The Final Assault, Part 2 - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 47

Empress Seklaz drifted into the submerged throne room accompanied by her wave shaper and handmaidens. That disgusting piece of flotsam Baron Kepmak was sitting on the throne.

Baron Kepmak was laughing at some off-color joke told to him by one of his champions. He noticed the entrance of Seklaz, "Your highness, I assure you we will return your lost lobster to you in due time."

She hovered there for a moment, glaring at the four-armed baron. He looked at her as if wondering, "What else?"

She was already annoyed at the loss of Shern, her prized fighting lobster. Now the floundering idiot refused to vacate her chair.

Her words were measured but barely contained her growing annoyance. "You will vacate the throne for your empress."

Baron Kepmak finally realized his faux pas and bolted out of the throne made of corals and shells. He bowed apologetically as Seklaz moved to take his place. Her lip curled - it reeked of him. 

No matter. She was only here temporarily. Soon the combined forces of the sahuagin armies would converge on this stronghold. From here they would perform the ritual that would flood the entire coast. The surface dwellers would drown and her armies would quickly conquer the new territory. 

The priestesses had already demonstrated the power of the ritual in sinking the former lizard-folk stronghold which they now occupied by eighty feet. Soon they would complete the sinking of the island and begin capturing sacrifices for the greater ritual to come. 

A sahuagin warrior swam urgently into the throne room. "Your highness!" he blurted. 

Empress Seklaz glared at the warrior. The wave shaper chastised the warrior, "You will observe proper decorum!"

The warrior regained his composure and bowed. He waited to be recognized. The wave shaper said, "You may speak."

"Your highness, we are under attack. The surface scum attack from above while mer-folk, lizard-folk, and locathah attack the lower entrances underwater. An advance force of surface scum have gained entry through the outer and inner gate. Your highness - it appears to be the thieves who stole your lobster."

Empress Seklaz shot out of her throne. Her beady eyes flashed with anger. "You will kill the intruders at once!"

The warrior bowed and withdrew. 

Empress Seklaz looked at that oafish lout Kepmak, "Well? What are you standing around for? Go at once and defeat these intruders! Defend your stronghold, you idiot!"

CHAPTER 47

"THE FINAL ASSAULT, PART 2"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright.  

DM Note-

The party had thirty rounds before the force from Saltmarsh arrived at the front gate. It was now round 11.

Never Split the Party

Craig Oxworth was alone in a dark hallway surrounded by hostile fish-men. A celestial maelstrom of tiny hammers swirled around him, protecting him, grinding away at any foe that approached him. He advanced down the corridor and the fish-men retreated from the vortex. 

Ahead of him in the darkness two fishmen collapsed. The silhouette of Captain Baylore briefly stood over their bodies before melding into the shadows. Suddenly Captain Baylore stood behind Oxworth.

"There's a whole bunch of sahuagin warriors in the room to the left. There's, like, maybe three waiting to ambush you in the room to the right. Be careful."

"Where are the others?" asked Craig.

Baylore looked behind them, "They're invisible and strung out behind you."

"Are we  still making a run to take out the leaders on the second level?"

"No. We'll never make it in time. The forces from Saltmarsh will be here in two minutes. Change of plans. We're going to take out as many sahuagin warriors up here as we can. Are we good with that?"

"Got it." 

Baylore turned to the empty hallway littered with the dead bodies of sahuagin, "Everybody hear that? Don't worry about a stealth mission. Take out as many sahuagin as you can! There's a bunch in the room to the left."

The other invisible members of the party voiced their assent. 

Baylore turned back to Craig, "Release your spiritual guardians. Let the others through so they can attack. They'll become visible and once you can see them you can pray for more spiritual protection from your crazy-ass god."

Craig nodded and the vortex of hammers vanished. 

Baylore and Craig were immediately shoved to the side as Bordar, the invisible dwarf berserker charged past screaming.

Baylore said, "That will keep him busy. Alot, wherever you are come with me. We're going back to the entrance to keep the way clear for the forces from Saltmarsh." 

Aella became visible, "What about me?"

Baylore pointed in the direction of the screaming battle-dwarf, "Go with him."

Into the Barracks

Bordar slammed into the wall of sahuagin fish-men, his twin axes hewing a path of bloody slaughter. The room was filled with over two dozen fish-men warriors. They swarmed towards the entrance, blocking Bordar's advance.

Aella cast a spell and a magical tidal wave rose up out of the stone floor and washed over the attacking sahuagin knocking many off their feet.

Craig Oxworth stepped behind Bordar and prayed to Saint Ogden, Chosen Defender of the Gates of Death. He was once again enveloped in a swirling cyclone of celestial hammers that chewed through any enemy that stayed too close to him. The cyclone of hammers helped clear the path for Bordar's advance. Bordar moved to the edge of the cyclone and engaged the enemy as they stood just outside its effects. A few valiant sahuagin charged through the cyclone to attack Craig only to fall before the holy defense.

They had slowly advanced thirty feet into the room before they heard a loud and ominous presence in the darkness on the far side of the large chamber. There was a brief flash of light from a spark generated by a javelin. For a split second they caught a glimpse of a massive four-armed sahuagin surrounded by a coterie of armored warriors. 

Manning the Gate

Back at the entrance, Captain Baylore saw that the portcullis was still down. The room was littered with nearly a dozen sahuagin bodies. A handful of sahuagin warriors were on the other side of the portcullis - trapped outside. The pirate captain examined the large capstan that raised and lowered the portcullis was heavy and would require some effort to work. 

"Alot, you here?"

A disembodied voice answered, "Right here."

"You raise the portcullis and I'll handle these guys as they come through."

"I can raise the portcullis," said another disembodied voice. It was Oceanus. "I would have raised it already but I was by myself. I didn't want to get swarmed by those guys."

"Okay, you raise the portcullis. Alot and I will deal with the sahuagin."

Baylore and Alot stood in front of the portcullis. Sahuagin were poking their spears between the bars at them. Alot once again became visible as he drew his short sword and stabbed back through the bars. The Sahuagin withdrew from the portcullis and away from Alots' attacks. 

The capstan began turning on its own as the invisible Oceanus went to work. The portcullis bars raised to knee-level.

Captain Baylore stepped away from the portcullis and disappeared into a shadow. He reappeared in the vestibule on the other side of the portcullis and engaged some of the sahuagin there. 

The portcullis was raised to chest height. Alot crawled underneath and engaged the sahuagin warriors. One warrior blocked Alot's attack and disengaged. The warrior ducked underneath the portcullis and pulled the quick-release pin that connected the capstan chain to the portcullis. The heavy iron portcullis slammed shut with a loud bang trapping Alot and Baylore in the vestibule.

Alot cursed, "God-DAMMIT!"

Baylore was fighting a sahuagin warrior in the back of the room, "Alot, do you got these?"

Alot, still annoyed at the warrior's subterfuge, sighed, "Yes. I got it."

Baylore backed into the darkness and reappeared back in the inner chamber on the other side of the portcullis. He quickly dispatched the warrior that released the chain. 

"I'm going back to help the others. You finish up here."

Baylore stepped backwards into shadow and was gone.

Alot dispatched the remaining sahuagin and returned to the portcullis.

Oceanus, now visible, said, "I can reattach the chain and raise it again. But it's going to take a little bit."

Alot took off his backpack and withdrew a crowbar, "Don't worry about it."

He took the crowbar to the portcullis and wedged it into the side. He was able to use the leverage of the crowbar to pop the portcullis out of its rails. The heavy iron gate fell to the floor. 

DM Note-

Alot's player said he used the crowbar to open the portcullis. He rolled well - with Advantage thanks to the crowbar - but my mind had trouble imagining how the crowbar helped. 

I asked Alot's player, "How would a crowbar help? It would only raise the portcullis a few inches. No wait, I got it." I started describing what I thought but I stopped myself. I turned it around, "Instead of me saying it, you describe it. You tell me how the crowbar opened the portcullis."

Alot's player was momentarily confused, "I'll be honest. I figured a good die roll would do the trick."

I said, "Yeah, but paint me a word picture. How did it help? I have an idea but let's hear yours."

I think its important to let players have some narrative control, especially when applying game mechanics to a situation that doesn't immediately make sense.

Alot's player stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. He described how the crowbar popped the gate out of its rails in the wall. I said, "Genius! Well done! That was better than my idea!"

My idea, BTW, was simply to bend the bars wide enough to allow someone to squeeze through. His idea was far superior. 

After disabling the portcullis Alot turned to the heavy stone doors of the main entrance. He used a hammer and some iron spikes to wedge the door permanently open. 

He took a look outside. He saw the boats carrying the forces of Saltmarsh approaching. They would be here in a little over a minute. 

Arrival of Kepmak

The large four-armed Baron Kepmak entered the barracks opposite the party. He walked slowly and cautiously into the room. He was accompanied by eight of his finest champions. He carried a javelin in one of his four hands that occasionally sparked and arced with the ground, briefly illuminating the monstrous sahuagin noble and the room still filled with over a dozen warriors. 

