Tammeraut's Fate - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 63

 

The sun eventually set. 

The team had prepared the hermitage for the return of the invaders from the sea. They positioned themselves on the balcony overlooking the scullery. The four bodies were laid on the floor in the privy as bait to lure the invaders upstairs. Oil of Slipperiness had been liberally applied to the stairs. Alot and Corvid stood at the top of the stairs, prepared to intercept anyone trying to climb them. Craig, Cai'luin, and Aella positioned themselves away from the stairs with good visibility over the scullery.

Aella moved towards one of the arrow-slit windows on the south wall. She looked down at the beach below.

As the last rays of the evening sun slanted across the dark waters of the bay, she caught movement from the corner of her eye along the beach - a dark humanoid form standing silently in the surf. Aella was positive it wasn't there a moment ago. With the next crashing breaker, she lost sight of the intruder in the deepening darkness. When the spray cleared, the figure was gone. Night had fallen.

CHAPTER 63

"TAMMERAUT'S FATE"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.  
• Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
• Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.

The Back Door

Aella stepped away from the arrow slit and pointed her magical trident towards the spot where the shambling figures were entering the hermitage. 

A sudden magical storm of ice and wind erupted. A hailstorm of ice and snow slammed into the shambling barnacle-encrusted zombies, pummeling them into the ground. The localized hailstorm destroyed all of the lesser zombies leaving only a handful of hardy survivors to continue through the door that once served as the sleeping quarters of the hermits.

The Front Door

The sound of splintering wood accompanied the entry of the zombies through the front door and vestibule of the hermitage. The entrance had been left mostly open and a group of wet barnacle-covered zombies draped in seaweed emerged into the scullery. 

Cai'luin cast his Depth Charge spell while Aella used a charge from her magical Necklace of Fireballs. The lesser zombies were torn to bits by the double explosions. Once again, two of the tougher zombies survived and pushed forward toward the stairs. Another three zombies at the back of the group retreated through the entrance and were lost from sight.

Defending the Stairs

Two zombies slipped and fell trying to climb the stairs. The zombies climbed the rest of the steps on their hands and knees. Corvid created a magical bonfire at the top of the stairs, restricting the path the zombies. Aella created a magical swarm of snowballs that pummeled the zombies as they made their way up the stairs.

Father Craig said a prayer to the Raven King and a giant glowing symbol appeared near the top of the stairs - the sigil of the Raven King - that would smite any enemy that might approach it. The two zombies were quickly dispatched.

Alot heard something attempt to open the barricaded door that led to the upstairs battlement. After a brief attempt, whatever it was stopped.

The Catwalk

Cai'luin stood by the privy watching the entrance. He caught movement behind him and he turned to look into the rickety catwalk built over the dining hall. A zombie had climbed a ladder from the tower and had crossed over the ramshackle balcony. Before Cai'luin could react the zombie had crossed the catwalk and attacked! 

Alot activated the magical wings built into his mechanical feet and flew through the air over the scullery to land next to Cai'luin. Alot smashed into the zombie with his hammer and forced it back onto the rickety catwalk. 

Corvid quickly joined Alot in the defense of the flank. He moved his magical bonfire to a new location on the catwalk as more zombies could be seen climbing the ladder from the tower on the other side.

Aella created a magical hailstorm inside the tower while Cai'luin simultaneously played a shattering chord on his lute. The ladder was destroyed and the zombie waiting to climb onto the catwalk fell. The other zombies waiting their turn at the foot of the ladder exited the tower and the hailstorm contained therein.

Assassin Through the Window

Cai'luin backed away from the catwalk. He had been badly injured by the attacking zombie. Suddenly two crossbow bolts struck the wall next to him. He turned to see a zombie with a light crossbow clinging to the wall outside the arrow slit behind him. The zombie moved for cover as Aella sent magical bolts of chaos at the undead creature. Corvid poked his head through the arrow slit and sent a magical bolt of fire at the assassin. 

Cai'luin moved to a position near the window. When the assassin crawled back to the window to loose another round, Cai'luin was there to run it through with his magical rapier.

 

The Final Push

Three zombies had escaped Aella's hailstorm in the tower. They re-entered through the vestibule, crossed the scullery, and began to crawl up the stairs. 

Alot shouted, "Help me out! I want to capture one intact!"

Alot produced a rope and threw it around the last zombie. Corvid held the zombie while Alot bound it tight. The other two zombies, having been severely damaged by Aella's hailstorm, were quickly dispatched.

The assault had been repulsed. 

Corvid asked, "Why did we capture one?"

Alot explained, "They return to where they came from at dawn. Lets release it and follow it back."

Father Craig said, "This book here tells me exactly where the Pit of Hatred is. I don't think we need him."

Alot shrugged his mechanical shoulders, "Then we have a back-up, just in case I guess."

Cai'luin interjected, "We should name him 'Steve'!"

Finally, Some Rest

They dangled "Steve" from the balcony overlooking the scullery and slept in the prior's quarters. Alot even flew down to the hermit's cells and retrieved some beds for the others to sleep on. 

Alot then flew around the island while the others slept, searching for any other zombies or additional threats. He found none.

Dawn

The morning sun rose. The hermitage was littered with the smashed and dismembered corpses of long-dead drowning victims. Alot informed the survivors hiding in the cellar that it was safe to emerge. Janore Stormswake, Barret Gloffrin, and the dwarf was Morley Tobe, emerged from their hiding place. 

They were starving so Cai'luin prepared some breakfast with the supplies the crew had brought to deliver to the hermitage.

The trio were escorted to the dock on the north side of the island to meet the half-orc ferryman, Raserhill, when he arrived. 

"Except for you!" demanded Father Craig, grabbing the dwarf Morley Tobe by the arm.

"What? Why?" demanded Morley.

"You owe a debt to the half-elf merchant in Uskarn. A dwarf MUST pay his debts!"

"That's outrageous!" replied Morley, "You can't turn me over to Davus Raal! I can't pay him! He'll sell me into slavery! You're obviously some kind of holy  man! You'd sell me into slavery?"

Father Craig considered this, "Okay, how about I pay off your debts and you work for me for eight years as penance."

Morley boggled, "How is that any different from slavery?"

Craig was becoming annoyed by this discussion, "One way or another, you WILL pay your debts!"

Morley sighed. "Well do I have any other choice? I'll serve you, MASTER!" he replied, bitterly.

Alot interjected, "Hey, Father Craig? Are you going to keep this guy on the island? Because we're going to hunt for the undersea wreck. It might be dangerous while we're gone."

Morley suggested, "How about I wait for you in Uskarn?"

Father Craig, who was beginning to reconsider the entire idea, reluctantly said, "Fine!" 

Alot said, "Do you have any money?"

Janore said, "No, as hermits we renounced all our wealth and material possessions when we joined the hermitage. We tossed all our coins into the cistern in the yard."

Alot gave the trio some money to spend in Uskarn and paid Raserhill the ferryman. The trio boarded the ferry and departed for the mainland.

DM Note-

I felt Father Craig's player was being uncharacteristically harsh on this poor dwarf. I'm not sure if the player was having a bad day or wanted to make a point about dwarf honor or what. I mentioned to him that I thought forcing another being into slavery didn't seem very Lawful Good. It may be Lawful, but it was Lawful Evil to condone it or Lawful Neutral at best to not actively oppose it. 

Father Craig's player was thinking that if it was "voluntary" it was okay. Morley had the choice- face the music with Davus Raal or work it off with Craig. I countered that any kind of service where Morley couldn't just leave would be bondage and therefore slavery, and that choosing slavery with one master vs slavery with a different mast wasn't really a choice at all! 

