"What could it all mean? I am unfamiliar with Ras Nsi as well so I know not anything about these... fiends." Funderburk looks about the area they have just fought from. Seeing Nenne performing her ritual and everybody else recovering from the recent battle. "What does it mean and... how can we investigate furthur? Should we just continue along our way to Mezro as originally planned?"

“Do you think that these things might be related to the curse in some way?   These markings they bear may be significant”

Having some time to think about the whole Ras Nsi thing, Eku says, "This Nsi...If he is a hundred years old - or more - I wonder if he is some sort of necromancer and the root of the Death Curse? Sorceress, do you know more of this Nsi's story? What happened to him?"

With her ritual finally complete, Nenne carefully packs her equipment, collects her mace, and joins the others by the ghoul corpse. She inspects the mark with cool detachment. "Undead army, has he?" she says, arching an eyebrow. "As if war is not grotesque enough on its own." 

She crosses her arms. "I know precious little of necromancy," she admits, "yet I imagine that someone interested in amassing an army of undead would have motive aplenty in stealing souls from Kelemvor and the rest of the death gods. Seems an efficient means of recruiting soldiers while thinning the enemy line. Attrition warfare, but with living souls." More golden highlights appear in her hair, and her jaw clenches. 

"I would hear more of Ras Nsi as well," she echoes, nodding to Sthara. "And if he is indeed an exile of Mezro, perhaps he is the one who laid waste to it. We may find more answers than we expected once we arrive. I am convinced more than ever of the necessity for swiftness of travel. You shall suffer no further delays on my part. There will be time enough to honor the dead after we have protected the living and avenged the wronged."

"I wish that I could provide you more knowledge, but I know little myself. I know that he was a paladin of Ubtao and a sworn protector of Mezro. That is until he betrayed his oath and was exiled. I also know that he was like me...yuan-ti, though a halfblood with a slithering base on which his torso rested."

She pauses and then follows up her information with a worry.

"I do not like how similar I am to him. Yuan-ti. Chosen by Ubtao. Seemingly in the wrong time. Something about this makes my skin crawl. I could not say what was his end or if he had one, but I think we should find out and kill more of his army if we stumble upon it. There is no need for the creatures to debase the lands near to Mezro, let alone Chult."

Eku listens to the conversation with a worried expression. After Sthara finishes speaking she says to the sorceress, "Two coins minted in the same press can tell stories nothing alike. Don't sell yourself short just because of your common race and beliefs. Even one so chosen can fall and I have heard you speak of Ubtao as if the god still exists. Who is the chosen one in this scenario?" She shrugs and continues, "Maybe neither of you, but you certainly aren't some warlord bent on destruction. This jungle holds many secrets - perhaps you will discover yourself yet." She looks to the sky before adding a final statement, "We still have a three or four hours of sunlight left. The summer days provide a more decisive journey." She moves on past Nenne waving for the party to come along. As she passes the cleric she says in a low voice only for the eladrin, "...but at what cost?"

Nenne scowls and follows behind in silence.

"So..." the Funderburk tried to begin, starting a new conversation. "Now that some undead are handled, we find a place to rest now and continue to Mezro once more in the morning? How many cycles of the sun until we reach our destination?"

He looks around to the party, "Let us be at easy friends. We have journeyed far and are now tired; let us not climb onto the backs of others are blame the carrier for their own weight." He smiles, "Let us continue no?"

The rest of the day goes by in uninterrupted silence with each of the companions digesting this jungle and its mysterious ways.

Day 42-45

These days are spent under heavy rain. Mud gets caked into just about every place imaginable as they party plods on through the jungle. At one point Eku confesses that she doesn't know where you are, but by the end of that day she figures it out and it turns out you were on the right track the whole time. Curiously, two more circles of winter come up. When the rain hits the sphere of chilled air, it turns to snow. There isn't anything particularly different about these than the first one, however.

Day 46

By late morning the party begins to pass ruined structures, lost to the jungle and time. Sthara noticeably slows her pace as she looks around with great interest. Eku calls to the party indicating a nearby stone stair covered in moss. Once the party is assembled on the roof of what appears to have once been a sturdy building Eku gestures to the scene in front of the party saying, "I present to you Mezro."

The scene before you is a city - or rather it once was. Now it is a ruinscape of toppled walls, caved in buildings, structures sinking down into small bodies of water, and a healthy sign of jungle growth in the middle of avenues and streets. Moss and vines thrive in the place. As your eyes trace over the buildings and streets, it is obvious that not all of this was natural. There is a twenty foot tall statue of a man holding a spear that has the top third cut cleanly from its top. Blast marks mar ruined walls and some structures look crushed.

„Now that we are here what are we going to do? Any place in particular that we are looking for?“ Allister decides to take a closer look at the surrounding ruins, using a long stick to turn stones over and searching for mosaics or murals, maybe some pottery he can take as a souvenir.

