Mica narrows his eyes and tries to make out the flowing script of the letter. He nods at Ran’s remarks and looks up at Meili. “An obelisk is the entrance in the vision, innit?  These yellow banner fellows found an entrance at an obelisk north of here, but it is magically locked.  They think the key may be at the holy shrines, wherever they are.”  He hands the letter over to the others to read for themselves.  “Can’t tell what happened here, too many tracks to make anything out, but it wasn’t good.” He pauses and looks up at the sky “We can head north to find this obelisk, or try to find the shrines.  Those broken obelisks are just east of here, may be worth checking out. Looked like it may have been a temple.”

If it wasn't so difficult to spot, Meili would have believed the letter was left behind on purpose - so much information! Granted, mostly riddles, but still.

"Tomb of the Nine Gods... Has to be Chult gods, those created by Ubtao." She glanced at the wizards and explained her sudden knowledge, "We heard the legend in the village on the way here. I hope this is not the Valley of Lost Honor, or, according to the legend, the one we are up against is the shadow of Ubtao himself, an evil god named Eschowdow."

She shook her head, dismissing the unimportant information for now.

"So... there is someone named Ras Nsi, who has 'snake people' - probably those we battled yesterday. And our enemy uses 'swan horns' to summon everyone within hearing distance. I wonder if the sound can be imitated. It might get us out of trouble; we could counter an ambush with an ambush."

Meili thought a little more. "Lord Brixton must be the Thayan in charge, right?" She waited for Eligos to nod. "But what is the Eye of Zaltec?"

Meili:

 Eligos shakes his head.  "Lord Brixton is no Thayan I've ever heard of.  More like, he was part of some other group exploring these ruins.  It seems all of Toril has gathered their best and brightest here at the bottom of the world."  He can also alleviate some of your concern.  He points out that the Valley of Lost Honor is another week south of this location, at least according to the maps he had studied.

"As for this 'Eye of Zaltec', your guess is as good as mine.  Perhaps it is the relic or power behind the death curse.  Or it could as likely be a myth some treasure hunters were seeking."

Ran listens to the options and starts heading east.

"Broken obelisks holding keys to a standing one sounds like as good a place as any to start," Ran says. 

"One thing less to worry about," nodded Meili. "Maybe even more, as those Yellow Banner people obviously never returned here."

"We might run into their corpses at the broken obelisks or on the way to them."

"Cheerful" letter did not exactly inspire an optimism.

Nalomanterys listens to Meili's explanation of the Chultan legend and nods, taking the information in. "Thank you for the explanation, Ms. Meili. Even after all this time, I am quite bereft of knowledge when it comes to Chultan mythology."

On a hunch, after hearing that these Yellow Banner fellows use "swan whistles" to communicate, the wizard takes a few minutes to ritually cast detect magic. Perhaps these whistles are magical, and perhaps one of them was left behind for the unnamed member of this apparently ill-fated expedition. Nalomanterys considered how this group's fate might ironically parallel their own and Hew's, but he chose not to voice that concern.

Finally, after hearing about this mysterious "Eye of Zaltec," a strange smile spreads across Nalomanterys' face. "A strange Chultan relic? Hmmmm.... that would be something to see."

After a short while, Nalomanterys, too, agrees that the broken obelisk to the east sounds as good a spot as any to start.

Mica shoulders his pack and sets off to the east toward the broken obelisks, right behind Ran. He nods at Meili. “The Yellow Banner likely fell to either the snake people or the Cormyr Company, or maybe they didn’t return because they found the key and went looking for that eyeball.  Who knows. In any case, there are probably a dozen things around here that could kill us if we are not careful.”  Mica keeps a sharp watch on their surroundings as they travel.

Perception: 14.

.

Between the party and the temple-like building with the broken obelisks stands a long stone wall.  10' high, this wall seems to run most of the length of the hidden city, oriented north-south.  It is built of large stone blocks and has no obvious passageways through it.  Most of it is covered in a layer of vines.  The only way past is a set of wide stone steps that lead to the top.  A walkway runs the length of the top of the wall. 

