The Lost Jungles of Rabbad: Part 2

6 October 2022 • D&D • The Lost Jungles of Rabbad

This is part two in my ongoing series to summarise the Lost Jungles of Rabbad D&D adventure I am taking part in. I previously wrote up the first part, so I highly recommend reading that before continuing here, if you haven’t already!

overgrown jungle

When we last left our fearless heroes, they had just defeated Dawn Song; on some level, at least—she had turned into a necrodragon, and flown off. Well, Deimos and Qhell weren’t content to leave it at that, and chased after her but were unable to catch up. After licking their wounds, the group turned to examine the items she’d left behind. They found:

The Helm and Staff, together with Sumunar’s Hammer, seem to make up the three of the four items that bind Fulgrin in his tomb. Kosta takes the helm, Elmer takes the staff.

Kosta’s Absence Explained

Kosta disappeared down the mine, and was taken by Pelor to another plane. There, they meet with The Celestial, the patron with which Kosta did a deal previously. The gods appear to be fighting over him and his allegiance, with Pelor attempting to release Kosta from the binding deal he had unwittingly made with Mr C. They come to an arrangement: Mr C shall only demand four more tasks of Kosta, and Pelor will give him “the amulet”.

Kosta is taken to his old city of Fallen Oak, where he is watching the town under attack, two armies clashing. He watches Father Thason, his adopted father, struck down and killed. Kosta is told he has a choice to make: save Father Thason, or save the city from plunder, pillage, and murder. It is not clear whether the attack is happening in real time, the past, or the future, or even real. Kosta chooses the city, to the Celestial’s anger.

Back at the plane with Pelor, as one of his tasks Kosta is made to pick up a rapier by the Celestial that shocks him with a blast of energy and ages him a few decades. For the final task, the Celestial takes Kosta’s right eye, replacing it with a pulsing purple orb, and disappears.

Pelor then opens the heavens, looking down on the battle between the group and Dawn Song below. With a cry, Kosta jumps, and the portal closes behind him.

Qhell’s Backstory

Qhell explains that he has met Dawn Song before:

Several years ago I was taken as a slave, captured by some gang of outlaws. I was a curiosity, sold repeatedly, until I ended up on a ship. I didn’t know where I was or what they intended to do with me, except for that cat. She would come down to the hold every single day to leer at her cargo, torturing one lucky creature each day. She is evil, that’s all I know of her, and I vowed never to be in that position again.

Kosta’s Eye, Father Thason, and Contacting the Gods

Kosta asks Elmer to study the glowing purple orb that has replaced his eye. Elmer can tell that it’s deeply enchanted with powerful magic, beyond that of mortals.

Kosta then heads off to find the clerics, who help him with the scry spell to try and locate Father Thason, but they are unable to. Without a clear direction, he tries to contact Pelor, to no avail, as Deimos also tries in vain to get in touch with Gargauth.

Sankra’s Ice

At Elmer’s suggestion, Nib takes another look through the Celestial book given to them by the General. He finds a passage that mentions:

Moradin’s Might, The Wild Mother’s Clay, Savras’s Eye, at the heart, Sankra’s Ice

The names line up with the four items, leaving Sankra’s Ice to be the Crystal Blade. The group decide to head to Dawn Song’s camp the following day to see what she had left behind.

That night, Nib, Deimos, and Sumunar dream of the black plain again. Around the fire this time is Katrina, the devil, and a pale blue figure. Katrina tells them that the crystal blade is part of the lock, and the group should take the remaining three items back to the door to seal it again, at which point the three magical items they’ve found will be returned to their hiding places.

We Canoe!

Leaving Rafael at the fort, the party take a pair of canoes to cross the river’s mouth and avoid going back through the gulch. After the crocodile fiasco, Kosta is put safely inside a magical ball for the journey. They’re attacked on the way by giant sharks, and fight them off with difficulty, but eventually make it to the other shore. Due to the loss of a canoe, Elmer has to ride Qhell (as a Giant Sea Horse) for the rest of the journey.

Campfire Tales

They camp on the treeline of the beach. Nib tells stories of their excursions north:

Last time we camped by the sea, was much colder than this. Was up north, near Tressmouth. We’d been hired to go track down the rumours of a lost tribe of elves deep in the arctic tundra. We’d sailed on a old ship, The Orphans Rage, north out of Nook, but hit difficulties about two days out of Northwatch. Ship went down, half the crew lost to the dark waves. Those of us that made it, washed up on this thin spit of land. We burnt what wreckage we could, the flames green with the salt, just to stave off the cold.

As dawn broke, we had to head out. Only 12 of us left then. The cold claimed two more that first day, another the next.

We hit a valley, some shelter from the winds, but soon lost in their midst. We turned one bend and there stood our doom, a dark beast of the ice. It feel on us, blood-stained claws tearing into us. We ran but it was faster. The end was upon us as a thick black arrow sailed into the crevasse. Then another, and another, another. Under the hail, the beast fell, and looking up we saw them, The Lost Elves, bows drawn. Their leader nodded at me, and like that, were gone. Just saved our lives and disappeared into the snow.

Sumunar’s Story

“You all know that Jadel and I knew each other,” Sumunar takes up. “We were in nearby villages, and played together sometimes as young orcs. Well, she had a sweet tusk like you would not believe. Always loved a bit of honey or sap-sugar. So one day we were out rambling, and came across a hive high up in a tree. She wanted to raid it, and I was not hard to convince. Well anyways, we got our little selves about halfway up, then realized we couldn’t reach any higher. We tried going back down, but it was at an awkward angle and we couldn’t manage. We must have sat there for three hours, arguing about whose fault it was and yelling for help occasionally. At last I grew so sick of waiting that I jumped down, and naturally broke my wrist. So then she was still stuck, and I was on the ground but holding my wrist and crying. Finally I got it together enough to run to the nearest village, and the grown-ups got Jadel down.” She pauses and laughs fondly. “I forgave her quickly enough, but her nickname was Honey-Tusk for years afterwards.”

