The Secrets of the Serpent's Tooth - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 70

The Sea Ghost set sail to Skyhorn Lighthouse to deliver their prisoner - the Marid known as Emir Farzad,  the Most Opulent and Pearlescent. The Emir regaled the crew with stories of his roguish exploits both within the City of Glass in the Elemental Plane of Water and across the lands of Oerth. But after a few hours of non-stop storytelling the Emir's tales became tiresome. 

They arrived at the lighthouse near sunset. They anchored their ship off shore and took the magical rowboat to the location above the site of the wrecked ship. The crew gathered together the treasure they agreed to return and, along with the emir, jumped overboard and descended three hundred feet to the bottom. There they found the concealed entrance to the grotto that led to the subterranean chamber of the marid. 

Within the grotto they encountered two triton guards. The tritons showed their medallions identifying them as inquisitors. They took custody of the emir and agreed to allow Alot and the rest of the crew to accompany them as far as the magical barrier in the marid's chambers.

The emir was resigned to his fate and seemed especially unhappy. He looked at Alot sullenly. Alot, remembering his agreement with the emir to speak on his behalf, asked the tritons what was to become of the emir. The tritons replied, "I believe the shah is planning to banish him to a domain of torment where he will writhe in agony for 1000 of your Oerth years."

The emir sighed.

Alot said, "Look, that seems harsh. Is there any way we can talk about this? I mean, the security measures that imprisoned the emir were really lax."

The triton shrugged, "As inquisitors, its our job to enforce the peace between Oerth and the Elemental Plane of Water. His sentence is an internal matter. You'd have to take it up with the shah of the City of Glass."

The emir shot Alot an angry look as the tritons pulled him through the slivery magical barrier.

Alot shrugged his armored shoulders, "Hey, I tried. Good luck!"

CHAPTER 70

"THE SECRETS OF THE SERPENT'S TOOTH"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

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

DM Note-
There is a big adventure gap between the end of Tammeraut's Fate (level 9) and the beginning of the Styes (level 11) so I'm filling it with short adventures and side-treks and player's choice. 

This week was mostly checking in on Saltmarsh, character book-keeping, and advancing the meta-plot as I transition into "the Styes." I've got some big plans for a campaign finale post-Styes. 

We also ended a little early this week because I was not adequately prepared for what I wanted to happen on the way to the Styes.

Sea Elf Warning

As the Sea Ghost sailed the coast of the Azure Sea in the direction of Seaton and Saltmarsh, they saw beside them an escort of a pod of dolphins carrying sea-elf knights. The sea elves threw grapples and climbed the lines to board the Sea Ghost. 

Corvid prepared for battle. Alot asked, "What are you doing?"

Corvid replied, "They boarded our ship without asking!" Alot held his hands out to calm the paladin's sword.

The sea elves were led by Anapos, a friend of the crew. Anapos requested permission from Captain Alot to board the vessel.  Alot gave his permission and looked knowingly at Corvid.

Anapos bowed to Aella, daughter of the sea elf King Pelagius, "Your highness." He then bowed to Cai'luin, "My lord."

He stood and addressed Aella, "Your highness, I am here to inform you and your crew that by order of the king's son, Prince Aegon, the area around which surface vessels may traverse in relation to the royal palace of Manaan has been enlarged. No vessel may come within  four leagues of the royal palace. Additionally, fishing by anyone from a surface vessel is hereby prohibited anywhere in the Bay of Javan."

He turned towards Cai'luin, ambassador of the tribe of Manaan to the village of Saltmarsh, "My lord, you are instructed to relay these restrictions to the town council of Saltmash."

Cai'luin did not relish the task. 

Alot said, "We thank you Anapos. We also have information for you. We have learned of a recent incident regarding the escape of many prisoners from a koalinth citadel. Be on the lookout for them. In addition, the events that led to the breakout may lead the koalinth to believe that the sea elves of Manaan were responsible and may seek an armed response. Please relay this to your king."

Anapos eyed Alot with suspicion, "I- I see. Very well. I will relay this information. We thank you for bringing us this warning. We will return right away. Now, if you please, chart a new course  to avoid the royal palace. " Anapos bowed to Aella and Cai'luin, saluted Alot and the others, and leaped overboard.

