The Empty Net
That night, Aella took her companions - Captain Alot, Father Craig, Corvid, and Cai'luin - to the Empty Net, the seedy inn on pilings over the Kingfisher river. The Empty Net was a den of thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats. Aella was a member of the town council. She and her companions were responsible for the downfall of Gellan Primewater and his smuggling organization. She was also responsible for Anders Solmor becoming a baron and bringing the attention of the king's tax collectors to Saltmarsh. The last time she and her friends had come to the bar over a year ago, there was a brawl and several men died.
Needless to say, when Aella entered the inn without any hint of costume or discretion, all conversation stopped and every patron stared at her in contempt.
Aella cleared her throat. The bartender, a burly thug named Kreb Shenker, spat on the floor, "What do ye want?"
Aella approached the bar and said, "I'm here to see the Serpent's Tooth."
Kreb said, "You were supposed to come alone. They'll have to stay down here."
Aella looked at Cai'luin and the others and nodded. She turned back to Kreb, "Very well."
Kreb led her behind a curtain to a concealed door. The door led up a flight of narrow stairs to a small room with a bare table and two chairs. The walls were lined with heavy burgundy curtains. A hoarse voice said, "Greetings princess. Please have a seat."
She sat down.
A hooded figure in thick red robes emerged from a curtain. It sat in the other chair. Red gloved hands pulled back the hood just enough to reveal that the figure wore a silver mask concealing his entire face. The mask was carved to resemble a snake's head with fangs.
"Hello, your highness. I have information that can help you."
CHAPTER 55
"THE SERPENT'S TOOTH"
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-
Still filling in the 8th level gap between the end of the Final Enemy and the beginning of Tammeraut's Fate with small mini-adventures. I gave my players the option of which storyline they wanted to follow and they chose the story that led to the Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse. It seems to me that my players always have more fun with these smaller adventures.
The Serpent's Tooth
"You may call me the Serpent's Tooth. My identity is unimportant. For now it is sufficient to know that our goals overlap.
"I know that you bear the Trident of Manaan, the weapon of the founder of the Sea Elf Kingdom of Manaan. I know that you are its true heir and that you wish to unlock its power. Only the druids of the coral grove may do that.
"The trident was lost centuries ago - stolen by the Sahuagin when they killed King Manaan. When the Sahuagin were defeated a year ago the soldiers from Seaton recovered it and gave it to you as a reward. This much is known.
"You are the illegitimate eldest daughter of King Pelagius, current king of Manaan. Given the elven rules for such things, such as they are, upon the death of King Pelagius, you are entitled to rule Manaan as its queen.
"Manaan is a small underwater settlement built of stone and coral and is home to roughly 300 sea elves. It lies at a depth of two hundred feet and is surrounded by a wide circular coral reef which acts like a wall. The entire settlement forms a cone-shaped coral castle that is the home of the royal family, their knights and servants, and the peasants who tend the kelp forests. The sea floor surrounding the coral reef is also a dense forest of kelp. The region surrounding the kelp forest is patrolled by sea elf rangers with dolphins companions.
"There is a secret tunnel beneath the coral reefs, unknown to even the royal family of Manaan. It leads to the sacred coral grove of the druids of Manaan located underground beneath the royal castle. There you will find the druids who tend the coral polyps on which the entire city is built.
"The entrance to the secret tunnel is concealed within some submerged ruins - the remains of an ancient Suloise city long ago lost to the waves during the Rain of Colorless Fire. The city, in turn, was buried beneath the coral walls of Manaan.
"I will tell you how to find this secret entrance but first you must promise me to do a small thing."
The man withdrew and displayed a scroll from his sleeve. He then produced a handful of lead fishing weights and put them in a clay bottle. Then he placed the rolled up scroll within the same bottle and sealed it with a cork stopper. He took a nearby candle and smothered the stopper with melted wax. He held up the sealed clay bottle like a prop.
"Deliver this message in this sealed bottle. The contents are very sensitive and important. It is for his eyes only. Do you understand? Will you do this?"
Aella asked, "By when must this be done?"
The man considered the answer, as if he hadn't thought of that, "There is no immediate urgency. Deliver it by the end of the season. Agreed?"
Aella agreed.
"Excellent. Here your payment - the secret entrance into Manaan. Go to the ruins of Suloise city. Find the temple with the statue of the god with a strange head, huge bracers, and a flaming sword.
