Blackroot Cut: The Ashen Trestle Hunt
Blackroot Cut: The Ashen Trestle Hunt
“A dangerous pack, a collapsing route, and four Adventurers who must learn whether teamwork is worth trusting.”
— Hook · kill
“The Bronze Adventurer's Hall has posted a kill contract for a pack of giant hyenas that has already killed three freight workers and trapped a supply wagon in Blackroot Cut. The route is dangerous, the threat is confirmed, and the Hall expects serious combat from the moment the hunt begins. Your group has been assembled because no single newly registered Adventurer is expected to survive the ravine alone.”
— Hook · kill
The contract is posted beneath a red Bronze seal in the Hall's briefing room. The clerk provides a rough map, reports three confirmed deaths, and makes clear that the Hall has no expectation that the Adventurers will return every enemy corpse. The group is being paid to make the route safe enough to reopen, protect survivors where possible, and prevent the pack from resuming organized attacks.
Contract Clerk Ilyra Fen
The party is summoned to the Bronze Adventurer's Hall briefing room by a contract clerk who has already assembled several independent Adventurers. The clerk presents the payment terms, a rough map, and the confirmed casualty report, then asks each Adventurer to state one condition under which they would withdraw rather than turn a bad position into a massacre.
Rumours
d4 · table- 01The giant hyenas have learned to attack only when the ravine wind is loud enough to hide their approach.
- 02A freight worker claims the pack waits until someone is isolated before committing to a charge.
- 03The old logging tunnels connect to a higher exit that is not shown on the Hall's map.
- 04One of the previous victims was found with a broken lantern and no visible bite marks, suggesting panic and falling terrain contributed to the death.
Freight traffic will stop if the pack remains active, leaving workers and travelers exposed to further attacks. The contracted Adventurers risk serious injury, death, loss of Hall standing, and damaged professional reputations. The independent NPCs also have personal stakes in proving that mixed-experience teams can make sound decisions without treating the highest-level member as an automatic commander.
Background Lore
The Ashen Trestle is an abandoned logging route cut through a steep ravine known as Blackroot Cut. Three days ago, a pack of unusually organized giant hyenas began attacking freight teams, trapping workers against the ravine walls, and dragging the dead into the old timber tunnels. The Bronze Adventurer's Hall has confirmed multiple deaths and assigns a kill contract before the route becomes impassable.
The Ashen Trestle is a dangerous logging and freight route through Blackroot Cut. A pack of giant hyenas has attacked multiple travelers, killed workers, and trapped a supply wagon in the ravine. The Bronze Adventurer's Hall wants the threat stopped before more people die, and the contract explicitly warns that serious combat is expected. The Adventurers must secure the route, protect survivors, and reduce the pack's ability to attack again. The pack may retreat, split up, or use the terrain rather than fight to the death.
