The Bell Beneath Bellwether
The Bell Beneath Bellwether
Read aloud
A bell rings once from the empty chapel, though its great bell has been silent for years. Sister Mara hurries into the village square and calls for anyone willing to retrieve the stolen Dawn Key from the old cistern beneath the chapel. She promises a modest purse and says the relic must be back before nightfall.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Find the route into the cistern.
- 2Retrieve the stolen Dawn Key.
- 3Restore the relic to its proper place.
- 4Uncover the cistern's warning.Optional
The clock
Nightfall, approximately six hours after the party accepts the job. The chapel intends to hold its annual vigil then. Treat the clock as pressure, not a hard fail state; each long delay or noisy setback advances the deadline.
Scenes
- 0:00The Bell in the Empty Tower
- 0:30The Newly Opened Passage
- 1:05Rats at the Broken Steps
- 1:45The Thief in the Alcove
- 2:20The Watcher and the Plinth
Cast
- Sister Mara VennQuestgiver and chapel keeper
- Tovin ReedAlly and local mapmaker
- Lysa QuillAntagonist and relic thief
The hook
Set the scene
Read the hook aloud in the village square. Sister Mara waits beside the chapel steps with a hand-drawn plan of the upper cistern. Tovin Reed offers to guide the party to the collapse, but warns that the lower passages are not on his map. The chapel door stands open, and a faint metallic note comes from below whenever the wind drops.
How Sister Mara Venn asks
Sister Mara approaches the party in the village square after the chapel bell sounds from the empty tower.
She offers a modest reward, asks that the key be returned intact, and provides a rough map to the collapsed cistern entrance.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
30 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Bell in the Empty Tower
Bellwether village square and the open chapel above it.
The party meets Sister Mara and Tovin, learns what was stolen, and chooses what to ask before setting out. Characters can inspect the chapel or question locals for rumors.
NextTovin leads the party along the hill path to the fresh collapse at the cistern entrance.
0:30
35 min
exploration
2. The Newly Opened Passage
A broken hillside passage descending beneath the chapel foundations.
The party navigates the collapse and finds signs that someone entered recently. A successful investigation or survival approach reveals Lysa's boot prints and a route around the unstable stones.
NextThe passage opens onto waterlogged stairs where rats have nested.
1:05
40 min
combat
3. Rats at the Broken Steps
The cistern's lower stairwell, where shallow water runs toward a central drain.
The party deals with the rats, crosses the flooded stairwell, and can examine scratched marks left by earlier visitors. Use the encounter as a brief threat, or allow the characters to distract or bypass the animals.
Rats at the Broken StepsNextBeyond the stairs, a dry ledge leads to a small room where a frightened voice answers the party's calls.
1:45
35 min
social
4. The Thief in the Alcove
A dry alcove beside a cracked cistern wall, with a narrow path leading deeper into the ruins.
Lysa reveals herself and explains that she took the key to sell it, then changed her mind after hearing the ruins respond. The party can bargain, reassure her, expose her lie, or try to take the key by force.
NextIf the key has not been recovered, Lysa flees toward the old reliquary chamber. If she agrees to cooperate, she leads the party there.
2:20
50 min
combat
5. The Watcher and the Plinth
A round stone chamber below the chapel, lit by faint glyphs around a central plinth.
The party reaches the reliquary, confronts its old guardian or finds a way to bypass it, and decides whether to return the key intact. The carvings suggest the chamber's purpose may be more than ceremonial.
The Watcher in the ReliquaryNextThe party can return to Sister Mara with the key, or remain to examine the sealed lower passage.
Behind it
What people believe
The Dawn Key, an old chapel relic, has been stolen from Bellwether Chapel.
Sister Mara Venn asks the party to find it in the cistern passages below the hill and return it before nightfall. Local mapmaker Tovin Reed can guide them to the entrance, where a recent collapse exposed passages that have been sealed for generations.
Background
The bell-metal reliquary known as the Dawn Key has been kept in the hilltop chapel of Bellwether for generations.
Locals say it was forged from the first bell in the valley and can calm the strange fog that sometimes gathers around the old roads. The chapel stands above a sealed cistern whose lower passages have recently become accessible after a hillside collapse.
The stakes
If the party does not recover and return the Dawn Key, the chapel's vigil proceeds without it, and the mysterious presence beneath the cistern begins to stir.
