The Missing Apprentice

Note: I am using the Arcane Lighthouse by Tom Cartos for this One Shot.

Bridgeport's lighthouse is purple. Ships outside the harbour are confused, two of them having already made their introductions to each other in the dark. The harbour master is furious. Somewhere inside the tower, a young apprentice mechanist is circling in a light beam at speed, and the building is full of things that escaped from somewhere they should not have escaped from.

Overview

One-shot, max. 3 hours. Bridgeport.
Beats:

1. Hook: party notices the purple lighthouse or is hired by Grimbly, who's pacing up and down in front of his shop
2. Find entrance and enter from a cave (after fighting avoiding a scorpion) connected to the basement
3. Tower floors 1-4: investigation, finding a thief, escalating small-elemental encounters, mimic
4. Tower floors 5-6: Two platform levels ontop - boss fight and crystal puzzle
5. Resolution: beam turns yellow, apprentice drops out, the day is saved

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Background

The lighthouse normally uses two standard maritime crystals: red and green, which combine to produce warm yellow light. Nib Flickerpin, apprentice at Grimbly's Adventuring Emporium, arrived to upgrade the focusing crystals. He brought a set of replacement crystals and accidentally installed an experimental blue maritime focus crystal instead of the green one. When Nib switched on the lamp at full power, the already installed red crystal and the new blue one turned the light purple; the wavelength resonated with a dormant plane rift in the crystal housing and creatures from the other side poured through.

Nib is currently trapped inside the rotating light beam, conscious, uninjured, and running in circles at approximately "very fast carousel" velocity (not getting exhausted due to the state he is in, but busy running). The lighthouse keeper, Borst, fled two hours ago and has not returned (he's somewhere in a tavern in Bridgeport and can be found after the adventure by asking around). Commodore Randolf Vorne, the harbour master, has sent three increasingly furious written messages to the lighthouse, but no one did answer.

Purple Lighthouse by Tillerz using MJ

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The Hook

Option A: They notice it themselves

The purple beam is visible across the harbour. The watch or the Harbour Master is taking names of anyone willing to investigate. Pay: 40 Farenian Crowns from the watch; potentially more from Grimbly if found first. The party would miss out the tool bag.

Option B: Grimbly finds them

A stout gnome with grease on his cheek and welding goggles on his forehead, who stood in front of his shop until a moment ago, approaches you.

"Right. My apprentice - a good lad, seventeen years old, very eager... he is currently at the Bridgeport Lighthouse. Its light is glowing violet right now - and it certainly shouldn't be! I had sent him there to carry out some routine maintenance. He’s been there for four hours already. I bet he mixed something up, and things went awry. I need someone to go there, track down Nib, and help him sort out this mess. He ought to have everything he needs in his tool bag; so please, go over there and find him! I’ll pay you eighty-five crowns for it. Half now, the other half as soon as my apprentice is back here. I’d go myself, but I..." - he glances at his watch (yes, he as a pocket watch) - "...have a very important meeting coming up right now that I absolutely can NOT miss. I’ve also packed a few things into this bag that might prove useful." - He hands over a worn leather tool bag.

Grimbly Gearspring cannot go himself due to a djinn appointment he cannot cancel. He'll pay 85 Crowns in total, half in advance, and provides a bag of equipment from the Emporium that he quickly assembled.

Grimbly Gearspring by Tillerz using MJ

Grimbly's Bag

The bag can be strapped to the back to keep the hands free; however, retrieving an item in this case requires a full round.

• A hand-drawn map of the lighthouse.
• 2 smoke bottles (obscure vision; ineffective against elementals, though the party does not yet know this).
• 1 pair of tinted welding goggles (protects the wearer against the Flickers' Dazzling Aura and the Beacon's Blinding Surge - one pair only).
• A flask labelled EMERGENCY SOLVENT - Dissolves most adhesives, some metals, and several kinds of ambition. The label says NOT FOR SKIN in three languages.
• A glass prism - Grimbly uses these for checking crystal alignment. This is just a prism.
• A jar of Universal Lubricant (Grimbly's Formula #7) - Works on most moving parts. Smells aggressively of herring. The smell does not go away.
• A mechanical grabber on a folding handle - For reaching things in confined spaces. The spring tension was calibrated for someone with considerably more grip strength than average (could be used to activate the ECD from a distance).
• A folding mirror on a long handle - For inspecting the undersides of machinery. Also useful for looking around corners, which Grimbly would call an unintended application.
• A bobbin of copper wire, extremely long - untangled it's about 8m long.
• A bundle of magnesium ribbon - Accompanied by a note: burns bright, burns fast, DO NOT look directly at it. Seriously. - G
• A pair of iron shackles (without a key).
• A pair of insulated leather gloves, thick (when worn, Focused Heat does not interrupt switching the crystals).
• A jar of springs - Various sizes, tightly packed, lid lightly stuck. When opened not carefully, the springs will all come out and zoom through the room or vanish somewhere when outside.
• A small sealed glass jar labelled PERMANENT - The content has sealed the lid permanently to the glass.

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Tower Layout

• -1 - Sea Cave : Giant scorpion, buried chest, tidal flooding
• 0 - Basement : Storage, rack-door from cave, oil and supplies
• 1 - Keeper's Quarters : Living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, thief hiding
• 2 - Maintenance Workshop : Nib's notes, clockwork parts, hidden secret room
• 3 - Junk Storage : Old furniture, mimic, items of mild interest
• 4 - Clockwork Mechanism Room : Flickers, 6 windows, second ladder
• 5 - Lantern Platform : Open platform, crystal base, Nib trapped here
• 6 - Crystal Platform : Prisms, hand cranks, The Beacon

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Scene 1: The Approach

The lighthouse stands at the harbour mouth, a round stone tower twenty metres high. Its beam sweeps the coast in an arc of deep purple. The movement of the light is stuttering and sometimes halting completely.

