Revenants of Saltmarsh: Lizardfolk Schism

n.b. Revenants of Saltmarsh is a series in which I dig into a change or revision I made to the adventures from Ghosts of Saltmarsh for my two ongoing groups (one of which being where this series gets its name). Needless to say, these posts will include spoilers for the classic U-series, their 5E versions printed in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and some of the other adventures bound to that series by appearing in that anthology. If you are currently playing through (or plan to someday play through) the adventures in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, you should go find some other content on this site to read instead of this post and series. Furthermore, this series assumes you have access to the adventures being written about, so if you are a DM preparing to run these adventures, make sure to have read them first before turning to this series for suggestions on what to change.

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I am usually not the type to worry about spoilers when it comes to books, movies, and TV but that is not true when it comes to D&D adventures because D&D is experienced in a world where plot points are bound with random results, leading to surprises that almost no mainstream movie or TV show (or even book) can match. As such, this is your final warning. . .

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Danger at Dunwater has recently become one of my favorite D&D modules. While I have run it four times total, there was a gap of two decades between the first pair of play-throughs and the most recent pair. This module can quickly become an overwhelming slog if the player characters approach it with a “murder hobo” mentality or without an interest in playing out scenes of diplomacy and overtures of friendship with a community of lizardfolk. And the first two times I ran the original module, it played out just like that.

On the other hand, the two most recent times I ran it as part of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, it was a highlight of the respective campaigns.

This installment of Revenants of Saltmarsh presents the specific way I developed the schism among the Dunwater Lizardfolk and tied it more directly with the Thousand Teeth encounter.

I am sure that these days I could run a harrowing play-through of Danger at Dunwater that turns violent and has steep consequences for the campaign direction, but violence is so commonly the most fun and expedient method of progress in Dungeon & Dragons, that I like the curveball this adventure throws by having the PCs work to avoid it.

Lizardfolk Schism

The primary obstacle to the PCs forging an alliance with the Dunwater Lizardfolk is the cultural clash between these reptilian folk and the humano-centric society of Saltmarsh. However, in order to complicate this obstacle, I emphasized the divide between the religiously and culturally orthodox clergy and the more cosmopolitan and open faction represented by the monarchy.

In my own setting, I helped to establish this by making the Dunwater Lizardfolk actually two different tribes of lizardfolk that recently merged for the sake of survival (3 or 4 years ago) after suffering mass illness and infertility as a result of something called “the Gray Water.” The details of this ecological disaster that affects the Hool Marshes—and other wilderness areas in which Ghosts of Saltmarsh is set—are not important for running this adventure, but I have used it as an ongoing mystery and a way to unite some of the adventures into a coherent campaign. (I will likely bring it up again when we get to The Final Enemy). This lore is not necessary to run the adventure as I did, but it provides a motivation for why lizardfolk with such distinct outlooks are cohabitating: an understanding that their union is necessary for survival, especially against the encroaching sahuagin threat. It is certainly within the realm of possibility that the community simply has different factions that have developed over time without the backstory of merging tribes, but I prefer a clear and understandable origin of the schism for the sake of players’ grasping the context in which they are making their overtures to the lizardfolk.

In brief, here is how I developed the lizardfolk conflict in Danger at Dunwater: the chief shaman (I prefer using the more generic term “priest” over “shaman” and do so from here on out, so the “chief shaman” becomes “high priest”) is at odds with the more worldly Queen Othokent. The high priest­—who is given no name in the module, but I have dubbed Litrix—and his loyalists hold orthodox beliefs regarding the commandments of their god Semuanya and thus reject any contact or alliance with non-lizardfolk. Litrix is convinced that the queen’s plan to form an alliance and trade with humans (see the smugglers from U1 – The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh) has already brought the wrath of their god on the community in the form of Thousand Teeth, a god-touched dire crocodile. The lizardfolk taboo against harming crocs and the obvious divine aspect of the monster has held the community back from doing something about its aggression. In the meantime, it has driven away other game, has killed a few members of the Dunwater Mound on routine patrols and hunting missions, and has made guarding against encroaching sahuagin more difficult. For Litrix and his followers, these are signs of Semuanya’s disapproval of the queen’s actions and the community’s move towards diplomatic relations with others.

