The Ledgers Beneath Blackwake
The Ledgers Beneath Blackwake
“The tide hides many crimes, but not forever.”
— Hook · Recovery and political investigation
“Lady Merrow Vey asks you to recover sealed ducal records from the drowned customs house at Blackwake Inlet. The Eelhook Compact is already searching the ruins, and the next high tide will submerge the archive for good. Bring back the records before the tide rises, or let the coast's most dangerous secret belong to the smugglers.”
— Hook · Recovery and political investigation
At low tide, Blackwake Inlet exposes the upper floors of the drowned customs house. Nets snag on broken windows, dead lanternfish shine in the mud, and a fresh Eelhook insignia has been painted across the warped front doors. Lady Merrow Vey waits beneath a salt-stained awning with Nessa Quill, who carries a ring of keys recovered from the wreckage.
Lady Merrow Vey
Lady Merrow Vey approaches the party privately after a public council meeting, offering official payment but insisting that the records be delivered directly to her rather than displayed before the court.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The customs house sank because the duke ordered its lower doors chained from the outside.
- 02A clerk who vanished at Blackwake still walks the archive during moonless tides.
- 03The Eelhook Compact can identify any ship by the shape of its wake.
- 04One page of the ducal ledger was removed before the house flooded.
- 05Old Pell Tarrow once ferried a living passenger out of the drowned archive.
If the party fails, the Eelhook Compact gains proof that can destabilize the ducal court, blackmail coastal officials, and seize control of the Saltmarch customs network. If the party succeeds, they gain dangerous leverage but must decide whether justice, stability, or personal advantage matters most.
Background Lore
For generations, the Saltmarch dukes used the customs house at Blackwake Inlet to record tariffs, bribes, confiscations, and secret agreements with coastal powers. A storm surge drowned the building twelve years ago, sealing its ledgers in a flooded archive below the old quay. The Eelhook Compact, a smuggling alliance that now controls much of the coast, believes those records can expose rival merchants, compromise the ducal court, and legitimize its claim to rule the Saltmarch trade routes.
The ducal court wants the party to recover sealed customs records from a drowned customs house at Blackwake Inlet before the Eelhook Compact can seize them. The records may reveal smuggling routes, unpaid tariffs, and the names of officials who betrayed the coast. The party must enter the unstable ruins, contend with the Compact, and escape before the returning tide seals the building again.
