I Shot the Sheriff

The party leaves the Friendly Arm for Beregost and rides straight into a roadside fight that is not what it seems. A bad call, a good call, or a cautious one can all lead to the same hard truth: someone inside Beregost is feeding the Circle the exact shipment information it needs to bleed the town dry.

A Four-Hour Adventure for Tier 2 Characters. Optimized for APL 5.

Adventure Background

The party leaves the Friendly Arm after the events of the previous adventure, with good reason to want ordinary road, ordinary weather, and ordinary trouble. The Coast Way south from the Friendly Arm to Beregost is busy enough to promise all three. Carts roll in both directions. Teamsters trade curses with drovers. Temple pilgrims, peddlers, and hired blades share the same dust. The road feels watched by use and habit. That sense of safety has started to crack.

For tendays, merchants leaving Beregost have suffered a string of thefts that look too precise to be chance. The stolen cargo is not grain, lamp oil, or common tools. The thieves choose rare ore, worked ingots, armor fittings, sword blanks, finished mail, and other costly goods tied to the town's forges. Again and again, the losses point back to the smithies that help keep Beregost wealthy, with no name carrying more weight than Taerom “Thunderhammer” Fuiruim. Carts vanish for a night, then turn up empty. Teamsters stagger back with bruises and thin stories. Dead guards are rare. Missing cargo is not.

That pattern matters. Beregost is no walled city with deep granaries and idle coin to burn. It is an open town that lives by traffic, contracts, workshops, and trust. Merchants stop there, bargain there, repair there, and move on. Kelddath Ormlyr, governor of Beregost and High Priest of Lathander, knows the town's strength lies in that openness. The five-member council sees the danger from another angle. If caravans think the road south of the Friendly Arm has gone bad, they will bypass Beregost, hire heavier escorts, or choose other markets. A town built to welcome trade can be strangled without a siege if enough merchants decide to stop coming.

The thieves behind those losses call themselves the Circle.

The Circle is not a loose pack of hedge brigands living meal to meal. It is a disciplined bandit ring built for selective theft. Its members track shipments, mark drivers, buy information, and strike where they can take the richest goods with the least bloodshed. That last point is not mercy. It is policy. A murdered caravan brings soldiers, vengeance, and attention. A robbed merchant brings fear, confusion, and argument. The Circle prefers survivors who can spread the word that the road is no longer safe.

The Circle still uses the ruins of Ulcaster's School as one of its safe routes and rumor shields, though that place does not need to be reached in this adventure. Ghost stories around the hill serve the gang well. Lookouts use painted lanterns, hidden pipes, ghost sound, silent image, smoke pots, and small alchemical flashes to mimic hauntings. A shepherd who sees blue fire in a window will not come closer. A nervous patrol that hears whispering below a broken stair will report a curse and ride home. Fear does most of the work before steel ever clears a scabbard.

The gang's leader calls himself the False Student. To some he is a curious scholar cataloging old ruins. To others he is a fence, a buyer, or a quiet man with coin and careful questions. In truth, Mordas is a Zhentarim agent with enough magic to support the lie and enough discipline to profit from it. He studies caravan schedules, learns which wagons carry Beregost steel worth stealing, and passes the best goods into Black Network channels. He does not need to hold Beregost to wound it. He only needs to make its trade unreliable and profitable to bleed.

Mordas is careful. He does not ride with the men who ambush wagons. He does not show his face at every meeting. He works through cutouts, stolen papers, and small crews who know only the next hand in the chain. His most useful asset near Beregost is not a roadside captain or hill sentry. It is a man inside the town.

That man appears to be Seldran Voss, a thin, silver-templed former Zhentarim factor who owns a respectable property on Beregost's north side. In truth, Voss is a rakshasa who has maintained this mortal guise for years, using old tradecraft, infernal debt, and cultivated respectability to hide what he is. Years ago, Seldran lost favor, standing, and protection inside the Black Network without losing access to every contact route, dead drop, code phrase, or clerk's habit he had already learned. He has spent years passing as a faded factor, landlord, and occasional broker. The town sees him as one more guarded trader with a larger house than his current business seems to justify. Mordas sees something better: a leak already built into Beregost's commercial life.

Voss no longer commands Zhentarim resources in the open, but he still possesses fragments of an older information web that no one fully tore out. His rakshasa nature makes patience, deception, and long-lived identities natural tools rather than desperate improvisations. He buys copied manifests, flatters pages, hires scribes, pays stable boys, and recovers details from trade records that should have gone cold years ago. He then feeds shipment times, wagon marks, and cargo quality to the Circle through coded notes and hired couriers. He is too useful for Mordas to waste and too cautious to put himself on the road.

That choice shapes this adventure. The party can uncover Mordas's name, methods, and one active intelligence source inside Beregost. They can expose the leak, raid Seldran's property, and seize proof that the Circle's thefts depend on inside information. They should not get a clean shot at Mordas yet. He is the hand behind the line, not the first sword across it.

The law in Beregost has not been idle. The town's constables have chased rumors, questioned teamsters, checked manifests, and followed tracks where they could. Their best lead comes from a stolen wagon carrying forged papers and a portion of the very goods the town has been missing. A crew tied to the Circle is trying to move that load north along the Coast Way under the cover of a false merchant run. has taken a small mounted detail out of Beregost to intercept the wagon before it can slip away to a receiving point before dawn.

That is where the party enters the matter.

On the road south, they come upon a cart in distress and armed riders pressing in on it. The cart crew shouts for aid. The pursuers look rough, dusty, and violent. The easy answer is that the cart is under attack by bandits. The truth runs the other way. The wagon carries stolen goods. Its crew works for the Circle. The attackers are Beregost constables trying to reclaim the cargo and arrest the thieves before they vanish into the countryside.

Whatever the party does next will shape the rest of the adventure. If they leap to the cart's defense, one or more constables can escape and carry word ahead. If they spot the truth and back the law, Beregost will hear of it before they reach the gates. If they force the matter still and ask the right questions, they may walk into town with both sides angry and the facts in hand. No path blocks the adventure. Each path changes how the town first sees them and how much trust they must earn before anyone shares what little Beregost knows.

Branch convergence. If the party supports Dain Harrow and the constables, the recovered cargo and testimony point toward Seldran Voss. If the party supports the Circle, kills or escapes the constables, and warns Voss, Ormlyr and Vestra force them back into the same investigation. Both paths lead through Beregost, the surviving evidence network, and a confrontation at Voss House.

Under that public confusion sits the real problem. The Circle has already built a working theft route between Beregost's workshops, copied trade records, and covert couriers moving in and out of town. If that route stays open, the raids will continue. If the party follows the signs, they can expose the leak inside Beregost, recover stolen records and correspondence, and gather the first solid proof that Mordas is more than a rumor told by frightened merchants.

DM Truth: Voss and Vestra

Seldran Voss is a rakshasa. The thin, silver-templed older merchant the town knows is a carefully maintained mortal illusion. Present him in that guise in every earlier scene. His rakshasa form appears only once the final confrontation inside Voss House begins, whether he drops the illusion himself, battle breaks it, or Magister Vestra invokes his true name.

Magister Vestra is an erinyes. Her human magistrate body is an avatar used to operate openly in Beregost. She is pursuing both Voss and Mordas. Her immediate infernal mandate is to take Voss alive and return him to the Hells under formal remand for breach of compact. Simply killing Voss on the Material Plane sends the problem back toward Hell without putting him in Vestra's custody.

Vestra also wants Mordas captured. His use of Voss's network and his search for a Demonshield make him part of the same infernal case, even though Beregost sees only the criminal conspiracy.

Overview

I Shot the Sheriff has a call to adventure, four primary parts, and an epilogue.

Call to Adventure: Southbound Trouble (20-30 minutes)

Features: travel, continuity, warning, setup

The party leaves the Friendly Arm and heads south for Beregost after the events of the previous adventure. Travelers on the Coast Way speak of wagon raids, stolen forge-work, and a bandit ring bold enough to strike close to town. The road remains crowded and useful, which makes the coming fight easier to misread. By the time the party sees dust rising ahead and hears men shouting at a wagon off the road, they have enough context to know trouble is real, though not enough to know who started it.

Part 1: The Roadside Arrest (45 minutes)

Features: mistaken identity, combat or standoff, clue discovery, branching consequence

The party finds a wagon in the ditch with armed riders closing in. The crew on the wagon begs for rescue. The pursuers shout for surrender and call the cargo stolen property of Beregost merchants. This scene should play fair. Sharp-eyed characters can spot badges, broken merchant seals, and behavior that does not fit honest teamsters. A fast decision can turn the party into the thieves' rescuers, the law's unexpected allies, or the only people trying to stop both sides from making the situation worse. Whatever the result, the party comes away with names, papers, cargo marks, or witnesses that tie the thefts to Beregost and to a larger organization.

Part 2: Beregost Takes Notice (45 minutes)

Features: roleplay, investigation, social fallout, town tension

The party reaches Beregost with a reputation already running ahead of them. At Feldpost's Inn, in the streets, or at the Song of the Morning, they meet the people carrying the cost of the raids. Dain Harrow, angry merchants, worried smiths, and Kelddath Ormlyr all have reasons to hear the party out, watch them closely, or use them. This section should show Beregost as open, prosperous, and under strain. The party learns that the stolen goods are part of a sustained campaign against the town's trade. Witness statements, seized papers, and town rumor point toward an inside accomplice with access to shipment information and a north-side property large enough to hide records, couriers, and stolen samples.

Part 3: The Northside Leak (45-60 minutes)

Features: surveillance, investigation, infiltration, urban tension

The party follows Beregost's paper trail into its own north side. A respectable house, old business contacts, errand boys, copied manifests, and careful couriers all point toward a single owner: Seldran Voss, an exiled Zhentarim factor who never lost every thread of the network he once served. The party must watch the property, question the right people, and breach the house or its outbuildings without letting the leak vanish into the dark.

Part 4: The Exile's House (45-60 minutes)

Features: tactical combat, house raid, evidence recovery, partial victory

At Seldran Voss's north-side property, the party strikes the Circle's intelligence arm inside Beregost. They find copied manifests, coded ledgers, dead-drop schedules, courier gear, and a small but dangerous staff of hired guards and loyal agents. This is not Mordas's full stronghold and not his final stand. He stays offstage, represented through letters, code marks, paid intermediaries, and a command structure built to survive one exposed asset. The climax should give the party a hard fight against Seldran's household, a chance to seize proof, and a clear sense that Mordas still sits farther up the chain.

Epilogue: Names in the Ledger (10-15 minutes)

Features: aftermath, reward, judgment, sequel hook

The party returns to Beregost with prisoners, bodies, ledgers, copied manifests, or some mix of the three. The town judges them first by what happened on the road and next by what they brought back from Seldran Voss's property. Dain Harrow and Kelddath Ormlyr can reward success, weigh blame, and decide what news the town can bear. The most important reward may be information. Papers taken from the leak can name Mordas, sketch his methods, reveal old Zhentarim channels still in use, and hint at downstream ties to places like Ulcaster's School. The party wins a real victory here, though not the whole war.

Adventure Hooks

Use one or more of the following hooks to begin the adventure.

The party leaves the Friendly Arm after the previous adventure and takes the Coast Way south toward Beregost. They want a safer road, a hot meal, and a quiet bed in town.

Before the party departs, a teamster or Friendly Arm guard warns them that wagon raids near Beregost have grown sharper and stranger. The thieves do not strip every cart they find. They pick their targets like men who know the cargo in advance.

Quentin Lorekeeper suggests that the party keep their eyes open on the road to Beregost. Recent thefts there feel planned, and Quentin distrusts patterns that tidy.

A trader at the Friendly Arm curses the losses near Beregost and says someone is stealing smith-work meant for the southern markets. If the party is bound that way, the merchant asks them to keep watch for trouble on the road.

Call to Adventure: Southbound Trouble

Estimated Duration: 20-30 minutes.

This opening puts the party back on the Coast Way, shows the road's present mood, and leads them into the mistaken-identity clash that drives the rest of the module.

Story Objectives

• Reconnect the party to the Friendly Arm after the last adventure.
• Frame the road south as busy, useful, and less safe than it should be.
• Establish that the raids near Beregost are selective and organized.
• Lead the party into the wagon encounter with fair warning and incomplete facts.

Departure from the Friendly Arm

The party leaves the Friendly Arm in daylight. The inn is calmer than it was during the fire, though repairs, soot, and tired staff still show the cost of the last adventure. This scene should feel like a breath out after strain, not a fresh crisis.

If Bentley Mirrorshade appears, he keeps the farewell short. He has an inn to repair and no wish to stand in the road talking after what just happened under his roof.

Possible lines for Bentley:

• "Beregost's still open, last I heard. That counts as good news these days."
• "Road south has teeth again. Keep your eyes up."
• "If Quentin told you the next stop would be quiet, he lied."

If Quentin appears before the party departs, he should sound curious and mildly distracted rather than urgent. He suspects the road trouble matters, though he cannot yet prove how.

Possible lines for Quentin:

• "Beregost has become too interesting for my taste."
• "Rare goods do not vanish by accident this many times."
• "If someone is choosing cargo instead of victims, that someone is thinking ahead."

The Road South

The Coast Way between the Friendly Arm and Beregost should feel active enough that the party does not expect a trap at every bend. Carts pass in both directions. Pilgrims keep to the shoulder. Drovers argue with mules. Hoofprints, wagon ruts, and old camp ash mark the roadside. Use passing traffic to sell the road as lived-in and worth protecting.

Along the way, travelers can share a few short rumors:

• Smiths in Beregost are losing worked metal, not common freight.
• Teamsters say the thieves strike fast, bind who they must, and vanish with the best cargo.
• One rider claims the bandits have friends in town.
• Another swears someone on Beregost's north side always seems to know which wagons are worth robbing before they clear the town.

No one the party meets knows the full truth. Each rumor should give one useful angle without solving the problem too early.

First Signs of Trouble

As the party nears the site of the roadside clash, start feeding them details that point in two directions at once.

• Fresh wagon tracks cut hard off the road.
• One horse lies dead or lamed near the ditch.
• Voices ahead shout over the rattle of wheels and the snap of harness leather.
• Someone cries out for help.

This is the moment to frame the coming mistake. The party should have just enough time to draw weapons, ready spells, or rush forward before they know who is right.

Running the Setup Fairly

The roadside scene works only if the party has a real chance to read it correctly.

Place fair clues in sight before initiative starts or before the first hard decision:

• The "brigands" wear travel-stained tabards and carry shields marked with Beregost's device under mud and blood.
• The wagon crew looks too well armed for simple haulers.
• One pursuer shouts, "Stand down in the name of Beregost."
• A broken crate near the wagon shows fine forge-work, not farm tools or grain.
• The driver calls for help faster than he calls for mercy.

The party can still make the wrong call. They should never feel tricked by hidden information if they do.

Transition to Part 1

Read the following when the party reaches sight of the fight:

Read AloudCopy

The road bends around a low rise, and the quiet breaks all at once.

A wagon has gone half over into the ditch, one wheel buried deep in torn mud, the whole frame leaning hard enough that it looks ready to spill. A loose tarp lashes in the wind, and something metallic glints beneath it among shattered boards and split crates. One of the horses screams and stamps. Men are shouting over it, but from here the words come in pieces, swallowed by dust and distance.

Three riders bear down from the road at a hard pace while two more figures push in on foot through the brush. Steel flashes. A man holding the reins from the wagon bench is waving one arm wildly and yelling for aid, "help!". The driver looks desperate.

Up the road, you hear another voice answer from the road, sharp and commanding, but lost under the rattle of harness and the panicked snort of horses.

Then the wind shifts just enough to carry a clearer shout: “Hold where you are! Drop steel and stand off the cart!”

From here, move straight into Part 1: The Roadside Arrest.

Integrated Supplement · P06A

Wanted Dead or Alive: Campaign Continuity

This edition incorporates the consequence track used when the party sided with the Circle at the roadside, killed or escaped Beregost constables, warned Seldran Voss, and then evaded the town's attempt to take them into custody. From that point forward, Voss is already packing his operation and the party works under Captain Ormlyr and Magister Vestra to recover whatever proof has not yet left Beregost.

Adventure Background

The roadside sequence ended in blood. The party sided with Tessa Vale, killed Chief Constable Dain Harrow, burned and buried the bodies of his deputies, accepted Tessa's signet ring, and carried that ring straight to Seldran Voss. Voss understood the visit at once. Tessa's ring meant the party had touched the Circle's work, knew enough to be useful or dangerous, and might have already left bodies behind.

Voss expelled the party from his house and acted before sunset. Servants moved ledgers, messengers changed routes, and sealed crates left by the rear yard under tarps. His household destroyed the most obvious records, scrubbed the carriage shed, shifted coin to hidden buyers, and sent word to Mordas that the Beregost leak had been exposed by amateurs.

The party then tried to move the town's law against Voss by talking to off-duty constables at Feldpost's Inn. Those constables knew Voss as a wealthy local merchant, not as a Circle asset. The arrest turned into a street fight. Three more officers died. Three more were left near death. Beregost's constabulary broke in a single day.

Kelddath Ormlyr, governor of Beregost and High Priest of Lathander, has taken the captain's chain himself until the town can appoint a successor. In public, he calls himself Captain Ormlyr to make clear that someone still commands the law. In private, he knows the title is a bandage over an open wound.

Captain Ormlyr does not trust the party. He sees them as useful fools who made the Circle panic, forced Voss into motion, and spent half the night proving they can survive fights that killed better men. The party has drawn too much attention to be hidden and done too much damage to be excused. That makes them expendable, visible, and useful.

Ormlyr already suspected Voss before the bloodshed. Dain had warrants, partial ciphers, witness reports, copied manifests, and a growing pattern that pointed toward Voss House. Dain lacked proof strong enough to raid a respected merchant's home without breaking Beregost's civic order. The party ruined the quiet path, but their mistake caused Voss to run. Now the town can follow what Voss tried to save.

Ormlyr offers the party one chance to make right. They will help him recover what remains of Voss's records, identify the Circle's couriers, and bring back proof that Voss fed Beregost's trade routes to the Circle. Refusal means chains, trial, and a town hungry for blame.

Ormlyr is not the only one watching. A woman from Baldur's Gate calling herself Magister Vestra arrives with sealed authority, cold patience, and a private interest in Voss. Captain Ormlyr acts under her sealed cross-jurisdiction writ for the Voss investigation while retaining civic command in Beregost. She appears human, wearing the black and red trim of a visiting magistrate, but this is only an avatar. Vestra is an erinyes with an infernal arrest claim against Voss. Voss is himself a rakshasa, living behind the face of a thin older merchant, and his breach of an old compact gives Vestra authority to return him to the Hells in chains. She wants Mordas captured as well for knowingly exploiting Voss's debt network and financing the Demonshield search.

Vestra does not reveal her true nature at once. She introduces the party to the larger shape of the Circle, names Mordas as more than a bandit scholar, and teaches them to read the signs of compartmented criminal work. She wants Voss alive, his ledgers intact if practical, and the Circle's oath marks recorded. Her preferred result is formal infernal remand: Voss bound, documented, and returned to the Hells under her custody. She also wants Mordas taken alive if the trail reaches him. Her aid is valuable. Her bargain is dangerous.

Vestra knows more than Ormlyr. The Circle is a cover for deeper work. Voss is only one piece of a trail that leads through Mordas to the ruins of Ulcaster's School of Wizardry. Mordas has used stolen coin, stolen cargo, and frightened scholars to search for one of the thirteen Demonshields, artifacts forged in the Shoon Imperium to bind fiends into armor. Vestra has come to recover that shield before Mordas finds it, breaks it, or sells it to someone worse.

One member of the party may already know Vestra by another name. She is the devil with whom that character made a pact. If that character looks in Vestra's book of judgment, both Seldran Voss and Mordas already appear there, written in dark red ink that has not dried.

Overview

Wanted Dead or Alive is the consequence track for this edition, with a call to adventure, four primary parts, and an epilogue.

Call to Adventure: Blood on Feldpost's Stones (20-30 minutes)

Features: aftermath, arrest pressure, tense parley, forced choice

The adventure begins in the hours after the fight at Feldpost's Inn. Beregost is awake, armed, and afraid. Captain Ormlyr surrounds the party with the few loyal officers he has left, temple wardens, and merchant guards pressed into service. He does not try to win a street fight he may lose. He offers terms. The party can help expose Voss and the Circle, or they can stand trial for murder, arson, obstruction, trespass, and flight from lawful arrest.

Part 1: Captain Ormlyr's Bargain (35-45 minutes)

Features: roleplay, consequence, briefing, new patron

Ormlyr tells the party what their choices cost. Their visit warned Voss. Their accusations gave him a reason to clear his house. Their violence gutted the constabulary. Then he shows why he still needs them. Dain's surviving notes point to Voss, but the town now lacks the force to act alone. Magister Vestra joins the meeting, makes Ormlyr's bargain official under a magistrate's writ, confirms that Voss belongs to a larger pattern, and gives the party tools to identify Circle marks, courier codes, and destroyed records.

Part 2: Ashes of the Evidence (45-60 minutes)

Features: investigation, witnesses, town pressure, clue recovery

The party retraces the evidence trail from the original investigation, but Voss has damaged each source. The Song of the Morning holds Dain's damaged notes. Feldpost's Inn has frightened witnesses. The Burning Wizard, the Red Sheaf, and the Jovial Juggler offer tavern rumors, courier sightings, and smuggling chatter. Thunderhammer Smithy proves stolen forge-work moved through false accounts. High Hedge can identify Shoon shield-work if the party brings the right scraps to Thalantyr. Southmarket Produce Warehouse hides Circle records among fruit and vegetables from Amn and the southern markets. Voss House remains the final target, but the party can earn stronger proof, recover useful supplies, and spot the Demonshield trail before the raid.

Part 3: The Northside House Goes Cold (45-60 minutes)

Features: surveillance, chase, infiltration, moral pressure

Voss House is not the same target it was yesterday. The obvious ledgers are gone. The carriage shed is swept. Servants lie badly or disappear into side streets. The party must watch the house, follow the produce route, intercept Pallan Greaves, and enter through one of several weak points before Voss's last records leave town. The Circle tries to frame the party for another killing to keep Beregost's anger fixed on them.

