Ghosts of Saltmarsh

(Jeff_L) #1
HOUSE INTERIOR
The house's interior is dilapidated and damp. with
patches of harmless mold everywhere. The woodwork
is generally rotten. cobwebs and dust are thick, and
rubbish is scattered everywhere. Plaster fallen from
the walls and ceiJing lies strewn across the floor, along
with the shattered remains of vandalized furniture.
Fireplaces (with chimneys too narrow to climb) show no
signs of recent use.
All house corridors are 5 feet wide and 10 feet high;
all ceilings are 10 feet high except for the attic level
where, because of the sloping roof. the height ranges
from I foot at the sides to 15 feet in the center.
All doors are 5 feet wide and 7 feet high, of normal
wood construction; all are closed but unlocked (with the
exception of area 15) and easy to open. Most of the win-
dow panes are broken, and all are easy to open.
Unless otherwise noted. illumination is bright during
the day on the ground floor and the floor above it. In the
attic, due to various holes in the roof. the light is dim but
adequate, leaving plenty of dark shadows in corners.

GROUND FLOOR
The following locations are identified on map 2.1.

l. ENTRANCE HALL





The front door opens onto a musty, dirty entrance hall.
To your left, a corridor leads into the west wing of the
house. The walls a re bare and bits of smashed furniture
lie upon the floor. Ahead of you, another corridor leads
toward the rear of the house.
A staircase on the eastern wall climbs to the next story,
reaching it at a balcony that overlooks the entrance hall
along its north and west sides; the stairs appear safe to
climb, though the balcony rail is broken in several places.
Under the stairs at the north end of the hall, a third corri·
dor leads east.


  • The stairs show considerable wear and creak ominously
    when tread upon but remain strong enough to support
    anyone climbing to the second floor.
    A character who makes a successful DC 10 Intelli-
    gence ( Investigation) or Wisdom (Survival) check finds
    two sets of recently made humanoid tracks. One set of
    tracks travels from the entryway toward area 9. The sec-
    ond leads away from the foot of the stairs and along the
    western corridor toward area 4.
    B alcony. About 10 feet west of the top of the stairs,
    a section of the balcony (the shaded area on the map)
    collapses under the weight of any creature attempting
    to cross it. The creature that causes the floor to collapse
    must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall
    10 feet to the floor below. The collapsed section of the
    balcony leaves a 7-foot-widc gap that must be crossed to
    reach the rest of the first floor.


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  1. LIBRARY






This room was once a library, with bookshelves around
the walls. Most of the shelves are broken, and in many
places they have come away from the wall. The few
shelves still intact are empty, but a pile of books rests in
the southwest corner.

The fourteen books in the heap untidily thrown into the
corner are covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings.
and harmless mold. All are partially ruined but are still
legible. Most of the books are dull (histories, collections
of romantic poems, and so forth), but three are quite
noteworthy. These three books bear clear titles on
their spines:
The Magical Properties of Gemstones by the arch-
mage Tenser
The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers by the
archmage Tenser
The Metaphysics of Mathematics by the mage Nystul
Inside the third volume lies a piece of parchment torn
from a larger sheet, containing a few lines of handwrit-
ten text in the Common tongue. Dampness has spoiled it
so that only two words are legible: "beyond skeletons."
The books can be sold for 7 gp each. though finding
a buyer for such tomes might require the party co look
beyond Saltmarsh.


  1. STUDY


This room was once a writing room or study. Against the
wall under the windows sits a large wooden writing desk,
partially broken and riddled with damp rot. There are
three drawers in each side of the desk and a large central
drawer; the latter is closed. but the others are all open-
and two of them have been broken open forcibly.

The central drawer is locked and can be opened by a
character who succeeds on a DC 10 Dexterity check us-
ing thieves' tools. The drawer contains nothing but old,
valueless documents, all written in Common receipts
for purchases of various chemicals and laboratory
equipment. A character who makes a successful DC 14
Intelligence (Investigation) check uncovers a small se-
cret compartment.
Treasure. Inside the secret compartment. wrapped
in cloth. is a glass vial containing two doses of potion
of healing.


  1. LIVING AREA



  • A door in the north wall leads onto a small patio, the pav-
    ing cracked and overrun with weeds. Other than a pile of
    refuse in the southeast corner, the room is bare.



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