This ancient Chultan shrine is carved into a hillside beneath an 80-foot stone statue depicting a man carrying a crocodile on his back. The statue illustrates a foundational myth explaining why humans and crocodiles are no longer friends—Man promised to carry Crocodile across the human realm after Crocodile safely ferried him across a river, a journey that took many years and left Man feeling tricked.
Trap Mechanics
The shrine’s trap system is designed around the Man and Crocodile myth. Two characters imitating the statue’s posture—one riding piggyback on the other—will not trigger any traps in the shrine. However, they can still be injured by traps triggered by others, and they remain vulnerable whenever they separate.
Piggyback Team Rules
- Balance Challenge: The team risks losing balance or separating, which would expose them to traps like any other visitors
- Size Advantage: If the rider is at least one size category smaller than the carrier, the carrier makes Strength and Dexterity checks and saving throws with advantage
- Ledge Climbing: The shrine contains 7-foot ledges that require DC 15 Strength (Athletics) checks to scale as a team
- The rider can provide the Help action
- Failure by 5+ causes both to sprawl to the lower floor, separating them for at least 1 round
- Failure by less than 5 causes them to sprawl forward onto the upper terrace, likely triggering traps
Trap Detection
- Standard traps require DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) checks to spot
- Only the first search attempt counts per trap
- Characters crowding in to search risk having their canoes stolen or rigged with traps by opportunistic goblins
Interior Layout
The shrine contains multiple trapped areas connected by ledges, with specific chambers detailed in areas 6a through 6e.