The Last Safe Street
The Last Safe Street
Read aloud
A woman in a rain-soaked coat steps into your booth and sets a brass token beside your drinks. 'Mara Venn must reach the Hall of Petitions before tomorrow's hearing, and this token buys the Lantern Compact's full purse if she arrives safely. Someone has already searched her rooms. Will you take the job?'
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Escort Mara Venn safely through the city.
- 2Preserve the evidence of falsified evictions.
- 3Get Mara to the Hall of Petitions on time.
- 4Discover and contain the source of the ambushes.Optional
The clock
The hearing opens at dawn. Run three major route beats before the deadline; each prolonged detour, loud public confrontation, or failed route challenge costs one beat. After three beats are lost, the witness list closes, though the party can still pursue an alternate way to make the evidence public.
Scenes
- 0:00Terms in the Rain
- 0:35A City Full of Eyes
- 1:25The Leaking Safehouse
- 2:10The Last Gate
- 3:15Witness at Dawn
Cast
- Mara VennSpecial guest and witness
- Tomas RillQuestgiver and Lantern Compact organizer
- Inspector Selka DornAlly and city investigator
- Orren PikeAntagonist and hired fixer
The hook
Set the scene
The job begins in the back room of the Gilded Eel, where Tomas Rill introduces Mara Venn and explains that the Hall of Petitions is across three districts. Mara carries a sealed ledger and refuses to surrender it to anyone, including the party. Rain drums on the shutters as a tram bell rings outside, and Tomas warns that the main avenues are already watched.
How Tomas Rill asks
Tomas Rill arranges a discreet meeting in the Gilded Eel's back room.
He offers half the fee up front, the remainder upon safe arrival, and a brass token that will open several Compact safehouses.
Rumours
Scenes
about 4 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. Terms in the Rain
The shuttered back room of the Gilded Eel, overlooking a wet tram junction.
Meet the questgiver and witness, establish the deadline, agree on what counts as a safe arrival, and choose an initial route. Tomas gives the party the Compact token and half the fee.
NextA route choice leads into the market district, where the first sign of surveillance appears.
0:35
50 min
combat
2. A City Full of Eyes
A crowded market split by a tram crossing and lined with awnings, carts, and narrow service alleys.
Cross the night market while keeping Mara's identity and destination concealed. Let the party gather information, misdirect watchers, or protect civilians when the pursuit begins.
Market CutoffNextA captured lookout, a recovered note, or a witness's tip points toward the floodgate office as a temporary route shelter.
1:25
45 min
skill
3. The Leaking Safehouse
A shuttered apothecary, its upstairs safe room, and the wet service passage beneath the block.
Find a safe passage and determine whether the Compact has been compromised. The party can question a courier, inspect a signal point, or use the service tunnels without assistance.
NextEvidence of a coordinated pursuit brings the party to the floodgate office, where Pike attempts to intercept them.
2:10
65 min
combat
4. The Last Gate
The municipal floodgate office and its service bridge beneath the district.
Confront Pike, bargain for passage, or outmaneuver his crew at the floodgate office. Make a final choice about who holds the ledger before reaching the hearing.
The Floodgate OfficeNextThe party reaches the Hall of Petitions for the hearing and decides whether to trust Dorn with the ledger or present it publicly themselves.
3:15
40 min
social
5. Witness at Dawn
The rain-streaked steps and echoing public chambers of the Hall of Petitions.
Get Mara and the evidence into the hearing before the witness list closes. The party may need to argue for admission, expose interference, or persuade a skeptical clerk.
NextThe hearing's outcome establishes the party's reputation and opens a path into the wider political fallout.
Behind it
What people believe
The Lantern Compact has contracted the party to escort Mara Venn, a municipal records clerk, to a public hearing at the Hall of Petitions.
Mara carries evidence that may halt a wave of illegal evictions in the aqueduct district. Hired thugs are searching for her, and the party must protect her, preserve her evidence, and arrive before the hearing begins.
Background
In the rain-dark city of Veyruhn, the old aqueduct district is being cleared for redevelopment.
Evidence of bribery and illegal evictions is rumored to be hidden in sealed municipal records. The Lantern Compact, a neighborhood mutual-aid society, has hired discreet escorts to bring its invited witness to a public hearing before the records can be destroyed.
