Lanterns in the Black Marsh
Lanterns in the Black Marsh
“A fogbound investigation into missing townsfolk, false hauntings, and a shrine that should have stayed buried.”
— Hook · investigation
“The mayor of Briarford begs for help with a string of disappearances, strange lanterns in the marsh, and witnesses who swear the dead are walking again. A single recovered token suggests the cases are linked, and the only reliable witness has gone missing. If you can find out who is taking people into the fog, you may save the town before the marsh claims its next victim.”
— Hook · investigation
Rain drums on the shutters of the Briarford hall while the mayor spreads lantern sketches and missing-person notices across a table. She lowers her voice and says the marsh is not just taking livestock now, because the people who vanish are returning changed, if they return at all.
Mayor Elswyn Marr
Direct civic appeal with a promise of payment, supplies, and public favor if the party can bring back hard evidence.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The lanterns only appear when the tide is low and the church bell has stopped ringing.
- 02A ferryman heard singing under the water near the old causeway and lost two oars before dawn.
- 03Someone in town has been buying funeral salt in bulk, far more than any household should need.
- 04A child claims the dead man seen in the fog was wearing the same ring as a missing dockhand.
- 05The ruins beneath the marsh were said to be older than Briarford and built by people who feared names being spoken aloud.
If the party fails, Briarford becomes a place of nightly vanishings and fear, and a buried power gains enough strength to reshape the marsh and whoever lives nearby. If they succeed, the town survives, but the forces behind the shrine now know the party has interfered.
Background Lore
The riverside settlement of Briarford sits at the edge of a sunk peat marsh where old stone roads vanish beneath black water. For weeks, locals have reported lanterns drifting in the fog, livestock going missing, and people returning from the marsh with blank memories and mud under their nails. The town council fears smugglers or a curse, but the truth is older and stranger: something buried under the marsh has begun waking, and several factions are trying to use the investigation to find it first.
Briarford is being troubled by disappearances, marsh lights, and false sightings of the dead. The mayor hires the party to investigate the causes, protect the townsfolk, and bring back proof of what is happening in the fog. The case points toward smugglers, a ruined causeway, and an abandoned shrine in the wetlands.
