The Return of the Crab-omancer - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 67

 

Alot broke open the seal and removed the chains. He opened the cellar doors and descended the steps.

The cellar beneath the house was flooded and covered in algae. It smelled like rotting crab meat and dead fish. A pile of rubble lay at the bottom of the stairs. 

A pile of heavy stones were piled against the wall opposite the stairs. 

Alot reached the bottom of the stairs followed by Cai'luin, Corvid, and Father Craig. They spread out through the small cellar. The water was knee-deep. Alot moved to inspect the pile of stones against the wall. 

Suddenly the water erupted as over a dozen giant crab, each easily the same size as a man, burst out of their hiding places beneath the scum. Only they weren't ordinary giant crab - these crab were the tattered and decaying remains of long-dead crab animated by some unnamable power!

CHAPTER 67

"THE RETURN OF THE CRAB-OMANCER"

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.
• Patriarch 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-
There is a big adventure gap between the end of Tammeraut's Fate (level 9) and the beginning of the Styes (level 11) so I'm filling it with short adventures and side-treks and player's choice. This week, it's a player's choice adventure as the crew sails back to Saltmarsh and investigate the mysterious abandoned house in Crabber's Cove.

Also, this week I downloaded and installed Clownfish Voice Changer application which allows me to modify my voice using various electronic effects and add sound effects to Discord to enhance the NPC experience. It worked great for the Crab-omancer and got great reviews from the players.

The horrid crab-things clicked their claws and began to hiss. Then, to everyone's shock and horror, the hissing became a voice - a voice shared among all the crabs.

DM Note-

I pre-prepared several paragraphs of dialog for the crabs based on anticipated questions. I can't capture word-for-word what was said back and forth in the game but I can describe the gist of it.

"Visitors! It has been so long since I felt the presence of living souls so near! Tell me, visitors, have you come to free me from my eternal prison? Have you come to right the wrong inflicted upon poor Zenopus so long ago?"

The crew of the Sea Ghost looked at each other in confusion. Corvid finally glared at Alot as if to insinuate, "Okay - you're the captain!"

Alot introduced himself and his companions and asked the voice to identify itself.

"(click)(click) I am the wizard, Zenopus. I lived in the tower built upon the hill across the Janustream. I was imprisoned here via the treachery of that fiend, Keledek! Keledek! My own apprentice! Now I seek only to escape! Escape so that I may impart my vengeance upon that traitorous Ketan!" (click)(click)" 

Alot asked, "Where are you?"

The crabs replied, "(click)(click) "I am at this time imprisoned in the chamber beyond. Bound here by a curse." (click)(click) "I seek your aid, brave heroes. Your assistance can free me of this baleful imprecation. Have you any interest in providing aid to a victim of insidious malfeseance? "

Alot looked to his companions for advice. Corvid replied, "Hey, I am all about the vengeance. So count me in!"

Cai'luin looked aghast, "You can't seriously be thinking of setting him free?"

Alot looked to the priest, "Patriarch Craig?"

Patriarch Craig replied, "Well, we don't like Keledek."

Cai'luin interrupted, "Okay, sure, we set this guy free and he kills Keledek. Then what? He'll be worse!"

The crabs interjected, "(click)(click) If my freedom alone is insufficient cause to help me, if my vengeance against the loathsome wizard does not persuade you to my cause, then I offer this further inducement. In my lonely imprisonment here I hear the comings and goings of those in the domicile above me. I sense their presence. I hear them through my servants. I know of the Scarlet Brotherhood and their agent the Serpent's Tooth. I am privy to all his clandestine encounters. Free me and I will tell you anything you want to know of his cunning schemes and machinations (click)(click) (click)(click) "

Corvid closed his eyes and tried to detect the presence of the undead, demons, or devils. The crabs around him were undead but that was all he could sense. 

Corvid told the others, "The crabs are obviously undead. I can't get a sense for anything behind the wall."

DM Note-

Divine Sense

Class: Paladin

The presence of strong evil registers on your senses like a noxious odor, and powerful good rings like heavenly music in your ears. As an action, you can open your awareness to detect such forces. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestia⁠l, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampi⁠re Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.

The key part there - THAT IS NOT BEHIND TOTAL COVER. So Corvid could not use Divine Sense on anything behind a wall.

So I told Corvid's player, "You are surrounded by undead crab, but the chamber beyond would be behind total cover and not visible by your sense."

The crabs replied in unison, "(click)(click) These wretches? These are but my loyal homunculi. I created them, you see, to protect and defend me in case Keledek ever returned! They serve me. But like me they are bound to this place." 

Alot asked, "So, how would we get you out?"

"(click)(click) The stones. The stones imprison me in this wretched cell. Remove the stones so that I may become free once more."

Alot once more looked at the others. Corvid and Craig shrugged. Cai'luin sighed and resigned himself to releasing the elder evil.

Alot and Corvid moved aside the stones revealing a plain door. It was unlocked.

They opened the door and found a small room, flooded like the rest of the cellar. In the center of the room was a square stone slab. On top of the slab was a crab - bleached white but otherwise ordinary.

The crabs in the previous room became excited. "(click)(click) Excellent. See that crab there? The pale crab sitting upon the stone slab? That is I! I am confined to this pitiable form! Slay me! Crush me with your hammer! Stab me with your sword! Break me in half like the pitiable crab I am! End my life so that the spell might be broken and I LIVE AGAIN! I will be free to wreak my terrible vengeance upon those who have wronged me!" 

 

"No", said Alot, "We have freed you. First you'll tell us about the Scarlet Brotherhood."

The crabs then spoke, "Of course."

Zenopus, speaking through the crabs, told the crew everything he had overheard in the abandoned house above. He told them that the agent of the Scarlet Brotherhood in Saltmarsh was known as the Serpent's Tooth and this his true identity was Skerrin Wavechaser, butler to Anders Solmor. He told them that the Scarlet Brotherhood wished to destabilize the monarchy in Keoland and sow discord in order to mount strikes against several coastal fortresses - including Seaton - just like they did in Monmurg. 

They also wished to cause disruption to the undersea nations. To that end the Serpent's Tooth orchestrated a failed assassination attempt against King Pelagius of the sea-elf kingdom of Manaan in an effort to turn the sea elves against the surface kingdoms. 

He also told them that Skerrin had accompanied Baron Solmor to the capital city of Niole Dra to attend the royal court for the summer - where he planned to poison the royal family and blame it on agents of Iuz. 

"Now, strike me down! Free me!"

"Wait!" said Cai'luin, "First you have to promise - you have to swear on something you hold dear that you will cause no harm, directly or indirectly to any resident of Saltmarsh - other than Keledek, and that you will allow no harm to be done to a resident of Saltmarsh by any being or creature you create or control."

"Fine! I promise by my darkest magics!"

Cai'luin, satisfied, allowed Alot to proceed.

Zenopus became even more excited, "Yes! Do it! Kill me! Free me! Hurry! Kill me now! Crush me! Destroy me!"

DM Note-

I really thought that would give them more pause, but apparently not.

