Quest Line · Original Adventure · Old-School Essentials
Levels 1-2 · Dungeon
A merchant's ship disappeared three weeks ago near the Screaming Cliffs. Locals blame the Salt-King—a mad hermit who supposedly died decades ago. The party discovers his larder carved into the sea cliff, stocked with preserved goods and corpses. The Salt-King still lives, cursed by his own greed, endlessly cataloging his hoard while slowly starving. The adventurers must navigate his traps, his preserved "guests," and decide whether to end his suffering or exploit his madness.
The party should be motivated by reward, rescue, or curiosity. This adventure features body horror (preserved corpses), themes of obsession and starvation, and a tragic antagonist. The dungeon is small (six connected chambers) with an emphasis on problem-solving over combat. Players should understand that negotiation and clever thinking may prove more valuable than swords. The Salt-King can be defeated through violence, but alternative solutions exist.
Choose one or adapt:
The Merchant's Plea: Goodwife Tallis hires the party to find her husband's missing trading vessel. She offers 100 silver pieces and whatever cargo they recover. Local fishermen mention seeing lantern-light in caves beneath the Screaming Cliffs—caves that shouldn't exist. An old drunk warns them about the Salt-King who "keeps what washes up."
The Provision Crisis: The village smokehouse burned down before winter. The headwoman remembers tales of the Salt-King's legendary larder, filled with preserved foods that never spoil. She offers the party a share of whatever they retrieve. Surely the hermit died years ago, and his stores are just sitting there...
Washed Ashore: The party finds a sealed cask on the beach marked with strange symbols. Inside: perfectly preserved fruit, a ship's manifest, and a plea for help scratched on bark. The message describes a "mad keeper" and gives vague directions to sea caves accessible only at low tide.
The Screaming Cliffs earn their name from wind howling through limestone passages. At low tide, a triangular cave mouth appears at the cliff base, surrounded by tide pools and slippery rocks. The entrance smells of salt, brine, and something else—meat and spices, like a butcher's shop.
Entering requires timing the waves. An easy Dexterity check (roll under DEX on 1d20, or target 5+) keeps characters dry. Failure means arriving soaked and cold—disadvantage on surprise rolls once inside.
The cave throat extends thirty feet before opening into a worked chamber. Carved steps descend into darkness. On the walls, someone has etched obsessive tallies in clusters: "14 BARRELS OCTOBER," "8 CASKS SPOILED," "3 GUESTS NOVEMBER." The marks span decades, layered over each other.
At the bottom, a heavy door of ship-timber bound in iron stands ajar. Behind it, the Counting Room.
The door is slightly ajar. Perceptive characters (Wisdom check, target 5+) notice a thin wire at ankle height—a warning bell system. Stepping over it or cutting it avoids alerting the Salt-King immediately.
A circular chamber, forty feet across, carved with disturbing precision. Every surface bears labels and numbers. Shelves line the walls, packed with goods: barrels of salted fish, wheels of waxed cheese, clay amphorae, sacks of grain, hanging sausages. Everything is cataloged, numbered, impossibly preserved.
Three ship's figureheads stand propped against the far wall—trophies from wrecked vessels. Between them, narrow passages lead deeper.
Sitting at a desk of driftwood and salvage, a figure hunches over a ledger. This is Corvain, the Salt-King. His skin has the gray-white pallor of something brined. His fingers are ink-stained and skeletal. He's writing by lantern-light, muttering numbers.
When the party enters, he doesn't immediately attack. Instead, he looks up with rheumy eyes and asks: "Delivery or collection? State your business. Everything must be recorded."
Corvain, the Salt-King — HD 3 (15 HP), AC 6 [13], claw/claw (1d4/1d4) or brine-breath (cone, 2d6 damage, save vs. Breath to halve), Movement 90', Morale 11. Undead creature, immune to sleep and charm. His touch causes painful dehydration—characters hit must drink water within an hour or suffer disadvantage on physical actions.
Roleplay Opportunity: Corvain is mad but coherent. He believes he's still managing his larder for a lord who never existed. He'll negotiate if approached carefully:
Key Choice: Players can fight him here, but noise will alert his "preserves" in the next chamber. Alternatively, they can play along, claim they're inspectors or deliverymen, and gain access to the deeper larder.
