The undead beholder Sea Prince adds a unique and menacing element to your "Ghosts of

Saltmarsh" campaign. Let's develop the motives, goals, and crew for this powerful maritime
adversary:

Undead Beholder Sea Prince: Captain Sagarthrax the Spectral Eye

Motives and Goals:

 Seeking Immortality: Captain Sagarthrax was once a powerful wizard who sought
immortality through forbidden necromantic rituals. However, the ritual went awry,
transforming him into an undead beholder with a craving for dark magic and conquest.
 Control of the Depths: Sagarthrax desires dominance over the underwater realms. He
seeks ancient artifacts hidden beneath the seas, believing they hold the key to unlocking
more potent necromantic powers and expanding his control over the maritime world.
 Revenge Against the Living: Having harbored a grudge against the living for his cursed
existence, Sagarthrax aims to unleash his undead minions upon coastal towns, creating
fear and chaos as he seeks to extend his influence.

Crew Composition:

1. Undead Mariners:
o Sagarthrax commands a crew of undead sailors, cursed to serve him in death.
These mariners are skilled in naval combat, and their bodies show signs of decay
from their time beneath the waves.
2. Necromancer First Mate:
o A former necromancer who attempted the same forbidden ritual as Sagarthrax
serves as the undead beholder's first mate. This skilled spellcaster aids in
controlling the undead crew and maintaining the ship's dark magic.
3. Ghostly Navigator:
o A ghostly figure cursed to eternally navigate the seas serves as the ship's
navigator. This spectral being is bound to Sagarthrax 's will, guiding the ship
unerringly to its destinations.
4. Drowned Sirens:
o Enchanting but deadly drowned sirens, brought back from the depths, serve as
both warriors and seductresses. They lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom with
haunting melodies.
5. Zombified Sea Creatures:
o Sagarthrax has the ability to reanimate sea creatures, turning sharks, octopuses,
and other marine life into undead minions. These creatures guard the ship and
provide additional threats during naval encounters.
6. Cursed Corsairs:
o Former pirates who crossed paths with Sagarthrax and were cursed to serve him,
becoming skilled corsairs in life and death. They wield rusted cutlasses and
tattered sails, presenting a formidable force in boarding actions.

Ship: The Abyssal Gaze

  The ship itself is a sinister vessel adorned with skeletal motifs and dark enchantments. It
sails the seas with an otherworldly speed, leaving an eerie phosphorescent trail in its
wake.

Encounters:

 Players may face Sagarthrax and his crew during dramatic naval battles, attempts to
infiltrate the Abyssal Gaze, or confrontations on mysterious, ghost-infested islands where
the undead beholder seeks to unlock arcane secrets.

Incorporating Captain Sagarthrax and his undead crew adds a formidable supernatural element to
your maritime campaign, providing your players with a memorable and challenging adversary in
the treacherous waters.

Sea Prince: Balthorax the Gilded Drake

Goals and Motives:

 Greed and Opulence: Balthorax is driven by an insatiable greed for wealth and
treasures. The dragon, once a mighty hoarder, has turned its sights to the riches found
across the seas, seeking to amass an extravagant collection of maritime treasures.
 Territorial Dominion: Balthorax desires control over key trade routes, viewing them as
lucrative territories to exploit. The dragon seeks to establish a domain where it can
demand tribute from passing ships and coastal settlements, accumulating wealth
effortlessly.
 Cultivating Luxury: Uninterested in physical combat, Balthorax uses its charisma and
draconic charm to surround itself with the finest luxuries. The dragon's ultimate goal is to
create a floating palace on its barge, adorned with the spoils of its conquests.

Appearance:

 Balthorax is an unusually rotund dragon, its once-sleek scales now stretched over its
corpulent form. The dragon's scales are a gilded gold, symbolizing its obsession with
opulence. Balthorax lounges on a massive, lavishly decorated barge, complete with
golden embellishments and draped in silken canopies.

Crew Composition:

1. Gilded Attendants:
o Humanoids and creatures adorned in golden attire attend to Balthorax's every
need. These attendants cater to the dragon's whims, ensuring its comfort and
wealth accumulation.
2. Bardic Court:
 o A troupe of bards, charmed and recruited by Balthorax, provides entertainment on
the barge. These bards sing praises of the dragon's magnificence and perform
enchanting melodies to captivate passing ships.
3. Ogre Bodyguards:
o Massive ogres, hired for their brawn, serve as Balthorax's muscle. Despite their
intimidating appearance, they are surprisingly good-natured and more interested
in securing their pay than causing harm.
4. Giant Crab Steeds:
o Balthorax employs giant crabs as aquatic steeds, pulling the barge through the
waters. These creatures are equipped with ornate saddles and harnesses,
contributing to the dragon's extravagant image.
5. Kuo-Toa Merchants:
o Balthorax has formed alliances with Kuo-Toa merchants who bring unique and
exotic goods from the depths of the ocean. These merchants exchange treasures
with the dragon, adding to its ever-growing hoard.
6. Magical Advisors:
o Enchanters and magical scholars serve as advisors to Balthorax, assisting in the
dragon's pursuit of arcane knowledge and artifacts. They use their magical
abilities to enhance the dragon's charisma and influence.