A Visit From Elmer’s Father

As Elmer takes watch that night, the figure of his father walks out of the water and berates him for running away, tells him to come home. An argument ensues, and Elmer refuses to go anywhere with him.

Sa’khuna’s Statue

The next day, on their trek through the forest, the group come across a statue of a long-dead god of the hells, Sa’khuna. Coloured keys sit in locks, and as Kosta plays with them, a loud boom explodes from the statue. The roc approaches from the sky, and the party escape with the help of Jul’s Pass Without Trace spell.

Areka

On the outskirts of Dawn Song’s camp, the party rest for the night. Deimos is visited during his watch by a wooden automaton with a black spear. It talks with Deimos, though doesn’t appear threatening. Apparently the roc is called Barda, and it warns of Ghosts to the south, and to stay out of the tunnels.

The Return of Night Bane

During Elmer’s watch, Night Bane turns up, limping, draging a broken leg behind them. He has a conversation with Elmer, saying that Kosta killed him from behind, and that he’d come for him. Deimos and Kosta wake, and Night Bane challenges Kosta to a fight. Instead, Kosta talks him down, and then heals him slightly at his request. He leaves to find his partner, claiming that “Vecna is all, and will be all soon”.

Dawn Song’s Camp

In the morning, the group confront four figures still at the camp, “Brazen Guard of the Golden Stars, servants to the Undying Mistress”. Elmer fireballs them, which sets the camp alight and starts a fight. Defeating the guards and putting the fire out, they find the same books they have a copy of, as well as an updated map of the jungle with more locations marked. There’s also an annotated book, The Travels of Magil the Lost, Vol 5: Mauldold, Illwind, and the Jungle. Her notes also show that they had found the helm at a shrine at the bottom of the river.

Kosta attempts to talk to Pelor for direction, but is blocked by a voice saying “he can’t hear you, you’re on my land now. She knows where you are now. I’ve told her.” Kosta is overwhelmed by twisting energy pulsing from his eye.

Dawn Song the Necrodragon. Again.

In the far distance, Qhell sees Dawn Song lift off from the mountains headed towards the group. Deimos puts Kosta in the ball once more, and lifts off to distract her while the others run for the trees. A brief fight in the air comes to an end when Nib casts Dimension Door to pull Deimos out of the dragon’s way and disappear into the forest.

Safe in the trees, they release Kosta from the ball, returned to normal.

Don’t Smell the Flowers

Heading onward through the forest towards a place marked on Dawn Song’s map as Fulgrin’s Tomb, Kosta stops to sniff some flowers, which turn out to be nasty man-eating plants. Fighting them off, the party have to get creative with methods of removing the corrosive sap from their skin without any water to hand.

The Crashed Balloon

Further on, they come across a crashed hot air balloon with the skeletons of some elves. Their notes show them to be explorers who had set out long ago to find the lost city of Maudold, and crashed here. Elmer takes a ring, intending to return it to their family one day. There’s also a chest there, with an inscription that indicates it can only be opened at midnight. The party bury the elves, and then camp for the night.

During the night, Qhell is visited by another chwinga like the one that came to Sumunar, which has apparently placed leaves on the graves of the elves. He gives Qhell a ball of twine.

At midnight, they open the chest and find a load of gems, four spell scrolls, a wand, a red amulet, an old map, and a pair of glowing stones. The amulet is to stop somebody from being magically tracked, and the wand helps find hidden doors and compartments. The stones are teleportation anchors. Holding one stone lets you teleport to either of the other two (of which the group only found one).

The Endless

Deimos takes a stone, and teleports to the unknown one. He finds himself in a large dusty room, where he is promptly arrested and taken across a large city (Rabbad, later explained by Nib) to talk to The Endless, a tall thin figure with golden skin. He seems to know all about the group, what they have been trying to do, and even talks of the Tabaxi twins sibling, Dusk, who they presume lost. Deimos is given the third stone, and he returns to the others.

Furry Creature Fight

While Deimos is gone, the others move on through the jungle, where they’re set upon by small furry creatures. Just as they manage to fight them off, Qhell scaring a few away as a Black Bear, Deimos pops back into existence with them.

Fulgrin’s Tomb Entrance

More treking through the jungle, and the group eventual stumble on what looks to be the entrance to Fulgrin’s Tomb. A pile of stone juts up out of the ground, with a jet black door set in it. The clearing is patrolled by several figures in black armour. Talking with the figures, they are told to leave. They will not let anybody “disturb the imprisonment” and won’t say any more. Qhell discerns that they are engraved with binding sigils—something is bound magically within each suit of armour. The group retreat for the night.

Areka, Again

Before sleep, Elmer studies the books again and finds mention of “a cave of glass behind a door of nothing” in the Da Dark Under, as well as “the land of their sleep, a black river of death, a battle with The Night”.

That night, Deimos is once again visited by Areka, who tells him and Elmer that the third cat, Dusk, is beneath the jungle, behind that door, attempting to break open the lock without the rest of the key, which he refers to as the Ashes.

As night continues, so does our story. The plan for the morning? To get past the guards, through the black door, and down below to Fulgrin’s Tomb. Are the party nearing the conclusion of their adventure? Are they walking to certain death, and will they all return? Find out… when we do, and I do another write up!