Fast. Unusual. Armed, but quiet. The only ship in Leilon that dares open water.

Overview

The Mermaid’s Lament is a sleek, storm-weathered brigantine known throughout the Sword Coast as the only true deep-sea vessel permanently docked at Fort Leilon. While the other ships in Leilon’s small harbor hug the coast or ferry goods to Neverwinter, the Lament sails farther—and returns from places others only whisper about.

Captain & Crew

Captain: Captain Tidevein
First Mate: First Mate Lira
Crew Size: 12–20 (depending on voyage)

Most of the crew are loyal veterans who know how to keep quiet and handle a blade. They're practical, not flashy—sailors who’ve been tested by rough seas, mutant gulls, and worse.

Description

A two-masted brigantine with a reinforced hull and a reinforced keel designed for deep sea travel. The hull is patched in places with mismatched boards and scavenged ironwork—evidence of its many voyages and quiet battles. Seaweed pennants and faded canvas sails add to the ship's odd silhouette, often mistaken for something ghostly from a distance.

Key Features:

• Reinforced Hull: Built for open water, able to withstand storms and monster strikes.
• Ballistae Mounts: Two forward-facing and one stern ballista, usually kept covered.
• Fast Rigging: Known to outpace corsairs from Luskan when the tide favors her.
• Hidden Compartments: Smuggler’s tricks remain—even if the ship’s pirating days are “behind her.”

Role & Reputation

The Mermaid’s Lament has a checkered but respected history. It has served as:

• A merchant escort between Baldur’s Gate and Luskan
• A bounty ship for Waterdeep and Neverwinter, hunting pirates or sea monsters
• A ritual ferry, trusted to reach coastal ruins and lighthouse outposts during arcane events
• An occasional pirate—but only under contract. She takes prizes, not hostages.

Not pirates. Just aggressive freight recovery.

— First Mate Lira

Despite her gray legal past, the Lament is often requested by name for missions where survival is uncertain and subtlety is preferred.

Unique to Leilon

No other ship stationed in Leilon can sail beyond the coastal run to Neverwinter. When the sea elves call, when the lighthouses flicker, or when the mine breathes deep—the Mermaid’s Lament is the only vessel that can get the job done.

Dockmasters refer to it simply as:
“The long-range answer to Leilon’s short-term problems.”

Rumors & Hooks

• Vanished Voyage: One of the Lament's prior trips to Skullport reportedly ended in bloodshed. Only half the crew returned. No one talks about it.
• The Bone Necklace: Some claim the figurehead once wore a necklace like Captain Mirun’s—but it went missing after a sea ritual under a red moon.
• Evasive Bounty: Nobles from Waterdeep may soon seek the Lament for a new hunt—this time, for a vessel gone rogue off the Moonshae Isles.
• Old Debt: The Lament might be bound—legally or magically—to a forgotten sea pact, explaining her uncanny survival.

Stats for Encounters

Ship Type: Brigantine (custom-modified)
Speed: 60 ft. sailing, faster with wind or arcane aid
HP (Hull): 300
AC (Hull): 15
Weapons:

• 2 Ballistae (forward-facing), +6 to hit, 3d10 piercing
• 1 Stern Ballista
• Crew arms: Light crossbows, cutlasses, alchemical flares

Notable Traits:

• Fast rigging grants +2 initiative in ship combat
• Can hide from pursuit in thick fog or reefed waters with Advantage on stealth (DC 15)
• Magical lodestone (hidden in the keel) always points to Leilon’s harbor