Sandlot takes at least a few moments to fully process the discovery; but, he would in time pass it along to the others. "Sunk, are many.... So many, there are.... but intentional.... intentional, all this is... Purposeful.... The ends though, this one is not certain." He would admit as well to the others. Then, he starts, a thought suddenly hitting him, and prompting a glance to the hole above. "Perhaps..." He muttered, canting his head to the side as if to study the hole itself from a different angle.

"Hm... Search above, this one suggest.... Search for Logs... symbols... markings, perhaps, denoting this ship as a target...." Sandlot looks to the others on that note for approval. And if all were in agreement, he made ready to follow the others into the cabin above for a once over.

(OOC: I'm going by the choices expressed in the OOC chat here.)

Sandlot concludes his examination and shares his suspicions with the group. When the cleric suggests they gather more information from the cabin above, most members of the party seem to agree. They swim through the hole cautiously, expecting more drowned sailors and perhaps even the captain themselves. But alas, the cabin seems devoid of both life and undeath (with one little red exception). 

A cursory look about the captain's cabin reveals a few closed wooden chests, waterlogged pieces of paper and parchment spread about, if not floating, and a few piles of choice trade goods. It would seem the captain was keeping a close look at the best fabrics, inks, and weapons that the merchant ship was transporting. There is even a small collection of hats in one corner. At the back of the cabin, there is a medium-sized desk. A dagger pins a large map onto the desk, and there is also a completely sealed fish tank atop it. Inside the tank, a lone red crab munches on its last served portion of little fish bits.

There is plenty to look at within the cabin, but perhaps the most curious of all is a candle that is stuck directly to the captain's desk. Despite being underwater, the candle continues to burn, giving the captain's cabin its own source of light, albeit faint. The candle is both tall and thick, and looks like it could burn for days on end. Shanty has heard of such trinkets before (passive arcana): the bard recognizes it as a Candle of the Deep. 

(OOC: Anyone wanting to investigate or look about the room should roll an investigation check. If trying to study the map, please roll a survival check. If interacting with the crab, please roll an animal handling check. This list is not comprehensive. Feel free to improvise and choose your own check.) 

Undertow spots the crab and attempts to interact with it, channeling his connection to nature and the primal awareness it grants him to cast speak with animals. 

"Hello there, child of the sea. It looks like you've been trapped in there for a while; tell me, do you recall what happened that caused this ship to meet its doom here on the floor of the Sea of Fallen Stars?"

Animal handling: 17

Sandlot did not get Gul's approval - monk saw enough here to decide the ship was just one of many. Sure, some treasures could be held in captain's cabin, but they did not come to strip the sunk vessels of their goods (worthy cause, just not now). The true goal obviously lay ahead.

Still, he moved in with the others and looked around:

Perception: 22 (just in case)

investigation: 14

survival: 14

Shanty will poke around the room, checking the chests and looking for anything the captain might have hidden (false panels, loose floorboards etc.).

Investigation: 10

Barnacle looks over the map as well, attempting to help identify the coastlines shown.

Survival 8

"Maybe knowing where this ship came from, or where it was headed might help us work out why it was dragged down here? Even if whatever is behind these sinkings isn't so discerning, it may be useful helping us eliminate a potential motive?"

Should no one else do it, Barnacle will take the dagger and map and store them in his pack for later.

Remembering some sage advice about always being able to find a use for another blade, he then casts around the room at the weapons stored by the captain, trying to find something that might do in a pinch should he become separated from his trident. 

Investigation 10

A little down from Gulp's lack of approval, Sandlot wound jup joining Undertow in his attempts to interact with the crab, figuring it might lighten his mood. Though while the intent had been to observe, seeing Undertow work some sort of magic, and believing it for communal of some sort(and rightly so, at that), he pats him once on the shoulder, offering some Eldath's guidance.

--> Guidance on Undertow, adding 1 to previous animal handling roll. (if possible)

Beyond that, he was content to wait and watch and ponder, if somewhat absently so, over whether any of his rations sufficing as decent treats for the little guy. "Similar thoughts, we have had... trust more, I do, of you discerning the patterns." Sandlot responded eventually to Barnacle, but without looking away from the crab.

Not being one for the more intellectual activities that are going on in the cabin, Bubbles hangs back by the entrance but within the light being cast and keeps an eye out for any more surprises in the form of undead creatures looking to take the group with them to the grave.

Perception: 16

@Undertow & @Sandlot: The two of you are drawn right away to the encased crab. You each cast a spell, one hoping to speak with the crab and the other that Eldath is willing to help in this endeavor. The tiny beast's initial reaction is quite defensive. It stops eating and turns. Its mandibles continue moving and some tiny bubbles form around it. Its claws snap several times in your direction. Its way of communicating is crude, but the spell helps. Undertow understands it to mean something akin to: "My territory. My food. Go away. I warn you." It is not until Sandlot opens the lid of the fish tank and offers a bit of his own food that the crab changes its tone. It seems to ponder the posed question for a few seconds while it resumes eating, and then it simply answers by saying: "Storm."

@Gulp: Despite not approving of the party's choice, you move into the cabin and search around for anything of interest that was not apparent at first glance. You notice that the desk's hidden side from where you entered actually houses a drawer. Opening it, you find more waterlogged papers, a leather pouch containing 36gp, a small knife, and a set of six iron keys on a loop. 

