Overview
The Hall of the Golden Mastodon is a trap-filled chamber in the Tomb of the Nine Gods featuring a life-size golden statue as its centerpiece. The room tests adventurers with challenges inspired by a legendary Chultan tale of defiance and perseverance through the Nine Hells.
Physical Description
The chamber contains a life-size golden mastodon statue mounted atop a one-foot-high stone cog at the room’s center. The statue has jeweled tusks and its trunk is raised in a roar, with inscriptions coiling around its body. Wall murals depict scenes of combat through hellish landscapes.
A hidden stone block is lodged in the ceiling of the approach tunnel (DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) to detect), which remains in place until the room’s trap activates.
The Legend of Ch’gakare
The wall murals tell the story of Ch’gakare (pronounced chuh-GAH-kah-ree), a Chultan warrior who stole his king’s prized mastodon named Ghom. As punishment, the king’s sorcerers banished both Ch’gakare and Ghom to the Nine Hells. The pair fought their way back through all nine layers, battling various devils including:
- Spined devils
- Bearded devils
- Barbed devils
- Horned devils
- Erinyes
Upon their return, Ch’gakare beheaded the king and fashioned his skull into a jeweled chalice (the Skull Chalice of Ch’gakare, one of the tomb’s fabled treasures).
Characters who study the murals can recognize this legend with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (History) check.
Spirit Guidance
The trickster god spirits provide varying advice when their hosts enter this chamber:
- I’jin (unpredictable): Wants to ride the golden mastodon
- Obo’laka (nervous): Fears the statue and urges caution to avoid provoking it
- Shagambi (wise): Deduces that the hall presents challenges similar to those Ch’gakare and Ghom faced in the Nine Hells
Purpose
The chamber appears designed to recreate the trials of Ch’gakare and Ghom, testing those who enter with devil-themed challenges inspired by the legendary pair’s escape from the Nine Hells.