Queen Othokent on the other hand is a former adventurer, successful big game hunter, and is willing to ignore or work around lizardfolk religious and social custom to build alliances with other peoples to help defend her community not only against the looming sahuagin threat but also the danger of humans and other peoples who might see the lizardfolk themselves as dangerous. Despite tending to keep to themselves, what is left of her tribe (slightly more than half of the lizardfolk in the Dunwater Mound) is more accustomed to trade and communication with non-lizardfolk and to occasional members leaving on adventuring sojourns before returning to find a mate or share their knowledge with the tribe. Othokent understands the need for her community to strengthen bonds with outsiders and sees the arrival of the PCs as a chance to recruit the humans of Saltmarsh in defending against the sahuagin, while working to erase the prejudice of so-called “civilized” peoples against lizardfolk and their ilk. So rather than “indifferent” as the adventure describes, as long as the PCs have not done some irreparable harm to the lizardfolk community, the Queen will have a favorable attitude towards the benefits of the alliance the PCs represent. However, that being said she will be careful not to show this until the PCs prove their good intentions. (For example, despite speaking fluent Common, she will play up her accent and halting command of the language until after the “Goodwill Tour” to test the PCs’ attitudes).

Assuming the PCs treat the queen with requisite respect and diplomatic acumen when brought before her (I suggest having her encountered in area 11, rather than area 40, since the former has a secret passage through which the queen can escape violent assault if need be), she will declare them “honored guests” and will explain a custom from her own tribe regarding guests in order to test the PCs and earn the support of the rest of the community (see Good Will Tour). In the past, when two different communities of lizardfolk encountered each other, members of one were invited to spend time in the lair of the other. By demonstrating the proper behavior of a guest, and showing restraint and humility, and refraining from entering private areas, even though they have been told they have full access to the lair, they demonstrate their friendship, good will and good sense. She will extend this old tradition to apply to the player characters.

Litrix, on the other hand, is working towards usurping the power of the queen and making the community an isolationist theocracy. He has not wholly convinced his two fellow priests and other followers of this goal but will try to use the appearance of outsiders as a catalyst for this strategy. In addition to the priests, Litrix is followed by three of the nine lizardfolk scaleshields, one lizardfolk render, and 18 of the lizardfolk warriors. The lizardfolk commoners found in the lair are a mix from both tribes who defer to authority regardless of who wields it. At the end of this post, I list my suggestions on where the followers can be found in the lair, but the DM can simply choose where they are encountered and how their attitude towards outsiders might shift interactions.

Upon the PCs arrival Litrix will work to drive away or kill them as long as he can do so without directly violating the queen’s commands to treat the PCs as guests (as the locathah, merfolk, and koalinth have been). This means the most dangerous time for the PCs will be between arriving and their audience with the queen. However, even after the audience, the high priest will attempt strategies that include encouraging other lizardfolk to attack the PCs, playing up any potentially violent acts by the PCs (or framing any reasonable faux pax as a grave insult), and trying to provoke the PCs to attack through insults, outward distrust, and sowing the seeds of suspicion about the other guests. The priests and their loyalists will definitely consider any incursion by the PCs into areas 12 through 21 as a violation of guest protocol and will call for them to be driven out. Furthermore, seeing (and definitely harming) the amphisbaenae in area 12 can lead to the PCs being attacked.

The priest and his followers suffer from one potential disadvantage, in that none of them can speak Common and understand only a smattering of it. Though it is possible, depending on the PCs actions, attitudes, and their own ability to communicate, that this could also be used to their advantage.

The queen, her loyal advisor (Sauriv) and the subchief (Ihrtos) on the other hand, do speak the Common tongue and a smattering of their loyal followers know enough to communicate with PCs via gestures and pidgin.

A potential scene when the PCs are brought before the queen for the first time could involve Litrix arriving soon after, having been alerted to the fact that outsiders have arrived, to argue for their removal on religious grounds. He will only speak in the lizardfolk tongue, but since it is a dialect of draconic it might allow a character who knows that language to garner some of the meaning of the aggressive high priest’s barking. When I ran Danger at Dunwater for my Revenants of Saltmarsh group, a scene like this laid the groundwork for the PCs understanding that they had to navigate the schism.

