The Closed Road’s Tolls
The Closed Road’s Tolls
Read aloud
The toll office smells of wet stone and old ink. Omiya Vela opens a ledger to a page rubbed gray by handling and taps nine entries. “Payments against the Duma road,” she says. “It has been closed for eleven years, and I did not write these.”
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Determine how the nine false toll entries were made and who benefited.
- 2Find the haulers using the old trail and decide how to treat them.
- 3Choose what justice and an honest record will cost.
The clock
There is no fixed countdown. Omiya wants the inquiry handled quietly before the Slope Watch hears of it and informs Jorun, or the Masons claim the books. If the party stalls, Pim brings the smoke log and Barek may offer a way to Tamsin.
Scenes
- 0:00A Quiet Job
- 0:25Three Strands, One Road
- 1:20The Old Trail
- 2:05Hauler’s Rest
- 2:50The Correction
Cast
- Omiya VelaQuestgiver
- BarekAlly
- Tamsin RookWitness
- Dunnin CaskAntagonist
- PimWitness
The hook
Set the scene
The toll office is a low stone room with a barred window and a counter scarred by decades of coin. A ledger as thick as a mule’s saddle-pad lies open, its page rubbed gray with handling. Omiya Vela, in a rain-stained Syndicate coat, does not look up. “Nine entries,” she says, laying a finger beside each one. “Payments against the Duma road. The Duma road has been closed for eleven years. I did not write these.” She asks the party to investigate quietly.
How Omiya Vela asks
Omiya asks the party to come to the toll office the morning after the slide.
She wants the entries investigated quietly, away from the Slope Watch and the Masons. She offers each character 20 gp, a tenth of any tolls recovered, and a letter granting legal passage through the next Syndicate checkpoint.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3.5 hours0:00
25 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Quiet Job
Omiya’s low stone toll office, with its barred window, coin-scarred counter, rain-damp coat, and heavy open ledger.
Omiya explains the nine suspicious entries, asks for discretion, and offers payment and a checkpoint letter. A Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that she is telling the truth and is troubled that the handwriting resembles her own.
NextThe rubbed page and Omiya’s careful finger lead the party into the first strand of the inquiry, while the mention of the Cairn-Ring and the closed road leaves two other paths open.
0:25
55 min
exploration
2. Three Strands, One Road
The toll office, Cairn-Ring, Mud-Shed Stables, and Sedge Inn. The party can choose the order of these leads.
The party investigates the ledger, the Cairn-Ring, the Mud-Shed Stables, or the Sedge Inn in any order. Three clues reveal the shape of the scheme. The dates are wrong: all nine entries fall on nights the road was closed by red smoke, appear in a different ink, and charge half the posted toll. Only Omiya and Dunnin hold the night-shift key. Pim’s log records warm bowls on seven nights when no one lit them. A stone chip from a mule’s harness matches a pale wall with grey-metal joints. Haulers identify Tamsin as the guide to the half-toll road. Dunnin’s drawer or behavior can reveal his receipts and spending. Barek shares what he knows if asked about families rather than arrests. If the party stalls, Pim brings his smoke log; if it still needs direction, Barek offers to guide them to Tamsin on the condition that no one is arrested before he speaks with her.
NextThe warm bowls, half-toll receipts, and trail-worn harness all point away from the posted road; following those signs carries the party up through a gap in the lower masonry.
1:20
45 min
exploration
3. The Old Trail
A gradual, exposed climb through loose scree, above a gully reached through a gap in the retaining stones.
The old trail runs about two miles and climbs gradually. A Wisdom (Survival) check finds fresh tracks from a lame mule and small shoes. Force 1 Strong Wind affects the exposed shoulders. A pair of scree-prowlers, including a den-keeper with young in a cleft above the path, threatens before attacking. The party can back away or pass carefully; each character must succeed on a Wisdom (Survival or Stealth) check to slip past without threatening the cleft.
The Den-Keeper on the Old TrailNextAs the path bends beneath the bluff, smoke from a small fire appears through the wind, drawing the party toward a shelter hidden from the toll lane.
