"Now Zhoggab, you be a good mule for Mr. Fred now, you hear? I will hopefully be home soon, but if not, you be a good boy."

Gotur hugs his mule, and must have gotten some mule hair in his eye or something.

Gotur, the manager of the boarding house gives you a handshake and a smile as he bids you farewell. Zhoggab rubs his head against your body as you say your goodbyes to the mule, who while you weren't with for all that long did provide you with some companionship I can imagine, especially given Gotur's goodbye. :*(

Syn says "Everyone here? Alright. Fred, thank you again for all of the help you've provided. I shall return when I can to provide an update on the situation at hand. Until then, my friend."

She creates the magical gate with her hands in a waving motion. it is an 8ft high by 5ft wide arch with rippling black in the middle. It makes no noise. None of you have likely seen this type of thing before, so you might be kind of awestruck at the power of this archmage as she creates the teleport gate. "Come. Now." and she walks through first.

Fred says to you "Good luck, my friends." as you all walk through the gate...

((I am going to start a new post with the arrival to Port Nyanzaru later today. It's going to be a big one. There will also be visual added to our google sheet to help with the description of this new far away land and this port.))

((Not much 'on screen' but between the few days travel to and from Havel's Cross and the downtime in between adventures, he got attached in the month or so (?) they've been together.))

[*cue montage of two mules eating oats, pulling a cart together, frolicking in a field of wildflowers, napping in the sun. One is Zhoggab and the other is noticeably bigger and burlier.*]

Gotur gives Zhoggab a final 'stay' gesture, and hops through.

The teleportation takes but mere moments. It feels strangely normal. You take one step into the gate, and the next step you're somewhere else ->

Syn says "Welcome to Chult, friends." She raises her arm and kind of gestures you to look around. *queue cool music.*

You appear standing in a tropical city under the blazing sun. The familiar sounds of a harbor — creaking ropes, slapping waves, heavy barrels rolling across cobblestones — mingle with voices shouting and cursing in an unfamiliar language filled with clicks, inhalations, and singsongy words that make it sound almost musical. The aroma of unfamiliar spices and tropical fruit mixes with the wharf side smells of fish, tar, and canvas.

Beyond all that, Port Nyanzaru is an explosion of color. Buildings are painted in bright shades of blue, green, orange, and salmon pink, or their walls are adorned with murals portraying giant reptiles and mythical heroes. Every building sports baskets and clay urns of colorful flowers or is draped in leafy, flowering vines. Minstrels in bright clothing adorned with feathers and shells perform on street corners. Multicolored pennants and sun awnings flutter atop the city walls. A crowd of children dressed in feathered hats and capes races past you, squealing in delighted terror as a street performer costumed as a big-toothed lizard stomps and roars behind them. The whole city seems to be bustling, sweating, laughing, swearing, and singing.

Syn says "This is Port Nyanzaru, the only civilized city in Chult, and my home for the past few years."

((You are all currently at position #13 on the Port Nyanzaru tab/map on our google sheet. Some visuals added for flavor!))

Syn looks around and waves at something coming out of the water and climbing up on that cliff you see on the map. The creature is 'Phillip' on the PC tab. Phillip, she is signaling for you to come over now, and you do (I assume). 

Syn says "Everyone, meet Phillip. This is the scout I was telling you about back in Neverwinter. He's probably only a handful of grung that populate the city. Folk who know him around here call him Phillip the Grung. Pretty original name, right? Ha. Ha. Ha. I will let him explain." she makes a joke maybe for the first time since you've met her, and then snaps back to 100% seriousness.

"I need to be honest with you. I lied to Fred. I have been starting to feel the symptoms of this curse and I am completely exhausted. That spell took all of my energy. I need to retire for the day. I know this is not ideal, but I can't be out in this sun for much longer. Alas, I wish I could give you more information about this entire mess. Please, make haste. There are a few options for room and board should you want to get set up here first before departing into the jungles. Phillip, be a dear and show them, yes? I shall retire now. Phillip knows where to find me. Uggghhhhhhhh......" and she kind of stumbles off. She does look significantly worse than when you all first saw her back in Neverwinter which seems like 3000 miles away. Which is in fact true!

