Printable guide sheet: The Lagoon That Lost Its Light

Read this to your players to start

At night the Hushwater shines from below, and the ferries cross it by that light alone. For a week the glow has faded, a little more each day, and now the middle of the lagoon is black. The ferries cannot cross, and the small isles cannot trade with the harbour. Sabine Crane, the ferry master, asks the heroes to find out where the light has gone.

Scenes (all session lengths — scene’s tag shows the shortest length it appears in)

1. Scene 1: The Dark Middle from Quick Quest on

   Ferry Steps run down into the Hushwater, wide and worn. Usually the whole lagoon glows softly from below, like a sky full of stars under your feet. Tonight only the edges shine. Out in the middle, the water is black. Ferries bob at the steps, going nowhere. A ferry master blows a shiny new brass horn. The sound booms across the lagoon. Nothing answers.

   Goal: Find out what has happened to the lagoon's light.

   • Ask Sabine Kind, DN 8

     It works: The glow has been fading for a week, a little more each day. Sabine has put brass horns on every ferry, so boats can find each other in the dark. "Much louder than the old hand bells," she says proudly.

     It doesn’t: Sabine is too worried to talk, and she blows the horn again instead. A dockhand explains: a week of fading, and new horns on every boat.

   • Look into the water Clever, DN 8

     It works: Tiny shining fish, each no bigger than a fingernail, flicker in the shallows. They are all swimming the same way, out toward the dark middle.

     It doesn’t: The water looks empty. Then a single glowing fish darts past your boot, heading out toward the middle.

   Ask your players

   Ask each player in turn: Sabine lets each hero take one thing from the ferry stores. What does your hero take? A net, a pole, a fish pie or an old hand bell. The old hand bell is very useful at the climax.

   Sabine is proud of her new horns and has no idea they are the problem. Either way, the heroes learn that the light is draining toward the middle of the lagoon. In the shortest length, go straight to the climax: the heroes borrow a ferry and follow the last glowing fish out to the wreck.

2. Scene 2: Tobiah's Nets from Short Session on

   Along the shore stand the net sheds, smelling of rope and fish. Inside one, an old man sits mending a net. His only light is a glowing fish in a jar. He hums as he works. When he sees you, he holds up the jar and smiles. "Followed this one home," he says. "They all follow someone, you know. Always have."

   Goal: Learn what Tobiah knows about the lagoon's light.

   • Ask for the old story Kind, DN 8

     It works: Tobiah tells of Old Clearheart, a salamander as long as a ferry, whose heart glows gold. The little fish follow her wherever she swims. "When she is happy, the lagoon shines," he says.

     It doesn’t: Tobiah talks about nets for a long time. But at last he says it: "Old Clearheart. The fish follow her. Always have."

   • Study the fish in the jar Clever, DN 10

     It works: However you turn the jar, the fish always faces the same way: out toward the middle of the lagoon, where an old ferry sank long ago.

     It doesn’t: The fish just swims about. Then Tobiah taps the jar. "Always points to her," he says.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Tobiah offers to lend the heroes his jar fish as a guide. Who carries it, and how? The jar fish always faces Clearheart. A hero who carries it cannot get lost on the lagoon.

   Tobiah is gentle and a little deaf. He grew up on the lagoon stories, and he is delighted that someone wants to hear one. Now the heroes know whom the fish follow. Next, they take a ferry out onto the dark water.

3. Scene 3: Out on the Dark Water from One-Sitting Session on

   Sabine lends you a small ferry, and you push off from the steps. At first the water glows under the hull. Then, little by little, the glow thins out. Soon the lagoon is black all around you. Your pole finds no bottom. Somewhere a fish jumps, plink, and the ripples spread on and on. Ahead, something pale sticks up out of the water.

   Goal: Steer the ferry across the dark water to the pale shape.

   • Pole hard and straight Brave, DN 10

     It works: You push hard, and the ferry glides fast and straight. In no time, the pale shape is right in front of you.

     It doesn’t: The pole slips, and the ferry spins in a slow circle. Everyone is dizzy, but you straighten out and get there.

   • Steer by the last glimmers Clever, DN 8

     It works: A faint trail of glowing fish wriggles ahead of you like a path. You follow it straight to the pale shape.

     It doesn’t: You lose the glimmers and drift. Then one bright fish flickers right beside the boat, and you follow it on.

   Ask your players

   Ask the quietest player: In the dark, your hero trails a hand in the water. What does your hero feel? The water is cool and still. Deep below, something big and smooth slides past, slow and gentle. It is curious, not dangerous.

   The dark is spooky but safe, and nothing in the lagoon is hunting anyone. The pale shape is the top of a mast, and below it lies the Drowned Bells.

