116~
' A rock outcropping thrusts up from the sea to form an
is land here, just offshore. It reckons to be five hundred
feet in diameter and is separated from the shoreline by a
1 span of about two hundred feet.'
I
l
The guards who are rowing or sailing the keelboat won't
come anywhere within several hundred feet of the is-
land. They prefer to drop off the characters (in their row-
boats) on the eastern edge of the a rea, but if the char-
acters ask. they will sail around the south side of the
island- always giving it a wide berth-so the characters
can disembark somewhere else along the perimeter.
After the characters take to their boats, they can de-
cide to come ashore on the mainland and approach the
fortress on foot, or they might row around the island to
look for clues about what lies inside. When the charac-
ters come close enough to the island to see details of the
exterior or the causeway, read:' The island is bare of vegetation other than mosses,
lichens, seaweed, and the occasional clump of coarse
g rass. No wildlife appears present, but for a few clouds
of insects and small mollusks. In stark contrast to other
sites a long the coast, no seabirds can be seen near
the island.
As reported by the scouts, a long stone causeway leads
southward from the marshy coastline, crossing the entire
span just above the waterline. By looking south from the
coast, you can see that it ends at a ledge with a set of
large stone doors just beyond.
!Allow the characters to plan and execute their approach,
using the following information.ENTRANCES
The fortress has three entrances. though only one is vis-
ible from the surface. The first is a set of double doors
at the end of the causeway that leads southward to area
l. The second is a small cave 80 feet below the double
doors that leads to area 61. The th ird is a wide opening
on the south side of the island, 80 feet below the sur-
face, that leads to area 60.
Deeper than 20 feet below the s urface, the water is
heavily obscured without the aid of a light source.ROCKY EXTERIOR
The island fortress's rocky exterior features many hand-
holds. Characters who want to climb the exterior can do
so with no difficulty. Such activity attracts no attention
from within, nor does it produce any useful results.THE CAUSEWAY
The stone causeway extends for 190 feet from the coast
to the ledge of area 1. It is 10 feet wide and 10 to 15 feet
thick, allowing it to safely bear the weight of the charac-
ters if they choose to walk on it.TH!'.; I I"\ ·\ l F "\ F \I YFORTRE SS LEVEL 1
The following locations are identified on map 6.1. Mod-
ify the read-aloud text as necessary to account for the
movement of the sahuagin around the fortress.l. NORTH ENTRANCE AND GUARD POST
' You stand on a rock ledge about thirty feet wide. Ahead,
set into the vertical rock surface, is a pair of large stone
doors, each ten feet high and five feet wide. The surface
of the doors is featureless, with no visible handles, ex·
cept for a rectangular aperture six inches wide by four
inches high cut in the center of the left-hand door, about
six feet above ground level. A flat metal plate covers this
1 aperture from the inside.During the day, the doors are barred on the ins ide. At
night. the doors are unbarred, since sahuagin use the
doors to access the causeway and enter the marsh. The
sahuagin guards in area 1 a re overconfident; they don't
keep a close eye on the causeway.
As long as the c ha racte rs approach the doors quietly,
they do not aler t the guards beyond. Tampering with the
doors will alert the guards, who demand (in Sahuagin)
to know who is trying to e nter.
The guards can be tricked into opening the doors, but
since sahuagin intelligence is high. this will not be an
easy task. A character who can communicate with the
sahuagin, and who makes a successful DC 18 Charisma
(Deception or Persuasion) check. convinces the guards
to open the doors for the party.
The doors are not magically locked and can be opened
with appropriate spells or e nough brawn. The doors (AC
16, 45 hit points. damage threshold 12) can be forced
open by a character who makes a successful DC 18
Strength (Athletics) check.•
Once the characters are inside, read the following:You see a bare, spartan room. Ahead, a short corridor off
the room ends in a closed bronze gate. To your left, a sin-
gle stone bench runs along the east wall. To your right on
the opposite wall hangs a large metal gong; a short meta l
bar leans against the wall below it.
Several sahuagin glare at you as they move to attack.Six sahuagin, two sahuagin coral smashers (see ap-
pendix C), and one sahuagin champion (see appendix
C) guard the entrance. If the door is forced open, one of
the sahuagin immediately moves toward the west wall
to ring the gong. while the remaining guards defend the
entrance. If this creature is s lain or otherwise prevented
from ringing the gong, no other defender takes its place.
A sahuagin can use its action to ring the gong. If the
gong is rung three times, the sahuagin in areas 2 and
12 recognize the alert signal and rush to the scene as
quickly as possible. The gong cannot be heard on any
other level of the fortress.