The Silent Cutting
The Silent Cutting
Read aloud
The timber camp northwest of Birch Hollow has missed two check-ins, and no one has returned along the west skid road. Mara Venn offers you a small advance to reach the camp at X05, find the crew, and bring them home before nightfall. She warns you that the trail is muddy and that the silence may have a human cause.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 11. Find the silent timber camp.
- 22. End the occupation and free the crew.
- 33. Stabilize the injured sawyer and get everyone home.
- 44. Recover evidence of the seizure.Optional
The clock
The crew can last until nightfall without worsening conditions. If the character spends more than about six hours at the camp, Orren's injury worsens and the rival crew begins hauling away timber. Treat time pressure as a visible consequence, not a hidden countdown.
Scenes
- 0:00The Quiet Road
- 0:25Voices Behind the Shutters
- 1:00The Yard Is Not Yours
- 1:45A Crew on the Move
Cast
- Mara VennQuestgiver
- Tessa RillAlly
- Harl DossAntagonist
- Orren BaleWitness
The hook
Set the scene
Read the hook aloud, then establish the west approach to X05: the trail narrows into a muddy skid road between spring saplings. The camp is close enough that the character can smell wet wood, but there is no smoke or normal work noise. A fresh cart rut and a snapped whistle cord are the first signs that something happened.
How Mara Venn asks
Mara Venn approaches the character at Birch Hollow's timber office.
She explains the missed check-ins, the west-side route to X05, and the crew's likely need for medical help. She offers the agreed advance openly and asks the character to prioritize the workers over the timber.
Rumours
Scenes
about 2.5 hours0:00
25 min
explorationThe table is here
1. The Quiet Road
West skid road entering X05, muddy from spring rain and bordered by young woodland.
The character follows signs of a cart accident and reaches X05 from the west. The broken whistle cord suggests the camp could not send its usual signal. A successful careful search finds boot tracks heading between the yard and bunkhouse; rushing straight into camp risks being noticed.
NextFrom the road, the character can survey the cutting yard and approach either the bunkhouse or the office without crossing the open center.
0:25
35 min
social
2. Voices Behind the Shutters
Bunkhouse at the northern edge of the camp, with barred shutters and a side door facing the woods.
The character finds Tessa and the other workers sheltering in the bunkhouse under watch. Tessa can describe the accident and the occupants' routine. The workers are thirsty and frightened, but still able to help with a quiet plan. A successful social approach may win one occupant's cooperation or create a distraction.
NextThe character can move toward the yard to confront Harl, sneak to the office for the ledger, or lure the bear away from the food shed.
1:00
45 min
social
3. The Yard Is Not Yours
Open muddy yard between the bunkhouse, office, food shed, and stacks of cut timber.
Harl is in the cutting yard with one lookout elsewhere in the camp. He prefers to make his claim sound like a legitimate debt. The character can challenge the claim, offer a face-saving compromise, expose the opportunistic seizure using the workers' account, or fight. The ledger in the office can strengthen a challenge but is not necessary.
The Yard StandoffNextOnce the occupants yield, flee, or are defeated, the workers can leave. If the bear remains near the food shed, the character must draw it away or choose a safe route past it.
1:45
40 min
skill
4. A Crew on the Move
Camp edge and west skid road, with a narrow path back toward Birch Hollow.
The character prepares the crew to leave, tends Orren's leg, and chooses what to do about the bear. The workers can assist with simple tasks if treated with care. The return is not another fight: it is a deliberate evacuation through mud, with the choice to abandon equipment or take extra time to recover it.
The Bear at the Food ShedNextEnd at Birch Hollow with the survivors, then resolve payment, the ledger's value, and any consequences of violence or delay.
Behind it
What people believe
A timber camp northwest of Birch Hollow has stopped reporting in.
A rival crew may be involved in the silence, and the camp's workers need help before nightfall. Mara Venn asks the character to reach X05 from the west, free the crew, and return them safely.
Background
Birch Hollow granted the Alder & Pike Timber Company a short spring cutting lease northwest of town.
The camp at X05 lies beyond the west end of the marked trail, where a narrow skid road enters from the west. After heavy rain softened the ground, a load of cut timber shifted on a slope and crushed the camp's cart and store shed. The accident injured two workers and destroyed the camp's signal whistle. Before the crew could send word, three men from a rival timber concern arrived, claimed the camp owed them for damaged equipment, and seized its food and tools. They have kept the workers under watch while trying to drag the best logs away. The workers have water, but little food and one untreated leg injury; they can hold out until nightfall before their condition worsens.
The stakes
The workers have water but little food, and Orren's untreated leg injury will worsen if he is not stabilized.
