Rift at Ravenbrook
Rift at Ravenbrook
Read aloud
The caravan jolts to a halt. Ahead, the road has vanished beneath a jagged wound of black earth and gold light, and figures are already picking through the wreckage, searching for something other than survivors.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Secure the caravan road and identify who is searching the wreckage.
- 2Investigate the breach and find the source of the gold light.
- 3Prevent the Fissure Choir from drawing Quorvath's Shard through the breach.
- 4Seal the fissure and recover Quorvath's Shard.
The clock
Veyra's ritual advances whenever the party completes a major scene at the site. After two such scenes without disrupting the rite, the fissure discharges: every creature within 20 feet makes a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 force damage on a failure or half as much on a success. After a third scene, Veyra begins pulling the shard through; the party can still stop her, but the warding becomes more dangerous and the shard may be lost on a failed final interruption.
Scenes
- 0:00The Road That Ends
- 1:15The Field Remembers
- 2:15Measured Light
- 3:30The Shard at the Edge
- 5:00A Door Held Shut
Cast
- Archmage Cindreth Valeoreanally
- Veyra Ashenantagonist
- Nella Vosswitness
- Tomas Reedally
The hook
Set the scene
The caravan's wheels grind through loose earth, then stop so sharply that a crate tumbles from the rear wagon. A bitter mineral scent cuts through the smell of crushed grass. The road ahead ends at a jagged fissure, black soil split by gold light, and figures move among the scattered cargo with deliberate, practiced urgency. Behind them, the horses snort and strain against their traces.
How Duke Corwin Blackwood asks
Duke Corwin Blackwood provides the party with an urgent request to escort the caravan near Ravenbrook and carry a set of arcane wards in case of leyline trouble.
Once the breach opens, Archmage Cindreth Valeorean advises through a communication charm, while Corwin coordinates aid from Ravenbrook Keep.
Rumours
Scenes
about 6 hours0:00
75 min
combatThe table is here
1. The Road That Ends
The caravan road outside Ravenbrook Keep, bordered by open fields, broken stone fences, and overturned wagons.
The caravan stops at the vanished road. The party must spot the scavengers, shield the merchants, and decide whether to negotiate, sneak, or fight. Clues include a looted warding kit and a geometric metal fitting among the wreckage.
R1: Wreckage on the Caravan RoadNextAs the last scavenger retreats or falls, the gold light flashes across the field and points toward the breach, drawing the party between the broken fence stones.
1:15
60 min
exploration
2. The Field Remembers
A furrowed field of scorched crops, toppled fence stones, and soil split by a gold-lit cleft.
The party studies the fissure's edge, helps trapped survivors, and follows the cultists' trail. A voice in the light may use a Blackwood family reference that should not be known to a stranger. The echo is brief and provides no reliable answer.
NextThe trail leads through a breach in the stone fence, where the smell of hot metal grows stronger and the cult's geometric stakes come into view.
2:15
75 min
social
3. Measured Light
The field's outer edge, where wagon canvas shelters a hurried camp and metal stakes glint with unnerving regularity.
Veyra's scavengers and ritualist are gathering surviving cargo and magical components. The party can question them, recover Nella's ledger, or interrupt their work. The precise fittings link the operation to mercantile interests in Draknaar without identifying a proven sponsor.
R2: The Breach in the FieldsNextWhen the camp falls quiet, the shard's pulse travels through the stakes in a measured rhythm, and the party follows it toward the center of the cult's workings.
3:30
90 min
combat
4. The Shard at the Edge
A scorched patch of farmland at the fissure's lip, crowded with geometric stakes, torn canvas, and crawling threads of gold light.
At the cultist camp, Veyra attempts to complete the rite while Shadowspawn Skirmishers guard the shard. The party can confront her, sabotage the stakes, evacuate the shard's immediate surroundings, or combine these approaches.
R3: The Cultist CampNextOnce the rite is interrupted, the shard hangs above the black soil and draws the loose gold threads inward, giving the party only a short window to set the wards.
5:00
60 min
skill
5. A Door Held Shut
The fissure's edge, now lit by the warding marks as dusk settles over the fields.
