Session 20: The Grease Cube and the Cave

Pegport — Harbor and Lighthouse

TONE: Split party chaos. Things keep catching fire. There is
treasure in the cave.

Two Nights, Two Stories

The party splits for the night. One or two members stay at the Salty
Siren — where Clingy Pete, a damp and devoted tavern regular, attaches
himself to whoever stays behind with cheerful, persistent affection.
Everyone else goes camping with the Lost Boys.

The Lost Boys’ Camp

The camp is in the forest outside town — a proper Lost Boys camp with
rope bridges, fire pits, and a hierarchy that makes complete sense
internally and no sense externally. Overnight: a lost merrowling (baby
merrow, separated from its pod) is found tangled in the camp’s fishing
lines. It is about the size of a large cat and extremely upset.

DM NOTE: Merrowlings respond to salt water and calm voices. DC 13
Animal Handling to calm it enough to carry; DC 14 Perception to find the
nearest tide pool that leads to the sea. Getting it to the sea earns the
Favor of the Merrow — a token that functions as a letter of introduction
to Coral’s council later.

Clingy Pete and Buccaneer
Bobbly

Buccaneer Bobbly’s parrot has been stolen by a monkey. The monkey is
in a palm tree. It has a very strong grip and is fascinated by whoever
attempts to retrieve it. Recovery requires patience, bribery (fruit),
and eventually just waiting the monkey out. This takes longer than
expected. It’s fine.

Morning: Marina Missing

A local mermaid named Marina hasn’t returned from the harbor. The
party investigates the shipyard, where a warehouse is emitting a smell
described by locals as ‘what happens when the sea gets angry at
cheese.’

Inside: Marina, being tormented by seagulls (she got stuck when the
tide went out; the seagulls are opportunistic). Also inside: the
gelatinous grease cube.

COMBAT: Gelatinous Cube — Grease variant (MM p.242 with
modifications): HP 84, AC 6, Engulf DC 12 Dex or take 3d6 acid and
restrained, Transparent (DC 15 Perception to notice before entering its
space). This one is slightly luminescent from the rendered animal fat
Ambrosius used. It is also on fire by the end of the encounter, which
sets the warehouse on fire.

The Smuggler’s Cave

While others deal with the cube, the investigation-minded party
members find a hidden tunnel in an adjacent warehouse. It leads under
the lighthouse to a smuggler’s cave: an irregular cavern with tide
markings on the walls, shelving built into the rock, and a collection of
crates containing miscellaneous contraband.

• Loot from the cave: 3 Potions of Healing, one Cloak of Spider Silk,
  one Vial of Doppelganger Blood, a Cask of Distilled Nightmare, 6
  Mermaid’s Scales, 180 gp

DM NOTE: The cave’s smuggler schedule (from Tilda in Session 21):
every other day at Fulldark. If the party keeps this in mind, they can
intercept a delivery later.

• Merrowling rescue: 200 XP + Favor of the Merrow

• Freeing Marina: 200 XP

• Gelatinous Grease Cube: 450 XP

• Finding the smuggler’s cave: 250 XP