The warriors cleared a path in front of the baron. 

Bordar slew the last remaining sahuagin with which he was engaged. There was no one between him and the baron.

Bordar said to the others, "Hey, he's got a javelin of lightning too, just like mine!"

Craig said, "Bordar, that javelin of lightning IS yours."

Bordar looked confused, "What do you mean?"

Aella explained, "Remember when we were running away from this place yesterday? You threw your javelin but didn't pick it up. That is YOUR javelin of lightning - the one you left!"

Bordar's eyes narrowed in anger, "Oh, that sumbitch must PAY!"

Craig grabbed Bordar by the back of his collar, "Yeah, but right now, let's withdraw to the corridor and get some cover."

Baron Kepmak continued to approach.

Not a Good Round for Kepmak

Aella, Bordar, and Craig had withdrawn to the corridor. Captain Baylore came jogging down the corridor from the entrance, "What's going on?"

Craig darted across the opening to the barracks to the other side of the corridor. Baron Kepmak saw the dwarf and threw his javelin of lightning. 

He missed and the javelin stuck into the wall. 

DM Note-

Dammit! So disappointing!

Craig filled Captain Baylore in on what was going on, "There's a big guy in there and he looks tough."

Baylore made a quick glance around the corner to assess the situation. He rolled his eyes, "Is that all? Okay, follow my lead!"

Baylore withdrew into the darkness. Suddenly he stepped in front of Baron Kepmak and delivered a severe strike to the fish-man's solar plexus. 

Baron Kepmak staggered backwards. He stood still, unable to move or breathe. 

Baylore turned to the others and said, "He's all yours". He sauntered back to the corridor brushing off his hands.

Aella withdrew a scroll and opened it. Although she could see in the total darkness of the sahuagin lair her vision couldn't discern the words on the scroll. 

DM Note-

I ruled that you can't read in dim light. 

I swear I read that somewhere. Maybe 4th edition. I honestly can't find it now but I swear I remember it.

Aella's player cried foul and said that she could read in moonlight or dim firelight. I apologized and said my ruling stood. Even if its not RAW, its my interpretation and it makes it more interesting. 

Bordar was angry. He hurled both his magical axes - Fate and Fury - at the stunned baron. They missed and clanged to the floor. He reached to his back and withdrew a javelin.

It crackled to life with sparks of electricity.

DM Note-

Me: "Hey! I said you don't have your javelin of lightning. I was serious."

Bordar's Player: (chuckling) "Oh, but this is my OTHER javelin of lightning!"

Me: "I thought Alot had it!"

Alot's Player: "Nope, I gave mine to him after we escaped. He's legit."

Me: "Oh. Oh ho ho. That's awesome!"

Bordar pointed the javelin at Baron Kepmak. Lightning arced and danced off his hands.

It was enough light for Aella to read the scroll. She stepped forward and spoke aloud the incantation. Baron Kepmak, still stunned from Baylore's strike, became enveloped in magical force. He was held tight. 

Baron Kepmak's champions ran to his aid. They charged at Bordar but were unable to stop his throw.

Bordar hurled the javelin over the heads of the baron's champions. The javelin struck the baron. Lightning exploded and ran in a line back to Bordar's outstretched hands. 

Baron Kepmak shuddered and convulsed before falling to the floor dead. His charred corpse lay lifeless on the ground steaming.

Alot Covers the Flank

The Portcullis ran past Oceanus down a corridor leading to the armory room. The corridor was protected by two warriors armed with spears and two heavy fighters armed with hammers. Alot drew his own hammer and dove into the defenders. 

The four sahuagin defended their stronghold with a dedication and ferocity Alot had never before witnessed. His magical hammer was a blur of motion during the pitched battle with the four fish-men. 

The two hammer-wielding sahuagin put up the strongest defense. There they managed to hold Alot at bay for nearly an entire minute. 

Ultimately the four sahuagin lay on the floor dead but Alot had been brutally injured. His mechanical gears strained. His metal bones were fractured. Artificial blood ran out the gaps in his heavy draconic plate armor in iridescent rivulets. 

He paused for a moment to catch his breath. He heard a loud electric zap echo down the corridor ahead. Something big had happened. He regained his composure and ran towards the fight.

DM Note-

Alot has an Armor Class of 25. Let me repeat that for clarity: TWENTY-FIVE. Alot's player built him and has developed him over time as an experiment in maximizing armor class. 

I can only hit him with a natural twenty - or by warriors with advantage who have been blessed. He is nigh invulnerable and is unaccustomed to taking any damage whatsoever. 

Luckily, against enemies with less than their full hit points, sahuagin attack with advantage. 

Last week I did eight points of damage to Alot and he was still injured. Each sahuagin got two to three attack with advantage - so I got four to six chances to roll a natural twenty per sahuagin. 

This added up and I was able to score multiple hits against him! Every time I hit Alot I did a little dance in front of my computer and the other players came to enjoy my celebration.

Then I reduced Alot to half his maximum hit points - he was "bloodied". I was so excited! I did an extra-special celebratory dance! 

I bloodied Alot! Mister Twenty-Five Armor Class! Bloodied! 

I was so happy!

Victory

There was an audible gasp that swept through the ranks of the sahuagin warriors. Their leader, Baron Kepmak, was dead. They froze in panic. A few turned and fled.

Those champions that were still engaged with Bordar, Craig, and Baylore at the entrance continued to fight. They fought to the death in search of vengeance for their fallen leader.

The champions in the room retreated slowly and covered the escape of the other sahuagin as they began to flee out the exit at the back of the room. So many were fleeing that they formed a clog at the exit.

Having defeated the champions at the entrance, Bordar and Baylore moved farther into the room. They allowed the champions to slowly cover the retreat. 

Baylore moved to the exit to the left that led to the armory. There he met Alot. 

The party was reunited. They could hear the shouts of armored fighting men charging past the vestibule at the main entrance. The sound of fighting in other chambers soon echoed down every corridor. 

Duke Obertus Feldren, Marshall of Seaton, and his daughter Lemundo charged into armory and barracks. Commander Fireborn, wearing the armor of an officer of Keoland, hobbled right behind them on his prosthetic leg.  

They met Captain Baylore and his crew and clasped hands. 

Captain Baylore and the crew of the Sea Ghost had been relieved. They had accomplished their mission and had cleared the way for an easy retaking of the lizard-folk stronghold.

The battle was won, they could rest.

To be Continued...

Final Outcome

Baron Kepmak defeated = 25 victory points

Opening the gate = 15 victory points

Blademaster Mahakat defeated = 10 victory points

Coral Smahsers, 5 points each x 8 = 40 victory points

Champions, 3 points each x 9 = 27 victory points

Warriors, 1 point each x 45! = 45 victory points

Total score = 162 victory points

The Final Assault , Part 1 - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 46

Oceanus emerged from the sea and climbed a ladder onto the docks of Saltmarsh. His people, the Sea Elves of Manaan, had been excluded from the Marsh Alliance due to the king's treachery but he was an honorary member of the Marsh Water tribe of lizard-folk. He had been given a reptile name. He was honor-bound to serve Princess Orthokent's alliance. King Pelagius could rot in Hell! 

He saw a ship approaching from the west, back lit by the setting sun. As it came closer he gritted his teeth in recognition - it was the Sea Ghost. He had once been assigned by King Pelagius to investigate the Sea Ghost due to its strange and mysterious journeys along the coast near his homeland. During his investigation he learned that the crew was smuggling weapons. He was captured and imprisoned in a small compartment on the ship. He cursed his time within the hold but remembered fondly meeting his fellow prisoner - the automaton Sentinel named Alot Aname. 

As the ship came into port Oceanus was relieved to see his friend Alot on the deck of the ship accompanied by Aella the storm sorceress - the half-elf eldest child of King Pelagius and therefore his future monarch. He had not seen them for several months - not since the king assassinated the koalinth delegate at the Marsh Games. The thought of his king's treachery once again brought shame to Oceanus.

Soldiers were waiting for the crew of the Sea Ghost. Alot and Aella, as well as their other new colleagues, were whisked away to a tall structure at the center of town. Oceanus hurried to catch up.

CHAPTER 46

"THE FINAL ASSAULT, PART 1"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright.  

Special Guest Star:

• Oceanus - Neutral Good, Sea Elf and friend of Aella and Alot.

DM Note- 

A friend of mine is interested in using Roll20 so he asked if he could sit in on a game to see how it worked. He also wanted to play so I let him play Oceanus. 

Planning the Assault

Oceanus joined the crowd of warriors consisting of a mix of humans, lizard-folk, mer-folk, and locathah in the town hall. He watched as Princess Orthokent personally thanked Aella and Alot's and the crew of the Sea Ghost for their daring raid. She asked them what they learned.

