The Empty Wagon
The Empty Wagon
Read aloud
At first light, a teamster found Mara Venn's wagon abandoned on the south-east road, its cargo still aboard and its traces cut. There are no bodies, no horses, and no sign of the hired crew. Mara offers 45 gold pieces to find her people and bring them home.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Determine what happened to the hired team.
- 2Rescue the missing teamsters alive.
- 3Bring the job to a clear conclusion.
- 4Recover the horses and stolen property.Optional
The clock
The gang plans to send a ransom message by dusk. If the party takes most of the day, Hesta moves one captive to a separate lookout post and begins preparing to leave with the horses.
Scenes
- 0:00The Job
- 0:20Clues in the Road
- 0:55Tracks at the Crossing
- 1:30The Hollow
- 2:30Back to Millhaven
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver
- Tomas ReedWitness and captive teamster
- Hesta ValeAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
The wagon stands at the road's edge, angled into the ditch but not overturned. Its cargo is intact beneath a damp canvas. One trace has been cut cleanly, and the churned mud around the wheels shows several sets of bootprints heading toward the creek.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara catches the party near her warehouse, beside the abandoned wagon's recovered cargo.
She is worried, direct, and willing to pay the promised 45 gp for a safe rescue.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
20 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Job
Mara Venn's warehouse in Millhaven, beside the recovered wagon
Mara lays out the job and the agreed payment. She can describe the crew: Tomas Reed and two other teamsters, with two horses and a light wagon. She knows the route and says the run should have taken only a few hours.
NextMara points the party to the wagon, still at the road's edge, where the first clues await.
0:20
35 min
exploration
2. Clues in the Road
The abandoned wagon on the south-east road and the muddy track toward the creek
The intact cargo suggests the wagon was not looted. The cleanly cut trace, deep hoofprints leading off the road, several bootprints, and a discarded strip of blue wool caught on a thorn indicate a deliberate interception. Following the bootprints reveals that people and horses left together toward the creek.
NextThe track narrows at the creek crossing, where the gang has left lookouts.
0:55
35 min
skill
3. Tracks at the Crossing
A slick crossing where the creek bends under alder trees
The party can sneak around, confront, or question the lookouts. A captured lookout knows the captives are alive and can point out the old shelter. They may yield if offered safe treatment or shown the gang has already been discovered.
The Creekside LookoutNextA faint cookfire smell and the sound of tethered horses lead to the charcoal-burner's hollow.
1:30
60 min
social
4. The Hollow
An abandoned charcoal-burner's clearing in the woods
The party finds the teamsters restrained but unharmed, and the stolen horses nearby. Hesta may bargain, surrender, or fight depending on the party's approach. The teamsters can be freed once the danger is dealt with; no special mechanism or puzzle is needed.
The Charcoal-Burner's HollowNextWith the captives free, the party can escort them and any recovered horses back to Millhaven to collect payment.
2:30
25 min
social
5. Back to Millhaven
Mara's warehouse in Millhaven
Tomas confirms the team was ambushed at the creek and recognizes the blue wool as part of the apparent traveler's cloak. Mara pays the agreed fee and the party decides whether the gang's surviving members go to the reeve, leave town, or remain a future concern.
NextClose the adventure with the payment and consequences of the party's choices.
Behind it
What people believe
A hired team carrying provisions for Millhaven merchant Mara Venn failed to return from a short run south-east of town.
Their wagon was found abandoned on the road this morning, with its cargo still aboard. There are no bodies and no horses. Mara is offering 45 gp for the safe return of her workers and asks the party to find out what happened.
Background
Millhaven's south-east road passes through managed woodland and a shallow creek before reaching the scattered farms.
A small gang has been stopping isolated carts at a narrow crossing, taking goods and animals, and holding drivers until they can learn whether anyone will pay for their return. This job is their first attempt to seize a whole merchant's team.
The stakes
The missing workers are alive but restrained, and the gang may move them if it realizes the wagon has been found.
