The Sovereign Descent
The Sovereign Descent
Read aloud
The Three-Cargo Hall smells of wet wool, lamp oil, and cold iron as the missing crews' names pass from mouth to mouth. High Admiral Vrak Ash-Pelt checks the tiny scales in his depth-lens before he answers: no license will be issued until the hall decides whether the lane stays open. Beyond the windows, the dark water presses against the pilings, and somewhere below it, a bell waits to be carried down.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Win authorization for a licensed dive by presenting a reason and a concrete safeguard.
- 2Guide the Bell and crew through the Thermocline, Silt-Fall, Drowned Cable, and Listening Floor.
- 3Return with the crew and the descent evidence without worsening the lane's danger.Optional
The clock
The Lane Closes clock records mounting pressure around the route. A failed moot advances it by 2. When a Bell at Strain 6 surfaces, advance it by 1; if it fills, the Count takes an extra mark and reduces later Act V preparations. Strain is not reset between chapters and travels with the Bell.
Scenes
- 0:00The Lane Closure Moot
- 0:45The Thermocline
- 1:30The Silt-Fall
- 2:45The Drowned Cable
- 3:30The Listening Floor
Cast
- High Admiral Vrak Ash-PeltQuestgiver and Navy signatory
- Master Hjordis Keel-ReedCurrent-Keeper advocate
- Warden-Bell Anselm ThraceBellwarden advocate
- TzikiAlly and Phocan navigator
The hook
Set the scene
The moot is already underway when the party enters the Three-Cargo Hall. Boots scrape wet stone, salt hangs in the air, and a Navy bell-master stands beside the covered descent bell. Vrak checks his depth-lens before taking questions. Hjordis argues that closing the lane will leave the smallest settlements without supplies; Anselm answers gently that repeated tolls and missing crews are a warning no community should ignore. Tziki taps a current-song beat against her knee, then falls silent when a lost ship is named. Vrak will hear the party's case, but only if it includes a safeguard.
How High Admiral Vrak Ash-Pelt asks
Vrak convenes the party at the Lane Closure moot and makes clear that a license depends on the hall's decision.
He listens for a defensible reason to descend and a practical safety plan, not a promise that everyone will be safe.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4.5 hours0:00
45 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Lane Closure Moot
The crowded Three-Cargo Hall, with faction leaders, Navy officers, and families of missing divers gathered around the moot floor.
Run the Lane Closure moot as a group challenge: the party needs four successes before three failures. Each listed approach counts once. Showing a Concordat or Ascendancy letter is Persuasion . Offering the lit Ember as a visible beacon is Insight or Religion , and softens the Bellwardens. Naming a tether schedule or turn-back depth is Intelligence (Navigator's Tools) . Producing a Second Bell rescue writ from the prior campaign or an earlier rescue is Persuasion . Reading the crowd and speaking with a lost diver's family is Insight . On success, Vrak grants the dive and loans the Bell Long Patience with a Navy bell-master. On failure, the one-day license applies, the Lane Closes clock advances by 2, and the dive begins at Strain 1.
NextAs the decision settles, Vrak's order travels down the pier; the party follows the bell-master to the waiting descent rig and feels the deck shiver under the bell's first test toll.
0:45
45 min
exploration
2. The Thermocline
The descent rig passes through the Thermocline at roughly 3,200 feet. Warm water presses against the hull above a sudden band of cold; old buoys hang in the dimness.
At the Thermocline, a wall of warm water lies over cold. Run the first four-role Shelf challenge at Hard difficulty: Pilot, Ballast, Watch, and Song, with one role per character and no role repeated on this Shelf. A failed role adds 1 Strain; if all four succeed, remove 1 Strain. A Wisdom (Perception) check spots old bell-crew buoys marked with tallies. The Ember grows one degree warmer than the surrounding water.
NextThe last buoy disappears behind the rig as shells begin to rattle against the hull, and a dark column of silt slides across the route.
1:30
75 min
combat
3. The Silt-Fall
A moving column of shell fragments and silt crosses open water beside the descent bell. The Bell is central to the 60-foot-wide, 40-foot-deep fight.
At roughly 4,000 feet, run the Shelf challenge at Hard difficulty and resolve The Silt-Fall encounter. The creatures are drawn to the Bell's vibrations. If the party muted the Bell, the Drifters lose track of it for 1 round as described in the encounter rules. The Ember again grows warmer than the surrounding water.
The Silt-FallNextWhen the last shell settles or the bell-master steadies the line, the rig continues down through thinning grit toward a cable hanging like a black seam in the water.
2:45
45 min
exploration
4. The Drowned Cable
A lost rig's cable hangs over the Drowned Cable Shelf, swaying in a current too faint to feel through the hull.
At roughly 4,800 feet, run the Shelf challenge at Moderate difficulty. A Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a signal mark on the drowned cable: three short, one long. The cable belongs to a lost rig. The Ember grows warmer than the surrounding water, and the bell-master waits for the party to decide whether to record, follow, or leave the mark undisturbed.
NextThe cable slips above the rig as the last depth marker passes; then the current falls away, and a low sound begins to climb through the hull.
3:30
45 min
exploration
5. The Listening Floor
The Listening Floor beneath the Sovereign Deep. The water presses cold and clear around the rig, while the hull carries a sound too low to locate.
At roughly 5,400 feet, run the Shelf challenge at Moderate difficulty. The Listening Floor is still, and the Ember does not hum; it seems to lean toward the low sound coming through the hull. Let the party choose how long to remain, what they record, and whether they answer, mute, or simply listen. Do not explain the sound's source.
