1. 0:00

   120 min

   socialThe table is here

   1. The Open Forum

   The Open Forum, a broad floating platform beneath the Sanctum's crystal shaft, where ward-song vibrates through the floor and the heat ledger is disputed in public.

   Let the party arrive amid the competing sounds of boiling water, ward-song, and a single low ring. Introduce Solveig, Tormund, and the heat-allotment dispute. The party can speak at the Open Forum or watch and gather evidence. To persuade Solveig to open the ledger, the group needs 4 successes before 3 failures: Persuasion DC 21; Insight DC 20 to spot a Keeper heckler coached by the Ascendancy's choir; Arcana DC 22 to match the shield's draw to cooling currents; Investigation DC 21 to present an Ascendancy note or Concordat gauge records; or Religion DC 20 to offer the Unbanked Ember, unlit, as a witness. Accusing the Ascendancy outright triggers a hush and a recess, advancing The Draw by 1.

   NextWhen the forum breaks, a Keeper's ledger-page or the Navigator-Prime's note leads the party to the tide-observatory, where an empty chart slot marks the current's last recorded course.

2. 2:00

   75 min

   exploration

   2. A Note Out of Place

   The Ascendancy's tide-observatory, where wet charts cling to copper rails and the missing current's slot is conspicuously empty.

   At the tide-observatory, a navigational correction in a dead dialect is pinned beside the empty slot on the chart. A DC 19 Wisdom (Insight) or DC 21 Intelligence (History) check shows that the correction is accurate, which is the unsettling part. A DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation) check on its handwriting finds the same three-short, one-long cadence as the Floor Log. The party can follow the mark without proving who wrote it.

   NextA charted seam carries the party away from the observatory into open water, where the surrounding warmth begins to form a narrow, unnatural track.

3. 3:15

   150 min

   skill

   3. The Heat We Turned Aside

   A cold seam across the sea, a thermocline that scatters instruments, and a reach of water where warmth has been redirected in a neat, patient line.

   Run the trail in three legs. First, the party follows a cold seam against the current with a DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) check; on failure, a character suffers 1 level of Exhaustion from the Killing Cold. Second, crossing the instrument-scattering thermocline requires DC 20 Navigator's Tools; on failure, the ship loses a day and The Draw advances 1. Third, reading the pattern in the diverted warm water requires DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana); on failure, the party reaches the node unaware of its guardians. A DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana) or DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) check during the overall search identifies the diversion as recent and deliberate.

   The Retuned Node

   NextThe warm trace narrows beneath the vessel, drawing it toward a basalt ring below. Its crystal core glows through the water as the first guardians stir.

4. 5:45

   150 min

   combat

   4. The Basin's Answer

   The 40-foot basalt ring around the warm-crystal core, where the ley-node's surge presses every fighter toward its center.

   Resolve the Retuned Node encounter. Afterward, the party can restore the current, leave it diverted and tell the Ascendancy it is gone, or re-chart it to a new path with the Navigator-Prime's blessing. If they restore it, the diversion disturbs whatever has relied on that heat. The choice is consequential, not a puzzle with one correct answer. If the party leaves the situation as it is, advance The Draw by 1.

   The Retuned Node

   NextOnce the node's pulse settles or the party withdraws, word from Ignatha's scouts carries the second crisis toward them: a drill has broken into the Boiling Arc's warm monolith.

5. 8:15

   90 min

   exploration

   5. The Cold Current

   An ice camp a mile from the Boiling Arc, with carefully maintained tools, heat charts, and the distant thud of drilling through stone.

   Bodil Slag-Wright leads the party across the ice to the drill crew's camp and says little unless asked directly. A DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) or Intelligence (Nature) check follows the crew's tracks. Their tools are well-made, and their maps are much better than they should be: heat charts in a hand recognizable to Ascendancy observers. The camp is an opportunity to learn who is working the site and whether the crew can be approached before the bore becomes dangerous.

   NextThe drill's thuds grow into a steady vibration beneath the ice. Bodil follows the sound to the bore-site, where a broken monolith answers it with a warm, resonant hum.

6. 9:45

   180 min

   combat

   6. The Warm Monolith

   An 80-foot vertical bore shaft above the Boiling Arc, with a platform ringed by drill-frames, a humming monolith at its center, and a control rail at the edge.

