Dark Fantasy Role Play

AUTOR: Magnus Sjöström
TŁUMACZENIE NA ANGIELSKI J.A. „Heretic“ Hagen

It is winter. A thick layer of snow covers the cold cliffs and the dark deeps in the mountains which lie too far in the North for anyone to care about giving them a name. Even in this remote corner of the world live humans by what the nature has to give. Even Fur hunters and rangers accustomed to highly variable conditions have to give up faced with winter’s hard grip on the mountains. It is snowing continually and biting winds increase the cold which already penetrates the clothes and numbs the body. This is the coldest night of the winter and only an idiot would decide to go to the dark mountains.
An idiot or a madman.
An idiot, a madman or a hero.


Introduction

Far in the North there is a small village amid the high and inhospitable mountains, surrounded by gnarled spruces and dense bushes. The village is to a great extent isolated since years because the snow blocks the mountain pass that which is the only connection with the closest bigger town within range. In the coldest time of the year the villagers stay in their wooden houses and thank themselves for having been far-sighted enough to build up a big stock of wood for the winter. The fur hunters go out into the snow every now and then to snare hares and other small animals, but mostly one stays at home in front of the warming fireplace.
It is an uncommonly cold winter with uncommonly much snow in the mountain pass which surrounds the village; therefore one has more or less given up the idea to establish any contact with the world beyond the immediate surroundings until spring comes. Therefore the villagers are highly amazed as they see one morning a tall and slender figure which wanders across the snow towards the village. His black clothes make up a strong contrast to the white snow and the man’s whispy hair hangs in dark shags around the pale face. Over the shoulders he carries a shapeless bag which in spite of seeming to be very heavy and plump does not press the black man into the deep snow. As the man reaches the most peripheral house of the village he throws away his sack so that it falls on the house’s stairs with a smooth thudding sound. After that the stranger moves back towards the dense snow-covered spruce forest without turning again.
After an hour men and women leave their houses carefully, with tightly closed clothing to protect them against the cold they walk towards the mysterious bag on the stairs of the house. The house belongs to one of the older men who, in spite of his years, still roams the wilderness on his own regardless of the weather. He knows more than anyone else about the area and can care about himself. On of the assembled villagers knocks on his door, but no-one opens and soon someone says that he left the village that morning to hunt wolves.
There have been uncommonly many wolves in the mountains that winter. After a short discussion an unpleasant emotion is falling on the gathered villagers: their imagination produce repugnant pictures about the content of the bag. Finally one of the men takes the cords which keep the bag closed and with trembling hands he looses the knot. Then a collective sigh of relief runs through the gathered people; it is only a dead wolf. The villagers look almost embarressed from one to the other and try to look as impassive as possible. No-one will admit that they believed the old man to lay dead inside the rough back. But relieved the go home. No-one remains at the man’s hut, in spite of all he can care about himself and will come back when night falls. All hurry to get in to the warmth again and the next day they find the old man. He has been torn apart by predators behind his own house.


Background

It is an uncommonly cold winter and even the animals flee from the high mountain tops to lower terrain where they can find food in the tight spruce forests and shelter from the biting winds in the deep ravines. When the prey abandons the mountain tops their predators follow them; the wolves move in big packs through the forests which normally belong to the humans. This, however, changes with the arrival of the wolves. No-one knows how it began but somehow during the past years a man arrived in the area, a man who moved among the wolves as if he was one of them. He remained part of a big wolf pack and soon he became their leader. After that he sought out all other packs which roamed the mountains and even they accepted his leadership. At last he ruled the world of rodent, deer and small game in the highlands. He should have been pleased with that but then came the winter of hunger and the wolves were forced to leave the higher regions and move to the lower forests. There were the humans. Soon it became obvious that the humans hunted the same prey as the wolves and that they therefore became a threat. Then the flock decided that the humans too were food. When they killed met the old man in a desolate glade he believed at first that this was a blessing: so many wolf furs would bring a high price on the market in spring. He shot a fateful arrow to the individual that he believed to be the leader of the pack in the security that this would cause the rest to flee. Perhaps he could have shot one or two before they would have been too far into the trees. When the arrow hit the magnificent beast and threw it to the ground he cheered inwardly. Then the flock was over him. When the pack leader saw how the wolves killed the man he understood how the would be safe that winter. He could lead his pack in the forests around the village imitating the way how they hunted rabbits; they surrounded the prey’s burrows and covered all exits; then they waited for the animals to jump directly into their waiting jaws.
The man’s plan is simple; he left the dead man as a message for the villagers. Hopefully they will send out their strongest individuals to hunt the wolves while the man and his wolves get into the village and kill the weak ones left behind in the village. When the strong ones return, the man and his pack are waiting for them in the homes of the fatigued men, amid the torn pieces of their families. The man cannot forbear to smile at the thought.


The characters arrive

As this is a very short summary you as the Narrator must of course fill in the details by yourself but the idea is that the player characters (PCs) for any reason go through the deep snow to the lonely mountain village. Perhaps they have kith there or they are wolf hunters who are to exterminate the wolves which, according to rumours, ravage the area. Perhaps they act as bodyguards for a man who has kin in the village, acquaintances to which he has still contact. At last, they can be travelling when they are surprised by a snow storm forcing them to spend a day or two in the village. No matter how, the idea is that the PCs come to the village just in time to stop the oncoming massacre in which threehundred wolves kill thirty villagers who do not know that the leader of the pack can open unlocked house doors.


Description of the action

1. The PCs arrive and hear of the dead man and the mysterious wanderer. The violent storm makes it impossible to find the man’s trail. One can find out that the man used to hunt in a ravine a bit outside the village.
2. If the PCs go to the ravine the find a lot of blood trails under the fresh fallen snow. By that they can conclude that the man was not killed behind his house where his body was found.
3. During the first night a number of wolves together with the leader of the pack sneak into the village. They break into the village’s stable and kill all horses they can find. If they are successful it will become very difficult to leave the area pretty fast.
4. A group of hunters leaves the village and goes to the mountain pass where caves are known to be, hoping to find the wolves which are believed to be there. It is still believed that the wolves are twenty in number. When the hunters reach the caves they find hundreds of trails in the fresh snow: They are not attacked and go back to the village. They are shadowed by the wolves which do not attack the hunters because the leader of the pack deems them too heavily armed and aware. Back in the village, the hunters tell of the nightmare in the caves and the trip home.
5. A young boy who left the village with his dog without permission in order to ride toboggan on a slope nearby vanishes. Later on his chewed bones are found a bit away in a sink surrounded by wolf trails.
6. The villagers are fed up with the situation and sent out all adult man and older boys to hunt down the wolves. If the PCs do not participate they have to face mockery and gibe.
7. The wolves storm the village around afternoon. The leader of the pack opens the doors of the houses and instructs his minions in the art to get in through the windows. There is a massacre which only the PCs can stop, given the case that they are in the village. If the leader of the pack is killed at that time the wolves will split in minor groups.
8. If the PCs went with the hunters they find no wolves and have to return with empty hands in the cold. When the arrive in the village, everything seems to be normal. When the man return to their houses, the wolves are awaiting them. They even storm out of the forests from all sides. If the PCs want to repel the now superior beasts they have to use fire; neither the wolves nor the man like fire. If the man is killed at that opportunity happens the same as above.

Finally: The mysterious leader of the pack is an individual you have to make up by yourself, but keep in mind that he should have abnormal values in awareness and high physical attributes but lower mental abilities. He fights without weapons but is strong enough to tear apart a man with mere hands.

That’s all!