Toc spits something small out of his mouth and nods, "Very well.  Enough of this cursed place. Let's go to the jungle."  He gives everyone a few moments to pick up gear and belongings, and then digs through his bag and finds a dried flower pressed in some paper. He holds it in his hand and says, "This should go relatively smoothly." 

Toc speaks a singular word and a tear in the universe opens and sucks everyone into it. 

This trip between the cracks of the universe feels smooth in comparison to past trips. You're pulled into a tunnel of rainbow lights, the air is whirling, everything is in motion around you, but it's not tearing at your bodies and trying to kill you. Instead its as if you've found the safe spot...a calm in the chaos. And then less than a moment later,  the whirling vortex of color and sound dissolves around you. The heroic travellers emerge back into the world, their feet standing on the loamy jungle floor..****y the thinnest trails of steam rising from their bodies as the remnants of magical energy sparkle away to nothing.  Eyes dilate and look about the bright jungle fauna. Lances of sunlight pierce the jungle canopy above...catching on the steam rising from the group. Birds call is still loud and fills the jungle with sound, along with the incessant buzzing of inumerable insects.  A crowd of small two legged lizards panic with the groups emergence and flee into the nearby bushes. 

Nearby the large opening in the ground that leads to the underground lake can be seen. 

Toc lowers his arms, "Well, that was considerably easier."  He tucks the small dried flower back into the folded paper and into one of his many small pockets. 

The steamy oppressive hot air of the jungle presses in on you from all sides and droplets of sweat bead on foreheads immediately.  Mirica in particular with her heavy armor feels the oppressive heat fill her armor like it's trying to choke her. Toc removes his vest and folds it up, tucking it away.  He swats at a bug that alights onto his neck.  "Bugger."

Mirica looked around, hoping to spot a volcano. Not that one would be able to tell the difference in this heat. She sighed - as light and convenient as the magical armour was, it did add to the heat, and since this time it seemed they were here to stay for quite a while, she decided to take the breastplate off. It took a minute (plus packing precious armour into her bag of holding) but let her breathe easier. "So... Where to?"

"Give me a moment, I'll see if I can see anything around"... Simaal gives the slightest of narrowing of eyes, then sits down and has a snack. To anyone seeing invisible a small eyeball starts floating upwards trying to get the lay of the familiar yet not familiar area. Simaal reports back what he sees.

Nuzej would like to take a short rest while the eye scouts but in the meantime asks someone to take the box and put it in a bag of holding or something similar. 

Thyrius appreciates the smoothness of this most recent teleportation trip. This time, he holds his lunch in with ease.

"I didn't think we'd see this cave and lake again. Good thing we are looking for something else this time."

Once Simaal tells the group that his exploring eye might need some support, Thyrius volunteers to climb a nearby tall tree and take a look around from a vantage point beyond the canopy. He'll climb as quietly as he can, remembering how dangerous the flora can be in this jungle.

-> Can he climb with Acrobatics: 14 (if not, deduct 4 for his athletics.) 

-> To climb quietly: 18   

-> Searching for a volcano from his vantage point: 26   

In case there was no volcano near by for Thyrius to locate one, Mirica would join the search.

"Give me a minute." That request from the priestess usually meant the summon of celestial help. So did it now. Atoya - the rainbow-coloured winged serpent - appeared exactly one minute later. Couatls were native to Chult, or so Mirica heard, and her first question was if he knows a volcano nearby or can locate one. Maybe not a volcano but a cave with lava flow? In case this particular Couatl was not familiar with Chult, his wings would help just as well and he was asked to find a volcano.

"Hold a moment, brother. Don't forget this." It took Xemnez maybe a minute or two to find a decent enough flat spot to lay out his portable hole. But once he had and jumped in for a bit, he eventually climbed out again holding some vial. "For the bugs. Not to doubt your skill, but as sure as shadow flees from light, a determined bug can be inescapable in flight." He grinned and puffed out his chest a little in pride for the ridiculous rhyme, then offered a vials to everyone.

For whether they liked it or not, there was a non-zero chance that the group might have to do at least extensive trekking through the jungle over relying on flight or misaligned teleportation. After seeing to his own greasing up, Xemnez took to walking a parameter while Nuzej and whoever else wished/needed to, took a short rest while awaiting news from those scouting abroad.

Sufficiently coated in repellant, and free from the harassment of bugs, Thyrius clambers up a large nearby tree that looks like it may reach above the rest of the forest.  With ease, he makes his way through the upper canopy that is alive with all manners of life. As he moves past, he is little more than a dark shadow, and he spots a snake slithering along a branch, several birds, and a parade of inch sized ants that work up and down the tree trunk that he nimbly avoids. Finally he finds himself manages to sneak through the last of the leaves of the trees around, and and climbs up above over the swath of green that forms the jungles ceiling.  The land of chult doesn't appear to have a flat surface anywhere. The jungle crouches along rolling hills, ravines and crags, almost entirely foothills for the tall mountains that rise up out of the green and into the sky, sharp and rocky.  From here Thyrius can see several mountain tops whose tops are missing and grey smoke seems to pour from their tops.  He figures it's probably twenty to forty miles to the nearest peaks, either on the left or to the right...though the more significant peak does appear to be on their left.  The mountains on the left and right seem to close together in front of them, where a deep valley cuts between them and further into the interior. 

