The Road Between Two Fires
The Road Between Two Fires
“Protect the cargo, survive the road, and decide who deserves the truth.”
— Hook · Escort
“Mara Venn grips the edge of her laden wagon and points toward the road disappearing into the pines. "Brackenford is a day and a half away, and these supplies must arrive before their winter stores run out. Keep the caravan moving, keep the cargo intact, and get us there before the people waiting at the other end become desperate."”
— Hook · Escort
The adventure begins at Bellweather's east gate in the gray hour before sunrise. Mara's two wagons are loaded with medicine, seed grain, lamp oil, and a locked iron case. Tovin checks the harnesses while Mara explains that the official road wardens refused to escort her, claiming the road is safe. A mile outside the city, the party finds a broken courier's badge nailed to a tree, its surface marked with a silver mask.
Mara Venn
Mara approaches the party at Bellweather's east gate shortly before dawn. She is practical, exhausted, and willing to negotiate, offering half payment before departure and the remainder upon arrival. If the party asks why the wardens are unavailable, she says only that the road has become politically complicated.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The Old Crown Road is haunted by a lantern that appears before every ambush.
- 02Brackenford's elder signed a contract with a company called the Silver Road Consortium.
- 03A bandit named Rusk Vane once served as a road warden before disappearing into the woods.
- 04The mile-marker shrines were built to mark safe camps, but someone has been defacing them.
- 05Mara Venn is carrying more than medicine, and she refuses to let anyone inspect one particular iron case.
If the caravan fails, Brackenford loses vital medicine and seed grain, allowing hunger and disease to spread. If the sealed contract falls into the wrong hands, Bellweather's trade council may gain legal control of the road and use manufactured attacks to justify permanent occupation. The party must protect people in immediate danger while deciding whether the larger political truth should be exposed.
Background Lore
The Old Crown Road links the river city of Bellweather to the farming village of Brackenford. For generations, merchants have relied on the road's mile-marker shrines for safe passage, but one shrine has recently been defaced and the surrounding woods have become a hunting ground for organized raiders. A merchant caravan carrying medicine, seed grain, and sealed correspondence is due to reach Brackenford before the village's winter stores run out.
The party is hired by Mara Venn, a merchant from Bellweather, to escort two wagons of medicine and seed grain to Brackenford, a village one and a half days away. The Old Crown Road has suffered several recent attacks, and the official road wardens are unavailable. Mara promises payment if the caravan arrives with at least half its cargo intact, but she insists that a locked iron case must remain in her possession.
