Chapter 2: The Secrets of Saltmarsh
General Summary
In Which I Tell My Tale
We continued our discussion and in the end I had to confess that I had taken the missing Yartar cameo. Well this caused Fancy Pants to go all goody-goody on me. He wanted to know all the ins and outs and whys and wherefores. He STILL wants to go to Yartar to GIVE IT BACK! Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous! He has no clue as to what a horrid man the Lord Protector is! And they will still be after to me so it won't achieve anything other than give the bad man what he wants! Mordy went upstairs to give Ilivarthra her brooch and set her free. A guy called Devdan sat at our table he said someone sent him to warn us that people were waiting for us outside the inn. Mordy and Illi started to come downstairs but there were too many people for Illi and she went back. We passed on the message to Mordy, then I went up to check on Illi and I couldn't find her. Darius was also gone and it looked like there had been a struggle. There were suspicious people outside the inn. Mordy disguised himself and went outside to distract them. He managed to send many of them N then headed into town. Mir'ek went out next while I kept lookout and tried to see where Mordy went. I snuck out. I saw a few bandits but managed to avoid them. I went into town and to the Snapping Line Inn. Mir'ek arrived with a 'friend' over her shoulder. His name is Oof and he is a bandit that she found in a bush. We found out that his boss is Alemart. He slept on the floor, bound and gagged but Mir'ek gave him a pillow.
Day 17, morning
In the morning there was still no Mordy. I went out searching. I looked lots of places but couldn't find him. I decided to go to see Eliandor.
There are pages slotted loosely into the diary at this point, as if written and then collated at a later date. The paper is different between pages, and the odd damp shadow of a rested, chilled tankard can be seen over the pages.
That night at the Wicker Goat, that certainly was the start of something, if anything it was probably the first time I had done something somewhat selfless since I arrived appeared in this land....if selfless can be seen as not wanting a bunch of depressed cave dwelling elves after your head.
I mean we really could have made it. Sold the brooch to the Tower Wizard, and lived fine off the profits for a while, but this woman... Illivartha I think it was... To be hogtied and beaten within an inch of her life over something we later found out to be not the reason to be hogtied and beaten half to death over, she deserved an out.
So an out I decided to give her. This was after the discovery that it was Frikki who had caused what would later be known as "The Yatar Incident." Looking back upon it, part of me wonders if it was the same spite which seemed to have caused the apparent feud between the Lord Protector and Frikki that drove my decision to let the darkened elf go, if only to show Frikki that no good comes of ill gains, a matter I had learned only too well.
I recall that communication was difficult. This elf with dark skin (which the wizard Keledek had called a "drow") had no concept of common tongue, and with Darius sleeping off the vile humours of the day's fighting in an attempt to rejuvenate himself, I had no real way to communicate with her save for hand gestures and very slow common.
After being referred to as a "mellon" (a fruit, I thought quizzically at the time) she seemed to get the understanding she was free to leave, and I descended the stairs with her before she became spooked and took off back up. I went to go after her, but a dark figure speaking with my colleagues was asking for "The Entertainer." Turns out it wasn't for paid work, but a warning. People outside laid in ambush for me because of the dark skinned elf and her token. I managed to spot them to the east, by the front of the Tavern, and as the message came, we were known that we in the Goat were surrounded.
So at this point I made a decision (that would be later called by my friends: "The time that idiot manling forgot to fill us in on the plan"), and took up an identity I had been working on since the day I left that cabin in the woods. It was slapdash at first, enough black ink to dull my beard and mane, and a cape I kept for inclement weather. Thusly, the travelling Magistrate Lord Alfred Bearington III, esquire of the law of Baldur's Gate (a far enough away place of somewhat apparently great import) managed to leave the tavern and take the ruffians attention to the north. I made my way south and doubled back east to the guard towers.
I will say of the guard of Saltmarsh at the time that there was never a group more unabashedly lazy at their work, almost having the gaul to lock me up for trying to have them run off the hunters away from my company.
Thankfully Lord Bearington blustered himself out of lockup, and into a rather nice townhouse for the evening. T'was there that I completed the disguise for daylight hours, my hair and beard fully blacked, and appropriate tunic, hat and jodpurs donned.
