The Broken Confluence
The Broken Confluence
Read aloud
A tremor rattles the village well, and its water rises black with grit. Reeve Mara Venn says the hillside is cracking and the old shrine below it has gone silent. She offers a reward to anyone who can find the cause before the spring fails.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Find the cause of Reedhollow's failing water and hillside tremors.
- 2Discover why the shrine's balance has broken.
- 3Resolve the conflict at the shrine and prevent further harm to Reedhollow.
- 4Settle the village's response to Nella's part in the crisis.Optional
The clock
Each major delay or failed attempt worsens the hillside. Show the advance through fresh cracks, hotter vents, and rising spring water. After three significant delays, Reedhollow begins evacuating the lowest homes and the shrine's inner chamber becomes hazardous.
Scenes
- 0:00Water Gone Bitter
- 0:45The Road Beneath the Hill
- 1:45Four Marks, One Absence
- 2:30The Shrine's Last Argument
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver and village reeve
- Tovan ReedAlly and shrine-keeper
- Nella OrWitness and reluctant accomplice
- Sera FlintAntagonist and self-appointed elemental mediator
The hook
Set the scene
Begin at Reedhollow's public well as a tremor cracks its stone lip. The water turns cloudy, then briefly bubbles with heat. Mara Venn gathers the party near the well, explains that the hillside has been shifting for three days, and asks them to investigate the abandoned Confluence Shrine. Tovan Reed offers a rough route through an old drainage passage, while Nella watches the conversation and tries to leave unnoticed.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara approaches the party directly at the village well, offering an advance in supplies and a promised reward.
She admits she cannot spare villagers to guide them because the tremors have damaged homes and fields.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4 hours0:00
45 min
socialThe table is here
1. Water Gone Bitter
The village well and its crowded stone square.
Introduce Reedhollow's immediate need, let the party question Mara and witnesses, and provide leads toward the shrine. Nella's nervous behavior offers a clue without immediately proving her involvement.
NextTovan points out a drainage passage on the hillside. Follow it to the causeway, or let the party find another route through local exploration.
0:45
60 min
exploration
2. The Road Beneath the Hill
A drainage passage and broken causeway beneath the hillside.
The party navigates the old passage, where water, loose stone, and bursts of hot air test their caution. A small shrine inscription describes the four markers as a shared covenant.
Guardians at the Broken CausewayNextThe passage opens into a dry antechamber. Tracks and a fresh scrape in the dust point toward the shrine's inner chamber.
1:45
45 min
skill
3. Four Marks, One Absence
The shrine's outer chamber, where faded carvings surround four elemental alcoves.
The party finds the missing river-stone's empty place and evidence that it was carried away recently. Nella's boot marks or an identifying tool link her to the theft; the party may confront her, seek her account, or keep moving.
NextA pulse from within the shrine reveals Sera and the disturbed spirit at the central basin.
2:30
75 min
combat
4. The Shrine's Last Argument
The circular heart of the Confluence Shrine.
Confront Sera and the Unbalanced Confluence Spirit. The party can fight, negotiate, or divide its effort between calming the spirit and recovering the relic. Their earlier discoveries provide leverage and practical options.
The Shrine's Last ArgumentNextWith the chamber quiet, return to Reedhollow to report what happened and decide what should be done about Nella, Sera, and the shrine's future.
Behind it
What people believe
The village of Reedhollow depends on a hillside spring fed by an abandoned shrine to the Primordial Elementals.
Recent tremors have clouded the water, and the old drainage passages are becoming dangerous. Reeve Mara Venn asks the party to investigate the shrine, find what has disturbed its balance, and prevent the village's water source from failing.
Background
The Primordial Elementals are a pantheon of ancient powers associated with the first manifestations of earth, water, fire, and air.
Their oldest shrines were built as meeting places, not temples to a single element. The submerged Confluence Shrine beneath the village of Reedhollow once held a stone basin where offerings from all four elements were mixed. Local tradition says the basin kept the surrounding springs clear and the hillside stable.
The stakes
If the party fails, Reedhollow may lose its spring, suffer worsening landslides, and be forced to evacuate.
If the shrine is restored carelessly or one element is allowed to dominate, the danger may continue in a different form.
