Ghosts of Saltmarsh

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

Twenty octopuses swim in place around the room.
They attack only to defend themselves.
W7b. Supply Closets. These supply closets held food
and liturgical materials that were lost to or broken by
the sea. A closet has a 25 percent chance of containing
a hungry quipper and a 10 percent chance of containing
an object from the 25 gp Art Objects table in chapter 7
of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
W7c. Meditation Chamber. Tattered tapestries and
cold, rusty braziers decorate this chamber. Yalaga
Maladwyn sits cross-legged in the center of the room.
She is a drow priestess ofLoltb, with the follow-
i ng changes:


Yalaga is undead.
She doesn't have the F'ey Ancestry tr ait or the Sum-
mon Demon action option.
Yalaga was a loyal priestess ofVaalast roth until the
end of h er life and conti nues to be so in undeath. She
meditates i n this chamber trying to hear the voice of
Vaalastroth, which has been silent for her si nce War thal-
keel's destruction.
If she notices the characters, Yalaga i mmediately be-
gins asking why they have come to Warthalkeel. A char-
acter who succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma (Deception or
Persuasion) check convinces her they mean no har m. If
convinced. Yalaga shares Warthalkeel's history and al-
lows the characters to explore the temple as long as she
can escort them.
If the characters can't convince Yalaga they mean no
harm, or if she catches them stealing or defacing any
property in the temple, she attacks and fights to the
death (though she doesn't leave the temple to follow the
characters if they flee).
W7d. High Priest's Chambers. The door to these
chambers is locked. A character can pick the door 's lock
with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves'
tool or force the door open with a successful DC 20
Strength check.
Halkal Kyrith. the high priest ofVaalastroth, d ied cow-
ering in his chambers for fail ing to defend t he worship
of the krakcn. T he h igh priest's skeleton lies i n rotti ng
robes amid debris on the floor, clutching a tentacle rod.
W7e. Balcony. The balcony is 10 feet above the sea-
Aoor. The tops of the 3-foot-high parapets are carved to
look like tentacles.
W7f. Crumbling Hall. A crumbling mosaic depicts a
kraken devouring an entire planet on the ceiling of this
chamber. A creature that touches the walls, floor, or ceil-
ing of this chamber must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity
saving throw or cake 3 (ld6) damage from falling debris.
W7g. Grand Staircase. This staircase's stone railing
is carved to look like a long tentacle. A giant octopus
lives under the stairs and attacks only if disturbed. Yal-
aga Maladwyn (see area W7c) feeds this octopus and
considers it a friend. A character can peacefully coax the
octopus from its nest with a successful DC 15 Wisdom
(Animal Handling) check.
A gold kraken statuette (100 gp) lies amid the waste in
the octopus's nest.


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W7h. Ballroom. The ballroom once hosted grand
celebrations in honor of Vaalastroth. A 10-foot-diameter,
200-pound crystal chandelier shaped like a k r aken (750
gp) hangs from the ceiling. A character who succeeds on
a DC 15 Dexterity check using mason's tools can safely
remove the chandelier from the ceiling. The chandelier
is fragile. If takes any damage. it becomes worthless.
W7i. Private Room. This room offered privacy to
important ballroom guests. A stone table shaped like a
kraken sits in one corner. A long prayer to Vaalastroth is
carved into its surface.
Wlj. Tower Roof. The top of this tower holds an
indentation of one ofVaalastroth's tentacles. marking
where the kraken touched the building to bless it. A
creature that touches the indentation feels an over-
whelming desire to pray to the kraken. If a creature
offers a prayer to Vaalastroth, the creature must make
a DC 15 Wisdom saving t hrow. On a successful save,
the creature gai ns a charm or animal conjuring (see
''Charms" in chapter 7 of th e Dungeon Master's Guide),
but can conjure only octopuses and giant octopuses.
On a failed save, t he creature takes 16 (3d10) psy-
chic damage.

WARTHALKEEL ADVENTURES
You can create your own stories for adventuring at this
site or use the information in the Warthalkeel Encoun-
ters table to create an adventure. You can roll randomly
or choose an encounter appropriate for the average level
of the characters. Each encounter is described in detail
after the table.

WARTHALKEEL ENCOUNTERS
d4 Encounter Level
l Mephit Mischief lst
2 Lizardfolk Games 3rd
3 Release the Kraken 11th
4 Extended Life 13th

MEPHlT MISCH! EF
Gali, a curious merfolk teenager, stumbled upon a green
conch shell in Warthalkcel's ruins. When she blew on
the shell, a one-way portal from the Plane of Earth ap-
peared, and out of the portal came a mud mephit. T he
mephit stole the shell and dropped it somewhere in the
ruins before heading to the surface. As the days passed,
more mephits emerged from the portal. heading to the
mainland to cause mischief.
Saltmarsh Story Hook. Over several days recently,
mud m epbits have appeared in Saltmarsh to steal food.
pull pranks. and annoy people. Wellgar Brinehanded
(see location 26 in Saltmarsh) tracked the mephits
back to Warthalkeel's ruins. He offers the characters
100 gp to find and close the por tal that the mephits are
coming through. If the characters take the job, Wellgar
gives each a potion o{ water breathing before they go to
the ruins.
Elemental Portal. The 2-foot-diameter portal is lo-
cated on the sea floor just outside area W7. Every ld6
hours, a mud mephit emerges from the portal and
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