The Town Council of Saltmarsh

Upon their return to Saltmarsh, Cai'luin requested a meeting of the town council. With Baron Solmor still away at court in Niole Dra, the council met with Eliander Fireborn, Manistrad Copperlocks, Eda Oweland, and Aella. 

Cai'luin presented the new demands from Manaan. 

Eda Oweland exploded into a tirade of vulgar expletives. Her entire livelihood was based on fishing and the preserving of fish. Ending the fishing industry would destroy Saltmarsh! She motioned to ignore the edicts from Manaan and continue fishing.

Fireborn and Copperlocks were less alarmist. Copperlocks represented the interests of the dwarven mine east of town and cared little for the village's fishing heritage. She voted against Oweland's motion.

Fireborn was a retired soldier of the Royal Army and oversaw the town guard. He informed the others of some news he had recently received from Niole Dra - Baron Solmor had successfully lobbied for Saltmarsh to become a garrison and naval port. A fortress would be built and Saltmarsh would become more like Seaton. He was prepared to vote against Oweland's motion and allow fishing to suffer. 

With the baron at court, Oweland appealed to Aella to side with her for a tie vote to create a stalemate until the baron returned. 

Aella considered both sides but ultimately voted with Oweland to defy the edict from Manaan.

The vote was a tie so no resolution was carried.

The Loyal Quartermasters of Iuz

One morning Corvid paid a visit to the Loyal Quartermasters of Iuz to check on the status of a special order he had placed several weeks ago. He found the offices empty. He knocked on the door and opened it a crack. He heard hushed voices coming from the back where Captain Xendros conducted her secret business buying and selling magical items. 

He announced his presence and requested permission to enter.

Xendros requested a moment then invited him to the back room. Keledek the Ketan mage exited as he entered. The tall dark-skinned mage paid little attention to the ashen-grey Corvid. 

Corvid asked about the shop. Xendros explained that she had closed her shop and was moving to Port Torvin farther west. She said that events were soon to transpire that would make life difficult for her in Saltmarsh so she was moving to a town controlled by the Sea Princes.

Corvid asked about his order. Xendros produced a wrapped package containing a pair of winged boots. He paid her the large sum of gold he had borrowed from Aella and bade her farewell, promising to visit her in Port Torvin.

A Month in Saltmarsh

Over the next several weeks the officers of the Sea Ghost advanced their various agendas.

Captain Alot spent his time decoding the encrypted letters correspondence had found in the shack in Crabber's Cove. 

Aella used her savings to begin building a martial academy and training arena. 

Patriarch Craig and Corvid performed the duties of the Cult of the Raven King. More of the citizens of Saltmarsh were beginning to accept the new god as a member of the pantheon and offerings, gifts, and sacrifices to the guardian of the passage to the afterlife were increasing. 

Correspondence Decoded

Captain Alot spent his days in Eliander Fireborn's library poring over the encrypted correspondence. 

DM Note-

I had four bits of escalating exposition. 

Each game week I had Alot's player make an Investigation check vs. a DC of 15. He made no progress on a week with a failed check. On a success I gave him the next bit of exposition.

After six weeks of decoding, Alot learned the following.

1. Captain Xendros can read the minds of everyone to whom she's sold a magic item and has been selling that information to the Serpent's Tooth, agent of the Scarlet Brotherhood.
2. The Serpent's Tooth made contact with Orgmond, a member of the Cult of Tiamat, who had escaped the Tomb of the Lizard King. He had in his possession the Draconomicon.
3. The Serpent's Tooth purchased the black dragon egg from Xendros.
4. On the eve of the solstice, the Serpent's Tooth will poison the royal court in Niole Dra. Orgmond will use the Draconomicon to resurrect the black dragon Aulicus. Aulicus will attack the garrison at Seaton while Ships from the Hold of the Sea Princes will take Saltmarsh, Angleburg, and Redshore. This is all scheduled and coordinated so that the dragon attack occurs on the night of the solstice moon when tides are high. 

DM Note-

In retrospect, I regret providing the last part of the plan. I should have kept that a secret and made it a big reveal AFTER the Styes. Now the Styes feels like a diversion.

It was now the end of Planting. The solstice occurred during the celebration of Midsummer in two months. 

