The Mouth Below

The Order began after a season of wrecks left hundreds dead along the kingdom's coast. Oru Vela and a handful of survivors preached that the sea was not cruel but governed by a vast will, and that survival required obedience. Their first sanctuary was a converted net shed. The early faith won converts by organizing rescues, keeping storm records, and feeding families whose boats had been lost. Within two decades, royal officials granted the Order authority to maintain harbor beacons and register fishing vessels. This was its first great triumph and its first moral compromise: the Order began charging for services once freely offered, arguing that discipline made rescue possible. Its blue-cloaked wardens became a familiar sight in every major port. The watershed event came 41 years ago during the Blue Squall. A storm struck the capital harbor without warning. The Order's bells rang before the first wave, and its ships helped evacuate thousands. When the storm passed, the harbor floor had split open, revealing a colossal, living eye in the flooded dark. The Order called this proof of the Leviathan's favor. Survivors later said the eye was bleeding. After the Blue Squall, the Crown granted the Order national authority over coastal tithes and a permanent seat in naval councils. The Order expanded from a rescue faith into a political power. It built schools, infirmaries, and grain stores, but also gathered records on every ship and family under its care. A failed rite 12 years ago flooded the lower sanctuary and killed 23 clergy. The Tribunal concealed the deaths, claiming the dead had been chosen for a holy passage. Since then, visions have grown more frequent and less coherent. The Order is richer and more influential than ever, but its members disagree over whether the Leviathan is calling them to serve, warning them to stop, or simply dreaming in pain.

Religious Order · Lawful Evil

The Mouth Below

Many coastal residents see the Order as strict but useful.

Type: Religious Order
Size: 680 members
Reach: National
Base: The kingdom's capital harbor

Overview

How it began

The Order teaches that its founder, a shipwrecked interpreter named Oru Vela, heard the Leviathan speak through the groaning timbers of a sinking vessel. According to the official account, the creature offered him a bargain: obey the laws of the sea and the kingdom would be spared a season of storms. Oru returned with a blue scale the size of a shield and gathered survivors around it. The name of the Order is a warning preserved from those first survivors: they called the scale's resting place the Mouth Below, because the sea there seemed to swallow sound as well as ships. Later generations kept the phrase as the faith's formal name, believing a warning renamed becomes an invitation.

How to know them

MottoThe Deep remembers every debt.

EmblemA silver fishhook curves into the shape of a closed eye, set over three blue waves. The hook points inward, a detail the Order says means the faithful must turn their attention toward the Deep.

Colours

Deep ocean blue, Glacier blue, Blue-black, Pale silver

Signs

A closed silver fishhook
Three horizontal blue waves
A small scale worn beneath the collar by senior clergy
Blue lanterns hung upside down during mourning

DressMembers wear layered blue clothing suited to their work. Tidebound usually have a blue cord or sash; Net Captains wear blue coats with silver buttons shaped like fish scales; Blue Cantors add pale blue collars; Tribunal members wear deep blue robes lined in blue-black. The robes are practical at sea but conspicuously fine at court. No uniform requires a specific D&D 5E class, race, or feature.

Standing

AlignmentLawful Evil

AgeFounded 83 years ago

WealthWealthy, supported by tithes, port fees, shipping interests, royal grants, and control of coastal warehouses

What they say they want

Prevent shipwrecks through disciplined navigation and shared storm warnings.

Feed and shelter coastal communities during storms and shortages.

Teach that the sea has laws that must be respected by rulers and commoners alike.

Keep the kingdom's ports safe, orderly, and open to lawful trade.

What they are doing now

Secure royal approval to build a blue-stone sanctuary over the drowned ruins beneath the capital harbor.

Recover three ancient sounding bells believed to awaken the Leviathan's full attention.

Silence a former tide-priest who claims the Order has been feeding the creature people instead of offerings.

Place loyal clerks in the kingdom's ports before the next naval tax is set.

Determine why the Leviathan's dreams have begun naming individual members of the Order.

Where it leads

The Order envisions a kingdom governed according to the supposed laws of the Deep: measured tribute, strict duties, and obedience to appointed interpreters. Its public dream is a coast where no vessel is lost without warning. Its private ambition is to make the Leviathan the ultimate source of political authority, with the Order as the only body permitted to translate its will.

How others see them

Many coastal residents see the Order as strict but useful. Its members arrive with food after storms, bury the drowned, and keep records that can help identify missing sailors. Inland citizens often view it as an eccentric maritime faith. Among nobles and harbor workers, its reputation is darker: the Order knows everyone's business and rarely gives aid without recording what is owed.

