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| hauh_morningstar_saws_end [2026/05/29 03:40] – [4 | Key (N)PCs + Dynamic Cues] admin | hauh_morningstar_saws_end [2026/07/11 18:09] (current) – [Morningstar Hub Overview (Playable Locations & Opportunities)] admin |
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| | **Trigger / Timing** | **Read-Aloud / Narrative Insert** | | | **Trigger / Timing** | **Read-Aloud / Narrative Insert** | |
| | **PCs walk to the guest room and enter it** | Even before you reach the top of the stairs, something smells wrong. Not mold. Not smoke. Fish. Sharp and sour, cutting through the resin haze that seeps up from the taproom below. The noise of Saw’s End dulls behind you as you follow the narrow corridor, lantern light trembling against rough timber walls. A wooden door marked with a painted 3 waits at the end. It isn’t locked. When you push it open, the smell hits full force. The room is cramped — bunks, wool blankets, a rough dresser — and on one of the lower bunks sits a tall man with broad shoulders and a face mapped by old burn scars. He’s eating pickled fish straight from a tin, calm as if this were the most natural place in the world for it. A battered suitcase is shoved under his bunk. He looks up once, slowly, eyes steady and unblinking. For a moment, it feels like you’ve walked into someone else’s story — and he hasn’t decided yet whether you belong in it. | | | **The PCs lease a room and step inside Guest Room Number One** | The noise of the taproom dulls into a low, rhythmic thrum behind you as you climb the grooved timber stairs and open the door to Guest Room Number One. The space is narrow, dark, and simple—nothing more than rough timber walls, heavy wool blankets thrown across cramped bunks, and a single flickering oil lantern sat atop a dresser. An open-shutter window looks straight out into the perpetual violet twilight, watching the creeping mountain mist bleed over the Ring outside. The room smells deeply of heavy raw wool and fresh logging timber. |
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| | **Trigger / Cue (Player Action)** | **Immediate Reaction** | **Clue / Consequence** | | | **Trigger / Cue (Player Action)** | **Immediate Reaction** | **Clue / Consequence** | |
| | | 🛏️ **The PCs ask Orin or the Butler Bot if rooms are available** | The host or machine surveys them evenly. "We’ve got three upstairs chambers. Usually booked weeks out by off-shift smiths or trappers, but some occupants just went broke at the Twenty-One tables an hour ago. Pushed their luck, got locked out. Rooms are open." | __The Cost:__ Secure lodging costs 20 Kourou per night. Paying the ledger unlocks the Guest Room Read-Aloud trigger and secures a safe operational base for short/long rests. | |
| | 🎲 **PCs look for a game of [[twenty_one|Twenty One]]** | Rurik Voss and Marek Holtz wave them over with sloppy confidence, already mid-drink. | Establishes the two log graders as volatile contacts and potential antagonists. | | | 🎲 **PCs look for a game of [[twenty_one|Twenty One]]** | Rurik Voss and Marek Holtz wave them over with sloppy confidence, already mid-drink. | Establishes the two log graders as volatile contacts and potential antagonists. | |
| | 🎲 **PCs play Twenty One with Rurik Voss & Marek Holtz** | The two log graders deal fast and sloppy, already drunk and loud. The game draws attention from nearby tables. | Each participating PC must make a probe to represent experience, table sense, and nerve. Default probe: DEX or INT (PC choice). PCs with backgrounds in gambling, trade, logistics, sawmill work, or similar frontier professions may gain advantage (DM discretion). __Success:__ PCs win money and reputation; Rurik and Marek grow resentful and volatile. __Partial success:__ Narrow win or loss; mockery and tension, but contained. __Failure:__ PCs lose money and are ridiculed; no immediate escalation. __Critical success or repeated wins__ sharply increase the risk of a violent outburst. | | | 🎲 **PCs play Twenty One with Rurik Voss & Marek Holtz** | The two log graders deal fast and sloppy, already drunk and loud. The game draws attention from nearby tables. | Each participating PC must make a probe to represent experience, table sense, and nerve. Default probe: DEX or INT (PC choice). PCs with backgrounds in gambling, trade, logistics, sawmill work, or similar frontier professions may gain advantage (DM discretion). __Success:__ PCs win money and reputation; Rurik and Marek grow resentful and volatile. __Partial success:__ Narrow win or loss; mockery and tension, but contained. __Failure:__ PCs lose money and are ridiculed; no immediate escalation. __Critical success or repeated wins__ sharply increase the risk of a violent outburst. | |
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| === Phase 2 — Guest Room (Forced Proximity & Real Detail) === | === Phase 2 — The Kettler Twins (Floating Encounter Integration) === |
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| //Unlocks only if the PC did not get arrested earlier or had to escape the bar. | {{:npc_kettlertwins.png?direct&200|}} |
