The Lord of Barnacles appears as a terrible mixture of Starfish, Barnacle, and Coral the size of a house.

It
has radial symmetry and the top of its body looks like a volcano made of chitin. The men scream and
scatter in horror at their deity.

- Combat
o The Lord of Barnacles [starts 45 feet away from room entrance]

(first turn of combat: Braxx’s Divine Sense automatically identifies this as an extremely powerful Fiend)

(Transparent tendrils terminating in horrifically ugly human heads reach out to perform attacks.)

The heads say, “more souls for my crew, excellent!” when grasping the players and the summoners.

Dread Galleon Brig

(mark a full rest) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u1ZXAYHiYQ

You all awaken suddenly in an enclosed space. The air is humid and warm, you’re on a wooden floor.
You’re in a 10-foot by 10-foot enclosure with one wooden wall and barred cage walls for the other
three. You see other such cells to the left and right, and another row across the hall. Metal braziers
hanging from the ceiling by chains illuminate the space with a dull teal flame. You hear nothing but the
occasional creak of wood and a distant rushing of wind. You can feel the slightest sensation of motion
while sitting still.

The cell door is unlocked, and its hinges squeak.

The hall is about 50 feet long, with 5 cells on each side. Three of the other cells contain emaciated
corpses of two humans and an elf. Each wears clothing of no particular interest, with no weapons or
equipment besides.

(Medicine reveals they probably died of dehydration, but time since death is difficult to determine, as
they are nearly mummified by ambient salt.)

(Religion check at any point after this, knowing the monster was a fiend, reveals they are in one of the
Helscapes. DC 21 reveals they are in Saiwa, the most mysterious of the Helscapes, home to the fewest
infernal entities.)

The end of each hall leads into perpendicular halls, along which similar cell-halls can be accessed. Once
in one of these hallways, several squeaking doors are heard and 12 salt-encrusted wretches attack from
multiple hallways!

- Combat
o 5 Swarms Soul Wretches (Zombie Swarm stats)
Once killed, a nearly invisible humanoid soul is visible briefly before it fades. Some of the Soul Wretches
mumble “escape” or “save yourselves” while attacking.

Flooded Deck Pitfall

After moving through another hallway, the floor underneath you cracks and collapses, landing you on
the next deck down with a splash.

(Dex save DC 10, otherwise, prone and 1d6 damage)

A terrible rotting smell permeates the air immediately, as the walls are encrusted in all manner of sea
life which clings to things. The floor, except the segment of hallway you fell in on, is covered in almost a
foot of dark brown saltwater, with some oily patches here and there.

Immediately, two clusters of luminous filter-feeders extend their tendrils and flail violently at you.

- Combat
o Monstrous Barnacles

(Usk, with Animal Handling and Nature proficiencies, can tell these are Beasts, not plants)

The hall you landed in leads in two directions, each unlit beyond the light from the hole above you.
Down one hall 30 feet, there is a mass of chitinous growths and mangled seaweed blocking the entire
hall, with a few salt-coated mummies embedded into it. The other direction turns right after about 15
feet.

As you head toward the corner, some of the sea creatures encrusted to the walls reach toward you
weakly, but only reaching out a few centimeters. As you turn the corner, you see a cargo hold with
smashed crates and barrels. Sitting in the top of a barrel, there is an emaciated corpse wearing tattered
armor. His head leans very far back so his eyeless sockets gaze toward the entrance, his head upside
down and mouth wide open due to gravity. A ruined helmet is just visible in the brackish water beneath
the dead man’s scalp.

(Any attempt to investigate the body results in an oily looking slime jumping out of the man’s throat
onto the looker’s face)

- Combat
o Slithering Tracker (difficult terrain in the water)

The corpse wears heavily rusted armor, but his boots are remarkably undamaged (Boots of
Waterwalking). In his scabbard, there is a long, thin sword resembling both a rapier and shortsword,
with a trigger on the grip (Radiant Sword). His skeletal fingers clutch a hollow glass figurine of a winged
lion with a human face (Glass Manticore).

