1. 0:00

   45 min

   socialThe table is here

   1. 4A. The Sealing Clock

   The World-Spindle service entrance, amid scaffold ropes, iron fittings, and the lantern glow of the keeper station.

   Odran Pell explains that the Marrowgate engineers are already at work and entrusts the party with the original pulse logs and Tobin Reck’s copies. A DC 18 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals his fear is aimed at the root, not the Houses. Protecting or testifying to the records earns Pledge 12 and the keepers’ key to the service stair.

   NextWith the logs secured, Odran opens the service door; its hinges groan, and the stair’s cold breath rolls over the party as they begin climbing.

2. 0:45

   90 min

   exploration

   2. 4B. The Spiral Stair

   The World-Spindle’s inner stair rises roughly 2,000 feet from Dock Level to the tether-crown. A side stair drops 3,000 feet toward the sealed root vault.

   Run the climb as a challenge requiring six successes before three failures at DC 18. Athletics, Survival, Arcana, and Constitution saving throws are suggested approaches. Each failure adds one segment to the Sealing Clock. Every ten minutes, the Spindle pulses and each creature makes a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or becomes frightened for 1 minute. Roll or choose stair events from the complications table. At the root landing, the party may take the side stair to the optional Quiet Root.

   The Spiral Stair

   NextThe final flight opens onto wind and daylight; the lamps behind the party dim as the crown’s gate-winches begin to turn.

3. 2:15

   60 min

   exploration

   3. Optional. The Quiet Root

   A sealed vault beneath the World-Spindle, its black basalt door unopened for a generation.

   Optional. The black-basalt vault has a lock-plate whose marks match those known to the Ledger. When the Ledger touches it, the door opens onto a round, empty room with a brass instrument aimed down through the floor. The knocking is loud here, answered by the casket in three taps, a pause, and two. An hour of listening and a successful DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check grants Reading 4. The Ledger shows no color beside the instrument.

   NextWhether the party climbs back to the stair or leaves the vault, the unanswered knocks follow through the stone until the upper wind drowns them.

4. 3:15

   90 min

   social

   4. 4C. The Turning of the Council

   The High-Ring’s closed Council chamber, where nine spire-lords sit beneath the windows and Ansel Windgate asks the party to speak.

   The Council meets in closed session, with Ansel Windgate presiding and nine spire-lords listening. Run a skill challenge requiring five successes before three failures at DC 19. Characters may reveal the True Count, the Eleven Feet, and quiet counts; trade Standing, a seat, or a favor; or hold back a secret and move the Council by other means. The Ledger records each approach. If the party has Elsabet Corvane’s copy of Windgate’s letter, presenting it grants Advantage on one check and exposes Windgate, costing 1 Standing with the High Council of Needlepeaks. Success earns Pledge 10 and completes the Council’s Tier 4 quest.

   Turn the Council

   NextWhen the session breaks, Windgate turns his weather-vane away from the party; far above, the gate-winch bells begin ringing through the stone.

5. 4:45

   120 min

   combat

   5. 4D. The Houses’ Champions

   An exposed ring of black basalt, open to the autumn sky and crowded with gate-winches, tether-lines, engineers, and clamps.

   At the tether-crown, set the initial number of clamps equal to the Sealing Clock’s segments, to a maximum of five. Run the champion encounter while engineers set one additional clamp at the end of every round. Characters can use actions and DC 18 checks to free clamps. If all six are set at the end of a round, the lower tethers are sealed. The crown’s gale-shear strikes at the start of round 3.

   The Tether-Crown Champions

   NextAs the last champion falls or the last clamp is freed, the engineers lower their tools; one lone figure starts up the stair, carrying a folded paper.

6. 6:45

   90 min

   social

   6. 4E. The Sealing Motion

   The head of the crown stair, with the freed or sealed clamps visible behind Ilsabet and engineers still moving among them.

   Ilsabet Marrowgate arrives alone and offers to surrender, while the engineers behind her continue working. Run a gated conversation of three beats at DC 19: answer the Eleven Feet to address the Motion with Charisma (Persuasion); challenge her theory with Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation), with Reading 4 as relevant evidence; and negotiate the Houses’ price of permanent seats in exchange for guaranteeing the air-lanes using Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation). Winning two beats makes her withdraw the Motion or amend it to a Trial Sealing of the Houses’ own plateaus, and completes the Houses’ Tier 4 quest. Elsabet Corvane breaks from Marrowgate if the party has proof of the sabotaged gaskets or promises the Council will lift the Houses’ share of lane-fees.

