Running A Hyperborea rpg One Shot With "And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure 'As Prelude To U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

 "This is an OSRIC adventure for characters of 1st to 3rd level of experience. As the adventurers arrive at a sleepy little sea side town not all is as it seems. The town is under attack by pirates. But these are no ordinary pirates. These pirates are undead and their nightmare ship is just off shore waiting for the plunder to be brought aboard. This adventure allows the players to explore the mystery of these undead buccaneers and find out why they still sail the seas." 

If you've been following this blog then you're going to know about my fasin erm obession with U1 'The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh'  written by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull. What if there were events that proceed 'U' series of ocean based modules?! What if the undead  criminal mastermind 'The Alchemist' had raised a group of undead pirates to raid the Hyperborean coastline around Brigiand's Bay?! Well this is where  "And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure ' could be used as a sort of side prelude to the 'U' series. 

Picture it if you will that the oceans of Hyperborea begin to come into their Summer season. And the arcane energies flood into the sea surrounding Saltmarsh once again! A lone figure of undeath & darkness stands atop a rock & begins calling back the undead pirates & raiders long moldering under the seawater. Hyperborea is mostly a huge bowel of ocean & undead raiders under the control of one of the most dangerous villains on Hyperborea calls for a solution?! And the Alchemist is using these undead pirates and raiders to sew fear into the citizens of the coastline. With so much of Hyperborea's being sea bound and the citizens tied into the ocean. This is going to open a whole cloth can of worms for the lich and his undead minions. 

These events act as a sort of destablizing element for the 'u' series of modules setting. The ocean is the life blood of Hyperborea providing food, shelter, and is the primary bringer of life for those in that fish it's waters. 

Why does this make things that much more complicated?! Oh yes, because of the fact that the Deep Ones are the ones that paid the Alchemist to lead off on the summoning of the ghost pirates! Why because of the fact that this leads down into the events of the 'U' ' series of modules. The undead pirates has to be dealt with to pave the way for the smugglers & the coming war. 

"And The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead" By Joseph A. Mohr 'A Pay What You Want Adventure Is Available Here 

The Rise of the Haunted Manor - U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Hyperborea rpg, & Judge's Guilds Tegel Manor

 

So the other day we were talking about the role that the oceans of Hyperborea has in the average Hyperborean's lives on the blog here.And this has been at the back of my mind with the advent of reading through U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh, again. U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by David J. Brown along with Don Turnbull has an undercurrent of desperation about it. 

At the end of the events of U1, the PC's should end up with a sweet little boat which will come in very handy coming up as the party ends up in the lap of the lizard men. 
Why are the lizardmen so riled up to begin with?! If we're looking at U1 taking place on Hyperborea then we've got a partial answer. If U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh's  Saltmarsh is placed  near Brigand's Bay. Then these are the fishing grounds of the tribes of lizardmen who for thousands of years have been fishing these waters peacefully with the human population.So what's put the screws to them besides the Deep Ones?! Well, the undead  leader of the Deep one corrupted smugglers for one. 

The smugglers in U1 in my version are actually headed by the Alchemist a lich who simply watches the PC's as their looking around the 'haunted house' & whose also the head of the knarly group of slavers. The Alchemist is deeply connected with the undead of Tegel Manor. Yes that Tegel Manor which is a deeply cursed haunted house that dimensionally travels between Hyperborea & Judges Guild's The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. 

This is how OSRIC, Castles & Crusades, and other OSR game's  PC's have come to Hyperborea in the past through Tengel Manor. The manor's undead are not entirely static. The haunted house because of it's dimensional cursed nature regenerates but the undead don't forget. These undead continually make sport out of any other dimensional travelers who fall into their midsts. And through lesser undead have forged a network of criminals across a few worlds over the centuries. The coming Deep One, human, and lizardmen war is simply another diversion in their eon's long undead existence. 
These bastard undead are not done with the party in Hyperborea, yet.. This is just starting. 

Blood In The War - A Fresh Look At U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh & the Hyperborea rpg

 

When one begins to read through the Hyperborea rpg books both the player's manual & the referee's guide along with the maps. One begins to find one very epic fact the seas of Hyperborea play a huge part in the welfare of the Hyperborean's lives. 

If the seas are vast then the question becomes whatelse lurks within them?! In the past we've seen U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by David J. Brown along with Don Turnbull used in past Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaigns. Perhaps its time to look at U1 with fresh Deep One eyes. In the latest edition of Hyperborea the campaign setting has been tightened up quite a bit. So U1 Sinster Secret of Saltmarsh places Saltmarsh near Brigand's Bay.

The Deep Ones have been for centuries going along the coast corrupting the local ports with their hybrid progeny. This has put pressure on the local lizardmen & the uncorrupted locals which has resulted in the increases of piracy & smuggling by the Deep Ones. The church of Cthulhu has been turning the heat up by taking more slaves for sacrifice & as offerings for its smaller Old One cults. The Alchemist isn't simply a corpse for the PC's to find but a lich priest of old working for the church of Cthulhu among others. The clouds of war have been gathering as the fish monger's guild has stopped all trade with the capitial of Hyperborea. This is because the clouds of war are gathering for the humans, the Deep Ones, & the Lizardmen. The reasons for this are also due to the Summer season ending & the Winter phase of Hyperborea beginning.  So we have the 'U' series of modules enabling the Deep Ones to rise towards war and this is rounded out by 'The Mystery At Port Greely' being another twist towards the human/Deep One war.