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Fantastic Locations.

The Far Mountains.

Located some 100 or so miles west of Winterton, the Far Mountains are remote, untamed and dangerous even in the height of summer.
It is here that the monastery of the Far Mountains stands perched on a high plateau. Dedicated to Sylvana, goddess of forests, animals and the wilds, the monastery, its druids, and priests stand as a beacon of hope against the encroaching darkness.

Remote shack and barn.

Searching for somewhere to ride out Gelid’s Wrath, this dwelling seems like a warm, cozy safe haven against the worst of the blizzard. But are the characters the only ones seeking shelter, who if anyone will open the door, and what will they find inside should they dare to enter.

Monsters

For my game purposes and to fit in with Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures, Redcaps have the following simplified stats.

Hit Dice 1d8+1 (5hp)
Armour Class 14
Attack +2 to hit, 2d4 damage (wicked blades)
Alignment Chaotic
XP 40
Notes: True Name (a redcap has a true name which gives his foes power over him), Vulnerable to Iron, (they take double damage from iron)

Skeleton’s, Captain of the Dead & Wraith.

The Fox Fairies have told that the dead are wandering the land. The party may encounter 2d6 skeleton’s and a Captain of the Dead. There will be a 1 in 6 chance that a Wraith is with the patrol.

Skeleton’s
Hit Dice: 1d8 (4hp)
Armour Class: 13
Attack: +1 to hit, 1d8 damage
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 20
Notes: Dead and Mindless

Captain of the Dead
Hit Dice: 3d8 (14hp)
Armour Class: 15
Attack: +3 to hit, 1d8 damage
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 90
Notes: Dead and Mindless

Wraith
Hit Dice: 5d8 (22hp)
Armour Class: 15
Attack: +6 to hit, 1d8 damage
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 550
Notes: Drain Will (on touch: save vs. Polymorph or lose 1 Cha),
Incorporeal (no physical form; only magic and silver weapons can harm them)

Gelid’s Wrath

Gelid
god of winter, ice, and forests.

Gelids Wrath
A severe snowstorm originating in the north and typically sweeping across the Bay and out into the Eastern Sea. Typically blizzards lasting longer than a day are given this
moniker.

Date: 2nd January 1513CY.
Location: The companions are a days walk from Winterton, heading west towards the Far Mountains.
Weather: Heavy Snow turning to Blizzard conditions.

Having spent the night at the den of a group of friendly Fox Fairies, the five companions along with the Priestess Crea and her moose, say farewell to their Fae friends and continue their journey west towards the Far Mountains.

Heavy snow hampers their progress, and though 
snowshoes aid their speed, visibility is severely reduced. 
Crea and her moose lead the way through the featureless
snow-covered land. The five young companions from Winterton 
realise that without Crea’s knowledge of the paths, they would never 
make it to the monastery. Even with her guidance, it’s hard to 
believe they will reach their destination. The icy wind begins to whistle across the bleak landscape, whipping up the snow into near blizzard conditions. They know they must find shelter soon or their quest may end here.

Question. Does Crea know of a place they can shelter? 50/50. D100 roll = 77, Yes.

Crea turns to the companions, she has to shout to make herself heard, “we need to get out of this blizzard before it gets any worse, I know a place near by where we should be able to shelter”.

“should be?” asks Hew.

“how far is it” asks Culdus.

“not far, stay close to the moose and don’t fall behind, in this storm we will never find you again”.

In what seems like an eternity but is in reality less that 30 minutes, the party almost stumble into a remote shack with a barn behind it.

“who lives here?” asks Karina.

“I don’t know”, replies Crea, “but whoever does, I am sure they will let us shelter in their barn”.

Strawberri walks up to the door and knocks, “let see who is in there”

Question. Does anyone open the door? 50/50. d100 =37. No.

Hew steps up to the door and raps the pommel of his sword against it “if there is no answer, I’m going in anyway”, the hot headed young warrior announces.
Crea and Rhian decide to take the moose which still has all their gear and the casket containing the bones of St. Agnus on its back, to the barn.

Question. Does anyone or anything open the door to Hews knocking? Unlikely -20%. d100 = 35-20, 15%. No.

“There cannot be anyone in there, I think its safe enough to enter, I will go in first”, Hew tries to open the door.

Question. Does the door open? 50/50. d100 = 29. No.

The door refuses to open, Hew decides to try and force it open, he gives it an almighty push with his shoulder.

In order to force the door open, Hew needs to make a strength test. Hews Strength is 17, so he needs to roll equal to or below 17 to open the door. d20 roll = 2. Success.

Hew pushes with his shoulder and the door flings wide open, smashing the lock and damaging the hinges.

To see if Hew is unsteadied by the unexpected ease in which the door flew open, he must make a Dexterity check. Needing 10 or less to stay on his feet, Hew rolls 11. A fail.

Hew, not expecting the door to open so simply, falls unceremoniously into the main room of the shack.

