The Missing Casks
The Missing Casks
Read aloud
A prison wagon carrying six sealed casks of blood never reached the Combine's counting house. The Combine's inspector offers you a fee to find the shipment before its trail vanishes. At Saint Orra Clinic, where patients were dying last week, everyone is suddenly well.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 11. Establish where and how the casks left the authorized route.
- 22. Discover who redirected the shipment and what the clinic did with it.
- 33. Resolve the dispute between the Combine, Greyhook, and Saint Orra.
- 44. Identify the cause of the patients' original illness.Optional
The clock
Combine auditors reach Saint Orra at sundown tomorrow. After that, they may seize records and supplies under the shipment contract, while the clinic has enough remaining blood for at most one more treatment.
Scenes
- 0:00A Shipment Without a Signature
- 0:20The Last Verified Turn
- 0:55The Man at the Reins
- 1:35Well Before Their Time
- 2:25An Accounting in Blood
Cast
- Inspector Maelin VossQuestgiver
- Sister Iven TalAlly
- Dorran KestWitness
- Dr. Sella MarrWildcard and antagonist
The hook
Set the scene
Read the hook aloud, then present Maelin Voss in a counting office overlooking the river docks. She shows the party the shipment's custody ledger: six casks left Greyhook under intact seals, but the wagon missed its scheduled arrival. She wants the casks recovered or an accountable explanation before the Combine's auditors arrive. She does not initially mention the patients at Saint Orra, but the clinic is already marked on the route map as the wagon's last verified stop.
How Inspector Maelin Voss asks
Maelin Voss approaches the party through a paid contract at the Combine's riverside counting house.
She offers a modest advance, access to the route ledger, and a larger payment for a documented account of the shipment's fate. She insists that the party avoid damaging clinic property, but makes clear that the Combine expects an answer.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
20 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Shipment Without a Signature
The Combine counting house, a narrow office above the river docks with a wall map and a locked records cabinet.
Maelin gives the contract, the route ledger, and a timeline. The party can ask about the donors, the clinic, and the Combine's authority over the shipment. Her answers establish what she knows without revealing the hidden truth.
NextThe route ledger identifies the river crossing and Saint Orra as the last places the wagon was seen.
0:20
35 min
exploration
2. The Last Verified Turn
A muddy riverside track, a toll shelter, and a shallow drainage cut below the road.
The party follows wagon marks, checks the crossing, and questions local workers. They find a broken wax seal and evidence that the wagon stopped deliberately, not because it was attacked. A careful search can reveal that the casks continued toward the clinic.
NextTracks and witness accounts lead to Kest, who is still connected to Greyhook's freight yard.
0:55
40 min
social
3. The Man at the Reins
Greyhook's freight yard and its crowded gatehouse, with guards nearby and workers going about their shift.
Kest can be found in the yard or approached at a nearby riverside tavern. Pressure, evidence, or an offer of protection determines whether he admits the wagon's route and reveals who gave him the instruction. He can point to a clinic receipt or a secondary ledger entry.
The Driver's AccountNextKest's account points directly to Saint Orra and warns that Combine agents may already be searching it.
1:35
50 min
skill
4. Well Before Their Time
Saint Orra Clinic's crowded ward, dispensary, and small courtyard.
The party searches the clinic, questions staff, and sees the patients' recovery firsthand. They can find empty casks, treatment notes, or evidence of an imminent seizure. If they encounter retrieval agents, they must decide whether to negotiate, delay them, or fight without endangering patients.
The Clinic SearchNextEvidence and testimony bring the party to Dr. Marr, who can explain the diversion and propose a settlement.
2:25
45 min
social
5. An Accounting in Blood
The clinic's treatment room or, for the optional lead, the fouled well and drainage channel upstream.
Dr. Marr lays out her reasons if confronted with credible evidence. Maelin can be present or contacted, and Sister Iven may speak for the patients. The party decides what account to submit and what remedy to pursue; an optional investigation of the well can uncover the deeper cause of the illness.
NextThe outcome determines whether the Combine, the clinic, and Greyhook cooperate, retaliate, or demand further proof.
Behind it
What people believe
A shipment of six blood casks sent from Greyhook Penitentiary has vanished before reaching the Combine.
The Combine has hired investigators to trace it and recover any surviving cargo. The last confirmed route passes near Saint Orra Clinic, where patients have recently made an astonishing recovery.
Background
In the Pale Accord, the Combine controls the licensed trade in preserved blood, an essential ingredient in medicines and rites that cannot be made by ordinary means.
Prisoners at Greyhook Penitentiary are paid or compelled to donate under a disputed contract. The Combine's scheduled casks are tracked by wax seals and a ledger of custody. At the riverside clinic of Saint Orra, patients who had been feverish, weak, or near death have abruptly recovered.
