The world grows cold.
A decade ago a new Ice Age began, dubbed the “Eternal Winter” by those who survived the subsequent famine, social upheaval and mass violence. Madmen whisper that the Sun is dying, its energy devoured by a nameless entity from beyond the stars.
Most of mankind fled to the “Central Territories” - hot, equatorial land with rich soil that can still support crops. But the Territories are densely overpopulated, riddled with starvation and disease, and ruled by a sorcerous madman. So many instead seek out a life in the “Frontier”, the icy extent of the known world.
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| Frostpunk Concept Art |
The river barge came to a sudden halt. Molan Tala, the dark-skinned woman from the Territories helming the ship, shivered in the inescapable cold as she consulted her Pseudodragon. It had recently returned from one of its regular bout of aerial scouting, and it whispered something concerning into her ear. Frowning, she turned to those hired to protect the barge on its route to the Frontier city of Restenburn:
Cornyx, Level 1 Warrior-Priest of the Living Flame.
Dr. Holmen, Level 1 Chirurgeon.
Malakai, Level 1 Templar of the Crucified God.
Yvonne, Level 1 Illusionist.
All four adventurers had their reasons for fleeing the Territories, chief among them the Wizard of the Pale Tower. Since seizing power, the crazed sorcerer-tyrant had outlawed all religions that didn’t worship him as the One True God, and made a habit of executing any rival magic user who refused to bend the knee. At least, in this icy hell-hole, they could escape his long reach.
Molan’s Pseudodragon squealed an explanation in its uncanny mimicry of human speech: there was a suspicious blockage beyond the next bend in the Resten River. Molan directed the mercenaries to deal with it, whilst she and her two brothers, Ali and Hakim, guarded the boat. When the Pseudodragon was asked why the obstruction was unusual, the reptile squawked that it was shiny and smelled weird.
The adventurers groaned. That didn’t sound good.
A short hike through the freezing wilderness confirmed their suspicions. A naval chain stretched taut across the river, threatening any ship which tried to force a way through. The chain was anchored to a crank inside a fortified camp, consisting of three tents behind a log palisade. Within, two bow-wielding men were visibly keeping a watch on the treeline. Dr. Holem noted their steamy breath was both unusually hot and reeked of the rotten-egg smell of stinkdamp.
After dithering for several minutes and nearly getting spotted, Malakai and Yvonne decided to approach the camp - eliciting a cry from the sentries to identify themselves “in the name of Morlock the Lawgiver, the rightful Baron of Restenburn!”. The rest of the camp soon woke up and readied themselves for a confrontation; four more rebels armed with spears and axes, plus a chainmail-clad warrior clutching a flintlock pistol and falchion - the ragtag outpost’s commander.
The pair explained themselves to the commander, who introduced his men as the “Brotherhood of the Lawgiver” and himself as “Sir Hancock”. Hancock claimed the Brotherhood was fighting a war of liberation against Restenburn's town council, who had launched a coup after the previous Baron died on campaign 5 years ago. Yes, the traitors had imprisoned the late Baron's youngest daughter and wife, but the eldest daughter had escaped and married the Lawgiver. Hence, Morlock was the legitimate ruler of this land and, as his representatives, the Brotherhood would need to inspect the barge (and confiscate cargo for the war effort). The two adventurers said they’d tell their vessel to comply with the search, and departed without mentioning Cornyx or Dr. Holmen - both still hiding in the treeline.
Soon, the barge rounded the riverbend and dropped anchor. The rebels prepared their inspection, with Hancock producing a scroll of Detect Magic and demanding the crew lay down their weapons. They agreed, and Yvonne soon approached the assembled paramilitaries with a piece of parchment, explaining she held the ship’s cargo manifest. As the boarding squad expectantly stepped forward to examine it, they were promptly blasted in the face with her disguised scroll of Colour Spray.
