D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Mill-Wheel Halt of Rivervale

# Wilderness# Intrigue# Investigation

Rivervale, a town defined by the ceaseless rhythm of its mill-wheels, now stands silent. The great Gnomish Floodgates downstream—a marvel of engineering meant to tame the river—have been sabotaged, unleashing a torrent that threatens to drown the valley. Two desperate factions point fingers, each with their own tragic justification for the crisis. Veteran adventurers are called to navigate the flooded ruins, uncover the truth behind the sabotage, and decide the fate of a community on the brink. There are no easy answers, only the muddy waters of survival and principle.

Chronicle Prelude

The players arrive in the upper town of Rivervale, a terraced settlement clinging to the hillsides above the now-swollen river. The iconic mill-wheels are motionless, their grinding stones silent. The air is thick with the smell of wet earth and fear. NPCs whisper of the 'Great Flood' and blame either the reckless engineers who built the dam or the shortsighted millers who demanded its construction. The central square is dominated by a large, dry fountain—the town's only neutral meeting ground.

Environmental Traits

The sabotaged Gnomish Floodgates have released a controlled disaster. The downstream farmlands are flooding, the river's current is dangerously strong, and the ancient, buried ruins beneath the valley are being unearthed by the water's scouring force. The crisis is a ticking clock: the dam's remaining integrity fails hourly, and a final, catastrophic surge is imminent.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Elder Brennan
A tall, gaunt man in his late sixties with a weathered face and a thick, grey beard. He wears the sturdy, oil-stained apron of a miller over fine woolen clothes. His eyes hold a fierce, burning conviction, and he moves with the deliberate weight of someone carrying generations of tradition. He bears the official seal of the Consortium on a chain around his neck.
Chief Engineer Gilda
A small but powerfully built gnome woman with sharp, intelligent eyes magnified by thick-lensed goggles pushed up on her forehead. Her hands are stained with grease and ink, and she wears a leather apron covered in pockets for tools. She carries herself with an air of impatient authority, constantly fiddling with a complex brass key.
Farmer Maren
A stout, middle-aged woman with mud-caked boots and a deeply worried expression. Her clothes are practical but soaked, and she smells of wet earth and decay. She carries a worn leather satchel and keeps glancing nervously towards the rising floodwaters.
Miller Saboteur Kael
A young, wiry man with wild eyes and a look of paranoid exhaustion. He wears the roughspun clothes of a Miller laborer, now filthy with tunnel grime. He clutches a sharpened, rusty gear in one hand and moves with the jittery energy of someone expecting an attack.
Guild Golem Sentinel
A hulking construct of river stone and hammered iron plates, standing motionless in the tunnel entrance. Its body is etched with glowing blue runes of stabilization and warning. Its head is a featureless dome, but a single, large crystal lens in its 'face' glows with a cold, assessing light. It speaks in a grinding, synthesized monotone.
Historian Vellus
An elderly human man with spectacles perched on a long nose, surrounded by teetering stacks of scrolls and books in the town archive. His robes are dusty, and ink stains his fingertips. He has a kindly, distracted air, more comfortable with the past than the present crisis.
Desperate Refugee Pael
A gaunt, hollow-eyed man wearing the tattered remains of what was once fine clothing. His ribs are visible, and he moves with the shuffling gait of profound exhaustion. He clutches a rusty knife with trembling hands, a pathetic rather than fearsome figure.
Trapped Mechanic Orin
A young gnome pinned beneath a collapsed section of metal conduit. He is covered in grease and grime, with a cut on his forehead. He's alert and trying to free himself, but clearly in pain and afraid.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Goblin Plight of Rivervale and the Cryptic Mine

The Reignited Forge: A Crisis of Iron and Will