ToA: Session 3

Apocalypse Later
Last we left the party, they were on the copse of doing battle with a giant snake creature. Which they did, with a fury rarely seen in these parts. And by they, I mean Neb, who was an absolute crit beast! Note to Fargus: don't be the only visible target when a giant snake needs to pick a victim to devour. Needless to say, he almost ended up snake food.

Once the snake was promptly dealt with, the scream of the Yuan'ti could be heard throughout the jungle. Guess he didn't like losing his pet. The House Orion folks were obviously glad to have our help, and promised us vast amounts of gold at a later date (that last part may not be true).

Of Frogs and Bird-people
Continuing up river, the chanced upon a large gathering of frogs. While the boat kept a wide berth, our heroes still said a silent prayer to Moa. Better to be safe then sorry in these parts. Not long after, the party was beckoned by 3 Aarakocra, bird followers of Remni, standing on the banks. Here the group truly showed they understand local politics, by immediately praising their enemy god. After a few good kicks to E51U02 (Never get a tin can to handle diplomacy), and a healthy amount of luck, the situation was diffused. Introducing themselves as Bondar "Seven Shards", Kudar and Mular, they showed a keen interest in our purpose in the jungle. While maybe not quite believing we weren't out to plunder their lands like the rest, they accepted our explanation. Finally, they asked if we had seen any followers of Moa recently (eg. the frogs), to witch we feigned ignorance.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, until we landed on a beach about an hours walk from our destination, Fort Beluarian. After leaving our personal offerings to the jungle (again, not taking any chances, no matter how stupid they may look), the march began. This leg of the journey was also uneventful, although a massive roar from the jungle hints at great battles yet to come. Finally, we reach the Fort.

Paperwork's a Bitch
We barely get in the gates (helped on by the Orion guys), we are met by the commander of the fort: Liara Portyr. Turns out most people announce their intentions to visit the fort, and pay a hefty sum for her "totally not bullshit scam charter papers" before hand. She doesn't seem mad about the though, and after talking a bit about the good old days (aka the war), we find out why. Turns out the fort has a major ghoul problem, the bastards attacking the fort ever so often. She gives us the gracious opportunity to help her kill some of them, paying 20 gold per head. That's only 10 ghouls to the required 200 gold for papers. What a deal!

Not wanting to make more enemies then they already have, the team decides to placate her and take the deal. They then spend the rest of the day gathering intel about the fort, the 13 Heavens, and how it's basically a massive smuggling operation that Liara takes a healthy cut of. The next day, they set out into the jungle, following a trail of ghouls. After half a days journey, they find a path down into some marshlands, lined with ghastly trinkets in dedication to the god of death. Spooky!

And here we leave the group, looking over the foreboding swamp, ready to dive face first into a nest of ghouls.