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The Quarter-Turn

Quests
5 scenes · about 12 hours · 2 encounters

The Quarter-Turn

At the end of the count, the Archipelago must decide what its warmth is for.

Read aloud

The Quarter-Turn has arrived, and the orders name the hour when the Glacial Absolute will draw the Warm Current dry. Anchor Terrace's harbor is crowded with warships, its seawall trembles beneath your feet, and the Unbanked Ember answers the bell with three short beats and one long.

Run the session

Scene
1/5
The Commodore's Reckoning
Objectives
0/4
Objectives
A complication

Cheat sheet

Objectives

  1. 1Win Vane's trust and open the Iron Guard Bastion and lifts.
  2. 2Recall the Nine's wrecks to the Terrace and secure their aid.
  3. 3Prepare the Terrace and coordinate its defenses before the Absolute arrives.
  4. 4Confront the Siphon's full intake and decide the future of the Warm Current.

The clock

The Count begins Act V at 4, or 5 if prior choices advanced it. It reaches 6 at the final mark, when the brass ring falls silent and the engine waits. Each remaining mark before six grants one preparation action: two at Count 4, one at Count 5, none at Count 6. Apply any additional marks earned through campaign events according to the established Count rules.

Scenes

  1. 0:00The Commodore's Reckoning
  2. 2:00A Terrace Made Ready
  3. 3:30The Recall of the Nine
  4. 6:00The Fleet at the Wall
  5. 8:00The Draw and the Last Beat

Cast

  • Vane Iron-KeelQuestgiver and political obstacle
  • Kele of Mark TwoWitness and ally
  • Bek TogrukAlly
  • Hjalmar Frost-VeinAntagonist

The hook

Set the scene

Read the hook as the party reaches the Terrace. Let the harbor's bell, coal smoke, and wet salt air establish the emergency. The pilot counting under her breath is Seli, tracking the rhythm. She can direct the party to Vane's reckoning, Kele's charts, or the preparations at the seawall. The Absolute arrives at the hour named in the orders, so make the deadline visible without preventing the players from choosing which preparation to pursue.

How High Commodore Vane Iron-Keel asks

Vane asks for an audience at the Iron Guard Bastion after the party reaches the Terrace.

Rumours

Roll a rumour

1“The new channel readings are withheld, though the public gauges insist the seawall's heat is steady.”
2“A reserve line beneath the Terrace diverts warmth toward a sealed military cargo chamber.”
3“The old wrecks at the Nine have held a defensive formation for years, and their drowned captains still wait for a recall.”
4“A salvage diver has gone missing near a thermocline that moves against the usual current.”
5“The bell has sounded in three short beats and one long, and some crews swear another note answers from far below.”
6“The Greatsword's four Cinders are warm even when the wind turns bitter.”

Scenes

about 12 hours

  1. 0:00

    120 min

    socialThe table is here

    1. The Commodore's Reckoning

    Iron Guard Bastion overlooking the western harbor, amid damp ledgers, iron shutters, and the low vibration of seawall pumps.

    Vane admits that the gauges conceal a failing seawall and a diverted reserve line. The group can present evidence, name the crews who were left below, negotiate with faction seals, interpret his fear, or appeal through the Ember. Four successes before three failures earns the Iron Guard asset and opens the lifts. Failure means Vane holds his post but gives no aid.

    NextWhen Vane opens the bastion doors, the lift chains groan into motion; beyond them, Kele is already spreading her salvage chart across a crate.

  2. 2:00

    90 min

    exploration

    2. A Terrace Made Ready

    The harbor approaches, forge sheds, chart rooms, and lift galleries of Anchor Terrace, where crews haul chain and patch basalt in the smell of hot pitch.

    The party can spend its remaining preparation actions securing assets. Each mark before the Count reaches six permits one preparation action: a day of work securing an asset through its stated requirement or a check plus a Favor. Fleet and Charts each provide one automatic Sea Battle success; the Seawall Forge reduces the reserve hazard; the Dissident Cell cancels one failure and removes one Quencher from Hjalmar's fight; Iron Guard cancels one failure and helps keep the lifts standing; the Recall supplies two automatic successes. Assets already earned remain in hand.

