Printable guide sheet: The Summit Cairn

Read this to your players to start

The compass points at the very top of Frostpeak, where a cairn of stones flutters with ribbons tied in Grandmother’s knot. Someone has kept them there for years. Today, the heroes find out who, and why.

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

1. Scene 1: The Cairn at the Top of the World from Quick Quest on

   The last climb is the steepest. Then, suddenly, there is no more up. You are on the very top of Frostpeak! The whole world is spread out below you. In the middle of the summit stands a tall pile of stones, twice as tall as Kestra. Hundreds of ribbons flutter from it, red and blue and gold. The compass needle points straight at it, and goes still.

   Goal: Find out who has been tying ribbons on the cairn.

   • Look at the ribbons Clever, DN 10

     It works: Every ribbon is tied with the same neat knot. Kestra gasps. "That’s Grandmother’s knot. She taught it to me." Somebody has been tying them here for years.

     It doesn’t: The ribbons whip about too fast to see. But Kestra catches one and stares at the knot. "Grandmother’s knot," she whispers.

   • Shout hello Brave, DN 10

     It works: Your "HELLO!" echoes round the peaks. Then, from behind the cairn, comes a deep, slow answer: "Hello-o-o." Something big is here, and it sounds friendly.

     It doesn’t: The wind snatches your voice away. But fresh, giant footprints go round and round the cairn.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: You are on top of the whole mountain! What can your hero see from up here?

   Ask the quietest player: Kestra gives your hero a ribbon to tie on the cairn too. What colour is it? A hero who ties a ribbon here gets +2 on leaving a gift at the climax.

   Never found the compass? Kestra knows the way anyway: Grandmother told her about the cairn, and she points. The scene plays the same. Whoever answers the hello is Snowmane, and she is shy until the heroes reach her.

2. Scene 2: The Windy Ridge from Short Session on

   Before the top, there is one more ridge to cross. It is narrow, with snow on both sides, and the wind roars. WHOOSH! Kestra’s hat flies off her head and sails away. Then a huge white paw reaches up from behind a rock. It catches the hat, sets it down on a stone, and slips out of sight. Kestra stares. "Did you see that?"

   Goal: Cross the windy ridge, and find out whose paw that was.

   • Cross together Brave, DN 10

     It works: In a long line, holding hands, you shuffle across, step by step. Nobody looks down. At the far end, Kestra’s hat is waiting on the stone, brushed clean of snow.

     It doesn’t: A gust knocks you flat. You crawl the rest of the way on your tummies, like penguins. The hat is waiting on the stone at the far end.

   • Find the sheltered side Clever, DN 10

     It works: You spot big footprints on the sheltered side, out of the wind. Somebody huge walks this way often. You follow their steps across.

     It doesn’t: Every way looks windy. Then Kestra spots big footprints on the sheltered side, and you follow them across.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: Whose paw do you think that was?

   Ask each player in turn: How does your hero hold on in the wind?

   The paw is Snowmane’s. She has watched over the heroes since the cistern, but she is shy, and she waits for them at the top. The ridge is narrow, not dangerous: nobody can fall.

3. Scene 3: Snowmane from One-Sitting Session on

   A shape stands up from behind the cairn, and up, and up. It is a yeti, twice as big as Torvind, with silver fur and kind, crinkly eyes. She looks at the compass, then at Kestra, for a long, long time. "You have her nose," she rumbles. "And her compass. I am Snowmane. I have waited a long time for someone to bring it home."

   Goal: Make friends with Snowmane, and find out how she knew Grandmother.

   • Show her the compass Kind, DN 8

     It works: Snowmane takes it in two huge fingers, very gently. She holds it to her ear, as if it is whispering. Then she gives it back to Kestra. "Keep it," she says. "She would want you to."

     It doesn’t: Your hands shake, and the compass drops into the snow. Snowmane picks it up, very gently, and gives it to Kestra. "Butterfingers," she says, and her eyes crinkle.

