Ghosts of Saltmarsh

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PLACING THE ADVENTURE

Here are suggestions for where you can place this adven-

ture in particular campaign settings.

Eberron. Built by Aundair during the Last War, the fort on

Firewatch Island once guarded the mouth of Scions Sound

against threats from Karmath, but it has since become a

place of meditation and retreat. Ten years before the end of

the war, the fort was attacked by the Order of the Emerald

Claw. In desperation, the defenders called upon the Trav-

eler for divine aid that seemingly saved the fort. But in the

end, the god's fickle whim saw Syrgaul and his crew trans-

formed, and ultimately doomed the garrison.

Forgotten Realms. On Faerun, Firewatch Island rises out

of the Wyvernwater in Cormyr. It was once the site of a Pur-

ple Dragon outpost north ofWheloon, intended to keep

watch over that prison city. When a Sembian raiding force

was sent t o take the outpost and gain access to Wheloon,

the garrison's North lander cleric called on Valkur for aid.

The Sembian boats were sent to the bottom of the lake,

where Netherese magic earned by the raiders wrought a

terrible transformation on the drowned crew.

Mystara. Concerned by growing evidence of a Thyatian

attack, Duke Stefan of Karameikos saw a need to establish

an outpost on an island near Rugalov. As tensions faded

and concern waned, Duke von Hendricks of the Black Ea-

gle Barony saw an opportunity, and dispatched agents of

the Iron Ring to seize Firewatch Island as a naval base. In

the Known World, Nyx or Orcus could be Syrgaul's patron,

and Janore Stormswake could be a follower of Protius.

DELAYED DELIVERY

While visiting a town along the coast near Firewatch Is-

land, the party received a seemingly easy mission: to de-

liver a message to a town farther down the coast. Doing

so takes the characters through the village of Uskarn

where they learn that something is wrong on Firewatch

Island. The mission they are on is not time-sensitive.

leaving the characters a free day or two lo investigate.

The contents of the message and the NPC who gave

them th e mission can be designed to fit your campaign.

MORLEY' S DEBT

ln a settlement somewhere close to Uskarn, a merchant

named Oavus Raal (LN male half-elf nobl e) contacts the

party with an offer of employment. Raal offers a bounty

if the characters can track down Morley Tobe, a dwarf

who absconded after failing to repay a 8,000 gp debt

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL

owed to Raal. The merchant found out that Morley fled

to Fircwatch Island (where he's hiding in area 25) and is

posing as a pious hermit to dodge his debts. Raal hires

the characters to reclaim the money he is owed or, fail-

ing that, to bring Morley to him (after which the dwarf

will be sold lo pirates to recoup Raars losses). If they

take the job, Raal tells them how to get to Uskarn, which

is the closest mainland community to the island.

Harpy Attack

Regardless of what brings the characters to the area,

the adventure begins with a chance encounter as they

travel along the coast near the village of Uskarn.

The road is little more than a gravel track hugging the

coastline. The day is hot, and the air is thick with the

scent and sound of the sea. Suddenly, you hear harsh

cries and the sounds of a scuffle from up ahead. Round-

ing a curve. you see a woman kneeling next to a body.

sobbing as she hunches protectively over the remains.

Circling in the air a few feet above her, eight harpies

screech and flail at each other.

The sobbing woman is actually a harpy matriarch

(see appendix C), which has used its magic to disguise

itself as a middle-aged human female. The eight harpies

that serve the matriarch circle above. Any character who

makes a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check sees

through her ruse and realizes she is not human.

If the characters approach to assist the woman or

attack the harpies. they witness the harpy matriarch's

transformation:

The woman stands suddenly. turning to reveal a go-

re-caked mouth and hollow black eyes. In an instant, she

is surrounded by a cloud of flapping skeletal birds and

her own shape shifts to that of a gray-feathered harpy.

The harpies and their matriarch attack the character s in

the hope of claiming another easy meal.

Prolific adventure writer Greg

Vaughn spun this tale of horror

on the high seas for Dungeon l 06

in 2004. Like much of Vaughn's

work, this scenario builds a chilling

scenario that requires the players

to peel through several layers of

mystery, decipher the truth of the

matter, and face down supernatural

horrors to end a threat before it can

grow to its full power.

Cll ~l'llR t I \M\11 RAl TS F ~I