The party places Duke Corwin's wards under Cindreth's remote guidance and attempts the Arcana check to handle the shard safely. The scene allows a final conversation with Nella, Tomas, or Corwin by communication charm, then resolves the immediate threat.
NextThe seam of light contracts with a deep hum, and the warded shard gives one small pulse as the party turns toward Ravenbrook and the road ahead.
Behind it
What people believe
A leyline nexus near Ravenbrook Keep has ruptured, damaging the farmland and scattering strange magical debris.
The party is escorting a merchant caravan when the Fissure Choir arrives to harvest something caught in the breach. The characters must protect the survivors, stop the ritual, and work with Ravenbrook's warding magic to secure a dangerous shard before the tear grows worse.
Background
Near Ravenbrook Keep, a local leyline nexus ruptures and the Nova's Heart breaks apart.
One fragment, Quorvath's Shard, is caught between the farmland and a breach into a hostile planar region. The Fissure Choir has reached the site before help can arrive, while strange, precisely machined components among the wreckage suggest that someone has been preparing to harvest the disturbance.
The stakes
If the party fails, the Fissure Choir may pull Quorvath's Shard through the breach, the fissure may remain unstable, and the caravan's survivors may be lost.
Even in success, the shard's pulse and the Blackwood echo suggest that the rupture has exposed secrets beyond the field.
Encounters
3R1: Wreckage on the Caravan Road
Combat
Wagons lie at angles across a dirt road, with scattered goods, frightened draft animals, and broken stone fence sections offering cover. The cultists are searching the wreckage. A DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check spots them before they spring their ambush.
Foes
Fissure Choir scavengers, use bandit statistics
One Fissure Choir ritualist, use cult fanatic statistics if suitable for the party, or cultist statistics for a lower-threat version
ComplicationAt the start of combat near the active fissure or shard, roll once on the custom Leyline Surge table: 1–2, the next spell cast is distorted and its caster makes a DC 12 spellcasting ability check or the spell has no effect; 3–4, healing spells restore their maximum possible hit points for this encounter; 5–6, after damage of an elemental type is dealt, creatures gain resistance to that type until the start of the next round. These are adventure-specific effects, not standard rules.
ScalingFor level 3 or a small party, use two bandits and one cultist. For level 4, use three bandits and one cultist fanatic, replacing the fanatic with a cultist if the party is depleted. For a larger or highly optimized party, add one bandit who arrives from behind a wagon after the first round.
R2: The Breach in the Fields
Combat
A jagged fissure divides the field, its black edges rimmed with gold light. Crops ripple toward it despite the wind. The unstable ground, scattered stone fence sections, and deep wheel ruts provide uneven cover and several risky crossing points.
Foes
Two custom Shadowspawn Skirmishers, use scout statistics with resistance to necrotic damage and a melee attack that deals an additional 1d4 necrotic damage once per turn
ComplicationThe ground within 10 feet of the breach is difficult terrain. A creature entering that area for the first time on a turn or starting its turn there must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 1d6 force damage on a failure. This is a custom hazard. A Leyline Surge may also occur if combat breaks out nearby.
ScalingFor level 3, use one Shadowspawn Skirmisher and two cultists. For level 4, use two Shadowspawn Skirmishers and two cultists. For a strong party, Veyra directs the fight from the far edge of the site but withdraws once reduced to half her hit points or when both skirmishers fall. The skirmishers are custom reskins, not official creature entries.
R3: The Cultist Camp
Combat
The cult has raised a camp among the furrows, using wagon canvas as windbreaks and geometric metal stakes to focus the breach's light. The shard hovers above a scorched patch of soil. A DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check identifies a safe approach after the guards are dealt with.
Foes
Two custom Shadowspawn Skirmishers
Veyra Ashen, use a cult fanatic stat block with her spells described as planar magic; for a lower-threat version, use a cultist stat block and give her a single use of the custom Rift Pulse action, 2d6 force damage in a 10-foot radius, DC 12 Dexterity save for half
ComplicationThe shard is guarded by two custom Shadowspawn Skirmishers. After combat, a character who succeeds on a DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check can guide the warding process. On a failure, the ward still works, but the character handling the shard takes 1d6 force damage. The shard remains recoverable either way.
