Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

     Always tough to be tough when you’re trying not to look at another man’s junk…

     Cook doesn’t buy the messenger’s story, not for a second, but he’s a bit flummoxed all the same, unsure how best to wrest the upper hand back.

     “Is that so?” he offers, the words coming out lamer than he’d like. Not his finest moment.

     With a small grunt, he shifts tactics, grabbing them by the back of the collar and hauling them forward, holding them out at arm’s length like something he’d rather not have too close.

     “Right then,” he mutters. “You can lead the way…” Under Cook’s firm grip, the prisoner is made to lead him and Darixa (and the others if they join) through the lower caves.

     When they reach the cavern open to the sea, Cook slows, eyes narrowing as he looks the place over. If anything’s been left behind, goods, supplies, signs of recent use, this is where it would be. He moves through the space checking corners, scanning for anything out of place or hastily abandoned.

     But if the caves turn up empty - no smugglers, no cargo, no sign of life - Cook gives a short nod. “Right then,” he says. “Back we go.”

     Up to the cellar. And then to the house above which still needs a proper going through…

((Investigation if needed/wanted: 11))

Seri looks absurdly relieved for a moment at the positive feedback from two females in the party on her handiwork with the armor, clearly more accustomed to spending time either alone or in the company of males.  Her brow then urrows as if concentrating on something.

The air above her shoulder shimmers and a blue-grey osprey materializes perched there, regarding the others with the calm reserve of a bird of prey.  Seri turns to gaze serenely at the sea bird and something appears to pass between the two.

"This is... this is Ripple.  She has... agreed to aid us." (Ripple, though flavored as an osprey, is mechanically an owl).

(Use of Wild Shape expended for Wild Companion to cast Find Familiar without a spell slot or materials, lasting until she finishes a Long Rest.)

Seri follows just behind Cook and the captive messenger, trying to be keep a watchful lookout and murmuring to Procan for his guidance, but the sheer novelty of having (or being) a Familiar distracts both her and the osprey.

Seri's Perception plus Guidance:  7 (Nat. 1) + 2 = 9 (Passive:  16)
Ripple's Perception:  11 (Passive:  15)

Darixa would recreate her Dancing LIghts, having the four glowing orbs float about the group as they continue to look around through caves. She follows Cook and keeps an eye out for any signs of other crew members or potential dangers as they go. (Perception: 17) 

Once they get to where it opens out to the sea, she comments, "I guess they have all left?" 

Esme would follow the others to investigate the rest of the house, staying wary but also considering how it could be used once fully cleaned out.

Perception:12

     Cook doesn’t like the bird.

     Not in any loud or obvious way - no scowl, no muttered complaint - but the feeling is there all the same. Quiet. Certain. Unwelcome. It swirls somewhere deep inside him.

     Cold. Old.

     Something in him recoils from it… not his thoughts, not his reason, but something lower. New yet older. So much older. A buried instinct. A genetic memory that isn’t quite his own. Sharp talons - A sudden shadow from above - The sense of being taken from above, from a place he cannot naturally go.

     Cook gives a small, involuntary shiver before rolling his shoulders and shrugging it off like nothing.

     “Bah,” he mutters under his breath. “Hope it doesn’t crap on everything…”

     But as they move through the caves, he keeps glancing back.

     Watching the Fish Hawk.

     Just in case.

With careful perceptive exploration you manage to explore the chambers and sloping passages below the cellar.  You notice the steepest portion of passage had its matting removed and was oiled, could’ve been a nasty surprise.  The dark unlit chambers had a couple green slime.  There was some smuggled goods left behind.

3 bolts of silk are worth 50 gp each, and the 5 casks of brandy are worth 10 gp

When the group comes across the green slime, Darixa would try to determine how best to deal with it. (Arcana: 9, if appropriate) "Should we make sure the slime is cleared out before we move along?" she asks the others. "Wouldn't want someone to forget and stumble into it." 

The goods left over seemed valuable and the bard would suggest they ought to try and sell them back in Saltmarsh. If they can get them moved there of course.  Once they've had a look she suggests, "We ought to get a look now upstairs." 

Seri stays well clear of the green slime, but shifts her stance a bit as she hears Darixa speak of selling the smuggled silk and brandy that had been left behind.  She has no faith-based loathing of smuggling or smugglers as she does for slaving and slavers.  And yet professionally...

"When I was Navigator aboard the privateer vessel Dragonfly, we would at times succeed in capturing smugglers' vessels and confiscate their goods, but we did not take it for ourselves.  Rather, we returned it all to coastal town councils for their paper-shufflers to sort out.  For this, we were rewarded in both coin and commissions to continue our missions."  Her voice is more contemplative than strident as it had been about slaving, but she persists.