I could tell Father Craig's player was getting frustrated at the ethical argument so I tabled it. Game time is not the time for arguments about alignment and ethics. That's what the internet is for! 

We later exchanged emails about it. I did some research about which kingdoms in Greyhawk still practices serfdom, slavery, and indentured servitude. I also familiarized myself with the differences and similarities between each. Nyrond, it seemed, still had serfdom as legal punishment for debt and one would imagine indentured servitude would be an option too. 

I even guilt-baited him a bit by asking him if he even bothered to ask why Morley was in debt? 

Father Craig's player took the bait and asked.

I told him that Morley was a hilll dwarf from the Anodan hills where his family still lives. Mining has been very poor so he ran a trade caravan from the north to Nessertide on the southern coast of Nyrond. The king's taxes have been brutal so he resorted to smuggling for Davus Raal to make ends meet.  

His caravan was attacked and raided by bandits from the Gnatmarsh. He lost his entire cargo. Davus Raal demanded payment for his lost contraband. If he doesn't pay, Raal will sell him into slavery. So he sought sanctuary from the monks. 

Father Craig's player asked about the bandits. 

Great, I thought. Though I didn't mean to I just introduced a new quest hook for them to follow - a storyline for which I'd need to prepare. So I did some research and found an old adventure that fits with what I have in mind. We'll see if they go that direction. 

Where Are We?

The team walked back across the small island to the hermitage.

Father Craig walked next to Captain Alot, "I have a question. I got kind of disoriented when I just appeared here. Where are we?"

Alot said, "We're at a hermitage on Firewatch Island."

Father Craig rubbed his chin, "I see. And where's that?"

"It's three miles away from the town of Uskarn." he said, hooking his thumb behind him towards the mainland.

"No. I mean where ARE we?"

Alot paused, "We're on the southern coast of Nyrond."

Father Craig grabbed Alot's wrist and stopped, turning the automaton around to face the dwarf, "No, listen. WHERE ARE WE?"

Alot finally realized that the dwarven priest had no concept of where in the world they currently were, "We're about a week's sail northeast of Saltmarsh in the kingdom of Nyrond. We were sent here by the priest of Procan in Saltmash to deliver supplies and check on the status of the hermitage. We arrived too late to save the hermitage, apparently. Now we are going to find the Pit of Hatred and stop whatever made those zombies."

Father Craig nodded sagely, "Got it. Thank you."

The Pit of Hatred

Alot set the bound zombie they had named "Steve" free on the south side of the island. Steve ran back into the sea and disappeared beneath the water.

The crew followed Steve underwater. Captain Alot was an automaton adapted to operating underwater. Cai'luin was a sea-elf. Corvid and Aella both wore magical Cloaks of the Manta Ray, and Father Craig donned his new Helm of Underwater Action. 

They swam after Steve for two miles. Here the depth of the sea floor reached over three hundred feet. It became dark. Only a faint blue glow could be seen far overhead. 

They reached the edge of a large drop-off. The drop-off was the side of a crater several hundred feet wide. They descended into the crater and were suddenly overwhelmed by a dark chill - a feeling of cold that withered their bones and an overwhelming sense of dread that drained their will to live. 

DM Note-

DC 16 Constitution Saving Throw or take 4d8 Cold damage, half damage on a successful save! Father Craig and Corvid took 15 cold damage, the rest took 7.

On top of that, they all had to make a DC 16 Charisma Saving Throw or gain Vulnerability to Necrotic damage. Aella, Corvid, and Craig failed that one. Corvid normally had Resistance to necrotic damage, so Vulnerability meant he just took normal damage.

The crew descended into the massive crater. At its center they found another deeper pit roughly one hundred feet in diameter. At the center of the pit was the stern of a wrecked galley lying vertically atop a large pile of humanoid skulls and skeletons. 

As they approached the wreck, Cai'luin found a broken piece of marble, like a large chunk of one-third of a marble table top. Elvish runes were engraved upon the flat surface of the shard. The runes communicated a warning to stay away from the sealed rift and the horror that lied below.

On the far side of the wreck they saw a marble slab that had been cracked. Light poured out of the crack, forming a bright fiery column that illuminated the entire pit. A dark silhouette stood in front of the column of light, staring into it lost in thought as one might a camp fire.  

DM Note-

I described the light leaking out of the crack as every sci-fi film from the early eighties - it was the the light from the Ark of the Covenant, it was the light in Poltergeist, the warp core in Wrath of Khan, etc. 

The crew circled around the stern of the ship. Cai'luin spotted humanoid figures lurking inside the wreck of the galley. He informed the others and immediately detonated a depth charge spell inside the wreck while Aella used her magical control of the elements to cause a massive wall of water to sweep the interior. 

The figures poured out of the wreck - they were more undead like the ones they had fought the night before - the animated bodies of drowned sailors and monks covered in seaweed, coral, and barnacles. 

The crew had been drawn out into three groups - Cai'luin and Alot in the front, Corvid and Aella about thirty feet behind, and Father Craig alone in the rear. 

Drowned zombies armed with rusty swords engaged Corvid and Aella. Another harassed Father Craig in the rear. Father Craig summoned a spiritual hammer to defend himself. Aella created a swarm of snowballs to pummel her foes. 

Corvid engaged the multiple zombies that surrounded him, cutting them down with his magical sword. 

A lone zombie emerged from the wrecked hulk. Its face was concealed by a porcelain mask. It approached the crew with caution. Once it was close enough it removed it face, revealing its horrid appearance. 

DM Note-

DC 13 Wisdom Save or be Frightened for one round! 

Aella, Alot, and Cai'luin recoiled in horror at the fiend's gruesome visage.

The dark form ended its reverie near the column of light and joined its masked companion. It was a creature with a humanoid torso and face - that of a ship's captain - but its lower body was replaced with octopus tentacles! The dark form said, "Ah, the Raven King has sent his servants to stop me! Know this! I, Syrgaul, captain of the Tammeraut and faithful servant of Orcus will be the agent of his dark lord's revenge!"

A black cloud of inky darkness emerged from Syrgaul and enveloped the crew!

DM Note-

DC 15 Constitution Save or take 6d8 necrotic damage! Remember, half the party was now vulnerable to necrotic damage!

Cai'luin, Aella, and, to a lesser extent, Corvid and Alot were trapped in the life-draining cloud of death!

DM Note-

Cai'luin and Aella each took 26 necrotic, doubled to 52! Corvid failed his save but took only 26. Alot took only 26. Aella was down to 1 hit point and Cai'luin was in single digits. Corvid was pretty hurt too. Alot's hit points were in the 90s, so of course he was now complaining that he was about to die and needed immediate healing!

The inky cloud began to dissipate. Cai'luin and Aella were curled up and shivering along the edge of the pit. Corvid was hunched over. 

Suddenly a brilliant glow enveloped the group from the left. It was Father Craig! The dwarven priest radiated a warm aura. The aura restored the life and vitality to his companions. 

DM Note-

Things were looking grim for our party! Then Father Craig cast Aura of Life!

Life-preserving energy radiates from you in an aura with a 30-foot radius. Until the spell ends, the aura moves with you, centered on you. Each nonhostile creature in the aura (including you) has resistance to necrotic damage, and its hit point maximum can’t be reduced. In addition, a nonhostile, living creature regains 1 hit point when it starts its turn in the aura with 0 hit points.

It was a pretty epic Gandalf-at-Helms-Deep style moment!

Cai'luin played a note on his lute. His companions were further invigorated. 

DM Note-

Mass Cure Wounds.

Aella created a magical storm of ice around Captain Syrgaul and the masked assassin.