ScalingFor level 3, Veyra can flee after two rounds or when injured, and use one skirmisher. For level 4, use two skirmishers and the full cult fanatic statistics. Avoid adding extra foes if the party has already spent substantial resources. Veyra's escape may preserve her as a recurring antagonist.
Cast
4Archmage Cindreth Valeorean
ally
WantsHelp the party contain the breach from afar using Duke Corwin's arcane wards, while preserving enough strength to advise local responders.
“The wards are not a cure. They are a door held shut. Keep the shard on this side, and do not let the breach learn your names.”
Veyra Ashen
antagonist
WantsComplete a ritual that draws Quorvath's Shard through the breach, believing the planar energies will grant her mastery over magic.
“The light is not calling you. It is remembering you. Let me finish the rite, and you may hear what it knows.”
Nella Voss
witness
WantsRecover a caravan ledger and keep the surviving merchants alive, while quietly investigating the origin of the regulated components.
“Those fittings are too precise for farm tools. Someone measured every angle, as if the magic itself were meant to obey a ruler.”
Tomas Reed
ally
WantsGet the caravan passengers to safety and keep the route to Ravenbrook open.
“The road is gone. The horses smell the storm before I do, and they are right to be afraid.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Quorvath's Shard, the Veiled One's Shard of Magic and Mysticism. Once per long rest, its bearer can use a bonus action to gain advantage on the next Intelligence (Arcana) check made before the end of their next turn. While attuned, the bearer can sense the general direction of the nearest significant magical anomaly within 1 mile, but not its nature or exact location. Attunement, influence, and any saving throw to resist influence should follow the campaign's shard rules; if none are established, treat the influence as a clearly custom narrative effect.
Warded carrying case supplied by Duke Corwin. It safely contains Quorvath's Shard during travel but grants no additional combat benefit.
On a win
With Veyra's rite broken, the party lays Corwin's wards around the fissure while Cindreth guides their placement from afar.
The gold light narrows to a bright seam, the wind pulls once toward the earth, and then the breach closes with a low, resonant hum. Quorvath's Shard remains behind, warm and faintly luminous in the warded case. The rescued merchants begin the slow journey back toward Ravenbrook as the party carries the shard toward the keep.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to interrupt Veyra's rite before its final pulse.
- The shard is pulled farther into the breach and cannot be recovered in this adventure. The party can still stabilize the tear, but another shard-related expedition will be needed to learn where Quorvath's fragment went.
- The party cannot complete the arcane warding or chooses to retreat before the breach is contained.
- The fissure remains unstable. It does not immediately widen, but creatures and magical effects near the farmland remain at risk. Ravenbrook must evacuate the surrounding farms while the party seeks additional warding expertise.
- The party abandons the caravan without arranging rescue.
- The merchants survive only if the party or local responders return for them. Nella loses the ledger, making the trail to the regulated components harder to follow.
- The party presses the echo or tries to force an answer from the breach.
- The Blackwood voice becomes a private warning rather than a solved mystery. Duke Corwin offers no explanation, and the connection remains unresolved for a later session.
Complications (d6)
- 1A surge lashes the nearest active spellcaster. The next spell cast before the end of the following round is affected by a brief, visible distortion; its caster must succeed on a DC 12 ability check using their spellcasting ability or the spell has no effect, though its slot is not expended.
- 2The field soil heaves beneath a broken fence. A 10-foot stretch becomes difficult terrain until the end of the encounter, and any creature there must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
- 3A frightened draft horse bolts toward the fissure with a passenger's travel pack tangled in its reins. A character can calm it with a DC 12 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check or catch it with a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check.
- 4A cultist's dropped glass capsule cracks, releasing a sharp metallic smell and a pulse of gold light. Any creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or have disadvantage on its next concentration check before the end of its next turn.
- 5A voice from the breach calls one character by a family name or title that has not been shared with the group. It offers a single, cryptic warning about the Blackwood family, then falls silent.
- 6A fieldstone marker sinks into the black soil, exposing an engraved component stamped with a Draknaar mercantile mark. Recovering it takes an action and yields a clue, but the ground discharges for 1d6 force damage to the creature that reaches in.
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