shattered. For now, Skerrin uses Petra's memory to fan
Anders's antipathy toward the Sea Princes.
Flaw. Due to a combination of his youth and his
somewhat sheltered upbringing, Anders is naive. He
relied on his mother's expertise in most matters, which
has aliowed Skerrin to worm his way into Anders's
confidence.SKERRIN WAVECHASER
Skerrin (LE male human assassin) is secretly the head
Brotherhood agent in town. Tall, lean, tan, with short
silver hair, he speaks in precise, measured statements
of a man who has a keen eye for detail. He is dispas-
sionate and takes a protective stance toward Anders.
To observers, he is nothing more than a faithful and
trusted butler.
Skerrin was renowned for his patience during his
days as an assassin for the Brotherhood. Once, he hid
himself in the attic above a noble's bedroom, waiting
in a trance-like state for three days and nights until his
target was positioned just below a small crack in the
room's ceiling. Skerrin squeezed a single drop from a
vial of poison he carried on to the noble's bald scalp. He
waited in his hiding place for another full day until the
contact poison killed the man.
Personality Traits. Skerrin is literally a man of two
personalities. He appears to be a concerned, fatherly fig-
ure, a Joyal retainer who worries about his young mas-
ter. With a few moments of focus. however, he can shift
to become a cold-blooded, patient killer.
Ideal. When operating as Anders' servant, Skerrin
believes that it is the duty of those with experience and
wisdom to advise the young. As an assassin, he holds
that those strong enough to survive flourish only by cull-
ing the weak.
Bond. S kerring's bond alternates between Anders
and the Scarlet Brotherhood. He sees both as the best
bets to bring order and security to the world.
Flaw. Arrogance. Skerrin genuinely believes that if
he had to, he could murder everyone of consequence in
town in a single night and secure the place for the Scar-
let Brotherhood. Sometimes he is tempted to do so, if
only to prove himself right.THE SCARLET BROTHERHOOD IN PLAY
The Scarlet Brotherhood is an opportunistic faction. It
seeks to cause the maximum amount of disruption with
the least amount of risk.
The Brotherhood wants to tilt the town council in its
favor and install Anders as the most prominent member.
Their first goal is to find evidence of Gellan Primewa-
ter's involvement with the Sea P r inces and implicate
his participation in the slave trade. Such evidence is not
hard to find once Gellan's dealings with the Sea Princes
are revealed.
The Brotherhood plans to use such accusations to
increase tension in town between the traditionalists and
the loyalists, ignite a civil war, assassinate leaders on
both sides. and then use Anders as a peacemaker. Then
the Brotherhood plans to assassinate Anders, frame the
Sea P rinces. and install Skerrin as his replacement as
the town's foremost leader. Finally, Skerrin will agitate
for war and continue to help Brotherhood agents infil-
trate Keoland's towns in the south.
If war does erupt, Brotherhood agents will work to
ensure a long, drawn-out stalemate that grinds down
both s ides. Ideally, assassinations will pave the way for
Brotherhood agents to assume high positions in both
realms, but if necessary, the Brotherhood will engage
armies of mercenaries, humanoid tribes, and fanatics
it has gathered to finish the job. They hope that the Sea
Princes can then be transformed into a puppet state,
allowing the Brotherhood to turn their attention to the
rest of Keo land.SCARLET BROTH ERHOOD SAMPLE EVENTS
d20 Event
1-6 The Brotherhood slips evidence of smugglin g to
t he guard, causing several popular fishing boat
owners to be arrested.
7- 10 The Brotherhood's agents spread rumors that the
mine is on the verge of failure and the crown plans
to award the dwarves rulership of Saltmarsh as
compensation.
11 -12 The Brotherhood blackmails lngo the Drover and
Keledek the Unspoken, two people in town with
dark pasts, into their service, turning them into
useful agents.
13-14 Tainted grain delivered by a merchant in league
with the Brotherhood leads to an outbreak of
plague.
15-16 The Brotherhood uses kidnapping, blackmail, or
other sinister means to turn an important member
o f another faction into an ally.
17-18 A small band of escaped slaves arrives in town.
They claim that several sailors at the docks once
worked as slave traders, prompting outraged calls
for justice from Anders.
19 Pirate activity increases, bearing the unmistakable
mark of the Sea Princes. The Brotherhood's ships
adopt Sea Prince regalia to confuse the issue.
20 Skerrin, growing bored and overconfident, assassi-
nates a prominent member of a faction and tries to
frame the Sea Princes for the deed.Saltmarsh Overview
Saltmarsh's roughly five thousand residents are pre-
dominantly human, with the dwarven mining contingent
of about two hundred workers the largest non-human
faction in town. Elves and halflings draw no special no-
tice, since the Silverstand hosts a wood elf enclave and a
few halfling villages are tucked in the hills around town.
The residents react to other visitors, especially tieflings
and dragonborn, with a mixture of curiosity and fear.LAW AND ORDE R
Saltmarsh is a bastion of civilization in the midst of an
untamed region. Without its stout defenders, it might
have long ago fallen to the depredations of outsiders.(I! \I IF R I SAl r\I \R~JI
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