Morning came not long after, and after despatching the guard Ronan, (or Rowan? My memory escapes me after all this time) to find my colleagues or "scribes" as they would be known until our departure from the town, I secured the services of the house lady for the future with a payment of a blue bauble I had in my possession and made my way out to look for my friends. I found the head of the guard faster though, and he told me my comrades were nowhere to be found, but that I had been requested to entertain a meeting with Councillor Primewater, the ne'erdowell who we suspected was the primary backer of the weapons smuggling ring out of the haunted house which had brought us all together.
The conversation was jovial enough. I had the good mind to undermine his efforts to seem like one of the chosen with his taste in "fashion", but in order to keep my own identity hidden, I could not pry deeper into his own lest I give up the game. It almost came unraveled when he spotted my daggers and bow, but I was at least able to explain those away with good reason. I made my way from his home, happy to be out from under his looking glass, and made my way to the markets in search of my friends...
The inserts come to and end here.
In Which We Lose One and Find Another
I went to Eliandor Fireborn's house but the servant wasn't very helpful and sent me to the barracks to 'File a Report' about Mordecai being missing. I decided to check in The Wicker Goat one last time before going to the barracks. I saw a really short, wild looking person, much shorter even than me or a dwarf. I thought he was a Halfling as I had seen a few around Yartar. Those ones were very civilised. This one seems to be wearing a recently killed bear. Anyway, this one looked a bit lost so I spoke to him. His name is Roscoe Tealeaf. I took him into the Goat and bought him a cider. I checked if Mordy was upstairs but he wasn't. Roscoe had been sent to the barrack by the gate guards so we went together. I tried 'Filing a Report' but the guards kept talking about a Lord Bearington and had he sent me. I eventually started to wonder if Lord Bearington was Mordy in disguise. Roscoe told the guards about everyone in his village being killed by zombies but the stupid guards weren't interested at all. I then took Roscoe through town to The Snapping Line to meet Mir'ek. It turns out that Mordecai had arrived just before us and he was still pretending to be Lord Bearington. I introduced Roscoe and we all went to our room. Mir'ek's friend Oof was still tied up and looked unhappy. Mordecai tried to question Oof (who called himself Bradney). Roscoe helped by being really scary! We learnt that Alemaart, Oof's boss, is a bounty hunter. Mordy then suddenly stuck a dagger into his ear - a long way in. Mir'ek punched him and broke is nose again. Roscoe reset Mordy's nose. After discussion, Mir'ek went off to dig a grave for Oof. Mordy tried to make amends by buying her a new shovel and pick. They picked up a fancy new cloak for Mir'ek on the way. Roscoe went down to help with the grave digging too. I went and made daisy chains. Mordy went off somewhere. After the hole was finished, we realised that Mordy hadn't come back. Roscoe & I went to see Eliandor. Once again, we couldn't get past the butler. The butler called us children. I don't care about that but Roscoe got really upset. I was mad that no one was helping us with our problems, because now Lord Bearington/Mordy was missing again and no one listened to me about the Sea Devils! We went back to The Snapping Line to talk with Mir'ek and then went looking for Mordy - again! We went to the Guard House and they said they hadn't seen Mordy/LB but Mir'ek didn't believe them. We hung around and I got Mir'ek to give me a boost so I could look through a cell window. I couldn't see Mordy but there was someone I couldn't see getting beaten up.In Which We Rescue Mordecai, The Destroyer
We went into The Goat in our search for Mordy but no success. Then it was back to the back of the jail where Roscoe wanted to lift Mir'ek so she could bend the bars. I admire his confidence but... I went to Oweland House but as soon as I mentioned Waterdeep in my cover story, Eda Oweland stopped listening and kicked us out. I don't know what to do to get someone to listen in this town! We went in search of Devdan , who had warned us of the bandits. He wasn't very friendly at first but he did help us and advised that we needed to prove our worth to someone who could be an ally. He told us that Gellan Primewater had Mordy and that he had probably been taken from the jail to somewhere else in town.
Day 17, midnight
We started searching and eventually Mir'ek found a recently used path near Hoolwatch Tower. We followed it across the river and then followed water drops towards the brothel. Roscoe heard a boom from the lower side so we headed that way. We found an dilapidated house that looked like it had recently collapsed. Mir'ek moved some rubble and there was Mordecai! He was unconscious, blindfolded and tied to a chair. Mir'ek Lay Hands upon him to make him a little better. We took him back to The Snapping Line.