2:05
45 min
social
4. Hauler’s Rest
A leaning timber-and-canvas shelter at the bluff’s foot, with a smoky fire, the children at the doorway, and Biscuit standing nearby.
At Hauler’s Rest, Tamsin stands with one hand behind her back while Mina and Tobb watch from the shelter doorway. Three haulers, Bram, Perra, and Dov, are there with Biscuit, a lame mule. A Wisdom (Insight) check notices that Tamsin hides something in the mule’s pack. She talks if the party shows concern for the children and succeeds on a Charisma (Persuasion) check. Threats require a Charisma (Intimidation) check and make the haulers resent the party, reducing Standing with the Guides by 1. If the party arrives armed or announces an arrest, Rusk and Gill arrive an hour later to collect Dunnin’s share; they flee if the haulers stand against them.
Collectors at Hauler’s RestNextWhen Tamsin finally trusts the party, she gives up the hidden object and describes the knocks; the return journey carries those sounds back down to the clerk whose receipts bear the same half-toll.
2:50
50 min
social
5. The Correction
The toll office, where the corrected ledger waits beside Omiya and the evidence is finally placed before Dunnin.
Dunnin is polite, nervous, and easily shaken. If the party presents the receipts, a Charisma (Intimidation or Persuasion) check makes him confess at once. He admits selling passage on the old trail for four weeks, recording each fare against the closed road to make the books balance. Omiya then asks the party what should be done. Exposing the scheme publicly dismisses Dunnin and may fine or expel the haulers. An amnesty requires a Charisma (Persuasion) check with Jorun and Omiya present; Dunnin repays and resigns, and the haulers perform a month of trail repairs. Burying the matter keeps the families safe but makes the lie the party’s.
NextOmiya inks the correction and leaves the space for an initial; once the party’s choice leaves its mark, the night’s quiet knocks carry them toward Kusi’s dawn inspection.
Behind it
What people believe
Omiya Vela has found nine suspicious toll entries charged to a road that has been closed for years.
The party is hired to quietly investigate the records, the Cairn-Ring’s smoke bowls, and a disused trail. Their findings point to a junior clerk and several haulers, leaving the party to decide how to make the record honest without ignoring the people caught in the scheme.
Background
After a recent slide, Omiya Vela discovers nine toll entries charged against the Duma road, closed for eleven years.
The entries point toward an old trail now used by families who cannot afford the official route. A quiet inquiry can uncover both the false accounting and the people caught in it, but honesty, mercy, and Omiya’s reputation may not all survive the same decision.
The stakes
An honest ledger can protect trust in the toll office, but publicly naming Dunnin and the haulers may fine or expel four families who rely on the only route they can afford.
Concealing the entries protects those families in the short term but makes the party complicit in the false count.
Encounters
2The Den-Keeper on the Old Trail
Combat or avoidance
A two-mile trail climbs from a gully through loose scree and exposed shoulders. A Force 1 Strong Wind affects the exposed sections. A cleft above the trail shelters the prowlers’ young.
Foes
2 scree-prowlers, including a den-keeper with young nearby
ComplicationA den-keeper scree-prowler threatens before attacking. The party can retreat or pass carefully without combat. Characters who threaten the cleft or its young provoke a fight; the den-keeper will not flee while the young are in danger.
ScalingFor a smaller or struggling party, use one scree-prowler and let the den-keeper withdraw once the party backs away from the cleft. For a stronger party, keep both prowlers and make the exposed path difficult to cross while the den-keeper blocks the way. This is intended to be a low encounter by the supplied adventure guidance, but it can feel fierce if the party threatens the young.
Collectors at Hauler’s Rest
Combat or social
A leaning timber-and-canvas shelter at the foot of a bluff, with a narrow doorway, a small fire, and a lame mule nearby. The children can be kept inside or escorted away from the confrontation.
Foes
Rusk, hired man using the Bandit stat block
Gill, hired man using the Bandit stat block
ComplicationRusk and Gill are cowards. They flee if the haulers stand against them. If the party has arrived loudly or announced an arrest, their arrival can turn a tense conversation into a brief confrontation.