    NextAs the last preparations settle into place, the dock bells catch the count; Kele leads the party out toward the wrecks before the next note arrives.

  3. 3:30

    150 min

    skill

    3. The Recall of the Nine

    The Nine, a fifteen-mile basalt terrace of old-war wrecks caught in a defensive formation above a shifting thermocline.

    Complete three stages. First, find the recall wording in Kele's ledger with a Intelligence (Investigation) check. Second, cross the shifting warm-cold boundary with a check using Navigator's Tools; on failure, a character must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned for one round. Third, speak the recall to the dead captains with a Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) or Wisdom (Religion) check. Success releases the wrecks and earns two automatic Sea Battle successes.

    NextThe wrecks turn one by one, their hulls grinding through the water; their new course carries the party's attention back toward the harbor mouth.

  4. 6:00

    120 min

    skill

    4. The Fleet at the Wall

    The harbor wall at the hour named in the orders, as black sails emerge across dark water and the air fills with wet ash and shouted bearings.

    Run the Sea Battle as a group challenge: the defenders need five successes before three failures at . Each character takes one role per round: marshal the fleet with Intelligence using Navigator's Tools or Charisma (Persuasion); hold the line with Strength (Athletics) or Constitution (Concentration, a campaign-specific check); read the water with Wisdom (Perception or Survival); or rally the gunners with Charisma (Intimidation or Performance). Apply asset successes and failure cancellations. Five successes means the fleet breaks and removes one Colossus in the next fight. Three failures with three or four successes leaves the next fight unchanged. Three failures with two or fewer successes adds a Hearth-Quencher and cuts the lower lifts.

    NextWhen the fleet's fate is decided, the harbor shakes beneath a deeper impact from inside the seawall; the reserve doors buckle inward.

  5. 8:00

    240 min

    combat

    5. The Draw and the Last Beat

    First, the heat-fed reserve beneath the seawall; then the Long Draw, moored over the Warm Current, with its conduit running down toward Monolith Omega and the Anchor Stair above.

    Fight the Core-Swallower and its guards, while choosing whether to cap the vents or cut the reserve line. The creature heals 20 hit points whenever a character casts a fire spell or uses a Heat Point, as a campaign-specific interaction. Resolve the hazard and consequences, then follow the draw's conduit to the Long Draw. After Hjalmar is defeated, parleyed with, or bypassed, the party may climb the Anchor Stair. Present the three endings and their requirements clearly. Keep the Beat requires the Concordat clause and a willing keeper, then calls for group checks at : Intelligence (Arcana), Dexterity using Smith's Tools, Charisma (Performance), and a Constitution saving throw, each by a different character. Each failure gives the keeper one level of Exhaustion that persists while seated. Cut the Line requires the completed Siphon-Breaker Greatsword: the wielder makes a Constitution saving throw, taking force damage and being stunned for one round on a failure; two helpers each make a Strength (Athletics) check, with each failure adding one Drift and force damage to the wielder. Answer the Second Rhythm requires the Ember at Artifact and Heard Track at five or six; four characters each make a check using Performance, Arcana, Religion, or Insight. Each ticked Heard box grants advantage to one check, up to four. Failure produces a partial answer rather than preventing the choice.

    NextWhen the choice takes hold, the sound of the engine changes; carry the party's voices into the morning after and ask what each character chooses to carry.

Behind it

What people believe

At the Quarter-Turn, Grand Archon Hjalmar Frost-Vein intends to draw the Siphon's full intake from the Warm Current at Anchor Terrace.

Background

In 227 HC, the Quarter-Turn brings the party to Anchor Terrace, where the Warm Current meets the old engine's final count.

The stakes

If Hjalmar's draw completes unchecked, the Absolute takes the Warm Current's full intake at Anchor Terrace.