People

5 ranks

First Sounding

Ysela Canto

Composed, shrewd, and capable of real tenderness when no audience is present. She treats faith as both a sacred duty and an instrument of governance.

First Sounding1 member
The supreme leader. Interprets the Leviathan's dreams, appoints senior officers, and negotiates with the Crown. Decisions are formally presented as revelations, but the First Sounding can be challenged by a majority of the Tide Tribunal.
- First Sounding Ysela Canto First Sounding and public head of the Order
Tide Tribunal9 members
Senior priests who oversee doctrine, fleet policy, recruitment, intelligence, and the Order's finances. They vote on major actions, though the First Sounding controls the meeting agenda.
Blue Cantors36 members
Regional preachers and ritual leaders. They run local sanctuaries, conduct public services, and report unusual dreams or dissent to the Tribunal.
Net Captains124 members
Harbor commanders, ship officers, inspectors, and district enforcers. They turn Tribunal decrees into taxes, patrols, and recruitment quotas.
Tidebound510 members
Initiates, lay clergy, sailors, healers, cooks, scribes, and guards. They keep the Order's everyday services functioning and make up most of its public presence.

Other key members

Milo Master of the Net Captains and commander of the harbor wardens
Pavel Orsik Keeper of Accounts and quiet investigator of the failed rite
Anayeli Senior Blue Cantor and leading voice of the hardliners
Dorin Net Captain in a remote coastal district and possible reformist successor

How they are organised

How it is runCentralized religious institution with regional harbor commands and a politically powerful ruling tribunal

Who comes nextWhen the First Sounding dies or resigns, the Tide Tribunal chooses a successor by a two-thirds vote. Each candidate undergoes a three-night vigil in the flooded vaults, then reports what they heard. The Tribunal claims the Leviathan judges the candidates, but the vote is political and the visions are never independently verified. If the Tribunal deadlocks, regional Blue Cantors may force a wider conclave, a precedent that could shift power away from the capital.

How they recruitRecruiters approach shipwreck survivors, indebted fishers, and families who rely on the Order's infirmaries. Applicants begin as Tidebound after a night vigil, an oath, and a period of unpaid service. Those who show discipline may be assigned to a ship or sanctuary. Promotion depends on reliability, useful connections, and a Blue Cantor's recommendation. A rare few are chosen for Deep Listening, a supposed honor that many members fear.

To join

Swear to obey the Order's harbor laws and keep its rites confidential.
Declare all debts, ship shares, and family obligations to a Blue Cantor.
Attend an initiation vigil beside seawater while wearing blue cloth.
Accept assignment according to the Order's needs, including shipboard or coastal service.
Renounce any promise to reveal a private vision unless the Tribunal grants permission.

Operations

What they do

Coastal worship and seasonal processions

Rescue operations and storm warnings

Harbor registration, tithe collection, and debt arbitration

Maintaining beacons, infirmaries, and food stores

Naval patrols and protection of religious shipping

Dream interpretation and submerged rites

How they do it

Provide storm warnings, rescue crews, food stores, and medical care in exchange for loyalty and tithe.

Use harbor registration and debt records to pressure shipowners and families.

Stage disciplined processions, blue lantern vigils, and public funerals that reinforce the Order's authority.

Conduct night rites in flooded chambers, using bells, chanted numbers, and recorded dreams.

Recruit the desperate through aid, then bind new members with vows and obligations.

Gather intelligence through ship manifests, port workers, and the confessions of members.

Services for hire

Blue HearthA small tithe, labor, or a recorded promise of future service
Hot food, dry shelter, and basic care for travelers and storm victims. The Order records recipients and may later request repayment.
Sounding ReportA standard fee for outsiders; reduced or waived for Tidebound
A written forecast assembled from ship logs, beacon reports, and ritual observation. It is more useful than infallible, and the Order does not guarantee accuracy.
Blue PassageA percentage of cargo value or a favor to a Net Captain
Escorted passage through a dangerous coastal stretch aboard an Order vessel. The escort may also inspect the ship's manifest.
Net ArbitrationConfidentiality and permission to keep a copy of the testimony
A formal mediation service for disputes over salvage, crew shares, and maritime debts. The Order's decisions are difficult to appeal.