Simaal stills does the elemtal so as to go up higher and try to pick the easiest path to the closest mountain. So if closest mountain looks like it will be difficult to go through he'll take into consideration the next closest volcano and try to estimate based on terrain which would take less time. Also Simaal will climb the elemental so he can just look around and talk to the group. That said he's also scanning around so he doesn't become giant reptile bird droppings. I think primary target would be one on the right, with secondary the taller peak on the left. It just all depends what I can see from up above, which I go a few hundred feet.

Thyrius climbs back down and reports to the group: "Several peaks to choose from, though I'll leave the exact choice to someone who can reach an even higher viewpoint," he says after noticing that both Mirica and Simaal are in the process of doing just that.

Thyrius shares all the detail he managed to pick up, including estimated distances and perceived difficulty of climb.

(Mirica will postpone summoning Couatl if Simaal summons an elemental)

The lay of the land from the air. You are the red dot.  4 volcanoes are visible. Hex's are 10 miles.

Does Nuzej have a polymorph form that could fly several of the party at a time up to a mountain? Perhaps a giant eagle? To bring the ring, I mean phylactery, to Mordor, I mean Mt. Chult?

Simaal lets the group know "I think west is our best choice, it has the least mountain ranges, albeit not being a mountain climber, I have no idea how technically tough it is. I don't have a way to get everyone there fast. I can potentially move quickly, but moving quickly in an unknown jungle seems like a sure way to be tomorrow's droppings."

Thyrius nods in agreement with Simaal and offer a potential solution in the form of a question: "Between Toc and I, I believe we could grant all of us the ability to fly for ten minutes. How far would that get us? Let me see.... carry the one.... I believe that would allow each of us to travel, with some luck, about as far as 2.5 miles.... That isn't far enough, is it?"

"Technically, we do not need to go there together. Or at all. The question is, indeed, how long would it take to reach the lava. Should it be within one hour, my celestial helper can simply carry the phylactery there safely and drop it into the volcano, without us going anywhere. So... Do you think it will take longer?"

(OOC: Hm. Thought I posted days ago, but apparently not!)

"No offense to your celestial 'helper', but... I do not think it wise to leave such a task to them alone." Xemnez commented, stopping his mini-patrolling for the moment. "'less your helper is invincible, far too many things can go wrong in transit alone, be it by air or not. Nevermind the dangers that may yet lurk near the volcano that it would have to contend with as well, so that it may ensure its charge reaches the lava." At that point he scans the group before adding, "Convenient as it would be, we should be thorough in this. Least we be caught unaware and have to go to greater troubles to correct any unexpected problems from overconfidence and... laziness." He said before letting out a little huff.

Thyrius nods in agreement with his brother. "Indeed. We should see this through, but i am afraid my earlier flying idea would only cover a fraction of the distance we need to travel. Should we revert to... walking through the jungle?"

Mirica shrugged. "He can be invisible and nothing but the magic can hurt him. But if you are so itching for a walk through the jungle and climbing mountains, we can do it, of course. The forming skeleton was crashed and I suppose we again have another ten days to destroy the thing?"

Toc nods carefully in response to the groups discussion, "I agree, Mirica, as much as your spirit is mighty, I would not leave the completion of this task to anyone but us. Aside from the fact that I'm not sure an hour would be enough for it to reach the volcano and complete its task. It looks far. Walking I suppose is the path before us. As for how much time we have.....my theory is that without the Phylactery staying in a single spot, it won't be able to continue forming the Liches new body. There is also a question of that which powers it....souls. We should be careful while we stay near the thing. It thirsts for our spirits." 

With the grim warning in place, the party begins a plodding journey through the steaming thick jungles of chult. Xemnez is given a shorter blade by Toc that is useful for chopping through the underbrush. Still though, the trip is no walk in the park. The oppressive heat and thick moist jungle air chokes at you, while the buzzing of insects dive bombing your ears is a constant. Even with the bug repellant grease smeared over your exposed skin, the presence of insects and their incessant noise fills your ears throughout the day. That and bird song and animal cries. The jungle is alive with life...and death....and the chirps, tweets, and caws of winged animals that are rarely seen through the foliage and canopy are like the main melody playing against the base of bug buzz. The ground here is anything but flat. Constantly you weave up and down hills, skirt along steep inclines, and splash through creeks and streams.  

And all along, Xemnez chops. And chops. And chops. His powerful feline muscles ripple beneath his flesh as he methodically and seemingly without any need to slow or stop, continues to chop a wide swath through the jungle for your to continue your progress. Occasionally you reach a steep high spot that grants you a view of your path and the distant volcanoes, but most of the time you are deep within the shadows of the canopy and hoping to keep a straight path as you push forward. 

Navigation:  I need one party member to act as navigator. One person, please make a Survival check, with advantage. 

Speed: Are you trying to hurry, or are you taking a normal pace, or are you going slow and quiet? 

Con saves:  Can everyone make two CON saves for me.