Wreck of Compass Rose

Wreck of Compass Rose

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Features

Walls The soggy wooden walls are aged to a sickly black and green. Algae and barnacles grow on walls throughout the wreck
Ceilings The ceilings are 8 feet high
Doors The doorways are 6 feet high and the doors are in the same waterlogged condition as the walls
Light During the day, the sun fills the upper deck and main deck with bright light and the lower deck with dim light. Sunlight doesn't reach into the hold, and the whole wreck is dark at night.

Locations

C1: Main Deck

The moldering wood of the deck is slick with alge and seawater. Amid the tangle of rigging, splintered railings, and stray seaweed, you spot boots, bones, and bits of gore that seem considerably more recent than the wreck of this ship. Stairs lead to upper decks at fore and aft, and doors lead into cabins under those decks. The main mast remains intact and mostly upright, topped with a crow's nest overflowing with debris. A staircase near the mast and a large hatch on port side both lead down into the hold.

Crow's Nest A rope ladder runs up the mast to the crow's nest, secure despite the condition of the wreck. The mast sways alarmingly as the PCs climb, and at the top of the 50-foot climb the PCs find that they are leaning out over the water on the port (north) side of the ship. The crow's nest now serves as a nest for the harpy that has made the Compass Rose its lair. The basket shaped area is stuffed with wood shavings, dry grass and shredded canvas from the ships' sails. Bits of bones, tufts of hair, and shiny baubles are also visible in the nest
Harpy's Return When the PCs arrive at the shipwreck, the harpy is out looking for another ship to lure onto the rocks. It returns after the PCs have spent some time aboard, as described in Cursed Shipwreck.
Treasure PCs that look through the nest find a small gold bracelet worth 25 gp, a single gold hoop earing worth 25 gp, two small tiger eye gems worth 10 gp each and one bloodstone gem worth 50 gp

C2: Forecastle

The broken foremast leans out across a broken railing, with a tangle of rigging and tattered canvas trailing down to the rocks and dragon bones below. A rusted and rotting ballista stands near the broken mast

The ballista no longer works. There is nothing of interest to find here

C3: Quarterdeck

The splintered remains of a mast jut up from this rear deck like a broken spear. This ship's wheel is askew, dislodged from its mechanism

The wheel bear the name of the ship - Compass Rose- engraved and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, though in the wheel's current position the name is upside down. If a PC turns the wheel, it snaps free of its axle and falls. If the PC tries to catch it before it hits the deck, ask the PC to made a DC10 Dex save. On a successful save, the PC catches the wheel. On a failed save, the wheel hits the deck with a loud thud that catches the attention of the zombies in C4. A moment later the thud is answered by a loud crash against the door to C4, which repeats every 10 to 15 seconds

C4: Captain's Quarters

The door to the Captain's Quarters is barricaded from the inside, though the heavy wooden bar blocking the door is half rotten. A PC that tries to open the door can break it down with a successful DC10 strength check

The door crashes open to reveal two drowned sailors in a cabin that must once been luxurious. A bookcase, half collapsed, holds waterlogged and disintegrating books and scrolls. The polished wood desk leans awkwardly on three legs; it has an ornate compass set in its center. The bed is covered in rotting bedding and sags in the middle. A jagged hole gapes in the floor besides the bed

If the wheel in area C3 was dropped or the PCs needed more than one strength check to open the door into this room, the two zombies are beside the door when it opens. Otherwise, they're aimlessly shuffling around in the cabin. In either case they move to attack the PC right away. If the pc is lvl 2, add another zombie
Hole to the hold The hole beside the captain's bed formed when rotting floorboards collapsed under the weight of the captain's sea chest. It broke through the floor of the lower deck as well, coming to rest in the hold (C9)
Treasure Two small drawers in the desk hold a pouch containing 50 gp, a set of cartographer's tools and a dagger. The compass set in the desktop can easily be pried free; its worth 25 gp

C5: Galley

A long dead, headless skeleton sits propped up against the counter to the right, but the galley is other-wise empty. Unless.. did the skeleton just move?

Small, harmless crabs are crawling over the skeletal remains, causing the illusion of movement

C6: Crew Quarters

Six double bunks line the edges of this cabin. Personal effects are strewn about the room, and a faded, painted portrait hangs on one wall.

The portrait shows a young couple smiling and embracing. Written across the bottom of the portrait are the words "Aleitha and Brastos- together forever". The black haired woman wears a sailor's uniform similar to the tatters worn by the zombies aboard this ship, and it is unclear due to the low light but her skin is strangely pinkish. The blond haired man wears a merchant's fine clothes
Floorboard stash A PC that searches the cabin and succeeds on a DC 10 perception check, notices a floorboard in the middle of the room that is raised slightly above its neighbours. A PC who lifts the floorboard triggers a trap: a tiny dart shoots up, making an attack with +5 to hit. If it hits, it deals 2 piercing damages and the PC has to succeeds on a DC11 Con save or take 1d6b poison damage. Once the trap is triggered it does not trigger again unless a PC resets it.
Treasure The floorboard hides a sack full of 200 gp in a small compartment.

