The Sinister Secret - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 1

Avastana Kádár stood on the dock looking out at the endless expanse of sea to the south. As a young girl growing up among the  nomads that wandered the grasslands of Ket far to the north, she had seen no body of water larger than a lake. She was an outcast among her people - a child of mysterious origin with no father. In addition, she was tall and slight with light hair while those of her clan were stocky with dark hair. She was never accepted by her clan and she never felt at home in Ket. She had always felt a vague urge to leave but lacked the means and the impetus to do so.

Last year, without warning, she was overcome with a sudden urge to travel south. She left her clan in Ket with what she could carry and never looked back. She passed through the gap near the city of Thornward, traveled south through Bissel, crossed Keoland and the Dreadwood, and had finally arrived in the small fishing town of Saltmarsh - and she still had no idea why.

Saltmarsh was bigger than a village but smaller than a city. It was a town of 3500 inhabitants, mostly fishermen, shipwrights, and transient sailors. It was mid-day. The town reeked of fish. The sky was gray and the the constant sea breeze was damp and salty.

Some deep instinct in her soul drew her here, drew her towards the sea.

"Hallo," said a friendly voice, "Can I help you find something?" He was a burly man with a shaved head and a magnificently waxed mustache.  He couldn't have been more than twenty. He was loitering on the dock with another younger man of slight build with a jagged scar that ran from his forehead to his right cheek and a patch over his right eye. The younger man wore a fine embroidered vest that stood in sharp contrast to the more plain working clothes he wore.

"I- I'm not sure," she answered, hesitantly.

"Well, if you're looking for companionship, you've come to the right place!" said the other man lasciviously.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust and turned away.

The burly man swatted the smaller man, "Brother! That is no way to speak to a visitor! Can you not see from Baklunish pants  that she's a foreign guest here? Where are you from, if I may ask?"

"Ket," she replied.

"I have NO IDEA where that is!" He declared, proudly, "No matter! Welcome to Saltmarsh! You say you don't know what you're looking for. Well, might you be looking for employment perhaps?"

Her stomach growled and she reached into her empty pocket. "Um, sure?"

"Perfect! We've been looking for one other person to join us on an important job. If you're available, we'll take you to our employer! By the way, my name is Annor Whalerson."

"And I'm Marlin Whalerson, his brother," said the smaller one, "You know, like the fish!"

"The what?" she stammered.

"Marlin! Like the fish, you know!" he tried to explain.

"I'm sorry. I'm not familiar-"

"That's okay," interrupted Annor, "What's your name?"

"Avastana Kádár, but you may call me 'Aella'," She said.

"Good! Because there's no way I'm pronouncing the other one. Pleased to meet you Aella!"

CHAPTER 1

"THE SINISTER SECRET"

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Sorceress from Ket.
• Annor Whalerson - Neutral Good, Human Marine and Fighter from Saltmarsh.
• Marlin Whalerson - Neutral Good,  Human Seeker and Rogue.
• Auric Ravenson - Neutral Good, Human (?) Shipwright and Cleric.

This is a Job for Four People!
The trio marched off the docks and towards the center of town. Along the way Annor called out to another young man. He seemed to be unsuccessfully attempting to recruit some sailors for some kind of job.

"Hey Auric! Forget about them, we have a fourth!"

Auric acknowledged Annor, bid farewell to the sailors, and ran over towards the trio.

"Auric, meet Aella. She's our fourth. Aella, meet Auric."

Auric was a young man wearing the rough clothing of a shipwright. He had a pallid, almost ashen, complexion and a strange otherworldly appearance. He wore about his neck the symbol of the judge of the dead. He smiled, "Pleased to meet you. She the fourth?"

"Yes," replied Annor as they made their way to a large mansion, "Did Anders say why he needed four?"

"I have no idea."

Solmor house was a large mansion near the center of town. It was flanked by several smaller servants' quarters. The Solmor family owned most of Saltmarsh and maintained fleets of trading ships and fishing boats. Anders Solmor, a friendly but peculiar man in his late twenties, had recently inherited the Solmor empire after the untimely passing of his mother.

Annor rang the bell at the entrance. Skerrin, the butler, opened the door. Skerrin had a bald pate and a fringe of long stringy hair. He looked down at the four young hirelings with disdain.