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| | // OPTIONAL FLOATING TRIGGER: This block executes ONLY if the players did not trigger the Kettler Twins encounter previously along the trade route or in Hope. If they already had this encounter, skip this block entirely. |
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| | **Trigger / Cue** | **Immediate Reaction** | **Clue / Consequence** | | |
| | 🗣️ **PCs initiate conversation with Sagan** | Sagan answers politely but without enthusiasm. He keeps eating pickled fish from a tin box, avoiding eye contact at first. | Mentions temporary carpentry work near the Fogwood Sawmill, loss of steady contracts, and being “between places.” | | === Dialogue Rule for the Dungeon Master === |
| | 🕵️ **PCs mention “J.W.” by name or initials** | Sagan freezes mid-bite. Slowly sets the tin aside. | Identifies [[jareth_wyrick|Jareth Wyrick]], a fur hunter. Says one of Wyrick’s hands hired him as a carpenter 6 months ago. | | The twins are deeply distrustful of anyone digging into their business, especially characters disguised as Covenant monks. They answer player questions with increasing suspiciousness. They will tolerate **2 to 3 questions maximum** before completely shutting down the conversation. They reveal as little information as possible. Depending on the party's line of questioning and successful CHA (Persuasion or Intimidation) checks, they will only ever reveal the following three pieces of context: |
| | 🪵 **PCs ask about Sagan’s job for J.W. and the property** | Sagan exhales slowly, choosing his words with care. | One of Wyrick’s hands met him at Saw's End and hired him as a carpenter for a well-paid job on J.W.’s property. The pay was generous — but conditional: Sagan had to stay on-site for the entire project. The project was a so-called “guest house”: a one-room log structure, no windows, only thin ventilation shafts cut into the roof. The bed and chair were screwed to the floor. Whenever Sagan asked questions, his handler shut him down: “Did we hire a carpenter or a thinker?” Sagan never saw the main house — the property was too large, the fog too thick, and his movement restricted. He slept in a tent outside the timber wall, which was reinforced with security wire. He never met Jareth Wyrick himself — only received written notes passed through intermediaries. | | * **The Scarcity of [[veyra|Veyra]]:** Veyra is incredibly rare. They cannot be hunted locally; they only thrive out in the steppes of the western Asari Region bordering the Desert Side. Furthermore, the native Senti Tribe fiercely protects them and does not tolerate exohuman hunters in their territory. Anyone hunting Veyras out there has to be a highly seasoned tracker, or they become the hunted themselves. |
| | 🔊 **PCs ask how the job ended** | Sagan grows tense, choosing his words carefully. | After receiving his payment, Sagan noticed his contact wearing a belt with a holstered gun and watching him closely. He realized too late that staying longer might mean never leaving. | | * **Their Business Model:** They specialize in Veyra fur exclusively because it is rare and holds an immense premium market value. If Veyra fur ever becomes a common commodity, they will immediately drop it and specialize in something else. |
| | 🚨 **PCs ask what allowed him to escape** | Sagan swallows and nods. | A sudden disturbance broke the tension: a radio crackled with urgent shouting about movement near the outer fence and treeline. The contact cursed, ran toward the main house with two others, and left Sagan unattended. He fled immediately, left his backpack behind, climbed the timber wall reinforced with security wire, cutting his hands badly, then ran until exhaustion took him miles away. | | * **Their Operations & Supply Chain:** They are merely traveling salesmen running their "wholesale tour" from settlement to settlement, comparing their economic route to the way the Honga tribe runs their seasonal "Cycle." They openly state that they pick up their pelts wholesale at **Hale & Hook in Morningstar**. They don't know the mysterious producer of this Veyra fur personally, but reveal that he is a seasoned hunter specialized on rare pelts who sets his market prices entirely himself. |
| | 🧭 **PCs ask for location details** | Sagan hesitates, then shakes his head. | The property lies roughly 5 km north–northwest of Morningstar, far off any paved route. Sagan admits he could not find it again on his own — he was brought there by one of Wyrick’s hands. The area is surrounded by Atrana’s dense, ever-shifting fog, with no landmarks to follow. A large timber wall reinforced with security wire marks the only clear boundary. | | |
| | 👁️ **PCs ask Sagan for more precise details (guards, buildings, layout, workers)** | Sagan shakes his head slowly, jaw tightening. | He says he never saw more than he was meant to see. He was kept deliberately isolated, escorted when moved, and discouraged from looking around. He admits he was too intimidated to test the unspoken rules — “You could feel where you weren’t supposed to look.” He never counted guards, never mapped buildings, and never saw the full layout of the property. Whatever else exists there was kept out of sight on purpose. | | --- |