ScalingHave the haulers’ solidarity end the confrontation without initiative if the party has earned their trust. If combat begins, the two hired men flee when either is clearly overwhelmed. For a party that is already badly depleted, one hired man arrives first and the other hangs back.
Cast
5Omiya Vela
QuestgiverQuestgiver, exacting toll clerk
WantsOmiya wants an accurate record of every traveler and closed route, but fears an open investigation will destroy the haulers’ trust in her office. She is sincere about the entries, though their resemblance to her own hand unsettles her.
“Nine entries. The Duma road has been closed for eleven years. I did not write these.”
Barek
Ally, stable hand and local guide
WantsBarek knows the old trail’s users and wants the families treated as people rather than offenders. He will guide the party to Tamsin if they promise not to arrest her before he speaks with her.
“If you ask about arrests, I know nothing. Ask me about families, and I might know who needs help.”
Tamsin Rook
Witness, hauler using the old trail
WantsTamsin Rook needs the old trail to support her children and repay a family loan. She fears arrest and wants the strange object she has hidden in her mule’s pack out of her life.
“I don't have money. I don't have anything you want.”
Dunnin Cask
Antagonist, junior toll clerk
WantsDunnin sold passage on the old trail for four weeks, taking half the posted toll and entering each fare against the closed road so the books would balance. He wants to avoid dismissal and does not understand the object or its strange knocks.
“I can explain the receipts. I can explain all of it. Please don't tell Omiya before I do.”
Pim
Witness, Learner who keeps the smoke log
WantsPim wants the Cairn-Ring’s smoke log taken seriously and is anxious that the strange warmth may be overlooked or blamed on him.
“The bowls were warm again. I wrote it down because nobody else would.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A letter from Omiya granting legal passage through the next Syndicate checkpoint
The unexplained warm, humming object from Tamsin’s mule pack, if the party wins her trust
On a win
The party uncovers Dunnin’s half-toll scheme and learns why the families use the old trail.
Omiya corrects the ledger by hand and asks someone to initial the correction beside her. The first character to offer leaves the first mark, and the party names it. Dunnin’s fate, the families’ safety, and the public honesty of the record depend on the party’s choice.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails a clue check or stalls without choosing a lead.
- The inquiry loses time and the haulers become wary. Pim may bring his smoke log to the party, and Barek can offer the route to Tamsin if the characters agree not to arrest her before he speaks with her.
- The party uses threats to make Tamsin talk.
- Tamsin and the other haulers resent the party, and Standing with the Guides drops by 1. Tamsin may still hand over the object, but the exchange is harder and more distrustful.
- The party leaves Hauler’s Rest without persuading Tamsin to share what she has hidden.
- The party does not obtain the object or Tamsin’s account of the knocks. Omiya can still correct the ledger based on evidence against Dunnin, but the object and its history remain beyond the party’s reach for now.
- The party confronts Dunnin without the receipts or other evidence that tie him to the false entries.
- The characters may still choose to correct the ledger, but the record of the families’ passage is incomplete and the party must decide whether to rely on the evidence they have or delay the decision.
Complications (d6)
- 1Rain has bled the ink on the ledger page. The entries remain legible, but comparing their handwriting takes an extra hour unless the party dries and protects the page.
- 2A hauler recognizes the party near the toll office and warns the others that officials may be asking questions. Tamsin becomes guarded until the party makes clear it is not there to seize her children.
- 3A gust carries a little red smoke across the Cairn-Ring. The bowls are cool now, but the smoke log confirms that the signal was not lit on the recorded night.
- 4A mule returns from the old trail with a chip of dressed pale stone caught in its harness. A thread of grey metal in the chip matches the joints of an exposed wall along the route.
- 5Dunnin’s hired men, Rusk and Gill, arrive at Hauler’s Rest to collect his share. They retreat if the haulers stand together, but a threatening approach may make the families scatter.
- 6The object in Tamsin’s pack gives a soft knock from inside the shelter. A moment later, something knocks back from the stonework, drawing everyone’s attention toward it.
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