Ghosts of Saltmarsh

5. MIDDEN

A foul stench permeates this dark room, which holds a

pile of filth beneath a trapdoor in the ceiling. A ladder is

bolted to the west wall below the trapdoor. The bricked-

over outlines of three arrow slits line the east wall, and an

entire doorway has been bricked up to the south.

The inhabitants of the hermitage use this room as a
dump and privy, dropping their refuse through the trap-
door above. They bricked over the arrow slits and the
door to contain the smell. A hole in the north wall allows
creatures of Small size or smaller to come and go freely.
Five giant rats slither and skitter through the pile of
waste. They instinctively attack any intruders.
Ladder. A rung at the top of the ladder has rotted, and
it breaks if more than 50 pounds of weight are placed
on it. A character who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom
(Perception) check notices the weak rung. Any character
who breaks the rung while climbing falls 10 feet and has
a 50 percent chance of landing in the waste pile.
Pile of Waste. Any character who makes substantial
contact with the pile of waste (searching through it,
falling into it. and so forth) must succeed on a DC^14
Constitution saving throw or contract sewer plague. See
"Diseases" in chapter^8 of the Dungeon Masters Guide.
Treasure. A character who searches the waste pile
discovers a brooch of shielding dropped here years ago.

6. ARCHER'S POST

Cobwebs shroud this apparently abandoned room, ob-

scuring three arrow slits on the west wall. A ladder bolted

to the east wall leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

This room can make a defensible hideout later in the

adventure when the drowned ones return.

7. SCULLERY

• Stairs rise to a railed balcony that covers two walls of
  this large, vaulted chamber. The balcony stands ten feet
  above the floor, with heavy crossbeams above reinforcing
  the twenty-foot-high, slate·tiled ceiling. Here and there,
  missing ceiling tiles have been covered over with thatch.
  A large, rusty metal tub and a broken wooden frame
  stand near the staircase. The floor shows spatters of
  b lood and obvious signs of a recent scuffle.

This area was once a gallery, but the hermitage resi-

dents have turned it into a scullery. The tub formerly

served as the oil receptacle for the beacon in the tower

above (see area 24). but it now holds dirty water and

shattered crockery. The wooden frame is a drying rack

for laundry. Behind the tub sits a bucket of lye with a

copper scoop, and several pumice stones for scrubbing.

T

The drowned ones killed several hermits here, then

hauled the bodies to area 14. The door from this area to

area 11 has since been barricaded from this side.

A character who studies the blood spatters in the

room and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Inves-

tigation) check determines that several people were

recently slain here-including one who was drowned

in the tub. The blood spatters on the floor are a day old

at most. The character also notices a few more recent

tracks, suggesting that at least one person survived

the onslaught. It's not clear in which direction the sur-

vivor fled.

Bricked-Up Door. Characters who pass along the

hallway between this area and area 15 can see that a

doorway in the north wall has been bricked over. The

sloppy brickwork can be smashed through with a suc-

cessful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check.

Treasure. One of the hermits owned a well-made

set of false teeth carved of elephant ivory. These teeth,

worth 150 gp, can be found by anyone who searches the

tub, where they ended up after their prior owner was

drowned by an undead attacker.

8. DINING HALL

This large hall has a vaulted ceiling that rises to nearly

thirty feet high at its center. The area is dominated by a

flagstone hearth at the north end and a twenty-foot-high

wooden balcony to the south. supported by rickety-look-

ing posts. High windows are set into the east and west

walls, which also have door·sized holes smashed through

them at either end of the balcony.

The shattered remnants of a large trestle table and

a pair of benches litter the center of the room. Broken

crockery is scattered about, along with chunks of food.

The great hall of the fortress once served as a defensive

position as well as a gathering place.

Windows. The cast windows open to the outside and

allow light into the hall during the day. The west win-

dows allowed archers on the second level to fire down

on any intruders in this area.

Hermit Alterations. The hermits have made several

structural alterations to the hall. including widening ar-

row slits in the guard tower and the entry hall balcony to

create doorways on the second level. They then built the

crude wooden balcony to connect the upper ftoor of the

watchtower with the inside of the main building.

The balcony's construction is shabby. and the wooden

poles that precariously support it look unsafe. lt can

support up to 200 pounds of weight before collapsing.

Anyone on the balcony when it collapses falls 20 feet to

the floor below, taking normal falling damage.

Smashed Table. Two of the hermits were enjoying a

late repast here when the drowned ones attacked. They

went to area 7 to investigate !>Ounds of a scuffle and

were slain there. The survivors of the assault later broke

up the table and benches so they the pieces could be lo

bar the entrances to the hermitage.

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