The Cargo Insured Twice
The Cargo Insured Twice
Read aloud
Two rival insurers have filed claims on the same upriver shipment: one says it was delivered, the other says it was lost. Both records bear the signature of Serina Vell of the Collegium of Three Seals, and the dockworkers are about to lose their wages over the contradiction. Find out what happened before the council turns a paper dispute into a public scandal.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Establish which documents are genuine and identify the gaps in the shipment's chain of custody.
- 2Determine what happened to the cargo after its inspection.
- 3Resolve the wage dispute and decide how much of the fraud, negligence, and hidden-channel use to expose.
- 4Reduce harm to the barge crews who rely on the buried waterways.Optional
The clock
At the next council session, in two days, the insurers intend to present their claims and the dock guild will be asked to accept wage deductions. Each long delay gives the rival houses more time to shape the public account and increases pressure on witnesses.
Scenes
- 0:00Two Claims on One Cargo
- 0:45The Ledger Storehouse
- 1:45A Seal Is Not a Witness
- 2:35The Channel Beneath the Quay
- 3:50Who Pays for the Missing Cargo?
Cast
- Tessa MaroQuestgiver
- Serina VellAlly
- Oren DastSuspect
- Neri SavoWildcard
The hook
Set the scene
At the River Ledger Hall, Tessa Maro waits beside a row of dockworkers holding unpaid wage chits. A clerk has pinned two conflicting insurance notices to the public board: one marks the cargo delivered, the other lost. Serina Vell's name appears beneath both, and a crowd is gathering to hear which institution will accept responsibility.
How Tessa Maro asks
Tessa Maro asks the party to work as independent investigators.
She offers access to the dockworkers' records and witnesses, but warns that public accusations could cost the workers their jobs. She can arrange a meeting with Serina Vell and provide a short list of the cargo's scheduled handlers.
Rumours
Scenes
about 5 hours0:00
45 min
socialThe table is here
1. Two Claims on One Cargo
River Ledger Hall and the crowded public notice arcade
Tessa hires the party amid a public dispute. Let them hear competing claims from workers, a banking clerk, and a Collegium messenger, then choose whom to approach first.
NextTessa provides the dock schedule and directs the party to the quay storehouse. Serina will meet them at the Collegium if they bring a copy of the disputed record.
0:45
60 min
skill
2. The Ledger Storehouse
A riverside storehouse beside the working quay, with counting offices above the loading floor
Inspect the cargo records, interview the guards and clerks, and compare the seals. A successful inquiry reveals that the inspection order is genuine but the delivery certification uses an inconsistent date and seal impression.
The Ledger StorehouseNextA trace of unusual silt, a missing tag, or a witness's mention of a maintenance stair points toward the Collegium archive or the old watercourse.
1:45
50 min
social
3. A Seal Is Not a Witness
The Collegium of Three Seals, a licensed inspection office above a public courtyard
Serina explains the limits of her inspection order. The party can secure corroboration from her archive, a rival insurer's clerk, or both. She admits the signature on the delivery record resembles hers but cannot authenticate it from a copy alone.
NextSerina's archive notes refer to a sluice inspection near the old quay, while a clerk's ledger points toward a disputed insurance payment.
2:35
75 min
exploration
4. The Channel Beneath the Quay
A disused watercourse beneath the northern quay, accessible through a bricked maintenance stair
Explore the buried channel, follow physical traces, and find the cargo's hiding place or its transfer tags. Neri can be persuaded to guide the party if they offer protection for the crews or avoid naming them publicly.
The Old WatercourseNextThe cargo tags and Neri's account reveal how the shipment was moved. The party returns to the River Ledger Hall to negotiate a settlement.
3:50
60 min
social
5. Who Pays for the Missing Cargo?
A small hearing room beside the council's public gallery
Present the evidence to Tessa, Serina, and representatives of the insurers. The party chooses what to disclose, who receives compensation, and whether the channel users are named. Make the institutional consequences immediate and visible.
NextEnd with the settlement, the public reaction, and a clear indication of which faction now trusts or distrusts the party.
Behind it
What people believe
A sealed shipment from upriver has been recorded as both delivered and lost.
Rival insurers dispute responsibility, dockworkers face unpaid wages, and the Collegium of Three Seals says its examiner's signature may have been copied. The party must trace the paperwork and the cargo, then help determine whether the dispute should be settled privately or brought before the council.
Background
Provisional setting material: Veyra is a river republic whose terracotta-roofed metropolis, Bellacqua, straddles a broad navigable river.
Guilds, banking houses, religious authorities, and licensed magical colleges compete for influence on an elected council. Beneath the old quays, buried channels and service tunnels survive from earlier phases of the city. These names and details are suggestions, not established canon.
The stakes
Dockworkers may lose earned wages, a banking family may be exposed to fraud or negligence claims, and the Collegium's inspection authority may be undermined by a forged signature.
