"Reality does not bend. It breaks. And in the breaking, it becomes something else entirely. Watch the sky—when it turns the color of wine, you'll know the sub-domains have begun to bloom."
Chapter Overview
Sessions
5-8 (12-16 hours)
Focus
Exploration & Survival
Key Locations
Feast Halls, Pleasure Gardens, Mirror District
Clock Advances
Corruption +2, Fracture +1-2
The Fracturing Begins
As Enoch's power grows, reality in Restraint begins to fracture. These aren't new domains—they're sub-domains, pocket realities that embody the sins Enoch once championed. Each sub-domain is a fragment of his prison breaking loose, a piece of the corruption given physical form.
Sub-Domain Rules
Entry: Sub-domains appear as shimmer-zones, often near heavy corruption. Entering is easy; leaving is not.
Time: Time flows differently. One hour inside may be one day outside, or vice versa.
Corruption: Automatic corruption checks every hour spent inside (+5% per hour).
Escape: Each sub-domain has specific exit conditions. Failing to meet them traps you until conditions change.
Death: Dying inside a sub-domain reforms you at its entrance after 1d6 hours, but with +20% corruption and a "mark" visible to Enoch's agents.
Session 5: The First Manifestation
Chapter 2 opens with a crisis: a sub-domain has manifested near the players' bastion. The specific sub-domain depends on their choices in Chapter 1.
The Feast Halls of Endless Hunger
🏛️ Description
"The Feast Halls manifest as an infinite banquet hall, tables stretching beyond sight, laden with golden platters of impossible food. The scent is intoxicating—roasted meats, fresh bread, wines that shimmer like liquid amber. But watch the other guests. See how they eat without stopping. See how their bellies swell and burst, only to reform, hungry again, eating again, forever."
Feast Halls Mechanics
Atmosphere
- • Warm, inviting lighting (false comfort)
- • Sound of laughter and clinking glasses
- • Guests who seem delighted (trapped forever)
- • Food that looks perfect (tastes like ash)
Rules
- • Eating ANY food here = +15% corruption
- • Refusing food offends the Host (encounter)
- • Hunger intensifies each hour (Corpus vs DC 8+1/hour)
- • Exit requires: leave something you value on a plate
Key NPCs
- The Host: An aspect of Enoch's Gluttony. Appears as a jolly, rotund figure with golden teeth. Offers "hospitality" that cannot be refused.
- Starving Saint: A trapped monk who hasn't eaten in what feels like years. Knows the exit condition but can't leave—he has nothing left to give.
- The Sommelier: Serves drinks that grant visions of truth (+10% corruption each, but genuine information).
Quests Available
- Free the Starving Saint: Give something for him to leave on a plate.
- Poisoning the Feast: Discover the food's source and corrupt it.
- The Chef's Secret: Find the kitchens—what's really being served?
⚔️ Combat: The Gorged
Guests who ate too much and burst—but kept eating. Bloated, split open, still reaching for more.
- Corpus: 14 | Anima: 3 | Ego: 2
- Attacks: Grasping hands (grapple), Bile spray (area denial), Consume (restores HP, kills grappled target)
- Special: Splits into two smaller Gorged at 50% HP
Sessions 6-7: Domain Exploration
After the first sub-domain encounter, players have choices about how to proceed. The map opens up as corruption spreads.
Hexcrawl Phase
During Sessions 6-7, use structured exploration. Each day allows movement between adjacent hexes on the map.
Safe Travel
Move between green locations (Praxis, Covenant, temples) without random encounters. One day per hex.
Contested Travel
Move between orange locations (Threshold, Golden Mile) with encounter checks. Roll 1d6: 1-2 = encounter.
Corrupted Travel
Move through golden locations (sub-domains, Golden Mine) with forced encounters AND corruption checks.
Sub-Scenario: Escape from the Feast Halls
One-Shot: "The Empty Stomach"
Duration: 3-4 hours | Difficulty: Hard | Focus: Survival + Roleplay
📜 Scenario Hook
"You've been trapped in the Feast Halls for what feels like days. The food never stops arriving. The guests never stop eating. You've watched people burst and reform, only to reach for another plate. To escape, you must find the Kitchen—where all this food comes from—and end the feast at its source."
