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, reports from isolated work sites throughout the Palakar have become irregular, and scattered pockets of the wilderness show signs of the same strange corruption. 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 is connected by roots, soil, groundwater, and old magic. If Reiver's Right is showing the same symptoms as places elsewhere in the Palakar, river direction does not make the coincidence meaningless; it may be another expression of the same underground problem. 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 Sella Varn 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 antitoxins, protective poultices, and other supplies that can reduce harm from exposure to the black sap. Morwenna warns that ordinary anti-blight treatments are only partly effective against whatever is affecting the Palakar.
- 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, look for signs of the same subterranean corruption affecting the Palakar, 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 southern Palakar. Named after an ancient Macridi Blade warlord who originally claimed the river bluffs, the site harvested and staged timber from the surrounding forest for regional trade. Its chutes and landing moved cut timber farther down Profit's Flow, while supplies, records, personnel, and high-value cargo moved between the camp and Macridi by road and river barge.
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 Palakar Blight
Recent timber deliveries from several cutting areas elsewhere in the southern Palakar have brought unsettling signs to Old Macridi. A small number of otherwise healthy darkwood logs contain an oily, foul-smelling black sap that gums heavy gang-saws and ruins timber blades. Local herbalists confirm that the substance formed while the trees were alive and does not behave like ordinary rot or storage contamination.
Similar oily residue has been reported in isolated groundwater and runoff elsewhere in the region. Reiver's Right lies downriver of Old Macridi, so the camp cannot be the source of timber floating into Karland's mill. Its sudden silence is concerning for a different reason: rivermen passing the bluffs report that animal life around the camp has gone quiet and all normal traffic from the site has stopped, suggesting that Reiver's Right may be suffering from the same wider disturbance.
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 at Reiver's Right: Examine affected roots, soil, water, and timber for evidence that the camp is experiencing the same corruption found elsewhere in the Palakar.
- Report to Karland's Sawmill: Return to Old Macridi with definitive proof of conditions downriver to claim the contract bounty.