The Cup Between Old Friends
The Cup Between Old Friends
Read aloud
Tamas Rook, someone you once knew well, asks for one favor: break into the Glasshouse and recover the files, schematics, and personal journal he left behind when his partnership with merchant Ilyra Venn ended. He insists they are the only things he wants, and offers a substantial payment for their safe return. Tonight, another crew is planning to sack the residence.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Enter Ilyra Venn's residence during the rival crew's planned break-in.
- 2Recover Tamas's files, schematics, and personal journal.
- 3Resolve the contest over the old silver-and-green chalice.
- 4Discover the truth behind the failed partnership.Optional
The clock
The rival crew enters the Glasshouse at midnight. Each major delay gives them more time to reach the archive and gallery. After three substantial delays, they begin removing valuables; after five, Mara has the chalice and is preparing an escape.
Scenes
- 0:00An Old Favor
- 0:25The Quiet Boundary
- 1:00The Archive
- 1:45Two Crews, One Cup
Cast
- Tamas RookQuestgiver and former friend
- Ilyra VennMerchant
- Mara QuillLeader of the rival thieves
- Nella SornHouse attendant and witness
The hook
Set the scene
Tamas waits at a shuttered tea shop near the Glasshouse, turning a worn brass key between his fingers. He explains that Ilyra Venn kept his files, schematics, and journal after their partnership collapsed, and says he only wants his own work returned. Before the meeting ends, a runner delivers word that unfamiliar figures have been seen watching the residence, and Tamas urges the party to act before midnight.
How Tamas Rook asks
Tamas approaches an old friend or acquaintance privately, emphasizes the personal history between them, and offers payment for a quiet recovery.
He avoids discussing the chalice unless directly asked, then calls it an irrelevant antique.
Rumours
Scenes
about 2.5 hours0:00
25 min
SocialThe table is here
1. An Old Favor
A shuttered tea shop near the merchant district, shortly before midnight.
Tamas lays out the request and the clock. The party can ask questions, negotiate payment, inspect a rough sketch of the Glasshouse, or arrange a meeting with Nella before the heist.
NextA lantern signal from the direction of the Glasshouse marks the rival crew's approach, forcing the party to choose an entry route.
0:25
35 min
Skill
2. The Quiet Boundary
The Glasshouse perimeter, a walled property with a garden, service gate, and lantern-lit windows.
The party approaches by roof, garden, service lane, or a convincing front-door pretext. Their choices determine whether they face guards, bypass them, or enter with help from a household witness.
The Garden WatchNextOnce inside, the party must locate the private archive before the rival crew reaches the collection gallery.
1:00
45 min
Exploration
3. The Archive
Ilyra's private archive, a tightly packed room of cabinets, ledgers, and research materials.
The party locates the archive, identifies the requested belongings, and opens the secured cabinet. Clues in the journal and the cup's response can reveal that Tamas's request is incomplete.
The Resonant CabinetNextA crash from the collection gallery announces the rival crew's arrival, and the party must decide whether to confront them, flee with their finds, or bargain.
1:45
50 min
Combat
4. Two Crews, One Cup
The Glasshouse collection gallery, with display cases, a balcony, and several routes to the garden.
The rival crew reaches the collection gallery and moves for the chalice. The party can fight, negotiate, misdirect them, or attempt an escape through the residence. The confrontation should establish who leaves with the cup and what the party knows about Tamas.
The Other JobNextThe party escapes, is detained, or reaches terms with Ilyra or Mara, leading directly to a debrief with Tamas and the adventure's consequences.
Behind it
What people believe
Tamas Rook asks the party to recover files, schematics, and a personal journal from the Glasshouse, the secured residence of merchant Ilyra Venn, his former business partner.
Their partnership ended in a bitter dispute, and Ilyra has refused to return his belongings. A separate crew of thieves is expected to break into the residence tonight, giving the party a short opportunity to retrieve the items first.
Background
Merchant Ilyra Venn once employed the party's old acquaintance, Tamas Rook, as a cataloguer and private researcher.
Their partnership ended after a bitter argument over an old silver-and-green chalice found among Venn's acquisitions. Venn kept the chalice, along with Rook's files, schematics, and journal, in a secured residence known locally as the Glasshouse. Rook claims he only wants his personal papers back. A separate crew has been hired to break into the Glasshouse tonight, creating a narrow window for the party to act.
The stakes
If the party fails, the chalice may disappear into a private collection, the journal may expose Tamas's copied schematics, and the party's former friendship may become public leverage in a dispute between two merchants and a criminal crew.
If they succeed, they decide who controls a relic capable of preserving incriminating voices.
Encounters
3The Garden Watch
Combat or bypass
Walled garden with clipped hedges, a dry fountain, a lantern post, and a narrow service gate. Hedges provide cover, while the fountain offers concealment but is difficult to cross quickly.
