Printable guide sheet: The Silent Landing

Read this to your players to start

The harbourmaster’s tally book has three blank nights in it, and she wrote them blank herself, because nobody on her own quay would give her a number. Find out what comes ashore between the fourth bell and the fifth.

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

1. Scene 1: The Blank Pages from Quick Quest on

   Harbourmaster Vell is in charge of the whole harbour. She opens her big counting book and turns it round to show you. Every boat and every box gets written down in here. But three pages are empty. "Three nights," she says. "A boat with no lamp comes in after dark. My own crew unload it. And not one of them will tell me what is in it." Far away, a bell rings. Ding. "Please find out," she says. "Kindly."

   Goal: Find out what has been coming ashore at night, and why nobody will say.

   • Look closely at the book Clever, DN 10

     It works: The nights before and after are full of neat numbers. The three in the middle are blank. And look: one page has been torn out, neatly, from the inside.

     It doesn’t: It just looks like lots of numbers. Then a little scrap flutters out of the binding. A page has been torn out! Somebody who works here did it.

   • Ask who works at night Kind, DN 8

     It works: She sighs. "Marda Kell’s crew. The same crew as every night for twenty years. They are good people. That is what worries me."

     It doesn’t: Vell will not name names: she does not want anyone in trouble. But she says, "Go and ask on the Fish Steps. Everybody gossips there."

   • Go down to the Fish Steps No roll

     It works: The Docks gossip about everything. But tonight, everybody goes quiet when you ask about the boat. Quiet is a clue too.

     It doesn’t: If nobody will talk, a big shaggy dog trots past with a rope in his mouth. A small girl runs after him, then looks back at you, worried. Follow her.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Vell says "Kindly." Why do you think she wants you to be kind about it? Because she loves her crew. She is worried about them, not cross.

   Vell is not a baddie and must never sound like one. She is worried about her crew, not suspicious of them, and she asks the heroes because a child can ask questions a harbourmaster cannot. Make sure the heroes leave this scene knowing one thing: a page has been torn out of the book, neatly, from the inside.

2. Scene 2: Three Stories at the Fish Steps from Short Session on

   The Fish Steps are noisy, busy and full of gossip. Pooh, what a fishy smell! Three people tell you three different stories. Bosk the fish-seller shouts, "Smugglers! No lamp means no good!" Halvo the night guard looks at his boots. "I walked the whole quay," he mumbles. "I saw nothing." And a girl called Tansy, no taller than your elbow, says only this: "It’s not a monster. Please stop asking."

   Goal: Work out which part of each story is true.

   • Ask Bosk gently Kind, DN 10

     It works: Bosk scratches his head. "Well. I never saw it myself. My sister told me. Somebody told her." It is only a rumour.

     It doesn’t: Bosk just shouts "SMUGGLERS!" even louder. But his sister, behind him, rolls her eyes: "He has never been down here at night in his life."

   • Ask Halvo where he walked Clever, DN 10

     It works: Halvo goes pink. "The land side. Somebody asked me to, as a favour, ten nights ago." So the sea side has been left empty on purpose.

     It doesn’t: Halvo mumbles and walks off. But his boots are dusty, with no salt on them at all. He never went near the sea side.

   • Follow Tansy No roll

     It works: Tansy darts between the crates and up a ladder to the net loft. She keeps looking back, but she does not run away.

     It doesn’t: Tansy slips out of sight. But she has dropped a coil of rope, and it leads up a ladder to the net loft.

   Ask your players

   Ask each player in turn: Whose story does your hero believe, and why? Each one is a bit true. Bosk has the rumour, Halvo has the time and the place, and Tansy knows it is not a monster.

   The heart of the mystery: three honest people, three true bits, three wrong guesses. Bosk gives the RUMOUR, and it is only a rumour. Halvo gives the TIME AND PLACE: somebody asked him to leave the sea side of the quay unwatched. Tansy gives the one thing the rumour got wrong. Any two of the three lead to the net loft; all three make it obvious. Do not sum it up for the children. Nobody here gets cross if accused; the Docks just go quieter.

3. Scene 3: The Net Loft from One-Sitting Session on

   Up the ladder is the net loft. But it is not full of nets. It is full of flour sacks, hanging open on lines to dry. Every one is stiff and crusty with salt. A page is nailed to a beam. It is the page torn out of Vell’s book! Tansy stands at the top of the ladder with her arms out wide. "You can look," she whispers. "Just please don’t tell."

   Goal: Find out where the night cargo goes, and decide what to promise Tansy.

   • Read the torn page Clever, DN 8

     It works: It is a list of sacks, night after night. Dry. Dry. Salty, no good. At the bottom: WE ARE NOT THIEVES. Give the heroes the torn tally page.

     It doesn’t: The writing is small and smudgy. But the last line is in big letters: WE ARE NOT THIEVES. Give the heroes the torn tally page anyway.

   • Touch a sack Clever, DN 10

     It works: Salty, all the way through. This flour has been in the sea!