Mir'ek and I took Oof's body to the cemetery. We left Roscoe with Mordy, who was now gagged. Mir'ek gave him ONE JOB. Roscoe ungagged Mordy and Mordy Thunderwaved the room. This woke everyone in the Inn up. I heard it near the Cemetery. No sooner had this happened than apparently a huge Fireball exploded in the Inn. The Inn was on fire! We raced back. Mir'ek went inside to look for Mordy. She found him and puled him out and also rescued other people. I joined the bucket brigade. Roscoe appeared there too and told me that Mordy and cast the Fireball. That was a bit extreme even for him! The tall wizard, Keledek the Unspoken came and made it rain on the inn. Eventually the fire went out.
Mir'ek and I nonchalantly walked to The Goat, as if it wasn't one of our friends that just burnt down the inn. I told Mir'ek what Roscoe had told me. Roscoe started to make a scene, going on about how Mordecai had cast a Fireball right in his face after Thunderwaving him. I don't think Roscoe likes us so much anymore. Mordy put him to Sleep and carried him to join us at The Goat. I had to give Mordy a talking too, like Nola used to do to me, because we are trying to make a GOOD impression in this town. Hopefully no-one knows who caused the fire.
Roscoe woke up screaming. Mordy apologised to him but I'm not sure he was convinced.
In Which We Find the Emperor of the Waves
We all had a good rest after a very tiring day.
Day 18, morning
While Mordy was un-disguising, he told us he had been beaten up by Ned Shakeshaft! And we rescued him! Won't be doing that again.
Roscoe avoided Mordecai. I lent him 10gp so he could buy an axe. Roscoe wanted to talk to Keledek the Unspoken but he was not in town.
I kept an eye out for Devdan and he came into Goat late in the afternoon. I don't know how but he seemed to know that some of us were involved in last night's catastrophe. Anyway, he told us some things:- The town is politically divided
- We need to prove ourselves to Devdan's employer
- A valuable item has been 'lost at sea' but the ship it was on has been sighted
- We need to find the ship, Emperor of the Waves, board it and recover the item
- The ship was spotted a tenday ago, drifting off the coast, to the SW
- We will have use of a small ship and crew
- We are looking for a box, 2' x 1' x 2', engraved with symbols
- We are to leave tonight, 2 hours after sundown, and have a prepayment of 500 gp
Day 18, evening
A sailor met us N of town and takes us to a beach where a skiff takes us out to a small boat, The Silent Wave. The crew was not very friendly.
Day 20, evening
We made good progress but had some bad weather on the second night. Sundown on the second day, we found a large ship with tatty sails down and two of its 4 masts broken.
We arranged a return signal with the crew and they brought us across to The Emperor. I climbed up using a grappling hook and rope. The others found this very difficult. We had to tie a rope around Mordy and pull him up. The 2 centre masts were broken.
I opened the fore door. There were lots of spiderwebs of different thicknesses and the remains of furniture. Mordy went in and a spider swarm attacked him. Then a giant spider attacked Mir'ek. There were spiders everywhere! We fought them off but most of us were injured in the fray. We were in a hurry to leave so we didn't search properly.
We went to the aft door and I opened it. More mess. Stuff had been pushed to the sides and there was a mud platform at the back with some pale stones piled on it. I started looking through the rubbish and Mir'ek went to look at the stones. Roscoe wanted to take a stone home because he thought they may be eggs of some kind. Mir'ek started crying - and she hadn't even hit anything. The she said that the stones were skulls - perhaps the crew?
A wolf spider dropped down next to Mordecai and then more spiders appeared. Mordy Thunderwaved the spider and then ran. I killed a spider swarm! Mir'ek thwopped the wolf spider and killed it.
In Which We Find More Spiders
We went downstairs and found the galley. It was messed up and smelled of rotting meat. There was a ladder down to the hold and a door. I tried to open the door but it was stuck. Mir'ek got it open. There were lots of blood & guts in the next room.The blood & guts made some sort of symbol on the floor. There were spiderwebs in the corners. Suddenly grass and vines grew around Mir'ek and Entangled her. Mir'ek saw someone on the other side. She forced her way out of the vines and moved towards the person. He was an orc with wild eyes, wearing robes and jewellery. He attacked Mir'ek and Roscoe shot him. Mordy went in, yelling in orcish. A pretty blue spider attacked Roscoe. Mir'ek grappled the orc and then he Thunderwaved her. Mordy was feeling left out so he Shocking Grasped the orc. We fought the orc and the spider but the orc Thunderwaved again and Mir'ek and Mordy both lay down. Roscoe bravely attacked and killed the spider. I gave Mir'ek my healing potion and I had to kill Krell the Orc . Roscoe healed himself and gave Mordy some Goodberries. Mir'ek tried to save the orc but he was too dead. She was a bit upset but I think she understood. He had an old, smelly robe, a spider-shaped pendant, some bone charm bracelets and a quarterstaff that had a roughly carved spider head. He really seemed keen on those yukky spiders. We had a bit of a rest and Mir'ek made us all feel a bit better.
