U1:The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh 5E (Inactive)

Game Master nilesr

Can you, perhaps tell us where we might find the town smithy, or even a merchant in such wares? It will focus our assistance.

"I'll take you to the smith," Habbi starts, then turns to Sir Valence, "We will look into this, sir."

I would take my friends to the smith and see if he recognizes the workmanship. If there is also a shop that imports weapons, we can ask that merchant as well. As suggested by Carric.

It would be Diplomacy rolls to ask around town about weapons. You guys can separate and cover more ground. If someone "helps" you ask around, you get Advantage on your rules

'Perhaps we all go to the smith and then if we must split to look for other merchants in town that sell might weapons."

"If there is a library along the way as well, I should like to have a look to do some local research."

Rolen is quiet, it was his way. He looks after Carric about Kirrian's suggestion...

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Sounds fine, Kirian. Let us talk to the smithy, then.

Carric nods at Rolen. Then he looks to the jailers.

You may do what you choose to these dregs, as justice sees fit. However, I will be taking my rope - shackle them with what you have on site.

Peran surrenders the sword to Habbi, unable to discern anything about its place of origin.

"I'll tag along, if that is ok."

Would not have it any other way, Peren. Habbi, please join us as well.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Kirian takes another look at the sword, with an eye toward any strange inscriptions.

"If the smith cannot tell us anything I can perform a ritual to detect magic on it later. However that will take some time and this may not be the optimal locale."

Habbi laughs, "Of course I am coming! I'm leading the way!"

By Diplomacy, I am assuming Charisma (Persuasion)?

/Facepalm. Yes Persuasion, Cha

He he, I still call for Will saves, so it's not just you. ;)

Charisma (Persuasion) to gather info: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Persuasion to gather info: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

Lucky roll, I guess. :-)

With CHA rolls like these I should have taken Sorcerer or Warlock instead.

Nice roll, Kirs!

Kirian speaks with the Smith who while he doesn't recognize the work does have insight into the type of steel.

Why, this here's Monmurgian work to be sure. I'd bet my arse it is. See the grain here? And the hammer marks there? From the Sea Princes this is. the Smith spits Right bastards they are.

They say that Alchemist what had the House on the Hill was from Monmurg...and p'raps a Scarlet Brother too!

"Sea Princes?" Habbi looks to the others.

"Scarlet Brother? What is that?"

"The Sc..Sc..Scarlet Brotherhood. Oh my!", the halfling says suddenly looking al about as if he expects them to appear at any moment.

"The house on the hill that belonged to the Alchemist, that's the one the legends say is haunted, isn't it?"

Suddenly Kirian becomes animated and starts laughing.

"That house is the reason I've traveled to Saltmarsh! This is wonderful!"

"I mean, wonderful insofar as it ties into our current quest, that is."

"What, they stole this from a house?"

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Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Kirian thinks for a moment. The Scarlet Brotherhood sounds familiar, like he's sure that he's seen the name come up in his studies.

At best he's able to recall that they've reputed to be a secret society, and one that specializes in conquest; not friendly people.

The Scarlet Brotherhood is a secret society of Suel humans that are masters of deception, infiltration and assassination. They are reputed to be the secret masters of the Hold of the Sea Princes.

I'm kinda waiting on you guys to decide what to do next. You could report your findings to the Warden...or something else.

"Well if he was from there and his house is near we should check it."

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"The house is supposed to be just outside of town if the legends I've read are correct. We want to be prepared before we explore it."

"But believe me, I'm quite eager to get out there. I think the house will hold many answers"

Unless Habbi did additional healing on us, we're all still down on hit-points. And of course there's one of the downsides of playing a wizard, which is I don't just automatically recover spells.

Assuming we fast-forward through resting to keep the adventure moving, I'm swapping out Shield for Mage Armor on my prepared spell list and will consider the Sleep spell and missing HP to be recovered.

Carric listens intently.

Now this may be something worth reporting back to my superiors on...The Scarlett Brotherhood, sinking its teeth into Saltmarsh?

Very interesting news. It appears as if the Lizardfolk were just doing the bidding of the Sea Princes, and potentially the Scarlet Brotherhood. We certainly need to investigate the allegedly haunted mansion. Let's report our findings on the equipment back to the Warden and rest before any type of assault or investigation on the house.

Habbi nods, "We should bring this information back to Sir Valence, then I can take you all home to rest. We would be best served checking the haunted house after a good night's rest."

I was waiting to find out what we knew about this new information. Having never played Greyhawk, I am not sure what is common knowledge. :)

Scarlet Brotherhood would be something that anyone with a military, traveling, or noble background would likely know. They are are threat to kings and queens throughout Greyhawk, and their machinations to seize power and wealth through less than scrupulous means is well-known and shared among the good people of Greyhawk. The problem is that it is hard to know who is on their side. The fact that this alchemist is rumored to be a part of the organization is huge for anyone that would oppose them.

So Habbi would really not know a lot about them, only that they are some "evil" Illuminati-esque organization.

Habbi might know a little more than that as he is Bakluni, and the Scarlet Brotherhood has enslaved Bakluni and been at war with them for some time.

All this is a ton of Greyhawk specific stuff and not really pertinent to this adventure at all. Where to noble heroes?

"Well I guess we are off to this mad alchemist's house in the morning. A room and meal for the night would be great Habbi...my treat. Lets get a good night's rest and head up to this house tomorrow morning!"

