Chapter 5: The Seams Show
Chapter 5: The Seams Show
Read aloud
The Imperial Palace has filled its brightest hall with rival courtiers, unarmored guards, and a Draknaar delegation expected to discuss peace. Duchess Seraphina Vane finds you before the first toast and quietly warns that something will happen tonight, in this room. Then the first cup rises, and a server reaches beneath the table.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Survive the Banquet of Knives and prevent the assassination from turning the court against the Draknaar delegation.
- 2Follow the killers into the palace’s service passages.
- 3Trace the warning to its source and establish how it reached Seraphina.
- 4Separate what the attack proves from what it merely appears to prove.Optional
The clock
At the banquet, the attack begins when the first cup is lifted. Once the first assassin falls, the surviving attackers attempt to escape through the servants’ passage. During the pursuit, the party has four areas to catch them before three failures let them vanish.
Scenes
- 0:00Before the First Toast
- 0:45The Banquet of Knives
- 2:15Below the Palace
- 3:30A Message Passed Along
- 4:30After the Seams Show
Cast
- Duchess Seraphina VaneAlly
- The Party’s ChampionAlly
- Marel ThennWitness
- The Knife’s RunnerAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
Before the banquet, Seraphina draws the party aside beneath a painted arch where the palace music is softened by stone. She says an unnamed source has warned her that violence will come tonight, at this banquet. Her warning is exact, but when asked who told her, she gives a plausible deflection rather than an answer. A bell sounds from the hall, and courtiers begin taking their seats.
How Duchess Seraphina Vane asks
Seraphina approaches the party privately before the banquet and warns them that an attack is coming.
She asks them to stay alert and keep their strongest institutional ally within reach. Her warning is accurate to the hour, though she will not name her source.
Rumours
Scenes
about 5.5 hours0:00
45 min
socialThe table is here
1. Before the First Toast
The Imperial Palace banquet hall, bright with chandeliers and braziers, crowded with court factions and the Draknaar delegation.
Establish the political pressure of the banquet, identify the ally at greatest risk, and let Seraphina deliver a precise warning without giving its source. A character who watches the servers or succeeds on a Wisdom (Perception) check when the first cup is lifted avoids being caught off guard by the assassins.
NextAs the party settles into the room and the first cup rises, a server’s hand slips beneath the tablecloth.
0:45
90 min
combat
2. The Banquet of Knives
The banquet hall, where long tables provide half cover and overturned furniture provides three-quarters cover.
Run the assassination attempt as a survival fight. The attackers target the party’s champion, the veterans block both main doors, fleeing guests surge through the central lane for three rounds, and the tapestries begin to catch fire from round 3. If the first assassin falls, surviving attackers flee through the servants’ passage.
The Banquet of KnivesNextWhen the killers break for the servants’ passage, the party can follow through the smoke and the thinning crowd.
2:15
75 min
exploration
3. Below the Palace
Dim, low-ceilinged service passages running from the palace kitchens through coal stores and the bakehouse to a locked ice cellar.
The party pursues the killers through four narrow service areas, earning 4 successes before 3 failures. Failed checks trigger area hazards. The bakehouse contains the dead-drop; the ice cellar provides the killers’ rendezvous. A captured attacker can be questioned, but the chase is not designed to require a second fight.
The Servants’ WarrenNextThe notes lead out of the chase and back into the palace’s human maze, toward a name hidden among the staff rosters.
3:30
60 min
social
4. A Message Passed Along
A staff office or discreet palace room away from the banquet hall, with the captured killer or the recovered notes available as evidence.
The party connects the notes to Marel Thenn and decides whether to question them quietly, bring them before the Council, or use their information to challenge the official account. Marel confirms that Seraphina received the warning hours before the banquet, but cannot explain the original source.
The Rendezvous and the Dead-DropNextWhen the questioning ends, word arrives that the Council has convened to decide what the attack means for the delegation and the regency.
4:30
45 min
social
5. After the Seams Show
The Imperial Palace, as staff clear the hall and the Council weighs the risks of accusing either delegation.
