The Ledger Beneath the Lanterns
The Ledger Beneath the Lanterns
Read aloud
Lucius Vane offers a sealed purse and one clear instruction: recover a brass ledger from the old flood tunnels before the Lantern Exchange opens its audit at dawn. He says the book was stolen by a desperate courier and insists that its return will prevent a panic. Outside his office, a soaked clerk whispers that the ledger names people who are still missing.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 11. Find the ledger before the Exchange audit at dawn.
- 22. Learn what the ledger records and decide whom to trust.
- 33. Decide what to do with the ledger and its dangerous information.
- 44. Optional: Protect the witnesses and people named in the ledger.Optional
The clock
The Lantern Exchange audit begins at dawn. Every major delay raises the water in the tunnels and gives Vane's contacts more time to seize or destroy the ledger.
Scenes
- 0:00A Job Before Dawn
- 0:35The Route Below
- 1:30The Courier's Refuge
- 2:35What the Ledger Says
- 3:25The Book Goes Somewhere
Cast
- Lucius VaneQuestgiver and concealed antagonist
- Mara QuillWitness and junior Exchange clerk
- Pell RuskWildcard
- Sister AnwenAlly
The hook
Set the scene
Lucius Vane receives the party in a lamplit office above a shuttered counting house. He gives them a rough map of the tunnels, a brass token that opens an old maintenance hatch, and a deadline: the Lantern Exchange audit begins at dawn. As the party leaves, Mara Quill steps from an alley and quietly asks them not to give the ledger to Vane until they have read it.
How Lucius Vane asks
Lucius contacts the party through a trusted intermediary, then meets them privately in his counting-house office.
He offers an advance, a tunnel map, and a maintenance token. His request sounds practical and urgent, but he discourages questions about the ledger's contents.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4.5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Job Before Dawn
Lucius Vane's counting-house office and the narrow alley outside
Vane presents the job and the deadline. Mara approaches after the meeting with a warning and asks the party to investigate before handing over the book.
NextThe brass token opens a service hatch beneath the Exchange, leading down toward the flood tunnels.
0:35
55 min
exploration
2. The Route Below
The old flood tunnels beneath the Lantern Exchange
The party follows signs of recent passage through the tunnels, choosing whether to move quietly, question workers, or manipulate the sluice gates. Establish the rising water and the nearby patrol.
The Sluice AmbushNextA trail of fresh boot marks and a dropped courier tag leads toward the dry vault.
1:30
65 min
combat
3. The Courier's Refuge
A dry chamber at the end of a flooded crawlspace
Pell is found near the vault. He can be cornered, persuaded, or helped against Vane's hired people. The party learns he was hired to steal the ledger and then abandoned.
The Ledger in the Dry VaultNextOnce the party has the ledger, a tunnel exit leads to Sister Anwen's refuge, where Mara can interpret its marks.
2:35
50 min
social
4. What the Ledger Says
Sister Anwen's neighborhood refuge, with rainwater dripping through the cellar ceiling
Mara and Anwen help the party interpret the entries. The party discovers both the stolen relief funds and the existence of Vane's hidden route. Give the players time to compare evidence and decide what outcome they want.
NextThe Exchange audit is about to begin. The party can take the ledger to Vane, Mara's chosen contact, or the public audit.
3:25
55 min
social
5. The Book Goes Somewhere
The Lantern Exchange courtyard as its morning bells announce the audit
Vane's representative, an Exchange patrol, or the party's chosen contact arrives to claim the ledger. Resolve the handover, confrontation, exposure, or escape, and make the consequences of the party's choice visible.
NextEnd with the immediate fallout and establish which faction or witness now looks to the party for help.
Behind it
What people believe
Lucius Vane has hired the party to recover a stolen brass ledger from the old flood tunnels before the Lantern Exchange's audit at dawn.
A clerk warns that the ledger may contain evidence of missing relief shipments and people who have disappeared. The party must find the book, learn what it records, and decide who should receive it.
Background
Lucius Vane is a discreet fixer known for arranging safe passage, buying dangerous information, and making inconvenient records disappear.
