Bastardos, perhaps the last adventurers to enter the tomb two years ago.
The group knew the cubes they had found on the Red Wizards would fit into the stone slab's cavities. But they weren't sure which cube would go into which cavity. Sein, however, came up with a brilliant idea.
He recalled how each of the statues they had found in the tunnel had been placed opposite one another, except for Unkh, who had her own alcove. Sein suspected the opposing statues represented their opposition to one another, except for Unkh, who was neutral.
Everyone agreed it made sense.
Sein then took the cubes and, with the help of the others, lifted him up, where he placed them into the cavities. He made sure to insert a cube into a diagonally opposite corner with a trickster god's rival so they were, in a way, opposing each other. In the grid's center, he then placed the final cube representing the god Unkh.
After placing the last cube, the nine cubes flared with light and disappeared.
Growling like an angry beast, the slab slid into the ceiling.
Another slab blocked the hallway twenty feet beyond the first slab. An iron lever was set into the door's surface, with a graven stone skull leering down from above.
"Well, that doesn't look ominous at all," Sein said.Rewards Granted
Balance of Harmony
Mirror of the Past
Periapt of Wound Closure
Report Date
15 Mar 2024
A Red Wizard of Thay
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