Delay could turn a straightforward rescue into a pursuit and separate the workers from their horses.
Encounters
2The Creekside Lookout
Combat or stealth
A narrow creek crossing with slick stones, alder cover, and a low bank that provides half cover. The lookouts can retreat toward the camp.
Foes
2 bandit lookouts
ComplicationThe muddy track divides at a washed-out drainage ditch. A careful search finds a snapped willow switch and fresh boot marks crossing the ditch; rushing across risks a fall and a loud landing.
ScalingFor a harder fight, add one bandit. For a gentler scene, one lookout is asleep and the other can be distracted or persuaded to leave.
The Charcoal-Burner's Hollow
Combat or social
A disused charcoal-burner's clearing with a low log shelter, stacked brush, and a rope-tied horse line. The captives are inside the shelter, unarmed but unharmed; the stolen horses are tethered on the far side of the clearing.
Foes
Hesta Vale, bandit captain
3 bandits
ComplicationA captive is being made to carry water nearby. If a fight starts, Hesta orders a bandit to keep a weapon on the captives, but a character who reaches them or negotiates a pause can prevent this.
ScalingFor two PCs, have only Hesta and two bandits actively fight while the remaining bandit guards captives or flees. If the party arrives with a strong plan, Hesta is willing to surrender after a successful appeal or demonstration of advantage. Avoid adding reinforcements.
Cast
3Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver, Millhaven provision merchant
WantsRecover the hired team, horses, and undelivered goods while keeping the affair quiet enough to protect future business.
“I paid them to deliver two crates, not vanish into the woods. Find my people, and bring the horses back if you can.”
Tomas Reed
Witness and captive teamster
WantsGet the other teamsters out safely; once free, he wants to help identify the gang and prevent another ambush.
“We were taken alive. They kept asking when the merchant would notice we were missing.”
Hesta Vale
Antagonist, gang leader
WantsKeep the gang together long enough to get paid, but avoid bloodshed and a hanging. She will bargain if offered a credible way to surrender or leave.
“Nobody was meant to die. Put down your weapons and we can settle this without making the captives pay for it.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
The recovered provisions and horses belong to Mara and her hired team; returning them earns gratitude, not an extra arbitrary treasure payout.
On a win
The teamsters return to Millhaven alive, and Mara pays the promised 45 gp.
If the party also recovers the horses and cargo, she thanks them publicly and can resume deliveries. If the gang surrendered, Mara prefers to hand them to the local reeve; if they escaped, she gives the party their names and descriptions.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot follow the wagon and hoofprints before rain or darkness obscures them.
- If the party loses the trail or spends too long, the gang starts moving the captives deeper into the woods. The rescue remains possible, but the next approach is harder and the horses may be separated from the camp.
- The party fails to resolve the standoff or leaves after being outmatched.
- If the party retreats from the hollow without securing the captives, Hesta moves them to a farm outbuilding and sends a demand for ransom to Millhaven. Mara still hires help, but the gang gains time and leverage.
- The party chooses a violent approach that endangers captives or allows the gang to escape.
- If the captives are harmed or the gang escapes with the horses, Mara pays only for the people recovered and reports the party's conduct to local merchants. The gang may return as a future threat.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden shower darkens the wagon tracks. The party has one clear hour to follow the hoofprints before they become difficult to distinguish from ordinary traffic.
- 2A nervous farmhand saw armed strangers and refuses to speak in front of a uniformed authority. A private, patient conversation earns the direction to the creek crossing.
- 3One stolen horse breaks its tether near the gang's camp and bolts toward the road. Chasing it risks alerting the sentry; leaving it means the animal may be lost in the woods.
- 4The gang moves one captive to the creek bank as a lookout. A loud approach may make the gang mistake the party for local guards and prompt them to threaten the captives.
- 5A loose wagon wheel rolls down the slope when disturbed, clattering into the creek. This alerts nearby bandits unless the party catches or muffles it.
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