   NextAs Ilsabet waits for the party’s answer, a gust catches her folded paper and sends it skittering toward the open crown; the next choice carries into the Reckoning.

• The Tether-Crown Champions

  Combat

  An open black-basalt ring as wide as a village green, surrounded by gate-winches and enormous clamps. Scaffolds and tether-lines divide the field; a gale-shear strikes at the start of round 3.

  Foes

  • 2 Marrowgate spire-mages using the Archmage stat block

  • 2 custom Aevris bound by aether-gas chains

  • 2 Marrowgate Mages using the Mage stat block

  • Marrowgate engineers, noncombatants operating the clamps

  ComplicationAt the end of each round, the engineers set one additional clamp. A character can use an action to attempt a DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check or a DC 18 check with tinker's tools to free one clamp. If all six are set at the end of a round, the lower tethers are sealed. At the start of round 3, a gale-shear forces each creature on the crown to make a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed toward a lower gate-winch. A creature pushed off the ring lands on that lower structure rather than falling into open space.

  ScalingThe reference encounter is Moderate for four 18th-level characters. For a smaller or resource-depleted party, remove one Mage and one Aevris. For a larger or exceptionally capable party, add one Mage or increase pressure through faster engineer progress rather than adding more high-level spellcasters.

• Turn the Council

  Social

  A closed High-Ring session beneath high windows, where nine spire-lords sit around a stone table and the party’s evidence is laid within reach of the Unaltered Ledger.

  ComplicationThe Council’s challenge is a group skill challenge requiring five successes before three failures at DC 19. Each character chooses an approach, and the Ledger records whether the party revealed evidence, traded support or favors, or withheld information. Revealing the Windgate letter grants Advantage on one check but costs the party 1 Standing with the High Council of Needlepeaks.

  ScalingUse the same DC for the whole party. Let each character contribute through a distinct argument or action. A character cannot repeat the same approach unless the circumstances materially change.

• The Spiral Stair

  Exploration

  A roughly 2,000-foot spiral service stair within the World-Spindle, with cold landings, keeper marks, thin air, and a side stair dropping another 3,000 feet toward the root.

  ComplicationThe stair requires six successes before three failures at DC 18. Each failure advances the Sealing Clock by 1. Every ten minutes, the Spindle’s lamps dim and its pulse rolls through the stair; each creature must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. Keep the clock at no more than six segments.

  ScalingFor a less punishing climb, allow relevant spells and equipment to grant Advantage or count a well-justified resource expenditure as one success. The clock still advances only on failed checks, not on time spent roleplaying or exploring.

• Odran Pell

  QuestgiverQuestgiver and Spindle-keeper leader

  WantsProtect the Spindle-keepers’ pulse logs and warn the Council. Odran fears what may lie beneath the root more than he fears the Houses, but will not explain the source of that fear as certainty.

  “The logs are not a prediction. They are a record of what the Spindle did, and what it stopped doing.”

• Ansel Windgate

  Council ally and presiding spire-lord

  WantsPreserve Zephyria and the lowlands by making the Council face the true count. He wants the Council to act, but will not promise that exposure will be politically painless.

  “A city can survive an ugly number. It cannot survive a number everyone knows is a lie.”

• Ilsabet Marrowgate

  Antagonist, negotiator, and sponsor of the Sealing Motion

  WantsSecure a future for House Marrowgate and the air-lanes through a plan she believes may be necessary. She has honestly calculated the case for sealing, but will consider alternatives supported by evidence.

  “I have done the arithmetic for twelve years. Show me where it fails, and I will withdraw the motion.”

• Elsabet Corvane

  House dissident and potential ally

  WantsBreak from Marrowgate if the party can prove the sabotaged gaskets or secure relief from the Houses’ share of lane-fees. She wants her twelve hulls used to protect people, not to enforce the seal.

  “I will not ask you to trust my House. I am asking you to count what its choice would cost.”

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