Month	Common	Elven	Nomads	Season
Needfest
01	Fireseek	Diamondice	Tiger	Winter
02	Readying	Yellowillow	Bear	Spring
03	Coldeven	Snowflowers	Lion	Spring
Growfest
04	Planting	Blossoms	Frog	Low Summer
05	Flocktime	Violets	Turtle	Low Summer
06	Wealsun	Berrytime	Fox	Low Summer
Richfest (Midsummer)
07	Reaping	Goldfields	Snake	High Summer
08	Goodmonth	Sunflowers	Boar	High Summer
09	Harvester	Fruitfall	Squirrel	High Summer
Brewfest
10	Patchwall	Brightleaf	Hare	Autumn
11	Ready'reat	Tinklingice	Hawk	Autumn
12	Sunsebb	Lacysnows	Wolf	Winter

Set Sail for Poniard

The first item on the agenda was to finally make the upgrade to the ship he had been planning for months. Alot had heard of ship-builders in the city of Poniard to the south who could create magical figureheads that dispensed alchemical attacks that mimicked the breath of a dragon. He wanted to install a new figurehead on the Sea Ghost in the shape of a green dragon that attacked with deadly poison breath. He would take the Sea Ghost to Poniard to have this modification designed and installed.

Thus it was that six weeks after arriving in Saltmarsh Captain Alot was raising a new crew to set sail 40 leagues to Poniard. 

The new crew consisted of:

• Ramsay 'The Cook' Braxton
• Camille 'Relentless' Snape
• Doshie 'The Parrot' Panther
• Merrill 'Plank Walker' Beasant
• Will Wheaton 'Howler' Kidd
• Phebe 'Hideous' Bonney
• Jewell 'Hex' Salvodore
• Trenton 'Nightmare' Bradly
• Sterling 'Barnacle' Helton
• Geraldine 'Landlubber' Alistair - returning crew
• Maxwelle 'Rambling' Shell - female crab centaur - returning crew

The ship set sail for Poniard on the first day of the third week of Planting.

Right away they ran into trouble. 

Cai'luin had served as the ship's cook for several months. However, one member of the newly raised crew, Ramsay "The Cook" Braxton, knew his way around the ship's galley. Captain Alot decided to hold a cook-off.

DM Note-

I did some quick googling for D&D cook-off rules, and surprisingly there are several options! I decided to go with six tests, one against each of the six stats.

Preparation - Dexterity for chopping, Wisdom for knowing how to prep

Execution - Intelligence for knowing the recipe and instrucitons, Strength for stirring and mashing

Plating - Charisma for presentation, Constitution for not appearing tired

I then had Cai'luin and Ramsay roll off.

The two cooks were tasked to prepare the following meal: Pan-fried large flat buckwheat noodles with cat, tumeric and sharp cheddar on a bed of sauteed earthnut pea, sorrel and wolfberries. Served with moth bean soup, vodka and aged ricotta.

In the end, both cooks produced excellent meals resulting in a tie. Alot assigned Cai'luin as Head Cook and assigned Ramsay as his assistant. 

With Aella directing the wind into their sails and Craig controlling the waters around the ship their journey to Poniard would take 22 hours and would take them through the narrow ten mile straight past Monmurg, capital of the Hold of the Sea Princes under the control of the Scarlet Brotherhood, at around midnight.

The strait was treacherous not only for privateers of the Sea Princes, there were numerous shoals and reefs that, if struck, would damage their recently repaired hull. 

Would they make it through the strait?

To be Continued...

The Serpent's Tooth - Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 55

 

The Empty Net

That night, Aella took her companions - Captain Alot, Father Craig, Corvid, and Cai'luin - to the Empty Net, the seedy inn on pilings over the Kingfisher river. The Empty Net was a den of thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats. Aella was a member of the town council. She and her companions were responsible for the downfall of Gellan Primewater and his smuggling organization. She was also responsible for Anders Solmor becoming a baron and bringing the attention of the king's tax collectors to Saltmarsh. The last time she and her friends had come to the bar over a year ago, there was a brawl and several men died.

Needless to say, when Aella entered the inn without any hint of costume or discretion, all conversation stopped and every patron stared at her in contempt.

Aella cleared her throat. The bartender, a burly thug named Kreb Shenker, spat on the floor, "What do ye want?"