As the ice dissipated, Corvid stood erect, squared his shoulders, and pointed his blade at Captain Syrgaul. 

"Tell your master - we are coming for him."

Corvid, wearing the magical Cloak of the Manta Ray, streaked across the bottom of the pit and plunged his magical sword into Captain Syrgaul over and over.  

DM Note-

Corvid's first attack did 39 damage. His second attack also did 39 damage!

Captain Syragul counterattacked with his greatsword and tentacles but Corvid barely managed to turn aside the attacks with a defensive Shield spell! 

Father Craig prayed for a miracle. A great sonorous bell tolled, its peal racing through the sea like a clap of thunder. 

Cai'luin played a dissonant note on his lute while whispering an arcane incantation. The masked assassin recoiled in anger and fled to the far side of the pit. 

Corvid struck Captain Syragul again, plunging his sword deep into the foul creature's heart. Captain Syragul screamed as his body dissipated into wispy tendrils of dark hatred. 

DM Note-

Corvid dealt 44 damage on that final hit.

Corvid quickly closed the distance with the masked assassin and decapitated him with a final strike. 

DM Note-

Critical hit for 26 damage.

The crew searched the pit and found that the light emerged from a broken seal, like a large marble table top. The shard they previously found fit neatly into the missing piece - but the seal was still broken. 

DM Note-

Someone asked, "Will Mending work?"

I quickly looked up Mending and said, "No, the crack is much bigger than ten inches. You would need Stoneshape or some kind of magical glue."

They also found a large chest filled with coins. 

No one was able to repair the seal so they decided to leave it. Father Craig would sleep on it, pray for a solution, and come back tomorrow to seal the breach. The party hauled the chest of gold back to shore and carried it back on land. 

As they climbed ashore, Alot said, "Wait, didn't the priestess say something about tossing all their treasure into the cistern?"

"Yes," replied Corvid, "Are you really going to scavenge every last coin from the monastery?"

Alot, slightly embarrassed, defensively replied, "No! Maybe. Look, what if there's some magic glue down there? Let's just check it out."

Corvid said, "All right. Whatever."

The group walked up the path towards the yard within the walls of the hermitage. They stepped through the opening in the wall and into the yard.

To their surprise they heard, "Greetings, warriors!"

Two wet green hags emerged from the cistern. Their long black hair hung over their wrinkled wart-covered faces like a curtain of black weeds. The hag who spoke smiled while the other held her hands up to her face like a schoolgirl to cover her uncontrollable giggling. 

To be Continued...

Hags of Three, Leave them Be

Hags of Two - Good on You! 

- Cai'luin Manaan, quoting and ancient Sea-Elf proverb

Why are there Giant Coral Snakes in the Scriptorium??? - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 62

 

While the rest of the crew searched the room, Captain Alot climbed the stairs to the next level - the highest level of the bell tower. He opened the trap door to find the belfry. 

Lying on the floor of the belfry was a dead man. He had been eviscerated by huge talons. His heart has been removed as if by a great bird. On the floor near his dead body, written in the man's own still-drying blood, were the words:

BEWARE

RASP

CHAPTER 62

"WHY ARE THERE GIANT CORAL SNAKES IN THE SCIPTORIUM???"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.  
• Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
• Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.

Beware Rasp

Alot stared at the body dispassionately. He called down to his companions through the trap door, "I think I found Aaron. Father Craig and Cai'luin, come up here and take a look around."

The dwarf and sea-elf joined Alot in the belfry. Craig looked around and peered out of what was once crenellations in the battlement at the top of the tower. He surveyed the island and got a better sense of where he was and where things lay. 

Cai'luin examined the body and the blood, "Yep, he's dead. Looks like he died this morning. There's a bell clapper near his hand. He was probably trying to ring the bell. Near as I can figure, he saw us in the ferry and tried to ring a warning to us, but Rasp killed him."

"Who is Rasp?" asked Alot.

"The big thing that met us on the beach. Janore said its name was Rasp."

"Right. Who's Janore?" asked Alot.

"The survivor in the bolt hole. The priestess. Remember?" 

"Right! That's right. Got it." said Alot.

"I'm not sure what this big pit is under the bell." said Cai'luin.

The "pit" was shaped like an inverted truncated cone. Alot said, "This whole structure used to be a military fortress and this was a watch tower. This was where they kept the big kettle of oil which they would light on fire in the case of an attack. Remember that big wash basin in the scullery? That was the kettle."

"Oh!" said Cai'luin with new understanding. 

Alot moved towards the trap door in the floor, "If there's nothing else up here, we should work our way back to the hermitage and search each room as we go."

DM Note-

I was keeping track of time on a notepad file on my desktop. I knew sunset was around 8pm so time was a resource. I told the players that searching a room takes about ten minutes. I tack on an extra five minutes of walking from room to room and general chit-chat. So basically they were going in 15 minute turns telling me what they did. This is roughly equivalent to the old AD&D ten minute capital-T exploration Turns. 

So any time someone said "I search the room", that's ten to fifteen minutes. "I check the body" - ten to fifteen minutes. "I try to figure out what happened here." - ten to fifteen minutes.

I also limit how many people can search or investigate to two people per room per ten minute Turn. Either two different people roll Perception or Investigation separately or one person Helps the other and they get Advantage on the roll. I do this so the players have to choose carefully who is doing the searching. It also eliminates the "Everybody rolls until we succeed" problem.

And being a world without clocks or timekeeping, and being inside a huge structure, they lacked good ways of tracking time, so I would not tell them what time it was. 

Searching

The crew conducted a thorough search of the tower's third level - apparently a disused domicile. A section of the south wall had collapsed due to weathering and age. Sifting through the rubble revealed what was once a secret compartment in the wall. 

The secret compartment a yielded the following:

• a ring
• a three-ounce bottle of oil
• three vials of what everyone knew by now was potions of water breathing
• a metal rod with a button on one end
• a small wooden box
• a heavy burlap sack of holding
• a leather-bound journal

Within the burlap sack of holding they found:

• several fishing nets
• 500 feet of weighted hempen rope
• a small metal baton about the length of a man's forearm with a metal sphere at one end the size of a fist and a handle that could twist.
• a small metal box containing six waxy candies.

The journal belonged to a wizard named Archais. Its entries were dated ten years ago, during the time when the hermitage served as a lookout for the royal army of Nyrond. The journal related Archais' many military postings and assignments. It also included notes about sunken ships and his hobby of locating and exploring the underwater wrecks. The final entry listed a ship named the Tammeraut.

Father Craig, reading the journal, said, "Wait, we've heard that name. Cai'luin, what's the Tammeraut?"

Cai'luin replied, "the poem in the library."

The sea-elf bard recited the poem:

Beware the sea and its scarlet harbinger.

Beware the sword and death that await.

For guidance, we beseech almighty Storm Lord;

Consign to our foes Tammeraut's fate.

Father Craig said, "Interesting. Wait, there's more here."

Father Craig read the journal out loud.

Our worst fears are confirmed. Virgil has brought word of disaster. A war galley fully loaded with pirates approaches from the southwest. It flies the flag of the raiders and bears the name of the cursed ship Tammeraut. We must prepare what feeble defense we can muster. Woe to the folk of the coast at the approach of this bloody tide.

Miracle of miracles! The storm lord has answered the prayers of our illustrious chaplain. A furious storm blew in from the open sea and swept the war galley to its doom. 

But I believe that the vessel went down near the Pit of Hatred, an ill-starred undersea chasm two miles south of Fire Watch Isle. This does not bode well, for the rift is said to be a passage to a source of interminable evil that was long ago sealed away. If the wreckage should rupture the wards, terrible darkness might be unleashed. I must mount an expedition to the sunken hulk and make sure all is well.

