Azure's Folly
Deep in the Drowned Forest, shrouded by fog, an impossible sight looms among the dead trees, a Sea Princes’ warship, hangs in the twisted branches of old cypress tress. The ship rocks faintly in the wind, its timbers groan, echoes through the Drowned Forest. Swamp folk call it The Ship in the Trees.
The Legend
The Azure’s Folly vanished over a century ago during a storm. It was captained by Arven Vex, a ruthless privateer of the Sea Princes, whose crew preyed on Keoland’s merchant lanes and the Saltmarsh Coast during Azure's Tide. When a great storm struck, witnesses claimed the ship’s sails burned blue with sorcery before it vanished into lightning and foam.
The Truth
Trapped in a storm, the ship’s sorcerer, Helvar Thane, cast a desperate teleportation spell to escape the storm. The magic tore through the veil between realms, hurling the ship far from the Javan Bay into the Drowned Forest, along with hundreds of gallons of seawater. That water, infused with Helvar’s unstable spellwork and the swamp’s Abyssal corruption, manifested as raging water elementals that slaughtered the crew before collapsing back into brine.
When the chaos ended, the forest was silent and the Azure’s Folly remained stranded in the treetops, dripping saltwater and blood.
The Curse
Today, faint blue lights drift around the wreck like ghostly lanterns, (1d4+2) will-o’-wisps, drawn by the echo of the crew’s horrible end. At night, the drowned sailors rise again: 3d12 skeletons walk the ship as if she were at sea again, ruled by Captain Arven Vex, now a wight, and haunted by Helvar Thane, who endures as a wraith.
The ship creaks and groans as if sailing an unseen ocean, its dead crew endlessly reliving their doomed escape.
Treasure
The captain’s quarters remain sealed. Within lie the ship’s final spoils:
Coin Chest: 3d100+100 gp in corroded Sea Princes coinage
Captain’s Longsword of Vengeance: Arven Vex’s blade, etched with the crest of the Sea Princes.
Ring of Water Walking: A silver band with a sapphire shaped like a drop of water.
Three Potions of Water Breathing: Stored in green glass vials sealed with wax.
Those who claim the treasures of the Azure’s Folly may soon find themselves dreaming of drowning seas and the sound of ghostly rigging creaking above their beds.
(See: Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Chapter 1 — “Drowned Forest Oddities #8”)