The main door is iron-banded oak, set into the base of the tower. The lock mechanism is jammed: someone locked the door from the inside, then apparently fumbled the key hard enough to snap it halfway in the barrel. A lockpick has nothing to work with. The door is also extremely solid.

The Children

Three children are lurking near the base of the tower, watching the purple beam. They scatter when the party approaches, but do not go far. The boldest - a girl of about ten, who introduces herself as Lucy - edges back when it becomes clear the players are not lighthouse officials. She has watched this tower her whole life. She knows things. She wants three copper coins. If paid (or if a player succeeds on a CHA or Persuade roll), she tells them: there is a cave at the base of the cliff, on the sea side of the tower, accessible from the beach. She and her friends go in at low tide sometimes. The cave goes under the tower. She does not know what is at the end of it, because she and her friends stop before the big one.

The big one is the scorpion. She does not know that is what it is, only that it smells like rotten fish and something moved in the dark and they left.

Tidal note: It is currently low tide. The players have roughly two hours before the cave entrance is submerged. At high tide, the cave is passable with swimming and diving; without them, it is not. This is also a possible exit route, but a slow group would have a wet walk home.

Other approaches: The tower has only very small windows secured with an iron cross on each level (except at the top). The stonework offers poor handholds (Athletics difficulty 3, or Bane on AGL if attempted without rope and grapple). There is no visible back entrance. If you do not want to do the Sea Cave / Basement, leave the door open or have a ladder standing at the backside where one can reach the balcony at the second floor.

by Tillerz using MJ

Scene 2: The Sea Cave

A narrow beach at the base of the cliff, reached by a path cut into the rock. The cave mouth is visible at the tide line: low, wide, the smell of salt and rotting fish. A torch reveals a short passage that branches into three arms and a central chamber roughly ten metres across. The chamber floor is wet sand and flat rock. The ceiling is low: two metres at the centre, lower at the arms. The walls are damp. Old markings - nautical signs, possibly navigation marks - are scratched into the stone near the entrance. They are old enough that no one alive knows who made them.

At the left on the far side of the cave, carved steps rise four metres to a loose brick wall.

The Giant Scorpion

The scorpion inhabits the central chamber. It is approximately one and a half metres long. It is not immediately visible: it is partially buried in the damp sand, which is its preferred method of ambush.

Detecting it: A successful Awareness roll (person in front rolls) before entering the chamber proper reveals the slight rise in the sand and the tip of one claw. On a failure, the scorpion attacks the first character who steps into the chamber, with a Boon (Dragonbane) / +20 WS (WFRP4e) / as level 5 (Cypher).

Combat: The scorpion defends its chamber aggressively but is not suicidal.

Driving it back: Fire, fireball, burning oil, or a sufficiently bright light source (a torch held forward as a free action, a Light spell, a flash-bang from the tool bag) forces a WIL roll. On a failure, the scorpion retreats into a corner and stays there. Two consecutive failures and it does not come back out during this encounter. If the Giant Scorpion is driven back, it will sit above the half-buried chest, which is then hidden from the party's view.

The Chest: Half-buried in compacted sand; one round of digging to free. The chest itself is rotted through - the wooden bottom collapses when lifted - but the contents are intact inside a sealed tin cylinder and wrapped in oilcloth.

• Seven silver coins from across the sea, Han stamp, old enough to interest a collector.
• A carved stone figure, roughly humanoid, triangle-shaped head, roughly 10cm tall. Very old. No identifying marks. Slightly warm to the touch for no apparent reason. A mage can identify it as magical, but that's about it.

Scene 3: The Basement

The left arm of the cave rises steeply. Two dozen steps are carved into the rock. At the top, the passage ends at a brick wall. The mortar is loose. The wall is not structural. A single firm push causes it to flex; two rounds of deliberate effort brings it down. The bricks fall outward and reveal a wooden wall, the backside of a rack. The rack is hinged on its left side. It opens inward into the basement. It does so with a protracted, full-throated screech that can be heard clearly in the Basement and the Ground floor, and with effort on the floor above.

The Basement

Stone walls, stone floor, low ceiling. Several wooden racks and shelves line the walls. The room smells of oil and old rope.

The rack-door from the basement side: The hinged rack, viewed from inside the basement, is obvious - the hinge hardware is visible, the slight gap around the door edge is clear. From the staircase end of the room, it looks like a rack of shelving. A deliberate search (Awareness difficulty 2) reveals the hinges. Players who come down from the ground floor without coming through the cave will not find it unless they have a close look at the rack.

Contents:

• Two large clay jugs of lamp oil (heavy, valuable, extremely flammable).
• Two coils of hempen rope (15m each).
• Several crates with all kind of food like potatoes and cabbage.
• Two large barrels filled with fresh water.
• A narrow wooden staircase leading up to the ground floor.

Scene 4: Keeper's Quarters

The Quarters Layout

Living room: Two chairs, a table, a shelf of books (navigation, charts, one romantic novel with a broken spine: Sins of a Seaman). A coat hook with a worn down coat (5 copper in the pocket).

Kitchen: Basic, with a stove against the back wall. Doors left and right to bedrooms.

Left bedroom (children's): Small bed, small table, small shelf. Dusty. The keeper's children grew up and left. One toy remains on the shelf: a sailor doll made of thick, knotted rope.

