Reynnar fumbles around with the trap. Unlike previous traps he has encountered, this one has some sort of arcane element to it that trips the half-elf up. As he cuts what he believes is the trip-wire, runes form on the chest. Gas is emitted into the room. Gulin and Zi easily move out of the way, but Reynnar does not have sufficient time to step back.
Reynnar Constitution Saving Throw (DC 12): 14
The half-elf takes a quick breath and holds his air in. Reynnar is at the edge of his ability to hold his breath when two minutes later the gas finally disperses. Reynnar lets go a sigh of relief. Whatever the effects of the trap were, they were successfully avoided. With the trap out of the way, unpicking the lock is simple, though it takes Reynnar a few minutes to build up the courage as he tests the chest several times ensuring that the magical runes are indeed completely gone.
I will be working from the office the next few days. If you three could just give me an italics summary of how you want to tackle getting stern plank with the ship's name. See the above post for obvious ideas, and feel free to come up with less obvious ideas.
Once we're done exploring the hold, Gulin will likely lash a few ropes along the topdeck and use that to climb down. If he falls, he can swim easily enough with his Mariner's Armor.
Hold first though.
"Hah! Well done, lad! Some of these will be quite nice additions to me collection!"
"Now, shall we descend belowdecks and make sure the rest of the hold is clear? Caspia's awaitin'"
I'll update the google drive with the loot we've found so far.
The adventurers head towards the bow of the ship and head underneath the main deck towards the hold. As they are bout to go down the stairs, the look out over the bay the Sea Ghost is parked in. The weather has begun to pick up into a storm. Lightning illuminates the horizon. It appears a fishing boat is slowly approaching the Sea Ghost and will be here sometime in the hour. Zi leans in towards Gulin, "Looks like the reinforcements from Saltmarsh. Better late than never!"
Various unpleasant odors of humanoid occupation compete for recognition here. These crew quarters fill the entire forward part of this deck. Around the perimeter of the cabin, slung between hooks on the bulkhead and on supporting poles, are eight hammocks. Judging from the way in which they hang, the hammocks seem to be unoccupied at present. Beneath each hammock is a brass-bound wooden sea chest — most are closed, but two have open lids and appear to contain clothes. In the center of the cabin stands a long, plain wooden table with a bench along each of its longer sides. They all appear to be bolted to the deck in an attempt to keep everything in place. The table is stained and cluttered and has an untidy pile of dirty tin plates and cups roughly stacked in a large tin bucket below it. Over the table, hanging from the ceiling, is an unlit hooded lantern. Against the starboard side, an area has been curtained off by cheap, dirty cloth hangings.
On the northeast side of the room is a door leading into the ship's hold. Lantern light reveals an orderly cargo hold. Through the center runs the base of the main mast; beside it, narrow wooden stairs lead up to the hatch above. Against the aft bulkhead are stacked bolts of cloth, lashed by ropes to brackets bolted to the deck so they are secure. On each side are stacked a large number of small casks, also secured by ropes to the deck.
Reynnar and Caspia:
Both of you make out the sound of a humanoid panting, though you do not spot where the sound is originating from.
Caspia silently motions to companions towards the area covered by the dirty curtains, indicating the panting may be coming from there. She advances on the curtains to see if she can tell if it's coming from that location.
As Caspia tries to pinpoint where the sound is coming from the triton looses track of it. Pulling out her blades she advances on the stained curtains to the north, and with quick swipes slashes into the curtains causing them to crumple to the floor. In the previously curtained area are two large tin buckets standing side by side on the floor. Both are half-filled with a dark substance. The buckets are stained, extremely dirty, and emit a foul smell. Zi looking over Caspia's shoulder exclaims, "Ewwwwwwww!"
Caspia steps forward into the cargo hold. As she enters, an arm reaches out from around the corner and tries to grab her.
Pirate Bosun Grapple Check: 17
Caspia Grapple Contest: 14
The arms lock around Caspia and she is unable to move. A voice behind her yells out, "Give us the payment from those smelly lizards and free passage out of here. We want no more trouble. If you refuse I'll have my men open fire from their positions!"