They each took turns describing the layout of the stronghold - noting the changes the sahuagin had made since taking it from the lizard-folk. Captain Baylore of the Sea Ghost described the inhabitants he saw in each chamber. He listed the defenses and provided an estimate of the number of sahuagin troops on hand. Princess Orthokent asked about the location of the sahuagin empress. Baylore admitted that he didn't see the empress but indicated the location of the throne room occupied by the baron in charge of the base.

Princess Orthokent once again thanked them and turned the meeting over to Eliander Fireborn, commander of the allied forces. Eliander told the assembly that there was no time to lose. The alliance would set sail for the final assault at once. The forces of Keoland from Saltmarsh and Seaton would sail by ship and would attack the upper entrance across the causeway. The combined forces of the allied lizard-folk tribes, the locathah, and mer-folk would attack the lower entrance underwater. They would set sail immediately so that the assault could begin at dawn - when the nocturnal sahuagin normally slept.

Commander Fireborn said that the crew of the Sea Ghost had the most experience with the the interior of stronghold and asked Captain Baylore and the crew if they would lead the assault as an advance force. The remaining forces from Saltmarsh and Seaton would follow a few minutes behind. 

"Your mission will be to spend those minutes clearing a path for the invasion behind you. Kill as many of the enemy as you can. Target the higher ranking the sahuagin. The more damage we can do to their elites and their leaders the easier it will be for the rest of us during the assault."

Captain Baylore said it would be an honor but admitted that the entrance was protected by a thick stone door and a portcullis. It would be difficult to enter. 

Newly invested Baron Anders Solmor interrupted. He said he could help. He had recently acquired twelve magical potions - six that would render the drinker invisible and six that would turn the drinker  into a cloud of magical fog. He offered them to the crew to allow them entry. 

"But there are literally only five of you," noted Baron Solmor, "What about the sixth potions?"

"Give them to me!" said Oceanus from the crowd, "Let me join you in the assault! That is, if you'll have me!"

The crew of the Sea Ghost greeted Oceanus warmly and gave him a place in their party. 

The Assault Begins

The allied fleet, led by the Sea Ghost, sailed west that night along the coast of the Hool Marsh. The fleet anchored off shore from the tall rocky island stronghold of the sahuagin. Soon a floatilla of landing craft and long-boats carried over a hundred soldiers to the landing of the causeway that connected the shore to the above-water entrance. The allied forces established a base-camp and the landing of the causeway and formed up for their assault. 

DM Note-

Baylore's player told the others, "Okay, I have a plan." And he laid out his plan and listened to alternatives. His plan was agreed on and set into motion.

I later told him I thought his plan was going to be, "Okay, I have a plan. Everybody else stay out here. I'll be back in five minutes."

He said that WAS an option. 

I also pointed out that while in gaseous form they wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. Baylore said that he was carrying Shern the telepathic lobster and that as long as everyone stayed within ten feet Shern would act as a communications node. Baylore would transmit a visual image of what he wanted to Sher and Shern would share that with image with the other members of the party. 

I thought that was pretty inventive so I didn't spend a lot of time poking holes in it. 

The B-Team prepared to lead the way. They organized their formation and crossed the causeway. Once they were outside the stone door they each drank a magical potion. They turned into vaguely humanoid gaseous shapes and oozed through the cracks around the door. 

They found that the entrance had been reinforced with half a dozen sahuagin warriors and a commanding officer. The defenders marveled at the fog as it poured through the cracks and slithered towards the portcullis as if directed by some unseen force. They grabbed their spears and began jabbing at the gaseous shapes. 

It was then that the intruders discovered that they were not impervious to harm while in their gaseous state. They could feel the stabbing spears and experienced the pain of being impaled even as the attacks caused no visible injury. 

The B-Team endured the attacks and pushed through to the portcullis. 

One through the portcullis the B-Team resumed solid form and fanned out. Craig and Aella took the right flank while Oceanus, Alot, and Bordar pushed forward to the left. Captain Baylore moved around the room at random, emerging from the shadows to attack individual sahuagin warriors. The team was unable to stop sahuagin guards stationed at the exits from escaping to warn their fellows. 

Captain Baylore and Bordar pushed down the corridor leading to the armory and held the line at a left turn in the corridor. The corridor contained another dozen guards who readied themselves behind cover in preparation for an attack. Aella and Bordar made tentative forays into the room but were attacked by the prepared defenders. 

DM Note-

I misread the rules for the Ready action. For some reason I thought it said:

Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger.

-and in my mind that included their full action - move and attack. 

So the defending sahuagin were hiding behind cover, moving out to attack, then moving back behind cover. The players did not like that so a stand-off developed and the players ultimately opted to back up and take a different route. 

After the game, I looked it up and the whole section reads:

Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. 

I apologized to the group for my error. As compensation I'll be awarding some additional victory points.

Meanwhile, back in the portcullis room, Craig said a prayer to Saint Ogden and was surrounded by a maelstrom of glowing hammers. Sahuagin backed away from him to avoid the spiritual attack but he moved around the room following them. A few hardy defenders charged Craig in an attempt to end his concentration but they failed. 

Alot was locked in deadly combat with the sahuagin commanding officer. The two traded blows but the officer was unable to do much to the heavily armored automaton. Alot ultimately defeated the officer with assistance from Oceanus'. 

Subterfuge

The defenders of the portcullis room were eventually defeated but reinforcements could be heard running down all three corridors that led into the room. Baylore ordered the others to form up and use the magical dust of disappearance to become invisible. 

"What about Craig?" said Alot.

"Don't worry about me!" said the dwarf, "I can't get close to you. You aren't exempt from my spiritual guardians! I'll drink my potion!"

The team retreated into the room and formed a tight group. Alot threw the packet of dust into the air. The sparkly dust fell upon them and they became invisible. 

Craig moved to the corridor to the right. Several sahuagin were blocking passage about thirty feet away. They retreated as Craig, surrounded by his spiritual whirlwind, advanced down the corridor. The others moved invisibly behind him. 

The defending guards from the armory moved into the portcullis room but were unable to locate any of the invisible intruders. They were soon joined by the second wave of sahuagin guards from the left corridor. 

The B-Team was now strung out down the corridor to the right but no one knew where the others were located. Captain Baylore was far out in front of the group - scouting ahead and locating sahuagin defenses. Craig was engaged with two defenders in the hallway. Bordar was moving stealthily down the corridor behind him followed by Alot and Oceanus. Aella was still making her way out of the Portcullis room as the defenders from the armory searched around for invisible invaders.

More defenders prepared for them.

To Be Continued...

DM Note-

I paused the game at round 10. The invasion began around 9pm. From 9pm - midnight we managed ten rounds of combat. 

I followed the book's instructions and didn't tell them how long they had before the assault began. However, by NOT telling them it removed the sense of urgency. As a result I told them after the session that they had used up 10 rounds of the total 30. That way they have a motivation to ignore the little guys and target the high scoring big bads.

And finally, I realized after the game that I absent-mindedly deleted some of the sahuagin tokens to clear room. I shouldn't have done that because they count towards the party score tally at the end. I'll just have to assign +2d4  points  at the end to accommodate the missing points.  

The Accidental Emancipation of a Psychic Lobster - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 45

The team had covered themselves in magic dust that made them invisible in order to covertly explore and map the stronghold of the sahuagin fish-men. 

Captain Baylore had just finished mapping the lowest level and returned to the group waiting for him on the second level. The dust had worn off and they were once again visible. They floated underwater cloaked in darkness. 

Baylore recounted all that he saw and Aella updated the maps given to the team by the lizard-folk based on Baylore's description.

Suddenly there was a clamor from down a nearby corridor. Some sahuagin were hissing and gurgling in alarm. They were swimming as fast as they could into the audience chamber. Whatever it was that upset him was urgent and very important.

Had the team been discovered? They did leave a lot of dead bodies at the entrance on the first level. 

They were about to find out.

CHAPTER 45

"THE ACCIDENTAL EMANCIPATION OF A PSYCHIC LOBSTER"

The B-Team:

• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket, daughter of the king of the sea elves, Deck Sorceress of the Sea Ghost.
• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater, Bosun of the Sea Ghost.
• Captain Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk), Captain of the Sea Ghost.
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), exiled from his clan, Ballast of the Sea Ghost.
• Craig "Blunderbuss" Oxworth - Lawful Good Dwarven Priest of St. Ogden (Cleric), sailor and shipwright.  

The Way Out

It was obvious that a group of sahuagin had rushed to report something important to the four-armed leader in the nearby throne-room around the corner. No one in the party could speak the language of the sahuagin so they didn't know what was being reported.

"Are we discovered?" inquired Alot.

"I don't know," said Captain Baylore, "Its likely that someone discovered our little massacre at the entrance. Whatever, we got what we came fore. Let's get out of here. Aella, how do we get back to the entrance?"