A fell wind blows this evening. I fear the wards on the rift have been broken. I must set out first thing in the morning to inspect the wreckage.

There were no further entries in the journal.

Afterwards, the crew descended the stairs to the room on the second floor of the tower. The room was stacked high with junk and clutter. A cursory search turned up a 10-pound cask of iron nails, a bent crowbar, three clay planters for the garden, a hammer, a rusty hand saw, a hooded lantern, a few 10-foot lengths of hempen rope, and a slack of firewood, the crew decided to not waste time and moved on.

DM Note-

I told them what they found with a cursory search and said there's a lot more if they want to spend 10-15 minutes searching. They said no and moved on. As it happened, they missed out on a quiver filled with magical crossbow bolts. 

Coral Snakes in the Scriptorium

The crew left the tower and crossed the battlement to the main structure. Alot opened the door and looked around. It was silent. The room was filled with large tables covered with papers and book in mid-transcription. There were large stacks of books in every corner. A partition separated the room into two halves. 

Alot cautiously entered the room. Father Craig followed closely behind. 

Suddenly a massive red, black, and yellow coral snake emerged from its hiding place beneath a nearby table. The snake's body was as thick as a man's bicep. Its head was larger than a man's head. It had to be thirty feet long! It clamped down on Father Craig's shoulder, injecting its venom into the stoic dwarf. The snake released him and hissed at Alot.

Alot shouted, "Father Craig!"

Craig replied, "Don't worry! I'm a dwarf! We're famously resistant to.. poi... ssssooooonnnn." Craig swayed and staggered. He dropped his arms and stood limp, staring off into the distance. He was a million miles away.

DM Note-

As a dwarf, Father Craig had a good Constitution and got Advantage on his Constitution saving throw vs. poison. Should be easy to- he rolled a 9 and a 6. Okay then. Roll on the short-term madness table - 3. "The character retreats into his or her mind and becomes paralyzed." The effect lasts ten minutes.

The snake then attacked someone else. Corvid's player, who is always advocating for me to play monsters as realistically and as cutthroat as possible, reminded me that the coral snake now got Advantage to attack Father Craig and any hit would do double damage. He should be attacking Father Craig to kill him.

I acknowledged that but in my mind, the snake wasn't trying to kill Father Craig, it was trying to eliminate his attackers. Father Craig had been dealt with. Alot and the others were not. 

However, we were in the middle of the fight and I didn't feel like explaining my monsters' motivations or getting into a debate, so I said, jokingly, "Look! I don't have to explain monster's actions to YOU!"

Another snake emerged from behind the partition and attacked Alot. A third snake squirmed and hissed in the far back corner.

Cai'luin played a note on his lute that would shatter glass. The snake was unaffected. 

Alot smashed at the giant snakes with his magical hammer while Corvid slashed and stabbed with his magical sword. 

Cai'luin cast a bardic Depth Charge spell which destroyed the rear of the room with explosive force. The papers and books were destroyed as was a portion of the wall that divided the room. 

Aella created a magical tidal wave the summoned forth a great wall of water to smash down onto the two snakes in the back half of the room. The water ruined all the books and papers before the wave subsided and drained away to nothingness. 

All three giant snakes were eventually destroyed. The scriptorium was a shambles. Bits of torn paper and splinters drifted down as water dripped from the ceiling. 

Alot turned towards the others and desperately asked, "Why? Why were there giant coral snakes in this room?"

Corvid stared back dispassionately.

Cai'luin quipped, "I guess they had to be somewhere."

The Prior's Quarters

The crew moved back into the balcony overlooking the scullery. They opened the door to the prior's quarters. There was a sparse bed, a strange metal washbasin in a stand, a writing desk, and the detached head of a mace on the floor to use as a doorstop.

A careful search of the room turned up a a set of religious icons decorate with inset diamonds, two blocks of amber, and a small iron anchor that could be carried in the palm of one's hand.

In addition, the wash basin turned out to be an old helmet turned upside down. The helmet was decorated with images of cavorting dolphins.

DM Note-

Corvid and Father Craig simultaneously said, "Helmet of Water Breathing!" Craig then said, "Dibs!"

Defensive Overlook

The crew continued towards the front of the structure. They ignored the unsafe-looking walkway connecting the scullery to the exterior wall through the dining hall and instead entered the room overlooking the entrance.

The long room within had drafty arrow slits along the exterior wall and large shafts in the floor. During the hermitage's time as a defensive fortress, this room would have been used to drop oil onto attackers as they gained entry below. 

The far end of the room smelled of human feces. There was an old water-damaged book with half its pages torn out lying on the floor next to the trap door and a wooden chair with a hole in its seat nearby. The crew quickly realized what the trap door was used for and where it led - to the bricked up chamber on the first floor. 

DM Note-

I asked if anyone wanted to open the trap door. The answer was a resounding no.

The other trap door revealed an empty cell with iron ladder rungs in the wall - the same room Alot observed as they entered. The entire crew descended the ladder into the small cell and looked around but found nothing.

The Abandoned Storeroom

The crew decided to split up. Father Craig and Corvid would check out the locked room at the base of the tower while Alot, Aella, and Cai'luin went down to the grotto by the water to try to recover anyh bodies. 

Father Craig and Corvid used the bent crowbar to bust open the locked door. Janore had told them that the prior had always kept the base of the tower locked and forbad anyone from entering - and had done so since before she arrived two years ago. 

Craig and Corvid looked inside. It was dark and damp. A few steps descended to the floor which was submerged in a few inches of dark water. The far wall was carved from the stone of the hill. A small stream of water emerged from a seam in the stone - the source of the flooding. The room was filled with old crates and supplies that had long ago rotted away from the damp conditions. 

Father Craig and Corvid stepped carefully into the room. Craig grabbed Corvid's arm and pointed to the ceiling above the tricking water. Thick viscous globs of slime dripped from the ceiling. Craig shook his head and said, "Don't touch that. It burns."

Corvid stepped back and incinerated the green slime with a continuous volley of magical bolts of fire.

Afterwards, Corvid and Craig decided to rejoin their companions in the grotto.

In the Grotto

Meanwhile, Alot, Aella, and Cai'luin exited the hermitage through the sleeping area. They walked down a steep path to the gravel beach. There they paused to closely examine the beach for any footprints or other clues regarding how many attackers might return to the hermitage from the sea. After wasting ten minutes finding nothing they entered the sea and swam around the tall narrow rocky edifice to the right to the grotto.

The grotto was a shallow cave under a steep rocky cliff. The hermitage battlements loomed overhead. There was a half-submerged rowboat at the base of a steep path that led up the left bank of the cliff to the kitchen entrance.

A large net filled with pale bloated corpses bobbed in the water beneath the rocky overhang. 

Suddenly three dark shapes emerged from the blue-black water of the grotto. Three massive prawn-like crustaceans known as chuuls, each the size of a horse, swam forth to attack the trio of swimmers. 

Cai'luin responded quickly with a magical depth charge spell. There was a loud boom and the water heaved in white foam and spray. The half-submerged boat was shattered and the bodies stored in the net were torn apart. White flabby waterlogged body-parts flew into the sky and fell to the ground as small wet chunks of shredded meat.

Father Craig and Corvid, exiting the hermitage and walking down the path following the others, heard the explosion. Corvid immediately dove into the sea. His magical cloak of the manta ray spread its leathery wings and he dashed around the rocky promontory like an arrow through the water. Craig, who still had no underwater combat ability and was a poor swimmer even without his heavy armor, ran back to the hermitage. He would go around to the kitchen door.