Right bedroom (keeper's): A larger bed, a sea chest (locked - key on a hook near the door, a small writing desk with a logbook. The logbook records routine maintenance up until earlier today.

Borst's Journal

Three entries near the end:

"6pm: A young lad arrived with a box of crystals. Claims he has a commission to upgrade the lamp. Seems harmless. Signed the authorisation."
"7pm: The lamp is purple. The lad is not answering the door. I can hear strange sounds."
"8pm: What's going on here? The top roof fell down with a boom, but I can't go up. I need a drink."

The sea chest contains: two sets of clean clothes, a navigation almanac (a few years old), a purse with 18 Farenian crowns, and a small oil portrait of a family (two adults, two children, a lighthouse in the background).

The Thief

This floor has already been explored. The evidence: a knocked-over stool in the living room, a cabinet standing open with its contents partially removed, more things thrown to the floor.

The thief is Rowan. He is twenty-two years old, a petty opportunist who saw an open door and a clearly vacated building and made what seemed like a very reasonable decision. The decision stopped being reasonable approximately fifteen minutes after he locked the door behind him , when the tower began to hum. He has been under the lighthouse keeper's bed for two hours.

Finding Rowan: A search of the bedrooms reveals him. He does not come out of his own accord. He is not violent. He is very frightened and very willing to explain that he has had a terrible evening and would like it to stop.

What Rowan knows:

• The door was open. He did not break in.
• He locked it from the inside, then tried to unlock it, and the key broke in the barrel. He cannot leave via the main door. He does not know about the cave.
• About two hours ago, something large moved further above. The tower shook, a loud bang could be heard from outside (the metal roof falling down), and everything went purple. He hid under the bed.
• He has not gone upstairs. He is not going upstairs.

What Rowan has: A wooden club in the back of his trousers. In a small bundle: two brass candleholders (worth 4 crowns together), a folding knife, and a key on a leather cord (all stolen). The key opens the locked iron box in the hidden room on Floor 2. Rowan does not know this. He will not offer the key on his own initiative, but he will hand it over if asked, if the players succeed on a Persuasion check, or if someone offers him enough money to make keeping it no longer worthwhile for him. He will try to put back the candleholders if he sees a chance that this might allow him to leave.

Scene 5: Maintenance Workshop

One floor up. The staircase door opens into a working space: a workbench, a chair, shelves all around with spare parts and various books, the smell of machine oil, iron, and grease.

Notable contents:
Nib's work notes: A stack of papers on the workbench. The handwriting is energetic and increasingly alarmed. The notes begin as a routine installation record (crystal removed, measurements taken, replacement crystal installed) and deteriorate into a running log of what happened next, concluding with: "gone up to check on it. ECD in kit bag. if someone reads this, top floors, send help, specifically Grimbly." Nib recognized he messed up and is going to try to fix it.

Clockwork parts: Cogs, springs, escapement mechanisms in various states of disassembly on the table. A player with Crafting can identify that some of these are parts of the lighthouse's rotation mechanism. The crystal was supposed to rotate, but it is not rotating consistently now.

Books: A shelf of reference books, mostly technical. One is titled Luminous Phenomena of the Bridgeport Coast. If a player reads the relevant chapter (one round with a successful Lore / Myths & Legends roll, two rounds without), they learn: light-born creatures have been recorded near the lighthouse twice in the last century, both times following disruption of the primary crystal. The historical solution was removing or replacing the crystal. The historical problem was getting close enough to do it again.

The Hidden Door

The wall opposite the entrance is decorated with a large mounted compass rose in painted wood, roughly a metre across. It is not original to the tower - it was added later, fixed to the wall with four large bolts. The bolts are ornamental. The real mechanism is a single recessed lever behind the left side of the decoration, findable by running a hand along the wall behind the compass (Awareness difficulty 2, or automatic if a player describes searching behind it). The lever releases a latch; the entire compass rose swings outward on a piano hinge to reveal a low doorway.

The Hidden Room

A small chamber, hewn directly into the rock of the tower. Sealed for decades: the air is dry and stale. Just large enough for its current contents.

Contents:

• A leather-bound journal, the name inside the front cover too faded to read. The entries span several years, written by a previous keeper. Mostly mundane (weather, shipping, maintenance notes) with two exceptions: a series of entries describing unusual ships that passed without using the harbour, moving against the wind; and a final entry that reads only "They know I saw them. Moving the charts." The journal ends there.
• A locked iron box (Rowan's key, or lockpick difficulty 3 / Sleight of Hand). Inside: 35 Farenian crowns, a folded nautical chart of the coast south of Bridgeport with several locations marked in red ink, and a small vial of oil that glows faintly blue in darkness.
• A signal mirror, collapsible, high quality (worth 12 crowns to a sailor).
• A bottle of Farenian brandy, sealed. Still good.

Oil and Chart
The oil reveals hidden writing when applied to a surface, or when a surface is held under the light of it burning. A previous keeper used it on the nautical chart in the same box. The red-marked locations on the chart are visible to anyone - those are the positions of the unusual ships. But applied to the chart (a drop of oil, spread thin with a finger), a second layer of annotation appears: names written alongside three of the marked positions, dates, and in one case a depth sounding. The kind of information you would only have if you had been very close to those ships, or had spoken to someone who had. The writing fades again over the course of an hour. The oil does not damage the chart.

Scene 6: Junk Storage

The lower half of this level is open towards the staircase; the room is filled with furniture and objects from several decades of the lighthouse's occupation.

