Nonviolent Encounter with the Ghost of a Pirate Captain
Hey everyone, in my campaign the party has been travelling on a Ghost Ship that "rescued" them from a Slaad invasion. They ended up on an island with an ancient cursed city. They saved a Marid there and learned the origins of the ghost ship and its captain. They also learned that the captain knows where several campaign crucial artifacts are.
The ghost captain has been sort of mindless up to this point, and the goal of the party is to "bring her back". I want them to return to the ship to find it in disarray. The living crewmembers that they left aboard are comatose and oozing in ectoplasm.
My question is, does anyone have any recommendations of how to run an encounter with this ghost captain (and mayber her ghost crew) that does not involve combat? I want there to be a challenge for them to overcome, but not necessarily be in danger of bodily harm. Any ideas are welcome.