The stakes
If Mara and the ledger do not reach the hearing in time, the redevelopment syndicate can proceed with evictions and destroy the remaining records.
If the party succeeds carelessly, the evidence may still be compromised or the Compact's members may be exposed to retaliation.
Encounters
2Market Cutoff
Combat or chase
A covered night market of narrow aisles, awnings, stacked crates, food carts, and a tram crossing. Crowds provide cover but impede movement.
Foes
Syndicate Lookouts
Knifehand Enforcers
ComplicationA passing tram divides the group, while a market crowd makes ranged attacks and pursuit risky. A foe who escapes can alert the next team.
ScalingFor a smaller or less capable party, use fewer enforcers and have the lookouts prioritize escape. For a larger or more capable party, add a rooftop spotter and give the enforcers a clear route to surround the escort. Use system-appropriate statistics for level-appropriate humanoid opponents.
The Floodgate Office
Combat or negotiation
A disused municipal floodgate office with waist-high desks, metal stairs, a narrow service bridge, and a control wheel that can raise water in the lower passage.
Foes
Orren Pike
Syndicate Enforcers
ComplicationThe attackers want Mara alive and the ledger recovered. A nearby boiler vent can be opened to fill one lane with obscuring steam, but it also risks panic among bystanders.
ScalingFor a smaller or less capable party, Pike withdraws once the ledger is secured or his allies are defeated. For a larger or more capable party, add an enforcer and give Pike a prepared escape route through the flood-control tunnels. Use system-appropriate statistics for level-appropriate opponents.
Cast
4Mara Venn
Special guest and witness
WantsReach the hearing with the evidence intact and expose the officials who falsified eviction orders.
“I need to reach the Hall of Petitions alive, and I need my ledger to arrive with me.”
Tomas Rill
QuestgiverQuestgiver and Lantern Compact organizer
WantsProtect Mara and preserve the Compact's credibility without provoking a crackdown on its members.
“The Compact pays for a safe arrival, not a parade. Keep your heads down and your route flexible.”
Inspector Selka Dorn
Ally and city investigator
WantsKeep the hearing orderly while quietly ensuring the evidence implicates only people she can prosecute.
“I am not asking you to like the law. I am asking you not to turn this city into a battlefield.”
Orren Pike
Antagonist and hired fixer
WantsCapture Mara and recover the ledger for the redevelopment syndicate that pays him.
“The city has a thousand doors. You are guarding one person and one book. That is a very manageable problem.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A brass Compact token that grants discreet entry to friendly businesses and safehouses in the aqueduct district.
A custom, nonmagical lockbox with a hidden compartment, suitable for protecting documents.
On a win
Mara reaches the Hall of Petitions before the witness list closes, and the ledger is presented or its evidence is credibly authenticated.
The hearing does not instantly solve the district's problems, but it forces an inquiry, delays the evictions, and gives residents time to organize. The party's handling of the ledger determines whether all implicated officials face scrutiny or whether some evidence disappears.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- Mara is captured or cannot reach the Hall of Petitions before the hearing begins.
- The hearing proceeds without Mara, and the syndicate gains time to destroy other evidence. The party may still expose the conspiracy by recovering the ledger or persuading another witness to testify.
- The ledger is lost, damaged, or publicly discredited.
- The evidence remains usable, but the Compact loses public trust and future witnesses become harder to protect.
- The escort turns violent in public and causes serious civilian casualties or major property damage.
- The city imposes curfews and aggressive searches in the aqueduct district, making further investigation more dangerous.
Complications (d6)
- 1A tram conductor recognizes Mara from a broadsheet sketch and sends a signal to a nearby syndicate lookout.
- 2A street flood blocks the planned route; the party must take a raised walkway through a crowded night market.
- 3A frightened Compact courier insists that one of the party's proposed safehouses has been searched and refuses to name who tipped it off.
- 4A patrol mistakes the party for the assailants and demands that Mara come in for questioning.
- 5A dropped satchel spills counterfeit hearing notices, alerting nearby residents that the witness is traveling tonight.
- 6A hired lookout rings a handbell from a rooftop, warning the next ambush team that the escort has changed streets.
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