## The Riverboat (Hex 0505.03) Resting quietly at the jungle's edge, this squat and sturdy riverboat is constructed from rough timber and reinforced with salvaged metal. Despite its primitive appearance, the boat is surprisingly seaworthy, and its shallow draft is perfect for navigating both the winding river and rocky coastline. Thick fiber ropes tether it to the riverbank, where it sways gently with the current. ![[the-riverboat.webp]] ### Tables #### Wandering Monsters Game masters should perform a wandering monster check every 30 in-game minutes spent in this area. | Roll | Monster | | ---- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 1-2 | 1d5 [[Monsters#Goliath Crab\|goliath crabs]], browsing the riverbank | | 3-6 | 3 [[Monsters#Apemen\|apemen]] scouting the recent arrivals from the safety of the jungle | | 7-9 | 1 young [[Monsters#Giant Alligator\|giant alligator]] (all stats halved) | | 10 | 1d5 [[Monsters#Wild Dogs\|wild dogs]], lazing in the sun | ### The Boat Captained by Robert Sumter in the company of his younger sister Sarah, the boat suffered rudder damage on its way downriver to the [[0505 – The Mouth of Snake River|Beach of the Lost]], where the two intended to salvage more wood for construction at the Rookery: a generations-old treetop settlement found near the [[0605 – Snake River Bend|Snake River Bend]]. It is moored at the riverbank while they work to repair it. **Main deck:** Open and functional, with supplies lashed to the railing and a wide area for hauling materials. **Pilot house:** In addition to the standard tools of navigation, the following items can be found here: - A rough map of the local river and surrounding jungle - A journal with sketches of strange reptilian creatures seen upriver **Cargo hold:** Beneath the deck, the hold contains a number of valuable goods foraged by the people of the Rookery. Items include: - Jungle fruits, spices, and 1d10 pouches of medicinal plants (restores 1d5 hit points per pouch) - A cache of scavenged metal tools (axes, hooks, crude weapons) - Aetherium shards, carefully wrapped in cloth for transport ### The Riverbank There are next to no locations on the island without danger, and the riverbanks are no exception. The river is frequented by dangerous wildlife in search of fresh water, and even greater dangers lurk just beneath its surface. - Young giant alligator - - Giant piranhas - #### Adventure Hooks **A Trip to the Rookery:** Robert & Sarah offer to take the party to the Rookery, where they might find safety and fellowship; but first, the boat will need to be repaired (necessitating a trip by foot to the beach, where wood & metal might be salvaged). **The Mystery Light:** Robert mentions that he'd intended to pay a visit to the [[0505.02 – The Ruined Watchtower|ruined watchtower]], which has been reported by some to be emitting a ghostly glow at night, though he wonders now if the damage to the boat is a bad omen against such a trip. #### Non-Player Characters **Robert & Sarah Sumter:** Two friendly faces that may appear strange to fantasy adventurers from a medieval-like time period, Robert & Sarah hail from the Antebellum South, and were stranded on the island several years ago when their steamboat was swallowed up during a freak storm and spat onto the Beach of the Lost, along with some fellow passengers and a small cache of supplies (including an Enfield rifle that Robert is almost never seen without). Of the first few days on the beach, they proved the only survivors, and the events that transpired left Sarah mute; nevertheless, they are now residents of the Rookery, where they have become staples of the community. ### Lore #### Robert Sumter **Introduction:** "I'm Robert, and this here's Sarah. She don't talk much these days, on account of... well, on account of everything that's happened here. But she's a real peach, once you get to know her." **On the alligator:** "He won't bother you none—he's just playful on account of bein' a youngun'." **On the area:** "We better get movin'—by foot, if necessary. You stick around too long by this ocean, you're gonna run into the big gators, and they ain't so nice as this little one here," Robert said, gesturing with a sun-browned hand from where he stood on the lame boat's deck to the monstrous reptile eyeing them indifferently just beneath the river's surface. "But you get too close to them mountains over there," he continued, this time gesturing inland at the range some miles to the east that rose and fell like waves on a green sea. "You're gonna run into them flyin' ones, and they got a real nasty sting. You go much further up river, well... ain't nobody come back from there. No, I reckon there's only one safe place 'round these parts." "Yes, yes. We've killed a few of your fighting men—and heaven knows you've done the same of mine. But do you really believe this to be the source of division between us? No, no. It is much deeper, more fundamental, and quite simple: it is that in these far-flung wilds, you would reforge the manacles of civilization, while we would seize our freedom from them! And so we have, because who will stop us—you?" O Brynne, I know it's born to you But is it what you want to do? It isn't lady-like, it's true But still I'm wanting more And with the moonlight in your hair Your raven locks make me despair You've got me tangled up in there I'd sail and slay with you What is this witchcraft in my mind? Thoughts of you like murky wine I'll love you 'til the end of time Set a course for the sun "I don't love you," she smiled, her voice smooth as velvet and cold as ice. "I love gems. I love gold. I love steel. I love all the pretty little things of the world that don't yet belong to me. I love—" she paused, biting her lip. "—the ruby red of blood." In a lightning flash her cutlass was loosed and plunged into the young man's chest. He made a brief choking sound and his eyes glittered in the moonlight before going dim, and he slumped to the deck wearing a peaceful gaze on his paling face. Brynne nodded and two men stepped forward, gathering up his lifeless body and heaving it unceremoniously overboard—another blood meal for the insatiable creatures lurking just beneath the river's glassy black surface. *She delights in wickedness...*