@Shanty: Your search for false panels or purposefully loosened floorboards yields no positive results. Nonetheless, the wooden chests are there for the taking. You count six of them in total, and they seem sturdy though not necessarily sealed from water damage. Whatever is inside is likely soaked. You identify no danger or trap about them and thus, try to open them. They are all locked.  

@Barnacle: You spend some time looking at the few choice weapons the captain seems to have placed within his cabin. You identify several well-made pieces, including metal-tipped javelins, daggers, and morningstars. You gather that morningstars may be hard to use underwater, but daggers and javelins should be just as effective as if they were used in dry land as long as they are used as melee weapons. You recognize uniquely treated metal in two of the weapons. One of the javelins has a silvered tip (silvered javelin) and the dagger holding the map in place is made out of an adamantine alloy (adamantine dagger).

@Gulp & @Barnacle: You look at the map together after Barnacle pockets the adamantine dagger pinning it to the desk. You can tell it generally traces the borders of the Sea of Fallen Stars but not much else. The ink on the map has suffered much from being underwater, to the point it is hard to read any cartographic detail or any of the previously written words on the map. The one exception is the top left corner, where you see the same ship-and-cresting-wave logo you saw in the crates below deck, and the words "Brave Wave Trading Co." The words mean little to you except for confirming that this merchant caravel was probably contracted by one of the navies involved in the war of the earth dwellers above. 

@Bubbles: You stand guard while the others investigate. You see nothing dangerous approaching your location, much like the lack of any dangerous developments over the recent short rest. You feel confident that the party is safe for now. 

Shanty will wave Barnacle over.

”I’m afraid these puny arms don’t have the strength to open these—can you try?”

"May be these keys will work?" Gulp shared his findings with others and gave the keys to the more curious around.

Barnacle gives the boxes a once over them the keys as well.

"Let's try the keys. We can strong arm the boxes if they don't work. Only job will be checking which key fits which lock, but there's enough of us to keep track."

It takes a few tries to fit each key to a wooden chest, but they indeed eventually open. Two of the chests are disappointingly empty. Two others contain several coins of lesser denominations: one with 3,000 copper pieces and another with 1,200 silver pieces. The fifth chest houses a more worthy reward: 420 gold pieces. The last chest contains gems of various colors, though no single stone is lager than one of the coins in the other chest (assorted gems worth 150gp.)

(@Ori: I'm sure you are aware but it might be worth reminding you now that Sandlot has a bag of holding.)

(@MB: Go ahead and add three javelins to your inventory as indicated in the OOC Chat. Make sure to mark one of them as "silvered" in the "customize" drop down menu that is available after clicking on the item within your inventory. You may as well add a "map" to your inventory.)

(@All: Is anyone claiming the adamantine dagger or the candle of the deep. I would prefer that such claims are clearly stated. Also, is there anything else you'd like to do here in the captain's cabin or is the party ready to move onward?) 

(@Lerus: Yea, yea... I, uh... I totally didn't forget about that. Because that'd be silly, and totally disprove the fact that I have a goldfish brain. >.>)

Once Undertow passes along the 'words' of the crab, Sandlot actually grows a little pale at the news. And unless pressed in the moment, a moment of silence passes before the aged Locathah expression hardens as steeling himself, and then drift over to the others. Neither copper or even the silver pieces were once showed were liable to last long in the sea. So with but a few words in offer and explination, Sandlot holds seaweed themed bag open to collect the coins and gems.

As for the dagger and candle, only the former draws momentary interest. Yet just as quickly , Sandlot is shaking his head at the very notion of doing more than packing the two away if noone else volunteers to take them.

Gulp would not leave such - obviously! - important and magic items behind. If nobody needs the dagger, he will take it himself, but he would insist on someone (most likely Shanty) to take the candle - 2 lights are better than one.

I would like to consider Bubbles for the Candle of the Deep as he may well want to range ahead of the others to attack and will need light to do so.

Seeing nothing of danger as he stands watch, Bubbles attention wanders and catches sight of the candle, at which point he says "Hey.....that light would let me lead the way into battle while you magic slingers hang back....mind if I take it?"

If there is no objections Bubbles will proceed to pick it up and then ask generally "Anyone know how I could bind this to Last Rites here"

Shanty will pass on either the candle or the dagger—if he has to use the dagger there’s bigger problems, and with his ocean blessed vision he has no need of the candle.

Undertow shrugs. "Storm. Well, I guess I could have told you that. Was hoping for a more concise description, but... I guess that's what I get for relying on a crab," He burbles, then heads over to where the others are deliberating over items. "The dagger would be useful to me, but I already have my shoreseeker. Perhaps it will serve you better, Gulp?"

"My fins were sufficient so far. You need it - take it. Just did not want such rarity to rust out here forgotten." Sure, Gulp could use a dagger if needed, but it was not that necessary and better armed friends were preferable here.

Barnacle turns his attention away from the candle and the dagger, instead focusing on the weapons of his martially minded colleagues.

"Last Rites and Shoreseeker, these are the names of your weapons, no?"

Handling his trident with sudden interest, he gives it a long hard look.

"How did they come upon their names? It is a notable thing for any item to be given an identity of its own... Does it bond you with your weapon? Do you fight more effectively together?"

Finally finishing his tirade of questions, Barnacle whispers to himself and his trident, "Perhaps I shall name you."