Karel Brunner is a militia captain at Fort Dray. He believes the Dominion will attack soon and that a war started now will cost fewer lives than one started later. For a month he has stolen cannon crystals from the fort stores. Ten nights ago he and twelve of his men hauled an old rune cannon over the ridge path on a sled. They set it up in the upper gallery of Bluefall Mine, where an old ore chute looks across the pass at a Dominion watch post. At 06:00 on the 20th, a rest day, he will fire on the post and swear the Dominion fired first.
Karel's men chased the night diggers out of the upper gallery. The diggers went deeper and broke into a cold pocket where the crystal has turned black. They dig in the dark and mix black stones in with the blue. Two of Hettie Plum's buyers went cold and silent after handling it. A Union freighter fuelled with that crystal lost power past the Dominion warship above Slate Point and never came home.
Hettie Plum keeps the peace at The Scale for the Vesper Syndicate. She wants the black stones out of her market and no war, because war is bad for trade. She pays 50 Crowns each to find the source.
Karel Brunner wants to fire the first shot. He fights with the Raider Captain stat block, and as a named villain he fights on until below a quarter of his hit points.
Vilem Koller commands Fort Dray. He fears an officer plans to start the war with the stolen crystals.
Tinka Gribb, the assayer in Pitmouth, has found the same black stones in Union loads and will test any sample.
The pregenerated characters are the Nightjar crew. Cassius Morland is the famous smuggler who captains them. Valka Orlov is a Gorrin street fighter from Vesk and Gallow. Durruk Malvo is a Gorr miner from Pitmouth with heavy world magic. Thordis Vang is an old Grund prospector who hears the crystal in the rock. They fly the raider brig Nightjar, which they keep hidden in a ravine below the ridge. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Jory Flint leads the raiders of Grit Camp and pays the Nightjar crew to move Vantry families over the ridge. Wystan Coyle chairs the dock council of Slate Point. Celine Duval is a Dominion frame miner who trades letters at The Scale. All three are NPCs.
The Scale, 10:00. At The Scale. Hettie Plum pours tea by the big brass scale while a buyer picks a black stone out of a sack. One of her two cold buyers lies wrapped in blankets in her tent and does not speak. A Crystal Tester or a DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check shows the black stones grew deep in rock, not near the surface. Thordis Vang knows it the moment she holds one. A DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check, or 5 Crowns to the Cogling tea seller, names the night diggers who climb into Bluefall Mine by the west air shaft at 22:00. At the mail stall a letter waits for Celine from her pen friends in a Pitmouth pit crew. It says men in plain coats have painted red marks on the old path to Bluefall's north air shaft. Wystan Coyle's dock crew found black stones in a freighter's fuel bin this morning, bought at The Scale. Jory Flint's raiders saw a heavy sled go over the ridge path ten nights ago.
The west air shaft, 22:00. At Bluefall Mine, on Split Ridge. The night diggers are 1 Smuggler Skipper and 4 Smuggler Deckhand. They are no threat to this crew and run if attacked. A DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check, or the promise of Hettie's protection, makes them talk. Cassius Morland's name alone is enough for most of them. Union men in plain coats have held the upper gallery for ten days. They have a big gun on a sled. The diggers now work the lowest level, where the crystal is black and something big moves in the dark.
The cold pocket (optional). At Bluefall Mine, the lowest level. It is a Strong Vhal site (DC 13). Lamps give only Dim Light, and crystal cells lose charge. 1 Husk Maker, 2 Black Crystal Brute and 6 Chill Tick live here (13,150 XP, Low, budget 15,200). The crew can back out the way it came if the fight goes badly, because nothing here follows past the first lamp. Bringing the roof down with Blast Charge or a frame miner's tools and a DC 17 Strength (Athletics) check seals the pocket and stops the black stones. Durruk Malvo can hold the roof up long enough for everyone to get clear, and Thordis Vang can tell where it will fall.
