The Forge That Should Not Work
The Forge That Should Not Work
Read aloud
Vent-Smith Anchorage shines with orange ventlight beneath its pressure domes, but a red warning lamp over the east dome has stopped the shift. The seal failed twice, while the records say it passed. Overseer Hadrek Iron-Vein asks you to find which account is wrong before the station spends its emergency reserve or sends workers back beneath a failing dome.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Settle the east-dome dispute by establishing why the inspection tallies disagree and what repair the evidence supports.
- 2Reach the First Shelter and determine who is forging with heat drawn from the Anchorage.
- 3Stop the immediate threat and choose what evidence or people to bring back.
- 4Establish who commissioned the moved marker and preserve the testimony for the Wardens’ Moot.Optional
The clock
At the end of the Act, tick the Silence Clock once if the first quench-plate left the Anchorage. Tick it once more if the core is destroyed or removed without Sheshe in custody. If the Clock reaches 4 or more, Wardens’ marker crews are working at night in the Chimney Fields. The siphon-core adds 1 Drift on arrival; subtract 1 if it is destroyed. Apply the supplied Act wrap-up adjustments for the party’s choice.
Scenes
- 0:00The Second Latch
- 1:00A Fitting Missing
- 1:35The Marked Shelf
- 3:15The Cold Forge
- 5:15The Account Entered
Cast
- Hadrek Iron-VeinQuestgiver
- ShesheAlly
- Eskil DrayWitness
- Vanguard Siphon-WardenAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
Begin with a transit between pressure domes. A worker pauses, checks their partner’s latch with two fingers, and only then opens the next door. The metal is warm under the party’s gloves; through the dome wall, ventlight pulses orange against black chimneys. A shift bell rings, the workers stop, and a red lamp over the east dome continues to burn. Their guide says the seal has failed twice, though the records show a pass, and leads them toward Hadrek’s halted work table.
How Hadrek Iron-Vein asks
Hadrek halts work beneath the east dome and asks the party to examine the conflicting inspection records.
He offers access to the Anchorage’s route records and a guide if they can establish what the evidence says, not merely who to blame.
Rumours
Scenes
about 6 hours0:00
60 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Second Latch
Warm Bowl Hall, a heated records room whose walls display old pressure plates from past failures.
The party sees the two-finger latch check, the halted shift, and the warning lamp. Hadrek asks for an evidence-based ruling on the east dome before the emergency reserve is committed.
The Second Latch HearingNextWith the tallies compared and the dispute narrowed, Hadrek either opens the First Shelter records or sends the party to find proof along the marked shelf.
1:00
35 min
social
2. A Fitting Missing
A public worktable in Warm Bowl Hall, ringed by shift workers and watched by Hadrek.
The party can test its confidence against cold, disconnected parts. A successful repair race wins the crowd; careful observation reveals Orla hiding a missing fitting. The tallies show two dates, not a simple contest between a truthful record and a false one.
The Silent Repair RaceNextThe testimony points from a dome’s cold-stress cracks toward heat draining beneath the Anchorage, and Temba offers to lead the party out along the shelf.
1:35
100 min
exploration
3. The Marked Shelf
The Cleared Shelf, eleven miles along an edge at about 800 feet depth, where pressure, vent-grit, and exposed shelf hazards make the route dangerous.
Follow the founders’ cut road, identify the displaced marker, cross vent-grit by reading its bare-stone channels, and reach the First Shelter’s Quiet Door. The tapped reservoir hums half a beat after the distant bell if the party stops to listen.
NextFrom a gallery above the Quiet Door, the party can see the old forge, the stolen core, and Sheshe at work before the retrieval team closes in.
3:15
120 min
combat
4. The Cold Forge
The First Shelter’s vaulted stone forge, with pillars, a raised gallery, a control rail, anvil, core, and plate rack.
The party sees the siphon-core bolted into the founders’ hearth, Sheshe at the anvil, and a rack of quench-plates. A Vanguard retrieval team arrives to take the core and engineer, then suppress witnesses.
