The Bell Beneath Dunridge
The Bell Beneath Dunridge
Read aloud
The town reeve places a water-stained map on the table and points to a passage beneath the old watch chapel. “The Bell of Saint Orra is down there, and the lower quarter will flood at tomorrow’s high tide if we cannot signal the sluice crew. Bring it back before then.”
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 11. Find the route into the flooded tunnels.
- 22. Retrieve the Bell of Saint Orra.
- 33. Help the town avert the flood.
- 44. Secure a safe refuge for the tunnel squatters.Optional
The clock
The next high tide arrives tomorrow. Each major delay, loud alarm, or failed attempt to cross a flooded passage costs time; after three such delays, the sluice crew loses its safe window to reinforce the lower gate.
Scenes
- 0:00The Waterline
- 0:20Under the Watch Chapel
- 0:55The Broken Sluice
- 1:35The People in the Tunnels
- 2:10One Clear Note
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver and town reeve
- Tovin ReedAlly and injured tunnel surveyor
- Sella QuillWild card and leader of a small group…
- Brother CaldusWitness and keeper of the ruined watch chapel
The hook
Set the scene
Mara Venn meets the party in a cramped office above the town's flood marker. Rain ticks against the shutters, and the waterline painted on the doorframe is already higher than it was that morning. She offers the party a map showing the old watch chapel, the collapsed access tunnel, and the lower sluice chamber. Tovin Reed, wrapped in a damp blanket, can identify the first stretch of the route but warns that he heard a second bell-like sound from deeper inside.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara Venn requests the party's help directly and offers a partial advance.
She is worried about the rising water but presents the task as a straightforward recovery unless the party asks about the squatters or the strange echoes.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
20 min
SocialThe table is here
1. The Waterline
Mara's office above the town flood marker
Mara explains the flood deadline and gives the party a rough map. Tovin describes the collapse and can point out a likely safe entry.
NextTovin leads the party to the ruined watch chapel and shows them the broken access tunnel.
0:20
35 min
Exploration
2. Under the Watch Chapel
The collapsed access tunnel and the first flooded corridors
The party navigates unstable stonework, shallow flooded passages, and signs that someone has been living underground. They can investigate tracks or markings before choosing a route.
NextA rising current forces the party toward the sluice chamber or a narrow side passage leading to the dry refuge.
0:55
40 min
Combat
3. The Broken Sluice
A flooded maintenance chamber below the chapel
The party crosses the broken sluice chamber. They can fight the creatures drawn to the water, manipulate the jammed wheel, or use the ledges and chains to bypass danger.
The Broken SluiceNextThe route beyond the chamber leads to a dry pocket where voices and lamplight reveal the squatters.
1:35
35 min
Social
4. The People in the Tunnels
A dry chamber furnished with crates, bedding, and scavenged lanterns
Sella explains why she took the bell and offers to hand it over if the party helps her people find safety. The party can bargain, threaten, or find a compromise.
The Refuge in the Dry ChamberNextSella or a discovered trail points the party toward the old shrine where the bell's echoes have been heard.
2:10
45 min
Skill
5. One Clear Note
The flooded shrine beside the lower sluice controls
The party reaches the bell and discovers the submerged mechanism. They must decide how to retrieve and use the bell without worsening the flood, then get a signal to the sluice crew.
NextThe party returns to Dunridge with the bell, a warning about the mechanism, or a plan for a later expedition.
Behind it
What people believe
The Bell of Saint Orra, a silver signal bell used to coordinate Dunridge's sluice workers, has been lost beneath the ruined watch chapel.
With the next high tide approaching, the town needs it returned before the lower quarter floods. The route is unstable, and others may already be sheltering in the tunnels.
Background
The Bell of Saint Orra is a silver handbell once used to signal safe passage through the flooded tunnels beneath the town of Dunridge.
It was kept in a sealed reliquary at the old watch chapel until a recent cave-in exposed a route into the tunnels. The bell is valuable, but its real importance is practical: the lower sluice gates are failing, and its distinctive tone is the only reliable signal that can coordinate workers on both sides of the flood channel.
The stakes
If the bell is not recovered or replaced as a signal before tomorrow's high tide, the lower quarter will flood.