NextAs the bell-master turns the rig toward the ascent, the low sound follows through the hull and the crew begins hauling the line upward.
Behind it
What people believe
The party is asked to argue for a carefully safeguarded expedition into the Sovereign Deep, where missing crews and repeated bell tolls have made the route dangerous.
If the moot authorizes the descent, the party must guide the Bell through four depth shelves, protect it from hazards and predators, and return with the crew and whatever evidence the deep reveals.
Background
A descent route into the Sovereign Deep has become a matter of survival and trust.
The lane carries supplies to small settlements, but crews have vanished and the descent bell has tolled with unsettling frequency. The party must win a public license, protect the bell and its crew through four depth shelves, and decide how much risk the lane can bear.
The stakes
A closed lane cuts off small settlements from supplies, while an unprotected descent risks more missing crews and may carry danger back to the route.
The party's choices affect trust between the Navy, Current-Keepers, and Bellwardens, as well as the Lane Closes clock, the Bell's Strain, and later preparations.
Encounters
1The Silt-Fall
combat
Open water around the Descent Bell, a 60-foot-wide and 40-foot-deep area. Movement is three-dimensional. The Bell occupies a 2-by-2-square space and has AC 20. A column of silt and shells crosses the eastern side; a cable trails from the Resonant Crystal Scuttler.
Foes
2 Kraken-Spawn Drifters
1 Resonant Crystal Scuttler
The Silt-Fall, major environmental hazard
ComplicationThe Silt-Fall surges on initiative count 20 each round. Every creature in the column makes a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failure, it is carried 20 feet downstream, blinded until the end of its next turn, and takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage from shells. On a success, it takes half damage and is not moved. A creature tethered to the Bell has advantage on this save. A Drifter that ends its turn within 10 feet of the Bell adds 1 Strain once per round. At half hit points, a Drifter flees upward and returns if the Bell is still tolling. The Scuttler holds the cable and hums; while the Bell has Strain 3 or more, a character inside it makes a DC 16 Constitution save at the start of each turn. A character inside the Bell can use an action to mute it with a DC 18 Charisma (Performance) or Dexterity (Tinker's Tools) check, causing the Drifters to lose track of it for 1 round. The bell-master can do this automatically once, but the Song role is unavailable on the next Shelf.
ScalingFor three characters, remove one Kraken-Spawn Drifter. For five characters, add a second Resonant Crystal Scuttler. The supplied encounter budget is intended as Moderate for four level-14 characters: 21,900 XP including the hazard.
Cast
4High Admiral Vrak Ash-Pelt
QuestgiverQuestgiver and Navy signatory
WantsTo authorize a defensible expedition without spending lives or naval authority carelessly.
“I will open the lane for a reason. I will close it for another. Give me the reason.”
Master Hjordis Keel-Reed
Current-Keeper advocate
WantsKeep the trade lane open so isolated settlements continue receiving supplies and aid.
“The first dead are always the ones who stayed home because the sea was cold.”
Warden-Bell Anselm Thrace
Bellwarden advocate
WantsPrevent further crews from disappearing, even if the lane must close.
“A bell that tolls twice is a prayer. A bell that tolls nine times in a month is an answer.”
Tziki
Ally and Phocan navigator
WantsNavigate the descent and bring the bell and crew back intact; a missing ship makes her stop tapping her current-song rhythm.
“Three short, one long. I know that beat. I wish I knew who taught it to the deep.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Loan of the Bell Long Patience and a Navy bell-master, if the party wins the moot.
On a win
The party reaches the Listening Floor with the Bell and its crew, then returns with the dive's evidence and a record of its Strain.
On a successful moot, Vrak licenses the expedition and loans the Bell Long Patience with a Navy bell-master. The Navy grants +1 Standing for completing the dive; the party also earns a Favor from either the Current-Keepers or the Bellwardens, as determined by the moot. The party reaches level 15 at the chapter wrap-up.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party earns fewer than four successes before three failures at the Lane Closure moot.
- Vrak grants a one-day license only. Advance the Lane Closes clock by 2 and begin the dive at Strain 1.
- The party fails to coordinate a Shelf crossing.
- If a Shelf challenge ends with any failed role, each failed role adds 1 Strain. If all four roles succeed, remove 1 Strain. If the group abandons the dive checks, the bell-master pilots alone and the Bell begins the next chapter at Strain 3.
- The party skips the Silt-Fall encounter.
- The Bell reaches the Floor at Strain 5, and the Drifters follow it into the next chapter.
- The Bell is not kept below the critical Strain threshold.
- When the Bell reaches Strain 6 and surfaces, advance the Lane Closes clock by 1. If that clock fills, the Count takes an extra mark. Strain carries forward into the next chapter.
Complications (d6)
- 1A family member of a missing diver challenges the party in the hall, demanding to know who will be accountable if another crew vanishes.
- 2A Navy clerk finds that one page of the proposed tether schedule is water-damaged; the party must reconstruct the missing turn-back depth before the moot ends.
- 3A sudden current-song change reaches Tziki through the hull. The next Shelf's Pilot check is made at Hard difficulty unless the party spends time confirming the route.
- 4A loose shell-laden silt sheet lashes across the descent line. One character must succeed on a DC 18 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Tinker's Tools) check to keep the line from snagging; failure adds 1 Strain.
- 5The bell's toll draws a Drifter close before the party reaches the Silt-Fall. It shadows the Bell, and the first Drifter in the encounter begins within 10 feet of it.
- 6The Navy bell-master needs to mute the bell to clear a dangerous vibration. If they do, the Song role is unavailable on the next Shelf.
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