The Book of Cylinders (Patron)

On the northern edge of the Sword Coast there is a unique fishing village. The Grippli and Yuan-Ti, normally mortal enemies, live together, proving that peace is possible between the two races. Yet not everyone wants to see this model of diversity succeed. Can be saved before it is too late, or will a group of religious extremists succeed in the massacre of an entire village?

This adventure is a bit of a mess, but it also makes a fun, straightforward, action adventure. There are just a few changes you may want to consider.

This story is ripe for modification. You can easily have the Grippli and Yuan-Ti be guarding some sort of sacred text that can be used to hint at whatever the big bad of your campaign is doing. That way the warning is not just the village will be attacked, but that it is about a warning to the players.

If you go this route, then you may want to move the book of cylinders to the end of the adventure.

In this case they are still sent to help the Grippli. Even if you don't modify the story, you may want to really play up Pelk's desire to save the Grippli. You may even want to play up how Candlekeep is just a monastery, they're not supposed to do rescue missions. However, they  can send a group to investigate "wink" what is going on with the recent disruption in shipments of seafood to the keep.

When they travel, just let the players know they can travel by ship. There really shouldn't be any reason or issue that players would doubt that to travel by land. Instead, when they meet the Grippli mother, she will do two things. One, she will give off a subtle sign of surprise like she recognizes one or more characters, and she will let them know that the three ways into the village are up the coast, through the marsh forest, or swimming in. She leaves it to them to decide, but does warn that along the coast there is likely to be little or no cover to hide and through the forest are where the good Yuan-Ti keep their pet snakes (swarms of poisonous snakes and giant constrictor snakes). 

It will feel like a better choice for your players to choose these routes which each have their own dangers instead of some option of take a boat from Candlekeep or walk.

No matter what they choose, have the Grippli mother perform a ritual of water breathing on the party. It's a benefit, but a minor one, and, assuming they go through the crab maze, it'll be the magical equivalent of sneaking into a village with scuba gear.

When they get to the end, have the books hidden in the temple tomb. If the sarcophagus is opened, they will find them in there.

For the magic items, have those be gifts from the Yuan-Ti as part of the celebration of thanks ceremony.

Finally, end with the Grippli Mother saying that she thinks there texts they've been keeping as part of an ancient prophecy that she thinks were meant for them.

Have it show the village, the friendly yuan-ti, it being invaded, the characters saving them, then any additional story bits that you'd like to add in as foreshadowing for your campaign.

Doing this will add the mystery element to this straight-forward adventure.

I hope you enjoy!