"Wait!" said Patriarch Craig. The priest said a prayer and a brilliant light radiated from his shield, bathing the dank chamber in the light of day.

Zenopus faltered, "Wait! What?"

Alot crushed the crab with his hammer.

The crab disappeared in a puff of magical smoke, reappearing as a naked muscular man with pale wet green skin, covered in kelp. He had long stringy hair and a greasy unkempt beard. He bared his teeth and recoiled from Craig's miraculous daylight, "Agh! Put it away!" He held out his bony clawed hand towards Alot, "You! Do as I command!"

For a moment, Alot felt like helping the wizard, but he shook off the sensation and said, "No."

Zenopus hissed his displeasure.

Cai'luin played a strum on his lute and Zenopus recoiled in horror into the farthest corner. Alot smashed him with his hammer as he fled.

Zenopus became enraged, "This is treachery! You will all pay!" He darted towards Cai'luin. Alot gave chase, smashing him repeatedly with his magical hammer. Craig swung his dwarven war-pick into Zenopus. The wizard collapsed, disappearing into a puff of green mist. The green mist, in turn, began to sparkle and dissipate under the daylight. It soon vanished and was gone. 

DM Note-

ONE ROUND!

They defeated my tough vampire encounter in ONE STINKING ROUND! Stupid Daylight spell. 

In truth, this entire encounter was built to allow them to use the Scrolls of Daylight they got a million years ago. Unfortunately, Aella's player had to miss this session and she carried the scrolls. Of course, Patriarch Craig is tenth level and he can cast that now. 

If it hadn't have been for Daylight, that would have been a MUCH different encounter!

In retrospect, I should have just let Zenopus peacefully leave and get his revenge on Keledek and have the player characters face him later. 

"Huh" said Alot, "Who knew he was a vampire?"

Corvid raised his hand.

The giant crabs in the cellar quickly retreated from Patriarch Craig's daylight. Continuous exposure caused them to shrink and wither and eventually crumble. The crew exited the cellar of the abandoned house in Crabber's Cove. The crabs that swarmed the house, that once moved in unison, were now ordinary crabs. 

After they left, Corvid used a mending orison to repair the seal of Saint Cuthbert so that no one would know of their entry into the cellar. This might be useful for spying on the agents of the Crimson Brotherhood in the future.

Shah Javad Khorasani, Eye of the Tempest and Lord of the Thousand and One Bright Pearls

The next day was a cool and sunny spring morning - a sharp contrast to the late season chill of the previous day. The crew of the Sea Ghost were down at the docks making preparations to sail to Niole Dra. 

There was a sudden commotion as a great swelling of water approached the docks from the sea. It was as if a low hill of water was pushing its way towards the docks. The sailors, longshoremen, stevedores, and fishers fled from their boats to shore as the mass of water split off two smaller masses.

The mass of water in the center rose higher and higher until it was twenty feet high and forty feet across. It engulfed the end of the center dock while the two smaller masses covered the ends of the docks to the left and right. The ships and boats tied to the docks rocked under the swell. 

The three masses of water drained away, leaving behind several humanoid figures. In the center group stood a lavender humanoid, twenty feet tall, wearing fabulous jewelry and adornments. The giant wore a living sea snake around his neck as a necklace and a living sea snake around his right wrist as a bracelet. He carried a trisula - a kind of curved trident. He looked regal and imperious. He was accompanied by two armored water elementals. Before him stood four tritons. The flanking groups consisted of an armored water elemental and two tritons each. 

The invaders surveyed their surroundings. They did not appear to be openly hostile yet they also did not seem to be particularly friendly.

The giant spoke in a voice that shook the sea, "Citizens of Oerth! I am Shah Javad Khorasani, Eye of the Tempest and Lord of the Thousand and One Bright Pearls, Ruler of the City of Glass. I come seeking the miscreants that did deprive me of my prisoner, the marid known as Emir Farzad the Most Pearlescent and Opulent, from his cell beneath the Skyhorn Lighthouse. Come! Show yourself so that I might demand my retribution!"

Alot stepped forward, "Yes, we did that."

Corvid asked surreptitiously, "We did?"

Alot waved him back, "Yeah, I think so."

The Shah Javad Khorasani looked down at Alot, "I demand the return of my prisoner and the return of the treasure taken from my fountain - a value equal to five thousand and five hundred of your gold coins! In addition to this, once the previous demands are met, I demand as punishment that you be executed for your crimes!"

The head triton turned to look at the Shah, "You magnificence, we are here to adjudicate your claim and to negotiate a fair settlement. We will now hear from the defendants."

The triton approached Alot. Alot and the others showed the triton their badges indicating their status as honorary triton inquisitors. The triton accepted these badges. He had met them during the incident at Skyhhorn Lighthouse several months previous.

"What say you to these charges?"

Alot replied, "We did free - (pause) - that person you said. We also took your treasure. At the time we had assumed it had been abandoned. We apologize for the error. We will return to you your prisoner and your treasure - but we will not accept our execution."

The head triton turned to the Shah. The Shah considered this, "Fine! I find your counter-offer acceptable. Return to me my prisoner and my treasure within a full cycle of your primary moon and I will be satisfied. However, if by that time I do not have my prisoner and my treasure, I will destroy you and will raze this village and this entire coast!"

The triton inquisitor grimaced at the Shah. "You can raze this village! Not the entire coast!"

The Shah rolled his great eyes, "FINE! This village then!"

Alot said, "Agreed. Where is this prisoner now?"

The triton inquisitor shrugged, "If we knew that, he'd be in custody."

Patriarch Craig said, "Don't worry, I know how to find him."

Alot nodded, "Okay, how do we catch him? Won't he just teleport away?"

The Shah took the snake from around his arm and transformed them into a pair of golden manacles, "Take this. Bind his arms in these manacles and he will be unable to use his powers and so that you can return him to me."

"Got it!" said Alot.

The Shah said, "I leave you now! I will return in one fully cycle of your primary moon! BEWARE MY RETURN!"

The triton inquisitor ordered his fellow tritons to follow the Shah and his armored elemental warriors back into the sea. Before the inquisitor dove off the dock, he turned and gave a friendly salute to Alot and the crew, as if to say, "See you later!" He returned to the sea and disappeared.

The Deck of Many Things

That night, Captain Alot went into the bow of the Sea Ghost to consult with the magical mirror of Saint Cuthbert - a holy relic that had been salvaged from the Wreck of the Marshall. He gave the proper honors to Saint Cuthbert and asked the mirror to show him  the current location of Emir Farzad the Most Pearlescent and Opulent. 

Captain Alot saw the marid in a cramped stone holding cell, underwater, behind bars. His hands were bound by golden manacles. He was being addressed by a koalinth wizard from outside the cell. The wizard told the marid that he was to remain a prisoner of the koalinth for a year - at which point the only way to gain his freedom would be to grant the wizard a wish. There was no point in trying to escape, the magical manacles bound him and prevented his escape. Only he, Zrunkuc The Red, 

Archmage of the Koalinth, could grant him his freedom! The marid looked sad. Zrunkuc smiled and turned away, leaving the marid to stew in his loneliness. 

