Surveyors Under Fire
Surveyors Under Fire
Read aloud
Bell & Kett Shipping will pay you to guard its surveyors as they mark a railway route across the frontier. A line of armored figures called the Gallowglass has been seen marching toward the survey stakes, and the surveyors insist they have done nothing to provoke them. Bell & Kett Shipping wants the work finished before the next great storm, but the people who live here say the proposed route crosses ground that should not be disturbed.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Protect the surveyors from the approaching Gallowglass.
- 2Learn what is at stake on the ridge.
- 3Resolve the dispute before the railway work resumes.
- 4Discover who altered the route records.Optional
The clock
Bell & Kett Shipping's construction train and armed work crew are due in 12 hours. Before they arrive, the party must keep the surveyors safe and secure a decision about the disputed ridge.
Scenes
- 0:00The Contract at Dusk
- 0:25The Stake Line
- 1:10The Ridge That Must Not Be Cut
- 2:00The Line on the Map
- 2:40A Route Both Sides Can Live With
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver
- Tavi RuunAlly
- Warden Sera KethAntagonist
- Oren PellWitness
The hook
Set the scene
The party reaches the survey camp at dusk. Canvas shelters huddle behind a low ridge, workers are hurriedly packing instruments, and Mara Venn watches a column of dark figures moving across the far salt flat. Oren Pell argues that the crew should leave; Venn says the Combine will forfeit the contract if the stakes are not set by morning. Tavi Ruun quietly tells the party that the approaching Gallowglass have come to stop a boundary from being crossed, not to take the camp.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara Venn approaches the party at Sable Crossing, offering an advance and the Combine's written protection contract.
She is direct about the danger and says the party is free to negotiate with the Gallowglass, but asks them to prevent the survey crew from being driven off before the route is documented.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
25 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Contract at Dusk
Bell & Kett Shipping's temporary survey camp beside a salt wash, at sunset.
Meet the survey crew, hear the deadline and contract terms, and learn that an armed group is approaching. The party can set camp defenses, question the crew, or reach out before the Gallowglass arrive.
NextA runner reports that the Gallowglass have stopped just beyond the ridge. Venn asks the party to accompany her to the survey stakes before anyone makes the first move.
0:25
45 min
combat
2. The Stake Line
The exposed stake line between the camp and the ridge, with both sides visible across a wind-scoured shelf.
The party must protect the crew and decide how to respond to the Gallowglass. Their initial demand is that the survey stop at the boundary marker. The scene can become a standoff, a negotiation, or a fight depending on the party's approach.
The Stake Line StandoffNextIf the party secures a pause or opens a channel, Sera agrees to show them the boundary marker. If the confrontation turns violent, a survivor or captured guard can still direct them there, though trust is damaged.
1:10
50 min
exploration
3. The Ridge That Must Not Be Cut
A broken ridge of red stone with wind-shaped cairns and an old boundary marker partly buried beneath drifting sand.
Reach the ridge marker without damaging the cairns. Tavi can interpret local route marks, while survey instruments and careful observation reveal where the safe corridor lies. The party can also learn what the Covenant is protecting and what it does not claim to control.
The Cairn-Ridge ApproachNextA mark on the map or the marker itself points to the survey records. Oren, if asked directly or shown the discrepancy, offers to reveal what he knows.
2:00
40 min
skill
4. The Line on the Map
A sheltered alcove at the ridge foot, where the crew can lay out maps and instruments away from the wind.
Compare the field notes, marker, and Bell & Kett's map. Oren can identify the altered contour and point to his hidden journal. Venn must decide whether to accept the evidence and halt work while Sera states the Covenant's terms.
NextWith the evidence assembled, the party returns to the camp or convenes both sides at the marker to propose a settlement.
2:40
35 min
social
5. A Route Both Sides Can Live With
The survey camp at first light, with the marked route laid out before Venn, Sera, Tavi, and the crew.
The party presents its findings and brokers a decision: reroute around the cairns, conduct a joint survey, or accept the consequences of proceeding. Each side names what it can concede, and the party's handling of earlier scenes determines how much trust remains.
NextA signed pause or agreement closes the immediate crisis. If the sides refuse terms, the party must choose whether to escort the crew away, stand with the Gallowglass, or let Bell & Kett Shipping continue at its own risk.
Behind it
What people believe
Bell & Kett Shipping has hired the party to protect a survey crew marking a proposed railway across the frontier near Sable Crossing.
The Gallowglass, armored oath-guards associated with the Lantern Covenant, are marching toward the route and demand that the survey stop at a protected ridge. The surveyors fear an attack, while Bell & Kett Shipping wants the work completed quickly. The party must keep people safe, learn why the route is contested, and find a way to settle the dispute before the railway crews arrive.
Background
Esterra's western frontier is a shifting expanse of salt flats, red dunes, and wind-carved mesas.
Bell & Kett Shipping is pushing a railway toward the mining town of Sable Crossing, promising jobs and trade. Its surveyors have found a route that saves weeks of construction, but the line passes through territory used by the Kethra clans, including a protected ridge where the Lantern Covenant keeps ancestral cairns. The Covenant is a religious order with members among several Kethra clans; it does not speak for every clan, and the clans disagree about the railway. The Gallowglass are the Covenant's armored oath-guards, now marching toward the survey crews.
