TEXT: EN World EN5idEr | Metropolitan Arcana
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
   
  writing Andrew Engelbrite
   color art Héctor Rodríguez
   
  editing Mike Myler
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  S
  crutinizing the half-orc’s doc-
  ument carefully, the captain 
  carefully analyzes every line of the 
  supposed pardon until suddenly the 
  writ explodes in a puff of scrap paper, 
  the rapidly shrinking form of the crimi-
  nal racing away and cackling mad as 
  a hatter. He reaches for his sword but 
  grasps at nothing, the illusion of his 
  weapon disappearing just as he spots 
  the fleeing half-orc raising the blade in 
  triumph. The captain cracks a smile 
  in response and concentrates on the 
  invisible mark cast upon his sword, 
  the location of the thieves’ den finally 
  about to be revealed. 
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
  EN World EN5ider | Deidre’s Ghost
      t was but ten years past 
      that the infamous pirate 
  brigantine Deidre’s Ghost 
  was pulled into the briny 
  depths by a massive sea 
  creature, most of its crew 
  and the trove of plundered 
  treasure in the ship’s hold 
  dragged away by enormous 
  tentacles—yet the vessel 
  has suddenly reappeared 
  wrecked upon a rocky 
  beach! 
  This article provides GMs 
  with an interesting location 
  to drop into play at a 
  moment’s notice, with 
  location descriptions and 
  plot hooks that could serve 
  as an interesting side quest 
  or be used as catalysts 
  for further adventures.
  Deidre’s Ghost
  Deidre’s Ghost
  Writing	
  Ambrose Ingram
  Color	Art	
  Rachel Maduro
  Editing		
  Mike Myler
  I
  
  EN World EN5ider | Deidre’s Ghost
  The doorway that leads to the hold is encrusted 
  by more barnacles than anywhere else on the deck 
  and it takes an hour of labor from one person to clear 
  enough barnacles off the door for it to be opened. 
  Even then it is rusted to its casing and requires two 
  PCs to succeed on a simultaneous DC 16 Strength 
  check to force open.
  Approaching Deidre’s Ghost
  The small quiet cove is ringed by high cliffs and a 
  shore covered in slick, cyclopean boulders that cre-
  ate dozens of tidal pools and a labyrinth of sandy 
  passages that are submerged during the high tide. 
  Impaled on the largest of these rocks and supported 
  be several others is Deidre’s Ghost. From a distance 
  the ship looks dark, covered in kelp and barnacles, but 
  on closer examination adventurers can make out the 
  remnants of crimson paint that once highlighted the 
  sides of the hull.
  The Deck
  With Deidre’s Ghost stranded ashore the deck of the 
  ship is over 20 feet off the ground. The easiest way to 
  board is to throw a rope or grappling hook to the rear 
  deck. The deck is almost entirely covered in barnacles 
  except for a couple of places where they have been 
  scraped away—a large circle around the main mast 
  and a section of railing near the steering wheel. It is 
  difficult to walk quietly across the barnacled deck and 
  Dexterity (Stealth) checks are made at disadvantage.
  Two stretches of broken deck and shattered rail-
  ings reveal where the kraken grabbed the ship years 
  ago. Strips of kelp hang from the mast and boom, giv-
  ing the appearance of sails, even though any true can-
  vas rotted away many years ago. Tiny crabs scuttle all 
  over the deck. 
  On the starboard railing, a weapon rack is intact 
  with a trio of barnacle-covered cutlasses stuck in 
  place. One of these could be valuable or magical, such 
  as a silvered cutlass with filigreed stock, or a +1 cutlass 
  that hums an accelerating pattern of low tones when-
  ever an aquatic creature of CR 1 or higher is nearby.
  History of Deidre’s Ghost
  A decade ago Deidre's Ghost sank into the ocean in the tentacled grasp of the ancient kraken Bstal Nknok. The 
  ship’s captain, Esperanza "Esper Dark" Solis, was a notable pirate and smuggler but since her demise historians 
  have learned that she was in truth an agent of the crown. Although many tales of Captain Esper Dark's royal 
  espionage have been uncovered since her ship's disappearance, no one knows what mission she pursued on the 
  voyage that saw her boat drawn beneath the waves.
  Recently the wreck of the Deidre's Ghost appeared on the rocky shore of a somewhat secluded cove. If the 
  PCs are nearby or passing the area, the shipwreck can provide an interesting location for random encounters and 
  exploration—perhaps word of the wreck has traveled and the adventurers are sent there to explore and reclaim 
  what treasure might have been lost in the mysterious captain's hold.
  TRAVERSING THE BEACH
  The rocky beach can serve as an interesting space 
  for a skill challenge if it suits the style of game and 
  pacing of the session. Encourage players to pro-
  vide creative ways their skills are contributing to 
  traversing the beach, for example:
  • Strength (Athletics) DC 13.	Scale a slick rock 
  face to secure a piton so the rest of the party 
  can scale the rock with ease.
  • Intelligence (Nature) DC 13.	Identify a pas-
  sage between the rocks that intermittent-
  ly gets flooded with surf and lead the party 
  around.
  • Wisdom (Perception) DC 13.	While climbing, 
  spot a handhold that has a sea urchin within 
  it and point out a better path.
  Each time an adventurer fails an ability check 
  describe the surf coursing through the rocky lab-
  yrinth catching the party unaware and dealing a 
  single hit dice of damage as they struggle to stay 
  upright (if a PC has more than one type of hit dice, 
  use the highest value hit dice).
  In addition, a combat encounter could be 
  placed on the beach where the boulders provide 
  precarious high ground for ranged attackers and 
  deep tidal pools can be used as an ambush point 
  for aquatic foes.
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Metropolitan Arcana
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
   