So... she would've recommend 'Kaya’s House of Repose' for an inn which is located near the Red Bazaar (area 18 on the map, Phillip knows where). There are likely others though if you look around. 

Feel free to RP with Phillip now!

Also, feel free to ask any retro questions to Syn about the city itself or the broader land of Chult if you so desire. The adventure book gives me a TON of info and lore about the city and broader land, so I'll go as deep into RP and lore about this place as any of you want, keeping with the boundaries of what Syn knows of course. Otherwise she will leave you all to it.

((I have updated all of the tabs on our google sheet))

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BN23DQDrAKvzNLFcDh7dpnv_CiDfSJ_TloAK9-2VpfY/edit#gid=0

A frog-like creature comes out of the water and scales the cliff to join the party. It’s just under 3 feet tall, or so, and only wearing a couple of leather straps across its body. But the most striking thing about this grung are its markings and colours! It’s skin is SO vivid, its body a veritable rainbow of colour, glistening in the tropical sunlight: aqua-blue hands and feet; lime-green arms and legs; and an amber body; blending into almost ruby-red on its tummy and back and over its head. This all contrasts strikingly with its black spots, and a wide black stripe up its back.

The grung’s eyes are huge black orbs. And it’s difficult to see exactly which way it’s looking. As the creature approaches, it waves at Syn and seems to show a huge beaming smile (although that may just be its habitual expression, having such a wide mouth).

He laughs politely at Syn’s joke, a sound that reminds you of bubbles coming up through a water spout, and says “I’m... I’m.. Ff-f-th-ffffff-illip!”, it manages to get out ((the voice might be something between Donald Duck and Yoda)). “I’m ffffffff-p’lip” it tries again, with exactly the wrong shape mouth for that kind of word... “Yep Yep Yep! P’Lip... I’m P’Lip, at your service”. He bows low.

Gotur looks around wide-eyed at the bustle of the city, turning his attention to their guide as he's introduced.

"Oh, hello Phillip, I'm Gotur!", he says, extending a large hand to shake with the little grung.

Phillip smiles his wide smile and looks at Gotur’s hand, he places his hands firmly behind his back though, still smiling but saying, “Oh! I’m sorry! Yep yep yep, I’m sorry!... Nice to meet you G’Tur!... But.. hold on....” he looks around desperately for his things that have been left in a neat pile on top of the cliff wall.

He quickly grabs a pair of thin leather gloves from the pile and pulls them on. Dashing back, he grabs Gotur’s big hand in both of his and gladly shakes hands with him most vigourously.

"Heya Plip, I'm Evo. Uh... Aye think we need supplies for our mission? Aye have no idea where we're going. Do ye know that? And what we need to have?"

He pats his rather flat coin pouch,

"Cheaper the better, less Syn is paying?"

He looks after the departed archmage.

"An' some shade."

"We ah..  had some successful ventures, and I don't have much in the way of expenses, I'd be willing to advance you some coin for the good of our mission."

Phillip looks at the group, “Hi E’vo... Hi everyone”. He goes around shaking everyone’s hands. “Hmmm.... “. A black tongue whips out, as he’s thinking, and licks each of his eyes slowly, one after the other, then it disappears again...

”Hmmm... Best to travel light, in the jungle..... But need to bring everything we’ll need... ...may be gone for some time”. He walks around the group sizing everyone up, but being very careful not to brush past anyone, or touch anyone, inadvertently.

”Yup... uh huh!... yup yup yup..... ..Some of you will want weapons.... uh huh... some will want magics..... uh huh, uh huh!... ... I can ffffff-.... ffffff-... P’ind us water... I can fff-P’ind us fff-P’ood....”, he struggles to say.

”Bring a little rations. I can hunt... .... Bring a little water, I can get more!”. He smiles even broader if that’s possible.

“But your belongings, your specialities! You will know what you need... Oh and some antitoxin wouldn’t go amisss! I have some. But many things are toxic iffff- you’re not.. not.. careP’ull!”.

He thinks some more... “I don’t need tent... you might need tent. Hmmm... I don’t need blankets, you might need blankets... .... Anything we can fff-P’ind, in the jungle, we only take a little. Anything we need fffff-P’rom the town. We have to stock up now!.... yup yup yup!”.

Evo inconspicuously licks his mustache as Phil licks his eyeballs.

