It is day 22 of month 5, 1042, on Coin Isle, Lucrece. Three months ago a masked client paid Nib Fettle to copy the seal of the Regent. The client was Edmond Corbel, Keeper of the Night Vaults at the Dominion Treasury.
Since then Corbel has written three false orders under the Regent's seal. Each one sent gold chests out of the Treasury water gate at night, "for the navy paymaster". The boats went to vault 112 in the Stone Vaults instead, rented under a false name. Sixty thousand Crowns are gone. The Treasury count is due on day 30.
To hide the hole, Corbel has ordered one last and larger shipment for day 23 at 01:00. He leaked it to Hrok Bayle's spy, so the Compact raiders of Cutter Rocks would take the boat and the blame for every missing Crown. In case Hrok stays home, Corbel has hired his own men to dress as raiders and take the boat in the Vault Reefs. His partner Hugo Mercer, a customs officer in Brassport, will then arrest Union sailors as the raiders' helpers. The banks of Tally Ring insure the Treasury boats and will pay for the loss.
Nib Fettle is the last man who can name Corbel. Corbel's killers come for him at 10:30 today.
Nib Fettle wants to live, and he will tell the whole truth to anyone who keeps him alive.
Edmond Corbel wants the last shipment robbed, the Treasury count passed, and Nib dead.
Hugo Mercer wants a list of Union sailors to arrest on the night of the robbery.
Hrok Bayle smells a trap and wants someone else to check it.
The crew is the Honora crew, finders for the banks of Tally Ring on the passenger packet Honora. Ilyra Coss is a Tessari who has found stolen money for over a hundred years. Oren Halsey is her bodyguard, a former dock fighter who takes suspects alive. Liora Desmarais is a former forger whose patron is a court of star spirits. Tavrik Solmar is a Vasht priest who witnesses bank contracts. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Kesh Ulmar is the claims agent for the banks of Tally Ring. Kordo Ruskar runs the crew hall in Brassport. Amara Quist is the chief auctioneer at Hammer Hall. They are NPCs who follow their descriptions.
Stat blocks. Edmond Corbel uses the Spire Magister stat block. Hugo Mercer fights from his character sheet but avoids fights. City guards and Treasury guards use the Dominion Marine stat block and are honest men following orders. Budget for four level 12 characters is Low 8,800, Moderate 14,800 and High 18,800.
The killers, 10:30. In the Scrivener Quarter, Nib Fettle reads a letter on the north bank. 2 Syndicate Headhunters wait on the roofs across the canal. 4 Syndicate Enforcers and 2 Rush Brutes row up under the bridge. Together they are 8,600 XP, Low (budget 8,800). The headhunters fire first at Nib. A DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check spots the rifles on the roofs before the shot. Oren Halsey is close enough to pull Nib down behind the canal wall. City guards arrive in 1d4 minutes and hold everyone with a weapon. A DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check with Nib's story gets the players released. Captured enforcers know only that a man with a Treasury ring paid them.
Nib's story. Once safe, Nib tells everything. The client wore a mask but also a gold ring with a small key on it, which Nib's brass eye saw clearly. Nib left a forger's mark in his copy, a tiny break in the third ring of the seal.
The seal test. Hammer Hall keeps a register of true seals for checking sale papers. Amara Quist can open it. Laying a false order beside the true seal, a DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds the break, with advantage if Nib shows where. Liora Desmarais also has advantage, because she knows how forgers hide their marks. The proof holds up in any Dominion court.
The Treasury. At the Dominion Treasury, the senior night clerk shows the three orders. Each names Edmond Corbel as receiving officer. Only the Keeper of the Night Vaults wears the gold key ring. Corbel's office is behind the main vault door, which a Treasury Colossus guards. Players with a Treasury pass, or a DC 18 Charisma (Deception) check, get in. A DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check in his desk finds a Stone Vaults ticket for vault 112.
