Once the wizard is free, Ran looks over at Nalo and then at the new sword he was swinging around.

”Cursed swords? Really? Those are things?”

Ran and Mica easily pull apart the jaws of the trap, and Eligos gingerly lifts his foot, then grimaces when he tries to put weight on it.  He nods in appreciation when Meili applies a quick bandage, and seems slightly better able to walk on it afterward.  All the while, the red bird huffs and squawks in his general direction, before falling silent.  "I am much abliged," he says to his three heroes.  "As to why those mercenaries were pursuing me...".  He slowly pauses, his brow furrowing.

It is then that you all notice it.  Meili first, then Danica and Mica, and then Ran.  Nalomanterys, last of all, is left to wonder why everyone else has frozen still, listening.  And then even he notices that the jungle has gone deathly quiet.  All along your arms and up the back of your necks, the hairs stand at attention as instinct warns you of danger.  Eyes dart from tree to fern, as the source of the creeping terror is elusive.  There is no sign of more yuan-ti or other militant threats, yet the sense that something is watching you remains. 

It is only when Eligos catches his breath sharply, that the rest of you follow his gaze, looking down the trail to the northwest.  There, standing perhaps 150' away, still, but eyes fixed on your group, you can see...

For what feels like a lifetime, but is probably little more than seconds, the party and this enormous predator watch each other from a distance.  The huge shape hardly moves.  It could almost be a part of the background, but for the slow movement of its chest as it breathes.

Under his breath, Eligos whispers, "I would be even more obliged if we could continue this conversation somewhere else...".  Slowly retreating, the party watches as the giant beast advances just as slowly as they back away.  Eventually, with the party on the southeast side of the rope netting hung over the trail, the creature closes the distance to the battlefield more casually.  It stops beside the elephant's corpse, continuing to glare at you all silently, before leaning forward and opening its jaws.  In a single, tearing bite, it removes most of the flesh from one of the pachyderm's thighs.  It raises its eyes to you once more, then throws its head back and swallows the meat in three lunging gulps.  Its control of the carcass uncontested for now, it continues to feed, though it never takes its eyes off of your group for more than a few seconds.

Nalomanterys is slow to recognize the threat. As everyone else quiets around him, he's left twisting his head around for the source of the silence. When he finally spots the creature, he raises his eyebrows in surprise - how did something so large sneak up on them.

He slowly follows the others as the group backs away from the carcass. Nalomanterys, now paranoid, keeps his head on a swivel for more of these. Very quitely, he says, "Perhaps we should just continue on our merry way for a while, in case this is not the only enormous dinosaur in search of lunch."

Ran nods his agreement.

"Best to go while it still has something to eat," Ran says. 

He grabs a hold Eligos' collar and makes sure he follows with the party.

"Bird here isn't too keen on you," Ran asks as they move from where the undead dino eats. "Any idea why that might be?"

[If anyone took anything else from the loot at this site, please be sure to add it to your character sheets.]

As the party slinks away from the scavenging Tyrannosaurus, Eligos looks from Ran's hand on his collar to the man himself.  "No idea about the bird."  He adds with a smirk, "But if the scarlet macaw is the brains of your operation, you probably don't have much choice but to trust its leadership."

It was already late in the day when you came upon the mercenaries and yuan-ti.  Now, after the fight, recovery and flight from the T-Rex, twilight is upon you.  "I have a little place, not far from here," Eligos offers.  "It is far from the Jade Jug, but I've driven out all the poisonous snakes, and it is defensible."  He shows you the nearby location... a cave of sorts.  Really, just a hollow below and between several large boulders.  It is open to the sky in places, and has very low ceilings in other places.  None of the entrances to the space would allow anything larger than a medium-sized creature to enter.  A careful examination by Ran, Meili and Mica confirms no one else is hiding here in ambush.  

Inside the space, there are several bedrolls, waterskins, and a folded up raincatcher.  There is also a firepit that looks like it has seen recent use.  "Would one of you mind getting that going again," he asks as he examines the bandages on his leg.  "So..." he says, looking back up.  "Just what has possessed you lot to get involved in all this?  Fortune seekers?  Or were you hired by some temple to restore the efficacy of their resurrections?"

[Meili would collect payment notes and the golden ring.]

Relaxing just a touch after inspecting the hideout, Meili sat on one of the bedrolls. It was a long day and rest in the very relative safety was a welcome thing. But Eligos' questions2e21w made her raise a brow.

