Post by hubertbartels on Jan 1, 2023 15:12:14 GMT -5
The House on the Edge of Saltmarsh
The next day, Revandrous(?) headed off to see Keledek. The wizard lives in a tower with an adjoining house. Keledek turned out to be an imposing figure, almost seven feet tall with dusky skin, turban and robes. Revandrous(?) and the wizard got off to a good start with Keledek offering Revandrous(?) access to his arcane library in return for returning the materials we had recovered from the zombies. Keledek also agreed to starting up an arcane order to oversee matters in Saltmarsh – the arcane order would be open to all that cast arcane spells and not only wizards. In discussing alchemy, Keledek wanted the materials for his own research and would not be opposed to Revandrous(?) starting a alchemical shop in town.
Einar goes to the temple of Procan for advice on setting up a shrine to Kord in Saltmarsh. The old priest of Procan, a one-legged sailor using a harpoon as a walking stick, tells Kord about the ghost sailor in Crabber’s Cove, looking to get home. In addition to the ghost, Crabber’s Cove is rumored to host the Beast of Crabber’s Cove.
There’s a spot on the road leading down to Crabber’s Cove that Einar finds good for his shrine – he cleared a wrestling ring, set up benches and hired a stone cutter to create a statue of Kord.
Connor goes to the druids of Obad-Hai in their grove. He talks to them about the Dreadwood and learns of a worg named the Dark Warden. This worg considers the Dreadwood to be his and has control of several packs of worgs. He’s marked them by a series of bite marks on their ears. The druids suggest that Connor go to an outpost in the Dreadwood called Burl and talk to a tree ent named Wander Root for more information.
Rissa did nothing but hang around the Empty Net, drinking. She heard rumors like the tiefling in town was offering a good price for crocodile skulls and that King Scotti has multiple agents in town, all preparing to overthrow the town council and replace them with foppish nobles.
Around noon, we gathered for lunch and to make plans. Revandrous(?) told us how he’s discovered a suitable house for purchase for his shop. He is going to see the current owner, Etta Owlen to close the sale. The sale goes through and Revandrous(?) is now the owner of a fine, two story home in a good neighborhood. At dinner, he tells us of the purchase. In talking over the various things he needs to buy for the house and the alchemy lab, we had an idea. The house, an hour outside of town, that Jeb had said was haunted by a ghost, was supposed to be the home to an alchemist. Perhaps we could explore the place and bring back any vials, crucibles, furnaces, materials or other alchemical supplies for Revandrous?
The next day, we headed out to the alchemist’s house. It was fairly run down, standing on a cliff over looking the sea. The rain and time had severely damaged the roof and stained the wooden walls. Entering the overgrown garden, we found nothing but several giant weasels. The well still held water but a descent by Einar down some twenty feet only turned up a snake and a foot of water at the bottom.
We entered the house through a small door at the rear. It was not locked but swollen shut. Einar forced it open. As the door swung back, a few wedges of wood fell down – someone had wedged the door shut. We started our search of the building. Most of the rooms were empty, one room had rotten furniture piled to the ceiling. A corridor led up front to the main entry hall. Someone had placed an alarm on the front door – bells that would warn people if anyone had entered the house. Another hallway led back to the kitchen. Again, there were signs of rot and decay everywhere.
Climbing the back stairway, we searched bedroom after bedroom, finding very little of any use. There were stairs leading further up to the attic but they had rotten and collapsed. Einar lifted Rissa up to where she could grab and climb up into the attic. She found a large empty space with broken furniture and discarded sacks. Then she heard something stirring in the dark. Rissa moved back to the others, and dropped down to their floor as a group of stirges came boiling out of the darkness. Passim burned them before they could attack.
Rissa returned to the attic and finally turned up a magical hand puppet from one of the sacks. She returned to the second floor and we continued our search. The last door on the hallway was locked. Rissa took out her lockpicks as Connar found the key to the room above the door. She said nothing as Connor unlocked the door.
Inside ,we surprised and took down a man standing by the window. Einar grappled him, Rissa hit him with the butt of her dagger and Revandrous put him and Rissa to sleep. Questioning him after we woke him up, we learned that he’s watching the house as part of a smuggling operation. When it is safe for the smuggling ships to approach the shore, he places lights in the window. Then they wait for the ship to reply. When the correct lanterns are shown, rowboats in the caverns below travel out to the ship to bring the smuggled items onto shore.
The operation is run by a mage named Sandballot(?), a powerful caster that our prisoner is scared of. He adds that the way to the caverns is hidden in the basement of the house and the first step of the stairs down is trapped. Sandballot(?) is supposed to have some eight to ten men with him. Having finished questioning our prisoner, we lower him into the well and then make plans to go down below.