Captain Alot returned to the others and told them what he saw. They were sitting around a table at a local inn and talking about a deck of cards that Cai'luin always carried with him. 

No one knew where the koalinth prison might be. Captain Alot said, "I know who might - Princess Orthokent. They invited the koalinth to join their coalition. She must know how to contact them. We'll consult with Princess Orthokent. Wait. What are you doing?"

"We're trying to decide what to do with this deck of cards." said Cai'luin.

"Yes, and-?" said Alot.

"It's not just any deck. This is a magical deck. It's called the Deck of Many Things. Drawing a card from this deck can bring fabulous wealth."

"Or it can kill you and erase any evidence that you ever existed." grumbled Corvid.

Alot joined the lively debate about whether to use the Deck of Many Things. 

DM Note-

No, seriously. The players have been debating this since they got the deck back at Skyhorn Lighthouse. Tonight they debated it for a full forty minutes. They'd commit to using it, only to back away at the last minute. We've drawn from the deck in other campaigns. The results had a habit of ending campaigns. People got too rich. People died suddenly. People lost all their wealth. 

I tried making a rollable table in Roll20 to simulate drawing from the deck. It made them interested. But it didn't have the tactile effect I wanted. 

So I quickly purchased a pre-made Deck of Many Things from the Roll20 Marketplace for $7.99. 

Once the actual deck was on the virtual table, once they could see an actual thing to draw cards from, the players were hooked. 

Cai'luin finally said, "Enough talk! I draw!"

He drew the Star. He suddenly felt even MORE charismatic and likable!

DM Note- +2 to one stat.

Corvid said, "Fine! Me too!" He drew Ruin and Jester. 

DM Note- Corvid lost all his non-magical belongings. Jester grants you +10,000 XP. We're not tracking XP so I just let him level up. 

Patriarch Craig drew the Euryale and the Moon. 

DM Note- Craig now suffers -2 to all Saving Throws but got 1 Wish. 

Alot said, "No. I won't." Then, after a long pause, he drew the Star and the Key. A gleaming magical long-sword appeared on the table.

"What is that?" asked Craig.

"Don't know." said Alot. I'll tell you tomorrow.

DM Note- Alot got +2 to one stat and a random rare or better magical weapon. Alot's player doesn't know what it is yet - because I hadn't decided until just now. I'll tell the player at tomorrow's game so you all will just have to wait until next week to find out.

Corvid said, "Well, that could have been worse."

The Citadel of Princess Orthokent

The Sea Ghost set sail the next day. They sailed west towards the citadel of the Princess Orthokent. They were met by sea-sentries as they approached. They immediately recognized Alot as an honorary member of the Marshwater tribe. They called him by his Lizard-folk name Aryte Litrix and welcomed him home.

The ship was allowed to anchor near the entrance to the citadel. Alot was allowed to enter but the others would have to stay with the ship.

Princess Orthokent was busy so Alot was unable to speak with her directly. He was, however, able to consult with Sauriv, the lizard-man scholar. Alot asked Sauriv about the koalinth and where he might find them - specifically Zrunkuc The Red, Archmage of the Koalinth.

Sauriv told Alot where he might find the Koalinth Archmage. It was inside a sea-mount to the south, just northeast of the city of Monmurg. He warned Alot not to share this information with any sea elves and that he should blindfold Cai'luin to prevent his knowledge of the location. If the sea-elves were to learn of the location of the koalinth stronghold, it would mean war.

In addition, Sauriv said that the koalinth would not allow any surface ships near their sea-mount. They needed to approach by stealth or in a small boat. 

Alot thanked the learned lizard-man and returned to his ship.

Alot set a course south towards the location indicated by Sauriv. Late that night, Alot produced a small box that magically unfolded into a medium-sized boat. He and the other officers boarded the magical boat and left the Sea Ghost behind with orders to sail away and return the following day. 

Alot and his companions rowed the magical boat for several hours through the late night waters. 

Cai'luin, blindfolded, asked, "Are we close?"

Alot looked around at the endless expanse of sea, "Honestly, I'm not sure."

DM Note- Alot failed his navigation check.

A few more hours later, there was a loud thump as something large bumped against the hull of their boat. There was another bump. Several goblinoids covered in sea-weed and barnacles popped their heads out of the water.

"Hyoo-mans! You are not welcome in this waters! You will leave!""

Alot said, "We wish to speak with Zrunkuc The Red, Archmage of the Koalinth to negotiate the release of a prisoner."

"No! You will leave or you will be our prisoners!"

Corvid, Craig, and Alot leaned in to huddle. Corvid said, "Hey, aren't we trying to break into their prison anyway? They'll take us right to him."

Alot said, "I'm still hoping we can negotiate or something. I say we go with them."

With nodding heads, they agreed. Alot told the koalinth, "We surrender! Take us to your leader!"

The koalinth was confused for a moment. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Surrender all your weapons! We take you prisoner!"

Alot shrugged, "Okay."

Cai'luin, still blindfolded, said, "What's happening?"

To be Continued...

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The Mystery of Crabber's Cove - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 66

After having successfully escorted the merchant Genevieve de Guare and her crew back to the free city of Nessermouth the crew was rewarded with one-tenth the value of the recovered cargo and received a special bonus of 5000 gold coins from Genevieve. Father Craig likewise returned the lost items to the trader named Davus Raal and secured the freedom of the dwarf Morley Tobe. 

Morley Tobe expressed his undying gratitude to Father Craig and promised to give up smuggling for a living. He was so impressed with Father Craig and Corvid that the dwarf pledged his life to the service of the Raven King. Father Craig performed a ceremony to invest the dwarf as a priest, granting him insights into the mysteries of the faith. 

The Sea Ghost set sail, stopping briefly in Scant before heading off across the sea to Saltmarsh.

Five days later, the Sea Ghost sailed into port at the small fishing village, more then a month after they left. Wellgar Brinehanded, priest of the sea god Procan, was standing at the dock as they arrived. It was Wellgar that sent them on their mission to Firewatch Island to check on the status of the priest's longtime friend. 

They relayed the news that nearly all the hermits at the island had been killed by sea zombies in the service of Orcus. It was fortuitous that Wellgar sent them, for although they arrived too late to save the hermits, they were able to stop a larger-scale attempt by the forces of Orcus to invade the mainland. Only then did they give Wellgar the sad news. Alas, the reason Wellgar lost contact with his friend was because his friend Marwen had passed away from natural causes several days before the zombie attack. 

Wellgar began to tear up, saddened at the loss of his longtime friend and long-distance companion. 

"Truly," he said, "'Tis a miracle of Procan. For although my good friend passed, it was his passing that prompted me to send you, and you were able to save the mainland from a greater threat. Praise be to Procan!"

CHAPTER 66

"THE MYSTERY OF CRABBER'S COVE"

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-

There is a big adventure gap between the end of Tammeraut's Fate (level 9) and the beginning of the Styes (level 11) so I'm filling it with short adventures and side-treks and player's choice. This week, it's a player's choice adventure as the crew sails back to Saltmarsh and investigate the mysterious abandoned house in Crabber's Cove. 