Annor spoke up, "Mister Solmor told us to call on him about a job."

Skerrin sniffed derisively. "Yes, this way, please. And do clean your boots before you enter."

The four were led to the personal office of Anders Solmor. The ornately carved wood desk and furniture was covered by disordered piles of charts, logs, and ledgers. Anders stood staring wistfully out an open window overlooking the sea, one leg raised on cushioned bench . A brass looking glass was mounted on a nearby tripod. He pretended to just now notice the entrance of the four newcomers - as if his carefully prepared pose of thoughtful contemplation wasn't for their benefit.

"Welcome, Welcome! Come in, please. Would any of you like some tea? Skerrin, fetch some tea!"

Skerrin sighed and left the room.

Anders shook Annor's hand, "Were you successful? Did you gather four for the job?"

Annor introduced his companions. Anders was friendly and greeted each of them enthusiastically. A wide and gracious smile never left his face.

"I'm glad you got four. It was very important that four of you took this job! Mission, really. Let's call it a mission!"

"Right. So what is this mission?"

"Well, you see, do you remember the old haunted house about a league east of town?"

"Of course, everyone from Saltmarsh knows about it. Its been abandoned for twenty years. It belonged to an old alchemist or something. Some kids died there a few years ago."

Anders nodded, "Right, well, I believe the house is being used as a base of operations by smugglers working for the Sea Princes! I petitioned the council to send guards up there to clear it out but they declined! So I've decided to take matters into my own hands. I'd like to hire you to go take care of it. If you find smugglers, I'd like you to disrupt their operation! If you succeed, I'll pay a reward of 200 gold pieces!"

"Excuse me, why did you need four?" inquired Aella.

"Good question! I like her! She's got a great accent! Well, its because I have a feeling a job like this would be too dangerous for three people. Four is the minimum. Five maybe. But Six would be too much. Besides," He paused. "You can't split 200 gold three ways!"

DM Note-
I really played up the need for four. The players were genuinely curious about why he needed four. The explanation for needing to split the gold evenly was a great punchline and everyone laughed. It played perfectly into the friendly but idiosyncratic way I was portraying Anders. I was trying to go for Rob Lowe's character Chris Traeger from Parks and Recreation.

The Old Path
The party hiked up the old path east out of town. The path followed the rocky cliff-face over the ocean below. The sky was overcast and a strong constant breeze blew in from the ocean. They kept wiping the light mist from their eyes and faces. The only sound was the constant roar of the ocean waves crashing against the rocky shore. The path was flanked by tall coastal grasses that danced in the breeze. They would occasionally pass through a clump of small gnarled cedars and junipers.

They reached a wooded area filled with overgrown cypresses. Long tendrils of moss dangled from the branches. Hidden among the trees was a walled compound - the old haunted house. To their surprise, they found a recently cut path through the trees and brush that led to a wrought iron gate. The gate was unchained and unlocked, swinging freely in the breeze with an eerie rusty creak before banging shut and bouncing open again. 

The interior of the compound contained what was once a garden maze, now overgrown into brambles and thorns. A recently cut path showing a set of footprints in the wet earth led to the steps at the entrance of the house.

The house was an old manor style made of stone blocks with tall leaded windows, many of which were broken. Decorative crenelations ran along the top of the house. The roof was peaked and clad in copper.

The structure was shaped like an uppercase "T" with an east wing, a west wing, and a south wing on the far side. The entrance was in the center of the north face of the house.

DM Comments-
With the exception of Annor's player, we've all played the first half of this module before. They had a good idea of what to expect, what they could find in the house, where the smugglers were hiding, etc. Instead of making a lot of changes or trying to force my players to pretend like they didn't memorize the house interior, I just told them that their characters knew everything they knew - let's just say they explored the house a lot as kids and had a good hunch where the smugglers might be hiding.

The first time Marlin and Auric's players were in the house, they went in the front door and cleared the house room by room before finally going into the back and down the stairs where they encountered the smugglers. But they never followed up on the second half of the module.

The last time Aella's player was in this house, her group explored the outside of the house first and entered the back entrance. They cast detect magic and detected the spell cast on the stairs in the rear. One player assumed the important stuff was down the stairs but the other players insisted they explore the house first. They met their end with a TPK in the attic.

