The Bell Beneath the Bent Fir
The Bell Beneath the Bent Fir
Read aloud
The Bent Fir's front door is barred from the inside, yet someone has just knocked three times from beneath the floorboards. Mara Venn looks from the dark cellar hatch to the muddy footprints leading into the inn, though no one has come through the door. She asks you to find out what is beneath the inn before the next knock.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Investigate the Bent Fir and discover the source of the disturbance.
- 2Find the missing travelers and confront the threat on the Black Run.
- 3Resolve the conflict between the inn and the forest boundary.
- 4Uncover who removed the iron key and settle the matter with Tomas.Optional
The clock
At the end of each major scene after the first, mark one night-watch. After three watches, the Fir-Warden draws another guest from the Bent Fir onto the Black Run. The party can reset the clock by restoring a boundary mark, securing the missing travelers, or reaching a clear bargain with the Warden.
Scenes
- 0:00Three Knocks Below
- 0:35The Chamber Under the Fir
- 1:15The Night Visitors
- 2:00Along the Black Run
- 3:00The Fir-Warden's Claim
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver and innkeeper
- Ilyan ReedAlly and itinerant boundary-keeper
- Tomas PellWildcard and local charcoal burner
- The Fir-WardenAntagonist and spirit of the old forest boundary
The hook
Set the scene
Begin at dusk in the common room of the Bent Fir. Rain rattles the shutters, guests speak in low voices, and Mara has set a lantern beside the cellar hatch. The first knock comes from below. Pause for the players to react, then let a second knock answer from beneath the floor near their table.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara approaches the party privately after the first knock, offering a room, a meal, and what coin she can spare.
She asks them to investigate before the guests panic or the local road warden closes the route.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4 hours0:00
35 min
SocialThe table is here
1. Three Knocks Below
The Bent Fir common room during a rainstorm, with wary guests, a quiet hearth, and the cellar hatch.
Establish the inn's unease, meet Mara, and let the party question guests or inspect the cellar hatch before the knocks recur.
NextA muddy trail of needle-shaped marks leads from the cellar hatch to a concealed stair beneath the pantry.
0:35
40 min
Exploration
2. The Chamber Under the Fir
A cramped cellar passage opening into an old chamber threaded with roots and carved boundary marks.
Explore the stone chamber, find signs of the missing key, and discover that the knocks answer questions spoken near the boundary stone.
NextThe trail of disturbed roots runs out of the chamber and into the woods; Ilyan identifies it as the Black Run.
1:15
45 min
Combat
3. The Night Visitors
The common room after midnight, with doors secured, guests sheltering behind the bar, and intruders entering through a side window.
Protect the guests from the Black Run prowlers, learn what they want, and give the party a chance to obtain clues through surrender or negotiation rather than force.
The Night VisitorsNextA captured or persuaded visitor points toward the old track, where the missing travelers were last seen.
2:00
60 min
Exploration
4. Along the Black Run
A foggy trail among old stones, boggy hollows, and fir trees whose branches seem to point back toward the inn.
Track the missing travelers, navigate the shifting forest, and choose whether to restore boundary marks or press onward quickly.
The Black RunNextThe path ends at the buried boundary stone; the Fir-Warden appears when the party brings the key, calls its name, or disturbs the seal.
3:00
55 min
Social
5. The Fir-Warden's Claim
The root-wrapped boundary chamber, where the stone's keyhole opens toward a narrow tunnel beneath the inn.
Resolve the compact through persuasion, a repair of the stone, a bargain, or a fight; make the party's handling of the key and travelers matter.
The Stone Beneath the InnNextReturn to the Bent Fir for the consequences of the party's agreement and a quiet final beat with the rescued travelers.
Behind it
What people believe
The Bent Fir's guests have begun hearing knocks from beneath the floor, and travelers have vanished along the nearby Black Run.
Innkeeper Mara Venn asks the party to investigate the cellar, trace the missing travelers, and stop whatever is frightening the road.
Background
The Bent Fir is a weather-beaten roadside inn built around the stump of a lightning-struck fir tree.
Its owner, Mara Venn, kept the inn open through three hard winters by offering shelter to travelers regardless of allegiance. The surrounding woods are known for sudden fog, old boundary stones, and the abandoned charcoal burners' track called the Black Run.
