Whispers of the Tribunal
Whispers of the Tribunal
Read aloud
A rain-dark envelope appears among your supplies, sealed with black wax. Its unsigned note promises forbidden lore and powerful secrets, then gives a midnight meeting place beside the old well. A final line reads: “Trust no one who already knows you are coming.”
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Gather evidence of betrayal.
- 2Find and protect a witness.
- 3Unmask the hidden priest and stop the operation.
- 4Choose the fate of the cabal's local network.Optional
The clock
After each major delay, mark one step on a three-step clock: a courier removes evidence from the safehouse, Kaelor relocates the codex, then the chapel acolytes begin burning the ledger. The party can still complete the quest after the final step, but must recover the records during or after the confrontation rather than searching the chapel undisturbed.
Scenes
- 0:00Midnight Invitation
- 1:00Trail of Whispers
- 2:30The Missing Guard
- 3:30Forbidden Rites
- 4:30The Unmasked Betrayer
Cast
- Sister MarveraAlly and informant
- Inquisitor KaelorAntagonist
- Tovin ReedWitness
- Lethra VossWildcard
The hook
Set the scene
Read the hook aloud as the party discovers the envelope among their supplies. At the old well, drizzle dimples the black water and the smell of wet stone rises from its mouth. Marvera waits beneath a charcoal hood, keeping one hand close to the coded message she carries. She gives the party a cipher and warns that someone has been altering their supply orders, then points them toward the road where the missing caravan guard was last seen.
How Sister Marvera asks
A cryptic invitation leads the party to Sister Marvera, who offers actionable clues but asks them to confirm each claim before trusting her.
Rumours
Scenes
about 6.5 hours0:00
60 min
socialThe table is here
1. Midnight Invitation
A neglected well at the edge of a Draknaari settlement, where rain ticks against its stone lip and distant foundry smoke gives the air a bitter tang.
The party receives the letter and follows its directions to the old well. Marvera explains the pattern of sabotage, provides a coded scrap, and asks them to verify the evidence rather than take her word alone.
NextThe cipher's repeated marks match a delivery notation on the party's next supply manifest, leading them along the wet road toward the stalled caravan.
1:00
90 min
exploration
2. Trail of Whispers
A muddy road beneath slag-streaked hills, followed by a shuttered courier's safehouse that smells of lamp oil, damp paper, and scorched wood.
The party examines the disabled wagon, interviews witnesses, and follows physical traces to a ransacked safehouse. They can recover a black wax seal, a deliberately altered route slip, or a hidden note that ties the sabotage to the same cell.
The Sabotaged Supply WagonNextA surviving note names the old chapel as a drop point. Its handwriting matches a message found in Tovin's possession, if the party has earned his trust.
2:30
60 min
social
3. The Missing Guard
A cramped loft above an abandoned cooper's shop. Dust clings to old barrels, and each footstep makes the floorboards complain.
The party finds Tovin, or traces his hiding place through the safehouse records. He describes seeing the wagon sabotaged and can identify the sigil used by Kaelor's agents. Lethra may appear with an offer to trade the chapel's entry route for protection.
NextTovin's testimony and the courier's route point to St. Edrin's chapel, where a moving glow slips behind its broken bell tower.
3:30
60 min
exploration
4. Forbidden Rites
A roofless chapel among rain-black trees. Candle smoke curls through gaps in the stone, and wind stirs a strip of faded altar cloth.
The party searches the chapel for the codex, the ledger, and the source of the whispered rite. Marked candles and a concealed floor compartment reveal that Kaelor is using the ruin as both archive and trap.
NextA door beneath the cracked altar grinds open, and Kaelor's voice carries from the nave as he orders his acolytes to burn the records.
4:30
120 min
combat
5. The Unmasked Betrayer
The ruined nave of St. Edrin's chapel, where rain patters through the broken roof and the red glow of a ritual lamp stains the altar stones.
The party confronts Kaelor and decides whether to capture, defeat, or bargain with him. Once he is stopped, the evidence reveals the shape of his local network and leaves the party to decide how to handle its frightened operatives.
The Unmasked BetrayerNextWith the codex wrapped against the rain, the party leaves the chapel as its bell tower shifts overhead, sending them hurrying toward the road and the choices waiting there.
Behind it
What people believe
A cryptic letter offers the party forbidden lore and powerful secrets in exchange for a midnight meeting by an old well.
There they meet Sister Marvera, an informant who claims a hidden Tribunal agent is sabotaging supplies and misleading the party. The heroes must follow the clues, locate a missing caravan guard, and confront the priest behind the scheme in a ruined chapel.
Background
In the years after the events at Ravenbrook Keep, the Obsidian Tribunal has lost some of its reach, but its scattered cells still trade in forbidden rites and private intelligence.
In Draknaar, a small cabal has embedded itself in the channels through which the party receives supplies and information. Its leader, Inquisitor Kaelor, is using forged messages and quiet sabotage to isolate witnesses before they can expose his operation.
The stakes
If Kaelor succeeds, the party's allies may lose faith in one another, supplies will continue to disappear, and witnesses will be silenced.
If the heroes expose him, they can protect those targeted by the cell, but the records they recover may reveal further Tribunal activity.