The queen will never mention the schism in public but should the PCs prove their good intentions she will explain it during a private audience with them. The party might also learn about this tension through conversation with different lizardfolk as they explore the mound and get to know its people.

The Good Will Tour as Skill Challenge

As written, Danger at Dunwater presents a point system for determining the PCs’ success at winning over the Dunwater Lizardfolk during the so-called “Good Will Tour.” This system is perfectly acceptable; however, I ran the tour as a skill challenge based on a version suggested by Matt Colville in his aptly named video, “Skill Challenge.” This approach avoids making everything hinge on Charisma-based Persuasion checks and allows for party creativity in determining which of their skills could be put to use in winning over the lizardfolk. For example, Animal Handling might be used by a party member to demonstrate care of the giant lizards, or Performance or History might be used to sing a song or tell a story about lizardfolk of the past and entertain the community, etc… In the version I ran, the PCs were required to earn five successes and avoid three failures and could not earn a success for a duplicate skill (even if used in a different way or circumstance). I also potentially awarded successes for some actions that were not related to a specific skill (like sparring with lizardfolk in area 40 or playing kindly with the hatchlings).

Thousand Teeth

There are three potential scenarios for introducing the threat of Thousand Teeth and the PCs being asked to hunt down the immense crocodile.

1. Queen Othokent asks them to do it.
2. High Priest Litrix challenges them to do it.
3. They decide to do it on their own to impress the community.

Regardless of which of these (or other) possibilities play out, if the PCs are able to defeat or drive off Litrix and slay the crocodile, the Dunwater Lizardfolk will be awed by the party’s prowess and take it as a sign of Semuanya’s favor. They will praise Queen Othokent’s wisdom and enter into the alliance with enthusiasm.

Queen Othokent asks them to do it.

Assuming the PCs are successful in their “goodwill tour” and win over the favor of the lizardfolk community and their queen, she asks them to a private meeting after the banquet in honor of the alliance. Here the issue of the potentially divine crocodile is explained. If Thousand Teeth isn’t a sign from Semuanya, she needs it dealt with for the sake of her people’s safety (who would rather be devoured than fight it). And if it is a sign from Semuanya she wants it destroyed to lessen the influence of what in private she calls “a backwards god” on the Dunwater Lizardfolk. Ideally, she would like to hunt it herself, but understands that in order to win over those lizardfolk who tend to side with the priest, she can’t be the one to violate the taboo. Instead, she asks the PCs to do the hunting, explaining that if the PCs slay Thousand Teeth and return with its head, she can put it on display with her other trophies and the community will see it as a sign that a powerful alliance has been made.

In this case, Litrix—using a spell of clairvoyance (see stat block below)—spies on that meeting and decides to lay a trap for the PCs in hopes of ensuring Thousand Teeth’s victory.

The queen arranges for one of her most trusted scouts to lead the way to Thousand Teeth’s hunting grounds. The PCs will not be forced to leave until they are ready, but she tries to convey some urgency in tackling the monster. Consider making the scout one of the lizardfolk encountered on the Sea Ghost (see The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh), if any survived. He will only guide them within a mile of Thousand Teeth’s hunting grounds and direct them the rest of the way. Assume that Litrix has a sense of the day and time the party plans to head out based on his spell and his contacts within the community.

In addition, the queen will gift each member of the party a potion of extra-healing (up to five).

When the morning of the hunt comes, however, there is a long delay before anyone comes to retrieve the PCs from their quarters. If the party decides to wander the mound before anyone retrieves them, they will find it quiet and sparsely populated. The majority of the adults, including the queen, are out looking for the young, who somehow slipped out of the lair and into the swamp in the early hours and had to be retrieved. As the party’s guide was needed to lead the hunt, their departure was delayed. By this point it should be clear that the entire community sees their young as precious and all take part in raising them collectively. A particularly involved party or role-play heavy group might join the search delaying their journey further.