"Uh, okay Phil. But where are we actually going? Do ye know that? How long will it take? Will we need a boat?"

He looks at the water and then says,

"Aye need a hat. Phil, where should we put up for the night?"

He gives Gotur a smile at the offer of shared money,

"Aye hope that Syn will chip in too, if she really wants us to succeed it'd make sense."

Phillip pauses in front of Evo, a big smile on his face. He blinks real slow, one eye at a time. His eyes dip, slightly, into his skull and his eyelids snap closed over them, one after the other. He squints up at the dwarf. He maybe only comes up to just above his waist.

“Hmmmm.... what do I know? Yup yup yup.... There's a death curse.... An artefact is rumoured to be causing it... and it's somewhere in Chult!.... Do I know where? Nope, nope, nope...“. He shakes his head solemnly. “Do we need a boat?.... I don’t need a boat, you might need a boat! Ahah!” He laughs, and leans in close, but not too close, “In truthfff.... I don’t know. Nope nope nope....”.

”But can I help you survive in the jungle? Yup yup yup!”. With that, he holds his hand up, as if he’s picking an apple off of an invisible tree.... and grabs a small crystal decanter out of thin air.

He pops the bung out of the decanter and pours more water than it can hold over his head so that it runs all over his skin and forms a little puddle on the floor. He takes a big sip, then re-corks the decanter and hangs it around his neck on its little leather string.

He leans in close to Evo again, “I might not know the way... Nope nope nope!... But can I help you survive in the jungle?.... Uh huh, uh huh!”. He smiles and nods vigorously.

Phillip thinks and adds, “Hmmm.... where to stay??.... Yup yup yup! ...Uh huh... ‘Kaya’s House of Repose'... Nice Inn.... uh huh, uh huh!.... ...Not far...”. 

Phillip sees Evo struggling in the heat. He pops the cork on his decanter again and as he pours a little out, he uses shape water to hold a few blobs suspended in mid air.

He closes his eyes and concentrates, his hands raised, his fingers wiggling: the blobs seperate into a fine mist. He concentrates harder and the mist cools, into a tiny, chilly cloud, suspended before his face.

He opens his eyes and, with a gentle blow, the cool mist drifts slowly over into Evo’s face...

"I can help with food as well, most days, if not everyday. What other dangers do you think we'll face out there?"

Phillip pads over to Gotur, and stands in front of the large half-orc, with his eyes bulging out, and his smile huge! He licks his lips, “Mmmmm... G’Tur! Yesss!!! We will eat like kings!!! Ahah... uh huh, uh huh!... yup yup yup.... mmm-mmmmm”.

He puffs a little chilly cloud towards Gotur too.

“Hmmmm.... dangers. Yup yup yup!....”, Phillip walks all the way around the group, taking the measure of everyone again. Then he walks over to his little pile of gear.

He starts to pull on studded-leather armour pieces, strapping them in place, and checking and gathering his belongings together.

He speaks fondly, “Mmm... The jungle is more beautiful than you can imagine... The jungle can provide anything you’ll ever need.... uh huh. But it is dangerous too. Yup. Uh huh. Yup...”.

“This is the wilds.... bigger and wider than you’ve ever know. The animals are dangerous, the plants are dangerous... we just have to keep our wits about us. We stay alert and we look after each other...”. He looks back at the party. It’s hard to know if he’s happy or sad, with his wide smile and glistening eyes.

"I may pick your brain later Phillip, I've never been to Chult before, but feel quite at home in the forests where I come from, and have some ways of dealing with those dangers. I can prepare my magics to best keep us safe."

"Evo, you're clergy of some church or temple?"

Phillip pads back over to Gotur, and stands in front of the large half-orc again. This time, he looks like he’s swallowing hard, but his throat expands, like a balloon, to the size of a watermelon, before he eventually says “Burrrip!!!!........ Uh huh. Yup yup!, ifffffff you know the.. fffffff-P’orests,... then we may have much to talk about! Uh huh....... And just maybe we might hunt, or stalk, like kings too!!! ..Uh huh!... yup yup yup....”.

Gotur smilles down at the little grung. 

"Ah, yes, I've been known to hunt, though my way is a bit different. What sort of creatures might we be hunting?"