Also, Father Craig's player was back in the hospital for more surgery to remove an infection after his cancer surgery. Despite having surgery earlier that day, he joined us to play D&D online from his hospital bed!

Life in Saltmarsh

The crew disembarked from the Sea Ghost. Captain Alot Aname returned to the gazebo he had built on the cleared land where once stood Gellan Primewater's mansion before it burned down. There he stood all night. He had an idea - he would build a theater. 

Father Craig and Corvid returned home to the House of the Raven King. They were glad to hear that the nuns had served the town well in preparing the dead for their judgement and that the villagers of Saltmarsh had begun to accept and embrace this new god from foreign lands. 

Cai'luin walked through town with the intent of playing his lute for the patrons at the Snapping Line when he was intercepted by Eda Oweland of the town council. Eda complained to Cai'luin that the sea elves of Manaan had widened their no-fishing zone and prohibited her boats from fishing near their castle. She demanded access to those waters and continued to insult Cai'luin and his people. 

Cai'luin asked what the town council thought and she complained that since Baron Solmor had left to spend the summer in the capital in the king's court, and Aella having been gone over a month at sea, the council had been reduced to herself, Commander Fireborn, and Manistrad Copperlocks. Copperlocks didn't care for the fishers of Saltmarsh and Fireborn thought they were all smugglers, so they voted down any resolution she proposed. She demanded Cai'luin do something about this situation!

Cai'luin assured her he would take care of the situation.

The next day several of the crew met to inventory the treasures from their recent adventures and apportion the spoils. Afterwards they paid a visit the Quartermasters of Iuz to see if Captain Xendros had any magic items for sale. 

The Old House

In the afternoon, Cai'luin asked for help from the others. He told them about the mysterious crab at the abandoned house in Crabber's Cove. When he first came ashore in Saltmarsh he had encountered a crab that seemed to beckon him towards the house. When he spoke to the crab, the crab responded, "Free me!" He became unnerved and left the area, but now he wanted to gather the group and investigate the house.

The crew marched down towards Crabber's Cove towards sunset. It was the last gasp of the month of Coldeven. The sky was gloomy and the temperature barely made it above 45 degrees. Now it was getting dark and the wind from the ocean rattled the ancient dead trees of Crabber's Cove. 

The last three houses down by the pebbly beach had been abandoned decades ago. They stood empty and dark. Crabs wandered the tall dry beach grass. No crabbers came near this place. There were stories that anyone who entered these houses would disappear - never to be seen again. 

Free Me!

The last house was encrusted in thousands of crab. As the team cautiously approached the house, the crabs moved towards them. Cai'luin could hear them hiss in unison, "Free me! Free me from my eternal prison!"

Cai'luin tried to communicate with the crabs but to no avail. He could understand them but they could not understand him.

The team went around the outside of the house and noticed an entrance to a cellar. The entrance was chained close and bound by a metallic disk - a holy symbol of Saint Cuthbert. The disk offered no security - it could be easily broken. It was more of a symbolic seal - a holy warning to anyone who might break the seal.

The team then went back around to the front of the old house to investigate the interior. On their way in Cai'luin noticed dry boot prints on the wooden porch going into the front door. He knelt down and looked more closely. There were several sets of prints but one type of boot caught his eye - it was not the working-class boot of a sailor or fisherman - it was the boot of someone of refinement - an expensive pair of boots. He recognized the boot print. It belonged to the boots worn by Skerrin Wavechaser - personal butler of Baron Anders Solmor and suspected agent of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

They entered the old house. The door opened easily and there were no cobwebs covering the threshold - indicating frequent use. Inside they found a few old chairs and a bare table. The table showed signs of melted wax from a candle. 

Cai'luin looked around the room. Dozens of crabs crawled over the floor. One of the crabs clutched a silver key in one of its claws. Cai'luin snatched it away.

Captain Alot inspected the fireplace. There was always a loose brick concealing something important in the fireplace. As expected, he found a loose brick. Within the hidden compartment was a valise filled with hundreds of letters. He removed the letters to inspect them. Their wax seals had been broken. They were all written in code. 

He glanced over them. Several of the letters had notes scrawled in a different hand-writing. One of hte notes was a name he recognized - Yrsa Bjorndottir - the mother of Annor and Marlin Whalerson - along with a date - the day she died! 

DM Note-

Dun-Dun-DUUUNNN!!

Remember them??

Good Old Bess

By this time it was cold and dark outside and the wind was causing the drafty old house to creak and shudder. Alot placed the letters in his magical bag of holding and the crew went back outside to the cellar entrance.

Corvid looked at the seal, "Well, its obviously some kind of magical ward, right?"

Cai'luin nervously backed away, "You mean, like a fireball?" He retreated to a distance of thirty feet and hid behind one of the dead trees.

Father Craig rolled his eyes and prayed over the seal for ten minutes. When he was finished, he said, "It's not going to explode, you baby! Come on!"

Cai'luin returned from his hiding place, straightening his tunic, "Well, better safe than sorry."

Alot said, "Okay then, shall I open it?" He reached out to break the seal.

A familiar voice called out from behind them, "Wait, boss! Don't open it!" 

Cai'luin recognized the voice immediately, "Bess! What are you doing here?"

It was Bess, the intelligent and sassy giant crab with a crush on the pretty elf-boy. Bess explained that she felt a mysterious pull to this house. A force within the house was trying to take control of her but the power of Saint Cuthbert, the god that gave her intelligence, prevented it. Something in the house wanted her to help them break the seal. However, Saint Cuthbert wanted her to stop them from breaking the seal. 

Cai'luin sympathized with his friend but assured her that they would deal with whatever it was that was bound by the seal. They would take care of this and protect the town. He asked her to wait behind the dead tree and they'd be back soon. She reluctantly agreed. 

Alot broke open the seal and removed the chains. He opened the cellar doors and descended the steps.

The cellar beneath the house was flooded and covered in algae. It smelled like rotting crab meat and dead fish. A pile of rubble lay at the bottom of the stairs. 

A pile of heavy stones were piled against the wall opposite the stairs. 

Alot reached the bottom of the stairs followed by Cai'luin, Corvid, and Father Craig. They spread out through the small cellar. The water was knee-deep. Alot moved to inspect the pile of stones against the wall. 

Suddenly the water erupted as over a dozen giant crab, each easily the same size as a man, burst out of their hiding places beneath the scum. Only they weren't ordinary giant crab - these crab were the tattered and decaying remains of long-dead crab animated by some unnamable power!

To be Continued...!

Revenge of the Man-Spiders - Ghosts of Satlmarsh, Chapter 65

Cai'luin shook off his brain jellies. 

He was standing at the base of a steep rocky hill surrounded by swampy forests. Midges and gnats swarmed around him. A horse he did not recognize was tied to a nearby tree. There was a strange villager sitting on a rock whittling a stick. 

The villager acknowledged the sea elf, "Howdy, welcome back."

"Where are we?" asked Cai'luin.

"Ya'll are in the Gnatmarsh. If yer lookin' fer yer friends, they done went in yonder cave up thar lookin' for bandits."

"I see. And who are you?"

