Planning: Into the Waters

Table of Content

• dragon fight on boat
• ship graveyard: undead attack. there's a corrupted crystal that needs to be distroyed. maybe there's purple glow deep in their eyes, and the crystal is also purple
• Champion's Echo fights an abomination. She fights with Serpent's Bloodcall displaying some of its later abilities. Once the others have helped her win she bows to Essa and disappears. A new rune lights up on the sword (its the champions name)

yuan-ti, orc & human skeletons in ruins. easy to beat, but constant coming - sth else keeps them coming. Figure it out, party!
Sword is held by a yuan-ti in ornate half-plate armor(~1000GP). Former champion of the yuan-ti

by Ana-Rone

!!!!!!
When they eat the Peaches: START SESSION WITH YUAN TI DEITY CALLING OUT TO ESSA - Zhalkuya, the Serpent Queen
!!!!!!
Also when they eat the peaches, they see magic from all their fucking items

Lazy Dungeon Master

Sly Flourish's 'Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master'

Strong Start

Mama Mudcradle tells them where to head and gets them a boat (as a loan? If they lose it their ‚repayment‘ could lead to another quest).

Potential Scenes

• Storm on the sea
• undead in the ship graveyard
• Champion's echo fighting an aberration (aberrant horror?
• Young Deep Dragon

Secrets & Clues

1. The underwater city is used by the cult
2. the city used to be of the yuan-ti
3. CoD are looking for the sunken Wanderer, hoping to learn sth about Mother Dread from its fate
4. an old forgotten (Minor) Deity of the Eshtarri is sealed away (though if freed she wil not return full power, more on lvl of a patron)
5. there are many ship wrecks nearby not just the Wanderer. They show signs of abberation
6. CoD have a base within and beneath the temple of the goddess Zhalkuya, the Serpent Queen
7. the Serpent's Bloodcall calls out to nearby Yuan-ti (unless it is bound to sb)
8. Smugglers and the cult have been at odds for a while
9. fishers and sailors have been apprehensive about going out onto the sea because of strange happenings. It's only gotten worse since the wave of abberations hit the beach
10. Yuan-ti are alive and some of the few who know how to banish Mother Dread, but they have sworn to never return to the outside world, terrified of fate repeating

Fantastic Locations

• Gordala's Skull - a giant's skull with twisted horns. Overgrown by nature. Surrounded by the sea. - Wasn't there the last time Elenwin was in the area (which, admitedly, has been a few years)
• Ruins of Al'mor'atha Towering ruins, reaching for the ocean's surface. Ominous feeling, as if one is not alone. Sometimes out of the corner of once I one could almost think to see those who lived here before.

City Ruins

1. Religious - secured chamber for holy rituals:
2. Religious - secret/hidden chapel:
3. Religious - monument of a deity
4. cultural - room for a particular cultural rite
5. cultural - drinking hall
6. work - smokehouse/food preparation
7. work - artisan's work area
8. work - sewing/weaving room
9. work - washroom/scullery
10. work - healer's workroom

Tower Ruins

1. utility - grant passage/ornate corridor (entryway)
2. residential - kitchen/dining hall
3. utility - food storage/pantry
4. utility - concealed servant's passage
5. residential - study/private library
6. residential - ruler's bedchamber
7. martial - map/planning room
8. martial - armory
9. martial - warmachine fabricatoin/storage
10. utility - vault for valuables

Important NPCs

• Sea Person: Ffrailon, merfolk. Pretty frills behind his ears. Wants to grow his collection of strange bones
• Cult Higher up: Hanvir Flintkith, male dwarf, russet hair, grey streaks through it. Surprisingly delicate hands for a dwarf. Values reputation, is tempted by drama. There's a warrant out for his arrest.
• Cult Member 1: Ardeya Matine, female human. Heart shaped face, dark brown hair. Values loyalty, is tempted by pettiness. Wants to live up to her families expectations. She's only dating her romantic partner for money
• Cult Member 2: Olozar Izarin, female half-orc. Two blond braids, multiple piercings in nose. Values faith, is tempted by lying. Wants to get back at those she sees have wronged her. Has already killed because of it.

Sea Hunters:

• Captain: Elenwin, young drow. Scar on her forhead (left eyebrow entirely gone from it). Likes to evade responsibilities. Wants to prove her worth to her aunt, who doesn't believe in her. - Offers her boat for 50GP a day. ((Travel is about 1,5 days to the spot and same back))
• Aberthol Narcís , male human. Older gentlemen, tattoos of sea creatures up their neck and skull. Values friendship, is tempted by recreational drugs, wants to clear his name after false accusations.
• Mathaea, dark red tiefling, part of her nose is missing, as is half her left horn. Values morality, is tempted by gifts and wants to break a curse on sb else.