by Sophie-Alice Riches
In Which We Meet a Demon and a Ghost
The thing was an Ettercap. It attacked Mordy, who quickly decided to leave. A battles ensued during which Roscoe got bitten and poisoned. Mordy decided to rejoin the battle but was obviously still not quite himself because he Ray of Frosted me n the back! Ouch! Mir'ek finished the beast off and we had a little rest. We moved onto the door to at the bow. Mordy opened it and there were more webs. behind the mast pole was a Maw Demon! Mir'ek Detected Evil and said it was all around us! I shot the Demon first. It shrieked and ran to attack Mordy. Eventually Mir'ek came in and thwopped it before I finished it off. Mordy put his hand in its dead mouth and it stunk real bad. Mordy started chucking. I checked out some of the spiderweb cocoons. There were people bones in there and one had nice golden earrings. We then went back to the stern and down the ladder. There was a weird howling sound that didn't sound like wolves. There were NO spider webs. The other three went down while I stayed on the ladder to look. Mir'ek Detected Evil again and it was right ahead of them! It was an Orc Ghost. I came down the ladder to get close enough to shoot it but ghosts are a bit scary and I missed it. It scared Mordy & me. I got out of there... right up to the deck. Mir'ek tried communicating with the thing. It seemed to understand but didn't communicate back. Mordy Magic Missiled and then Thunderwaved it. It attacked Mordy and he lay down. Roscoe healed him. and I came back. We realised that the howling had stopped and the ghost had gone. That was weird. Mordy was very grumpy and wanted to leave straight away. Mir'ek wanted him to stay with us but he was determined. She went with him and didn't even break his nose. Roscoe and I searched for the chest. Roscoe found it. It was very heavy but we had started to drag it across the floor when there was a big bang. We could hear water gushing in somewhere. Then there was another big bang and a HUGE tentacle came through the side of the boat. Roscoe and I had to jump out of the way. Luckily Mi'rek came back to help us and we got the chest up the ladder. There was another tentacle up there.In Which We Make it out Alive
Day 21, pre-dawn
We continued carrying the chest and avoiding kraken tentacles until we finally all made it onto the deck. There we found Mordecai shooting arrows at a tentacle. I yelled at him to signal for a long boat. He started hunting through his gear. We eventually made it to Mordecai and the railing although there was some sliding and tentacles encounters on the way. I got my lantern out and signaled. Mordy got tentacled and screamed in pain and collapsed. Roscoe tried healing him but it didn't seem to help much. It seemed like forever but eventually we saw the boat coming for us.
We tied the chest to one rope and Mordy to the other rope. We lowered them both down. I was about to climb down the rope when Mir'ek picked me up and threw me into the boat. Fortunately (for me), I landed on Mordy. I don't think it was so good for him though as he looked really awful. Roscoe and Mir'ek jumped into the boat and as we pulled away, we saw that the ship was being pulled into the sea by the kraken.
Mordy eventually regained consciousness but he was really grumpy. We got back onto our ship and set sail for land. Wow, that was very scary but we survived it and have the chest!
Day 22, dawn
Mir'ek seemed to be in a real hurry to take Mordy to church. Roscoe and I took the chest to town and then to the Wicker Goat. Roscoe and I took turns guarding the chest while the other waited in the bar for Devdan. Eventually Mir'ek and Mordy came in. Mordy was looking MUCH better! I was pleased to see that but he was still a bit grumpy because he was grumbling that Mir'ek had spent all his gold to get him fixed.
Day 22, 1:00pm
Devdan came in and Mordy went upstairs. He seemed to be suspicious of everyone. The rest of us talked to Devdan. We took the chest to the woods N of The Goat where we handed it over to him and he gave us a reward of 1500gp. He also told us to come back here 2 hours after sundown to hopefully meet our benefactor who will help us save this town.