One of the chuuls grabbed Aella in one massive claw-like pincer while the another grabbed Cai'luin. Cai'luin was shoved into the tentacled mouth parts and injected with poison! 

Alot engaged the chuuls with his magical hammer while Corvid slashed at them with his magical sword.

Aella stabbed at the chuul with her magical trident, striking it with magical spells channeled through the mystical artifact.

Cai'luin could not overcome the poison and suffered as the chuul continued to crush him in its vice-like grip.

Corvid and Alot eliminated the two chuuls threatening Aella and Cai'luin. One chuul tried to escape but was soon chased down and destroyed by the warriors. 

Father Craig eventually emerged from the kitchen door and said a prayer of healing over his companions - a prayer which may have saved Cai'luin's life!

Alot was ultimately able to recover four of the bodies intact. He and Corvid hauled them up to the scullery where they hoped to use them as bait to lure the invaders from the sea.

Final Preparations

It was late afternoon and the crew decided to spend the rest of the day preparing for the return of the invaders at sundown. 

Father Craig said a prayer and was granted insight into which of the items they had recently recovered were magical and which were not. Cai'luin then spent the next two hours examining each of the magical items to determine what each did.  

Cai'luin identified the following items: 

• The helmet of dolphins cavorting  was a Helm of Underwater Action
• The rod with a button was an  Immovable Rod
• The ring was a  Ring of Free Action
• The metal rod with a magic light on one end was a magical torch that created light with no flame, twisting the handle adjusted the light from torch light to that of a candle
• The wooden box was a Folding Boat
• The metal flask with mysterious syrup contained Oil of Slipperiness
• The metal anchor was a Quaal's "Anchor" Token
• The six capsules in the small tin were Pressure Capsules.
• A nother flask containing Oil of Slipperiness
• A Burlap Sack of Holding
• And the breast plate on the body in the cellar was +1 Breast Plate

Meanwhile Aella and Corvid took a short rest. After completing his work, Cai'luin also took a short rest.

Alot and Father Craig spent an hour repairing and fortifying the door leading to the battlements on the second story and the door at the front entrance.

It Begins

The sun eventually set. 

The team was prepared for the return of the invaders from the sea. They positioned themselves on the balcony overlooking the scullery. The four bodies were laid on the floor as bait to lure the invaders into this room. Alot and Corvid stood at the top of the stairs, prepared to intercept anyone trying to climb them. Craig, Cai'luin, and Aella positioned themselves away from the stairs with good visibility over the scullery.

Aella moved towards one of the windows on the south wall. She looked down at the beach below.

As the last rays of the evening sun slanted across the dark waters of the bay, she caught movement from the corner of her eye along the beach - a dark humanoid form standing silently in the surf. Aella was positive it wasn't there a moment ago. With the next crashing breaker, she lost sight of the intruder in the deepening darkness. When the spray cleared, the figure was gone. Night had fallen.

To Be Continued...

DM Note-

As I mentioned earlier, I kept a running log of how much time was spent in each room, secretly counting down to sunset at 8pm. Here's a log of the time spent.

• 9:00 arrive by ferry
• 9:30 fight Rasp
• 9:45 search beach
• 10:00 approach hermitage
• 10:15 search entrance
• 10:30 search scullery
• 10:45 search kitchen
• 11:00 search larder
• 11:15 cellar
• 11:30-12:30 short rest (I think)
• 12:30 move from cellar to first floor
• 12:45 search kitchen
• 1:00 search library
• 1:15 fight rats
• 1:30 search cells
• 1:45 move from cells to second floor of hermitage
• 2:00 move from hermitage to belfry
• 2:15: search belfry
• 2:30 search abandoned quarters
• 2:45 search junk room
• 3:00 fight coral snakes
• 3:15 search scriptorium
• 3:30 search prior's quarters
• 3:45 search defensive overlook
• 4:00 down to ask about room
• 4:15 search beach and slime room
• 4:30 grotto fight with chuuls
• 4:45 move bodies into a room, Craig detect magic one item, Cai'luin waiting
• 5:00 identify 1 helm of underwater action, Aella + Craig + Alot short rest 1 hour
• 5:10 immovable rod
• 5:20 ring of free action
• 5:30 metal rod with light on the end
• 5:40 wooden box
• 5:50 oil of slipperiness
• 6:00 anchor, Craig attunes to helmet, Corvid attunes to ring
• 6:10 capsules pressure
• 6:20 oil of slipperiness
• 6:30 breastplate
• 6:45 - 7:45: Cai'luin short rest
• 7:00 Craig kitchen door, Alot battlement door.
  
• 8:00 Sundown

The Mystery on Firewatch Island - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 61

 

Father Craig, after having gotten the Apparatus of Kwalish repaired by a master artificer in Niole Dra, read aloud the ancient scroll containing a prayer that would return him to Saltmarsh. He vanished, only to reappear on a dock by a gravel beach - NOT in Saltmarsh as he planned. He looked around. He saw his companions - the automaton named Captain Alot, Aella the storm sorceress, Cai'luin the sea-elf ambassador, and Corvid Ravenson, the paladin of vengeance. 

A shadow passed over his eyes. He looked up and saw a monstrous bird-like creature with the body of a giant eagle and the head of a stag - a so-called peryton - only larger and angrier than any peryton he had seen before. The creature's face was caked in blood and gore. It dove straight at Cai'luin. 

CHAPTER 61

"THE MYSTERY ON FIREWATCH ISLAND"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.  
• Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
• Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.

DM Note- 

Father Craig's player joined us this week from his hospital bed where he is fighting cancer. At first he was worried about how we could integrate his character back in with the group since he'd been gone for several weeks. I said, "Just don't even worry about it. Poof! You're there!" In game, I said that he used a scroll of "Word of Recall" to return to Saltmarsh but the gods intervened. Instead, he reappeared with his crew on Firewatch island as they were being attacked by Rasp the Peryton.

The Shadow of the Peryton

Captain Alot crouched. Metal wings sprouted from his armored feet. The automaton launched himself into the air at the diving peryton - intercepting it thirty feet off the ground. He smashed the peryton with his hammer before plowing into it with his shield. The impact of the shield spun the peryton around and it tumbled out of control. 

The peryton's dive had been interrupted. It righted itself and continued to fly at Cai'luin, slashing at the sea-elf with its talons, before taking flight once more.

Corvid ran towards the peryton and disappeared in a puff of silvery mist. He magically reappeared just above the peryton. As he fell he reached out and grabbed the peryton with his left hand. He caught the peryton's wing and held tight. 

The peryton thrashed and tried unsuccessfully to escape. It bit at Corvid and slashed at him with his talons. 

Father Craig quickly regained his senses and said a prayer, conjuring a divine hammer to strike the peryton. 

The peryton screeched in frustration. Its eyes glowed with mysterious power. Cai'luin felt a strange tug - as if something were ripping his soul away. He looked down and saw his shadow transformed into that of a peryton! He had been cursed by the foul beast!

He retaliated  by whispering the secret magical words known only to bards. The peryton was unaffected.

Meanwhile, Aella could do little but hurl bolts of chaos magic at the flying creature.

Corvid held tight onto the peryton. The peryton remained aloft but was unable to fly away. Alot flew over and swung his hammer into the peryton. He then shoved the creature with his shield, once more sending it into an uncontrolled spin.

DM Note-

Grappling a flying creature immobilizes it. It remained aloft but its speed was zero. It could have descended if it wanted but I figured it wanted to remain in the air. 

Alot's shield shove maneuver knocks the target prone. What would that do to a flying creature? I described it as sending it into an uncontrolled spin. Recovering from such a spin would cost half its movement - same as standing up would.