The stakes
If the shipment is not accounted for, the Combine may punish Greyhook, close Saint Orra's access to medicine, or seize the clinic's records.
If the party exposes the diversion without addressing its cause, the patients may relapse and the donors may be treated as property rather than people. A negotiated resolution can establish a precedent for consent and emergency use, but may cost the party favor with one or more powerful groups.
Encounters
2The Clinic Search
Social or combat
A crowded clinic ward with narrow aisles, privacy screens, medicine shelves, and patients who cannot safely be moved. The party can use the courtyard or reception hall to keep conflict away from the beds.
Foes
Combine retrieval agent
Combine retrieval agent
Clinic door attendant, if threatened or coerced
ComplicationThe retrieval agents have orders to seize the casks and records, but one will hesitate if shown proof that patients are endangered. A fight may endanger patients and destroy evidence.
ScalingFor a small or inexperienced party, use one retrieval agent and have the other remain outside as a negotiator. For a larger or more capable party, add a third agent and give them a written warrant that is technically valid but narrowly worded.
The Driver's Account
Social or skill
The Greyhook freight yard, bounded by a high wall, a muddy loading apron, a watch platform, and a narrow gate. The yard is busy enough for discreet questioning but not for an unnoticed brawl.
Foes
None by default
Greyhook wardens, if the party chooses to force entry
ComplicationIf the party openly accuses Kest, he bolts toward the river path; if approached with evidence or a promise of protection, he gives a fuller account without a chase.
ScalingFor a short session, Kest gives up the key evidence after one persuasive exchange. For a more investigative session, require the party to corroborate his account with the route ledger, a seal fragment, or a witness at the river crossing.
Cast
4Inspector Maelin Voss
QuestgiverQuestgiver, Combine claims inspector
WantsRecover the shipment before the Combine revokes the prison's contract and imposes a punitive levy.
“Those casks are not a rumor or a metaphor. Find them, and find out who broke custody.”
Sister Iven Tal
Ally, physician and administrator at Saint Orra Clinic
WantsProtect the clinic's patients and staff while avoiding a violent Combine raid.
“They came in shaking and left asking for supper. If the price of that is a ledger entry, I can live with it.”
Dorran Kest
Witness, prison wagon driver
WantsConceal that he knowingly let the shipment be diverted, while keeping the prisoners who donated it from being punished.
“I was ordered to deliver sealed casks. I delivered sealed casks. Ask who made the seals mean nothing.”
Dr. Sella Marr
Wildcard and antagonist, clinic physician who authorized the diversion
WantsKeep the patients alive and the clinic open, even if that means exposing the prison's coercive donation scheme.
“You can take the empty casks if you like. You cannot put the sick back the way they were.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Maelin's stamped route ledger copy, useful as proof of cooperation with the Combine
A clinic-made field kit of clean bandages and antiseptic, provided the party leaves the clinic's supplies intact
On a win
The party uncovers the casks' route and brings the relevant people and evidence together.
Success does not require returning every cask: they can broker a negotiated accounting, obtain donor testimony, expose the diversion, or persuade the Combine to accept an alternative settlement. A strong resolution protects the clinic's patients, gives Greyhook's donors a say in what happened to their blood, and leaves a verifiable record rather than merely assigning blame.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to establish where the casks went or cannot prevent the Combine from enforcing its contract.
- The Combine confiscates the clinic's medicines and detains its staff for questioning. The patients remain alive, but several risk relapse and the party gains an enemy with legal and financial reach.
- The party publicly accuses the prison without proving the diversion was arranged by an individual.
- Greyhook's prisoners are blamed for theft, and their remaining medical provisions are withheld. Kest may disappear or be arrested before he can testify.
- The party allows the retrieval agents to take the records without securing copies or a witness.
- The clinic's records are seized or destroyed, leaving the party unable to verify who authorized treatment or how much blood remains. Maelin may accept a partial report but cannot protect the clinic from further audits.
Complications (d6)
- 1A rain-swollen culvert washes away the clearest wagon tracks. The party must find a surviving wheel rut or question a nearby charcoal burner before the trail goes cold.
- 2A Combine courier arrives with a sealed order demanding that the clinic surrender all medical stores for inspection within the hour.
- 3A patient recognizes one investigator as a Combine agent and panics, drawing staff and other patients into a tense confrontation.
- 4A cask's broken wax seal bears the prison quartermaster's mark, not the clinic's. This points suspicion toward Greyhook and risks making the driver a scapegoat.
- 5A fever returns in one recently recovered patient. The clinic has enough of the diverted blood for one more treatment, forcing the party to decide whether to preserve evidence or permit its use.
- 6Two hired retrieval agents arrive early and begin removing clinic records. They claim to have legal authority, but refuse to show a warrant.
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