Part 4: Voss's Last Ledger (60 minutes)

Features: house raid, tactical combat, evidence seizure, infernal reveal

The climax takes place in Voss House, the burned record room, the carriage yard, and the hidden counting cellar beneath the old washhouse. Voss's agents fight to delay, not die. They want time for a courier to escape with the last ledger, transfer portable wealth through produce crates, and give Voss a clean route through a merchant tunnel. Vestra's avatar can aid the party with law, intimidation, or infernal insight, but she presses for Voss alive. The party can recover enough proof to expose the Circle's Beregost network, seize treasure Voss meant to carry away, capture Voss for Vestra's infernal remand or force his true form into the open, and learn that Mordas has already shifted the next stage toward Ulcaster's School.

Epilogue: No Clean Hands (10-15 minutes)

Features: judgment, reward, consequence, next hook

The party returns to Captain Ormlyr with ledgers, witnesses, prisoners, or bodies. Proof against Voss can spare them the gallows, but it does not erase the dead constables. Ormlyr offers a hard settlement: continued service against the Circle, restitution to bereaved families, and public credit for exposing Voss paired with public silence about details that could break Beregost's faith in its law. Vestra marks the party as useful and dangerous. Mordas now knows their names.

Adventure Hooks

Use one or more of the following hooks to begin the adventure.

Direct Sequel. The adventure begins the same night as the failed arrest at Feldpost's Inn. The party has fled, hidden, barricaded themselves, or surrendered after killing more officers.

Captain's Summons. Captain Ormlyr sends a temple acolyte under a white cloth to request parley. He promises words before chains.

Feldpost's Door Barred. Marra Feldpost locks the inn down, refuses to shelter the party further, and tells them Ormlyr is waiting outside with terms.

Vestra's Writ. A Baldur's Gate magistrate arrives before dawn and asks for the people who showed Seldran Voss a Circle signet ring.

Story Objectives

• Present the roadside clash as a fair but messy case of mistaken identity.
• Give the party a real chance to discern which side is telling the truth.
• Establish Chief Constable Dain Harrow and the Circle's local wagon crew.
• Deliver evidence that ties the thefts to Beregost and to a larger operation.
• Deliver the first signs that the Circle has help inside Beregost.
• Send the party toward Beregost with a public reputation already forming around them.

Setting

1.1 Ditchside on the Coast Way

The encounter takes place on a bent stretch of the Coast Way between the Friendly Arm and Beregost where recent rain left the ditch soft and the wheel ruts deep. The wagon tried to leave the road at speed and half-lost the attempt. A low rise, scrub brush, and a ditch full of torn mud break sight lines just enough to make the first impression unreliable.

Places of Interest

• The tilted cart holds stolen forge-work under loose tarps and broken crate boards.
• The mounted constables have the clearest line of approach here, though churned mud can slow a charge.
• Two foot pursuers and any fleeing thieves are likely to use the brush for cover or escape.

Environment

Daylight.

The road is firm ground. The ditch and most of the brush are difficult terrain. The wagon bed is 5 feet above the ditch on its higher side and counts as unstable footing.

The air is dry enough to hold dust, though the ditch still keeps last night's damp. Horses are panicked, men are shouting, and the whole scene feels louder than it is.

A creature shoved from the wagon or into the ditch must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A frightened horse can kick or bolt if badly handled.

The Scene at First Sight

The party reaches the encounter at the worst possible moment for neat explanations. The wagon crew wants instant sympathy. The constables want immediate compliance. Both sides are armed. Both sides are shouting.

Running the Scene

Do not hide useful information behind a single roll. Let the party ask questions, make quick observations, and interrupt the action. The first round or two can be run as tense free play before initiative if the party hesitates, calls out, or demands both sides stand down. If weapons come up at once, move to initiative and keep shouting facts through the fight.

Chief Constable Dain Harrow begins the scene trying to arrest the wagon crew alive. He wants the cargo, the papers, and the names behind them. The Circle operatives want the party to commit on instinct before the truth settles into view.

If the party stalls or watches too long, one Circle operative looses a crossbow shot at a constable and the clash turns violent. If the party attempts to mediate, Dain answers with lawful urgency and the wagon crew answers with practiced panic.

Useful Skill Checks

Use the following checks as needed. A character should not need to make every one of them. Any one or two strong reads can be enough to put the party on the right track.

• Spot Beregost badges worked into the pursuers' travel tabards or stamped into shield faces under dirt.
• Realize the wagon driver's fear is partly performed. He is loud, fast, and more concerned with winning witnesses than surviving.
• Notice that the broken crate shows bundled spearheads, plate fittings, and worked bars marked for sale, not mixed merchant cargo.
• Recognize Beregost's device or common guard colors on the constables' gear.
• Calm one of the wagon horses long enough to stop the cart from lurching deeper into the ditch and buy a moment for talk.
• Force both sides to hold for a breath and speak plainly before the first blow lands.
• Spot that the wagon team cut the road wrong on purpose. This was a planned break for concealment or escape, not an unlucky spill.
• Notice hand signals between the wagon guards that suggest training and prior coordination.

If the party succeeds on two or more of these checks before committing to a side, they should understand that the scene is not a simple bandit raid. If they succeed on three or more, they should be strongly pointed toward the truth.

Chief Constable Dain Harrow

Chief Constable Dain Harrow (use a veteran stat block or similar) leads Beregost's mounted pursuit detail. He is the law's face in this adventure, whether the party meets him as an ally, an angry witness, or a man trying not to make one mistake into two.

Dain is a broad-shouldered human in a travel-stained surcoat over chain, with a square jaw, close-cropped dark hair gone gray at the temples, and a nose that healed badly years ago. Mud, sweat, and road dust do him no favors, which helps the wagon crew's lie.

Dain speaks in clipped commands and plain statements. He has no patience for ornament when men are armed and cargo is moving away from town. He sounds harsher than he is.

Fair, stubborn, dutiful, and tired of chasing clever thieves with too few hands.

Recover the stolen goods, take prisoners back to Beregost, prove the Circle is using organized routes, and keep the road from slipping further out of the law's grip.

Dain has served Beregost for years and knows the difference between hungry robbers and planned theft. The Circle's precision has made him look slow, which he resents more than insults.

• The wagon carries goods stolen from Beregost shipments over the last tenday.
• The crew works for a gang with help inside Beregost's trade lanes.
• The town has suffered several losses too clean to be random.
• He suspects a smarter hand is directing the thefts, though he does not yet know Mordas by name.

Dain wants the wagon stopped, the goods reclaimed, and any living thieves taken to Beregost for questioning. If the party helps him, he treats them as badly timed good fortune. If the party hinders him, he wants names, faces, and a chance to settle the matter in town.

• He will not abandon the cargo if he can still recover it.
• He will not cut down a surrendering thief.
• He will not pretend the party's actions on the road did not matter.

Tessa Vale, Wagon Handler for the Circle

Tessa Vale (use a spy stat block or similar if she must fight) is the wagon's false merchant lead and the sharpest liar in this crew. She is not the gang's final authority, though she is good enough to keep lesser thieves alive and better witnesses confused.

Tessa is a lean human woman with road braids, a weather-dark cloak, a merchant's ledger case at her belt, and a smile that vanishes the moment no one is watching. Her gloves are too fine for a common teamster, and her boots are made for riding hard, not walking beside a cart.

Tessa talks fast, picks the most useful truth in the room, and wraps it in three lies. She sounds desperate first, offended second, dangerous last.

Quick-thinking, cold under pressure, and always listening for the line that will turn strangers into shields.

Get the wagon clear, protect the cargo, preserve her cover story, and keep the party focused on Dain instead of on the goods in the cart.

Tessa runs cargo, false papers, and witness management for one Circle branch near Beregost. She has met Mordas only once and prefers it that way.

• The wagon holds stolen forge-work routed through the Circle for buyers outside Beregost.
• A man in Beregost feeds the Circle shipping times, cargo quality, and favored routes.
• The Circle uses false manifests, compartmented crews, and older clandestine contacts to stay hidden.
• Mordas exists, though Tessa knows him only as a distant superior called the False Student.

Tessa wants the party to make an instant moral choice in her favor. Failing that, she wants confusion, a gap in the line, and enough time for someone to escape with papers or with news.

• She will not surrender if she thinks the party can still be manipulated.
• She will not name Mordas freely.
• She will not stay to die for one wagon if flight is possible.

The Roadside Clash

This scene can resolve three ways: the party backs the wagon, the party backs the constables, or the party forces enough order to expose the truth before the bloodshed settles it.

If the Party Backs the Wagon

Treat the constables as surprised but disciplined. They try to disengage one rider as soon as they realize the party has chosen sides. Dain shouts his name, authority, and town plainly as he fights. He wants witnesses if he cannot win.

Use this outcome if you want the party to arrive in Beregost under a cloud:

• One or two constables flee and ride for Beregost.
• Tessa thanks the party in urgent, practical terms and tries to get them to escort the wagon farther south or off the road.
• If the party examines the cargo after the fight, the stolen nature of the goods should become obvious.
• Tessa lies about her destination and tries to break from the party before they reach town.

If the Party Backs the Constables

The wagon crew fights to break contact, not to hold the field. Tessa looks for one clean escape route the moment the party tips against her.

Use this outcome if you want the party welcomed in Beregost:

• Dain names the party as helpers in a lawful arrest.
• Surviving thieves can be captured for later questioning.
• The constables recover cargo, forged manifests, and at least one token marked with the Circle's sign.
• Dain asks the party to continue on to Beregost and speak with him there after the prisoners are secured.

If the Party Forces the Matter Still

This is the cleanest path and should be rewarded if the party earns it. Dain will identify himself and present his warrant if given a moment. Tessa will try to interrupt, redirect, or spark violence before the wagon can be searched properly.

Possible triggers that restart the fight:

• A hidden Circle guard looses a bolt at a constable.
• Tessa tries to snap the horses loose and run the cart.
• One of the wagon crew throws alchemical fire into the broken crates to destroy evidence.

If the party stops that escalation, Dain gains immediate respect for them and Beregost starts from a place of trust.

Combat Setup

if the party commits to violence, if neither side yields, or if a Circle operative forces the issue.

Running the Encounter

Use the wagon, ditch, brush, and road shoulder as the whole battlefield. The party should begin on the road crest or just entering the scene.

• Dain Harrow using a veteran-style stat block
• 3-4 Beregost constables using guard or veteran stat blocks
• Tessa Vale using a spy-style stat block
• 2-4 Circle operatives using bandit or spy stat blocks
• Dain tries to keep one constable free to ride for Beregost if the fight turns bad.
• The constables focus on subduing wagon crew and protecting evidence.
• Tessa uses the wagon for cover, barks false accusations, and tries to turn the party with words until steel makes that impossible.
• Circle operatives target mounts, lines of retreat, and any character searching the wagon.
• If the party aids the law, the constables become temporary allies.
• If the party aids the wagon, the Circle treats the party as useful shields first and expendable witnesses second.
• The ditch and brush are difficult terrain.
• The wagon can provide half cover.
• A frightened horse can break loose if it takes damage or is badly startled.
• A creature using an action to search the exposed cargo can find proof of theft without a check.
• If the constables win, they reclaim the wagon and take any living thieves to Beregost.
• If the Circle wins, at least one constable should escape unless the party goes out of its way to prevent it.
• If both sides are battered, the party can become the deciding force that claims the cargo and sets the terms of the next scene.

Adjusting the Scene

• Weak: Remove one Circle operative and let one constable start wounded.
• Strong: Add one Circle thug hidden in the brush.
• Very Strong: Add one mounted constable and one extra wagon guard, making the field more crowded and the first choice less obvious.

Search: The Wagon

Once the clash ends or pauses, the wagon should answer the question the first impression obscured.

The cargo includes:

• Bundled spearheads and sword blanks marked from Beregost forges
• Breastplate fittings wrapped in oiled cloth
• Bar stock and rare ore tagged for master smiths
• Forged shipping papers under false merchant names
• A coded tally sheet that matches goods to circular marks instead of honest destinations
• A folded scrap naming only "Voss" beside a delivery hour and the mark of a shuttered counting office

Any careful search reveals that this was not common freight and not lawful trade.

Development

No matter how the fight ends, the party should leave the roadside with reasons to continue to Beregost.

• If they aided the constables, Dain asks them to report to him in town after the cargo is secured.
• If they aided the wagon, Dain or another surviving constable reaches Beregost first and identifies them there.
• If they split the difference and uncovered the truth, both law and merchants in Beregost hear of it before they arrive.

The most important carry-forward facts from this scene are:

• The thefts are organized.
• The cargo came from Beregost.
• The Circle is a real gang, not a roadside rumor.
• Someone inside or close to Beregost's trade records is directing thefts with more planning than common brigands can manage.

Campaign Continuity

When the Party Chooses the Circle

The version that continues into Wanted Dead or Alive assumes the party sided with Tessa Vale during the roadside arrest, killed Chief Constable Dain Harrow and other officers, concealed some of the bodies, and accepted Tessa's Circle signet ring.

Instead of taking the recovered evidence to the law, the party carried Tessa's ring to Seldran Voss. Voss recognized the token immediately. He expelled the party, began moving ledgers and portable wealth, changed courier routes, and warned Mordas that Beregost's leak had been exposed.

The party then tried to turn Beregost's remaining law against Voss. The resulting attempted arrest at Feldpost's Inn ended in more constable deaths or flight. The party evaded capture. By dawn, Ormlyr has assumed the captain's chain, Vestra has arrived with a sealed writ, and Voss is already leaving.

Call to Adventure: Blood on Feldpost's Stones

Estimated Duration: 20-30 minutes.

The opening should feel tense, practical, and immediate. Beregost has not reset between sessions. People are dead. The party is feared. Voss is moving. Ormlyr has to turn a disaster into leverage before dawn.

Story Objectives

Establish the cost of the party's prior choices.

Introduce Kelddath Ormlyr as acting captain of the depleted constabulary.

Give the party a path forward that is useful, legal enough, and morally uncomfortable.

Make clear that Voss used the warning to destroy evidence.

Setting

2.1 Beregost Before Dawn

Beregost is an open trade town built along the Coast Way, with inns, smithies, stables, shrines, and merchants' yards pressed close to the road. On this night it feels smaller. Shutters stay closed. Lanterns burn behind curtains. Every footstep on stone draws attention from someone who does not want to be seen watching.

The failed arrest at Feldpost's Inn has changed the town's mood. Beregostans do not yet know the whole truth, but they know enough: constables are dead, strangers stand at the center of it, and a respected merchant has been accused without proof the town has seen.

Places of Interest

Feldpost's Inn: The cleanest and most expensive inn in town has become the public scar of the night. Blood stains the street outside, and Marra Feldpost has barred the doors.

The Song of the Morning: Lathander's temple serves as command post, infirmary, holding room, and civic court until the town can breathe again.

The Coast Way: The main road carries rumor faster than riders. Watchers gather at corners, then scatter when named.

Voss House: The north-side property stands shuttered. Servants have already moved through its rear yard with crates, blankets, and riding cloaks.

Environment

Lighting. Dim lanternlight fills the streets before dawn. The Song of the Morning glows with warm, rose-colored light from open chapel doors.

Weather and atmosphere. The night air is cold and damp. Smoke from banked hearths hangs low. The scent of blood near Feldpost's Inn cuts through spilled ale, wet straw, and horse sweat.

Terrain. Beregost's main street is firm stone and packed dirt. Side alleys are dark, narrow, and cluttered with rain barrels, stacked crates, and tied canvas.

Special Features. Armed townsfolk do not attack if the party keeps blades sheathed, but they block doors, refuse service, and shout for wardens if threatened.

Starting Positions

Choose the start that matches the prior session's final image.

If the Party Fled into Beregost

Temple bells ring twice, then stop. Lanterns appear in upper windows. Armed merchants guard doorways with spears, staves, and hunting crossbows. No one wants to be the next witness.

Ormlyr sends a Dawnbringer with a message:

"Captain Ormlyr will speak under Lathander's light."

"Refuse, and Beregost hunts you as murderers."

"Accept, and you may yet face the greater crime you helped uncover."

If the party moves through town instead of answering, use town pressure rather than combat. Inns lock their doors. Stable hands cut horses loose rather than sell mounts. A bread seller sees them, drops her basket, and runs for the temple.

If the Party Barricaded Themselves

Feldpost's common room smells of blood, wax, and spilled ale. Marra Feldpost stands behind the bar with a cudgel she clearly knows how to use. Outside, boots scrape the stones, but no one charges the door.

Ormlyr calls from the street:

"You have killed enough of my officers for one night. I will not spend the rest to prove a point. Come out under truce, or stay inside until the whole town decides what fear permits."

If the party tries to bargain through the door, Ormlyr gives them five minutes and sends one temple warden to collect weapons for the length of the meeting. He allows holy symbols, spell foci, and bonded weapons to remain with their owners if the party gives him a reason to trust that choice.

If the Party Surrendered

The party is disarmed, bound, and held in a secure room at the Song of the Morning. Wounded constables are treated within earshot. Prayers for the dead carry through the door.

Ormlyr enters without ceremony:

"Dain Harrow is dead. Three more of his people are dead. Three may yet follow them. You have left me with a town to hold, a criminal to catch, and almost no law left to do it."

If the party shows remorse, Ormlyr notices but does not soften. If they boast or threaten him, he has temple wardens gag the loudest character until the formal offer begins.

The Offer

Ormlyr's first goal is control. He does not demand that the party confess every act, and he does not debate the street fight round by round. He names the harm, names the present threat, then gives the party a task that serves Beregost.

Use the following monologue when Ormlyr gives the party their terms:

"I am going to speak plainly, and you are going to let me finish.

"Dain Harrow rode north with lawful authority, a warrant, and men who trusted him. He did not come back. Some of his deputies were burned and buried by the same people now standing before me. Last night, what remained of my constabulary came to take you into custody, and three more officers died in the street. Three more are in the chapel with priests holding them to this life by prayer and thread.

"That is the weight you brought into Beregost. Do not mistake this meeting for mercy.

"Voss is guilty. Dain knew it before you ever saw that wagon. He had names, timings, false manifests, and enough smoke to know where the fire sat. What he lacked was proof strong enough to walk into a respected merchant's house and tear it open without breaking this town in half. Then you went to Voss with Tessa Vale's ring in your hand and told him, by that one act, that the Circle's road crew had failed and that strangers knew his name.

"He started burning records before nightfall.

"You wanted the law to move against him. You made that harder. You wanted the constables to believe you. You left their captain dead in a ditch and killed the men sent to arrest you. You wanted Voss exposed. You warned him first.

"So here is what is left.

"You will work under my authority. You will surrender the ring, any papers you took, and anything else tied to Tessa, Voss, or the Circle. You will recover what Voss tried to save from the fire. Ledgers, witnesses, courier marks, cipher keys - I do not care which, so long as it proves what Dain was trying to prove.

"You will not harm my officers. You will not threaten witnesses into silence. You will not turn every closed door in Beregost into another battlefield. If steel comes out, it comes out to preserve life or stop escape, not to settle your pride.

"Do this, and I delay the trial. Not dismiss it. Delay it. Bring me proof, and I can turn Beregost's anger toward Voss and the Circle. Fail me, run from me, or leave more bodies behind you, and I will spend what little law I have left to put you in chains.

"I do not need heroes. I need the damage you caused pointed at the men who profited from it. Decide now."

Captain Ormlyr lays out the charges plainly:

murder of Beregost constables

destruction and concealment of bodies

flight from lawful arrest

trespass at Voss House

harassment of a town merchant without proof

fresh killings during the failed arrest

arson

attempted arson

kidnapping (as it relates to Jorrin Boy)

He then names the path forward:

The party works under Ormlyr's authority until Voss is exposed or the trail dies.

They surrender the signet ring, copied notes, stolen goods, or other evidence in their possession for examination.

They recover proof against Voss, preferably alive witnesses and ledgers.

They do not kill Beregost officers, witnesses, or suspects except in immediate defense.

Ormlyr delays formal trial until the Circle matter is resolved.

Running the Offer

The party may argue, confess, deflect blame, threaten Ormlyr, or try to name Voss at once. Let them speak. Ormlyr is not seeking an apology. He needs order, proof, and leverage.

Use the following responses to keep the scene moving:

If the party admits fault: Ormlyr says, "Good. Then you understand why this bargain has teeth."

If the party blames Tessa: Ormlyr says, "Tessa lied. You chose what to do with the lie."

If the party asks for a pardon: Ormlyr says, "Bring me proof first. Ask for mercy after the town knows who bled it."

If the party threatens him: Ormlyr says, "Then kill a priest in front of his own temple and see how much road remains open to you."

If the party demands Voss's arrest now: Ormlyr says, "I can raid him on rumor and lose the town, or I can raid him on proof and keep Beregost standing."

The scene should end with the party pushed into service, not embraced. Ormlyr's bargain is legal pressure in the shape of a mission.

Vestra Makes It Official

After Ormlyr offers the bargain, Magister Vestra turns the offer into a written charge. She places a black leather folio on the table, removes a sheet marked with Baldur's Gate seals, and writes the party's names with a red glass pen. The ink dries at once.

Read AloudCopy

"Captain Ormlyr offers you civic necessity. I offer legal shape.

"By witness of Beregost, by writ of trade authority, and by recorded interest of Baldur's Gate, you are placed under conditional service. You will gather evidence against Seldran Voss, preserve witnesses where they can be preserved, and surrender recovered records for review.

"This writ does not pardon you. It prevents lesser hands from hanging you before greater crimes can be proven. Break its terms, and Captain Ormlyr may claim you. Break my terms, and I may claim what remains.

"Your names are written. So are Voss's. So is Mordas's. I suggest you make that matter."

Vestra asks each character to mark the writ. A signature, thumbprint, arcane mark, or spoken assent is enough. If a character refuses, Vestra records the refusal beside that character's name and leaves the bargain intact for the others.

If Vestra is secretly tied to a warlock or pact-bound character in the party, that character sees more than the rest. For one breath, the folio pages shift into the character's own book of judgment. Voss's name appears beside charges of theft, breach, and false witness. Mordas's name appears beneath it with the charge line left open, as if the ink waits for one final crime.

Vestra does not explain the vision in front of Ormlyr. If pressed in private, she says only:

"Your book records debts before courts do."

"Voss is an account already called."

"Mordas is still spending."

Read AloudCopy

Pale light creeps across Beregost before the town has slept.

Feldpost's shutters are closed. Blood darkens the stones outside the inn in long, drying strokes. A broken badge lies near the gutter, its pin bent back like a snapped tooth. Faces watch from upper windows, then vanish when anyone looks up.

