The Thirteenth Ring
The Thirteenth Ring
Read aloud
At midnight, Bellwether's watchtower bell rings thirteen times, though it has no clapper. The next morning, three villagers are gone, and muddy footprints lead from their beds toward the abandoned salt road. Oswin Hirst offers a reward to anyone willing to follow the tracks before the bell rings again.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 11. Discover why the missing villagers followed the bell.
- 22. Find the missing villagers beyond the drainage cut.
- 33. End or contain the road's call before the next thirteenth ring.
- 44. Recover Oswin's field records and resolve Tomas's personal stake.Optional
The clock
The bell rings once more at each midnight. After the third remaining ring, the Waykeeper can reach anyone in Bellwether who has heard its call.
Scenes
- 0:00The Map That Ends
- 0:35Tracks in the Water
- 1:20The Measure of a Secret
- 2:00The Road's Answer
- 3:10A Quiet Bell
Cast
- Oswin HirstQuestgiver and witness
- Mara VennAlly and village healer
- Tomas ReedGuide and wildcard
- The WaykeeperAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
The characters arrive in Bellwether as villagers gather beneath the watchtower. Oswin Hirst lays a hand-drawn survey map on a rain barrel and points to a route that ends abruptly at a blank patch of paper. Mara Venn insists the party should leave before nightfall. From the tower above, the bell gives a single soft note.
How Oswin Hirst asks
Oswin approaches the characters in the village square, offers his annotated survey map, and makes a practical appeal: he knows the land but is too old and slow to follow the tracks himself.
He will provide a modest advance and promise further payment for each villager brought back.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Map That Ends
Bellwether village square and Oswin's map room
The characters hear the villagers' accounts, inspect the footprints, and learn that Oswin's old map contradicts the current landscape. Let the party choose whom to trust and what supplies to bring.
NextOswin points the party toward the drainage cut. Tomas offers to guide them if they agree to investigate a marker stone along the way.
0:35
45 min
exploration
2. Tracks in the Water
A flooded culvert and the overgrown approach to the old salt road
The party follows tracks through the drainage cut. Echoes mimic voices from the village, while physical evidence suggests the missing villagers walked willingly and did not struggle.
The Listening CutNextBeyond the cut, the party finds the abandoned road and a recent footprint trail that turns where Oswin's map shows solid hillside.
1:20
40 min
social
3. The Measure of a Secret
A landslide shelf above the road, beside a half-buried survey post
The party finds the buried survey case or Tomas's marker stone. Its contents show that Oswin knew the road could call travelers, forcing a conversation about what he concealed.
NextA distant bell note opens a narrow passage through the hillside. The route beyond leads to the sunken mile-marker.
2:00
70 min
combat
4. The Road's Answer
A sunken stretch of road around the tilted mile-marker
The characters reach the trapped villagers and encounter the Waykeeper. They can bargain, attempt a rescue, disrupt the marker, or fight their way through.
The Thirteenth RingNextWhen the Waykeeper is stopped or persuaded, the party must decide how to treat the marker before the road closes behind them.
3:10
30 min
social
5. A Quiet Bell
Bellwether at dawn, beneath the silent watchtower
The party gets the survivors home, confronts the village about Oswin's role, and settles the immediate question of whether the old road is destroyed, guarded, or kept secret.
NextEnd the adventure with the village's response, then use an open-ended hook if the road's fate leaves unfinished business.
Behind it
What people believe
Bellwether's watchtower bell has rung thirteen times on three consecutive nights, and villagers have vanished after following voices toward the abandoned salt road.
Oswin Hirst, a former surveyor, asks the characters to trace the disappearances, find the missing people, and stop the unexplained ringing. The old route is unstable, the village is frightened, and a guide may know more than he is willing to say.
Background
The village of Bellwether keeps time by a bronze bell in its old watchtower.
Three nights ago, the bell rang thirteen times, though its clapper was removed years ago. Since then, residents have heard familiar voices calling from the abandoned salt road, and several have vanished. Oswin Hirst, a meticulous former road surveyor, believes the sound is connected to a buried mile-marker he helped conceal after a landslide.