Three nights ago, a sealed brass ledger vanished from the counting house of the Lantern Exchange. The ledger contains coded entries tying local officials to a smuggling route through the old flood tunnels. Lucius has hired the party to recover it before the Exchange's public audit.
The stakes
If the ledger is destroyed or buried, corrupt officials can continue diverting relief funds and witnesses may remain vulnerable.
If it is exposed carelessly, Vane's escape route may close, endangering the people hidden along it. Whoever controls the book gains the power to protect, blackmail, or condemn several people.
Encounters
2The Sluice Ambush
Combat or tense evasion
A brick flood tunnel with knee-deep water, slick stone shelves, a narrow catwalk, and a rusted sluice wheel. The wheel can be turned to alter the water level, but doing so takes time and draws attention.
Foes
Vane's hired dock toughs
A tunnel lookout with a hand bell
ComplicationA rising tide and shifting walkways make movement hazardous. A loud fight may alert the Exchange patrol above.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused party, use two toughs and let the lookout flee to sound an alarm. For a larger or more capable party, add two toughs and make the sluice hazard advance each round or exchange of actions.
The Ledger in the Dry Vault
Combat, negotiation, or stealth
A small dry chamber beneath the old Exchange, reached by a flooded crawlspace. Loose stone, a waist-high shelf, and a half-submerged iron grille provide cover and obstacles.
Foes
A desperate tunnel scavenger
Two trained marsh hounds
ComplicationThe ledger is trapped behind a collapsed section of passage. While the party works, a cracked support beam sheds masonry and threatens to block the exit.
ScalingFor a lighter challenge, the scavenger is frightened and can be talked down, with only one hound present. For a harder challenge, add a second scavenger and make the collapsing support an active hazard that worsens after failed attempts or delays.
Cast
4Lucius Vane
QuestgiverQuestgiver and concealed antagonist
WantsRecover the ledger before the audit exposes a route and network he has spent years protecting.
“Bring me the ledger intact, and I can make sure the right people owe you.”
Mara Quill
Witness and junior Exchange clerk
WantsExpose the officials who have been diverting relief funds, even if doing so puts her own position at risk.
“That book is not evidence until someone can read what the marks mean.”
Pell Rusk
Wildcard, former courier
WantsTrade the ledger for safe passage out of the city and a chance to clear his name.
“I stole it because Vane said it would be destroyed. I did not know what was in it.”
Sister Anwen
Ally, keeper of a neighborhood refuge
WantsKeep the flood tunnels clear of scavengers and prevent another collapse near the riverside tenements.
“The water is rising. Decide what you want more: the book, or the people still down there.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A brass maintenance token that opens old Exchange service hatches
A waterproof oilskin document case recovered from the dry vault
A personal favor from one of the surviving witnesses
On a win
The party retrieves the ledger, understands enough of its contents to make an informed choice, and delivers it, copies it, or keeps it from being destroyed.
Success does not require a single moral answer. It means the party decides who will bear the consequences and takes reasonable steps to protect anyone placed in danger by that decision.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to secure the ledger before the flood or a rival claims it.
- The ledger is lost, damaged, or taken by Vane's people. The party may still pursue the people named in it, but loses the clearest documentary proof.
- The party turns the ledger over to Vane without investigating his account or protecting the witness.
- Mara is detained as a suspected thief, making it harder to expose the diversion of relief funds. Sister Anwen's refuge may lose its regular supplies.
- The party exposes Vane publicly without preserving evidence or securing a credible witness.
- Vane escapes immediate accountability and uses his contacts to spread a story that the party stole the ledger for personal gain.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden surge raises the tunnel water by a foot, forcing everyone to climb onto narrow ledges or risk losing carried papers and equipment.
- 2An Exchange patrol arrives early and demands that the party surrender the ledger as stolen property.
- 3Pell Rusk bolts with the ledger after mistaking a distant whistle for Vane's signal.
- 4A jammed sluice gate begins grinding shut, dividing the group and cutting off the quickest route back.
- 5Mara recognizes an entry in the ledger as a payment made to her missing brother and refuses to let the book leave her sight.
- 6A packet of blank pages has been stitched into the ledger as a decoy, and the actual coded sheets are hidden separately in its binding.
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