| | ❄️ **PCs mock, threaten, or dismiss Sagan** | He shuts down completely, lies back on his bunk, and refuses further conversation. | All remaining information is lost. Sagan will not engage again. | | |
| | | **Trigger / Player Action** | **Immediate NPC / Environmental Reaction** | **Consequences & Skill Mechanics** | |
| | | 🪑 **The PCs sit down at a taproom table** | As the characters slide onto the wooden bench to rest, a player's foot accidentally brushes against something soft, thick, and heavy hidden underneath the framework. | __The Setup:__ The players are directed to investigate the space beneath their boots. Bypassing or ignoring the contact delays the clue discovery until they prepare to leave. __Character Specific Modifier:__ If [[lexa_rourke|Lexa Rourke]] is in the active party roster, she is automatically the one who touches and discovers the bundle. The raw sensory contact with the poached hide triggers a wave of revulsion due to her deep bond with her own Veyra, Kelta. | |
| | | 🎒 **A PC pulls the hidden bundle out from under the bench** | The bundle reveals a high-end vest made from the iridescent, distinctive hide of a Veyra. | __The Visual Cue:__ Characters with a background in tracking, survival, or frontier trade instantly recognize the immense market value of raw Veyra fur in this sector. | |
| | | 👁️ **A PC examines the tag pinned to the collar** | The tag is a small piece of grid paper reading: "VEYRA, 450 Kourou." | Automatic Success if a character has analytical or technical focus (like [[hana_lee|Hana Lee's]] Analysis) or a DC 12 INT (Investigation) check: The player notices the letter 'R' in the word VEYRA has a precise 1mm stencil break where the loop fails to connect to the vertical stem. This matches the exact handwriting of the assassination orders from Ezrah's office. | |
| | | 👥 **The PCs handle the tag as the owners return** | Two identical, weathered men in hide beanies approach. They note that this was actually their table and that they were just stepping away after "having a conversation" with someone who needed a motivational speech. Then their eyes lock onto the vest: *"Do we have a buyer? Or did you just try to steal our pelt?"* | __The Disguise Check:__ The party must use a DC 13 CHA (Deception or Performance) check to maintain their peaceful, monastic Covenant personas to explain why they are holding the contraband. | |
| | | 💬 **The PCs question the twins or probe into their operation** | The twins narrow their eyes, their posture turning aggressive. They execute the __Dialogue Rule (see above)__, matching the party's inquiries with sharp, transactional counters. | __The Interrogation:__ Each question requires a DC 14 CHA (Persuasion or Intimidation) check to extract one of the three core lore points. A single failure or exceeding 3 questions causes their professional mask to freeze over. | |
| | | 🍺 **A physically imposing PC steps in to break a tense standoff** | A large or imposing character surfaces from the taproom crowd or stands up, using their physical mass to change the power dynamic. | __The Physical Check:__ The PC’s sheer presence or a successful DC 12 STR (Intimidation) display forces the twins' suspicion to instantly evaporate into a smooth, professional mask. They realize the physical risk is too high to push further. | |
| | | 🚶♂️ **The PCs conclude the conversation or let the twins walk away** | The first twin snatches the Veyra vest back with a firm, non-aggressive tug. They offer a mock salute, turn in unison, and disappear through the exit doors into the foggy twilight. | __The Deduction Transition:__ The encounter concludes. Any lingering or resting party members gather back at the booth to consolidate their findings: The anonymous client is hiding nearby in the Atrana Mountains, funding his elite hitmen directly through fur trafficking via Hale and Hook. | |
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| * **Saw’s End is not safe — it is tolerated:** The tavern holds together through reputation and restraint, not hospitality. Order exists only as long as Orin allows it. | * **Saw’s End is not safe — it is tolerated:** The tavern holds together through reputation and restraint, not hospitality. Order exists only as long as Orin allows it. |
| * **Orin is the hard boundary:** He does not negotiate, warn twice, or escalate emotionally. One decisive action ends any situation. If the PCs cause trouble, lodging is denied without discussion. | * **Orin is the hard boundary:** He does not negotiate, warn twice, or escalate emotionally. One decisive action ends any situation. If the PCs cause trouble, lodging is denied without discussion. |