Except that, while grappled, the peryton had a movement of zero. WITH ZERO MOVEMENT  IT COULD NOT RECOVER FROM THE SPIN! That meant that not only was it "immobilized" as per the condition, it was considered "prone", thus melee attacks against it were at Advantage.

Corvid's player said, "Wait, really?" 

I replied, "Yep, I guess so."

You could hear him grin over Discord, "Sweet!"

Corvid held on to the peryton as it spun wildly. He plunged his magical sword deeply into the beast. He stabbed it again and again with divine vengeance.

The peryton screamed as it died. It plunged from the sky, landing on the beach with a wet thud. Corvid drifted slowly to the ground where he landed gingerly and sheathed his sword.

The Abandoned Hermitage

Father Craig tended to his comrades' injuries while Cai'luin stared desperately at his cursed shadow. He sighed and joined his companions as they marched up the trail towards the hermitage. His resignation turned to elation when the curse wore off a few moments later.

The crew of the Sea Ghost passed through an archway through the outer wall of the hermitage and surveyed the grounds. They decided to try the house first. 

The front door was barricaded from within. Cai'luin cast a bardic spell which caused the barricades to magically collapse. The door opened and the crew entered the vestibule. The floor and walls were spattered with bloodstains and a broken padlock lay on the ground. The inner door had been busted open and barely hung from its hinges.

They entered the room beyond - a large chamber that was once a gallery. Stairs led up to a balcony that ran along the far wall and along the left wall. Under the balcony was a large wash tub and a table with everyday dishes. The water was cold. 

Alot called out but no one answered. 

The party went through the closest door to the right near the base of the stairs. They entered a kitchen. A search revealed a kettle of cold soup that had been abandoned at least a day ago, plus a half a loaf of stale bread. On the top shelf of one cabinet, towards the back, Cai'luin found two sealed metal flasks filled with something that felt like syrup. He put them in his pockets.

There was a door to the south that appeared to be hastily barricaded from within. A door on the west wall was locked but was soon forced open.

The room beyond was a larder. A few sausages hung from hooks. A large bin full of potatoes was placed against the stone wall of the back of the kitchen hearth. Alot removed the potatoes and found what appeared to be a fireplace - only instead of a floor was a tunnel with iron ladder rungs leading down. 

The Survivors

Alot descended the ladder. He turned and saw a bare room barely illuminated by a small crevice in the left wall that let light in from outside. There was an old skeleton clad in armor and vestments lying on the floor. The body had decomposed long ago. 

Three people huddled in the corner, a man lay on the floor, a dwarf huddled next to him. A human woman clad in the vestments of a priest of Procan picked up a mace and held her holy medallion before her. She yelled, "Stay back! I'm warning you!"

Alot, the automaton made out of integrated armor styled after a green dragon, carrying a shield and magical hammer also styled after a green dragon, turned and faced her - the glass lenses of his artificial eyes glowing dimly. 

DM Note-

All they needed was one good Persuasion check. Each failure would result in a deficit that they would need to overcome.

Alot rolled a Persuasion check with Advantage. He got a 5. Successes = -1

The woman screamed.

Father Craig climbed down the ladder, still wearing his battle-mask shaped like a human skull, and angrily ordered the woman to compose herself.

DM Note-

Father Craig rolled a Persuasion check. He got a 5. Successes = -2

The woman summoned forth a spiritual trident to attack Alot. She also struck at him ineffectually with her mace. 

Cai'luin and Aella dropped down the shaft into the room and attempted to calm the situation down. 

DM Note-

25 and 26, not bad. Successes = 0. They were back at square one.

Corvid climbed down the ladder and loomed menacingly over the woman. His ashen visage and eyes glowing with necrotic power would frighten anyone. He shouted at her and ordered her to cease her attacks or face his wrath!

DM Note-

Corvid's no good at Persuasion, so he tried Intimidation. 25. I ruled that it counted as a negative towards the number of successes but did have its intended effect. Successes = -1 again.

The priestess stumbled backwards and retreated the far corner. Her spiritual weapon continued to attack and she held her mace ready in case anyone came near her.

Father Craig knelt over the other two and took a look at them. They were ill. They both suffered a sickness he identified as Blue-Rot. They were covered in foul dark pustules - the result of contact with certain types of animated zombies.

Cai'luin and Aella were both able to finally calm the priestess down and convince her of their good intentions. 

DM Note-

FINALLY!

Corvid, meanwhile, stood over the sick man and dwarf and held out his hands over them. The holy energy of Tristin the Raven King healed the pair of their sickness. 

Survivors' Tale

Once the trio of survivors were restored to health, they related their story. 

The woman introduced herself as Janore Stormswake, priestess of Procan. The human man was Barret Gloffrin and the dwarf was Morley Tobe. She said that there was another survivor - Brother Aaron - who had ventured out to scout around.

Corvid said, "Morley Tobe? Why do I know that name?"

Alot answered, "He's the debtor that the merchant Davus Raal was looking for."

"Who?"

"The half-elf back in Uskarn. Eight thousand gold pieces, remember?"

The dwarf cried out, "No! Don't send me back! He'll sell me into slavery!"

Father Craig became uncharacteristically severe, "You've got a lot of nerve hiding in a monastery! You're going back to face your debts, coward!"

Alot interrupted, "We'll deal with that later. Tell us what happened." 

Janore recounted how three nights ago, she was reading in the library when a sudden premonition of danger came to her from her god, Procan. She heard whispers in her mind that led her to this place, and her intuition told her that the skeleton found here was the remains of a fellow priest of Procan. 

Acting quickly, she found Aaron in the kitchen and grabbed him just as he heard the dormitory door splintering.

Morley and Barrett staggered into the larder soon after, wounded and in need of help. Janore said she

dragged them inside and was about to seal the entrance when the larder door banged open.

"I saw a corpse, dripping wet, shrive led and discolored as if by long immersion in the sea. It stalked into the room and began to search, so I sealed the door. Miraculously, it missed our hiding place, though it kept scrabbling at the floor as if it could sense us below. But then as the first glow of dawn showed at the cleft in the wall there, it suddenly fled. We collapsed, frightened and exhausted." 

Morley and Barrett were injured and sick. Each day, Aaron would venture out to search for survivors while she stayed with them. Aaron said that after the first day, evil creatures had come to the island and that it was unsafe to venture out. Yesterday, Aaron said that he spotted Rasp, a peryton that had long hunted along this coast, flying over the island. Yet, despite the danger, Aaron would leave the hiding place each morning to search for survivors. He had not yet returned since he left this morning.

Janore said that each night the undead would return to the hermitage. She had peered through the crevice in the wall and saw them gather the slain residents into nets. The monsters walked back into the sea. Each night, the monsters dragged one of the nets behind them. 

Janore was convinced that there were still bodies down in the grotto and that the undead will be back when the sun sets to collect them.

Captain Alot assured Janore that they would explore the hermitage and find Aaron but asked that she and the other two survivors wait here. 

Exploration

The crew of the Sea Ghost left the survivors in the bolt hole and continued exploring the first floor of the hermitage. In each room they would call out for Aaron but received no answer. After the diplomatic debacle in the bolt hole, it was decided that Cai'luin would immediately follow Alot into every room they entered.

The corridor past the kitchen led to a locked door that no one could open. They returned to the scullery and explored the adjacent dining hall. There they saw evidence of furniture that had been torn apart in order to salvage wood to create makeshift barricades. In the next room they found a library containing books about the sea god Procan as well as several books on nature written by druid named Tallos. They also found a book written by a priest of Procan named Oloran, the chaplain during the days when the structure served as a fortress. Within the book was a hand-written poem by Oloran that read:

Beware the sea and its scarlet harbinger.