"Smuggling is not an abomination in the eyes of the Wave Father, who seems ambivalent to such practices, or even to piracy.  So I will not insist.  Yet I ask, if we sell these in Saltmarsh or Seaton, do we not become smugglers ourselves, and poor ones at that, given that we lack any plausible manifests or bills of lading or evidence that we have paid the proper duties and taxes for valuable goods?  Might it raise questions where such an... unusual crew such as we are came upon fine silks and brandy?  Particularly if the actual smugglers are later found with more of the exact same silks and brandy."

"Not that I am so naive as to think that some of the town councilors themselves may not dip their toes into smuggling.  Perhaps more than their toes.  Even this Solmor who had sent us here may just wish to shoulder in on the smugglers' operation.  All the more reason to think before we act."

Seri is happy to explore upstairs when the party is ready... but if they spend any large amount of time by the sea cave, she has a plan to ritually cast Speak With Animals once more and summon all of the nearby small shore creatures such as small crustaceans to come and scour Sanbalet's corpse (which she would at that time drag down to the water line) of its flesh.  Just as she had promised the slaver ringleader during battle.

Seri is happy to explore upstairs when the party is ready... but if they spend any large amount of time by the sea cave, she has a plan to ritually cast Speak With Animals once more and summon all of the nearby small shore creatures such as small crustaceans to come and scour Sanbalet's corpse (which she would at that time drag down to the water line) of its flesh.  Just as she had promised the slaver ringleader during battle.

With no objection, Sanbalet’s corpse is positioned in the cave mouth.  Seri casts her spell, but the response is much greater than normal.  Seri’s body gently sways as if in response to fickle currents.  10 minutes pass as she seems oblivious to everything…

Three pearlescent crabs as large as dogs emerge first. They form a triangle around the body.  Then as you watch a clack (plural) of sword claw crabs their dull grey steely looking bodies moving with alacrity begin the gruesome feast.  Broken bones deprived even of the marrow within are all that is left.  Over in mere minutes not hours, the crabs descend back into the waves.

The large crabs retreat last, clacking their claws slowly as if to declare it is finished…

Cook please make a Wisdom save to avoid a level of horror as for some unknown reason you both hate and dread the sight of these iridescent guardians… DC 14

((Hey!  Who said Cook is even at this seaside funeral??  He could be off exploring the upper house, of back inside the basement cooking up a proper funeral breakfast for everyone… or… or…. Ahhh, sure.  Whatever!  LoL.  Wisdom Save:  17-1 for a 16.))

     “This lot didn’t just stumble into that Slime by accident, did they?” Cook says, giving the prisoner a firm shake, looking for an answer from him as much as from anyone else.

     “If we did manage to lure the others back, and they saw the Slime gone…” He tilts his head slightly. “Might tip them off something’s not quite right, eh?”

     He pushes the prisoner a step closer to it. “Were you using it as a trap, then? Something to catch the unwary?”

     Cook, for his part, feels little one way or the other about the slime itself.

     If the group’s decided this place is done - spoiled, no longer worth returning to - then there’s no harm in making it safer. But if there’s even a chance of drawing the smugglers back… Best not to change too much.

     He feels much the same about the cargo.

     “I’m not against picking up a found coin,” Cook says with a small shrug, “but if they come back and everything’s gone, they’ll know the place is spoiled to them sure as anything.”

     “And Seri’s got a point, too,” he adds after a moment. “Though I’m thinking more on Solmor and his lot,” Cook says with a snort. “Council types have a funny way of deciding whatever you find belongs to them.”

     He gestures vaguely toward the goods.

     “We come back empty-handed, they’ll be asking questions. We come back with something to show for it - something official-like - they might be more inclined to leave the rest be.”

     “Or at least not go digging through our pockets,” he adds after a small pause.

     Cook nods once, settling on it. “Anything we’ve got to haul back proper, or leave behind to collect later, that’s the sort we declare. Let them see we’ve done the work.”

     He shrugs again. “They might show a bit of largess. Or make a show of rewarding us for it.  The smaller Knicks and Knacks we found, those we keep mum about and keep for ourselves…”

     Stepping away from any prisoners who may be around for this conversation and lowering his voice a bit Cook adds “Though if we are delivering them living prisoners we may have to admit to all we took….”

     Then he straightens slightly, already moving on.

     “We should check the house above before we go settling in for more rest or rituals,” Cook says. “No sense getting comfortable while there’s still corners we haven’t turned.”

