Party:
♦ Solace (female tiefling bard, haunted-one background)
♦ Magnus Argyros (dragonborn sorcerer)
♦ Naero (human paladin)
♦ Sir Drake Mc Gruff (halfling rogue)
♦ Aranthir (elf rogue)
♦ Rok Stonefist (half-orc barbarian)
We all make our way back into the mess hall, Drake the last to join us. He overhears a low growl and undead moans from deeper into the cave, but we decide to take a rest before venturing further. Drake sets up a simple tripwire with a bell that can alert us if anything should pass into the corridor as we rest.
As our short rest draws to a close, one of the pirates stirs awake. He's initially very gutsy, but a mix of intimidation from Rok and some kindness from Naero, loosen his tongue. He mentions the "operation" is new, that the boss, named Sanbalet, is further in the cave, and that he has lots of "pets". Undead pets. They've been smuggling weapons to a lizard-folk lair south of Saltmarsh. He didn't seem to know much about the undead we dealt with in the mansion. Magnus can tell he's not telling the whole truth. Our other captured pirate seems to be draining in color and though it's already been a couple of hours since we stabilized. Naero assumes he may have internal injuries and picks him up to take him into the separate chamber. He casts Cure Wounds on him, and we overhear a muffled conversation. Naero attempts to discuss things with him calmly, as the pirate freaks out over his leg injury. He does confirm what the other pirate said, and adds that there were 10 pirates in all, not counting their boss. Naero lets him consider his options in that separate room for a bit,as he rejoins us. Rok is heading towards the chamber as Drake overhears the undead moans yet again, and a vaguely humanoid greenish silhouette is entering the mess-hall from the secret entrance. Magnus attacks it and it seems to disappear into the wall... Might have been an illusion?
We return to the matter at hand, getting insight from the pirates. Rok enters the chamber briefly, and when he exits he informs Naero that the pirate is ready to talk. Naero learns of various creatures the pirate has seen "the boss" control, and other details about the operation - including how a ship signals the pirates, their ship is sailed into the bay, where they take the weapons and then put them in a shipment that is taken to the lizard-folk. The pirate knows this smuggling business isn't good, but he gets paid 3 gold a day, and 10 gold for every successful shipment, so he sticks with it.We decide to put both pirates in the DANGER room, tied up and gagged.
We decide to let our rogues scout out the place a few dozen feet in front of us, and they sneakily advance through the cave corridors, with us closely behind.
We find a number of smugglers further into the caverns, protected by an illusory rock formation. One of them wears robes that sound like the pirates' description of their boss. We wage combat and there's again a mention of fighting non-lethally. Rok and Solace seem against it this time, killing several targets, but despite these feelings, an archer in the back surrenders and we leave him alive. He shares similar information as the other two. In addition, Jack, for that was his name - does share a bit more about the ship that delivers the goods to the smugglers, the Sea Ghost, captained by a human man named Siggurt. Searching Sanbalet's body, we find a note that the archer confirms is a code used in the operation:
Jack mentions there's one more smuggler, hiding in a closet on the first floor whose job it was to keep the house appearing haunted for anyone who dared enter. We make a point to get him before leaving.
We loot the bodies and the caves, finding brandy, silk scrolls and a magical scale mail that Rok equips. The enchantment gives him a swim speed equal to his walking speed. Further down an inclined corridor we find a boat anchored in the cave. We agree to take the brandy to the docks by boat (Drake maneuvering the ship with Jack), and we load up the silk scrolls in the Bag of Holding to sell later.
We decide to get the remaining smuggler from the first floor before leaving for the inn, agreeing that we would turn in the smugglers left alive at the guard post. We find him in the last chamber on the right, tied up and starting his little gimmick, but when he realises we know most of the story and his purpose there, he defeatedly accepts his fate.
We leave the haunted house with the surviving smugglers in tow, planning to leave them with the Saltmarsh Guard Post.
