It was a pretty uneventful month in the coastal town of Saltmarsh. The A-Team spent their time pursuing their various interests.
Annor worked hard on his new business - Ten Goats Cheese. He had purchased ten goats and hired a skilled cheese-maker and two shepherds/farm hands.
Auric oversaw the construction of his small temple to Tristan, the God of Death and Judge of the Dead. He offered prayers for the souls of the recently deceased and comforted the grieving family members. As a result, the townsfolk of Saltmarsh had begun to take an interest in this new cult and gained the favor of the god himself.
Aella furnished and decorated her recently purchased home. Afterwards, she spent her time researching all she could about the sea elves near Saltmarsh. She had learned that she was the daughter of their king and wanted to know more about their culture. She also spent two weeks immersed in books learning the Aquan language.
Marlin disappeared for a week on a smuggling assignment for Gellan Primewater. After he returned he spent three weeks locked in his room working on some mysterious project that required books, protective gloves, goggles, and alchemist's tools.
In other news around town, three escaped slaves were recovered by a fishing boat. The escaped slaves accused several town dockworkers of being former slavers. Additionally, small scouting parties of lizard men with painted faces had been spotted in the swamps north of town and in the Kingfisher river. They appeared to be observing the city. They had so far managed to escape all attempts at apprehension.
Each week, Annor, Auric, and Aella would visit the Faithful Quartermarster of Iuz Captain Xendros to see what magical items she had available for sale. Annor placed a special request for the magical flamberge of Ser Eckert Lionheart. Captain Xendros was somehow able to locate and procure the fabled sword in just over a week. Annor was thrilled and purchased it immediately!
The flamberge was a sword of unusual length with a wavy blade resembling metal flame. The sword was of elven origin and was engraved with curvilinear runes carved into the shining blue blade. Legend told that the sword was forged as a result of a prophecy - that the human knight Ser Lionheart, once ht enemy of the elves, would save them in their time of greatest need. That was hundreds of years ago. Now Annor held the blade. It felt good in his hands. Just holding it, he felt more confident, ready for battle.
He smiled.
CHAPTER 12
"THE FABLED FLAMBERGE OF SER ECKERT LIONHEART"
The A-Team:- Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf Outlander and Sorceress from Ket.
- Annor Whalerson - Lawful Good, Human Marine and Fighter from Saltmarsh.
- Marlin Whalerson - Chaotic Good, Human Seeker and Rogue.
- Auric Ravenson - Neutral Good, Aasimar Shipwright and Cleric of the Raven King.
We spent the first two hours doing character bookkeeping. I wanted the PCs to have four weeks of down time and I wanted to use the downtime activities rules in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.
First thing the players did was bring up a nagging issue. Annor and Marlin were both created as Neutral Good. Both players pointed out that this was no longer the case and wanted to change their alignments to reflect the way their characters had evolved. As a result, Annor is now Lawful Good while Marlin is now Chaotic Good.
Second was the Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz, which we call "Fantasy Costco" thanks to Adventure Zone. I changed how it worked slightly from the book. In my version, Xendros has a randomly determined rotating stock of items in her back room. PCs pay a 50 gp "membership fee" to be able to purchase one item per week. Everything else works like in the book. Every time they got "+1 Weapon", I would use a random table I found online to generate what type of weapon and give it a name, plus use the magic item background rules in the DMG. Thus we got "Rogue Sunset", a +1 short sword forged by evil duergar for an undead lord. Drawing it from its scabbard sounds like the hissing scream of a tortured soul.
So we did weekly "turns". At the beginning of the week, they'd go shopping at "Fantasy Costco". I had each player roll percentile on the seven tables - A,B,C,D,E,F, and F - and I'd look them up and describe to the players what they saw. After shopping, I asked each player what they did that week.
For example, Week 1: Aella relaxed. Annor worked on his farm. Auric performed religious services. Marlin committed crime. We'd then roll for the outcome of that week.
Then I'd roll for a random faction event or dock rumor for that week. I also dropped a few foreshadowing story bits such as the lizard men scouting parties.
It was a nice break from the constant travel and adventure.