     It doesn’t: It just feels stiff. Then you lick your finger by mistake. Bleurgh! Salt! This flour has been in the sea.

   • Make Tansy a promise Kind, DN 10

     It works: "Promise you won’t tell the Harbour Board?" Tansy holds out her little finger. Whatever the heroes promise, remember it. "It’s our flour," she whispers. "It fell in the sea. We’re saving it."

     It doesn’t: Tansy shakes her head. "You’ll tell." She will not say more, but she does not stop you looking either.

   Ask your players

   Ask the quietest player: Tansy asks your hero, "Can you keep a secret?" What does your hero say? Hold them to whatever they promise. It matters at the end.

   The trust hinge of the whole story, so slow right down. Whatever the heroes promise Tansy, remember it. Heroes who keep their promise are welcomed onto the boat, and telling Vell together gets +2. Heroes who break it still finish the story, but Marda meets them worried, not welcoming. Breaking a promise is a real choice, not a trap: do not warn them, and do not punish them beyond that.

4. Scene 4: The Fourth Bell from Full Session on

   Ding, ding, ding, ding. The fourth bell rings, and the harbour holds its breath. A boat glides in from the dark water. It has no lamp and no name. It slides up to the quay without a bump. Six people start passing sacks ashore, and nobody says a word. A big shaggy dog on the boat sees you. His ears go up. He does not bark. Not yet.

   Goal: Watch the landing happen without turning a quiet night into a chase.

   • Hide and watch Clever, DN 10

     It works: Six people, no lamps, no talking. Every sack goes up to the net loft, not off to be sold. They are not selling anything. They are saving it.

     It doesn’t: A crab pinches your toe. Ow! You squeak, and six faces turn toward you. Nobody grabs anyone. They just stop and wait, more scared of you than you are of them.

   • Step out with empty hands Brave, DN 8

     It works: You step out with your hands open. The work stops. A woman, wet to the shoulders, comes over. "Well," she says. "You’d better come aboard."

     It doesn’t: Your knees wobble, and you trip over a rope as you step out. Everybody stops. Nobody is cross. A wet woman helps you up. "Careful," she says. "Come and talk."

   • Whistle to the dog Kind, DN 8

     It works: Barrow pads over and leans on your legs, tail thumping. The crew look up, and the choice is already made. "Barrow likes them," somebody whispers. "Then so do we."

     It doesn’t: WOOF! Barrow barks once, and every face turns to you. Then he sneezes and wags his tail. Nobody is cross. They just wait for you to speak.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: The dog is looking right at you. What do you do? Anything but shouting is fine. Shouting brings the night guard, and the crew lose their chance to tell it themselves.

   No chase, no guards, no grabbing. If the heroes are spotted, the crew simply stop and wait, because they are far more frightened of the heroes than the heroes are of them. The one thing that goes badly is shouting: it brings Halvo, Halvo brings the Harbour Board, and the crew never get to tell their own story. Say that only after it happens, never as a warning. Making friends with Barrow means the crew trust the heroes at the end.

5. Scene 5: Bonus: What Comes Up With the Sacks from Epic Session on

   From the very end of the quay, you can see where the boat comes from. Just under the water there is a mast, leaning over. Around it float hundreds of moon-jellies, glowing soft and blue, like little lanterns. Every time a diver comes up, a few jellies rise with her and drift away. It is the most beautiful thing in the whole harbour. And nobody has told a soul.

   Goal: See the other thing the crew have been keeping quiet, the one that has nothing to do with flour.

   • Lie flat and look down No roll

     It works: Down in the dark is a sunken barge, still full of sacks, with the jellies glowing all around it.

     It doesn’t: If the boards are too wet, hold somebody’s ankles while they peek over. Everybody gets a turn.

   • Ask a diver Kind, DN 8

     It works: She smiles, a bit shy. "Like swimming through stars," she says. Nobody has asked her a kind question in ten nights.

     It doesn’t: She is too tired to talk. But she lets you hold her lamp while she rests, and that says thank you just as well.

   • Lift a jelly in a bucket No roll

     It works: It sits in the bucket, glowing like a held breath. You look at it properly. Then you let it go.

     It doesn’t: Slosh! The jelly slips back into the sea before you can look. It glows a little brighter as it goes, as if it is laughing.

   Ask your players

   Ask each player in turn: If your hero could keep one secret thing, just for a while, what would it be?

   Play this scene only at the Epic length. Nothing here is needed for the mystery, and that is the point. Children who have seen the jellies argue differently at the end: now they are keeping a secret of the crew’s too, and they know how it feels to want to keep one.

6. Scene 6: Marda Kell’s Side from Quick Quest on

   The crew-boss climbs onto the quay, dripping wet. Her name is Marda Kell. "That’s the Marigold down there," she says. "Our barge, full of the city’s winter flour. She sank in the storm." She wipes her face. "The rule says nobody may touch a sunk boat until the inspectors come, in spring. By then the flour will be mush, and nobody will have bread." She looks at you. "So we save it at night. Now what?"