"Is not it supposed to be the other way around? You said you would tell us "everything". So far, all we know is you are one of the Red Wizards, some mercenaries from Cormyr Company employed by some usurper called Szass Tam are after you, our bird does not like you, and your name is Eligos Neyadis. Did I get it all?"

There were some manners left in her, so she did introduce the company but then asked. "How about you tell us about that white robe you are carrying, those bedrolls, that mean you are not alone in the jungles, and explain what are you doing in this place? Maybe include the usurper into the story too."

Eligos pauses, but then raises his palms up in surrender.  "OK.  That was the deal, wasn't it?  Very well."  He shifts on the rock he is sitting on until his lower leg is more comfortable, and then he begins to speak. 

"To understand what I am doing here, in this centipede and serpent infested hell, you need to know something of history... of Thay.  

"I sit with you here today not just as a mere 'Red Wizard' - at least not by the way you mean it - but as a proud Thayan who has witnessed the darkest of times in our once glorious homeland.  Thay, our home, was once a beacon of power and knowledge, a place where magic flourished and the ambitions of wizards soared high.  But those days are but memories now, overshadowed by the rise of Szass Tam, a lich whose thirst for power knows no bounds.  He was once part of a great council of Vulkirs that guided Thay, but it wasn't enough.  He and the others in the school of Necromancy overthrew the other Vulkirs in a bloody purge, and Szass Tam assumed total power.  Under his iron grip, Thay has become a land of fear and oppression, where dissent is swiftly crushed and the lives of its citizens are nothing but pawns.  Noble Thayan houses grovel for survival, and peasants are slaves while they live, and undead servants after they die."

"Not all of Thay bent to Szass Tam's will.  Once the writing was on the wall, many houses fled Thay, taking with them what they could of their possessions and culture.  Some allowed the dream of Thay to die in their hearts and assimilated in the surrounding lands, becoming traders or merchants.  Not all of us, however.  I am part of the resistance, a small band of Thayans who refuse to bow before Szass Tam's tyranny.  We live in the shadows, constantly hunted and haunted by the specter of our oppressors.  Yet, despite the risks, we have come to Chult, for we believe that here lies the key to undoing the darkness that has engulfed our homeland."

"Szass Tam has turned his eye to the happenings here, no doubt seeking to exploit the death curse that plagues our world, using it to further their own nefarious ends.  He has sent his underlings here in force, and under the leadership of one of his most powerful sycophants... the scourge of the north, Valindra Shadowmantle.  We heard whispers of their maneuvering before the expedition... the theft of Halruaan airships, the hiring of the Cormyr Company and commission of transport ships.  This is the largest foreign operation we have ever seen Szass Tam launch.  We knew we had to follow.  A team of us set out from Waterdeep months ago, myself, and representatives of other great Thayan ex-patriot families: Baleth, Indolf, Kul, Yaras and more, along with acolytes and protegees.  We hoped to discover what Valindra had learned of the death curse and, if possible, prevent whatever they are planning."

"But our mission goes beyond mere sabotage.  We dream of a Thay liberated from the clutches of Szass Tam, a Thay where freedom and justice reign once more.  We long to see our people rise up against their oppressors, to cast down the usurper and reclaim our rightful place in the annals of history.  He has invested much in this operation.  To see it fail, it could be a turning point."

"Yet..." he gestures at his loneliness in the camp.  "All has not gone according to plan," he says ruefully.  "It has been one disaster after the next.  Dinosaurs, poisonous plants and insects, disease... that damnable hag.  We were betrayed to the Red Wizards in the Aldani Basin and barely escaped with our lives.  Only four of us remained when we at last reached the hidden city.  It is a vast ruin set in a sunken valley just southeast of our present location.  Valindra's forces have two airships... one parked along the cliff walls and the other patrols the skies overhead.  Their mercenary army is busy clearing out yuan-ti from the ruins.  They seem to be excavating.  I can only presume they believe the source of the death curse is located there."  

"As limited as our options are, we came to view this mission as a one-way trip... that we would need to find someway to put a stop to their plans, even if none of us survived."