Caspia looks over her shoulder and sees a stout middle aged man with a scraggly beard and a hook for an arm.
Zi whispers to Reynnar and Gulin,
"Crap, looks like there were a few left and they now have Caspia. What do we do?"
"Look friends. Lets take a second and talk. You can assume that we're down here because everyone else above deck is dead. This assumption would be correct. And that was just us 4. If you're been listening, you've been hearing even more of our men coming aboard.
"So if you're simply more enemies, you might hurt us, but you're not making out of this alive. However, if you're some poor folks who were press-ganged into work for these smugglers and just want to go home, now those are some people that we'd love to help, after getting some information from them. Might even be a reward in it for those poor souls." Reynnar casually studies his nails while he speaks. "Now, let's start over, before my friend starts using his hammer on some folks. I'm Reynnar, who are you folks that are hugging my friend?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The armored dwarf bulges up his muscles and takes on an intimidating stance, bearing his teeth through his wet-and-wild-from-the-weather beard. Thud. Thud. Thud. The heavy hammer impatiently thuds against his palm, the gauntlets still splattered with blood, as he looks like the wild strongman, his eyes glancing chaotically at the threats. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The man restraining Caspia pauses for a moment, noticeably unsettled by the dwarf. Reynnar's words sink in for a few minutes before the man finally catches the half-elf's drift and recomposes himself.
"Look, we don't want any trouble we just load and unload the ship and take care of it's maintenance needs. My name is Frithoff, maybe we can reach an understanding. I know how the smelly lizard's pay. In exchange for just three of the bars of electrum, one of the Sea Ghost's rowboats, and safe passage, we will tell you what we know."
As he speaks the man does not drop his guard or let go of Caspia.
"That's something we can make work, but we're going to need a little trust. Let her go, and we can make this happen, and then we don't have to make a mess down here."Reynnar then looks around and says "Well, more of a mess."
Frithoff pushes Caspia back towards the group. "Sorry there lass, just trying to survive the night." You watch as two other sailors come out from hiding spots behind the crates.
Gulin pushes three bars of electrum across the deck to Frithoff, who reaches down and pockets them. The man begins to speak, "The Sea Ghost has been supplying the lizard-folks with weapons semi regularly for the last few months. Not sure why they need all the weapons, but it definitely isn't normal. We drop the equipment off at the mouth of some river near Saltmarsh. Not sure exactly which one it is."
"You won't find them anywhere in the hold here, instead they are stored within a secret compartment on this level, at the starboard side of the stern. There is a similar hidden compartment on the port stern side with a stowaway the captain found at our last port. We don't know the full story of the stowaway, the stowaway speaks a strange language."
And with that Frithoff finishes spilling all he knows, "Now if you don't mind, we upheld our part of the bargain. I'd like to retrieve my faithful pet parrot and my men and I will be out of your hair." Frithoff and his men begin backing out of the hold, with their three bars of electrum, towards the stern port room.
Cargo Hold Description Reminder:
Lantern light reveals an orderly cargo hold. Through the center runs the base of the main mast; beside it, narrow wooden stairs lead up to the hatch above. Against the aft bulkhead are stacked bolts of cloth, lashed by ropes to brackets bolted to the deck so they are secure. On each side are stacked a large number of small casks, also secured by ropes to the deck.
Assuming no shenanigans happen, the three remaining crew members will gather their parrot, head topside, launch a rowboat, and attempt to leave before the reinforcements from Saltmarsh appear. This can just be assumed and done in parallel to the parties continued exploration.
The dwarf, while reluctant to part with the electrum, pats Caspia on the back of her shoulders once the exchange is complete and the sailors have departed. "Well, that could have been worse. Bit o' alloy ain't worth a solid blade and friend. Now..."
He addresses the rest of the party. "I can gather that the authorities in Saltmarsh will be very interested in hearing about this enclave o' lizards... and all the weapons they require. Perhaps they are planning raids on the nearby coastline? Though with the one that escaped, we might need to move quickly with this information. Let's see about the two compartments that ol' Frithoff mentioned."
