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Act I: Shadows over the Sunken Archive - AI-generated fantasy Quest

Act I: Shadows over the Sunken Archive

Quests
6 scenes · about 5.5 hours · 3 encounters

Act I: Shadows over the Sunken Archive

A flooded pre-Compact vault holds a relic, a warning, and the first evidence that the Gild-Ways may be failing for a reason.

Read aloud

Across Jorthiel’s grain hills, the earth has opened in rings of broken stone, and the old Gild-Way pockets beneath them are filling with black water. Archivist Orelia Vane says Tribunal agents are already inside the Sunken Archive, searching for a relic called the Siphon Key of Ignisvorn. If the stories of the collapsing transit routes are true, the Archive may hold the first clue to what is happening to the Gild-Ways.

Run the session

Scene
1/6
The Hill Opens
Objectives
0/4
Objectives
A complication

Cheat sheet

Objectives

  1. 1Investigate the collapsed transit pockets and determine what triggered the failure.
  2. 2Recover or deny the Siphon Key of Ignisvorn to the Tribunal.
  3. 3Establish the central mystery: are the Gild-Ways failing naturally, or are they being sabotaged?
  4. 4Preserve the Lost Indices before water damage erases them.Optional

The clock

The Sunken Archive is flooding, and the Lost Indices will be ruined if the party leaves without recovering them. Skarvok’s cell arrived roughly six hours before the party and is already working to reach the Reliquary Vault. Track time spent searching and delay through complications; the side quest closes permanently when the party leaves the Archive.

Scenes

  1. 0:00The Hill Opens
  2. 0:45The Lost Indices
  3. 1:45The Live Junction
  4. 2:25Letters in the Dry Alcove
  5. 3:15Skarvok’s Waystation
  6. 4:15The Key Leaves the Plinth

Cast

  • Archivist Orelia VaneAlly and local historian
  • SkarvokAntagonist and field commander
  • Pell RuskWitness and potential suspect

The hook

Set the scene

At the excavation above the Archive, damp wind carries the smell of wet grain, mud, and rust. Beyond the broken earth, a ring of old transit stone sinks into a newly opened hollow. From below comes the steady slap of water against masonry, followed by a groan that shivers through the hill.

How Archivist Orelia Vane asks

Orelia Vane approaches the party through local contacts after hearing they are investigating the transit failures.

Rumours

Roll a rumour

1“A grain wagon vanished when a sunken road opened beneath it, though the horses were found standing calmly at the far side of the field.”
2“The canal engineers who broke into the Archive say they found old locks and survey marks, not a treasure vault.”
3“Someone has been asking after a glass-and-copper relic at the market, paying in coin too clean for a local trader.”
4“A scholar in the hills once exchanged letters with Archon Vespera about leyline stress points. Some locals think the correspondence was harmless academic work; others say it brought trouble.”
5“A forged war-cipher bearing the Gnome Bard’s name has been circulating among people who never met them.”

Scenes

about 5.5 hours

  1. 0:00

    45 min

    explorationThe table is here

    1. The Hill Opens

    The grain-hill excavation and flooded entrance hall, where black water laps at a broken stair descending 20 feet.

    The party surveys the collapse and gathers first impressions. Fresh bootprints, a discarded Tribunal tindertwig, and disturbed excavation marks can establish that someone reached the Archive before them. The ground gives a low shudder underfoot, and damp air rises through the broken stair.

    NextThe stair descends into the Archive, where water sloshes around the party’s boots and loose pages drift toward the Sunken Stacks.

  2. 0:45

    60 min

    skill

    2. The Lost Indices

    The Sunken Stacks, where waterlogged shelves lean into narrow channels and ink runs from pages touched by the water.

    The party searches for the Lost Indices while balancing urgency against the risk of patrols. Three successes before three failures recover the indices; each 10-minute search requires a Intelligence (Investigation or History) check. On a failed check, roll a d6; on a 1, a Tribunal patrol investigates.

    The Stacks Are Not Empty

    NextA rescued index entry describes the Archive’s original layout and points toward a dry study alcove, while distant footsteps fade or draw nearer through the stacks.

  3. 1:45

    40 min

    exploration

    3. The Live Junction

    A junction chamber flooded with shimmering water, where a raised walkway hugs the east wall and a low vibration hums through the stone.

    The party crosses or studies the electrified junction. A Wisdom (Perception) check, or passive Perception 15, notices its faint shimmer before entry. Any creature that enters or starts its turn in the zone takes lightning/force damage, negated by a Constitution save, and is pushed 15 feet on a failed save. A raised east-wall walkway can bypass it with a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

    NextPast the junction, a dry alcove offers a brief refuge from the water and a chance to learn why Orelia came here.

  4. 2:25

    50 min

    social

    4. Letters in the Dry Alcove

    Orelia’s dry field-study alcove, lit by a single lamp among a folding desk, notes, and a damp coat.