"I assume we investigate until further knowledge is acquired." Funderburk began to advace towards the ruined statue. He muttered, "What had happened to this city.."

With that, Funderburk began to investigate as well. Thinking it would be wise now to start ritual casting of detect magic in the areas looking if they would need it.

Allister finds a building nearby that no longer has any roof to speak of. Inside the building there are signs of a campfire placed near what was likely the front door. There is a second entrance to the building now thanks to fallen rubble of the nearby statue. It looks to have rolled into the wall knocking down a sizeable portion. The area inside is just as choked with weeds and vines as the outside. Inside are two items of completely different origin: A canteen sporting the Flaming Fist's signature emblem and a jade pendant that no longer has any chain or cord for wearing. The pendant is carved into the likeness of a panther's face with its mouth open in a roar.

Sthara:

As you look around, you know that you are in the merchant quarter of Mezro - or what looks like it used to be the merchant quarter. That fallen statue was a powerful landmark that many entering the city saw before anything else. The jungle has clearly been at work for a very long time taking back these blasted and broken buildings. Your mind's eye fills in the spaces of what used to be and people walking to and from. That avenue just there went through the market over to the residential district, that building there with the tree growing out of it was a bakery, and this building you are all standing on right now was a guard post. You cannot even fathom what might have happened here, but it was total and complete destruction.

Boosey looks out over the city, mouth agape.  Despite the destruction all around, the place was obviously magnificent at one time, brought low by a disaster.  Judging by the blast marks the disaster wasn't necessarily a natural one.  "One thing's for sure," he says, "the city was destroyed well before the curse appeared.  This certainly didn't happen three months ago.  Three years maybe?" he wonders the last bit allowed.  "I am sorry for your city Sthara and I wish it were not so.  I cannot fathom what has happened here...it is beyond comprehension."  Moving from the roof of the guard post, he drops to the ground to see if he can find an entrance to the building.  If it's a guard post, there may be some clues inside the building as to what had happened here.  (Investigation check 9 )

Allister takes the pendant, reminding himself to ask Funderburk later to check it for magical dweomers, and puts thr canteen in his pack after searching the fireplace for clues how long ago it has been used

He has to cut away some vegetation as he enters the building, the doorway becoming badly overgrown.  The inside seems solid enough, and pretty well built.  Lying carelessly on the ground are shafts of old weapons, many of which have lost their blades although one or two still have theirs attached, dark brown and brittle with corrosion.  There's not much else in there other than some local wildlife, bugs and lizards scuttling out the way as he enters.  Moving back out the entrance he calls to the others.

"This might be a good place to set up base, here.  The building's solid enough, and it seems a good defensible position.  It might be an idea to make permanent camp here and use it as a base to explore the city."

The canteen Allister finds shows some signs of moss on and around it. It's been here for months if not a year...Probably something forgotten by whatever patrol came this way. It was tucked behind a piece of fallen rubble so it wouldn't have been easy to spot.

Once the party enters the ruins, Nenne decides to stick close to Sthara, aware of the impact a sight like this might have on the yuan-ti. She sidles up to the sorceress and in a gentle tone asks, "Is there anything I can do for you? Or that we may help you do?"

Hearing Allister call for him, Funderburk gave one last look at the river, then began to walk towards Allister.

Upon arriving, he looked about the area, amazed. Forgetting for a second why he was there, he instead put a hand to his chin and began thinking how this would be in his story. After seconds, he shook his head and regained his thoughts. 

When Allister asked his to inspect the pendant, he agreed and began to cast the ritual spell Identify on the pendant. "Give me but a moment. I will Identify this pendant, inform you, and once more be on my way to cross that river. If you would, watch my backside. You never know what can be around these days... especially while in this jungle."

Funderburk closed his eyes, sat on the ground, and held the pendant in his hands. He began to chant and the started the ritual.

Allister watches the ruins and the jungle while Funderburk performs his ritual. „You wanna cross that river on your own? Then you better fly or swim really fast. There’s all kinds of dangers in that murky water I can think of. Ever heard of crocodiles? Sneaky bastards from what I’ve heard. The big ones can bite a bull’s head off,“ he snaps his fingers, „just like that. And have you checked the currents in the river? Just saying, better not take this crossing for an easy trip.“

Funderburk stands up, head cleared, and begins to hand the pendant back to Allister. "Here is your pendant. As for the river, I plan to plainly float across on an ice cude." He said all of this with a straight face.

"As for the pendant there is nothing special about it. No magical readings came from it from what I could find. Whatever it was, it was probably used as some sort of symbol. Yet I know not."

With that, the Vedalken left to go back to the river, testing the water and preparing himself to cross.