Zone 1: The Banquet Hall
- • Endless tables, 50+ guests (most corrupted)
- • Every hour: Corpus vs DC 12 to resist eating
- • Servants offer food constantly
- • The Host watches from the high table
- • Exit: Service doors behind tapestries
Zone 2: The Wine Cellar
- • Barrels of every drink imaginable
- • Each drink grants a temporary power (+2 one stat)
- • ...and +10% corruption per drink
- • The Sommelier blocks the path
- • Exit: Through the Sommelier's quarters
Zone 3: The Kitchen
- • The food is made from golden memories
- • Chef Perpetua guards the Golden Cauldron
- • Destroying cauldron ends the feast
- • But also releases all stored memories (chaotic)
- • Exit: Through the garbage chute (back to Restraint)
⚔️ Boss: Chef Perpetua
- Corpus: 18 | Anima: 14 | Ego: 8
- Weapons: Meat cleaver (1d10), boiling soup (2d6 area)
- Abilities:
- • "Taste This!" - Force-feeds target (corruption check)
- • "Secret Ingredient" - Heals by consuming memories
- • "Kitchen Staff" - Summons 2 Gorged assistants
Weaknesses
- • Criticism of cooking (Ego attack)
- • Genuine fasting (cannot target hungry enemies)
- • Destroying the Golden Cauldron (ends her)
Loot
- • Chef's Hat (immunity to one hunger effect)
- • Recipe Book (valuable to Encyclopedist)
Sub-Scenario: The Shattered Self
One-Shot: "Reflections"
Duration: 2-3 hours | Difficulty: Medium | Focus: Puzzle + Combat
📜 Scenario Hook
"Someone has stolen faces. Important people in Threshold are acting wrong—making decisions they never would, saying things they don't remember. A False Reflection has escaped the Mirror District and is living someone's life. Find it. Stop it. Before it replaces someone you trust."
Act 1: The Investigation
- • Interview "changed" citizens
- • Discover pattern: all visited same mirror shop
- • Shop owner is missing (replaced first)
- • True mirrors reveal False Reflections
- • Clue: Reflections cast wrong shadows
Act 2: The Mirror District
- • Enter sub-domain to find original victims
- • Navigate impossible architecture
- • Each player faces their False Reflection
- • Must defeat own Reflection to proceed
- • Mechanic: Unpredictable actions have advantage
Act 3: The Curator's Gallery
- • The Curator collects "perfect reflections"
- • Original victims trapped in frames
- • Negotiate or fight for their release
- • Breaking the Master Mirror frees all
- • Choice: Curator offers to trade—your worst self for freedom
Resolution: Accept the Trade
Your worst self is removed—but so is part of you. Lose your lowest stat permanently. Gain the Curator's favor (can call on him once). All victims freed.
Resolution: Break the Mirror
Combat with the Curator (Tier 3). Victory frees victims but makes you an enemy of the Mirror District—future visits will be hostile.
Key Exploration Events
Event: The Encyclopedist's Agents
The Encyclopedist has dispatched research teams into Restraint. Players may encounter them cataloging corruption, interviewing victims, or exploring sub-domains. They're helpful but transactional—information is their currency.
Agent Encounter Table (1d6):
- Researcher mapping sub-domain boundaries (will trade info for escort)
- Archivist interviewing corrupted victim (will share transcripts for "a secret about yourself")
- Cartographer lost in sub-domain (rescue grants favor)
- Hostile agent who believes players work for Enoch
- Friendly agent with warnings about Khore's scouts
- The Encyclopedist's direct communication (rare, portentous)
Event: Corruption Surge
As Enoch's Corruption Clock advances, reality warps. During exploration, random surges may occur.
Surge Effects (1d6):
- Gold rain—all metal items temporarily become gold (1 hour)
- Whisper wind—everyone hears Enoch's voice offering deals
- Memory bleed—random character experiences another's memory
- Sub-domain fragment—small pocket reality appears briefly
- Gilded wildlife—animals transformed, hostile
- Time slip—party jumps forward 1d6 hours
Event: Hollow Scout Patrol
Khore's Hollow Legion is testing Restraint's borders. Scout patrols appear near Threshold and the Partisan Gate, assessing defenses and marking "acquisition targets."
