Ghosts of Saltmarsh

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

2~}0


Treasure. A character who succeeds on a DC^13 Wis-
dom (Perception) check while searching the room finds
a set of gilded navigator's tools (100 gp) amid a great
deal of ruined paper and deteriorated clothing.

M6. PASSENGER QUARTERS
The furniture in the passenger quarters is in pieces that
litter the ground.
Crab of Cuthbert. The day before the Marshal sank.
Clergol of the Viola. a bard and a follower of St. Cuth-
bert, cast the awaken spell on a crab he named Barnacle
Bess. Bess has the statistics of a giant crab, with the
following changes:


  • She is lawful neutral.

  • Her Intelligence score is lO (+O). and she can speak
    and understand Common.
    Bess hides beneath the broken pieces of furniture.
    She is timid and knows very little about the ship's
    history, though Clergol did teach her the tenets of St.
    Cuthbert and how to sing a few of the god's hymns. If
    the characters find Bess, she tries to flee unless one of
    them wears a symbol of St. Cuthbert. in which case she
    follows that character around singing and obeys orders
    given to her by that character.


M7. MISSIONARY CARGO
The door to this area is locked. A character can pick
the lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using
thieves' tools. A character can break the door open with
a successful DC 12 Strength check.
This cabin contains fifteen watertight crates of various
sizes, which hold hundreds of copies of St. Cuthbert and
Common Sense, a short book used to explain the tenets
of the deity's faith to nonbelievers.

M8. BRIG
The brig·s door is made of rusted iron. Inside is a broken
chamber pot and four skeletons wearing torn and rotted
priest robes and manacles with broken, rusty chains.
Skeletons. The skeletons are the r emains of the
missionaries that overcame the allure of the harpies'
song and tried lo convince the others to put the Marshal
back on course. Their pleas failed, and these mission-
aries were imprisoned in the brig, where they ulti-
mately drowned.
Symbol of St. Cuthbert's Knowledge. One of the skel-
etons is that of Uzol Telmock, a high priest of St. Cuth-
bert. It still carries the symbol of St. Cuthbert's magic
inside its robes. A detect magic spell or similar effect
reveals an aura of divination magic emanating from chis
jade symbol of St. Cuthbert. The symbol can activate the
altar in area M4.

M9. CAVE OF LOST SOULS
This sea cave has the following features:
Al gae. The sea cave is covered in phosphorescent algae.
which fills the cave with dim green light.
Ceiling. The ceiling is^10 feet high.
Ghosts. Calimara and Alina are the ghosts of mis-
sionaries that died in the brig (area M8) along with the
high priest when the ship sank. The ghosts spend most

\l'l'f NlllX A I 01 Sllll'~ A"'I> 1 Ill ''I A


of their time in the cave. They can't stand the painful
memories that come from looking at their old sh ip.
The ghosts are devout followers of St. Cuthbert, and
they attack any creature they see committing an illegal
or evil act (such as if ihe characters are carrying items
they stole from the ship's occupants).
If the characters have committed no such acts. the
ghosts ask the characters to recover their remains as
well as the bones of their friends in the harpy nest (area
M 1) and the brig (area M8) and give them a proper
burial. If the characters perform this task. the ghosts
give them permission to take tr easure from the Marshal.
after which they share their knowledge of the ship's
original purpose and then fade into the afterlife.

WRECK ADVENTURES
You can create your own stories for adventuring at this
site or use the information in the Marshal Wreck En-
counters table to cr eate an adventure. You can roll ran-
domly or choose an encounter appropriate for the aver-
age level of th e characters. Each encounter is described
in detail after the table.

MARSHAL WRECK ENCOUNTERS
d4 Encounter Level
Vecna's Twist 5th
2 Merrow Mayhem 7th
3 Golem Diver 11th
4 Dragon Turtle Bandit 15th

VECNA'S TWIST

The town guard of Saltmarsh recently broke up a secret
cult of Vecna, an enemy of St. Cuthbert. jander Caudron
(NE male human cult fanatic) was the leader of the cult.
During interrogation.jander revealed that the cult hon-
ored Vecna by using a cursed ceremonial dagger to twist
the souls of St. Cuthbert's faithful killed on the Marshal
into warriors of the Maimed God meant to assault Salt-
marsh. The dagger is hidden somewhere in the wreck.
Saltmarsh Story Hook. El iander Fi reborn asks the
characters lo investigate the matter, offering 300 gp if
they neutralize the threat and recover the dagger.
Cursed Dagger. The cursed dagger. decorated with
the hand and eye symbol ofVecna, is hidden beneath the
statue of St. Cuthbert in area M3. A character can spot
it with a successfu I DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check.
A detect magic spell or similar effect reveals an aura of
necromancy magic radiating from the dagger.
Whenever an undead creature is destroyed within 500
feet of the dagger. the creature's essence is trapped in
the blade, and Id I 0 days later the creature re-forms with
all its hit points in a space within 10 feet of the dagger.
When a creature that is not undead and does not wor-
ship Vecna touches the dagger. that creature must suc-
ceed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or become
paralyzed for I hour. I f the creature is still touching the
dagger when the condition ends. that creature must
repeat the saving throw. becoming subject to the effect
again on a failure.
A character who examines the dagger and succeeds
on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check discerns that
Free download pdf