"What about the secret escape tunnel?" said the half-elf sorceress.

"The what?"

"Its here on the lizard-folk map. Its down on the third level where you said the torture chamber was. Its closer to us than the entrance."

Captain Baylore considered the route, "I don't like it. There were a lot of sahuagin down there. We know for sure there weren't many on the first level. Lets go back the way we came."

They could breathe thanks to magic potions of water breathing. Captain Baylore and Aella each wore a magical cloak that resembled a manta ray. The cloaks propelled them through the water as if they were flying. As an automaton Alot had been modified to operate underwater. Bordar wore a magical ring that allowed them to swim quickly despite being a dwarf. Craig, unfortunately, had only the potion. He moved sluggishly through the water. Captain Baylore resorted to carrying the the dwarf to prevent him from slowing everyone else down.

With that the team retraced their path towards the stairs leading up to the first level. 

Battle at the Stairs

The gallery containing the stairs up had three sahuagin guards posted at each of the four entrances. Each unit of guards were also accompanied by an trained attack shark clad in battle armor. 

Baylore shouted, "Go! Go! Move fast! Get up the stairs! I'll stop them from getting reinforcements!" The pirate captain stepped into a shadow and mysteriously reappeared across the gallery next to one of the far pair of guards. 

The automaton warrior Alot joined the dwarf berserker Bordar in fighting the pair of guards at the entrance. 

The trio on the stairs and one each from each of the pairs at the flanking entrances rushed to join their companions in blocking the intruders from entering the room. One each of the remaining guards at each of the flanking entrances fled to get assistance while the last guard and one shark blocked the entrance in order to defend their flight. 

Baylore moved quickly and dispatched the guard blocking his path but it was too late. The fleeing guards had rounded the corner and were out of sight. 

"They're going to bring help. Let's go! Now!"

Craig said a prayer to Saint Ogden the dwarven defender of the dead. Suddenly the entire gallery drained of all water. Baylore could feel the water rushing past him. The gallery was wet but now filled with air. The amphibious sahuagin warriors had to balance themselves on the floor but soon regained their footing. Their attack sharks, however, flopped helplessly on the floor, their mouths gasping and gills flapping. 

Alot and Bordar finally pushed their way into the air-filled gallery. They soon had the sahuagin routed but they could see more of them approaching down the corridors. The fleeing guards grabbed their attack sharks and carried them to the wall of water so that they might survive.

DM Note-

The players liked that touch. They appreciated that the sahuagin cared about their shark pets or at least appreciated the time and effort that went into training them.

Captain Baylore instructed the others to wait for a moment. He wanted to check the room above before they ascended the stairs. He stealthily took a quick look. The room still contained nearly a dozen slaves chained together and digging at a rock wall. The room was guarded by half a dozen sahuagin, a commander, and a priestess. The sound of the digging tools ringing off stone was loud enough to mask the recent battle at the foot of the stairs. 

He returned and gathered everyone together. He told them his plan.

The Unfinished Room

Captain Baylore stealthily advanced up the stairs. He closed his eyes in concentration and the area around the top of the stairs was plunged into a cloud of inky blackness which blinded the sahuagin.

At that moment, the rest of the team crept up the stairs behind him. Craig released the pocket of air and allowed the water to rush back into the gallery below. He then said another prayer and the entire gallery became engulfed in a great whirlpool. Any creature that entered the gallery had to fight the chaotic current of the maelstrom. 

The team held hands and gathered together. Bordar poured a packet of Dust of Disappearance over the assembled team and they became invisible. Together they climbed the stairs as a group. the level above was above the water line. They were all dripping wet but were no longer underwater.

Baylore dispelled the darkness surrounding them. The sahuagin had surrounded the darkness with spears at the ready but were surprised to find no intruders! Unfortunately, the exit was still blocked. 

Baylore broke away from the huddled group. He stepped into a shadow and mysteriously re-emerged near a sahuagin who appeared to be a priestess of some kind. Baylore was now visible and his sudden appearance caused great alarm among the Sahuagin. His plan was to draw the guards away from the door so that the others could exit. 

Baylore pointed towards the stairs and the illusion of Bordar the dwarf came bursting into the room. The illusory dwarf charged the sahuagin near Baylore. 

Several sahuagin rushed Baylore and the illusory Bordar. The illusion vanished. The priestess was forced to disengage from Baylore while the other guards attacked.

Then Alot and the real Bordar attacked the guards at the exit and the plan fell apart. 

Instead of being patient waiting in stealth for an opening, everyone abandoned their invisibility by attacking or casting spells. Baylore cursed.

Aealla called forth a magical tidal wave that crashed into the sahuagin guarding the door. This caused her to become visible. The half-elf was surrounded and was quickly overwhelmed. She was blocked on all sides and she was having difficulty avoiding the sahuagin spears. 

One of the guards at the exit slipped away to go get help, opening a path through to the corridor.

Alot shouted back to Aella, "Do you need me to help?"

The disembodied voide of Craig the dwarf, the only member of the team still invisible, ran past Alot into the corridor beyond, "No, she's got it. Watch this."

Aella cowered with her arms over her head. Suddenly lightning began to crackle around her. The sahuagin paused in their attack and backed up. The storm sorceress slowly stood up, wreathed in lightning, he eyes glowing with energy. She was angry.

Aella disappeared in a peal of thunder and a cloud of steam. Great arcs of lightning struck down all the enemies surrounding her. They fell to the ground dead. Aella simultaneously appeared in another peal of thunder behind Craig. 

Alot stared in disbelief. 

Craig said, "I knew it." He said a prayer of healing and became visible. "How are you feeling?"

Aella gave the dwarf a high five, "Much better! Let's go!"

Bordar and Alot, having defeated the guards at the door, hesitated. Alot asked the captain if he needed any help with the others.

Baylore's voice revealed his frustration, "Do whatever you want! I'm done giving orders! If you're not going to follow the plan and go you might as well just kill these guys. I don't care!"

Alot got the hint and joined the others in the corridor.

Bordar said, "Do you have any packets? We need to become invisible again."

Baylore disengaged from the sahuagin and rejoined his team.

Alot, still uncertain about the path ahead, continued to ask questions, "Which way should we go? That way towards the second guard post or back the way we came? What are we doing? Should we wait for the captain?"

Baylore glared at the automaton, "Whatever! Just sprinkle the damn dust!"

Alot sprinkled the team with another packet of dust and they became invisible. Immediately afterwards the pursuing sahuagin came around the corner. They had to decide go left or right? They chose the path to the left, abandoning the corridor with the invisible intruders. 

DM Note-

I rolled randomly which route the guards would take. They chose the wrong one.

The Exit

The party, once again invisible and holding on to each other's hands to stay together, followed Aella's lead down the corridor and towards the guard room where they entered the stronghold. 

As they neared the room they could see two sahuagin standing guard at the entrance. They could hear others around the corner within the room. 

The team paused to work out their strategy.

Bordar said, "Right! I'm charging in!" and began stomping off the wrong way.

Baylore quickly grabbed the invisible dwarf and hissed, "Bordar! The other way!"

There was a pause followed by, "Ah, got it. Let's go!"

There was the stomping of boots as Bordar and Alot charged the two guards blocking the entrance, losing their invisibility as they attacked. 

The room was filled with nearly ten sahuagin who quickly converged on the entrance to block their escape. 

Bordar threw his javelin of lightning across the room at the commander. He spoke the command word and a bolt of lightning danced from the commander, his two lieutenants, and two guards, to his outstretched hand. 

Alot and Bordar fought a hard slog through the defenders trying to block their escape. The rest of the team was hampered by being trapped behind them in the corridor beyond

They eventually opened a hole through the choke point and moved into the room where they could engage with the sahuagin commander. 

The portcullis leading to the exit was closed. It would have to be opened for any chance of escape.

The bodies of fallen sahuagin were piling onto the floor but the commander and his remaining two lieutenants put up a hard fight but were eventually defeated.

The Great Escape

The sound of wet feet slapping on the stone floors could be heard from two of the corridors leading to the room. Reinforcements were coming. 

Captain Baylore reiterated the need to escape through the closed portcullis. Alot and Craig both tried to lift the portcullis but failed. Bordar began turning the large crank that raised the portcullis but the going was slow. 

The reinforcements arrived - a dozen fresh sahuagin guards accompanied by two priestesses. 

Bordar had raised the portcullis just enough to crawl before he was paralyzed by a dark prayer uttered by a sahuagin priestess.

Alot, Craig, and Aella crawled beneath the portcullis and made their way to the partially submerged causeway. 

Baylore grabbed the immobilized Bordar and dragged him under the portcullis. 

They were pursued by two guards. Baylore held the guards at bay while Bordar regained control of his body and joined the others just outside the exit.

Bordar shouted, "Quickly! Who's got a packet of dust?"

Craig replied, "I do, but the Captain's not with us!"