If the party leaves immediately after the young are found­—the hatchlings claim “an angel from Semuanya” sent them to a rocky spot on the beach, which happened to be out of view of the mound, to watch the sun rise—no one will notice until long after the PCs have left that Litrix and a handful of his closest followers are gone. Should the PCs choose to delay their hunting trip further, they may still be around when Litrix’s absence is noted after one of the older kids says he thought it was the priest who led them that way. The two remaining priests run interference for Litrix, claiming he is meditating in the temple and is not to be disturbed. These priests will have two scaleshields and four lizardfolk warriors as muscle. In this case, the PCs will probably be able to guess that Litrix and his fellows are planning an ambush. What the PCs choose to do with this information is up to them.

However, if it goes according to Litrix’s plan, he and his followers will already be waiting for the PCs when they arrive at the hunting grounds. They will hide in the thick brush and underwater. Litrix himself will likely start the battle in crocodile form. This band consists of the High Priest Litrix, one lizardfolk scaleshield (Xamot), three lizardfolk (Clot, Shizzak, and Match) and a lizardfolk render (Theikli). The lizardfolk open their attacks from hiding with volleys of darts or javelins. They take up positions to force the PCs to cross water or climb up a bank to be reached and spread out in hopes of making the party do the same and be easier targets for Thousand Teeth. The lizardfolk take advantage of their swim speed and “Sure-Footed” ability to move around the swamp more easily despite not being very fast.

The high priest’s idea is to be present when the party is killed by the monster (and to aid it in the killing). He hopes to be able to bring back the corpse of at least one PC as evidence of the queen’s disfavor with the lizardfolk god

Needless to say, this planned ambush will make that final battle more difficult for the player characters.

Unfortunately for the lizardfolk traditionalists, however, the crocodile does not care who it eats and will attack anyone that presents as a potential target. Thousand Teeth is a cunning and cruel animal with a preternatural intelligence and a voracious appetite. It tries to grab targets, use its Death Roll legendary ability to incapacitate its meal, and then drag them under to drown. It chooses targets in the following order of preference: 1) closest, 2) most vulnerable, 3) biggest threat. Thus, if Thousand Teeth has three targets in equal reach it will attack the most vulnerable over the biggest threat in hopes of carrying them off and then returning to attack from stealth later.  Furthermore, when the monster has a chance to use both its attacks, consider having it attack enemies on both sides. So, it might bite a lizardfolk but also try a tail slap against a PC. It fights to the death.

If you are ever in doubt over who the croc will attack, use a die roll to determine the target and consider rolling in the open, even if you usually don’t. Once the players realize that Thousand Teeth is open to taking a bite out of anyone, they will be in the strange (and fun) position of rooting for the immense crocodile on some turns and cursing it on others. When my Ghosts of Saltmarsh+ players played through this scenario, they worked to draw Thousand Teeth near the lizardfolk ambushers and then disengaged to put distance between them and those teeth.

Remember: A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier for a minimum of 5 rounds (30 seconds). When a creature runs out of breath, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can’t regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.

If Litrix is killed or captured and Thousand Teeth slain, Queen Othokent declares the High Priest a traitor who violated the customs of hospitality and endangered the young for his schemes. If captured, the high priest will be executed but his followers will have the choice to renounce Litrix and be pardoned, go into exile never to return, or follow him into death. That said, in my Revenants of Saltmarsh campaign, the PCs persuaded the queen to let Litrix go and have the freedom to establish his own community elsewhere in exile.

High Priest Litrix challenges them to do it.

A potentially more dramatic way to introduce Thousand Teeth is to have Litrix and his followers burst into the alliance celebration banquet to make accusations of sacrilege and blasphemy against the queen and her advisor Sauriv. Litrix will demand that Queen Othokent immediately break the alliance and send away the outsiders. When she refuses, he will get a wry smile on his face and invoke an old custom of the lizardfolk people and challenge these allies to face Thousand Teeth as an incarnation of Semuanya’s will. If they can defeat the god-touched crocodile that means Semuanya has no objection to the alliance, and Litrix will agree to go into exile. If they fail, then the queen and her advisor are to be sacrificed and a new leader chosen. Queen Othokent will agree to this and ask the PCs to be her champions. If she needs to convince them, she will remind them that the survival of Saltmarsh against sahuagin attack will require the cooperation of all these different peoples. If that is insufficient, she can offer them a portion of the community’s treasure, though that will also sour her view of the PCs somewhat (especially since she has now tied her fate to theirs).