Gulin looks to Reynnar as he begins to head aft. "You went through the cap'n's quarters, aye? You find anything of interest up there?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Yeah, bunch of papers, not sure what's relevent, but we should probably grab them all and make sense of them back on dry land. Alright, I'll take a peek at the room one to the left here."
Reynnar does the normal check for traps, then open the door
Reynnar does not sense any traps on the door, and moves forward into a cabin. This cabin occupies half the stern section on this deck, with one bulkhead running along the centerline of the ship. Along this bulkhead, leading up in the direction of the bow, is an enclosed companionway. At its foot, a door in the central bulkhead leads to the other part of the stern. On this door hangs a dark blue cloak. A single bunk, the bed linen heaped in a pile, is set against the hull. At its foot is a brass-bound wooden sea chest, its lid closed. Under the bunk is a brass box, also closed.
In the center of the cabin, a plain wooden table is bolted to the deck. On it are two books, one open and propped up against the other. Beside the table is a wooden chair. Hanging from the ceiling over the table is an unlit hooded lantern. Just aft of the hook that holds the lantern is a hatch measuring three feet on a side.
Reynnar is going to check the cloak, see if there's anything inside, and grab it, and stick the cloak in his pack. He then checks the sea chest and brass box for traps, then check to see if they're locked. If so, he'll check the remaining key, if that doesn't work, he'll pick the locks.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Gulin follows Reynnar in, searching for the secret room that was mentioned. "Let's see what secrets the Sea Ghost holds! There should be a compartment somewhere here."
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
Reynnar fumbles around with the trap. Unlike previous traps he has encountered, this one has some sort of arcane element to it that trips the half-elf up. As he cuts what he believes is the trip-wire, runes form on the chest. Gas is emitted into the room. Gulin and Zi easily move out of the way, but Reynnar does not have sufficient time to step back.
Reynnar Constitution Saving Throw (DC 12): 14
The half-elf takes a quick breath and holds his air in. Reynnar is at the edge of his ability to hold his breath when two minutes later the gas finally disperses. Reynnar lets go a sigh of relief. Whatever the effects of the trap were, they were successfully avoided. With the trap out of the way, unpicking the lock is simple, though it takes Reynnar a few minutes to build up the courage as he tests the chest several times ensuring that the magical runes are indeed completely gone.
The chest holds items of clothing, a leather purse containing 50 gold, a spell scroll of gust of wind. It also holds the Deck Wizard's spellbook, which has the following spells prepared in its pages: disguise self, fog cloud, mage armor,witch bolt,gust of wind,Melf's acid arrow, and misty step.
I will be working from the office the next few days. If you three could just give me an italics summary of how you want to tackle getting stern plank with the ship's name. See the above post for obvious ideas, and feel free to come up with less obvious ideas.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Once we're done exploring the hold, Gulin will likely lash a few ropes along the topdeck and use that to climb down. If he falls, he can swim easily enough with his Mariner's Armor.
Hold first though.
"Hah! Well done, lad! Some of these will be quite nice additions to me collection!"
"Now, shall we descend belowdecks and make sure the rest of the hold is clear? Caspia's awaitin'"
I'll update the google drive with the loot we've found so far.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Caspia ventures into the hold while her companions explore the other rooms.
Caspia can likely help you Gulin if you fall in the water. She is a good swimmer.
Sorry for the delay, I got distracted by work stuff.
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
The adventurers head towards the bow of the ship and head underneath the main deck towards the hold. As they are bout to go down the stairs, the look out over the bay the Sea Ghost is parked in. The weather has begun to pick up into a storm. Lightning illuminates the horizon. It appears a fishing boat is slowly approaching the Sea Ghost and will be here sometime in the hour. Zi leans in towards Gulin, "Looks like the reinforcements from Saltmarsh. Better late than never!"