Captain Baylore shouted, "Don't worry about me! Use the dust and go!"

Craig sprinkled dust on the gathered group. They became invisible. Thanks to the potions they drank earlier they could still breathe water so they dove into the sea. 

Baylore disengaged from the guards and dove into the water. Thanks to his magical mata ray cloak the sahuagin pursuers had no chance of catching him. 

As they fled a priestess shouted at them in Common, "Thieves! Intruders! Flee! Flee! But know you this! You have stolen the Empress' prize fighting Lobster! For this crime you will find no rest, no peace, no succor until it is returned unharmed! The Empress will have her vengeance!" 

To be Continued...

Next week- The Assault on the Stronghold!

The Broken Mirror - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 28

Baylore the human pirate had become trapped within a magic mirror.

His companions in the B-Team stared on in disbelief. Once the initial panic died down they began to weigh their options.

A magical password was required to free Baylore from the mirror. The only person who knew the password was the Abbot of the monastery. He had died in the pirate raid two weeks ago. Ozymandias, the highest ranking survivor of the pirate raid, may have known but he was killed the previous day when the B-Team stormed the monastery. The two surviving monks - who were actually members of an evil cult - had no knowledge about the mirror. The current duke of Seaton, the pretender, might know. They could take the mirror to the wizard Keledek in Saltmarsh. Maybe he could help them.

Aella said, "Enough talk!" She picked up a rock and threw it at the mirror.

Everyone froze in horror!

The rock hit the mirror, creating a deep spider-web like impact crater, and bounced off.

"What are you doing?" demanded Brenna, breathlessly.

"If we destroy the mirror, everyone trapped within it gets released." replied Aella.

"Then why are you using a bloody rock?" said Brenna, "Hit it with some zap-zap!"

Aella nodded, "Good idea!" She pointed at the mirror and released an icy bolt of magical energy.

The mirror shattered into a thousand tiny shards.

The room filled with its formerly trapped inhabitants.

Chaos ensued.

CHAPTER 28

"THE BROKEN MIRROR"

The B-Team:

• Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk). 
• Brenna Whalersdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler. 
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), on a quest to rescue the son of the leader of his clan.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket. 

Brain Jellies:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater.

Prisoners of the Magic Mirror

A silver mist expanded from the mirror, filling the room. The mist coalesced into nine swirling shapes. Each shape took form and resolved into a humanoid once held prisoner within the mirror.

1. A middle-aged man wearing the colors of the Duke of Seaton over his plate armor. 
2. A young dwarf with a badly-shaved beard.
3. A pirate with a crazed demeanor.
4. An elderly man wearing the robes of the abbot of the monastery of Procan.
5. A hulking blue frog-thing with long bony spikes protruding from its forearms.
6. A massive animated snake skeleton with a fanged human skull. It had glowing green eyes and slithered quickly through the throng before coiling up by the stairs.
7. A massive reptilian lizard-man with blue scales. He bore a long club tipped with obsidian blades.
8. Something else, an unseen malevolent presence.
9. Baylore.

DM Note-
I gave each of the players an NPC to run for this combat. There's no way I was running NPC-on-NPC fighting all by myself!

Aella's player ran the lizard-king.
Bordar's player ran the duke.
Baylore's player ran the crazy pirate.
Brenna's player ran the dwarf prince.
I ran the abbot. 
The players chose to keep Lemundo out of the fight. She stood away with Alot. 

Aella felt an invisible presence near her by the stairs. The presence slammed into her, hitting her on her head. She swung her staff in a counter-attack but the presence was already gone.

The massive blue frog-thing bellowed a throaty laugh. It croaked, "Wow! It's so great to be free! I'm so hungry! And I'm surrounded by such juicy morsels! Hey you! Little dude!" He was standing next to and addressed Bordar, "You look like a tasty snack! Climb in my mouth! I want to eat you!"

The blue frog-thing stabbed its bone spikes at Bordar. One bone spike stuck into Bordar's shoulder and injected him with some kind of red liquid. The liquid spread quickly under Bordar's skin, radiating outward from the wound like tiny wriggling subcutaneous worms. Bordar screamed in pain.

DM Note-
Bordar was hit by the Blue Slaad's claw attack. He had to make a DC 15 Constitution Saving Throw or be infected by the Chaos Phage. Bordar failed and was infected. This meant that Bordar could not regain lost hit points - ie, healing. More to come.

Bordar escaped the blue frog-thing and made his way to the young dwarf. It was Dorgan Forgetender, the son of the clan leader. "Dorgan! Your beard! What have they done to you?"

Dorgan's hair and beard had been poorly shorn. Dorgan stood proudly and defiantly and declared, "You may call me PRINCE Dorgan!"

Borday blinked and said, "What?" The nearby lizard-man brought him back to the situation at hand. Bordar picked up the young "prince" and carried him to the edge of the room and away from the fight. The red tendrils in the wound in his shoulder pulsed with agony.

Aella addressed the lizard-man in low-Draconic, the language of the lizard-folk, "Great Lizard-King! My name is Aella. We are allied with the Marsh Water Clan and I am a friend of Princess Orthokent. We seek your aid in defeating the monsters!"

The lizard-man stood proud, "Anyone who fights with my daughter, Orthokent, is a friend of King Kosj! I will aid you!" King Kosj turned his club towards the skeletal snake-creature.

DM Note-
Aella's player could not have chosen a better thing to say on her turn. King Kosj was going to be a wild card. He could be ally or enemy depending on how the PCs treated him.

Lemundo called out to the middle aged man, "Father! Father! It's me, Lemundo!"

The man looked around, confused, "Daughter? What is happening?"

"Father! You've been freed! But we are in danger! You must help the humans and dwarves defeat the bone thing and the frog thing!"

The man looked at the lizard king, "King Kosj! Are you responsible for this?"

The lizard king hissed at the middle aged man, "Duke Feldren! No, I was as much a prisoner as you!"

Duke Feldren nodded and aided the lizard-king in attacking the bone-snake.

Baylore maneuvered to begin punching the bone-snake. He called to the human pirate captain, "And who are you?"

The crazed pirate captain wobbled as he stood and stared around with mad eyes. He shouted, "THE GOVERNMENT!" into the air and ran to attack a nearby wall.

DM Note-
I had a player roll randomly on the Confusion spell effect table to determine what the crazy pirate would do that round.

The elderly man dodged through the battle and sought cover near the outside of the stairs.

The bone-snake unhinged its lower jaw and hissed at Baylore . Baylore could feel the effects of the bone-snake's mind-altering magic creeping over him. Baylore gritted his teeth and pushed through. He shrugged off the effects of the magic and smashed his fist into the humanoid skull of the skeletal monstrosity. The punch so rattled the undead creature that it began swaying and staring around uselessly.

Once Bordar was satisfied that "Prince" Dorgan was out of the way, he joined Baylore , Aella, Brenna, King Kosj, and Duke Feldren in battle against the snake-thing while it was momentarily stunned. The combined efforts of the mighty group defeated the skeletal snake before it could mount a substantive defense.

The abbot of Procan said a short prayer of healing for Bordar but to no avail. The red tendrils on Bordar's shoulder grew longer and fatter.

An Invisible Foe
Meanwhile the two surviving cultists of Olhydra - Odium and the brush-wielding acolyte - were tied to chairs in the corner of the room. The acolyte shouted that he could feel an invisible presence near him and begged for help. The others were too busy with the skeletal snake-thing to pay any attention. The acolyte screamed as the invisible force snapped his neck. The acolyte slumped dead in his chair.

Odium screamed and called for help. The same invisible force struck Odium, knocking his chair over onto the floor.

Brenna was standing at the base of the stairs. She clapped her hands together and called forth a swirling tempest of tiny celestial swallows. The birds swarmed the room, tearing into the blue frog-beast while leaving all of Brenna's allies, including for the moment Odium the auditor, unaffected.

The Blue Monster
Whatever it was that menaced the cultists had retreated away from the swirling mass of glowing birds and refused to come nearer. The blue frog-beast, however, laughed and claimed that it tickled.

The giant blue frog beast continued to taunt the rag-tag assembly, "You! Yes, you! You look like a tasty morsel! Get in my mouth!"

With the destruction of the skeletal snake-thing, the assembled heroes turned their attention to the blue frog creature.

The hulking blue creature lashed out with its forearm bone spikes, striking Baylore and King Kosj. Baylore felt a small red pellet that had been implanted into his chest by the spike. He quickly pulled it out and threw it away.

Aella stood on the stairs and unleashed a continuous stream of arcing lightning at the blue monster. Between Aella witch bolt, Brenna's celestial swallows, Baylore's devastating punches, Bordar's axes, Duke Feldren's great sword, and King Kosj's skewering trident, the blue monster was soon defeated.

The blue frog-thing exploded into glowing blue tatters as it died, showering the gathered assembly in tatters of blue flesh.