The stakes
If the party fails to intervene, the Gallowglass and Bell & Kett Shipping's guards may clash beside the cairn ridge, leaving workers dead or injured and giving the Combine an excuse to send in a larger force.
If the railway is built through the protected ground, the cairns will be damaged and the conflict may spread across the frontier. If the work is halted without a viable alternative, Sable Crossing loses a promised trade route and Bell & Kett Shipping may abandon the settlement.
Encounters
2The Stake Line Standoff
Combat or social
A narrow shelf between a salt wash and a low ridge, with survey stakes, instrument tripods, and scattered rock cover. The wash is difficult to cross quickly, and blowing grit limits long sightlines.
Foes
Gallowglass oath-guards
Combine rail guards
ComplicationA sudden dust wall breaks sightlines. Combatants may lose track of allies, and the Gallowglass attempt to disable equipment rather than kill unless attacked first. Characters can end the clash by surrendering the survey stakes or opening negotiations.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused group, use a few Gallowglass who seek to seize the survey stakes and have the Combine guards hold position. For a larger or more combat-ready group, add a second Gallowglass team arriving from the ridge. The encounter can be resolved through parley, retreat, or surrender of the instruments.
The Cairn-Ridge Approach
Exploration or skill
Broken red stone, narrow ledges, wind-carved cairns, and a partially buried boundary marker. The ground is unstable near the ridge face.
Foes
No required foes; a small Gallowglass patrol may confront the party if the scene becomes hostile
ComplicationThe buried marker is unstable and the wind is rising. A rushed approach can collapse part of the cairn field, damaging evidence and making the Covenant believe the crew has deliberately desecrated it.
ScalingFor a brief scene, one successful careful survey or conversation is enough to reach the marker. For a longer challenge, require several distinct successes to map a safe approach, read the warning marks, and keep the crew from disturbing the cairns. Failure costs time and trust, not automatic injury.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver, Meridian Combine field director
WantsGet the survey complete before investors pull funding, while containing a crisis that could ruin her standing in the Combine.
“Get the line marked and the crew home. The Combine pays for protection, not a war, and I expect you to remember the difference.”
Tavi Ruun
Ally, Kethra cartographer and former survey assistant
WantsKeep the crew alive and make sure the players hear the Kethra perspective before violence becomes inevitable.
“That ridge is not empty land. Ask who keeps watch there before you decide what a straight line is worth.”
Warden Sera Keth
Antagonist, commander of the Gallowglass
WantsProtect the Lantern Covenant's burial ground and uphold the oath entrusted to the Gallowglass, while preventing the Combine from turning the conflict into a pretext for force.
“We gave warning. The iron road has no right to wake what was laid to rest beneath the cairns.”
Oren Pell
Witness, junior surveyor
WantsSurvive the scandal after discovering that Combine survey chief Pell altered the route records and concealed a warning marker.
“I stamped the route myself. I can tell you where the map lies, if you can keep Venn from putting me on the next train out.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A durable frontier map marked with safe wells and storm shelters, provided by Tavi if the party helps avoid the cairn field.
A custom brass survey compass from Mara Venn if the crew and its instruments return intact.
On a win
The surveyors are protected, the party learns why the ridge matters, and the immediate march ends without a needless massacre.
A negotiated pause and reroute, or a jointly supervised survey that avoids the cairn field, gives both sides room to decide what comes next. If the players also expose the altered records, Venn can challenge the decision that put the crew at risk and the Combine must answer for its conduct.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot keep the surveyors safe long enough to complete or relocate the survey.
- The survey crew withdraws and the Combine suspends payment. The players may still pursue the truth or seek a new route, but the company will no longer fund their protection.
- The players attack, threaten, or publicly accuse the Gallowglass without hearing their terms.
- The Combine presents the clash as proof that the Covenant is an enemy of progress. Guards and armed crews arrive, and the Kethra clans become less willing to negotiate with outsiders.
- The players expose the altered route records but do not persuade Venn or another decision-maker to halt work.
- The railway proceeds on the disputed route under heavier guard. The cairn field is damaged, the Gallowglass disperse or are captured, and the players gain evidence of wrongdoing but lose a chance to prevent immediate harm.
Complications (d6)
- 1A dust wall sweeps over the worksite. Anyone separated from a companion must find shelter or risk being lost until the storm passes.
- 2A water cask is found punctured. The party can ration the remaining supply, locate a nearby seep, or negotiate for water with a Kethra camp.
- 3A survey stake is pulled up and replaced with a Covenant warning cord. The workers argue over whether to continue, and a careless response may provoke the Gallowglass.
- 4A frightened pack animal bolts through the instrument line, damaging a key survey tripod and scattering the crew's field notes.
- 5A Combine guard fires at a distant silhouette without orders. The figure escapes, but the shot gives the Gallowglass a clear reason to close in.
- 6Oren Pell admits the route map has a false contour mark, but refuses to say who changed it while Mara Venn is present.
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