The Ghost Lantern Murders - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 72

 

After a few days in which Master Refrum and his assistant failed to show to work on the alchemical weapon, Alot sought out the alchemist. The laboratory looked like it had been closed for several days. He eventually found Master Refrum scurrying down the street covering his head as a group of children were throwing rotten vegetables, trash, and cobblestones at him. The children were shouting insults and accusing Master Refrum of harboring a killer. Onlookers refused to intervene and watched the proceedings with tacit approval.

Alot stepped in and frightened the children away. Master Refrum was in a desperate panicked state and clutching a holy symbol he had previously concealed under his shirt. Alot asked him what happened. Master Refrum explained that his assistant, Jarme, had been arrested by the city guard and accused of multiple murders!"

Alot held the man's shoulders to calm him down, "Yes, I know. He was hanged two days ago."

"I- I know," stammered the alchemist, "I felt so ashamed. How could I have been so wrong about the boy? But Captain Aname, to my horror, today I learned an awful truth!"

"What is it?"

"Captain Aname - there has been another murder! Jarme was not the killer! They sent an innocent boy to his death! Captain Aname, I fear that the town guard is taking steps to keep the killings a secret! Captain Aname, I am at my wits end! I do not know how to proceed!"

Alot reassured him, "You should have come to us. We're here to help."

CHAPTER 72

"THE GHOST LANTERN MURDERS"

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-
We begin the mystery of the Styes in earnest. But first, I needed to back up and give the players some more detail about what happened to them during the week they spent in Poniard.

Also, throughout this week we could never remember the name Ghost Lantern Killer. The players called him the Red Faced Killer and even I kept calling him Ghost Face Killa.

A Week in the Styes

The crew of the Sea Ghost had a week to kill in the city of Poniard, also known as the Styes. The Sea Ghost itself was to be hoisted out of the water and suspended by a crane to allow workers to make repairs and install modifications. During that time they would have to find temporary quarters within the city.

Aella and Cai'luin obtained lodging in the Ritz, the nicest hotel in Poniard - a title that meant little in this city of waning fortune - and spent their days calling upon the wealthy and powerful. As representatives of the town council of Saltmarsh they hoped to make mercantile contacts as well as develop relations with members of the town council. In time Aella made the close acquaintance of three aristocrats.

• Audwin: Shipping business owner, wants to avoid Brotherhood as much as possible and tax collectors
• Rai: Elf, Member of old upper class, sad about what has happened to city, don't like current political situation
• Rashlen: Elf, lives in secretive manor, on the City Council

Cai'luin spent the week performing music in venues throughout Poniard from the High Quarter to the Low Quarter. He made three allies of his own:

• Eduardo: Upper Class Merchant - be careful of the time in the city; it corrupts the lungs and causes rashes.
• Fira Drake: Former Grave Digger - now works for the Crematorium.
• Wrezu Yeben Kelbar Xalbis: Gnome (Former) Pirate - owns a dry dock and ship repair business. 

Patriarch Craig and Corvid spent the week among the poor residents in the Low Quarter in a neighborhood known as Flotsam. There they healed the sick and taught the masses about the Raven King and his judgement of the dead. The practice of religion was heavily taxed and fined within Poniard so the pair conducted their ceremonies and lessons in secret. There they observed that many of the residents of Flotsam were afflicted with a malady called redface. Those so afflicted developed red itchy rashes on their face and their skin became swollen, especially around their eyes, eventually resulting in blindness.

Despite their healing services and circumspection, the pair found it difficult to make contact with the people of the Styes. They were furtive and wary of outsiders. They would soon learn that the neighborhood was gripped by a collective paranoia over a recent spate of unsolved killings.

Captain Alot spent his days overseeing the repairs and improvements to his ship while taking time to tour the city and inspect any local news or posted bulletins. 

During their time in the Styes, the crew experienced a high level of anxiety among the residents of the Low Quarter. The neighborhood had experienced a series of 26 killings over six months. A mysterious figure known as the Ghost Lantern Killer had slain with impunity, taking his victims in the night only to return them a day later, mutilated, and gruesomely posed in a public location as if on display for all to see.

