[A to Z April] F is for Frost Wound Patch (locale)

A two-day journey outside of Coldtreath will find a traveler at the foothills of the Elarrix Crags. The Elarrix Crags are a strange circular range of mountains with no seeming reason to be where they are located. In a secluded valley in the midst of the Elarrix Crags lies an open space that, under other circumstances, could be called a mountain meadow. This, however, is known as the Frost Wound Patch.

A dale approximately ten acres in size, this area is avoided by all who know of its existence. Strange things happen here and even stranger creatures inhabit the valley. The least of the creatures that call the Frost Wound Patch home are the frusenspöke, a race of vicious, frozen undead.

Regardless of the time of year in the surrounding mountains, the weather at Frost Wound Patch is always well below freezing. Freezing mists and fogs are not uncommon although snow is rare. Occasionally the Patch will receive skiffs of snow; sizeable accumulation simply does not happen. It is truly a wounded patch of earth among the other small fertile valleys scattered among the Elarrix Crags.

No one knows why the Patch is the way it is. There has been no reason or underlying cause found; it is most likely a natural--albeit strange--phenomenon, although rumors persist of an ancient battle between an ancient white dragon and a group of fell necromancers and weather mages. It is nearly impossible to start a fire of any size within the Patch and fire-related magic simply does not work.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

1. Recently there has been an outbreak of disease in the towns within the foothills of the Elarrix Crags. Rumor has it that dark, loathsome creatures have made their way down from the Frost Wound Patch to infect the citizens with a dreadful plague. This obviously has many locals concerned. The adventurers are hired to get to the bottom of the plague and do what they can to stop it. One of the characters has family that lives in one of the towns; a member of that family has contracted the disease and is dying.
   
2. While traveling, the characters come upon a former mentor of one of the characters. A meal at the next town is offered in exchange for willing ears. He tells tales of funerary desecrations and missing bodies. Footprints and other evidence point to the Elarrix Crags. After a lengthy question-and-answer it’s learned that the body of the mentor’s teenage daughter is also missing.
   
3. There have been rumors about wild magics and strange lights high in the Elarrix Crags. There are rumors about evil knights and dark summonings. There are also rumors of powerful magic items and treasure hoards.
   
4. A city near to the Elarrix Crags was once peaceful and productive. Then a nobleman of questionable character arrived from the mountains and took up residence in the ruins of a town in the foothills. Since then, despite the best efforts of a rich guildmaster and others, seemingly random wildfires have claimed the local farms and forests. The city has promised a great reward of supplies and clothing to any who can stop the nobleman.
   
5. While traveling along the foothills of the Elarrix Crags, the party comes upon a campsite tucked up in a thicket of woods. There are a half-dozen families here with their carts and possessions. It looks like they recently suffered an attack. Several of them are wounded: men, women, and children alike. The bodies of two men and a teenage boy are carefully laid out in the center of camp near a roaring fire. Monstrous tracks lead through the woods toward the Crags.
   
6. The party is hired by one member's friend to provide security for the wedding of his only daughter in the small city of Elarrix at the north end of the Elarrix Crags range. The party must guard the family's keep--and the daughter's rooms in one tower particularly--against kidnapping attempts of a rival family. In the morning, after an uneventful night, the daughter is discovered missing; her rooms are sub-freezing and filled with a cold mist. Frost covers everything within the room. The party must find the girl or lose face, reputation, money, and a friend.

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Previous "F"s:

2012: F is for Flesh Alliance

2011: F is for Found Items