Aella approached the bar and said, "I'm here to see the Serpent's Tooth."

Kreb said, "You were supposed to come alone. They'll have to stay down here."

Aella looked at Cai'luin and the others and nodded. She turned back to Kreb, "Very well."

Kreb led her behind a curtain to a concealed door. The door led up a flight of narrow stairs to a small room with a bare table and two chairs. The walls were lined with heavy burgundy curtains. A hoarse voice said, "Greetings princess. Please have a seat."

She sat down. 

A hooded figure in thick red robes emerged from a curtain. It sat in the other chair. Red gloved hands pulled back the hood just enough to reveal that the figure wore a silver mask concealing his entire face. The mask was carved to resemble a snake's head with fangs. 

"Hello, your highness. I have information that can help you."

CHAPTER 55

"THE SERPENT'S TOOTH"

The Crew of the Sea Ghost:

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

DM Note-

Still filling in the 8th level gap between the end of the Final Enemy and the beginning of Tammeraut's Fate with small mini-adventures. I gave my players the option of which storyline they wanted to follow and they chose the story that led to the Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse. It seems to me that my players always have more fun with these smaller adventures. 

The Serpent's Tooth

"You  may call me the Serpent's Tooth. My identity is unimportant. For now it is sufficient to know that our goals overlap.

"I know that you bear the Trident of Manaan, the weapon of the founder of the Sea Elf Kingdom of Manaan. I know that you are its true heir and that you wish to unlock its power. Only the druids of the coral grove may do that. 

"The trident was lost centuries ago - stolen by the Sahuagin when they killed King Manaan. When the Sahuagin were defeated a year ago the soldiers from Seaton recovered it and gave it to you as a reward. This much is known. 

"You are the illegitimate eldest daughter of King Pelagius, current king of Manaan. Given the elven rules for such things, such as they are, upon the death of King Pelagius, you are entitled to rule Manaan as its queen. 

"Manaan is a small underwater settlement built of stone and coral and is home to roughly 300 sea elves. It lies at a depth of two hundred feet and is surrounded by a wide circular coral reef which acts like a wall. The entire settlement forms a cone-shaped coral castle that is the home of the royal family, their knights and servants, and the peasants who tend the kelp forests.  The sea floor surrounding the coral reef is also a dense forest of kelp. The region surrounding the kelp forest is patrolled by sea elf rangers with dolphins companions.

"There is a secret tunnel beneath the coral reefs, unknown to even the royal family of Manaan. It leads to the sacred coral grove of the druids of Manaan located underground beneath the royal castle. There you will find the druids who tend the coral polyps on which the entire city is built.

"The entrance to the secret tunnel is concealed within some submerged ruins - the remains of an ancient Suloise city long ago lost to the waves during the Rain of Colorless Fire. The city, in turn, was buried beneath the coral walls of Manaan. 

"I will tell you how to find this secret entrance but first you must promise me to do a small thing."

The man withdrew and displayed a scroll from his sleeve. He then produced a handful of lead fishing weights and put them in a clay bottle. Then he placed the rolled up scroll within the same bottle and sealed it with a cork stopper. He took a nearby candle and smothered the stopper with melted wax. He held up the sealed clay bottle like a prop.

"Deliver this message in this sealed bottle. The contents are very sensitive and important. It is for his eyes only. Do you understand? Will you do this?"

Aella asked, "By when must this be done?"

The man considered the answer, as if he hadn't thought of that, "There is no immediate urgency. Deliver it by the end of the season. Agreed?"

Aella agreed.

"Excellent. Here your payment - the secret entrance into Manaan. Go to the ruins of Suloise city. Find the temple with the statue of the god with a strange head, huge bracers, and a flaming sword. 

"Turn to your right and you will see a small piece of gnarled wood affixed to the wall. Turn it. It shall open a hidden entrance to the entrance to the tunnel. " 

Aella accepted the job. The Fanged Serpent nodded and stood. He knocked on the wall and the door behind Aella opened. Kreb the bartender led her back down the narrow staircase to the tavern below. 

