uptothesurface,andwhendaydawnedoverhershell,the
lightblindedUbtaoandmadehiseyeswater.Lifereturnedto
Omu,andthepeoplebuiltshrinestohonortheanimalswho’d
savedthem.
CityInhabitants.........................................................................................................................................................................
SeveralfactionsdwellwithinOmu,includingyuan-ti,grungs,
vegepygmies,andkobolds.Explorersalsocomehereinsearch
ofgoldandglory.Presently,theseincludeRedWizardsand
threetabaxihunters.Eachofthesegroupscanplayasmuchof
aroleinthestoryasyoudesire.Theycouldserveasenemies
orasalliesbroughttogetherbymutualinterests.
Yuan-ti
Yuan-tioffersacrificestoDendartheNightSerpentina
sprawlingundergroundtemplebeneaththeruinsofOmu’s
royalpalace(area 20 );thetempleisdescribedinchapter 4.
Theyuan-tiguardtheentrancestothecity,patrolitsstreets,
andsendraidingpartiesintothesurroundingjungle.RasNsi
rulesoverthem,buttraitorouspriestsplothisdownfall.
Salida’sTreachery.Oneoftheguidespresentedin
chapter 1 isSalida,apurebloodyuan-tiloyaltoRasNsi.If
Salidaescortsthecharactersintothecity,she’llsurreptitiously
usehersendingstonetocontactRasNsisothathecanprepare
anambush.Whennightfalls,Salidausesalanterntosignalthe
yuan-tiattack.Theattackingforceconsistsofonetype 3 yuan-
timalisonandtwoyuan-tipurebloodsperpartymember.
RasNsiiskeentocapturethecharacterssohecanquestion
themabouttheirmission.
Grungs
Asmallcolonyofgrungslivesontherooftopsaround
Nangnang’sshrine(area 18 ).RasNsiregularlymountsraids
onthemtothintheirnumbers.
ThegrungsworshipNangnangandviewhershrineasholy
groundfortheirchieftainandhiseliteguards.Yorb,themad
grungchieftain,cravesvengeanceagainstRasNsibuthasn’t
yetfoundaworthyattackplan.
Vegepygmies
Yearsago,ameteoritefellfromtheheavensandcreatedthe
city’sGreatRift.Stardustrainedovertheruinsandformed
patchesofrussetmoldoutofwhichvegepygmiesarose.Their
tribesprowlthefloodedbackstreets.Yuan-tihavelearnedto
shuntheseareasandkillthe“moldies”onsight.
Omucontainsseveralsmalltribesofvegepygmies.They
clashoverterritoryandareunifiedonlyintheirreverenceof
theGreatRift.Evenifthevegepygmiescouldcommunicate
withthecharacters,theyhavelittledesiretoworkwiththem.
Theirchiefsaren’tclever,andthecharacterscouldtrickthe
vegepygmiestounifyagainstacommonenemy.
Kobolds
NinedeadlyshrinesholdthesecrettoenteringtheTombof
theNineGods.Tomaintaintheshrines’traps,Acererak
recruitedatribeofkoboldstoactasshrinemenders.These
creaturesdwellincellarsbeneatharuinedmarketplace(area
15 ).Acererakhaspromisedtotransformtheirsorcerer,
Kakarol,intoadragonifthekoboldskeeptheirendoftheir
bargain.Tooimpatienttowaitforhisascension,Kakarolhas
takentosleepingonasmallhoardoftreasureandinsistshis
underlingsaddresshimasGreatWyrm.Ifthecharacterscuta
dealwiththekobolds,thesorcerer’sgreediseasily
manipulated.
Acererakhasn’ttoldthekoboldsabouthisalliancewith
RasNsi.Fortheirpart,theyuan-tiarebarelyawareofthe
kobolds’existence.RedWizardsofThay
AgroupofRedWizardsenteredthecityacoupleofdaysprior
tothecharacters’arrival.Theycampedintheruined
compoundatarea 2 ,butRasNsi’sforcesnearlywipedthem
outinanightraid.Thosewhosurvivedtheattackcontinueto
searchtheruinsfortheSoulmonger.
ThesurvivorsincludefourRedWizards(LEmaleand
femaleThayanhumanmages)namedDyrax(male),Thazma
(female),Yamoch(male),andZagmira(female).Theirred
robes,shavedheads,andsallowcomplexionsbetraytheir
allegiancetoThay.Eightmercenaries(LEmaleandfemale
humanthugsofvariousethnicities)escortthewizards.The
highestrankingmage,Zagmira,appearsjusteighteenyears
old,yetonehalfofherfaceiswizenedandold.Thiseffectisa
holdoverfromaterribleritualsheperformedtoinhabitthe
bodyofherowngranddaughter.Allfourmagescarry
spellbooksthatcontainalltheirpreparedspells.
ZagmirahasseentheentrancetotheTomboftheNine
Gods(area 14 )andbelievestheSoulmongerisheldwithin.
TheRedWizardshaveseparatedtofindthepuzzlecubes
neededtounlockthetomb(see“PuzzleCubes”).
AmannamedOrvex(seearea 2 )servestheRedWizards
asascribeandtranslator,buthisloyaltytothemistenuous.
Theadventurerscaneasilybefriendhim.TabaxiHunters
Inthetwilightoftheirlives,venerabletabaxisometimesleave
theirfamiliesandventureintothejungletoclaimahunter’s
death.AdivinebeingknownastheCatLordleadsthebravest
toOmu,wheretheyspendtheirfinaldayshuntingdinosaurs
andotherjunglebeasts.
Threeelderlytabaxihunters(seeappendixD)stalkthe
citywhenthecharactersarrive.TheirnamesareHooded
Lantern(male),BagofNails(male),andCopperBell(female).
Thehuntersknowthecitywell,butcarelittleforitshistory
andkeepclearofitsshrines.Theyhuntaloneandavoid
contactwithexplorers.Rareweaponsandhuntinggeararethe
onlyitemsthecharacterscouldoffertogaintheirhelp.
HoodedLanternhasgrayingblackfur,andcataractscloud
hislefteye.Heispreparinghimselfforagloriousdeath
fightingthegreattyrannosaurusrexknownastheKingof
Feathers(seearea 13 ).CopperBellhasspeckledgingerfur
andwearsatornblueclothoverherbonyshoulders—the
blanketusedtocomforthercubswhentheywereinfants.She
retainsmuchofherinquisitivenessandwryhumor.Bagof
Nailshasgonemadandisdescribedinarea 7.OLDOMUAN
TheOmuanswroteinOldOmuan,acuneiformscriptthat
bearslittleresemblancetoanyotheralphabet.Acharacter
withthecloisteredscholarorsagebackgroundcantranslate
aninscriptionwritteninOldOmuanwithasuccessfulDC 10
Intelligence(History)check,whileawarlockwiththeEyesof
theRuneKeeperinvocationcantranslateOldOmuanscript
withoutacheck.Ifthecharactersrecoverthe“queen’sdecree”
fromthechwingacartatarea 11 ,theycanuseittodecode
inscriptionswritteninOldOmuan.Withoutthequeen’sdecree