The Bird is the Word

Session 6 of Tomb of Annihilation, with a side trek to the Ruins of Matalo in the Mistcliff Mountains.

The PC's:
Sembian Sam (returned from a dalliance with Cormyran Candy) Rogue 2, Ranger 1, archaeologist, human, Harper
Shaun the Kobold Cleric (light of Kossuth) 4, Criminal from streets of Port Nyanzaru, Zhent
Adran, Wood Elf Bard (Valor) 4, Entertainer and Bagpiper from the cold northern forests, Zhent
Angry Agatha, Half-Orc Barbarian 4, Harper, bodyguard and long time associate of Sembian Sam
Varis, High Elf Wizard 3 (evoker), acolyte of Oghma
Rainy Day, Cat Person Monk 3, Chultan native

Associates:
Inete, Acolyte of Savras, god of divination, who joined the party after receiving dark visions of evil in the south of Chult
River Mist and Flask of Wine,  quite capable cat person brother and sister who are associates of the Zhentarim, hired by party as guides for a share of treasure found on expedition.
Vorn, a Shield Guardian found in the jungle now under the command of Varis, who promised to eventually return the shield guardian to Wakanga O'Tamu in exchange for a spell book.

The Story Continues
After defeating the T-Rex zombie, the party is welcomed into the Camp Vengeance. Ord Firebeard introduces himself as the current commander, and shares that the previous commander took an expedition into the forest recently to establish communication and an alliance with a group of aarakocra in the Mistcliff Mountains who were concerned about some force coordinating the local undead in their attacks on the settlements in the area. Contact has been lost with the expedition, and Ord fears that he does not have enough troops to both defend the camp and search for the missing expedition, and hopes the party can conduct a search, and suggests that they might find some answers to their own questions as well. The party agrees, leaving Inete to help in the hospital tents the rest of the party pulls gear from the canoes and sets out overland.
Between Sembian Sam and the cat siblings, following the path the expedition took through the jungle is not overly difficult, and two days go by without incident. Shortly after setting out on the third day, the party is ambushed by Vegetable Men! They fail to get full surprise on the party but the chief charges forward and releases spores that hurt River Mist and Rainy Day. Then eight followers make sling attacks on the party. Shaun heals Rainy Day who proceeds to take to the trees and a general melee ensues. The party keeps dropping the Veggie people, but they keep getting up, unless knocked down by cold or fire, so torches come out and the plant people are defeated, nearly killing River Mist in the process. The party being a little beat up takes a short rest, also searching the plant folk and finding a very small amount of treasure. As the party starts to get up from their rest, Sam's whip of warning alerts him to a giant constrictor snake about to attack Agatha; the party kills it but not before it has a chance to constrict Agatha, seriously hurting her in the process. Cutting the snake open, the party finds a dead goblin and what turns out to be a horn of blasting! Adran excitedly takes  possession of the magical instrument.
On day four, the party finds a small overrun encampment with a number of dead warriors from Camp Vengeance as well as a number of dead zombies. The zombies appear to have gone to the northwest while at least one survivor of the attack has gone east, back toward Camp Vengeance. That evening, the party receives a sending stating that the Camp's commander has made it back but wishes the party continue to follow the undead and discover the force that directs them.
Continuing on their way, the party starts ascending the foothills into the mountains. They make their way without incident, eventually finding their way to a ruined town, the scouts suggest it might be old Matalo, of which nothing has been heard for some time. Several collapsing structures are noted, and as the party makes their way into town they are themselves noted by a gigantic flying dinosaur that soars into the air and attacks, tearing a chunk out of Agatha. Sam whips it as it flies overhead getting a critical hit with his whip, hitting an artery and spraying him and Agatha with dinosaur blood. A half snake person pops out from cover and tries to hit Agatha with some magic but the magic fails; Adran runs after the dinosaur and uses his new horn of blasting on it, dropping it from the sky. The party continues into combat with the Yuan Ti Nightmare speaker and its Broodguard attendant, along with a couple zombies who make their way out of a ruined temple. The cat folk are more tentative now, using their bows from a distance now after getting seriously hurt in the last fight. Adran gets another blast of the horn in, harming multiple party members including the kobold cleric; in response, after using two scorching rays to drop the Yuan Ti and the broodguard, Shaun the kobold then drops Adran with the third ray as there are no enemies left standing. Adran is stabilized while Sam and Rainy Day cautiously peak into the temple, noting a sickly bird man and an unusually fit looking zombie. With the cleric having few spells left Adran is left under the protection of the cat siblings while the rest of the party charges into the temple. In the ensuing combat Vorn manages to draw the attention of the super zombie while the barbarian charges and grapples the necromancer bird creature who fails to drop Agatha with vampiric touches before succumbing to the combined attacks of the party, finally being obliterated by Shaun's second level inflict wounds attack that is the cleric's final spell for the day. The party finds a magical scimitar and a griffin figurine of wondrous power along with some gold and a set of magical pigments. They decide to take an extended rest in the temple they just cleared out and we end there.