Stinky Pete
The A-Team was concerned about the recent reports of lizard-folk scouts. They decided to sail to the lizard-folk stronghold to ask Princess Orthokent about it. Since both Amnesia and Alot, the two trained sailors, were afflicted with "brain jellies", the party decided to hired a sailor for the day.
Thus they came to hire the services of Peter Culture, aka "Stinky Pete" or "Pop".
DM Note-
Once again, I allow the players to name NPCs.
Stinky Pete was an old timer past his prime. He couldn't bring in a catch any more but he could still handle a single-masted longboat on a day trip.
Stinky Pete regaled the party with tales of the old days. "When I was young the crown never paid much attention to old Saltmarsh. There was no tax collecting reeve and no magistrate. The baron was in Seaton WAY up the coast. Ain't nobody bothered us back then and we dids us a brisk business. YOU know what I'm talking about, don't you?" he said, indicating Marlin, followed by a darting scowl at Annor, "But not YOU!"
"Then for a while we had us a magistrate. The king assigned him to Saltmarsh because he felt like we weren't following none of them royal decrees and what not, which we weren't, obviously! Anyway, nobody liked the magistrate much. Luckily he's gone now."
"What happened to him?" inquired Aella.
"Well he suffered an accident. Yep. TERRIBLE accident! Apparently he slipped and fell on his knife, stabbing himself in the neck six times! Poor guy! You know what I'm talking about!" he nudged Marlin, "But not YOU!" He shot an accusing finger at Annor.
"Ah, the old Lizard-man cave. Yep, we used ta use the old sea cave for what you might call RENDEZVOUS! But now the scalies are back, like they OWN the place! Ruined it for everyone! THIS ONE knows what I'm talking about!" again nodding towards Marlin followed by another scowl at Annor, "But not YOU!"
DM's Note-
Auric's player gave Stinky Pete his personality and catch phrase. I picked up on it and kept it going. He was riot!
During their journey, the party observed a strange giant eagle with the head of a deer dive out of the sky to attack a surfacing porpoise. It was a dreaded peryton, a magical chimera common on this coast. They observed the peryton continue to hunt the porpoise until it killed the beast, at which point it feasted.
DM's Note-
I rolled a 17 for a random coastal random encounter. Since an encounter only really happens on 18+, I turned the encounter into something the PCs observed at a distance.
They finally arrived at the lizard-folk stronghold and met with Princess Orthokent. She was overseeing the training of her warriors. Eliander Fireborn was there! He had volunteered to teach them some martial tricks.
They asked her about the scouts. She explained that they were not of her tribe. The face paint indicated membership of the save tribe of lizard-folk who dwelled within the Drowned Forest. They served the reclusive and xenophobic Lizard King. That they had sent scouts to observe Saltmarsh was very unusual!
The team agreed that something should be done about this Lizard King. They promised to find this Lizard King and deal with the problem.
Princess Orthokent praised their urgency but judiciously suggested they wait until fifth level.
They left and Marlin came clean about the item they had picked up from the smugglers the previous month. He told the party that the item was the egg of a black dragon. The smugglers even mentioned that they had difficulty obtaining it from the lizard men.
Auric berated Marlin for giving a dragon egg to the wizard Keledek. He assumed the wizard would have nothing but sinister uses for such a prize. Marlin tried to assure the holy man that he had everything under control and suggested constructive or at least benign outcomes.
It was sunset by the time they returned to Saltmarsh. They retired to their homes but were soon interrupted by a messenger calling them to an urgent meeting at the home of Anders Solmor.
The Ghost Ship
The team was brought to the office of Anders Solmor. Anders was his usual enthusiastic self, warmly greeting and fervently shaking the hands of each of his guests. He counted them. His face became worried.
"There are only four of you? I need five. I thought there were five of you!"
Annor assured him, "We can get five. We've got two others back at the house. They've got brain jellies but, for whatever you need us for, we can take one of them."
"Okay, good. Is that cheese?"
"Yes!" replied Annor, "It's from my new enterprise. I'd like to talk to you about it if I may. Do you have any crackers?"