Foes
Two Glasshouse guards
One trained mastiff
ComplicationA captured guard or attendant may raise the alarm if left unattended. Clever disguises, a convincing cover story, or nonviolent restraint can avoid a fight.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused party, use one guard and omit the mastiff. For a stronger party, add a third guard who arrives after the first round of open conflict. Use Pathfinder-appropriate statistics for ordinary guards and a trained animal of suitable challenge.
The Other Job
Combat, negotiation, or chase
A narrow collection gallery with display cabinets, a stair landing, hanging curtains, and one fragile skylight. A broken cabinet creates difficult terrain and risks damaging nearby goods.
Foes
Mara Quill, rival crew leader
Two rival burglars
ComplicationThe rival crew is already inside and will try to seize the chalice and escape rather than fight to the death. Their leader may offer a temporary truce if the party reveals that Tamas hired them first or makes a credible counteroffer.
ScalingFor a smaller party, one burglar is already injured or has fled with a decoy. For a stronger party, add a lookout on the gallery balcony. Build these opponents as Pathfinder-appropriate low-level specialists, not elite assassins.
The Resonant Cabinet
Skill or exploration
A private archive with a locked glass-and-iron cabinet, a narrow writing desk, papers stacked in trays, and a concealed bell-pull. The party can manipulate the lock, search for a key, or devise a plausible distraction.
Foes
No required foes
ComplicationThe chalice's custom resonance effect repeats a short phrase spoken near it earlier that day. Anyone nearby may hear a revealing fragment, but the effect is unpredictable and does not answer questions.
ScalingFor a lower-pressure session, the cabinet opens with careful work and the resonance triggers only after the chalice is removed. For a harder session, use a Pathfinder-appropriate complex hazard or have the device trigger a loud alarm when mishandled.
Cast
4Tamas Rook
QuestgiverQuestgiver and former friend
WantsTamas wants the chalice removed from Ilyra's possession and wants his papers back before anyone discovers what he wrote about it. He frames the request as a simple recovery of personal property.
“I know what I said when we parted. I am asking you to trust the part of me that still remembers our friendship.”
Ilyra Venn
Merchant, owner of the Glasshouse
WantsIlyra wants to protect her collection and avoid public scandal. She believes the chalice is a harmless antique, but she knows Rook concealed something about its provenance.
“A locked door is not an invitation. If you have business with me, come through the front and say it plainly.”
Mara Quill
Leader of the rival thieves
WantsMara wants to complete the theft quickly and collect the promised fee. She is not loyal to the employer and may bargain if offered a safer, more profitable exit.
“We were paid to take the green-silver cup. Anything else is salvage, unless someone makes it difficult.”
Nella Sorn
House attendant and witness
WantsNella wants to keep her job and avoid being blamed for what happens at the Glasshouse. She saw the chalice react during an earlier argument and can identify its cabinet.
“That cup was never just an object. Rook said it could remember a voice, and Venn told him to stop asking questions.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A custom glass cutter with a folding silver handle, useful as a practical burglary tool but not magical.
A sealed letter of introduction to a local antiquarian, offered by Ilyra if the party negotiates rather than steals.
On a win
The party escapes with some or all of the requested belongings and determines who holds the chalice.
Success need not mean giving everything to Tamas: the party can return the papers, keep the cup, negotiate with Ilyra, expose Tamas's deception, or strike a bargain with Mara. The job is considered a clean success if the party secures the papers and resolves the immediate contest over the chalice without being captured.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party is discovered before reaching the archive.
- Ilyra identifies the party or finds evidence linking them to Tamas. She reports the intrusion to the local authorities and refuses any future private meeting.
- The party loses control of the gallery confrontation.
- The rival crew escapes with the chalice. The party may pursue them through the district or negotiate with Mara later, but Tamas's trust is badly damaged.
- The party mishandles the cabinet or abandons the documents during a hurried escape.
- The chalice is damaged or left behind, and the archive's papers become evidence in a public dispute between Tamas and Ilyra.
- The party completes the theft but does not secure the chalice.
- The party can still leave with the papers, but Tamas refuses to explain the chalice and a third party begins searching for it.
Complications (d6)
- 1A delivery cart blocks the side lane, forcing the party to choose between a noisier roof approach and waiting while the rival crew gets closer.
- 2A watch patrol changes its route early and arrives at the Glasshouse garden during the party's approach.
- 3A pressure-triggered display alarm releases a cloud of harmless but brightly colored powder, marking anyone in the gallery.
- 4One rival thief mistakes a party member for a contact and quietly offers to split the chalice's sale proceeds.
- 5The journal's clasp is sealed with wax bearing Tamas's old personal mark, making it obvious that he once had access to the residence.
- 6The chalice emits a faint, audible tone when brought near the journal, alerting anyone in the same room that the items are connected.
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