“ … drowsing on the deck of the Geros when I was startled awake by a noise like the roar of the Ismenian Dragon. Looking up, I saw a lithe figure in the lantern room remove the trident from its dais and disappear down into the lighthouse. A monstrous pillar of black smoke swallowed the sunset, darkening the skies. Captain Othonos immediately raised sail, steering for the deep sea, but soon thereafter a cyclopean wave engulfed the whole island. The cursed Titans rent the earth asunder and the lighthouse slid into the heaving sea like a stone dart. That same wave broke on the Geros’ aft deck, catapulting me high in the air and into the merciful waters of Lethe. Blessed Tyche surely saved me, for I regained my senses floating atop a tangle of flotsam ... ”

"Into the Vault of the Sea Goddess” is a 5E adventure that features ruin-covered desert islands haunted by mutant monsters, a sunken temple complex, and a quest to retrieve both an ancient artifact and untold riches. It is designed for a party of 5th to 7th-level characters and intended to take them to as high as 8th level and lay the groundwork for continuing scenarios and advancement. 

This 70-page adventure includes: 

● A complete, detailed scenario with multiple wilderness encounter areas and a multi-level dungeon. 

● A small sandbox environment — the Goat Islands — that include random encounter tables, weather tables, and background information, allowing the adventure to be run as a mini-campaign and to easily be inserted into any maritime setting. 

● More than 30 monsters, including the Coral Golem, Dagonian Hag, and Giant Cyclopean Goat. 

● Expanded rules for Underwater Adventuring. 

● An annotated table of "20 Oddities for a Submerged Temple" that can be used to customize the dungeon. 

● Numerous custom illustrations and multiple regional, area, encounter area, and dungeon maps. 

● Guidelines on level adjustments to allow this adventure to be run for parties as low as 4th and as high as 8th level. 

● A section of custom rules designed to help 5E games run more quickly, easily, and smoothly. 

● Four detailed, ready-to-use, 6th-level characters. 

●  A ZIP file of resources for both storytellers and players that include maps; character sheets, tokens, and avatars; and images of monsters and items, all of which can be especially helpful when running games online. 

This adventure can be run either as a self-standing adventure or as a sequel to Skirmisher Publishing’s “At the Shrine of Othrys” campaign-length 5E adventure (which is intended to take a party of adventurers from 1st to 5th level). It takes place in Skirmisher Publishing’s Mithral-bestselling Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting and highlights some of the themes and tensions associated with it. It is, however, suitable for use in any traditional milieu, and both the dungeon and nearby islands can be easily dropped into any appropriate aquatic area in a storyteller’s own world. It also ties in with author Octavius Knorr’s bestselling “Vault of the Sea Goddess” novella, which describes one adventuring party’s search for and exploration of the sunken temple that appears in this scenario.