It is day 3 of month 6, 1042, at Rootfall on Quill. Last month Rett Kobal's poachers cut the fence at Hornback Run and took three hornback calves. Rett sold one calf cheap to Sorley Kemp, a fur trader at Rootfall. The other two wait in Rett's Poacher Camp in the Stone Barrens.
Teo Tuvin, the fourteen year old son of Orsa Tuvin and Chief Hakon Tuvin, followed the tracks alone. The poachers caught him. A ship from Gallow lands at the camp on day 7 at 19:00 to take the two calves and the boy.
Hakon Tuvin, chief of the Harro clan, has camped outside Rootfall with 40 riders. He wants the calf back today, and he wants the name of the seller. Sorley knows where the camp is, but Rett promised to kill him if he talks. One of Rett's poachers drinks at The Antler and watches Sorley.
Hakon Tuvin, chief of the Harro clan, wants the calf back by sundown and his son back alive.
Orsa Tuvin keeps the calf pens at Hornback Run. She wants outsiders to scout the camp first, so Teo is not killed in an attack.
Oda Tallgrass, elder rider of the Harro clan, holds the riders back until dawn on day 6.
Sorley Kemp wants to keep his calf and his life. He is more afraid than stubborn.
Rett Kobal wants his ship loaded and gone. He respects skill and offers work to anyone who beats him.
Teo Tuvin is tied up in a cage beside the calf pens at the camp.
The crew is Juno Hartwell, the mail pilot who captains the ship and flies her own Tern Racer skiff, Torvald Kask, a Grund pit rescuer in a rune frame, Eskil Brandvold, a colony orphan raised for three winters by Orsa Tuvin who rides a young hornback, and Isska Morun, a Vasht Wild Caller who talks to the beasts of the Tallwood. They fly the Rowan, an old Order patrol cutter, with two hired deck hands. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Murdo Fallows is a trader who pays the clans a share each season and has known Sorley for years. Joel Harro is a Harro rider who speaks for his clan with the traders. Una Harth runs the Sawyard upriver and knows the old logging roads. They are NPCs who follow their description.
Stat blocks. Rett Kobal uses the Writ Hunter stat block. His men use the Syndicate Poacher stat block. The camp dogs use the Tunnel Mastiff stat block. Clan riders who fight beside the players add nothing to the budget. Budget for a crew of four level 4 characters is Low 1,000, Moderate 1,500 and High 2,000.
The trade ground, 08:00. At Rootfall, Sorley Kemp stands under his orange awning with his arms folded. The calf is tied in his fur shed behind him. At 09:00 Hakon Tuvin rides in with 6 riders and says he will take the calf at sundown. A DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check shows Sorley is scared, not proud. Juno Hartwell has carried his mail for years, and he trusts her a little. A DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets the calf back, or DC 12 if someone promises to protect him. Once the calf is safe, Sorley names Rett Kobal and gives the way to the camp, a day and a half east. A DC 14 Charisma (Intimidation) check also gets the calf, but he lies about the camp unless a DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check catches it.
The riders' camp. Outside the post wall, 40 riders sit by their fires. Hakon Tuvin tells the players that his son vanished the night the calves were taken. If the calf comes back, he swears not to harm Sorley. A DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets him to wait for a scouting report before he rides. Joel Harro speaks for the clan with the traders, and Hakon listens to him. Hakon also listens to Eskil Brandvold, because Orsa raised him, and the check has advantage for Eskil.
Sundown, 19:00. If the calf is still in the shed, the riders break the shed door. Sorley fires his small pistol and wounds a rider. The riders beat him and burn the shed. The trade council closes the post to clan trade for a month.
The knives at night, 23:00. If Sorley talked, the watcher at The Antler sends word. At 23:00, 5 Syndicate Poachers and 1 Tunnel Mastiff come to Sorley's cabin on the east roots to kill him (1,450 XP, Moderate, budget 1,500). Captured poachers tell how many men and dogs Rett has, but not where the boy is kept.