The Typhoon
Odium was still tied to the overturned chair next to the dead acolyte. He cried out, "Help! Help! Untie me! I'm still in danger!"

Brenna maintained her swirling cyclone of glowing sparrows. She moved away from Odium so that he was no longer protected within its sphere, "Lets see if it comes back."

Odium, left defenseless, began thrashing about. A minute passed and nothing attacked him. Brenna's birds disappeared, "It must be gone now. I think we're safe."

Baylore said, "Good. Lets all take the boat back to Saltmarsh."

Bordar and Baylore ascended the stairs and opened the cellar door. A strong wind blew the door all the way open. Hard driving rain sprayed inside. A gust of warm moist air filled the cellar. A storm was raging above.

DM Note-
Rolled a d12 plus a high/low to determine time of day. It was 1pm.
Rolled on the weather tables in the DMG. Forty degrees above normal, high winds, heavy rains. 

Baylore and Bordar managed to pull the doors back shut against the wind. Baylore turned and said, "Well, I guess we're staying here tonight, or at least until the storm dies down."

The B-Team and the freed prisoners settled in to rest. The abbot of Procan prayed and food and water was miraculously provided. The B-Team spent time getting to know the freed prisoners.

DM Note-
We spent the next hour or so working out the back stories of each player character and non-player character. Since Prince Dorgan was created by Bordar's player as a part of his back story and motivation for adventuring, I enlisted his aid, as well as the other players, in fleshing out some more of Dorgan's history, starting with the question, "So why did the pretender Duke Feldren imprison Dorgan?" 

We also went through each of the freed NPCs, working out the details of their backstories and how they fit into the current plot.

Dorgan's Story
Dorgan was the son of the leader of Clan Granite Shaper. Dorgan had been sent to Seaton to complete a commission for the new duke. Duke Feldren, having recently succeeded his "dead" brother, wished to decorate the citadel at Seaton with fine statues of himself. During his time among the humans, Dorgan was treated as a noble guest of the court. Dorgan was showered with gifts and fetes by his human patrons. Over time, Dorgan became accustomed to these human ways and succumbed to human decadence and immorality. Dorgan had become haughty and proud, taking seriously the title "Prince" when it was bestowed upon him by the Duke.

Dorgan became the duke's favorite courtier. The two spent a lot of time together and Dorgan became somewhat of a confidant. It was during a drunken confession that Dorgan learned that Duke Feldren's brother had not died as the world believed. The duke's brother was still alive and kept prisoner on Leper Island. Dorgan, taking seriously his role as Duke Feldren's friend and confidant, told no one and kept the secret safe.

One day, after an especially decadent celebration, Dorgan awoke to learn that he had shaved off his hair and beard the night before in a degrading attempt to become more "human" like his new friends in court. At first Dorgan was embarrassed but the adulation of the human courtiers soon eased his guilt.

Things changed when the duke began requesting statues that were more and more lewd and profane. The duke wished to possess statues of an illicit nature for his private collection. Dorgan became uncomfortable with the requests. The duke became enraged. Dorgan quickly learned that he was never the duke's friend. The duke ordered Dorgan's imprisonment for his insolence at refusing his orders. However, the duke was aware that Dorgan knew his innermost secrets. Additionally, he could not execute Dorgan for doing so would risk war with the dwarves of the Granite Shaper clan, and he needed their metal and weapons to arm and equip his growing army.

He had Dorgan taken to Leper Island where he could be imprisoned within the magical mirror of the Cult of Olhydra. There he could keep Dorgan alive as a hostage without risking his precious secrets.

The Story of Duke Oberus Feldren
Duke Oberus Feldren of Seaton was born just a few minutes before his twin brother Marik. Thus it was that Marik was raised in the shadow of his older twin. Upon the death of their father, it was Oberus who inherited the title of duke. It was Oberus who commanded troops in battle against the Sea Princes. It was Oberus who was made the governor of the southern province. Oberus who married well and fathered the lovely and spirited Lemundo. Oberus who was loved by his people and adored at the royal court.

Marik, ever jealous of his older brother, schemed for ways to usurp him. He sought the services of assassins from the Sea Princes. He was approached by the cult of Olhydra. They provided him with a slow poison that would make it appear that the duke had become ill and eventually appear to die. The price for their assistance was that the duke be kept alive and turned over to them for safe keeping. Marik, desperate to become duke, agreed to the terms.

So it was that Marik had Duke Oberus Feldren slowly poisoned. To the world it appeared that the duke had become ill. Two years ago Marik announced that his older brother had died from his illness. Marik then assumed the title and responsibilities of duke of Seaton and governor of the southern provinces.

In reality, Marik had his brother Oberus imprisoned within the magic mirror that belonged to the corrupt monks of Leper Island. Every few months Marik would charter a ship owned by Captain Horatio Vile to take him to Leper Island where he could gloat over his imprisoned brother.

Duke Marik's subsequent actions were openly hostile to the illegal activities of the Sea Princes along the coast of the Azure Sea. Marik had become a liability. A little over a month ago, Captain Vile betrayed Duke Marik. Instead of taking him to Leper Island, he was taken prisoner and brought to Gellan Primewater in Saltmarsh.

Primewater knew a wizard in Saltmarsh named Keledek who possessed a magical ring of mind control. They managed to place the ring on Duke Marik's finger and were thus able to control the duke's thoughts and actions. Unbeknownst to Captain Vile, Oberus' daughter Lemundo had stowed away on the vessel, hoping to learn where Marik had hidden her father. She was captured and prepared for transport to the Sea Princes. However, an unknown force of masked raiders had infiltrated the secret hideout of Keledek, rescued Duke Marik and Lemundo, captured Captain Vile, and stole something very valuable to Keledek - a black dragon egg.

The wizard Keledek believed Gellan Primewater was responsible for this raid so he firebombed Primewater's estate in Saltmarsh. Primewater escaped and has been in hiding since.

Vile's crew, now without a captain, decided to mount a raid against the Abbey on Leper Island. They knew that pirates stored their treasures within the abbey. Two weeks ago, they attacked the abbey. Finding no treasure, they killed most of its inhabitants and burned the abbey to the ground.

The Others
The stories told by the others represented somewhat simpler premises.

King Kosj was the leader of the Marsh Water tribe. When his tribe was attacked by the sahuagin and displaced from their home, he was captured. The sahuagin are in league with the cult of Olhydra so King Kosj was imprisoned within the mirror.

King Kosj was happy to hear of the work his daughter Princess Orthokent was doing. He had no ambition of removing her from power. He was, however, troubled to learn of the return of Sakatha in the Drowned Forest.

The abbot was the original abbot of the monastery of Procan. He oversaw a group of monks who ran a hospital for lepers on the island. He was betrayed by his own monks who had become cultists to Olhydra.

The Crazy Pirate gave no name and interacted little with the others. He stared wild-eyed at the ceiling and walls and occasionally blurted strange sounds. It was clear that he had spent many decades trapped within the mirror and had gone insane.

The Storm Passes
By dawn the next day the storm had passed. The assembly prepared to leave the island. Aella went to retrieve Ozymandias from the locked cell in which he was held. She found him dead - his neck snapped - a victim of the invisible killer. Since the invisible force had made no attempt to the kill anyone else, the rest of the team paid it little thought. As for Ozymandias, the invisible killer had perhaps saved them the eventual trouble.

DM Note
Bordar was still infected by the Chaos Phage and did not heal any hit points from the long rest. Bordar currently has 9 hit points. As written, Bordar would automatically lost another 3d6 hit points from his maximum after a long rest. This would have killed Bordar. This seemed unduly harsh so I gave Bordar another DC 15 Constitution Saving Throw, which he passed. So he didn't lose any more hit points for the night. But he'll have to keep making the save until cured of the disease. 

Baylore's player had the bright idea to let the disease run its course. His thinking was that once Bordar hit zero hit points, he could be healed. There are two things wrong with that - 

1. Even at zero hit points he'd still have the disease and couldn't receive any healing.
2. Baylore's player didn't know what happened to victims of the Chaos Phage when they reach zero hit points. 

It was a pleasant day. The sun was warm and the wind was calm. The group departed the ruins of the abbey and made their way back towards the dunes. The storm the previous day had created new dunes and had wiped away any sign of their previous tracks. The dunes towards the west side of the island, they way they had come before, appeared steep and difficult to navigate. The dunes on the east side of the island were flatter and packed hard from the heavy rains. They would be easier to traverse.

DM Note-
I numbered the columns across the top of the map 3-18 and had Baylore's player roll 3d6 to determine starting square. I had expected the bell curve to give me a number from 8-12. He rolled 16, way over on the side. We had to come up with a reason for taking such a path.

As they moved across the hard-packed sand, skeleton guardians erupted out of the sand and attacked.

The team pressed on, battling wave after wave of skeletons as they crossed the wet sand.