Kelddath Ormlyr stands in the street wearing a captain's chain over temple robes. The chain does not fit him. He wears it anyway. Around him stand three wounded constables, four temple wardens, and a dozen frightened townsfolk holding borrowed weapons.

Ormlyr looks past the blades and stares straight at you.

"You wanted Voss exposed. You warned him first. Now we will see what can still be saved."

Call to Adventure Development

The call to adventure should end with one of the following states:

The party accepts conditional service and enters the chapel meeting in Part 1.

The party refuses but stays close enough for Ormlyr and Vestra to force the issue through pressure, blocked lodging, and public warrants.

The party flees Beregost, turning Part 1 into a roadside or safehouse briefing from Vestra with Ormlyr's wardens hunting nearby.

If the party kills more town officers during this opening, do not stop the adventure. Ormlyr withdraws, names them outlaws, and posts a reward for capture. Vestra still offers them the same evidence trail, but now she frames it as their only path back from the gallows. Sergeant Brinna Vale becomes a hostile tracker rather than an assigned watcher.

Estimated Duration: 35-45 minutes.

This chapter turns blame into direction. The party should leave with a mission, a leash, and a reason to fear Voss's next move.

Story Objectives

Reframe Ormlyr as a hard ally, not a forgiving patron.

Show that Dain's work already pointed toward Voss.

Introduce Magister Vestra and the first clear explanation of the Circle's structure.

Give the party a checklist of evidence to recover.

Assign Sergeant Brinna Vale as witness, escort, and pressure point.

Setting

2.2 The Closed Chapel Room

Ormlyr holds the meeting in a side chamber of the Song of the Morning. The room has whitewashed walls, a long table, shuttered windows, and three doors guarded from the outside. Dawnlight falls across stacked casualty lists, seized papers, and Dain Harrow's field satchel.

The place smells of lamp oil, wet wool, old incense, and blood carried in from the infirmary. A basin sits in one corner for washing hands. No one has used it enough.

Places of Interest

The Long Table: Dain's satchel, copied manifests, casualty lists, temple seals, and a clean sheet for Vestra's writ lie here.

The Shuttered Windows: Two temple wardens stand outside them. A creature can force a shutter with a DC 13 Strength check.

The Infirmary Door: Muffled prayers and pained breathing carry from the next room. This door reminds the party that the dead have names.

The Record Chest: Ormlyr keeps Dain's recovered notes here. The chest has a good lock, and Ormlyr keeps the key around his neck.

Environment

Lighting. Bright light from lamps and dawn shafts through high slits near the ceiling.

Terrain. The room is cramped once guards, chairs, papers, and armed guests fill it. The long table can provide half cover if violence breaks out.

Weather and atmosphere. Wet cloaks steam near the hearth. The air feels too warm and too close.

Hazards. A fight in this room draws six temple wardens in 2 rounds. Ormlyr orders nonlethal force. If a character kills or maims someone in the chapel, the wardens answer in kind.

Ormlyr's Briefing

Authority: Captain Kelddath Ormlyr is working on behalf of Magister Vestra under her sealed cross-jurisdiction writ for this investigation. He remains the civic commander of Beregost, but Vestra supplies the external legal authority and infernal claim that make the joint operation possible.

Ormlyr gives the party the facts without softening them.

Dain had suspected Voss for several tendays.

Dain lacked proof strong enough to survive public scrutiny.

Voss's status protected him from a rash raid.

The party's visit with Tessa's ring told Voss the Circle's roadside crew had failed.

Voss sent servants, ledgers, and crates out after the party left.

The failed arrest killed the officers Ormlyr needed for a lawful strike.

Possible lines for Ormlyr:

"You did not discover Voss. You warned him."

"Dain was building a case. You turned it into a fire."

"I need blades I cannot spare and witnesses I cannot trust. That leaves you."

"Bring me proof, and I can turn this town toward Voss. Bring me excuses, and I turn it back toward you."

What Ormlyr Shows Them

Ormlyr does not hand every document to the party. He shows enough to prove that he is not inventing Voss's guilt after the fact.

Dain's Field Satchel. The satchel is scuffed, bloodstained, and still smells of wet leather. It contains torn notes, one intact manifest copy, a charcoal map of Beregost's north side, and a strip of parchment marked with three tiny circles linked by a line.

The Warrant Stub. The clean warrant copy is gone. The stub names "S. Voss" and "commercial records tied to unlawful cargo seizure." The signature line has been torn away.

The Cargo Manifest. The manifest lists forge fittings from Thunderhammer Smithy. A second hand has marked the same shipment with false Amnian produce labels.

The Witness Ledger. Three names are crossed out in black ink. Ormlyr believes Voss has already found or frightened those witnesses.

The Casualty List. Ormlyr leaves this visible on purpose. It names Dain Harrow, Ivor Sarn, Maeth Rusk, and Pell Tenlow as dead. Three more names sit under "uncertain."

Skill Checks During the Briefing

Use these checks if the party questions the documents or tries to read more from Ormlyr's evidence.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): The torn warrant stub was damaged after Dain died, not during the roadside fight.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Insight): Ormlyr is angry, but he is not lying about Voss. He hates needing the party.

• DC 13 Intelligence (History): The false produce labels point to trade routes from Amn, not local Beregost market traffic.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): The three linked circles on Dain's parchment match a courier mark, not a gang symbol alone.

• DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion): Ormlyr allows the party to copy one intact page before they leave, so long as Sergeant Brinna watches the copy made.

Failure should not block the mission. A failed check gives less context or worsens Ormlyr's patience.

NPC Character Sidebar: Captain Kelddath Ormlyr

Captain Kelddath Ormlyr (see the stat block at the end of Part 1) is Beregost's governor, High Priest of Lathander, and acting captain after Dain Harrow's death.

Appearance: Ormlyr is a tall human man in late middle age with a shaved scalp, gray beard, and tired eyes that miss little. He wears a priest's white and rose robes under a constable captain's chain. The chain sits poorly over vestments, which makes the burden plain.

Roleplaying Ormlyr: Ormlyr speaks in direct sentences and lets silence do work. He shouts only after someone mistakes restraint for weakness. He calls characters by name once he has them.

Personality: Stern, lawful, grieving, and practical. He believes mercy without order becomes cruelty by another route.

Motivations: Keep Beregost from breaking, expose Voss with proof, protect surviving officers, and turn the party's violence into something that serves the town.

History: Ormlyr has led Beregost through years of trade disputes, road scares, and temple quarrels. He trusted Dain Harrow. Dain's death has left him angrier than he can show in public.

What Ormlyr Knows.

Dain had a case against Voss but not proof strong enough for a public raid.

Voss moved records and servants after the party's visit.

The constabulary no longer has the strength to search every lead alone.

Beregost will demand visible justice before grief curdles into mob action.

What Ormlyr Wants. Ormlyr wants ledgers, witnesses, courier codes, and surviving prisoners. He prefers Voss alive, but he cares more about proof than Voss's comfort.

What Ormlyr Will Not Do.

He will not pardon the party at the start of the adventure.

He will not let them operate without a watcher.

He will not authorize torture, witness killing, or arson.

He will not raid Voss House on accusation alone.

Enter Magister Vestra

Magister Vestra arrives as the briefing begins or after Ormlyr states the terms. She appears as a tall woman in formal travel robes, with black hair pinned tight, red gloves, and a brass badge from Baldur's Gate. Her voice is calm, exact, and cold enough to quiet the room.

In truth, Vestra is an erinyes acting through an avatar. The avatar can bleed, cast a shadow, and touch objects, but its destruction does not kill her. She keeps her infernal nature hidden until Part 4 or until the party exposes it.

What Vestra Claims.

She is a magistrate attached to trade crimes crossing Baldur's Gate interests.

Voss appears in older records tied to blackmail, false contracts, and sealed debt.

The Circle is not one gang, but a structure of cells, couriers, buyers, and cutouts.

Mordas is a handler, not a camp boss alone.

Voss's records may show where Mordas moved the stolen coin and cargo.

What Vestra Wants.

Voss captured alive and held for Vestra's infernal remand if practical.

His compact ledger recovered.

Circle oath marks copied or preserved.

Mordas's next route identified.

Any reference to Ulcaster, Hilather, Shoon relics, diamond shields, or bound fiends preserved.

What Vestra Hides.

Voss is a rakshasa debtor in breach who has tried to profit from a network purchased through an infernal compact while hiding behind a mortal identity.

Vestra wants the ledger as legal proof in Hell's courts and as the chain of custody needed to remand Voss rather than merely destroy his current body.

Her interest in justice aligns with Beregost for now, but her mercy has limits.

The Circle's thefts are funding a relic hunt, not simple banditry.

Mordas is searching for one of the thirteen Demonshields.

The trail from Voss leads to Ulcaster's School of Wizardry.

Vestra's true mission is to recover the Demonshield before Mordas can claim it.

Vestra may already hold a pact with one party member, and that character's book of judgment already names Voss and Mordas.

Possible lines for Vestra:

"The Circle survives by keeping each hand ignorant of the next."

"Your mistake was not violence. It was showing a token before knowing what it meant."

"Voss will save three things before coin: names, routes, and debts."

"Find what he chose to carry from the fire. That will tell us what he fears."

"If you see the name Hilather, do not burn the page."

"If you see a diamond shield drawn in the margins, bring me the book that holds it."

NPC Character Sidebar: Magister Vestra

Magister Vestra (see the stat block at the end of Part 1) is the avatar of an erinyes who presents herself as a Baldur's Gate magistrate with trade authority.

Appearance: Vestra wears dark traveling robes cut like court dress, red gloves, a black leather folio, and a brass badge etched with gate sigils. Her hair never slips from its pins. Her eyes look almost black until lamplight catches red within them.

Roleplaying Vestra: Vestra speaks softly and precisely. She never rushes a sentence. She treats threats, laws, debts, and promises as physical things that can be weighed on the table.

Personality: Patient, cold, observant, and exacting. She admires useful discipline and despises sloppy bargains.

Motivations: Recover Voss's compact ledger, bind the party to lawful service, follow the Demonshield trail, and claim infernal leverage before Mordas can bury it.

History: Vestra has tracked Voss across mortal identities for years through debts, aliases, and unpaid compact terms. His compact helped build the intelligence channels he later sold to Mordas. That makes Voss both criminal and debtor.

What Vestra Knows.

Voss's network predates the Circle and comes from older Zhentarim tradecraft.

Mordas is using stolen wealth to chase Shoon-era binding lore.

The names Hilather, Ulcaster, and Kuraltaar matter.

The Demonshields are fiend-prisons, not mere relics.

What Vestra Wants. Vestra wants the party to recover the compact ledger, keep Voss alive if practical, and bring her any reference to a diamond shield made from triangular plates.

What Vestra Will Not Do.

She will not reveal her infernal nature in front of Ormlyr.

She will not swear a false oath.

She will not destroy records that could prove a debt.

She will not allow a Demonshield to remain in careless hands if she can stop it.

DM Background: Demonshields

This information is for the DM. Vestra should not reveal the full truth until the party has captured Voss, recovered his records, or found Mordas's letter.

The Demonshields are thirteen unique artifacts forged during the height of the Shoon Imperium by the wizard Hilather, who later became known as Halaster Blackcloak. The Shoon court commissioned them as part of an imperial project meant to bind fiends into physical objects and force those fiends to serve mortal summoners.

Hilather made the shields after opening a planar breach to the Abyss and combining Calishite genie lore with magic related to mirrors of life trapping. Each Demonshield takes the form of a diamond shield, a Shoon-era defensive piece made from riveted triangular plates that guard the off-hand forearm and upper arm.

The only Demonshield known by name in surviving records is Kuraltaar, forged from silver mixed with arjale and tantulhor, rare lightweight ores from Phlegethos in the Nine Hells. Kuraltaar contains a glabrezu named Kural'Risyk. When its powers flare, the bearer is briefly covered by the image of the bound demon.

Each Demonshield reflects the nature of the fiend trapped inside it. A bearer can gain the fiend's defensive traits, such as resistances, immunities, and spell resistance. The fiend cannot be safely consulted through the shield. If the shield is destroyed, the imprisoned creature is released at once.

Ulcaster's link to the Demonshields comes from his pursuit of Hilather's legacy. Ulcaster founded his school of conjuration to recover the method of binding mighty beings into physical objects. Calishite wizards judged that work too dangerous and destroyed the school in 1106 DR. Ulcaster vanished during that spell-battle.

Modern conjurers in the Ulcasterian tradition see a Demonshield as the missing proof needed to reconstruct Hilather's lost work. Thalantyr of Beregost believes such a shield could become the foundation for refounding the Ulcasterian school. Mordas believes the same, or believes enough of it to spend stolen wealth chasing the lead.

Vestra's mission is narrower and colder. She has no wish to see a demon released, a mortal wizard command it, or Mordas sell the shield into a worse market. She wants the Demonshield recovered, contained, and removed from mortal hands.

Evidence Checklist

The party receives a practical list. Ormlyr writes civic evidence in black ink. Vestra writes infernal or relic evidence in red.

Dain's missing warrant copy naming Voss.

A surviving manifest tied to Taerom's stolen work.

A courier route from Voss House to the north road.

A cipher key or ledger page that links Voss to Mordas.

A witness who saw Voss's servants moving records after the party's visit.

Tessa Vale's ring, which can prove the Circle knew Voss by sign.

Voss's compact ledger.

Circle oath marks copied or preserved.

Any note naming Hilather, Ulcaster, Shoon relics, Kuraltaar, arjale, tantulhor, or a diamond shield.

Two items are enough to justify action against Voss. Four or more give Ormlyr standing to contain the town's anger. The compact ledger gives Vestra leverage of her own. Any Demonshield reference gives Vestra reason to stay close to the party after Voss falls.

Evidence Value

Use the following guidance if the party tries to decide what matters most.

Civic Proof. Warrants, manifests, witness statements, and courier routes help Ormlyr move against Voss in Beregost.

Circle Proof. Cipher keys, oath marks, and notes naming Mordas help show that Voss is part of a larger operation.

Infernal Proof. The compact ledger and debt marks matter to Vestra. Ormlyr will not understand them at first, but he recognizes Vestra's interest as leverage.

Demonshield Proof. Notes naming Hilather, Ulcaster, Shoon relics, or diamond shields point beyond Beregost. Vestra reacts to these clues faster than she intends.

Sergeant Brinna Vale

If the party accepts, Ormlyr assigns one watcher to them. Use Sergeant Brinna Vale, a wounded constable who lost friends in the failed arrest and does not hide her contempt. She is a witness, escort, and moral weight, not a full combat ally.

Brinna enters near the end of the briefing with one arm bound tight against her ribs. She has soot on her cuffs from the street fight and dried blood at her collar. She does not sit.

Read AloudCopy

Ormlyr gestures toward the door, and a constable steps inside.

Her left arm is tied in a sling. One side of her face is bruised dark from cheekbone to jaw. She looks first at the casualty list, then at you.

"Sergeant Brinna Vale," Ormlyr says. "She goes where you go."

Brinna's mouth tightens.

"I write what I see," she says. "Give me something better to write than names for graves."

NPC Character Sidebar: Sergeant Brinna Vale

Sergeant Brinna Vale (see the stat block at the end of Part 1) is a surviving Beregost constable assigned to watch the party.

Appearance: Brinna is a compact human woman in a stained constable's coat, with cropped brown hair, a split lip, and one arm bound in a sling. Her eyes are red from smoke and lack of sleep.

Roleplaying Brinna: Brinna speaks in short, clipped statements. She watches hands before faces. She writes names, times, and details in a small slate-backed notebook.

Personality: Angry, dutiful, suspicious, and braver than her injuries allow.

Motivations: Honor the dead, stop Voss, keep the party from killing more Beregostans, and prove that the law still has witnesses.

History: Brinna served under Dain Harrow and respected him more than she ever said aloud. She survived the failed arrest at Feldpost's Inn by being dragged behind a wagon trough after she fell.

What Brinna Knows.

Several constables believed the party might be telling the truth about Voss.

The arrest order came fast, under pressure, and with incomplete facts.

Voss's household moved goods after the party's visit.

Some townsfolk now fear the party more than the Circle.

What Brinna Wants. Brinna wants evidence that lets Beregost punish Voss without excusing the party's dead. If the party protects witnesses and spares enemies, her testimony can help them later.

What Brinna Will Not Do.

She will not lie for the party.

She will not help them threaten witnesses.

She will not enter Voss House without proof or Ormlyr's order.

She will not fight to the death for characters she still sees as killers.

Using Brinna at the Table

Brinna should make scenes sharper, not slower. She can remind the party of lawful limits, identify local custom, or record a witness statement. She should not solve clues for them.

Use Brinna to apply pressure in these moments:

A character suggests burning another body.

A character threatens a frightened witness.

A character prepares to raid Voss House before gathering proof.

A character tries to hide evidence from Ormlyr.

A character risks harm to protect a Beregost citizen.

If the party treats Brinna with respect and acts with restraint, she remains cold but fair. If they mock the dead, threaten her, or kill another officer, she becomes an active accuser in the epilogue.

The Writ of Conditional Service

Vestra's writ is both prop and pressure. Give the players a clear sense of its terms.

Terms of the Writ

The party acts under Captain Ormlyr's civic authority for the Voss investigation.

The party must surrender recovered records to Ormlyr, Vestra, or their named agents.

The party must preserve witnesses when practical.

The party may use force to defend life, stop escape, or secure evidence.

The party may not kill surrendered suspects, silence witnesses, burn records, or flee Beregost with evidence.

The writ delays trial on current charges until the Circle matter is resolved or the party violates terms.

Mechanical Use. Each character who signs, marks, or assents to the writ gains one use of Conditional Authority during this adventure. A character can spend this use to gain advantage on one Charisma check made to secure lawful cooperation from a Beregost citizen, temple warden, constable, merchant clerk, or stable hand. The check must be tied to the Voss investigation.

Infernal Sting. If Vestra has a pact with one party member, that character feels the writ take note of the mark. The sensation is cold ink under the fingernails. It causes no damage.

Breaking the Writ. A character who murders a witness, destroys evidence on purpose, or flees Beregost with recovered proof loses Conditional Authority. Vestra marks that character's name in red. The mark has no immediate mechanical effect, but it gives Vestra grounds for later demands.

Roleplaying the Bargain

This scene may turn into a long argument if the party wants to relitigate the prior adventure. Let them argue long enough to own the consequences, then point every answer back to the mission.

If the Party Surrenders Tessa's Ring

Ormlyr takes the ring with tongs and sets it on a square of white cloth. Vestra studies it without touching it.

Vestra can identify the ring's marks:

The signet is not Tessa's personal crest.

The inner band has three shallow cuts, a courier recognition mark.

Voss would have known the ring as a Circle field token.

Showing it to Voss told him that a road crew had failed.

If the party asks whether surrendering the ring hurts their case, Ormlyr says, "Hiding it hurts more."

If the Party Keeps Evidence Back

Do not force discovery without a careless act from a character. Vestra may notice hidden papers with a passive Insight of 17, or Ormlyr may demand a search if the party has already lied.

If the party hides evidence, note it for later. Brinna may catch the lie during Part 2 or Part 3. Vestra may use the secret as leverage at the worst possible time.

If the Party Demands Payment

Ormlyr reacts poorly, but he understands coin and risk.

He offers:

200 gp from seized Circle funds if the party returns proof against Voss.

Healing at the Song of the Morning during the investigation.

Legal delay, which he calls "worth more than coin with your names on these lists."

Vestra offers no coin. She says, "Debts are more durable than purses."

If the Party Refuses Vestra's Writ

Ormlyr's civic bargain still stands. Vestra records the refusal. A character who refuses cannot use Conditional Authority, but may still act under Ormlyr's protection if the group accepts the mission.

If the whole party refuses Vestra but accepts Ormlyr, Vestra stays in the room and says, "A unsigned debt can still be collected. It is only less tidy."

If the Party Attacks Vestra

Vestra's avatar defends itself without revealing its full nature if possible. She uses precise force, commands surrender, and retreats only if the room turns against her. Ormlyr orders temple wardens to stop the fight.

If the avatar is destroyed, its body collapses into ash and red thread. Vestra's voice speaks from the folio: "That was wasteful." The writ remains. Ormlyr is shaken and angry, but the Voss investigation still needs the party if they have not killed town officers in the room.

Transition to Part 2

Part 1 ends when the party has the evidence checklist, the writ or Ormlyr's civic charge, and a first direction.

Give them at least three practical leads:

The Song of the Morning: Review Dain's damaged notes and talk to wounded constables.

Feldpost's Inn: Find out who heard the party name Voss and who carried that news out.

Thunderhammer Smithy: Confirm stolen forge-work and recover a surviving invoice.

The Burning Wizard or Red Sheaf: Trace tavern rumors and courier handoffs.

Voss House: Watch, do not raid yet, if the party wants to avoid acting on weak proof.

Ormlyr closes the briefing with:

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"Dain spent tendays building a case. Voss spent one night burning it. You have until this town's fear outruns my authority. Bring me something I can put in front of Beregost before sunset."

Vestra adds:

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"And if the page names Hilather, Ulcaster, or a shield of diamonds, bring it to me before anyone decides it is decoration."

Brinna opens the door and waits for the party to move first.

Development

If the party rejects the bargain, Ormlyr orders their arrest but avoids a fair fight in the open. He cuts off lodging, posts descriptions, seizes known allies, and forces the party to work as fugitives. Vestra may still approach them in private with a colder offer.

If the party accepts, Ormlyr assigns Sergeant Brinna Vale to them. She does not join as a full party member. In combat she stays behind cover, guards prisoners, stabilizes dying Beregostans, and records what the party does.

If the party agrees but plans to flee Beregost, Vestra warns them once:

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"Roads are contracts. Gates are contracts. Ferries, stables, inns, tolls, shrines - all contracts. You may run, but you will spend law with every step."

If they run anyway, Part 2 becomes a fugitive investigation. Witnesses are harder to reach, but Voss's couriers still move, and evidence can still be found by stealth.

Part 1 Rewards

The party does not receive treasure in this section without negotiated payment or supplies released by Ormlyr.

Conditional Authority. Each participating character gains one use, as described under the writ.

Temple Aid. Ormlyr grants access to basic healing at the Song of the Morning. A character may receive one casting of lesser restoration or one use of a healer's kit at no cost during the investigation.

Writ Token. The group receives a small waxed token stamped with Lathander's rising sun and marked by Vestra's red ink. It proves the party has conditional authority in the Voss matter.

