UNFORTUNATE SWIMMER
The corpse on the beach was once an older human
male, with a scraggly gray beard and short gray hair
balding al the crown. His left ear is missing, though it is
obviously an old wound. He wears only a pair of home-
spun, water-soaked breeches, and his skin is wrinkled
from having spent time in the water. A character who
succeeds on a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine)
check determines that the man died of exhaustion.
This was Philpert. a member of the Firewatch Island
hermitage who escaped the drowned ones' attack by
swimming three miles of open sea. Sadly, his exhausted
body gave out just a short distance from land. and his
corpse washed up on the beach with the next tide.
If speak with dead is used to communicate with the
body, it initially produces incoherent rambling about
terror in the dark and the sea being the only escape. A
careful questioner might be able to extract further infor-
mation depending on the questions asked.
In his former life, Philpert spent much of his time
slumming in the village of Uskarn, living off the charity
of its citizens. Joining the Firewatch Island hermitage
allowed him to finally find peace. But the horror of the
drowned ones' attack shattered his sanity, so that at best
he can recount only that the attackers came from the
sea, were humanoid in appearance, and had glowing
eyes and rotting flesh.
The Village ofUskarn
Uskarn is a small fishing village of nine hundred souls.
Though the place is primarily a human settlement, a
handful of elves. dwarves, and gnomes have also made
their homes here.Most of Uskarn's inhabitants earn a living fishing in
the shallows of the adjacent bay or venturing farther
out to sea if they're after more impressive catches. The
village boasts an unusually large port for its size, used
both for its own fishing boats and for the trading vessels
and naval ships that frequently stop here on their way
through the area.STAYING IN USKARN
An extended stay in the village isn't required to complete
this adventure, but the characters are likely to visit-if
only lo secure passage lo Firewatch Island by way of the
small ferry that runs from the village.
Characters who do spend time in the village might be
drawn to the popular tavern known as the Fog and Frog,
a large warehouse converted into a drinking establish-
ment with a dozen modest rooms to rent in the back.
The tavern is run by council member Skeldruff Plenk,
who brews a much-lauded lager called Plenk's Plenk.
If the characters ask about Philpert in Uskarn, the
villagers know him by description. Anyone can tell the
characters about Philpert's history in the village, and
most residents know he had been living at the Firewatch
Island hermitage for the past several months. The peo-
ple of Uskarn are understandably concerned if one of
the peaceful hermits of the island has turned up dead.
Though they have no money to offer as incentive, the
villagers are quick to ask the characters to check on the
hermitage to make sure everything is all right.
If the characters spend any time in Uskarn other than
the minimum required to use it as a jumping-off point
for the adventure. the following details about promi-
nent people and other background information might
come in handy.