Of course, should the PCs agree, Litrix will have arranged to have sent ahead some of his followers to ambush the PCs (though he will be unable to go himself). In this case, two lizardfolk scaleshields, one lizardfolk render, and four lizardfolk will be waiting in ambush.

See “Queen Othokent asks them to do it” above for information on running Thousand Teeth.

If the PCs can succeed and bring back evidence of Litrix’s treachery along with Thousand Teeth’s head, the queen will rescind her offer of exile and order the high priest executed. He will try to escape and if he does, he might become a recurring nemesis of the PCs.

The Player Characters Decide to do it on their own.

A more organic way to introduce Thousand Teeth is to have several lizardfolk mention the god-touched crocodile during the party’s goodwill tour. They might wonder about or assert its divinity (perhaps some argue about it in the PCs’ presence), bemoan or grieve the loss of members of their community to the monster and so on. By collecting information about the creature in this way, they might be encouraged to seek it out (perhaps recruiting a guide from among the lizardfolk, perhaps convincing some of the lizardfolk’s other guests to come along) as a way of displaying their might and friendship.

If they do this, they can fight Thousand Teeth without interference (see “Queen Othokent asks them to do it” above for information on running Thousand Teeth), but unless they manage to be completely secretive, they might find themselves ambushed by Litrix and his followers on the way back. This means that a party heavily depleted from the croc fight might be in real danger from the group of aggressive lizardfolk. In this case, Litrix makes the ambush with two lizardfolk scaleshields, one lizardfolk render, four lizardfolk, and one other priest.

If this fight turns against the PCs and you are feeling generous, you can have Queen Othokent and her retinue show up to save the day and help the PCs mop up, having discovered what the priest is up to.

If the PCs lose…

Of course, defeat will complicate matters. Depending on the specific outcome of an encounter with Thousand Teeth where the PCs are defeated, Litrix could be given the evidence he needs to win over more lizardfolk to his outlook. Queen Othokent might find herself exiled or worse, usurped and executed, along with Ihrtos and Sauriv. As the adventure suggests, if this happens, Litrix will lead the unified tribe deeper into the marsh and far from human civilization and the sahuagin threat, and their knowledge and support cannot be counted on for the coming war.

If the PCs are all killed, all of this becomes moot but there are countless other possible outcomes, including succeeding at killing Thousand Teeth but losing to Litrix and his followers. In this case, the traditionalists might take prisoners for future sacrifice, allowing for an opportunity for a “breakout” adventure—the PCs struggling to escape, perhaps with the aid of those lizardfolk who the PCs succeeded at befriending or the sahuagin prisoner in area 43a. I can also imagine a scenario where the PCs help Queen Othokent escape from her own people and she becomes a queen in exile, ending up a guest of the Saltmarsh leadership and acting as a consultant in preparing for the sahuagin incursion.

Regardless of the specific outcome, the DM should play up the political and strategic implications as they apply to the alliance and the looming threat of the sahuagin. In my games, the lizardfolk acted as a liaison between Saltmarsh and the aquatic allies and served as scouts in the search for the sahuagin lair in order for the alliance to make a surprise first strike against them rather than waiting to be invaded. I will further develop this aspect of tying the adventures together when I get to writing about The Final Enemy.

Thousand Teeth’s Hunting Grounds

I have included a reproduction of the hand-drawn battle map I created for running the encounter with Thousand Teeth; what is not present (though you can see some of it in the embedded photos) is the scatter terrain I added to give it some relief and texture.

As with many D&D settings, the present-day society of my Republic of Makrinos setting is built on the ruins and remains of several fallen civilizations of varying degrees of age. As such, one thing I included in this area was a rotting and incomplete wooden walkway that skirts around and over the sunken parts of the swamp for passing through it. This serves both as a marker for travel (the lizardfolk scout can bring the PCs to a section of the old walkway, warn them about it, but also tell them to follow it north into the crocodile’s territory) and as a place the PCs can climb up onto in hopes of garnering some degree of safety. Of course, it also provides dramatic scenery for Thousand Teeth to smash through to get at its prey or to collapse under the weight of one or more adventurers traversing it.