Brinna's Testimony. This is not a reward yet. It can become one if the party protects witnesses, spares surrendered enemies, and brings proof back cleanly.

Key Evidence in the Wanted Dead or Alive Track

Estimated Duration: 45-60 minutes.

This chapter reuses the original investigation route, but each clue now shows damage from Voss's warning. The party should feel the cost of being late. Beregost is not a puzzle box waiting to be opened. It is a wounded town, and every useful answer sits near someone frightened, grieving, bribed, or watched.

Story Objectives

Recover damaged proof from the original evidence chain.

Show how Voss reacted to the party's visit.

Give Beregost's citizens reasons to fear both Voss and the party.

Point the party toward an active courier leaving from Voss House.

Reveal the first signs that Mordas wants more than stolen cargo.

Running This Chapter

The party can visit the investigation sites in any order. The DM does not need to use every stop. Three strong clues justify a move on Voss House. Five or more clues reveal the warehouse route, the blue-wrapped courier tube, and the first Demonshield references.

Use the investigation as a timed civic pressure scene. Each stop costs time, draws attention, and gives Voss's agents more room to move. The party should gain ground, but never feel that the enemy sits idle.

Investigation Clock

Start the clock at 0 when the party leaves the Song of the Morning. Add 1 tick each time the party completes a site, causes a public disturbance, or takes a short rest.

At 2 ticks, Voss's people warn the Southmarket Produce Warehouse to prepare a cart.

At 4 ticks, Pallan Greaves reaches the north road with the blue-wrapped courier tube.

At 6 ticks, the warehouse cart leaves with hidden records. The party can still chase it in Part 3, but the raid on Voss House starts with less proof.

If the party splits up, each group can work a different site, but Brinna follows the group most likely to cause trouble. Vestra does not accompany the party through town. She remains near Ormlyr, reviews recovered evidence, and appears at dramatically useful moments through messengers, private notes, or the red ink on the writ.

Evidence Thresholds

Track major discoveries. The party does not need every clue.

Two clues: Ormlyr can justify continued conditional service.

Three clues: Ormlyr can justify a lawful move against Voss House.

Four clues: Brinna's testimony begins to favor the party's conduct.

Five clues: The party identifies the Southmarket Produce Warehouse and the blue-wrapped tube.

Six clues: The party identifies the washhouse cellar before entering Voss House.

Seven clues: The party learns that Mordas's Ulcaster work concerns a Shoon relic and bound fiends.

Setting

Location: Beregost Under Watch

Beregost's morning trade continues, but the rhythm is wrong. Bakers open late. Smiths work with doors half-barred. Stable boys run messages with their heads down. Merchants speak in knots, then stop when the party passes.

The town smells of rain-damp dust, smoke from morning fires, hot iron from the smithies, horse sweat, and too many people who have slept in their clothes. Every place still works, but every place has begun to protect itself.

Places of Interest

The Song of the Morning: Dain's damaged notes, wounded constables, and the first official records.

Feldpost's Inn: The scene of the failed arrest, with frightened staff and missing ledger pages.

The Burning Wizard: A tavern full of rumor, acolytes, and coded meetings.

The Red Sheaf: A fast-moving inn used for brief rooms, meal orders, and changed clothing.

The Jovial Juggler: A noisy north-side inn where couriers can hide in revels.

Thunderhammer Smithy: The best proof that stolen forge-work moved through false accounts.

High Hedge: Thalantyr's guarded home, where Shoon and Hilather clues can be named.

Southmarket Produce Warehouse: The smuggling route hidden in fruit, vinegar, and false trade marks.

Merchants' Hall: Missing duplicate manifests and a clerk who saw Voss make threats.

Dawnbridge House: Children and caretakers who saw the courier route from ground level.

Environment

Lighting. Morning light reaches the main streets. Interiors range from lamplit dimness to bright hearth glow.

Terrain. Most streets are normal terrain. Market alleys, stable yards, and warehouse floors have crates, mud, straw, and clustered townsfolk that can count as difficult terrain during a chase.

Weather and atmosphere. A cold damp hangs over town. Smoke stays low. People speak under it.

Hazards. The main hazard is civic attention. Threats, public spellcasting, drawn blades, and breaking doors add 1 tick to the investigation clock and may make witnesses refuse to speak.

Opening the Investigation

Read AloudCopy

Beregost has woken, but it has not recovered.

A bell rings once at the Song of the Morning, and no one answers it with song. Constables carry a covered stretcher through the temple yard. A merchant closes his shutters when he sees you. Two children stop arguing over a crust of bread and stare until an older woman pulls them inside.

Brinna Vale checks the strap on her sling, opens a small notebook, and looks down the street.

"Dain's notes say Voss left marks all over town," she says. "Now we find out which ones he failed to scrape away."

Investigation Sites

Each site below gives the DM a short scene, useful checks, clues, damage caused by Voss, and treasure or tools that may matter later.

3.1 The Song of the Morning

The temple to Lathander rises beside the east side of the Coast Way in the center of town. Its rose-red spires show above the roofs, and its fortified church is surrounded by stables, refectories, guesthouses, militia yards, and outbuildings. This is Ormlyr's base during the crisis, and the only place in Beregost with enough lay militia to keep order after the constabulary's losses.

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Dawnlight burns along the temple spires, too bright for the faces gathered below them. Wounded constables sit on benches under wool blankets. Acolytes carry water bowls and bloodied cloth from one door to another. Near the stable arch, a clerk has pinned wet notes to a board and weighs each corner with a prayer stone.

No one bars your path. No one welcomes you.

Setting

The temple yard opens from the Coast Way through a stone arch painted with a rising sun. To the left, stables and wagon sheds smell of wet hay, leather, and horse sweat. Straight ahead, broad steps climb to bronze doors propped open for the wounded. To the right, refectory windows glow over benches where constables sit wrapped in blankets.

Inside the side record room, shelves of prayer books line the left wall, a long table fills the center, and Dain's field satchel rests under a square of clean linen. A hearth smokes in the far corner. Bloodied wash water sits in covered buckets by the infirmary door, and every few minutes a prayer rises from the next room, then breaks into coughing.

Running the Scene

The party can review Dain's damaged satchel, speak to wounded officers, check stable records, or question temple militia. Ormlyr permits this only if Brinna stands present.

Use these checks:

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Reconstruct one torn note from Dain's satchel.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): Calm a wounded constable enough for useful testimony.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Spot the same one-white-ear mule in two stable entries.

• DC 13 Intelligence (History): Recognize old Zhentarim notation in Dain's cipher fragment.

Useful Information

Ormlyr can show Dain's damaged field satchel and the partial case against Voss.

Temple militia saw a Voss servant ride east before dawn, then turn back toward the north road after seeing temple patrols near the fields.

Temple shepherds on the slopes below Ulcaster's ruins saw covered lanterns moving near the old school two nights in a row.

A stable ledger records a mule with one white ear hired under a false Amnian produce account.

A wounded constable heard one Circle agent say, "The school gets paid before Voss gets saved."

What Voss Damaged

Dain's clean warrant copy is missing.

One cipher sheet was torn from the satchel during the confusion after the failed arrest.

A temple runner vanished for three hours after carrying a message near Voss House.

Other Things to Find

A healer's kit from the temple infirmary, offered if the party agrees to bring prisoners back alive.

Two flasks of holy water from a Dawnbringer who distrusts Vestra.

A writ token stamped with Lathander's rising sun. It grants advantage on one Charisma check with a lawful Beregost citizen.

Payoff

This site identifies the one-white-ear mule, the north road timing, and a first hint that Ulcaster matters. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party reconstructs the torn cipher fragment.

3.2 Feldpost’s Inn

Feldpost's common room stays closed through morning. Tables are stacked against one wall. Sawdust covers blood near the threshold. Marra Feldpost has slept in a chair with her keys in one hand and a knife in the other.

Read AloudCopy

Feldpost's shutters are latched from inside. The sign over the door moves in the wind with a soft, wooden knock. Beneath it, sawdust has been spread across the stones, but the dark stains come through in wet islands.

When Marra Feldpost opens the door, she keeps the chain on. Her eyes move from Brinna's sling to your hands.

"No fighting in my house," she says. "No speeches either. Ask what you came to ask."

Setting

Feldpost's entry hall is narrow, polished, and too clean around the edges of the bloodstains. To the left, the common room tables have been stacked in a wall of chair legs and tabletops. To the right, the private dining rooms sit closed, their brass number plates wiped bright. Straight ahead, the stair rises toward guest rooms, but a trunk blocks the first landing.

The common room smells of sawdust, stale ale, wax, and iron from dried blood. A broken mug sits under the bar rail. The hearth has gone cold. Behind the kitchen door, flour dust covers boot prints that lead to a rear passage and the stable yard.

Running the Scene

Marra wants the truth known, but she will not let the party turn her inn into another battleground. She speaks more freely if Brinna confirms that Ormlyr sent them.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince Marra to name the servant who fled.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Notice a ledger page removed with a razor.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Perception): Find cucumber seeds and cheese crumbs in the abandoned private room.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Insight): Learn that Marra fears Voss's reach more than Ormlyr's law.

Useful Information

Off-duty constables repeated the party's accusations about Voss before the arrest order came.

A Voss servant paid his account and left through the kitchen soon after hearing the party speak.

One merchant saw that servant pass a sealed tube to a rider outside the stables.

Marra can identify the rider's horse as one from a north-side stable.

The servant ordered cheese and cucumber buns for a guest who never came, then left the untouched tray behind in the private room.

What Voss Damaged

The rider carried away a list of guests, witnesses, and overheard names.

Marra's ledger page for the servant has been cut out with a razor.

A kitchen boy who saw the handoff has been paid to leave town by the south road.

Other Things to Find

A locked strongbox in the abandoned private room containing 24 gp, 80 sp, and a garnet stickpin worth 25 gp.

A bottle of excellent sherry from the cellar, which Marra gives to the party only if they prevent more bloodshed in the inn.

A fine cloak left by the Voss servant. It grants advantage on one Charisma check to pass as a household messenger.

Payoff

This site points to the sealed tube, a north-side rider, and Voss's attempt to collect witness names. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party finds the cut ledger page and links it to the kitchen exit.

3.3 The Burning Wizard

The Burning Wizard is a favored tavern for locals, acolytes, minstrels, and visitors who want news faster than comfort. No food is cooked here, but inn runners carry covered platters through the door from nearby kitchens. Lathander's acolytes keep conversation lively, which makes the tavern a useful place for rumor, coded meetings, and witnesses who do not think of themselves as witnesses.

Read AloudCopy

The Burning Wizard smells of spilled ale, lamp smoke, and hot bread carried from another kitchen. Painted flames curl across the signboard outside. Inside, talk dies in layers as people notice you, first at the nearest tables, then at the bar, then in the back where a card game ends with coins left on the wood.

A minstrel with a bandaged hand looks at the door behind you as if measuring the distance to daylight.

Setting

The Burning Wizard is long, low, and crowded with mismatched tables. To the left, a row of benches sits beneath painted flames that climb the wall in chipped red and yellow curls. To the right, the bar is little more than a plank counter with casks behind it and a copper basin for rinsing cups. At the far end, a curtained alcove holds the back table where quiet meetings happen under cover of songs.

The room smells of lamp smoke, old ale, damp wool, and bread delivered under cloth. A fresh vinegar bite clings to the rear corner. Near the alcove, the floorboards are lighter where someone scrubbed them hard enough to raise splinters.

Running the Scene

The tavern gives the party rumors that become useful when matched to other sites. Witnesses here speak in jokes, fragments, and half-denials.

Use these checks:

• DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion): Get a tavern witness to speak without naming them in Ormlyr's public record.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): Tell which witness has been threatened.

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Find vinegar scrub marks at the back table.

• DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation): Make produce men back down without starting a brawl.

Useful Information

A minstrel heard two produce men joke about "Amnian peaches with iron pits."

An acolyte saw a Voss guard lose coin gambling, then pay in southern trade tokens rather than local silver.

A tavern regular saw a blue oilcloth tube pass from a Voss servant to a man smelling of crushed tomatoes and wet straw.

A runner from the Red Sheaf confirms that covered platters have been used to carry sealed letters to a back table.

A drunk carter says the suspected warehouse receives fruit in quantities too large for Beregost's tables.

What Voss Damaged

The back table was scrubbed with vinegar before dawn.

The regular who saw the tube has been threatened by two men wearing produce aprons.

A minstrel who sang about Voss's silver was paid to move on before noon.

Other Things to Find

A minstrel's silver tuning fork worth 15 gp, hidden under a cushion after the owner fled.

A pouch of southern trade tokens worth 18 gp to Amnian merchants.

A marked deck used by a Voss guard, useful for gaining advantage on one gaming or gambling check.

Payoff

This site identifies the blue oilcloth tube, the produce disguise, and the warehouse smell. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party links the trade tokens to Amnian cargo.

3.4 The Red Sheaf

The Red Sheaf prides itself on speed. Guests are sent to rooms, fires, robes, and hot meals with little delay. That pace makes it useful for smugglers who want a room for one hour, a meal sent elsewhere, or wet clothing hidden behind the kitchen chimneys.

Read AloudCopy

The Red Sheaf is already moving too fast for the hour. A boy carries folded towels up the stairs two at a time. A cook shouts for clean pans. A clerk at the front desk reaches for a ledger, then thinks better of it when she sees Brinna.

Behind the kitchen door, something sharp and sweet cuts through the smell of porridge. Orange pulp, ash, and hot wax.

Setting

The Red Sheaf's front room is built for speed. The left wall holds cubbies for room keys, folded messages, and guest tokens. The right wall has hooks packed with damp cloaks and borrowed travel robes. Straight ahead, a staircase climbs beside a service hatch where trays pass from kitchen hands to runners.

The kitchen sits hot and bright behind the hatch. Steam clouds the rafters. Orange peels, ash flecks, and black wax scraps have been swept toward a drain but not far enough. Behind the chimney stones, a warming alcove holds spare cloaks on pegs, and one peg hangs empty above a fresh smear of pulp.

Running the Scene

The Red Sheaf works best as a clerk-and-kitchen investigation. The staff fear scandal more than violence. A calm approach gets more than threats.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince the clerk to show altered records.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Find the changed room entry.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Smell orange pulp and sealing wax in the warming room.

• DC 13 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand): Recover a hidden key from a travel robe without alarming staff.

Useful Information

A southern drover rented a room for less than an hour and left with dry clothes that were not his own.

Kitchen staff warmed a cloak stained with orange pulp, ash, and black sealing wax.

A clerk recalls a delivery order for cold potato soup and grapes sent to the produce warehouse under Voss's house account.

A stable hand saw the one-white-ear mule tied behind the inn before dawn.

A guest from Amn complained that the warehouse fruit crates bore old tax stamps, not fresh market marks.

What Voss Damaged

The room record has been altered to name a false merchant from Nashkel.

The stained cloak was taken from the warming room by a boy paid in gold.

The stable hand fears the party after hearing they killed constables.

Other Things to Find

A warmed travel robe with a hidden pocket containing 12 gp and a brass key to a produce warehouse side door.

A sealed jar of rare southern pepper worth 30 gp to a cook, trader, or alchemist.

Three covered meal trays that can conceal small weapons, tools, or papers during a later infiltration.

Payoff

This site links Voss House to the produce warehouse, the one-white-ear mule, and altered inn records. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party obtains the brass warehouse key.

3.5 The Jovial Juggler

The Jovial Juggler stands on the northern edge of town, west of the road. Its painted roofboard shows a laughing juggler, and young Beregostans fill one wing with dancing, drinking, and loud revels. The noise gives cover to courier work near the north road.

Read AloudCopy

The Jovial Juggler should be asleep, but one wing still shakes with tired laughter and bootsteps on wooden boards. Smoke from the hog pit drifts under the stable eaves. A painted juggler grins over the door with chipped teeth and red cheeks.

Near the north stable, someone has scraped fresh cuts from the doorframe. Pale wood shows through old stain.

Setting

The Jovial Juggler sprawls in uneven wings around a packed-dirt yard. To the left, the revel hall glows behind warped shutters and shakes with stomping feet. To the right, the north stable faces the road through a pair of wide doors. Straight ahead, a covered passage runs between the hog pit, the kitchen, and the taproom entrance.

Smoke, grease, spilled beer, and trampled rushes fill the air. Lanterns hang low enough to make shadows jump across the yard. The north stable smells of hay, hot animals, and blue oilcloth tucked somewhere out of sight. The scraped mark on the doorframe sits at knee height, where a courier could touch it without slowing.

Running the Scene

This site should feel louder and less formal than the rest of town. The party can get information by blending in, talking to entertainers, or checking the stable.

Use these checks:

• DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion): Get the dancer to describe Pallan Greaves.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Find blue oilcloth caught on a nail.

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Read the scraped mark's remaining lines.

• DC 12 Charisma (Performance): Blend into the revels long enough to overhear courier talk.

Useful Information

A dancer saw Pallan Greaves, the courier with the white-eared mule, watching the road instead of the revels.

A hog roaster found a scrap of blue oilcloth caught on a nail near the north stable door.

A young local saw two Circle blades change cloaks behind the inn before walking toward Voss House.

An entertainer heard the phrase "Ulcaster pays better than fruit" from a drunken guard.

A stable boy remembers crates marked as Amnian melons that were too heavy and never smelled sweet.

What Voss Damaged

The north stable door has fresh scratches where a mark was scraped away.

Pallan paid his tab with coin still dusty from a buried cache.

The dancer speaks only if the party promises to keep her name from Ormlyr's public record.

Other Things to Find

A pouch of dusty coin from Pallan's cache containing 31 gp and 47 sp.

A loose roofboard above the north stable with a climber's kit wrapped in oilcloth.

A reveler's bright cloak that gives advantage on one attempt to vanish into a crowd.

Payoff

This site identifies Pallan Greaves, the north road, the blue oilcloth, and the Ulcaster phrase. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party recovers the scraped mark or the blue oilcloth scrap.

3.6 Thunderhammer Smithy

Taerom "Thunderhammer" Fuiruim's smithy is already at work by dawn. Hammers strike harder than needed. Apprentices stare at the party and say little. Taerom hates the party's dead constables, but he hates the thefts too.

Read AloudCopy

Heat rolls from Thunderhammer Smithy in a red breath. Hammers strike from inside with the hard rhythm of angry men keeping busy. Racks of finished work line the wall: spearheads, hinges, blade blanks, buckles, iron straps, and armor fittings waiting for wagons that may no longer come.

Taerom Fuiruim stands at the anvil with bare arms blackened to the elbow. He does not stop working when you enter.

"If you came for sympathy," he says, "you took the wrong road."

Setting

Thunderhammer Smithy faces the street with its forge doors thrown open. To the left, quenching troughs hiss beside stacked buckets and blackened tongs. To the right, racks hold finished spearheads, buckles, sword blanks, and armor fittings sorted by contract mark. Straight ahead, Taerom's anvil sits in a clear square of scorched floor under a hooded vent.

The smithy smells of coal smoke, hot iron, sweat, and oiled leather. Sparks snap from the forge and die on damp stone. Apprentices work at side benches without looking up for long. A crate near the rear door has been pried open and nailed shut again, and a soot-dark scrap of paper is pinned above it with an iron spike.

Running the Scene

Taerom respects direct speech and evidence. He despises excuses. He will not hide proof from Ormlyr, but he may hold it back from the party until they show restraint.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince Taerom to share the invoice scrap.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Match filing marks on recovered fittings to special contracts.

• DC 12 Strength (Athletics): Help shift a damaged crate and earn a moment of respect.

• DC 14 Intelligence (History): Recognize the triangular shield shape as old Shoon styling, with advantage if the party already found a rubbing.

Useful Information

One recovered cargo fitting bears a filing mark used only for special contracts.

That fitting was part of a shipment Voss asked about through an intermediary.

Taerom can prove the stolen work had no honest reason to pass through Voss's hands.

A soot-smeared delivery scrap lists "V" beside escort strength and road timing.

Taerom made a small enspelled fitting for Thalantyr years ago and recognizes a similar triangular plate shape in a Shoon rubbing.

What Voss Damaged

A paid hauler tried to buy back or destroy the matching invoice before sunrise.

Taerom caught the attempt and kept the scrap.

One apprentice who copied route weights for a stranger has gone into hiding.

Other Things to Find

A masterwork dagger from Taerom's reject bin. It is nonmagical, worth 75 gp, and balanced well enough to grant advantage on one Dexterity check made to cut a cord, strap, or purse.

A bundle of iron spikes, a hammer, and 50 feet of chain.

Taerom offers one armor repair or weapon repair at no cost if the party recovers stolen forge-work.

Payoff

This site proves that Voss's questions touched stolen forge-work and escort timing. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party obtains the soot-smeared delivery scrap.

3.7 Optional Site: High Hedge

High Hedge stands northwest of Beregost, a dark turreted stone house tangled in pines and guarded by Thalantyr's griffons. Locals avoid the place without paid business. Thalantyr does not welcome visitors, but the words Hilather, Ulcaster, and Demonshield can draw his attention.

Use this site if the party has found a Shoon rubbing, a triangular shield sketch, a note naming Hilather, or a clue that points toward Ulcaster. High Hedge can consume more table time than an in-town stop, so use it as a lore payoff rather than a mandatory lead.

Read AloudCopy

High Hedge rises from the pines like a dark stone threat. The path bends under branches heavy with old needles. Somewhere above, wings move through the trees with a sound too large for any crow.

The door opens before anyone knocks. An unseen servant holds it just wide enough for a voice within to say, "State your business, and make it worth the griffons' boredom."

Setting

High Hedge sits behind a ring of dark pines and old defensive stones. To the left of the path, broken statues lean under moss and needle fall. To the right, a low wall bears claw scars deep enough to hold rainwater. Straight ahead, the tower door stands under a narrow balcony where something heavy has scratched the stone perch smooth.

Inside, the entry hall smells of dust, old vellum, cold ashes, and spell reagents stored in sealed jars. Shelves climb both walls. A reading table waits in the center under green glass lamps. At the far end, a stair curls upward into shadow, and an unseen servant moves papers with the faint sound of dry leaves.

Running the Scene

Thalantyr is impatient, brilliant, and wary of town politics. He gives more time to arcane proof than to civic authority.

Use these checks:

• DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana): Present the shield clue in terms Thalantyr respects.

• DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince him that the matter threatens more than Beregost trade.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Animal Handling): Avoid provoking the griffons outside.