If the party reveals the hidden channel without securing protections, its users may face eviction or prosecution. The conflict is consequential but local, and no outcome threatens the city or world with catastrophe.
Encounters
2The Ledger Storehouse
Combat or social
A narrow riverside storehouse with stacked crates, a waist-high counting desk, overhead walkways, and a loading door opening onto a slick quay.
Foes
House Dast quay guards
A hired dock bruiser
ComplicationThe hired guards are under orders to protect the site and avoid bloodshed. If the party presents a credible warrant or persuades them that their employer has withheld payment, they stand aside. During a fight, shifting cargo can separate combatants or block exits.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-ready party, use only two guards and have them withdraw after the first is clearly outmatched. For a larger or stronger party, add another guard and give the opposition cover among stacked crates. Use the game's ordinary humanoid statistics appropriate to the party; these are custom encounter roles, not named official stat blocks.
The Old Watercourse
Combat or exploration
A bricked-over river channel beneath the old quay, with knee-deep water, narrow ledges, a half-open sluice, and a dry maintenance alcove where cargo tags were hidden.
Foes
Two hired channel toughs
ComplicationWater begins seeping through a cracked sluice gate. A character can spend an action or equivalent effort to brace it, while another searches the channel. If ignored, rising water makes movement difficult and threatens loose evidence, but does not immediately trap the party.
ScalingThis encounter can be resolved by negotiation, stealth, or proof that the channel's use will be exposed unless the toughs cooperate. For a low-threat version, use one tough and make the second a frightened lookout. For a higher-threat version, add a third tough who tries to escape with the route map. Use ordinary humanoid statistics suited to the party; no custom magical abilities are assumed.
Cast
4Tessa Maro
QuestgiverQuestgiver, elected dockworkers' advocate
WantsSecure fair payment for the dock crews without triggering a strike that would cost them their positions.
“The city can survive a disputed ledger. It cannot survive every worker deciding the ledger is a weapon.”
Serina Vell
Ally, senior examiner of the Collegium of Three Seals
WantsClear her name while preserving the Collegium's authority to inspect chartered magical cargo.
“I signed an inspection order, not a delivery receipt. Someone has made my name carry more weight than my seal.”
Oren Dast
Suspect, claims officer for House Dast
WantsKeep her banking house solvent and conceal how loosely its staff verified a rival's insurance claim.
“A cargo can be lost to the river, the books, or the men who write both. Which loss are you investigating?”
Neri Savo
Wildcard, undercity pilot and former cargo clerk
WantsProtect the unlicensed barge crews who use old channels to avoid arbitrary tolls, while preventing the houses from sealing their routes.
“I found a channel that isn't on the city maps. I did not say I opened it.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A signed temporary quay-access writ, useful for entering commercial docks during daylight hours
A set of copied cargo registers and a hand-drawn plan of one accessible section of the old watercourse
On a win
The party establishes a credible chain of custody, secures wages or a fair interim payment for the dockworkers, and brings the insurers and Collegium to a workable settlement.
Success does not require a single culprit: the party may expose a forged receipt, reveal negligent verification, or broker a compromise that limits public damage. The chosen degree of disclosure determines which family loses money, which institution loses face, and whether the hidden channel is protected, regulated, or sealed.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot establish who controlled the cargo when it disappeared.
- The dockworkers lose wages and trust in the elected council. Tessa may still help the party, but asks them to secure a public hearing before she risks her position again.
- The party publicly accuses Serina without corroborating evidence.
- The Collegium suspends Serina's inspection authority pending inquiry. Future magical cargo checks require additional permissions, and the party may be asked to testify.
- The party exposes a suspect's wrongdoing without distinguishing forged records from genuine negligence.
- One banking house pays the claim, then pursues repayment from the other. A family feud becomes a council issue, and the party's evidence may be dismissed as partisan.
- The party allows the rival houses to identify the undercity route before negotiating protections for its users.
- The hidden channel is sealed or placed under a contested council writ. Its users lose a route, and the party may be blamed for revealing it.
Complications (d6)
- 1A dock foreman posts the disputed cargo's manifest publicly. Workers recognize several names and demand answers before the party can question them privately.
- 2A rival insurer's clerk arrives with a copied ledger page and insists the party turn it over for authentication.
- 3A sudden river rise floods the lowest access stair. The party must find another entrance or spend time moving evidence and people to safety.
- 4A licensed-magic inspector suspends all examination of the shipment until the party presents a valid writ or persuades Serina Vell to countersign one.
- 5A street singer performs a satirical verse naming one of the rival houses. A crowd gathers, and the named house's agents begin identifying witnesses.
- 6A sealed sample container is found open, but its contents are intact. Someone has removed the inspection tag, making the chain of custody harder to prove.
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