A Tower for Sale
A Tower for Sale
Read aloud
The river has risen early, and the lower quay will be cut off if the Gannet lift stays broken. Liftwright Mira Venn offers you a job guarding a replacement anchor core on its journey to the old tower. Before you can leave, two rival claimants arrive, each insisting the tower belongs to them.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Escort the replacement anchor core to the tower.
- 2Resolve who may control or operate the Gannet.
- 3Decide the tower's immediate fate.
- 4Uncover evidence that could support a shared or public claim.Optional
The clock
The river reaches the lower quay at nightfall. Each substantial delay advances the flood: first the shortest dock route is submerged, then the lower quay is cut off, and finally the Gannet's lowest access level fills with water.
Scenes
- 0:00Two Claims, One Core
- 0:35Across the Lower Quay
- 1:20The Ledger in the Tower
- 2:00The Gannet Rises
- 3:00A Tower's New Terms
Cast
- Mira VennQuestgiver
- Tamsin RookRival claimant and possible ally
- Factor Oren PellAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
At the Ferryfall liftwright yard, Mira Venn stands beside a sealed iron transport frame containing the anchor core. River water is already lapping at the lowest steps outside. As she explains the route, Tamsin Rook and Factor Oren Pell arrive from opposite ends of the yard, each demanding that the core not be taken to the Gannet until their claim is recognized.
How Mira Venn asks
Mira approaches the party at a liftwright yard near the lower quay.
She offers clear payment for a fast delivery, explains that the core is fragile and costly, and asks the party to keep the dispute from stopping the repair. She is honest about the danger but does not volunteer that an old maintenance ledger could affect the ownership argument.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. Two Claims, One Core
Mira Venn's liftwright yard, beside the lower quay.
Mira hires the party, explains the core's fragility, and asks them to leave before the river closes the lower route. The two claimants arrive and each makes a public demand.
NextMira sets the core in its transport frame and leads the party toward the river crossing.
0:35
45 min
skill
2. Across the Lower Quay
Ferryfall's crowded lower quay, where cargo barges crowd the narrow route to the Gannet.
The party moves the core across a busy stretch of docks. They must choose a route, manage the heavy frame, and deal with dockworkers who fear that the tower's return will change their livelihoods.
The Quay-Side SeizureNextAfter the seizure attempt or negotiation, a side entrance into the Gannet provides the safest route inside.
1:20
40 min
exploration
3. The Ledger in the Tower
The Gannet's dim entry floor and neglected records alcove, streaked with river silt.
Inside the tower, the party can inspect the old mechanisms and search the records cabinet. The maintenance ledger offers evidence for a shared-use arrangement, while the state of the brake reveals how the lift can be restarted safely.
NextWith the core brought to the engine room, the claimants confront one another and demand an immediate decision.
2:00
60 min
combat
4. The Gannet Rises
The Gannet engine room and its exposed counterweight shaft.
The party faces the claimants and decides whether to install the core, insist on a safety test, or use the ledger to broker a provisional agreement. Pell's agents may interfere when the mechanism starts moving.
The Gannet's First LiftNextThe lift's first movement carries the party into a public resolution at the upper platform, where workers and claimants respond to their choice.
3:00
25 min
social
5. A Tower's New Terms
The Gannet's upper platform overlooking the flooded lower quay.
The party presents its decision and any evidence to the waiting quay workers. Mira, Tamsin, and Pell react according to how the party treated them and whether the tower is operating safely.
NextClose with the immediate consequences, then use an open-ended hook if the campaign continues.
Behind it
What people believe
The Gannet tower is an old Ferryfall lift that has been idle since its anchor core failed.
With the river rising, liftwright Mira Venn has hired the party to escort a replacement core and restore the lift. The tower's ownership is disputed by rival claimants, and the party will have to decide how to handle those claims while keeping the delivery safe.
Background
Ferryfall is a river-port city built around a chain of enormous lift towers.
Their counterweights raise cargo platforms over flood channels and carry ferries between the high banks. The oldest tower, called the Gannet, has stood idle since its anchor core cracked. Its ownership was never settled after the original liftwright guild dissolved, and several families still hold fragments of its old contracts.