With half the outpost now suffering from grand mal seizures, the ambush was swift and bloody. Cornyx burst from his concealed position and embedded his fokos in the neck of a sentry, whilst the disorientated Hancock had his throat opened by Malakai’s bastard sword. The commander collapsed to the ground, his wound spewing foul-smelling sulphurous smoke. The surviving rebels threw down their weapons and pleaded for their lives, barring the man who tried to flee for the treeline. He made it four paces before Dr. Holmen’s crossbow bolt punctured his occipital bone.
The adventurers took stock of the aftermath - four prisoners and their stash of stolen trade goods wasn’t a bad haul. Dr. Holmen, for his part, conducted an impromptu autopsy of a dead soldier - discovering their body had been colonised by a symbiotic, sulphur-based organism. It granted them immunity to poison and resistance to the cold, along with God-knows-what-else. Upon interrogation, the prisoners explained it was a blessing from the Lawgiver, received after drinking a foul-smelling golden liquid during the Brotherhood's initiation rites. The adventurers filed that information away for later, reboarded the barge, and left before rebel reinforcements arrived.
Two uneventful days later, they arrived at Restenburn. The Frontier city was an imposing sight, built upon cyclopean ruins that dated far before the earliest recorded settlement of the area. Restenburn Keep towered above the rest of the town, constructed from a massive pair of hollow stone towers standing over 150m tall. Even more impressive was the network of hissing steam pipes crisscrossing the settlement, providing the heat necessary to sustain life in the frozen Frontier. The pipes all originated from a semi-spherical brick building adjacent to the hollow towers. Clearly there was some form of magic at play, generating all this heat.
The barge sailed below a fortified exterior bridge which was protected by the flinty-eyed soldiers of the “Wallmen”, Restenburn’s town guard (read: military junta), and their alchemical flamethrowers. Passing unaccosted, they docked with the Crescent Moon, a merchant vessel anchored in the harbour. Here, the party was greeted by Khadiga Tala, the merchant who’d hired them for the protection job.
Smiling with a mouth full of glittering silver teeth, she waved over the buyers of the cargo - a strange group of wizards wearing lead-plated robes. They introduced themselves as the “Nurturers of the Sacred Glow”, unloaded numerous small lead boxes from the barge, and carefully carried them towards the steam-pipe building.
Satisfied with their execution of the contract, Khadiga paid the party and offered to buy the loot they’d “liberated” from the rebels, albeit with the usual 25% import tariff. Else they could try their luck with the Wallmen (who’d probably just confiscate it all without paying a dime). The adventurers agreed to her deal, whilst also deciding to exchange their rebel prisoners for a sizable bounty with the Wallmen at Restenburn Keep. At the end of the day’s escapades, they’d accumulated enough money to indulge in some much needed hot baths and strong drinks.
By the following morning, the soldiers of fortune were relaxing in a well-heated tavern; sipping mulled wine, nibbling spiced fish and being wholly unsure of what to do next. Yvonne took the opportunity to make a proposal to the assembled mercenaries:
She’d travelled to the Frontier to inherit the abandoned manor of her second-uncle, James Montecruz, a powerful alchemist who was thought to be dead (he’d been missing for half-a-decade). Yvonne wanted help reclaiming her ancestral manse, and offered an equal share of any treasure recovered as compensation. It quickly came to light that Restenburn was abound with rumours about the old manor hiding hordes of alchemical gold and it being haunted by soul-devouring ghosts raised up by Montecruz's unspeakable sorceries. This only served to further pique the interest of her fellow adventurers, so all three agreed to lend their support.
Without further ado, they purchased some additional equipment, hired a handcart and struck out into the icy Frontier - seeking the Malevolent Manor of Montecruz.
(This was the first session of a campaign using Mellonbread's Begone FOE! system for playing OSR-style D&D. It did go for nearly ~6 hours, so I’ll be splitting the game report into two separate posts for the sake of readability and ease of reference.)
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