Barge: The Gilded Leviathan

 Balthorax's barge is a floating spectacle, covered in gold leaf and jewels. It is equipped
with luxurious chambers, a grand banquet hall, and a dragon-sized throne from which
Balthorax oversees its maritime domain.

Encounters:

 Players may come across Balthorax during negotiations for tribute or witness the dragon's
barge passing through trade routes. Encounters could involve diplomatic challenges,
attempts to infiltrate the dragon's floating palace, or dealing with the consequences of
refusing to pay tribute to the Gilded Drake.

Sea Prince: Morvina the Vile, Matron of the Murky Depths

Goals and Motives:

 Corrupting the Seas: Morvina seeks to spread darkness and corruption across the seas,
turning once pristine waters into murky, cursed domains. She aims to unleash malevolent
sea creatures and transform coastal areas into breeding grounds for her sinister offspring.
 Becoming a Goddes: Morvina seeks to weaken a kraken and steal its power becoming an
Ursela-like Sea Goddess.
 New Servants: Morvina has begun convincing Sahuagin to worship her has a goddess
and do her bidding, in return she furthers Baron Leaders mutations.
  Harvesting Despair: The hag thrives on the suffering of sailors and coastal
communities. By sowing chaos, fear, and despair, Morvina strengthens her magical
powers and gains sustenance from the negative emotions of those affected by her
malevolent deeds.

Appearance:

 Morvina appears as a grotesque, amphibious hag with seaweed-like hair and murky,
waterlogged skin. Her eyes gleam with a malevolent light, and she wears tattered
seaweed garments that blend seamlessly with the underwater environments she frequents.
 She can also appear as a beautiful sea elf, nearly naked and enchanting. She often
communicates with followers in this form, temping them.

Crew Composition:

1. Spawn of Murk:
o Morvina 's male offspring, the Spawn of Murk, are hulking, amphibious Sahuagin
with some features reminiscent of their hag mother. They serve as both enforcers
and spies, capable of traversing both land and sea.
2. Drowned Maidens:
o Enchanting but sinister drowned maidens, resembling beautiful sirens, assist
Morvina in luring sailors to their doom. They use their alluring voices to beguile
and lead victims into the clutches of the Sea Hag.
3. Sea Serpent Companions:
o Morvina has formed alliances with sea serpents, using these powerful aquatic
creatures to patrol and guard her underwater lairs. The serpents are bound to her
will through dark rituals and share a symbiotic relationship with the hag.
4. Kelpie Riders:
o Morvina 's Spawn of Murk ride kelpies, supernatural water horses, providing the
hag with swift and elusive mounts for her malevolent endeavors.
5. Aquatic Familiars:
o Morvanna is attended by aquatic familiars, such as shadowy eels and corrupted
crabs, which serve as spies and messengers in her underwater network.

Lairs: Cursed Abyssal Grottos

 Morvina 's lairs are submerged grottos filled with twisted seaweed, bioluminescent fungi,
and eerie underwater flora. The air is thick with the stench of decay, and the waters are
tainted with dark magic.

Encounters:

 Players may encounter Morvina during stormy nights, her coven conducting dark rituals
on desolate coastal shores. Encounters could involve disrupting her schemes to corrupt
underwater ley lines, rescuing captives held in her lairs, or navigating treacherous waters
infested with her malevolent spawn.
  Morvina is currently spying on the players with all of her followers wearing fish head
necklaces which all have hag eyes inlaid in them, or shark heads, which she can smell
through, or dolphin heads which she can use sonar through. Though fish heads are the
most common.

Coalition of the Tidal Veil: Sea Princes' Loose Alliance

Working Together:

 Economic Pacts: The Sea Princes have established economic agreements to control
strategic trade routes, ensuring mutual prosperity through shared tributes and information
exchange.
 Political Intrigues: They engage in covert political manipulations, infiltrating coastal
towns and councils to shape policies that favor their collective interests while sowing
discord among potential adversaries.
 Divided Territories: Each Sea Prince controls a specific maritime territory, allowing
them to focus on their individual goals while contributing to the overall strength of the
coalition.
 Intelligence Network: The Sea Princes share information about potential threats,
resource-rich areas, and valuable artifacts. This intelligence network enhances their
collective understanding of the maritime landscape.

