Rickety’s Squibs

Rounding the tall headland reveals a hidden cove at the mouth of a wide jungle river, its sluggish brown waters staining the waters of the blue sea like an ugly bruise. A series of docks has been built upon this estuary, with buildings concealed beneath the overhanging limbs of the jungle beyond. A wooden watchtower stands upon the promontory of the headland, carefully concealed among the trees to provide a clandestine view of the seas.

Note: It costs 20% of the ship's purchase value to 'squib' a ship.

Rickety’s Squibs

• N village
• Corruption –1; Crime –2; Economy +0; Law –4; Lore +0;Society –1
• Qualities insular, tourist attraction (ship squibbing)
• Danger +0; Disadvantages drought-stricken
• DEMOGRAPHICS
• Government autocracy
• Population 77 (63 humans, 14 halflings)
• Notable NPCs
• Chief Shipwright and Proprietor Rickety Hake (N old male human)
• Steward Chandra Bristlewick (N female human druid)
• MARKETPLACE
• Base Value 600 gp; Purchase Limit 2,500 gp; Spellcasting 3rd

• A1. Godwin’s Watch This watchtower is little more than a covered platform elevated 60 feet atop wooden poles and accessed by a crude stair. Only the covered platform rises above the ridgeline of the headland, obscured from sight by the jungle canopy above.
• A2. Docks A pair of docks reaches out into the muddy waters of the estuary. Three small dinghies are moored here beneath canopies made of wooden poles and dried palm fronds. In the shelter of the river’s mouth where no breeze seems to find its way in, the heat is intense and insects buzz about incessantly. A few sun-darkened workers squat on casks splicing rope and mending nets.
• A3. Boathouse Two piers extend out into the river from a long building of roughcut wooden planks with large openings to allow passage within. Ropes, pulleys, and other equipment common to a boathouse hang inside. The longboat Peccarine that Rickety uses as a tender to treat with customers in the cove is moored inside here with its masts stepped when not in use. There are always some of Rickety’s workers here.
• A4. The Commons A once-grand building with broad wings extending from its ground floor stands at the end of the docks, its octagonal dome topped by a cupola. It was obviously a fine villa in its day but time and the harsh sun and rains of the Slithering Coast have faded its paint and cracked its boards, leaving it a gray ghost of its former self. A painted board above the veranda names it as “Rickety’s Squibs.” Smaller, less grandiose hovels and sheds clapped together of flotsam and jetsam surround the larger building and merge into the jungle behind it. Guests at Rickety’s Squibs are put up in the somewhat shabby accommodations of the main house, which does at least have a taproom, a small market, and a functioning chow hall that serves the entire settlement. The shade of the jungle canopy here is welcome, as the heat is merciless and many of the trees are wilted with browning leaves that show the effects of an extended drought. Rickety Hake and a few of his menial hirelings reside in the Commons as well, but most of the residents of Rickety’s Squibs live in the smaller huts. The PCs can use the Commons’ taproom to increase their Disrepute and Infamy scores, and can sell their plunder at the market at normal rates (Pathfinder Adventure Path #55 61–65). In addition, the PCs can also seek out new crew for their ship at Rickety’s Squibs though Rickety would be displeased should the PCs take advantage of his hospitality to press-gang unwilling crew from among his workers.
• A5. Dry Dock A massive, wedge-shaped wooden ramp rises directly from the river. It is large enough to hold a ship of the line and has huge mooring points to allow such a ship to be stabilized in place. Wooden scaffolding is erected all along its sides to allow workers easy access to all points of a ship and its hull. Ships brought here for refitting are hauled up out of the river into this dry dock by teams of oxen pulling on dozens of thick ropes. Once the ship has been seated and secured in place, workers descend on the ship in a swarm and work in shifts day and night to complete the “squib” as quickly as possible in a cacophony of hammering, chopping, and swearing. Torches mounted all over the dry dock at night create quite a spectacle for anyone interested in watching the work.