“Want magic? Come to Greenstone!”

[there is no further elaboration]
– a sign posted in Port-Town, Chult, as feeble marketing material for the school

Flint’s better brother Trent, having taken the long boat ride from the Capital, is delighted (and slightly disappointed) to reunite with his brother. He reminds Flint of his wedding obligations (err uhh yes, Flint definitely remembered this promise…? brb heading to the Steam Plane). While giving him the grand tour, a very injured pair of travellers stumble into town, what looks like a learned mage and a very injured assistant. They explain that they were on their way to a magical dig site, acompanying , but were attacked in the night by some sort of glowing Tiefling dwarf thing with a pair of axes… and he wasn’t alone. Sounds unfortunately like our old friend Malic Rumblepunch, having probably fallen even deeper into his hotpot of curses.

“Err right, and as the sensitivity training says, lizardmen are people…”
– The well learned visitor

Feeling partially responsible (due to knowing Malic), town sends out a posseee to track him down, along with any survivor’s (or their loot). Arriving at their camp site:

Given the number of litres of blood spilled, and the number of victims, one can conclude… there’s nowhere near enough blood. And the very easily discernable shapes of skeletal raptors.
– Trent doing a visual calculus roll, based on his medicine (dentistry)

The trail is not hard to follow. It appears the survivors(?) were dragged through the jungle, along a path that eventually connects to more paths where even larger things were dragged, seemingly towards some ritual point. Not long after, we find another ancient lizardmen ruins, and it has smoke coming from the center of it – very bad news!

Misora claims to be an Aasimar because she was touched inappropriately by an angel as a child. Presumably she was half-dwarf half-tiefling before.
New animal detected! Ken turns into a………….. Chultian Humming Bird (its like, crow sized) “As a bonus action, I flaming finger myself.”

Giant Humming-Ken scouts us a primo route, allowing us to avoid the skeleton-raptor-jockeys and other nonsense and enter the town ruins proper, showing a necro-priest presiding over a grand pot, with undead shuffling trays of meat implements into it. The scene is eerily familiar to one we once saw back in Heck, but Heck stuff ain’t supposed to be up here, even if its Chult.

Bigger Blacker Skeletons
“Everyone knows cows don’t know necromancy”. “I mean yeah thats Wizardry 101”. “Its weird they spend a whole day on it”
“Alright, what’s the range on your dental assistants?”
“COW!” - the verbal component of the 4th level spell Flint flung at the necro-priest (to great effect!)
“In your experience, is there any way to turn off the skeletons?” “Well, they’re tossing meat into the pot, so maybe we throw the opposite of meat?” “Bones?” “Carrots? Cabbages?”

With a wave of magic, the eyes wink out of the collosal floating t-rex skull, but its still rather angry.

–

The party’s attention is split across the battle: Trent’s smashing skeletal raptors left and right. Misora, entirely out of her element, tries to smash the prisoner cage locks with… a rock, but even a bone-lock can stand up to pitiful warlock ‘strength’. Flint arcaeno-casts knock on another lock, but flubs the pronunciation and out comes a large boom of a Shatter, which he only barely redirects away from blowing up the catfolk inside. The necro-priest Moos. Misora spends another 2 turns bludgeoning the same lock with a rock, oblivious to the battlefield around her and of better magical alternatives. When Trent’s giant dental receptionist Gertrude appears, the t-rex skull shatters into the cauldron.

I mean, I wasn’t expecting cow bondage, but uh, that’s some strong hempen rope.

The rescued local catfolk and students appreciate the save, and share what little they know of Malic sightings in the area. The cats have a nearby reclusive township, which Greenstone can likely trade with.

– From the Memoirs of Flint Stone
Archwizard of the definitely-real Invention School/Jungle Dojo

Previous Chapter: Adamantine Chef

Dramatis Personae

• B - Flint Stone, amnesiac wizard, Wizard/Monk School Headmaster and Head Mayor of Greenstone
• T - Trent Stone, Cleric & Dentist brother of Flint
• M - Ken Leaves, the down-to-earth Furbolg Cleric Druid
• M - Misora, the Aasimar Archfey Warlock