Background
Once known as Finn’s Wake, this weathered building served as an inn more than a century ago, catering to fishermen, traders, and the occasional wandering merchant. Today, it is home to the Mariners’ Guildhall.
History
Origins: Finn’s Wake Inn
Before it became a guildhall, the building was a simple inn near the waterfront. Finn’s Wake was popular with sailors waiting for a job or seeking shelter from storms rolling in from the Azure Sea. Some locals still refer to it by its old name from time to time.
Conversion During Azure’s Tide (War with the Sea Princes)
When Azure’s Tide erupted and Keoland mobilized its coastal defenses, the crown issued letters of marque to privateers willing to take the fight to the Sea Princes. With these letters came small sums intended to help captains refit their vessels for war.
To support the sudden wave of privateering, the kingdom funded the construction and conversion of Mariner Halls up and down the coast. Taverns, inns, and old warehouses were rapidly transformed into:
recruiting hubs for privateers,
places for captains to find crews and supplies.
Finn’s Wake was claimed, renovated, and officially reborn as the Mariners’ Guildhall of Saltmarsh.
A Sanctuary from Press Gangs
During the height of the conflict, conscription practices grew increasingly aggressive. Press gangs roamed the streets, hauling able-bodied folk into service for the Royal Navy, willing or not.
But the Mariners’ Guildhall offered a loophole.
If you signed on as a privateer, you were exempt from being pressed into the navy. As long as your name appeared on a privateer roster, you were considered already in service to Keoland. Because of this, the guildhall became a sanctuary for:
fishermen avoiding being pressed into the navy,
seasoned mariners looking for better pay,
desperate youths seeking adventure rather than conscription,
old salts chasing the dream of privateer wealth.
Two large bunk rooms were added, constantly filled with new recruits waiting for a berth on a ship. Captains posted rosters daily, sometimes filling crews within an hour.
After the War (Post–CY 464)
With Azure’s Tide concluded, most privateers returned to civilian life. The guildhall transitioned into a more traditional role:
a hiring hall for sailors,
a place to post “hands wanted” notices,
and a social center for gossip, sea tales, and news from passing vessels.
Today, sailors who pay their small yearly dues receive:
a bunk when needed,
a simple meal,
and the right to first pick of posted ship jobs.
Current Role in Saltmarsh
Saltmarsh is no Seaton. Where Seaton's port teems with merchant fleets, military patrol craft, and dozens of foreign vessels each tenday, Saltmarsh is quieter, friendly, slower paced, and home to mostly coast-huggers and local traders.
Saltmarsh’s Guildhall is rarely crowded.
There is almost always space in the bunks, making it an ideal stop for adventurers seeking cheap lodging.Captains post jobs here, but they tend to be:
short hauls up the coast,
escort duties for small fishing fleets,
or seasonal runs between Saltmarsh, Seaton, Angler and Redshore Islands.
Old sailors still gather most evenings, drinking cheap ale and telling exaggerated stories of their “glory years."
Adventure Hook: Azure's Folly
As told by Bernard of the Mariners’ Guildhall
Late one night in the Mariners’ Guildhall, as the fire smolders and a few sailors finish their ale, Bernard wipes his hands on a rag and looks around to see who's listening. And begins the tale...
“Now listen here, and listen close… this one ain’t just a tavern tale.”
“It was in the early years of Azure’s Tide, when the Sea Princes were cuttin’ through our coast like wolves through lambs. Merchant ships burned from Abbey Isle to Angler Island, and the privateers, gods bless ’em, did what they could. Some even played both sides…”
He gives wink.
“…but Keoland still hadn’t shown its teeth. Javan Bay was the Sea Princes’ playground.”
“You all know how winter storms roll in from the Azure Sea, hard and fast, especially when blow in from the north of Jetsom Island... Well, every few years one of those storms rears up like a sea god’s fist and turns the whole bay into a boiling cauldron.”
“Well, one winter… the worst in livin’ memory… every ship in the bay ran for shelter. Merchants crowded Seaton’s harbor, fishermen dragged their boats up the Kingfisher River, even those poor souls on Angler Isle made for the north shore.”
“But one ship didn’t make it.”
“Azure’s Folly. The cursed ship.”
“A Sea Prince terror-ship if there ever was one. Said she sunk a dozen merchants, two privateers, stole more gold, wool, and rum than the guild could count. She was captained by Arven Vex, a devil of a captain, would cut a man down with a single blow without a thought.”
“And he weren’t alone. He kept a sorcerer onboard, Helvar Thane, a man who bent storms, men’s minds, and maybe fate itself.”