• DC 14 Intelligence (History): Connect Hilather, Shoon, and Ulcaster before Thalantyr names the chain.

Useful Information

Thalantyr recognizes the diamond shield shape as Shoon-era work tied to Hilather.

He knows Ulcaster founded his school to recover binding magic linked to Hilather's legacy.

His invisible servant has seen produce carts stop near Voss House and then continue north with lighter loads.

Thalantyr can identify arjale and tantulhor by description, which points Vestra toward Phlegethos.

He warns that any shield containing a fiend is a prison first and a treasure second.

What Voss Damaged

A messenger asking after "old Calishite shield-work" came to High Hedge under a false name, then fled when a griffon landed on the path.

Thalantyr's servant recovered a burned scrap naming Mordas, but part of the page is gone.

Thalantyr suspects the party has been pulled into a matter above Beregost law.

Other Things to Find

A scroll of detect magic that Thalantyr parts with only if shown a Shoon rubbing or Mordas's expense sheet.

A small vial of silver-blue reagent worth 50 gp, which reacts with arjale or tantulhor by turning black.

A feather dropped by one of Thalantyr's griffons, useful as proof that the party reached High Hedge without being killed.

Payoff

This site names the Shoon and Hilather connection. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party gains the burned Mordas scrap or the silver-blue reagent.

3.8 Optional Site: Merchants’ Hall

The hall opens late under guard. Clerks speak softly over missing pages and blame each other. Hallmaster Cevan Dhost wants no public scandal, but Dain's death has left him with no shield.

Read AloudCopy

Merchants' Hall smells of ink, dust, wax, and fear hidden under politeness. Ledger desks stand in straight rows. Each desk has a clerk trying to look occupied without drawing attention.

At the far end, Hallmaster Cevan Dhost holds three loose pages and a face that says he has already counted the cost of speaking.

Setting

Merchants' Hall is a rectangular chamber with high windows and a tiled floor worn pale by years of boots. To the left, public posting boards carry shipping notices, tax changes, and missing cargo claims. To the right, clerk desks sit behind waist-high rails with ledgers chained to iron rings. Straight ahead, the hallmaster's dais stands beneath a painted map of the Coast Way.

The room smells of ink, wax, dust, and damp wool. A brazier burns low near the dais. One posting board has three fresh gaps where papers were removed. At the clerk rail, a blotter lies face down under a ledger weight, its surface still holding impressions from cargo marks written too hard.

Useful Information

Three copied manifest pages tied to Voss are missing.

One blotter still holds mirror-impressions of cargo marks and departure times.

A junior clerk admits Voss came in after dusk with legal threats and two armed servants.

The clerk saw a black wax seal stamped with two nested circles.

Amnian produce imports and stolen forge-work losses share the same carrier numbers.

What Voss Damaged

The original duplicate pages are gone.

The witness fears Voss more than the party until shown Ormlyr's authority.

A tax stamp book for southern produce was cut apart to remove three entries.

Checks

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Read the blotter impressions.

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince Cevan to risk a named statement.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): Learn which junior clerk saw Voss.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): Match carrier numbers between produce imports and stolen forge-work losses.

Other Things to Find

A merchant seal kit with three blank wax sticks and a legal stamp worth 25 gp if returned, or far more trouble if misused.

A map case showing southern trade roads to Nashkel, Amn, and the Coast Way.

A pouch of clerk bribe money containing 16 gp and 34 sp.

Payoff

This site proves that Voss touched public records after dusk and that produce imports share carrier numbers with stolen goods. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if Cevan gives a signed statement.

3.9 Optional Site: Dawnbridge House

Children know fear before adults admit it. Dawnbridge House is quiet, with shutters drawn and errands canceled. Jorrin Boy wants to help, but he now understands that helping the party can get people killed.

Read AloudCopy

Dawnbridge House sits behind a low fence and a row of rain barrels. The yard should hold children at this hour, but the gate is tied shut with cloth. Small faces watch from a second-floor window, then vanish.

The matron opens the door only as far as the chain allows. Behind her, a boy grips a charcoal stub in one fist.

Setting

Dawnbridge House is a narrow timber building with a fenced yard and an herb bed along the left side. To the right, rain barrels stand beneath a patched gutter, each lid weighted with a stone. Straight ahead, the front door is crossbarred from inside, and a chalk sun has been half-erased on the threshold.

The entry smells of boiled oats, soap, wet wool, and fear held quiet for the children. A common room opens to the left with benches, blankets, and wooden toys stacked out of reach. A small office sits to the right with a lockbox under the desk. At the back, stairs climb toward sleeping rooms where whispers stop whenever adults raise their voices.

Running the Scene

This site should test the party's restraint. The matron cares more about the children than the investigation. Brinna can vouch for the party's conditional authority, but she cannot force the house to cooperate.

Use these checks:

• DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince the matron that the party brings protection.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Insight): Notice Jorrin wants to speak but fears the adults will stop him.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Compare Jorrin's sketch to other Circle marks.

• DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation): Frighten off a watcher across the street without scaring the children.

Useful Information

Jorrin saw a Voss courier change cloaks near the north road milestone.

The courier carried a tube wrapped in blue oilcloth.

A younger child remembers the courier's mule has one white ear.

Jorrin can sketch the mark on the courier's saddlebag: two rings cut by a vertical line.

A child delivering herbs to the Song of the Morning saw produce crates unloaded at Voss House before dawn.

What Voss Damaged

Someone left a coin and a warning at the house gate.

The matron asks whether the party brings protection or only more trouble.

Jorrin's sketch was stolen, but he can draw it again from memory.

Other Things to Find

Jorrin gives the party a child's whistle that can call him or another runner in Beregost once.

The matron offers a clean change of plain clothes for each character who protects the house.

A hidden jar of emergency coin holds 9 gp and 52 cp. Taking it without repayment costs the party trust in Beregost.

Payoff

This site identifies the courier mark, the blue oilcloth tube, and the north road milestone. It counts as one clue. It counts as two clues if the party protects Dawnbridge House from watchers or gains Jorrin's sketch.

3.10 Southmarket Produce Warehouse

This suspected smuggling warehouse stands behind a row of trade sheds near the south road, where carts from Amn and the southern markets unload fruit, vegetables, herbs, and casks of vinegar. The air smells of bruised peaches, onions, wet straw, cabbage leaves, and river mud. Flies gather at the loading doors. Crates marked for melons, tomatoes, figs, cucumbers, citrus, and southern greens are stacked high enough to hide a wagon.

Use this site once the party has two or more produce clues, the brass key from the Red Sheaf, the blue oilcloth lead, or a direct order from Ormlyr.

Read AloudCopy

The Southmarket Produce Warehouse sweats through its boards. Crushed fruit leaks between planks near the loading doors. Onion skins blow across the yard like scraps of old paper. Barrels of vinegar stand in rows, sharp enough to sting the eyes.

Inside, crates rise in uneven walls. Some smell sweet. Some smell sour. A few smell of oil, ash, and metal hidden under fruit gone soft.

Setting

Map / Area. The warehouse has a front loading yard, a main crate floor, a small office, a vinegar room, and a rear cart bay with doors facing a narrow lane.

Immediate Features. Crates provide half cover. Stacked pallets can be climbed with a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. The office door is locked, but the brass key from the Red Sheaf opens it.

Setting

The front loading yard is rutted mud packed with straw and crushed fruit skins. To the left, melon crates stand under canvas tarps with Amnian orchard stamps burned into their sides. To the right, vinegar barrels sit in neat rows beside a hand pump and wash trough. Straight ahead, double doors open into the main floor, where crate aisles twist through dim light.

Inside, the left wall holds stacked peaches, figs, tomatoes, and cucumbers in slatted crates. The right wall holds herbs, vinegar casks, and sacks of onions. The small office sits in the rear-left corner behind a half door stained with inked fingerprints. Across from it, the rear cart bay opens to a narrow lane where a wagon waits under a turnip cloth.

The warehouse smells layered and wrong: sweet fruit rot first, then vinegar, wet straw, lamp oil, ash, and the faint metal tang of hidden forge-work.

Environmental Subpart

Lighting. Dim light inside, bright light in the yard.

Terrain. Fruit pulp, straw, and broken crate slats make the main floor difficult terrain during a chase or fight.

Movement. A creature can climb crate stacks at half speed. A failed climb check drops the creature prone in a shower of fruit and splinters.

Interactive Features. Crates can be tipped to create difficult terrain in a 10-foot square. A vinegar cask can be opened to create a slick 5-foot puddle.

Hazards. A creature shoved into broken crates takes 3 (1d6) piercing damage. A creature splashed with vinegar has disadvantage on its next Wisdom (Perception) check relying on smell.

Warehouse Factor: Dallan Rusk

Dallan Rusk is the warehouse factor. He is not a loyal Circle agent. He is a frightened clerk who accepted coin, false papers, and one threat too many.

Appearance: Dallan is thin, balding, and sweating through a yellow linen vest. Ink stains mark his fingers, but his boots carry fresh vegetable pulp from the rear bay.

Roleplaying Dallan: Dallan talks too much when frightened. He repeats legal phrases he does not understand and looks toward the rear bay whenever asked about Voss.

Motivations: Survive the morning, keep his ledgers from ruining him, and convince himself that he only handled fruit.

What Dallan Knows.

Produce crates arrived under Amnian marks but were reworked in the warehouse.

Voss House received several late deliveries with no kitchen order large enough to explain them.

Pallan Greaves collected a blue-wrapped tube from the office.

A cart labeled turnips is ready to leave through the rear bay.

Useful Information

Several crates of Amnian peaches contain hollow slats sized for ledgers or narrow metal plates.

A barrel of pickled vegetables hides a sealed tube wrapped in blue oilcloth.

A produce tally lists Voss House, the Red Sheaf, and the Jovial Juggler as delivery points on the same night.

One crate bears two marks: an Amnian orchard stamp and a tiny Circle sign cut under the lid.

A false-bottom melon crate holds a Shoon rubbing that shows a diamond shield made of triangular plates.

Ledger notes show stolen forge-work traded south for coin, then returned north as fruit shipments with hidden compartments.

What Voss Damaged

The warehouse office hearth is packed with wet ash and vegetable pulp.

Two dockhands were paid to roll spoiled onions across the floor to mask tracks.

The warehouse factor claims the goods belong to Amnian merchants, not to Voss.

A rear cart is ready to leave with crates labeled turnips but loaded with papers.

Search: The Warehouse

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Find hollow slats inside Amnian produce crates.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Survival): Track vegetable pulp, straw, and wagon ruts toward Voss House or the north road.

• DC 13 Dexterity (Thieves' Tools): Open the warehouse office lock without the Red Sheaf key.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): Separate useful paper scraps from the wet ash and pulp in the hearth.

• DC 14 Intelligence (History): Identify the Shoon diamond shield shape in the rubbing.

• DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana): Read the shield rubbing as conjuration research tied to binding magic.

Combat: Rear Bay Interruption

If the party arrives at 4 or more ticks, or if they threaten Dallan in public, Circle agents try to move the rear cart.

Roll Initiative.

Running the Encounter

The Circle agents want to leave with the papers instead of winning a stand-up fight. They tip crates, cut tack lines, and use smoke pots to break sight.

Creatures.

1 Circle handler using a spy-style stat block

2 produce toughs using thug stat blocks

2 frightened dockhands using commoner stat blocks

Enemy Tactics.

The handler grabs the blue-wrapped tube or the turnip crate first.

The toughs block lanes with tipped crates and fight defensively.

Dockhands flee if injured or offered clear protection.

If reduced below half hit points, the handler tries to flee toward the north road.

Battlefield Conditions.

Crates provide half cover.

Fruit pulp and loose straw create difficult terrain.

A smoke pot fills a 10-foot-radius area with light obscurement for 3 rounds.

A creature can use an action to cut a draft horse free, creating a panicked obstacle in the rear bay.

Victory / Defeat / Retreat.

If the party stops the cart, they recover the warehouse papers and gain strong proof against Voss.

If the handler escapes with the tube, Part 3 opens with a courier chase.

If the party kills dockhands or burns the warehouse, Beregost's fear of them grows and Brinna records it.

Other Things to Find

Four crates of edible southern fruit and vegetables worth 40 gp total if sold quickly.

A false-bottom crate containing 110 gp, 220 sp, and three small amethysts worth 25 gp each.

Two potions of healing hidden in a vinegar cask for courier use.

A set of thieves' tools wrapped in waxed cloth under a melon pallet.

A bolt of fine Calishite linen worth 60 gp, used to pad hidden metal plates.

Payoff

This site can provide the strongest Part 2 evidence. It counts as two clues if the party recovers the produce tally and the Shoon rubbing. It counts as three clues if they stop the rear cart.

3.11 Glimpse Site: Voss House

Voss House stands on the north side behind a low wall and iron gate. The front of the property remains respectable, but the back of the house tells a different story. The carriage yard has been swept. The washhouse chimney leaks smoke. Servants move with the clipped pace of people told exactly what not to say.

Do not run the full raid in Part 2. Use this site for surveillance, a brief conversation at the gate, or a risky look at the grounds.

Read AloudCopy

Voss House looks too quiet from the street. The curtains hang straight. The front steps have been washed. A servant crosses behind one high window, sees you, and vanishes.

At the back of the property, the lie frays. Ash stains mark the washhouse chimney. Wheel ruts have been brushed but not erased. Two guards stand near the carriage shed with the bored faces of men paid to notice everything.

Setting

Voss House presents a polished face to the north road. A low wall and iron gate frame the front garden. To the left, trimmed hedges hide a side path toward the kitchens. To the right, a carriage drive bends behind the house and out of sight. Straight ahead, the front steps are scrubbed pale, and the brass knocker has been wiped clean.

From the rear lane, the property tells the truth. The carriage yard smells of wet ash, swept dust, and horse dung covered too fast. The washhouse squats against the back wall with smoke leaking from a narrow chimney. Beside it, the carriage shed doors stand partly open, showing straw, tarp corners, and crate-shaped gaps on the floor.

Useful Information

The washhouse sits over a hidden counting cellar.

Servants moved records after the party's visit with Tessa's ring.

The carriage shed held produce crates, not passenger luggage, before dawn.

A guard captain sent one runner to the produce warehouse and another toward the north road.

Wax impressions in the record room match Tessa's signet ring.

What Voss Damaged

The obvious ledgers are gone.

The record room was burned from the inside.

The carriage yard was swept to hide crate drag marks.

Checks

• DC 13 Wisdom (Perception): Spot brushed wagon ruts leading from the rear gate.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): Notice ash from burned paper near the washhouse drain.

• DC 14 Charisma (Deception): Pass as household messengers long enough to see the carriage shed.

• DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth): Observe the rear yard without being challenged.

Other Things to Find

The party should not loot Voss House in this chapter. If they manage a brief entry, they can see or take one of the following before the house reacts:

A silver desk set worth 75 gp in Voss's study.

A locked liquor cabinet with three bottles of old Tethyrian brandy worth 40 gp each.

A hidden purse beneath a servant stair containing 55 gp and a signet blank.

Two smoke pots, three flasks of alchemist's fire, and a hooded lantern in the carriage shed.

Payoff

This site confirms that Voss House is active, swept, and linked to produce crates. It counts as one clue if the party observes the rear yard or identifies the washhouse. It should point straight into Part 3.

Skill Checks for the Investigation

Use these checks across sites, or in place of site-specific checks if the party takes a different approach.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): Read the blotter impressions at the Merchants' Hall.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): Calm a witness who fears both Voss and the party.

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Convince Cevan Dhost or Marra Feldpost to risk giving a named statement.

• DC 12 Intelligence (History): Recognize older Zhentarim cipher habits in Dain's notes.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Spot the repeated north-road timing across separate clues.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): Connect the washhouse note to a hidden cellar beneath Voss House.

• DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation): Force a Voss servant to admit that records left the house after the party's visit. Failure makes the witness clam up until Ormlyr intervenes.

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Find the hollow slats inside the Amnian produce crates at the Southmarket Produce Warehouse.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Survival): Track vegetable pulp, straw, and wagon ruts from the warehouse toward Voss House or the north road.

• DC 14 Intelligence (History): Identify the Shoon diamond shield shape in a rubbing, with advantage at High Hedge or with Thalantyr's help.

• DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion): Get a tavern witness at the Burning Wizard, Red Sheaf, or Jovial Juggler to speak without putting their name in Ormlyr's public record.

• DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana): Understand that references to Hilather, bound fiends, and triangular shield plates point to old conjuration research rather than common smuggling.

Two successes identify the courier. Three successes justify an immediate move on Voss House. Four successes reveal the suspected warehouse as part of Voss's route. Five successes reveal the hidden cellar before the raid begins. Six successes reveal that Mordas's work at Ulcaster is tied to a Shoon relic and stolen cargo.

Complication: Beregost Turns Its Eyes

During the investigation, townsfolk react to the party. Use one or two of these beats between sites.

A widow of one slain constable spits at their feet.

A merchant guard asks why anyone should trust their word.

A child points them out and is pulled indoors.

A temple warden quietly tells them that Ormlyr has risked his office by giving them this chance.

A smith's apprentice follows them for two streets, then runs when noticed.

A woman leaves flowers at a constable's door and refuses to step aside.

A carter mutters that Voss never killed officers in the street.

A young constable touches his blade whenever a party member gets close.

Do not make every scene hostile. Make the party feel watched.

Complication: Voss's Watchers

After the party gains two clues, Voss's watchers begin to interfere.

Choose one:

A boy with a red scarf shadows the party and runs if confronted.

Two produce toughs warn a witness to forget what was seen.

A servant drops a false note that points toward an empty stable.

A messenger tries to reach Voss House with news of the party's current location.

A Circle handler offers a witness 20 gp to leave town at once.

Stopping the interference earns one minor clue or reduces the investigation clock by 1 tick. Letting it pass may add 1 tick or make the next witness harder to convince.

Chapter Payoff

By the end of this chapter, the party should know most of the following:

Voss used their warning to destroy records and move the rest.

A courier with a blue-wrapped tube is leaving by the north road.

Southmarket Produce Warehouse hides Circle records among fruit and vegetables from Amn and the southern markets.

The last meaningful proof may still sit beneath Voss's washhouse.

The first signs of Hilather, Shoon shield-work, and Ulcaster point beyond Voss.

If the party has enough evidence, Brinna sends a runner to Ormlyr:

Read AloudCopy

"Tell the captain Voss moved records through fruit crates. Tell him the courier has a blue tube and a white-eared mule. Tell him Dain was right."

If the party has weak evidence, Brinna still sends a runner, but the message is colder:

Read AloudCopy

"Tell the captain we have smoke, not fire. If he wants Voss House opened, he will need to decide how much law remains to spend."

Transition to Part 3

Move to Part 3: The Northside House Goes Cold when one of the following happens:

The party identifies Pallan Greaves and the blue-wrapped courier tube.

The party catches the Southmarket rear cart or learns it has just left.

The party gains enough proof for Ormlyr to authorize action against Voss House.

Voss's watchers force a chase or attempted frame job.

The investigation clock reaches 6 ticks.

Read AloudCopy

The clues no longer sit apart.

Voss House. The produce warehouse. The north road. The white-eared mule. The blue oilcloth tube. Dain's torn notes. A shield drawn in old triangular plates.

Beregost's morning noise gathers around you again, but now the town sounds less like a crowd and more like a fuse burning down.

Brinna closes her notebook.

"He knows we are coming," she says. "So we go before he decides what to burn next."

Estimated Duration: 45-60 minutes.

This chapter puts pressure on timing. Voss House is closing itself from the inside, and the Circle wants the party blamed for one more death before the raid begins. The party should feel the case shifting from investigation to pursuit.

Story Objectives

Let the party intercept or trail Voss's courier.

Establish Voss House as altered, guarded, and partially cleaned.

Create a choice between saving a witness and preserving the chase.

Set up entry into the hidden counting cellar.

Give Ormlyr enough proof to authorize the raid in Part 4.

Setting

Location: Northside Beregost

Northside Beregost holds larger houses, private gardens, small stables, and walled yards owned by merchants who prefer distance from the louder inns along the Coast Way. Voss House stands behind a low wall, iron gate, trimmed hedges, and locked outbuildings. By daylight it looks respectable. By late afternoon it looks abandoned too neatly.

Shutters are latched. The front path has been swept. The carriage yard holds no carriage. The washhouse chimney breathes a thin line of smoke that smells of wet paper and bitter ink.

Read AloudCopy

Northside Beregost feels quieter than the rest of town, but not safer.

The houses here stand back from the street behind walls, hedges, and narrow garden gates. Servants cross lanes with covered baskets and do not look up. Carriage wheels have left clean arcs in damp dirt near Voss House, then vanished under fresh broom marks.

Beyond the iron gate, Voss House keeps its curtains straight and its doors closed. Smoke leaks from the washhouse chimney in a thin gray line.

Brinna studies the wall, then the street behind you.

"Too clean," she says. "No honest house cleans this hard before noon."

Places of Interest

The Front Gate: Polished, locked, and watched through shutter slits.

The Garden Wall: Low enough to climb, high enough to hide movement in the rear yard.

The Rear Lane: The best route to the carriage yard, washhouse, and courier handoff.

The Tannery Yard: A sour-smelling shortcut used during the chase.

The North Road Milestone: Pallan's dead drop sits under loose stones beyond town.

Environment

Lighting. Late morning or afternoon light fills the streets. Alleyways and rear lanes hold dim pockets under awnings, trees, and stable roofs.

Terrain. The main lane is normal terrain. Garden walls require a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to climb. Crate stacks, rain barrels, laundry poles, and muddy side yards can count as difficult terrain during a chase.

Weather and atmosphere. The air smells of damp straw, coal smoke, garden soil, and sour tannery runoff. Smoke from Voss's washhouse adds bitter ink and wet paper.

Hazards. Public violence draws witnesses in 2 rounds. The first townsfolk who arrive are not neutral. They have heard the party killed constables.

Running This Chapter

Part 3 has three connected pressures:

Watch Voss House: Learn what is still moving and where the raid should strike.

Stop Pallan Greaves: Seize the blue-wrapped tube or follow it to a dead drop.

Answer the Frame: Save Harl Brint, expose the planted witness, or accept that Beregost will hear one more accusation.

Do not require the party to solve all three. One strong success can carry them into Part 4. Multiple successes give better legal footing, better entry options, and a stronger epilogue.

Pressure Clock

Use this clock if the party hesitates or spends time planning.