What they can do

Extensive knowledge of coastal routes, harbor schedules, and local shipping networks

Rapid mobilization of rescue crews and supplies during storms

Political leverage through control of port services and debt records

Access to ships and trained sailors across the kingdom

Custom setting-specific dream rites that sometimes produce fragments of useful prophecy; these are not presented as standard D&D 5E spells or features

A disciplined network of informants embedded in maritime communities

What they have

A fleet of 18 blue-sailed vessels, including rescue ships and armed patrol craft

A national register of ships, crews, coastal debts, and harbor schedules

Warehouses of preserved fish, salt, lamp oil, medicines, and emergency grain

Blue-painted sanctuaries and beacon stations throughout the kingdom's major ports

The flooded vaults beneath the capital sanctuary, whose lower chambers remain unexplored

A network of informants among pilots, chandlers, dockworkers, and harbor clerks

Where they are weak

Its authority depends on the Crown's continued recognition and could collapse if the royal charter is revoked.

The faction is divided over whether the Leviathan is a willing god, an injured creature, or an uncontrollable force.

Its extensive records are a liability if stolen or exposed.

The fleet is powerful on the coast but less effective inland.

Its public services create real loyalties, but also resentment among people who feel trapped by debt and obligation.

The failed rite and altered founding account could fracture the Order if revealed.

Many members have never seen the Leviathan and rely entirely on leaders to interpret its supposed will.

Territory

Headquarters

The kingdom's capital harbor

KindHarbor sanctuary and fortified temple

The Order occupies a vast, blue-painted complex of chapel, barracks, infirmary, records hall, and warehouses beside the capital's harbor. Beneath the public sanctuary, drowned stone stairs descend into flooded chambers. The lower vaults are guarded, but their doors are not locked against water. At high tide, a low vibration passes through the foundations, and every hanging bell rings once without being touched.

Lands they hold

The capital harbor and its surrounding wards

Major coastal ports and fishing settlements

Beacon stations along the kingdom's principal sea lanes

Warehouses and sanctuaries near royal naval yards

Outposts

The Last BellA wind-beaten island controlling the northern shipping laneMaintains a beacon, records passing ships, and offers rescue shelter. Its bell is cracked, but the Order refuses to replace it because its sound is said to carry farther.
Blue Net HouseA fishing district far from the capitalRuns a soup kitchen and small infirmary while collecting tithes and recruiting local crews.
The Dry ChapelA remote inlet accessible only at high tideProvides a private retreat for senior clergy. Despite its name, its lower floor is permanently flooded.

Secrets

The big secret · GM only

The Order's founding prophecy was edited after the Blue Squall. Oru Vela's surviving original journal says the Leviathan begged the survivors to leave it undisturbed, and that the storm was caused by the first attempt to draw power from its dreams. The Tribunal changed the account into a divine bargain. The creature beneath the harbor may not be a willing patron at all, and the Order's rituals may be keeping it trapped.

What they really want · GM only

Control the interpretation of the Leviathan's dreams so that no royal decree can be considered legitimate without the Order's approval.

Acquire the sounding bells and use them to direct the creature's attention toward hostile fleets.

Keep the original account of the Blue Squall hidden until the Tribunal can decide whether the truth would destroy the faith.

Identify whether a person can communicate with the Leviathan without the Order's rites, then bring that person under its control.

Hidden plans · GM only

The upper leadership intends to use the Leviathan's influence to make the monarch dependent on the Order for every naval decision.

The Tide Tribunal is secretly testing whether the Leviathan can be made to destroy a rival port without exposing the Order's involvement.

Some senior priests want to bind the creature's dreams into a reusable source of prophecy, even if the process causes it lasting pain.

The Keeper of Accounts is quietly assembling evidence of the Order's crimes, not to bring it down, but to control the next succession.

Smaller secrets · GM only

Several senior clergy quietly hire independent navigators because they do not trust the Order's own storm predictions.

The blue dye used for senior robes is made with a rare mineral taken from the flooded sanctuary, and exposure causes recurring dreams in some wearers.

The Order's popular fish soup is sometimes used to distribute a mild fictional sedative before group confession rites.

Milo has secretly paid for the education of children from families whose relatives were taken for Deep Listening.

A bell in the lower sanctuary rings only when someone lies about the failed rite, though the Tribunal publicly claims it rings at random.

What insiders say · GM only

Trouble inside · GM only

The Tribunal is divided between the Tidekeepers, who want to preserve the Order's public services and avoid provoking the Leviathan, and the Deep Mouth faction, which wants to force a decisive revelation through increasingly dangerous rites. Blue Cantors in poorer fishing villages resent the capital clergy's wealth and soft living. The Net Captains want clearer authority and reliable pay, while the Tribunal uses them as expendable intermediaries. Among ordinary Tidebound, faith ranges from sincere devotion to family obligation, fear, or simple dependence on the Order's food and medical care. A quiet reform movement says the creature's groans are evidence of torment rather than divine command.

