======== Kubazan's Shrine ========
Group cautiously enters the shrine identifying the assassin vine handing midway through the shrine to prevent people from jumping across. The group dig in their heels and prepare to do just that. Some fire magic and a bit of axe work as the vine falls easily apparently to have been quite sickly. Freya leaps across to the stone and plucks it out to throw to Kylorin. But the moment the cube it removed the shrines trap goes off trapping Freya, Kylorin, and Eddie inside while the room fills with poisonous fumes. The same fumes responsible for sickening the plant they just killed.
Taking moderate amounts of damage each round the group inside is a comedy of errors as they pass back and forth the cube and try to disarm the trap poisoning them. Their attempts are wholly unsuccessful and Freya was stuck on the far platform for a while until she threw herself bodily across the pit to rejoin Kylorin and Eddie by the door.
Outside Lindal learns that the wards are also reset and just touching the door without the key in hand triggers a fear effect that would drive him away if he hadn't pulled out all the stops to resist the compulsion. Celadon runs off to try and get the key but is lead astray by the key that Lindal left behind to fool future adventurers. (who turn out to be the current adventurers)
Seraph darts away to retrieve key and luckily snags the correct one while inside Kylorin attempts to break the stone doors
Celadon looks around but fails to notice the old Tabaxi who is giving teh group a large berth as she moves from cover to cover circling from the north towards the stairs to the south. He also definitely does not notice the invisible old priest stalking the Tabaxi across the city who invisibly Misty Steps up onto the same column Eddie used the for observation during the Froghemoth fight. The priest watches the group's tactics and bides his time as he watches the poison fumes leaking from the shrine.
========= An Unexpected ordeal =========
With the key in hand Lindal is able to once again open the doors and the inner group bustle out into the clean air.
When Celadon requests the cube from Freya after she has had a moment to recover. The cube is seized by a invisible force as the old priest uses some form of ranged legerdemain while announcing to the group that they can come to his amphitheater to reclaim it. But when he attempts to port away magically Celadon counter-spells his Misty Step and so he instead says "Well then. The blood god is tired of pathetic offerings. You shall sate the thirst of Wongo the Blood god and entertain me for a bit." he then turned back to his true form - The King of Feathers. (Luckily still pretty wounded from fighting Mathilda's group last night)
During fight the group is "assisted" by na elderly Tabaxi with speckled ginger fur wearing a torn blue cape over her bony shoulders. She just saw off Hooded Lantern going to fight King in the amphitheater. She is armed with a bow and a short sword and was avoiding group until she saw the King of feathers and thought she would pitch in to kill the foul beast whom she blames for many generations of Tabaxi death in the Arena.
Freya and Kylorin do a good job of bottling up the T-Rex while Celadon neutralizes its attempts to move magically into the back ranks and feast on the softer party members. Eventually Freya misses one of her sentinel blows and the creature walks around to slam Celadon into the pillars with its tail nearly killing him. The group return the favor hewing king apart and suppressing any escape. He once again turns into an old man and exclaims, "Were you not entertained?" before passing away.
Copper says that Old Tabaxi whose time has come journey to the city to die with a weapon in hand by challenging the King. There are couple of them around the city but she warns the group to be careful as some of the others are battier than caves full of guano. She and the others know the city well, but care little for its history and keep clear of its shrines. They generally hunt alone and avoid contact with explorers while waiting for their turn to die. The group has done them a great service this day.
When Celadon loots his cube he hears Kubazon stating, "You are not strong. Why should I follow you? I will rather perish than follow someone so weak" Celadon convinces Kubazon that right now the God is the weak one and there is no dishonor in serving a more powerful entity when the cause is shared. Join and spite Acererak who killed them and left the fragments of spirit lingering in the shrines. Kubazon is convinced and seem happy to see Croc. "Ah good you are back with you gone the others allowed Papazotl to be declared leader. I fought tooth and nail but our faction was weakened with your exile."
Party take a break in a nearby ruin avoiding the Lothian compound and actually find a decent amount of Chultian religious art such as a half dozen figures of trickster gods. (Unkh, Papazotyl, Moa, and Croc among others less obvious)
========= Travel and tidings from the assorted Omuan castaways =========
The rested and recovered group then travels across the city startling small packs of veggipygmies and avoiding a few other minor threats. They do spot a pack of Grung led by Imbok whom hails them and tells them that he was able to recover one of the cubes form his temple now that it has reset. He hands the group Nangnang's cube.
NangNang tells Celadon - "You are mine! Why are there other gods here? Get them out! You are mine I say. If I teach you banishment will you use it on them?" But for all his talk he does not resist Celadon like Kubazon did.
Imbok welcomes Copper Bell and tells her his people will help her inform her kin throughout the city that the King is Dead.
========= Moa's shrine =========
Finally Eddie casts Fly on Freya and she ferries Lindal then him 100 feet across the lava to Moa's shrine. Celadon comes Next and last is Kylorin who has to leave her mount behind.
Palm trees grow in front of this squat building isolated amidst the sea of lava and worn steps ascend to an archway covered in reliefs of coiled serpents flanking the entrance. The shrine is clearly the site of a pitched battle. A pair of dragonborn lay dead amidst a pile of dead Jakuli (a type of chameleon/constrictors)
The shrine doors are open and the rubble-strewn corridor are carved with serpents, with arrow slits spaced along them every 5 feet. Cobwebs fill the arrow slits and hang like drapes from the corridor ceiling. Above the entrance, a stone plaque bears a cuneiform message. "Moa teaches us that secrets hide the truth."
Deeper in the shrine there are a couple bodies full of holes.
Inspiration
Lindal - for leaving the wrong keys in the statue's mouth almost screwing half of the party in the process.
Experience (challenge based) 1400 Individual => 33231 cumulative
Kubazan's shrine - 600
King of Feathers - 800
Allies
Seraph - feeling pretty stoked after being able to help out for a change
Copper Bell - Elderly Tabaxi companion of another old warrior who went off to face King of Feathers as many old Tabaxi warriors do when their time to die comes and they want to go out with a weapon in hand.
Imbok - Grung tribe leader. Now with charmed minions from Eddie's family. Intent on rebuilding his people in a new way.
Treasure
Kubazan's cube
Nangnang's cube
Six trickster god statues (25 gp each)
Cloak of feathers (250 gp)
Necklace of the Highpriest - (Necklace of Prayer Beads)
Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Paladin)
This necklace has 1d4 + 2 magic beads made from aquamarine, black pearl, or topaz. It also has many nonmagical beads made from stones such as amber, bloodstone, citrine, coral, jade, pearl, or quartz. If a magic bead is removed from the necklace, that bead loses its magic.
Six types of magic beads exist. To use one, you must be wearing the necklace. Each bead contains a spell that you can cast from it as a bonus action (using your spell save DC if a save is necessary). Once a magic bead's spell is cast, that bead can't be used again until the next dawn.
Bead of... Casts
2x Blessing Bless
2x Curing Cure wounds (2nd level) or Lesser restoration
2x Favor Greater restoration
Erratta - Prayer beads DO require concentration after casting bless. I found an official ruling that says items always require concentration by the user if the spell requires concentration. I originally was quoting an older forum post which was apparently not correct.
Clairification on my handling of passive perception
Passive perception does not in general give you the same detail as a successful active perception check - it just lets you know something is off and immediately lets you roll an active check due to that 'feeling'. You are aware of the need to be watchful but not why.
Passive perception may provide a vague hint of what may have been felt. It does helps you notice things like traps before you set them off but only when immediately adjacent to them. It also may give a feeling of being watched but not necessarily indicate whom or where unless the active check succeeds.