Seaton

The Sea Ghost made preparations to set sail the following morning. The ship sailed to nearby Seaton. There they spent the rest of the day unloading the massive marble statue of Saint Cuthbert and delivered it to the temple there. In addition, Corvid returned the crate of books and gold statuettes to the temple. Finally, Corvid delivered the bones of the missionaries of Saint Cuthbert recovered from the ocean floor at the wreck of the Marshall. The priest assured Corvid that they would be given a proper burial in a place of honor among the heroes of Saint Cuthbert. 

The ghosts of the nuns who haunted Corvid looked on with stern approval, retaining their grim scowls but giving the most imperceptible nods of approval before fading into the great Beyond that is the Raven King's judgement.

In thanks for the gifts, the high priest of the temple of Saint Cuthbert bestowed upon the each of the officers of the Sea Ghost a blessing of heroism.

Argos the Triton

The Sea Ghost spent the night in Seaton and set sail once again the next day. Aella explained the mission to the other members of the crew. After a brief discussion the officers decided to first sail towards Skyhorn lighthouse to investigate the strange weather and seas that had been reported. 

Skyhorn lighthouse sits on a rocky uninhabited island in the Azure sea halfway between Splitrock and Jetsom Island. The Sea Ghost sailed around Angler Island and Redshore Island and sailed east towards the lighthouse. 

By noon they neared their destination. They could see the island and the lighthouse. A dark swirling inverted cone of a cloud spun slowly overhead. The winds increased and the sea became choppy. Small maelstroms spun out of the sea and dashed off towards the horizon. The turbulent seas were dark with a mysterious cloudy substance. 

Suddenly a humanoid figure leaped out of the water and grabbed the starboard rail of the ship. The humanoid was  man with dark blue skin wearing a bright scale armor. He carried a spear in one hand and clutched the rail with the other. His legs were bare and displayed fins growing from the back of his calves. He looked frightened and glanced over his shoulder at the sea as if to spot some pursuer.

Soon after two massive crustaceans that resembled crayfish the size of buffalo climbed out of the water in pursuit of the blue man. The blue man cried out to the crew, "Help me! I seek justice for an innocent man! These creatures are trying to stop me!"

Captain Alot gave the tiller to one of his crew and picked up his dragon hammer. He darted down the ship's ladder and joined Corvid at the starboard rail next to the blue man. 

Alot, Corvid, Aella, and Cai'luin, helped the newcomer fight and defeat the foul crustacean monstrosities. 

Afterwards, Alot gave the newcomer a wary welcome, "Who are you and why are on my ship?"

The man introduced himself as Argos, a triton. He explained that he was part of an expedition sent from the Water Dimension to investigate a possible breach and an incursion by Olhydra, an evil being from his dimension. His team learned that the lighthouse keeper, Lucien, had called upon the power of the breach in the past to save ships and the lives of sailors. They assumed he was responsible for the incursion of Olhydra and have imprisoned him. Now they seek the breach in order to close it. For his part, Lucien will be executed in two days.

Argos believed that Lucien the lighthouse keeper was innocent and sought to find the breach and obtain evidence that might exonerate him. He found a sunken ship at the base of the Skyhorn island form which the two creatures, known as chuuls, emerged. The creatures pursued him to the surface and he was thankful for the intervention of the Sea Ghost.

Captain Alot told Argos that they, too, had come to investigate the mysterious weather at the lighthouse.

Argos, relieved, appealed to Captain Alot for assistance in helping to exonerate an innocent man. Alot agreed. 

The Triton Guard

The ship sailed near the island where Argos the triton indicated the location of the sunken ship. Alot instructed the crew to sail around the island at a safe distance. Alot, Aella, Corvid, Cai'luin, Bess the giant crab, and Argos then leaped into the black oily waters.

The team descended into the murky depths. Visibility was very low, no more than ten to twenty feet. Cai'luin cast a bardic light spell to illuminate the gloom and provide a beacon should they become separated. 

As they descended into darkness, six tritons swam into view and intercepted them. 

DM Note-

Approaching the breach required a skill challenge. The tritons had a starting conflict score of 3. Each successful skill check would reduce the score by 1. Each failed check would increase the score by 1. The score had to be reduced to 0 for the party to be allowed to pass. If the score increased to 6, the tritons would lose patience and attack. 

The tritons warned the team of the dimensional breach and ordered them to evacuate. Argos spoke on their behalf, telling his companions that they wished to help him exonerate the lighthouse keeper. 