On the third day of their stay came the big news. It swept through the street like a flood. The killer had been caught! It was some alchemist's assistant. It was Jarme! Rumor had it that a constable of the city militia had caught the killer in the act of mutilating his latest victim. He was arrested and taken to a special cell in Hope'ner asylum to await trial.

Before the third day was over the four-member town council of Poniard had already met and tried the case. The evidence of the killer's guilt was overwhelming and he was sentenced to death. 

Alot saw Master Refrum on that day. Jarme was Refrum's assistant. Refrum was horrified that his assistant might be capable of such terrible acts of carnage but the evidence seemed irrefutable. 

Justice was swift and Jarme was hanged at dawn on the fourth day. His remains were immediately taken to the crematorium for disposal. 

On the fifth day, Master Refrum failed to show up to work on the Sea Ghost. Alot decided to look for him. He soon found the alchemist being harassed on the street by children. 

Another Murder

Alot chased away the street children and heard Refrum's story. Refrum told Alot that he had learned that another mutilated body had been discovered just this morning. The victim had disappeared AFTER Jarme was caught, yet the victim had been mutilated in the same fashion as the others! 

The discovery convinced Master Refrum that the Ghost Lantern killer was still on the loose. If so, then perhaps Jarme was, in fact, not responsible for the murders! The idea that his assistant may have been wrongly executed weighed heavily on the alchemist's mind.

In addition, the body was quickly taken to the crematorium for destruction and there has been no official announcement from the town council. Refrum fears that the town council may be attempting to suppress the knowledge of this new murder. 

However, since Jarme's execution, it had become common knowledge that Jarme worked as Refrum's assistant. Refrum was facing vigilante punishment from the townsfolk of Poniard, especially from his fellow alchemists and inventors. Most believed that Jarme was killing in order to harvest organs for Refrum to use in a foul experiments without lawfully purchasing them from the crematorium - an illegal and unethical act that Refrum would never contemplate! 

Fearing for his safety, Refrum told Alot that he would be leaving Poniard for two weeks. He apologized that he would be unable to complete the modifications to the Sea Ghost on schedule.

Alot assured Refrum that, in his absence, the sentinel and his colleagues would get to the bottom of this mystery and clear the alchemist's name of any wrong-doing. Refrum expressed his gratitude and said that if Alot could do that, the alchemist would reduce the price of the modifications by one-third. 

Refrum asked Alot what he planned to do. Alot replied, "First thing I'm going to do is go to the crematorium to try to inspect the latest victim."

DM Note-

The adventure has Refrum suggest that the characters look for clues in Jarme's cell at the asylum. I accidentally neglected to do that because I got so caught up in Alot's confident plan to go straight to the crematorium. So they may have missed some important context for the mystery.

Madame Sliris

Captain Alot crossed the broken stone bridge and went straight to the crematorium. There he once again encountered the proprietress, Madame Sliris. 

Madam Sliris wore an all dark-brown mourning dress. Her long nose and prominent front teeth gave her the countenance of a brown rat. Her gold eye shadow and lipstick matched the golden jewelry she wore and hinted at her opulent position as a member of the city council of Poniard.

She greeted Alot as he entered and once again enquired whether he was depositing or withdrawing. 

Captain Alot asked to see the body of the most recent murder victim. 

Madame Sleris replied that the most recent victim was found four days ago and had already been cremated. 

Alot corrected her. "Not that one. The victim found this morning."

Madame Sleris coyly replied, "I am not aware of any murder victims that have been deposited in the last four days. There was an unfortunate accident victim brought in just this morning but, seeing as no one purchased the body, the remains have already been cremated per our custom."

Alot stepped closer and pointed his stubby metal finger at Madame Sleris, "That's funny. I was under the impression that you kept the bodies for several days in case you could sell them to an alchemist. I'm know you are covering up the truth of a murder this morning and I'm going to figure out what's going on."

Madame Sleris' patronizing smile never wavered as she watched the automaton turn and leave.