   At the bore-site, the crew has cracked into a monolith of warm stone. Crossing to the platform or disabling the drill without cracking the monolith further calls for DC 22 Strength (Athletics) or a DC 20 Strength saving throw, as appropriate to the approach. Run the Bore-Site encounter with the Crack Track as the central objective. Afterward, or before combat if the party finds a way to parley, they can negotiate with Foreman Drosk Hale and High Magma-Shaman Haldor Rift-Binder. Mediation requires 4 successes before 3 failures: Persuasion DC 21 to show Drosk the maps are not his; Religion or Insight DC 22 to show Haldor the monolith has no hidden maker or purpose; Persuasion DC 21 to offer the crew work on the Forged's seams; Religion DC 22 to offer the Ember unlit; or Investigation DC 20 to read the Absolute's mark on the maps. Choices include peace between crew and Forged, permanently shutting the bore, or giving the Forged the maps and letting them settle it. If the party leaves the situation as it is, advance The Draw by 1.

   The Bore-Site

   NextAs the drill winds down or the last terms are spoken, the monolith's hum carries across the water. Ignatha's people gather on the rim, waiting to learn whether the crew will leave, bargain, or face the Crucible's response.

• The Retuned Node

  Combat

  A 40-foot basalt ring on the seabed surrounds a core of warm crystal. The node's surge pulls creatures toward its center. Include broken basalt ridges and pockets of diverted warm water as cover and hazards.

  Foes

  • 2 Vent-Glass Colossi

  • 1 Hearth-Quencher

  • Ley-surge hazard

  ComplicationOn initiative count 20 each round, the node surges. Each creature within 30 feet makes a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or takes 6d8 force damage and is pulled 10 feet toward the core, taking half damage on a success. A creature adjacent to the core can use an action and succeed on a DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana) check to calm the surge for 2 rounds. Retuning the node requires three DC 22 checks, made over any number of turns.

  ScalingModerate for four level-18 characters. For three characters, remove one Vent-Glass Colossus. For five, add a second Hearth-Quencher.

• The Bore-Site

  Combat

  A vertical shaft 80 feet across has a narrow platform ringed by drill-frames, with the humming warm monolith at its center and the control rail at one edge. Drill-frames provide half cover, AC 17 and 40 hit points. The platform is broken into sections that can collapse; a lower ledge lies 60 feet below.

  Foes

  • 1 Abyssal Trench-Lord

  • 4 Resonant Crystal Scuttlers

  • 1 Vanguard Siphon-Warden

  • Bore Collapse hazard

  ComplicationThe monolith has a Crack Track from 0 to 6. It gains 1 Crack whenever it takes damage, a drill-frame falls onto it, or a Huge-or-larger creature ends its movement adjacent to it. At 3 Cracks, the humming becomes a whine; creatures within 30 feet make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw at the start of their turns or are deafened. At 6, it breaks, dealing 10d6 fire damage to creatures within 60 feet, with a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw for half damage. The Crucible's response arrives at once, and mediation in Scene 5 fails. On initiative count 20, a 20-foot platform section falls away; creatures there make a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw or fall 60 feet to a ledge, taking 6d6 bludgeoning damage and landing prone. A character can brace a section with a DC 22 Strength (Athletics) check as an action. Destroying the control rail, AC 15 and 30 hit points, stops the drill and ends the collapse hazard for 3 rounds.

  ScalingHigh for four level-18 characters. For three, remove two Scuttlers. For five, add a Hearth-Quencher. If the party first mediates successfully with the crew, remove the Trench-Lord and the Warden; run the remaining Scuttlers as an escort through the bore instead of a stand-up fight.

• Prime Weaver Solveig Astral-Tide

  Questgiver and presiding officer of the Open Forum

  WantsKeep the Sanctum's shield intact and protect its residents, while resisting demands to reveal the heat ledger before she believes she has a safe alternative.

  “Ending the draw too quickly could break the shield. Do you wish to be the reason a platform falls?”

• Keeper Tormund Ash-Ledger

  Witness and Keeper

  WantsObtain the heat ledger and make the Sanctum's use of Anchor warmth accountable to the Basin Keepers.

  “Records are not always made public. That is not the same as being secret.”

• Crucible-Mother Ignatha Deep-Anvil

  Questgiver and Magma-Forged leader

  WantsProtect the warm monolith and the Magma-Forged people who regard it as sacred, without turning a dispute into a massacre.

  “Stop the drill. I ask you to do it without killing the people holding the tools.”

• Foreman Drosk Hale

  Antagonist or negotiation partner at the bore-site

  WantsKeep the crew alive and finish the work he was hired to do, while avoiding responsibility for whoever supplied the unusually accurate heat maps.

  “The maps were in the crew's hands. That does not mean the maps belong to us.”

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