The group suits up, putting their armor back on, cinching shut backpacks and pockets, in preparation for anything. Standing about the multicolored stone caves, with soft moss at their feet and cool air on their skin everyone gives Badger the nod. Everyone's stomach drops and they hear a vicious howl of wind as the magic sucks them from their place of safety before dropping them back into the house in the city of Omu, deep in the jungles of Chult. The hot air hits everyone like a wall, sweat prickles skin, and clothing begins to dampen. Everyone scans the house, crouched and ready for trouble, but it appears quiet and empty.  The group scans the clifftops from the doorway. The gargoyles seem to have returned to their perches, spaced evenly every hundred feet or so, at the top of the cliffs over a hundred feet up. The city is otherwise quiet. The city basin is densely packed with ruined villas and overgrown courtyards. It should be relatively easy to move about the place and stay behind cover. Buildings in Omu are shaped from limestone. Thick, broad-leaved vines engulfmost structures, while ferns and thorny bushes choke the streets. Moving around will be slow. You figure if you move cautiously, you'll be limited to 40 feet per minute as he pick your way through the dense briars, vines and bushes. If you wanted to move at top speed you figure you'll be limited to 200 feet per minute.  (Your movement is limited to 10ft, with 20ft if you dash). 

Which direction do you want to head in, and to what feature on the map? Do you search buildings thoroughly as you go, or try to B line it? 

Praying to Torm, preparing some new spells. Trying to remember how the city looks from above, "I remember a semi-circular building to the north west corner of these ruins I think would be good starting point and we sweep across the city from there. I will inform our guide ideally of our detintation," Silas will cast Sending to Azala after we decide on a location to start.

(-Hold Person, -Remove Curse, +Sending, +Speak with Dead)

Mandra casts Invisibility on herself and whispers. "I'll take a quick look outside and let you know if I see anything waiting for us, give me 3 minutes." She'll then quietly exit the building and do a quick lap around their hiding spot before walking ~100ft in their intended direction north west, before coming back to the group to report on anything she might see.

Stealth: 22

Perception: 16

Mandra exits the building, creeping around the outside seeing no activity of interest.  Small birds flutter about tweeting. Insects buzz about. A few small rodents scatter about. Mandra picks her way down the street, pushing through bushes and around brambles. She thinks she spots a small bit of movement between some buildings, but everything is so thick with green that when she glances back nothing can be seen. She passes several buildings in the 100 feet and spots nothing else in the ruins, so heads back.  Just as she arrives back at the building the quiet of the city is broken as a screeching roar fills the air. Birds take to the air, the chittering of the background jungle noises fall silent. The ground vibrates slightly.  She looks back, the roar having come from the south west part of the city.  She moves into the building and presents her finding to the group. 

Still invisible, she sneaks up behind Badger before saying, "Well nothing seems to be waiting for us. There's something south west of here though, and it sounds hungry. And big. Shall we proceed? I can scout up ahead of the group, or should we stay together?"

Stealth 25

Quote from Samosaurus >>

Still invisible, she sneaks up behind Badger ...

Hey, roll a Stealth check   :D

Sickle will cast Pass Without Trace on the party as we prepare to move toward the Northwest.

The group departs the ruined building and begins sneaking through the underbrush of the city, Sickles magic shrouding them from the world around them. Shrouded so, the group comes across rodents that don't flee, insects and small animals that go about their business as if no big scary humans were around, as well as occasional plants that move. In fact three times they notice small creatures that appear to be made of roots, no more than a couple feet tall, with skulking about, though the creatures seem to have little routes through the bambles and ruins that make it impossible for you to follow them.  They have crude spears and clothing.  Passing by buildings, not taking the time it would take to exhaustively search the town, the group comes to the first large intersection. A derelict market hall stands on the street corner, frayed awnings hang in tatters above a broad alley lined with stalls.  The street corners are decorated with statues and carvings of different themed animals that appear to be used repeatedly throughout the city.  You notice carved writing of the Omuans from time to time, but no one here understands old Omuan.  As you reach the intersection and notice yet again carvings of animals in the stone, Mandra whispers, "These animals are the nine gods. The gods of mischief that the Omuans worshiped after Ubtao abandoned them.  Their tale is an odd one, I'll whisper it to you as we walk...    

Long ago, the god Ubtao hardened his heart and vowed to weep for the people of Omu no longer. The rains stopped, the jungle withered and died, and death swept through Omu.  One morning, a wise zorbo emerged from her hollow tree and spoke to the dying Omuans. To convince Ubtao of their worth, she decided to cook him a stew made from all their good qualities. Catching such virtues wouldn't be easy, so she asked a wily almiraj to help her. 

