Scarlet Marpenoth

Description of the Scarlet Marpenoth

The Scarlet Marpenoth is a submersible vessel designed by a pair of gnomish inventors employed by the Coberal Trust Company in 1365 DR. The submersible hull itself measures 15‘ long by 8‘ wide by 7’ tall. When surfaced, the ‘ Marpenoth has approximately 18” of freeboard. The submersible itself resembles a large barrel with a smaller barrel serving as its nose. Three fins and a number of appendages are attached at various points along the outside of the vessel. A small circular hatch provides access to the interior cabin.

The Scarlet Marpenoth requires a crew of two small-sized operators; one to steer and manipulate the vessel’s appendages and one more to provide thrust and braking power. The cabin is watertight to a depth of 100’ and has a maximum sustainable dive of 400’ before the hull begins to collapse. A pair of silver mirrors has been enchanted with Continual Flame spells and mounted on the roof of the canopy to provide light while operating underwater. These lights have covers that can be installed to conceal the light while conducting surface operations. The cabin contains enough air for its crew of three to remain underwater for up to three hours under normal exertion. Each additional passenger reduces this time proportionately (15 min/small creature; 30 min/man-sized creature; larger creatures cannot fit inside the cabin and smaller creatures have a negligible effect on the air supply).

The vessel’s interior is comprised of one large open area but is broken down for descriptive purposes. Unless otherwise noted, all interior spaces are lit with Continual Light spells.

(Left to right: Interior and Exterior)

1. Control Cabin: The control cabin is located at the forward end of the submersible. A window made of thick glass provides the vessel’s operator a view of his surroundings. A bank of control levers surrounds the operator’s chair and can be manipulated to perform a variety of functions.

From left to right these controls are the Bow Plane Control Lever; Jigsaw Control; Steering Wheel; Grappling Arm Control Lever and the Drill Crank.

2. Cargo Bay: The area between the control cabin and propulsion control is referred to as the cargo bay. The cargo bay is roughly 4’ long x 6 wide’ although the width drops to only 4’ across at the control cabin. A ladder leads up to a scuttle in the ceiling of the cabin. This scuttle can be opened or closed and locked from the inside via a hand wheel. All cargo is lashed to bulkheads forward of the ladder and must be small enough to fit through the scuttle aperture.

3. Propulsion Control: Propulsion control consists of a paddlewheel mounted to the underside of the hull. The paddlewheel is chain and sprocket driven. The motive force for the chain is provided via pedals by a pair of gnomes (or other small creatures). A pair of chairs is mounted side by side on the deck with the pedals located in front of the operators. The maximum speed of the submersible is about one knot. This speed is reduced significantly when the vessel is close to its maximum cargo or passenger capacity.

Tools and spare parts are located behind the chairs against the aft bulkhead. An emergency patching kit and a bilge pump are mounted in a bin attached to the starboard bulkhead.