     His eyes flick briefly toward the body. “Plenty of time to deal with that… once we’re sure there’s no more to add to the pile.”

((I am kind of skimming over the top part of the house?  But I'm kind of getting the sense DM is skipping over it to?  But if there is more to explore and find then I am of course up for doing so in detail...))

_____

     When the time comes to dispose of Sanbalet, Cook does the work without complaint. He hauls the body down to the water, muscles straining, boots scraping stone, and, as Seri directs, casts it out into the sea or lays it down in the waves or whatever…

     Then he watches. Still. Stoic. Unmoved.

     He watches as she performs the ritual.

     Watches as the first crabs arrive, cautious at first, clicking and circling. Recipes drift through his mind absently, habitually. Boiling times. Seasoning. Cracked shells and drawn butter.

     Normal thoughts. Safe thoughts.

     Then more come.

     And more.

     The careful picking turns to tearing. The quiet ritual has unleashed something else - something wet and frantic and violent. Shells clatter. Flesh rends. Blood clouds the water in dark, blooming ribbons.

     The sea feeds.

     Something in Cook’s belly turns. Not with revulsion. With recognition. Something inside him stirs… squirms… wriggles. And it likes this.

     The sea feeds.

     The cold, deep thing within him swells with a quiet, alien satisfaction. A sense of rightness. Of order restored. The depths claim what falls to them. They always do. There is a dark, distant triumph in it - an ancient, patient victory.

     The sea feeds…

     Cook stiffens. Shakes his head once, sharply. No. Not his. These are not his thoughts.

     He forces them down - pushes them deep, deep where they came from - until the feeling dulls and the world comes back into focus.

     He glances around, sudden and uneasy, half-expecting the others to be staring at him. To know.

     They aren’t.

     Not so far as he can tell, anyway.

     “Well then!” Cook barks suddenly, clapping his hands once - too loud, too bright. “That’s that, then!”

     He forces a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

     “Time to be heading home, or what?”

(The sea feeds…)

((I am kind of skimming over the top part of the house?  But I'm kind of getting the sense DM is skipping over it too?  But if there is more to explore and find then I am of course up for doing so in detail...))

Just encouraging the lower portion first, then back up to the mostly unexplored mansion proper.

There are three options at this point; one return up the same way you came down, go up the stairs in the cellar into a mansion room you haven’t seen yet, or go up a narrow outside path leading up to the main entry or yard of the mansion.  (Of course you could do anything you’d like.)

There were some giant centipedes scurrying around the kitchen.

One green slime is half way up the wall, the other is positioned on the ceiling, one may have been what got Thistle…

What is the plan for Ainura?

Darixa listens to Seri's comments with interest. She tilts her head, the concept that there might be some complicity in profiting off these found items feels a bit foreign to her. Abandoned is more like how she sees it, and those that find may profit. And sure, the bureaucrats love all that paperwork stuff, but she knows it's easy enough to just make up papers that satisfy them. But Seri seems serious about this. "I suppose we could just return them and let the town try to restore them to the proper owners," she says, even as she is quite certain someone from the town will just profit themselves. "I'm all for earning some good-will and all." 

The group again pausing as Seri conducts her ritual to scourge Sanbalat's bones as she'd promised him, Darixa begins to wonder if they'll ever get to exploring the rest of the house.  She is amazed though at what happens, watching with mild interest the feast of the crabs.  But once it's done she says, "Shall we take a look at the rest of the place now? I say leave Ainura where she's at until we're ready to go. Let's retrace our steps back out of that basement and start our search from there. Unless someone has a better idea." 

Making your way up the stairs from the wine cellar you return to the kitchen who’s going up first?

4 giant centipedes are ready to attack.  
1 helps the one behind it by hissing.  
2 attacks with advantage.  
3 helps the one behind it by hissing.  
4 attacks with advantage.

Turn order after surprise, will be  Esme Brynn Seri giant centipedes Cook Darixa

(Not sure how hissing helps an attack, but ok...)

     Cook will once again lead the way.  This may change over time if Seri's AC continues to rise higher above Cook's but for now, at least, he figures he is the big strong man and he'll lead the way.  Of course he doesn't state this is the reason, or make an issue of it at all, he just walks through doors and such before the issue can be debated.

Seri follows right on Cook's heels.  Feeling that in some small way, she has nudged the world back towards balance by feeding Sanbalet to the sea.

(In 5.5e/2024, surprise just means disadvantage on Initiative, correct?  Not a lost turn.)

(Not sure how hissing helps an attack, but ok...)

It’s a distracting startling effect like a rattlesnakes rattle.

