The Unlisted Route
The Unlisted Route
Read aloud
A dead transit tower has begun broadcasting a route no surviving map records. The signal repeats at dusk, each time ending with the same words: “The shard is waiting.” Talla Venn will pay you to find the tower, trace the route, and learn what is waiting at its end.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Investigate the tower and secure a usable signal record.
- 2Trace the unlisted route to its destination.
- 3Meet the people the maps left out and determine their future.
- 4Protect the route key from exploitation.Optional
The clock
The tower broadcasts at dusk for three more nights before its unstable receiver burns out. The Cartographer in Glass is already closing in; each missed dusk gives them time to remove tower components or get ahead on the trail.
Scenes
- 0:00A Route Without a Map
- 0:35The Pale Reach
- 1:30The Dead Tower Wakes
- 2:40The Waystation That Faces Inward
- 3:25The Shard Missing From the Maps
Cast
- Talla VennQuestgiver
- Iven MarrAlly
- Sera QuillWitness
- The Cartographer in GlassAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
At dusk, the abandoned transit tower wakes with a burst of blue-white light. A cracked speaker coughs out a sequence of bearings, then a voice says, “The shard is waiting.” Talla Venn spreads a map across her desk and shows the party that the stated bearings point into blank paper. Iven Marr, standing by the door, quietly repeats the last phrase as if recognizing it.
How Talla Venn asks
Talla contacts the party through a survey lodge or local waystation.
She offers an advance for travel supplies and a larger payment for a verifiable route record, but stresses that she wants the party to report what they find before publishing anything.
Rumours
Scenes
about 5 hours0:00
35 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Route Without a Map
A cramped route archive in a waystation, its walls crowded with hand-copied maps and retired signal plates.
Talla presents the signal recording and an incomplete map. Iven identifies a repeated phrase, while the party can question them both, inspect the signal, and agree on what information they will bring back.
NextA fresh transmission arrives at dusk, adding a bearing that points toward the Pale Reach. The party can depart at first light.
0:35
55 min
exploration
2. The Pale Reach
A highland route of pale shale shelves, wind-carved pillars, and gullies where the broadcast echoes from several directions.
The party crosses the Pale Reach using broken mile markers and the tower's intermittent signal. They can find a discarded copper line, identify a sheltered path, and decide whether to aid scavengers stripping an old marker.
NextThe transmission becomes clear near a ravine, drawing the party to the dead tower above it.
1:30
70 min
skill
3. The Dead Tower Wakes
The leaning transit tower and its exposed antenna platform, with a sheltered service chamber beneath.
The tower's receiver activates as the party investigates. They must secure the signal record, climb or access the antenna platform, and contend with its hazards, scavengers, or signal warden.
The Dead Tower WakesNextThe receiver prints or projects a sequence of bearings that leads away from all marked roads. A second expedition is already following the signal.
2:40
45 min
social
4. The Waystation That Faces Inward
A low stone waystation tucked beneath a ridge, its old route board turned toward the wall.
At a remote waystation, Sera Quill recognizes the route signs and warns that the destination has reason to avoid discovery. The party can earn her guidance by sharing what they know and agreeing to let the residents choose whether contact continues.
NextSera provides a concealed approach through a narrow pass. As the party enters it, the Cartographer in Glass catches up.
3:25
80 min
exploration
5. The Shard Missing From the Maps
A hidden pass opens onto a sheltered basin with old transit markers, a functioning receiver, and the first homes of the Unlisted.
The Cartographer attempts to claim the route key while the party follows the last bearings. The encounter can become a fight, a bargain, or a race to the receiver. Beyond it, the party finds the Unlisted and must decide how to handle the discovery.
The Claim at the ReceiverNextResolve the party's decision with the Unlisted, then return to Talla, remain as guests, or pursue a new lead from the recovered route network.
Behind it
What people believe
A dead transit tower in Azarthelm's Pale Reach has begun broadcasting a route to a shard missing from every surviving map.
Archivist Talla Venn hires the party to investigate the tower, follow the signal, and discover what lies at the route's end. The route may open a valuable passage through dangerous country, but its destination and the intentions of others who hear the broadcast are unknown.
Background
Azarthelm's old transit network used tall signal towers to guide travelers between settlements, ruins, and waystations.
Most towers were dismantled or fell silent during the route wars. Surveyors now rely on hand-copied maps whose gaps are treated as permanent, especially in the storm-cut highlands known as the Pale Reach.
The stakes
If the party succeeds, the Unlisted can decide whether to reconnect with the wider world.
If the route is exposed without their consent, the settlement may face scavengers, opportunists, and unwanted claims. If the signal is destroyed, a rare chance to reopen contact and recover lost routes may disappear.