Lower landing

The junk:

• Four chairs, two tables (one with a broken leg), a wardrobe missing its door
• Three sea chests of varying age and condition
• Coils of old rope, useless
• Several lanterns (no oil)
• A rolled nautical chart, partially mildewed (still legible, shows the harbour approaches; worth 3 crowns to a navigator)
• A music box, wooden, brass handle. Works. Plays a tune in twelve notes that nobody recognises. Slightly melancholy.
• A small oil painting in a tarnished frame, water damaged at the bottom. Shows a harbour city that might be Bridgeport from an earlier era.

The Mimic

One of the sea chests - the largest, with a new-looking brass clasp - is not a chest. It has been here for years. It resembles a chest because it has had a long time to practice. The mimic does not move until touched. When a character attempts to open it, it attacks.

Tells, if players are cautious:

• The clasp is slightly too shiny.
• There is no seam between lid and base visible from any angle.
• It makes no sound when knocked (no hollow sound; no sound at all).
• A Lore roll at difficulty 3, or specific prior experience with mimics, reveals the signs: A roll can reveal the signs: WFRP4e: Lore (Monsters) test, Challenging (+0%), Cypher: Difficulty 3 Intellect task, Dragonbane: Lore roll with a Bane - the mimic has had years to practice and the dim light of Floor 3 does not help.

Players who describe poking it with a weapon or stick trigger an attack, but the mimic is at a Bane (Dragonbane) / −20 WS (WFRP4e) / as level 2 (Cypher) - it had to reveal itself before it was ready.

Upper landing

Past the junk storage, the staircase opens onto a small bare landing. A wooden ladder stands in the centre, leading up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.

Scene 7: Clockwork Mechanism Room

The trapdoor opens into the centre of a round room with six tall windows that currently have their shutters open. The room is filled with the lighthouse's rotation mechanism: a large iron ring gear mounted on a central vertical shaft, driven by a weight-and-pulley system along the walls. Several pulleys have been knocked loose. A weight has fallen and rests on part of the ring gear. The mechanism can still turn but unevenly. A purple shine is visible in between the gears, cogs, and chains.

Outside of the far end of the room, another ladder leads up through a second trapdoor.

The Flickers

Three small creatures of living light are in this room, one of them is caught in the rotation mechanism, causing some of the rotation issues. Each is roughly the size of a large cat - a loosely cohesive form shifting between something that looks like a bird and a flame, leaving scorch marks where they settle. They are not immediately hostile, but get surprised/scared when approached too quickly or when getting touched, and will attack.

Options:

• Fight them (see stat block)
• Drive them toward a window and shoo them outside with a large light source
• Ignore them by moving slowly and quietly while keeping distance

Scene 8: Lantern Platform

The trapdoor opens onto an open circular platform (18 metres in diameter) with a low iron handrail around its perimeter. The open sky is directly above. In the centre of the platform stands a large circular metal base, ten metres in diameter and about one and a half metres high, bolted to the platform floor. Six metal columns rise from the base to where a roof used to be. The roof is gone: torn off, the column tops are and scorched. It is open to the sky.

A massive crystal rests at the top, held in place by large metal struts. The crystal rotates slowly and emits a violet beam of light that touches the outer edge of the lower platform. The silhouette of a young boy is visible in the beam of light, moving along with it. Nib! He seems to be trapped in the light. His kit bag is sitting at the edge of the Crystal Platform.

Nib: The moment Nib sees the party, he starts waving with his arms wildly, looking excited. While continuing running, he'll point to his bag each time he comes to that side of the platform, and then points to the the crystal.

Nib's kit bag: The kit bag contains: the correct green crystal in a box for three crystals; there is also red crystal, the third slot (where the blue crystal was) is empty., the ECD (pre-assembled, a small label explains what it does), and a slightly squashed pasty he bought that morning.

Purple Beam

The centre crystal rotates in a way that its purple beam, redirected by the four prims, covers each space of the Lantern Platform and the Crystal Platform. When that happens, a character gets hit by d4 damage and needs to succeed a CON roll or be stunned until the end of the turn; if someone already acted and moved, they only take the damage. Both can be avoided by:

• a successful (free) AGL roll to duck away
• on the Lantern Platform by ducking down right at the rim of the Crystal Platform
• on the Lantern Platform by using the crank on the prism for that quarter and redirect it elsewhere. The beam will then overlap on another quarter, anyone there will get 2d4 to 4d4 damage depending on how many beams overlap.
• by disabling the rotation of the light in the Clockwork Mechanism Room. Nib will suggest that after a few rounds if the players don't suggest it themselves. He will go down help if someone else goes, he will not go alone, he can describe where to find the lever, though.

Time for Action

• The wrong crystal is in the socket compartment. It needs to come out before the correct one goes in.
• The Beacon is on the Crystal Platform above. It has not come down, possibly because the crystal socket is what it is guarding.
• The socket is accessible from the Crystal Platform.
• Four prisms at the edge of the platform are attached to hand cranks and can be aimed (without having to climb on the Crystal Platform).
• Nib might answer simple, short, shouted questions with a nod or a head shake, or if asked for how many crystals, he'll show two fingers.

Scene 9: The Crystal Platform

The Crystal Platform is the top surface of the large Light Platform. Accessible via:

• Either side ladder (one action each)
• Pulling up over the edge (STR roll, one action; Bane if carrying a heavy item)
• Rope thrown around a column stub (Athletics / AGL difficulty 2)

The platform is approximately ten metres across. In the centre is the crystal socket: a brass housing with a large, irregular purple crystal fitted into its upper end. The crystal compartment at the base of the socket is where the wrong crystal is seated, and where the correct one needs to go. The compartment contains a red and a blue crystal right now.