    Orelia confirms that Tribunal agents reached the Archive before the party. She shares fragmented correspondence with Archon Vespera Naminsiyesh, describing anomalous ley-network stress points. If asked, she identifies the Reliquary Vault as the likely target. A maintenance crawlspace offers a route past the waystation, but using it skips the fight and its potential ledger fragment.

    NextThe correspondence and Orelia’s directions leave the party facing a choice: move quietly through the crawlspace or confront the Tribunal at its forward camp.

  5. 3:15

    60 min

    combat

    5. Skarvok’s Waystation

    A low-ceilinged waystation with a cook-fire, shallow water, Tribunal supplies, and a control panel linked to the electrified junction.

    The Tribunal cell occupies the room around a salvaged control panel. Skarvok and three cultists may be confronted, bypassed, or caught off guard. The panel can disable the electrified junction with a Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation) check. Defeating Skarvok yields a coded ledger fragment that reduces later Investigation DCs for decoding Handout 2 by 2, if that handout is used.

    The Cult Waystation

    NextWith the control panel silent, the water loses its wrong shimmer; if the panel remains active, its hum follows the party toward the Reliquary Vault.

  6. 4:15

    75 min

    combat

    6. The Key Leaves the Plinth

    The Reliquary Vault, where water ripples around a plinth and the ward’s hum seems to match the party’s pulse.

    The ward protects the Siphon Key on a black stone plinth. A Intelligence (Arcana) check can key down the ward before the Key is touched, avoiding its force damage to anyone other than an attuned Azimut archivist. The Sentinel activates when the ward is breached or the Key is removed. The party can recover the Key, flee with it, return it to the plinth to stop the Sentinel, or lose it to Tribunal survivors.

    The Reliquary Guardian

    NextAs the vault settles, the party carries the Key or the consequences of its loss toward the unstable transit pocket leading in the direction of Grand Hollow.

Behind it

What people believe

A collapsed Gild-Way transit pocket has opened beneath Jorthiel’s grain hills, flooding a pre-Compact archive that canal engineers broke into months ago.

Background

Months ago, canal engineers broke into a pre-Compact vault beneath Jorthiel’s grain hills.

The stakes

If the Tribunal claims the Siphon Key, it gains an early resource connected to the next stage of the campaign.

Encounters

3

  • The Stacks Are Not Empty

    Combat or stealth

    Waterlogged stacks, knee-to-waist-deep water, leaning shelves, drifting pages, and narrow aisles.

    Foes

    • Obsidian Tribunal infiltrators

    ComplicationThe flooded stacks provide unstable cover and obstruct movement. If the party spends time searching here, a failed search check may draw a Tribunal patrol. Run the Lost Indices as a challenge: each 10-minute search period requires a DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation or History) check; three successes before three failures recover them.

    ScalingFor a smaller or depleted party, use fewer infiltrators or have the patrol withdraw after taking a serious hit. For a larger or highly optimized party, add a second patrol wave only if it strengthens the scene rather than delaying the investigation.

  • The Cult Waystation

    Combat

    Low stone ceiling, salvaged control panel, cook-fire smoke, and shallow water. A panel interaction can alter the electrified junction’s status.

    Foes

    • Cult Enforcer Skarvok

    • Three Obsidian Tribunal Cultists

    ComplicationThe control panel is an interactable object either side can attempt to operate with a DC 13 Intelligence check using Arcana or Investigation. Disabling it ends the hazard in Area A3. If the party does not disable it, the electrified water remains active.

    ScalingThe cultists are veteran variants with 10 additional hit points each, as specified for this adventure. For a smaller or weakened party, reduce their hit points or have one cultist flee to warn Skarvok’s allies. For a stronger party, let the cultists use the control panel tactically rather than adding more foes.

  • The Reliquary Guardian

    Combat

    A flooded reliquary chamber with a black stone plinth, a warded Key, and open floor around the guardian. The ward can be keyed down with a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check before the Key is removed.

    Foes

    • Ward-Wrought Sentinel

    • Up to two surviving Obsidian Tribunal Cultists, if they retreated from the waystation

    ComplicationThe Sentinel activates when the ward is triggered by a failed bypass attempt, when the Key is forced from the plinth, or when the Key is removed after the ward is carefully keyed down. Skarvok, if still present, may use the conflict to flee. Returning the Key to its plinth causes the Sentinel to stop fighting.

    ScalingThe Sentinel’s custom statistics are provided in the adventure material: Large construct, AC 18, HP 168, challenge rating 8. Adjust its hit points by about 20 percent for party size and optimization. Do not add surviving cultists if the party is already depleted.

Cast

3

  • Archivist Orelia Vane

    QuestgiverAlly and local historian

    WantsArchivist Orelia Vane wants the Sunken Archive’s records preserved and understood. She is frightened of the Tribunal, but determined to share the fragments of her correspondence with Archon Vespera Naminsiyesh.

    “The numbers do not agree with the old maps. Something is putting strain on the same points, far apart, as if the network were being pulled from several directions.”