The Cold ForgeNextAs the core’s pulse fades or the surviving machine is carried away, the party gathers Sheshe’s account and turns back toward the Anchorage to choose what the station should know.
5:15
45 min
social
5. The Account Entered
Warm Bowl Hall, where the shift has resumed only in areas Hadrek considers safe.
Hadrek hears the party’s account. Sheshe can explain the plates, while Dray can confess to cutting the marker if the party protected him or brings evidence that draws him out. If the party has Oskeld’s iron ring, Dray recognizes it as his brother Tam’s.
NextHadrek seals the records for transport, then asks the party to carry Dray’s testimony toward the Wardens’ Moot as Temba prepares the route.
Behind it
What people believe
Vent-Smith Anchorage’s east dome has failed two inspections, yet its records show a pass.
At the same time, a thermal pulse has shifted a route marker toward a dangerous but rich chimney, and the marker bears a stamp made at the Anchorage. Overseer Hadrek Iron-Vein needs the party to reconcile the inspection records, trace the changed route, and discover what is drawing heat from the station before the reserve is spent or more workers are put at risk.
Background
Vent-Smith Anchorage is a pressure-sealed extraction station on the edge of the Cleared Shelf.
Its workers survive by treating procedure as mutual care: before each transit, one worker checks a partner’s second latch. Now the east dome’s seal has failed twice, though its records show a pass, and a thermal pulse has shifted the safest route toward the richest chimney. The dispute over whether to replace or patch the seal risks consuming the station’s emergency reserve.
The stakes
If the siphon-core continues drawing heat, the east dome’s seal and the Anchorage’s vent system remain under growing strain.
Spending the reserve on a replacement seal may deprive the rescue cradle of support; patching without finding the cold source leaves the underlying fault in place. The party’s choices also determine who holds the core, who can testify, and which factions learn of the hidden forge.
Encounters
3The Silent Repair Race
Social
Warm Bowl Hall, a heated records chamber with a public worktable and old pressure plates mounted on the walls.
ComplicationOptional social challenge before the hearing: one party member can attempt a DC 16 Dexterity check using Smith’s Tools in a silent repair race. Success wins the crowd’s confidence. A DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check notices Sefta watching Orla, who has concealed a missing fitting.
ScalingOptional. The race is a spotlight and evidence opportunity, not a combat. Adjust the DC to suit the group’s capabilities.
The Second Latch Hearing
Social
Warm Bowl Hall, where Hadrek presides over the worktable, shift board, and conflicting inspection tallies.
ComplicationThe hearing requires 4 successes before 3 failures. Each character can use each approach only once. On three failures, Hadrek adjourns and withholds the First Shelter records until the party brings proof. Intimidating Hadrek succeeds but lowers his trust.
ScalingFor the hearing, use the supplied DCs: Investigation 17, Insight 16, Smith’s Tools, Tinker’s Tools, or Arcana 16, Persuasion 16, Perception 17, or Intimidation 18. A Thermalist can read the heat flow without a check.
The Cold Forge
Combat
A 60-by-40-foot vaulted founders’ forge with a 30-foot ceiling, an upper gallery 20 feet above the floor, pillars providing full cover, a central bolted siphon-core, a control rail, an anvil, and a rack of quench-plates. Vent-grit and active vents make nearby approaches hazardous.
Foes
Hearth-Quencher
Vanguard Siphon-Warden
3 Void-Ice Legionnaires
Core Surge, major hazard
ComplicationOn initiative count 20, the core vents: creatures within 15 feet make a DC 16 Dexterity save, taking 4d6 fire damage on a failure, or half on a success. The Warden can aim the vent as a 30-foot line, 10 feet wide. Creatures ending their turn within 10 feet of the core take 1d6 cold damage; the Hearth-Quencher heals 10 hit points whenever a creature takes this damage. A character at the rail can shut down the core with an action and a DC 17 Arcana or Tinker’s Tools check after removing the Warden. The rail can instead be smashed, AC 15, 20 hit points. The core has AC 18, 90 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
ScalingFor four level-11 characters, use the encounter as written, approximately 16,900 XP in the supplied material. For four level-12 characters, it is a moderate-to-high challenge. For three characters, remove two Legionnaires and reduce Core Surge damage to 3d6. For five characters, add one Legionnaire and let the Warden aim the Surge each round. For a stronger level-12 challenge, add a second Siphon-Warden. At the Quiet Door, a successful group Stealth check means sentries are unaware and the party can scout from the gallery; on failure, Legionnaires begin in position.