"Turn to your right and you will see a small piece of gnarled wood affixed to the wall. Turn it. It shall open a hidden entrance to the entrance to the tunnel. "
Aella accepted the job. The Fanged Serpent nodded and stood. He knocked on the wall and the door behind Aella opened. Kreb the bartender led her back down the narrow staircase to the tavern below.
Seaton
The Sea Ghost made preparations to set sail the following morning. The ship sailed to nearby Seaton. There they spent the rest of the day unloading the massive marble statue of Saint Cuthbert and delivered it to the temple there. In addition, Corvid returned the crate of books and gold statuettes to the temple. Finally, Corvid delivered the bones of the missionaries of Saint Cuthbert recovered from the ocean floor at the wreck of the Marshall. The priest assured Corvid that they would be given a proper burial in a place of honor among the heroes of Saint Cuthbert.
The ghosts of the nuns who haunted Corvid looked on with stern approval, retaining their grim scowls but giving the most imperceptible nods of approval before fading into the great Beyond that is the Raven King's judgement.
In thanks for the gifts, the high priest of the temple of Saint Cuthbert bestowed upon the each of the officers of the Sea Ghost a blessing of heroism.
Argos the Triton
The Sea Ghost spent the night in Seaton and set sail once again the next day. Aella explained the mission to the other members of the crew. After a brief discussion the officers decided to first sail towards Skyhorn lighthouse to investigate the strange weather and seas that had been reported.
Skyhorn lighthouse sits on a rocky uninhabited island in the Azure sea halfway between Splitrock and Jetsom Island. The Sea Ghost sailed around Angler Island and Redshore Island and sailed east towards the lighthouse.
By noon they neared their destination. They could see the island and the lighthouse. A dark swirling inverted cone of a cloud spun slowly overhead. The winds increased and the sea became choppy. Small maelstroms spun out of the sea and dashed off towards the horizon. The turbulent seas were dark with a mysterious cloudy substance.
Suddenly a humanoid figure leaped out of the water and grabbed the starboard rail of the ship. The humanoid was man with dark blue skin wearing a bright scale armor. He carried a spear in one hand and clutched the rail with the other. His legs were bare and displayed fins growing from the back of his calves. He looked frightened and glanced over his shoulder at the sea as if to spot some pursuer.
Soon after two massive crustaceans that resembled crayfish the size of buffalo climbed out of the water in pursuit of the blue man. The blue man cried out to the crew, "Help me! I seek justice for an innocent man! These creatures are trying to stop me!"
Captain Alot gave the tiller to one of his crew and picked up his dragon hammer. He darted down the ship's ladder and joined Corvid at the starboard rail next to the blue man.
Alot, Corvid, Aella, and Cai'luin, helped the newcomer fight and defeat the foul crustacean monstrosities.
Afterwards, Alot gave the newcomer a wary welcome, "Who are you and why are on my ship?"
The man introduced himself as Argos, a triton. He explained that he was part of an expedition sent from the Water Dimension to investigate a possible breach and an incursion by Olhydra, an evil being from his dimension. His team learned that the lighthouse keeper, Lucien, had called upon the power of the breach in the past to save ships and the lives of sailors. They assumed he was responsible for the incursion of Olhydra and have imprisoned him. Now they seek the breach in order to close it. For his part, Lucien will be executed in two days.
Argos believed that Lucien the lighthouse keeper was innocent and sought to find the breach and obtain evidence that might exonerate him. He found a sunken ship at the base of the Skyhorn island form which the two creatures, known as chuuls, emerged. The creatures pursued him to the surface and he was thankful for the intervention of the Sea Ghost.
Captain Alot told Argos that they, too, had come to investigate the mysterious weather at the lighthouse.
Argos, relieved, appealed to Captain Alot for assistance in helping to exonerate an innocent man. Alot agreed.
The Triton Guard
The ship sailed near the island where Argos the triton indicated the location of the sunken ship. Alot instructed the crew to sail around the island at a safe distance. Alot, Aella, Corvid, Cai'luin, Bess the giant crab, and Argos then leaped into the black oily waters.
The team descended into the murky depths. Visibility was very low, no more than ten to twenty feet. Cai'luin cast a bardic light spell to illuminate the gloom and provide a beacon should they become separated.
As they descended into darkness, six tritons swam into view and intercepted them.
DM Note-
Approaching the breach required a skill challenge. The tritons had a starting conflict score of 3. Each successful skill check would reduce the score by 1. Each failed check would increase the score by 1. The score had to be reduced to 0 for the party to be allowed to pass. If the score increased to 6, the tritons would lose patience and attack.