   Goal: Decide who to trust with the truth, and who gets to be the one to tell it.

   • Tell Vell together Kind, DN 10

     It works: Vell listens to the whole story. Then she takes out her pen and writes: WRECK OPEN, BY ORDER OF THE HARBOURMASTER. Read "If you told Vell together."

     It doesn’t: Marda’s voice wobbles, and she stops. The heroes get one more try: a hand to hold, a word of help, the first sentence said for her. A kind try the second time needs no roll.

   • Help finish tonight Brave, DN 10

     It works: You pass sacks hand to hand until your arms ache. At first light, the crew walk into the tally office on their own. Read "If the crew told it themselves."

     It doesn’t: Your arms give out halfway, and you fall asleep on a sack. The crew finish without you and wake you at dawn. "Come on," says Marda. "We’re going to tell her." Read "If the crew told it themselves."

   • Tell the Harbour Board No roll

     It works: The Board comes, slow and grumpy, with clipboards. Read "If you told the Board."

     It doesn’t: If the heroes change their minds halfway there, they can turn back and fetch Vell instead. That is allowed.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Who should tell Vell: you, the crew, or the Harbour Board? Why? There is no wrong answer. Let them argue it out.

   Ask the quietest player: Tansy is hiding behind Marda’s legs. What does your hero say to her?

   Three real endings, and no wrong one. Never let this turn into a fight: Marda would never raise her voice to a child, and the whole promise of this adventure is that a big mystery can be settled by talking. Telling Vell together: roll with +2 if the heroes kept their promise to Tansy or made friends with Barrow (+2 once, however many are true). If the heroes choose the Board, tell it honestly and kindly: the cost is small, real and forgivable, with no lecture and no punishment, and the bread still gets baked. Short on time? Every length gets the twist: Marda tells the whole story herself the moment the heroes reach her. When it is over, read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   How it ends

   Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   If you told Vell together. Vell reads the torn page from top to bottom. Then she laughs, a big surprised laugh. "You silly, brave lot," she says to her crew. "Why didn’t you just tell me?" By dawn, every sack is ashore and drying. Tansy waves at you from the top of the net loft, with both arms at once.

   If the crew told it themselves. At first light, six wet people walk into the tally office. They put the torn page on Vell’s desk. "We’re sorry," says Marda. "And we’d do it again." Vell looks at them for a long time. Then she writes one word in her book: FLOUR. The crew cheer. Tansy hugs your legs.

   If you told the Board. The Board comes with clipboards and frowns. The crew must stop while the inspectors look, and some of the flour spoils. But most is saved, and the bread gets baked. Marda shakes your hand. "You weren’t wrong," she says. Tansy gives you a small wave. Not a big one. A small one.

   Homecoming

   Every ending: home to the Docks. Next morning, the whole city smells of new bread. Mmm. Vell writes in her counting book again, and this time there are no blank pages. Tansy runs up and gives each of you a little tin whistle. "A rope-runner’s whistle," she says. "Blow it on the Docks, and somebody will always answer."

Player handout — show this to your table

The Torn Tally Page

A page torn out of the harbourmaster’s counting book and nailed to a beam. Neat columns, careful writing, and no box numbers at all. Just a list, night after night: 14 SACKS, DRY. 9 SACKS, DRY. 22 SACKS, SALTY, NO GOOD. 6 SACKS, DRY. At the bottom, underlined twice: WE WILL TELL WHEN IT IS SAFE. WE ARE NOT THIEVES.

Monster stat blocks

Rewards

• The Marigold’s winter flour, ashore and dry, and bread for the whole city.
• If the crew got to tell it, with you or by themselves: a berth on the Cutwater. Your heroes may tie up at the Docks any night, free, for as long as Marda Kell is crew-boss.
• If you went down to the shallows: a jar of harbour water with one moon-jelly’s glow in it, carried carefully home and let go by morning.
• Tansy’s rope-runner’s whistle. Once in your next adventure, blow it, and somebody from the Docks comes to help.
• A real-world bonus, if you like: bake or buy a fresh loaf together, and say thank you to whoever made it.

Tips for running this one

• Nothing in this adventure fights, and that is the design, not an oversight. If a child reaches for a weapon, do not stop them: simply have nobody on the other side reach back, and let the scene stay a conversation.
• Play the three witnesses out loud and out of order, and let the children interrupt. The scene works because the table does the sorting. Never sum up what the three stories "add up to".
• There is no villain. The question is "who do we trust with this, and who gets to tell it?" Ask the table that, in those words, if they get stuck at the end.
• Short on time? The Quick Quest is the blank pages and Marda on the quay, and it still has the twist: Marda tells it herself.
• Playing with 5- and 6-year-olds? Take 3 off every DN and skip the roll for anything kind. For 9- and 10-year-olds, add 2.
• Every roll here says what happens when it works and when it doesn’t. A failed roll never stops the story; it only changes what happens next.