Terms at Hollowmass
Terms at Hollowmass
Read aloud
On the eve of Hollowmass, a black-coated Notary arrives in Bellwether carrying a ledger that bleeds ink. He offers to erase the settlement's debt before dawn in exchange for one resident's true face. The villagers have one night to decide who, if anyone, should pay.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Learn the terms of the Notary's offer and the cost of refusing it.
- 2Discover how Bellwether's debt began and what has already been paid.
- 3Reach a decision that reflects the residents' wishes and the party's judgment.
- 4Give the village a chance to challenge the debt without sacrificing a resident.Optional
The clock
The agreement must be settled before the final Hollowmass bell at dawn. After that, Vael's offer expires and the debt's immediate collection begins.
Scenes
- 0:00One Face Before Dawn
- 0:35Names Beneath the Ash
- 1:25The Witness in the Fire
- 2:00Terms Made Public
- 2:55The Last Signature
Cast
- Vael SornQuestgiver and antagonist
- Mara VennAlly and witness
- Tovin RuskWitness and wildcard
- The Hearth-KeeperWildcard
The hook
Set the scene
The party arrives in Bellwether as lanterns are being placed in windows for Hollowmass. In the meeting hall, Vael Sorn opens a ledger whose pages ripple like dark water. The council has until the final bell before dawn to accept his offer, refuse it, or present terms he considers binding. Residents gather outside, arguing over whether a willing volunteer can truly speak for the whole village.
How Vael Sorn asks
Vael Sorn approaches the party in the village hall after the council asks for neutral witnesses.
He presents the offer plainly and asks them to help Bellwether determine whether anyone will accept it. He does not threaten the party, but insists the contract must be settled by dawn.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. One Face Before Dawn
Bellwether's meeting hall, crowded with Hollowmass lanterns and the village council.
Vael states the offer and deadline. The residents' disagreement makes clear that no single speaker has uncontested authority to choose a sacrifice.
NextMara asks the party to examine the old records before the council makes its decision.
0:35
50 min
exploration
2. Names Beneath the Ash
The council archive and the soot-dark cellar beneath the Hollowmass hearth.
The party questions residents, checks the council's records, and follows clues to the hearth cellar. Tovin's family connection can surface here if the party presses him.
Names Beneath the AshNextThe evidence leads to the Hearth-Keeper or gives the party grounds to demand a public reading of the ledger.
1:25
35 min
social
3. The Witness in the Fire
The village hearth during the first Hollowmass procession, as residents leave food for the dead.
The Hearth-Keeper reveals the forgotten history through names and memories. The party can decide whether to share the truth with the village, the Notary, or both.
NextThe party returns to the meeting hall with evidence, a proposed alternative, or a reason to accept the original terms.
2:00
55 min
social
4. Terms Made Public
The meeting hall, with the contract ledger chained beside the central fire.
The council debates the choices. Residents may speak for themselves, challenge Tovin's secrecy, and decide whether any volunteer's consent is genuinely informed.
The Ledger at the HearthNextVael begins the sealing rite as the final Hollowmass bell approaches.
2:55
45 min
combat
5. The Last Signature
The meeting hall at the final bell, with the crowd outside and the hearth fire flaring beneath the contract.
The party supports the village's chosen course as Vael attempts to seal the agreement. The scene can end in negotiation, a witnessed repudiation, or a brief confrontation over the ledger.
The Ledger at the HearthNextResolve the contract's consequences, then close with Bellwether's Hollowmass remembrance or the immediate cost of refusal.
Behind it
What people believe
On the eve of Hollowmass, Bellwether faces the loss of its common land and stores unless its old debt is settled.
Notary Vael Sorn offers to erase the debt in exchange for one resident's true face, and the village must decide whether to accept, refuse, or find another way before dawn.
Background
In the Pale Accord, debts are recorded in living ink and witnessed by a Notary, an official empowered to bind people and places to written terms.
Hollowmass is the annual night when households set an empty place for the dead and settle old accounts before dawn. The village of Bellwether has spent generations paying a debt whose original cause has faded from memory.
The stakes
If the village accepts, one resident loses their true face and everyone else's recognition of them, while the debt is erased.
If it refuses, Bellwether loses common land and stores. If it challenges the contract, the debt can be broken, but the village gives up the protection that has kept an old plague dormant.
Encounters
2The Ledger at the Hearth
Social encounter with optional combat
A crowded village hall around a stone hearth. Benches can be overturned for cover, the central fire threatens loose papers, and the ledger stand is bound to the floor by black iron chains.
