Day 1 - Flamerule 6th

The door bursts open.  A frost covered man, bundled from head to toe, enters. He shouts, “Mr. Speaker!”  

It’s easy to notice the man is stressed, possibly in shock.  

Kendrick calls the man over, "What is it, Ib?”

Ib whispers in Kendrick’s ears.  Loud murmuring from the crowd keeps you from hearing his words. Kendrick asks him, ”Are you sure?”

Ib nods. Kendrick bellows, “Town Council, let’s meet in the back.”

The murmuring grows as Ib, Shandar, Wulfgar, another man and two women follow Kendrick through a door and out of sight.  Uneasy, the crowd attempts to regain their previous atmosphere, but falls short. After a couple of minutes, the group returns.  The crowd grows silent.  

Kendrick speaks, “Ib, tell them what you saw.  Just what you saw.”

“Narl Kelson. He’s dead. Murdered, I think.”

“Just what you saw, Ib.”, Kendrick repeats over the rising murmurs of the crowd.

“Rolm and I were out there. We’d come by the Kelson farm to talk trade.  I know he has a few sacks of grain left.  We, uh... Rolm saw him first, his hand sticking out of the snow.  It must have been a day or two.  We dug and what we found turned us on our heels before we could do any more looking around.  I feel terrible, ashamed. We didn’t even shout for them. We left without knowing what happened to Hestia and the kids, but if you saw his body...  It was, well I’d say butchered, but I butcher plenty and it don’t look nothing like that. I mean, this was savage.”

The crowd descends into gasps and shocked conversations. Several are crying.

Kendrick regains control.  “Friends. I know that at this late hour, after a celebration like the one we’ve had, many of you…most of you aren’t in a condition to face what could be a dangerous situation, but if Hestia and those kids are still in danger, it can’t wait.  Are there any of you still clear-headed and willing to head out to the Kelson farm and look for any sign of the others?”

A young woman, more properly dressed than the others and seemingly out of place, stands.  “I never partake of intoxicants, Mr. Speaker.  I’ll go if there are others.”

You notice the eye-rolling and half-smirks of the crowd.

“Thank you, Faith.  Any others?”

A young man, a musician you saw playing earlier, stands up. “I’m clear-headed, Mr. Speaker. I can’t play my lute if I’ve been drinking.”

From the back of the crowd someone adds, “Can’t play when you’re sober either!” It elicits a sole, uncomfortable laugh.

“Thank you, Aeden. That’s two. Ib says whatever happened was at least a couple of days ago. The danger has most likely passed. Nevertheless, I’d like there to be at least four.”

Numchucki volunteers, then Elva. 

“Numchuki, Eli often spoke of both your strength and wits. You’ll be a good addition to the party.  Thank you.”

“Elva you’ve long ago proven yourself a hero. Tonight we find ourselves again in your debt.”

Faith deftly handles the dogs as she adds Aeden’s five to her gangline then ties his sled behind hers.

“One of you will need to handle the sled.  I’ll take care of the dogs, you just keep it upright.”

Elva obliges.

For the next forty minutes, the trail goes up and down gentle sloping valleys, through dense forest with occasional acres of cut-over stump land. Eventually, you reach a natural opening in the woods. There, below you, is a farmhouse in good repair, but standing open and empty. The glow from the aurora is enough to light the scene. The front door is ajar, snow piles drift in. A field to the front of the house is blanketed in snow.  

From your vantage, you can see a pack of wolves prowl around the farm house.  They seem to ignore the body for now, but sniff around the windows, and one is sniffing at the open door.  When they catch your scent, the wolves look in your direction and one of them lets out a long and lonesome howl.  

The House

Ice crunches as you make your way up the stairs to the arctic entry.  Nothing much appears to be hear other than a stone floor and the snow that covers it. 

Opening the inner door, you still smell the lingering scents of a family home: wood smoke and good food, though very faint, several days old.

