Page 161 - ghosts-of-saltmarsh

ANCIENT WARNING This cavern is all that remains of what was once a
If the characters search the sand around the ship, jagged chasm in the seaAoor. The mound of bones rep-
they discover the tip of a stone slab sticking up above resents both the crew of Tammeraut and others who
the muck and ooze. The rest of the slab is buried. If it have succumbed to the ocean's perils. all preserved by
is pulled out (requiring a successful DC 15 Strength the rift's dark magic. The hollow to the north is the ac-
check). it is found to be inscribed with ancient runes. cess point to the ancient evil that has imbued the Pit of
A character who succeeds on a DC 14 lntelligence (In- I latred with its sinister aura.
vestigation) check deduces that the slab is the product Tammeraut's captain, Syrgaul Tammeraut, resides
of magic. A subsequent successful DC 16 lntelligence in this chamber- transformed into a twisted monster
(Arcana) check confirms it was made using a stone known as a drowned master (sec appendix C). Syrgaul
shape spell. is the conduit through which the pit's evil essence once
The runes are in Elvish. They communicate a warn- again spreads its dark influence into the world. Feeding
ing to stay away from the sealed rift and the horror that off the captain's rage and hate as he died, the energy of
lies below. the rift animated Tammeraut's crew and turned them
into drowned ones. Though the drowned ones can range
INSIDE THE SHIP abroad. Syrgaul is forever trapped within the rift near
Numerous breaches in the hull and openings on the the source of his dark unlife.
rowing decks allow entry into the ruined ship. Alterna- As the characters explore this area, Syrgaul and one
tively, characters can swim down into the stem's interior drowned blade rise from the pile of bones and attack.
from the top of the ship, where the bow is missing. Treasure. The treasure carried on Tammeraut has
been placed in front of the north alcove by the drowned
' The interior of the sunken ship is a ruin. The decks t ones, as an offering to the great sleeping evil below. A
rotting sea chest holds 5,000 sp, 1,850 gp, 75 pp, and
have all but collapsed, creating a tangled maze where ten masterfully cut pieces of jade depicting various sea
ooze and muck cling to sundered timbers and beams. animals (100 gp each).
An eerie, many-colored light pulses from the depths of
SEALING THE RIFT
the hull.
The funnel-shaped hollow to the north of the hull is 3
feet in diameter and descends 2 feet to a 1-inch-wide
The rotten tangles of timbers and bulkheads are weak vent at the bottom. In addition to being the source of
after ten years underwater and can be pushed through the pulsating light, the vent is the center and source
with relative ease. of the area's dark hallow effect. This narrow opening
A large hole in the buried stern of the wreck allows continues down for hundreds of feet beneath the ocean
easy access to a darkened cavern that opens up beneath bottom, never widening.
broken slabs of stone- the remains of the seals that Sealing this vent is the only way to lay Syrgaul's spirit
once blocked the opening of the pit. to rest. Doing so also prevents the evil from further cor-
As the characters enter the wreck, a number of rupting those who drown in the area. One easy method
drowned ones that stayed behind from the most recent of sealing it is to use the flask of sovereign glue from the
assault on Firewatch Island take notice. Three drowned hermitage to affix a plug over the opening (the substance
blades, one drowned ascetic, and one drowned as- hardens even underwater). Spells such as stone shape
sassin lurk inside the ruined Tammeraut and attack as can also seal off the vent. When the vent is sealed, the
soon as the characters enter. The undead do not pursue hallow effect surrounding the rift immediately ends.
Aeeing characters beyond the 300-foot hemisphere of
dark energy that surrounds the rift.
CONCLUSION
THE RIFT 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
A pulsating light composed of unnatural colors perme- i of Hatred- things soon return to normal on Firewatch
ates this underwater cavern. The stern of the ship has Island and the communities of the nearby coast. The
broken through the cavern's fifteen-foot-high ceiling near surviving hermits abandon the island. but a new group
settles there before long. Or, Feldrin Kane, the Uskarn
the center of the area. The nauseating light reveals a
bailiff, might deed the island and fortress to the char-
hideous array of piled bones, many of which clearly once
acters as a reward for ending the threat of the drowned
belonged to humanoids-far more bones than could be
ones. Of course. such a reward comes with the expecta-
accounted for by the crew of a single sunken ship. tion that the characters would use the place to protect
A shallow alcove opens up to the north, with a rotting and defend the settlements of the nearby coast.
sea chest set before it, leaning against the rough stone If the characters depart Firewatch Island before night-
fall and the drowned ones' second attack. the undead
wall. Within the alcove, a funnel-shaped hollow in the
become a greater threat. Now that they've exhausted
cavern floor terminates at a narrow hole in the bedrock
the nearby prey, the undead make it to the mainland in
below. The pulsing light emanates from this hole. their nightly wanderings. Attacks on coastal roads and

<,Jl \l'T!CR 7 I TA~IMERAU"l '!i I .\JI
1fio