Lost Lab of Kwalish

Ooc: realized if you had detect magic up, the badges Moghadam gave you would register as magical. 

 Leann continues releasing the prisoners. She then steps back as they discuss things with the tabaxi.

Not contradicting Mack, Huarache shakes his hand. "Yeah, Moghadam sent us. We'd be willing to help find Little Gadai; I know that leaving people behind isn't exactly ideal."

OOC: So, because I thought Tabaxi were Chultan and wanted to back that up, I looked through VGtM and found that they are from Maztica, which is a continent across the ocean from the Sword Coast. I was confused because the Tabaxi are a tribe of humans in Chult from the 14th century DR (Tomb of Annihilation, for context, is in the 1480s DR) who named themselves after the Maztican race of humanoid cats. The more you know, I guess, although I don't think this will ever be relevant in even the most obscure games of pub trivia.

Ooc: agreed.  I see no reason why they couldn't be part of Oerth/Greyhawk but I thought the narrative potential was more interesting this way.  These guides are just like hirelings, btw - not fighting just assisting.  You won't be dragging them around any more than you'd notice a Keychain- which the one guy literally has.

"Thank you, miss." The relieved man on the table breathes a sigh of relief. "I never meant anyone harm.  Please, let me take you to your friends, they're just down the hall there and to the right.  I have the keys here." He gestures to his chest were a comically oversized ring of keys swings from a leather lanyard. "My name us Andrastalos, and I owe you my life. " He grabs the giant owl and heads north,  flinching when Mack feints a.punch as the middle aged man passes by.  

"Theres a storage area here, help yourself if you'd like" and that's Andras' office." He shudders as he points out the latter room.as.you pass by

Within the first room you see a general storage area for the temple, holding crates, sacks, and barrels filled with typical goods in support of temple operations (foodstuffs, cloth, oil, tools, and so forth).

The second room holds a bed, a desk, and mundane gear. 

Ooc: there's stuff in the rooms if you want to check them out, Andrastalos pauses as he wants before the hall ends at a T.  Otherwise you can just go on to the prison cells to the right.

Huarache sees nothing that he needs; he's got mundane crafting gear with him. Anyone else want to nick something while we're here?

Leann moves on towards the prison.

Andrastalos nods in agreement, "Yes, perhaps later.  We should make haste." He says as he looks down at the keys around his neck, grabbing them to I dictate they should head on to free their companions.  As he turns the corner to the right, he looks up, surprised at what he sees, but not frightened- at first.  In an instant, he realizes his mistake and turns heel heading left.  "It's me, you bloody fool! Off with you! " his shouts ring out as he flees.

Leann, rounding the corner sees a huge creature with eight heads surrounding a central mouth, large, circular and filled with jagged teeth. It approaches slowly, menacingly whipping it's pincer tipped tail as it walks, acid dripping from its maw sizzles as it trickles to the floor.  It's intent is clear - it will try to kill Leann, and Andastralos evidently felt he was in for the same fate.

"I suppose we should run, then?"

Quote from Shonisaurus >>

"I suppose we should run, then?"

 It probably assumes you will do that, but you can certainly try to fight it.

Let's say it's 20ft from the end of the hall, so you can reach it with 30ft of movement if you are so inclined 

By "it," do you mean the monster or the module? Either way, I don't trust a "you can certainly try," and Huarache will run.

Assuming you run to the left, the monster described at your back, you are met by eight angry lizardmen flooding in from the hall to your right.

"There they are!" shouts the first guard to see the tabaxi,  as he thrusts a clawed finger at Huarache to a  rejoinder of reptilian battle cries.

You have a feeling you've been in this hallway before.

 The image below is a map of the areas youvw seen.  The real takeaway is that you can fight your way through a bunch of lizardmen to the right or just one or two if you go left.  If you take your second left, you'll be on the area depicted on the map you found on the skeleton in the water,  the first left is the hallway you took to find the old men in tanks leading ro where you are now.  Before you reversed time, you took the path to the right and met 8 lizardmen, so showing you that they're there is inline with what PCs would know.  Also the monster with the heads is behind you if you head toward those lizardmen.

Not pictured: Andrastalos (the middle aged man) and his owl.  (You would guess he went left just ahead of the column of lizardmen.

