Chapter 1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

"I'll stand guard while you all rest."

Pong doesn't need any rest, but he finds a place to sit, smoke his pipe, and smile at some half-remembered private joke.

Map

Eshe finishes giving the corpse a crude look over, then goes over to inspect the fireplace, then the empty crates.

Sobek has been lying on his stomach, moaning quietly. However, his regenerative lizard powers work wonders and soon he is back on his feet. The, he keeps a watch on Eshe as she searches, ready to smash any bugs with his flail.

Lucan helps Eshe with the search

Margot is sat in a crooked chair, strumming a bit on her lute. The bugs had her more creeped out that the ethereal wails that they had heard. That alone had her pretty convinced that there was a specter of sorts haunting the area.

"Any luck down there?" She calls down.

Terry is sat next to Margot. I don't think there's anything. I definitely didnt see anything when I was down there.

Sobek sniffs at the air in the cellar, especially around the dead warrior.

After some searching of the basement, Eshe spots an inconsistency in the southern wall and looks more closely. Upon closer inspection, she finds a hidden door.

Map

"Eh?? What's this?" Eshe exclaims, then opens the secret door.

Uh... I wanna see. Lucan joins Eshe

Margot hears a portion of their slightly echoing voices and perks up. "My adventure senses are tingling..."
She starts down the stairs to join up with the others after having given her voice a fair enough break. "You guys didn't find any more f?!&%@* bugs down here, did you?"

Lucan calls back. If we do, we are sure not going to eat them!

"Sshhh! Sobek trying to smell evil!"

What? Who's f?!&%@* bugs? Terry says, starting down the stairs after Margot after checking back into reality.

Sobek attunes his senses for evil, but doesn't sense anything at all.

The secret door opens easily now that Eshe knows where it is. This torchlit chamber was once a large cellar, but it has since been converted into living quarters. Ten crude beds stand along the south wall, each with a wooden locker at its foot.

A long wooden trestle table ringed by rickety stools dominates the center of the room. Metal cutlery, cups, and dirty plates sit atop the table.

A cookstove is installed near the table, and evidence of recently cooked meals sits in pots atop it. A large ham hangs from a loop of twine near the stove.

A sturdy set of stairs leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling above. There are two wooden doors in the east side of the room.

Standing in the center of the room, apparently waiting for you, are three human thugs. Two of them hold swords, while the third has a bow drawn and a short sword on her hip.

The one with the bow snarls, "Put your hands up or I'll put an arrow into your eyeball!"

Map

"I've only got one eyeball left. I'm telling you now, no one's putting an arrow through it!" Pong growls back at the bandit, for that's what these three must be. Incongruously, the tortle has a smile on his face as he says this. He's positively beaming as he draws a javelin nd prepares to throw.