Level 3
In Which We Quest to Stoneridge Island
Two hours after sunset we left the Wicker Goat and went back to the copse of trees where we had left the chest. We were given a scroll by a child. Mordy read it...Our unnamed and unknown benefactor wished us to curry favour with some of the important people in Saltmarsh. He/she suggested we approach Anders Solmor or Eliander Fireborn to gain support and sponsorship for a mission to solve problems on Stoneridge Island, S of Thornhold. Apparently an Abbey there has aligned itself with pirates in the area.Allow me to express my gratitude for retrieving the item as requested from the Emperor of the Waves. Though this was a test of your ability to diligently attend to minor tasks, recovery of this treasure serves my interests and, consequently, I will act in service to yours.
Maladroit and misguided interactions with notable authorities in Saltmarsh to date have not won you prestige or favour. The crude attempt to manipulate Fireborn and direct the focus of the constabulary against Primewater served little purpose beyond making you targets. Disruption to the business of the smuggling operation has caused further enmity to those who surmise, as I do, that you had involvement in that. More pressing provocations may be the saving grace preventing attention being given to curtail your activities, and well- being.
Accordingly, taking advantage of the political schism by currying the favour of sufficient Counsellors to support the betterment of your objectives may succour your security and add weight to your voices in the bigger picture. While I will not act overtly in that picture, your altruistic attention to it will continue to earn my approval.
In that regard, and as further recompense for your benevolent, albeit clumsy, intentions, I will provide you with the following information...
Stoneridge Island sits at the southern tip of the Poniard Archipelago, south of Thornhold. The abbey there houses a reclusive sect that has aligned itself with pirates operating from the islands, possibly to ensure sustenance and survival, or perhaps for more nefarious reasons. The House of Solmor has lost several fishing ships in the region, and a foray to negotiate building a lighthouse was forcibly rebuffed. Further, Fireborn is known to favour overt action against regional piracy, particularly if he is influential in any successes.
Thus, in contrast to your inept contrivances of previous engagements, a suitable approach to either or both parties may win sponsorship, and commensurate recognition, for an outcome that proves beneficial.
I await the entertainment of your actions, and my agent will be in touch thereafter.
Day 23, morning
The next morning I went to the church to buy potions and to scout Solmor Mansion, which is three storeys. Mordy went to Keledek to get the magic shield checked out. Mir'ek followed him, stealthily. Mordy didn't get past the hired help. Later in the morning we all went to the Solmor Mansion and spoke to the young, very good looking Anders Solmor himself. He was much nicer (and better looking) than most of the other people we have met in Saltmarsh. Solmor has lost a few ships in the area, not sure if that was due to the reefs, pirates or necromancers. He would like to see a lighthouse built there. He will provide ship transport to the island, 200gp and 70 (us) / 30 (him) split of treasure we obtain there. Solmor wrote up a contract and we signed it.
Afterwards, Mir'ek and I wanted to look at dresses and Mordy ordered and paid for fine dresses for us! I think our old Mordy is back!
Day 24, morning
Next morning we were up early to get on the Solmor ship. We were put in the Mate's cabin and he was a little put out.
We spent a day on the boat. After midnight we were awoken and taken ashore to Stoneridge Island. The ship will wait for 2 days and will be back every 4 to 5 days thereafter.
Day 25, very, very early
We were left on a small beach going to a fairly steep rocky ridge that runs around most of the island.
Skeletons rose out of the sand to attack us! We dealt with the first lot, moved a little further along and were attacked again. We suffered some wounds that time and Mir'ek did one of her special healing tricks to help us all.
In Which We Explore Stoneridge Island
We traversed more sand and rocks. Another group of skeletons rose from the sands to attack us. We defeated them fairly easily. Mordecai did make some buterflies float around him. I don't know how that helped but it looked prety. We came to the ocean on the E side of the island so headed S. Then this HUGE skeleton, composed of lots of skeletons, attacked us! This was a very tough battle. I shot at it with my little crossbow while Mir'ek drank some Healing Potions and Mordecai grew horns and charged at it. That was very brave but he was a bit wobbly with the horns and he missed it. This thing hit really hard and knocked each of us down at some point. Eventually Mir'ek got in close and hit it hard and smote it several times. It collapsed to the ground. The other skeletons had crumbled back into the sand so I ran in to loot it before that happned but as it collapsed, some of the bones flew off ans a big one hit me in the head and knocked me out cold! Luckily Mir'ek was close by to Lay Hands on me.We were all pretty worn out and injured so we went back to the nearest rocks and rested.