The almiraj snuck recklessness in the pot, which she saw as a virtue, and Ubtao spat out the stew when he tasted it. From that day on, Obo'laka the zorbo and l'jin the almiraj became terrible enemies. At noon, a brave kamadan hopped down from her rock. She saw the evil in the Omuans' hearts and decided to lance it like a troublesome boil. The kamadan fashioned a holy spear, but she left it by the riverbank and a crafty grung stole it. In her rage, Shagambi the kamadan forgot all about the Omuans and chased Nangnang the grung forever across the sky. When evening came, a wily eblis stepped from his reed hut. He didn't like the Omuans, but without them he'd have no one to play his tricks on. The eblis sent a marsh frog to reason with Ubtao, but the frog was angry and decided to wrestle the god instead. This amused Ubtao, so he gave the frog tentacles to make it stronger. When Kubazan the froghemoth returned to Papazotl the eblis, he chased Papazotl into the swamp with his new tentacles. 

That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao's palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi's burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie. When Wongo the su-monster found out how Moa had betrayed him, he vowed to catch the jaculi and eat him up.  All the while, Unkh the flail snail lived deep under the earth. The noise of the other animals fighting made her slither up to the surface, and when day dawned over her shell, the light blinded Ubtao and made his eyes water. Life returned to Omu, and the people built shrines to honor the animals who'd saved them."  Mandra shrugs.  "I didn't make it up." 

The group heads north up the main boulevard looking for an alley to continue heading east towards the amphitheater that Silas noticed.  Sticking near buildings and behind cover to stay out of site of Gargoyles on the cliffs, the group notices an alley east right near the cliff base. They also notice near the base of the cliffs, a fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone is draped with vines and black moss. Behind it, you see a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrows into the base of a cliff to the east.

Sickle looks about. “So, should we keep moving west, or explore one of these tunnels?”

DM can we see any signs of life in either of the tunnels?

Silas looks generally confused taking to attach names and images in his head to the story, "We should throughly check everything we can,"

Badger takes a few moments to study the obelisk, seeing if it holds any significance to their quest, or to the folk story Mandra told. 

Investigation/Religion: 25

If necessary, and if the others can spare the time, Badger will ritual-cast Comprehend Languages to interpret any writing on the obelisk.

Sickle spots no sign of life down either tunnel but they're obscured by vines, and lighting, so it's impossible to be sure.  

Badger thinks he sees some carved words under the moss and vines and reaches up to clear them off.  As he pulls away the moss and vines, his hand brushes the obelisk. A vision of darkness fills his mind, howling souls in a massive vortex, all screaming in terror.  Several strange creatures dance through the mist around it, cackling and shrieking. He stumbles back away from the obelisk, stunned by the contact.  Everyone looks to where the moss and vines have fallen away. Carved into the stone, written in clear crisp common, unlike anything else you've seen in these ruins...is a message: 

Badger closes his eyes and shakes his head to clear the horrific images from his mind. Then reading again through the carved text he says: Urgh, anyone ever heard of Acererak?

Acererak is a name you're all familiar with.  He's an ancient, powerful, undead creature that features prominently in plays, stories, and books, often as the shadowy evil behind everything wrong in the world.  He is a devious creature that revels in puzzles and is consumed with his quest to consume souls. Among adventurers, legends of his tombs and their deadly traps echo through eternity. That his words here are scribed on this monolith is like a curtain being pulled back so that you can be shown the architect of the evil. The soul monger is surely his doing. 

Badger, as you stand there, a vision overtakes you.  A city of magnificent, whitewashed buildings stretches out before you. Sunlight sparkles off of glass domes and windows, yet all is not well. Black smoke coils from fires across the city, corpses litter the streets, and wraiths circle the rooftops like vultures. A sphere of utter darkness grows out from the heart of the city, blotting out the light as it expands toward you. You turn away, and when you look back, the darkness is gone. The city is a half flooded, overgrown ruin.  You blink your eyes and are again standing before the monolith.

Silas will wave his hands in front of Badger and snap his fingers, "YOu ok?" Silas asks trying to get Badger to snap out of it. 

Badger doesn't blink, but turns his wide eyes to Silas. Such ... evil! So much ... ruin. Then, tearing his gaze away and bowing his head, he continues: Among my people there is a legend, a story, of this Acererak. I thought it an invention of the deep gnomes ... a tale to scare children. But you know this name too, and here it is on this stone. I sense an evil greater than all the tales. An evil that lies waiting. 

(OOC: Badger really showing off his predictive powers with that one....) 

The name Acerarak sends chills up Sickle’s spine. “So we go into the cliffs?”

Silas, who grew up in temples, tilts his head in confusion at the name, "He is just an evil that must be destroyed. I do not understanding this fear. Are you sure you are fine?"