Page 182 - ghosts-of-saltmarsh

When the cultists gather to worship Tharizdun, this Several hours before the characters' arrival at the
room is filled with nearly a hundred of the dark god's temple, Sgothgah Aed here from Landgrave's Folly after
faithful (commoners. thugs, bandits, and cultists), losing a battle against two hostile aboleths from the
brought together by their belief in the imminent end of Endless Nadir. It intends to rest here while it plots its
the world. These warped worshipers pay homage to the retaliation.
dark god in the hope of gaining reward in the new world The aboleth lurks at the base of the stairs Uust out-
he creates from the ashes of this one. Unless you prefer side the map), but it is aware of intruders as soon as
otherwise. no cultists are present here when the charac- they enter area TS. If the four chuuls in area T4 haven't
ters arrive. sprung their attack yet, it waits for them to do so before
joining in.
T6. WATERY DESCENT While remaining hidden, Sgothgah uses its lair ac-
tion to cast phantasmal force to make it appear to the
• characters that the dead shark has reanimated and is
A wide flight of slippery stairs stands at the end of this
swimming through the air to attack them. Until one of
antechamber, leading down into a pool of slimy, murky the characters detects the illusion, pretend to use the
water. The shape above the stairs is a rotting shark's car- statistics of a giant shark for the creature, but its at-
cass, which hangs from the rafters on frayed, mildewed tacks always hit and deal 3 {ld6) psychic damage. Even
ropes. Humanoid heads in various states of decay have though the illusory shark doesn't actually take damage,
the characters' attacks appear to injure it.
been crudely lashed to the shark's flanks.
The aboleth doesn't reveal its presence unless a
tempting target approaches within its 10-foot reach of
The stairs descend 20 feet into a completely submerged the flooded stairwell. rt can also use its Enslave attack
chamber that's 20 feet square. Water fills the staircase from under the water against a creature it can see.
to within a fool of the top of the stairs. A 10-foot-wide rr all four chuuls are killed and the characters are
tunnel {not shown on the map) extends from the west aware that their real enemy is in the water, Sgothgah
side of the chamber, leading eventually to the kraken's awaits the characters in the submerged chamber below
hiding place at Landgrave's Folly (see the "Mysterious this area.
Tunnel" section below).

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