4. Scene 4: The Drowned Bells from Full Session on

   The pale shape is a mast, sticking up out of the water. Deep below it lies a sunken ferry, hung with bells. All around the wreck, the water glows. Thousands of tiny shining fish swirl over it like snow in a globe. Far off across the lagoon, a ferry horn booms. The glow below shivers and shrinks. Slowly, it creeps back out.

   Goal: Find out what is hiding in the wreck, and why.

   • Dive down for a look Brave, DN 10

     It works: Through the deep, clear water, you see a huge golden heart beating inside the wreck, behind skin as clear as glass.

     It doesn’t: The water is so deep that you come up gasping. But you saw it: a big golden glow, hiding inside the wreck.

   • Count the booms Clever, DN 10

     It works: Every horn blast makes the glow shrink back into the wreck. Between blasts, it creeps out again. Something down there is afraid of the noise.

     It doesn’t: You miss the pattern at first. Then a very loud blast makes the glow vanish completely for a moment. Now it is obvious.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Each horn blast makes the glow shrink. What could the heroes do about the noise? Any plan to quiet the horns is a good one. If the heroes signal Sabine to stop the horns, the climax starts in silence.

   Now the heroes know the secret: something with a glowing heart is hiding from the horns, and the light is hiding with it. As they watch, the water beside the ferry goes still. Go straight to the climax.

5. Scene 5: The Glass Salamander from Quick Quest on

   The water by the wreck goes still. Slowly, a head rises beside your ferry. It is a salamander as long as the boat, smooth and clear as glass. Through her skin you can see a heart, glowing gold and beating fast. The little fish crowd around her. Far away, a ferry horn booms. She flinches and starts to sink back down.

   Goal: Help the salamander feel safe so the lagoon can shine again.

   • Speak to her softly Kind, DN 8

     It works: She stops sinking. Her heart slows and glows brighter, and the little fish spread out around her. Read "If you made friends."

     It doesn’t: She sinks a little, but she stays where she can see you. A second kind try needs no roll.

   • Ring the old hand bell Clever, DN 10

     It works: The soft tinkle drifts over the water. She lifts her head, listening, and swims up toward the sound. Read "If you rang the old bell."

     It doesn’t: The bell is too faint to reach her. The heroes can ring it again from closer, with no roll, or try a kind way.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Watch what she does each time a horn booms. What does your hero notice? She hides at every blast. A hero who signals the ferries to stop their horns, with a flag, a light or a shout, needs no roll. Read "If you stopped the horns."

   Old Clearheart is a giant glass salamander, shy and gentle, and the little fish that light the lagoon follow her everywhere. The horns frightened her into hiding. That is the secret, and every ending lets the heroes find it. If a hero attacks, she dives back into the wreck: beating her Guard of 13 is harder than the kind way at 8 or the clever way at 10, and it takes the light away again. When she is calm, read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   How it ends

   Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   If you made friends. The salamander rests her chin on the side of your ferry. Up close, her skin is cool and smooth, and her golden heart beats slow and calm. The little fish spread out across the lagoon, and the water lights up from end to end. She blinks at you, very slowly. Then she swims away, leaving a shining trail.

   If you rang the old bell. Ting, ting, goes the old bell. The salamander swims up beside you and circles the ferry, listening. Her heart glows brighter with every ring. The little fish follow her, and the lagoon lights up behind them. You ring the bell all the way back to Ferry Steps. She swims beside you the whole way.

   If you stopped the horns. One by one, the horns fall silent. The lagoon goes quiet, except for the lap of the waves. The salamander lifts her head. Her heart stops racing and glows warm and gold. She glides out of the wreck, and the little fish pour after her. In one long, bright ripple, the whole Hushwater begins to shine again.

   Homecoming

   Every ending: back to Ferry Steps. Back at Ferry Steps, Sabine takes the brass horns off every ferry. She hangs them in her shed. The ferries carry little hand bells again, soft and old-fashioned. Tobiah fills a jar with a glowing fish for every boat. And the Hushwater shines from below once more, like a sky full of stars under your feet.

Monster stat blocks

Rewards

• Tobiah's Jar Fish: once in your next adventure, the little glowing fish points the way to someone or something the heroes are looking for.
• A Ferry Hand Bell: once in your next adventure, ring it to calm a frightened animal or creature, no roll needed.

Tips for running this one

• The lagoon is the main character. Describe how the glow changes: bright at the edges, black in the middle, shivering at every horn blast. By the climax, your table will be listening for the horns too.
• Nobody here is a villain. Sabine's horns were a good idea that went wrong. Let her be sorry, and quick to put it right.
• Playing in Story mode? Take 3 off every DN and skip the roll for anything kind. Veteran tables add 2 to every DN.