Various unpleasant odors of humanoid occupation compete for recognition here. These crew quarters fill the entire forward part of this deck. Around the perimeter of the cabin, slung between hooks on the bulkhead and on supporting poles, are eight hammocks. Judging from the way in which they hang, the hammocks seem to be unoccupied at present. Beneath each hammock is a brass-bound wooden sea chest — most are closed, but two have open lids and appear to contain clothes. In the center of the cabin stands a long, plain wooden table with a bench along each of its longer sides. They all appear to be bolted to the deck in an attempt to keep everything in place. The table is stained and cluttered and has an untidy pile of dirty tin plates and cups roughly stacked in a large tin bucket below it. Over the table, hanging from the ceiling, is an unlit hooded lantern. Against the starboard side, an area has been curtained off by cheap, dirty cloth hangings.
On the northeast side of the room is a door leading into the ship's hold. Lantern light reveals an orderly cargo hold. Through the center runs the base of the main mast; beside it, narrow wooden stairs lead up to the hatch above. Against the aft bulkhead are stacked bolts of cloth, lashed by ropes to brackets bolted to the deck so they are secure. On each side are stacked a large number of small casks, also secured by ropes to the deck.
Reynnar and Caspia:
Both of you make out the sound of a humanoid panting, though you do not spot where the sound is originating from.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Caspia silently motions to companions towards the area covered by the dirty curtains, indicating the panting may be coming from there. She advances on the curtains to see if she can tell if it's coming from that location.
Perception roll: 4
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
As Caspia tries to pinpoint where the sound is coming from the triton looses track of it. Pulling out her blades she advances on the stained curtains to the north, and with quick swipes slashes into the curtains causing them to crumple to the floor. In the previously curtained area are two large tin buckets standing side by side on the floor. Both are half-filled with a dark substance. The buckets are stained, extremely dirty, and emit a foul smell. Zi looking over Caspia's shoulder exclaims, "Ewwwwwwww!"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
well, i deserve that for that terrible, terrible roll.
Caspia was amused by Zi's reaction.
"You've never been on ships much, have you?"
Since Caspia could not locate the sound's origin, she continues back out to the cargo hold to see if she can find the owner of the panting.
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
Caspia steps forward into the cargo hold. As she enters, an arm reaches out from around the corner and tries to grab her.
Pirate Bosun Grapple Check: 17
Caspia Grapple Contest: 14
The arms lock around Caspia and she is unable to move. A voice behind her yells out, "Give us the payment from those smelly lizards and free passage out of here. We want no more trouble. If you refuse I'll have my men open fire from their positions!"
Caspia looks over her shoulder and sees a stout middle aged man with a scraggly beard and a hook for an arm.
Zi whispers to Reynnar and Gulin,
"Crap, looks like there were a few left and they now have Caspia. What do we do?"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"Look friends. Lets take a second and talk. You can assume that we're down here because everyone else above deck is dead. This assumption would be correct. And that was just us 4. If you're been listening, you've been hearing even more of our men coming aboard.
"So if you're simply more enemies, you might hurt us, but you're not making out of this alive. However, if you're some poor folks who were press-ganged into work for these smugglers and just want to go home, now those are some people that we'd love to help, after getting some information from them. Might even be a reward in it for those poor souls." Reynnar casually studies his nails while he speaks. "Now, let's start over, before my friend starts using his hammer on some folks. I'm Reynnar, who are you folks that are hugging my friend?"
The armored dwarf bulges up his muscles and takes on an intimidating stance, bearing his teeth through his wet-and-wild-from-the-weather beard. Thud. Thud. Thud. The heavy hammer impatiently thuds against his palm, the gauntlets still splattered with blood, as he looks like the wild strongman, his eyes glancing chaotically at the threats. Thud. Thud. Thud.
"As ya say, Boss..."
Intimidation: 16 w/ either +4 STR or -1 CHA
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
The man restraining Caspia pauses for a moment, noticeably unsettled by the dwarf. Reynnar's words sink in for a few minutes before the man finally catches the half-elf's drift and recomposes himself.
"Look, we don't want any trouble we just load and unload the ship and take care of it's maintenance needs. My name is Frithoff, maybe we can reach an understanding. I know how the smelly lizard's pay. In exchange for just three of the bars of electrum, one of the Sea Ghost's rowboats, and safe passage, we will tell you what we know."
