S1 - Briefing at Karland's Sawmill
Scene 1: Briefing at Karland's Sawmill
An Independent Contract to Investigate Reiver's Right
The thunderous, mechanical roar of Profit’s Flow rushing through massive timber piers reverberates through your boots long before you reach the yard. Karland’s Sawmill sprawls along the river's edge, a towering multi-level structure of heavy oak timbers and iron-reinforced scaffolding. Immense waterwheels churn the foam, driving towering iron gang-saws that shriek as they bite into fresh darkwood. The air is thick with damp river mist, burning gear-oil, and the sharp, piney scent of fresh sawdust—though beneath it lurks a faint, sulfurous stench of scorched resin. Dozens of millhands haul logs along grease-slick chutes, their shouting barely audible over the relentless rhythm of the saws.
Unease has settled over Old Macridi. In recent days, a small batch of blighted darkwood logs has drifted into the processing bays—their grain unnaturally stained with an oily, foul-smelling sap that gums up the heavy saws. Worse still, distant logging outposts upriver in the Palakar Forest have gone completely silent, and scattered reports suggest isolated pockets of the wilderness are suffering from a strange rot. Official couriers were dispatched to consult the three fey courts, but all three have failed to respond, leaving the town without answers.
While the Guildmasters upriver in New Macridi have assigned official Blackjacket squads to patrol their own primary commercial channels, the bureaucratic elites completely dismiss any connection to Reiver's Right downriver. Because Reiver's Right lies furthest downriver—past both New Macridi and Old Macridi—the elites insist that a downriver camp going dark cannot possibly be causing or signaling a timber issue coming from the upriver forest. Danum Karland, owner of the local mill in Old Macridi, sees it differently. He knows the forest and its underground root system are an interconnected web—if something is rotting down at Reiver's Right, the subterranean corruption is spreading regardless of which way the river flows. Refusing to wait for New Macridi to wake up, Karland is personally hiring an independent group of adventurers to investigate.
Reiver's Right is a historic logging encampment perched on the river bluffs. Named after an ancient Macridi Blade warlord, the site has a dark history tied to brutal timber extraction and an infamous past incident where a previous workforce vanished overnight due to strange geological shifts. Because Reiver's Right sits downriver of all the main settlements, no one in New Macridi believes its silence is relevant to the upriver supply chain. But Karland insists it is all connected.
Equipping for the River Journey
Before launching their investigation downriver along Profit's Flow, the party is advised to spend time exploring Old Macridi to gather intelligence, transport, and supplies:
- The Gilded Ledger Tavern: Seek out Captain Hake to secure the only available riverboat passage downriver, or prepare for an arduous overland journey along the North Road.
- The Iron-Root Apothecary: Stock up on anti-toxins, antitoxins, and medical poultices to counter the toxic black sap.
- Fanciful Inquiries: Consult Sorzmig Koob for detailed riverway maps, fey court etiquette, and wilderness navigation advice.
- Primary Objective: Navigate downriver to Reiver's Right, investigate the silent logging camp, uncover the source of the subterranean rot, and report directly back to Danum Karland.
1. History of the Outpost
Perched upon the bluffs along Profit's Flow, Reiver's Right was long considered one of the most profitable timber operations in the Palakar region. Named after an ancient Macridi Blade warlord who originally claimed the river bluffs, the site historically supplied vast quantities of darkwood timber to Macridi. For decades, logging crews operated along its timber slides, relying on heavy river transport to float squared logs downriver.
The camp's history, however, is shadowed by recurring disaster. Operating on the far frontier edge of the forest, the outpost has frequently sat at the center of territorial disputes regarding boundary stones and timber rights. Despite historical pacts governing the forest floor, aggressive logging practices often placed the camp's leadership in direct friction with local woodland traditions.
Decades ago, a previous workforce at the camp vanished overnight following severe subterranean earth shifts, forcing the site to sit abandoned for years before being reclaimed and put back into service to house fifty timber workers.
2. Reports of the River Blight
Recent river transport from the direction of Reiver's Right has brought unsettling signs to Old Macridi. A small batch of darkwood logs drifting downriver arrived stained with an oily, foul-smelling sap that gums up heavy gang-saws and ruins timber blades. Local herbalists confirm the substance is unnatural, carrying an acrid odor of wet ash and stagnant earth.
Water runoff carrying this oily residue has begun seeping into the small tributaries feeding Profit's Flow. While upriver elites in New Macridi dismiss the downriver camp's silence as irrelevant to current operations, rivermen report that animal life near the bluffs has gone silent and river barges have ceased arriving from the site entirely.
3. The Missing Workforce
No messages or timber tallies have emerged from Reiver's Right for four straight days. The entire fifty-man crew—including the camp foreman, Hendrick—has failed to check in at the southern gate road or send couriers upriver.
While official Blackjacket squads remain stationed upriver guarding corporate interest channels, independent contractors are being dispatched to make the downriver journey, investigate the silent bunkhouses, and determine the condition of the crew.
4. Subterranean Geology & Ancient Ruins
The river bluffs beneath Reiver's Right sit directly atop ancient geological formations and pre-Earthfall structures associated with the Macridi Blade culture. Historical surveys from the Veridical Scriptorium note that early Kellid inhabitants constructed extensive clay barrows and stone vaults throughout the surrounding river bluffs.
Past earth tremors near the camp's quarry pits frequently exposed sealed clay walls and petroglyph boundary markers. Scholars warn that disturbing these deep subterranean channels risks uncovering unstable fault lines and ancient earth workings buried beneath the forest floor.
5. Iconography of the Pale Hand & Blackened Blade
Archaeological records note that boundary markers around the Reiver's Right bluffs often bear the ancient twin emblems of the Macridi Blade culture: the Pale Hand and the Blackened Blade. Historically symbolizing trade pacts and ancient land defense, these petroglyphs are carved directly into stone outcroppings along the river bend.
Recent travelers along the bluff trails report seeing fresh mud carvings and strange crimson lichen forming over these ancient boundary stones, suggesting that the subterranean tremors are stirring long-dormant features of the landscape.
6. Regional Objectives
- Investigate the Bunkhouses: Search the silent logging camp at Reiver's Right for clues regarding the missing crew.
- Recover the Camp Ledger: Secure Foreman Hendrick's official records to verify timber harvest tallies and missing personnel.
- Trace the Blight Source: Identify where the oily black sap is entering the intake bays along Profit's Flow.
- Report to Karland's Sawmill: Return to Old Macridi with definitive proof of conditions downriver to claim the contract bounty.