Encounters
2Guardians at the Broken Causeway
Combat or bypassable obstacle
A narrow causeway crosses a steaming ravine. Stone pillars provide cover, while mineral pools and loose gravel create hazardous footing.
Foes
2 to 4 Claybound Wardens
1 Cinder Mote
ComplicationThe cracked ground shifts during the fight. At the end of each round or meaningful exchange, the GM may open a fissure, collapse a narrow ledge, or redirect a burst of hot water. Make these hazards visible before they threaten anyone.
ScalingFor a smaller or less experienced party, use one Claybound Warden and omit the Cinder Mote. For a larger or more experienced party, add two Wardens or give the Mote a second terrain-changing action.
The Shrine's Last Argument
Combat, social confrontation, or combined challenge
A circular chamber around a cracked stone basin, with four shallow alcoves for earth, water, fire, and air. The basin's rim is slick, and broken tiles conceal unstable ground.
Foes
Sera Flint
1 Unbalanced Confluence Spirit
ComplicationIf the party damages the basin or lets the elemental forces clash unchecked, the shrine's chamber begins to flood with scalding water and fill with choking ash. This creates urgency but can be slowed by restoring one of the four elemental markers.
ScalingSera can be persuaded to stop fighting if the party presents evidence of the relic's damage or offers a credible plan to protect the village. For a gentler climax, the spirit is a hazard to contain rather than a foe to defeat. For a tougher party, add a second wave of elemental manifestations.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and village reeve
WantsProtect Reedhollow and its residents, while preserving the village's relationship with the old shrine.
“The spring has turned bitter, and the hill answers every shovel with a tremor. Please find what has changed before the whole village has to leave.”
Tovan Reed
Ally and shrine-keeper
WantsRestore the shrine's balance and keep outsiders from taking its relics, even if that means withholding information.
“The shrine was never meant to be owned. It was a promise that no element would be asked to rule alone.”
Nella Or
Witness and reluctant accomplice
WantsSave her family's farmland and hide her role in taking a relic from the shrine.
“I only wanted the hill to stop swallowing our fields. I did not know the stone would wake hungry.”
Sera Flint
Antagonist and self-appointed elemental mediator
WantsClaim the shrine's power to reshape the hillside and establish herself as its indispensable guardian.
“Give me one clean spark, one unbroken stone, one breath that does not stink of mud. Then we can talk about balance.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A hand-sized Confluence Token, a custom keepsake that grows cool near unsafe water and warm near unstable stone.
A choice of practical supplies from Reedhollow, such as climbing gear, travel rations, or a healer's kit.
On a win
If the party restores or safely renegotiates the shrine's balance, the tremors subside and the spring runs clear within a day.
The village holds a modest gathering at the well, where Mara publicly thanks the party. Sera's fate and Nella's reputation depend on the party's choices.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party must retreat. Reedhollow's spring remains tainted, and the village begins an evacuation. The group can return later with better preparation, but Sera escapes with the relic.
- The party fails to calm the Confluence Spirit before the shrine becomes unsafe.
- They may still find the shrine by following the elemental disturbances, but they lose a useful guide and Sera has more time to arrange the chamber to her advantage.
- The party fails to gain Nella's trust or uncover her involvement.
- The immediate threat ends, but tremors and bitter water continue. The villagers credit the party with buying time, not solving the crisis.
- The party defeats or drives off Sera without repairing the basin's balance.
Complications (d6)
- 1A spring suddenly surges through the path, separating the party from one another until they find a safe crossing or wait for the water to recede.
- 2A tremor drops a shelf of loose rock across the route; clearing it costs time, while climbing around it risks a fall and damaged gear.
- 3A gust carries hot ash from the shrine's vents, obscuring sight and making exposed flames flare unpredictably.
- 4A frightened villager mistakes the party for Sera's helpers and blocks their way until they explain their intentions or earn the villager's trust.
- 5A small elemental manifestation copies the last action it saw, repeating it at the worst possible moment, such as opening a gate or knocking over a lantern.
- 6The missing shrine relic gives off a pulse that reveals the party's location to Sera and stirs nearby elemental guardians.
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