The City Militia

Captain Alot left the crematorium and ran into Patriarch Craig and Corvid, the Paladin of Vengeance. Craig looked like he was going to confront Madame Sleris over the city's lack of funerary rites. Alot stopped him and told him they had a bigger issue - they needed to join him and the rest of the team at the Ritz for a meeting.

The trio reunited with Aella and Cai'luin at the Ritz and the team adjourned to a nearby tea house. There Alot told him everything Refrum said and described his encounter with Madame Sleris. They decided that their next step would be to interview the constable that found the body. To do this they passed through the High Quarter to the militia garrison. 

The garrison was a poorly maintained three story stone building. A wooden gallows stood out front. They knocked on the door. A moment later a confused young man opened the door while holding a leathern jack of ale. The interior of the garrison was untidy. The sound of raucous laughter carried from another room, as did the sound of furniture breaking in some kind of brawl or rowdy hijinks. 

The young guard that opened the door was in the middle of laughing at something funny that had recently happened. He was still laughing as he asked "Yeah, what do you want?"

Aella and Cai'luin adopted their most official and diplomatic tone, "I am Avastana Kádár, member of the town council of Saltmarsh. This is ambassador Cai'luin, representative of the sea elf tribe of Manaan. These are our associates. We are researching municipal law enforcement practices pertaining to the investigation of murders and other heinous crimes. We would like to interview the constable that

captured the murderer Jarme."

The young guard became wary, "You mean Jute? Why would you want to talk with her?"

Aella replied, "We simply hope to learn from her expertise."

Another guard came stumbling out of another room. He was also drinking from a leathern jack. He put his arm around the first guard, "Hey! What's going on?"

"These- representatives- want to talk to Jute about Jarme."

The second guard became suddenly serious. He looked directly at Aella but spoke to the first guard, "Tell her there's nothing to talk about." He turned and disappeared into the garrison.

The first guard coldly said, "Jute is out on patrol. She won't be back for another three hours. If you want to find her, she's probably over in the Low Quarter rescuing a puppy or whatever." He closed the heavy iron door and locked it.

Officer Jute

"Should we go look for her?" asked Alot.

"I've got a better idea. Lets find a place to sit for a bit." said Patriarch Craig.

They found a nearby table at another tea house. Patriarch Craig produced a crystal orb the size of an eyeball and said, "I've been wanting to try this. I'll look for her without having to move."

He closed his eyes and held the orb to his wrinkled dwarven forehead. He began muttering a prayer. A moment later he said, "I think I've found her. I see a city guard, a woman, in the Low Quarter. She's checking on people, talking with them, giving them food. Everybody seems to like her. I bet that's her."

Alot said, "Quick, let's hire a gondola and get over there."

About twenty minutes later they exited the gondola onto the rotten wooden boardwalk of Flotsam in the Low Quarter. The entire area was built of ramshackle structures stacked on top of other ramshackle structures four to five layers deep and connected by rope bridges, gang-planks, and cat-walks. 

They soon found the woman they sought applying salve to a beggar blinded by redface. She saw a motley assortment consisting of a mechanical warrior, a pale avatar of vengeance, a dwarf wearing a mask that resembled a skull, a half-elf woman, and a blue-skinned elf coming towards her at a rapid pace. She quickly picked up her bardiche and prepared to defend herself.

Alot stopped and held out his tri-digit mechanical hands. He thought about talking but called Aella and Cai'luin to the front instead. Aella and Cai'luin explained that they were friends and only wanted to ask her some questions. 

The constable confirmed that she was Jute and that she was the one who caught Jarme several nights previous. 

Aella gave Jute the same story she gave the other guards. Jute proceeded to politely answer her questions.

Jute described how she found Jarme in the Alchemist's Quarter carrying the mutilated body of a murder victim. He carried a bloody knife in his belt that appeared to be the murder weapon. Jarme's body was covered in blood. He was carrying a lantern that emitted an eerie green light with no flame. Jarme at first looked like he was ready to pounce like an animal but to her surprise he suddenly changed. It was as if he had just woken up. Jute apprehended him and he willingly surrendered. She was surprised at how quickly justice was meted out.