"Let us go and see Sir Valence then. Afterwards we can dine and rest before we set off to the Alchemist's house in the morning."

"And perhaps Sir Valence will be kind enough to provide directions and let us refresh some of our supplies."

"Kirian, I agree that we should inform Sir Valence, but every child that has grown up here can show you where the house is. We used to dare each other to go up to the house when I was young, though I don't know a single child that got withing 100 yards of the place!" Habbi laughs.

I wonder if Rayven will be there when we go see Sir Valence... the young man shakes his head before continuing with a grin, "Let us go. Thanks for the info, old man!"

The party heads to Sir Valence and upon arrival at the Old Keep they are ushered into his offices.

Well? Have you found something? the grey haired man says, looking up from reports

"Aye, Sir Valence. Old man Gurt says that it's Monmurgian steel, and that the work is stylistically of the Sea Princes. Possibly connected to the Brotherhood," the young cleric says, "We suspect that we can find more information at the house on the hill. It used to belong to an alchemist that hailed from there, right? Or so the stories say."

Sir Valence frowns and says Yes, well I guess they do say that. Before my time though. It's been empty for nigh sixty years. I don't believe all that talk of it being haunted though, superstitious nonsense that. So, someone is buying Monmurgian steel to arm our enemies...I will write a dispatch to the Baron at once. If you think the House is worth investigation, I'll have Sherran draw up something official. A writ of Search or somesuch. Anything else?

Sherran is Sir Valence's secretary

To Sir Valence, "Perhaps, if we could refresh some of our supplies before we set off?"

Gesturing towards Peren, Carric and Rolen, "My companions here expended quite a few arrows fighting off the Lizardfolk, we could possibly use some other modest supplies as well."

I will pen a second dispatch to Baron in Grayhill to report on matters, as well. May I include this with your messenger?

Habbi looks around and shrugs, looking a ever-so-slightly crestfallen. At Carric's comment, he raises an eyebrow and says to Sir Valence, "Nothing for me. Should we pick up the writ in the morning before we head out, or wait for it now?"

--

After an acceptable response from the Watch Commander, Habbi asks Carric, "Are you on some official business or something?"

Peren waits for the others to finish speaking with Sir Valence. Once complete, he will head back to the tavern with Habbi.

"So...have there been any other odd occurances in town over the last few months??"

DM, how frequent are the lizardman attacks? Any strangeness occurring lately?

Rolen grunts at Habbi's question but does nothing to illuminate the situation except to smirk, I think he is. They just wanted to get rid of me.

Nothing too strange. The Lizards have attacked before but never this ferociously or determined. This time their attack made it into the town proper and caused damage before they retreated

The secretary Sherren, a bald middle aged man, has an official looking document written up and a pouch of coins. The document outlines that the party is operating under the auspices of Sir Valence and may conduct a search of the property. The pouch holds 50GP.

"Thank you Sherren," Habbi nods to the bald man then turns and tosses the bag to Peren, "That should cover whatever supplies we might need. As for oddness, usually the lizards only poke and prod, never been this far in, and never armed with more than wood or bone weapons."

I was a Deadwood Ranger, and I am still an agent of the Crown of Keoland. I report on any potential threats to the Kingdom through the Baron in Grayhill. I would think this qualifies as a potential threat, at least to Saltmarsh.

Kirian pulls a small book and pencil from one of his pockets and scribbles down a few quick notes in Elvish:

- Alchemist's house might be tied to Lizardfolk invasion, Sea Princes.
- Lizard had Monmurgian blade, Alchemist was from Monmurgia.
- Is the Alchemist still alive? Working with other forces?

- "Blood for the Blood God. Death to the Humans. The Sea Dwellers will take your flesh."

He stops writing and looks uneasily at the last line. In his head he still can hear echoes of the lizard's mad chants.

He puts the notebook back into his pocket and looks up. "I suppose whenever we're ready then we can go."

Habbi nods, "Good to know, Carric. Having a Deadwood Ranger at our side makes me feel better to be sure."

At Kirian's comment he smiles, "Let us get some food in your belly and a nice bed for each of you."

If everyone is done, Habbi will take them home and see if father has prepared dinner. If not, we will head back to the tavern and get a hearty meal, before getting some sleep.

Gonna push us on. Consider yourselves finished with a long rest.

The party heads up to the Haunted House on the Hill.

The Haunted House stands on the cliff top 70 feet above sea level and about 80 feet from the cliff edge. The 6' high stone wall surrounding the garden has partially collapsed in a number of places, so access to any part of the garden is simple even if the main gate on the cliff road is ignored. This gate, of a heavy and ornate metal construction, is still functional and stands open. The garden itself is overgrown and shows no sign of any care for years. However, any part of the garden and the main earth driveway can be easily traversed.

"Front door, or do we want to scout around the outside a bit first", the well rested halfling asks.

Let's scout around a bit, first. I will scope things out and return momentarily. Rolen will know if I signal you forward by the sound of a birdcall.

Carrick fans out with his bow in one hand, crouching low, looking at surrounding tracks and potential secret entrances to the house.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Before entering the property, Kirian pulls a small piece of cured leather from a pocket and casts Mage Armor on himself.

AC is now 16 (13 + DEX) for the next 8 hours of game time.

"We definitely want to scout outside first, and possibly look for traps around the doors."

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Might as well tie a bunch of tin cans to myself.