From this vantage, you can see a little more of the area nearby.  South of your location, and on the other side of the wall, there is something that looks like it might have once been a greenhouse.  Why someone would require a greenhouse in this already sunny and sweltering jungle, is anyone's guess.  Further north, another set of stone steps leads almost directly to the temple you seek.  From these steps you can see something new on the west side of the wall, along the bottom of the cliff-face.  There is a big stone building here, which seems to have been the site of an explosion of some kind.  A stone dome is broken and rock and debris fill the courtyard below.  It doesn't look like a recent event, as flowering plants cover the edges of the blast area.

Climbing down the steps, you approach the temple with the broken obelisks.  

As you approach under cover of the rainstorm, you surprise a Kobold which had been standing on the porch of the temple, watching the skies.  It shrieks and runs inside the temple, slamming shut the heavy door behind it.

Mica looks at the surrounding landmarks from the height of the wall trying to place them in his mental map, especially noting the building that looked like an explosion had occurred at some point in the past.  Going down the stairs on the other side, the rain and wind distracted him and he didn’t see the Kobold until the last minute. “Shite!” he curses as the Kobold retreats to the inside of the temple “We’ve been spotted, hurry before they tell anyone else.”  Mica rushes to the temple door, checking to see if it was locked behind the fleeing Kobold.

"Surprisingly strong for its size," commented Meili rushing after Mica. She definitely would not be the first line of help if the door was as heavy as it looked, but every bit counts.

(Help, if Mica needs checks for opening the door)

Hoping the kobold hasn't had time to lock the door yet, Ran slams his full weight into the door (taking advantage of the extra push Meili provided). Athletics 28  

History: 20 to see what Nalomanterys knows of Kobolds, especially in Chult. (base roll 13 if I used the wrong skill).

The door isn't locked, and Meili and Ran quickly make progress pushing it open.  While heavy, the door has some sort of pully system above and behind it that eases the opening and closing process, though you soon see there are a handful of kobolds fighting against your efforts, trying to hold it closed.  Regardless, Ran and Meili and clearly winning this contest, if slowly.

Nalomanterys:

 From behind the door, a mix of rasping and squeaking voices cry out in Draconic:

Chirping did not sound very threatening but Meili did not understand a word kobolds were saying so she just continued to push the door, leaving potential diplomacy to the more spoken.

"Just open the damn door," Ran says as he keeps pushing. "We won't hurt you. Just want a chat."

He looks back over his shoulder.

"Anyone speak whiny squeak?"

Ran and Meili succeed in throwing open the door.  

Six kobolds back off, standing together at the other end of a 20' hallway, the floor of which is painted with images of different animals: monkeys, dragonflies, warthogs and more.  The kobolds gather into a tight defensive formation, wielding rusted daggers, short swords and at least one scorpion tied to the end of a stick.

Ran holds his hands up in a gesture that hopefully looks peaceful as opposed to aggressive. 

“See? We can all be mates here.” He looks at the others. “Anyone know the local mini-dragon speak?” 

He looks back to the kobolds. “How about you lot? Anyone understand what I’m saying?”

Mica follows Ran’s lead in the room, holding his arms out to the side in a non-threatening manner and talking in a slow, soothing voice. “Take it easy, no one needs to get hurt here.” He throws a sideways glance to Ran “I can’t make sense out of any of their screeching.”  He looks around the room for other exits or threats other than the kobolds.  Perception: 9.

.

Eligos remains outside the door, watching the roads around the temple.

Inside, the kobolds stop their retreat and continue chirping and squawking in draconic at the invaders.

 Mica:

You quickly notice that the entry hallway had some kind of trap connected to it.  The animals painted on the floor appear to be pressure plates and there are slots in the walls on either side.  A few of the slots have the edges of axe blades poking out.  At the same time, you just saw the kobolds walk en masse down this hall and the trap did not engage... perhaps it is broken or disabled?  Either that or the kobolds are so familiar with it that they can avoid it without looking like they are avoiding it.  

You also see that the pulley system connected to the front door continues down the hall and there is a level near where the kobolds are standing.

[Who is inside right now?  Ran, Mica and Meili, right?]