In order to simulate the rotted, fragile, splintered, and slippery nature of the old walkway, I ruled that anyone moving carefully on it could move at half-speed without danger and still take an action (including dashing, as long as the speed it grants is also halved). Otherwise, anyone trying to move faster than that must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 12) or fall prone. Anyone rolling a natural “1” on the save breaks through the wood and is restrained, having to take an action to pull themselves free.

The PCs arrive from the south (assuming they follow the walkway) to a place where the bog is flooded by a slow river, creating deep murky areas with countless tiny eddies that disguise movement, and the shadows of hanging foliage and the swirling silt makes it seem as if countless figures lurk beneath the surface. The disconnected narrow wooden supports near the middle of the map are all that remain of what was once a larger platform or dock. They are held up by vegetation-choked pilings. The water is two to three feet deep in most places, but the blue-gray areas at the top left and top right of the map are deeper water quickly dropping to a range of 8 to 12 feet in depth. The water is choked with vegetation and countless little fish flit about. The gray shape in the middle of the deep area on the top right is a rock where Thousand Teeth sometimes suns itself. It is about four feet high above the surface at the highest and slopes towards the water on all sides. It is a smooth gray-white stone. The enormous lilypads (they kind of look like giant slices of lime on the map) cannot support weight. Anyone walking on them must make a Dexterity save (DC 12) to avoid getting wrapped up in the pad if they take any steps on it. It is possible, however, to lay spread out on a lillypad and move at half-speed, belly-crawling across it. Perception checks based on sight are made at disadvantage from this position.

Other Logistics

Ghosts of Saltmarsh does not provide a specific stat block for what it calls “the chief shaman,” so I have provided a stat block for High Priest Litrix below. I have also included my own version of Thousand Teeth, the basic lizardfolk stat block to use for Litrix’s followers (and any of the lizardfolk in the module), and for the sahuagin spy. Stat blocks for lizardfolk renders and lizardfolk scaleshields are found in Appendix C of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. [Click here to jump to stat blocks].

Other Options for Danger at Dunwater

Below are a list of other changes or additions I make to the adventure when I run it that are not necessarily tied to the lizardfolk schism plot. They are organized by map area as keyed in Ghosts of Saltmarsh.

Area 1: If the PCs arrive by this door and knock (or open the door and call in to announce themselves), four of the five lizardfolk from Area 2 will arrive momentarily with spears to hold the PCs at bay in the gully until the fifth of their number returns with the lizardfolk scaleshield and two other lizardfolk from Area 3. The third lizardfolk in that area runs to area 11 to alert the Queen of the arrival of outsiders. She will ask that they be brought before her but are asked to hand over their weapons until the queen gives her leave. If the PCs refuse, they will be asked to leave. If they agree, they will be escorted to see the queen and the Subchief Irhos will be summoned from Area 40.

Area 2: These lizardfolk do not speak Common.

Area 3: The scaleshield is loyal to the queen and understands Common but speaks it haltingly. His name is Krunk. Two of the three lizardfolk on duty here are Litrix followers.

Area 5: This scaleshield (Kravisss) is loyal to Litrix. If he hears the noise of combat he joins the fight, but if he simply investigates the commotion of the arrival of outsiders and a fight has not broken out, he goes to alert Litrix in Area 20.

Area 9: The priest here will order any lizardfolk or scaleshields present to attack the PCs if they arrive here unaccompanied before they have been brought before the queen. One of the four lizardfolk here is a traditionalist and will move to obey. However, the lizardfolk scaleshield (Tharissa) is loyal to the queen and only obeys the priest if the PCs are attacking or belligerent. Otherwise, she and the three of the other lizardfolk try to hold the party here while the fourth lizardfolk is sent to alert the queen and the priest leaves to alert Litrix (in Area 20).

Area 11: This is where any audiences with the queen will take place. The Queen, Subchief and the advisor will all come here (from Area 40) once they’ve been alerted to the party’s presence. There will also be two scaleshields (Thriss and Shuthress, who serve as the queen’s bodyguards, the latter of which is secretly loyal to Litrix and spies for him) and four lizardfolk present. There are also two lizardfolk hatchlings here. The queen will watch closely for how the PCs interact with the curious hatchlings, who might start climbing up a PC’s leg or pulling at a scabbard or cloak.