"I'm just a local what from the village of Paducah. Yer friends hired me to be a guide through the Gnatmarsh what to lead them here." He pointed his whittled stick at the cave. 

"When was this?"

The guide squinted at the sun, "That was, oh, about an hour ago, ah reckon."

Cai'luin thanked the villager for the update and began his climb up the field of scree to the mouth of the cave. 

He entered the cave and saw immediately the bodies of two dead bugbears and a large spider with a body the size of a man's torso. The spider had two human-like arms that disgusted the sea-elf. 

Cai'luin continued into the cave, noting the chamber to the left containing two dead spiders, each the size of a horse, and a strange human-spider hybrid. The walls looked as if they were covered in the remnants of spider webs that had been burned off.

Further down the passage he saw a pit filled with excrement and rotting meat. He wrinkled his nose and pushed forward. 

Cai'luin found a vertical shaft. A network of wooden platforms were built along the far side of the shaft with ropes and cranes and a rope ladder allowing movement of cargo and personnel up and down. A gangplank allowed him to cross the shaft to the platform. The platform was littered with the bodies of three dead bugbears and another large spider with human-like arms. He descended the ladder to the platform sixty feet below. A rope bridge connected the platform to another passage on the far side. He crossed the bridge and entered a chamber filled with crates and casks of stolen cargo and contraband. Several bugbears lay dead on the floor. He could hear his companions speaking casually in the next chamber.

He entered the chamber and found his companions interrogating two bugbears who were tied up.

His friends acknowledged his arrival with a slight nod.

He said, "Hey gang, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

CHAPTER 65

"REVENGE OF THE MAN-SPIDERS"

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-

This is part two and the finale of the short adventure - Cave of the Spiders - a third-edition mini-module available from DM's Guild. 

The Interrogation

Two bugbears were tied up and sitting in the middle of the cavern. The chamber appeared to be some kind of sleeping quarters. Dead bugbears littered the room.

Corvid loomed over them, his eyes gleaming with purple vengeance, "YOU WILL TELL US WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW!"

The bugbear looked afraid for its life, "Yeah! Yeah sure, boss! Whatever you say! We'll tell you anything you want, just promise you'll let us walk out of here alive! We don't want no more trouble!"

Corvid glanced back to Captain Alot and Father Craig to confirm the terms. He turned back and glared menacingly at the Bugbear. He hissed, "Agreed!"

The bugbears answered every question put to him. The bugbears were mercenaries hired by the bandit crew. Their boss-man was some human-spider hybrid guy. All the human-spider guys lived further down the shaft. Bugbears weren't allowed to go any further down so he didn't know exactly where. 

When asked about the logistics of their banditry the bugbear explained that they didn't have any horses or wagons. Whenever they robbed a caravan, they'd steal the horses and wagons and take them back to Paducah. There they'd hire local porters to carry the loot by hand through the swamp and to the cave. He explained that all the bugbears were allowed to keep the provisions and some of the loot, but the good stuff went to the boss-man and his crew. All that stuff was farther down the cave. 

Alot said, "That explains how the guide knew how to take us straight here."

"Yeah! Yeah! So, I told you what you wanted, right? Now you'll let us go, right?"

Corvid once again looked to Alot for confirmation. Alot nodded, "Yeah, sure. Get out of here."

The two bugbears, stripped of weapons, were allowed to climb the ladder and escape the caves.

The Spider Cave

Corvid cast another Feather Fall spell on the entire entourage and they drifted to the bottom of the vertical shaft. A passage led off into the darkness. A side passage led off to the left. The side passage was choked with spider webs. Alot caught some motion at the back of the side passage that resembled the movements of a  giant spider. 

Alot lit a torch and began burning a path through the spider webs into the side passage. He reached the edge of a larger chamber filled with spider webs. 

Alot soon found himself fighting two giant spiders at the entrance to the chamber. He was forced to drop his torch onto the ground in order to fight them off and was unable to advance further into the webs. 

Cai'luin was right behind Alot but was soon overwhelmed as an ettercap, hidden from view on the ceiling, shrouded by webbing, dropped out of the darkness and attacked! 

Craig moved up to help Alot while Father Craig summoned a miraculous spiritual hammer and moved forward to defend Cai'luin. Suddenly another ettercap dropped to harry Father Craig. Corvid was forced to turn around and defend the bard and priest at the rear! 

Alot soon dispatched to two giant spiders and was able to help the others defeat the ettercaps.  

Prisoners

Alot picked up his torch and continued burning away the webs. In the rear of the chamber they found half a dozen humanoid figures cocooned in spider silk. 

The cocoons writhed - the victims within were still alive! 

The team cut them down and extricated the people from the cocoons. They were poisoned and near death. Corvid prayed for their restoration while Father Craig prayed for their rapid recovery. The six prisoners were soon miraculously healed! 

One the prisoners, a human woman of competent bearing, introduced herself as Genevieve de Guare. She was the leader of a merchant caravan that had been attacked by the bandits. She and her men had been taken prisoner - she knew not why. She informed the crew that if she and her cargo could be escorted safely to Nessermouth, she would pay them a reward of 5000 gold coins! 

Captain Alot agreed but asked that she and her crew wait here for their return. The crew left the prisoners with some water and rations and returned to the main passage.  

Shaft in Ceiling

As they continued down the main passage, they encountered two large spiders, each the size of a wolf. These were quickly dispatched. 

Captain Alot noticed a large shaft in the ceiling of the passage, thirty feet overhead. The shaft was at least twenty feet wide and was clogged with thick sticky spiderwebs. Alot stowed his hammer and held his torch aloft. He activated his winged boots and took flight. As he ascended into the shaft, he used his torch to burn away a path through the spider webs. There was a glow above.

He passed through the spider webs into a cavern. The cavern was lit by a lantern. A pot contained a vile looking stew. There was a small table and almost a dozen round mattresses that resembled flattened bags full of dry beans or pebbles. A knotted rope lay coiled up attached to a nearby iron spike driven into the rock. Over half-a-dozen human bandits stood ready for battle. They had been alerted to Alot's approach by his torch. 

Bandit Guards

Alot threw his torch onto the ground. He grabbed the knotted rope and tossed it down the shaft, yelling to the others a warning about the guards and calling form them to climb as quick as they could. 

DM Note-

I rope was fifty feet long. I ruled that only two people could climb it at a time. Climbing the rope required no roll but was done at half-speed. Thus a character with 30 feet of movement could climb 30 feet of rope as a "dash" action and do nothing else. It would take each character two entire rounds just to reach the top of the shaft and join the fight.

Corvid and Cai'luin began climbing immediately. Corvid made it half-way up the rope before he disappeared in a puff of silvery mist, magically reappearing in the cavern above. 

The bandits scrambled. One disappeared. Another exited through a small passage in the rear of the cave. A third transformed himself into the form a man-sized spider with human arms - an aranea! Another cast a spell and magically replicated himself into three identical copies! The rest unsuccessfully engaged Alot with short-swords and short-range electrical spells. 

Alot attacked the four duplicates. Each time he'd stab a duplicate it would disappear! He shoved one with his shield, hoping to reveal the true opponent. To his annoyed surprise, all of the remaining copies fell down. 