When asked about the more recent murder victim found this morning, Jute confirmed that she had heard about it and thought it was odd. From what she heard it was obviously a murder and that the victim had been mutilated in a manner similar to the other victims. When told about the immediate cremation she, too, thought it was very strange. Jute admitted to having her suspicions that the city council was involved in some sort of cover up.

Aella asked if Jute knew where the recent victim had been found. Jute replied, "Yah, sure. I take you there." 

The Scene of the Crime

Constable Jute took the crew to the industrial Alchemist's Quarter. The neighborhood consisted of heavy stone buildings that were, in more prosperous times, temples. Decades ago the temples were re-built and re-purposed into factories, laboratories, and warehouses.  Metal chimneys spewed mustard-yellow smoke and a coarse salt-like particulate covered most surfaces. She led them down a alley clogged with trash and light yellowish mud to a spot that appeared to have recently splashed with a few buckets of water. Rats, large insects, and seagulls were swarming the area picking it clean of any remaining offal.

Jute said that the victim was a dock-worker named Jaif. His body was decapitated and dis-embowelled, just like the others. His head and guts were not found. Unlike the previous victims, the killer did not pose and display the body to be seen by the public. In fact, the town council ordered the body to be immediately cremated and the constables of the militia were told that Jaif died in an accident.

Cai'luin and Alot closely examined the alley. Cai'luin identified several sets of boot-prints that apparently belonged to the constables that found and removed the body.  In addition, Cai'luin saw several sets of bare footprints belonging to webbed feet - the feet did not match those of a sea elf, locathah, sahuagin, or koalinth. The appeared to be of a humanoid with fat splayed feet. 

The Hemlock Pit

Cai'luin tracked the webbed prints out of the alley and towards a lagoon at the center of the Alchemist's Quarter - a lagoon of fetid mud known as Hemlock Pit. 

"Did they go into the mud?" asked Alot.

Cai'luin looked closer, "I don't think so. They sort of get lost between these two buildings - Dory's Warehouse and Chaucer's Industrial Alchemy."

The team, along with Constable Jute, gathered nearby to converse discreetly and observe the two buildings. 

Dory's Warehouse was three stories tall. The back face of Dory's Warehouse, that facing away from the Hemlock Pit, had large open barn doors and stevedores were unloading a wagon that was backed up to the entrance. A heavy crane was attached to the roof of the building. The crane jutted out over the lagoon on the far side of the building and supported a medium sized boat suspended by a thick chain and secured with steel cables. The boat looked decrepit and was covered in dangling moss. A metal pipe ran from a water tank atop the alchemist's laboratory next door to the suspended boat. A small exhaust-pipe at the bow of the boat, just under where the water pipe entered the boat, emitted a constant cloud of white steam. 

Captain Alot asked constable Jute if she could arrange a search of the warehouse. She informed them that Mister Dory was a member of the town council and was a very powerful individual in Poniard. Under no circumstances would she contemplate searching Mister Dory's warehouse. Alot then asked if maybe she could possibly look the other way for a while then. Jute gave him a stern look and told him that she would be obligated to report his actions as a crime.

"In fact," she continued, "I do not like where the implications inherent in this conversation. My shift is over and I must return to the garrison. If you need me for anything - anything that does not compromise my position as a constable of the watch - you can find me there! I would warn you against doing anything that might get you in trouble with the council. Good day!" She gave pointed at her eyes with two fingers and pointed at them as she left - a warning to stay out of trouble.

Patriarch Craig watched her leave with admiration in his dwarven eyes, "I like her."

"Agreed," said Alot. The others nodded in unison.

"Okay, what do we think is happening here?" asked Alot.

Patriarch Craig rubbed his bearded chin, "Flesh golems. I mean, they're alchemists right? Probably used some kind of mind control potion on Jarme. Probably bought bodies from the crematorium when they could and had Jarme kill people to get whatever else they needed."

Corvid nodded, "I concur."

Cai'luin said he was going to look around. He walked away from the group to get a closer look at the warehouse. He sauntered around the perimeter looking as casually as was possible for a noble-born sea-elf bard while whistling nonchalantly. 

