The Bell Answered
The Bell Answered
Read aloud
The Boiling Chimney Fields are boiling white, and the only safe crossing is open for one tide. Oskeld Marn and Halvren Cold-Vein have brought five quench-plates to seal the largest chimney. The routekeepers can get you there, but they cannot promise what will answer when the bell rings.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Cross the Boiling Chimney Fields by the Third Sedge Run.
- 2Decide whether the Scald and Halvren will permit the party to reach the quench site.
- 3Determine the fate of the largest chimney.
- 4Carry the Fields’ knowledge into the next chapter.Optional
The clock
The tide window for the Third Sedge Run is closing. During the final battle, each round after round one gives the Siphon-Wardens a chance to seat another plate at initiative count 20. The Silence Clock determines how many plates are already in place when the party arrives.
Scenes
- 0:00A Route with One Tide
- 0:45The Third Sedge Run
- 2:25What the Scald Protects
- 3:15One Conversation Before the Hammer
- 4:45The Quench at the Throat
Cast
- Kavi AsheVoid-Dancer routekeeper and guide
- The ScaldGuardian of the Chimney Fields’ nest
- Halvren Cold-VeinHostile envoy and route magistrate
- Oskeld MarnTrench-Warden
The hook
Set the scene
At the edge of the Fields, the water ahead is white with heat. Columns rise like pillars, each leaning toward the center of the plain, where the largest chimney opens as a black mouth in the seabed. The Unbanked Ember beats in time with its slow breathing. Kavi Ashe waits beside the Guild’s route marker, checking the tide and the party’s gear before she leads them onto the Third Sedge Run.
How Kavi Ashe asks
Kavi Ashe offers the party the Third Sedge Run if they have sufficient Standing with the Crews or a Routekeeper’s token.
If neither applies, a faction agent from the party’s most advanced Tier 4 Linking quest may secure passage according to the Standing ledger. At Standing 3 or higher, play that faction’s full Linking scene; at Standing 2, use its shorter version; at Standing 0 or 1, its agent is absent. Do not introduce a new faction for this Act.
Rumours
Scenes
about 6.5 hours0:00
45 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Route with One Tide
A route marker on the outer edge of the Boiling Chimney Fields, where the heat fog blurs the vent pillars.
Establish the immediate stakes: the tide window, the routekeepers’ conditions, and the quench team’s progress. If a Tier 4 Linking quest is due, resolve its full, shortened, or absent-agent version according to Standing.
NextKavi checks the tide once more, then steps onto the cold seam leading into the first vent gap.
0:45
100 min
exploration
2. The Third Sedge Run
Four stretches of marked and unmarked water, with vent walls, scalding channels, shifting plumes, and a final mile where the sound briefly disappears.
Guide the party through four stages: the Sedge Gap, Plume Field, Boiling Shelf, and Quiet Mile. Each stage calls for a relevant skill check using the selected DC. On a failure, apply that stage’s specific hazard or give the Vanguard one round of free action at the Throat. When the party reaches the Quiet Mile, the Fields fall silent for a count of three, the bell sounds below, and the Ember answers; mark Heard box 5 for the whole party.
The Third Sedge RunNextThe last ripple slides away, and the Scald rises through the haze without striking.
2:25
50 min
social
3. What the Scald Protects
A cold pocket between vent columns, where the Scald’s broad shadow moves through the steam.
The Scald wants the largest chimney left open. Run a challenge of three successes before three failures. Valid approaches include promising to keep the throat open (Persuasion ), offering Heat through a Thermalist’s Heat Point (Arcana ), showing the Ember (Religion or Insight ), or admitting the party does not understand the bell (Insight ). A success permits passage and earns the Scald’s intervention in round three of the final fight. A failure leads to its test of strength or the party’s retreat.
Parley at the Quiet MileNextThe Scald lowers its head and exhales once, clearing a path toward the black mouth at the heart of the Fields.
3:15
90 min
social
4. One Conversation Before the Hammer
A ledge above the largest chimney, with Halvren apart from the plate cart and Oskeld’s waiting crew.
At the Throat, Halvren offers one exchange before combat. The party has two rounds to earn three successes before two failures: name the Winter of Bells with Heard box 3 or higher (History ); show evidence of what the plates would do (Insight or Persuasion ); show him the Ember and ask what it feels like to him (Persuasion ); or keep Oskeld silent for one round (Intimidation ). Success makes Halvren withdraw, not join the party. Failure leaves him with Oskeld. Start the plate track at half the Silence Clock, rounded down.