(If the Glass Manticore is smashed for any reason, it becomes a Manticore for 1 minute, then returns to
glass form. It can only do this once per day. It returns to glass form early if killed. It can be thrown
roughly 60 feet, or further with a good Athletics roll.)
(History DC 13 reveals that this adventurer was Bligranon Adrenel, a famous half-elf hero that went
missing 30 years ago. DC 16 reveals that he went missing while investigating a possible case of Infernal
meddling.)

(Medicine reveals that he died from being drained of fluids by the slime creature.)

Labyrinthine Deck

Climbing back up to the brig deck reveals the hallway looks different from before. There are no hanging
lanterns in these halls, and the direction you had been heading in now terminates in a blind corner
turning left.

There is still some illumination coming through the boards above you, as well as cold dripping water
every once in a while. The sounds of wind and seawater are more audible now.

Around the next turn, 15 feet ahead there is a T-junction. It is darker there, as though something on the
deck above were blocking the light that filters between the boards, but you can see a figure sitting
against the wall, seemingly resting. His size and musculature outweigh even Braxx’s, and he is covered in
a coat of short black hair. The most striking detail is that his head and neck are those of a horse, with a
white mane in striking contrast. He wears simple traveling clothes. His eyes are a solid luminous yellow.

He doesn’t look like he has noticed you yet. (Religion identifies him as a Gift-Horse devil, the roll has
advantage if they have used Divine sense already. One should never accept a freely given gift from such a fiend, but
compared to other fiends, they are known for striking mutually beneficial deals which are not underhanded. )

The figure suddenly speaks, “You came here when the master of this vessel left, didn’t you? And your
souls have retained their form perfectly… My name is Konjerbitus. We can help one another. I know
where we are and how to escape this place, and I might share this knowledge for a sufficiently precious
price…”

“The price needn’t be material wealth. I might accept a favor, or a future possession. Or perhaps some
facet of your being that you would be willing to part with. As long as it is precious.”

(If all three give him something, he will reveal this:)

“We are in a Dread Galleon, adrift in the Dead Seas of Saiwa, the most boring of the Helscapes. Mortal
souls trapped here, such as yourselves, eventually degrade into the Wretches you’ve seen, their energy
sapped by the Galleon’s master. A bottom-feeding Arch-fiend of the lowliest sort, not particularly
grandiose in comparison.”

“When this Galleon’s master left this plane, he did so through a rift. The rift still exists on an Atoll not far
from here. But you need to escape the labyrinthine underdecks first… I’m sure crafty mortals like
yourselves will have a breakthrough soon enough.”

“Before I am on my way, would anyone care for a game and a wager? I have far more to offer than
directions out of Saiwa. Perhaps I could reveal your future?”
Konjerbitus looks up to the ceiling and vanishes.

(The labyrinthine deck is infinite until they try to smash through the ceiling to escape.)

Above Deck

Now that you are on the surface of the ship, you can see that it is truly massive, larger than any sea
vessel you’ve ever seen. There is a light drizzle of cold rain, a contrast to the hot air. The sea is
remarkably calm, and you can’t tell if it is severely overcast, or if the sky is just always a dull gray on this
plane. You can taste salt in the air. A handful (5) of Soul Wretches notice your arrival and begin shuffling
toward you from the opposite end of the deck, 100 feet away.

Some distance away portside, you see a rocky atoll made of stone half-arches emerging from the sea.
They almost look like a massive and collapsed ribcage. Near the base of one of the less upright ones you
can see the portal. It looks to be around 1,000 feet away from the edge of the Dread Galleon.

At the wheel, there is a set of magical chains wrapped around the wheel [can be Dispelled] which are
unbreakable and held by locks (lockpicking DC 16 Dex check with tip of arrow)?]

