Zeale

Zeale is a human Fighter and the leader of the party. He is the player character, controlled by Tim.

Ability Scores

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+1 hit, +1 dmg)	14	15 (+1 HP/level)	11	12	13

Combat Statistics

Class	Level	HP	AC	THAC0	Alignment	XP	Next Level
Fighter	2	20/20	4 (chain mail + shield)	19	Neutral Good	3,020	4,000

Weapon Proficiencies

• Longsword
• Dagger
• Longbow
• Spear

Equipment & Inventory

Weapons

Weapon	Damage	Notes
Longsword	1d8/1d12 (+1 STR)	Proficient � purchased in Ventris
Spear	1d6/1d8 (+1 STR)	Proficient � purchased (replacing one lost in catacombs)
Longbow	1d6	Proficient, 40 arrows
Dagger	1d4/1d3 (+1 STR)	Proficient � backup weapon
Broadsword	2d4 (+1 STR)	-2 non-proficient � backup, taken from Hafkris

Armour

• Chain mail (AC 5) � purchased in Ventris
• Shield (-1 AC)
• Cloak

Adventuring Gear

• Backpack, bedroll, waterskin
• Rope (50' hemp), torches (6), flint & steel
• Trail rations (7 days)

Adventure History

Treasure Hunt

Episode 1: The Shipwreck

Zeale awoke enslaved in the hold of the pirate galley The Dorak, wrecked upon the shores of a mysterious island. After the party freed themselves, he led the assault against Hafkris, the half-orc jailer � the sole surviving pirate found drunk on the beach with a broadsword. The party defeated Hafkris in two rounds of combat. Zeale claimed the half-orc's studded leather armour and broadsword, establishing himself as the party's frontline fighter from the first encounter.

Episode 2: The Ravine

The party climbed a hill overlooking a ravine where 12 goblins battled 6 orcs. From this vantage point, Zeale directed the party's strategy � observing the battle, coordinating Finn's stealth rescue of the tied-up Keestake, and leading the engagement against the five surviving goblins. During this fight, Mira was critically wounded (dropping to -1 HP), but all five goblins were defeated. The party looted spears, padded armour, and other equipment from the battlefield. Zeale took a spear � one of his proficient weapons.

Episode 3: Temple of the Goddess

The party explored a two-story white stone temple where they found books on island history, a single-use prayer book (Bless), and met the Goddess of the island. She warned them the island would be destroyed in three days and granted each party member a one-time divine boon. Zeale asked the goddess for help fighting the island's creatures; she refused direct intervention but granted him a blessing equivalent to Cure Light Wounds. The party rested overnight. Zeale healed from 5 to 6 HP.

Episode 4: Manor of the Sea King

After a half-day march north, the party reached the orc-held manor. Keestake guided them to the servants' wing, where they entered through a window with loose bars (Room 18). While moving through the corridors toward the storage room with the catacombs trapdoor, a 3-goblin patrol detected the party.

The ensuing corridor fight was brutal. In Round 1, Goblin 1 hit Zeale for 5 damage, dropping him from 6 HP to just 1 HP � critically wounded. The party attempted to flee to Room 38 but Finn was struck down by a parting attack (6 damage, 0 HP). Zeale used his divine boon on himself (Cure Light Wounds, rolled 4, healed to 5 HP) and charged back to rescue Finn. Over the next rounds, Zeale killed Goblin 1 with his spear (Round 4, rolled 16+1=17) and chased down the fleeing Goblin 2, killing it with a spear thrust (Round 6, rolled 19+1=20). All three goblins eliminated.

The party rushed into Room 38 as a new patrol approached. Keestake opened the trapdoor to the catacombs and the party descended the 60-foot shaft.

Episode 5: The Catacombs

At the bottom of the shaft, Keestake pulled an iron lever that sealed the entrance with a tremendous crash, then confessed his betrayal � he had created the undead guardians by wishing the bodies of Viledel and Liala would never decay. Brother Marcus killed Keestake before he could strike Mira.

The party explored the catacombs, searching for the hidden boat. They navigated storerooms, avoided a mine collapse trap (Finn dodged clear), drove off giant rats with torches, and searched for a secret door in Room 8. After multiple failed search attempts, Mira suggested looking for visual anomalies rather than feeling for seams � she spotted a miscoloured stone, and Zeale twisted it to reveal the secret passage.

Episode 6: The Crypt � Zeale's Last Stand

The party ran 450 feet through the crypt corridor to the Crypt Chamber (Room 16), a massive 90x80 foot cave. Marcus activated the prayer book's Bless spell. When the party approached the eastern crypts, both zombies animated � Zombie Viledel (scale mail, mace, golden coronet, AC 5, 10 HP) and Zombie Queen Liala (green robe, AC 8, 6 HP).

Combat Round 1 was devastating. Every party attack missed (including Marcus's Turn Undead attempt � rolled 1, needed 13). Viledel's mace struck Finn for 6 damage (0 HP, unconscious), and Liala hit Marcus for 5 damage (-2 HP, dying). Two party members fell in a single round.

The party retreated. Mira stabilized Marcus. Zeale carried Finn and Marcus to an empty crypt for protection, then returned to face both zombies alone while Mira searched for an escape route.

Combat Round 4: Zeale attacked Liala with his spear � rolled 19+1=20, hitting for 3 damage (6 to 3 HP). But both zombies struck back: Viledel hit for 5 damage and Liala for 1. Zeale dropped from 1 HP to -5 HP � dying.

Zeale bled for three more rounds while Mira fought and escaped, reaching -8 HP before Melisana stabilized him. His spear was left on the ground near the crypts and destroyed when the goddess obliterated the island.

Mira and Melisana loaded Zeale's unconscious body into the galley and escaped.

Between Adventures

Zeale recovered slowly on Ventris Island over several weeks. With the party's share of treasure and Melkeras's reward, he purchased proper equipment � chain mail, a shield, a longsword (finally a proficient primary weapon), and a new spear to replace the one lost in the catacombs. He also bought a longbow, rounding out his combat options for the journey ahead.

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Arrival and the Town

Zeale led the party into Saltmarsh and took charge of the investigation - drawing the haunted-house legend out of the townsfolk, securing an audience with the town council, and weighing their offer: 500 gp per party member to cleanse the house, with no aid and no safe passage. He chose to take lodgings and march east at dawn.

The Haunted House

At the cliff-top house Zeale kept the party together and methodical. He led the climb up the rotten kitchen stair to the upper floor and hauled Marcus free when a tread gave way beneath the heavily-armoured cleric. Crossing the upper gallery he sprang a concealed floor-collapse trap but threw himself clear (DEX save), opening a seven-foot gap that Finn later bridged with rope so the party could reach the west wing.

The Giant Ant Battle

When six giant ants boiled out of the corridor, Zeale anchored the doorway shield-wall, trading blows with the hard-shelled foragers round after round. Their chitin (AC 3) turned many a stroke, and a dying ant's bite tore his calf (down to 9/20). Once Marcus's Bless steadied the party's aim, Zeale hewed down one of the last two ants in the gap, helping break the swarm.

Current Status

Wounded - 9/20 HP after the giant ant battle, holding the upper-floor east corridor of the haunted house (Day 2, late morning) and awaiting a proper rest to mend his cuts. He carries Finn's rough sketch of the house's rear. Increasingly certain the "haunting" is a sham - the house hides something living, not dead.