Ultimate Goal: The Unveiling of the Abyssal Nexus

The Sea Princes aim to control the kraken and take full control of the seas, though Morvina seeks
to absorb the kraken and Sagarthrax seeks to turn it undead and control it. Balthrax just hopes it
will enable them to generate more wealth and its unaware or uncaring of the other two’s
schemes.

How it Fits into Saltmarsh Campaign:

1. Hidden Clues in Saltmarsh:

o The party uncovers cryptic clues within Saltmarsh that point to the cult of
Morvina. These clues could be tied to the haunted mansion, ancient lore, or secret
maps found in the possession of Sea Prince agents.
2. Council Tensions:
o The Saltmarsh Council becomes a battleground for influence as Sea Prince agents
work to sway key members in their favor. Political tensions rise, and the party
must navigate the intricate web of alliances and betrayals to discern the Sea
Princes' ultimate goal.
3. Smuggling as Cover:
o The Sea Princes use smuggling operations as a cover for their true objective —
locating the Kraken and weakening it through magic. The party discovers that
seemingly innocuous smuggling activities are intricately connected to the greater
plan.
4. Haunted Mansion Connection:
 o The haunted mansion, originally tied to a Sea Prince's activities, is revealed to be
a key location where the sea princes smuggle corpses that they then transform into
undead crew.
5. Naval Power Struggles:
o The Sea Princes engage in fierce naval battles to control key points in the seas
surrounding Saltmarsh. The party becomes entangled in these conflicts, either as
allies to factions resisting the Sea Princes or as mercenaries sought after by both
sides.
6. Cultist Activities:
o The Sea Princes align with dark cults. The party discovers that the cultists are
attempting dark rituals to weaken and control the kraken, adding a supernatural
and occult element to the campaign.
7. Race Against Time:
o As the Sea Princes inch closer to controlling the kraken, the urgency intensifies.
The party must gather allies, thwart Sea Prince operations, and ultimately
confront the coalition to prevent the catastrophic consequences of the kraken
being controlled or absorbed.

By integrating the Sea Princes' ultimate goal into the fabric of the Saltmarsh campaign, i create a
compelling narrative arc that ties together political intrigue, maritime adventures, and the
supernatural mysteries of the haunted coast.

The Ensnared Leviathan:

Artifact Facade:

 The Sea Princes believe the blood of the nobles of old will help them create a powerful
magical artifact with reality-bending capabilities. The lore surrounding this artifact seem
to say it can control the seas, bend minds, and grant unimaginable power to those who
harness its energy.
 They believe they need the blood of the Galen Primwater, The Royal blood of the
Lizardfolk, and (someone else, maybe one of the party members).

Whats happened so far:

So far the party have made it to Saltmarsh, the party is:

Taldyrath – Human Bard Fighter

Vakkaylen – Human Mage

Fengard – Dwarf Cleric

Tanaris – Bronze dragon fighter (Shapeshifted into a human)

Theron – Shapeshifter Paladin

The party has made it to Saltmarsh, met with Galen Primwater who told them to go to the
haunted mansion, in the mansion Tanaris found a Mimic sword which is now stuck to him. The
found many fish heads which were secretly spying on them, and they went into a cave and fought
the Sahuagin there. They found a small Lizardfolk boy named Rilix who is the prince of the
Lizardfolk and was captured.

They went back to Saltmarsh and were convinced by Primwater to trust him (Primwater has had
his memory mostly wiped out by Morvina, he made a pact with her to remain rich and powerful
in exchange for his blood, but the blood was his daughter and not his acutal blood. But he
doesn’t remember that.)

They currently just bought a store front for a Dwarf craftsman who will make things for them,
but are about to go take Rilix home. The other Plot line That Elegar Brinehanded the town
mage/cleric needs to inform them of is some more info he finds in his studies of Morvina and
that he’s heard rumors coming that a neigboring town may be under attack by undead (Sarthrax
is capturing the town turning the people undead and searching for something I don’t know what
we need to invent that).

The party will have 2 choices. Save that town or deliver Rilix. If they choose not to deliver Rilix
then the Lizardfolk will suffer, if they choose to deliver Rilix then the town will suffer. They
don’t have time to do both properly.

On the seas they will meet a Tortle Captain named Bite The Bullet somewhat loyal to Sarthrax.
The Pirate princes have now put a bounty on the party due to Morvina seeing what they’re up to.