Anders hesitated. He seemed to really want to try the goat cheese. He regained his composure, "I love it. I want to try some. But first, I have a mission of urgent importance! This can't wait!"
Anders told the team that many years ago, his mother had invested in a trading company that monopolized the spice trade from the southern jungles. This wise investment made her incredibly wealthy. She then used the proceeds to provide a sizable loan to the king to help fund one of his wars. The promissory notes for the loans were sealed in a magical strongbox for transport back to Saltmarsh on a ship called the Emperor of the Waves. Unfortunately, the ship was lost at sea.
However, a fifteen days ago, Anders received word that the Empress of the Waves had been spotted abandoned and adrift in the Azure Sea five days south of Saltmarsh! It's entirely possible that the magical strongbox protected the promissory notes after all these years! He needed to hire five, EXACTLY five, brave adventurers to go to the ship as fast as possible, board the ship, and return with the contents of the box. The promissory notes were worth 100,000 gold sovereigns if redeemed, but only Anders could redeem them. He would pay the team ten percent of the redeemed value, or ten thousand gold sovereigns, for the recovered contents.
He had already hired a ship - the only one he could get on such short notice - a sailing ship crewed entirely by dwarves known as the Soul of Winter. They would take the team to the last known location of the Emperor of the Waves. It would be up to them to find the ship, board it, and bring back the contents of the box.
But only five of them, because the ten thousand gold had to be divided evenly. Six was too many. The gold could be divided four ways, sure, but that may not be enough to complete the mission. It had to be five.
The team agreed to the mission.
"Great! Let's have some goat cheese! Skerrin, do we have any crackers?"
The cadaverous butler Skerrin eyed the A-Team with contempt and disdain, "I'm sure we do not, sir."
"How about some bread?" asked Annor. Surely you've got bread?"
"Yes! Exactly! We have bread! Get some bread and a knife!" said Annor.
"Of course, sir," replied Skerrin.
Skeriin returned with a plate of sliced dark bread and a knife. He cut some of Annor's soft chevre. Anders tasted some bread and cheese and made an odd look.
DM's Note-
Me: "Roll d20"
Annor's player: "3"
"How is it?" inquired Annor, anxiously.
"It's.." Anders paused, "It's not the WORST goat cheese I've ever had in my life. I've probably had two worse cheeses. Yes, this is third worst cheese I've ever had. But hey, good start! Better than I could make!"
"Really? There must be some mistake. Let's try another piece."
DM's Note-
Annor's player: "I spend an inspiration and roll again!"
Annor's player: "(sigh) 3 again."
"Nope, definitely the third worst goat cheese I've ever eaten. But don't worry about it! Make another batch and I'll taste it again! I'm very interested. Work on your quality control and I'll think about investing! Anyway, thanks for coming. The Soul of Winter leaves port tomorrow at dawn. Be there! Skerrin, see out guests out, won't you?"
Skerrin groaned and led the team to the exit. He slammed the door after they left.
"Psst, Annor" said Marlin conspiratorially.
"What?"
"I saw Skerrin do something to your cheese as he served it. He sabotaged your cheese, man!"
"WHAT? That bastard!"
"Want me to take care of him?" asked Marlin.
"Yes! That jerk!" There was a moment of silence before Annor realized what Marlin may have insinuated, "Wait! No! Don't kill him or anything!"
Marlin looked offended, "What? No! I meant.. well.. are you sure?"
The Spirit of Winter
The team gathered at the docks the following morning. There they found an old ship, a worm-eaten caravel with the name "The Sea Wyvern" hastily covered with paint and replaced with the new name "Spirit of Winter" written in dwarvish script. A team of dwarven sailors was preparing the ship for sail.
They were met by the ship's captain, a dwarf named Wolgar Windrune. Windrune admitted that a dwarven sailing crew was an unusual sight. Dwarves are creatures of the earth who live under the mountains. They are not generally accustomed to life at sea. However, Captain Windrune heard that a fortune could be made transporting cargo so he invested in a ship and decided to take a chance!
