Wardens and Hunters
Wardens and Hunters
Read aloud
The Cable Ferry slides into the Market's lamp-field, and the dark fills with lanterns on masts, cables, and barges lashed to the stone shelf. Two delegations face one another across the gangway, one beneath a stone-grey banner and one beneath kraken-green. A dockhand murmurs that neither side has crossed the gangway since morning.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Judge the founding salvage claim without letting the factions' accusations replace the evidence.
- 2Find what has been scoring the seabed beneath the oldest Market moorings.
- 3Save the Old Claim Barge during Cable Day.
- 4Decide whether either faction can compromise before the Camp's anchor lines are cut.
The clock
Track Wardens' Pride and Hunters' Pride secretly, each from 0 to 6. Add a segment when the party publicly humiliates, corners, or ignores a faction as described in the adventure guidance. Remove a segment when the party offers a private way to save face, shares credit, or repays a slight. At the Full Silver moot, if both clocks are 3 or lower, the factions reach an Accord and publish what they know. If either is 4 or higher, the clock with more segments breaks; on a tie, the faction the party most recently pressed breaks. Separately track the Market's Flood during Cable Day and the Glass Landing's four anchor lines during the finale. The campaign's Silence Clock and Heard Track can be updated according to the larger campaign rules.
Scenes
- 0:00The Old Claim Barge Hearing
- 1:30The Underway
- 3:30Cable Day
- 5:30Readings, Knots, and the Missing Route
- 7:10The Moot at the Rim
- 8:40The Cut Line
Cast
- Barge-Lord Orak Tide-CutterQuestgiver and presiding authority at the Old…
- Elder Hurn Stone-VeinWarden elder
- Lektu Iron-LungCompact salvage commander and guide for the…
- JorgenCamp winchwright
The hook
Set the scene
Begin on the Market dock with the banners and delegations facing one another across the gangway. Give the party time to notice the bells on the cables, the wet stone underfoot, and the delegations' refusal to yield. Then Orak's runner finds them and asks them to witness the hearing. Let the standoff carry into the Old Claim Barge, where Orak presents the disputed salvage claim and asks for the party's recommendation.
How Barge-Lord Orak Tide-Cutter asks
Start with the dockside standoff.
Once the players have seen both delegations refuse to yield, Orak Tide-Cutter's runner approaches them and asks them to witness the Old Claim Barge hearing. Orak wants witnesses whose interests are not already tied to the Market's factions.
Rumours
Scenes
about 10.5 hours0:00
90 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Old Claim Barge Hearing
Cleared-Shelf Market, the main dock and Old Claim Barge hearing hall.
The party arrives as the stone-grey and kraken-green delegations hold opposite sides of the gangway. Orak's runner asks them to witness the founding salvage claim hearing. Introduce the Market's cable bells, the factions' public accusations, and the divers' unresolved claim.
NextOnce the party has made its recommendation, let the hearing's outcome set the tone for the investigation. A diver's guarded account or Yelma's quiet offer leads them from the hearing hall to Tegir and the Underway.
1:30
120 min
exploration
2. The Underway
The Underway, a submerged basalt passage 900 feet below the main barge line, ending in a domed chamber and dry cargo pocket.
With Tegir's guidance, the party descends through the current and silt to a domed tally chamber. The long scoring marks are groups of three, carved by a claw over centuries. A non-hostile Kindly One works on the newest row. If anyone knocks on the wall, a second note answers half a beat later, and the Kindly One reacts with alarm.
The Gallery Below GlassNextBring the party back toward the Market with the evidence, the founding slate, or the knowledge that the marks do not fit either faction's account. Cable Day's noon bells begin to ring as they reach the barges.
3:30
120 min
combat
3. Cable Day
The Old Claim Barge hearing hall and winch gallery, with the Market's cable bells ringing overhead.
During the noon bell-ringing, Skell and hired bruisers attack the oldest mooring while others try to destroy the hearing records. The deck slides, the seam floods, and the party must divide attention between combat, the winch, the ledger, and the bulkhead.
Cable DayNextAfter the barge is secured or lost, carry the group onto the two-day Marked Lane journey. At the Warm Ledge Vents, the water feels warmer than the guide expects. Lektu's route marker and the Full Silver moot draw the party toward Glass-Cut Camp.
5:30
100 min
skill
4. Readings, Knots, and the Missing Route
Glass-Cut Camp, its survey station, anchor lines, chart deck, and glass canyon rim.