Fort Dray (optional). At Fort Dray, 3 hours north by the ridge road. Vilem Koller listens to anyone who brings the letter or a word from Hettie. His store book shows that Karel Brunner signed for the store keys six times this month (DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation)). Karel and twelve men have been out on "ridge patrol" for ten days. Vilem cannot send uniforms onto treaty ground. He writes an order for Karel's arrest and gives it to the crew.
The north air shaft. On Split Ridge, by the red marks. A rope ladder drops 60 feet into the upper gallery (DC 16 Strength (Athletics) to climb quietly in armour). A Union Frame Soldier stands sentry at the bottom. A DC 17 Dexterity (Stealth) check reaches the gallery unseen. Cassius Morland and Valka Orlov are the quietest climbers in the crew. Cutting the chains at the main gate is loud and gives the cannon crew 3 rounds to get ready.
The upper gallery. At Bluefall Mine. The cannon sits on its sled by the ore chute. Karel Brunner, 2 Union Siege Walkers driven by his men, 5 Union Frame Soldiers and 2 Swivel Gunners guard it (25,600 XP, High, budget 39,200). The walkers dragged the sled over the ridge path. The rest of his twelve men watch the main gate and the ladder. They are soldiers out of uniform, all men. Reading Vilem's order aloud and a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check makes 3 frame soldiers lay down their guns. If the fight goes badly, the crew can climb back up the north shaft, because Karel will not leave the cannon to chase them. The cannon needs 3 rounds to aim and fire. A DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check or a DC 17 check with tinker's tools pulls its crystal. Its brass breech has AC 18 and breaks after 60 damage. A shot fired inside the gallery brings rock down for 6d10 bludgeoning damage in a 20-foot square (DC 16 Dexterity save for half). Durruk Malvo can stand under the falling rock and keep the others clear.
Proof for both sides. At The Scale. If the cannon fired, only proof can stop the Dominion answer. Hettie Plum can carry the arrest order, the store book and a captured gunner to the Dominion side through the Syndicate's secret deal. A DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) check by whoever speaks for the crew holds the Dominion guns for one day. Cassius Morland has done this kind of talking at a dozen borders.
6-17, 22:00. The diggers go in and bring out another sack with black stones in it.
6-18. A third buyer goes cold. Hettie closes the crystal stalls.
6-19, 23:00. Karel Brunner's men load the cannon.
6-20, 06:00. The cannon fires and kills six Dominion marines at the watch post.
6-20, 07:00. Dominion guns fire on the Union posts on the ridge. Hettie shuts The Scale.
6-23. The Dominion warship above Slate Point fires on the next Union freighter. Fort Dray marches south.
Good. The cannon never fires. Karel Brunner is taken alive, and the cold pocket is sealed.
Mixed. The cannon is stopped, but the black stones keep coming, or Karel dies and his men swear the Dominion killed him.
Bad. The cannon fires and the ridge war begins.
Hettie Plum pays 350 Crowns each and gives the crew free trade at The Scale for a year with no Syndicate cut.
Vilem Koller pays 560 Crowns each when the stolen cannon crystals come home, and he offers the gig Mine Payroll Guard or scout work for Fort Dray.
Wystan Coyle's dock council pays 1,400 Marks each for proof of the bad fuel, and offers the gig Freighter Escort to the Tangle.
The upper gallery holds 12 cannon crystals and a sled of tools. Each cannon crystal is worth 10 Crowns if sold, but Fort Dray wants them back.
Tinka Gribb gives the crew a Crystal Tester and a friend in Pitmouth.
Heroic Inspiration for stopping the shot without killing a Union soldier.
Karel's friends. Karel did not find the cannon alone. A Union war board clerk changed the fort's crystal counts for him, and some officers at Fort Dray call him a hero.
Shaft Six. Tinka Gribb says the black stones match the cold rock in Shaft Six. Bodo Anvik will pay a team to go down where his crews vanished.
The families of Vantry. Jory Flint knows more families in Vantry want to cross the ridge. With the gallery clear, the ore chute and the north air shaft are open to the Nightjar crew again, if someone steals the families' debt papers from the manor.