It is day 15 of month 5, 1042, 07:00, on the Foundry Wheel. This month a crane cable snapped on Dry Dock Nine and a fire broke out in its fuel bay. The Wheel Council's first report blames bad steel from the Cinder Smelters on Brakka, where the cable was made.
The saboteur is Lorenz Haber, a corporal of the Union Watch who signs the dock logs on the night shift. He is the speaker of a small Unbound cell. The cult wants the Union to strike first at Tarrow, because a war pulls ships away from the Dark Rim. So Lorenz makes each accident look like Dominion work.
His cell hides in an old pump room in the Breach Sector. Three night shift workers saw them carry black crystal on a dead deck. The cell took them, and they are still alive in the cold.
On day 17 at 10:00 the Watch searches the Dominion freighter Larkspur at the Hub Docks. Lorenz will plant a Dominion rune cutter and forged House Varro seals in its hold. On day 18 at 02:00 his blast charges go off in the gun deck of the Resolve. On day 19 at 14:00 the Wheel Hall votes on a first strike. With the planted proof, the vote passes.
The Larkspur's captain does hide something. His secret hold carries House Varro crystal sold to a Union buyer through a Syndicate broker. It is a crime, but it is not sabotage.
Marta Kovac (Dry Dock Nine) wants the saboteur caught before the Resolve launches on day 25.
Lorenz Haber (Watch House) wants war and no one looking at his logs.
Pieter Wald (Watch House) is a Dominion spy who thinks the saboteur is Unbound. He helps, as long as nobody reads his own logs.
Nessa Crane (Breach Sector) knows the dead decks and will guide a crew for a share.
Durgan Holt (Wheel Hall) chairs the council and will hear real proof.
The crew is the Endeavour crew, the level 16 officers of the Union ironclad Endeavour. Morva Kresh is the Gorr captain who held the Foundry Wheel breach in 1038, Tadeusz Mazur is a Tarrow miner whose grafts let him grow to twice his height, Henrietta Kipling is the Cogling engineer who designed the gun deck of the Resolve, and Isaline Rhys is the Order priest who witnesses the oaths of the Wheel Council. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Grigor Fallow, the elected dock steward of the Hub Docks, Amos Garvey, a smelter hand from the Cinder Smelters on Brakka, and Ione Mabry, who runs the free clinic in the Bunk Ring, are NPCs who follow their description. Amos is on the Wheel to clear his plant's name.
Stat blocks. Lorenz Haber uses the Unbound Hierarch stat block, because the black crystal he carries has made him far stronger than any Watch corporal. His cell uses Unbound Zealot and Unbound Acolyte. The black crystal in the pump room draws Vhal creatures that use Black Crystal Brute, Empty Armour and Seal Breaker. Watch officers use Union Rifleman.
Encounter math (four level 16 characters). Low 15,200, Moderate 24,400, High 39,200.
The dock, day 15, 07:00. Marta Kovac takes Morva Kresh aside and offers 800 Crowns to each crew member to catch the saboteur quietly. In the fuel bay, a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds the brass timer plate of a Blast Charge under the scorch. Henrietta Kipling knows the plate at a glance. A DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) check sees frost marks where black crystal froze and cracked the fuel line. Lorenz Haber is one of the two Watch officers taking notes by the tanks.
The cable, Watch House. The snapped cable end lies in the evidence room. A DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check, or DC 15 with Smith Tools, shows that half the strands were cut clean and the rest tore. If Amos Garvey is asked, he gives Advantage on the check, because he knows chain and cable from the smelters. Pieter Wald shows the duty log. Lorenz signed it both nights. A DC 18 Wisdom (Insight) check shows Pieter hides something of his own. Isaline Rhys has spent twelve years watching councillors lie and is the one most likely to see it.
The missing workers, Bunk Ring. Ione Mabry treated the rigger Mikkel for cold burns before he vanished. His wife says he saw a man in a Watch coat on a dead deck. Nessa Crane asks 200 Crowns, or a fair share of salvage, to guide a crew inside.