The immediate threat is contained by distance and stone, but strange sounds and fog may spread through the valley.
Encounters
2Rats at the Broken Steps
Combat
A flooded stairwell with knee-deep water, a central drain, and two raised stone platforms. The platforms provide dry footing but are separated by a short jump.
Foes
2 giant rats
ComplicationThe chamber's shallow water makes footing uncertain. A creature shoved or knocked prone may slide several feet toward the central drain. A character can use an action to wedge a loose plank across the drain and remove this hazard.
ScalingFor a party of 3 or fewer, use 1 giant rat. For a party of 5 or more, use 3 giant rats, but have one flee once the others are defeated. Avoid adding foes if the party has already spent significant resources.
The Watcher in the Reliquary
Combat
A compact round chamber with a waist-high plinth, four glowing wall glyphs, and cracked paving. The watcher can be lured around the plinth or separated from the exit by closing a stone screen.
Foes
1 animated armor
ComplicationThe lantern glyphs flare when anyone touches the plinth. Each round, one exposed creature must choose to shield their eyes, losing clear sight until the next turn, or keep looking and risk being dazzled at the GM's discretion. The glyphs can be covered, extinguished, or bypassed with a successful relevant skill check.
ScalingFor a party of 3 or fewer, the watcher begins damaged and stops fighting if reduced to half its remaining hit points. For a party of 5 or more, add a simple hazard such as a falling stone shutter rather than another creature. The watcher is a custom, low-threat construct; use an appropriate low-CR creature or simple custom statistics.
Cast
3Sister Mara Venn
QuestgiverQuestgiver and chapel keeper
WantsShe wants the relic returned before the village's annual night watch, and conceals how much she fears the chapel's old warnings.
“Bring back the Dawn Key, please. The whole village is listening for that bell, even if they do not know why.”
Tovin Reed
Ally and local mapmaker
WantsHe wants to help recover the relic and prove that his late mentor's maps were accurate. He knows a safe route through the cistern but has not explored its newly opened lower level.
“The stones are older than the chapel. If they start humming, do not answer them.”
Lysa Quill
Antagonist and relic thief
WantsShe stole the key to sell it and pay an old debt, but now believes it is the only thing keeping the cistern's presence contained.
“I took the key because the chapel was going to bury it again. I did not expect the dark to wake up.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A vial of holy water supplied by Sister Mara, if the party asks before entering the cistern.
Tovin's annotated cistern map, which marks the known safe route and one unexplored branch.
On a win
The party returns the Dawn Key intact, or restores it to the reliquary plinth.
Sister Mara pays the promised reward and the village holds its night watch in peace. If the characters uncovered the warning, they must decide whether to share it with the chapel keeper, keep it secret, or investigate the old records themselves.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The characters abandon the cistern, are forced out by danger, or lose the Dawn Key beyond recovery.
- If the party cannot recover the Dawn Key, the chapel remains without its relic and the village must organize a night watch. Sister Mara may offer a later expedition, while Lysa's debt collectors learn she has disappeared.
- The characters fail to persuade or catch Lysa before she leaves the ruins.
- If Lysa escapes with the key, she may return it later in exchange for protection or aid. The party loses the immediate reward, and the chapel's trust must be rebuilt.
- The party retrieves the Dawn Key but breaks its casing or removes its inner bell-stone.
- If the reliquary is damaged, the key can still be returned, but Sister Mara cannot use it in the upcoming vigil without repairs. The chapel's confidence in the party is reduced.
Complications (d6)
- 1A loose stone shelf collapses, blocking the shortest route. Clearing it takes 10 minutes, while squeezing through risks separating the party.
- 2A sudden surge fills the lower passage to knee height. Characters carrying unsecured gear must make a quick effort to recover one floating item before it drifts into a drain.
- 3A bell-like vibration draws a nearby cave predator. It arrives in 1d4 rounds unless the characters muffle the sound source or leave the area.
- 4Lysa's warning whistle echoes from the wrong direction, making it unclear whether she is ahead, behind, or trying to lure the party off the mapped route.
- 5A narrow ledge gives way under the first person across. That character can catch a handhold, but needs help or a successful climb to avoid dropping into the shallow cistern.
- 6A frightened bat swarm bursts from a ceiling crack. It obscures sight and forces a brief pause, giving Lysa time to change position if she is nearby.
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