Four glass prisms on short rotating mounts are positioned at the cardinal points of the platform, each with a hand crank. Currently aimed outward, spreading the purple light in four directions. They can be aimed at any target on the platform, or at a target below on the Light Platform (AGL roll to aim quickly enough). If the operator is in line of sight with the Beacon, the Beacon can and will attack if there is no more direct target. People are safe from its targeted attacks if the large crystal is between them and the Beacon. But people standing there are still a target for the Purple Beam; someone kneeling/crouching to replace the crystals is safe from the beam.

Flickers

4 Flickers are circling around the Lantern Platform (max 10m/round). They will continue circling around while attacking what comes into their range. They avoid the circling Purple Beam, but can get hit via the prisms.

The Beacon

A vast column of rotating purple-white light with discernible purpose: it positions itself between anything that approaches and the crystal housing, and it does not move willingly.

Blue Crystal by Tillerz using MJ

The Crystal Puzzle

The crystal compartments has three sockets.

Current state: Blue crystal + empty slot + Red crystal = Purple beam = Elementals.
Correct fix: Remove the blue crystal. Insert the green crystal. Red + Green = Yellow beam = Elementals recalled.

Inserting or removing a crystal takes one action. The character must be adjacent to the housing.

Wrong Action: Remove the red, insert the green (Blue + Green = Cyan)

Every remaining Flicker splits into two. Any destroyed Flicker reforms at half HP (rounded up). The Beacon elongates and screams. Nib orbits faster and can no longer answer properly. Fix: remove the green, reinsert the red.

Wrong Action: Remove the blue, insert the second red (Red + Red = Crimson)

Elementals become enraged. All Flickers immediately charge the nearest character and attack. The Beacon heals to full HP and makes two attacks per round instead of one. Heat builds: the room starts smoking; something catches fire in 3 rounds. Fix: remove one red, insert the blue back, or insert the green immediately.

Wrong Action: Insert the green without removing anything (Blue + Red + Green = White)

Full spectrum. All Flickers anywhere in the tower teleport to the lantern room instantly and merge into the Beacon: use the Beacon stat block but set HP to 40 and roll the D6 table twice per round. Nib is expelled from the beam immediately (he hits the floor, dazed but alive). One enormous elemental remains. The crystal fix still works, and it still ends the encounter.

Tactical Options

Tinted Goggles: Whoever wears them is immune to Blinding Surge.

Aim a prism at the Beacon: One action. Turn the hand crank to redirect the prism (Dragonbane: AGL roll | WFRP4e: Dexterity test, Challenging +0% | Cypher: difficulty 2 Speed task).

On a success, the Beacon must resist the focused light - (Dragonbane: WIL roll | WFRP4e: Will Power test, Challenging +0% | Cypher: difficulty 3 Intellect defence) - on a failure, it retreats from the platform and returns in 2 rounds, leaving the socket clear. On a critical success on the crank (Dragonbane: Dragon roll | WFRP4e: 2+ SL | Cypher: natural 1), the Beacon takes the maxed out d4 damage of 4 as well.

Use the ECD: See Appendix A. One successful use staggers the Beacon (loses its next action). A second use ends the encounter - the Beacon dissipates, leaving a faint warm smell and several scorched marks on the brass.

Replace the crystal: Reach the socket, remove the wrong crystal - one action (Dragonbane: STR roll | WFRP4e: Strength test, Average +20% | Cypher: difficulty 2 Might task) - then install the correct one, one action, no roll required. Both actions require being adjacent to the socket and not restrained or blinded. When the correct crystal is installed: the beam returns to white-gold, the Beacon immediately takes 6 damage, and all d6 table results of 1–4 become retreat actions instead.

Line of sight from Crystal Platform: A character positioned at the edge of the platform on the correct side and with the Beacon at the right angle has line of sight up to it. Ranged attacks are possible. But the Beacon might also fire back, if not distracted or occupied with something else.

Resolution

The Beacon destroyed, the correct crystal in place: the lighthouse returns to its proper white-gold beam, the purple light disappears from the harbour skyline. The rotation mechanism on Floor 4 resumes normal operation.

Nib climbs up to inspect the crystal housing and declares the installation correct. He then sits on the edge of the platform and eats the pasty. He offers to share it. There are four pieces.

Grimbly, when informed, pays in full and asks no questions. He has already received three formal complaints from harbour officials and would prefer the specifics of how this happened to remain unrecorded. He offers the players an additional 15 crowns if they agree to describe it, in any future conversation, as a calibration error.

Rowan the thief can now leave. If the players helped him, he is genuinely grateful. If they left him under the bed, he'll flee unseen.

Appendix

The ECD

A short brass cylinder, closed at one end and open at the other. The open end is the emitter. The button is on the side of the casing near the closed end. Pre-assembled, wrapped in cloth, in Nib's kit bag. The label reads: EMERGENCY CRYSTAL DISRUPTOR - DO NOT LEAVE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT.

Using it:

1. Place the ECD on the Crystal Platform with the emitter aimed at the Beacon (one action).
2. Press the button - second action. By hand: no roll required if not under active attack. By weapon/tool etc. from a distance: AGL roll (results below).

If the device is placed but not yet fired and the Beacon repositions (d6 result 6), check whether the emitter still has line of sight to it. If not, repositioning the device costs one action. The ECD recharges automatically, but that takes 4 rounds, then it can be fired again.