At 0 ticks, Voss's household believes it has hours.

At 1 tick, Pallan Greaves moves into the rear lane with the mule.

At 2 ticks, the scribe carries ash from the washhouse into the house.

At 3 ticks, Harl Brint is stabbed or shot for the frame.

At 4 ticks, Pallan leaves for the north road.

At 5 ticks, the last ledger is moved into a travel bag in the counting cellar.

Add 1 tick for a failed attempt to enter the grounds, a public confrontation, a short rest, or a chase scene that ends without capture.

4.1 Surveillance at Voss House

The party can watch the house before acting. Give them useful information every few minutes, then force movement through Pallan, Harl, or a guard's challenge.

Setting

The front of Voss House is a deliberate picture. To the left, trimmed hedges frame a side path toward the kitchen door. To the right, a carriage drive curves behind the house, its damp ruts brushed thin. Straight ahead, the front door sits under a brass lamp with polished glass and no flame.

From the rear lane, the house loses its polish. The garden wall is stained with old ivy marks. A handcart rests under a blanket beside the carriage shed. The washhouse door has been opened often enough to leave muddy half-moons on the threshold. Bitter smoke comes from the chimney in pulses, as if paper is being fed in small batches.

Surveillance Beats

Use one beat for each successful check or each few minutes of watching:

A maid leaves carrying a laundry basket weighted with more than cloth.

Two guards move crates from the rear shed to a handcart.

A scribe burns paper in a washhouse stove, then carries the ashes inside instead of dumping them.

A courier with a mule with one white ear waits in the alley behind the garden wall.

A hooded figure watches the party from across the lane and leaves if approached.

A servant drops sealing wax scraps into a drain, then rinses the stones.

A guard captain checks the rear gate lock twice in five minutes.

Someone inside the washhouse drags stone over stone, then stops when the mule brays.

Useful Checks

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Notice the one-white-ear mule in the rear lane.

• DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth): Watch from the garden wall without being spotted.

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Read the brushed ruts as a handcart path, not carriage tracks.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): See that the maid expects to be searched and fears what she carries.

• DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): Connect the stone-dragging sound to a cellar entrance under the washhouse basin.

• DC 14 Charisma (Deception): Approach as a messenger and draw a guard into revealing that "the last bag" is not ready.

What the Party Can Learn

One success confirms that Voss House is moving evidence.

Two successes identify Pallan and the white-eared mule.

Three successes identify the washhouse as the route to the hidden counting cellar.

Four successes reveal that a final bag or ledger remains inside.

4.2 The Courier: Pallan Greaves

Pallan Greaves is a lean rider paid to know roads and ask no questions. He carries the blue-wrapped tube. Inside are a half-burned cipher key, a courier roster, and a letter from Mordas ordering Voss to abandon Beregost after one final transfer.

Pallan does not fight to the death. He runs, bargains, or lies. He knows Voss pays well and punishes late hands. He does not know the full Demonshield truth, but he has heard the name Ulcaster enough to fear it.

Roleplaying Pallan

Use Pallan's stat block in appendix 2 if the pursuit becomes a fight.

Appearance: Pallan is narrow-faced, sun-browned, and dressed in a patched riding coat over good boots. He keeps his beard trimmed short and his eyes on exits. His mule has one white ear and a scar across its left flank.

Roleplaying Pallan: Pallan answers fast, then revises himself faster. He laughs when frightened and calls everyone "friend" until blades come out.

Personality: Practical, cowardly under direct threat, and proud of never asking what a sealed tube contains.

Motivations: Get paid, leave Beregost alive, and avoid becoming the man blamed for Voss's collapse.

History: Pallan has carried messages for merchants, smugglers, and caravan factors along the Coast Way. Voss hired him through produce accounts and paid in coin still dusty from a buried cache.

What Pallan Knows.

The blue-wrapped tube goes to a dead drop beneath the north road milestone.

Voss's guard captain told him the "house books" would follow later.

The washhouse cellar holds the final ledger, or did at dawn.

Mordas's people pay more than Voss but forgive less.

What Pallan Wants. Pallan wants to trade the tube for freedom if caught. If treated fairly, he gives the dead drop location and names the guard captain who hired him.

What Pallan Will Not Do.

He will not die for Voss.

He will not open the tube in public.

He will not enter Voss House after the frame begins.

The Blue-Wrapped Tube

The tube is waxed wood wrapped in blue oilcloth and tied with black cord. It smells of tomatoes, wet straw, and sealing wax.

Inside are:

A half-burned cipher key matching marks from Dain's notes.

A courier roster naming Pallan Greaves and three north-road contacts.

A letter from Mordas ordering Voss to abandon Beregost after one final transfer.

A narrow scrap that reads, "Ulcaster before trial. The school pays what courts cannot."

The tube counts as two clues for Ormlyr and one strong link to Part 4.

Intercepting Pallan

Choose the approach that fits the party's plan.

Chase

Pallan bolts through alleys, across a tannery yard, and toward the north road. Run the chase as three legs. A character must succeed on two of the three legs to catch him before the milestone.

Leg 1: Rear Lane. Crates, laundry lines, and rain barrels block the alley.

• DC 13 Dexterity (Acrobatics): Slip through hanging laundry and stacked crates.

• DC 13 Strength (Athletics): Shoulder through a half-latched gate.

Failure costs 10 feet of distance or knocks the character prone.

Leg 2: Tannery Yard. Sour runoff slicks the ground between hide frames.

Constitution saving throw DC 12: Push through the stink without retching.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Perception): Spot dry boards across the runoff.

Failure gives disadvantage on the next chase check.

Leg 3: North Road Cut. Pallan mounts or tries to mount the white-eared mule.

• DC 14 Dexterity (Acrobatics): Vault a low wall and cut him off.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Animal Handling): spook or calm the mule at the right moment.

Ranged attack against AC 12: Cut the saddle strap, rein, or tube cord without hitting Pallan.

If the party fails two legs, Pallan reaches the milestone. They can still find the dead drop with a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) or Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Ambush

The party can cut off the alley and seize Pallan before he mounts.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth): Reach the rear lane unseen.

• DC 13 Charisma (Deception): Pose as Voss's replacement courier.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): Spot the tube under Pallan's riding coat.

• DC 14 Strength (Athletics): Grapple Pallan before he reaches the mule.

On a success, Pallan surrenders with the tube. On a failure, he shouts, kicks the mule, and starts the chase.

Talk

Pallan can be bribed or frightened into giving up the tube and naming the washhouse cellar.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion): Offer a lawful way out under Ormlyr's writ.

• DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation): Make clear that Voss cannot protect him.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Insight): Learn that Pallan fears Mordas more than Voss.

• DC 14 Charisma (Deception): Claim that Voss already named Pallan as expendable.

Pallan asks for safe passage, 25 gp, or a written note from Brinna that he cooperated. Brinna hates the request, but she writes the note if the party spares him and takes the tube.

Trail

The party may follow Pallan to a dead drop under a milestone outside town.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Dexterity (Stealth): Follow without alerting Pallan.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Survival): Keep the mule's track through road traffic.

• DC 14 Wisdom (Perception): Spot Pallan checking for tails near the last garden wall.

At the milestone, Pallan slides the tube under loose stones and leaves. If the party waits, a Circle handler arrives in 10 minutes. Capturing that handler gives an extra clue, but adds 1 tick to the pressure clock at Voss House.

4.3 Complication: The Frame

As the courier moves, the Circle stages a killing nearby. A Voss servant named Harl Brint staggers from a side lane with a crossbow bolt in his back and the party's description already shouted by a planted witness.

Read AloudCopy

A shout cuts across the lane.

A man in servant's gray stumbles from between two houses. He has one hand pressed to his ribs and a black-fletched bolt standing from his back. He falls hard enough to crack his chin on the stones.

From the far corner, a woman points at you with both hands.

"There! Them! I saw them shoot him!"

Shutters open. Footsteps gather. Pallan looks once at the fallen man, once at the crowd, then runs.

Harl Brint

Harl Brint is a Voss servant who tried to leave after seeing records burned. He is not brave, but he is not loyal enough to die quietly.

Appearance: Harl is a thin man in his late forties with ink on his cuffs, smoke in his thinning auburn hair, and a servant's gray coat buttoned wrong. He has a crossbow bolt in his back and ash under his fingernails.

Roleplaying Harl: Harl speaks in broken gasps. He apologizes too much and tries to confess before he loses strength.

Motivations: Survive, clear his own name, and tell someone that Voss's guard captain ordered the burn.

What Harl Knows.

Voss's guard captain ordered the record room burned.

The washhouse basin hides the cellar stair.

A compact ledger with red-edged pages remains below.

A scribe named Olen tried to burn the wrong book and was struck for it.

Saving Harl

Harl dies in 3 rounds without aid.

• DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine): Stabilize Harl.

Magical healing: Harl wakes and can speak after one round.

Healer's kit: Stabilizes Harl without a check.

Lesser restoration or similar magic: Removes shock enough for a full statement.

If saved, Harl gives a clear witness statement naming the washhouse cellar and Voss's guard captain. This grants advantage on the first attempt to convince Ormlyr to authorize the raid.

Exposing the Planted Witness

The planted witness is Nara Quell, a Circle cutout paid to shout first and vanish in the crowd. She wears a brown shawl and has black wax under one thumbnail.

Use these checks:

• DC 13 Wisdom (Insight): See that Nara begins the accusation before looking at Harl.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Perception): Notice black wax under her thumbnail.

• DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation): Make her admit she was paid to shout.

• DC 13 Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Strength (Athletics): Catch her before she slips through the crowd.

If caught, Nara names "a produce man with a split ear" as the payer. This points back to the Southmarket agents and weakens the frame.

The Choice

The party must choose how to respond.

Saving Harl with magic or medicine gives a living witness who saw Voss's guard captain order the burn.

Chasing Pallan keeps the strongest paper evidence from leaving town.

Splitting the party risks a street fight with Circle cutthroats.

Ignoring Harl hardens Beregost against the party later.

Brinna stays with Harl if no party member does. If the whole party chases Pallan, Brinna shouts after them:

Read AloudCopy

"Run, then. I will write down what you left bleeding."

Combat: Street Knives

Use this combat if the party confronts the planted witness, splits up, or lets Circle agents spring the frame.

Setting

The fight takes place in a narrow northside lane. To the left, stacked crates and rain barrels crowd the wall of a closed stable. To the right, a tannery fence leans over a ditch of sour runoff. Straight ahead, the lane bends toward the north road, with two rooflines close enough for climbers to cross between them.

The ground smells of damp straw, coal smoke, sour beer, and blood once Harl falls. Shutters open above the lane. Townsfolk watch from behind curtains and door chains, ready to remember the first thing shouted as truth.

Combat Setup

Roll Initiative.

Running the Encounter

The Circle agents want the party seen over a dying man, not dead at any cost. They fight long enough to make the frame convincing, then scatter.

Creatures.

2 Circle cutthroats using the Circle Cutthroat stat block below

3 Circle blades using bandit or thug stat blocks

Pallan Greaves, who avoids melee and runs

Nara Quell using a commoner stat block, who flees if cornered

Enemy Tactics.

Circle blades try to pin the party in the lane.

Cutthroats target healers, witnesses, and anyone holding the blue tube.

One agent shouts accusations to draw townsfolk to the scene.

Pallan flees once blood is drawn.

If Harl is healed, one cutthroat tries to finish him from range.

Battlefield Conditions.

Rain barrels and crates provide half cover.

The tannery ditch is difficult terrain.

A creature can climb to a roofline with a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check.

A creature shoved into the tannery ditch must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.

A creature can use an action to scatter a crate, creating difficult terrain in a 5-foot square.

Victory / Defeat / Retreat.

If the party saves Harl, the frame weakens.

If the party catches Nara, the frame breaks.

If Pallan escapes, the dead drop route remains available.

If the party kills bystanders or ignores Harl, Brinna's testimony worsens.

Adjusting the Encounter

Weak: Use 1 Circle cutthroat and 2 Circle blades.

Strong: Add 1 Circle blade on the roofline.

Very Strong: Add a second planted accuser who begins drawing townsfolk toward the wrong story.

4.4 The Dead Drop

If Pallan escapes or the party trails him, the blue tube reaches a dead drop under the north road milestone.

Setting

The milestone stands where Beregost's last garden walls give way to road ditch and scrub. To the left, a split rail fence marks a sheep pasture. To the right, the ditch drops into thorn and nettle. Straight ahead, the Coast Way bends north under thin trees.

The stone is waist-high, chipped, and painted with old distance marks. The lower stones around it sit too clean for roadside rubble. A narrow hollow beneath the west edge holds oilcloth, wax crumbs, and one folded scrap missed in haste.

Finding the Drop

• DC 12 Wisdom (Survival): Follow the white-eared mule's track to the milestone.

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Find the loose stone under the west edge.

• DC 14 Wisdom (Perception): Spot a Circle handler watching from the pasture fence.

The dead drop contains the blue-wrapped tube if Pallan delivered it. If Pallan kept the tube, the hollow contains only a scrap reading, "House cold. Last ledger below wash."

4.5 Authorizing the Raid

Once the party has the tube, Harl's statement, Pallan's testimony, the dead drop scrap, or clear surveillance of the washhouse, Brinna sends for Ormlyr. He arrives with two temple wardens and a face set hard enough to hide grief.

Read AloudCopy

Ormlyr listens without interrupting. He reads the tube letter once, then again. He looks at Harl, at Pallan, or at Brinna's notes, depending on what you brought him.

At last, he closes his hand around the captain's chain.

"Enough," he says. "Voss House opens today."

If the Proof Is Strong

Strong proof includes the blue-wrapped tube, Harl alive, Pallan captured, or the dead drop scrap paired with prior warehouse evidence.

Ormlyr authorizes a direct raid. He assigns four temple wardens to seal the street and keep townsfolk back. Brinna remains with the party if she can still stand.

If the Proof Is Weak

Weak proof includes only surveillance, rumor, or one frightened witness with no papers.

Ormlyr hesitates. Vestra steps in with legal pressure and asks the party to sign a statement placing their names on the risk.

Read AloudCopy

Vestra lays one red-gloved hand on the writ.

"Captain Ormlyr lacks comfort, not cause. Sign the risk. If Voss is clean, your names carry the trespass. If Voss is guilty, his own records will answer."

If the party signs, Ormlyr authorizes a limited raid focused on the washhouse and records. If they refuse, Part 4 begins as an unsanctioned infiltration.

Chapter Payoff

The party should end this chapter with at least one of the following:

the blue-wrapped tube

Pallan as a prisoner or informant

Harl Brint alive as a witness

the planted witness exposed

proof that the washhouse cellar still holds Voss's last ledger

Ormlyr's authorization to open Voss House

With enough proof, Ormlyr authorizes the raid. With weak proof, Vestra can provide legal pressure, but she asks the party to sign a statement that places their names on every risk.

Transition to Part 4

Move to Part 4: Voss's Last Ledger once Ormlyr authorizes the raid, Vestra forces the legal risk, or the party chooses to enter without sanction.

Read AloudCopy

Voss House waits behind its low wall like a respectable lie.

The iron gate stands shut. The front windows are dark, each curtain drawn to the same height. To the left, trimmed hedges border a path toward the servant door. To the right, the carriage yard sits too clean, its packed earth raked flat and its wheel ruts brushed away.

Behind the house, the washhouse chimney leaks gray smoke into the air.

Brinna lowers her voice.

"This is where Dain's case went when you warned Voss. Let's see what survived."

Estimated Duration: 60 minutes.

The finale should feel like a raid on a house that expected the raid yesterday. Voss has lost his quiet cover, but he has not lost his nerve. He has turned his home into a delay action. Every locked door, armed servant, burning page, and polite lie buys time for one last courier route and one last escape.

Story Objectives

Strike Voss House before the last records vanish.

Force a confrontation with Voss and his remaining staff.

Recover proof that connects Voss to Mordas, the Circle, the compact ledger, and the Demonshield trail.

Give Vestra a strong moment to reveal her infernal claim if the table has earned it.

Decide whether Voss leaves Beregost in mortal chains bound for infernal remand, dies and returns to the Hells outside Vestra's custody, or escapes on the road.

Running the Raid

Voss House is not a dungeon waiting room by room. It is an active site under pressure. Voss's staff are packing, burning, hiding, and lying when the party arrives.

Use the following pressure clock if the party does not enter with total surprise. Each tick marks 10 minutes of in-game time, one loud combat, one failed stealth scene, or one long search without precautions.

Voss House Pressure Clock

Tick 1: Shutters Close. Servants lock the front door, bar the servant door, and move one evidence packet from the record room to the washhouse.

Tick 2: Rusk Takes the Stair. Rusk Anvar and two guards hold the washhouse cellar stair. The hidden crossbow at area W2 is armed.

Tick 3: Ilyra Lights the Basin. Ilyra Quill starts burning loose records in the counting cellar. The party can still save the compact ledger, but one secondary clue is lost.

Tick 4: Voss Opens the Drain. Voss moves to the drain tunnel with his travel bag and the Mordas letter. If stopped, he bargains. If ignored, he flees.

Tick 5: The Last Ledger Leaves. Ilyra or a guard escapes through the drain with either the compact ledger or the Mordas letter. The party may pursue through the tunnel.

Tick 6: Voss Vanishes. Voss escapes Beregost if the party has not blocked the drain tunnel, captured him, or killed him.

The pressure clock should make choices matter, not punish careful play. If the party takes smart precautions, sends a scout to the washhouse, blocks the rear gate, or uses Brinna and the temple wardens well, reduce the clock by one tick or pause it during their first clean entry.

Location: Voss House

Voss House stands on the north side of Beregost behind a low fieldstone wall and a black iron gate. The main house is two stories of whitewashed timber, dark roof tile, and green shutters kept in perfect repair. A narrow garden path runs along the left side to the servant door. The right side opens into a carriage yard with a rear gate, stable stall, tack shed, and old washhouse.

The house smells wrong before anyone steps inside. Wet ash lingers under vinegar, cold wax, and the sour bite of lye. The front rooms show wealth and taste. The back rooms show panic.

Read AloudCopy

Voss House waits behind its low wall like a respectable lie.

The iron gate stands shut. The front windows are dark, each curtain drawn to the same height. To the left, trimmed hedges border a path toward the servant door. To the right, the carriage yard sits too clean, its packed earth raked flat and its wheel ruts brushed away.

Behind the house, the washhouse chimney leaks gray smoke into the air.

No music carries from within. No servant opens the door.

Approaching the House

The party may approach under Ormlyr's authority, Vestra's writ, stealth, deception, or force.

Under Ormlyr's Authority. Brinna reads the warrant at the gate. Voss's servants stall for 2 rounds, then Rusk opens the door under protest. The party begins in area 1. The pressure clock starts at Tick 1.

Under Vestra's Writ. Vestra presents her sealed trade authority and names Voss as a receiver of stolen route intelligence. The door opens, but every servant inside knows to delay and misdirect. The pressure clock starts at Tick 1, but the party has advantage on Charisma checks made to command household staff.

Stealth. A character can reach the servant door, carriage yard, or washhouse with a successful DC 14 Dexterity (Stealth) check. Failure alerts a guard and starts the pressure clock at Tick 2.

Deception. A character posing as a courier, physician, buyer, or magistrate's clerk can draw a servant outside with a successful DC 14 Charisma (Deception) check. Success grants a brief opening to area 2 or area 5.

Force. Breaking the front door or gate requires a successful DC 16 Strength (Athletics) check. The noise starts the pressure clock at Tick 2 and gives Rusk time to position guards in area 6.

Ormlyr's Support

Ormlyr joins the raid only if the party has no other legal cover. He seals the street, keeps townsfolk back, and prevents Voss's allies from turning the scene into a riot.

Brinna can join the party if she survived earlier scenes. Use the guard stat block for Brinna, but give her 22 hit points, Wisdom (Insight) +3, and advantage on checks made to identify forged constabulary papers. Brinna favors nonlethal strikes and shouts names of the dead if the party starts killing surrendered foes.

Temple wardens hold the gate. They do not clear rooms for the party. If the party asks for help blocking exits, two wardens can seal the rear gate or the drain tunnel exit once discovered.

Keyed Areas

5.1 Front Gate and Garden Wall

The low wall is 5 feet high, damp with moss on the inside face, and easy to climb from the street with a DC 11 Strength (Athletics) check. The iron gate is locked with a good brass lock.

Lock. A character can pick the gate lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools. Failure by 5 or more snaps a pick and rattles the gate loudly, adding 1 tick to the pressure clock.

Watchers. Two hired guards watch from behind the entry curtains. If they spot intruders, one runs to warn Rusk, and the other bars the servant door.

Clue. A successful DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check spots ash scuffed into the garden gravel near the servant path. A successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check reads the pattern as repeated trips from the record room to the washhouse.

5.2 Front Hall

The front hall shows the life Voss wanted Beregost to see.

Read AloudCopy

The front hall smells of polish, old wool, and smoke hidden under orange peel.

To the left, a polished stair climbs beside a row of framed trade maps. Straight ahead, a rug from Amn runs toward a closed parlor door. To the right, portraits stare down from the wall in stiff collars and merchant robes, their painted eyes fixed on a locked display cabinet.

Someone has taken time to straighten the rug and wipe soot from the banister. A black smear remains under one brass stair nail.

Occupants. If the party enters openly, an elderly house steward named Halven Sore receives them. Halven uses the commoner stat block and tries to delay the search. He is frightened, not loyal. A successful DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that he keeps glancing toward the servant hall.

Locked Cabinet. The display cabinet has AC 13, 10 hit points, and a DC 15 Dexterity check lock. Inside are forged introductions, false seals, and travel papers under different names.

Treasure and Finds.

Three forged travel papers with blank names.

A framed trade map of the Coast Way worth 50 gp.

A silver-inlaid cane worth 35 gp. The cane hides a narrow dagger.

A wax wafer bearing the same border pattern as Tessa's ring, but without the central signet.

Evidence Value. The false papers prove flight preparations. The wax wafer grants advantage on checks made to connect Tessa's ring to Voss's private contact mark in area 8.

5.3 Parlor and Public Study

Voss used this room for respectable meetings. It has been staged to look calm.

Read AloudCopy

A long table sits under the parlor windows. Six chairs stand in perfect order. To the left, a cold hearth holds clean logs that have not burned. To the right, a writing desk sits bare except for a dry inkwell, a sand shaker, and one silver letter knife.

The air smells of lemon oil and fresh dust. The room is too clean for a household in crisis.

