Docks Ward

A scuffle breaks out just ahead of the party as a wealthy looking foreign merchant points a golden cane at a terrified, dirt-covered dockworker. The merchant, who the party come to overhear is named Orlov, claims the laborer cut open his bag and stole a small pouch containing several sapphires. A group of local mercenaries steps in, shouting, "Hold still, Jovan!" as they begin beating him to try to force a confession.

• The Trigger: Seeing the altercation between Jovan and Orlov presents them with the choice of if they should become involved or not.
• The Objective: Jovan, notices the party of adventurers and desperately begs for their help, swearing he is innocent.
• If the Party Intervenes: They step into the fray to buy time. A character must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception or Insight) check to spot the true culprit hiding in the gathering crowd: a nimble pickpocket, who is wearing an oversized smock and nervously trying to conceal Orlov's pouch inside her gloved hand. Should they confront her, they will learn she is named Mikla.
• If the Party Does Not Intervene: They watch from the sidelines. As Jovan is dragged away bleeding. A character can make a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice someone from the crowd slip away while transferring a lavish pouch into an oversized smock pocket. If they choose to make contact with the individual, they will learn their name is Mikla and can decide what to do next.

REWARDIf Jovan is vindicated, a grateful dock supervisor who says he works with the man will secretly hand them a Nautilion Cargo Manifest as a gratuity for helping him.

Alternatively, if they hunt down Mikla privately, they secure the manifest from her stash alongside Orlov's stolen sapphires. A character proficient with a forgery kit can modify this official manifest to cover any single inventory item. When a customs official inspects that item, the manifest grants advantage on one Charisma (Deception) check made to bypass the security checkpoint. The manifest is surrendered and destroyed upon use.

While walking along the lower docks of Skalan, the party witnesses a local fishmonger named Marra sitting on the ground crying. Several massive, metallic-scaled fish are laid out on a table at her market stall, their gills leaking a thick blue chemical sludge.

• The Trigger: Stopping to speak with Marra, the party learns about her concerns and is asked to help.
• The Objective: Marra begs the party to figure out where the chemical came from before the entire bay's ecosystem is poisoned. The party must investigate the source by following traces of the chemical through the sewers. This will lead them to a corrupt factory whose overseer is illegally dumping concentrated alchemical waste to avoid The Cobalt Crown's disposal taxes.

Just outside of an industrial workshop in the Docks Ward, a young apprentice paces back and forth. She approaches the party and introduces herself as Nesta. She's clutching a broken copper gear and explains that her mentor Bramen, a brilliant crane engineer who has vanished mid-shift after discovering a structural gap in the main foundry wall.

• The Trigger: Should the party stop to speak with Nesta, the group learns of her missing mentor Bramen, and is asked if they will help find him.
• The Objective: The party is asked to enter the maintenance tunnels beneath the foundry and locate Bramen. They discover he has been abducted by a gang who are trying to force him to hand over the master keys to the shipyard warehouses.
• REWARDThey receive 30 silver pieces (sp) and a custom-tuned Mechanist's Lens, which grants a +2 bonus to all Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to analyze complex machinery, locks, or structural weak points.

To solve his military recruitment crisis, and protect the borders against growing civil unrest, Ondoros has established a covert supply chain. Ondoros has been secretly exporting large, black crates containing heavy, modular iron plating for ship hulls to Brynnmor in exchange for sellswords that answer only to him. The foundries across Liekia have been forced to work around the clock under the watchful eye of agents of The Royal Kralia to produce them as fast as possible. Large sums of coin have been funneled into this covert project, causing the Liekian treasury to deplete at an accelerated rate.

• The Trigger: While investigating rumors about strange movements at a local industrial foundry of your choice, the party witnesses Royal Kralia agents brutally beating an exhausted factory laborer who accidentally dropped and shattered a massive, unmarked black cargo crate, exposing specialized, military-grade iron hull plating.
• The Objective: If the party intervenes or searches the laborer's fallen satchel after the incident, they uncover an unredacted shipping manifest proving that these secret military exports depart from a secluded harbor inlet every Maorhi (Day 6) at midnight.

In response to the dwindling treasury, the king has been cutting backroom deals to give long-term leases of prime dock space in Skalan to foreign ship captains of the Nautilion League at a premium, pricing out local sailors and leading to an increase in regional smuggling. The increase in local crime has conveniently given him the pretext needed to crack down on black market dealers, and strangle the financial backers of his merchant lord rivals.

• The Trigger: Triggers upon first entering the Docks Ward in Skalan or discovering the dock deals. As the party moves through the docks, a squad of Redvakt Peacekeepers forcefully padlocks a local merchant vessel named The Solna-Runner and throws the captain's navigational charts into the mud, clearing the berth for an incoming, pristine Nautilion League ship.
• The Objective: The ruined captain, Valan, frantically approaches the party. He offers his remaining coin if they help him break onto his impounded vessel tonight to reclaim his family ledger and slip The Solna-Runner out of the bay before the asset is permanently surrendered to the Nautilion League.