Encounters
2The Sabotaged Supply Wagon
Combat
A rutted road beside a stalled wagon, with stacked crates for half cover, a shallow drainage ditch, and scattered cargo that makes the ground difficult terrain in a few squares.
Foes
2 Obsidian Tribunal acolytes, use appropriate low-level cultist or priestly NPC statistics
1 cabal lookout, use a low-level scout or bandit-style NPC
ComplicationA lantern tips among the wagon's dry packing straw. A creature can use an action to smother the flames, or the fire spreads after 2 rounds and obscures the area with smoke. The flames are a hazard, not an additional enemy.
ScalingFor a smaller or depleted party, use one acolyte and one lookout. For a larger or well-rested party, add one acolyte. The enemies try to escape with evidence rather than fight to the death.
The Unmasked Betrayer
Combat
The roofless nave of St. Edrin's chapel, with broken pews, knee-high rubble, a cracked altar, and a bell tower stair. Moonlight cuts through the broken roof; rain makes the flagstones slick.
Foes
Inquisitor Kaelor, use a custom level-appropriate priest antagonist rather than assuming the supplied Challenge Rating or spell list is balanced for every party
2 Tribunal acolytes, use appropriate low-level cultist or priestly NPC statistics
ComplicationKaelor's rite dampens sound in the central aisle. Spoken coordination is difficult there, but the effect ends if the marked candles are extinguished or removed. This is a custom encounter effect, not a spell.
ScalingFor a party low on resources, Kaelor begins without the acolytes and has no more than one use of his fear effect. For a larger or well-prepared party, retain both acolytes and let Kaelor use the chapel's cover and elevation. Kaelor seeks to escape if reduced to a quarter of his hit points.
Cast
4Sister Marvera
QuestgiverAlly and informant, a former Veiled Nightlords agent who now exposes dangerous cabals. She is not a member of Kaelor's cell.
WantsSister Marvera wants Kaelor's operation stopped and the people he has endangered protected. She fears capture by the Tribunal, so she shares information cautiously and insists the party verify her claims.
“If you have come for the truth, keep your voices low. The stones here carry sound farther than they should.”
Inquisitor Kaelor
Antagonist, an Obsidian Tribunal priest who leads the local operation.
WantsInquisitor Kaelor intends to erase evidence of his cell's activities, recover a stolen ritual codex, and make the party appear responsible for the sabotage.
“A name is a door. Tell me yours, and I will show you what waits behind it.”
Tovin Reed
Witness, a caravan guard who vanished after seeing a Tribunal operative tamper with a supply wagon.
WantsTovin wants to make amends for keeping silent after witnessing the caravan sabotage. He will help if the party can keep him safe.
“I watched them change the axle pin. I should have shouted, but I saw the black seal and froze.”
Lethra Voss
Wildcard, a local cabal courier who may become a witness or flee if threatened.
WantsLethra helped relay Kaelor's false leads but has begun to doubt him. She wants a way out that does not leave her at the mercy of either the Tribunal or the party.
“The Tribunal paid for silence, not blood. I can still choose which one I give them.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Cloak of Shadows, custom uncommon wondrous item: once per short rest, the wearer can gain advantage on one Dexterity (Stealth) check. This does not grant invisibility or conceal a creature from senses that do not rely on sight.
Obsidian Sigil, a black metal seal that identifies its bearer to certain Tribunal agents and opens specific local shrine doors. It grants no universal access to Tribunal sites.
Ritual codex and Kaelor's ledger, useful evidence with no automatic mechanical benefit.
On a win
With Kaelor exposed and his ledger recovered, the party can reveal the local cell's identities and dismantle its operation.
Marvera urges them to decide what to do with the frightened acolytes: turn them over to authorities, invite willing agents to testify, or offer some a chance to make restitution. The chapel's last loose stones tumble as the heroes carry the evidence into the rain.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to capture or expose Kaelor at the chapel.
- Kaelor escapes with the ledger and codex. His remaining agents abandon their safehouse, making the cabal harder to trace and leaving the party with only scattered evidence.
- The party leaves Tovin unprotected after identifying him as a witness.
- Tovin is badly injured or disappears into hiding. The party loses a direct witness, and local merchants become reluctant to share supply records.
- The party accuses Marvera without corroboration or allows forged evidence to circulate unchallenged.
- The cabal frames Marvera for the sabotage. She must go to ground, and the party's trusted contacts may refuse aid until the evidence is made public.
Complications (d6)
- 1A supply crate is found with its seals intact, but its contents have been replaced by damp stones. The lost provisions delay travel and strengthen the need to find the person who handled the manifest.
- 2A forged note bearing Marvera's mark directs the party toward a deserted kiln. A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots an inconsistent cipher before the party commits to the detour.
- 3A frightened witness bolts when a black-feathered signal is given. The party can pursue through crowded lanes or calm the onlookers before the rumor turns against them.
- 4A sudden Draknaari squall slicks the chapel approach with ash and rain. The first creature to Dash across the steep outer steps must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
- 5A cabal courier burns a page from Kaelor's ledger. The party can recover the charred remains with a DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check, but doing so takes time as smoke draws attention.
- 6Lethra offers to identify a hidden shrine in exchange for safe passage. Her information is accurate, but Kaelor's watchers notice the meeting and prepare to flee with the remaining records.
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