The Bell Beneath Saint Orra
The Bell Beneath Saint Orra
“Recover the sacred bell before the dead answer its call.”
— Hook · retrieve
“Grave lights have appeared along the old pilgrim road, and travelers vanish whenever a bell rings beneath the ruined monastery of Saint Orra. Sister Maelin offers a reward for retrieving the stolen Moonwell Bell before sunset, when she believes the dead will rise in numbers. The bell's last known location is somewhere beneath the monastery, beyond a sealed crypt door.”
— Hook · retrieve
The adventure begins in Harrowmere at a rain-darkened shrine to Saint Orra. Sister Maelin has placed a small map and a cracked bell fragment on the altar. She explains that Eira Thorn stole the Moonwell Bell during the previous night and fled toward the ruined monastery, but she avoids discussing why the bell was kept sealed or why the order has no surviving record of its original maker. Before the party leaves, Nella Harrow arrives in distress and reports hearing her missing brother calling from beneath the monastery.
Sister Maelin Voss
Sister Maelin approaches the party at the shrine of Saint Orra after hearing that they are capable travelers. She presents the job as a straightforward recovery mission, offers partial payment immediately, and insists that the bell must not be rung under any circumstances.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01The bell rings from inside the earth whenever someone dies on the old pilgrim road.
- 02Eira Thorn was once a novice of Saint Orra before she disappeared for three years.
- 03The monastery's monks never buried their dead in the local cemetery.
- 04A pilgrim who hears three bell tones will dream of a door beneath a black lake.
- 05The order keeps no portrait of Saint Orra, only a painting of a hooded figure holding a broken sword.
If the bell remains beneath the monastery after sunset, Orun will gain enough strength to command every restless dead spirit along the pilgrim road. Harrowmere may be overrun, and the Lantern Order's centuries-long concealment will become public.
Background Lore
For three centuries, the Moonwell Bell has hung in the sealed belfry of Saint Orra, a ruined monastery built above an underground spring. The bell's silver tone is said to calm restless spirits and keep the dead from crossing the old pilgrim road. Recently, grave lights have appeared around the monastery, and travelers vanish after hearing a bell ring beneath the earth.
The Moonwell Bell protected the pilgrim road from restless dead until Eira Thorn stole it from Saint Orra's monastery. Since then, grave lights and disappearances have spread across the countryside. The party must recover the bell before sunset and prevent whatever is calling from beneath the ruins from crossing into the living world.