Encounters

2

  • The Seawall Reserve

    Combat

    A 100-by-60-foot basalt reserve hall with two vent mouths, a central reserve chamber, narrow doors to the lifts, and a heat-fed cargo line. Use 5-foot squares. The vents, doors, and central line create competing objectives beyond defeating the creatures.

    Foes

    • Core-Swallower, use the campaign sourcebook's CR 19 statistics

    • Two Vent-Glass Colossi, use the campaign sourcebook's CR 12 statistics

    ComplicationOverheated vents erupt on initiative count 20. Each creature within 20 feet of an active vent makes a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, taking 6d10 fire damage on a failure or half as much on a success. A creature can cap a vent with an action and a DC 22 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity check using Smith's Tools. Capping both ends this hazard. Cutting the reserve line, AC 18 and 100 hit points, halves the Core-Swallower's damage.

    ScalingFor three characters, remove one Colossus. For five, add one Hearth-Quencher. The Seawall Forge asset reduces the Overheated Reserve from Major to Minor, reducing its encounter budget as established by the campaign rules. If the Sea Battle is lost, add one Hearth-Quencher and cut the lower lifts. If the Sea Battle is won, remove one Colossus.

  • The Long Draw

    Combat

    The 100-by-50-foot deck of a moored draw-barge, with railings, a bow ramp, an Anchor Stair, two flanking positions, and the conduit at its center. Use 5-foot squares. A fall, forced movement, or climb toward the stair can change the fight's objective.

    Foes

    • Grand Archon Hjalmar Frost-Vein, use the campaign sourcebook's CR 22 statistics and the established Act V adjustments

    • Two Hearth-Quenchers, use the campaign sourcebook's CR 12 statistics

    ComplicationOn initiative count 20, the Draw pulls every creature within 60 feet of the conduit. Each makes a DC 23 Strength saving throw or is pulled 15 feet toward it and takes 6d8 cold damage. Hjalmar also uses his listed lair action at that count. The conduit is AC 20, has 200 hit points, and is immune to cold, poison, and psychic damage. Destroying it ends the Draw, but not the encounter.

    ScalingFor three characters, remove both Hearth-Quenchers. If the Dissident Cell asset is secured, remove one. For five characters, add one Hearth-Quencher. Each Pylon Down from Act IV reduces Hjalmar's starting Legendary Resistances by one, to a minimum of zero, and prevents him from using Seal the Variable for that many rounds. Hjalmar's sourcebook statistics and listed adjustments take precedence.

Cast

4

  • Vane Iron-Keel

    Questgiver and political obstacle

    WantsHigh Commodore Vane wants to protect the harbor and its people, but fears that exposing his decade-long deception will fracture the defense at the worst possible moment.

    “I kept the Terrace steady with a gauge I could not afford to read. Tell me you would have done otherwise.”

  • Kele of Mark Two

    Witness and ally

    WantsKele trusts documented evidence over promises and wants to recover a missing diver, even if doing so risks the salvage flotilla.

    “Write your claim down. Then tell me which diver you will bring back if the chart is wrong.”

  • Bek Togruk

    Ally

    WantsBek Togruk wants the seawall and lifts to survive the coming draw, and will lend the Magma-Forged crews only if their work is used to protect the lower Terrace.

    “The stones remember the order. They do not remember why anyone thought it was worth obeying.”

  • Hjalmar Frost-Vein

    Antagonist

    WantsGrand Archon Hjalmar Frost-Vein intends to complete the Siphon's intake and preserve the order he believes the Basin needs. Whether fear, conviction, or cruelty drives him remains for the table to decide.

    “The engine is not asking you to forgive it. It is waiting to learn what you will do.”