   • Ask her a question Clever, DN 10

     It works: Snowmane answers slowly, like snow falling. She has lived on this mountain for a very long time. And she knew Kestra’s grandmother when they were both very small.

     It doesn’t: Snowmane only smiles. "Patience," she says. "Stories are best told at the top." She pats the stones of the cairn.

   Ask your players

   Ask each player in turn: Snowmane sniffs each hero and says, "You smell of adventure." What does your hero say back?

   Snowmane talks slowly, in a deep, warm rumble, like a very old grandmother. Never found the compass? She looks at Kestra instead: "You have her nose. And her knot." Nothing here turns into a fight.

4. Scene 4: The Story Stones from Full Session on

   Snowmane leads you round the cairn. Behind it stands a circle of flat grey stones, each with a picture scratched on it. There is a storm. There is a tiny yeti stuck in deep snow. There is a girl with a ribbon in her hair, digging. "My story stones," says Snowmane. "Can you read them? Most people only see scratches."

   Goal: Read the story on the stones.

   • Read the pictures Clever, DN 10

     It works: Storm, stuck, digging, carrying, home. The girl dug the baby yeti out and carried her to a cave. Kestra whispers, "Grandmother told me this story. I thought she made it up."

     It doesn’t: The scratches are old and faded. Snowmane traces each one with a claw and tells you what it shows: a storm, a stuck baby yeti and a girl who dug her out.

   • Ask Snowmane to tell it Kind, DN 8

     It works: Snowmane sits and tells it slowly. The baby yeti was her. The girl was Kestra’s grandmother. Kestra holds the compass tight and listens to every word.

     It doesn’t: Snowmane gets halfway, then sniffs and stops. Kestra finishes it for her, softly: the girl was Grandmother, and the baby was Snowmane.

   Ask your players

   Ask each player in turn: Snowmane asks, "What story would you scratch on a stone?" What does your hero say?

   Knowing the story gives +2 on telling one back at the climax. The climax read-aloud tells the story too, for shorter games: here the children get to work it out first.

5. Scene 5: Bonus: The Runaway Ribbon from Epic Session on

   WHOOSH! A great gust roars over the summit. One ribbon tears loose from the bottom of the cairn. It is the oldest one, faded red. It tumbles away across the snow and snags on a rock, right at the edge. "Oh no," says Snowmane. "That one was hers. She tied it the day she found me." The ribbon flaps, ready to blow away.

   Goal: Get Grandmother’s red ribbon back before the wind takes it.

   • Climb down to it Brave, DN 10

     It works: Kestra holds your boots while you stretch, and stretch, and stretch. Got it! The ribbon is soft and faded and safe.

     It doesn’t: Your fingers miss by a whisker, and the ribbon blows onto Snowmane’s nose. She sneezes. Then she hands it to you, laughing.

   • Hook it Clever, DN 10

     It works: Kestra’s staff, a loop of rope and a careful flick. The ribbon swings up into your hand.

     It doesn’t: The rope loop flops over Kestra’s head instead. Everybody laughs. Then the wind drops, and the ribbon flutters right into Kestra’s hand.

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: This ribbon was tied the day Snowmane was found. Where should it go now?

   Play this scene only at the Epic length. Nobody can fall: Snowmane is right there. Bringing the ribbon back means telling the story at the climax needs no roll, because Kestra ties it back on the cairn while the heroes talk.

6. Scene 6: Coming Home from Quick Quest on

   Snowmane, the great silver yeti, sits down by the cairn with a thump. "Long ago, in a terrible storm, a baby yeti got stuck in the snow," she rumbles. "A girl with a red ribbon dug her out and carried her home." She looks at Kestra. "I was that baby. Your grandmother was that girl. Every winter she came up here, and we said thank you, the mountain way."

   Goal: Say thank you the mountain way, for Grandmother and for Kestra.