The stakes
If the boundary remains broken, travelers will continue to vanish and the forest's old presence may reach the road and inn.
If the party handles the dispute carelessly, the Bent Fir may be destroyed or the missing travelers may be lost.
Encounters
3The Night Visitors
Combat or negotiation
The Bent Fir's common room after closing: overturned tables, a stone hearth, narrow aisles, and several frightened guests who need protection.
Foes
Black Run prowlers
Needle-backed hound
ComplicationThe attackers are trying to seize the iron key, not kill anyone. If the party protects the guests or bargains with them, the conflict can end without defeating every foe.
ScalingFor a smaller or less experienced party, use only the prowlers and let them retreat when injured. For a larger or more capable party, add a second hound or have the prowlers use the inn's furniture and smoke as cover.
The Black Run
Exploration and possible combat
A narrow forest track crossed by old boundary stones, slick roots, sinkholes, and dense fog that limits sight and muffles sound.
Foes
Needle-backed hound
Fir-Warden's rootbound sentries
ComplicationThe shifting fog separates anyone who leaves the marked trail. Each detour costs time and may trigger a complication; clear navigation, recovered markers, or a bargain with a local guide can avoid this.
ScalingFor a lower-threat version, the sentries block and restrain rather than attack. For a higher-threat version, add one sentry per additional party member beyond the group's usual size, or make the hound flank isolated characters.
The Stone Beneath the Inn
Social, skill, or combat
A low chamber beneath the Bent Fir, open to tangled roots and centered on a split boundary stone with an empty iron keyhole.
Foes
The Fir-Warden
Rootbound sentries
ComplicationThe Fir-Warden can be challenged, reasoned with, or appeased. Physical force alone does not repair the boundary, and the Warden grows more dangerous if the iron key is used recklessly.
ScalingFor a gentler finale, the Warden pauses to hear an apology or a promise before attacking. For a more difficult finale, the Warden calls one additional sentry whenever a character damages the boundary stone.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and innkeeper
WantsKeep the Bent Fir and its guests safe, even if that means hiding what she knows about the inn's foundations.
“I heard the bell beneath the floorboards. The inn has no bell beneath the floorboards.”
Ilyan Reed
Ally and itinerant boundary-keeper
WantsRestore the boundary signs before the woods' old presence crosses into the settled road.
“Those marks are not a threat. They are a warning, and someone has been scraping them away.”
Tomas Pell
Wildcard and local charcoal burner
WantsConceal his role in disturbing the sealed stone beneath the inn, and avoid being blamed for the missing travelers.
“I only wanted the place quiet. I did not know the stone would answer.”
The Fir-Warden
Antagonist and spirit of the old forest boundary
WantsDrive intruders away from the old track and reclaim the boundary stone's stolen iron key.
“The road has been closed for a hundred years. Why have you opened it again?”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A weatherproof lantern that burns steadily in ordinary wind
A hand-drawn map of the Black Run and its remaining boundary marks
The iron key, if the party earns the Fir-Warden's permission to carry it
On a win
The party learns the cause of the knocks, brings the missing travelers to safety or secures their release, and settles the dispute over the boundary stone.
The Bent Fir remains a refuge, though the exact terms of its relationship with the forest depend on the party's choices.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party leaves without restoring or renegotiating the boundary.
- The missing travelers remain in the woods, and the Fir-Warden begins drawing people from the road after nightfall.
- The confrontation beneath the inn turns destructive or the party fails to protect the guests.
- The Bent Fir is damaged or abandoned, leaving travelers without shelter and costing Mara her livelihood.
- The party gives up the key without securing the travelers' release or another dependable agreement.
- The Warden takes the iron key and seals the Black Run, cutting off the safest route through the forest while preserving its own claim to the boundary.
Complications (d6)
- 1A gust slams every door of the Bent Fir at once, trapping guests inside until someone opens the main entrance from outdoors.
- 2A guest recognizes Tomas and loudly accuses him of leading a missing caravan onto the Black Run.
- 3The inn's well fills with black needles from the old fir, making its water unusable until the needles are cleared.
- 4Fresh boundary marks appear on the inside of a character's door, pointing toward the cellar.
- 5A frightened pack animal bolts toward the woods, carrying a satchel that contains Ilyan's map of the old track.
- 6The Fir-Warden speaks through the inn's hearth and offers to release one missing traveler in exchange for the iron key.
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