Page 146 - ghosts-of-saltmarsh

LOOK OUT A BOVE his fate as a backwater sailor. If the characters request
him to wait for them (or if he thinks the characters are
Chief among the creatures drawn to the scent of death rich), he asks for an extra payment of as much as 50 gp.
on the island is a monstrous perytoo (see appendix C) To give the characters a way to explore on their own or
known as Rasp. This creature has long hunted across
to leave the island independently. the Uskarn council ar-
the region, searching for fishing boats or passenger
ranges for their use of a large rowboat, which Underhill
ships to attack. The locals watch for and fear Rasp, and
tows to the island when he transports his passengers.
they know that it has several lairs along the coast. None
If the characters have their own ship it's easy for them
who have tried to hunt the creature have returned.
to reach Firewacch Island. Keep in mind that having ac-
The peryton makes frequent passes over the island
cess to their own ship makes escaping the island easy.
nowadays. hoping to spot survivors of the recent attack
but if the characters flee, then they might have no way of
that it can devour. If the characters arrive by day. Rasp
tracking the undead back to the Pit of Hatred.
welcomes them with its claws and beak. It is smart
Characters who make their own way to the island
enough to not fight to the death, though, and it leaves the
can start the adventure by landing at any point along
island to return to one of its mainland lairs if reduced to its shore. If they use the ferry, Raserhill puts in only at
half its hit points or fewer. the pier near the hermitage on the north shore of the is-
If Rasp reduces a character to 0 hit points. it attempts
land. I le drops off his passengers and the rowboat, then
to pick the character up and fly back to its newly claimed promptly heads back to the mainland.
lair in area 24.
Rasp's recent predations have prompted other crea- END OFTuE j OURNEY
tures on the island to stay out of sight. The native fauna ln good weather, the journey to Firewatch Island takes
do not wander freely, nor do the remaining residents. an hour. As the characters approach, they can hear the
faint sound of a large bell being rung, seemingly coming
TRAVELING TO F IREWATCH ISLAND from the island. But the sound fades quickly and is not
A small keelboat makes the three-mile journey south heard again. (One of the survivors at the hermitage rang
from Uskarn to Firewatch Island at first light each day, the bell when he saw the characters' vessel approach-
delivering supplies and bringing passengers back and ing, but he was waylaid thereafter; see area 24 for more
forth from the hermitage. A one-way trip costs 5 sp. The information.)
ferry is mastered by Ulder Raserhill (LN male half-ore When the characters come within sight of the is-
commoner), a short-tempered individual who begrudges land. read:
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