Day 25, mid afternoon
We then set off S again, but keeping to the ridge to avoid the sand. Eventually trhe sand stopped and there was tufts of grass. In the distance we could see trees a ruined castle. We headed towards it. When we got closer, we could see that many of the outer walls and one of the towers were completely demolished. We made our way to the courtyard where there was a building standing alongside some wall.
We entered the building. It looks like the place had been attacked, there were signs of a pitched battle, destruction and fire. We moved through a large open area to a kitchen. There was nothing but soot up the fireplace. There was a door that wouldn't open. We figured there was something heavy against it on the other side. The big people shouldered it and I got an old coal shovel and levered it open a bit so I could squeeze through. I then moved some barrels so the others could come in. There was some liqueur and grains in the barrels. There were some crates stacked, blocking off a large part of the room. There was a little gap that I could almost fit through. I could see there was something in the corner. Mir'ek moved some crates. In the far corner was an open trapdoor and a staircase leading down. We went down the stairs. There was a person down there!
In Which We Battle Necromancers
The guy had his back to us. He had a shield and spear. Mordy sneaked down the stairs but I tripped and he noticed us. He roared and charged toward me. He was human with a mean face and wild eyes. Mir'ek hit him hard but then he knocked her over! Another fellow came in and joined in. We think he was a necromancer. Mir'ek and I no longer felt like attacking the gladiator and then I got Held. I couldn't do anything excpet watch as more necromancers joined in and my friends struggled. The necros kept healing and buffing the gladiator. Mir'ek had some close calls and eventually went down. Mordy gave her a Healing Potion and then she Lay Hands on herself. Finally I could move again and I started shooting the necros. We killed off several necros but the gladiator was still going. A Spritual Hammer knocked out Mordecai and then the gladiator put Mir'ek down. It was just me! I nearly ran but decided to try and save my friends. I went to Mordy and gave him a Healing Potion but Mir'ek was bleeding out! Mordy got to her just in time. I finished off the big guy.We got some bits of loot from them and looked around. The necros each had a mask-shaped token and the gladiator had the same shape painted on his armour. Mordecai said he heard one on the necros call the him 'Ogman' or similar. He had previously had a bad head wound.
Another room was setup like a church. There was a book of worship on the lecturn that had an embossed mask on the cover. Mordy took it. Then there was a room with lots of books and scrolls half sorted. The other rooms were all bedrooms. The biggest bedroom had a lot of broken bottles.
We discussed the situation. Mordy wondered if we had killed the wrong people as they were living pretty frugally down here and had barricaded themselves in.
In Which We Find a Maze
We went back outside and checked all the towers and walls. We went around the outside of the walls and found a crane on the edge of the cliff. It wasn't in working order. I tied a rope to the crane and climbed down the cliff face but could't find any caves. We did find as old path leading from the crane towards the main entrance to the keep.Mordy settled down near the crane to read the book from the lecturn, while I continued searching.
Mordy found references to:
- Lord of Shadows/Darkness;
- Masks referred to as names/people;
- Intricate drawing of a sword (God's Bane?) that didn't fit with the rest of the book;
- Hound's Bane;
- Kezef;
- Shah (Goddess of Darkness, Loss, sister and opposite of Selune), who was given masks;
- A death ballad
Day 26, morning
We travelled back up the island almost to our landing point. However, we still thought we had missed something so we went back again and back down to the lair. Mir'ek found a latch behind the green curtains in the church room! It opened a secret passage.
We went in. I turned a corner and was hit with a ballista bolt! Ouch! I backed out. The others had gone straight on. There were lots of parallel passages. It took me a little while to find Mordy. He had made some red light and was near some acrid-smelling smoke. He blew some away but more came
through cracks in the floor. Mir'ek was in the smoke! Mordy went through so I held me breath and ran through. By the time I got there, Mir'ek had turned a corner and said that she had found a chest and was opening it...
In Which We Find Treasure!
The chest was locked so I stepped up and picked the lock. Mir'ek opened it and there was lots of treasure - coins and jewels - inside! There was also a 'clunk, clunk' from somewhere. I wanted to sort and count the treasure but the others semed in a hurry so I shoved it all into my special bag.Mordy blew away the smoke and we ran through to go S. I nearly trod on some spikes but jumped clear. Mir'ek and I went exploring S, finding more spikes and a stone basin set in the end of a passage. We realised that we had lost Mordy. We carried on and I managed to dodge another ballista shot. I tried to disable it but managed to get myself shot instead.
