The Blackwater Manifest
The Blackwater Manifest
“A missing weapons convoy, a forged gang seal, and a city ready to burn.”
— Hook · investigation
“Three weapon shipments have vanished from guarded caravans, and pieces of them are now turning up in gang territory. Captain Elira Voss believes the Ash Knives are being framed, but the evidence points in too many directions to ignore. Find the missing weapons, identify who is moving them, and stop the next shipment before the city erupts into war.”
— Hook · investigation
Captain Elira Voss receives the party in a locked records room beneath Grayhaven's eastern watchtower. On the table lies a broken shipment seal, a bloodstained manifest, and a crossbow bolt stamped with the Ash Knives' symbol. Before the briefing ends, a guard announces that the only surviving caravan clerk has been found hiding in a nearby tannery.
Captain Elira Voss
Captain Elira Voss approaches the party through a trusted intermediary, then verifies their discretion by showing them restricted evidence in the watchtower records room.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The Ash Knives have been buying military steel, but no one can agree who is paying them.
- 02A dead courier was found with a watch badge sewn into his coat.
- 03The old canal has lights beneath the water after midnight.
- 04A merchant's son recently purchased a private militia and refuses to say why.
- 05Someone is selling weapons with the serial numbers filed off, but the filings are too precise to be done by common criminals.
If the party fails, Grayhaven's watch will launch a crackdown against the Ash Knives while the merchant consortium arms private forces. The resulting violence could close the city gates, destroy the canal district, and turn a local shipment conspiracy into a regional weapons market.
Background Lore
For months, sealed weapon crates have vanished from legitimate caravans traveling through the border city of Grayhaven. The missing shipments are reappearing in fragments: a sword bearing a noble maker's mark in a gang hideout, crossbow bolts sold by street vendors, and military-grade steel found among smugglers operating along the old canal road. City officials blame the Ash Knives, a notorious local gang, while the Ash Knives claim someone is using their name to conceal a larger conspiracy.
Weapons have been disappearing from guarded shipments around Grayhaven. Evidence implicates the Ash Knives, but the pattern is inconsistent, and Captain Elira Voss suspects someone is deliberately manufacturing proof. The party must investigate the missing shipments, negotiate with the gang, recover the weapons, and prevent an attack that could plunge the city into open conflict.