Once they reached the cliff there emerged a great mass of bones like a skeletal juggernaut! The lumbering mass of bones rolled like a great wave towards them.

Aella called forth a thundering tidal wave of water from the sand which crashed down upon the skeletal juggernaut. The juggernaut began sloughing skeletal parts as it continued its approach. She called forth another crashing wave of water. The juggernaut was defeated before it could reach the party.

The assembled group of temporary allies was still surrounded by a horde of skeletons but the undead guardians were eventually defeated.

They returned to the point on the beach where they had left their boat. It was half-buried in sand. The human boat that had delivered Bordar had left two days previous with the approach of the storm. The halfling druid Bobert was nowhere to be seen. He had probably left with the humans.

The group excavated their boat and prepared it to sail back to Saltmarsh.

Bordar looked warily at the pulsating red wound on his shoulder. A glowing red mass had formed at its center.

DM Note-
Bordar has 7 hit points remaining. 

To be Continued...

The Winding Way - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 27

Aella shook the brain jellies from her head and looked around, "What's going on? Where are we?"

Baylore filled her in, "We're in the cellar beneath the ruins of the abbey. All those dead guys over there were monks and acolytes."

Brenna interjected, "Turned out they were not only corrupt, they were worshiping some elder elemental being called 'Olhydra'. Torture and human sacrifice and other nasty stuff. We captured these two."

Aella nodded, "Got it. What's next?"

Brenna pointed to the meditation room. The tapestries on the wall had been drawn aside to reveal a concealed door. "We think that's the entrance to the secret dungeon. We're going in there next."

Baylore addressed Lemundo the Lovely, "Lemundo, stay out here with 'Beep Boop' and guard these two prisoners.

Lemundo nodded her assent.

The team readied their weapons and opened the door.

A short tunnel widened into an unfurnished and undecorated thirty-foot-square chamber. Standing next to one another in the center of the room were two enormous skeletal guardians with massive bull skulls atop decaying shoulders. Each guardian bore a massive, rusted axe. Despite their age, the skeletons were dripping wet and covered in a glowing green slime or mold.

Five corpse-like figures were arranged shoulder to shoulder along the eastern wall. Each of the corpses appeared to have drowned in agony.

The massive skeletal minotaurs shambled to a defensive position and hefted their axes to attack the intruders.

CHAPTER 27

"THE WINDING WAY"

The B-Team:

• Baylore - Neutral Human Pirate and Pugilist (Monk). 
• Brenna Whalersdottir - Chaotic Good Human Sailor and Divine Soul Sorceress, long-lost daughter of Whaler. 
• Bordar Graniteshaper - Lawful Good Dwarven Bearer of Grudges (Barbarian), on a quest to rescue the son of the leader of his clan.
• Avastana "Aella" Kádár - Neutral, Half-Elf  Outlander and Storm Sorceress from Ket. 

Brain Jellies:

• Alot Aname - Neutral Good Warforged Fighter, ancient sentinel of a wizard's fortress, spent several decades deactivated underwater.

Guardians of the Winding Way

The two skeletal minotaurs took position to either side of the entrance. Baylore and Bordar charged forward and engaged in combat while Brenna and Aella targeted the skeletons from the hallway with their spells.

A dark spectral form emerged from one of the bodies on the wall. It was black and humanoid but with an indistinct face and glowing eyes. It strode forth and glared at Bordar. Bordar shrunk under the withering stare of the creature. Brenna shouted, "Be careful! It's a bodak! They can stare you to death!"

The bodak directed its gaze towards Brenna. This allowed Baylore and Bordar to concentrate attacks on the dark creature. Though the bodak was a formidable opponent, it eventually fell to their attacks.

Upon the defeat of the bodak, Brenna got the attention of Aella. Brenna held up the medallion she had taken from the body of Ozymandias. Brenna asked Aella if the medallion looked familiar and what it might mean.

Suddenly the skeletal minotaurs stood at attention and held their weapons at rest.

Brenna noticed this but was confused by the strange behavior.

Bordar rushed into the room and engaged the minotaurs. The skeletal guardians resumed their threatening posture and re-engaged in battle.

As soon as the minotaur skeletons were reduced to piles of inanimate bone there arose another threat. Spectral ghosts emerged from the bodies along the wall and flew around the room. One reached its ghostly hand into Bordar's body and he felt the life force within him begin to drain. He retreated quickly and avoided the worst of the effects.

Brenna stood forward, "Hold on! I have an idea!" She brandished the medallion engraved with geometric symbols, "Back! Return to your posts!"

The ghosts stopped their attack and dutifully returned to their positions within the human remains embedded in the east wall.

"Hey! It worked!"

The party opened the door on the east wall and exited the room.

DM Note-
The medallion is not a holy symbol and it doesn't control the undead guardians of the Winding Way. It only "deactivates" them to allow safe passage. It wasn't even Brenna's turn but I heard Brenna's player ask Aella's player about the medallion. It was Bordar's turn so I interrupted and said, "They stand at attention and hold their weapons at rest. What do you do?" Brenna's player barely noticed and Bordar's player just kept attacking without caring - which reset the minotaur.

I didn't want to give away the secret. I couldn't ask, "[Brenna's player], are you still holding the medallion?" because that would have been too obvious. So I asked, "[Brenna's player], what are you doing with your hands right now?" and Brenna's player answered, "I dunno. Casting a spell?" while waving his hands around. So I took that to mean Brenna put the medallion away in a pocket. So the specters attacked. Only later did Brenna's player catch on to what was happening.

The Winding Way
The corridor beyond presented a pair of intersections- a four-way junction followed by a T-junction.

Bordar confidently led the way. At the first four-way intersection he chose left and strode headlong towards a left turn.

Baylore became worried that the dwarf was perhaps a little too incautious. "Bordar, you should slow down and watch where you're going?"

Bordar looked over his shoulder, "What?"

At that the floor beneath his feet disappeared and revealed a dark pit. Bordar plunged into the pit and landed ten feet below with a wet smack. The smell of burning acid and wafts of smoke began to rise from the pit. Bordar was out cold and lying in about two feet of caustic acid!

The B-Team sprang into action! Baylore cursed and removed his pack. He took out a length of rope. Brenna grabbed the rope and tied it around her waist. Aella ran forth and kicked Brenna hard, sending Brenna into the pit! Baylore held the rope fast to stop her fall.

Brenna lurched to a stop just above the unconscious Bordar. She reached out a touched Bordar. A spell of healing brought Bordar back to consciousness. His eyes became wide and he screamed in pain and terror - he was still half-submerged in acid! He grabbed Brenna and, with a  stomp to activate his magical boots of striding and springing, he leaped out of the pit, Brenna in hand!

He landed beside the pit and did his best to wipe the acid off his body using whatever shirts and bits of cloth were handy. Bordar's eyes were wild. He was shaken to his core.  "That was horrible! I am in a great deal of pain!"

Baylore said, "You nearly died. Lets retreat so you can rest and clean yourself off."

The team retreated back to the cellar, holding the medallion aloft to keep the specters at bay. They rested for an hour and caught their breath.

DM Note-
Well THAT was exciting! 

Bordar has a passive Perception of nine. NINE! He walked right into the pit. The fall was 1d10 damage. Bordar took it in stride. The acid however was 4d10 damage. I rolled 10, 10, 10, and 1. I gulped. Brenna's player saw the roll and winced. I told Bordar's player 31 damage.

He said "I'm out!"

Baylore's player said "That is very very bad!"

Bordar's player asked why.

Baylore explained, "Whenever you take damage when you are dying, you automatically fail two death saving throws."

Close. The rule is on page 197 of the PHB and says the following: 

Damage at 0 Hit Points. If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.

He was thinking of the times he got hit by an attack while at 0 hit points, which is an automatic critical and thus does two death saves in damage. Damage from an acid is not a critical hit. Its just damage.

In any case, the players worked out a plan. Baylore used his action to retrieve rope from his pack. I allowed Brenna to take the rope and tie it around herself in place of her movement. She prepared a healing spell action in case she became adjacent to Bordar. Finally, Aella kicked Brenna, shoving her into the pit. I had Baylore make a Strength saving throw vs 10 to hold onto the rope and Brenna made a Dexterity saving throw vs 10 to execute the maneuver. She healed Bordar for 8 hit points. Bordar stood up, grabbed Brenna, and used his magic boots to jump out. 

Great teamwork all around!

However, everyone was low on HP so they decided to take a short rest, spend some Hit Dice, and recharge some Sorcerer spell slots.

Return to the Corridors

After an hour or two of rest the B-Team returned to the secret passages. Brenna held the medallion aloft as they easily bypassed the spectral guardians. This time Baylore took the advance position. Baylore moved slowly, cautiously, checking the floor and walls inch by inch. He found a two-foot wide path around the sides of the acid pit. At the end of the corridor was a door.

