Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 938931" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's 3rd Report - Part 3When I recovered consciousness, I found myself in one of the ship's cabins.  I was unsure of how much time had passed, but it was obviously several hours, for daylight flooded the room from the portholes in the walls.  Hearing the sound of voices from the deck, I arose and went forth to discover what had occurred.In short order, it emerged that the battle against the smugglers had been won.  Then, although they were the only ones left standing, Zalich and the druid had decided to explore the rest of the vessel.  This despite the fact that the druid was already badly injured.  Apparently they had assumed that the noise of battle would have attracted anyone on the ship, and it would thus be safe to continue.This assumption proved incorrect.  The very first chamber they entered proved to belong to three lizardfolk, which promptly attacked them.  Somehow, Zalich survived the resulting melee, but the druid was killed.  A fitting result for his recklessness.  Why the lizardfolk would be aboard, and why they had not emerged during the battle, was not yet known, though Zalich theorised that - due to their distinctive appearance - they must have been told to stay hidden until one of the crew came for them.After reprimanding Zalich for his reckless action - I had expected him to show more sense - I learned more of events that had passed while I was unconscious.  Having realised the folly of exploring further on his own, the Halfling had signalled for the village excisemen to come alongside, then sent them back to the village for supplies and assistance in bringing the vessel to port.  This process was now well underway, some twelve hours after our battle.As Julianne and Troilan were now also awake, it was reasonable to resume the aborted search, and I began a thorough examination of the ship.  This search uncovered a sea-elf, imprisoned in a concealed cell near the front of the vessel, as well as several chests of valuables that doubtless belonged to the smuggler leaders.  We stockpiled the valuables for appraisal and sale, and released the elf, once I was sure he was not a threat to the village.  Additionally, there proved to be a large cache of weapons, liquor and other high-value goods in the hold.  I claimed these as spoils of battle, and made arrangements to pay the required customs charge to bring the goods ashore for sale.  Zalich also claimed the vessel itself, which was ours by right of capture, but had to agree to pay the value of a share in the ship to the villagers who were bringing it into port.  It seemed that - rather than being grateful for our assistance in ending the smuggling - Saltmarsh viewed our actions as simply an opportunity to make profit.My final discovery, however, soon turned this complacent greed into fear and concern: a scroll penned by the leader of a lizardfolk clan, arranging 'more shipments of weapons' for his people, and a map showing the camp of the creatures as being located only a day's travel from the village.An entire army of lizardfolk, stockpiling weapons within twenty miles of the village, and they had not a clue of what was occurring.  I have said it before, but it bears repeating: the inefficiency and ineptitude of the sheriff of Saltmarsh knows no bounds.Upon my return to the village itself, I wasted no time in presenting the evidence I had found to the council, and making it clear what I thought of their lack of watchfulness and care for security, as well as the flagrant inability of their sheriff.  Incredibly, the council did not dismiss the sheriff for his failure, but instead appealed for us to eliminate the lizardfolk on their behalf.Naturally, I refused.</blockquote>

Verification