I was certain, with them knowing what they knew, that the group would repeat the circumnavigation of the outside of the house, go in the back, and head straight down. To my surprise, they went in the front door.

The Haunted House
Marlin carefully checked to door. Once he was sure it wasn't booby trapped, the party entered the front entrance of the house into the main entrance hall. The room was bare of furniture or decoration, having been ransacked decades ago,

There was a hallway in the center of the left wall and a hallway in the far corner of the right wall. Stairs on the right wall led to a balcony with additional hallways to the left and right. A third hallway in the center of the far wall lead to the back of the house. The room was dimly lit by the overcast sky that filtered through the bare windows to the left and right of the entrance.

Multiple sets of muddy footprints crossed the room. Some went to the left. Others went to the hall on the far wall.

Marlin crossed the room and inspected the far hall. It was too dark to see so he paused to light his lantern. Brick sections to the left and right indicated the back walls of fireplace hearths. He inspected the door on his right and carefully entered the room.

The room was small, ten feet by twenty feet with two tall windows. As expected, there was a fireplace in the corner to the right. The rotted remains of two once comfortable chairs and an old desk indicated that this room was once a drawing room. The others stayed in the entrance room while Marlin searched the study, checking the chairs and desk but finding nothing.

He eventually looked in the fireplace. The flue was dark and covered in spider webs. A small pile of rat bones lay at the bottom of the fireplace. He noticed a loose brick. As he pulled on the brick he was beset by a collapse in the flue, covering him in ancient soot. He staggered backwards coughing, then shrieked in fear as pain as he realized he was covered in dozens of large spiders. The frightened spiders crawled over his sooty body and began biting.

Marlin, covered in soot and spiders, stumbled into the hallway begging his companions for help.

Aella told the others, "Stay back!" She lifted her hand and a gust of wind erupted. The blast of wind blew Marlin, still covered in spiders, back down the hall. Seeing that her plan had faild, Aella apologized, "Oh no! I thought I'd blow the spiders off of him!"

"It's okay!" Annor assured her, "I've got this!" He hefted his double-handed sword and charged Marlin.

Marlin's eyes grew wide at the site of the burly warrior running towards him with sword aloft. He clutched his head to prepare for the strike but, to his surprise, Annor planted his feet in front of Marlina and used his sword to carefully scrape the spiders off his brother.

DM Comment-
Annor attacked with disadvantage to attack the spiders with no change of hurting Marlin. Marlin took a lot of damage from the spider bites and was near dying. One more spider bite and he'd be dead. Luckily the next spider attack missed. The swarm of spiders, by this point, was likewise low on hit points.

Marlin felt the poison course through his veins, but he was finally able to use his dagger to brush off the remaining spiders.

Marlin caught his breath. He felt the welts of the spider bites on his arms and neck and face. He looked at Auric, "I almost died back there! Could you  maybe say a prayer for me?"

Auric replied coolly, "I'm saving my prayers for when we really need them. Besides, you're fine. Isn't this an old alchemist house? I'm sure we'll find healing potions or something!"

Marlin grumbled, got up, and continued his exploration of the hearth. Behind the loose brick he found a silk pouch containing three small phials of alchemy agent.

The party checked the room on the other side of the hall. They found a former dining hall filled with broken furniture. They continued down the hall.

The hall turned right and ended in a door leading outside. There was an interior door near the corner. The door opened to reveal a kitchen, much of it in disrepair. The muddy footprints led to a door on the right wall.

The door opened to a small room containing the remains of an old copper still as well as a set of stone stairs leading down. The muddy footprints led downstairs.

Marlin carefully advanced down the stairs.

He froze when an glowing apparition appeared at the base of the stairs and flew towards him. The apparition was accompanied by an ear-splitting wail of horror and despair.

They had encountered their first ghost!

TO BE CONTINUED...

DM Comment-
Me- "Describe what Aella looks like, what is she wearing?"

Aella's player (shrugging)- "I don't know.. pants?"

Me- "You all see a nondescript woman. She is wearing nothing but pants."

Next week: Taking on pirates and smugglers!

PS: If you'd like to read through the FIRST time we played this adventure, it starts in March 2014 on this very blog!