The Escort

Boisverne is a warm forest-town of timber-framed houses, where the smell of freshly cut wood mingles with that of warm bread. Here, at the edge of the great forest of Cendrelac, the adventure begins: with an honest job, a seemingly ordinary escort mission. The perfect starting point to discover the campaign and bond a group of heroes.

The hook

A nervous merchant, Master Aldwin Vaudrel, hires the heroes to escort his caravan to the capital, Hautecombe. He pays far too much for mere bales of cloth, and keeps glancing over his shoulder. For his wagon carries a discreet passenger: Brother Anselme, a taciturn churchman who watches far more than he speaks, and who sometimes clutches an object hidden beneath his robe.

The thread that shows

"I was taught that everything rests not on who wears the crown, but on who can swear the oath. A king without an oath is only a man in a golden hat."

The old king has died with no recognised heir. The great Houses manoeuvre, the Conclave draws near, and the roads are no longer safe. The heroes believe they are doing a simple escort job. Only at the end, in the blood of Wolf's Gorge and the confidences of Brother Anselme, does a thread begin to show: an engraved medallion, a hidden heir, a conspiracy far beyond them. It is for them to decide whether to pull it. The whole campaign flows from that moment.

The five scenes

• Scene 1, The Hiring at Boisverne: the introductions, the deal, the first rumours.
• Scene 2, The Royal Road: three days of travel, the camaraderie, and clues sown along the way.
• Scene 3, The Ambush at Wolf's Gorge: hooded assailants, and a caravan to defend.
• Scene 4, Brother Anselme's Secret: the revelation, and the medallion of the Ashen Diadem.
• Scene 5, The Pierregive Waystation: the epilogue, and the hook toward what comes next.

Advice for the game master

Do not rush the journey: a good opening act takes the time to make its characters loved before putting them in danger. Sow the clues without underlining them (a rumour, a plundered caravan, strange cave paintings) and let the players piece them together themselves, later. The pleasure of the campaign is born of that quiet thread the heroes choose to pull, without yet grasping where it leads.