What is the object that vanished and why is it important to retrieve it?
A clear blue crystal, of the sort Azurestone is named for, was used in dim antiquity to capture the first snowflake of the Last Winter before it touched the ground. Since that time it has been enshrined below Azurestone and its magic has kept the harbinger of the Last Winter, the Red Raven, frozen in time.
Without the crystal, the Red Raven, now warped by ages of resentment into a hideous vulture-serpent, will be freed and may finally complete its duty as harbinger.
What are two of the obstacles the PCs must overcome while chasing down the culprit?
The culprits kidnap a group of loggers and, before carrying off the hostages, order the loggers to lure the PCs into an ambush. If the PCs answer the request for help, they’re attacked by orcs and giant buzzards who drop hollowed buzzard eggs packed with choking mustard powder. The PCs will have to deal with the attackers and find the hostages, costing them scarce time. The culprits, a band of half-ogres, abandon the hostages in a cave that houses a Scabrous Broodmother, an undead thing of blood that tears its own flesh to spawn bloodsucking little Scablings.
The PCs will also have to cross a swampland ruled by the delusional ogre druid Charlock and his swarms of mange-warped skunks and dire chipmunks. His druidic powers are tied to the icy environment of the Fog Peaks, where he was once an ally of the centaur Toxoph (see below). The mismatch of environments makes Charlock seem all the madder, as do his animal subjects that he parades about in a travesty of his former ally’s kingdom. The PCs may be able to get crucial intelligence from the ogre, if they can negotiate in terms of his delusions.
Who took the object and why?
Agents of the centaur warlord Toxoph raided the Red Raven shrine openly, killing several guardsmen. Toxoph plans to use the crystal’s winter magic against his rivals, tribes of ogres and athachs that war for dominance of the Fog Peaks. His first plan is to imprison the head brute of the athachs, called Ur-Athach.
What will the final showdown with the culprit look like?
Toxoph has pretensions of empire and loves to force his barbarian orc subjects to celebrate his magnificence. He is particularly fond of the songs of his court bard, the ogre Bellower. The PCs have a chance to catch him unawares if they can strike amid the fanfare and pageantry of one of Toxoph’s galas, held at the frozen feet of Ur-Athach. It seems the victory is not hard won until the Red Raven comes to claim the crystal.
What new monster do you plan to include in this adventure?
In addition to the Scabrous Broodmother, there is the Red Raven, which is now a mockery of its once noble self. It has a naked serpent-like neck and a venomous beak. Its shadow is nightmare itself, causing those it falls upon to see their worst fears in the flesh. As the illusions appear only to the afflicted, their friends are powerless to help.
