The Maul at Low Tide
The Maul at Low Tide
“Three halflings dead. One crushed skull pattern. A killer hiding in plain sight among the docks.”
— Hook · mystery
“Sergeant Vance needs a small, trusted team to solve three brutal murders before The Great Pier turns against itself. The victims were all halflings, each killed by a crushed skull, and the same maul mark was found at every scene. Find the killer fast, before panic, rumor, and revenge do the work for them.”
— Hook · mystery
Sergeant Vance meets the party in a lamp-lit office above the harbor watchhouse, where sea wind rattles the shutters and a map of The Great Pier lies pinned under knife points. He slides three chalk rubbings across the table, each showing the same brutal impact pattern, and says the town will not survive a fourth body if this stays unsolved.
Sergeant Vance
Sergeant Vance is direct, practical, and visibly under strain. He offers access to the watchhouse records and a quiet ear in exchange for discretion and results.
Rumours
d4 · table- 01The victims all argued with the same man outside the Candlefish tavern.
- 02Someone has been paying bribes to keep old dock manifests sealed away.
- 03A big-armed laborer was seen washing mud from a maul at dawn after each murder.
- 04The halflings were looking into missing cargo from a ship that never officially docked.
If the killer is not stopped soon, The Great Pier will spiral into panic, retaliatory attacks, and possibly a harbor shutdown that ruins local livelihoods.
Background Lore
The Great Pier has grown rich on trade, fish, and ferry traffic, but its crowded wharves have also made it easy for one killer to move unseen. In the last ten days, three halflings from different neighborhoods were found dead in hidden alleys and storage yards, each with the skull crushed by a heavy maul. Panic is spreading through the port town, rumors are turning ugly, and Sergeant Vance needs outsiders to move faster and ask harder questions than the watch can afford to ask in public.
A killer is targeting halflings in The Great Pier, and the watch needs help identifying the culprit before fear tears the port apart. The investigation leads through the docks, the counting houses, and the tide tunnels beneath the pier, where the party must follow clues, question suspects, and stop another murder.
