07.24.20

Last time, the party tried to get around my amazing map by cutting straight through the jungle. Fools. It turned out to be much harder going, and they still got attacked by the Compys. I left them on a cliffhanger, trapped in quicksand, but it turns out the dumb party can defeat that immediately, so the cliff wasn't very successfully hung. No matter, on to tonight.

Whatever direction they choose to go, the party will find themselves lined up for two encounters, "Robbed!" and "The Unwilling Dead."

In "Robbed" the party runs into Fantastic Stan. a huckster and all around rapscallion who will try to sell the adventurers just about anything. He has mostly stolen goods, and offers very low pricing. He also might not be from this realm, as he has, like, VCRs and stuff. He does have one good item, a "Go Away Lizzie Deluze Dino Spray Kit." It actually works and costs 10GP. Other stuff is nonsense. After the party leaves Stan's, they find, unless they are being quite attentive that he has some thugs ready to jump then and a spike trap along with a snare to catch them. There is a master thief, a illusionist, and an evoker. Volo's guide, pages 214-216

This is where the party ended the night. Ronny, the thief, made off with all Caelynn's money. The illusionist escaped, though just barely, on 2 hit points. The evoker was never seriously challenged for death, but got away when his compatriots did. Oh yeah, Ronny did an awesome high dive off the top of a sweet cliff into a pond and flashed the same rude gesture that is scarring Tonans' face. It ruled.

If the party turns back to try to find Stan, they will find a seriess of signs that read: "It's A G-g-g-ghost!" and the shop will be run down and look as though it has been ages since they were there. Voodoo? I think those guys will be back, though.

If they go forward, they will run into some travellers that likewise didn't get to the source, but are generally just exploring. They haven't ever heard of Stan or the thieves, but have heard the woods are a bit haunted. Maybe they sing or quote a bit of Beatles? These guys were halfling hikers and tourists from nearby Scabb Island. Scabb Island has the largest Monkey Head, and they have been to see the second largest, up ahead. Their names are Penn and Yeller. Penn talks, Yeller doesn't. '''BRATWURST JUST STRAIGHT UP MURDERED PENN AND YELLER RAN AWAY. WHEN THEY RETURN TO THE VILLAGE BRATWURST WILL BE TRIED FOR MURDER AND THE REST AS ACCESSORIES. ''' There is a long discussion about what happened, and Torment confesses to having murdered someone else. Bratwurst rages back that he has killed 1473 people, almost all elves. Ana presses and realizes that it was Bratwurst who killed her family and village. Ana has a moment where she is conflicted about what is happening. Monty get up and leaves the group. He gives them a notebook with a clue as to how to find a lodestone, and walks away. Caelynn tries to talk him into staying, but he is adamant.

In "The Unwilling Dead," the gang encounters some major skeleton mojo and has to fight their way through them while they keep reanimating. They can keep fighting toward a large altar that happens to be, when a character gets around to the back, a giant stone organ. There is a Chisled Piece of Music the simply says "Here Comes the Sun, Doo do do do." If the party plays the appropriate tune, and the sun shines brightly through the jungle canopy; the curse is broken and the dead do a bit of old-timey skeleton dancing and then lay to rest. They can use detect magic to find secret drawer with the actual notes. Those are:

^F#      ^E       ^F#  ^D       ^F#-^D  ^E-^F# where that carat there means it's the upper version of those notes. That may not matter much.

Skeletons are on page 272 of monster manual

And Here's that map