The crew hall, 15:00. Hugo Mercer comes to the crew hall in Brassport with 4 Dominion Marines. He tells Kordo Ruskar he needs real names of Union sailors by midnight. A DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check shows the arrests are already planned. A DC 18 Charisma (Deception) check, with a list of fake names, makes him say the arrests follow "the Treasury robbery tonight". Following him unseen takes a DC 17 Dexterity (Stealth) check. Oren Halsey once fought in Kordo's yard, and Kordo will talk to him. He meets Corbel at 17:00 at the tea room in the Scrivener Quarter.
Cutter Rocks (optional). A Compact boat from the Brassport docks reaches Cutter Rocks in two hours. Hrok Bayle listens to anyone who brings proof of the trap. A DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check gets his fast boat and 6 Compact Raiders to help at the reefs. They fight on the players' side.
The water gate, day 23, 01:00. At the Treasury water gate, 12 gold chests go onto a barge with 4 Dominion Marines. Shown the false seal proof, the guard captain stops the barge with a DC 17 Charisma (Persuasion) check. Tavrik Solmar has advantage, because the guard captain knows his name from Treasury contracts. Otherwise it sails.
The false raiders, 01:40. In the Vault Reefs, a fast boat comes alongside. It carries 1 Raider Captain, 2 Raid Chiefs, 3 Writ Hunters and 4 Compact Raiders (10,400 XP, Moderate, budget 14,800). They are Corbel's hired men in orange sashes. They lock the guards below and hole the barge. Rescuing the locked guards takes a DC 17 Strength check on the hatch. Taken alive, the captain names Corbel and vault 112.
Vault 112. The Stone Vaults are open all night to key holders. Corbel waits at vault 112 for the chests with 4 Spire Guard Mages. A Spire Sentinel and 2 Vault Guardians bound to his seal guard the door (15,100 XP, High, budget 18,800). Anyone who takes his House Signet can order the guardians to stand still. Inside are the 36 chests from the first three shipments, 60,000 Crowns in all. Corbel offers each player 8,000 Crowns to walk away. At a quarter of his hit points, he gives up and asks for a court, not the guards.
Day 22, 10:30. Nib Fettle is shot dead on the north bank.
Day 23, 01:40. The barge is taken in the reefs and sinks. Two guards drown.
Day 23, 06:00. Hugo Mercer arrests 31 Union sailors in Brassport, including men from Kordo Ruskar's crew hall.
Day 25. The banks of Tally Ring pay the Treasury's insurance. The Council on Aurica hears that the Union and the Compact robbed the Treasury together.
Day 30. The Treasury count blames the raid for every missing Crown. The war party gains three votes.
Good. Nib lives, and the barge is saved or the gold is found in vault 112. Corbel and Mercer are arrested, and no Union sailor is taken.
Mixed. Corbel is caught, but the barge sinks or Mercer's arrests go ahead.
Bad. Nib dies and the gold is never found. The robbery is blamed on the Union and the Compact.
The banks of Tally Ring pay 2,000 Crowns to each player character for saving them the insurance.
The Master of the Treasury pays 1,200 Crowns to each player character and gives one a Treasury pass for a year.
Nib Fettle forges one paper for each player character for free, for life.
Hrok Bayle owes the crew a favour, and his fast boat is theirs for one night.
Corbel's House Signet is evidence, but the court lets the players keep his Rune Pendant.
A trading house in Brassport offers the Trading House Bookkeeper job to anyone good with numbers.
Heroic Inspiration for saving Nib Fettle or the locked guards.
The masked partners. Corbel's papers show he sent a share of the gold to someone on Aurica who signs only with a crown. He was not working alone.
The arrest lists. Hugo Mercer's lists name sailors in every port of Lucrece. Other customs officers have copies.
The black crystal bidder. The stone key goes under Amara Quist's hammer next week. The bidder who paid in black crystal has asked about the players by name.