"My allies left several days ago, planning to sneak into the ruins in disguise and come back with intelligence or even a prisoner so we could learn more."  HIs face is grim.  "They did not return, and worse, I slipped up and was seen by that patrol.  I put on the red robes to try and deceive them, but were it not for the Yuan-ti and your intervention, I would surely have been dragged before Valindra Shadowmantle in irons."

He claps his hands.  "So, here we are.  Now you have my story.  Will you share yours, or shall we spend our first evening together in uncomfortable silence?"

Nalomanterys raises his eyebrows at his companions when Eligos mentions that the Thayans had been stealing Halruuan airships - that lines up with what the Halruuans from the Star Goddess had told them ((post 2307)).

Although still clearly wary of deception, Nalomanterys is assuaged for the moment. "Very well. I am Nalomanterys... the Great." His 'title' catches in his throat just a moment as if he almost chose not to say it. He brushes it off though, and follows up in typical wizardly greeting: "College of Kazzarim, Waterdeep. Transmutation."

"I shall leave the history of our group for another to tell, but suffice it to say that my boundless benevolence has led me into this jungle to save the unfortunates from the Death Curse." Nalomanterys, normally outgoing and flamboyant, seems very subdued around this Thayan.

He tugs his deep blue scarf tight around his neck and gestures for Ran to hand him the sword he found. While the others talk, Nalomanterys diligently casts detect magic as a ritual, carving arcane shapes into the dirt floor of the 'cave' with a stick. He's looking for any possible magical traps, as well as at the loot they procured from the mercenaries. He also casts alarm around the perimeter of the 'cave.'

edit: I forgot, Nalomanterys will also cast identify on any magic items they find as a ritual with the gem he obtained from the Dwarves.

Nalomanterys, it takes you a half hour to ritual cast all of the spells:

Ran frowns at Eligos when he finishes speaking. He hands the 'unique' longsword over to Nalomanterys to study. While he does he presses a few more questions on to the 'red' wizard before giving up any information of his own.

"Your group left from Waterdeep?" Ran says, part question, but really just confirming what Eligos already said. "Did anyone there join your party of noble wizards? Maybe a rich little brat named Tobem Rosznar?"

Ran watches for any reaction to his question.

Insight:  22

Eligos raises an eyebrow at Ran's question.  Then epiphany seems to dawn on him, and he lets out a long breath, ending in a quiet chuckle.  "The gods must be laughing... Tobem was convinced those bounty hunters sent by his father had followed him to Chult.  It was absurd, of course.  They couldn't possibly have paid enough for someone to trek halfway across the world - and to here, of all places - just for him.  Yet, he kept rolling those bones and they kept telling him his pursuers were still nigh."  He shakes his head as though he can't quite believe it.  "And here you are."  

He puts a hand to his face, laughing.  It isn't a happy or amused laugh, though.  It sounds exhausted.  "Well... I have good news and bad news.  If you've come here for Tobem Rosznar, the good news is that the last time I saw him, he was alive.  The bad news..." he gestures to his empty cave, "is that I have misplaced him of late.  He was among the trio who ventured into the hidden city, to their apparent misfortune."

He leans back, flexing his injured leg.  "And for the record, I think brat is too harsh.  He was green and immature to start, punkish and cocksure certainly, but he adapted to the conditions here better than most.  And his dedication to the war against Szass Tam and understanding of what we are up against is remarkable.  I wish I could have recruited a dozen more like him."

Mica follows the Red Wizard’s gaze back up the trail and lets out a deep breath as he sees the dinosaur.  Something that size must be one of the apex predators of the area. “There you are, beautiful.  I knew we would cross paths sooner or later.”  He slowly knocks an arrow and raises his bow. “We can take her, it’s perfect timing.” He catches sight of the others slowly backing down the trail and, remembering his own near brush with death just a few moments before, lowers his bow and joins the others as they make their retreat. “Next time, darling.  We will meet again.”

After a quick search through the cave, Mica kneels down and works to start a fire while listening to Eligos’s tale. There were more twists than he cared to follow closely, a red wizard who was not a red wizard? But his ears perked up when he heard about the hag,  the names of the other Thay families and the forces that had already beaten them to the ruins, two airships and a mercenary company. “The name is Mica.” he grunts from his pace making the fire, offering up no more introduction than that at the moment. “Hag? Did you run across Nanny back up in M’bala?  I reckon you lost Kul before that, back on the way to the basin, I think we came across his body.  We tried to dispose of it as best we could.”  He tries to read the wizard as he tells his story and answers there questions to see if he is telling the truth or holding something back.  Insight: 7.

