It's the winter of 12c, 1266. 5 years ago the Wolves were formed. 5 weeks ago, they were dispatched to locate Krothmire. Krothmire is a secret Frigoshian prison camp hidden deep in the eastern Howling Front, the unmoving line of combat between Frigoshia and the Republic. The war prisoners there are forced to work in forges, and kept barely alive. The cover of night coupled with a powerful snowstorm has given them an opportunity to approach the prison undetected.
The mission proceeds fairly simply. Lukas debated whether to fireball a room with his friends in it, but ultimately didn't. One day, he'll get the chance to fireball some Frigoshians. Olaf then masterfully convinced two guards that he had important news of their father. They sat on the edge of a cliff to listen, and Olaf pushed them off and they plummeted to their deaths. Truly a wild gambit that somehow paid off. Iona nearly drowned a few guards, and together, they defeated those that remained. They freed the prisoners of Krothmire.
Suddenly, Ron hears a loud beeping sound coming from his pocket. It's a small triangular marble beacon no larger than the palm of his hand. A small blue sphere in the center is beeping, transmitting an encoded message from Commander Kragknull. After some translation, to their shock, their ongoing mission of 5 weeks has been prematurely cancelled! The message reads:
"EMERGENCY. BY ORDER OF THE CHANCELLOR, RETURN TO THE CAPITAL IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY. ONGOING MISSION NULLIFIED. - COMMANDER KRAGKNULL."
1 week later, the Wolves return to Hephaestus. Lukas jumped in a well, Olaf and Ron bought poison, Olaf searched tirelessly for furries and then scammed people, and they were greeted by fans. All of them bought a bunch of stuff using their government pay.
While exploring the town, they spot a bunch of little details. There are comic books about them, but they're extremely exaggerated. There are also comics about the other major heroes of Arcohaem, like the Karlstad Crusaders. Tucked away in a corner are some old recalled comics about Captain Terrik, who they learn was an ex-soldier that went nuts and was rightfully exiled.
There are also propaganda posters throughout town.
They decide to head to the Senate building to receive their mission. They're greeted by Commander Kragknull, who's been waiting for them. Though largely a stoic person, he's close to the Wolves and is excited to see them again. After exchanging hellos, he sits them down and lays out the situation.
"I've been a commander since the beginning of this war. Over that time, I've seen the Frigoshians sink to lows even I didn't think they'd cross. They fight and kill without mercy, or identity, or voice, all so that they can enforce their primitive lifestyle onto us. It confounds me why some of our own citizens go out of their way to protest this conflict like we're somehow at fault here. With all of that said, I didn't think anything they could do could surprise me... but this most recent development is so terrible that I've been sick with dread for the past week. Two weeks ago, 5 of our soldiers were separated in the heat of battle and got lost wandering the eastern Howling Front. While wandering, they discovered a Frigoshian transport carrying incubation equipment, and the first dragon egg we've seen in centuries. This has led the Senate to believe that the Frigoshians are running a covert dragon incubation program, likely for military use. A single adult dragon could decimate Hephaestus before we even got a chance to respond. We don't know how many they have, and our armies aren't getting close enough to the capital to stop them. So the Senate approved a secret mission to infiltrate Frigoshia, locate the program, and shut it down. To the senate's surprise, Chancellor Kaul personally selected you 5 for this mission. I don't think I have to explain why that wasn't a popular decision. I believe you're more than capable for this mission, but your track record is inconsistent, so you'll need to step up to prove yourselves to the Senate. Like I said, your mission has three parts:
Then, they planned their mission. They're going to travel to Ammalor and charter a ship as far north as possible. That will allow them to cut into Torhild without moving through much of the Howling Front.
The Wolves moved from Hephaestus to Ammalor to search for a ship to charter. Ammalor is known far and wide for its artisans, trade, and craftsmanship due to being a hub of travel and trade for Arcohaem. The ports were bustling, the shops were overflowing with merchandise, and the streets were lined with the rich and powerful.
Seeing the wealthy, and without hesitation, Olaf set up his scam and began to con people. Over the course of the next hour, he made a whopping 700gp with rigged games and cons. While this was happening, Ron consumed an ungodly 20 imported Ambrosine fish tacos.
Focused on the mission, Iona and Lukas began to search for a ship to take. Most rejected or avoided them upon seeing their military outfits, except for one. Marrek is an older, sketchier man. He told them he won't ask any questions if they don't ask him any questions. He offered to take them for 100gp each plus 1000gp to armor the ship. Supposed "volcanic activity" has been wiping out ships in the north. On top of that, there's a large Frigoshian blockade that he'd have to avoid. So, they'll have to take a tiny private ship in complete darkness to avoid getting noticed. The furthest he'll be able to take them is Freyrhage because of the blockade.
