The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan Session 2

Session 2 began with a player experiencing technical difficulties. Once resolved, the party decided to explore the east and south doors in the room with the giant crayfish, who had pointed them in those directions. They bypassed the north stairs due to rubble.

Choosing the west door, they entered a hallway and heard faint singing. Yor Eye cautiously proceeded and found a crystal cavern with a glowing pool and a singing woman on a rocky beach. She dove into the water upon his arrival. Good Morning tried to coax her out by mimicking her song. She briefly resurfaced, mentioning an exit to the north (blocked by rubble) and revealing her giant eel pet named Jack. The party decided to leave them and try the south door.

The south door led to a watery corridor with debris. The water flowed southward under a bronze-bound wooden door. While the others went this way, Good Morning briefly explored a secret passageway that wasn't secret from their current side. The party discovered a +1 plant slayer long sword and a ring of animal influence in the watery corridor. They continued to a north door where water was flowing from.

Opening this door revealed a large, very wet room with overturned pedestals and broken statues of various gods. A metallic three-sided pyramid sat on the only standing pedestal. They encountered acidic algae on the wall, which burned Vila. Yor Eye removed some with a magical hand. Vila picked up the silver pyramid representing the god of the moon and lightning.

They then went through the door on the opposite side of the muddy room, finding stairs leading back to the room with the crayfish, realizing they had gone in a circle. Returning to the hallway with the fallen statue, they opened the bronze doors where the water flowed. This led to a room with two cracked fountains. Vila retrieved a brass amulet engraved with “lord of snails” from one of the scummy fountains, taking some burn damage.

Next, they found stairs leading down to a central chamber with a dark, foul pool and slime-covered walls with glowing silver lines. An enormous greenish growth was on the north wall. A giant slug, the Lord of Snails, emerged from the water after Yor Eye tossed in a dead rat. A chaotic “non-lethal” combat ensued, but Good Morning ultimately finished off the Lord of Snails after he surrendered, and the party retrieved his pendant.

Continuing, they found a flooded corridor and then a hallway with frescoes depicting battles and a journey, ending in an archway of twinning serpents. Vila walked into an illusionary wall beyond the archway, triggering a pressure plate that dropped bars, trapping her. Simultaneous pressure on two other plates by Yor Eye and Vila raised the bars.

Examining a painting of a pyramid with the sun, they found a secret door leading to a hallway eight feet off the floor. Climbing up, they found a corridor with sculptures of animal heads. Yor Eye used Mage Hand to retrieve a nicely crafted golden bracelet from an eagle's mouth, which granted immunity to petrification and the ability to cast Flesh to Stone and Stone Shape.

They then encountered a 10-foot wide pit with skeletons. Beyond it was a rotatable stone block. They decided to turn back and go south, finding a small alcove with a three-foot tall stone pedestal and a small silver coffer. Using Mage Hand to open it revealed a strange copper figurine with fins, which flew down the hallway as Yor Eye opened the door to get a better look. The session concluded with the party perplexed by the flying statue, and the DM indicated they were only halfway through the first of four levels, with more dangerous areas ahead.