Searching the Desk. A successful DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a hidden drawer under the inkwell tray. Inside is a list of harmless public donations, each marked with a tiny pinhole. The pinholes match names on the bribe list in area 8.

Conversation with Voss. If Voss chooses to meet the party before retreating, he appears here. He wears a dark travel coat over a clean waistcoat. Smoke has stained one cuff. He keeps noticing it and stopping himself from rubbing it clean.

Voss uses courtesy to buy time:

"Captain Ormlyr sends accused killers to search my home. Beregost has changed by morning."

"I will answer lawful questions. I will not indulge a mob with better boots."

"Magister, if that is what you are, your seals are far from Baldur's Gate."

"You want Mordas? Then you need me breathing."

If reduced below half his hit points later, Voss repeats that last line and offers a trade.

5.4 Burned Record Room

The record room sits behind the public study. Voss burned the obvious records first.

Read AloudCopy

Heat has blackened this room from floor to ceiling.

Charred shelves lean along the left wall. Brass binding pins glitter in gray ash underfoot. Straight ahead, the hearth is packed with the remains of ledgers burned too fast and stirred too late. To the right, a cracked window stands open by one finger's width, letting in cold air and the smell of wet soot.

A line of melted red wax runs down the front of a cabinet like a wound.

Hazard: Hot Ash Pockets. A creature that moves more than half speed through the room must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or disturb a pocket of hot ash, taking 3 (1d6) fire damage and coughing loudly enough to alert nearby guards.

Search. A character who spends 5 minutes searching can attempt one of the following checks:

• DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation): Find a half-burned page naming Taerom's cargo by quality grades.

• DC 14 Wisdom (Perception): Spot a fireproof scroll tube under collapsed shelving.

Dexterity check using thieves' tools DC 14: Recover melted seal fragments without ruining the impression.

• DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana): Identify a triangular Shoon plate sketch burned through from a page beneath.

Treasure and Finds.

A fireproof scroll tube containing a scroll of comprehend languages.

Melted seal silver worth 20 gp after careful recovery.

A brass reading lens. Once, the lens grants advantage on an Intelligence (Investigation) check made to read damaged writing.

Half-burned page tying Taerom's stolen work to Voss's quality codes.

Evidence Value. The Taerom page proves Voss's network selected shipments by value and commission detail. Ormlyr treats it as strong support when paired with any ledger from area 8.

5.5 Servant Hall and Kitchen

This narrow service wing connects the front house to the carriage yard and washhouse path.

Read AloudCopy

The servant hall is narrow, whitewashed, and loud with small signs of haste.

To the left, kitchen shelves stand open with jars shoved aside. Ahead, a side door opens toward the carriage yard. To the right, hooks for coats and aprons hang empty except for one gray servant's jacket with blood on the cuff.

The floor smells of vinegar, spilled broth, and boot mud tracked in from the yard.

Frightened Staff. Two servants hide in the pantry. They know Voss ordered the record room burned and Rusk sent runners to the washhouse. They will not speak in front of armed guards. A successful DC 13 Charisma (Persuasion) check or a promise of Ormlyr's protection gets them talking.

Useful Statements.

"Master Voss said the party had made fools into witnesses."

"Rusk said the last book went below the wash basin."

"Ilyra Quill burned papers until her sleeve caught."

"A man with road mud on his boots took a narrow case toward the old washhouse."

Evidence Value. Staff testimony counts as weak evidence alone and strong evidence if the party protects the servants from Rusk or brings them to Ormlyr.

5.6 Carriage Yard

The carriage yard is where Voss's household becomes openly tactical.

Read AloudCopy

The yard opens wide under a gray sky.

To the left, the stable stall stands half-open, a saddled horse stamping at the straw. Straight ahead, the rear gate is barred from within and the earth beneath it is darker than the swept ground around it. To the right, the old washhouse squats beside stacked laundry poles, its chimney breathing smoke in thin pulses.

Someone has raked the yard flat, but damp wheel marks remain under the gate.

Occupants. If the party did not enter with stealth, Rusk Anvar waits here with two hired guards. He orders them to hold the yard, then falls back toward the washhouse once one guard drops or a character reaches the washhouse door.

Hidden Tack Box. A DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check spots a tack box under a saddle blanket. It contains courier bells, cloak pins, and a saddlebag marked inside with the Circle sign.

Rear Gate. The rear gate has a heavy bar. Lifting it takes an action. A creature outside the yard can force it with a successful DC 16 Strength (Athletics) check.

Treasure and Finds.

A trained riding horse left saddled in the rear stall.

A courier saddlebag with hidden pockets worth 25 gp.

Two bags of caltrops.

One vial of basic poison.

Three cloak pins matching the courier roster.

Evidence Value. The saddlebag and cloak pins connect Voss House to Pallan's route and the north-road dead drop.

5.7 Washhouse

The washhouse hides the old stair to Voss's counting cellar.

Read AloudCopy

The washhouse is low, damp, and hotter than the yard.

To the left, copper tubs stand empty over cold brick hearths. Straight ahead, a stone basin sits crooked in the floor, its rim scraped white where it has been dragged aside. To the right, shelves hold lye jars, ash soap, sealing wax, folded cloth, and three clean aprons no one has used.

Smoke curls from a small stove. Beneath it lies the sharp smell of lye strong enough to bite the eyes.

Finding the Stair. The basin has been dragged over an iron-ring trapdoor. A character who searches the floor finds it without a check if Harl, Pallan, or prior surveillance named the washhouse. Otherwise, finding the scrape marks takes a successful DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Opening the Trapdoor. Pulling the basin aside requires a successful DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check. Two characters working together gain advantage. The trapdoor below is barred from the cellar side at Tick 2 or later. Breaking it requires a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check or 20 damage.

Hazard: Lye Jar. A creature can throw or spill a lye jar as an improvised attack with a range of 10 feet. On a hit, the target takes 3 (1d6) acid damage. A creature can pour lye over paper, rope, or leather to ruin it at the end of the next round.

Treasure and Finds.

Three flasks of acid hidden among cleaning supplies.

A waterproof satchel containing dry tinder, sealing wax, and 15 gp.

A clay jar of lye strong enough to destroy paper, rope, or leather.

Clue. A successful DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots black wax under the basin lip, where a Circle seal was pressed and snapped in haste.

5.8 Counting Cellar

The counting cellar is Voss's last true room. It is cramped, hot, and lined with shelves that hold too much truth for one merchant.

Read AloudCopy

The stair drops into a narrow brick cellar with a ceiling low enough to make tall folk stoop.

To the left, shelves hold tied bundles, iron cashboxes, and clay tubes sealed in black wax. Straight ahead, a long table sits under three hooded lanterns. Papers cover it in ordered stacks, except where a fresh burn mark has eaten a black hole through the wood. To the right, a travel bag rests beside a narrow drain tunnel whose iron grate has been pulled free.

The air tastes of hot wax, damp brick, and fear held behind good manners.

Occupants

If the party reaches this room before Tick 4, Voss stands near the table with Ilyra Quill and one hired guard. Rusk arrives from behind or holds the stair if still alive.

If the party reaches this room at Tick 4 or later, Voss is at the drain tunnel, Ilyra is burning records, and the hired guard tries to carry the narrow case into the tunnel.

Hidden Crossbow

A spring crossbow covers the stair. The first creature to step from the final stair into the cellar must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) piercing damage. A character who checks the stair before entering spots the trigger wire with a successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check and can disable it with a successful DC 14 Dexterity check using thieves' tools.

Burning Records

At the end of each round after initiative begins in the cellar, Ilyra or another agent can use an action to destroy one evidence packet. The compact ledger takes 3 rounds to destroy if lye, fire, or acid is used. Other packets take 1 round.

A character adjacent to the table can use an action to secure one packet. No check is needed if the character has a free hand and is not restrained. If fire or lye has already touched the packet, saving it requires a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw.

Drain Tunnel

The drain tunnel is 3 feet wide and 4 feet high. Medium creatures squeeze through it. It runs 80 feet to a covered outlet beyond the rear lane.

The tunnel smells of wet brick, old soap, and stagnant water. A creature moving through it must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to move at full speed. On a failure, the creature's speed is halved until the end of its next turn.

Two temple wardens can block the outlet if warned before Tick 4. If the outlet is blocked, Voss knows it when cold air stops flowing and shifts to negotiation.

Treasure

Voss's travel bag contains 180 gp, 70 pp, a gold signet ring worth 75 gp, and three black pearls worth 100 gp each.

A locked coffer holds a potion of invisibility, a potion of greater healing, and a scroll of misty step. The coffer lock requires a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools.

A velvet pouch contains six small triangular plates of pale metal worth 150 gp total to Thalantyr or Vestra.

A narrow case holds the Shoon rubbing, Mordas's expense sheet, and a charcoal sketch of a diamond shield.

Evidence Packets

Use the following packets as objects the party can recover, lose, or fight over.

Voss's Route Ledger. A blue-black book with stitched tabs. It links shipment times, cargo grades, escort strength, and payment marks.

Mordas Letter. A folded letter in a narrow case. It orders Voss to destroy local records, move useful staff north, and shift coin toward Ulcaster's School.

Courier Roster. A waxed roll naming Pallan Greaves, two dead drops, three north-road contacts, and a warehouse factor.

Compact Ledger. A red-edged book small enough to fit inside a coat. It records Voss's infernal debt, old contract witnesses, and the names he used to rebuild his network.

Bribe List. A pinned sheaf naming clerks, pages, haulers, and merchants who sold route details.

Tessa's Ring Match. A wax impression proving the signet ring matches Voss's private Circle contact mark.

Shoon Rubbing. A charcoal rubbing showing a diamond shield built from triangular plates. The name Hilather appears in a cramped margin.

Mordas's Expense Sheet. A coded account of coin spent on sages, grave maps, Calishite fragments, and hired diggers near Ulcaster's ruins.

5.9 Drain Outlet

If the party pursues Voss or Ilyra through the drain tunnel, the chase ends outside the rear lane.

Read AloudCopy

The tunnel spits cold air and dirty water into a stone-lined ditch beyond the rear lane.

To the left, Voss House rises over its wall, bright with lanterns now. To the right, the north road waits beyond garden plots and low fences. Straight ahead, a covered handcart sits under a patched canvas tarp, its mule already bridled.

The smell of lye fades here. Wet grass, road mud, and horse sweat take its place.

Escape Cart. The cart holds a plain cloak, two water skins, a shovel, and a purse with 30 gp. If Voss reaches it and has the potion of invisibility, he drinks the potion, cuts the mule loose, and runs on foot through the garden plots.

Stopping Escape. A character can cut off the route with one of the following:

• DC 14 Strength (Athletics): Vault the ditch and block the cart.

• DC 14 Dexterity (Acrobatics): Slide through the outlet ahead of a fleeing agent.

• DC 13 Wisdom (Survival): Read the planned route and move to the north fence first.

• DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation): Make a wounded or cornered agent surrender by naming Ormlyr, Vestra, or Mordas.

Combat: The Counting Cellar

Use this combat when the party reaches area 8 or forces Voss's final defense in the yard.

Combat Setup

Roll Initiative.

Creatures

Seldran Voss

Rusk Anvar, Voss Guard Captain

Ilyra Quill, Circle Cipher-Scribe

2 hired guards using the guard stat block

If the party is weak, remove one hired guard and have Rusk start with 38 hit points. If the party is strong, add one Circle cutthroat from Part 3 on the drain tunnel side.

Enemy Goals

Voss's people do not seek a glorious last stand.

Voss wants to leave with the Mordas letter or the compact ledger.

Rusk wants to hold the stair and keep the party away from Voss.

Ilyra wants to destroy the compact ledger if escape fails.

Hired guards want pay, survival, and a clean way out.

Enemy Tactics

Voss starts behind cover, uses Commanding Word to shift allies, and offers information once blood turns against him. If he reaches half hit points, he says, "You want Mordas? Then stop proving you prefer corpses to answers." He uses his reaction to preserve key papers or to buy a guard's strike.

Rusk fights at choke points. He shoves enemies on the cellar stair, uses Guard Captain's Order to move allies away from area attacks, and retreats only if Voss orders it or the compact ledger is secured.

Ilyra casts burning hands to threaten papers and pursuers, not just characters. She uses hold person on whoever carries the compact ledger. If Vestra reveals herself, Ilyra panics and tries to bargain.

Hired Guards use the Help action to drag tables, overturn shelves, and slow the party. If one guard drops, the other may surrender if offered Ormlyr's protection.

Battlefield Features

The ceiling is low. Large creatures have disadvantage on melee attack rolls here.

Shelves provide half cover.

The central table is difficult terrain if overturned.

Lanterns can be smashed. A shattered lantern creates a 5-foot square of fire for 2 rounds. A creature entering the fire or starting its turn there takes 3 (1d6) fire damage.

Smoke from burning records lightly obscures the cellar after round 2.

The drain tunnel counts as difficult terrain for Medium creatures and normal terrain for Small creatures.

Evidence Under Threat

At initiative count 20, losing ties, choose one threat that fits the scene:

Fire spreads toward the bribe list.

Ilyra drops lye beside the compact ledger.

A guard grabs the Mordas letter and runs for the drain.

Voss kicks the route ledger under the table and draws a blade.

The hidden crossbow reload mechanism clicks, threatening the next creature on the stair.

A character can stop the chosen threat with a relevant action and a DC 13 ability check, or through a spell that clearly solves the problem.

Victory

The party wins the encounter when Voss is captured, killed, or driven off and at least one major evidence packet remains. Capturing Voss alive and saving the compact ledger gives the strongest victory.

Defeat or Partial Success

If Voss escapes with one packet, the party can still succeed with other evidence. If all major evidence is lost, the party needs Voss, Ilyra, Pallan, Harl, or protected servants alive to save the case.

Reveal: The Merchant Was Never Human

Voss maintains the thin older-man guise as long as it still buys him time. The disguise drops when he is bloodied, when Vestra names his true nature under the compact, or when he chooses claws and fiendish power over the pretense of civic respectability.

When the guise fails, describe the merchant's outline splitting like bad ink: silver hair retracts into striped fur, the face lengthens into a tiger's muzzle, gold eyes brighten, and his hands twist into the reversed anatomy of a rakshasa. The clothes remain immaculate. The voice does not change.

Vestra's priority: Voss must be restrained rather than casually executed. Vestra needs the compact ledger intact and Voss physically in custody to open a controlled route back to the Hells. Killing him may return his essence there eventually, but not under her warrant.

Handling Voss

Voss is useful alive and dangerous in speech. He tries to make every choice cost someone else.

Voss Bargains

Voss bargains if cornered, reduced below half hit points, restrained by Vestra, or blocked at the drain outlet.

He can offer:

The name Mordas.

The Ulcaster route.

A list of Beregost bribed hands.

Proof that Tessa's ring marked a Circle contact.

Coin hidden in the Southmarket Warehouse.

A claim that Vestra wants him for a private debt, not justice.

Voss will not offer the Demonshield truth first. He says "the school matter" or "Mordas's excavation" until pressed.

Voss Lies

Use these lies if the party lets him speak too long:

"Ormlyr needed a villain and found a merchant."

"Tessa Vale put that ring in your hand to ruin me."

"Mordas is a name smugglers use to frighten clerks."

"The compact ledger is private debt, not town evidence."

"Vestra has no court that would let you leave once she opens the book."

A successful DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Voss fears the compact ledger more than Ormlyr's warrant.

Taking Voss Alive

The party can knock Voss unconscious, restrain him, or force surrender. If Voss surrenders, he drops his blade, raises empty hands, and says:

Read AloudCopy

"Alive, I can give you Mordas. Dead, I give you smoke, angry families, and a magistrate with her own hunger."

Brinna insists on binding him in iron. Vestra insists that the compact ledger be sealed before anyone moves him.

Vestra's Reveal

Vestra should reveal her erinyes nature only when the moment will improve the session. Her reveal is also the cleanest moment to name Voss as a rakshasa debtor and explain why she needs him alive for remand. She does not need to become a full combatant. Her reveal should add pressure, answer questions, or stop a cheap end to Voss before the party gets a choice.

Reveal Triggers

Use one of these moments:

Voss calls her "hell's clerk" or "the winged collector."

The compact ledger opens and infernal script burns through the page.

Vestra blocks a killing blow meant for Voss.

The party tries to destroy the compact ledger.

Ilyra sees Vestra and begs not to be taken.

The pact-bound character opens the book of judgment in the counting cellar.

Read AloudCopy

Vestra's red-gloved hand closes over the compact ledger.

The brass badge at her throat blackens. The shadows behind her lengthen upward like folded wings. For one breath, the room smells of hot iron, old parchment, and blood dried on a contract.

Her eyes burn gold through the human mask.

"Seldran Voss," she says, and the name strikes the cellar stones like a sentence. "Debtor in breach. Receiver of stolen roads. False holder of another's seal. You mistook delay for escape."

What Vestra Can Do

Vestra's avatar can do one of the following during the raid. She does more only if the party has no path forward.

Restrain Voss for 1 round with infernal chains.

Read a hidden contract line in the compact ledger.

Force a lesser ward on the compact ledger to stand down.

Give one character advantage on a check to preserve or read evidence.

Interpose herself between Voss and a killing blow, turning the hit into a miss once.

What Vestra Will Not Do

Clear rooms for the party.

Kill Voss for them.

Carry evidence out of danger until the fight ends.

Explain the full Demonshield history in front of Ormlyr's officers.

Promise mercy.

Vestra's Demands

After the reveal, Vestra speaks plainly:

"Do not kill him yet. Dead men answer fewer courts."

"The compact ledger is mine to read. It is yours to use."

"Mordas has turned theft into excavation. That is the larger crime."

"If you want the school, keep the papers dry and the debtor breathing."

Evidence Recovery

The party does not need every document to win. Use the evidence tiers below to judge the outcome.

Strong Case

The party has a strong case if they recover at least three of the following:

Voss alive.

Voss's route ledger.

Mordas letter.

Compact ledger.

Bribe list.

Tessa's ring match.

Ilyra or Rusk alive as a witness.

Harl or Pallan alive from Part 3.

With a strong case, Ormlyr can charge Voss publicly and delay the party's trial without losing control of Beregost.

Partial Case

The party has a partial case if they recover one or two major evidence packets, a key witness, or proof of the washhouse cellar.

With a partial case, Ormlyr can move against Voss's property and name the Circle, but public anger remains split. The party remains under tighter watch.

Failed Case

The case fails if Voss escapes, all major papers burn, and no witness survives or cooperates.

With a failed case, Ormlyr cannot shield the party for long. Vestra may force one last bargain tied to Ulcaster.

Reading the Papers

A character can read ordinary records with 10 minutes of work. The ciphered sections require one of the following:

The half-burned cipher key from Pallan's blue-wrapped tube.

A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check.

A successful DC 14 Intelligence check using calligrapher's supplies or forgery kit.

comprehend languages for the infernal contract margins in the compact ledger.

Vestra's help, which gives the answer and costs the party a favor in tone if not in rules.

Treasure

The treasure below sits in Voss House. The DM may adjust it if the party already gained heavy rewards earlier.

180 gp and 70 pp in Voss's travel bag.

A gold signet ring worth 75 gp.

Three black pearls worth 100 gp each.

A framed Coast Way trade map worth 50 gp.

A silver-inlaid cane worth 35 gp with a hidden dagger.

A courier saddlebag with hidden pockets worth 25 gp.

Melted seal silver worth 20 gp.

Six triangular pale metal plates worth 150 gp total to Thalantyr or Vestra.

Three forged travel papers with blank names.

Two bags of caltrops.

One vial of basic poison.

Three flasks of acid.

A waterproof satchel with dry tinder, sealing wax, and 15 gp.

Magic Items and Consumables

scroll of comprehend languages

potion of invisibility

potion of greater healing

scroll of misty step

brass reading lens that grants advantage on one check to read damaged writing

Outcomes

Voss Captured Alive

This is Ormlyr's best legal result and Vestra's preferred result. Voss can be held under temple guard, questioned under magistrate seal, and used to expose the Circle's structure.

Voss alive with the compact ledger gives Vestra enough to name his breach and open a controlled infernal remand once the civic evidence is recorded. Voss alive with the Mordas letter gives Ormlyr enough to send the party toward Ulcaster under writ.

Voss Killed or Banished

The party can still succeed if they recover enough records. Ormlyr accepts proof over nothing, but Beregost loses a public trial. Vestra grows colder if the party killed Voss after she asked for him alive.

If Voss dies before speaking, the rakshasa body begins to collapse into hot ash and striped shadow as his essence recoils toward the Hells. His final act is to smear ash or blood across the compact ledger's clasp. Vestra reads the mark and says:

Read AloudCopy

"You sent the debtor home without delivering him to my court. Efficient. Not useful."

Voss Escapes

The party can still win a partial victory with ledgers and witnesses. Voss becomes a fugitive asset for Mordas or a debtor hunted by Vestra. Ormlyr keeps the party on a shorter leash.

If Voss escapes with the Mordas letter, the Shoon rubbing or expense sheet can still point to Ulcaster. If he escapes with the compact ledger, Vestra marks the party's failure with silence rather than anger.

Evidence Destroyed

If the party saves lives but loses the ledgers, they may still bring witness testimony. If they lose both, Ormlyr cannot shield them from the dead constables' families for long.

Ilyra Captured

Ilyra breaks faster than Voss. She gives cipher keys, courier marks, and the meaning of the triangular plate references if promised protection from Vestra. Vestra does not promise that protection, but Ormlyr can.

Rusk Captured

Rusk gives practical route details: the washhouse stair, drain tunnel, warehouse link, and names of guards hired for the last night. He refuses to discuss infernal contracts and calls the Demonshield trail "scribe nonsense."

Transition to the Epilogue

Once the raid ends, Ormlyr's wardens seal the house. Brinna gathers witnesses. Vestra seals the compact ledger or copies its infernal clauses. Townsfolk gather beyond the gate, hungry for an answer that will not make the dead easier to bury.

Read AloudCopy

Voss House stands open at last.

Wardens carry boxes through the gate. Servants huddle under guard. Smoke thins from the washhouse chimney and drifts over the street, gray against the morning light.

Beyond the wall, Beregost watches without cheering.

Brinna looks at the seized ledgers, then at you.

"Now we find out whether proof weighs more than blood."

Estimated Duration: 10-15 minutes.

The ending should reward success without pretending the prior bloodshed vanished. Beregost can use the party and still hate what they did.

