```col-mdflexGrow=2.5===# Outline# Introduction > [!read-aloud] **Read Aloud** > You are on patrol along the harbour in the South Docks late at night when a sudden crashing noise and the sound of splintering wood sends you running towards the dock where the noise came from. Once there, you are surprised to see that a big wooden sailing ship bearing the name *The Nightmare* has crashed into one of the jetties, virtually destroying it, before coming to a stop. You can see nobody on deck, and the ship is eerily quiet. > > Standing nearby is the harbour master, a Halfling named **Roscoe** , scratching his head. Seeing you, he says “I don't like the look of this. Where are the crew, and how did it get here with no one at the wheel?” > > After a pause, while you take it all in, he adds "The other thing I don't like the look of, is that" and he points upwards to the flag attached to the main mast a skull and crossbones. > # Act I The answer to the mystery is that the 15 strong crew of *The Nightmare* were mostly killed in their sleep by a small pack of * **Ghouls* ** that got on board late at night. A few pirates managed to wake up in time to fight back, killing most of the ghouls before being overcome themselves. Only The Nightmare 's captain and one ghoul (or possibly two, see below) have survived.The captain has a ![[476556]]|Ring of Invisibility (DMG p191), and she has used it to evade the ghoul She has desperately and singlehandedly steered the ship to the nearest portover a period of several days. The captain is still on board, invisible, and she will watch the PCs from a distance. She hopes they will kill the remaining ghoul, because there is a valuable treasure in the hold that she wants to reach. **This part of the adventure is all about creating an atmosphere and instilling a feeling of dread in the players.** The PCs will probably now investigate the ship. If the players hesitate too long, they will hear a faint female voice calling for help from inside the ship. It is the captain, trying to lure the PCs on board. She wants the ghoul dealt with quickly before too many other people arrive.A map of the ship and key are below. However, in addition to these numbered rooms, the GM should add the random events described below whenever the mood feels right 1d5 .1. The PCs hear a sound to their right and spin the torch around just in time to see a rat scurrying across the room. It hides behind some crates.2. The PCs hear soft footsteps around them, but can't be sure where they are coming from, and they don't see anyone there.3. On top of a bench someone will find a dead rat with a bite taken out of it.4. A player will tread on something. When they lower the torch to see what it is, it is a severed and heavily tattooed human arm.5. The PCs hear a sustained creaking sound, then the ship suddenly lurches, causing the PCs to stagger, but not fall. They realise that the tide is going out, and the falling river level is causing the ship to move. **<center>The Nightmare: Floorplan</center>**![[the-nightmare-deck-plans.png]] ==The main deck (1), foredeck (2) and quarterdeck (3) can be investigated by the light of the moon. Everywhere else is dark requiring some sort of light for those without darkvision. Note that even with darkvision, a light (which cancels darkvision) is required to see colour. Roscoe can throw them a torch if they ask. Dark vision alone will not == 1. **Main Deck:** The main deck is fairly typical for a ship of this type except for the complete lack of crew. Stairs lead up to the foredeck (2). Beside each staircase is a door. In the middle of the deck is a grated hatchway with stairs down on either side. The quarterdeck overhangs the main deck somewhat and you can see the ship's wheel above. Below the overhang can be seen three doors and the stairway up. ==A careful search of the deck (perception, DC 14) will turn up a blood stain on the top steps of the stairs just forward of the central hatch.==2. **Foredeck:** There are giant crossbows (loaded) on the foredeck. Nothing seems out of place.3. **Quarterdeck:** There is a huge, dried bloodstain at the helm. Upon seeing that you can also see small blood spatters leading back down the stairs. ==On a perception check (DC 12, DC 8 if strong light is used) it as though a body was dragged that way.==4. **Captain's Quarters:** The room is furnished with a double bed and a leather armchair. It is lavishly decorated with fur rugs, silk tapestries and numerous pretty ornaments - statuettes, vases, coloured glass bottles. There is little of value in here. A PC passing a perception check (DC 10) will notice that the room seems to belong to a woman.5. **Officers Mess:** This room occupies the entire space under the foredeck. There is a large table scattered with plates, utensils, mugs and the remains of a meal. There is also a desk with charts and other papers strewn about. An overturned inkwell has spilled its contents, which are now dried.6. **Lower Deck:** The lower deck is dark and reeks of death and decay. A door leads to the officers' quarters in the stern (8). The trail of blood leads into the crew's quarters (5). Hundreds of flies buzz about and the fetid stench is so overpowering the PCs must make a ==constitution check (DC 13) to avoid throwing up.