   • Tell the story Kind, DN 10

     It works: You tell her about the wolves, the ice and the climb. Snowmane listens to every word. Read "If you told her a story."

     It doesn’t: You get muddled and start in the middle. Kestra helps you begin again. The second try needs no roll.

   • Leave a gift Clever, DN 8

     It works: You make something from what is in your packs and set it on the cairn. Read "If you left a gift."

     It doesn’t: Your gift falls apart in the wind. Snowmane holds it together with one huge finger while you fix it. It needs no roll.

   • Snowball fight No roll

     It works: Use the Snowmane card. Her snowballs are huge, but they are only snowballs. When she is down to 10 Heart Points, she falls back in a drift, laughing. Read "If you had a snowball fight."

     It doesn’t: If the snowball fight goes badly, nobody minds. Snowmane is laughing too much to keep going. Read "If you had a snowball fight."

   Ask your players

   Ask the table: How do you think yetis say thank you? The mountain way is a story, a gift or a snowball game: Snowmane says so if the children ask. The read-aloud tells Grandmother’s story at every length: that is the twist.

   Ask the quietest player: Snowmane holds out a paw to your hero. What does your hero do?

   Telling the story: no roll if the heroes saved Grandmother’s red ribbon, because Kestra ties it back on the cairn while they talk. Otherwise +2 if they read the story stones. Leaving a gift: +2 if a hero tied a ribbon on the cairn or showed Snowmane the compass (+2 once, however many are true). If the heroes fed the wolves in Chapter 1 and the wolves have not helped yet, they turn up now, howling hello, and join in: no roll. Grandmother grew too old to climb and lived a long, happy life at the waystation: keep it gentle. Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming, and the campaign is done.

   How it ends

   Read the ending that happened, then the homecoming.

   If you told her a story. Snowmane listens with her eyes shut. When you finish, she hums, a low, happy hum that shakes the snow off the ribbons. "A good one," she says. "Grandmother would have liked it." Then she scratches a new picture on a story stone. It shows the heroes, small and brave, at the top of the world.

   If you left a gift. Snowmane turns your gift over and over in her huge paws. Then she sets it on top of the cairn, in the very best place. "Grandmother left me a gift every winter," she says. "I kept every one." She lifts a flat stone. Underneath are buttons, pebbles and a tiny wooden sled.

   If you had a snowball fight. Snowmane falls back into a huge drift, laughing so hard the mountain shakes. Kestra throws one last snowball. It lands right on Snowmane’s nose. "Your grandmother never once won," says Snowmane, wiping her eyes. "You are better at this than she was."

   Homecoming

   Every ending: the long way home. Snowmane ties a new red ribbon to the compass, in Grandmother’s knot. The needle spins, and settles, pointing home. All the long way down, the mountain feels friendly. Two yetis wave from the cistern. Back at the waystation, Kestra scratches one more line on the wall. "Best winter of the lot," she says. "Same time next year?"

Player handout — show this to your table

The Ribbon From the Cairn

A new red ribbon, tied to the compass strap in Grandmother’s knot. Scratched on a flat stone beside it, in big, careful yeti letters: "THE MOUNTAIN REMEMBERS KINDNESS. S."

Monster stat blocks

Rewards

• The whole story of Kestra’s grandmother and Snowmane: the campaign’s secret, told at the top of the world.
• A new red ribbon from Snowmane, tied to the compass: the handout.
• A friend at the top of the mountain, and an invitation to come back every winter.
• A real-world bonus, if you like: tie a ribbon somewhere at home, in Grandmother’s knot.

Tips for running this one

• This is the finale: Kestra’s story and the compass pay off here, so give Kestra real spotlight time.
• Snowmane is the gentlest giant on the mountain. Even her fight is a snowball fight, and she laughs the whole way through.
• Short on time? The Quick Quest is the first scene and the climax, and it still has the twist: Snowmane tells Grandmother’s story in the climax read-aloud.
• 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.