Cast
4Hadrek Iron-Vein
QuestgiverQuestgiver
WantsOverseer of the Anchorage, Hadrek wants a reliable repair and a truthful account of the failing dome. He treats disputes as engineering failures and prioritizes life support.
“If the latch holds, it holds. If it does not, I want to know which of you lied to me and why.”
Sheshe
Ally
WantsSheshe built quench-plates for a siphon operation and deserted when she realized the work was cooling more than a forge. She wants the plates kept out of the wrong hands and will not fight.
“I was told the plates were for a calm seam. Then I counted what the seam was calming, and it wasn't the seam.”
Eskil Dray
Witness
WantsMarker-smith Eskil Dray cut a diverted route marker on commission. He is ashamed of his part and fears what the marker has put at risk.
“I cut the stone where I was told. I did not ask where it was going. That is the whole of my crime, and it is enough.”
Vanguard Siphon-Warden
Antagonist
WantsThe Vanguard retrieval leader has orders to recover the siphon-core and Sheshe, in that order, and suppress evidence of the hidden forge.
“The core is Navy property. The engineer is a retrieval priority. Leave no witness who can put the two together.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A Pressure-Sealed Diving Suit, rare, from Hadrek’s stores if the party has Crews Standing 3 or higher.
A Navy seal if the Siphon-Warden is captured alive.
The siphon-core may be taken as a tradeable core if shut down and moved with 400 pounds of lifting capacity or a suitable spell.
On a win
The party exposes the forged heat source, decides the fate of the siphon-core, and gives Hadrek enough evidence to act on the east dome.
Success does not require a single choice: destroying the core cools the immediate danger but risks an explosion; taking it preserves a tradeable device and draws Vanguard pursuit; leaving it running while protecting Sheshe or Dray preserves people and testimony while the station remains under pressure. Hadrek records the party’s choice and asks them to carry what they learned toward Crystal Canyon Rim.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to earn four successes before three failures in the hearing.
- Hadrek adjourns the hearing and keeps the First Shelter records closed. The party must investigate the route and bring physical proof before he will authorize access.
- The party skips the hearing or misreads the route markers.
- The party reaches the forge through a longer route, adding one stage to the shelf journey. A failed approach to the moved marker can lead them into the vent-grit early.
- The party skips or loses the Cold Forge confrontation.
- The Vanguard retrieves Sheshe and the Silence Clock advances by one. The station remains exposed to the siphon’s cooling effect.
- The party attempts to remove or destroy the core without first considering its operating state.
- If the core is taken while active, the Drift remains elevated and the Vanguard pursues whoever carries it. Destroying it causes a 20-foot-radius explosion for 6d6 fire damage, DC 16 Dexterity save for half.
Complications (d6)
- 1A pressure-door sticks during a shift change. Until workers release its manual catch, anyone crossing must make a DC 14 Strength check or lose time while the door cycles.
- 2A vent plume erupts beside the route. Each creature within 10 feet of the vent mouth takes 2d6 fire damage at the start of its turn; a DC 14 Dexterity save halves the damage.
- 3A Shelf Watch worker recognizes the party’s pressure gear as borrowed and demands that they check a partner’s latch before being allowed through the next dome.
- 4The moved marker sends the party onto the vent-grit field. The next route check is made with disadvantage unless someone spots the drag marks.
- 5Kip, a Joint Ledger broker, publicly promises the station reserve to a replacement seal. Hadrek will not authorize a patch until the party addresses the promise.
- 6The siphon-core’s pulse chills a nearby metal fitting. A character touching it without protection must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or drop what they are holding.
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