Resolve immediate consequences: record any Standing loss, determine how the Council treats the evidence, and let the party decide what to tell their allies about Seraphina’s warning. Do not confirm the larger pattern behind her actions. If the champion died, Seraphina arrives among the first to offer comfort.
NextAs the court turns from the night’s attack to the unresolved crisis beyond its walls, the party carries their unanswered question into Act IV.
Behind it
What people believe
The Council’s state banquet for the Draknaar delegation is interrupted by an assassination attempt against the institution that has most closely supported the party.
The killers appear to be exploiting the war crisis to provoke a rupture between Jorthiel and Draknaar. The party must protect their ally, pursue the attackers through the palace service passages, and find out who passed along an unusually early warning of the danger.
Background
The war between Aethelgard and Draknaar has reached Jorthiel’s court in the form of delegations, accusations, and rumors of an imminent strike.
At a state banquet hosted by the Imperial Council, the party’s strongest institutional ally is targeted by killers who intend to make the attack look like an act of war. The palace’s hidden service corridors offer a route after the fleeing attackers, and a trail of messages may reveal how the plot was known before it began.
The stakes
A successful assassination could remove the party’s strongest institutional ally, cost that institution 2 Standing, and make the Council believe that war has reached its own table.
A poorly handled investigation could inflame hostility toward the Draknaar delegation. Even a successful rescue leaves the party with an unsettling question about Seraphina’s warning and how early she received it.
Encounters
3The Banquet of Knives
Combat
A brightly lit Imperial Palace banquet hall, with chandeliers, braziers, long tables, overturned chairs, and two main doors. The fleeing crowd fills a central 20-foot lane. The servants’ passage is the escape route.
Foes
2 Assassins
3 Veterans
ComplicationAt initiative count 20, losing ties, panicked guests surge through the central 20-foot lane for three rounds. Each creature in the lane must succeed on a DC 16 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone and be pushed 10 feet. From round 3, one 10-foot hall section catches fire each round. A creature in an igniting section makes a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d6 fire damage on a failure or half as much on a success. Long tables provide half cover; overturned furniture provides three-quarters cover. The assassins act first unless a character is specifically watching the servers or succeeds on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check when the first cup is lifted. On their first turn, the assassins target the party’s champion while the veterans block the two main doors. If the champion is protected, the assassins turn on the protector. From round 3 onward, when the first assassin falls, surviving attackers attempt to escape through the servants’ passage.
ScalingFor a smaller or lower-level party, remove one Assassin or two Veterans. For a larger or higher-level party, add one Veteran and let one fleeing assassin continue to threaten the ally during the first round of escape. Keep the encounter focused on protecting the target and surviving the panic, not defeating every foe.
The Servants’ Warren
Exploration
Four narrow service areas beneath the palace: a steamy scullery passage, a coal store beside a chute, a warm flour-dusted bakehouse lined with ovens, and a locked ice-cellar door. Lighting is dim, from kitchen fires and lamps.
ComplicationThe party needs 4 successes before 3 failures to catch the fleeing killers. Each character can attempt one check per area, using Athletics or Acrobatics to keep pace, Perception or Survival to follow the trail, or Stealth to close unseen. Set the DC at 16. A failed check triggers that area’s hazard against the character who failed. W1: scalding steam vents require a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, dealing 4d6 fire damage on a failure or half on a success. W2: a coal chute beside the crossing requires a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or causes a 20-foot fall, 2d6 bludgeoning damage, and a prone landing. W3: a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds the folded notes behind a loose brick in an oven niche; after the chase, a DC 17 search finds them. W4: a locked door can be opened with DC 16 thieves’ tools or forced with DC 16 Strength (Athletics). Failure by 5 or more alerts the killers, who flee before the party reaches the door.
ScalingFor a group that struggles with skill challenges, allow useful spells, equipment, or clever plans to count as a success without a check. If the group has little difficulty, require different characters to contribute across the four areas. Large creatures squeeze through the five-foot-wide, six-foot-high passages.
The Rendezvous and the Dead-Drop
Social
The ice-cellar rendezvous opens into a cramped storage space beneath the palace. Folded notes in a palace clerk’s hand connect the route to Marel Thenn, the under-steward who passed Seraphina the warning.