The next day, Revandrous(?) headed off to see Keledek. The wizard lives in a tower with an adjoining house. Keledek turned out to be an imposing figure, almost seven feet tall with dusky skin, turban and robes. Revandrous(?) and the wizard got off to a good start with Keledek offering Revandrous(?) access to his arcane library in return for returning the materials we had recovered from the zombies. Keledek also agreed to starting up an arcane order to oversee matters in Saltmarsh – the arcane order would be open to all that cast arcane spells and not only wizards. In discussing alchemy, Keledek wanted the materials for his own research and would not be opposed to Revandrous(?) starting a alchemical shop in town.
Einar goes to the temple of Procan for advice on setting up a shrine to Kord in Saltmarsh. The old priest of Procan, a one-legged sailor using a harpoon as a walking stick, tells Kord about the ghost sailor in Crabber’s Cove, looking to get home. In addition to the ghost, Crabber’s Cove is rumored to host the Beast of Crabber’s Cove.
There’s a spot on the road leading down to Crabber’s Cove that Einar finds good for his shrine – he cleared a wrestling ring, set up benches and hired a stone cutter to create a statue of Kord.
Connor goes to the druids of Obad-Hai in their grove. He talks to them about the Dreadwood and learns of a worg named the Dark Warden. This worg considers the Dreadwood to be his and has control of several packs of worgs. He’s marked them by a series of bite marks on their ears. The druids suggest that Connor go to an outpost in the Dreadwood called Burl and talk to a tree ent named Wander Root for more information.
Rissa did nothing but hang around the Empty Net, drinking. She heard rumors like the tiefling in town was offering a good price for crocodile skulls and that King Scotti has multiple agents in town, all preparing to overthrow the town council and replace them with foppish nobles.
Around noon, we gathered for lunch and to make plans. Revandrous(?) told us how he’s discovered a suitable house for purchase for his shop. He is going to see the current owner, Etta Owlen to close the sale. The sale goes through and Revandrous(?) is now the owner of a fine, two story home in a good neighborhood. At dinner, he tells us of the purchase. In talking over the various things he needs to buy for the house and the alchemy lab, we had an idea. The house, an hour outside of town, that Jeb had said was haunted by a ghost, was supposed to be the home to an alchemist. Perhaps we could explore the place and bring back any vials, crucibles, furnaces, materials or other alchemical supplies for Revandrous?
The next day, we headed out to the alchemist’s house. It was fairly run down, standing on a cliff over looking the sea. The rain and time had severely damaged the roof and stained the wooden walls. Entering the overgrown garden, we found nothing but several giant weasels. The well still held water but a descent by Einar down some twenty feet only turned up a snake and a foot of water at the bottom.
We entered the house through a small door at the rear. It was not locked but swollen shut. Einar forced it open. As the door swung back, a few wedges of wood fell down – someone had wedged the door shut. We started our search of the building. Most of the rooms were empty, one room had rotten furniture piled to the ceiling. A corridor led up front to the main entry hall. Someone had placed an alarm on the front door – bells that would warn people if anyone had entered the house. Another hallway led back to the kitchen. Again, there were signs of rot and decay everywhere.
Climbing the back stairway, we searched bedroom after bedroom, finding very little of any use. There were stairs leading further up to the attic but they had rotten and collapsed. Einar lifted Rissa up to where she could grab and climb up into the attic. She found a large empty space with broken furniture and discarded sacks. Then she heard something stirring in the dark. Rissa moved back to the others, and dropped down to their floor as a group of stirges came boiling out of the darkness. Passim burned them before they could attack.
Rissa returned to the attic and finally turned up a magical hand puppet from one of the sacks. She returned to the second floor and we continued our search. The last door on the hallway was locked. Rissa took out her lockpicks as Connar found the key to the room above the door. She said nothing as Connor unlocked the door.
Inside ,we surprised and took down a man standing by the window. Einar grappled him, Rissa hit him with the butt of her dagger and Revandrous put him and Rissa to sleep. Questioning him after we woke him up, we learned that he’s watching the house as part of a smuggling operation. When it is safe for the smuggling ships to approach the shore, he places lights in the window. Then they wait for the ship to reply. When the correct lanterns are shown, rowboats in the caverns below travel out to the ship to bring the smuggled items onto shore.
The operation is run by a mage named Sandballot(?), a powerful caster that our prisoner is scared of. He adds that the way to the caverns is hidden in the basement of the house and the first step of the stairs down is trapped. Sandballot(?) is supposed to have some eight to ten men with him. Having finished questioning our prisoner, we lower him into the well and then make plans to go down below.