The Emberwell Below
The Emberwell Below
“Beneath a frozen village, an ancient fire remembers who broke the pact.”
— Hook · Investigation and dungeon expedition
“The Emberwell that keeps Bellwether Hollow alive has run cold, and something beneath the northern watchtower now glows like a buried coal. The reeve offers you coin to descend into the old tunnels, find the cause, and return before the village's water freezes for good.”
— Hook · Investigation and dungeon expedition
The adventure begins in Bellwether Hollow's council hall during a hard, unnatural frost. Every brazier burns low despite fresh fuel, and the villagers outside argue over whether to flee before the roads become impassable. Reeve Mara Venn presents the characters with a charcoal map of the watchtower and asks them to return with the emberstone before the next sunset.
Reeve Mara Venn
The characters are summoned to the council hall by a runner carrying a sealed request from Reeve Mara Venn. If they refuse, the reeve offers access to the village stores, a modest advance, and permission to claim salvage from the old watchtower.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The old watchtower was built over a door that no mason remembers constructing.
- 02Ash-marked thieves have been stealing coal, but they never take food or coin.
- 03The Emberwell once went cold during a war and returned after the villagers sang beneath the hill.
- 04Tovin Hale was the only survivor of the latest expedition, but he refuses to describe what he saw.
- 05Reeve Mara Venn has forbidden anyone from measuring the spring's depth.
If the Emberwell remains cold, Bellwether Hollow will lose its winter water supply and much of its food production. If the Cinder Warden is freed violently or the emberstone is misused, the entire northern valley may suffer earthquakes, steam eruptions, and spreading volcanic fissures.
Background Lore
For generations, the village of Bellwether Hollow has relied on the Emberwell, an underground spring whose warm mineral water keeps the winter roads open and the village orchards alive. Three nights ago, the spring began running cold, and a red glow appeared beneath the old watchtower on the northern ridge. The villagers believe an ancient guardian beneath the hill has awakened, while local smugglers are blamed for stealing the Emberwell's sacred coal.
Bellwether Hollow depends on the Emberwell, a warm underground spring that supports the village through winter. After the spring runs cold, ash-marked raiders are seen near the abandoned northern watchtower, and a strange red light begins shining from beneath the hill. The characters are hired to investigate the tunnels, recover a stolen emberstone, and prevent the village from losing its only reliable source of heat and water.