== As soon as one PC throws up , the others have disadvantage on their rolls. In the room is a barrel full of severed body parts crawling with maggots. There is also a bolted hatch in the floor.7. **Crew Quarters:** Hammocks are attached to beams and walls. Several of them are covered with dark maroon stains, and there are more dried pools of blood dotted around the room, and blood spatters are all over the floor and up the walls. There are discarded swords, daggers, scimitars, and rapiers lying around.8. **Officers Quarters:** The first officer (starboard) and quartermaster (portside) live here. These rooms are better than crew quarters and have several posonal touches such as a picture or tow, reading material etc. And signs of a struggle and blood stains everywhere.9. **Ship Stores:** This area contains typical supplies for a ship - food, water etc. along with materials for making repairs.Eventually the PCs should realize they have searched everywhere on the ship, except for the bolted hatch in the middle of the deck leading down into the cargo hold (10). The bolt slides back easily, and the hatch swings open to reveal a rope ladder leading down into the darkness.# Act II > [!read-aloud] **Read Aloud** > > > > As you creep nervously down the ladder, the stench is somehow getting worse. There are more flies and rats than you have ever seen in one place before. > > Your torches shed enough light for you to be able to tell that this part of the ship is the cargo hold. There are sacks and barrels dotted around, but your eyes are drawn to a mound, aft of the ladder. As your eyes adjust to the gloom, you realise that you are looking at a pile of putrid, dismembered corpses. Then you notice that one of the corpses is still intact, and is slowly moving around the pile. Its hairless skin is grey, it is tall and emaciated, and it has huge hands with terrible claws at the end of its long fingers with which it is holding a severed human limb. You can't tell in the darkness whether it is an arm or a leg, but the creature is gnawing on it the way that a human might eat a chicken leg. > > When the creature sees you, it drops its meal, and fixes its malevolent sunken green eyes on you. It smiles, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth, and a long thin tongue that flicks around its teeth and lips. Suddenly, with terrifying speed, the Ghoul attacks. > The ![[469842]]|Ghoul (MM p148) ferociously launches itself ==at the nearest non-elf target. If there are more than 3 PCs, there will be a * **second ghoul** * hiding behind a barrel== , which will attack shortly after the first one.# Act III The captain,![[1235856]]|Barnacle Betty knows that the pirates in her crew kept their valuables on their persons at all times, and they had all recently been paid following some successful piracy. This means that the pile of corpses in the hold includes about 10 pouches of gold coins and other treasure. Now that the captain has lost her ship and her source of income, she needs that gold. When all ghouls have been killed, she will make her move.If the PCs are still strong, she will use her invisibility to attack from the shadows, or try to trick the PCs into running away or surrendering by suggesting there is powerful magic at work and/or reinforcements on the way.If the PCs are weak (maybe one of them is unconscious), she will threaten them directly, saying she will fire a crossbow bolt at the head of the most injured PC, unless they stand aside and let her fetch the gold.If her tricks and threats are unsuccessful, Betty will try negotiating and/or bribing the PCs, offering to share the gold with them. She will try to remain invisible so that the PCs will not be able to recognise her later. If she is forced to reveal herself, she will be wearing a bandana as a facemask. If she has to fight, she is a formidable adversary.Betty does not want to kill the PCs. She knows that if she kills one member of The City Watch then others will come looking for her. If she is winning the fight, she will encourage the PCs to surrender and let her take the gold. The PCs might not be able to defeat the captain in direct combat (or there might not be time if restricted to one hour). However, there are a few other ways the encounter could end:- The PCs could lock her in the hold by going back up the ladder and bolting the hatch while she is distracted looking for the gold- If she loses more than half her her hit points she will flee, abandoning the gold.- If the PCs allow her to (or cannot stop her), the captain will grab as much gold as she can and then flee The Nightmare, leaving the PCs to recover.- Another patrol of City Watch will eventually arrive on the scene (especially if a PC has rung their watch-bell), and the PCs will hear them on the decks above. The captain will flee when this happens, abandoning the gold.- If the PCs accept a bribe or defeat the captain and take the treasure themselves, they will each be able to get 10gp and a pearl worth 50gp.# Epilogue Back in The Giggling Gargoyle , which is quiet (it is early morning, after all ), the traumatised PCs are sitting in silence at a table with a beer each, staring into space. There are probably loose ends to tie up in the story, so Lyza will appear again for a debrief. Either way, Porky will try to cheer them up with today's Riddling Rascal conundrum: **Q:** What has three hands, three feet, and three eyes? **A:** Two PiratesPorky thinks this is hilarious.``````col-md![[plots/the-city-watch/table-of-contents|Table of Contents]]```