THE LOST CITY OF OMU

The jungle parts to reveal a dead city enclosed by sheer cliffs. Ruined buildings and stone boulevards rise like ghosts from the floor of the misty basin. Colorful birds glide overhead.

A waterfall pours into the basin, creating a swollen river that floods much of the city before draining into a deep rift filled with molten lava. A ruined palace lies a few hundred feet from the edge of the steaming abyss.

The cliffs surrounding Omu are 100–150 feet high and composed of crumbling rock. Thick jungle hugs the clifftops, with ferns, orchids, and moss spilling over the edges.

AREA 1 - THE GUARDHOUSE

A guardhouse stands near the entrance to the city. Arrow slits are cut into its limestone walls, and a lopsided iron portcullis hangs over the gateway, beyond which you see an open plaza.

Kitsune will hide (Stealth: 10) and then creep up to the wall adjacent to the gateway. Does she hear anything on the other side of the wall?

Perception: 9

“Interesting...” Astra says, looking at the arrow slots at a safe distance in case they might have been rigged with some sort of trap. 

Investigation (checking for traps, if possible): 14

(if it’s actually perception the roll is the same!)

12 on Perception, 10 on investigation. Rolled in Discord. Asha will move to Area 2 if nothing pops up.

Kira begins poking around curiously, also looking for traps.

Inves: 25

ONE:
High above along the outer cliffs of the lost city, a number of Yuan-Ti are looking down upon you all. 

TWO:
The guardhouse seems to draw most of your attention. Much of the exterior has collapsed into rubble. Creepers cling to the walls, and high grasses sprout between the flagstones amid evidence of long-dead campfires. One outside wall is covered with graffiti — some words painted, others etched. You find no traps.

“Fear the fangs of Ras Nsi!”
“Erik, I’ve gone in search of the nine shrines. V.”
“The puzzle cubes are the key.”
“Beware the frog monster!”
“Who is Unkh?”
“All hail the King of Feathers!”
“The snakes are not what they seem.”
“Kubazan = bravery. Shagambi = wisdom. Moa = ?”

"Ooo." Zyn says, looking up towards the cliffs. "That..doesn't look good." She then reads the graffiti. "Ras Nsi. There's that name again." 

Kira copies down all the graffiti in case it turns out to be important later.

“Hello! Is this your city?! It’s very lovely and we mean no harm!” Astra shouts and waves to the onlooking Yuan-Ti, hoping that they wouldn’t run away as they have done many times before, even if they didn’t understand him.

When the group moves to Area2, the wizard sends off Faust to get a good overhead look on the area, holding onto Zyn to lean on while he goes blind and deaf.

Perception: 13

The Yuan-Ti from high above do not react to your screaming. You are all being observed from a vantage point you can't reach, but the Yuan-Ti do not advance or attack. The jungle is hot, and humid. As you travel deeper into the Forbidden City, you can feel the temperature rise a bit more. You sweat openly. As you look around the ruins, the jungle has mostly wildly grown all around it.

Zyn allows Astra to take her arm. It is tight, tense, like a crouched cat ready to pounce, expecting danger at any moment. 

17

As you descend deeper into the ruins, an extremely long road seems to run parallel along the entire length of the ruins. There is something at the end of the road that literally gives Faust cardiac palpitation. As she flies up to a decent height to scout, she sees a terrible, enormous creature slowly lumbering around all the way at the end of the road. It's so large it's impossible to miss. A shocking large T-Rex with feathers growing out of it's head, which looks like some sort of crown, patrols the area. From this distance, it looks extremely dangerous.

AREA 2 - THE RUINED PLAZA

As you walk down the main road, you see particular ruins to your left (AREA 2) and your right (AREA 4). Smoke drifts lazily from the walled compound on your left (AREA 2). The gate lies in splinters, and scorch marks deface the buildings. Near the center of the compound is a plaza littered with about thirty charred human corpses, among other things. One of the corpses is being torn apart by a pack of wild dogs.

"I think that we should try Area 4, but definitely stay away from that ****in' dino."

"Don't worry. I have Faust on it," Astra calls back Faust from her scouting, the hawk settling herself on one of the roofs to keep an eye out for the dino (if it gets close, Faust will come back to warn the group, wherever they may be). The wizard can't help but frown at the sight of the burnt corpses, creeping closer to one of the bodies (farthest from the dogs) to get a closer inspection. "Just a moment..."

(Did they get attacked prior to burning? Any blood markings on the ground that leads somewhere, etc?)

Investigation/Perception: 15

They did. A battle took place here. The charred corpses, judging by their clothing, appear to be Red Wizards. The wild dogs scatter. There are also dead Yuan-Ti too. A glaive has been thrust into remains of a burned-out pyre. Charred snake skulls and blackened inhuman vertebrae are lashed to the spear. On a wall nearby, a symbol has been daubed in ash: a snake curled in a spiral, gripping a circle in its jaws.

Among the rubble of the ruins you can hear a voice calling for help.

Since Kitsune is in her natural terrain, she’ll join Astra at spying into Area 2, and looking for any trail that might identify who or what recently lit the fire and killed all the humanoids in the compound (Perception/Investigation: 12).

"Oi, someone here needs our help. Are we goin' ta give it to 'em?" Asha asks, starting to head towards the rubble.

The yuan-ti burned their dead comrades and arranged their bones into a spirit pole. You recognize this behavior as a Yuan-Ti tradition. Since Red Wizards are not native to Chult, you surmise that the yuan-ti ambushed them and lost some of their own. The sigil on the wall is the symbol of Dendar the Night Serpent devouring the world.

An old man is buried in the rubble. "Look!" says Zyn. She rushes over to help. 

"Oh, praise Szass, thank you!" he says to her. "A drow! Fascinating."

"I am half drow." she corrects. "Did..you say Szass?"

"Yes." the old man says, getting up. He's in really bad shape. "I am a scribe and translator for the Red Wizards of Thay. Thank you for coming to my aim. My name is Orvex. I am all this is left, it seems, we had seized this compound as their base of operations in Omu, but yuan-ti attacked us and nearly wiped us out. We were over thirty. This place is crawling with yuan-ti."

Kitsune scrambles up to remove the remaining pile of rubble away from Orvex, and helps to dust his robes off, and steady him as he stands back up.  Looking him straight in the eyes, with a concerned look on her face, she asks "Are you all right, Master Orvex?" (Performance: 11).

Kira bounces over, Kia peeking out from her hood. "Hi there! You don't look so great."

"No, the attack was a massacre. There was an explosion, and I was buried under some rubble, where the drow found me."

"I'm.****y half drow." Zyn repeated.

Orvex is down to 3 hp and has 3 levels of exhaustion.

"My team and I were trying to find a way to open the Tomb of the Nine Gods. This place is both dangerous, and fascinating! As a scribe, it would appear they have no use for my Chultan or Omuan knowledge of lore any longer." he finishes, sadly.

Kitsune: “Oh contraire! You’re knowledge would be extremely helpful!  Care to join us, as we’re on the same quest, I think.”