Corvid created a magical bonfire to block the exit at the rear. Cai'luin finally made it to the top of the rope. Worried about the one that disappeared he backed up against the wall by the edge of the shaft.  

Father Craig finally made it to the top of the rope. He uttered a prayer and created a spiritual hammer that engaged the enemy.

Cai'luin played a destructive note on his lute, creating a sonic attack that burst among the aranea bandits.

The invisible bandit suddenly appeared and attacked Cai'luin! Luckily the surprise attack missed the bard.

Alot finished off all the copies, killing the aranea, and rushed to help Cai'luin. 

Soon all of the aranea in the cavern had been defeated. 

Corvid said, "During the fight two people approached the bonfire from the passage. They couldn't get past the bonfire so they retreated. Get ready for more."

Alot said, "We're going to them."

Passage of the Spider Swarms

Corvid dispelled the magical bonfire and the team stepped cautiously into the passage beyond. The walls of the passage were a living carpet of spiders - thousands of them. As they moved through the passage, the thousands of spiders crawled over them, biting everyone. Alot began smashing spiders with his hammer while Corvid scraped them off with his magical sword. Cai'luin played another shattering chord on his lute which destroyed many of the spiders. Father Craig prayed for a miracle and a swirling vortex of spiritual hammers spun around them in a storm of destruction - killing the remaining spiders!

They advanced more cautiously. The passage ended with a drawn curtain. 

The passage suddenly exploded in a burst of flame! Father Craig broke his concentration and his spiritual hammers disappeared! 

Corvid was spared from the blast by a miracle. Surely he was favored by the gods! Corvid ran forward into the room, drawing aside the curtain.

The Arachnid Enchanter

The cavern was roughly forty feet across. A large round bed sat atop of carpet of fine embroidery. There was a table near the entrance. On the far side of the cave was a chest and a bookshelf. Near the entrance was an aranea with two wolf-sized spiders. In the rear of the room was a tall humanoid with six eyes and mandibles protruding form his jaw. He wore the flamboyant robes of a wizard! 

The aranea said, "Be wary, my lord Mettick! The intruders have survived!"

Cai'luin responded with a magical explosive blast of force he called the Depth Charge, exploding within the cavern and instantly killing the two spiders.  Alot rushed into the room and engaged the aranea, killing him. 

Mettick the bandit wizard paused to drink a potion of healing.

Cai'luin played a discordant note on his lute and whispered a dissonant song. Mettick dropped the empty vial in shock and retreated from the bard towards the back of the room. He crawled up the side of the wall, revealing that his legs, concealed beneath his long robes, split into two spider-legs each from the knees down. He hissed his displeasure at Cai'luin.

Corvid moved in and attacked the wizard. The wizard blocked Corvid's attacks by parrying them on the magical bracers that he wore on each arm. 

Alot charged forward to smash the wizard with his hammer. 

The wizard held out his hand to stop the charging automaton but to his surprise, nothing happened!

DM Note-

The MVP moment of the night came when, during a fight with the evil spider-hybrid wizard bad guy, I had a cool power that was a Reaction - if he got hit, he spent his Reaction to have the attacker instead target the next closest person.

Alot attacked, I expected a big roll and lots of damage, so I got giddy because I was going to redirect it to Corvid. I said, "I have a REACTION!"

Cai'luin the Bard's player is not very rules literate, and ALSO prone to answering questions with random bullshit so I never know when he's being sincere, said, "Nope! I got him with Dissonant Whispers this round. He already used his reaction to move away from me as far as he could."

Not believing him, I said, "Bullshit!" 

He replied, icily, "Look. It. Up."

I looked it up. Sure enough, right there in the spell description. "On a failed save, it takes 3d6 psychic damage and must immediately use its reaction, if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from you."

Corvid' player said, "Did [CAI'LUIN'S PLAYER] just beat CHRIS at RULES LAWYERING???"

I gave him a slow-clap. I was impressed. And kept reminding him of how impressed I continued to be for the rest of the night.

Father Craig prayed for more spiritual guardians to swarm the room, engulfing the enchanter in celestial hammers!

Mettick responded with another fireball spell! The room was engulfed in a fiery blast! Once again, Father Craig lost his concentration and the guardians disappeared!

Corvid glared at Mettick with holy vengeance! Righteous fury sublimated from his glowing eyes! His entire being flared incandescent with the righteous power of the god of death and plunged his magical sword into the arachnid wizard!

Mettick screamed and died. His body disintegrating into hundreds of harmless spiders that crawled away.

The Good Stuff

Mettick's strongbox was filled with stolen contraband. Within the strongbox they found 2,000 gp, 500 pp, 10 garnets worth 100 gp each, and a golden vial with a ruby stopper worth 500 gp. A  silver-and-jade lamp worth 700 gp had sat upon the table. It was knocked onto the floor during the many explosive blasts.

In addition, Mettick left behind two magical bracers and a magical ring. Unfortunately, the ring was listed among the items that were stolen from Davus Raal's caravan and thus needed to be returned.

The party took a moment to rest, bind their wounds, and catch their collective breath. It had been a difficult and desperate battle and they were badly injured. Cai'luin played a restorative song while Father Craig tended to the wounds of all those who had been injured.

DM Note-

Which was surprisingly everyone. Nearly everyone was below half hit points. Some were pretty desperately low. It wasn't a TOUGH fight but the players said it was challenging and really enjoyed it.

Escape

The party took the strongbox back to the shaft and lowered it using the knotted rope. There they left the box and continued down the passage.

The passage ended at the bottom of a large cave that rose a hundred feet overhead. A staircase was cut into the far wall of the cave that looped around to a ledge above them. There were wooden platforms suspended from the ceiling and walls of the cave and a rope bridge connected the platforms to more platforms out of sight behind the ledge above them. 

Several ettercaps had seen the party drop the strongbox from the shaft in the ceiling. They deduced that their master had been defeated so they fled up the stairs. 

Alot quickly took flight to the ledge above. He saw at least a dozen ettercaps and aranea bandits in human form. The alarm had been sounded and they were all fleeing towards a passage to the right.  Alot flew towards the entrance of the passage and tried to block their escape.

He attacked one ettercap as they fled past but there were simply too many of them. Soon the entire throng of ettercaps and aranea were rushing past him. 

Meanwhile the others were running up the stairs as fast as they could. 

Alot considered giving chase. He turned and looked into the passage. It became a vertical shaft straight down and was clogged with spider webbing. The fleeing spider-hybrids had descended into the oerth from whence they came. 

Corvid finally caught up. Alot asked, "What do you think. Should we go after them?"

Corvid considered it, "No. We better not. We have recovered the loot and we have freed prisoners to return home."

"Alright. Fine." Alot sighed, "Let's go."

They returned to recover the strongbox and escort the prisoners out of the caves.

To Be Continued...

DM Note-

The original module was unique in that it did not include a traditional dungeon map. Instead, it came with a cutaway side view of the dungeon! This was useless for Roll20 so I have to create my own maps in Photoshop. 

