Page 144 - ghosts-of-saltmarsh

UNFORTUNATE SWIMMER Most of Uskarn's inhabitants earn a living fishing in
the shallows of the adjacent bay or venturing farther
The corpse on the beach was once an older human out to sea if they're after more impressive catches. The
male, with a scraggly gray beard and short gray hair village boasts an unusually large port for its size, used
balding al the crown. His left ear is missing, though it is both for its own fishing boats and for the trading vessels
obviously an old wound. He wears only a pair of home- and naval ships that frequently stop here on their way
spun, water-soaked breeches, and his skin is wrinkled through the area.
from having spent time in the water. A character who
succeeds on a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) STAYING IN USKARN
check determines that the man died of exhaustion.
This was Philpert. a member of the Firewatch Island An extended stay in the village isn't required to complete
this adventure, but the characters are likely to visit- if
hermitage who escaped the drowned ones' attack by
swimming three miles of open sea. Sadly, his exhausted only lo secure passage lo Firewatch Island by way of the
body gave out just a short distance from land. and his small ferry that runs from the village.
corpse washed up on the beach with the next tide. Characters who do spend time in the village might be
If speak with dead is used to communicate with the drawn to the popular tavern known as the Fog and Frog,
body, it initially produces incoherent rambling about a large warehouse converted into a drinking establish-
terror in the dark and the sea being the only escape. A ment with a dozen modest rooms to rent in the back.
careful questioner might be able to extract further infor- The tavern is run by council member Skeldruff Plenk,
mation depending on the questions asked. who brews a much-lauded lager called Plenk's Plenk.
In his former life, Philpert spent much of his time If the characters ask about Philpert in Uskarn, the
slumming in the village of Uskarn, living off the charity villagers know him by description. Anyone can tell the
of its citizens. Joining the Firewatch Island hermitage characters about Philpert's history in the village, and
allowed him to finally find peace. But the horror of the most residents know he had been living at the Firewatch
drowned ones' attack shattered his sanity, so that at best Island hermitage for the past several months. The peo-
ple of Uskarn are understandably concerned if one of
he can recount only that the attackers came from the
the peaceful hermits of the island has turned up dead.
sea, were humanoid in appearance, and had glowing
Though they have no money to offer as incentive, the
eyes and rotting flesh.
villagers are quick to ask the characters to check on the
hermitage to make sure everything is all right.
THE VILLAGE OF USKARN If the characters spend any time in Uskarn other than
Uskarn is a small fishing village of nine hundred souls. the minimum required to use it as a jumping-off point
Though the place is primarily a human settlement, a for the adventure. the following details about promi-
handful of elves. dwarves, and gnomes have also made nent people and other background information might
their homes here. come in handy.