The
Battle of the Spire (21 Elient 1496) was a pivotal battle in the history of
Saltmarsh that saw the
Dunwater Alliance triumph over the
sahuagin raiders of the
Javan River Spire, preemptively putting an end to the sahuagin's desire to raid up and down the coast.
The battle was also part of the larger, ongoing
Banesmark Crisis, though the role of the crisis' mastermind,
S'gothgah, in the battle is a closely guarded secret.
The Conflict
Prelude
Sometime between 1494 and 1496, Baroness Seklaz of a sahaugin warband was inflicted with a Banesmark as part of the expanding influence of S'gothgah's Cult of Bane. Under the influence of S'gothgah, Seklaz and her husband, Baron Kepmak began aggresively raiding the homes of aquatic humanoids, but they had their sights set on a bigger prize, the settlements of the northern Sword Coast.
In early 1496, Seklaz's sahuagin conquered the Javan River Spire to use as their new fortress, from which all of their raids would originate. The Spire's ancesteral occupants, the lizardfolk Sunny Shore Tribe were forcibly chased from their home and resettled at the Dunwater Den to the North. Incensed, the lizardfolk queen Proudscar sent word to all the nearby victims of the sahuagin, the locathah, the merfolk, and the koalinth, the create an anti-sahuagin alliance.
The meeting of the aquatic species was interrupted by the Heroes of Saltmarsh, who intercepted a supply of smuggled weapons heading to the lizardfolk and misinterpreted them as preparations for an attack on Saltmarsh. Despite the mix up, and the death of a lizardfolk tribesman, the Heroes were able to sort out the misunderstanding and convinced the various species for accept Saltmarsh into the alliance, though at the cost of the koalinths, who despise land-dwellers.
For the next several weeks, while the Heroes of Saltmarsh participated in the Attack on the Neverwinter Gala and investigated the Isle of the Abbey, the various factions of the newly christened Dunwater Alliance planned their eventual attack, which was set for the August Equinox, the 21st of Elient, when the sahuagin would engorge themselves on food during one of their largest holidays and be caught unaware. During this planning period, ten sahuagin raided Saltmarsh, kidnapping multiple Marshers to use as slaves and killing two members of the Neverwinter Guard.
When the Heroes of Saltmarsh arrived back in town, they were confronted with three problems facing the alliance. The dwarves of the Mountain Gem Mining Company couldn't assist with preparations due to a firenewt infestation of the Saltmarsh Mine. The town council wanted the aid of Leilon to defend Saltmarsh while most of the soldiers and militia were gone, but the town was under siege by the hill giants of Grudd Haug. Finally, the locathah and merfolk forces had difficulty arriving at the assembly point without the sahuagin noticing due to a coven of sea hags that had set up in the most efficient pathway, the underwater Glacine Trench.
Over the next month, the Heroes of Saltmarsh would solve each of these issues, first negotiating with the efreeta Tajir Samiya Ikraam Samina Karim to cloze the a door to the Elemental Plane of Fire deep in the mines, then driving off the hill giants in Leilon, and then, only hours before the battle, killing the sea hags.
The Heroes of Saltmarsh then joined the remaining forces of the Dunwater Alliance who were either sailing or swimming south.
The planned battle was split into two phases. The first, and most difficult job, fell to the Heroes of Saltmarsh. The forces of the Dunwater Alliance were unaware of how many sahuagin resided in the Javan River Spire. Therefore, before the battle and before the sahuagin detected the alliance's forces, the Heroes of Saltmarsh turned over control of their ship,
the Big Nauti, to
Tom Stoutly and swam to the Spire's lowest level, entering through a crack in the foundation. The Heroes were then instructed to kill and sabotage as many sahuagin as possible before signalling the battle to start with a flare wand.
At the Heroes signal, the hidden fleet of Saltmarsh was slated to move out of hidding, goading the surprised sahuagin to attack. This fleet was primarily composed of fishing vessels. The remaining aquatic species would stay behind until the sahuagin had begun engaging the Marshers on their ships and then attack the sahuagin from below, while others would enter the River Spire itself and kill the disorganized sahuagin.
For their part, the sahuagin were entirely unprepared for the fight, but their defenses were still formidable. Most sahuagin were watching the blood sport on the lower level's arena, but guards and priestes of
Sekolah wandered the halls.
In addition, the sahuagin had numerous shell sharks, sharks that were enchanted to have armor grafted onto their skin. The greatest of all the sahaugin sharks though, was the Maw of Sekolah, a two-headed shark blessed by Sekolah with extreme durability and capacity for violence that served as a symbol for the sahuagin to rally behind.
The entry point the Heroes of Saltmarsh entered through turned out to be into the spire's makeshift prison cells.
Oceanus was left behind to guard the entrance while the rest of the Heroes continued through the Spire complex, freeing
triton prisoner
Argos and killing numerous sahuagin and shell sharks, though many of the fights were close and bloody affairs.
The Heroes fought their way to the uppermost level, bypassing
Duke Kepmak in the throne room and the Maw of Sekolah and freeing the slaves on the top level, though they were unable to save
Bayleaf, an
elf the Heroes had met once before.
The Heroes then descended back into the Spire and slew the Maw of Sekolah. Heavily injured and worried at being discovered, the Heroes made their way back to the top level and signaled for the attack proper to begin. At their signal, the Marsher fleet moved into position, luring out the suprised sahuagin as planned. While the sahaugin attacked, and the aquatic races pincered them from below and attacked the Spire directly, Oceanus returned to the Heroes and protected them while they each took a much needed rest.
In total, the Heroes of Saltmarsh killed 33 sahuagin, 8 shell sharks, the Maw of Sekolah, and destroyed or permenately sealed off two armories.
The Battle of the Spire was an overwhelming success for the forces of the Dunwater Alliance. The forces of the sahuagin were near totally destoryed, with the surivors under
Baron Kepmak fleeing into the open sea.
Remarkably few members of the alliance were killed or injured during the battle, though one notable exception was
Pom, the mother of Lyra, who lost an eye and fought in the battle under the mistaken belief that their
changeling daughter had been captured by the sahuagin raiding party.
While the bloodshed and fear caused by the Battle of the Spire still advanced the goal of S'gothgah in empowering the
Feast of Corruption, its one-sided nature was ultimately a net loss for the aboleth.
The loss of the sahuagin as a source of fear and the exposure and arrest of
Saltmarsh Town Council member
Anders Solmor led to S'gothgah targetting Saltmarsh in a more subtle way and dedicating more resources to the town, ultimately corrupting
Manistrad Copperlocks,
Crab,
Eliander Fireborn ,
Will Stoutly, and nine others. Many of those inflicted with the Banesmark were done to target the Heroes of Saltmarsh, whom S'gothgah saw as a serious potential thrat after foiling many of his plans.
More postively, the cooperation of the Dunwater Alliance would have lasting effects for Saltmarsh's relationship with its aquatic neighbors, particularly the lizardfolk of the Sunny Shore Tribe, and the two communities became unlikely partners in trade and times of support.
Historical Significance
The Battle of the Spire is the event that would cement the Heroes of Saltmarsh's legacy in the region. In fact, the pivotal role
Micah Pierce,
Mogran Oredelver,
Lyra,
Necian Arrzen, and Oceanus played in the battle led to them being named the Heroes of Saltmarsh in the first place, a name that has stuck in the years since.
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