“That night, Azure’s Folly was spotted south off the Saltmarsh coast, her masts bent low, storm sails shudderin’, ridin’ waves tall as towers. The lookout at Bale Keep saw her fightin’ for her life against the sea.”
Bernard raises his voice
“Then, a flash.”
“Lightning? That’s what they say. But the lookout swore the sails turned blue, glowing like witch-fire. The whole ship lit the sky, then rose, I tell you… rose, on a wave that lifted straight into the clouds.”
“And with a burst of blue light...”
Bernard snaps his fingers.
“...it vanished.”
“Sorcerer’s magic. The kind folk pray they never see.”
“But that ain’t the end.”
Bernard leans in, the sailors go quiet.
“The ship was never seen again. Rumors out of the Monmorg say she sank. Some say she slipped into another world. But a few nights after the storm… that same lookout at Bale Keep saw something movin’ in the reeds of the Hool Marsh.”
“He thought it wolves, maybe smugglers… until he saw them clearly.”
“A dozen figures. Soaked to the bone. Draggin’ swords. Rotting flesh hangin’ off their limbs. Eyes hollow as empty lanterns.”
“Undead pirates.”
“Some wore the colors of Azure’s Folly. Some still dripped seawater. All of ’em movin’ like they were lookin’ for somethin’ they lost.”
“That was a hundred years ago.”
“And here’s the part few have ever heard…”
“I’ve heard whispers, when I had once visited the Styes when I served as quartermaster aboard the Dreaded Plum, that deep in the Drowned Forest, high in the twisted cypress trees… lies a shipwreck perched in the branches like some great dead bird.”
“A wreck with a Sea Prince figurehead. Barnacle-crusted hull. And shadows movin’ ’round it with rusty cutlasses.”
“They say the undead crew still guard the ship. Or search for the sea. Or wait for the storm that’ll never end.”
“Who knows what’s true? The Hool Marsh is full of strange things. But one thing’s certain…”
Bernard drains his cup.
“Azure’s Folly was never seen at sea again. Something took her. Something left her crew wanderin’ the marsh. And somewhere out there… that cursed ship might still be waitin’.”
Adventure Summary
Azure’s Folly, a legendary Sea Prince pirate ship, vanished during a supernatural storm.
Undead sailors matching the crew were seen afterward in the Hool Marsh.
Rumors persist of a shipwreck suspended in the trees of the Drowned Forest, guarded by undead pirates.
The truth of its fate and its treasure remains buried in the marsh’s darkest reaches.
Sea Stories told in the Guildhall
 | Sailors in the Guildhall often tell sea tales, especially after a mug or two of Bernard’s ale. The rumor table below offers several examples you can weave into your game. Invent your own rumors. A good rumor should point toward a location to explore, an NPC to meet, or a mystery to unravel in the Javan Bay or Saltmarsh Coast |
Rumor Table
d12 | About | Rumor |
|---|---|---|
1 | Quest: "Lost Tome" | “Heard Captain Fireborn’s got the largest nautical library in Keoland—shipwrecks, lost charts, even restricted naval reports. Bet there’s wrecks in those books no one else knows about.” |
2 | “Saw a ship anchored off Abbey Isle last night. No lights, no flag, no signal lanterns. Ain’t no honest crew sits dark like that.” | |
3 | Quest: "Lost Tome" | “Plenty of wrecks around Raven Rocks. Current’s a killer. But some say a few of those hulls went down with gold in the hold.” |
4 | Angler Island (Tammeraut’s Fate) | “They say The Rasp is terrorizing the south coast of Angler Island again.” |
5 | “There’s talk of a band of outlaws camping somewhere up the Dunwater delta.” | |
6 | “Keoland Navy’s gearing up for something. Two more warships anchored in Seaton and they ain’t taking on supplies. Looks like they’re waiting.” | |
7 | Port Torvin (The Styes) | “Bernard? Old bastard sailed aboard the Dreaded Plum. Made port in Monmurg and Port Torvin… the Styes. Says none of those places have changed much.” |
8 | Black Drain (Final Enemy) | “No ship’s ever gone into the Black Drain and come out the other side. Fishermen swear the marsh itself eats hulls for breakfast.” |
9 | “A merchant swears he saw lights bobbing just off the coast near Bale Keep. Ghost lanterns, maybe?” | |
10 | “A storm blew an entire raft of barnacle-encrusted debris onto the shore, bits of a ship no one recognizes. Could be a foreign wreck drifting from the south.” | |
11 | “Someone’s been cutting rope lines and fouling nets at night near the western docks. Might be smugglers testing the waters.” | |
12 | “Barnacle Bob claims he spotted a sea serpent far out in Javan Bay, ‘longer than a galleon,’ he says. Most think he was drunk…" |