Foes
Vael Sorn, if negotiations turn hostile
Two Inkbound Bailiffs, custom guardians of the contract
ComplicationThe residents are divided, and the Notary treats any attempt to rush a decision as evidence that consent is being coerced. The party must earn trust, expose relevant facts, or create space for a genuine choice.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused party, use one Bailiff and make Vael withdraw rather than fight. For a larger or more capable party, add a third Bailiff or have the Hearth-Keeper animate the ledger stand as difficult terrain. These are custom encounter elements, not system-specific stat blocks.
Names Beneath the Ash
Exploration encounter
A soot-dark cellar beneath the meeting hall, with low beams, ash-covered shelves, and a sealed stone niche behind the hearth foundation.
Foes
Ink Echoes, custom manifestations of forgotten residents
ComplicationThe old ledger's names emerge as drifting ink-shapes. Each one repeats a partial memory, but the shapes scatter if attacked or if the hearth fire is extinguished.
ScalingFor a lighter challenge, the echoes only obstruct movement and answer questions when addressed respectfully. For a more dangerous version, an echo can briefly seize a character's voice or shadow. The echoes are custom features.
Cast
4Vael Sorn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and antagonist
WantsNotary Vael Sorn seeks a valid settlement that will satisfy the Pale Accord and preserve his professional standing. He believes a freely offered face is a lesser harm than generations of communal debt, but will not explain who benefits from the debt's continuation.
“The village owes more than coin. Give me one face, freely named and freely surrendered, and I will close the account before Hollowmass ends.”
Mara Venn
Ally and witness
WantsMara Venn, Bellwether's midwife, wants the settlement freed without allowing anyone to be pressured into surrendering their face. She knows the debt has been quietly paid with residents' memories and wants the village to confront that history.
“If they take my face, my daughter may remember my hands, but the world will look at me and see a stranger.”
Tovin Rusk
Witness and wildcard
WantsTovin Rusk, a council elder, wants to save Bellwether from eviction and believes a volunteer is the most practical answer. He has concealed that his own family helped sign the original debt.
“I will not ask the village to choose me. But I will not pretend the debt has not already cost us.”
The Hearth-Keeper
Wildcard
WantsThe Hollowmass Keeper, an old spirit bound to Bellwether's communal hearth, wants the village to remember the people whose identities were already spent to prolong the debt. It will help the party uncover the truth, but will not choose a sacrifice for them.
“A face is not merely a mask. It is how every promise finds its way home.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A Hollowmass lantern that glows near a binding oath, a custom story item with no assumed mechanical effect.
The original ledger page, which can serve as evidence in future dealings with the Pale Accord.
On a win
The party helps Bellwether make a conscious choice before dawn.
Success does not require a single moral answer: the village may accept the exchange with informed consent, refuse and bear the immediate cost, or challenge the debt by acknowledging its history and accepting the risks of release. The resolution is strongest when the residents understand the consequences and are not forced into silence.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot establish a valid alternative or reach a decision before the Hollowmass bell sounds.
- The debt remains, and Bellwether must surrender its common land and harvest stores after Hollowmass. The village survives, but many families leave.
- The party secures a volunteer or coerces a resident without confirming that consent is informed and freely given.
- The contract is signed under pressure and becomes contested. The chosen resident loses their true face, while the village gains a debt-free year but risks future legal and supernatural claims.
- The party destroys the ledger, kills or drives off the Notary without obtaining a recognized release, or lets the deadline pass without preserving evidence.
- Vael seals the ledger and leaves with the debt intact. The Hearth-Keeper's memories remain buried, and the settlement loses its chance to challenge the account.
Complications (d6)
- 1A frightened resident publicly volunteers, then asks the party in private to stop them before the signing. The Notary will accept the offer only if it remains voluntary at the moment of sealing.
- 2The village bell rings without being touched. Everyone who hears it forgets one small detail about a person they love until they speak that person's name aloud.
- 3Tovin's relatives accuse Mara of trying to keep the debt alive for political influence, splitting the crowd and delaying any vote.
- 4A page from the original debt ledger is found beneath the Hollowmass hearth, but its ink fades whenever anyone reads it aloud.
- 5The Notary's seal cracks. Vael must either pause the negotiation while he repairs it or accept a less favorable interpretation of the contract.
- 6A masked figure appears among the Hollowmass procession, wearing the face of a Bellwether resident who died generations ago.
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