The tritons warned the team of the dimensional breach and ordered them to evacuate. Argos spoke on their behalf, telling his companions that they wished to help him exonerate the lighthouse keeper.
DM Note-
Automatic -1 thanks to the presence of Argos.
The triton guards were wary. They were not convinced that Lucien was innocent. They only wanted to locate and close the breach. Aella made the case to allow the party to help search. She spoke eloquently on behalf of the lighthouse keeper's case.
DM Note-
Aella's Persuasion skill check of 18 reduced the score by another -1.
Captain Alot also mentioned that, as capable warriors, they would also eliminate any additional chuuls they come across.
DM Note-
Promising to kill chuuls reduced the score by another -1. The conflict score was now zero.
The tritons agreed and allowed the team to continue to descend - but Argos was ordered to stay behind. He was not to help nor interfere in any way.
The Sunken Ship
The party continued to sink. They reached the sunken ship resting on the ocean floor at a depth of six hundred feet. A quick investigation of the ship revealed that name of the ship was the Argent Blade. Captain Alot recognized the ship - it belonged to a merchant captain named Haddad who had recently lost his wife at sea. The ship appeared to have been scuttled. Dark oily clouds emanated from the breaches in the hull, contaminating the surrounding water.
Corvid peered into one of the breaches into the cargo hold. He saw a large barrel shaped mechanical vehicle with six crab-like legs and two mechanical crab-like pincers. The machine lunged at him and burst through the deck.
Aella quickly summoned a sorcerous snowstorm that pummeled the mechanical vehicle.
Captain Alot told them that they came in peace and appealed to them to stop fighting. The machine ignored Alot's entreaties and attacked Corvid with giant metal pincers.
Corvid counterattacked with his magic longsword.
Cai'luin began playing a small set of drums and cast a bardic spell which caused the metal of the machine to begin heating. Alot, who had considered trying to find a way to open the hatch on the rear of the vehicle, backed away from the hot metal surface.
Aella summoned a sorcerous undersea tidal wave that pummeled the machine and followed it up with a sustained witch-bolt of lightning.
Alot looked closely for a way to open the hatch and found the release. Corvid continued to damage the vehicle with several strikes from his magical longsword.
Alot was eventually able to open the hatch, revealing two humanoid pilots within, each manning a series of levers that activated and controlled the legs and claws of the vehicle. The two beings were once human sailors but were now pallid shells with rubbery translucent skin and eyes clouded white. Their jaws hung slack. The one at the rear of the vehicle drew its cutlass and lashed out at Alot.
Alot and Corvid, aided by Aella's storm sorcery, soon dispatched the two pilots.
The machine was heavily damaged and needed to be repaired but otherwise salvageable.
The party continued searching the ship. It had been abandoned. Inside the captain's cabin they found a diary. The velum book had many pages removed. What remained was filled with strange symbols and arcane circles.
Alot was able to read the following entries:
“..She calls to me from beyond! She’s trapped inthe Fiddler’s Green, but I’ll rescue her, bring herback… I hear her voice even now, telling me tolook far beneath the lighthouse…”“The strange genie permitted us to pass… betterthat he does not interfere with Olhydra’s will!”“…It won’t be long until Iona is finally in myarms again. The sigils are working! The barrieris almost weak enough for her to cross through.The waters turn black and foul, as she said theywould…”
The Coral Caves
Beneath the wreck of the Argent Blade, Alot found the entrance into a cave. "Clever," he said, "they sunk the ship to conceal this cave." He led the way into the cave with the others not far behind.
The passage opened into a wide cavern that branched left and right. The cloudy water became clearer while the long tendrils of oily black tar snaked past in more cohesive strands. Blue and green bioluminescent polyps provided dim illumination within the cave.
To the left, the cave was littered with debris and trash from the sunken ship - including the bloated and translucent bodies of two crewmembers. Small crabs roved over the corpses picking at their flesh. A large bed of kelp obscured the cave from floor to ceiling ahead and to the left. A wide passage branched to the right.
Alot moved forward ahead of the others. He thought he heard a noise. He turned to his right to look down a side passage and saw a group of sailors, all with dead translucent flesh and milky white eyes, sorting salvaged cargo from the ship. The sailors spotted Alot and dropped whatever they held. The various objects drifted slowly to the floor in the underwater grotto. They picked up their cutlasses and moved to attack the armored sentinel.
To be Continued...
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