You take a rest after retrieving the puzzle cube of Wongo and then decide to go an have a look at the ampitheatre you can see looking over the city off to the west. You cross over the prominade, with Trayzeal some way ahead, scouting the area. On the way you find a feather, a huge feather, a 6 foot long feather. Eep. As Trayzeal passes a tower in front of the ampitheatre he suddenly spots a huge feathered dinosaur standing in the middle of the stage, its huge head moving slowly from side to side as if it was listening to something. Trayzeal stops, and then slowly backs away out of sight. The King of Feathers doesn't seem to see him but as he steps back out of sight it suddenly roars and charges out between two pillars, spotting the rest of you who are in plain sight on the promenade. Suddenly the dinosaur gets peppered with arrows from behind and you see two old Tabaxi warriors that are busily shooting the dinosaur from some distance away. The dinosaur then suddenly disappears, leaving a trace of mist behind it, and reappears immediately in front of the two tabaxi. It bites at one, severing it's body in two and then swallowing the pieces, while swinging it's tail at the other smashing it savagely. The remaining tabaxi charges at it with a sword but is swallowed whole. While this has been happening, Orvex, Trayzeal and Grizz- Lee have been making their way to a stand of trees and bushes to hide. Besh, Weshtek and Selu start to follow, but suddenly the dinosaur appears directly behind them on the promenade. The Dinosaur roars and a swarm of bees flood out from his mouth and start stinging you. Weshtek and Selu pull out their swords and attack, while Orvex casts a fireball at the beast and Trayzeal fires his last poisoned arrows. Besh disengages, but summons a spiritual cactus to bash at the dinosaur as he retreats. Grizz-lee summons an area of shadows to try and help his companions hide. Orvex leaves the bushes and moves up against the wall where the dinosaur cannot see him Weshtek is bitten and eaten, while Selu jumps over the sweeping tail. Selu runs, overtaking Besh and heading towards the arena. The dinosaur teleports again, directly in front of Selu, biting him and then throwing his head back to swallow his corpse. He then looks directly at Orvex and charges towards him, stopping directly in front of him and roaring. During this time Besh is firing bolts of radiant energy at the beast while Trayzeal fires arrows. Orvex misty steps out of range of the dinosaur to the top of the promenade 30 feet to the north and shoots a ray of frost at the beast. By this time the beast has been badly damaged by spells and arrows and disappears once more. You see it's tail appear briefly out from behind a far away tower and then it disappears once more. Silence falls on the area and you stand still for some time. Some of you are badly wounded, so you all make your way to the main arena area and take a break. As you are resting you scan the area. You see lots of small dinosaurs peeking their heads out from the stands of the ampitheatre, and you see many entrances dotted in the massive building. A massive pair of open doors catches Orvex's attention so he goes to have a look. He peeks into the doors and sees a huge area under the arena where a nest has been made from bones, crumpled armour and many items. Sitting in the nest, pulling arrows out of itself with it's great maw sits the dinosaur. It's head whips round and it looks at Orvex. A deep growl comes from deep within it and then suddenly it is gone. Orvex turns around and it is directly behind him. It opens its mouth to bite him, but Orvex throws up a barrier of energy and then Misty Steps away into the stands. The dinosaur turns to look where he has gone and sees the rest of you in the middle of the arena. It charges. It runs directly up to the group and bites, catching Besh in his jaws and almost shattering his shell but teeth piercing through Besh's hard exterior. It then suddenly disappears and reappears some distance off on the promenade, Besh still in it's jaws. Besh tries to escape it's jaws but cannot with it's teeth through his shell, so he pulls his head into a more protective position. Grizzlee summons a storm that hits the beast with lightning but it does no good. The beast turns to leave, but something draws it's head around to look at the rest of you once more just as the last arrow that Trayzeal fires arrives at the destination. The arrow pierces deeply through the dinosaurs eye. The dinosaur rears up, dropping Besh, and then falls off the edge of the promenade to a crumpled heap on the ground below. The King of Feathers has been destroyed. But Selu and Weshtek are also dead. Once Besh has been healed you decide to explore the dinosaurs nest. You find some interesting treasure, but Orvex finds a helm which he quickly claims despite protests from others in the group. You rest under