Beware the sword and death that await.

For guidance, we beseech almighty Storm Lord;

Consign to our foes Tammeraut's fate.

Atop one shelf they discovered several forgotten druid spell scrolls written by Tallos.

Rats!

The next room was once the garrison's bunk room. It had been turned into a series of monastic cells by the current residents. Each cell was separated by a curtain. The floor was covered in blood and gore which had been streaked by the later removal of the dead bodies. 

Alot and Cai'luin entered the room slowly, watching the curtains for activity. Suddenly the floor became alive with hundreds of ravenous rats! Their eyes glowed red with hunger and hatred as the rats swarmed over Cai'luin and Alot, covering them and biting them. 

As an armored automaton sentinel, Alot was impervious to the small rodents. He brushed the rats off himself and continued exploring the room on the other side of the center divider. Cai'luin, however, was bitten several times but managed to extricate himself. He ran back towards the entrance and took cover behind Father Craig and Corvid. Aella and Cai'luin retreated into the scullery and attacked at range with magic spells. 

After a prolonged battle with wave after wave of rat swarms the room was finally cleared. 

DM Note-

Who would have thought that a party of level 9 player characters would have such a hard time with four waves of three  rat swarms. It was tough! It turned into a fairly challenging encounter  and they took a lot of damage from the rats.

By the way, my house rule for swarms is that if they enter your space, you can attack them normally but other people have disadvantage to attack them because they're trying not to hurt you. 

The crew searched the room and found that one of the poles supporting the curtains was intricately carved and hollow. Within they found two small metal flasks containing an unidentified liquid that smelled like strong wine, a bundle of herbs bound by silver thread, and a set of bronzed orc teeth.

Upstairs

After taking a short rest in the cells, the crew cautiously climbed the stairs in the scullery to the next level. 

Alot opened the door immediately to his right revealing a thirty foot corridor with a door on the right wall and one at the end of the corridor.

He opened the door on the right and saw a scriptorium filled with writing desks and books being transcribed. The room was filled with clutter and stacks of books. He called out for Aaron but received no reply. He closed the door without entering.

Alot opened the door at the end of the corridor. He was standing atop a battlement outside the hermitage. A platform led to the nearby watch-tower that had been converted into a bell tower.

The Bell Tower

The battlement led to a door on the second level of the tower. The door was unlocked. Within was a round room filled with junk and a set of stairs that led to a trap door in the ceiling. The crew moved past the piles of clutter to the stairs.

On the next level they found a room with a pot-bellied stove. An unused bed frame was pushed up against the stairs leading to another trap door in the ceiling. An old desk was covered in bird droppings. An arrow slit now serving as a window was open to the elements.  A portion of the south wall was collapsed inward, revealing a gaping hole and the side of the adjacent hill ten feet below. 

While the rest of the crew searched the room, Captain Alot climbed the stairs to the next level. He opened the trap door to find the belfry. 

Lying on the floor of the belfry was a dead man. He had been eviscerated by huge talons. His heart has been removed as if by a great bird. On the floor near his dead body, written in the man's own still-drying blood, were the words:

BEWARE

RASP

To be Continued...

The Harpies of Nyrond - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 60

 

Winter passed in Saltmarsh uneventfully. The Sea Ghost stayed in port for much of the season with Captain Alot spending much of his time with Commander Fireborn learning the Aquan and Draconic languages.

Now that Saltmarsh had a baron there was little need for a town council. Baron Solmor relegated the council to various inconsequential and irrelevant duties. Smuggling in Saltmarsh had disappeared. All illegal trade took place on Leper Island under the control of Baylore. The Traditionalist faction had been reduced to the salty fishmonger Eda Oweland. Her business has suffered thanks to the poor catches returned by the fishers of Saltmarsh. With spring coming, the baron prepared to travel to Niole Dra to spend the spring and summer in the royal court. 

Cai'luin became a mediator between Baron Solmor and the royal family of the sea elf tribe of Manaan. Since the attempt on the king's life, the sea elves had made fishing difficult for the fishers of Saltmarsh. Cai'luin worked to resolve this situation and to set strict rules for where the fishers of Saltmarsh could and could not fish. These rules did not go over well with Eda Oweland.

Aella, as a member of the town council, faced much of the brunt of Eda Oweland's fury. In an effort to assist the ailing fishers, Aella decided to invest her vast unspent wealth she had accumulated in her adventures on fishing expeditions to waters farther south. She funded several expeditions received, in turn, remarkable dividends on her investments. 

Corvid worked with the nuns of Tristin to improve the House of the Dying, a hospice to care for the dying and aid their transition to the afterlife. Corvid paid to have statues built of all three saints which were installed at the temple to Tristin.

One day, at the end of winter, Wellgar Brinehanded, High Priest of the temple of the sea-god Procan, paid a visit to the House of the Dying. He wished to enlist the aid of Tristin and the crew of the Sea Ghost. 

CHAPTER 60

"THE HARPIES OF NYROND"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, deck sorceress and first mate of the Sea Ghost.
• Cai'luin Manaan - Chaotic Good Sea-Elf Bard, member of the royal family of the tribe of Manaan. Cook of the Sea Ghost.
• Corvid Ravenson - Neutral Good Fallen Aasimar Paladin of Vengeance and Divine Soul Sorcerer, sent to Oerth to avenge those who wronged his angelic "brother", Auric Ravenson. Second mate of the Sea Ghost.

Brain Jellies

• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright, bosun of the Sea Ghost.  

DM Note-

We start off this week with 3 months of down-time. I ask the players what they want to do - any personal agenda items they want to follow up on? Long-term plans? Off-screen activities? If there's a game-able down-time activity in Xanathar's Guide we'll use those. If they want to do something plot-related, it helps me plan ahead. 

Aella wanted to become a money lender and invest in town enterprises. I figured it was like gambling so I used the gambling rules. Unfortunately, the gambling rules results are total loss, fifty percent loss, break even, fifty percent gain, or one hundred percent gain. There's no middle ground. I might adjust those percentages. 

I treated Cai'luin's downtime as carousing. He wound up making 23 high class contacts. Meh. 

We're on a Mission from (a) God

Wellgar Brinehanded told Corvid that he had maintained regular contact with a man named Marwen - a priest cloistered in a hermitage on Firewatch Island in far away Nyrond. For years the two had communicated daily through prayer. At least they did until a few days ago when his friend suddenly ceased responding. In his last message his friend said that he had received ominous visions of events to come and that the hermitage was in danger. He worried for his friend and was concerned that something had happened to the hermitage. 

Brinehanded wished to hire the Sea Ghost to sail to far away Nyrond to visit this remote hermitage under the auspices of delivering a small cargo from the temple of Procan but with the true mission of checking in on his friend. He had little to offer in payment other than the blessings of Procan and prayers for clear sailing and good winds. 

Corvid gathered the crew back together, minus Father Craig who was away on a holy mission (to fight cancer). As it happened, Cai'luin was in town and was available to join the crew. Corvid explained the mission to Captain Alot. 

Firewatch Island was located off the coast of Nyrond. The closest town was the small village of Uskarn. It would take the Sea Ghost seven days to sail to Uskarn, assuming fair winds and weather. 

Captain Alot and the rest of the crew agreed to the mission. Alot set about recruiting a new crew of sailors.

DM Note-

I asked my players if they wanted to play out the journey or just summarize it and arrive at their destination. They were unanimous in wanting to skip to arriving so I summarized.

