Printable guide sheet: The Frozen Cistern

Read this to your players to start

The cistern is the climb’s water, and it is frozen solid under deep claw marks. Something big has been digging at the ice. Opening it, and finding out why, is the job today.

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

1. Scene 1: The Sealed Cistern from Quick Quest on

   Crunch, crunch, crunch. The path climbs into a wide bowl of snow, and there it is: the frozen cistern. It is a big round pool, frozen solid and shining blue. "Our water for the whole climb," says Kestra. "Under all that ice." Then she stops. Long, deep scratches cover the ice, round and round, as if something huge has been digging. Kestra whistles. "Now what made those?"

   Goal: Find out what made the scratches, and how to get at the water.

   • Study the scratches Clever, DN 10

     It works: The scratches go round and round in one spot, out on the far side. Nothing was fighting here. Something was digging, trying to get in.

     It doesn’t: Scratches, scratches everywhere. It makes you dizzy. But the biggest ones are all out on the far side of the ice.

   • Follow the footprints Brave, DN 10

     It works: Huge footprints lead across the ice, bigger than Kestra’s sled. You follow them anyway, step by careful step, toward the far bank.

     It doesn’t: Whoops! Your feet slide out from under you, and you spin across the ice on your bottom. You stop right next to the footprints. They lead to the far bank.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: What do you think made the scratches?

   Ask the quietest player: Kestra hands your hero the water flask. "You carry it," she says. Where does your hero keep it safe?

   Kestra opens with how Chapter 1 ended. Fed the wolves: "Three wolves fed and a good night’s sleep. Best start to a climb in years." Sent them home: "Clever lot. Let’s see if you’re clever on ice." Faced them: "No wolves today, thank goodness. Just ice." Nothing on the ice can hurt the heroes: it creaks, but it holds.

2. Scene 2: Windwhistle's Compass from Short Session on

   Something glints in the snowbank at the edge of the ice. You brush the snow away. It is a little brass compass, dented and old, with cracked glass. Kestra gasps. She holds it in both hands. "Grandmother’s," she whispers. "After all these years." The needle wobbles. It does not point north. It swings round and points across the ice, at the far bank.

   Goal: Find out what the compass is pointing at.

   • Follow the needle Brave, DN 8

     It works: You hold the compass out in front of you and step onto the ice. It creaks, but it holds. The needle leads you on, toward the far bank.

     It doesn’t: The ice creaks, and you jump back. Kestra takes your hand. "Together, then." The needle still points at the far bank.

   • Look closer at the compass Clever, DN 8

     It works: Words are scratched on the back. Kestra reads them, and her eyes go shiny. "It always pointed at what you needed to find," she says. Give the heroes the compass handout.

     It doesn’t: The back is too frosty to read. Kestra breathes on it, rubs it with her thumb and reads it out. Give the heroes the compass handout.

   Ask your players

   Ask the quietest player: Kestra lets your hero hold the compass first. How does it feel in your hands?

   Ask the table: Where do you think the compass wants you to go?

   Hand over the compass handout whichever way this goes: the table carries the compass into Chapter 3. The compass points at whatever its holder most needs to find. Today, that is Torvind’s friend.

3. Scene 3: Torvind's Warning from One-Sitting Session on

   ROOOAR! The roar rolls across the ice like thunder. On the far bank stands a yeti. He is as tall as a door, with shaggy white fur and huge claws, worn right down. He holds one paw close, as if it hurts. He does not charge. He stamps and huffs and stares at the compass. "Torvind," Kestra breathes. "Grandmother told me about him. I thought he was just a story."

   Goal: Find out what Torvind is guarding, without a fight.

   • Show him the compass Kind, DN 10

     It works: Torvind goes very still. He makes a low, soft sound, like a question. Then he steps back and points his sore paw out across the ice.

     It doesn’t: Torvind huffs and stamps, but he does not come closer. He keeps looking from the compass to one spot out on the ice.

   • Watch him carefully Clever, DN 10

     It works: His claws are worn down, as if he has been digging for days. And every few breaths, he looks out at the same spot on the ice.

     It doesn’t: He is too big and too loud to watch calmly. But there are chips of ice stuck all over his paws.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Torvind is not charging. What do you think he wants?

   Ask each player in turn: Torvind sniffs each hero in turn. What does your hero do?

   Torvind never attacks first. He roars and stamps because he is worried, not because he is mean: play him like a huge, grumpy dad who has not slept for days. He lets the heroes walk past him onto the ice, watching every step.

4. Scene 4: Under the Ice from Full Session on

   The compass tugs you out onto the ice, to a patch that is thin and very blue. You look down. Under the ice is a hollow full of air. And in it, curled up on a rock, is a second yeti! She is smaller than Torvind, and shivering. A little hole in the ice puffs with her frosty breath. She lifts a paw and taps the ice. Tap, tap. Hello.

   Goal: Make friends with Torvind’s friend, and work out how to get her out.

   • Talk to her Kind, DN 8

     It works: She hums back, a deep, wobbly hum. She is cold and scared, but she is not hurt. You push a mitten through the hole, and she holds it to her nose.

     It doesn’t: She shrinks back, shy. Then she sees you are not going away. She taps the ice again: tap, tap.

   • Check the ice Clever, DN 10

     It works: The ice is thick in the middle. But near the bank there is a long, thin crack. That is the weak spot. A few good taps there might break it open.

     It doesn’t: The ice all looks the same to you. You will have to find the weak spot when it counts.

   Ask your players

   Ask the quietest player: What do you think her name is? Use the children’s name for her for the rest of the campaign. The tracker has a line to write it on.