As he speaks the man does not drop his guard or let go of Caspia.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"That's something we can make work, but we're going to need a little trust. Let her go, and we can make this happen, and then we don't have to make a mess down here." Reynnar then looks around and says "Well, more of a mess."
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
Frithoff pushes Caspia back towards the group. "Sorry there lass, just trying to survive the night." You watch as two other sailors come out from hiding spots behind the crates.
Gulin pushes three bars of electrum across the deck to Frithoff, who reaches down and pockets them. The man begins to speak, "The Sea Ghost has been supplying the lizard-folks with weapons semi regularly for the last few months. Not sure why they need all the weapons, but it definitely isn't normal. We drop the equipment off at the mouth of some river near Saltmarsh. Not sure exactly which one it is."
"You won't find them anywhere in the hold here, instead they are stored within a secret compartment on this level, at the starboard side of the stern. There is a similar hidden compartment on the port stern side with a stowaway the captain found at our last port. We don't know the full story of the stowaway, the stowaway speaks a strange language."
And with that Frithoff finishes spilling all he knows, "Now if you don't mind, we upheld our part of the bargain. I'd like to retrieve my faithful pet parrot and my men and I will be out of your hair." Frithoff and his men begin backing out of the hold, with their three bars of electrum, towards the stern port room.
Cargo Hold Description Reminder:
Lantern light reveals an orderly cargo hold. Through the center runs the base of the main mast; beside it, narrow wooden stairs lead up to the hatch above. Against the aft bulkhead are stacked bolts of cloth, lashed by ropes to brackets bolted to the deck so they are secure. On each side are stacked a large number of small casks, also secured by ropes to the deck.
Assuming no shenanigans happen, the three remaining crew members will gather their parrot, head topside, launch a rowboat, and attempt to leave before the reinforcements from Saltmarsh appear. This can just be assumed and done in parallel to the parties continued exploration.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
The dwarf, while reluctant to part with the electrum, pats Caspia on the back of her shoulders once the exchange is complete and the sailors have departed. "Well, that could have been worse. Bit o' alloy ain't worth a solid blade and friend. Now..."
He addresses the rest of the party. "I can gather that the authorities in Saltmarsh will be very interested in hearing about this enclave o' lizards... and all the weapons they require. Perhaps they are planning raids on the nearby coastline? Though with the one that escaped, we might need to move quickly with this information. Let's see about the two compartments that ol' Frithoff mentioned."
Gulin looks to Reynnar as he begins to head aft. "You went through the cap'n's quarters, aye? You find anything of interest up there?"
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Yeah, bunch of papers, not sure what's relevent, but we should probably grab them all and make sense of them back on dry land. Alright, I'll take a peek at the room one to the left here."
Reynnar does the normal check for traps, then open the door
5
Starday Night, Goodmonth 14th, 591 CY
Reynnar does not sense any traps on the door, and moves forward into a cabin. This cabin occupies half the stern section on this deck, with one bulkhead running along the centerline of the ship. Along this bulkhead, leading up in the direction of the bow, is an enclosed companionway. At its foot, a door in the central bulkhead leads to the other part of the stern. On this door hangs a dark blue cloak. A single bunk, the bed linen heaped in a pile, is set against the hull. At its foot is a brass-bound wooden sea chest, its lid closed. Under the bunk is a brass box, also closed.
In the center of the cabin, a plain wooden table is bolted to the deck. On it are two books, one open and propped up against the other. Beside the table is a wooden chair. Hanging from the ceiling over the table is an unlit hooded lantern. Just aft of the hook that holds the lantern is a hatch measuring three feet on a side.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Reynnar is going to check the cloak, see if there's anything inside, and grab it, and stick the cloak in his pack. He then checks the sea chest and brass box for traps, then check to see if they're locked. If so, he'll check the remaining key, if that doesn't work, he'll pick the locks.
"Thanks, friends. Let us explore this final room so we can get out of here," said Caspia with noticeable relief.
Caspia will go into the room on the right cautiously, checking for traps and exploring anything interesting.
Gulin follows Reynnar in, searching for the secret room that was mentioned. "Let's see what secrets the Sea Ghost holds! There should be a compartment somewhere here."
Investigation 15
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag