Ghosts of Saltmarsh

HOUSE INTERIOR

The house's interior is dilapidated and damp. with

patches of harmless mold everywhere. The woodwork

is generally rotten. cobwebs and dust are thick, and

rubbish is scattered everywhere. Plaster fallen from

the walls and ceiJing lies strewn across the floor, along

with the shattered remains of vandalized furniture.

Fireplaces (with chimneys too narrow to climb) show no

signs of recent use.

All house corridors are 5 feet wide and 10 feet high;

all ceilings are 10 feet high except for the attic level

where, because of the sloping roof. the height ranges

from I foot at the sides to 15 feet in the center.

All doors are 5 feet wide and 7 feet high, of normal

wood construction; all are closed but unlocked (with the

exception of area 15) and easy to open. Most of the win-

dow panes are broken, and all are easy to open.

Unless otherwise noted. illumination is bright during

the day on the ground floor and the floor above it. In the

attic, due to various holes in the roof. the light is dim but

adequate, leaving plenty of dark shadows in corners.

GROUND FLOOR

The following locations are identified on map 2.1.

l. ENTRANCE HALL

The front door opens onto a musty, dirty entrance hall.

To your left, a corridor leads into the west wing of the

house. The walls a re bare and bits of smashed furniture

lie upon the floor. Ahead of you, another corridor leads

toward the rear of the house.

A staircase on the eastern wall climbs to the next story,

reaching it at a balcony that overlooks the entrance hall

along its north and west sides; the stairs appear safe to

climb, though the balcony rail is broken in several places.

Under the stairs at the north end of the hall, a third corri·

dor leads east.

• The stairs show considerable wear and creak ominously
  when tread upon but remain strong enough to support
  anyone climbing to the second floor.
  A character who makes a successful DC 10 Intelli-
  gence ( Investigation) or Wisdom (Survival) check finds
  two sets of recently made humanoid tracks. One set of
  tracks travels from the entryway toward area 9. The sec-
  ond leads away from the foot of the stairs and along the
  western corridor toward area 4.
  B alcony. About 10 feet west of the top of the stairs,
  a section of the balcony (the shaded area on the map)
  collapses under the weight of any creature attempting
  to cross it. The creature that causes the floor to collapse
  must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall
  10 feet to the floor below. The collapsed section of the
  balcony leaves a 7-foot-widc gap that must be crossed to
  reach the rest of the first floor.

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2. LIBRARY

This room was once a library, with bookshelves around

the walls. Most of the shelves are broken, and in many

places they have come away from the wall. The few

shelves still intact are empty, but a pile of books rests in

the southwest corner.

The fourteen books in the heap untidily thrown into the

corner are covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings.

and harmless mold. All are partially ruined but are still

legible. Most of the books are dull (histories, collections

of romantic poems, and so forth), but three are quite

noteworthy. These three books bear clear titles on

their spines:

The Magical Properties of Gemstones by the arch-

mage Tenser

The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers by the

archmage Tenser

The Metaphysics of Mathematics by the mage Nystul

Inside the third volume lies a piece of parchment torn

from a larger sheet, containing a few lines of handwrit-

ten text in the Common tongue. Dampness has spoiled it

so that only two words are legible: "beyond skeletons."

The books can be sold for 7 gp each. though finding

a buyer for such tomes might require the party co look

beyond Saltmarsh.

3. STUDY

This room was once a writing room or study. Against the

wall under the windows sits a large wooden writing desk,

partially broken and riddled with damp rot. There are

three drawers in each side of the desk and a large central

drawer; the latter is closed. but the others are all open-

and two of them have been broken open forcibly.

The central drawer is locked and can be opened by a

character who succeeds on a DC 10 Dexterity check us-

ing thieves' tools. The drawer contains nothing but old,

valueless documents, all written in Common receipts

for purchases of various chemicals and laboratory

equipment. A character who makes a successful DC 14

Intelligence (Investigation) check uncovers a small se-

cret compartment.

Treasure. Inside the secret compartment. wrapped

in cloth. is a glass vial containing two doses of potion

of healing.

4. LIVING AREA

• A door in the north wall leads onto a small patio, the pav-
  ing cracked and overrun with weeds. Other than a pile of
  refuse in the southeast corner, the room is bare.


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