   Ask each player in turn: How does your hero say hello to her through the ice?

   This scene only finds her: the rescue is the climax, at every length. She fell through the ice in the storm and landed on a rock in an air pocket, and the hole froze over above her. She is cold, cross and fine.

5. Scene 5: Bonus: Grandmother's Hut from Epic Session on

   The compass swings round again, toward a tiny wooden hut by the snowbank. Snow is piled up to its windows. Kestra stops dead. "Grandmother’s old hut," she says. "She stayed here every winter, to watch the ice." The door is stuck fast. Through the frosty window you can see shelves and a little stove. Something long and shiny hangs on the wall.

   Goal: Get into the hut and find what Grandmother left there.

   • Squeeze in Brave, DN 8

     It works: You wriggle in headfirst and land on a pile of old blankets. You open the door from the inside. Kestra laughs.

     It doesn’t: You get stuck halfway, legs kicking outside. Kestra pulls you out by your boots, then lifts the whole door off its hinges.

   • Search the hut Clever, DN 10

     It works: On the wall hangs a long ice-saw, sharp and shiny. By the stove is an old drawing: a little girl hugging a baby yeti. Kestra touches it gently. "Grandmother," she says.

     It doesn’t: It is dark and dusty, and you sneeze six times. But the ice-saw is right there on the wall, and Kestra spots the drawing by the stove.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: The girl in the drawing is hugging a baby yeti. Who do you think it is?

   Play this scene only at the Epic length. The ice-saw means freeing Torvind’s friend at the climax needs no roll. The drawing is a seed for Chapter 3: the baby yeti grew up to be Snowmane, who lives at the summit. Do not explain it yet.

6. Scene 6: The Cistern Opens from Quick Quest on

   Torvind stomps out onto the ice and starts to dig. Scrape, scrape, scrape! His claws are worn and sore, but he does not stop. Now you can see why. Under the thin ice, curled up in a hollow, is another yeti. She is shivering. She presses one paw up against the ice. Torvind roars at you, then digs again. Kestra kneels down. "He’s not guarding the water," she says softly. "He’s trying to save his friend."

   Goal: Get Torvind’s friend out from under the ice.

   • Help him dig Kind, DN 10

     It works: You kneel beside him and dig. Torvind growls once, then lets you. Read "If you helped him dig."

     It doesn’t: Torvind growls, nervous, and the heroes back off. Try again, slower and quieter. The second try needs no roll.

   • Find the weak spot Clever, DN 10

     It works: You tap along the ice, listening, until it sounds hollow. Read "If you found the weak spot."

     It doesn’t: You tap the wrong spot, and nothing happens. Torvind snorts and points with his sore paw. Try again where he points. It needs no roll.

   • Face him No roll

     It works: Use the Torvind card. He never charges first. When he is down to 8 Heart Points, he sits down in the snow. Read "If you faced him."

     It doesn’t: If the fight goes badly, Torvind stops anyway. His friend needs him more than he needs to win. Read "If you faced him."

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Torvind is digging and digging. How could you help him? If the heroes never saw her before, Kestra says it in the read-aloud: he is trying to save his friend. That is the twist, at every length.

   Ask the quietest player: Torvind’s friend looks up at your hero through the ice. What does your hero do?

   Helping him dig: no roll if the heroes have the ice-saw from Grandmother’s hut. Otherwise roll with +2 if they showed Torvind the compass or talked to his friend through the ice (+2 once, however many are true). Finding the weak spot: +2 if they checked the ice. If the heroes fed the wolves in Chapter 1, the three wolves can turn up once, here or in Chapter 3, and help: no roll. Every ending frees her. Never found the compass? She was lying on it, and hands it to Kestra before the homecoming. Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   How it ends

   Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   If you helped him dig. Scrape, scrape, CRACK! The ice breaks, and Torvind lifts his friend right out. She is shivering and very, very happy. The two yetis hug so hard that snow flies off them. Then Torvind turns to you. He pats your head with one enormous, gentle paw.

   If you found the weak spot. Tap, tap, CRACK! A big slab of ice tips up like a door. Torvind’s friend climbs out, shaking snow everywhere. Torvind stares at the hole, then at you. Slowly, he taps his own head, as if to say: clever. Then the two yetis hum together, deep and happy.

   If you faced him. Torvind sits down hard in the snow, panting. Then he points at the ice with his sore paw. Together, you dig his friend out. She hugs Torvind tight. He looks at you, a bit ashamed and very grateful. Then he bows, just a little.

   Homecoming

   Every ending: on up the mountain. The ice is open, and the water sparkles, clear and cold. Kestra fills every flask. Then she holds up her grandmother’s compass. The needle swings past north and points straight up, at the very top of the mountain. "Well," says Kestra. "Grandmother always said someone lives up there. Let’s go and say hello."

Player handout — show this to your table

Windwhistle's Compass, As You Found It

Dented brass, cracked glass, and a needle that still turns. Scratched on the back, in careful old writing: "For K., so you always find your way back. Grandmother." It has not pointed north in years. But it has never once been wrong about what its holder needed to find.

Monster stat blocks

Rewards

• Windwhistle's Old Compass, carried into Chapter 3. It points at the summit now.
• Fresh, clear water for the rest of the climb.
• Two big new friends on the mountain: Torvind, and the friend the heroes named.

Tips for running this one

• Torvind is big, loud and worried, not mean. He never attacks first, and every way through this chapter, the fight included, frees his friend.
• Short on time? The Quick Quest is the first scene and the climax, and it still has the twist: the climax read-aloud shows his friend under the ice.
• 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.