Button roll results:

Roll	Result
Dragon roll	Double discharge. Beacon loses its next two actions. Any prism currently aimed at the Beacon adds its damage automatically.
Normal success	ECD fires cleanly. Beacon loses its next action.
Demon roll	Roll d3 1 - Wrong end - Weapon connects with the casing, not the button. ECD spins and the emitter now faces the party. Someone still needs to press it. The Beacon has not stopped. 2 - Stuck button - Depresses halfway and catches. Rising hum. ECD fires on its own at the end of the next round, in whatever direction it is currently facing. 3 - Early discharge - ECD fires immediately on impact, aimed at the ceiling. Everyone on the platform is Blinded until end of next round. The Beacon makes its next action roll with a Bane. So does everyone else.

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Creatures

Giant Scorpion

Giant Scorpion

Size: Large
Move: 6
WS: 42 | BS: - | S: 45 | T: 40 | I: 20 | Ag: 30 | Dex: - | Int: 8 | WP: 25 | Fel: 5
Wounds: 20
Armour: 3 (chitinous carapace)
A pale coastal scorpion the length of a small pony, camouflaged against wet sand.

Skills: Perception 55, Stealth 60.
Traits: Armoured (3), Night Vision, Venom (see Venomous Sting)
Attacks: 2
Claw: +0 WS, d10+4 damage. On a Critical Hit, target is Grappled (escape with Opposed Strength).
Venomous Sting: +10 WS, d6 damage. Target must pass a Toughness test (Challenging +0%) or suffer an additional d6 Wounds and −20 to all tests for 3 rounds.
Driven Back: When subjected to fire, bright light, or a flash-bang, must pass a Will Power test (Challenging +0%) or retreat toward the west arm. Two consecutive failures end the encounter.

Giant Scorpion

Level 4
Health 18
Armour 2
Damage 5
Movement Short
Abilities:

• Venomous Sting: On a successful sting attack, target makes a Might defence roll against difficulty 4 or takes 4 additional damage at the start of each of their next 2 turns.
• Grab: On a critical hit with the claw, target is immobilised (difficulty 3 Might roll to escape each round).
• Driven Back: When exposed to fire or bright light, must make an Intellect defence roll against difficulty 2 or retreat. Two consecutive failures end the encounter.

Giant Scorpion

Move: 10m
STR: 18 | CON: 15 | AGL: 9 | INT: 3 | WIL: 8 | CHA: 2
HP: 17 | WP: 9 | AR: 3
A pale coastal scorpion the length of a small pony, camouflaged against wet sand.

Skills: Awareness 12, Stealth 14.
Traits:
Venomous Sting: On a hit, target must succeed on a CON roll or take d4 damage at the start of each round for 3 rounds (Poisoned condition). Exception: creatures immune to natural poison are unaffected.
Grab: On a Dragon roll with the claw, target is Grappled. They must spend their action on a STR roll to break free each round.
Driven Back: When subjected to fire or a bright light source, must succeed on a WIL roll or retreat toward the west arm. Two consecutive failures end the encounter.
Attacks: 2
Claw: d8, may Grab on Dragon roll.
Venomous Sting: On a hit, target must succeed on a CON roll against Potency 14 or take d4 damage at the start of each round for 3 rounds (Poisoned condition). Exception: creatures immune to natural poison are unaffected.

Giant Scorpion by Tillerz using MJ

Rowan

Rowan

Size: Average
Move: 5
WS: 28 | BS: 25 | S: 28 | T: 28 | I: 40 | Ag: 45 | Dex: 38 | Int: 32 | WP: 22 | Fel: 35
Wounds: 9
Armour: 0
A frightened young pickpocket who made several poor decisions in quick succession and has been under a bed for two hours.

Skills: Athletics 55, Stealth 50, Sleight of Hand 48, Dodge 55, Perception 40.
Traits: Cowardly, Fleet Footed
Cowardly: Must pass a Will Power test (Challenging +0%) to make an attack rather than flee or take cover. Automatically passes if all exits are blocked.
Cornered: If all exits are blocked, gains +10 WS (desperation, not skill).
Attacks: 1
Club: d6 damage, held in a two-handed grip that suggests he has never hit anyone with it before.

Rowan

Level 1
Health 4
Armour 0
Damage 2
Movement Long
Abilities:

• Looking for an Out: Will not attack unless all exits are blocked. On his turn, if a route to an exit exists, he takes it instead of fighting.
• Cornered: If all exits are blocked, attacks as level 2.
• Fleet Footed: When fleeing, moves Long distance regardless of terrain penalties.

Rowan

Move: 11m
STR: 10 | CON: 9 | AGL: 13 | INT: 11 | WIL: 8 | CHA: 12
HP: 9 | WP: 8 | AR: 0
A frightened young pickpocket who made several poor decisions in quick succession and has been under a bed for two hours.

Skills: Evade 13, Sneaking 13, Sleight of Hand 11, Awareness 12.
Traits:
Looking for an Out: Must succeed on a WIL roll to make an attack rather than move toward the nearest exit or cover. Automatically succeeds if all exits are blocked.
Cornered: If all exits are blocked, attacks with a Boon. This is not confidence.
Fleet Footed: When disengaging or fleeing, may move an additional 4m as a free action.
Attacks: 1
Club: d6, held in a two-handed grip that suggests he has never hit anyone with it before.

Thief by Tillerz using MJ

Mimic

Mimic

Size: Average
Move: 4
WS: 48 | BS: - | S: 40 | T: 45 | I: 35 | Ag: 22 | Dex: - | Int: 6 | WP: 35 | Fel: 2
Wounds: 18
Armour: 2 (hardened hide)
An ambush predator that has been disguising itself as a promising-looking chest for longer than anyone currently in the building has been alive.

