The War of Bells

The Hook

The party is in Camarath's Cathedral Plaza for the Ember Toll, the ritual ringing meant to secure the god Solenne's blessing before the city's next offensive against its sister-enemy Ostrehaven. For the first time in living memory, Ostrehaven's Widow's Iron tolls at the exact same hour, across the strait, in open violation of a hundred years of doctrine that only one city's prayer can be answered at a time. Both cities report visions. Both report victory promised. Ravens drop dead from the sky mid-flight over the Silent Fathom; every piece of brass in Camarath hums on its own for eleven seconds; petitioners closest to the Ember Bell find their tears have turned to a fine bronze dust. That night a Camarath archivist named Sister Mireille Corvain sends the party a smuggled ledger page and a plea: she needs people who owe nothing to either altar, because what she has found will get her killed by either church equally.

🎭 The rest of this tale is the Dungeon Master's secret. You'll live it at the table.