.

Ran listens to Eligo describe having misplaced Tobem Rosznar and starts laughing.  But unlike Eligo's laughter, Ran's mirth is amusement.

"Yeah, Rosznar the elder hired my family to retrieve Tobem but then he ran off with you lot," Ran says. "This is more of a self preservation mission. Bring back the kid and the old man leaves the family alone. Of course he's disappeared. That's perfect mate."

He chuckles a couple of more times. 

"Well, retrieving a bloody body might be enough. Guess I'm still going on a walkabout and taking a peek at this snake city."

The wizard listens to Mica, at first surprised and then seeming to accept the astounding coincidences of your journeys.  "Aye... it does sound like you were hot on our heels the entire time." 

He sneers when Nanny is mentioned.  "That green devil.  We knew her for what she was, but thought we could bargain safely for information.  It seems, uneknownst to us, she had already struck a pact with Valindra, and she sold us out.  A squad of Szass Tam loyalists and their guards gated in and ambushed us.  We were caught between them, the hag, and that fleshy monkey abomination of hers.  We scattered to survive and it was only the four of us that were able to continue south."

Ran looks over at Nalomanterys still doing his magics on the sword and ring and turns back to Eligo.

Cognizant that Nanny might actually be able to hear them way out here, Ran decides to not follow Eligo down the route of disparaging the old Hag.

"Nanny was a character for sure, mate," Ran conceeds. "But she did pay up on a deal."

He looks out the cave mouth into the jungle.

"These missing pals of yours, the ones Tobem went with, do you know what route they were taking into snake city?" Ran asks. "Mica here's a wiz with directions. Would be a nice thank you from you to draw him out a map of what you know."

((Nalomanterys reveals the spoilers in post 2570... DM, is "transmutation / necromancy" typical magic for a +1 weapon... I'm guessing not))

Nalomanterys hands the ring back to Mica. "A [Tooltip Not Found] from the elephant trainer. I so not suspect it is cursed." The wizard turns to Ran. "Yours, on the other hand... This is a magically crafted blade that will strike truer and deeper than even the finest mundane blade. However, I believe it is cursed. On the other hand, the mercenary who was wielding it seemed alright. If you dare, you could try claiming it, and I can always break the curse later, if I have enough magical energy at the time."

Turning back to the conversation at hand. "And what exactly are Szass Tam and his lackeys doing here? He seeks to exploit the curse? How? You must know more if you risked so much to come all this way to this hells-stricken jungle..."

Ran looks at the longsword warily when Nalomanterys hands it over. "Someone named their sword?"

He swings it a few times in the air a few times.

"It is nicely balanced," Ran says. "But cursed. Hmm."

@Party

Maybe it was tiredness (general and of necessity to see every stranger as an enemy) or Eligos was a better storyteller than one would expect, but Meili bought the whole story without questions. She listened as compassionately as one can and even the part about Nanny did not make her doubt the tale. She only gasped in surprise when excavation was mentioned.

"The hidden city is buried?! The prophecy did not mention that."

Meili frowned. "Your Valindra is not the only one searching for that place. And for the same reason - Death Curse though, not for the same purpose. We are here to end the curse," she sighed and added quietly, "and do not expect to return either."

After another pause when the grim conversation was brightened a little with talks of the magic items and rich brats, Meili found one more question. "These Yuan-ti ... Do they live in the ruins? From the books, I did not picture them as a wild tribe incapable of rebuilding."

Mica sighs “I guess it is too much to sit back here and wait for the mercenaries and the snake-folk to kill each other off.  In that case, we should take a look at the place and see what we can find out, or track down your missing wizards. Which way were they going?”  Mica will sketch out a crude map on the cave floor with the information Eligos provides, unless the red wizard has a better map of the ruins in his belongings.  He looks over at the worn and beat up party. “I think any expedition should wait until tomorrow after we rest. As long as it is safe here.” 

(OOC: Mica has no interest in the longsword, that is all Ran’s as far as he is concerned.  He is interested in the ring.  Not sure if anyone else wants it, I know Meili made some references in earlier posts.  Willing to roll for it as well.)

(OOC: No claims for the sword or the ring from Meili. The only reason I mentioned it was to declare that we are indeed taking the ring with us and not leaving it behind)