Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#26) - The Spire II

Day 61 - Continued 

Navda, our trusty rogue, was quick off the mark with a well-placed arrow-shot that brought down the first of our assailants, before the main melee was joined. Our fighters, Druss, Drakkon and Dharion, went toe-to-toe against the three remaining Sahuagin. It was a bloody affair that required the use of my Healing skills, but the fighters dominated the combat and won through quite quickly with the aid of Navda's archery skills and Gladreth's magic.

There were three exits from this chamber, and after taking a quick peek along each corridor, east, west and south, we decided to travel eastwards. Dharion set an Alarm to alert him of any being that passed through that room.

After a short while, we came across a side chamber that was different to the rest of the complex; rather than the usual very well-dressed white marble that was throughout the complex so far, this room was completely covered in dark green tiles. It contained four coffers, one of which glowed blue, and a well-worn sledgehammer. Not knowing what this all meant, we just opened the coffers and took a look at the contents. One contained a pile of white sea-shells, two contained plain green and red-brown seaweed and the blue-glowing casket contained a blue-glowing seaweed. All of the seaweed was damp to the touch but not sodden. We pocketed a small amount of each.

Inside the Spire

Whilst the rest of the party investigated the chamber, Dharion and I were supposed to be watching the corridors. Unfortunately, my attention must have been elsewhere as I completely missed seeing the true-thrown spear from the southern corridor that hit me. Three Sahuagin warriors followed straight after.

I retreated into the room to nurse my wound and the fighters stepped forward to block the entrance. Druss took the first Sahuagin warrior down very quickly and then Drakkon joined the fray. Unfortunately another Sahuagin warrior, very well armed and armoured, joined the melee from the south, and Dharion was sorely pressed in the northern part of the corridor as a few more Sahuagin warriors attacked him; for some unknown reason he missed the Alarm that he had set in the last chamber we left.

Navda, shot his trusty bow from the shadows and managed to take down another one of the warriors, and Dharion's retreat from the Sahuagin in the north part of the corridor brought him face-to-face with the armoured Sahuagin warrior. He didn't break stride as he slew the champion and joined us in the room.

The last part of the melee was a bit of a blur. I cast a Prayer of Healing on my compatriots whilst they dispatched the rest of the Sahuagin warriors: Gladreth with a series of Magic Missiles, Navda with his bow, and Druss and Drakkon with their trusty swords.

After the melee we paused to catch our collective breaths, but just as we thought that we should get out of there, the padding of feet and war cries filled the air from the south, and Dharion's Alarm screamed at him that more warriors were on their way from the north. So much for sneaking in and out unnoticed.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh (#25) - The Spire I

Last night we managed to get together to start on the next chapter of the Saltmarsh campaign. It was a two-part session as we levelled up (to 6th level) part-way through - we will most definitely need that HP and skills boost if any of our past dice rolls and luck are anything to go by.

Day 60

It was inevitable that our days of rest and recuperation would come to an end. We were summoned to a secret council meeting in the marsh where the underlying threat to the lands around us was discussed. It was a long moot session, with the local lizardman and merfolk populations also involved; hence the location. Although we were there primarily to be on guard, we did pick up on the gist of the meeting; none of the local populations were involved in this threat - it seemed, from the evidence gathered, that there was a threat from a band of Sahuagin raiders.

Day 61

Just as we thought that we would not be called upon to act in this latest kerfuffle, we were summoned by the mayor of Saltmarsh to a council meeting. The town hall was heaving with dignitaries, guards, adventurers and general members of the town, when we got there, and we were announced to loud cheers. The mayor took us off to a side room to discuss the latest plans. From the meeting held in the marshes yesterday it was ascertained that a large Sahuagin insurgency had taken up residence in the swamp to the south, and the threat needed to be observed and calculated so an appropriate reaction and defence could be formulated. We would be needed to go to the encampment, a tower in the swamplands about an hour's journey south of the marsh border, and observe enemy movements, numbers, armaments and so on and then report these details back to the council within a two day period.

After some negotiation we settled on a suitable level of recompense and requested a restock of supplies, ammunition and means of getting there. We were given all we needed as well as a crude map for directions and a keel boat with two guards to take us here.

The journey only took a few hours to get to the drop-off point, where our guides told us to return to the following day at dusk. They would not wait for us either at this point or when it came to the pick up - we would be on our own. This would give us a little over a day in which to find the tower, reconnoitre the base and return with our information.

Luckily, the map showed our path would be along a wooden walkway that headed due south through the marshlands. This made the going quite easy despite the thick mists laying around about. After about an hour, the temperature dropped quite dramatically and the fog thickened. We began to notice small lights moving through the fog in the distance that winked in and out of sight on occasion, and the muddy ground to the side of the path showed the occasional set of footprints, that could have been from Sahuagin or, perhaps, crocodiles.

It was at this point that Dharion and Navda decided to scout ahead just in case we were heard; especially me in my heavy armour. After about an hour the scouts returned. The sun was beginning to wane meaning we only had a few more hours of daylight left to get to the tower and investigate what we could. They reported that what appeared to be the tower was only a short distance away, and that the flickering lights were torches carried by pairs of well-armed Sahuagin sentries - they had worked out the sentries' patrol patterns.

The Spires of Saltmarsh

We made our plans to infiltrate the tower and, when the guards had moved away from the man entrance, we headed for the large ledge upon which the smooth stone doors were ensconced. It took our rogue, Navda, but a few moments to work out how to open the doors and we made our way safely inside. It was pitch black, so I cast Light on a number of objects to help those of us in the party without infravision to see. 

Unfortunately, the Sahuagin in the room were waiting for us and attacked without mercy. We were stunned to begin with but soon took the guards down before any of them could sound the alarm on the large gong in the room. After the melee, we moved the bodies into a corner, out of sight, and mopped up the blood. We also disabled the gong and closed the entrance doors.

The walls and floor of the inside of the tower were very well made and not as rough as the outside of the tower would have us believe. We readied ourselves again and headed to the south as that was the only way that we could see to go. Unfortunately, the way was blocked by a heavy wicker portcullis. However, there was a mechanism on both sides of the portal that allowed us to raise it high enough for us all to pass under it. A counter-weight kept it in position so it did not fall back to the ground and block the corridor again.

Map of the Spire

Just as we began to pass under the wicker portcullis, we were made aware of several more Sahuagin in the room beyond. We would be in for another fight.