Lukas was suspicious. The captain is very clearly involved in criminal activity, and his code of "no questions both ways" is definitely strange. Iona trusted him right away, and with some negotiation from Ron, they got the ship armored and prepared for the voyage.
While sailing, they heard some mysterious noises coming from the water. There were large bubbles erupting from the water around their ship. They definitely seemed organic, but Marrek claimed they're just the "volcanic activity" he mentioned earlier. Just then, they heard some splashing off the back side of the boat, which stopped the bubbling. Something was thrown into the water.
Marrek retreated into his private quarters. Suspicious as always, Lukas asked Olaf to pick the lock to let them in. Olaf did so flawlessly, and they entered his quarters. They found a small rusted lockbox under his desk. Inside was a rusted dagger with draconic emblems etched into it. Marrek caught them, but he wasn't worried. He explained that he found it while doing a job with an anonymous treasure hunter. The guy died getting it, and Marrek lost the tip of his middle finger in the process. The dagger predates the founding of the tribes of Arcohaem, but is far more advanced than anything in that time. So, it's impossible. He doesn't know who made it, but the thought that there's always more out there keeps him sailing.
Marrek orders them to leave his quarters. Not willing to listen, Lukas threatened and berated him. Marrek yelled that they had an arrangement, and that he'd kick him off the ship. Not taking the hint, Lukas continued to irritate, threaten, and abuse his "authority" over Marrek. Finally, Marrek had enough. As they docked in Freyrhage, Marrek threw Lukas off the ship and insinuated that he'd "get what's coming to him." In retribution, Lukas attempted to burn him, but it strangely had no effect.
The port of Freyrhage was massive but hastily constructed and largely abandoned. A large third-party militia from out-of-country had moved in. They'd assembled fences, guard routes, and large metal towers. A Frigoshian flagpole had torn down, giving them the hint that Freyrhage didn't want to be associated with Frigoshia anymore.
Freyrhage was established some 35 years ago to capitalize off the port. A lot of care went into the town, but when the war began, they were forced into joining Frigoshia. They recently declared independence and hired the militia to protect them from the incoming battalion.
Iona, furious with Lukas' actions with Marrek, split off from the group. He then met Emily Persson, who was pushing her elderly mother-in-law Annette. Unfortunately, the wheelchair was jammed. Iona helped her, and she recognized their armor. She invited them to join her family for some roast duck.
Before the dinner, Ron consumed the "Four Horsemeals of the Eggporkalypse" and crapped himself to intimidate the restaurant owner. He was then invited by Iona to join the dinner. Olaf met Danny and Danielle Persson. Danielle is incredibly outgoing and Danny is super shy, but they liked Olaf. That was, until Olaf attempted to fake his death in front of them, leading to much confusion. Iona invited Olaf and (begrudgingly) Lukas to join the dinner.
At the dinner, Ron quickly formed a simple friendship with Erik Persson, a slovenly but big-hearted father who communicated through grunts and small sentences. Olaf impressed Danny with his military stories. Lukas jokingly flirted with Emily Persson, and then met Danielle, who reminded him of his sister. Danielle gave him her pop-up book, which notably had her name and address in it in case he ever wanted to come back. Iona accidentally got drunk off a single drink of blubberbutter beer, and started dancing. He had a blast with everyone.
The Perssons wanted to flee, but they couldn't afford it because of Marrek's ridiculous asking prices. Besides, they didn't know if Annette would even survive the journey; she was pretty old and couldn't walk. The Perssons stressed that they trusted the militia, and that they would always lock their doors at night.
After a fun night, they got back on track with their mission. They began moving dead west through the arctic plains. Iona, keen as ever, spotted something atop a cliff. There was a solid black human-ish silhouette a few miles away. It was just... watching them. Getting a closer look, he noticed that it'd vanished. Lukas, getting an inkling of what this might've been, began having PTSD.
After about an hour of walking, they found themselves in a series of small icy ravines. They stumbled into a cliff, and discovered a full battalion stocked with explosives, weapons, and over 200 Frigoshian soldiers. To their horror, they were then ambushed by a Frigoshian soldier.
They quickly overpowered him, causing him to beg for mercy. He gladly shared information about his family, and he dropped everything he had. His name was Alric Grimvell. He acted very strangely; he was very relaxed, he made jokes, and he didn't seem to be afraid. His eyes didn't really emote, but that could just be because he's a Frigoshian soldier. His armor was patterned and fancier, so he claimed that he'd just been promoted to "squad leader." He said he was forced into the military and that he won't tell anyone he saw them. Oddly, he recognized the Havran family ring, which is not only an insane feat of perception, but is a really obscure thing for him to even know about.