At Camp, the party can earn Ingrid's trust, inspect the readings, resolve Jorgen's anchor-line deception privately or publicly, and decide how to handle the evidence of the missing route. The party can prepare a bell-and-tether signal to warn crews below before the canyon movement becomes a panic.
NextAs Full Silver approaches, let private conversations and public consequences shape the Pride Clocks. The party's actions carry directly into the moot, where each faction decides whether it can stay at the table.
7:10
90 min
social
5. The Moot at the Rim
The Glass Landing, an iron-and-glass dome on the canyon lip, with the moot table between the factions.
The Wardens, Compact, Camp, and party meet at the Glass Landing. Resolve the Pride Clocks in the room: if both are at 3 or lower, the factions reach an Accord; otherwise the faction with the higher clock breaks. In the aftermath of any outcome, a voice says 'now,' and the first anchor line snaps.
NextKeep the broken line moving. The Landing tilts, crystal begins to hum, and disguised riggers reveal their black-ice armor as the cargo gate opens.
8:40
120 min
combat
6. The Cut Line
The Glass Landing, with four corner winches, a central moot table, a south cargo gate, and pressure-rated glass panes.
Three disguised riggers cut the Landing's anchor lines while two crystal creatures enter through the cargo gate. The party must defeat the attackers, re-clip lines, protect Jorgen, and keep the glass dome intact as the Landing shifts toward the canyon.
The Cut LineNextOnce the Landing is secured or lost, follow the surviving crew members as they begin rescue work. Wessa turns over the altered marker, and its hidden underside points the party toward Vent-Smith Anchorage.
Behind it
What people believe
The Wardens and the Kraken-Hunters' Compact blame one another for damage beneath the Market's oldest moorings.
At the same time, a founding salvage claim threatens to divide the Market's crews, and the evidence may determine who has the right to speak for the damaged routes. Orak Tide-Cutter asks the party to witness the hearing, investigate the seabed, and help keep the Market safe through Cable Day. At Glass-Cut Camp, the party is invited to a moot about shifting canyon walls, disputed readings, and a missing route marker. The factions' crews need practical decisions before another accident makes the argument for them.
Background
At Cleared-Shelf Market, the Cleared-Vent Wardens and Kraken-Hunters' Compact accuse one another of scoring the seabed beneath the oldest moorings.
Their dispute is entangled with a salvage-rights hearing, a dangerous descent, and a planned attack during Cable Day. At Glass-Cut Camp, the quarrel follows the factions to a canyon-rim moot as crews struggle to keep the camp's anchors secure. The adventure spans three sessions: Market hearing and investigation, Cable Day and the road to camp, then the camp investigation, moot, and assault.
The stakes
The Market's records, the divers' claim, and the safety of the oldest moorings are at risk.
At Glass-Cut Camp, the factions' pride can cost crews their rescue lines, marker support, or ability to cooperate. Beyond these immediate dangers, the party encounters evidence of a count and an answer that neither faction can explain.
Encounters
3Cable Day
combat
The Old Claim Barge hearing hall is a 40-by-30-foot space with a bolted basalt table, an elevated winch gallery, a ledger cabinet beside a brazier, a leaking hull seam, and a heavy aft bulkhead. The deck slides toward the south wall as the mooring is cut.
Foes
Cable Captain Dorrin Skell
Cable Bruisers
ComplicationThe bell-ringing masks the sound of the cut cable. At initiative count 20, the barge lurches while the mooring is being cut. From round 3, the hull floods unless the seam is patched or the bulkhead is closed. Use the campaign's pressure and flooding rules.
ScalingFor three characters, remove two Cable Bruisers. For five characters, add one. If the group is struggling, have one Bruiser flee after taking significant damage. The encounter's urgency comes from stopping the winch and managing the flood as well as defeating foes.
The Gallery Below Glass
combat
A narrow submerged gallery beneath Glass-Cut Camp, framed by reflective crystal and reached along a marked descent to a sealed vent shelter. The party must navigate dull stone tags before reaching the creature.
Foes
Deep-Current Stalker
ComplicationThe crystal gallery distorts distance and light. Attacks made from more than 30 feet away have Disadvantage. The Stalker can push targets into sharp crystal; a tethered pair using Lektu's harpoon line can resist its push.
ScalingFor a smaller or depleted party, have the Stalker break off when badly injured rather than fight to the death. For a stronger party, make the descent's false openings consume more suit air or add a second hazard beat, not another creature.
The Cut Line
combat
The Glass Landing is a 40-by-30-foot glass-and-iron dome on the canyon rim. Four winches hold its anchor lines; the moot table provides half cover, and an open cargo gate admits a cold spray across the floor.