Skills: Stealth 90 (while stationary).
Traits: Disguise (Chest), Fear 1, Adhesive
Attacks: 2
Bite: d10+3 damage.
Adhesive Slam: d6 damage. Target must pass a Strength test (Challenging +0%) at the start of each turn or remain adhered (Grappled). Exception: applying oil, solvent, or fire to the contact point reduces the test to Easy +20%.
Ambush: On its first attack from disguise, gains +20 WS and the target may not Dodge or Parry.

Mimic

Level 3
Health 12
Armour 1
Damage 4
Movement Immediate
Abilities:

• Chest Disguise: Indistinguishable from a mundane chest until touched. Detecting it before contact requires a level 4 Intellect task.
• Adhesive: On a hit, target makes a Might defence roll against difficulty 3 or is stuck (immobilised; difficulty 4 Might roll each round to break free). Exception: oil or solvent applied to the contact point reduces difficulty to 2.
• Ambush: On the first round from disguise, attacks as a level 5 creature. Defender may not use Armour rating.

Mimic

Move: 6m
STR: 14 | CON: 12 | AGL: 9 | INT: 6 | WIL: 11 | CHA: 2
HP: 13 | WP: 11 | AR: 2
An ambush predator that has been disguising itself as a promising-looking chest for longer than anyone currently in the building has been alive.

Skills: Stealth 18 (stationary), Awareness 11.
Traits:
Chest Disguise: Indistinguishable from a mundane chest until touched. Spotting it before contact requires an Awareness roll with a Bane.
Adhesive: On a hit, target must succeed on a STR roll or be stuck (Grappled). They must spend their action on a STR roll to break free each round. Exception: oil, solvent, or fire applied to the contact point removes the Bane on the escape roll.
Ambush: First attack from disguise is made with a Boon. Target cannot use Dodge or Parry reactions.
Attacks: 2
Bite: d10, on Dragon roll also triggers Adhesive.
Adhesive Slam: d6, triggers Adhesive.

Mimic by Tillerz using MJ

Flicker - Light Elemental, Lesser

Flicker

Size: Small
Move: 6
WS: 25 | BS: 50 | S: 10 | T: 20 | I: 55 | Ag: 60 | Dex: - | Int: 10 | WP: 35 | Fel: 5
Wounds: 6
Armour: 0
A small, fast-moving mote of purple-white light that attacks with focused beams and blinds anyone who stands too close.

Skills: Dodge 70, Perception 65.
Minimal Traits: Ethereal, Flyer (6), Immunity (Poison, Disease), Dazzling Aura, Weakness (Yellow Light)
Attacks: 1
Light Jab: Range 20yds, d6 energy damage, ignores cover.
Dazzling Aura: Any creature within 2 yards at the start of their turn must pass a Challenging (+0) Endurance test or gain the Blinded condition until the start of their next turn.
Weakness (Yellow Light): Takes double Wounds from yellow light, direct sunlight, or the correctly configured lighthouse beam. The instant the beam turns yellow, all Flickers are destroyed.

Flicker

Level 2
Health 6
Armour 0
Damage 3
Movement Long
Abilities:

• Dazzling Proximity: Creatures that begin their turn adjacent must make a difficulty 2 Intellect defence roll or act with a -1 step penalty on all tasks until end of their next turn.
• Weightless: Ignores terrain; can float up to 3m above the floor.
• Weakness (Yellow Light): Takes double damage from yellow light sources. Destroyed instantly when the lighthouse beam is corrected.

Flicker by Tillerz using MJ

Flicker

Move: 12m
STR: 4 | CON: 6 | AGL: 15 | INT: 4 | WIL: 8 | CHA: 2
HP: 6 | WP: - | AR: 0
A fast-moving mote of purple-white light. Fragile, quick, and extremely annoying at close range.

Skills: Evade 15.
Traits:
Weightless: Ignores terrain; can float up to 3m above the floor. Not slowed by oil or debris.
Dazzling Aura: Any character who starts their turn within 2m must succeed on a WIL roll or act with a Bane this round. Tinted goggles remove this requirement.
Weakness (Yellow Light): Takes double damage from yellow light (mirror redirect, green crystal tint, corrected beam). The instant the lighthouse beam turns yellow, all Flickers are instantly destroyed.
Attacks: 1
Light Jab: 1d6, ranged up to 10m, ignores cover.

The Beacon - Light Elemental, Greater

The Beacon

Size: Large
Move: 4
WS: 40 | BS: 60 | S: 35 | T: 45 | I: 50 | Ag: 35 | Dex: - | Int: 20 | WP: 55 | Fel: 5
Wounds: 24
Armour: 2 (2)
A vast column of rotating purple-white light with discernible purpose: it positions itself between anything that approaches and the crystal housing, and it does not move willingly.

Skills: Dodge 40, Perception 60.
Minimal Traits: Ethereal, Flyer (4), Size (Large), Immunity (Fear, Poison, Disease), Physical Resistance, Protects the Housing, Weakness (Yellow Light)
Attacks: 1 + D6 special action per round
Radiant Lance: BS+0, 2d10 damage, Range 50yds, ignores cover.
Physical Resistance: Physical attacks deal -2 Wounds (minimum 1). Mirror-redirected beam attacks and magic are unaffected.
Protects the Housing: Always uses its movement to place itself between the party and the crystal housing if possible.
Weakness (Yellow Light): The instant the beam turns yellow, the Beacon is pulled irresistibly into the light mechanism, ending the encounter regardless of remaining Wounds.

