E2 — The Counterweight Gallery
Challenge 3: Read the Old Sequence
Primary CheckSociety, Crafting, or Thievery DC 16.
The counterweights encode the order of the twelve ash-marks. The caller studies their wear, bell-pulls, and chain tension, then relays the next matching pair to the teams in Areas 1 and 3. This challenge ends after 1 success or 1 failure; the emergency stop can freeze the water for 1 round, but using it advances the mansion’s ash-clock.
Critical SuccessThe party reads the sequence perfectly and gains a +1 circumstance bonus to the next alignment check.
SuccessThe party learns the next matching pair and can relay it to the Intake and Sump.
FailureThe caller misreads one mark; the next alignment check is made while the flood pressure worsens.
Critical FailureA bell rings with the wrong pattern and wakes the submerged guardian early. The sequence remains recoverable, but the next alignment failure triggers the threat.