The ship set sail and it soon became apparent that the Spirit of Winter was crewed by novice sailors. Lines were secured improperly, several crew-members took ill with sea sickness, and few dwarves were willing to climb into the rigging. Most of the crew, rattled by the vast expanse of sea and open sky, remained huddled in the dark confines of the hold below decks.
As they sailed away from port Auric spied a flock of three perytons hunting a pod of whales in the far distance.
DM Note-
Again, I rolled a 17 on the random encounter chance and once again rolled perytons.
Sea-Devils!
On their first night away from port, the team slept uncomfortably in the cramped confines of the passenger cabin in the bow of the ship. The dwarven crew huddled together in the cargo hold below. Alot Aname stood, motionless, by the door to the cabin.
At some point in the middle of the night the team was awakened by the sound of someone entering their cabin followed by the muffled scream of someone being killed elsewhere on the ship. In response to this intrusion, the A-Team sprang from their beds ready for battle!
They stood face to face with a sahuagin assassin - one of the evil fish-men that plagued the Azure sea! The sahuagin thrust his spear at Alot and missed.
DM's Note-
Alot's player was absent. Absent PCs have what we call "brain jellies" which means they can move around and do basic things but can't attack. NPCs tend to not notice them and they are immune to attacks. In this case, the sahuagin rolled a 1 so I just said he made the mistake of attacking Alot and missed.
The A-Team engaged the amphibious intruder in battle. The sahuagin was soon joined by two more compatriots. The sounds of scuttling intruders and stealthy assassinations could be heard throughout the ship - above decks and in the hold below!
Once the three initial intruders were defeated, Aella and Auric moved to guard the door to the hold while Annor ran up the stairs to the deck above. Marlin headed aft and encountered two sahuagin about to kill two dwarven crewmembers sleeping in their cabin. Marlin attacked the intruders and drew them out into the common area.
By this time more sahuagin had emerged from the hold and were fighting Aella and Auric. They were soon joined by Marlin and his sahuagin, followed by the two dwarven sailors he had saved. A fierce battle ensued in the common area with combatants tripping over chairs and tables, fighting around the thick oaken mast in the center of the room, and additional combatants - both dwarven and sahuagin - emerging randomly from the hold below!
The battle was intense, with Aella taking the brunt of the attacks! Aella, Marlin, and several dwarven fighters were all knocked to the floor at various points only to be saved by healing prayers from Auric.
DM's Note-
Against injured opponents, Sahuagin are crit machines! None of the PCs were wearing armor so they were easy to hit. On top of that, Aella had become injured and at one point, thanks to attacking with Advantage, I rolled maybe six natural twenties in a row. She took a beating and went down but Auric quickly revived her! As a cleric of the death domain, most of Auric's healing spells work best for dying combatants.
Meanwhile Annor has rushed to the captain's cabin. The captain had received a grievous blow in his sleep but survived! Annor killed the assassin with a single slash of his magical flamberge!
Annor withdrew to the deck only to be caught in a magical spell - he found himself paralyzed, unable to move or speak! He couldn't even turn his head to see who had done this! A sahuagin intruder ran down the steps from the aftcastle and plunged his spear into Annor! Annor recovered and dismembered his opponent with a single swing! He looked up at the aftcastle and finally saw his opponent - a sahuagin sea-witch! He was paralyzed again but soon recovered when Captain Windrune's attacked the sea-witch with a crossbow.
Annor ran up the stairs and confronted the sea-witch face to face. She attempted to paralyze him again but he fought off the effects. He cut the fish-woman with a mightly sword slash. She staggered backward, bleeding and hissing. She emitted a hissing scream audible throughout the ship before turning and diving overboard into the sea!
Below decks, the A-Team, along with their dwarven allies, had killed all but one of the sea devils. At the sound of the sea-witch's scream, the remaining sahuagin turned to flee up the stairs but was cut down.
Captain Windrune accompanied Annor in looking over the side of the ship. He could see over a dozen more Sahugain floating just beneath the surface, illuminated by the bioluminescent lures of some of their hunters. Windrune and Annor watched them swim away into the deep, leaving the rest of the ship in the dark.
To be Continued...
Next week: Salvage Operation!