Scout Patrol Composition:
- 3-5 Hollow Scouts (debt-bound soldiers)
- 1 Hollow Lieutenant (carries command token)
- 1 Debt Collector (non-combatant, records everything)
Behavior: They won't attack unless attacked first, but they will aggressively "offer loans" to anyone who seems desperate.
Battle Encounter: Garden of Thorns
Combat: "The Rooted Ones"
Difficulty: Hard | Enemies: 4 + Environment | Terrain: Living Garden
⚔️ Tactical Setup
Players enter a garden clearing where four travelers have become rooted—literally. Their legs have become tree trunks, their arms branches. They attack anyone who tries to help them escape, desperate to make others join them in "paradise."
Enemy: The Rooted (x4)
- Corpus: 12 | Anima: 10 | Ego: 14
- Immobile: Cannot move, but have 15ft reach
- Branch Grab: Grapple, 1d8 + root spread
- Pollen Cloud: 10ft radius, Ego DC 12 or charmed
- Root Network: Share damage between all Rooted
Terrain Hazards
- Entangling Vines: Difficult terrain everywhere
- Beautiful Flowers: Looking too long = Ego DC 10
- Soft Ground: Standing still 2 rounds = rooting begins
- The Gardener: Arrives round 5 if combat ongoing
Victory: Destruction
Kill all Rooted. They thank you as they die. No corruption, but psychic damage from their gratitude.
Victory: Uprooting
Find and destroy their root connections (underground, requires digging). Frees them, but they're traumatized.
Reward
Garden Seeds (can grow instant cover), Rooted Memory (vision of how sub-domain formed), +1 Encyclopedist rep.
Session 8: The Convergence
Chapter 2 ends with a dramatic convergence—multiple faction interests colliding at the Golden Mine itself.
The Golden Mine Expedition
All paths lead here. The players aren't the only ones investigating the corruption's source. At the Golden Mine, they encounter:
Faction Representatives
- Restraint Zealots: Want to seal the mine permanently, destroy everything inside. Led by Brother Abstinence.
- Partisan Merchants: Want to "regulate" the gold flow, profit from controlled extraction. Led by Handler Thex (if Partisan origin).
- Encyclopedist Archivists: Want to study the phenomenon, preserve knowledge. Led by Scribe Memoria.
- Hollow Advance Team: Want to assess the mine's value for Khore. Led by Collector Vex.
The Mine Itself
- Entrance: Massive golden archway, decorated with the symbol of Restraint—but inverted.
- Interior: Tunnels that shift when not observed. Gold veins that pulse like arteries.
- Heart Chamber: The deepest point—where Enoch's prison was weakest. Something is there, but not Enoch himself.
- The Guardian: A corrupted Genii—Austerity, transformed into a golden horror. The first boss encounter.
Boss Encounter: Austerity, the Gilded Judge
Once a Genii of self-denial, Austerity was the first to fall to Enoch's corruption. Now she guards the mine, testing all who enter with twisted versions of Restraint's virtues.
Stats
- Corpus: 25
- Anima: 18
- Ego: 15
- Tier: 3 (Boss)
Abilities
- Golden Judgement: Targets the player with most corruption
- Denial's Blessing: Heals if players show greed
- Austerity's Decree: Forces players to sacrifice items or take damage
- Reformation: Reforms at 50% HP in new form
Weakness
- Genuine moderation (not excess, not denial)
- Invoking Temperance's name
- Showing her what she's become
- Artifacts of true Restraint
Chapter 2 Conclusion
Clock Advances
At the end of Chapter 2, update faction clocks:
- Enoch's Corruption: +2 (two sub-domains now permanent)
- Khore's Conquest: +1 (scouts have reported, invasion imminent)
- Restraint's Fracture: +1 to +3 (depends on faction conflict resolution)
- Encyclopedist's Research: +1 (valuable data collected)
Chapter 2 Success Criteria
- ✓ Players have experienced at least one sub-domain
- ✓ Encountered representatives of 3+ factions
- ✓ Defeated or bypassed Austerity
- ✓ Learned something crucial about Enoch's prison
- ✓ Made choices affecting faction relationships
Leading to Chapter 3
The expedition to the Golden Mine revealed that Enoch himself isn't there—but something is coming. Chapter 3 opens with Khore's Hollow Legion crossing the border in force. The Gold Rush becomes a war on two fronts.