Crimes · GM only

Abduction of people deemed suitable for the Deep Listening rites

Extortion of fishing communities through manipulated storm warnings and debt contracts

Smuggling relics and prohibited spell components through temple warehouses

Threats, unlawful imprisonment, and coerced confessions

Concealing deaths caused by failed rituals

Using custom rites of compelled testimony and dream surveillance; these are fictional setting practices, not standard D&D 5E spells

Plot hooks

5 hooks

1
The Blue Invitation
PersonalReward: Rescue, a grateful family, and evidence of the Order's rites
A character's relative is selected for Deep Listening after reporting the same dream as a Blue Cantor. The Order offers money and status to the family, but the relative begs to be taken away. The party must choose between a quiet rescue and exposing a rite that could provoke the Tribunal.
2
A Warning Out of Season
LocalReward: A ship, local allies, or leverage over the Order
The Last Bell warns that a storm will destroy a coastal village, but local fishers say the sea is calm and the forecast is a pretext to seize their boats. Investigating reveals that someone has altered the beacon records. The culprit may be a rival faction, a frightened Order clerk, or a Tribunal hardliner testing a prophecy.
3
The First Sounding
RegionalReward: The founding truth and a choice over whether to reveal it
A junior priest offers the party a copy of Oru Vela's original journal in exchange for help reaching the flooded vaults. Ysela wants the journal contained, Anayeli wants it destroyed, and Pavel wants the party to read it before anyone claims it.
4
The King's Measure
CampaignReward: Political influence, dangerous secrets, or a new enemy in the Crown
The Crown orders the party to escort a royal inspector into the capital sanctuary. The inspection is intended to curb the Order, but the inspector's real plan is to seize the Leviathan's power for the monarchy. Ysela proposes an alliance, while the hardliners prepare to make the visit a sacrifice.
5
Names Beneath the Waves
CampaignReward: A chance to change the Order's relationship with the Leviathan
For three nights, the Leviathan's dreams name a living person in every port, including one of the player characters. The Order calls this a summons. Pavel believes the names mark people who can hear the creature without the ritual bells. The party must discover whether to answer, hide, or silence the dreams.

Work they offer

1Find a missing rescue vessel before its crew's families are told it was lost.

2Recover a silver bell stolen from a coastal chapel without alerting the Crown's customs agents.

3Escort a Blue Cantor through villages where the Order's tithe collectors have been attacked.

4Determine who is altering storm records at a remote beacon station.

5Bring a sealed offering to a flooded shrine and return without opening it.

What gets in the way

The Order's doctrine says every command from the Leviathan is law, but its leaders disagree about how to interpret the creature's dreams.

Its charitable kitchens and storm rescues are genuinely effective, making local people reluctant to oppose it.

The royal navy depends on the Order's ships, while the Order's fleet depends on royal charters.

A growing number of junior clergy believe the Leviathan is a prisoner, not a god, and that worship is prolonging its suffering.

Members who break discipline are not simply punished. They may be reassigned to dangerous work at sea, where their disappearance can be called a holy sacrifice.

Rumours

1The Order can predict storms by listening to the Leviathan's dreams. Partly true, though the predictions are increasingly unreliable.

2Every blue-robed priest has a fish scale sewn beneath the tongue. False, though senior clergy do wear small scales beneath their collars.

3The Order once let a storm destroy a village that refused its tithe. Unproven, but the village's surviving records were confiscated.

4A drowned priest still answers questions from a well beneath the capital sanctuary. Mostly false; a voice does sometimes answer, but no one knows whose it is.

5The Crown's heir secretly attends the Order's midnight services. True, though the heir is investigating the Order rather than joining it.

6The Leviathan is an ancient sea monster forced into a pact by Oru Vela. The Order calls this blasphemy, but the original journal offers troubling support.

The Mouth Below

The Mouth Below

Overview

How it began

How to know them

Standing

What they say they want

What they are doing now

Where it leads

How others see them

People

First Sounding

Other key members

How they are organised

Relations

Operations

What they do

How they do it

Services for hire

What they can do

What they have

Where they are weak

Territory

Headquarters

Lands they hold

Outposts

Secrets

Plot hooks

Work they offer

What gets in the way

Rumours

Media

Turn The Mouth Below into a sheet