Meanwhile, Mordy had also found a ballista and got shot. We found him and Mir'ek healed us all a little. I took Mordy back to the gas and chest area and even though I TOLD him there were spikes, he managed to get spiked TWICE! I really think he wasn't trying. He blew the smoke away and I went though to open the chest again. Same noises. I went back out and when I got back from checking another passage, Mordy was gone AGAIN! And I told him NOT TO MOVE. Sometimes he is very frustrating! Mir'ek thought perhaps the clunking noises had something to do with him disappearing so we did lots of tests and narrowed down where the noises were coming from but we couldn't work out what they did aside from clunk. Mir'ek found that she could carry the chest around and opening it still made the clunk noises. So we carried the chest around and did more tests but found nothing. On the way, I did work out that I could disable the ballistas by taking all the ammunition out.
Eventually we thought we made our way out of the passages and found Mordy. He had found Baylive, a monk from the abbey. We had killed his companions. Ogmund had attacked us because he thought we were pirates. Apparently they had had a recent nasty experience with pirates, which is why they had barricaded themselves in. The boss monk was Mandius or something. They worship Mask, Lord of Shadows. Baylive wants to be taken off the island. Mordy said we would take him.
In Which We Go to Jail
Day 28, midday
We arrived back in Saltmarsh. I noticed I had pretty green flecks on my skin and Mir'ek had them too. That's probably not good and we decided to go to the Clerics... later.Mir'ek and I went to The Wicker Goat while Mordy spoke to Bayleaf before joining us. We counted out the coins - there were a lot... 6204gp and 279 pieces of gems and jewellery. I picked a fine silver necklace to keep. Mir'ek didn't want one as she already had a red gem on a chain. Mordy and I went to Copperlock HQ to try to get the gems and jewellery valued. They were very rude to us and said it was all fake. We went back to The Goat where we checked the rest. Most of it was no good. We kept 28 that may be okay. We set aside 1860gp for Anders Solmor and 5 pieces of jewellery.
Day 28, 7:00PM
Mir'ek and I wore our new dresses when we all visited the Solmor mansion. We reported our success and gave him the gold and jewellery. He seems pleased. Mir'ek and I curtsied on the way out. We went back to The Goat and bought an apple cider to celebrate. Mordy went upstairs while Mir'ek and I tried to attract men to buy us drinks. Mir'ek praciticed fluttering her eye lashes.It was successful because this guy called Keggers bought her a drink, after asking if she was having a stroke, because she was fluttering so much! She took the drink and left him at the bar. Well next he started on me. He bought me a drink but then got REAL friendly and grabbed my little ass! Luckily Mir'ek came to help me. She punched him in the nose and we went upstairs.
I went to sleep but Mordy fine-tuned Mir'ek's eye fluttering so she looked like this:
by Sophie-Alice
Day 30, morning
Manistrad Copperlocks came to visit us. She said she'd bought our bond from Solmor, whatever that means. Anyway, she said she could get us out if we did a job for her. Apparently the miners have uncovered something and they reckon there are ghosts coming out of the walls. We agree to it but she left us in jail for another day. I was very miserable. Mordy is right, this town deserves to be burnt down. I just want to leave here and go back to the Lizardfolk. They were much nicer than most people here.
Day 31, morning
We got out of jail and got 6 Healing potions from the Copperlock lady. We have to give her any treasure we find.
The mine site was a little inland from the Haunted House. We were escorted to the mine site and talked to the supervisor. We were told to be back in 24 hours or they will lock us in. He said 2 miners had been turned to stone. He led us down to a door that was uncovered. There were stairs down and lots of rocks piled up at the bottom. Mordy got the supervisor back to help clear the rocks. We went through into a chamber with very big double doors to the S. Through there was a bigger chamber. A ghostly, strange humanoid shape appeared from a pillar. It looked translucent and stoney.