Foes
Void-Ice Legionnaires
Resonant Crystal Scuttlers
ComplicationAt the end of each round, the four anchor lines determine the Landing's condition. A character adjacent to a winch can use an action and succeed on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check or appropriate tool check to re-clip a cut line. A broken pane causes the dome to lose pressure over three rounds.
ScalingFor three characters, remove one Resonant Crystal Scuttler. For five, add one Void-Ice Legionnaire. If the party is overwhelmed, let a Scuttler retreat when badly injured and have a surviving Camp crew member help secure one winch.
Cast
4Barge-Lord Orak Tide-Cutter
QuestgiverQuestgiver and presiding authority at the Old Claim Barge hearing
WantsKeep the Market's peace and limit the chance that a salvage ruling invites outside taxation. He wants a useful witness at the hearing, but fears the consequences of recognizing the divers' founding claim.
“A fair ruling is one we can live with when the customs-clerks arrive.”
Elder Hurn Stone-Vein
Warden elder, witness, and participant in the Glass-Cut Camp moot
WantsProtect the Wardens' crews and preserve a secret rhythm he heard during the Cooling Years. He will share sensitive information more readily in private than before a crowd.
“The stone does not care whose banner is above it. It keeps the marks all the same.”
Lektu Iron-Lung
Compact salvage commander and guide for the Glass-Cut Camp dive
WantsFind the missing Verdigris and confront whoever has been using the uncharted route. She wants the Compact's evidence treated seriously, but does not want its chart-keepers' secrecy exposed carelessly.
“I can show you the route, but I will not pretend the chart is complete.”
Jorgen
Camp winchwright, witness, and potential ally at the Glass Landing
WantsForce the Camp to repair its anchors before a gale, while concealing that he retied two lines himself. He fears exile and the consequences of a failure he helped create.
“The line was bad. I made it bad enough that someone would finally look.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Compact route token, awarded for completing the Glass-Cut Camp dive.
Pressure-braided harpoon line, which grants Advantage on Strength checks made under the campaign's Tether Rule and can haul a creature up to 100 feet in a round.
The Compact may loan the Harpoon of the Abyssal Deep to a character proficient with spears if the party gives Varrek the cut chart section privately. The loan lasts until the end of Book Two.
A founding contract slate from the Underway can support the salvage claim and add 1 Weight at the hearing.
On a win
The party brings the Market's hearing to a defensible outcome, investigates the mooring damage, and keeps the Glass Landing from falling.
At the Camp, the factions either publish what they know through an Accord or leave with a clear record of which side broke and why. Record the Market and faction Standing, the Drift, and whether the party reached the tally chamber. Success does not settle the cause of the broader pulse or identify the shelter's occupant.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party buries or mishandles the founding salvage claim.
- The divers refuse to guide the party, and the Low Ledger watches their dealings. The claim is set aside if the hearing cannot reach a supported ruling.
- The party fails to stop the Cable Day sabotage or the Flood reaches its final stage.
- The Old Claim Barge is lost with its records. The hearing is set aside, the divers blame the Barge-Lord, and the Market's Drift rises.
- The moot ends with a faction breaking, or the party exposes sensitive evidence without offering a way to save face.
- A faction withdraws its crews or rescue lines, reducing the Camp's safety and worsening relations. A failed Accord does not end the story, but the faction that breaks is less willing to cooperate later.
- The party does not stop enough anchor lines from being cut or cannot reach safety before the Landing gives way.
- If the Glass Landing falls, rescue crews are lost and both factions demand an explanation. The Camp's Drift rises, and the evidence on the moot table may be scattered or lost.
Complications (d6)
- 1A mooring bell rings out of sequence. Anyone who follows its sound finds a cable crew arguing over whether the signal means a line is under strain or someone is tampering with it.
- 2A berth captain claims the party's testimony is biased because they accepted a meal or favor from the other faction. Publicly rejecting the gift may restore confidence, but costs the giver's goodwill.
- 3A sudden surge pushes a diver or tethered crew member toward a drop. A nearby character can secure them with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check or by spending an action to attach a line.
- 4A page from the Low Ledger goes missing between the hearing hall and the dock. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds it caught beneath a wet cable mat before its contents are publicly disputed.
- 5A lantern's shutter is found painted in the colors of the rival faction. The paint is fresh, but the person responsible is not identified without questioning the nearby watch.
- 6A Glass-Cut Camp bell answers three knocks with two of its own. The signal unsettles the crews and draws attention away from the anchor winches for a few minutes.
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