Here are the maps I created.  

Top level

Shaft

Lower Level

Overall this was a good choice for a short two-session side quest. The players said they felt challenged and they enjoyed the non-standard opponents. 

My only complaint is that the original adventure left everything after the shaft in the ceiling empty. It's such an interesting location - what a waste! I filled it with ettercaps and aranea in case the players decided to hold off on the shaft and come back to it. 

However, MY mistake was leaving them there after the boss fight. Alot tried to engage them but it would have been such an anti-climactic fight for no reward and no narrative purpose. Alot's player just wouldn't get the hint that they were running away. I eventually just flat out told him, "Dude, they're fleeing for their lives. This is NOT a fight!" and he said, "All right. Fine."

Cave of the Spiders - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 64

 

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. 

Hags of Three, Leave them Be

Hags of Two - Good on You! 

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

CHAPTER 64

"CAVE OF THE SPIDERS"

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-

So in between last week's adventure and this week's adventure, I had a chat with Father Craig's player about what to do about Morley Tobe's debt. I told him that Morley was a smuggler that was robbed by some bandits on the road north of Uskarn. Father Craig got the idea to find the bandits and recover the stolen property. So I did a quick search of available level-appropriate adventures and I found the perfect candidate - Cave of the Spiders - a third-edition mini-module available from DM's Guild. 

The Sea Hags

The crew of the Sea Ghost drew weapons and prepared to fight but the sea hags made no hostile act. The first sea hag simply sent a smug look towards the second. The second hag responded with another girlish giggle. 

Alot confronted the sea hags, "What's your business here?"

The first sea hag said, "We were hungry. We smelled death and came ashore to see what was on the menu. We found blood on the floor but no bodies. We were terribly disappointed. We saw you coming up the hill yesterday morning so we left. We came back this morning. Luckily, your little adventure last night provided plenty of tasty morsels for us to feast upon. We've been eating well since."

The second hag picked up a severed human arm covered in barnacles and blue rot. She took a bite and chewed. She swallowed her grisly portion and nearly choked on her giggles. 

Alot pointed his hammer at the first hag, "You cannot stay here. I order you to leave."

The sea hag looked offended, "What? Well! I can tell where we're not wanted. Fine. We'll just gather our belongings and we'll be on our way. Just a tic." She looked at the second hag and nodded towards the bottom of the cistern.

The sea hags submerged themselves and descended to the bottom of the eight foot deep cistern. 

Corvid asked through gritted teeth, "Are we just going to let them leave?"

Father Craig replied, "No." He clapped his dwarven hands in prayer to the God of Death. Suddenly the waters of the cistern began to rotate. Father Craig had created a churning whirlpool in the confined space. The hags were spun around and slammed into the sides of the cistern and into each other. 

The hags managed to drag themselves out of the cistern. They threw themselves onto the ground on the far side of the pool. Their momentary dizzy bewilderment quickly passed. They stood and bared gruesome fangs and deadly claws. Aella staggered back a step, her face contorted with repulsion and fear.

Alot took flight, the magical wings attached to his ankles propelled him over the cistern to attack the second hag. Her skull and bones were crushed by the repeated blows from his magical hammer.

Corvid sent a magical fire bolt at the hag. Aella followed up with a chaos bolt. 

Something invisible slammed into Father Craig. The dwarven priest looked around but could see no attacker. He immediately alerted his companions.

The first hag locked eyes with Aella. Aella stared back, compelled by the hag's magical gaze. 

Aella fell to the ground, dead!

Corvid surrounded himself with a vortex of flying blades and ran towards the first hag. 

DM Note-

Sword Burst

Conjuration Cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self (5-foot radius)

Components: V

Duration: Instantaneous

You create a momentary circle of spectral blades that sweep around you. All other creatures within 5 feet of you must each succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 force damage.
This spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

SPELL SAVE DC: 15

The invisible attacker once again slammed into Father Craig. 

Father Craig ignored the attacker and prayed for the life of his companion, Aella. She coughed as she miraculously regained life and consciousness.

The remaining hag slashed at Corvid ineffectually. Alot moved to attack and crushed the hag under his mighty hammer.

Aella, worried about the presence of an unseen opponent, stood and cast a booming blade spell through her magical trident hoping to damage any potential foe near her. 

Father Craig followed up with a prayer that summoned a swirling vortex of spiritual hammers that covered much of the yard between the hermitage and the cistern. Aella covered the remaining area with a magical storm.  

Alot flew across the yard to the gap in the wall leading to the rocky beach behind the hermitage. He wished to prevent their unseen opponent from escaping. 

Corvid even cast a spell to detect the presence of anyone casting a spell or wielding a magic item but could sense nothing save his companions. 

Moments passed with no further attacks. 

Eventually, the spells expired and the crew let down their guard. Whatever invisible force they were fighting had fled. 

DM Note-

The invisible opponent was an invisible stalker that the sea hags had conjured. Once they were dead, it was free to escape. 

They gathered up the loot that the sea hags had scavenged from the hermitage and the cistern - a sack containing 325 gp,  a gold paperweight in the shape of a tortoise (100 gp), a silver candelabra stamped with the symbol of the sea god Procan (50 gp), and two potions of greater healing.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the island and spent the night in the hermitage. 

On the following day they returned to the Pit of Hatred and Father Craig sealed the rift by repairing the broken seal with prayer. 

Return to Uskarn

On the following day the crew took the daily ferry back to Uskarn where they found Janore, the priestess of Procan,  and the hermit Barret Gloffrin, two of the three survivors of the original zombie attack on the hermitage. They soon learned that the third survivor, Morley Tobe, had been captured by the merchant and smuggler Davus Raal and was being held against his will. Raal planned to sell Tobe into slavery to recoup on losses incurred when Tobe's smuggler caravan was robbed by bandits on the north road.

They then approached Raal with a proposition. If they could recover the stolen merchandise, would he let Tobe go free? Raal agreed and allowed them to speak with the dwarven smuggler. 

Tobe told them that he was robbed by a group of bugbears led by some human bandits near the crossroads to the north. 

Davus Raal said he was returning to Nessermouth with Tobe. He'll keep Tobe for a month. If they recover his stolen merchandise, seek him out there. He might also have further work for them.  

The crew next approached the bailiff of Uskarn, Feldrin Kane. The bailiff told them that a group of bandits had been raiding merchant traffic along the north road. The kingdom of Nyrond couldn't afford to send soldiers to police the roads so banditry was running rampant. He had heard rumors that the bugbear bandits lived somewhere in the Gnatmarsh swamp southeast of Paducah. 

The crew inquired about a possible reward for the bandits. The bailiff said that the custom was to allow those who defeat bandits to keep ten percent of the loot recovered.

Alot said, "Wait, does that ten percent include any taxes we'll have to pay the king of Nyrond?"

Feldrin Kane looked embarrassed, "Well, that is, ah.. yes, you'd have to pay taxes on that. So you'd really get nine percent."

"I KNEW it!" 