The pump room, Breach Sector. Some decks have no air and no weight. Nessa lends patched air tanks. Moving across a deck with no weight needs a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. Tadeusz Mazur can carry a crewmate across a dead deck. The pump room is a cold spot, a Weak Vhal site (DC 10). Encounter. 4 Unbound Zealot, 4 Unbound Acolyte, 2 Black Crystal Brute and 2 Empty Armour, 12,400 XP, Low (budget 15,200). The Acolytes run when the Zealots drop. A crew that shatters the black crystal on the pump room table (AC 13, 30 hit points) ends the Vhal creatures at once. If the fight goes badly, the crew can pull back into the dead decks, because the Vhal creatures do not leave the cold spot. Mikkel and two other workers are tied to the pipes, each with 2 levels of Exhaustion. The room holds Lorenz's notes, forged House Varro seals, a Dominion rune cutter and 3 Blast Charges.
The search, Hub Docks, day 17, 10:00. Grigor Fallow runs the search with his dock crews. Lorenz arrives with 2 Watch officers and a heavy tool bag. A DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check sees the bag is lighter when he comes out. If the planted kit is found in front of the crews, they turn on the Dominion sailors. A DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion or Intimidation) check calms them, with Advantage for Morva Kresh, because every dock crew on the Wheel knows who held the breach. Grigor Fallow also backs any crew member who speaks for calm. A DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds the Larkspur's real secret hold of Varro crystal. The captain offers 600 Crowns to keep it quiet.
The gun deck, Dry Dock Nine, day 18, 01:30. Lorenz and 2 Unbound Zealots climb the scaffolds to set 3 Blast Charges by the fuel tank of the Resolve. The walkways are 60 feet up. A creature knocked Prone at the rail makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or falls. Taking a charge apart needs an action and a DC 17 Dexterity check with Tinker Tools or Rune Tools. Henrietta Kipling has Advantage, because she built the deck the charges sit on. Any charge still set goes off at 02:00 (8d6 fire damage within 20 feet, DC 16 Dexterity save for half). Encounter. 1 Unbound Hierarch, 2 Seal Breaker and 4 Unbound Zealot, 33,600 XP, High (budget 39,200). If the crew cleared the pump room, only 1 Seal Breaker answers, and if the Zealots died in the Breach Sector, Lorenz brings 4 Unbound Acolytes instead. With both, the fight is 23,600 XP, Moderate. Lorenz fights until a quarter of his hit points, then gives up. A crew that takes all three charges apart before he arrives can hold the scaffold ladders and talk him down, because his men will not fight without the charges. If the fight goes badly, the safety nets 20 feet below the walkways catch anyone who drops, and Lorenz runs for the spoke shaft.
The vote, Wheel Hall, day 19, 14:00. Durgan Holt gives the crew time to speak, and nobody in Wheel Hall will call the Endeavour crew liars. The proof is the cut cable, the timer plate, Lorenz's notes, the freed workers and the planted kit. A DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check turns the vote. With two pieces of proof it is DC 15. With Lorenz in a cell, it is automatic. If Isaline Rhys reads out the oath each councillor swore to the workers, the check has Advantage.
Day 16, 23:00. The cell carries the charges up an old spoke shaft to the dock.
Day 17, 10:00. The Watch "finds" the rune cutter on the Larkspur. Dock crews and Dominion sailors fight, and five are hurt.
Day 18, 02:00. The gun deck blast kills four welders and delays the Resolve by a month.
Day 19, 14:00. The Wheel Hall votes to strike Tarrow first.
Day 20. Mikkel and the two workers die of cold in the pump room.
Good. Lorenz is caught, the workers live, the Resolve is safe and the vote waits for the peace talks.
Mixed. The blast is stopped but Lorenz escapes into the Breach Sector, or Lorenz is caught but the vote still passes.
Bad. The blast goes off, the workers die and the Union votes for war on false proof.
Marta Kovac pays 800 Crowns to each crew member.
The council clears the Cinder Smelters of the cable blame and says so in writing.
Marta offers the Shipyard Crew Boss job, or the Rune Engine Repair in Dock gig to a crew with tools.
Nessa Crane's gang gives each crew member a pair of Mag Boots from the dead decks.
Marta Kovac and Durgan Holt become contacts on the Wheel.
Heroic Inspiration for saving the three workers or the welders on the gun deck at real risk.
The next speaker. A speaker knows one other speaker. Lorenz names a man at the Night Bazaar on Vesk.
The Larkspur. The Union buyer of the Varro crystal is a member of the Wheel Council. Someone must tell Durgan Holt.
Pieter's favour. Pieter Wald asks the crew to carry a sealed letter off the Wheel and not to open it.