Leann sees her companion fleeing the multi-headed creature, so, reluctantly, follows them. She draws her blade as the lizardmen give the battle cry, but will continue to follow away if that is where her companion goes. She will only fight if that is what they are doing.

<<Ooc: I'm going to try something here.  More explanation in the spoiler.>>

Leann meets the enemy head on.  These lizardmen are bigger and meaner than the ones back home, resisting Leann's attacks and fighting with unrestrained ferocity. Longswords, scimitar and arrows glance off Leann's armor as she presses forward into the surge of scales and teeth.  One reptile falls, another, bit the pile of armored muscle and bone continues to envelop the paladin.  Dragged ro the dungeon floor, Leann says a prayer to Torm through gritted teeth as she crawls to the door at the end of the hall.  A door to the left, another to the right.  She sees an opening and lunges into the right door, tearing it open as she collapses into the next room.

The lizardmen snap and scurry forcing their way into the room behind her as she cuts down one and another, pressing the door closed as their bodies are swept over the threshold.

This cluttered chamber serves as a barracks for Thessalar’s lizardfolk servants. Crude sleeping pallets line the walls, and the place has a foul smell.

the lizardfolk’s possessions include 25 cp, 55 sp, and 10 gp.  In addition, twelve uncut rubies (worth 50 gp each) are being used as pieces for the board game. 

A gruesome scene plays out along the east wall. One of Moghadam’s thieves hangs from manacles there, dead, torn open, and with his innards hanging out, having been given to the lizardfolk to consume.

Huarache, Mack, Big Gadai and Logan are still faced with the  many headed foul mouthed creature.  They may confront it or try ro squeeze past the lizardmen as Leann distracts them.  The guide can be directed to act independently of the characters, thus Logan can be sent anywhere you want it to go.  Based on previous comments, I believe Huarache will run past the lizardmen.  The thieves will accompany him, but maybe you send Logan with Leann? Let me know.

You enter a room you haven't seen before. This chamber resembles a larger version of the entry, with arches meeting at the twenty-five-foot domed peak of the ceiling. A nine-foot-tall wooden platform stands against the south wall, on which several bodies lie wrapped in funeral shrouds.

Huarache is absolutely running past them, and as he enters the previous room again, he stops for a moment to look around the room, then he recasts Detect Magic.

Big Gadai and Mack see the bodies on the dais.  "Twitch.  What are they doing with him?" Gadai gasps.  The deceased appears to have been a part of their group.  "We'll stop back for him on our way out." Mack promises half-heartedly.

Huarache sees that the bodies on the wooden platform are 4 lizardfolk and one female human.  He begins casting detect magic, but long before the spell finishes, the thing with all the heads pop up, drool spilling from its cavernous jaws.

Mack sees in the south wall 3 small knows, almost hidden into the wall.  He pulls the top button, then the bottom, and finally the middle one.  A hidden door in the south wall opens.

Leann notices the body in the room has a tattoo on its arm identical to the one on Big Gadai.  Anyone would surmise these are the remains of her missing brother.

Logan's mechanical voice announces in monotone: "Energy depleted, please recharge."

(The timeshift guide used its last three charges to achieve the most recent result.  Achieving this unlikely outcome is worth a lot of brownie points.  Hopefully the team feels accomplished, but heroism is born of sacrifice)

In orange boldface, Huarache says, “We headed into that door, then? Or do we need to fight that... thing?”

Quote from Shonisaurus >>

In orange boldface, Huarache says, “We headed into that door, then? Or do we need to fight that... thing?”

 Those are both viable options.  You would have made the requisite perception and investigation checks to open it, I just handwaves those. 

This is all happening as Leann fights her way through waves of Lizardmen.

Ooc: waiting on Leann and Huarache to choose actions.  I've  mentioned the mechanic that allows PCs to sacrifice HP to power the temporal guide.  That is the choice for Leann - maybe save Little Gadai but lose some HP with rhe 8-headed thing still down the hall beyond the door, or stay at full HP and probably disappoint Torm and definitely let down Big Gadai.

Huarache's is either stay and fight or run through the door.

I have 3 new PCs waiting for intros, but I was hoping these two items could resolve first.