An old sofa, a desk, and a table seem to be some of the only furniture in the sparse farmhouse.  A wood bin stands next to the cold fireplace, with various cooking equipment hanging above it.  The stuffed head of a moose presides over all.  There is a door to your right and a door on the far wall. 

As you explore the house, you find little of interest.  A few children’s toys, not many.  Cookware, cleaning supplies, clothes - all the things needed by a family of modest means.  

They seemed to celebrate the winter in this household. There are wooden snowflakes throughout the house. These range from exquisitely-carved to sticks tied crudely together with twine.

After noticing some movement coming from the wood bin, you prepare yourselves for whatever may come.  As Elva opens the the bin carefully, screams assault your ears - two children huddle inside.  The boy and a younger girl are holding each other.  The girl seems to be doing enough screaming for both.  You can see they are shivering violently from the cold.  The boy reacts to seeing Noom, jolting slightly, then returns to his vacant stare.

You learn from Faith that the children are Naro and Tilly Kelson, and they are terrified. Elva calms Tilly down enough to talk.  Naro seems frozen, staring off into the distance.

“Mama told us to hide under the bed, so we did.  I hid under the bed and Naro stayed with me for a little.  But after we heard Mama open the back door, Naro got out and went to the front door.  I heard Naro scream and then he came back to hide with me.  He won’t tell me what he saw. He won’t tell me anything.”

The Bedroom

The door to the right goes into a cold and empty family bedroom, where all four used to sleep in one room.   Numchucku explores, with Faith following at his heels.
The bed is bare of blankets.  They are found underneath the bed, covered in bread crumbs. In the dresser, he finds three pieces of silver jewelry are wrapped in the woman’s smallclothes in one drawer.

"Those belong to the children now." Faith holds out her hand with a look of disapproval.  

Noom brings the children some toys from their room.

The Outbuildings

Faith stays inside with the children, while you both head to investigate the outbuildings.  She warns you to move quickly, the wolves are still near whether you see them or not.  You head out the back door.  There's a long depression in the snow that shows this path was used often.  

The Barn

Recent wolf tracks surround the barn, thickest near the door.  Recent wolf claw scratches are abundant at the door and walls.  An indentation shows the most commonly opened door, now held in place by a foot of snow.  

The smell of manure is overpowering.  The barn is full of farming tools. There’s room for several livestock animals, but now only one cow stands here, eating from a bail of hay.  This is a rothe/hair breed hybrid capable of easily surviving cold.  The corpse of a wolf, it's head stomped in, lies near its feet.  

The Shed

In front of the small shed there is a depression in the snow, indicating the door was open and shut frequently.  Laying on the work table is a woman, you can guess, Hestia. Her body is frozen solid, her face still wearing a haunting look of fear and desperation.  Frozen blood pools underneath her on the table and floor.  

The Body

• She is barefoot and wearing a nightgown.  

• Her throat was slit clearly across the throat and her abdomen sliced open.  

• Although gruesome, it does not match the horror of Narl’s body.  

• Her left wrist has a deep perpendicular cut, but her hand remains intact

• There is a snowflake scar identical to Narl’s

• The blood pools indicate she was most likely mortally wounded near the door, then placed on the table. 

• Three fingers of her left hand are broken. On the fingers that are broken, the fingernail was recently bent back and the fingertips are abraded.  

• There is a half-inch diameter scarified brand of a 6-sided snowflake a few inches up from the severed wrist, on the inside of the arm.  

• Further hints lead you to believe she broke her fingers trying to barricade the door.

In the shed you find a few tools and half a dozen sacks of stored grain. You find four large sheets of waxed canvas. 

As you return to the house, you overhear talking.  Stopping to to listen at the door, you hear Faith talking to the children

“This, what you are going through, is your winter.  It is not good, nothing can make it good, but it has happened, and it is now a part of you. This pain will shape you. It will help you grow. Know that She will give you strength in the darkness.  This will give you compassion for those who suffer.  You will survive this, and you will then know that you can survive anything with Her guidance. Loss is a part of life. Nothing can bring those who have died back, but their memory will always be a part of you…"