The Bell Beneath Bellwether
The Bell Beneath Bellwether
Read aloud
Mara Lang grips a soot-stained survey map with trembling hands. “My brother went below three nights ago, and the miners who followed him came back without him. They say the tunnels are moving, but I know Edrin is still alive. Please bring Mr. Lang home.”
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Find a safe route into the buried galleries.
- 2Locate and rescue Mr. Edrin Lang.
- 3Escape the galleries without unleashing the buried resonance.
- 4Bring back evidence of Bellwether's buried history.Optional
The clock
After each major delay or loud disturbance underground, the passages shift again. Mark one step on a four-step clock: fresh rubble blocks a route, the Silent Gate begins pulsing, the return passage floods, and the gallery collapses. The party can slow the clock by keeping noise down, following Lang's map, or calming the resonance. This is a custom pacing tool, not a claim about official Daggerheart rules.
Scenes
- 0:00A Sister's Plea
- 0:50The Map That Moves
- 1:50The Shifting Gallery
- 3:05The Surveyor and the Warden
- 4:45The Way Back
Cast
- Mara LangQuestgiver and sister of the missing surveyor
- Tovin ReedAlly and local miner who escaped the first…
- Warden Sella VaneAntagonist and keeper of Bellwether's old…
- Mr. Edrin LangMissing surveyor and witness
The hook
Set the scene
The party meets Mara in Bellwether's crowded assay hall as the evening bell sounds from the empty tower. Dust sifts from the ceiling with each note. Tovin arrives with a rough map and warns that the last marked route has shifted; Warden Sella watches from the doorway, then tells the party not to disturb the old boundary stones.
How Mara Lang asks
Mara approaches the party in Bellwether's assay hall after hearing that they are willing to take dangerous work.
She offers her savings and Lang's marked survey map. If the party hesitates, she admits that the miners who returned heard Lang calling from behind a sealed stone door.
Rumours
Scenes
about 6 hours0:00
50 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Sister's Plea
Bellwether's assay hall, where miners weigh ore beneath a dust-coated mural of the town founders.
Mara makes her appeal, Tovin describes the shifting routes, and Sella warns the party against crossing the old boundary. The party can question all three and decide what supplies or promises to secure.
NextTovin leads the party to the abandoned lift, unless they choose another entrance or follow Sella's wardens to the boundary stones.
0:50
60 min
exploration
2. The Map That Moves
The abandoned lift shaft and upper galleries, with old mining marks crossed out by newer, unfamiliar scratches.
The party studies the mine approach, tests the unstable supports, and chooses a route. A complication can impose a cost in time, supplies, or noise, but should not make progress impossible.
NextTovin's map, a found trail, or a successful search leads to the shifting gallery.
1:50
75 min
combat
3. The Shifting Gallery
A narrow gallery of rubble, fractured supports, and a floor crack dropping into darkness.
The party encounters prowlers and a slateback brute, or evades them by exploiting the terrain. The creatures are drawn by sound and by vibrations from the lower chambers.
The Shifting GalleryNextA collapsed support exposes a bypass leading toward the sealed chamber, while the bell-note grows louder.
3:05
100 min
social
4. The Surveyor and the Warden
A circular chamber beneath the drowned town, where a cracked stone relief depicts Bellwether's founders closing a doorway.
Lang is found alive beyond the Silent Gate. He explains that the gate can be calmed by returning the clapper to its cradle or by carefully redirecting the tuning pillars. Sella arrives with wardens and demands that nobody touch the seal.
The Silent GateNextOnce the party chooses whether to negotiate, bypass, or fight, they must take Lang through the unstable return route.
4:45
70 min
skill
5. The Way Back
A sloping, waterlogged return passage with loose stone, hanging roots, and echoes that mislead the ear.
The escape route begins to collapse as the buried resonance pulses through the galleries. The party must protect Lang, carry or retrieve the clapper if appropriate, and decide what evidence to bring back.
NextThe party emerges in Bellwether, where Mara, Sella, and the miners demand to know what happened below.
Behind it
What people believe
Mr.
Edrin Lang, a surveyor, disappeared while exploring the unstable tunnels beneath Bellwether. The miners who went after him returned shaken and claim the passages changed around them. His sister Mara asks the party to find him, while Warden Sella insists that the old sealed gallery must not be disturbed. Lang may have uncovered a secret about the settlement's foundations, and the party must bring him home before the tunnels close.
Background
The isolated mining settlement of Bellwether sits above the drowned foundations of an older town.
