Act 1 — Investigating Reiver's Right
Act 1 introduces the party to Macridi, a prosperous timber settlement whose relationship with the Palakar Forest depends upon carefully managed logging, river transport, skilled craftspeople, and old agreements with the forest's inhabitants. At first the town continues to function normally, but signs of a wider problem are beginning to appear. Animals are behaving strangely, underground water has shown unusual changes, local fey have become difficult to contact, and otherwise healthy timber is arriving at Karland's Sawmill streaked internally with foul black sap.
The characters can explore Old Macridi and speak with its merchants, craftsmen, and institutions before meeting Prophet Danum Karland. Karland has compared the problems appearing around town and believes they may be connected. His greatest immediate concern is Reiver's Right, a logging camp downriver that operated successfully for years before serious problems began roughly three weeks ago. Communication with the camp has since broken down, and Karland wants independent adventurers to determine what happened there.
The party prepares in Macridi, gathers whatever information and supplies they consider useful, and then travels toward Reiver's Right. Their route may take them by river or along the roads and trails through the Palakar. The journey provides the first opportunity to experience the forest beyond Macridi and to see that the settlement's concerns are not limited to spoiled lumber or disrupted commerce.
At Reiver's Right, the characters investigate the missing workforce and the spreading corruption surrounding the camp. What they find provides the party's first direct encounter with the blight affecting the Palakar and turns Macridi's scattered warnings into a genuine threat that can no longer be dismissed as coincidence or an isolated logging problem.
Act 1 ends when the party returns to Macridi from Reiver's Right. They return with firsthand evidence of what is happening beyond the town and enough information for Karland and the party to begin considering the wider implications. Questions concerning the silent fey courts, the deeper source of the blight, and other disturbances within the Palakar remain unresolved and lead into the following acts.
Key Locations & Purpose
| Location | What the Party Encounters | Act 1 Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Old Macridi | Merchants, craftsmen, civic institutions, rumors, and several small signs that the Palakar is changing. | Introduce the settlement and allow the party to gather information and prepare. |
| Karland's Sawmill | Blighted timber, logging records, and Danum Karland's concern that apparently separate problems may be connected. | Establish the central problem and give the party the contract to investigate Reiver's Right. |
| The Route to Reiver's Right | Travel through or alongside the Palakar and the first signs that conditions beyond Macridi are deteriorating. | Transition from investigation in town to direct exposure to the wilderness problem. |
| Reiver's Right | A silent logging camp, a missing or endangered workforce, and direct evidence of the spreading blight. | Confirm that the crisis is real and provide the evidence the party carries back to Macridi. |
| Return to Macridi | The party reports what they discovered and reassesses the scattered problems they encountered earlier. | End Act 1 and open the wider investigation that drives the next act. |