Zaraleva boosts Adrian and the Varki up onto the funeral ship and then secures the group of kayaks to it.
Byron pulls out his crowbar and wedges it into the hatch and slams his weight into it to pry it open.
With the leverage of his crowbar, Byron rips the nails out of the dry wood and opens the hatch.
Looking into the hold below, Aiko and Byron see that the main deck is a cramped space with a low, 4-foot-high ceiling made by the pseudo-deck they're standing on. Most of the space is taken up by the ship's original rowing benches and cramped with piles of stacked funerary treasures.
Up on deck, Lyraesel lands and transforms while Aidan and the Varki scout climb up and start moving forward.
Byron slips into the narrow area and reaches into his bag once more to pull out a sunrod.
"Did you notice anything?" the monk asks as Byron disappears into the area. With a shrug, Adrian stays put for the time being.
As the others investigate, Lyraesel draws moisture from the air and lake around her coalescing into a deluge of water to extinguish the burning coals.
Byron again hears the rattling of chains but he doesn't see anything even though his sunrod lights the cramped hold quite well.
Up on deck, Lyaesel's summoned water douses the coals, eliminating the danger of the ship lighting on fire. It does occur to her, though, that if the ship doesn't eventually catch someone on shore may be forced to intervene. By fire arrow, perhaps, if the ship is still close enough to shore, or a fireball if they have any wizards handy.
Aiko whispers, "We should be ready to restart the fire as soon as we're good to go. Byron, can you probe the underspace with your weapon haft, see if something is hidden or invisible?'
The ninja frowns as she thinks. "Shouldn't the hold be deeper? The draft on this is... hmm, I don't know."
"I hear chains, but I do not see someone chained. Maybe there is a bilge where the prisoner is stored." Byron says as he starts looking for the sword or a place to hide a chained person.
Zaraleva moves forward, trying to hide behind the mast from anyone who may be watching from the shore. She continues concentrating on Detect Magic, seeing through anything less than three feet of wood.
"We should light a torch or something, so the people on the shore see some flame and smoke and don't feel the need to investigate yet."
Looking through the grave goods near the hatch, Byron finds a treasure trove of items easily worth thousands of pieces of gold. Amongst the piles of valuables there are spears and axes but no sword that he can see. Looking toward the stern there are more items piled up in between the rower benches and another great pile of things at the far end of the hold.
Zaraleva moves forward, trying to hide behind the mast from anyone who may be watching from the shore. She continues concentrating on Detect Magic, seeing through anything less than three feet of wood.
"I would rather we make sure they aren't able to spot us in the first place," Adrian replied.
Byron heads back and calls out, "Hello, we are here to rescue you. Make some noise to show me where you are."
The only response to Byron's call is a groan and more chain rattling. As he makes his way toward the stern, he notices mist swirling around his feet and a stench like decaying fish, rotting seaweed, and stuffy, unbreathable air like you find in poorly ventilated rooms full of rusting anchor chains.
His light illuminates a solid wall of mist dominating the back of the hold, impossible to see through for more than a few feet. Byron can see a mound of grave goods piled up like a wall just in front of him; he'll have to move them or clamber over them if he wants to keep going.
"Something is weird here, a mist of some sort." Byron says as he moves to shove aside the pile of treasure.
Byron has the barest second to register movement before a walking corpse explodes out of the mist, swinging a greataxe at his head.
Aiko suddenly brings up her naginata to deflect the axe coming at Byron.