Journey to Nyrond

The Sea Ghost sailed for five days east-northeast across the Azure Sea towards the city of Scant, capital of the Free State of Onnwal. They spent the night in Scant and sailed north to Nessermouth then on to Relpool. 

It was during their journey to Relpool that they encountered an unusually powerful storm that damaged their ship. They limped into Relpool needing major repairs. They decided to offload the small cargo and hire a wagon team and some teamsters to carry the cargo overland the remaining fifty miles to Uskarn. 

Queen of the Harpies

It was a two day journey overland along a coastal road to Uskarn. The road was little more than a gravel track that hugged the coastline. The day was hot and humid. The air was dominated by the sound of surf on the rocky shore. 

The caravan crested a small hill and the road passed near a low bluff to the left. Just after the bluff they saw a middle aged woman kneeling and weeping over the remains of a dead body on the side of the road- a human. Circling the air above her were several large birds of prey - possibly vultures. 

Captain Alot ordered the caravan to stay behind as he and the crew advanced to scout out the scene. As they drew near the woman stood up. She turned to face the advancing crew. Her face was covered in red gore. Her eyes were dark and hallow. She exploded into a cloud of hundreds of skeletal birds and her shape changed into a large grey-feathered harpy. 

Aella reacted quickly, creating a magical ice storm around the harpy queen and the harpies that surrounded her. Corvid quickly followed up with a bolt of fire.

One of the harpies began to sing, enchanting Corvid with its magical song. A second harpy began to sing and enraptured Alot and Cai'luin. 

Cai'luin quickly shook off the effects and countered with cutting words that inflicted magical pain on the harpies. 

Aella hurled a flurry of magical chaos bolts that exploded in fire and acid. Storm magic began to explode out of her, striking nearby harpies with small bolts of lightning. 

Several harpies descended upon Aella with claws and clubs. The other harpies scattered, dispersing themselves up and down the road and above the nearby bluff. As they began their songs they would lure Alot and Cai'luin away from the fight. 

Alot activated his magical winged boots and took flight to be near the flying harpy that had enchanted him. Aella disappeared in a clap of thunder and reappeared in mid-air next to the harpy that enchanted Alot. She channeled thunder magic through the Trident of Manaan to kill the harpy and free Alot from her spell. She then summoned a magical gust of wind to gently lower her to the ground.

DM Note- 

Aella's power-move there was pretty spectacular!

Corvid had become enchanted by the harpy queen, and she drew him close. Suddenly, Corvid called upon the favor of his god Tristin and broke her spell. 

With her spell broken, the harpy queen tore into Corvid, creating deep slashes with her claws. 

Corvid counterattacked with his magical sword, channeling divine vengeance into his attack. 

DM Note-

Corvid did 31 points with his first attack and 37 points with his second attack, for a combined 68 points of damage in one turn. It was brutal!

The Matriarch slashed Corvid again but was soon struck down by Corvid's magical blade.

Cai'luin had finally broken free from the harpy enchantments but found himself surrounded by three of the loathsome creatures. He was trapped! He decided to try a desperate maneuver.

He began singing a strange hypnotic song. The three harpies that surrounded him all fell under the sway of the hypnotic pattern. Unfortunately, so too did Cai'luin. The four of them stood there, dumbfounded, gently swaying under the effects of the hypnotic song. 

DM Note-

That was just hilarious. He knew it was a risk but he was hoping he'd make his saving throw. He even had Advantage! But he failed and we died laughing!

With the queen dispatched, Alot, Aella, and Corvid made quick work of the remaining harpies and eventually eliminated the three hypnotized harpies surrounding Cai'luin. One harpy attempted to flee but was killed in mid-flight at long range via Aella's magical chaos bolts.

With the battle won Alot examined the remains. They were unrecognizable. He decided to carry the remains to the next town in case they could be identified. 

Unfortunate Swimmer

The party continued down the road. Alot spotted a prone form lying face down on the gravel beach by the water. He ran ahead to investigate. Cai'luin scanned the edge of the beach for any sign of an ambush.

Alot found the dead body of a human man. He was lying face down and had evidently drowned. Crab and sea birds had pecked away at his flesh but he had been dead no longer than a day. He wore only simple homespun breeches. 

Alot picked up the body and added it to the cart with the other one.

Uskarn

The caravan arrived at the small fishing village of Uskarn late in the day. The village appeared to be home to no more than 900 people. The village was located on the south shore of Nyrond on a small bay. A bored-looking halfling in a chain shirt sat next to what passed for a gate into the village.

The halfling asked their business. Alot explained that they had a cargo for the hermitage on Firewatch Island and added that they had found two dead bodies on the road to town. He wished to speak to someone with authority to report the deaths so that they might be-

The halfling gruffly interrupted Alot and directed him to speak with the bailiff, Feldrin Kane. He could be found at the gaol.

"Where's that?" asked Alot.

"It's the building with the gibbet hanging out front." said the halfling, annoyed at this continuing interruption of his long hours of not having to do anything at all.

Alot led the caravan to the town gaol where they found Feldrin Kane. Kane was a tall intimidating figure who expressed concern at the loss of life that Alot had presented him. Kane did not recognize the victim of the harpies but he did know the drowning victim. He said his name was Philpert, a nice enough fellow. He had been a layabout and a drunkard for many years but after he joined the hermitage he seemed to have found peace. Why he had drowned presented a mystery. 

Kane dutifully took possession of the bodies. Kane asked Alot how long they planned to stay in Uskarn. Alot said not long and informed Kane of their mission to make a delivery to the hermitage on Firewatch Island. Kane old Alot that a ferry made the three-mile trip to Firewatch Island every morning just after sunup. He pointed the caravan to the town's only inn - the Fog and Frog. 

The crew spent the night at the Fog and Frog where they met several of the locals - chief among them was a half-elven merchant named Davus Raal. Davus Raal informed the crew of a bounty that he had offered for the return of a dwarf named Morley Tobe. The dwarf had fled town after failing to pay a substantial debt - and Raal wished to recover some of his loss. He offered 800 gold pieces for the dwarven fugitive. They said they'd keep their eyes peeled.

The Ferry

The next morning the crew assembled the cargo for delivery at the dock next to the ferry. The ferry was a keelboat operated by a half-orc named Ulder Raserhill. Raserhill was foul tempered with little love for his occupation. The crew left their hired hands behind in Uskarn and accompanied Raserhill across the bay to Firewatch Island.

On the way Corvid attempted to glean information about the island and the hermitage. Raserhill said he made the journey to the island every day. There's usually someone on the dock to greet him. Although increasingly annoyed the continued interruptions by Corvid and Alot, Raserhill did eventually reveal that no one had met him the dock for the last two days - which was unusual but not really a cause for concern.

Two days? Corvid pondered this. The priest had lost contact with the priest Marwen at least days ago! Something didn't add up! 

Firewatch Island

The ferry approached the dock and the crew unloaded their cargo. 

The island seemed peaceful. The hermitage was an old military garrison that had been converted into a monastery. The hermitage consisted of a stout tower that once served as a lookout post but now contained a belfry and a three story main structure. The buildings were situated between a large wide hill and a tall spire of rock. A wall surrounded the entire complex.

As they unloaded the cargo Cai'luin took note of the footprints of at least a dozen individuals in the gravel beach. The footprints seemed to emerge from the water and later return. There was no sign of a beached boat or anything being dragged.

Once unloaded, Raserhill took his payment and returned to Uskarn. He would come again tomorrow.

The party cautiously walked the path from the dock to the hermitage. 

Suddenly a shadow crossed over Cai'luin's eyes. He looked up and spotted a massive winged form diving from the air. The winged creature had the head of a mighty stag - it was a man-eating peryton! 

To be Continued...