The ThroatNextHalvren either steps away from the cart or takes his place beside Oskeld as the first plate begins to move.
4:45
110 min
combat
5. The Quench at the Throat
A basalt ring around a black funnel, with the quench-plate cart at the north edge and a ledge above the throat.
Run the combat with the plate track and the Throat’s lair actions. Oskeld calls the plates in order, the Siphon-Wardens defend the cart, and Halvren uses his abilities to control the space if he remains. When Oskeld falls, the plates are stopped, or the Heard Track is full while the Throat remains open, resolve the bell’s answer. If the plates reach five first, resolve the quench instead.
The ThroatNextAs the last plate shifts or settles, the water draws inward, and the Ember’s next beat arrives.
Behind it
What people believe
The Boiling Chimney Fields are a mile-wide geothermal plain where safe passage depends on the Void-Dancer routekeepers of the Sedge Guild.
Oskeld Marn and Halvren Cold-Vein have brought five quench-plates to seal the largest chimney, hoping to silence the bell beneath the Fields. The party must cross the vents, negotiate with the dragon guardian known as the Scald, and decide whether to stop the quench. The choice will change what the Fields can sustain and what the party learns.
Background
At the Boiling Chimney Fields, geothermal vents send white scalding water up through a mile-wide plain.
The Sedge Guild’s Void-Dancer routekeepers maintain the only safe crossing. Trench-Warden Oskeld Marn and Halvren Cold-Vein have brought five quench-plates to seal the largest chimney, convinced that silencing the bell will prevent a greater danger. The party arrives as the final argument over the Fields’ fate is turning into action. The pulse will receive an answer whatever the party chooses, but sealing the throat changes what can be heard and when.
The stakes
The quench may silence the bell, but it also closes a major chimney that sustains the Fields.
Stopping the quench preserves the open throat, but does not reveal what the bell is calling or whether its answer is safe. Either outcome changes the party’s information and leaves the larger mystery unresolved.
Encounters
3The Third Sedge Run
Exploration challenge
Four stages through cold seams between vent walls, an eruption-prone plume field, a shelf hiding vent mouths, and the exposed Quiet Mile. The hot zone calls for a DC 12 Constitution save every 10 minutes; Pressure Suits grant advantage and halve the resulting damage.
ComplicationThe party crosses heated water and shifting vent paths. Outside a marked lane, each hour requires a DC 16 Survival or Navigator’s Tools check; on a failure, a plume strikes for 4d6 fire damage, with a DC 16 Dexterity save for half.
ScalingUse DCs 15, 17, or 20 for easy, moderate, or hard checks. For a lower-pressure session, allow Kavi’s guidance to grant advantage on one check. Pressure Suits grant advantage on checks against the hot zone and halve its damage.
Parley at the Quiet Mile
Social, optional combat
The Quiet Mile lies between vent walls where the water briefly settles. Scalding channels and sudden plumes threaten anyone who breaks the parley or retreats carelessly.
Foes
The Scald, custom/sourcebook dragon guardian, CR 15
ComplicationThe Scald refuses passage if the party fails its parley. It demands a test of strength, which may be run as a custom sourcebook encounter or avoided by retreating. If combat happens, Oskeld seats the first plate before the party reaches the Throat.
ScalingRun as a social challenge: three successes before three failures. The Scald’s optional combat should be avoided or adapted for the group’s resources; its sourcebook statistics are not reproduced here.
The Throat
Combat
A 90-foot-wide funnel of black basalt steps narrows to the Throat. The five 8-foot, four-ton plates rest on a cart at the north edge. The Throat uses one lair action at initiative count 20, losing ties, and cannot repeat the same action twice in a row: Pulse, a DC 17 Constitution save within 40 feet or 4d6 thunder damage, half on a success; Scald Surge, a 20-foot by 10-foot line for 5d6 fire damage, DC 16 Dexterity save for half; or Pull, a DC 17 Strength save within 30 feet or be pulled 15 feet toward the Throat.
Foes
Oskeld Marn, custom NPC build, CR 11
Halvren Cold-Vein, custom siphon-lich commander, CR 14, if not turned
Two Vanguard Siphon-Wardens, CR 6 each
Hearth-Quencher, custom creature, if Halvren has withdrawn
ComplicationAt initiative count 20, after round one, a Siphon-Warden attempts to seat a plate. Track progress from the starting value of the Silence Clock divided by two, rounded down. At five seated plates, the Throat seals. A creature within 5 feet of a seated plate can use an action and succeed on a DC 17 Athletics or Tinker’s Tools check to unseat it.
