The Magistrate's Bloodlocked Vault
The Magistrate's Bloodlocked Vault
“Steal a forged scandal from a bloodlocked vault before the city learns who was really being blackmailed.”
— Hook · heist
“Captain Ruby Thorne leans in close and smiles like she is already counting your shares. The Magistrate's Secret Vault holds a forged painting that can ruin a pirate captain and the Captain of the Guard, and Ruby wants it stolen before dawn. Break in, take it clean, and bring her the one piece of proof she names before the city knows the vault was ever opened.”
— Hook · heist
Ruby Thorne offers the party a wax-sealed map of the courthouse and a narrow gold key that is useless without the Magistrate's blood. She explains that the vault contains enough secrets to buy governments, but she wants one forged painting from the locked archive before the Magistrate can use it to humiliate a pirate captain and the Captain of the Guard. Ruby promises payment, protection, and a future favor, then adds that if the party wants to know why the painting matters so much, they should not ask twice.
Captain Ruby Thorne
Direct hire with a velvet threat and a generous cut
Rumours
d4 · table- 01The courthouse vault has never been broken into, because the lock only opens safely for the Magistrate's blood and key together.
- 02A junior clerk says the archive contains a false painting that embarrassed a pirate captain and the Captain of the Guard, but no one has seen it firsthand.
- 03The Magistrate keeps a private corridor behind the evidence room, reachable only through the records stacks during bell changes.
- 04One of the night guards is secretly in debt to Ruby Thorne and may look away if properly approached.
If the party succeeds, they gain Ruby Thorne's favor and a dangerous piece of blackmail leverage while exposing how far the Magistrate's corruption reaches. If they fail, the Magistrate tightens her grip on the harbor, Ruby loses patience, and the party may become the next set of names in the vault.
Background Lore
In the port city of Grayharbor, Magistrate Elsbeth Vale has built power by collecting secrets, debts, and proof of disgrace in a hidden vault beneath her courthouse. The vault is said to contain evidence against smugglers, merchants, guildmasters, and captains alike, enough to bend half the harbor to her will. Captain Ruby Thorne, a ruthless privateer with a polished smile and a reputation for choosing leverage over cannon fire, wants one particular piece recovered before the Magistrate can use it to tighten her grip on rival pirates and the harbor guard.
Captain Ruby Thorne hires the party to steal a specific blackmail painting from the Magistrate's Secret Vault beneath the courthouse. The vault is protected by a bloodlocked seal, watch patrols, and an archive full of decoy evidence, and the party must get in and out before the city realizes what was taken.