  writing Andrew Engelbrite
   color art Héctor Rodríguez
   
  editing Mike Myler
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  S
  crutinizing the half-orc’s doc-
  ument carefully, the captain 
  carefully analyzes every line of the 
  supposed pardon until suddenly the 
  writ explodes in a puff of scrap paper, 
  the rapidly shrinking form of the crimi-
  nal racing away and cackling mad as 
  a hatter. He reaches for his sword but 
  grasps at nothing, the illusion of his 
  weapon disappearing just as he spots 
  the fleeing half-orc raising the blade in 
  triumph. The captain cracks a smile 
  in response and concentrates on the 
  invisible mark cast upon his sword, 
  the location of the thieves’ den finally 
  about to be revealed. 
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
  EN World EN5ider | Deidre’s Ghost
  PLOT HOOKS ON THE DECK
  Research Expedition.	When the party reaches the deck of Deidre’s Ghost they find that they aren’t the first to discover 
  the shipwreck. A group of seven robed academics are milling about the deck taking notes and collecting samples, a pair 
  of them closely examining the door to the hold. When the scholars notice the party they are suspicious and their lead-
  er immediately tries to convince the PCs to depart. The scholars are possibly part of a private business venture that is 
  trying to claim, restore, and sell the antique brigantine, or perhaps they’re cultists obsessed with kraken lore and trying 
  to use the ship as a focus to contact Bstal Nknok.
  Rusted Golem. Sitting cross-legged at the prow of the Deidre’s Ghost is Matthew, a rust covered automaton who once 
  served as Captain Esper Dark’s first mate. He is unable to move due to the corrosion covering his metal form but he 
  can recount the harrowing encounter with Bstal Nknok. Matthew’s last memory was of sinking into darkness before he 
  woke up on the ship stuck looking out to sea. If the party is friendly, Matthew admits that since he woke he has been 
  haunted by malicious whispers in his head—he believes something terrible is coming.
  The door to the captain's chamber is closed but 
  free of barnacles, remarkable too for the remnants of 
  red and black paint and a tarnished copper knocker 
  in the shape of an octopus. There is a tiny, venom-
  ous sea urchin on the reverse side of the knocker. Any 
  creature touching the knocker without first succeed-
  ing on a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check takes 
  1 point of damage as it is pricked by the urchin. In 
  addition, the creature must make a DC 13 Constitu-
  tion saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. While 
  poisoned, the creature has disadvantage on saving 
  throws. 
  Captain’s Quarters
  Although the room smells like mold and seaweed, 
  Captain Esper Dark's quarters are surprisingly in al-
  most perfect condition. A large canopied bed is built 
  directly into one wall of the cabin upon which hang 
  tattered black curtains. Several once-fine rugs cover 
  the floor, sodden with water, but everything else in 
  the room is dry.
  Lifting the mattress reveals a panel with a small 
  steel lock built into it. The lock isn’t overly complex 
  