D6 Special Actions (roll at the start of each round):

1. Radiant Pulse: All within 10 yards make a Challenging (+0) Endurance test or gain the Blinded condition (1 round).
2. Focused Lance: This round's Radiant Lance deals an additional d10 damage.
3. Focused Heat: see table below
4. Spawn: Creates 1d3 Flickers (loses 2 Wounds per Flicker spawned; will not use this if below 4 Wounds).
5. Crystallise: see table below
6. Blinding Surge: All within 10 yards make a Hard (-20) Endurance test or take 1d6 damage and gain the Stunned condition (1 round).

The Beacon

Level 5
Health 24
Armour 2
Damage 6
Movement Short
Abilities:

• D6 Action: Roll a d6 at the start of each round (see table below) in addition to its normal attack.
• Physical Resistance: Physical attacks deal 2 fewer points of damage (minimum 1). Light-based and magical attacks are unaffected.
• Protects the Housing: Always moves to interpose itself between attackers and the crystal housing.
• Weakness (Yellow Light): Instantly and irresistibly pulled into the lighthouse mechanism when the beam turns yellow; cannot resist.

D6 Action Table:

1. Radiant Pulse: All within Short range make difficulty 3 Intellect defence or Dazed (-1 step) until end of next turn.
2. Focused Lance: Damage this round is 9 instead of 6.
3. Focused Heat: see table below
4. Spawn: Creates 1d3 Flickers; loses 4 HP per Flicker spawned.
5. Crystallise: see table below
6. Blinding Surge: All within Immediate range make difficulty 3 Might defence or take 3 damage and gain the Confused condition for one round.

The Beacon by Tillerz using MJ

The Beacon

Move: 8m
STR: 18 | CON: 16 | AGL: 10 | INT: 8 | WIL: 14 | CHA: 2
HP: 24 | WP: - | AR: 2
A vast column of rotating purple-white light with a clear and inconvenient priority: it places itself between any intruder and the crystal housing, and it does not negotiate.

Skills: Evade 10, Awareness 14.
Traits:
D6 Action: At the start of each round, roll 1d6 and apply the result below before the Beacon's normal attack.
Physical Resistance: Physical attacks deal -2 damage (minimum 1). Mirror-redirected beam attacks and spells are unaffected.
Protects the Housing: Always uses movement to place itself between the party and the crystal housing if possible.
Weakness (Yellow Light): The instant the beam turns yellow, the Beacon is irresistibly pulled into the light mechanism. This ends the encounter immediately, regardless of remaining HP.

D6 Action Table:

1. Radiant Pulse: All within 10m make a WIL roll or gain the Dazed condition (Bane on all rolls) until end of their next turn.
2. Focused Lance: This round's attack deals 2d6 instead of 1d6.
3. Focused Heat: see table below
4. Spawn: Creates 1d3 Flickers (loses 2 HP per Flicker spawned; will not use this if below 4 HP). These Flickers will automatically attack.
5. Crystallise: see table below
6. Blinding Surge: All in the room make a CON roll or take 1d6 damage and gain the Confused condition for one round.

Attacks: 1
Radiant Lance: 1d6, ranged up to 15m, ignores AR.

Beacon Special Actions

Focused Heat: The Beacon hovers directly over the crystal socket and concentrates its light downward into the metal base. The platform surface heats rapidly. Any character standing on the Crystal Platform takes 2 damage at the end of their turn unless they move off the metal. Removing or installing as crystal this round requires handling the heated housing - (Dragonbane: CON roll | WFRP4e: Toughness test, Challenging +0% | Cypher: difficulty 2 Might defence) - on a failure, the character takes another 2 damage and aborts the action. The Beacon cannot make other attacks this round while maintaining concentration. This gives the Beacon a meaningful defensive move: it protects the socket at a cost and puts pressure on players to either push through the heat or find another approach (prism, ECD) before attempting the swap.

Crystallise: The Beacon's light hardens into a semi-solid crystalline state. Physical attacks deal half damage this round. Prism-focused light and the ECD deal +2 damage instead. The crystalline form resonates with focused light rather than dispersing it. All characters who see the transformation make a (Dragonbane: WIL roll | WFRP4e: Cool test, Challenging +0% | Cypher: difficulty 3 Intellect defence) or spend their action fleeing to the platform edge or taking cover. The Beacon returns to its fluid form at the start of its next turn. This makes Crystallise a moment that punishes players who are purely hitting it with weapons, rewards anyone who switches to the prisms or ECD, and creates the fear effect as a natural consequence of something horrifying becoming suddenly, visibly solid.

---

Resolution

The moment the green crystal is seated and the blue removed, the beam turns yellow. Every Flicker in the tower is instantly destroyed. The Beacon freezes mid-action, then accelerates toward the crystal housing and is pulled in with a sound like glass bells breaking. Nib drops from the beam and hits the floor face-first.

Nib sits up. He looks at his hands. He looks at the yellow light. He addresses no one in particular.

"I had it completely under control. The blue crystal was an experimental maritime focus array and it was not my fault there was no wavelength label on it. I added a note to the other crystals immediately after. There are now labels. The situation is resolved."

Grimbly arrives forty-five seconds later. He looks at the yellow beam. He looks at Nib. He looks back at the beam.

"Nib. My dear apprentice. My beloved pupil. Is the tower yellow?"
"Yes."
"It was purple when I sent these people in."
"Yes."
"...we will discuss this. Later. When I have had something to drink."

Commodore Randolf Vorne arrives shortly after carrying a letter that begins "I write to express in the strongest possible terms --" and has been overtaken by events. He pays the watch's fee and adds 10 Crowns for the speed.

Harbour Master by Tillerz using MJ

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