How it ends

Rewards

Experience: Award XP using the table's preferred level-20 advancement method. The listed encounter XP budgets are provided for encounter assessment; this finale need not grant a level.
Gold: No fixed coin reward. If the party requests payment, offer salvage shares, repair materials, or a negotiated treasury grant appropriate to the resources and political costs of the ending.
In the story: The outcome of the old engine, the factions' response, and the party's legacy become the campaign's epilogue. In Cut the Line, the Basin's glow dims over decades. In Keep the Beat, a new keeper carries the cost. In Answer the Second Rhythm, the Ember burns white and a distant note arrives.
Standing: Resolve Standing changes using the campaign ledger and the party's secured assets. Credit the party with the Iron Guard if they win Vane's reckoning, the Recall of the Nine if they complete it, and any other asset earned by prior Standing, delivered orders, favors, or preparation.

Items

  • The Unbanked Ember becomes an Artifact, The Unbanked Ember, Unbound, as described in the campaign appendix.

  • The Siphon-Breaker Greatsword remains with the party in Keep the Beat or Answer the Second Rhythm, or is left standing in the line in Cut the Line.

  • Award no additional permanent magic item unless one was promised by prior campaign canon.

On a win

The party reaches the Anchor terminus and makes a choice that changes how the Archipelago lives with its warmth.

What it leaves open

Ask each player what their character does the morning after, whom they tell, and what they carry forward as their Signature Relic: The Spark I Kept, The Hearth I Held, The Name I Lent, The Count I Heard, or The Debt I Owe.
Record how the Concordat, Ascendancy, Magma-Forged, and Dissident factions respond to the chosen ending and the party's actions.
If Hjalmar survives or reforms, leave his next action to the table. He may be defeated, transformed, imprisoned, or allowed to walk away.
For Answer the Second Rhythm, choose or roll one of the six aftermath images in the complications table's campaign notes, treating it as an open possibility rather than a fixed truth.

If it fails

The party fails to earn four successes before three failures in the Commodore's Reckoning.
Vane refuses to open the Iron Guard Bastion or release the lifts. The party may still secure other assets, but the lower lifts are vulnerable if the Sea Battle is lost.
The party fails any stage of the recall, or gives the dead captains wording that does not match Kele's ledger.
The Recall of the Nine is not secured. The wrecks remain in formation, and the Sea Battle loses the two automatic successes this asset would have provided.
The defense suffers three failures with two or fewer successes in the Sea Battle.
The Absolute's fleet breaches the harbor approach. Add a Hearth-Quencher to the Seawall Reserve encounter and cut the lower lifts.
The party retreats from the Seawall Reserve or cannot prevent the reserve line from feeding the Core-Swallower.
The Seawall Reserve's heat-fed creature remains an immediate danger to the lower Terrace. The party can leave it contained, cut the reserve line, or pursue the Long Draw without resolving it, with the resulting danger carried into the epilogue.
The party cannot separate Hjalmar from the siphon-core before leaving the Long Draw.
If Hjalmar's core remains tied to Omega, he reforms there in 1d10 days after being defeated. If the party chooses an ending without addressing him, resolve his fate according to that ending and the table's judgment.

Complications (d6)

  1. 1A pressure seam opens beneath the harbor stairs. The nearest lift lurches downward, and rescuers must spend an action or a successful DC 22 Strength (Athletics) check to secure its brake before it drops.
  2. 2A courier arrives with a forged order bearing a Concordat seal. A DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation) check identifies the false ink before the fleet is sent to the wrong channel.
  3. 3The thermocline shifts through the Nine during the recall. Each traveler must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or be disoriented, suffering the stunned condition until the end of their next turn.
  4. 4A vent plume scalds a route used by the Iron Guard. The party can redirect the guards with a DC 22 Wisdom (Survival) check or lose one automatic success in the Sea Battle.
  5. 5A battered salvage skiff carries word that a diver is still alive among the wrecks. Recovering the diver costs one preparation day unless the party immediately commits to the rescue.
  6. 6A low note sounds from below the current, out of time with the count. Anyone who has heard the second rhythm recognizes it; the sound does not reveal its source, but unsettles nearby crews until a character addresses their fear.

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