A careless attempt to ring it near the shrine could also worsen the danger in the tunnels.
Encounters
2The Broken Sluice
Combat
A waist-deep channel cuts across a cramped stone chamber. Two raised maintenance ledges offer cover, while a jammed sluice wheel and loose chains provide interactive terrain.
Foes
2 custom tunnel lurkers: use suitable low-level beast or monstrosity statistics
1 custom brine-bulker: use a suitable low-level melee creature, with reduced speed in dry areas
ComplicationA surge can sweep creatures toward the sluice channel. A creature that falls prone near the channel must spend movement to regain footing and may be carried into deeper water if left unsecured.
ScalingFor a smaller or less experienced party, remove one tunnel lurker. For a larger or more capable party, add one lurker or increase the brine-bulker's hit points modestly. Keep the water hazard consequential rather than lethal.
The Refuge in the Dry Chamber
Social or Combat
A dry pocket chamber contains bedding, stacked crates, and a narrow gap leading deeper into the tunnels. The squatters know the local passages and can use the crates for cover.
Foes
Sella Quill, if negotiations fail
2 tunnel squatters using simple improvised weapons
ComplicationIf the party threatens Sella's group or loudly rings the bell, the squatters scatter through narrow passages. A chase or negotiation can replace combat.
ScalingFor a lower-level party, Sella withdraws if one squatter is defeated or the party demonstrates a safe escape route. For a more capable party, add one lookout who can sound an alarm, but avoid making the squatters fight to the death.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and town reeve
WantsKeep Dunridge's lower quarter from flooding and protect its residents. She hopes the bell can be retrieved before the next high tide.
“Bring back the bell before tomorrow's tide. I can pay for your trouble, but I cannot pay to bring back the people the water takes.”
Tovin Reed
Ally and injured tunnel surveyor
WantsHelp the party find a safe route through the flooded passages. He feels guilty for abandoning a trapped fellow tunnel worker during the first collapse.
“I heard it ring once after the collapse. Then something down there answered.”
Sella Quill
Wild card and leader of a small group sheltering in the tunnels
WantsKeep the bell to warn her family and other squatters that the water is rising. She will bargain before she fights, but she distrusts town officials.
“You call it theft. I call it the only warning anyone bothered to give us.”
Brother Caldus
Witness and keeper of the ruined watch chapel
WantsStop the bell from being rung near an old flooded shrine. The echo has begun drawing dangerous creatures into the tunnels.
“The bell is not calling to the water. The water is answering the bell.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A waterproof map of Dunridge's old maintenance tunnels
A custom silver-threaded charm from Brother Caldus, valued as a keepsake and useful as proof of the party's aid
On a win
The party retrieves the bell and helps the sluice crew coordinate their work before the tide turns.
Dunridge's lower quarter is spared the worst of the flood. If the party also makes a safe arrangement for Sella's group, the town begins to reconcile its need for security with the squatters' need for shelter.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot retrieve the bell or coordinate the sluice workers before the next high tide.
- The lower quarter floods, damaging homes and forcing residents to evacuate. The town's trust in the party falls, though the bell may still be recovered later.
- The party takes the bell by force or abandons the squatters after promising them help.
- Sella's people are driven from their refuge without a safe place to go, and Mara's attempt to protect the town becomes a public dispute over who deserves shelter.
- The party rings the bell near the flooded shrine without discovering or responding to the warning signs.
- The bell's echoes draw more creatures into the flooded passages. Travel through the tunnels becomes dangerous, and future recovery efforts require a larger expedition.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden surge raises the water level by a foot. The party must secure loose equipment or risk losing one small carried item downstream.
- 2A cracked support beam shifts. The party has one minute to move clear or brace it before rubble blocks the narrowest route.
- 3A sharp bell-like echo travels through the tunnels. The next group of hostile creatures in the area is alerted to the party's position.
- 4A trapped tunnel worker calls for help from behind a half-submerged door. Reaching them costs time and requires opening the jammed door.
- 5Sella's lookout mistakes the party for town guards and raises an alarm, bringing two squatters to investigate with weapons drawn.
- 6A floating crate breaks apart against the party's route, scattering splintered wood and making the next stretch difficult to cross quietly.
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