The Name Beneath the Span
The Name Beneath the Span
Read aloud
A records keeper presses a rain-softened page into your hand. Beside a drawing of a broken bridge, the ink clearly names Rastik, followed by the words: 'Return before the water rises.'
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Secure the record that connects Rastik to the Sable Span.
- 2Reach the convoy vault before the rising water seals it.
- 3Decide what to do with the convoy's evidence and the truth about Rastik.
- 4Gather testimony that can corroborate the registry.Optional
The clock
Runoff continues to fill the convoy vault. Use three clear stages: water reaches the lower marks, then covers the safest path, then begins to threaten the dry shelf holding the registry. Advance a stage after major delays, noisy setbacks, or extended negotiations.
Scenes
- 0:00A Name in the Ledger
- 0:35The Annex in the Flood
- 1:35The Keeper's Question
- 2:30What the Water Kept
- 3:35Who Owns the Truth
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver and keeper of the local records
- Tovin ReedWitness and former courier
- Seln ArdoAntagonist and leader of a salvage crew
- The Span-KeeperWildcard
The hook
Set the scene
Mara Venn receives the party in a records room where rain taps against the shutters. She shows them a page pulled from a recently exposed annex. Rastik's name is visible, but the sentence around it has been damaged by water. Tovin Reed waits nearby, uneasy and eager to explain the little he remembers. Mara asks the party to retrieve the intact registry before Seln Ardo's salvage crew reaches it.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara Venn approaches the party through a trusted contact or asks them directly after learning that Rastik is traveling nearby.
She shows them a partial registry page as proof, offers an advance for supplies, and asks that the intact record be returned rather than sold.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4.5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Name in the Ledger
Mara Venn's record room, with water-stained maps, shuttered windows, and the exposed page laid under a glass weight.
Mara shows the party the damaged registry page and makes her request. Tovin offers a fragmentary memory that gives the party a reason to trust or question his account.
NextMara provides a route to the annex. The party can question Tovin further or set out immediately.
0:35
60 min
exploration
2. The Annex in the Flood
The half-flooded records annex at the edge of the ravine.
The party reaches the flooded annex and must retrieve the registry while dealing with Seln's crew. They can negotiate, sneak in, or fight over the document.
The Registry ApproachNextThe registry's route markings lead to the Sable Span. If the party loses the record, Seln's escape route provides another trail to follow.
1:35
55 min
social
3. The Keeper's Question
The broken bridge above the ravine, with its old winch groaning in the wind.
The party confronts the Span-Keeper, who challenges Rastik's connection to the convoy. They can answer questions, demonstrate respect for the bridge, find an alternate route, or force a crossing.
The Sable Span TestNextOnce across, the party follows the registry's marks down to the vault as runoff begins to rise.
2:30
65 min
exploration
4. What the Water Kept
A low chamber beneath the bridge, lit by reflected daylight and crossed by ribbons of runoff.
The party searches the vault, manages the rising water, and uncovers the original evidence. They decide what can be carried out and what must be left behind.
The Convoy VaultNextThe recovered evidence leads back to Mara, but the party's decision about who sees it determines the immediate aftermath.
3:35
40 min
social
5. Who Owns the Truth
Mara's record room, now crowded with witnesses, local officials, or Seln's representative depending on the party's earlier choices.
The party presents its findings, chooses whether to reveal the alteration, and faces the consequences of implicating a powerful local interest.
NextResolve the immediate reward and fallout, then use an open-ended hook if the campaign continues.
Behind it
What people believe
A flood has uncovered a sealed records annex containing a registry that names Rastik in connection with the vanished convoy at the Sable Span.
Mara Venn wants the registry recovered before a salvage crew claims it. A former courier, Tovin Reed, believes the record may explain why the convoy disappeared, while the route to the old bridge is becoming more dangerous by the hour.
Background
Rastik's name appears in an old registry beneath a record of a sealed bridge called the Sable Span.
The bridge once carried a convoy through a dangerous ravine, then was closed after the convoy vanished. A recent flood has exposed the registry's matching seal and reopened a route to the span.
The stakes
If the registry is lost or altered, Rastik's name may remain attached to the convoy's disappearance without context.
If the vault evidence is destroyed, the party loses its best chance to correct the record. If the truth becomes public, it may vindicate Rastik while threatening a powerful local figure and destabilizing relations in the region.