Its bell tower rings once each evening, though its bell was removed decades ago. Locals say the sound warns miners away from unstable tunnels. In truth, the tower's buried resonance is tied to a sealed passage beneath the old town.
The stakes
Lang may die below, and a careless rescue may destabilize the seal beneath Bellwether.
The party's choices also determine whether the town learns that its founders concealed the buried settlement and whether Warden Sella remains its trusted guardian.
Encounters
2The Shifting Gallery
Combat or evasion
A narrow mine gallery with waist-high rubble piles, hanging support beams, a deep crack across the floor, and a side tunnel that offers cover but risks a collapse.
Foes
Gallery prowlers, small pack hunters that stalk by sound
One slateback brute, a heavy creature that can shove targets into unstable ground
ComplicationThe bell-note causes sections of the gallery to shift. At the GM's discretion, a route becomes blocked or a foe gains access to a different approach after a loud impact or failed risky action.
ScalingFor a smaller or less capable party, use only the prowlers and make the brute withdraw when badly hurt. For a larger or stronger party, add another prowler and let the brute begin behind a wall of loose stone.
The Silent Gate
Combat, social, or puzzle-like skill challenge
A circular stone chamber bisected by a shallow trench. A sealed door stands beneath a cracked relief; three tuning pillars can dampen or redirect the room's vibrations.
Foes
Two echo sentinels, mineral-encrusted figures animated by the buried resonance
ComplicationThe sentinels react to sudden noise and to anyone carrying the iron clapper. If the party uses a quiet approach or returns the clapper to its cradle, the encounter can be bypassed or resolved through negotiation.
ScalingFor a smaller party, use one sentinel and make it slow to turn. For a larger or stronger party, use three sentinels or have the gate itself create a hazardous pulse that telegraphs before it strikes.
Cast
4Mara Lang
QuestgiverQuestgiver and sister of the missing surveyor
WantsShe wants her brother rescued and fears the settlement will dismiss his disappearance as a voluntary flight.
“Please bring him back, even if he comes home angry. Especially if he comes home angry.”
Tovin Reed
Ally and local miner who escaped the first expedition
WantsHe wants to find his missing partner and prove that the old tunnels are changing, but he is reluctant to endanger another search party.
“The map is not wrong. The ground moved after I drew it.”
Warden Sella Vane
Antagonist and keeper of Bellwether's old boundary rites
WantsShe wants the ancient passage kept closed, even if that means abandoning Lang below.
“The seal is the only thing keeping the lower galleries from waking. Your rescue can wait until we know what he touched.”
Mr. Edrin Lang
Missing surveyor and witness
WantsHe wants to return to the surface with the evidence he found, but he believes the settlement's leaders will bury the truth.
“I did not steal the bell. I borrowed its silence.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Lang's surveyor's compass, a useful mundane tool marked with routes through the upper galleries
A sealed tin of glow-salt, enough to illuminate several short passages
On a win
Lang reaches the surface alive, and the party has a chance to prevent the resonance from spreading.
If they stabilize the Silent Gate, Bellwether is safe for now, though the town's founders and Warden Sella's secrecy become matters of public dispute. If they also recover Lang's notes, they can choose who learns the truth and what to do about the buried town.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party cannot reach Lang before the route collapses or the guardians seal the passage.
- Lang remains below, but the party can still retreat with evidence of his location. Mara may hire another group, while the lower galleries become more dangerous.
- The party forces the sealed gate without safely calming or redirecting the resonance.
- Lang is rescued, but the seal is damaged. The settlement must evacuate its lower district, and Warden Sella holds the party responsible for the breach.
- The party loses the confrontation with Sella's wardens after the rescue.
- Lang reaches the surface alive but is taken into Warden Sella's custody. The party must choose whether to challenge her authority or negotiate for his release.
Complications (d6)
- 1A fresh rockfall blocks the safest route. The party can clear it, find a narrow bypass, or lose time returning to the marked shaft.
- 2The old tower's bell-note sounds underground. Everyone loses their bearings for a moment, and a nearby hazard shifts position.
- 3A miner's oil lamp ignites spilled gas, filling one passage with choking smoke and forcing the group to choose between retreating or crossing quickly.
- 4A frightened tunnel scavenger bolts past the party carrying a strip of Lang's coat, drawing attention from nearby guardians.
- 5Warden Sella's scouts arrive and demand that the party surrender any object taken from the sealed gallery.
- 6The route floods ankle-deep with cold water. A submerged hatch can shorten the journey, but opening it releases a trapped cloud of dust and loose debris.
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