D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Severed Tides: Venom and Claw

# Dungeon# Urban# Dark Fantasy# Investigation# Wilderness

The underbelly of the port city of Rivenmere is choking. Subterranean canals vital for smuggling, secret transport, and forgotten waterways are being severed one by one by monstrous, venomous crabs mutated by industrial alchemical runoff. The city's shadow factions, dependent on these clandestine routes, are tearing each other apart. You are caught in the middle of a war between those who would poison the waters to protect a dark secret, and those who would burn the canal system to the ground to save the city from a creeping plague. There is no clean hero here, only choices that will decide who drowns and who survives.

Chronicle Prelude

The Rusty Spigot, a grimy, canal-side tavern in the Drowned Ward. The air smells of brine, stale ale, and chemical acridity. Rumors fly of severed cable-car lines, missing smugglers, and crab-shells the size of shields found with melted, glowing edges.

Environmental Traits

The entire subterranean canal network of Rivenmere is becoming lethally unstable. Mutant Blind Crabs, agitated and grown monstrous by venomous alchemical acid, are shearing the very anchor cables and support pillars holding the canal tunnels and walkways together. The city above remains oblivious, but below, a catastrophic collapse is imminent, which would drown entire districts and unleash a wave of mutated vermin into the streets.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (11)

Kaelen, the Hollow Alchemist
A gaunt man with deep-set eyes stained yellow by chemical fumes. He wears a scorched leather apron over fine, but stained, city clothes. His hands are a map of chemical burns and healed lacerations. He smells of antiseptic and regret.
Mira, the Shadow
A wiry figure wrapped in dark, damp cloth that blends with the tunnel walls. Her eyes are sharp and constantly scanning. She moves with a silent, fluid grace, and carries a collection of stolen keys and lockpicks on a bandolier.
One-Eyed Jak
A blind beggar wrapped in rags, sitting propped against a damp wall. His single, milky eye stares at nothing. He has a collection of tin cups and a small, mangy rat perched on his shoulder. He hears every whisper that echoes in the canals.
Dying Engineer
A Guild operative in a shredded uniform, slumped against a groaning pump. A deep, caustic wound festers in his side. He clutches a key to his chest, his breathing shallow and wet.
Coil Runner Elite
A formidable warrior clad in piecemeal armor made from hardened crab shell and rusted metal plates. Their face is hidden behind a mask fashioned from a crab's carapace, and they wield a serrated spear with practiced ease.
The Beastmaster
A Coil Runner shaman adorned with dried seaweed, crab claws, and glowing fungi. They move with an unsettling, scuttling grace and are constantly accompanied by several smaller, docile Blind Crabs.
Crab Matriarch
A colossal, mutated crustacean the size of a wagon. Her primary claws are as large as a man, and her shell is encrusted with barnacles and pulsating, bioluminescent fungi. Multiple smaller crabs skitter around her legs. Her multiple eyes glow with a faint, intelligent malice.
Gallows, the Fence
A portly individual with shifty eyes and a permanent, oily smile. They operate from a stall disguised as a bait shop, with a hidden compartment beneath the counter. Everything they sell has a story—and a previous owner.
Juvenile Blind Crab
A dog-sized crustacean with a pale, almost translucent shell. It navigates by clicking its smaller claws and sensing vibrations. Its venomous barb drips with a weak, caustic fluid.
Coil Runner Scout
A wary tunnel-dweller clad in dark, damp cloth for camouflage. They are armed with a short bow and a wicked-looking knife, moving silently through the shadows.
Guild Enforcer
A heavy-set individual wearing a stained Guild uniform and carrying a reinforced club. They are tasked with protecting the alchemical labs and ensuring the 'purification' proceeds without interruption.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Azure Catastrophe

The Cindered Lanterns of Aethel