  • Skarvok

    Antagonist and field commander

    WantsCult Enforcer Skarvok is ordered to secure the Siphon Key and leave no evidence that exposes his cell’s methods. He prefers to outmaneuver the party, but will fight if cornered.

    “The key is not yours to keep. Step aside, and the Archive may yet remain standing.”

  • Pell Rusk

    Witness and potential suspect

    WantsCanal engineer Pell Rusk wants to protect the workers who broke into the vault months ago. A rumor accuses him of selling restricted research, and he fears the party will mistake negligence for sabotage.

    “I hired men to open a canal vault, not to bring the hills down around our homes. If you find my name in those records, hear me out before you decide what it means.”

How it ends

Rewards

Experience: Use milestone progression. This Act does not require an automatic level increase; award progress according to the campaign’s planned advancement from level 10.
Gold: A modest payment from Orelia or the local canal authority for safeguarding the Archive, scaled to the party’s needs and local finances. No fixed amount is required by this Act.
In the story: The party gains the first substantive evidence of anomalous stress across the Gild-Ways, preserves or loses historical records that will matter later, and acquires a lead connecting Jorthiel’s crisis to research in Draknaar.
Standing: Positive standing with Orelia and the local historians if the party protects the records and witnesses. Disrupting Skarvok’s cell earns the party a reputation as an obstacle to the Obsidian Tribunal. If the Key is recovered cleanly, the party gains a narrative advantage against Malakor in Act II, represented by advantage on the first Arcane Counter-Strike attempt at the GM’s discretion.

Items

  • Siphon Key of Ignisvorn

  • Coded ledger fragment, if recovered from Skarvok

  • Lost Indices, if the optional side quest succeeds

On a win

The party leaves the Sunken Archive with the Siphon Key secured or denied to the Tribunal, and with enough evidence to establish that the Gild-Way failures deserve investigation beyond Jorthiel.

What it leaves open

Orelia’s letters to Archon Vespera Naminsiyesh describe stress points in the ley network that do not match the expected pattern of natural decay. The correspondence gives the party a reason to pursue Vespera’s research in Draknaar, without proving she caused or understood the failures.
If the party secures the Siphon Key cleanly, the GM may grant advantage on the party’s first Arcane Counter-Strike attempt against Malakor in Act II.
Skarvok may escape with a partial account of the party’s methods, or leave behind a coded ledger fragment that can help decode later Tribunal records.
The party’s handling of the Gnome Bard’s disputed research or forged war-cipher rumor may affect who in Jorthiel trusts them, and what evidence later witnesses are willing to share.
The transit pocket’s optional route points toward Grand Hollow. Its unstable debris can turn a quick passage into a dangerous choice, or provide an alternate way out of the Archive.

If it fails

The party fails to earn three successes before three failures while searching the Sunken Stacks, or leaves the Archive before completing the recovery.
If the party leaves the Archive without recovering the Lost Indices, local cipher decoding DCs in Act III increase by 2, and regional market prices rise by 25% due to supply-chain strain.
The party is driven from the Reliquary Vault, leaves the Key behind, or allows Skarvok’s cell to extract it.
The Obsidian Tribunal gains possession of the Siphon Key. Its early access to the Key makes the next stage of the campaign more difficult; the GM should reflect this in later opposition and available countermeasures.
The party abandons the investigation before comparing the transit pocket evidence with the Archive records and Orelia’s correspondence.
The party leaves with evidence of collapse but no reliable answer about whether the Gild-Ways are failing naturally or being sabotaged. Orelia’s correspondence still points toward anomalous stress points and Archon Vespera, but the inquiry begins with less supporting context.
The party publicly accuses Pell or the Bard without checking the evidence, or allows the forged or disputed cipher-sheet to define the story.
Pell Rusk and the canal workers become less willing to cooperate. The rumor about the Gnome Bard’s research or forged war-ciphers may spread without anyone offering a counter-account.

Complications (d6)

  1. 1A fresh tremor drops a slab of masonry across the nearest passage. The party can clear it with coordinated effort, find another route, or lose 20 minutes.
  2. 2A patrol hears movement near the Sunken Stacks and investigates. The party has a brief chance to hide, misdirect the patrol, or prepare an ambush.
  3. 3Water surges through a cracked sluice, carrying loose pages toward a submerged drain. A character must act quickly to save the records or accept that some evidence is lost.
  4. 4A collapsed transit pocket briefly opens, distorting sound and distance. For several minutes, echoes seem to come from the wrong direction, making navigation and shouted coordination difficult.
  5. 5A Tribunal cipher-sheet bearing the Gnome Bard’s name is found among the cultists’ equipment. It may be genuine, forged, or planted, but witnesses will draw conclusions unless the party addresses it.
  6. 6A damaged lamp ignites spilled oil on the surface of the water. Smoke and fire threaten a nearby shelf of records until the party smothers the flames or moves the documents.

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