Frume arranges for a large sailing boat to take the group to Baldur’s Gate, as the adventurers had agreed to go on a mission to spy on the cultist raiders while they travel north. The boat trip up the Chionthar River will take a few days. In the morning, Vola (half-orc wizard) rejoins the group for breakfast and explains she was at the practice fields with Fluffy her pseudodragon familiar the previous day. They all then head to the docks to meet Captain Harrington Dogsworth. He is a middle-aged human with many years of experience on this river. His crew is made up of three other individuals and a dog. Roger, the first mate, chews straw all the time. Buzz has dreadlocks. Due to being the night watch, he sleeps all day. Hank is a super old gnome who has been a sailor for longer than the captain has been alive. Below deck are crates of food and three rooms of bunk beds. Two of the rooms are free for the ladies to share.

The boat sets sail with no issues. The captain waves and greets every ship they pass as if he knows them personally. In the evening, they pass a castle on a hill in an eerily quiet section of the river. No bird cries; no frog croaks. The only sound is the water lapping the shore. Half a mile away they see a small trail of smoke drifting up. Issa (tiefling druid) walks up to the captain at the wheel and inquiries about the castle.

Captain Dogsworth says, “That is Fort Morninglord. About a hundred years past, half a dozen paladins went missing inside. See that trail of smoke? That’s a paladin camp keeping watch to make sure no one else goes inside, and to be ready if any of the missing soldiers return. No one knows what is inside, only that it is extremely dangerous.”

Hank pops up from where he was retying some ropes. “I think there’s a rift in there, and the people were transported to another realm. No proof that it’s not true.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Roger pipes up from the side of the deck where he is fishing. “He’s so old he’s probably senile too. They either died fighting some forgotten monster or are under some curse that keeps them trapped inside. Either way, no one else is allowed inside.” The ship passes the hill in silence. Slowly the animal sounds come back, and the moment is forgotten.

The captain pulls the ship to shore for the evening, and Buzz takes watch on deck so the rest of the crew can sleep. Phoebe (human paladin) is not used to boats. She pulls her mattress up onto the deck to sleep outside under the stars. She asks Buzz about his personal life and how many girlfriends he has, assuming there is a girl in each city for these sailors. Buzz is offended at such an audacious claim and assures her there is only one girl for him, who lives back in Elturel. She falls asleep listening to him describe this girl’s resilient personality and generosity toward those less fortunate.

The morning comes slowly. One by one, everyone migrates to the deck where the captain is handing out bread and butter. A simple breakfast for a simple boat. After about an hour, Hank calls out from the crow’s nest, “Shipwreck ahead! Heads up, there is a shipwreck!” The captain and Roger rush to the front of the boat to see if they recognize the wreck. Sure enough, Roger says he used to be a sailor on that boat and knew the captain well. He implores the group to investigate and rescue anyone still alive. The captain brings the ship as close to the wreck as he believes is safe. They can see a few sailors lying on the deck, feet lapping in the water.

Issa calls the group together and gives each person the ability to breathe underwater for the next eight hours. They jump into the water and swim over. Vola (half-orc wizard), Zelena (elf wizard), and Phoebe climb onboard the deck of the ship and are immediately ambushed by merrow who jump out from behind the dead bodies and the broken mast! Merrow are mermen, men who live underwater and have gills and fins and a long tail in addition to two arms and two legs. They are often hostile to people who live on the surface. One of the merrow pulls out a wand and shoots a couple magic missiles at Zelena. “Ouch!” she yells and shoots her own magic missile back at him. Phoebe pulls out her broadsword and starts hacking away at the merrow closest to her. Vola bends down to inspect the sailors. They are cold to the touch—definitely dead.

Meanwhile, Issa has wild shaped into a shark and races below deck to sniff out anything suspicious. Nymby (gnome ranger) rides on her back. The ship has been broken in half. From the water, they can see a few merrow swimming around below deck and a couple drowned sailors sinking down toward the riverbed. Nymby points at a closed hatch near the back that the merrow are not guarding. Issa flies through the water and rams the hatch with her shark nose. It pops open and they both jump inside the room. It is above the water level and appears to be the captain’s quarters. There is a bed, desk, dozens of maps, scrolls, and a wooden chest. The door is barred shut. Issa’s shark nose does not sense any merrow in this room, so Nymby disembarks to explore.

Outside on the deck, Phoebe decapitates a merrow. The head rolls into the water and sinks down. The others start yelling at each other in a strange bubbly language and continue their attack. The one with the wand throws it into the water and jumps onto Zelena, trying to strangle her. Vola shoots a firebolt at its torso to force it off Zelena, who then shoots acid into its eyes. It rolls around screaming, then falls back into the water. The remaining two merrow jump into the water and swim away as quickly as they can.

In the captain’s quarters, Nymby tries to open the chest. However, her fingers get stuck to the outside as if the chest is coated in glue. Just as she tries to pull them away, the wooden panels curve into a smile. The chest speaks, “Hello new friends. Can you please help me? I need transportation to the nearest city.” The grin widens to show several rows of sharp teeth.

Nymby screams and jumps back, dislodging her hands. She scrambles back behind Issa. The chest continues, “You see, I had an arrangement with the previous captain. He was supposed to take me into the city, that is, until his ship was raided by these merrow.” The chest burps, and he spits out a sailor’s hat.

Issa drops her shark form to become her tiefling self and just says, “Nope.” She raises her hand and throws a fireball into the room, then quickly ducks down into the water with Nymby. The room explodes in fire and splintered wood. The mimicked chest screams and is burned to death. Outside, the deck also explodes into fire, throwing Phoebe, Vola, and Zelena into the water.

The women reunite and all swim back to their own boat with nothing to report except everyone was dead. Captain Harrington removes his hat at the news, and the crew have a moment of silence for the fallen sailors. They spend one more uneventful night on the boat before arriving at Baldur’s Gate the next day.

-I never finished making the dungeon for Fort Morninglord. We may go back there, or we may not.

-They blew up the boat and therefore let all the loot float to the bottom of the river.

-Nymby assisted in the editing of this episode.