cover in the arena for the night. During the night the rain stops and the day begins with a bright blue sky. You climb to the top of the arena and look around. With the clear weather and Trayzeals keen eyes he is able to see much in the city. He sees birds and monkeys everywhere, but also notes kobolds coming from several directions, hiding their faces from the sun and converging into a large building in the north of the city. He also sees a red wizard with some Chultan Warriors and a group of Skeletons walking on the promenade to the south of the palace. He also sees an interesting looking obelisk near the cliff face with caves behind it. You all decide to investigate the caves before heading on to another shrine you think you have identified. Near the base of the cliffs, a fifteen-foot-tall obelisk of cracked stone is draped with vines and black moss. Behind it, you see a dark passageway obscured by withered creepers. A second, smaller tunnel burrows into the base of a cliff to the east. Three stone gargoyles watch you from narrow ledges carved into the cliff side. Each has the face of a bearded devil, its mouth agape in a silent scream. The Obelisk has writing hidden under the vines. Clearing them away shows the following message: Fear the night when the forsaken one seizes death's mantle and the seas dry up and the dead rise and I, Acererak the Eternal, reap the world of the living. Those who dare enter take heed: The enemies oppose. One stands between them. In darkness, it hides. Don the mask or be seen. Speak no truth to the doomed child. The keys turn on the inside only. Some of you have heard of Acererak and this is a terrifying message. You look down one tunnel and see alcoves running down the length, each one featuring a bestial statue standing or squatting above a basin of oil. Another tunnel ends at a slab of worked stone, whose edges are marked by relief carvings of grinning skulls. Four lines engraved at the center of the slab cross one another to form a star, with both ends of each line marking the location of a cube-shaped cavity cut into the door—eight cavities in all. Knowing that there are 9 cubes in total (of which you have 7) you decide that now is not the time to try and enter this place. You move on to a flooded building that you identified as a potential shrine. As you approach the shrine you hear a explosion from the south of the city that sounds very much like a fireball spell. You arrive quickly at the flooded shrine. Crocodiles wallow in this muddy lake bed, from which rises a walled ruin. Two columns flank the entrance, carved with images of a long-legged bird with a needle-like beak. At the building's front, slimy steps ascend to an entry arch. You draw the crocodiles away from the temple and enter. You note that one space on the floor of the temple looks freshly scrubbed. Moss clings to the stonework throughout this hall. The mosaic floor depicts a tall bird using its long, pointy beak to pin a monstrous frog-like creature with tentacles sprouting from its shoulders. Set into the far wall is a set of heavy stone doors. Around the mosaic is Omuan writings: When evening came, a wily eblis stepped from his reed hut. He didn't like the Omuans, but without them he'd have no one to play his tricks on. The eblis sent a marsh frog to reason with Ubtao, but the frog was angry and decided to wrestle the god instead. This amused Ubtao, so he gave the frog tentacles to make it stronger. When Kubazan the froghemoth returned to Papazotl the eblis, he chased Papazotl into the swamp with his new tentacles. You push the stone doors open and see a n empty pedestal stands in the middle of a chamber. Six statues face it from alcoves on the walls. They depict bare-chested humans with the heads of different animals. From left to right, the heads resemble those of a lizard, a jaguar, a lobster, a toucan, a bat, and a frog. The pedestal is slightly lighter in a square on top, as if a cube was there but has been taken. Underneath the pedestal is inscribed: Comes with sunshine Leaves with night Hides in darkness Does not bite Always joined to its caster Never strays from its master You work out that the answer is 'shadow' and start shining your torches into the corners. You find a hidden passageway behind one of the statue that leads to another puzzle. As you are working at the puzzle you hear a voice coming from outside the shrine. You race back to find a Yuan-Ti standing at the entrance. "You won't find your precious stone box here", hisses the Yuan-Ti, "my master has taken the last cube and you will need to come to the Fane of the Night Serpent to retrieve it. My master merely wishes to talk with you. He would ask you and red robed friends what use you have for these items. The entrance to our fane is at the northern end of the palace. I will await you there". With that, the Yuan-Ti transforms into a snake and swims away.