| * **Information is overheard, not extracted:** Rumors in the taproom surface through proximity, timing, and restraint. Pressing too hard shuts conversations down. | * **Information is overheard, not extracted:** New rumors in the taproom surface through proximity, timing, and restraint. Pressing too hard shuts conversations down completely. |
| * **Twenty One is a social risk, not a minigame:** Winning draws attention and resentment; losing invites mockery. Either way, the PCs become visible — and visibility has consequences. | * **Twenty One is a social risk, not a minigame:** Winning draws immediate attention and resentment from drunk lumber crews; losing invites mockery. Either way, the PCs become visible—and visibility has consequences under a bounty wire. |
| * **Sagan is unavoidable and uncomfortable:** He is placed in the PCs’ guest room on purpose. The smell, the silence, and the forced proximity are the hook — not his willingness to talk. | * **Floating Safety Net Function:** If the players skipped taprooms earlier in the sandbox loop, use the Kettler Twins block here to ensure they still capture the vital handwriting link and the corporate target target loop ([[hale_and_hook_outfitters|Hale & Hook]]). |
| * **Sagan knows enough to be dangerous — to himself:** He shares what he experienced, not what he understands. His fear, isolation, and uncertainty are as important as the facts he provides. | * **Managing the Dialogue Budget:** Enforce the 2-to-3 question limit strictly. Once the party hits that threshold or fails a check, the twins must deliver their mock salute and exit. This keeps the investigation tight. |
| * **J.W.’s property should feel real but obscured:** Location, wealth, and security are confirmed — layout, routines, and scale are not. Maintain fog, distance, and uncertainty. | |
| * **No recovery if mishandled:** If the PCs mock, threaten, or dismiss Sagan, the information flow stops permanently. Do not provide alternate NPCs to replace him. | |
| * **This scene narrows the world:** By the end of Saw’s End, the PCs should feel that Morningstar points outward — north–northwest — and that whatever waits there does not want to be found. | |
| * **If the [[Ticking Clock|Ticking Clock]] Expires Here:** If wanted PCs linger in the bar, the Guarding Troopers will track them down. Orin will not protect the PCs from the law. If a fight breaks out during an arrest attempt, Orin will actively help the Troopers subdue or eject the PCs to prevent his bar from being damaged or shut down. | * **If the [[Ticking Clock|Ticking Clock]] Expires Here:** If wanted PCs linger in the bar, the Guarding Troopers will track them down. Orin will not protect the PCs from the law. If a fight breaks out during an arrest attempt, Orin will actively help the Troopers subdue or eject the PCs to prevent his bar from being damaged or shut down. |
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| ==== DM Tutorial: How to approach the scene ==== | ==== DM Tutorial: How to approach the scene ==== |
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| {{ :dm_briefing_hauh_saws_end.mp3 |}} | {{ :hauh_scene_4b_dm_briefing_revised_2.mp3 |}} |
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| | **Location** | **Type / Activity** | **Primary Opportunities** | **Tone / Difficulty** | **Leads To Scene** | | | **Location** | **Type / Activity** | **Primary Opportunities** | **Tone / Difficulty** | **Leads To Scene** | |
| | **[[django_s_diner|Django’s Diner]]** | Food · Rumors · Low-cost stability | Eat cheaply · overhear timber and trade talk · ask the serving Butler Bot Roxy about the receipt found on the Hand and his henchmen | Warm · Cramped · Watchful | → [[hauh_morningstar_djangos_diner|Scene 4a]] | | | **[[django_s_diner|Django’s Diner]]** | Food · Pressure · Investigation | Prevent Sagan from harming a civilian · recover J.W.’s torn voucher · ask Roxy about the receipt found on the Hand and his henchmen | Warm · Cramped · Volatile | → [[hauh_morningstar_djangos_diner|Scene 4a]] | |
| | **[[saws_end|Saw’s End]]** | Lodging · Social Risk · Rumor Hub | Secure the only accommodation in Morningstar · gather guarded rumors about “J.W.” and his operations · risk visibility through drinking or playing [[twenty_one|Twenty One]] · encounter Sagan Belmont in forced proximity | Loud · Smoky · Volatile | → [[hauh_morningstar_saws_end|Scene 4b]] | | | **[[saws_end|Saw’s End]]** | Lodging · Social Risk · Rumor Hub | Secure the only accommodation in Morningstar · gather guarded rumors about “J.W.” and his operations · risk visibility through drinking or playing [[twenty_one|Twenty One]] · encounter Sagan Belmont in forced proximity | Loud · Smoky · Volatile | → [[hauh_morningstar_saws_end|Scene 4b]] | |
| | **[[morningstar_food_market|Morningstar Food Market]]** | Supplies · Barter | Replace basics · buy trail food · observe who watches newcomers and who avoids them | Practical · Neutral | → [[hauh_morningstar_food_market|Scene 4c]] | | | **[[morningstar_food_market|Morningstar Food Market]]** | Supplies · Barter | Replace basics · buy trail food · observe who watches newcomers and who avoids them | Practical · Neutral | → [[hauh_morningstar_food_market|Scene 4c]] | |