ScalingFor four level-14 characters, the full force with Halvren is a High encounter. If Halvren withdraws, replace him with one Hearth-Quencher for a Moderate-to-High encounter. Scale for level 13 by reducing a Warden’s hit points or removing one Warden; use the same plate track. If the Scald accepted the party’s appeal, it breathes a 60-foot line on the Vanguard in round three, dealing 12d6 fire damage, DC 18 Dexterity save for half.
Cast
4Kavi Ashe
QuestgiverVoid-Dancer routekeeper and guide
WantsGuide the party safely across the vents while protecting the Sedge Guild’s route and its crews. Kavi will not risk the crossing in the final hour before a tide change.
““The Third Run is open, but the tide turns before the last hour. When I tell you to move, move.””
The Scald
Guardian of the Chimney Fields’ nest
WantsKeep the largest chimney open. The Scald will parley if the party approaches the Quiet Mile, but will test their strength if they fail to convince it.
““I have kept this mouth longer than your harbors have stood. I know what lives beneath it. I do not know what your fear will wake.””
Halvren Cold-Vein
Hostile envoy and route magistrate
WantsHelp seal the chimney, believing the bell binds or summons something dangerous. He can be made to withdraw if the party confronts him with credible evidence and succeeds in a careful appeal.
““You call it a bell. I call it a leash. The plates end the sound, and that is enough.””
Oskeld Marn
Trench-Warden, faction liaison, and leader of the quench team
WantsComplete the quench before the bell can sound in full. Oskeld believes silence is the safer choice, but will not surrender while a plate remains to be seated unless the party breaks his hammer or incapacitates him.
““I have heard what silence costs. I have also heard what answering can cost. Do not ask me to mistake one fear for proof.””
How it ends
Rewards
Items
The Unbanked Ember becomes Legendary (Kindled) as specified by the campaign.
Each character’s Signature Relic grows from Rare to Very Rare as specified by the campaign.
The quench-plates remain a contested resource; award no additional item unless the party’s campaign material establishes one.
On a win
The party reaches the Throat and resolves the quench, whether by stopping the plates or allowing them to seal the chimney.
If the Heard Track is full and the Throat remains open, the fight halts as the bell rings in full. The Ember holds steady, and the answer arrives as a count from somewhere the party cannot locate. The characters understand that the pulse is a count, that it is not finished, and that something has heard it. Leave the answerer’s identity and intent unresolved. Record the final Silence Clock, Drift, faction Standing, the Ember’s Legendary (Kindled) status, the growth of each Signature Relic from Rare to Very Rare, and who lived, withdrew, or remained at the Fields.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails the Scald’s three-success social challenge.
- The party may continue, but the Scald demands a test of strength or forces them to withdraw and seek another way forward. If they fight the Scald, Oskeld seats one plate before the final encounter.
- The party fails to turn Halvren, or lacks the evidence required to confront him about the Winter of Bells.
- Halvren fights beside Oskeld during the Throat encounter. If he later survives the bell’s full ringing, his reaction is a clue, not an explanation.
- The party cannot prevent the fifth plate from being seated.
- If the Plate Track reaches five, the Throat seals and the Silence Clock is complete. The Fields cool several degrees; the bell does not ring in full. The Ember receives only a faint, delayed answer, and the party’s knowledge of the count is incomplete unless it has other evidence.
- The party fails the group Stealth check during the Quiet Mile.
- The group suffers route hazards and may arrive exposed, giving the Vanguard one round of free action before the party can act in the final encounter.
Complications (d6)
- 1A vent erupts across the group’s route. Each creature in the affected area makes a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
- 2The tide begins to turn earlier than Kavi expected. The party must finish the current stage within ten minutes or take disadvantage on its next route check.
- 3A route marker has been rotated toward a scalding channel. A character who succeeds on a DC 16 Survival or Navigator’s Tools check spots the false direction before the group commits to it.
- 4A sudden scald surge washes over the crossing. Creatures in the water take 2d6 fire damage at the start of their turns; a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw halves this damage.
- 5The sound falls away for a count of three. Bell-crews hear a second note beneath the pulse; mark the next available Heard box.
- 6A dark aurora shivers across the water and something answers from far below. Mark the Heard Track full if it is not already full; do not identify the responder.
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