The Path to Paducah

The crew equipped itself for an overland journey. Corvid summoned his celestial steed - a nightmare-black horse with a mane and tail of gaseous glowing purple strands with glowing eyes. Father Craig purchased a horse and riding equipment from a local seller in Uskarn. He named it Lothar Granitecrusher.

DM Note-

I asked Father Craig's player, "Its four days to Paducah. How much feed do you buy?"

Alot's player chimed in, "It's a D&D horse. Lets be realistic. Buy just enough for a one-way trip."

The crew set off on their journey north. It was late spring and the weather was good. The road was in poor repair and in many places was little more than a dirt track. They camped along the road. They reached the crossroads late on the third day of their travel. There they found a man hanging in a cage. He had been condemned to live in this cage for ten days by the people of Paducah for petty crimes. He had consumed no food or water for several days and was near death. Father Craig took pity on the man and gave him some water and rations.

They arrived in Paducah late on the fourth day. Paducah was a small village of less than 200 people on the opposite bank of the Duntide river. The village was little more than a general store and an inn serving the river boat and barge traffic plying the Duntide between Nessermouth and Callistor. The land was marshy and prone to flooding so the structures of Paducah were elevated on pilings and connected by wooden gangplanks and rope bridges. 

Alot inquired with the locals about any recent bugbear activity. He found a local trapper who claimed to know of the location of a lair occupied by bugbears in the hills to the south. Alot hired the trapper as a guide. 

DM Note-

Alot's Player, trying to keep a low profile: “Greetings villager, we are but humble merchant travelers, regular common folk.”

DM (me), incredulously: “Said the robot man in magic armor that looks like a green dragon, accompanied by a pale knight in armor that would make Lancelot from the movie Excalibur blush, himself riding a massive warhorse with glowing purple eyes and a mane and tail made of sublimating violet hate-fire! Did I mention the dwarf wearing a skull mask and the half elf woman wielding a massive trident that marks her as the next in line to be monarch of the sea elves? Yeah! Humble merchant travelers indeed!”

The trapper took them on a journey south through the Gnatmarsh towards a line of hills obscured by trees. The trapper pointed towards a cave on the side of the hill. A steep trail lead up through a scree of rocks and boulders. The cave was once a waterfall where an underground river emerged from the side of the hill. Two bugbears stood guard at the mouth of the cave. 

Cave of the Spiders

Alot and Corvid led the charge up the steep path through the scree towards the cave. The bugbears responded by hurling javelins at the oncoming intruders. Aella created a magical ice storm at the mouth of the cave. 

DM Note-

One of the opponents they DIDN'T see had just cast Mirror Image, only to immediately lose the images to the ice storm. And nobody even knew it! Bah!

Although, re-reading the spell now, it says "A duplicate can be destroyed only by an atta⁠ck that hits it. It ignores all other damage and Effects." So it looks like an area effect attack wouldn't have affected the duplicates after all. 

Alot reached the cave mouth and finished off the two shivering frozen bugbears. To his shock, just inside the cave, he saw a human bandit lying frozen on the ground. As the ice thawed, the body began to convulse as if bladders were inflated and deflated under the skin. Extra spider-like limbs grew from its torso and the body took on the appearance of a human-spider hybrid - or rather, a large spider with a few vaguely human traits. 

DM Note-

Aella's player said, "Like a Spider Centaur?"

And I replied, "No, that would be a drider. This is more like a giant spider with vaguely human-shaped arms but still looks like a spider." 

The Webbed Room

The crew pressed forward into the cave. To the left was a side chamber, forty feet wide, filled with spider webs. A massive spider, the size of a water buffalo, crawled along the webbing on the side the wall. 

Alot charged into the room, narrowly avoiding a falling net of webbing triggered by a silken trip-wire. He took flight and crushed the giant spider with two mighty blows from his magical hammer. 

A thick stream of silk was fired at Alot from a previously unseen wall within the room but missed. Corvid ran in, avoided the falling spider web, and cast a fire-bolt spell at the new attacker - a human-sized spider-human hybrid known as an ettercap. Another giant spider lurked nearby.

Aella stepped into the room and was immobilized by the falling net of web silk. She used the last remaining bead on her necklace of fireballs against the ettercap and giant spider. The room exploded in a burst of flame which cleared the entire left wall of the cavern of spider web and killed the giant spider. Alot then made quick work of the remaining ettercap. 

The team used minor fire spells to clear the room of remaining spider-webs. 

The Pit

The crew pressed deeper into the cave, following the ancient path of the old underground riverbed. The path was clear and showed frequent use. Up ahead the path widened and a deep bit yawned before them. The pit smelled of feces and rotting meat. Alot deduced that the bugbears used this pit as a trash heap and outhouse. They carefully avoided it and continued.

On the other side of the pit they heard the sound of bugbears working in a large underground chamber. They cautiously advanced. 

The Platform

The crew rounded the corner and saw a deep shaft, roughly forty feet in diameter. The staff descended from high overhead and continued hundreds of feet into the earth - the dry remnants of what was once an ancient waterfall. On the opposite side of shaft was a series of wooden platforms supported by timber pilings and iron braces driven into the stone walls. A crane facilitated the lowering and raising of barrels, bags of cargo, and crates of stolen merchandise down to other platforms farther down. Ladders allowed transit from lower to upper platforms. Several bugbears were working moving contraband on the platform. A human bandit looked over them from a higher platform. 

The human overseer noticed the arrival of the intruders and called out an alarm. The bugbears dropped their crates and picked up nearby weapons. 

Alot flew across the chasm using his winged grieves and landed on the upper platform next to the human. The human responded by casting an invisibility spell and disappearing! 

Corvid attacked the bugbears with magical scorching rays. 

Father Craig prayed for a guiding bolt which struck and killed on of the bugbears. Aella followed with a magical ray of frost. 

Suddenly a giant spider the size of a water buffalo but with human limbs appeared out of thin air and tried to bite Alot. The venomous mouth parts were unable to pierce Alot's invulnerable armor. 

Alot smashed the giant spider-hybrid with his magical hammer while the others made quick work of the bugbears with ranged magic attacks.

Once the platform was pacified, Alot laid down a long gangplank for the others to cross the chasm.

The Shaft

Corvid looked down and saw the dark shape of a  bugbear standing on the platform below. Alot said, "I can fly but you all might be vulnerable climbing down this rope ladder." 

Corvid said, "Don't worry about it. Jump."

Aella said, "That's sixty feet!"

"Don't worry. Trust me. Jump."

They jumped.

Corvid cast a magic spell and the crew descended slowly through the air.  

The bugbear beneath them called out the alarm.  

Th crew landed on the platform and made short work of the bugbear. They heard more coming from the passage across the rope bridge and a handful rushed out to face them on the bridge.

The new bugbears were quickly beaten back and they retreated into the passage behind them. The crew followed them into a chamber used as storage for supplies and an adjoining chamber covered in pallets that served as sleeping quarters. 

Alot, Corvid, Aella, and Father Craig soon dispatched the bugbears waiting for them. Two remained, grievously wounded, who threw down their weapons and surrendered. 

Alot sighed, "Well? Are we taking prisoners?"

Corvid glared at Alot, "Yes. Of course we are!" 

To Be Continued...