Ghosts of Saltmarsh

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ANCIENT WARNING

If the characters search the sand around the ship,

they discover the tip of a stone slab sticking up above

the muck and ooze. The rest of the slab is buried. If it

is pulled out (requiring a successful DC 15 Strength

check). it is found to be inscribed with ancient runes.

A character who succeeds on a DC 14 lntelligence (In-

vestigation) check deduces that the slab is the product

of magic. A subsequent successful DC 16 lntelligence

(Arcana) check confirms it was made using a stone

shape spell.

The runes are in Elvish. They communicate a warn-

ing to stay away from the sealed rift and the horror that

lies below.

INSIDE THE SHIP

Numerous breaches in the hull and openings on the

rowing decks allow entry into the ruined ship. Alterna-

tively, characters can swim down into the stem's interior

from the top of the sh ip, where the bow is missing.

' The interior of the sunken ship is a ruin. The decks

have all but collapsed, creating a tangled maze where

ooze and muck cling to sundered timbers and beams.

An eerie, many-colored light pulses from the depths of

the hull.

The rotten tangles of timbers and bulkheads are weak

after ten years underwater and can be pushed thr ough

with relative ease.

A large hole in the buried stern of the wreck allows

easy access to a darkened cavern that opens up beneath

broken slabs of stone- the remains of the seals that

once blocked the opening of the pit.

t

As the characters enter the wreck, a number of

drowned ones that stayed behind from the most recent

assault on Firewatch Island take notice. Three drowned

blades, one drowned ascetic, and one drowned as-

sassin lurk inside the ruined Tammeraut and attack as

soon as the characters enter. The undead do not pursue

Aeeing characters beyond the 300-foot hemisphere of

dark energy that surrounds the rift.

THE RIFT

• A pulsating light composed of unnatural colors perme-
  ates this underwater cavern. The stern of the ship has
  broken through the cavern's fifteen-foot-high ceiling near
  the center of the area. The nauseating light reveals a
  hideous array of p iled bones, many of which clearly once
  belonged to humanoids-far more bones than could be
  accounted for by the crew of a single sunken ship.
  A shallow alcove opens up to the north, with a rotting
  sea chest set before it, leaning against the rough stone
  wall. Within the alcove, a funnel-shaped hollow in the
  cavern floor terminates at a narrow hole in the bedrock
  below. The pulsing light emanates from this hole.

<,Jl \l'T!CR 7 I TA~IMERAU"l '!i I .\JI

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This cavern is all that remains of what was once a

jagged chasm in the seaAoor. The mound of bones rep-

resents both the crew of Tammeraut and others who

have succumbed to the ocean's perils. all preserved by

the rift's dark magic. The hollow to the north is the ac-

cess point to the ancient evil that has imbued the Pit of

I latred with its sinister aura.

Tammeraut's captain, Syrgaul Tammeraut, resides

in this chamber- transformed into a twisted monster

known as a drowned master (sec appendix C). Syrgaul

is the conduit through which the pit's evil essence once

again spreads its dark influence into the world. Feeding

off the captain's rage and hate as he died, the energy of

the rift animated Tammeraut's crew and turned them

into drowned ones. Though the drowned ones can range

abroad. Syrgaul is forever trapped within the rift near

the source of his dark unlife.

As the characters explore this area, Syrgaul and one

drowned blade rise from the pile of bones and attack.

Treasure. The treasure carried on Tammeraut has

been placed in front of the north alcove by the drowned

ones, as an offering to the great sleeping evil below. A

rotting sea chest holds 5,000 sp, 1,850 gp,^75 pp, and

ten masterfully cut pieces of jade depicting various sea

animals (100 gp each).

SEALING THE RIFT

The funnel-shaped hollow to the north of the hull is 3

feet in diameter and descends 2 feet to a 1-inch-wide

vent at the bottom. In addition to being the source of

the pulsating light, the vent is the center and source

of the area's dark hallow effect. This narrow opening

continues down for hundreds of feet beneath the ocean

bottom, never widening.

Sealing this vent is the only way to lay Syrgaul's spirit

to rest. Doing so also prevents the evil from further cor-

rupting those who drown in the area. One easy method

of sealing it is to use the flask of sovereign glue from the

hermitage to affix a plug over the opening (the substance

hardens even underwater). Spells such as stone shape

can also seal off the vent. When the vent is sealed, the

hallow effect surrounding the rift immediately ends.

CONCLUSION

If the characters accomplish all their objectives-res-

cuing the surviving hermits, destroying the drowned

ones and their leader. and sealing the opening in the Pit

of Hatred- things soon return to normal on Firewatch

Island and the communities of the nearby coast. The

surviving hermits abandon the island. but a new group

settles there before long. Or, Feldrin Kane, the Uskarn

bailiff, might deed the island and fortress to the char-

acters as a reward for ending the threat of the drowned

ones. Of course. such a reward comes with the expecta-

tion that the characters would use the place to protect

and defend the settlements of the nearby coast.

If the characters depart Firewatch Island before night-

fall and the drowned ones' second attack. the undead

become a greater threat. Now that they've exhausted

the nearby prey, the undead make it to the mainland in

their nightly wanderings. Attacks on coastal roads and