drowned ones). the vines are rooted in large clay pots.
Tallos grew the vines for their fruit. which he fermented
into a unique wine. The other residents knew to give
a wide berth to the vines, which attack anyone (except
the now-dead druid) that comes within their reach.
Anyone who ascends the west stairs is in reach of the
vines· attacks.
Outer Wall. The wall surrounding the courtyard is 15
feet high and has a 3-foot-wide walkway along its top.
accessed by the stairs to the east and west. The wall has
no parapets and provides no cover to those atop it. A pile
of gardening tools lies al the base of the east stairs, next
to wooden buckets used to carry water from the cistern
in area 3 to the garden.
Barricaded Doors. Any close inspection of the double
doors leading into the hermitage reveals that they were
recently broken open and have been jammed shut again.
The doors were smashed by the drowned ones, but the
s urvivors of the attack have repaired and barred them
with broken planking from the dining hall. The doors
can be forced open with a successful DC 16 Strength
(Athletics) check.- YARD AND CISTERN
A low, unfinished stone wall encloses a broad, sandy yard
abutting an open vista of beach and sea. A small tower
accessible by an external stair rises against the hermit-
age's eastern wall. Several scrubby bushes stand to the
north of a large oval pool at the center of the yard.If the characters have not already visited area 2, add:Along the north edge of the yard, the wall of the fortress
once abutted the larger of the island's rocky hills. But
that hillside has since been hewn away to create a pas·
sage rounding the corner of the hermitage.When the fortress was abandoned, th e garrison sol-
diers were in the process of enclosing this yard behind
a 3-foot-wide. 15-foot-high wall identical to the one
protecting the courtyard (area 2). The unfinished wall
stands 3 feet high.
Two sea hags were drawn to the island during the re-
cent attack. when they heard the screams of the victims
of the drowned ones. While prowling around the hermit-
age with an invisible stalker they summoned. the hags
spotted the characters approaching and have hidden in
the scrub nearest the wall.
The hags can be noticed only by a creature who
s ucceeds on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check. The
invisible stalker is in the cistern and cannot normally
be seen. If anyone spots any of the three monsters or
moves within 5 feet of the cistern's edge. these crea-
tures attack.
The hags try to flee into the sea if the stalker is slain.
Developmen t. If the hags are captured, they provide
detailed accounts of the assault on the island. and
( 11 \ r• I I R 1 I AM M I !{,\ l r s I ~ ncackle in delight when speaking of the drowned ones.
The hags have lived in the area for years, and they wit-
nessed the first drowned one attack ten years before.
They refer to the drowned ones as "walkers," because
the creatures plod along the floor of the bay, never swim-
ming. They did not see the shipwreck during the storm.
and know only the that the walkers came from the gen-
eral direction of the Pit of Hatred. They eagerly give the
characters directions to the rift, trading predictions of
party members' deaths all the while.
Cis tern. The central cistern is 7 feet deep. lined with
flagstones, and has a lip l foot wide and I foot high. It
collects rainwater for drinking and washing, but the
hermits often augment that supply with barrels of fresh
water shipped in from the mainland. Recent rains have
filled the cistern to capacity.
Treasure. Since their arrival on the island, the
hags were able to enter the hermit cells (area 11) to
gather some treasure, but they haven't yet advanced
past the barricaded door in that area. The loot now
lies hidden in silt at the bottom of the c istern. A char-
acter who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception)
check while looking in the c istern spots something be-
neath the muck.
Anyone who swims to the bottom can recover a
leather sack containing l25 gp. a gold paperweight
in the shape of a tortoise (100 gp), a silver candelabra
stamped with the symbol of the sea god Procan ( 50 gp),
and two potions of greater healing.- MAIN ENTRY
If the characters enter the hermitage through this area,
they must break through the barricaded doors with a
successful DC 16 Strength (Athletics) check. Adjust the
read-aloud text accordingly.
Pieces of broken planking and debris reinforce the dam-
aged north doors of this room, whose floor and walls
are spattered by bloodstains. A twisted padlock lies at
the foot of the north doors, and the south doors have
been nearly ripped from their hinges. Arrow slits are
visible in the east wall, shrouded by cobwebs. The west
wall displays patches where similar arrow slits have been
bricked over.When the drowned ones assaulted the hermitage, they
broke down the main doors here and caught its resi-
dents by surprise. The arrow slits are 3 feet above the
floor and 6 inches wide; the area beyond cannot be seen
because of the spiderwebs. The hermits' patchwork is
of poor quality, and the bricked-up arrow slits can be
smashed through with a successful DC 18 Strength
(Athletics) check.
A character who makes a successful DC 16 Wisdom
(Perception) check notices numerous humanoid tracks
in the blood and dirt streaking the floor. With a success-
ful DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Sur-
vival) check, a character discerns more than a dozen
individual sets of tracks, some of which arc outlined by a
thick crust of salt.