Foes
The Knife’s Runner, if captured
ComplicationA captured killer can be questioned, but knows only the operational plan and the expected appearance of foreign involvement. They do not provide conclusive proof of a state sponsor. If the party loses the chase, the killers vanish; the party can still search the rendezvous and find the dead-drop with a DC 17 search.
ScalingIf the party caught a killer, use a tense interrogation or custodial scene rather than another fight. If the killers escaped, offer the same essential clue through the notes and Marel Thenn. The lead should be discoverable even after a failed chase.
Cast
4Duchess Seraphina Vane
QuestgiverAlly, wildcard
WantsDuchess Seraphina Vane wants the party and the court to survive the crisis, while protecting the influence she has built around the regency question. She gives a genuine, precisely timed warning, but does not explain how she received it.
“I cannot name my source, but I would not ask you to attend that banquet unprepared.”
The Party’s Champion
Ally, target
WantsThe party’s highest-standing institutional figure is the target. Use Linnea Blackwood, a Silver Warden captain, or a Pentad College master, according to the party’s strongest alliance. The target wants to survive without letting the attack drive Jorthiel into war.
“If they came for me, then they chose the worst possible room to make their point.”
Marel Thenn
Witness
WantsA palace under-steward has been passing messages through a dead-drop in the bakehouse. They fear exposure and retaliation, and know that Seraphina received warning of the banquet attack hours before it began.
“I was told to pass a warning along. I was not told what to believe about it.”
The Knife’s Runner
Antagonist
WantsA captured killer wants to escape and keep the sponsor’s identity uncertain. They may be an Aethelgard-aligned operative or a professional hired through intermediaries; their orders were to kill the party’s champion and leave evidence pointing toward foreign involvement.
“The table was meant to look like a battlefield. You have spoiled the picture.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
Rare gear or intelligence seized from whoever arranged the escalation. Choose a suitable rare item or a dossier containing hard evidence about the scale and preparation of the external threat.
On a win
The party survives the banquet, protects their champion if possible, and uncovers a message trail leading to Marel Thenn.
Their evidence shows that the warning reached Seraphina well before the attack, giving observant characters a question to carry into Act IV without providing proof of a larger scheme. Once the immediate danger has passed, the court must reckon with both the reality of the war crisis and the fragility of the regency settlement.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to save the party’s champion.
- The target institution loses 2 Standing. Its second-in-command becomes a grieving, motivated ally and can provide the Act IV intervention for 3 points instead of 4. The war crisis deepens as officials argue over responsibility.
- The party reaches 3 chase failures before earning 4 successes.
- The killers escape, but the party can still find the dead-drop with a DC 17 search. The investigation takes longer, and Marel may be more frightened or harder to locate.
- The party cannot secure usable evidence linking the attackers to an organized plot.
- The attack’s apparent foreign connection becomes harder to challenge. Draknaar’s delegation faces suspicion, and the party must spend political effort to prevent immediate retaliation.
- The party abandons the banquet rescue or allows the hall’s hazards to overwhelm their response.
- Guests are injured, palace staff lose confidence in the party’s ability to protect the court, and the regency debate becomes more volatile.
Complications (d6)
- 1A guest recognizes one of the supposed honor guards as a former soldier and loudly accuses the Draknaar delegation of planting the attackers. The party must protect the guest or manage the accusation while the fight continues.
- 2A tipped brazier sets a tapestry alight early. The fire hazard begins one round sooner, and guests crowd toward the nearest exit.
- 3The target ally is separated from the party by a collapsing table and two fleeing guests. Reaching them requires movement through the panicked central lane.
- 4A palace guard mistakes a character’s drawn weapon for part of the attack and challenges them. A brief explanation or a visible rescue can avert the delay.
- 5The chase passes through a kitchen delivery at the worst moment. A cart blocks one route, forcing a character to climb over it or lose time.
- 6Marel’s dead-drop has been disturbed. The notes remain, but a hurried search takes longer and risks alerting the killers at the ice-cellar rendezvous.
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