Aella said, "Wait, that can't be right! We just looped around. That door should open onto the corridor leading to the minotaur room!"

Baylore shrugged. He checked the door. It opened outward. He found a wire on the door that connected to the ceiling.

"Its trapped." he announced.

"Can you disarm it?" inquired Brenna.

"Nope! Not in my skillset."

He tied some string around the door handle and the team backed away. He pulled the door open and a massive stone pillar in the ceiling slammed down right where one would stand if they were opening the door. Beyond the door was a blank wall.

"Okay, that makes sense." said Aella.

DM Note-
Aella's player is an architect in real life so she's usually the group mapper. Plus she's good at it. She was very confused that the door didn't line up. At first I thought she had misunderstood my descriptions and mapped it incorrectly. I looked at her map and assured her, "Nope. You are one hundred percent accurate so far."

The corridor was a dead end.

They retreated to the four-way intersection. Before they could advance, Baylore spotted a thin metal wire strung tightly between the walls at just about thigh height for an adult human. Low enough to make it awkward to crawl under and high enough to make stepping over it difficult. Just ten feet beyond the tripwire was another four-way intersection.

Baylore said, "Lets go around."

"Why? Why don't we cut it?" demanded Bordar.

Baylore stood back, "Cutting it will activate whatever its supposed to trigger. So go ahead, be my guest. Just let us back away."

Bordar considered this, "Good point. Lets go around."

They continued down the main corridor and took a left at the T-junction. That corridor connected with another T-junction but another tripwire brought them to a stop. They backed up and took the other corridor. It turned right with two doors located in the corner.

Baylore could find no tripwires or traps so he opened the door.

A  ballista located just behind the door shot a heavy black iron bolt the size of a small spear. It struck the wall behind Baylore with a loud "Cthunk!" and wobbled.

"Okay then," said Baylore , impressed. He opened the second door.

It, too, shot a heavy black bolt from an automated ballista. It struck Baylore in the shoulder. He staggered back from the impact.

"Ugh! Didn't expect there to be two!"

Brenna helped remove the bolt and applied dressing and a medicinal patch to the wound.

The corridor to the right connected to the second four-way intersection they saw beyond the tripwire. They advanced and took the corridor to the left.

The Curse of the Jade Vampire

The short corridor opened into the corner of a room forty feet square. Another exit lie in the near corner to the left. In the center of the room was a large jade statue of a beautiful elven woman. The statue was exquisite.

All around the room were open chests overflowing with gold coins and various gemstones. A large metal strongbox was locked closed on the far side of the room.

Baylore and Brenna looked at one another and simultaneously said the word, "Mimic."

Brenna took out her crossbow and loosed a bolt into one of the open chests. Nothing happened.

The party loitered in the entry while Brenna and Baylore considered the next move. Bordar strode right up to the nearest open chest, "Fine, I'LL trigger the mimic!" He began hacking away at the chest and the gold with his axes. Gold coins went flying and the chest was reduced to splinters. To everyone's surprise, the axes sundered several gold coins.

Bordar picked up a broken coin, "Hey! These aren't gold! These are WOOD!"

At that moment the statue transformed from a beautiful elven maiden into a horrible fanged nightmare. The jade statue stepped off its pedestal and crept near Bordar with its hands raised like rending claws.

Brenna shouted, "Stand back!" and held aloft the medallion. The jade statue was undeterred. "Wait, what?"

Baylore ran to Bordar's aid. The monstrous jade statue slashed at the pirate pugilist with its claws and bit him on the shoulder with its long snake-like fangs.  Baylore gritted his teeth at the pain and felt his muscles begin to tighten. He had been cursed!

Bordar was next to be bitten by the jade vampire. The dwarf stiffened and found it difficult to fight.

The jade vampire took advantage of its opponent's lethargy and continued to slash and bite them. Throughout the onslaught both Bordar and Baylore continued to hack and punch the statue while Brenna and Aella lobbed magical attacks.

Eventually the statue was shattered and the curse was broken - the pair were returned to normal.

The party split up and examined different parts of the room. The chests were indeed all filled with fake wooden slugs painted gold.

Baylore spotted tiny holes placed all around the strongbox, "Its trapped. I'm guessing needles."

"I'll smash it open!" declared Bordar.

"No!" said Baylore , "You'll just set off the traps and fill the room with needles."

Aella said, "I've got an idea." She made everyone stand back twenty feet from the strong box and cast a spell to freeze the lock, hoping the ice would expand and it would break open. The lock froze but it triggered the trap, filling the area with tiny poisoned needles.

"Told you!" said Baylore .

Bordar looked in the strongbox and found nothing but a note that said, "Congratulations, Thief! I hope the effort was worth it!"

Bordar rolled his dwarven eyes.

Meanwhile Baylore found a hidden door behind a tapestry.

The Iron Guardians

The party explored the concealed corridor. It opened into another room forty foot square. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the room were covered in plates of metal. Two iron pillars held up the ceiling in the center of the room. The pillars resembled glowing red coils. The air shimmered from the heat radiated from the metal plates. The room was, for all intents and purposes, the inside of an oven.

Baylore said, "I don't buy it." He moved into the room. The heat and metal plates disappeared and were replaced with to large iron-clad automatons shaped like minotaurs. Each minotaur had an arm that ended in an axe blade and an arm that ended in a heavy hammer head. The iron guardians charged the human pirate.

Brenna rushed into the room to help Baylore . In so doing she became trapped in the corner.

The second guardian moved to block the entrance, trapping Bordar and Aella in the corridor.

Brenna cast an Acid Spash spell. The acid struck the nearer guardian and splashed onto the second. The guardians iron covering began to corrode.

The torso of the nearer guardian began spinning while its legs remained still. The whirling axe-arm and hammer-arm repeatedly slammed into Baylore and Brenna.

Bordar attacked the guardian blocking the corridor while Aella hurled chaos magic at the automaton.

Eventually they were able to destroy the automaton blocking the corridor and Bordar rushed to join the fight in the room. The second iron guardian was soon likewise destroyed.

Upon the defeat of the automatons, the party surveyed the room.

Bordar pointed out, "Where are the prisoners? I thought this was a prison."

The room was filled with chests of gold, stolen bolts of fine cloth, and other treasures. A narrow flat object in the corner was covered by a sheet. Brenna peeked under the sheet and saw a mirror with a decorated border of intricately carved gold.

Brenna said, "I think they're in the mirror."

Bordar incredulously replied, "What?"

"I think this is a magic mirror. It traps souls. There's a password to activate it and another password to release a prisoner."

"What's the password?" demanded Bordar.

Brenna shrugged. She held up the medallion but nothing happened. She started guessing myriad passwords.

"What was the name of the sea god? Hydrox? Hydron? Hail Hydros! Open Hydrox!"

None worked.

DM Note-
The password was "Hail Olhydra" and when Brenna's player got close I was like "C'mon. C'mon. SO CLOSE!" Eventually Brenna's player got frustrated and just started shouting random words. I had to step in and say, "Okay, you're done. Leave it alone."

"We should rest on this." suggested Baylore . "Let's hole up in this room."

Aella beetled her brow, "I know we're low on spells and healing, but we literally just woke up and started our day like three hours ago."

"Have you got some place to go?"

"What about food?"

"We've all got dry tasteless rations."

"And water? We're each brought a gallon of water onto this island and we drank that yesterday."

"Deal with it."

With that, they spent the entire day in the vault studying all the items for magical properties, counting the gold, and resting. They slept on the floor, ate only dry tasteless rations, and went without water.

Eventually they decided to leave the vault.

Baylore said, "We'll interrogate the prisoners in the cellar. They'll know the passwords."

Brenna said, "We should take the mirror with us. Its portable."

Aella suggested, "We should put it in the magical bag of holding!"

Baylore , Brenna, and Bordar looked at Aella in shock and simultaneously cried, "NO! LET'S NOT DO THAT!"

"Why not?"

Brenna explained, "The mirror is an extradimensional prison. The Bag of Holding is an extradimensional space. If you put extradimensional stuff within an extradimensional bag, bad things happen."

"Oh."

The mirror was easily portable and they carried it out of the Winding Way.

Mirror Mirror
When asked about the mirror, Odium said he had no idea it was in the vault. He was sent to audit the ledgers and was only visiting. He knew nothing about the mirror or any passwords. He spitefully pointed out that the only person who MIGHT know the password was Ozymandias and that they killed him.

The young acolyte who had been caught cleaning the meditation room shouted his angry defiance at the infidels. The elemental princess of the oceans will rise up and swallow them. Hail Olhydra!"

Brenna nodded and turned to the mirror, holding up the medallion, which she thought was a holy symbol, and said "Hail Olhydra!"

The mirror flashed, filling the room with light. Brenna, Bordar, Aella, and the others shielded their eyes from the glare.

When the light died down, Baylore was gone!

Baylore was trapped within the mirror!

To Be Continued...