The Ferry Market (optional). Murdo Fallows knows the Syndicate horn buyer at the Ferry Market. The buyer gets horn by canoe from a river landing below the camp. A DC 13 Charisma (Intimidation) check gets the landing's place. The river path reaches the camp half a day faster and comes in from below, out of sight of the dogs.
Hornback Run, day 4. Una Harth knows the old logging roads east, which save half a day. At Hornback Run, Orsa Tuvin lends hornbacks. A DC 13 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check rides one well, and anyone Joel Harro or Eskil Brandvold vouches for passes without a roll. Orsa shows where her scout saw Teo and asks the players to count the guards.
Scouting the camp, day 5. The Poacher Camp sits in a ravine. By day, 10 poachers, Rett Kobal and 3 dogs are in camp, and 20 more are out hunting. At night all 30 are there. The dogs smell anyone upwind, so a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check picks a path downwind. Juno can look from her skiff high above the canopy, but the dogs bark at its engine if she drops low. Then a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check gets close. Teo is in a cage beside the calf pens, next to the landing pad.
Freeing Teo. At the calf pens, 4 Syndicate Poachers and 1 Tunnel Mastiff stand guard (1,250 XP, between Low and Moderate). If an alarm is raised, Rett Kobal, 4 more Syndicate Poachers and 1 more Tunnel Mastiff arrive in 2d4 rounds (1,950 XP, High, budget 2,000). Both groups at once are 3,200 XP, far over High, so a crew that is caught should grab Teo and run for the trees. Teo is weak but can run, and Torvald Kask can carry him on his frame. The two calves follow anyone who opens the pen. A DC 14 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check keeps them quiet, with advantage for Isska Morun or Eskil Brandvold.
The riders' attack, day 6, dawn. If the players bring a count of guards, Hakon Tuvin's riders close the ravine from both ends. With Teo free, most poachers give up or run. If Teo is still in the cage, a poacher holds a knife to him. A DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check on Rett Kobal trades the boy for a clear path to the landing pad.
The ship from Gallow, day 7, 19:00. A smuggler ship lands on the pad. It carries 1 Smuggler Skipper and 3 Smuggler Deckhands (525 XP, Low). If the camp has fallen, they take off again at once.
Day 3, 19:00. The riders take the calf, beat Sorley and burn his shed. Trade with the clans stops.
Day 3, 23:00. Rett's men kill Sorley in his cabin.
Day 6, dawn. The riders attack the camp blind. The poachers fire from the ravine walls. Seven riders die.
Day 6. Rett escapes up the ravine with Teo and the calves.
Day 7, 19:00. The ship takes Teo and the calves to Gallow. The clans close the north river to every outsider.
Good. Teo Tuvin comes home, both calves return to Hornback Run, Sorley lives, and Rett Kobal is taken or killed. The clans keep the river open.
Mixed. Teo comes home, but riders die in the attack, or Rett escapes with the calves.
Bad. The ship takes Teo to Gallow, or blood is spilled at Rootfall and the river closes.
The Rootfall trade council pays 40 Crowns to each player character for keeping the peace at the post.
Hakon Tuvin gives each player character a hornback leather coat and a place by the fire at Harro Camp for life.
Oda Tallgrass offers to teach any player character to ride a hornback. A full season of work earns a calf.
The poachers' guns are there for the taking. Each Syndicate Poacher carries a Rune Rifle.
Heroic Inspiration for freeing Teo before the riders attack, or for saving Sorley from the knives.
The buyer on Gallow. The Gallow ship's log names a buyer who pays for hornback calves and for children. The clans want him found.
The holy grove. Hakon Tuvin now trusts the players. He asks them to speak for the clans when the Sawyard's saws reach the grove the clans call holy.
The Fallen Barge. Teo saw husks walking near the ravine at night, heading toward the Tallwood. Oda Tallgrass wants to know where they go.