Encounters
3The Registry Approach
Combat or social
A half-flooded records annex with narrow walkways, waist-high water, toppled shelves, and one raised stone platform.
Foes
Seln Ardo
2-4 salvage crew members
ComplicationThe flooded approach is unstable. Loud movement or careless attacks can shake loose stones and divide the battlefield.
ScalingFor a smaller or less experienced party, use Seln and two crew members, and let a successful negotiation end the fight. For a larger or more capable party, add two crew members and give the crew cover from overturned carts.
The Sable Span Test
Social or combat
A broken rope bridge over a ravine, with two stone landings, a manual winch, and a narrow maintenance ledge.
Foes
Span-Keeper
ComplicationThe span's old winch can be operated from either side, but doing so exposes the operator to danger and may leave another character temporarily isolated.
ScalingFor a gentler scene, the Span-Keeper withdraws after the party demonstrates care for the bridge or answers a question honestly. For a tougher scene, the guardian fights to disable the winch and uses the narrow footing to control movement.
The Convoy Vault
Exploration or combat
A stone chamber beneath the span, with a cracked ceiling, submerged floor markings, scattered travel gear, and a single dry shelf holding the sealed record.
Foes
Flood-driven cave animals, such as cave hounds or other creatures appropriate to the campaign
ComplicationThe cache chamber is filling with runoff. Each delay makes the route out more difficult, but rushing risks overlooking the evidence that explains the registry.
ScalingFor a low-pressure finale, use the rising water as the main threat and omit the creatures. For a more dangerous finale, include a small group of creatures and have the water rise in clear stages.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and keeper of the local records
WantsWants the exposed registry and its dangerous contents secured before rival claimants arrive.
“I did not send for a legend. I sent for the person whose name is on this seal.”
Tovin Reed
Witness and former courier
WantsWants to recover the truth about the lost convoy and believes Rastik is central to it.
“I remember a lantern in the rain, and someone saying, 'Rastik will know what to do.' I cannot remember who said it.”
Seln Ardo
Antagonist and leader of a salvage crew
WantsSeeks the registry's sealed route instructions to reach a cache before anyone else.
“That name is a key. Give me the registry, and I will let you walk away with your lives.”
The Span-Keeper
Wildcard, a masked guardian encountered at the bridge
WantsProtects the Sable Span and tests whether Rastik's party will repeat the choices that doomed the convoy.
“The road remembers every footstep. Yours are louder than most.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
The original convoy registry, an important piece of evidence rather than a magical item.
A brass route-token that opens an old maintenance gate beneath the span.
Optional: a useful but mundane piece of recovered travel gear suited to the party's needs.
On a win
The party returns with the registry or enough evidence to establish what happened at the span.
They choose whether to make the truth public, give it to Rastik, or use it as leverage. A careful approach may win the Span-Keeper's trust and preserve the bridge; a forceful approach can still recover the record, but leaves repairs and strained relationships behind.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to secure the registry before Seln's crew escapes.
- Seln takes the registry and sells its route information. The party may still pursue the cache, but must race a rival expedition and deal with the information spreading.
- The party uses force or unsafe methods that collapse a key part of the Sable Span.
- The bridge is damaged beyond immediate repair. Travel between the settlements becomes slower, and the Span-Keeper treats the party as a threat until they make amends.
- The party abandons the vault or leaves without preserving its evidence.
- The convoy's record remains incomplete. Tovin loses faith in the party, and Rastik's connection to the incident becomes a public rumor rather than a settled account.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden downpour turns the registry chamber's floor slick; anyone rushing across risks dropping or damaging the fragile pages.
- 2A salvage crew scout reaches the Sable Span ahead of the party and cuts the old warning ropes, leaving the party without their usual visual guide.
- 3Tovin recognizes a mark on Rastik's gear or belongings and insists it matches a sign from the lost convoy, whether or not the resemblance is genuine.
- 4A bridge counterweight slips, blocking the safest path and forcing the group to find another route or repair the mechanism under pressure.
- 5Seln offers a truce and a share of the cache, but secretly sends one crew member to retrieve the registry while negotiations continue.
- 6The Span-Keeper names Rastik as the convoy's betrayer. The accusation is based on incomplete evidence, but unsettles witnesses and complicates any appeal for trust.
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