The Fourth Toll
The Fourth Toll
Read aloud
At dusk, the bell in Veyrun rings four times, though it has only three notes. A child beside you turns to Benkata and asks, 'Why did you come back?' Benkata has never visited this town in the life the child remembers.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Discover why the Starward Bell has begun taking memories.
- 2Find a way to stop the bell's harmful toll.
- 3Decide the fate of the shrine and protect Veyrun from further memory loss.
- 4Recover the tuning plate and expose the person responsible for weakening the ward.Optional
The clock
At each dusk, the bell rings again. After the first toll, each subsequent toll erases a more significant memory from someone in Veyrun. Use three dusk tolls as a clear countdown, or slow the clock if the party needs time to investigate.
Scenes
- 0:00The Impossible Note
- 0:25A Note Missing from the Record
- 1:00The Roadside Claim
- 1:40The Listening Passage
- 2:20The Fourth Toll
Cast
- BenkataAlly and central figure
- Sella VennQuestgiver and shrine keeper
- Orun ValeAntagonist and former shrine assistant
- Tavi RellWitness and local bell ringer
The hook
Set the scene
Begin at dusk in Veyrun's small market square. The fourth toll sounds while Sella Venn is trying to keep frightened residents away from the bell tower. Tavi has forgotten part of their childhood, and the townsfolk are arguing over whether Benkata has visited before. Sella recognizes Benkata from the earlier recovery of the bell and asks them to help before nightfall.
How Sella Venn asks
Sella approaches Benkata in the market square after the fourth toll.
She speaks plainly, admits she does not understand the mechanism, and offers access to the shrine records and tower keys if the party will investigate before the next dusk.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
25 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Impossible Note
Veyrun market square at dusk, beside the locked bell tower.
Introduce the strange toll, show its immediate effect on Tavi, and give Benkata a personal reason to engage. Sella asks for help and offers the tower key.
NextSella leads the party to the shrine records room, where Tavi can demonstrate the bell's rhythm and share what they remember.
0:25
35 min
exploration
2. A Note Missing from the Record
The bell tower's records room and upper gallery, crowded with ledgers, dust, and old maintenance tools.
The party compares old records with Tavi's account. A sketch of a tuning plate does not match the mechanism currently installed in the bell tower. They can also learn that the bell was recovered by Benkata from the nearby shrine.
NextThe records point toward the old hillside road and a maintenance route into the shrine. Orun's supporters can intercept the party on that road.
1:00
40 min
social
3. The Roadside Claim
A narrow hillside path leading to the old shrine, partially blocked by a handcart.
Orun argues that the bell should be freed rather than repaired. The party can question him, win his cooperation, expose his role, or fight through the wardens if talks collapse.
The Roadside ClaimNextWhether Orun accompanies them or not, the party reaches the shrine's outer entrance as another distant toll begins.
1:40
40 min
skill
4. The Listening Passage
The old shrine's cracked entrance hall and narrow passages beneath the hill.
The party navigates the broken shrine, finds signs of the missing tuning plate, and learns that the bell's presence responds to remembered songs and promises. The passage into the central chamber is hazardous.
NextA final echo draws the party into the central chamber, where the mechanism is beginning to fail.
2:20
55 min
combat
5. The Fourth Toll
The circular chamber below the shrine, around the bell shaft and cracked warding plates.
Face the memory echoes and the shifting ward. The party can rebalance the mechanism, silence the bell, or release the presence with safeguards. Their choice determines what memories can be restored and what danger remains.
The Broken WardNextReturn to Veyrun for the consequences of the party's decision, then follow any unresolved clue into a future adventure.
Behind it
What people believe
The Starward Bell, once recovered by Benkata from a collapsed shrine, has begun ringing an impossible fourth toll.
Each strange ringing leaves someone in Veyrun missing a small but important memory. Shrine keeper Sella Venn asks Benkata and their companions to investigate the old shrine, stop the losses, and decide what should become of the bell.
Background
Benkata once helped recover the bronze Starward Bell from a collapsed shrine.
The bell was returned to the hill settlement of Veyrun, where it has been rung at dusk for generations. Recently, its sound has changed: each evening, the bell rings one note too many, and someone in town forgets a small but precious memory. The shrine's old warding mechanism is failing, and the bell is amplifying a force that was never meant to reach the settlement.
