Chapter 3 - Session 2: Off to Firefinger

Session date: January 3, 2018

Day 3 - Into the Jungle of Chult

The party gathers in the common room of Kaya's for their last meal in civilization for who knows how long. The mood is a mixture of excitement and wonder, none of them know what the jungles of Chult will be like. There is a strong sense of resolve, knowing that countless peoples lives are at stake on the success of their mission to find and destroy the soulmonger, perhaps even their own!

They meet up with their guide and she checks over their supplies and the adequacy of how they are packed on the lizards and they head towards the Tiryki Gate and the wonders of Chult. As they make their way through the city, they are unexpectedly approached by a male Chultun that stumbles up to them and whispers, “Speak to the wise guardian of Orolunga, east of Mbala. She can direct you to that which you seek.” The man immediately collapses, unconscious. Kalain rouses him and upon awakening, the man has no recollection of what he said to the party or anything else in the last 12 or so hours of his life. He is as puzzled as the characters are about the occurrence. Azaka says, "an omen I would guess and a good one if it leads us to the oracle of Orolunga." The party continues on their way after deciding they could get no further information from the man.

The party heads into the jungle, led by their guide Azaka Stormfang, a native Chultan with extensive time spent in the jungles. The first destination they are seeking in Firefinger, the home of a tribe of pterafolk that have a family heirloom of the Stromfang's, the party agreed to recover for Azaka. The party is quickly surrounded by the beauty and dangers of Chult. Dense foliage surrounds them at every turn; all manner of bugs and insects flit about; the rains are relentless and the heat stifling; but who knows what fantastic beast lies just beyond the next copse of trees. Azaka leads them to the River Tiryki, which will guide them to Firefinger and her cherished wooden mask. The river is wide and swift and home to many beasts that come to drink it's waters and eat the fish that live there. The party camps on the banks of the river the first night.

Day 4 - Jungles of Chult

Bright light filters through the thick, intensely green foliage above the party. Huge, broad leaves line the path ahead as heat rises up off the ground, drenching the party in perspiration. Insects buzz in and out of their view, scattering as a feint rumble echoes from far off in the jungle. The party decides to search for edible plants while travelling to supplements their rations with fresh foods. Pork finds a strange root while foraging, which Azaka identified as wildroot, a plant know for it's abilities to neutralize poison when the juice is applied to the introduction location.

Day 5 - Jungles of Chult

Another day of thick jungle passes, accompanied with the typical periods of heavy rains pushing the characters to cover and continued hot, humid conditions that coats their skin with perspiration. Pork is able to find some edible plants, but nothing extraordinary.

Day 6 - Jungles of Chult

Another day of thick jungle passes, accompanied with the typical periods of heavy rains pushing the characters to cover and continued hot, humid conditions that coats their skin with perspiration. As they travel during the late morning hours, Azaka spots something off to the east and draws the characters attention to it. In a small clearing, they see 3 apes enjoying some excellent fruit and a brief period of sunshine. The party watches them and then slip off on their journey south. Later, in the afternoon, Pork and Kalain discover another new plant. The new discovery is something Azaka calls ryath root, a plant that boosts energy level, but is not safe to use more than once a day.

Day 7 - Jungles of Chult

Another day of thick jungle passes, accompanied with the typical periods of heavy rains pushing the characters to cover and continued hot, humid conditions that coats their skin with perspiration.
In the late afternoon, they reach a crossable ford, but find a Stegosaurus grazing on the opposite bank. They admire the beast and decide to move further south before crossing.

Late in the night, while Shudo is on watch, the peacefulness of the jungle is disturbed by  some loud crashing sounds as if a couple gigantic creatures were in battle. Shudo rouses the sleeping party members and they cautiously watch for the source of the ruckus. They witness a rather large Tyrannosaurus chasing after a stegosaurus, perhaps the one they saw earlier in the day. All of the characters move to hide and avoid the path of the dinosaurs, which continue past them for a few minutes. Off in the distance they hear the sad cries of a gigantic beast in pain and suffering, the chase has ended. The party continues watching for further movement, but after an hour they hear nothing and decide to continue their rest, which goes peacefully other than their dreams of being eaten alive.

Day 8 - Jungles of Chult

The party wakes less refreshed and a little rattled from their evening experience. They continue on their journey to locate Firefinger and beyond. In the late morning, the party hears droning sounds through a ticket of trees to their left. The party decides to investigate, with Kalain in the lead and find a small clearing with a couple of very large cocoons hanging from, trees. Buzzing about the clearing are several giants wasps, which notice the characters and become aggressive. The party goes on the offensive and make short work of the wasps. They investigate the cocoons and find the remains of some explorers that fell victim to the wasps. On the bodies are some coinage, a potion of necrotic resistance and a small mirror set in a painted wooden frame. Later in the day, Pork discovers another new plant while foraging, a bush that Azaka identifies as a menga bush. She says, "The dried leaves of a menga bush can be ground, dissolved in a liquid, heated, and ingested. It is said to have healing properties, but beware ingesting too many as they can become toxic."

Day 9 - Jungles of Chult

The next morning, Azaka informs the party that they are getting close to Firefinger and should be more quiet and cautious in their travels, as the pterafolk send out flying patrols to guard their home. Shortly after breaking camp and heading on their way, Azaka spots a creature and motions to the party. When they look, they see something extraordinary, a gigantic snail with a multihued shell, about 100 feet off in the trees. The party considers leaving it alone, until Azaka mentions that their shells are highly valuable. The slow moving snail has no chance against the skilled marksmen of the party, never getting even close to them to retaliate it's wounds. They carefully harvest the shell from the snail and tie it down to one of their giant lizards.

Later in the day, once again Azaka motions to stop and then informs them that they have reached Firefinger. From the edge of the jungle, they pear out and see: Rising high above the jungle canopy is a 300-foot-tall, naturally formed spire of rock with smoke issuing from a flaming beacon at the top of it. The walls of the spire are sheer and dotted with small caves. Frail-looking ladders hang from narrow ledges at various heights.