A group of stevedores took notice and approached him, "Can I help you sir?"

Cai'luin held out his hands, "No, no. Just a humble merchant looking around. Sorry." before walking on. 

He returned to the group and said, "Well, what do we want to do? Do we want to sneak in and look around?"

Patriarch Craig, who had been walking around the area inspecting the old structures that were once temples, trying to identify the gods to which they were originally dedicated, said, "We should return to the tea-house. I have a plan."

A Clairvoyant Inspection

Back in the High Quarter Patriarch Craig once again produced the glass orb that served as a focus for his miraculous out-of-body travel. He held the orb to his forehead and spoke the prayer. His consciousness left his body and he found his perception hovering over the roof of Dory's Warehouse.

As he suspected, the roof consisted of large windows to let light in and to provide air circulation. It was around mid-day and he could see down into the warehouse.

On the top floor he saw a catwalk that ran the perimeter of the warehouse.

The second floor had a large square area on one end that was open to the first floor. He could look down onto the first floor and see a platform connected to winches that could be raised and lowered to the second and third floors. The second floor contained many crates in long term storage. From his angle high above he could just make the form of several sleeping creatures - lions with leathery wings and long spiked tails. They were manticores - the second floor was guarded by the manticores! He also saw a large red-skinned frog-like humanoid crouched in waiting, watching the stevedores below. Was that the creature that made the webbed foot prints? No, its feet were too large.

DM Note-

I had been describing the clairvoyance as if he was watching drone camera footage. The way Craig's player described the spell it sounded like he could move it around. So he moved the "drone" down to the first floor to look around. He wanted to look into a room with a closed door. It was at this point that I asked, "Can clairvoyance do that? What's the speed of clairvoyance? Does it have Darkvision?" Craig's player checked the spell and admitted he had been unintentionally cheating. Clairvoyance is stationary, it could not move. We were both confusing it with the Arcane Eye spell which CAN move. 

He apologized and, as penance, marked off one of his higher level spell slots.

Patriarch Craig broke the prayer and started over, this time he found his invisible eye inside the bow of the suspended boat. It was dark. The cabin contained a large boiler. The entire compartment was flooded waist-deep in cloudy brown water and was filled with steam. The walls dripped with condensation. 

Patriarch Craig once again ended the prayer and started over. His invisible eye was within the mid-deck compartment. It, too, was flooded like the bow and filled with steam. A dead body floated in the water face down. Two humps of cloudy water lurked in the corners, moving slowly. They appeared to be humans with smooth blubbery skin, nearly translucent like that of a jellyfish.

Craig once again said his prayer and he found himself in the stern compartment. Once again, the cabin was flooded and filled with steam. The cabin was an office with a desk that rose out of the water. Strange plants hung from the ceiling. He saw a tall humanoid form hanging from a hook in the corner - it was a human body composed of various mis-matched parts stitched together - a flesh golem!

"I knew it!" he murmured to himself, "Flesh golems!"

He could see some papers on the desk along with a mahogany box and a large book. He read as many of the notes and papers on the desk as he could could. Most were hand-scribbled bits of disturbing erotica, badly-drawn doodles of spirals and tentacled monsters, and a half-folded note on top of the large book that read: 

This book contains all the invocations and prayers you'll

need to learn the truth, Mr. Dory. The dark god's faithful

are wary of new converts. But learn the words, and they

should accept you soon enough. Seek their pulpit in the 

evening shadow of Frother's Lamp. Praise Tharizdun!

"Frother's Lamp," said Craig, "Does that mean anything to anyone?"

After some asking around they soon learned that Frother's Lamp was a local landmark in Flotsam - an old lighthouse that has sat empty and ruined for decades. It's the tallest point in the neighborhood and used as a landmark. 

It was getting late in the day and Patriarch Craig was feeling drained so they decided to rest and return in the morning. 

Frother's Lamp

The next morning they hired a gondola to take them to Flotsam. 