The stakes
If the party does nothing, each dusk toll takes more memories from Veyrun's residents.
If the shrine is destroyed carelessly, the presence may escape in a confused and dangerous form. The party must weigh the safety of the settlement against the fate of the memories entrusted to the bell.
Encounters
2The Roadside Claim
Social encounter that can become combat
A narrow hillside path beside a dry-stone wall, with a handcart blocking the center and a steep, loose slope on one side.
Foes
Orun Vale
2 to 4 bell-haunted wardens
ComplicationWhen the bell rings, the sound distorts distance and direction. A creature may appear to be several paces from where it really is, and loose stones begin to slide toward the bell tower.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused party, use Orun alone and let the wardens withdraw after one decisive exchange. For a larger or more capable party, add wardens or give them cover and a clear objective to hold the road.
The Broken Ward
Combat and environmental challenge
A circular underground shrine chamber with a central bell shaft, cracked floor plates, three waist-high pillars, and a narrow ledge above a dark cistern.
Foes
2 to 3 memory echoes
The Starward Bell's warding mechanism
ComplicationThe chamber's old warding plates shift whenever the bell's echo is disturbed. A failed maneuver can separate the party, trigger a falling-stone hazard, or give the echo time to intensify.
ScalingFor a lower-threat party, make the echoes fragile and have the warding mechanism create hazards rather than direct attacks. For a stronger party, add one echo that imitates a character's tactics and let the mechanism threaten multiple areas at once.
Cast
4Benkata
Ally and central figure; adapt their history, pronouns, and capabilities to the character as established in the campaign.
WantsBenkata wants to protect Veyrun and find out why the object they once helped recover has become dangerous. Their prior connection gives them useful knowledge, but they may feel responsible for the trouble.
“I know what the bell sounds like. I carried it out of the dark myself. This is not the same sound.”
Sella Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and shrine keeper
WantsSella wants the bell silenced before more townsfolk lose memories, but she fears that revealing her family's role in maintaining the shrine will make the settlement turn against her.
“I am not asking you to trust me. I am asking you to listen before the next bell tolls.”
Orun Vale
Antagonist and former shrine assistant
WantsOrun believes the shrine's ward has imprisoned a presence that deserves release. He wants to break the ward, even though he misunderstands the cost of doing so.
“The bell is not stealing anything. It is giving the valley back what was taken from it.”
Tavi Rell
Witness and local bell ringer
WantsTavi wants their lost memories restored and hopes the adventurers can stop the bell without destroying it.
“I remember the song my mother sang, but I cannot remember her face. Please do not let the bell take the song too.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A small bronze tuning fork that vibrates near old warding magic, a custom item with no assumed official rules effect.
The recovered tuning plate, if the optional objective is completed.
On a win
The party stops the harmful toll and prevents the presence from overwhelming Veyrun.
Depending on their choice, the bell is repaired, safely silenced, or released under careful supervision. At least some lost memories can be restored, though the people of Veyrun may remember the party's solution differently.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- Veyrun loses several more memories, including one shared memory that binds a family or community together. The settlement remains intact, but its people become less able to agree on what happened.
- The party withdraws or fails to reach the shrine before the next toll.
- The bell is silenced temporarily, but the ward continues to weaken. Sella can help the party try again later, though each delay worsens the memory loss.
- The party defeats or drives off Orun without learning how to safely disrupt the ward.
- The immediate threat ends, but the trapped presence is released in an uncontrolled form. It flees into the surrounding hills, leaving Veyrun safe for now and creating a new danger to pursue.
- The party breaks the bell or collapses the shrine carelessly.
Complications (d6)
- 1A sudden gust rings the Starward Bell from inside its locked tower. Everyone nearby forgets one brief detail of the last hour, such as a face, a direction, or a spoken promise.
- 2Orun's supporters block the old road with a handcart and insist the party hear his case before proceeding.
- 3A cracked shrine tile gives way beneath a character, exposing a narrow crawlspace and releasing a cloud of choking silver dust.
- 4Tavi recognizes a melody from the bell and begins walking toward the shrine in a trance, carrying the only key to the tower.
- 5A rain-swollen stream cuts off the shortest route back to Veyrun. The party must find a crossing, build one, or lose time.
- 6A memory echo takes the shape of someone Benkata once knew. It asks Benkata to leave the bell untouched and repeats a private detail it should not know.
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