By nightfall, the occupying crew may leave with the best timber, while a reckless approach could cause injury or death. The character's choices determine whether the workers return together, whether Harl is captured or escapes, and whether Birch Hollow has evidence to challenge the seizure.
Encounters
2The Yard Standoff
Social or combat
Open muddy cutting yard with log piles for cover, a broken cart, and a clear retreat toward the west skid road.
Foes
Harl Doss, using a Bandit stat block
One lookout, using a Bandit stat block, if the GM needs a second separated obstacle
ComplicationIf Harl is confronted with proof that the cart was already broken before his crew arrived, he may bargain or back down. If combat begins, the other occupant is away from the yard and does not join immediately.
ScalingFor a solo level 1 character, use Harl alone and have him surrender, flee, or bargain when clearly outmatched. The lookout should remain at the store shed and can be bypassed or talked down. Do not have both attack at once. If the character has substantial help, allow the lookout to join after a round of warning.
The Bear at the Food Shed
Wildlife encounter
A cramped food shed beside the bunkhouse, with a low fence, stacked barrels, and a path back into the woods.
Foes
One Black Bear
ComplicationThe bear is interested in food and the smell of the camp, not in hunting people. Loud activity or being cornered may make it charge; food tossed away from the workers or a clear escape path can prevent combat.
ScalingOptional encounter. A solo level 1 character should avoid fighting. If a fight is unavoidable, make the bear's approach visible and give the character room to retreat, climb onto a sturdy platform, or shut a barrier between them. The bear withdraws if it gets food and an escape route.
Cast
4Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver, Birch Hollow timber factor
WantsWants the missing camp crew found alive and needs evidence of who seized the camp before Birch Hollow's council acts.
“They have no right to keep those people penned up. Get them out, and bring back the camp ledger if you can.”
Tessa Rill
Ally, camp cook and survivor
WantsWants to protect the injured workers and get everyone out without provoking a fight.
“Don't rush the yard. There's a man with a crossbow, and he's frightened enough to use it.”
Harl Doss
Antagonist, leader of the occupying cutters
WantsWants to take valuable timber and equipment to satisfy his employer, but prefers intimidation to bloodshed.
“The camp owes us for the cart. We take the logs as payment and nobody else gets hurt.”
Orren Bale
Witness, injured camp sawyer
WantsWants the crew evacuated together and fears the occupants will abandon the badly injured sawyer.
“I can walk if you give me a pole. Don't leave the others in the bunkhouse.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A serviceable woodcutter's hatchet, if recovered from the camp
A coil of rope and a small field dressing kit supplied by Mara
On a win
The crew reaches Birch Hollow alive, with Orren's injury stabilized and the occupants no longer controlling X05.
Mara pays the agreed reward. If the ledger is recovered, the council can establish who ordered the seizure; if not, the workers' testimony still supports a complaint. The camp remains damaged, but the immediate danger is over.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The character fails to free the crew or persuade the occupants to release them.
- If the character leaves the camp occupied, the rival crew hauls away the best logs and equipment by dusk. Birch Hollow loses its lease dispute, and the workers remain captive until another rescue is organized.
- The character attempts a rushed evacuation without tending Orren's leg or securing a support pole.
- If the injured sawyer is moved without being stabilized, his injury worsens. He survives, but cannot work for weeks and the rescue takes longer, increasing the chance the occupants escape with the timber.
- The character uses lethal force when a nonlethal or negotiated resolution was available.
- If violence kills an occupant, Birch Hollow's council investigates the death. Mara still recognizes the rescue, but the timber dispute becomes harder to settle and the dead man's employer may seek repayment.
- The character corners or provokes the bear without protecting the workers.
- If the bear is driven into the camp or seriously wounded, it may maul a worker before escaping. The crew can still be rescued, but Tessa's trust is lost and the camp remains unsafe until the animal is tracked away.
Complications (d6)
- 1A rotten limb drops across the west skid road. It takes a few minutes to clear, and the noise alerts the nearest occupant unless the party pauses to work quietly.
- 2The black bear catches the scent of the workers' remaining food and approaches the bunkhouse. A tossed ration or a calm retreat can draw it away; attacking it risks injury and noise.
- 3A sudden spring shower turns the muddy yard slick. Anyone running or fighting there risks falling prone unless they slow down or choose firmer ground.
- 4One occupant recognizes a character from Birch Hollow and calls out, demanding to know whether the party has authority to interfere.
- 5A worker tries to slip away from the bunkhouse and is spotted. The party must intervene immediately or the occupant at the yard will move to recapture them.
- 6The injured sawyer's leg dressing has soaked through. Without a fresh binding and a short rest, moving him causes pain and slows the evacuation.
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