Session 2: Low Tide¶

The party woke to wrong silence. The tide had pulled impossibly far from shore, boats sat beached on bare sand, and somewhere deep beneath the city, something was booming.

Alarm bells rang through Nicodranas as the harbour drained to a mudflat. Ships listed on their keels and dockworkers stood staring at a waterline that had retreated beyond memory. The deep, rhythmic booms that shuddered up through the cobblestones set everyone on edge, though no one could say where they were coming from.

The party set out to find answers. They visited libraries and temples, seeking any record of something like this happening before. They made inquiries at Tidepeak Tower, the imposing spire that loomed over the harbour, and at the Temple of the Matron of Ravens in the Skew. They spoke with Captain Marius, a city officer who had been growing concerned about the Sluiceweave -- the ancient network of waterworks and tunnels that ran beneath Nicodranas. Something down there, he said, hadn’t been right in years.

The party ventured into the upper levels of the Sluiceweave, a damp labyrinth of old stonework and forgotten channels. The air was stale and the walls were slick, and whatever answers the tunnels held, they kept them for now.

Night fell with no relief. The tide remained stubbornly low, and as the city settled into an uneasy sleep, fresh alarms echoed through the streets. The booms in the deep had not stopped. If anything, they were getting closer.