The Thirteenth Bell

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Investigation

The Thirteenth Bell

Lvl 33 to 5 charactersOne-shot, approximately 4 to 6 hours· Medium

“Silence the bell, break the blood, and keep the dead from crowning their king.”

— Hook · Investigation

QuestgiverSister Elian Voss

Investigation

Daggerheart

Medium

Lvl 3

3 to 5 characters

One-shot, approximately 4 to 6 hours

4 NPCs

3 encounters

The Opening

“The villagers of Veyra's Hollow have begun waking with fresh bite marks and memories of a monastery that burned three hundred years ago. Tonight, the ruined monastery's bells will ring thirteen times, and a vampire lord will ascend into something no living army can defeat. Find the source of the ritual, uncover what the villagers have forgotten, and stop Vael Turog before the final bell.”
— Hook · Investigation

Set the Scene

Rain falls over Veyra's Hollow as the heroes arrive at the village square. Every door is barred, no animal makes a sound, and the old bell tower has been wrapped in black cloth. Sister Elian Voss approaches carrying a lantern whose flame burns blue, then tells the party that three villagers vanished after describing the same dream: a red crystal hanging above a bottomless pit. She offers payment for immediate help, but warns that the villagers will not speak openly until the party proves they are not marked by Vael.

Patron

Questgiver

Sister Elian Voss

Sister Elian meets the party in the village square after hearing that outsiders have arrived. She asks them to investigate discreetly, promising access to the monastery records and a family heirloom known as the Nightglass Key if they succeed.

On the Streets · In the Books

Rumours

d5 · table

01
The monastery burned because its priests invited a vampire inside.
02
The bell tower has no bell, yet it rings every hundred years.
03
A shepherd saw a dead woman walking toward the monastery while carrying a child made of red glass.
04
The village headman keeps a key that opens no door in town.
05
Vael Turog cannot cross running water, but the river stopped flowing three nights ago.

Stakes

If Vael ascends, the valley becomes the first province of a growing undead dominion. The villagers will lose their memories, the dead will rise with their former identities intact, and the heroes may become the only people who remember what the world was like before Vael's reign.

Ticking Clock·The thirteenth bell rings at the end of the night. Each major delay, failed investigation, or unresolved complication advances the ritual. At the start, six bells remain. The GM may reduce this count after major failures or whenever the party abandons a lead. When the count reaches zero, Vael begins the final stage of ascension.

Background Lore

For three centuries, the vampire lord Vael Turog has ruled from beneath the ruined monastery of Saint Veyra. His immortality is sustained by the Crimson Reliquary, a blood-filled crystal that anchors his spirit to the mortal world. Once every hundred years, during a rare lunar convergence, the Reliquary can be shattered and Vael can ascend into a being of limitless power. The convergence begins tonight.

What the World Knows

Veyra's Hollow is threatened by Vael Turog, a vampire lord preparing to ascend during tonight's lunar convergence. The heroes must investigate the village, locate the ruined monastery, recover the relics needed to enter its inner sanctum, and stop the ritual before the thirteenth bell. The villagers know fragments of the truth, but fear and supernatural influence have made their stories contradictory.