  EN World EN5ider | Deidre’s Ghost
  but corrosion has made it fragile. A DC 15 Dexteri-
  ty (thieves’ tools) check opens it but failure by 5 or 
  more breaks the lock. Opening the panel reveals a 
  smuggler's hold beneath the bed—two or three 
  people could lay down within it albeit with very lit-
  tle room to move around. The compartment could 
  contain one or more interesting items of the GM’s 
  choice (for example, someone's skeletal remains, a 
  coffer full of pewter soldiers, or a minor magic item).  
  A large maritime map is built into the wall of the 
  cabin opposite the bed. Viewing the map with detect 
  magic reveals auras of divination and illusion magic. 
  The current location of Deidre's Ghost is marked on 
  the map. Three other ships are marked on the map—
  all of which are at sea. A successful DC 12 Wisdom 
  (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check no-
  tices that the three ships at sea are slowly moving.
  The Hold
  The smell of seaweed is overpowering in this area. 
  All the interior walls of the hold have crumbled, 
  turning it into one long chamber littered with sog-
  gy wood and other debris. Seaweed hangs from the 
  ceiling throughout, hindering vision. A Medium-sized 
  or larger creature within the curtains of seaweed is 
  lightly obscured, although this penalty can be avoid-
  ed by sitting, crawling, or ducking beneath the kelp.
  Light filters into the hold around the broken hull 
  where the jagged rock upon which Deidre’s Ghost 
  juts inside. 
  Digging through the detritus on the floor is likely 
  to uncover something of interest. For every 5 min-
  utes of searching, an adventurer might find an art 
  object worth 30 gp but for every thing of value dis-
  covered, something disturbing—such as the skeletal 
  remains of a rat clutching an intact human eyeball, 
  a leather-bound journal of indecipherable text that 
  begins smoking when touched, or a porcelain doll 
  with a second face beneath its wig—is uncovered as 
  well. 
  PLOT HOOKS IN
  ESPER DARK’S CABIN
  The Royal Family.	Opening the smuggler’s hold beneath 
  the bed reveals three well preserved skeletons in the 
  remnants of fine clothes and adorned in 1,750 gp worth 
  of jewelry. An adventurer trained in History immediately 
  recognizes that the corpses were once nobility, and suc-
  cess on a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check identifies sig-
  ils and heraldry that imply these corpses belonged to the 
  royal family that ruled when Esper Dark operated. How-
  ever, the royal family never disappeared and the same 
  lineage rules today—if this was the royal family, who is 
  currently in possession of the crown?
  Esper’s Ghost.	After the party has investigated the room 
  for several minutes the ghost of Captain Esper Dark floats 
  up through the floor. She wears fine, rakish clothing and 
  a large feathered hat perched jauntily on her head. She 
  is a ghost and initially challenges the PCs, accusing them 
  of rifling through her things. If an adventurer talks to Es-
  per and succeeds a DC 11 Charisma (Persuasion) check, 
  the dead captain reveals why her spirit has lingered all 
  these years. One possibility is that she never completed 
  her mission delivering a blessed shield to the royal family 
  (if this is so, the party can locate the shield in the smug-
  gler’s hold beneath the bed). Another is that Captain Es-
  per Dark was lured to Bstal Nknok’s territory by supposed 
  allies and she wants revenge on the descendants of those 
  who betrayed her. Whatever the case may be, should the 
  party complete the task to put her spirit to rest Captain 
  Esper Dark appears shortly after they are done and thanks 
  them, gifting the PCs with a map to her “retirement plan” 
  before her spirit departs.
  Open	Game	Content	| The game 
  rule information in this article is 
  designated Open Game Content. 
  All other material in this article, 
  including maps and illustrations 
  (including illustrations in the 
  public domain), in-character and 
  out-of-character narrative and 
  descriptive text, character and place names, trade 
  dress, “EN Publishing,” “EN World,” “EN5ider,” EN 
  Publishing product and article titles, and EN World 
  and EN Publishing logos, are designated Product 
  Identity.
  
  EN World EN5idEr | Metropolitan Arcana
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
   
  writing Andrew Engelbrite
   color art Héctor Rodríguez
   
  editing Mike Myler
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  S
  crutinizing the half-orc’s doc-
  ument carefully, the captain 
  carefully analyzes every line of the 
  supposed pardon until suddenly the 
  writ explodes in a puff of scrap paper, 
  the rapidly shrinking form of the crimi-
  nal racing away and cackling mad as 
  a hatter. He reaches for his sword but 
  grasps at nothing, the illusion of his 
  weapon disappearing just as he spots 
  the fleeing half-orc raising the blade in 
  triumph. The captain cracks a smile 
  in response and concentrates on the 
  invisible mark cast upon his sword, 
  the location of the thieves’ den finally 
  about to be revealed. 
  Metropolitan
  Arcana
  EN World EN5ider | Deidre’s Ghost
  PLOT HOOKS IN THE HOLD
  Demonic Tablets.	Carved into the face of the rock puncturing the side of the hull are three flat tablet-shaped sec-
  tions that are covered in demonic writing. A DC 13 Intelligence (Arcana) check reveals that the tablets comprise 
  three parts of a summoning ritual. Identify reveals that the first tablet has been already activated and that the 
  entire ship is bound to the stone magically. A sea hag	that inhabits the cove scribed these tablets and should she 
  complete her ritual, she will turn Deidre’s Ghost into a spectral airship, raise the crew as ghostly servants, and make 
  a mystic contract with Bstal Nknok herself.
  Kraken Eggs.	A deep crashing sound, like surf slamming against a wavebreak, echoes from the stern where the 
  floor of the hold has been broken in a 5-foot radius hole. Despite the fact that Deidre's Ghost is completely run 
  aground, the hole opens into a pool of seawater that emanates cold and has pale spherical lights glimmering with-
  in it. A DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check reveals that the lights could be kraken eggs, slowly rising to the 
  surface where they will hatch and the baby monsters will initiate a frenzy of feeding and growth. Along with this 
  realization comes with the suspicion that the kraken would not have sent its young to hatch without protection of 
  some kind…
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 245 - Deidres Ghost.pdf