C7: Mess hall

A long table takes up most of this cabin, which must have serves as a mess hall. Decaying chairs are scattered about, and broken glass and crockery litter the floor

There is nothing of interest here.

C8: Lower deck

The descent to the lower deck is chilly, wet, and unsettling. Seawater obscures the floor and sloshes against the hull. Decaying crates and barrels are scattered around, some floating freely and others stacked into corners. You hear splashing as a walking corpse lumbers toward you, wading in water that doesn't quite reach its knees

The zombie is an obvious threat, but a ghoul lurks in the aft part of the hold. Much more cunning than the zombies, it waits to attack until the PCs are busy with the zombie. It hopes to paralyze a PC with its claw attack, then drag the paralyzed PC away to feat on while the other characters contend with the zombie. Unlike the zombies, the ghoul is not a former crew member, but a vile scavenger drawn by the presence of decaying flesh. If party is lvl 2, add 2 zombies
The water on the floor reaches from about 6 inches on the starboard (south) side of the ship to 18 inches on the port side (north). The water makes the entire lower deck difficult terrain
Hole to the hold A hole in the ceiling in the northwest part of the area leads up to C4. Its matches by a similar hole directly below it. The holes were caused by the captain's chest falling through the floorboards
Treasure Some of the goods in the crates here remain valuable. Using a crowbar, a PC can open a crate in 1 min, without a crow bar it takes 10 min. When a crate is opened, roll on the table below to determine what's inside. Each item can only be found once

d6	Contents
1	Five bottles of wine (10 gp each) packed in straw, plus one broken bottle
2	A 20-pund sack of whole cloves, worth 60 gp
3	Ten small, 1 pound bars of silver (each worth 5 gp each)
4	A pair of candlestick holders carved from bone to resemble dragons, worth 25 gp each
5	A fine lute with mother-of-pearl inlay, worth 50 gp
6	A spell scroll of Command sealed in a leather case

C9: Hold

As the cold water engulfs you, a strange undersea world is revealed. Colourful seaweed grows over the shattered hull, especially around the gaping hole in the stern of the ship. Tiny fish dart among hunks of debris and cargo.

Swimming and Suffocating While swimming, each foot of Movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain), unless a creature has a swimming speed. At the GM’s option, gaining any distance in rough water might require a successful Athletics check. A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds). When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 Hit Points and is dying, and it can’t regain Hit Points or be stabilized until it can breathe again. The party can surface at the hole to C8 or the stairs
Captain's Chest A heavy iron chest lies on the floor of the hold, directly beneath the hole it fell through. If a PC opens it here, a large air bubble rushes out and a packet, wrapped and sealed in waxed fabrics, rises up after it. Though the chest is heavy, the PCs can also carry it to the surface before opening it. The chest contains a pouch holding 55 gp and three turquoise stones (worth 10 gp each) as well as a boots of elvenkind. The floating packed contains the captain's journal which has been kept save from the water by its wrapping. A braid of hair is stuck in the pages like a bookmark, indicating the log's last entry. it reads as follow:

19 Tarsakh We have wrecked on a shoal south of neverwinter. Many of the crew perished with the initial impact, Aleitha was gravely wounded and her daughter was lost to the waves. As I tried to tend to her wounds, her prayers became more and more desperate. She prayed for her daughter, reuniting with her husband all the while clutching her talisman close. She prayed, to Bahamut, to Helm, to chauntea and on. I asked her what the talisman signified, and she said love. A promise to reunite with her husband despite what fate had in store. It would have been a beautiful story, had it not been for Aleitha and her daughter's gruesome end- and the last god she prayed to. It was Orcus, Prince of Undead. I held her hands as the breath left her, and i felt a horrible chill pas through her. Next I knew, she was sinking her teeth into my neck. At the same moment, i heard means begin to arise from the dead sailors all around us. What curse has she brought on us all? Already i feel a creeping chill overtaking my body. I secured her talisman with this book in my chest, in the hope someone who comes after us may end this nightmare by bringing her talisman to her husband.

The talisman is formed from long locks of blond and black hair, braided together round two small finger bones. If a PC casts, Detect Magic, the talisman is revealed to carry necromancy magic.
A new threat After the PCs find the captains chest, when they come up from the hold to the lower deck, they hear a heavy thump on the deck as the harpy lands on the main deck. (See Cursed Shipwreck)

Stormwreck Isle

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