Welcome to the Jungle!

This blog post come courtesy of my best friend and partner in crime, Kyla Cox. Read on, adventurers!

Our adventure begins with a motley crew of adventurers entering Baldur's Gate one by one. Some of them have come to strike it rich, and some have come as punishment for breaking the law. Here's the line-up:

Alec, playing Jane Cena, a half-orc bard

Shannon, playing Remy Wiseflaw, a halfling monk (an old friend from Tomb of Horrors)

Laz, playing Orly Owlface, a gnome wizard

Jeff, playing Khungror Earthhide, a dwarf druid

Will, playing R. Frick (yes, his first name is literally R), a goliath cleric

Joseph, playing Grim Buckman, a human rogue (from Storm King's Thunder)

Kyla, playing Brynn Rennock, a human ranger

The party has been hired by Syndra Sylvane, a wealthy noble living in Baldur's Gate, to mount an expedition to the Chultan Peninsula in order to uncover the cause of a mysterious illness racing through the world: the Death Curse. It afflicts those previously restored to life by magic, and those afflicted by the curse waste away bit by bit every day until they die. And once dead in any way, no one can be revived. Not even by clerics or paladins of holy faith.

Syndra herself is suffering from the curse. She greets the party while wrapped up under a blanket, sounding raspy and sick. She offers them wine (Jane chugs an entire bottle and bounces the cork off of Brynn's head with one good spit). Syndra herself doesn't know much about Chult; much of the area is unmapped and is no doubt full of dangers. The curse is believed to originate with a relic of necromantic power knows as the "Soulmonger".

After a bit of haggling, the group convinces her to pay them 50 GP each as spending money for supplies. She also offers them 1 magical item each upon completion of the hunt for the cause. They have approximately 79 days before the curse kills Syndra.

After teleporting to Port Nyanzaru, the main settlement on Chult, the group joined Syndra in visiting the villa of merchant prince Wakanga O'Tamu. He give the party the lay of the land in Port Nyanzaru: explaining the merchant princes and the Flaming Fist patrols out of Fort Belaurian. He also offers a quest to give the group the lay of the land: locate the control amulet for a shield guardian called Vorn and return it to him.

Most of the party spent the first day in preparation for the trip. Mostly. R Frick negotiates the purchase of a hadrosaur for half of the offered price. A sizeable chunk of the party bets on the local dinosaur race (and promptly loses because the odds are decidedly not in their favor). Brynn takes on an odd job as a bookie's hired muscle, promptly loses when the target of the debt, a gladiator named Taban picks a fight, and walks out with a new friend and a splitting headache. In Brynne's defense, gladiators are challenge 5 NPCs with buckets of hit points and high damage potential.

Jane and Frick, showing what real friendship looks like, bet against her success.

Remi, however, has a moment of pure heriocs in rescuing a Chultan man's husband from being mauled to death by raptors in a fighting pit. Jane helps by casing Sleep on the dinos (and providing a distraction while the others slip away unnoticed).

Orly remained in Wakanga's villa, studying in the library, and eventually learns of a ruined city upriver, said to be guarded by a wise and generous naga...

The group meets a representative of the Order of the Gauntlet who requires an escort to Camp Vengeance, further inland. So, with a priest, a gladiator, and a dinosaur in tow, they set out.

Not long after leaving, however, they meet a Flaming Fist Patrol requesting their exploration permit. After some quick negotiations with the Flaming Fist mercenaries, they are allowed to pass unhindered. The next time, however, may not end as easily as the first.

This is where we leave our party: cutting a path through the jungle towards Camp Vengance, meeting the local homicidal fauna (a constrictor snake) and flora (a mobile, poisonous flower called a tri-flower frond) and all-too-aware of the time that's slipping away from them with every day...