Area 12: In my setting, the amphisbaenae are a secret shame of the lizardfolk. They are mutated lizardfolk embryos that hatch into two-headed snake-like monstrosities because of the Gray Water. The lizardfolk do not expect outsiders to understand why they keep and care for these aggressive creatures. In fact, the presence of the disturbing mutants has been kept a secret from most of the community by both sides of the schism, who can at least agree that it is their sacred duty to care for them and keep them protected. Any harm they suffer will be a grave affront to the lizardfolk. In fact, the lizardfolk priestess here (Ahshatha) will fight to drive off outsiders after ringing a gong to summon Litrix and his followers in area 20.

Area 20: Unless he has been summoned to deal with the outsiders or barging in on an audience with the queen, Litrix and two of his lizardfolk followers are found here.

Area 23: The lizardfolk here look after the giant lizards in area 22 and will investigate any strange noises coming from there. These lizardfolk are undecided about supporting the queen or the high priest, but if outsiders harm the giant lizards (or kill any of them) they will be driven to support Litrix if things come to a head.

Areas 25, 26 and 27: The PCs entering these areas will be considered a violation of etiquette, especially if they take any of the treasure in area 26. Harming any hatchling (especially those in area 25) is an unforgivable violation. If the hatchlings in area 24 are endangered, they will be moved behind the gate to area 27 if there is time to do so.

Area 29: The lizardfolk present here when the party is doing their tour—four lizardfolk, one render (named Nashar) and one scaleshield (named Kepesk) are loyal to Litrix and suspicious of the PCs. They will attack the PCs if unaccompanied by friendly lizardfolk before the Queen announces them as guests. If the PCs come on their own after being declared guests, these lizardfolk will still be pushy and rude and try to bully the PCs into leaving or goad them into a fight. If the PCs are accompanied by lizardfolk, those present will get into an argument about the presence of outsiders.

Area 32: The lizardfolk and scaleshield here are loyal to the queen and the subchief.

Area 38: If the PCs prove their trustworthiness, Sauriv may be convinced to reveal more details about the growing schism in the community and explain his feeling that stronger connections with other communities in the area will make the lizardfolk tribe healthier and safer.

Area 40: I made the most changes to this room. Not only did I not have the Queen be present, but I made it so the subchief, Irhtos, is running those present through a sparring game for training, and invites the PCs to take part. There is a twenty by thirty-foot rectangle painted in the center of the room. The lizardfolk stand round the outside of the perimeter holding clubs, while two combatants spar in the rectangle. Any of the spectators are allowed to take a swing at either combatant they can reach from outside the ring, though they are not allowed to throw anything at the combatants. The sparring partners may not attack anyone but their opponent. All damage done is non-lethal, but there is one observing lizardfolk among the eight present who is a traditionalist, and if he gets the chance, he will take a swing at a PC doing double damage (2d4+2)—which will get him admonished by the subchief and the scaleshields present. Either of the scaleshields will volunteer to spar against a PC, but the subchief will not.

The sparring match lasts until one combatant taps out (the lizardfolk combatants will do this when dropped below half their maximum hit points), is knocked unconscious, or earns three points. Combatants gain a point for every successful hit but lose a half-point every time they are hit (points cannot go below zero). The other scaleshield serves as referee.

Area 41: These gates are guarded by two lizardfolk each. They happen to be loyal to Litrix. They stand on the western side of the gates and while they will obey the queen’s declaration about treating the PCs as guests and allowing them access everywhere, the guards will still question them harshly in the lizardfolk tongue and mock the sound of Common and use the word “achthend” to refer to non-lizardfolk (meaning “food”).

Area 42: The lizardfolk and scaleshield (Anacha) here are loyal to the Queen and are on edge because of how belligerent the koalinth in nearby area 50 have been. Only the scaleshield here understands any Common, but barely speaks it. He will try to obliquely warn the PCs. Furthermore, if the PCs express a desire to enter area 43, they will be allowed to enter as guests but will be watched closely.

Area 43c: I included some graffiti etched into the wall in this cell that served as evidence that a recurring foil for the PCs had once been a captive of the lizardfolk but was eventually freed. Consider including something like this to help tie Danger at Dunwater in with the ongoing campaign plots outside of the adventure path.