Encounters
2The Dead Tower Wakes
Combat or skill
A narrow iron stair spirals around a leaning transit tower above a shale ravine. Broken antenna arms, loose cables, and gaps in the platform create dangerous footing; the lower landing offers cover but little room to maneuver.
Foes
2 to 4 route scavengers, if the party escalates the confrontation
1 storm-fed signal warden, a custom construct that guards the tower's receiver
ComplicationThe tower's signal pulses through its exposed coils every few minutes. Anyone working near the upper platform must find cover, ground the coils, or time their movement between pulses.
ScalingFor a smaller or less combat-focused party, use two scavengers and make the warden a hazard that can be disabled with a successful technical or magical intervention. For a larger or more capable party, add scavengers and let the warden reposition across the tower's platforms.
The Claim at the Receiver
Social or combat
A sheltered service chamber under the tower, with a waist-high map table, a narrow door, a crawlspace to the cable trunk, and a receiver that must remain undisturbed to preserve the final transmission.
Foes
The Cartographer in Glass
1 or 2 hired trail guards
ComplicationThe Cartographer in Glass tries to take the receiver's route key during the confrontation. If the party pursues, the key may be damaged; if they hold position, the signal continues broadcasting.
ScalingThis can be resolved as a tense negotiation instead of a fight. For a smaller party, the Cartographer arrives alone and prioritizes escape. For a stronger party, add a guard and give the Cartographer a prepared retreat route through the rocks.
Cast
4Talla Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver, route archivist
WantsWants the broadcast investigated before rival surveyors or scavengers claim the discovery, and hopes to restore reliable travel through the Pale Reach.
“That signal is coming from a tower with no power, no staff, and no place on any current registry. I need someone to find out what it is calling us toward.”
Iven Marr
Ally, former tower runner
WantsWants to locate a vanished sibling who disappeared near the Pale Reach years ago. She recognizes a fragment of the broadcast as a phrase her sibling used, but has not told Talla.
“The tower never calls twice the same way. Listen long enough and it starts sounding like it knows what you lost.”
Sera Quill
Witness, keeper of an isolated waystation
WantsWants the hidden route kept off public charts until the fragile communities beyond it can decide whether they want renewed contact.
“A map is not a promise. It is a decision about what the next traveler is allowed to find.”
The Cartographer in Glass
Antagonist, a masked signal-seeker and opportunist
WantsWants the tower's route signal to draw a new expedition into the highlands, where she can recover the device that once regulated the network.
“You heard a road. I heard an invitation. Do not pretend those are the same thing.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A custom signal compass that points toward the last active transit receiver within a limited range
A weatherproof route folio containing the party's recovered bearings
Optional: a shardglass token offered by the Unlisted, recognized by old transit devices
On a win
The party reaches the Unlisted and returns with a reliable record of the route, while the settlement's future remains in the hands of its residents.
A full success preserves the route key and prevents outsiders from learning the settlement's location without consent. The party's choice to report, conceal, or share the discovery shapes their standing with Talla, Sera, and the Unlisted.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to protect or correctly interpret the receiver during the tower sequence.
- The route key is cracked and the broadcast ends. The party can still follow fragments of the signal by returning to the tower with specialist help, turning the next expedition into a longer search.
- The party loses the key during the confrontation or allows the Cartographer to leave with it.
- The Cartographer escapes with the route key and sells a partial account of the trail. Rival expeditions arrive later, making the destination harder to approach discreetly.
- The party broadcasts the destination openly or shares Sera's location without consent.
- The isolated waystation's location is exposed to outsiders before its residents can prepare. Sera refuses future aid, and the party must decide whether to protect the community or pursue the route immediately.
Complications (d6)
- 1A burst of the tower's signal scrambles the party's bearings for an hour. Until they reorient using a visible landmark, each attempt to navigate away from the tower risks returning them to the same ravine.
- 2A shelf of pale shale collapses across the trail, separating the party from one pack animal or a portion of their supplies. The lost gear can be recovered with a careful descent before the next storm front.
- 3The broadcast repeats a party member's name in a voice they recognize. Iven insists the signal is reacting to them, while Sera urges the group to cover the receiver and move on.
- 4A group of route scavengers mistakes the party for rivals and begins removing the tower's copper grounding lines. If not stopped or negotiated with, their work triggers a dangerous electrical discharge.
- 5A sudden highland squall fills the route markers with drifting grit. The party must shelter, find a protected landmark, or risk losing an hour and arriving at the tower after dark.
- 6Sera's waystation receives a second signal, apparently from the route's destination. Its short message names the waystation and asks whether the people there are ready to be found.
Media
0 imagesNo images yet.
Turn The Unlisted Route into a sheet
A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.