(In 5.5e/2024, surprise just means disadvantageon Initiative, correct?  Not a lost turn.)

You're correct sorry we'll skip surprise in this case then and jump in with Esme’s turn.

map

Brynn leaned back on their heels once the final bit of work was done, brushing stray dust from their hands with a slow, satisfied motion. There’s pride sitting in their chest, earned and unmistakable, though they still try to hide it behind a crooked grin when Esme admires the lid. “Ahh… careful now. Keep talkin’ like that an’ I’ll start chargin’ commission.”

But the humour softens when Darixa steps in and wraps them in a hug. Brynn returns it without hesitation, firm and grounding, one hand settling warmly at her back. “Wouldn’t send her off in anythin' less.” They murmur, quieter now. Then, with a faint squeeze and a return of that cheeky edge. “An’ I’m glad I didn’t disappoint.” It’s gentle, but there's a slight wink with an upward tug at the corner of their mouth before they let the moment belong to Darixa.

Seri’s words draw their attention next, and Brynn tilts their head slightly at the mention of the Wave Father’s favour. They don’t argue it and there’s respect in their expression for Seri. “Well… if he’s got opinions on craftsmanship, I’ll take the compliment.” And later, when Seri refits the armour, Brynn steps in closer without thinking, eyes immediately drawn to the work and a low whistle leaves their lips. Their fingers hover just shy of the material, tracing the structure in the air as they take it in. “That’s clean work.” They admire, genuinely impressed. “You didn’t just wear it. You made it yours.” A small smirk follows. “Might have to start worryin’ about competition.” They wink.

When the group finally moves, Brynn drifts naturally toward the rear, less concerned with leading and more with making sure nothing follows. The silk earns a thoughtful look when it’s uncovered, thumb and forefinger testing the quality of the weave. “Could fetch a tidy bit o’ coin…” they note softly in agreement with Darixa, though their gaze flicks briefly toward her, Esme, and Seri with a different calculation entirely. Dresses, maybe? Something finer than blood, brine, and armour for once. “Or make somethin’ worth keepin’.” They add under their breath, filing the thought away for later, along with the silk.

The green slime draws a slower squint. Brynn looks from the wall to the ceiling and makes a faintly disgruntled sound. “Well, that’s foul.” Their head tilts, curiosity already working despite common sense. “Anyone know if this place has hot springs tucked away somewhere? One can hope that's condensation, run off or leeching...” They study it with slight interest, already half-thinking of samples, containment, and whether the stuff could be useful if handled carefully. Not now, though. Not unless everyone agrees.

And then there’s the sea. Brynn says nothing when Seri's ritual calls forth the crabs, watching as the water answers her with shell, claw, and hunger. The efficiency of it settles under their skin. There’s a slow exhale through their nose, something like respect behind their usual expression. “Right...” They whisper. “Reminds one not to cross Seri near water.” It is said lightly, but it is not entirely a joke. It was impressive, and frightening.

By the time they return toward the kitchen, Brynn’s posture has shifted back into readiness. Cook taking point, Seri close behind, and Brynn keeps to the supporting line, prosthetic flexing with a quiet click as they go.

Quote from HunterOrien >>

(In 5.5e/2024, surprise just means disadvantageon Initiative, correct?  Not a lost turn.)

You're correct sorry we'll skip surprise in this case then and jump in with Esme’s turn.

 ((Sorry to nitpick but... Did you roll initiative with the party at disadvantage to begin with?  If not then doing so may very well put the Centipedes at the top of the order...))

Just thinking this is a fun giant bug encounter not worried about survivability.  I’ll be happy if a centipede manages to escape- they’d love to eat a dead adventurer but, we'll see. (Not sure how to roll initiative in the VTT with adv/disadv, so I’m gonna just roll with it)

the two bugs hiss Esme Seri & Brynn leap into action…

Quote from HunterOrien >>

Just thinking this is a fun giant bug encounter not worried about survivability.  I’ll be happy if a centipede manages to escape- they’d love to eat a dead adventurer but, we'll see. (Not sure how to roll initiative in the VTT with adv/disadv, so I’m gonna just roll with it)

the two bugs hiss Esme Seri & Brynn leap into action…

(( All good...

But poking at it, it seems that when you have the Combat Encounter side panel open where you would roll Auto Initiative you first click on each party member's icon (or monsters, if that side has disadvantage) the red - icon that is for disadvantage.  It should give a red square outline.  Once everyone who has Dis is so outlined (or adv outlined in green) you can then click the Auto Initiative and it'll roll new initiative with those taken into account.))