Area 43d: The sahuagin prisoner is named Kakris. If talked to, he will speak a gurgling but mellifluous Common and try to sow suspicion of the lizardfolk’s motives, denying his people mean any harm, and using the presence of koalinth guests as evidence that the lizardfolk are the ones who have dealings with “evil aquatic folk.” Furthermore, he will tell them to seek out the “twisted secret” in area 12 that proves the lizardfolk are up to no good (essentially trying to goad the PCs into violating the temple area and discovering the amphisbaenae, potentially leading to bloodshed). He also claims that the human that was kept in 43c was recently eaten at a banquet in the queen’s honor. [See the Sahuagin Spy stat block at the end of this post, which provides a sneak peek at how I’ve designed them for my game.]

Area 44: The two lizardfolk here are loyal to Litrix, but the scaleshield is not. The latter is actively trying to win them over to the Queen’s side.

Area 48: These four lizardfolk are loyal to Litrix.

Areas 49 through 51: Rather than the earthen walls of the rest of the mound, these pools fall outside of the lair but are guarded by an immense structure made of living mangrove roots. Fifteen to twenty feet thick, the tangled walls keep anyone from entering the pools from the beach unless they know the path through it (that opens into the top of area 49). The depth of the pools range from 12 feet to 25 feet depending on the tide which surges and seeps away under the roots every twelve hours.

Area 49: I remove the lizardfolk guard here and place two each at the two gates marked Area 41. (In fact, I redrew the map to make it three pools instead of four). It is possible the PCs enter through this way. If so, unless they are attempting stealth (at disadvantage for the splashing through the thigh deep water), the lizardfolk in area 42 immediately arrive to intercept them and try to hold them until the queen can be alerted. The koalinth in area 50 will arrive soon afterward, telling the lizardfolk to kill the PCs immediately and joining in on any fight.

Area 50: The koalinth are only here because they don’t want to be left out, not because they are actually interested in joining forces with other sea peoples. This delegation is led by Legatus Atronia Ulfon (just use the Koalinth Sergeant stat block) and they represent their Imperator, who overestimates his nation’s ability to defend against the sahuagin and sees other sea people as resources to be conquered and exploited. Mostly, the koalinth are here to act as spies to see what the merfolk and locathah are up to. Once they see “land-dwellers,” they will feel insulted and desire to leave immediately but not before attacking the party if no lizardfolk are present. If Oceanus is with the party, the sea hobgoblins want to fight immediately, even if lizardfolk are present. The lizardfolk are aware of how prickly the koalinth are and do not hold it against the PCs if a fight breaks out. However, they will judge the PCs on their ability to diffuse the situation or solve it without bloodshed. Lizardfolk from area 42 will attempt to break up a fight if one happens and then the koalinth will leave disgusted. All that being said, a party that could find a way to convince the koalinth to recommend to their Imperator that they join the alliance will gain +10 points towards earning the trust of the lizardfolk and Queen Othokent will be deeply impressed.

Area 51: The locathah are the most open to talking to the PCs and are curious about land-dwellers. They will not come to the aid of the koalinth if there is a fight in area 50. Hoon the locathah ambassador (use the Locathah Hunter stat block) is trepidatious about the alliance, though he is leaning towards trusting the lizardfolk. He understands that the rise of the sahuagin could be an extinction level event for his people. While the locathah and the lizardfolk do not have much of a history, the locathah were once slaves of the Merfolk Suzerainty and won their freedom generations ago. Furthermore, the koalinth still use slaves, some of which are locathah. And while sea elves never enslaved the locathah, they did little if anything to help them win their freedom.

Area 52: The merfolk are aloof and have no love for land-dwellers, though they are not outright rude or belligerent, fighting only if attacked. They openly patronize the locathah. The merfolk ambassador, Farrokh (use the Merfolk Salvager stat block) is unsure if such an alliance is worth it for his people and is convinced his people’s cities are too deep and distant for the sahuagin to reach any time soon. From their point of view, the lizardfolk are basically land-dwellers despite their affinity for water, but the suzerain is interested in an alliance with the Koalinth Empire to quell tensions between the two nations.

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Stat Blocks

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Next: Tying Salvage Operation into the politics of Saltmarsh and other minor changes.