It was about an hour after sunrise when they exited the gondola onto the decrepit and ramshackle shanties of Flotsam. At the center of the mass of old buildings built layer on top of layer was a stone tower - the remnants of an old lighthouse - Frother's Lamp.

The team was immediately beset by a mass of dirty-faced children wearing rags. The children grabbed their hands and pulled, offering to act as guides. Little fingers tugged at coats and belts. Tiny bodies wriggled underfoot and swarmed around them. 

Aella complained, "Oh hell, we're getting fleeced!"

Corvid stood rigid and began to glow with dark purple energy. Ethereal skeletal raven wings appeared to sprout from his back and his eyes glowed with power. The children screamed and fled.

DM Note-

I opened character sheets and just started deleting small items - bottles of ink, daggers, rations, any small random thing. I deleted about 4-6 things from each character - except Corvid. 

They reached the base of Frother's Lamp, built upon the highest point of the small rocky island that formed the solid bedrock of Flotsam. The lighthouse was an empty shell. Only sea birds and weeds living in the empty stone cylinder. 

The team looked around but found nothing.

While they were looking, Craig asked the others about Tharizdun. Corvid told Craig what he knew- 

 Tharizdun, the Dark God, He of Eternal Darkness, is an evil deity of decay, insanity and darkness. 

Tharizdun's followers are united by a single ancient creed, found inscribed within one of his dark pyramids:

"Light must be snuffed, perfection decayed, order dissolved, and minds fragmented."

The rest of his religion consists of a sporadic collection of terrible holy texts, secretly guarded even from other sects and detailing terrible rituals and extraplanar horrors.

The clergy of Tharizdun preach that all things eventually crumble, and in time Tharizdun's victory over the gods will be complete.

Followers place great importance on the number three. For example, there are believed to be 333 Gems of Tharizdun, each an minor unholy artifact. Tharizdun's clerics cannot draw power from him unless they are in contact with an artifact such as these.

Tharizdun's few followers are almost all insane, and those who are not are extremely dangerous. Contact with the imprisoned Dark God is only possible in proximity to one of his remaining artifacts or forgotten unholy sites, and even then his blessings come at the cost of madness.

Many cults are unaware that the entity that they worship is Tharizdun. Unable to act upon the world directly, he dispenses his power from cover identities and aspects, such as the Elder Elemental Eye responsible for the infamous Temple of Elemental Evil.

Tharizdun's followers are highly secretive, and his temples are well hidden. Many follow him in the optimistic belief that he will spare his loyal servants when he destroys the multiverse. Their goal is to bring together all of his artifacts, and to free the Ebon God from his imprisonment, where he will destroy the multiverse. Although the cult's leaders are fully aware of this, many low-ranking members merely seek revenge against society, and are unaware with the full extent of the Dark God's destruction, should he be freed.

Tharizdun is followed by the Black Brotherhood, a dangerous sect of the Suloise Scarlet Brotherhood.

DM Note-

Corvid rolled a 22 on his Religion check so I just info-dumped on them from the Greyhawk Wiki.

Captain Alot looked to the west. It suddenly occurred to him. He looked to the east towards the sun. He looked up at the lighthouse and quickly calculated the angle of the shadow of the lighthouse during the setting sun. He looked down across the slum at a narrow canyon-like alley among the layered structures and gangplanks. 

"I think I found it."

DM's Note-

Everyone was looking around. Alot's player said, "Hey, if the sun were setting, about where would the shadow be? We should look there."

They crossed several rope-bridges and gang-planks and climbed down sets of rickety stairs and decaying ladders and poles to reach the very bottom of the alley. 

Here the many layers above had flattened the strata beneath to form a kind of artificial sedimentary substance. The brown water stank and was choked with garbage from the alley above. Jutting out from the layered strata across the narrow alley was the prow of an ancient ship. The bow was covered in heaps of trash. A plank crossed the alley to the ship.

The team readied their weapons and began crossing the plank. Alot led the way followed by Corvid and Aella.

As Alot reached the deck of the ship, the piles of trash shifted and three humanoid forms with smooth translucent skin like that of a jellyfish rose from their hiding places. The brandished javelins and prepared to throw. 

To Be Continued...