6.1 Return to Ormlyr

Ormlyr receives the party at the Song of the Morning or in the constabulary hall. The room is quieter than before. The dead have names now. Their families wait elsewhere in the building.

Read AloudCopy

The Song of the Morning has become a place of lists.

Names of the dead lie on one table. Names of the wounded lie on another. Between them, Captain Ormlyr waits with ink on his fingers, the captain's chain at his throat, and no triumph in his face.

Vestra stands beside the window with the compact ledger closed under one red-gloved hand. Brinna remains near the door, pale from pain and watchful.

Ormlyr looks at what you brought back.

"Speak it cleanly," he says. "Who lives, who answers, and what proof survived?"

Ormlyr weighs what the party brings.

Ledgers and Voss alive can turn public anger toward the Circle.

Ledgers alone can expose the theft network.

Witnesses can confirm Voss moved records after the party warned him.

The compact ledger gives Vestra her own claim.

The Mordas letter points to Ulcaster's School as the next active site.

The Shoon rubbing or expense sheet reveals that the Circle's thefts paid for a relic search.

Possible lines for Ormlyr:

"This does not make you innocent."

"It makes you useful, and it makes Voss guilty."

"Beregost needs both truths spoken in the right order."

"Dain deserved better than this. So did the men you killed after him."

Settlement

Use the settlement that matches the party's results.

Strong Case Settlement

If the party recovered strong proof, Ormlyr gives them a hard settlement:

Formal charges are delayed, not erased.

The party must continue against the Circle.

A share of reward money goes first to the families of slain constables.

The party receives writs to act against named Circle agents outside town.

Ormlyr publicly credits the party with exposing Voss, but he does not praise their methods.

Read AloudCopy

Ormlyr presses his seal into warm wax at the bottom of a new writ.

"You bought time," he says. "Not pardon. Time. You will spend it hunting the people behind Voss, or you will spend it in chains when this town can spare the hands to hold you."

Partial Case Settlement

If the party recovered partial proof, Ormlyr keeps them under direct watch.

Brinna or another officer travels with them until Ormlyr appoints a replacement.

The party receives a narrow writ naming only Mordas, Voss's known couriers, and Circle-marked shipments.

Beregost does not fully trust the party, but it cannot ignore what they found.

The families of the dead receive coin before the party receives any reward.

Ormlyr says:

Read AloudCopy

"You brought smoke and some fire. I can work with that. I cannot sell it as justice yet."

Failed Case Settlement

If the party failed, Ormlyr has fewer choices.

He may imprison them if he has the strength.

He may exile them from Beregost under threat of later trial.

He may force a final bargain through Vestra, giving them one last chance at Ulcaster.

Vestra may interrupt before Ormlyr orders chains:

Read AloudCopy

"Captain, dead law helps Mordas. Send them to the school. If they fail there, no court loses much."

Ormlyr hates the suggestion. He may accept it if the party is the only remaining path to Mordas.

6.2 Vestra’s Parting

Vestra takes or copies the compact ledger. If her avatar has not been exposed, she remains only a cold magistrate with strange authority. If the reveal occurred, she makes no apology.

If the party recovered the Shoon rubbing, Mordas's expense sheet, or any clear Demonshield reference, Vestra reveals more after Ormlyr leaves the room or turns to civic work. She does not give the party every answer. She gives them enough to know that Voss was a door, not the chamber beyond it.

Possible lines for Vestra:

"Law is not mercy. Learn the difference before it learns you."

"Mordas has moved from ledgers to ruins. That makes him less careful and more dangerous."

"The Circle will decide whether to kill you, buy you, or make an example of you. Refuse all three."

"The Circle is a purse and a mask. Mordas is spending theft on older hunger."

"Hilather forged thirteen shields. Each one is a prison. Each prison has a prisoner that should remain inside."

"Ulcaster died, vanished, or became something else chasing this work. Mordas has learned the wrong lesson from him."

"The shield is my charge. Voss was a name on the road to it."

"If your book of judgment shows you Voss and Mordas, trust the ink. It records debts before men confess them."

If a Pact-Bound Character Is Present

When the pact-bound character next opens the book of judgment, the heading The Shield Beneath the School appears on a fresh page. Under it sit two names:

Seldran Voss, written in red ink that dries black if he is captured alive.

Mordas, written in red ink that keeps spreading through the fibers of the page.

Vestra says:

Read AloudCopy

"Your book does not predict guilt. It records debt. Mordas is still spending."

Rewards

Use the following rewards as earned:

Ormlyr grants a provisional writ against Circle agents tied to Voss's records.

Taerom offers discounted repairs or one piece of practical forge-work if his cargo proof was recovered.

Marra Feldpost reopens her doors to the party only if they paid for damage, protected witnesses, or saved Harl.

Vestra gives the party a brass token that grows cold near Circle oath marks.

If the pact-bound character accepts Vestra's charge, the book of judgment gains the heading The Shield Beneath the School.

Quentin Lorekeeper can receive copies of the Mordas letter and point the next module toward Ulcaster's School.

Story Award: No Clean Hands

The party exposed Voss's part in the Circle's Beregost network, but the dead constables remain between them and the town. The party has advantage on Charisma checks made to request lawful aid from Ormlyr against the Circle. They have disadvantage on Charisma checks made to win trust from Beregost constables or families of the slain until they make restitution or clear their names in public.

Vestra's Brass Token

Wondrous item, uncommon

This flat brass token bears no face, only a ring of tiny contract marks around a blank center. It grows cold within 30 feet of a fresh Circle oath mark, compact seal, or infernal contract clause tied to Voss's network. The token does not point direction. It only warns that marked work is near.

Once per long rest, a creature holding the token can gain advantage on one Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Insight) check made to identify a forged contract, hidden oath mark, or coerced witness statement.

Forward Hooks

Mordas withdraws exposed assets to Ulcaster's School and prepares a false haunting defense.

Mordas spends stolen coin on diggers, wards, and Calishite fragments tied to one of the thirteen Demonshields.

Tessa Vale learns the party helped expose Voss and sends hunters to test their loyalty.

Voss's bribe list names one person too useful or too sympathetic to condemn at once.

A bereaved constable's family refuses settlement money and demands public trial.

Vestra's token reacts near Quentin's papers, suggesting the Circle's marks have appeared before.

Thalantyr of Beregost hears the name Hilather and demands to know what the party found.

Appendix 1: Key NPCs

Captain Kelddath Ormlyr

Kelddath Ormlyr is governor of Beregost, High Priest of Lathander, and acting captain after Dain Harrow's death. He takes the title to keep command from splintering, not from ambition.

Appearance: Kelddath looks older than he did yesterday. He wears temple robes under a borrowed captain's chain, with ink on his fingers and dried blood on one sleeve.

Roleplaying Ormlyr: He speaks with controlled anger and measured words. He never lets the party forget the dead, but he keeps the larger threat in view.

Motivations: Hold Beregost together, expose Voss, stop the Circle, preserve enough law to make justice more than revenge.

What Ormlyr Knows: Dain suspected Voss, Voss was warned, the constabulary is near collapse, and the party is strong enough to do work his officers cannot.

What Ormlyr Wants: Proof, prisoners if practical, fewer dead townsfolk, and a way to turn the party's disaster into leverage.

Magister Vestra

Magister Vestra appears as a Baldur's Gate magistrate with interest in trade crimes. In truth, she is an erinyes using an avatar to pursue Voss, a rakshasa debtor in breach, and Mordas, whose relic hunt exploits the same infernal network. Her objective is custody: Voss returned to the Hells under remand and Mordas taken alive if possible.

Appearance: Vestra is tall, severe, and unnervingly still. Her red gloves never wrinkle. Her brass badge is warm to the touch.

Roleplaying Vestra: Vestra is precise, patient, and legalistic. She does not threaten when a statement of consequence will do.

Motivations: Capture Voss alive and return him to the Hells under infernal remand, recover the compact ledger, document Circle oath marks, capture Mordas if possible, identify his next operating cell, and recover the Demonshield before he can use or sell it.

What Vestra Knows: The Circle uses cells and cutouts. Voss rebuilt part of his network through old debts. Mordas is consolidating exposed assets near Ulcaster. Mordas is spending stolen wealth on a search for one of Hilather's thirteen Demonshields.

What Vestra Wants: Physical custody of Voss for return to the Hells, a lawful claim over both Voss and Mordas, useful mortal agents, proof that survives town court and infernal court, and a clear path to the shield beneath or near Ulcaster's ruins.

Pact-Bound Character: If a party member has a pact with Vestra, she recognizes that character at once but may not name the bond in front of Ormlyr. Her book of judgment already holds Voss and Mordas. Voss's entry is nearly complete. Mordas's entry has space left for the Demonshield.

Seldran Voss

Seldran Voss is a rakshasa cornered behind a failing mortal identity, but he is not finished. The party's warning cost him comfort, not control. He has destroyed much of the obvious trail and means to leave Beregost with enough records to buy his place under Mordas.

Appearance: Voss's human guise is narrow, silver-templed, and carefully dressed even under pressure. His true form is a tiger-headed rakshasa with reversed hands, gold eyes, and the same immaculate clothes. Smoke has stained one cuff. He keeps noticing it and forcing himself not to brush it clean.

Roleplaying Voss: Voss stays courteous until courtesy fails. He treats every conversation as a negotiation over time.

Motivations: Escape Beregost, preserve the ledger that gives him value, avoid Vestra's infernal custody, shift blame onto the party, and keep Mordas from discarding him.

What Voss Knows: The Circle's local courier routes, which Beregost officials were bribed, how Mordas codes orders, and what Tessa's ring means.

What Voss Wants: One hour, one clean route out, one packet of records no one else can read fast enough to use, and any route that keeps him from being remanded to the Hells by Vestra.

Sergeant Brinna Vale

Sergeant Brinna Vale is one of the few surviving constables fit to stand. She serves as Ormlyr's watcher if the party accepts the bargain.

Appearance: Brinna has a bandaged shoulder, a bruised jaw, and a uniform cleaned in haste. Her left hand shakes when idle, so she keeps it on her belt.

Roleplaying Brinna: Brinna speaks little. When she does, she uses names of the dead instead of accusations.

Motivations: See the party watched, see Voss exposed if he is guilty, and make sure the dead officers are not traded away for convenience.

What Brinna Knows: Which officers died, which ones may live, and which townsfolk are close to open rage.

What Brinna Wants: Accountability, proof, and a reason not to despise the people she has been ordered to escort.

Mordas, The False Student

Mordas stays offstage in this adventure. His letters, expenses, and orders should make him feel present before the party ever reaches Ulcaster's ruins.

Appearance: Reports describe Mordas as a lean scholar in travel robes, with ink-stained fingers, a trimmed beard, and a habit of listening before speaking.

Roleplaying Mordas: Mordas writes with exact control. His orders are practical, cold, and phrased as academic instructions.

Motivations: Use Circle thefts to fund the search for a Demonshield, preserve his cells, and abandon exposed assets before they poison the larger work.

What Mordas Knows: Voss has been exposed. Ulcaster's ruins hide the next stage of the search. Vestra's attention may mean the shield is real.

What Mordas Wants: Coin, diggers, Calishite fragments, silence, and enough time to reach the Demonshield first.

Rusk Anvar, Voss Guard Captain

Rusk Anvar commands Voss's remaining household defense.

Appearance: Rusk is broad-shouldered and disciplined, with close-cropped black hair graying at the temples, a weathered square face, and well-maintained chain and shield.

Roleplaying Rusk: Rusk speaks in short orders. He treats evidence as cargo to move, burn, or guard.

Motivations: Delay the party, get Voss out, and keep enough records intact to sell his own survival later.

What Rusk Knows: The washhouse stair, the drain tunnel, the warehouse route, and which servants can be sacrificed.

What Rusk Wants: A paid escape and no heroic last stand.

Ilyra Quill, Circle Cipher-Scribe

Ilyra Quill is the last technical hand in Voss House, responsible for burning, copying, and hiding the records.

Appearance: Ilyra is sharp-featured and slight, with dark hair pinned into a severe knot, ink-stained fingers, and soot and burn marks on one sleeve.

Roleplaying Ilyra: Ilyra corrects other people's wording under stress. She fears Vestra more than Ormlyr.

Motivations: Destroy the compact ledger, preserve the Mordas letter if ordered, and escape through the drain tunnel.

What Ilyra Knows: The Circle's ciphers, the bribe list, the courier roster, and which Shoon references Mordas cared about most.

What Ilyra Wants: Her spellbook, her hands unbroken, and a promise that Vestra will not take her.

Appendix 2: Stat Blocks

Seldran Voss, Contract-Bound Rakshasa

Medium fiend (rakshasa), lawful evil

Armor Class 16 (infernal poise)

Hit Points 92 (custom Tier 2 profile)

Speed 40 ft.

STR14 (+2)

DEX18 (+4)

CON16 (+3)

INT17 (+3)

WIS15 (+2)

CHA19 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +7
Skills Deception +10, Insight +5, Investigation +6, Perception +5, Persuasion +7, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks while Infernal Guard is active
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Chondathan, Infernal, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 6 (custom)

Abilities

Mortal Guise. Voss appears as the thin, silver-templed older merchant known in Beregost throughout the adventure until the final confrontation inside Voss House begins. During that confrontation, the guise ends voluntarily, when he is reduced to half his hit points, or when Vestra invokes his true name from the compact ledger.

Infernal Guard. Voss has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. While Vestra is within 60 feet holding the intact compact ledger, his physical damage resistances are suppressed.

Master of Receipts. Voss has advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks involving false papers, altered accounts, contracts, aliases, and missing records.

Fiendish Return. If Voss is slain on the Material Plane, his essence recoils toward the Hells. This is not the same as Vestra taking him into custody, which is why she insists on capture and formal remand.

Actions

Multiattack. Voss makes two attacks, using Claw or Rapier in any combination.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) psychic damage.

Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage.

Whispered Compulsion (Recharge 5-6). One creature within 30 feet that can hear Voss must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or use its reaction to move up to half its speed in a direction Voss chooses or drop one held object of Voss's choice.

Bonus Actions

Step Between Names. Voss takes the Disengage or Hide action.

Reactions

Misplaced Blow. When a creature Voss can see attacks him, he imposes disadvantage on the attack by throwing a brief illusion of himself half a step aside. Voss can use this reaction a number of times equal to 2 per encounter.

Magister Vestra, Erinyes Avatar

Medium fiend (devil, erinyes avatar), lawful evil

Armor Class 17 (infernal poise)

Hit Points 85 (10d8 + 40)

Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover, hidden until revealed)

STR16 (+3)

DEX18 (+4)

CON18 (+4)

INT15 (+2)

WIS16 (+3)

CHA18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +6, Cha +7
Skills Deception +7, Insight +6, Intimidation +7, Investigation +5, Persuasion +7
Damage Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons
Damage Immunities fire, poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Abilities

Avatar Body. If Vestra's avatar drops to 0 hit points, it collapses into ash and red thread. Vestra is not killed.

Devil's Sight. Magical darkness does not impede Vestra's darkvision.

Legal Aura. Vestra has advantage on Charisma checks made to invoke contracts, debts, writs, warrants, or sworn testimony.

Magic Resistance. Vestra has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Infernal Remand. Once Voss is restrained and the compact ledger is intact, Vestra can begin a 1-minute remand rite that opens a controlled infernal passage. The rite cannot remove Voss from an active combat and fails if the ledger is destroyed.

Actions

Multiattack. Vestra makes two Red Quill attacks.

Red Quill. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/90 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) fire damage. Vestra can choose to deal no fire damage.

Binding Word (Recharge 5-6). One creature within 60 feet must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, red script restrains the creature until the end of Vestra's next turn.

Reactions

The Debtor Lives. Once during the adventure, when a creature Vestra can see would reduce Voss to 0 hit points, Vestra can turn that hit into a miss.

Rusk Anvar, Voss Guard Captain

Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral

Armor Class 17 (chain shirt, shield)

Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30)

Speed 30 ft.

STR17 (+3)

DEX13 (+1)

CON16 (+3)

INT11 (+0)

WIS12 (+1)

CHA12 (+1)

Saving Throws Str +6, Con +6
Skills Athletics +6, Intimidation +4, Perception +4
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Chondathan
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Abilities

Choke Point Fighter. Rusk has advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to shove a creature if he is standing in a doorway, stair, tunnel, or other space no wider than 10 feet.

Paid Discipline. Rusk has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened as long as Voss is within 60 feet and not incapacitated.

Actions

Multiattack. Rusk makes two longsword attacks.

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Heavy Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) piercing damage.

Shield Drive. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet.

Bonus Actions

Guard Captain's Order. Rusk chooses one ally within 30 feet that can hear him. The ally can move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.

Reactions

Hold the Line. When a creature Rusk can see moves within 5 feet of him, Rusk can make one longsword attack against that creature. On a hit, the creature's speed becomes 0 until the end of the turn.

Ilyra Quill, Circle Cipher-Scribe

Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil

Armor Class 13 (mage armor)

Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8)

Speed 30 ft.

STR8 (-1)

DEX14 (+2)

CON12 (+1)

INT17 (+3)

WIS13 (+1)

CHA11 (+0)

Saving Throws Int +6, Wis +4
Skills Arcana +6, Deception +3, Investigation +6, Sleight of Hand +5
Senses passive Perception 11
Languages Common, Chondathan, Infernal
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Abilities

Cipher Hand. Ilyra has advantage on Intelligence checks made to create, break, or recognize codes and ciphers.

Panic Before Hell. If Vestra reveals her infernal nature, Ilyra has disadvantage on her next saving throw before the end of her next turn.

Spellcasting. Ilyra is a 5th-level spellcaster using Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Prepared spells: fire bolt, mage hand, minor illusion; burning hands, detect magic, mage armor, shield; hold person, misty step, scorching ray; fear.

Actions

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.

Fire Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d10) fire damage.

Burn Evidence. Ilyra targets one paper packet, ledger, or scroll within 5 feet. If no creature stops her before the start of her next turn, the item is destroyed. The compact ledger requires three successful uses of this action to destroy.

Bonus Actions

Ash Slip. Ilyra throws ash, dust, or loose paper into an adjacent 5-foot square. That square becomes lightly obscured until the start of her next turn.

Reactions

Shield. When Ilyra is hit by an attack or targeted by magic missile, she casts shield if she has a 1st-level spell slot available.

Captain Kelddath Ormlyr

Medium humanoid (human), lawful good

Armor Class 16 (chain shirt, shield)

Hit Points 65 (10d8 + 20)

Speed 30 ft.

STR14 (+2)

DEX12 (+1)

CON14 (+2)

INT13 (+1)

WIS17 (+3)

CHA15 (+2)

Saving Throws Wis +6, Cha +5
Skills Insight +6, Medicine +6, Persuasion +5, Religion +4
Damage Resistances radiant
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Celestial
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Abilities

Dawn's Resolve. Ormlyr and friendly creatures within 10 feet of him have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Spellcasting. Ormlyr is a 7th-level cleric spellcaster using Wisdom (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Prepared spells include guidance, light, sacred flame, spare the dying; bless, command, cure wounds, guiding bolt; aid, hold person, lesser restoration, spiritual weapon; beacon of hope, dispel magic, revivify; guardian of faith.

Actions

Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

Radiant Rebuke. Ranged Spell Attack: +6 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d8) radiant damage.

Bonus Actions

Healing Word. Ormlyr casts healing word using an available spell slot.

Reactions

Stay Your Hand. When a creature Ormlyr can see within 30 feet makes an attack against a bloodied or surrendered creature, Ormlyr can impose disadvantage on the attack roll.

Sergeant Brinna Vale

Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral

Armor Class 14 (studded leather)

Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)

Speed 30 ft.

STR12 (+1)

DEX14 (+2)

CON12 (+1)

INT11 (+0)

WIS13 (+1)

CHA10 (+0)

Saving Throws Dex +4, Wis +3
Skills Insight +3, Investigation +2, Perception +3
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Abilities

Injured Arm. Brinna has disadvantage on Strength checks and cannot wield two-handed weapons until she receives magical healing or a week of rest.

Witness to the Law. Brinna has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made to tell if a Beregost citizen is hiding fear, guilt, or grief.

Actions

Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage.

Bonus Actions

Guard the Prisoner. Brinna chooses one prone, restrained, unconscious, or surrendered creature within 5 feet. Until the start of her next turn, attack rolls against that creature have disadvantage if Brinna can see the attacker.

Reactions

I Saw That. When a creature Brinna can see within 30 feet lies about an event Brinna witnessed, Brinna can make a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by the creature's Charisma (Deception) check. On a success, Brinna identifies the lie aloud.

Pallan Greaves

Medium humanoid (human), neutral

Armor Class 14 (leather armor)

Hit Points 33 (6d8 + 6)

Speed 30 ft.

STR11 (+0)

DEX16 (+3)

CON12 (+1)

INT12 (+1)

WIS13 (+1)

CHA11 (+0)

Saving Throws Dex +5
Skills Deception +2, Perception +3, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +5, Survival +3
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Chondathan
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Abilities

Courier's Eye. Pallan has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to spot tails, roadblocks, and watched gates.

Road Coward. Pallan can take the Disengage action as a bonus action if he starts his turn with half his hit points or fewer.

Actions

Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Bonus Actions

Bolt Through. Pallan takes the Dash action if he is mounted, or the Disengage action if he is on foot.

Reactions

Drop the Bag. When Pallan is hit by an attack, he can drop one carried object in an adjacent square and move up to 10 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.

Circle Cutthroat

Medium humanoid (any), neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (studded leather)

Hit Points 45 (6d8 + 18)

Speed 30 ft.

STR12 (+1)

DEX16 (+3)

CON16 (+3)

INT11 (+0)

WIS12 (+1)

CHA10 (+0)

Saving Throws Dex +5
Skills Acrobatics +5, Deception +2, Perception +3, Stealth +5
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, thieves' cant
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Abilities

Back-Alley Killer. Once per turn, the cutthroat deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage when it hits a creature with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of one of the cutthroat's allies that is not incapacitated.

Crowd Poison. The cutthroat has advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks made to blame violence on someone else in a crowded street.

Actions

Multiattack. The cutthroat makes two dagger attacks.

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

Bonus Actions

Smoke Step. The cutthroat throws a small smoke pellet at its feet. The cutthroat's space becomes lightly obscured until the start of its next turn, and it can move up to 10 feet.

Reactions

Dirty Turn. When a creature misses the cutthroat with a melee attack, the cutthroat can move 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.