The stakes
If the party fails to deliver or stabilize the core before the flood, the lower quay loses its safest route to the upper bank.
Residents, workers, and cargo face isolation, while whoever controls the Gannet gains power over Ferryfall's river traffic.
Encounters
2The Quay-Side Seizure
Combat or chase
A narrow cargo quay beside a fast channel, with stacked crates, wet planks, mooring ropes, and a wheeled transport frame holding the anchor core.
Foes
Pell's dock enforcers
A hired rope-cutter
ComplicationThe rival crew wants the core intact and tries to seize its transport frame. If the party uses the crowd or tower machinery creatively, the confrontation can become a negotiation or chase instead of a fight.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-ready party, use two enforcers and have them retreat after the first is disarmed or injured. For a larger or stronger party, add two enforcers and give the rope-cutter a prepared escape route through the moored barges.
The Gannet's First Lift
Hazard encounter
A cramped tower engine room with a vertical shaft, exposed gears, chain runs, maintenance platforms, and a brake lever beside the core housing.
Foes
Unstable counterweight cage
Pell's remaining agents
ComplicationThe tower's counterweight cage jolts when the core is seated. The party must stabilize the mechanism, protect workers nearby, and decide whether to activate the lift before the ownership dispute is resolved.
ScalingFor an easier challenge, the cage only threatens one area at a time and the agents flee when the lift starts moving. For a harder challenge, add a second mechanical hazard, such as a snapping chain, and have an agent attempt to lock the control brake.
Cast
3Mira Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver, liftwright and practical employer
WantsDeliver a replacement anchor core and restart the Gannet lift before the next seasonal flood isolates the lower quay.
“Keep the core upright, keep it dry, and do not let anyone convince you that a signature is worth more than a life.”
Tamsin Rook
Rival claimant and possible ally
WantsSecure the tower for her family and keep the port authority from selling it to a wealthy investor.
“My grandmother kept the tower running. The papers may be scattered, but the Gannet is ours by every measure that matters.”
Factor Oren Pell
Antagonist, representative of a rival claimant
WantsObtain legal control of the Gannet before the lift is restarted, partly from genuine safety concerns and partly to conceal a profitable redevelopment deal.
“The tower is a public hazard. I intend to claim it, seal it, and ensure nobody profits from another disaster.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A liftwright's field kit containing rope, wedges, chalk, and a compact hand winch.
A stamped Ferryfall service token that grants access to maintained lift platforms, subject to local permission.
On a win
The core reaches the Gannet and the party helps make the tower safe enough to operate, whether by securing a temporary agreement, exposing Pell's plan, or accepting a compromise between the claimants.
The lower quay avoids being cut off by the flood. The tower's long-term ownership remains open to the party's choices and the evidence they uncover.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The anchor core is destroyed, lost in the river, or rendered unusable.
- Mira can source another core, but the delay means the lower quay floods before the Gannet can be restored. The party may still pursue the claimants and salvage the tower, but workers and residents suffer immediate losses.
- The party cannot prevent Pell from obtaining temporary control of the tower.
- The port authority impounds the core and posts guards at the Gannet. The party must negotiate, gather evidence, or attempt a later retrieval, while Pell gains time to advance his redevelopment scheme.
- The party abandons the escort or loses the liftwright's trust.
- Mira is injured or dismissed, and the tower remains idle. Tamsin may take responsibility for the core, creating a new alliance or a bitter dispute over what the party promised.
Complications (d6)
- 1A ferry pilot refuses passage unless the party unloads the core onto a smaller skiff, forcing a careful transfer while the current pushes both vessels toward the pilings.
- 2A rain-swollen access stair gives way beneath the core's transport sled. The party must secure the load before it slides into the channel.
- 3Pell's clerk arrives with a stamped notice ordering the core held as evidence until the tower's ownership is decided.
- 4A loose brace inside the Gannet tower begins to swing across the route, threatening to strike anyone carrying or guiding the core.
- 5A crowd of displaced quay workers blocks the entrance, demanding to know whether restarting the lift will restore their jobs or displace them.
- 6A small crew offers to help move the core, but one member secretly intends to mark it for Pell's agents to follow.
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