Chapter 4: Salvage Operation - Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Chapter 4: Salvage Operation. When a ship missing for years is spotted adrift at sea, its one-time owner sees a final chance to recover a lost fortune. But what the former owner cannot know is that the ship has a new master-a wretched druid, driven mad by cannibalism and attended by a horde of venomous pets. Salvage Operation is a D&D adventure designed for four to six 4th-level characters. About the Original Drawn from Dungeon 123, Mike Mearls's 2005 adventure "Salvage Operation" is a rare tale that takes place entirely at sea. This grim story features an epic assault by a titanic octopus and a race to escape a sinking, monster-infested ship. Decrepitude and decay (along with a bit of demon worship) persist throughout this unusual dungeon crawl, with the characters' courage being tested just as much as the seaworthiness of the Emperor of the Waves! Background The merchant prince Aubreck Drallion once counted himself among the richest folk of his city. His trade fleet was one of the largest and most prosperous of its kind, with hundreds of ships under his banner dodging storms, pirate raids, and aquatic monsters to carry goods across the world. Yet Aubreck's success perhaps came too fast and too easily; although his profits eventually stabilized, his ambition kept expanding. Years ago, his contacts in the southern jungles reported that he could monopolize trade in rare spices and herbs by making heavy investments in the area. Aubreck took the opportunity as a sure thing and leaped at the chance to get even richer. He sold off many of his assets and converted the proceeds to property deeds and promissory notes, then secured that portable wealth aboard Emperor of the Waves, the foremost ship in his fleet. Aubreck's plan was to convert these notes back into cash when the ship reached its destination in the south, but fate introduced a cruel twist, and Emperor of the Waves disappeared. A storm separated the ship from its escort, and it was never heard from again. Dev...