He agreed to reveal what his battalion is planning if they let him go. While he was talking to them, he got their names, how they got here, and what they'd been up to. Ron wasn't buying it, but no one else wanted to resort to murder just yet on the off-chance he was innocent. They took the deal, and he revealed that his battalion was going to wipe out Freyrhage for rebelling, and then they were going to move on to Mosegard to push through to Lemnaeus. They're attacking at sunset, which was in a little over an hour.
Alric noticed the pop-up book Danielle gave Lukas. Thinking it odd, he swiped it while giving Lukas a thankful hug. He then vanished.
They called Commander Kragknull, who was talking with his friend Senator Finn, and he encouraged them to warn the town. However, they shouldn't under any circumstances risk their mission for Freyrhage since they weren't even really associated with the Republic.
They mentioned Alric, and Kragknull acted funny. Something was wrong; Kragknull knew that name from somewhere. There was no way Alric was just a squad leader. If Kragknull knew him, then he probably wasn't dumb enough to attack a squad of Republic soldiers by himself, largely unarmed.
Ron used all of his teleports to chase after a trail of footprints in the snow. To his dismay, they were dummy scouts Alric had sent to distract them. He had gone towards the town, but they didn't understand how he moved so quickly or what he was doing. Lukas then had a horrifying realization; the pop-up book was gone. Alric had taken it... but why?
Reaching the town, they found the front guard missing. He had been killed and dragged into the bushes, where his face and eyelids had been removed. He was dying and coughing up blood. He said someone had pretended to be lost and then stabbed him. The guard died terrified.
They looked for the Perssons and found the front door open and the window smashed. They never left their door open. They knew Alric was inside. They slowly walked in and found the living room trashed and Annette collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood. A single candlelight burned behind the kitchen door, and they could hear muffled voices.
After much deliberation, everyone but Ron entered the kitchen. Ron climbed to the roof to check for anyone else. A kettle was cooling on the stove, still making a low whistling. In the center of the room, Erik and Emily were tied to chairs and gagged. In the corner, Danny and Danielle were tied to each other. Their eyes were wide with horror and they were looking to the back door, but nothing could be seen.
Just then, they heard a voice say, "Hey! I was wondering if you'd even show up!" Emerging from the darkness was Alric. He was holding a gun to Emily's head and sipping a cup of fresh tea in the other. He had a warm and friendly smile across his face. "It seems you're already acquainted with the Perssons," he said, gesturing to the pop-up book, "Danielle at least. I owe you an apology; I wasn't entirely honest with you earlier. I'm the captain of that battalion you saw earlier. My men spotted you coming and I figured I'd introduce myself to you fine people. Here's what I'm having trouble with. An elite Republic strike team, all alone, in Freyrhage of all places. That just doesn't sit right with me. So," he said, cocking his gun and pressing it to Emily's head, "who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Olaf told him that they were there to sabotage supply lines, but Alric didn't buy it. They were far too high-ranking for that, and Freyrhage hadn't been active in a long time. He counted down from five, and then shot Emily. He asked again and pointed the gun at Danielle. Ron climbed down from outside and attempted to shoot Alric through the window, but missed, causing him to shoot Danielle. Lukas screamed in rage, but Alric calmly told him to relax. He had told them the rules, and they had broken them. Lukas panicked and revealed their true mission to Alric. He told Alric about the dragons, the incubation, everything. To their horror, he was skeptical, because he hadn't heard anything about dragons and he was a captain. Ron suggested Alric hear it from Commander Kragknull, who quickly realized they were being interrogated and poorly lied. Alric shut it down. Ron made another move, and Alric shot Danny. With only Erik remaining, Ron used Death Ward to protect him from death. Iona then water bubbled Alric, knocking him prone. This action caused Alric to again fire at Erik, but Death Ward protected him from death and instead knocked him unconscious. They all seized the opportunity to beat and trap Alric. He convinced them to keep him alive long enough to get information out of him. They took his body and fled as Freyrhage was raided and burned down. No one else made it out. The raid was brutal, and the sounds of screaming was burned into their minds for the next several hours.
After running for hours into the woods, they made camp and reflected. They contacted Kragknull, who was infuriated that they had revealed the mission. He told them to be more careful, since they nearly blew the whole mission. Alric was injected with Olaf's truth serum and revealed that he truly didn't know anything about the dragons. He had also broadcast their conversation on an open channel, meaning there was a good chance someone had overheard. They decided they were done with Alric, and so they killed him, with Erik Persson dealing the killing blow. Lukas turned him to ash, and Iona dissolved his bones in acid. While dying, Alric smiled, enjoying the pain and getting outplayed by someone else.
They had a deep-seated distaste for Frigoshia that had finally boiled over into pure unadulterated hatred. Lukas held the now bloodied pop-up book, feeling a desire for vengeance he hadn't felt since his squadron had been attacked by the Wraith.