The Bell Beneath Brackwater
The Bell Beneath Brackwater
“A stolen bell calls from a flooded den, and something beneath the river answers.”
— Hook · Investigation and recovery
“Mara Venn presses a wet scrap of sailcloth into your hands, its threads stained black as ink. “The bell from Duskmere Hollow was stolen three nights ago and taken upriver to Brackwater Lock. Bring it back before the next new moon, or the drowned tower may ring for more than the dead.””
— Hook · Investigation and recovery
Rain needles the canvas roofs of the refugee camp along the Thistlewick Road. Fish oil, wet wool, and marsh mud cling to the air as Mara Venn leads the party to a lantern shielded beneath her cloak. Beyond the camp, the river makes a slow sucking sound against the reeds. Tolan Reed waits beside an overturned skiff, pointing toward a line of pale lights moving upriver before the current suddenly pulls them into darkness.
Mara Venn
Mara Venn approaches the party during a hard rain, after hearing that they have experience dealing with dangerous roads and abandoned places. She offers food, guides, and the refugees’ gratitude, then admits that the village bell was more than a keepsake because it may be connected to the drowned tower.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The bell tower beneath Duskmere Hollow rings only when there is no moon to see it.
- 02Brackwater Lock has been abandoned since the lockmaster drowned with every door barred from the inside.
- 03The smugglers have been hauling sealed crates upriver, but none of the crates contain goods that make a sound when shaken.
- 04Corwin Ashvale paid for a river passage the night before he vanished, though no ferryman admits taking him.
- 05Black water has begun appearing in wells near the Sallowmere Marsh.
If the bell remains in the smugglers’ hands, the black tide may spread from Duskmere Hollow into the river settlements along the Thistlewick Road. The refugees could lose their last tangible link to home, Corwin may remain trapped or be transformed by the bell’s influence, and the party may become the only witnesses to a larger effort to awaken the drowned tower.
Background Lore
The refugees of Duskmere Hollow believe the drowned bell tower’s ringing began after the village bell was stolen. Three nights ago, witnesses saw the bell being hauled upriver by lanternless boats toward an abandoned customs house known as Brackwater Lock. River smugglers have taken shelter there, but the bell’s bronze voice has begun to change the water around their den, drawing black ripples from the distant Sallowmere Marsh.
The refugees of Duskmere Hollow have learned that their village bell was stolen from the abandoned settlement and taken upriver by smugglers. The trail leads to Brackwater Lock, an old customs station now used as a river den. Recovering the bell may help the survivors understand why the black tide came, and may reveal what happened to Corwin Ashvale, the merchant who vanished while pursuing the drowned tower’s ringing.
