The Seventh Lantern
The Seventh Lantern
“A vanished caravan, a darkened bridge, and an ancient promise sinking beneath the river.”
— Hook · Investigation and rescue
“Three travelers vanished after crossing Lantern Bridge, and the seventh bronze lantern has gone dark. The ferrymaster will pay you to find the missing people before the river road closes for good. Last night, someone heard a voice beneath the bridge calling each victim by name.”
— Hook · Investigation and rescue
Rain drums against the windows of the ferrymaster's office while Mara Venn lays a soaked travel cloak across the table. Its owner, a merchant named Pell, vanished three nights ago along with two guards and a pair of pilgrims. Through the shutters, the party can see Lantern Bridge in the distance, its seven bronze lamps reduced to six points of light. Mara explains that the town watch searched the road but found only drag marks leading toward the river.
Mara Venn
Mara approaches the party during a storm, after hearing that they have handled dangerous work without demanding a town's entire treasury. She offers an immediate advance and admits that the town watch is either frightened or compromised.
Rumours
d4 · table- 01The seventh lantern has gone dark before, but the last time it happened, the old ferrymaster sacrificed a silver bell to relight it.
- 02People who disappear near the bridge are sometimes heard singing from underwater.
- 03The abandoned warehouse by the east bank has been locked for years, yet fresh footprints appear outside after every storm.
- 04Rusk Calder is not merely a smuggler. He has been buying old maps and asking questions about the bridge's foundations.
If the party fails, the guardian is bound or enraged, the river crossing becomes unsafe, and the smugglers gain control of a supernatural force that can isolate or extort multiple settlements. If the party succeeds, the travelers return safely, the bridge is protected, and the party gains access to a regional criminal conspiracy.
Background Lore
For generations, the river town of Bellwether Ford has relied on the Lantern Bridge, an ancient stone crossing marked by seven bronze lanterns. Three nights ago, the seventh lantern went dark, and travelers began disappearing on the road beyond the bridge. The town blames bandits, but old records suggest the bridge was built over a sealed shrine dedicated to a forgotten guardian spirit.
Bellwether Ford depends on the Lantern Bridge for trade and travel. After the seventh bridge lantern went dark, several travelers disappeared, and the town council wants the matter resolved quietly before panic or outside scrutiny disrupts the settlement. The ferrymaster Mara Venn hires the party to investigate the bridge, locate the missing travelers, and determine whether bandits, smugglers, or something stranger is responsible. Old stories claim that a guardian once protected the crossing, but most townsfolk regard those stories as superstition.