A Charisma check (target 7+) convinces him to let them pass if they promise to "verify the inventory." Mentioning spoilage or theft sends him into paranoid rage.
The three passages lead to: The Brine Gallery (east), The Cold Larder (west), and The Guest Hall (north).
The largest chamber, carved fifty feet into the cliff. Alcoves line the walls, each containing a standing human figure preserved in salt. These are shipwreck victims and thieves, turned into undead servants through Corvain's curse.
Eight Salt-Preserved Servants — HD 1 (4 HP each), AC 7 [12], slam (1d6), Movement 60', Morale 12. They activate if combat breaks out in the Counting Room or if anyone damages the "inventory."
At the chamber's end sits Corvain's true treasure: a shrine made from ships' wheels and figureheads, surrounding an ancient clay jar sealed with wax. This is the Amphora of Eternal Preservation—the cursed artifact that transformed Corvain decades ago when he was a simple quartermaster who stole it from his captain.
The jar radiates a faint magical aura (detect magic reveals overwhelming preservation magic). Inscribed on its base in an old language: "Nothing rots, nothing spoils, nothing ends."
Climactic Choices:
Destroy the Amphora: Smashing it (AC 9 [10], 5 HP, fragile) releases the curse. Corvain crumbles to dust, screaming about his "records." The salt-servants collapse. All preserved goods in the larder begin aging rapidly—most remain edible but no longer supernaturally fresh. The party has minutes to grab what they need before fleeing the collapsing preservation magic.
Take the Amphora: The party can seal it in a bag and carry it out. Corvain pursues them desperately, begging and threatening. If they escape with it, they possess a powerful artifact (preserves any organic matter perfectly, but slowly corrupts the owner with obsessive hoarding behavior). Corvain, separated from his power source, dies within hours.
Negotiate: Clever players might convince Corvain to release specific goods or information in exchange for leaving his larder intact. He knows the location of three other wrecks along the coast with salvageable cargo. He'll trade maps for exotic preservation subjects—rare spices, unusual creatures, or magical items. This leaves him in place as a recurring NPC.
Fight It Out: If the party chooses violence, they face Corvain plus 1d6 salt-servants. The battle is tough but winnable. Defeating Corvain breaks his hold on the servants, who regain brief consciousness long enough to thank their liberators before dissolving. The amphora remains, its curse seeking a new host (Wisdom check, target 10+, or become obsessed with organizing and preserving things).
Corvain, the Salt-King: Undead quartermaster cursed by greed. Obsessively catalogs his larder. Wants order, preservation, and recognition for his perfect inventory management.
Goodwife Tallis: Merchant's wife seeking her lost husband. Desperate, willing to pay well. Her husband is one of the salt-servants—she'll recognize his clothing if she accompanies the party.
Captain Murgen: Ghost bound to his figurehead in the Counting Room. If spoken to (requires speaking with dead or similar), reveals Corvain's origin and the amphora's location. Wants his ship's wheel returned to the sea.
Yset the Wrecker: Local salvager who secretly guides ships onto the rocks. She knows about the larder but fears the Salt-King. Will pay for information about alternative entrances or weaknesses.
Brother Talm: Traveling monk who researches cursed artifacts. Will pay 200 silver pieces for the amphora intact, intending to purify it. Actually plans to use it for his own purposes.
Treasure: The larder contains approximately 400 silver pieces worth of preserved goods (exotic spices, aged wine, salted delicacies). The amphora is worth 800 silver pieces to collectors, more to those who understand its power.
Experience: Award XP for defeating or bypassing Corvain (135 XP), dealing with the salt-servants (40 XP total), and recovering the amphora or freeing its victims (100 XP). Bonus XP for creative solutions that avoid combat.
Story Rewards: Maps to three wreck sites (adventure hooks), Corvain's ledgers (containing merchant secrets worth blackmail or reward money), Captain Murgen's gratitude (blessing granting +1 to saves on water for one week).
Magic Item: If kept intact, the Amphora of Eternal Preservation functions as a portable hole specifically for organic matter, preventing all decay. Prolonged possession requires Wisdom saves to avoid obsessive hoarding behavior.
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