Relevant Monsters

• Sea Spawn
• Sea Hag
• Hunter Shark
• Giant Shark
• Giant Shark Skeleton
• Plesiosaurus

Magic Item Rewards

• Serpent's Bloodcall
• Cloak of the Manta Ray
• 2 waterproof ceramic and glass lanterns capable of working underwater. Worth 50 gp each
• 6 pearls worth 100gp each
• Mariner's Breastplate

• a nobleman's safe/bank/sth
• 2150 GP, 5.240 SP, 2100 CP
• gemstones worth 370 GP
• pair of engraved bone dice (25GP)
• Box of turquise animal figurines (250GP)
• Gold ring set with Bloodstones (250GP)
• potion of healing
• potion of climbing
• oil of slipperiness
• potion of giant strength

General Loot

• 18 sp, a lock (10 gp), a wooden comb, the deed to a small property
• 15 sp, a deck of Cojenn cards, a pouch of candies
• 7 gp, a bottle of honey, a compass (10 gp)
• 16 cp, a holy amulet (5 gp), five iron nails
• 18 cp, a brass bell (1 gp), a preserved basilisk eye
• 13 gp, a vial of scented oil, an ivory game piece, some knotted twine
• 2 pp, an apple, some lacy undergarments
• 13 gp, a boiled egg, a pouch of medicinal herbs, a vial of perfume (5 gp)

Random Encounter List

Encounters on 1-4

On the water

1. x
2. Seeing the ghost of The Wanderer as a warning
3. A verdant island which is actually hallucinatory terrain over jagged rocks (there is distant thunder)
4. A mass of stinking, rotting seaweed (there is a rowing boat floating nearby -> crew attacks as zombies/sea zombies)
5. A barnacle-covered shipwreck surrounded by kelp (it attracts many octopi)
6. A rocky island home to many types of seabirds. Two married druids live a peaceful existence on the island (there is a group of flying creatures approaching)
7. An island with a lake of crystal and glass in the middle. On the full moon shows events from around the world to any who watch (there is a portal to the Plane of Air)
8. A dead whale
9. A floating wrecked warship home to 1d4+1 ghosts
10. 1 Sailing Ship with Ship Crew 3d6 cultists led by 1 cult fanatic, they have a prisoner on board
11. Several aarakocra traders are looking for somewhere to have a rest
12. Hail (or snow) (heavy precipitation, DMG pg 110)
13. Strong winds (DMG pg 110) or their craft gets stuck on something
14. A heavy (or ghostly) fog descends around the group
15. A platform of dwarven (or gnomish) design with an abandoned hamlet. It is anchored to the seabed. There are corpses all around, as the cult has killed them, cause they thought they were onto them.
16. Battle Encounter 1. 1 young dragon (black) | 2. 4 pteranodons | 3. 1 giant shark | 4. 1 killer whale | 5. spirit naga | 6. 1d2 seaweed blights (vine Blight stats, swim 30 ft) led by 1 shambling seaweed (shambling mound stats)

In the water

1. /// roll d10+d6
2. A skeleton of an ancient sea titan (it is associated with octopi)
3. A decorated shipwreck (nearby is a wide crevasse)
4. A garden of pretty sea plants and an underwater cave entrance (a bright light is in the area)
5. A sunken ruins with a kelp-covered shrine to a forgotten power (nearby is an oyster reef)
6. Inn of the Sea Dragon. In a trench with magical wards, this structure is carved from coral. Travelers are found from many realms.
7. A few cultists (with water breathing) have been sent to find a wreck (or kraken)
8. Among a shipwreck skeleton crew work as if they were alive
9. Gorev is a heartbroken sea elf mage? priest? with a collection of ornate rings. They are unable to hide emotions and having a hiatus away from civilisation. Their attention has been taken up by a local magical site.
10. Combat encounter (pick sth from the 'monsters table'
11. Area of dead magic (treat as antimagic field)
12. A phantom ship that sails underwater (or bloated corpses infected with disease
13. A mass of rotting bodies, floating or chained together
14. Raam is a smug veteran with a runed spear and a pegleg. They are scared of the undersea world but hope to salvage an undersea wreck.
15. A rescue giant seahorse is looking for help for trapped ally. It carries bags with useful items such as rope, potions and tools.
16. A swarm of inquisitive sea-horses