…and the sky full of dust.

Continuing to explore the ruins the party find several empty rooms that hold little of value, and decide to leave and return to the monkey-headed monoliths that marked their entrance into the jungle. Their short journey is interrupted by a pair of slithering giant constrictor snakes, which are swiftly dispatched: Ungrid ages another year when he scores a hit, but no one notices, and it is still a nice sword, is Old Man Iron.

Back at the monoliths they wave the emerald hexagon around, hoping that it triggers the opening of an exit, but nothing happens and there seems no way out. Whilst Zarkov does a little meditation to regain his divine presence [i.e. regain his spent spell with contemplation] they discuss what to do next: a decision is made to head towards one of the strange pools of water they spotted when Corvin climbed the tree, and head off cross-country through the thick jungle; but they are stopped by the river and Idni fails to find a way across, so they backtrack and find the path and make their way back to the ruins. Night falls as they reach them, and from the trees seven howling monkeys swing down and attack: Ungrid cleaves through three in quick succession– ageing a year each time, which becomes noticeably to his companions– leaving the rest to the combined might of Corvin, Halmary, Zarkov and Idni.

With all the monkeys dead, the jungle-trekkers camp. In the middle of the night, Zarkov tells Corvin his suspicions that Ungrid’s sword is cursed, and persuades him to steal it away from the ageing dwarf; with the added bonus of a Silence spell, Corvin successfully steals the sword: and he suddenly thinks that, yes, this Old Man Iron is a pretty sword. He likes it more than his others. He decides to add it to his collection, and intends to use it the next time they get into a fight.

In the morning, after Ungrid quaffs a few pints-worth of alcohol to alleviate his shakes, and seems nonplussed that Corvin has his sword (in fact, he is glad to be rid of it), Zarkov tells them all about the cursed sword but Corvin doesn’t want to give it up, and no one else seems overally bothered, since its effects seem minor. So they head back along the trail, leaving the pool they were going towards, and now heading towards the tower they spotted. Said tower sits on the slope of a mountain, 400-odd feet up, accessed by a switchback stairs. They follow it, reaching a modest tower with a pair of bronze doors emblazoned with the face of a tiger.

They knock at the door and it opens to reveal a lion-headed humanoid, garbed in a guard’s uniform, who demands to know who they are and what they want. They ask for help, and he leads them inside, deposits them into a sitting room, and goes off to fetch the butler, Heslan.

End of Session

Kills: 2 giant constrictor snakes, 7 evil monkeys.

Notes: the cursed sword Old Man Iron has been transferred from Ungrid to Corvin.

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