In Which We Find Ghosts and Bodies
The ghostly thing attacked Mordecai and he shrieked like a girl. Mir'ek found a pile of old bodies and then explored further and found a chair. The ghost attacked her and disappeared, The chair is a stone throne on a dias, she sat in it. SHe then saw another pile of bodies. SHe touched them and they crumbled. They seemed to have been sucked dry. The ghost appeared near her and I shot it but I was a bit far away and missed it but did get Mir'ek's right arm. I went closer for a better shot but the thing disapeared again. Mir'ek found some stairs in the SW corner and went up. There were more dried up bodies. Meanwhile, the ghost reappeared and Mordy gouged it with his horns. We all went up the stairs. There was a passage with arrow slots looking down onto the throne room. I inspected some of the bodies. They were very, very old with rotted clothing. Their skin was like crumbling stonework but they were an empty shell. I found a few belongings worth 21gp. Mir'ek sprinkled some Holy Water on them. It made them wet. I found a room with lots of very old, short beds. Meanwhile, Mordy was still occasionally tussling with the ghost. He gouged it again but it hit him back and he got really frightened. He ran off screaming and hid behind the throne. I went to help Mordy. I climbed up on the throne for a good view. Mir'ek joined us. We saw a door opposite the stairs so we went there. I heard a haunting droning from behind it. Mordy goes through. The sound was louder and sounded like a phrase being repeated but I couldn't understand the words. There was a different ghost soming towards us. There was a short battle and it shrieked and disappeared. The words stopped. I heard a faint thumping sound behind the next door. Behind it was a bedroom and washroom. It was all very old and probably Dwarven sized. There was a chest with a trap that I disarmed. Inside were 342 gp, 7 x 25gp gems, 5 x 50gp gems, 5 x 100 gp gems.
Mordy marched off without us while we finished checking the room. We couldn't find a secret door so we set off after Mordy. I could hear a similar droning noise from behind and a thumping noise from ahead. When we found Mordy, he was being attacked by a walking mound of earth! It was hard to hit but we finally took it down and it crumbled to dust. Mordy wandered off towards a purple light.
Mir'ek and I went back to try to find the moaning ghost. We couldn't find it so went back to Mordy and the purple light. There were skeletons near the edge. Mordy & Mir'ek went into the light. They turned a corner and saw a shimmering stone that was the source of a crimson light. Mir'ek took it. It was like a large egg and was hot to touch.
In Which We Earn Our Freedom
Mordecai & Mir'ek discussed the stone and argued about lots of things. Mir'ek Detected Evil and said the stone felt devilishly evil, whatever that meant!
I wanted to inspect the pool. Mordecai pushed my in, I was wet so thought as may as well walk through it but I slipped and got covered with stinky, slimy green algae. I went to the bathroom to clean up. We went back to the throne room and discovered that we could see the ghost shadows with the purple light. We think it also slowed them down. We were able to kill 4, one in each pillar. I remembered there was one more passage so I led the way there. I was ahead of the other two when Mordy took the stone from Mor'ek. I heard him scream in pain! I went back and Mir'ek was pulling the stone from him as he was laying on the ground, quivering. Looked nasty. There was a room ahead with a mighty big, tough-skinned worm in it. It attacked us and had lots of teeth. I killed it. Okay, the others helped a bit. There was a worm-sized hole in the ground. I went down it with a rope attached. It didn't go well. I got stuck but luckily Mir'ek was able to pull me out. We wrapped and packed the glowing stone and exited. Manistrad Copperlocks was pleased to see us at first. I handed over the treasure and Mordy told her our tale. Mir'ek showed her the stone and then she turned all Bugbear on us! She said it was a Valkemec stone and was evil. She wanted it and us gone! I mean pfftt, we found it in her stupid mine! At least she had the decency to throw the treasure back at us. She probably thought it was contaminated. We argued, then headed for the main road and then argued some more. They wanted me to touch the stone. I was not keen on this idea because Mir'ek is all goody-goody and I am not so much. In the end I touched the wrapped stone very quickly. Was okay so I touched it again... I don't know what Mordy was complaining about, it was a bit warm, that's all.
Day 31, evening
We made camp just off the main road.Session Index
Chapter 1: The Haunted HouseChapter 2: The Secrets of Saltmarsh
92: In Which I Tell My Tale
93: In Which We Lose One and Find Another
94: In Which We Rescue Mordecai, The Destroyer
95: In Which We Find the Emperor of the Waves
96: In Which We Find More Spiders
97: In Which We Meet a Demon and a Ghost
98: In Which We Make It Out Alive
99: In Which We Quest to Stoneridge Island
100: In Which We Explore Stoneridge Island
101: In Which We Battle Necromancers
102: In Which We Find a Maze
103: In Which We Find Treasure!
104: In Which We Go to Jail
105: In Which We Find Ghosts and Bodies
106: In Which We Earn Our Freedom
Chapter 3: The Lees of Leilon
Chapter 4 : The City of Splendours
Characters Interacted With
Report Date
19 Nov 2024
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