(Survival check from Braxx guides Amur and Usk to direct the Galleon in the right direction. They can get
about 70 feet away before the Dread Galleon becomes stuck on unseen stones below water.)

Once they enter the water, the Galleon itself attacks!

- Combat
o Dread Galleon

They can attempt to kill it or run to the portal. The portal is about 15 feet in diameter now, much
smaller than before. Moving up the rain-slick slope of stone requires an Athletics check, DC 14.

Back to Merkasorn

When you return to the mortal plane through the rift, the cavern is a chaotic mess of stinking blood,
mucus, and crushed corpses. Although the natural tunnel was not large enough for the Lord of Barnacles
to leave through, its slime trail leads toward the exit and befouls the wall around the passage.

The way out of Widower’s Cave is far more disgusting than it was before. In some places the mucus has
congealed into a thick fiendish jelly.

Once you escape the mouth of the cave, you see that it is nighttime, and a cool ocean breeze is coming
through the forest to slightly alleviate the dreadful stench. Immediately you notice the swath of
destruction crushed through the forest in the direction of Thebblewynn’s Respite.
Following the trail of matted-down trees and undergrowth, you can see the fishing village sooner than
you would’ve through the intact forest. Rather, you can see what is left, as Thebblewynn’s Respite no
longer contains any standing buildings. A thin layer of the beast’s slime coats the ground, interspersed
with blood and the bodies of elven fishermen and their families.

Most of the bodies have constriction wounds around their midsection, as if squeezed to death. Many
also have bite marks that look disturbingly humanoid.

At the place where the docks used to be, there is a concentration of slime indicating that the Lord of
Barnacles has escaped into the vast ocean, a realm no mortals can sanely claim mastery of, and now a
realm with one more dire threat to beware.

The year is 1304 E.E., and it is a pleasant day between Summer and Autumn.

After speaking with the troubled Administrator of Thebblewynn’s Respite, a small fishing village on the
pleasant northern island of Greater Tyllia, you three have made your way to the mouth of Widower’s
Cave. The frightened townsfolk explained that this cave has long been suspected as the cause for
missing people in years past, particularly children that wandered away from town.

Before you the stone face of a great forested hill yawns open, revealing a winding tunnel that leads
downward into the earth.

[describe your appearances]

Entry into Widower’s Cave

The passage is only 6 feet wide at its widest, and after 30 feet, stalagmites become an occasional
tripping hazard. As you advance, you can feel cool wind flowing in and out as the cave’s damp air
exchanges with outside air. It smells more like the sea the further in you go. Moss and fungi grow in
various crevices.

With repeated twists and turns, the outside light quickly fades. The darkness threatens to make forward
progress more difficult.

After a couple minutes of walking, Usk begins to hear voices ahead.

The voices seem to be chanting in some language other than Common (Infernal). As you get nearer
(Stealth check or they may be heard) to the sound, the tunnel seems to open into a lit cavern ahead.

This hollow is littered with uneven stone and stalagmites, providing ample cover to enter the room
unseen. The vaguely circular space is dimly lit by sconces embedded in the walls at even spacing. About
a dozen men are standing in a tight circle around a makeshift stone altar. They wear blue and brown
robes which seem to shimmer like oil in the torch light. They are obscuring your view of the altar’s
contents.
Their chanting reaches the top of a crescendo in intensity and one of the robed men raises a wavy
dagger. He brings it down and Usk immediately recognizes the terrorized shriek of a Lizardfolk woman.

The back wall of the cavern explodes into water and sea mist which coats the area in saltwater. The
huge wall is now replaced by a scene of an ocean, vast and calm. The sky above this sea is gray and
cloudless. Hot air flows through the rift, whose edges are ragged like a hole punched through paper. The
robed men shout and embrace each other in celebration.

Suddenly you all feel an intense sensation of wrongness overcome you. A robed man walks toward the
gate and shouts, “The Lord of Barnacles has come! Rejoi-” and is cut off when a monstrous creature
jumps through the portal and lands on him.