The stakes
If the party does nothing, the Waykeeper will draw more villagers into the buried road each night.
If the mile-marker is destroyed recklessly, people still trapped beyond it may lose their only route back. The village's trust in Oswin, and in the characters, depends on how openly the truth is handled.
Encounters
2The Listening Cut
Combat or evasion
A narrow drainage cut with slick stone walls, ankle-deep water, fallen branches, and several blind bends.
Foes
Roadside Echoes
Grave-moss Hound
ComplicationThe echoes repeat the party's last shouted words from misleading directions. A character who follows an echo alone risks becoming separated in the fog.
ScalingFor a smaller or less experienced party, use one Roadside Echo and have the hound retreat after being injured. For a larger or more capable party, add a second hound or have the echoes imitate a party member's voice.
The Thirteenth Ring
Combat, negotiation, or sabotage
A sunken stretch of road around a tilted mile-marker, with ankle-deep mist, broken paving stones, and a narrow ledge above a dark ravine.
Foes
The Waykeeper
Bell-Rusted Sentinel
ComplicationThe Waykeeper can imitate a missing person's voice, making direct confrontation emotionally difficult. It pauses to bargain if the party offers a credible alternative to its continued existence.
ScalingFor a smaller party, the sentinel is damaged and the Waykeeper can only affect one character at a time. For a larger or more experienced party, the sentinel can block routes while the Waykeeper creates false paths and calls for aid.
Cast
4Oswin Hirst
QuestgiverQuestgiver and witness
WantsWants the missing villagers found and hopes to atone for helping conceal the road's dangerous history.
“I measured that road twice. It should not lead anywhere now, and yet people keep coming back from it with mud on their shoes.”
Mara Venn
Ally and village healer
WantsWants to protect the village, even if that means destroying the watchtower and its records.
“If the bell rings again, do not answer it. It knows the voices we miss.”
Tomas Reed
Guide and wildcard
WantsWants the buried road left undisturbed because her brother disappeared there years ago.
“I can take you there by the old drainage cut. I will not go one step farther, and I will not explain why.”
The Waykeeper
Antagonist, a voice bound to the mile-marker
WantsWants to keep the buried mile-marker active so it can draw travelers into the strange road.
“You came all this way to hear a bell. Stay until it finishes, and the road will show you what you came for.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Oswin's annotated survey map, which reveals hidden routes and old landmarks in the local region.
A bronze clapper recovered from the buried road. It can be used as a supernatural warning device, but its effects are custom and should be decided by the GM.
On a win
The missing villagers are recovered or accounted for, and the bell no longer draws people toward the salt road.
Oswin admits his part in the original burial and offers the party his complete survey archive. The characters' final choice determines whether the road is destroyed, guarded, or left as a dangerous route whose secret remains known to a few.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to locate the true drainage route before the next bell.
- The Waykeeper pulls one missing villager farther along the buried road. The party can still pursue, but the rescue becomes more dangerous and the village loses hope in the characters.
- The characters publicly accuse Oswin without finding evidence or allow the Waykeeper to frame him.
- Oswin is blamed for the disappearances and detained by the village council, removing his help unless the party clears his name.
- The party leaves the mile-marker active after confronting the Waykeeper.
- The bell's influence spreads to Bellwether. Residents begin hearing calls from the road, and the settlement must be evacuated or defended in a follow-up adventure.
- The party abandons Tomas during the journey or refuses his request to investigate the exposed marker.
- Tomas disappears while searching for his brother's marker. He may return later as a guide, captive, or reluctant servant of the Waykeeper.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden downpour floods the drainage cut. The party must find higher ground or spend time clearing a blocked culvert.
- 2A missing villager appears on the roadside, confused and carrying a fresh copy of Oswin's old survey map.
- 3The bronze bell rings once from far behind the party. Anyone who answers aloud hears a trusted voice calling from a different direction.
- 4Tomas recognizes a marker stone from his brother's disappearance and refuses to continue until the party lets him search nearby.
- 5The Waykeeper offers one character a private bargain: it will guide them to someone they have lost if they leave the others behind.
- 6A landslide exposes a sealed survey case containing Oswin's original field notes, but the unstable slope threatens anyone who approaches.
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