• Location: Flexible — chosen by the PCs from the Morningstar Hub or any suitable location listed on the Morningstar wiki page
• Recommended Location: Saw’s End
• Type: Unlocked Character Scene · Social Investigation · Emotional Revelation
• Era: Beta Age
• Unlock Condition: The PCs calm Sagan Belmont during Scene 4a — Django’s Diner and persuade him to continue the conversation somewhere safer
• Tone: Pouring rain · shame after violence · old friendship · working-class ruin · trust earned slowly

Atmosphere & Sensory Cues: Rain hammering against timber roofs · water streaming from coats and hair · the distant groan of sawmill machinery · wet resin · muddy boots · a bottle placed between tired hands · Sagan struggling to meet anyone’s eyes · questions followed by long pauses

This scene is not tied to a fixed venue. After leaving Django’s Diner, ask the players where they intend to take Sagan. They may choose any suitable location from the Morningstar Hub or the wider Morningstar location list.

Possible choices include:

• a table or rented room at Saw’s End
• the hearse used by the PCs
• a covered loading shed near the Morningstar Food Market
• a quiet structure elsewhere in Morningstar

The chosen location changes the atmosphere, the level of privacy, and the danger of discovery, but not the core information Sagan may reveal.

• Recommended Choice — Saw’s End:
• Sagan originally wanted the drink denied to him at Django’s Diner. Offering him a Slivovitz at Saw’s End is not treated as enabling an alcohol problem. The drink may help him settle, accept the PCs’ company, and begin talking. It also mirrors the canonical events of the novel. However, choosing Saw’s End carries additional risk if Rogan exposed his identity while unlocking the Forgotten Connection. a bounty hunter (Austin Hammacher) may recognize Rogan or the other Wanted PCs there, triggering the Ticking Clock and potentially interrupting the conversation.

Sagan does not deliver his entire history as a single uninterrupted explanation. He is exhausted, ashamed, and still shaken by what he did at Django’s Diner. The PCs must decide whether they want to interrogate him, listen to him, accuse him, or help him make sense of what happened. The scene uses Trust to determine how deeply Sagan speaks.

• Sagan begins with:

• Trust 2 if the Forgotten Connection was unlocked and Rogan helped calm him
• Trust 1 if the PCs resolved the diner peacefully without unlocking the Forgotten Connection
• Trust 0 if Sagan was physically subdued, threatened, or forced to accompany the PCs

Trust may rise or fall through the PCs’ actions.

Trust cannot rise above 5 or fall below 0.

The DM should not treat Trust as a visible numerical meter unless the group prefers transparent mechanics. It may instead be tracked privately and expressed through Sagan’s posture, tone, and willingness to continue.

The rain has grown heavier.

It pours across Morningstar in dense, unbroken sheets, hammering against rooftops, timber walls, and sheet metal until the distant noise of the settlement almost disappears beneath it.

Sagan sits apart from the rest of you.

Without the violence of the diner surrounding him, he seems smaller than he did behind the spike-driver. His broad shoulders have collapsed inward. His hands rest open on his knees, as though he no longer trusts them near anything that could become a weapon. For a while, he says nothing. Then he unfolds the two halves of the voucher and places them beside one another. His thick fingers carefully align the torn edges, although the paper will never hold together again.

“I only wanted one glass,” he says. His voice is rough, almost lost beneath the pounding rain.

“A couple of drinks after months of work. That was all the paper was worth in the end.”

The noise of Saw’s End wraps around you the moment you enter.

Resin smoke hangs beneath the rafters. Wet coats steam beside the stove. Timber crews shout over cups, dice, and the scrape of battered chairs. Outside, the rain pounds against the shutters hard enough to make the panes tremble.

Sagan chooses a table against the wall.

When the bottle of Slivovitz arrives, he studies it for several seconds before pouring. His hand shakes against the glass. He takes one drink, closes his eyes, and lets the alcohol burn its way down.

“J.W. promised me a lot more than this,” he says.

Then he looks toward the torn voucher.

“A couple of drinks after months of work. That was all the paper was worth in the end.”

This phase applies only if one or more PCs are Wanted and their presence has already been compromised. If the PCs are clean, remain disguised, or choose a genuinely secure location, skip to Phase 1b.

The location chosen by the PCs determines how the Ticking Clock behaves.

This phase applies only if the PCs ask Sagan to accompany them as a guide. If they merely seek information or directions to the compound, skip this phase.

• The scene is about listening, not extracting: Sagan should not feel like a container of clues. His information comes from lived experience, shame, and memory. Allow pauses and let the players decide how hard they push.
• Saw’s End is recommended, not mandatory: The drink Sagan wanted gives the players a natural reason to take him there. However, the choice belongs to them. Do not redirect them if they select another credible location.
• The Forgotten Connection has consequences: If Rogan exposed his identity at Django’s Diner, that choice may follow the group into this scene. At Saw’s End, Hammacher can recognize him and interrupt the conversation. The character-specific advantage therefore carries a meaningful cost.
• Do not speak for Rogan: The DM may remind Rogan’s player of unlocked memories and describe Sagan’s reactions. Rogan’s dialogue, promises, physical contact, and emotional choices always belong to the player.
• Sagan does not know the compound interior: He delivered timber to the gate and never entered after the palisade was built. Do not reintroduce information from the discarded carpenter backstory.
• J.W.’s control is systemic: His exploitation works through deferred payment, dependency, intermediaries, changing instructions, and plausible deniability. The injustice should feel organized rather than accidental.
• Trust does not excuse the diner: Even at maximum Trust, Sagan knows that threatening the mother was wrong. He may express shame, but he should never ask the PCs to tell him that it was justified.
• The guide is earned: Sagan should not automatically join because the PCs heard his story. They must give him a reason to believe that going back serves a purpose beyond revenge.
• Failure creates another route: If Sagan refuses to guide the PCs, the investigation continues through Hale & Hook, J.W.’s Hands, local rumors, or wilderness tracking.
• The scene may be interrupted: If the Ticking Clock activates, do not protect the conversation because it contains important clues. Let the interruption happen. Unfinished information may be recovered from Sagan later if he survives and remains willing to speak.

• ↑↑ Start: Hunting An Unknown Hunter
• ★ Overview: All Scenes of Hunting an Unknown Hunter
• ☞ Resolution: Case Resolution and discoverable Backstory
• ← Unlocked From: Scene 4a — Django’s Diner
• → Possible continuations:
  • If Sagan agrees to guide the PCs and they are ready to leave Morningstar: proceed to Scene 4a+2 — The Roman Way
  • If the PCs submit to arrest: proceed to Scene 4f — Local Guarding Troopers Station.
  • If the PCs resist or flee: proceed to Scene 4g — Escaping Morningstar.
  • If Sagan refuses to cooperate or Sagan agrees to guide them but the PCs continue investigating Morningstar: return to the Morningstar Hub Overview and continue the investigation through other leads.

• Note: Scene 4a+1 is an additional unlocked scene and may take place at any suitable Morningstar location. If the chosen location has its own risks or active mechanics, such as Hammacher at Saw’s End or biometric scans at the Medical Station, those mechanics remain active during the conversation.