DM Note-

Automatic -1 thanks to the presence of Argos.

The triton guards were wary. They were not convinced that Lucien was innocent. They only wanted to locate and close the breach. Aella made the case to allow the party to help search. She spoke eloquently on behalf of the lighthouse keeper's case.

DM Note-

Aella's Persuasion skill check of 18 reduced the score by another -1.

Captain Alot also mentioned that, as capable warriors, they would also eliminate any additional chuuls they come across. 

DM Note-

Promising to kill chuuls reduced the score by another -1. The conflict score was now zero.

The tritons agreed and allowed the team to continue to descend - but Argos was ordered to stay behind. He was not to help nor interfere in any way. 

The Sunken Ship

The party continued to sink. They reached the sunken ship resting on the ocean floor at a depth of six hundred feet. A quick investigation of the ship revealed that name of the ship was the Argent Blade. Captain Alot recognized the ship - it belonged to a merchant captain named Haddad who had recently lost his wife at sea. The ship appeared to have been scuttled. Dark oily clouds emanated from the breaches in the hull, contaminating the surrounding water.

Corvid peered into one of the breaches into the cargo hold. He saw a large barrel shaped mechanical vehicle with six crab-like legs and two mechanical crab-like pincers. The machine lunged at him and burst through the deck.

Aella quickly summoned a sorcerous snowstorm that pummeled the mechanical vehicle. 

Captain Alot told them that they came in peace and appealed to them to stop fighting. The machine ignored Alot's entreaties and attacked Corvid with giant metal pincers.

Corvid counterattacked with his magic longsword. 

Cai'luin began playing a small set of drums and cast a bardic spell which caused the metal of the machine to begin heating. Alot, who had considered trying to find a way to open the hatch on the rear of the vehicle, backed away from the hot metal surface.

Aella summoned a sorcerous undersea tidal wave that pummeled the machine and followed it up with a sustained witch-bolt of lightning. 

Alot looked closely for a way to open the hatch and found the release. Corvid continued to damage the vehicle with several strikes from his magical longsword. 

Alot was eventually able to open the hatch, revealing two humanoid pilots within, each manning a series of levers that activated and controlled the legs and claws of the vehicle. The two beings were once human sailors but were now pallid shells with rubbery translucent skin and eyes clouded white. Their jaws hung slack. The one at the rear of the vehicle drew its cutlass and lashed out at Alot.

Alot and Corvid, aided by Aella's storm sorcery, soon dispatched the two pilots. 

The machine was heavily damaged and needed to be repaired but otherwise salvageable. 

The party continued searching the ship. It had been abandoned. Inside the captain's cabin they found a diary. The velum book had many pages removed. What remained was filled with strange symbols and arcane circles. 

Alot was able to read the following entries:

“..She calls to me from beyond! She’s trapped in

the Fiddler’s Green, but I’ll rescue her, bring her

back… I hear her voice even now, telling me to

look far beneath the lighthouse…”

“The strange genie permitted us to pass… better

that he does not interfere with Olhydra’s will!”

“…It won’t be long until Iona is finally in my

arms again. The sigils are working! The barrier

is almost weak enough for her to cross through.

The waters turn black and foul, as she said they

would…”

The Coral Caves

Beneath the wreck of the Argent Blade, Alot found the entrance into a cave. "Clever," he said, "they sunk the ship to conceal this cave." He led the way into the cave with the others not far behind.

The passage opened into a wide cavern that branched left and right. The cloudy water became clearer while the long tendrils of oily black tar snaked past in more cohesive strands. Blue and green bioluminescent polyps provided dim illumination within the cave. 

To the left, the cave was littered with debris and trash from the sunken ship - including the bloated and translucent bodies of two crewmembers. Small crabs roved over the corpses picking at their flesh. A large bed of kelp obscured the cave from floor to ceiling ahead and to the left. A wide passage branched to the right. 

Alot moved forward ahead of the others. He thought he heard a noise. He turned to his right to look down a side passage and saw a group of sailors, all with dead translucent flesh and milky white eyes, sorting salvaged cargo from the ship. The sailors spotted Alot and dropped whatever they held. The various objects drifted slowly to the floor in the underwater grotto. They picked up their cutlasses and moved to attack the armored sentinel.

To be Continued...