Open question. What do the party find inside the main room of the shack? answer = Powerful Guild.

Looking to ‘Blood in the Snow’ for possible inspiration and a guild, and thinking about who is likely to be out in such difficult conditions, I decide that Nessa Ridgerow, Lvl 5 Ranger of Kern, (a minor deity popular amongst hunters, foresters and farmers) ,member of the Far Winds Adventuring Company, and native of Winterton, is seated in the room.

Using his sword to steady himself, Hew regains his footing, Culdus, Karina and Strawberri follow him into the main room, all are suprised to find Nessa Ridgrow, wife of Gilio Korte who owns the herb & apothecary in Winterton, seated in the room, although perhaps not quite as suprised as Nessa is to find the four companions bursting in on her.

“Nessa?” Karina says with a questioning tone, “what are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you four. I am in the shack sheltering from the storm, same reason as you are no doubt”.

All four nod, Nessa continues, “close that door and secure it, who knows what else is out there that may wish to come inside”.

Nessa tells them that she was making her way back to Winterton, skirting around Redcaps and skeletons, when the blizzard forced her to seek shelter. She has searched the shack but there is no signs of anyone else being here, it looks like it has been empty for some time.

Having secured the door, the four companions settle down with Nessa, explaining that Rhian and Crea have taken the moose to the barn. They also tell Nessa about their need to get to the Monastery in the Far Mountains as quickly as possible.

The Barn.

Question. Are the barn doors shut? Likely +20%, d100 = 29 +20, 49% No, because…

When Rhian, Crea and the Moose get to the barn they find the doors have been smashed open and snow has drifted inside. Rhian cautiously looks inside, there is a faint glow of light which seems to be coming from a torch and above the howling wind she can make out chattering of voices. Although she cannot understand what is being said, she recognises the creatures making the noise.

“Redcaps”, she wispers to Crea, “I am sure of it”.

“Can you see how many?”, Crea asks.

Rhian draws her fire sword, “no, but probably too many for us to take on, wait here while I get the others”. Crea is grateful that she is still wearing Rhian’s cloak of warmth but acknowledges to herself that she would be happier once the Redcaps have cleared out and she can get the moose undercover.

Rhian soon returns, bringing with her Hew, Strawberri and Nessa. Hew and Nessa both have their longswords in their hand and at the ready, Rhian her sword of flames, Strawberri is empty handed. All sneak quietly up to the partly open door.

“Let see if we can scare them out, no need to put our selves in danger if we can avoid it”, whispers Strawberri. She puts her head through the partially open door and looks around the barn, “I see no more than five of them, lets see what I can do”.

Strawberri enters the barn and begins speaking ancient words of power, calling forth an image of a hooded and robed figure, its face obscured by the shadows of the hood, the only thing visible within is the gleam of a burning gem.

Each of the five redcaps must make a save vs. spell or they believe the illusion to be real. Needing 17+ on d20 all fail. Each makes a second save vs. spell to avoid fleeing in panic. 3 fail and flee the barn, running past the companions and disappear into the blizzard, two remain in the barn, weapons ready to attack the illusion.

Strawberri drops her concentration ending the spell and the illusion disappears. She step further into the barn, drawing her dagger from her belt. Hew pulls the barn door further forward, allowing Nessa and Rhian to enter the barn and move beside her.

Combat.

Round 1. Strawberri has the highest initiative, she moves towards the oncoming Redcaps, attempting to stab one with her dagger. d20 roll = 16+1, 17. A hit causing 3 damage.
Rhian follows her and attempts to hit the second Redcap with her longsword. d20 roll =19 +1, 20. A hit causing 5 damage. The second redcap drops to the ground.
The first Redcap gets to attempt to hit Strawberri with his wicked blade. d20 roll = 16 + 3, 19. Way more than Strawberri’s AC of 15, the Redcap causes 4 damage, Strawberri has 4 hp remaining.

Round 2. Strawberri attempts to stab the Redcap again. d20 = 5+1, 6. A miss. Strawberri fails to even make contact with her dagger.
Rhian tries to help her. d20 = 13+1, 14. a hit (just), causing 5 damage. The second Redcap falls to the floor.

Nessa and Hew, now joined by Crea and the moose, walk up to Rhian and Strwberri, congratulating them on dealing with the Redcaps. Nessa takes the caps off the heads of the Redcaps and places them in her tunic, “We should get rid of the dead. Strawberri, you are hurt”.

Strawberri shrugs her shoulders, “a bad scratch is all, nothing Culdus cannot heal”.

With the barn free of redcaps, the moose secured and its burden removed from its back, Crea, Rhian and Hew settle down in the barn to wait out the blizzard. Nessa and Strawberri return to the shack where Culdus casts a healing spell on Strawberri, (Healing Touch spell, restores 1d8hp. Roll = 5), who is fully healed by the acolyte.
Karina Lankrit gets he lute and entertains the other three with a few gentle songs.

Outside the blizzard shows no sign of abating.

to be continued.