Here begins our adventure…
Saltmarsh is a small coastal town on the southern shore of Keoland. It is not a prosperous town. Its primary industry is salt, which is a byproduct of desalinating sea water from the local marshes into potable water using special giant slugs. Most of this water is used for simple survival – mainly drinking water and irrigation. But there are smaller applications too. Saltmarsh makes Slug Ale, which is an alcoholic beverage made with ingredients grown in the fields that use the desalinated water, plus the desalinated water itself. Slug Ale has a slightly salty and slimy taste. Not everyone likes it.
Four miles east of Saltmarsh, just inland of the old coast road and looking out to sea, stands the Haunted House. Until twenty years ago it had been the residence of an aged alchemist of sinister reputation, and even then had been shunned by reason of its owner’s mysterious occupation. Now, two decades after the sudden and unexplained disappearance of its occupant, the house has acquired an even greater air of evil and mystery with the passing years.
Dilapidated and now long-abandoned, the house presents an unwholesome appearance to the eye. Those hardy souls who have on infrequent occasion sought entry to it (for rumors of a secret horde of alchemical gold have persisted since the old man’s disappearance) have all returned with naught save grim tales of decay presided over by monstrous perils. In more recent years there have been reports of fearsome hauntings – ghastly shrieks and eerie lights emanating from within the dismal place. Now not even the bravest dare so much as approach the house, leave alone enter it. Indeed, such is the reputation of the house that the fields around it, though prime agricultural land, remain untended and rank with weeds.
Rumors abound regarding the house but the ones that are known to you depend on your character background and the investigative actions you take in town before daring to brave the house.
One persistent rumor which anyone who spends a single night in Saltmarsh will quickly learn is that the house is infested with ghouls who use underground tunnels to steal bodies from the local cemetery. This rumor arises primarily because of a well in the courtyard of the haunted house. With no potable water even underground so close to the sea, the locals have imagined possible alternate purposes for the well, and the gruesome stories of ghouls have dominated these imaginings.
The issue of the Haunted House has recently come to a head and the town council insists that something be done. Ten days ago, suddenly in the night, a horrid squealing poured down from the house as though someone were slaughtering pigs there. But the pigs did not die; they squealed horribly through the night. In the morning, at the insistence of the town council, a local Halfing earned his early release from prison for petty crimes by agreeing to investigate the source of the squealing. This desperate soul managed to sneak through the broken gates to the courtyard and past the well to the front stoop. There, seemingly planted intentionally so as to prevent entry into the house, was a malicious looking and living plant. This plant, or more like a bush, had long thorny tendrils that waved and wriggled as the Halfling approached. There, wrapped tightly in the vines, was a pig, stuck and tortured and still alive! The vile bush made soft sucking sounds as its thorns continued to bleed out the animal who no longer had the strength to squeal.
Frightened out of his wits, the Halfling returned to Saltmarsh and drew the following picture of what he saw (sorry, no pig in the photo). He drew a living plant with knotty roots and at least five thorny and grasping tendrils. Anyone seeking entry into the Haunted House will have to deal with this menace first.
Since his harrowing adventure, the Halfling has been drinking Slug Ale for free at the Salty Swallow in exchange for a telling of his tale. All of the local discussion is now focused on who will deal with this threat that can be ignored no longer.
*The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is a published adventure from the early 1980s. It has been heavily doctored, but please do not read or google anything about the adventure or you will certainly spoil at least part of the surprise.