The original inhabitants of Whitewall were nomadic herders, following migrating reindeer across the glacier that divides the tundra to the north from the boreal forests to the south. The crevasse, formed by thermal vents in the ground beneath the glacier, had been used by the nomads for centuries as a way to slaughter reindeer, herding them into the crevasse where they fell to their deaths. Some of the nomads settled on a nearby rocky outcropping, finding the warm air that rose from the crevasse a pleasant break from the endless snowy wastes, and discovering a ready, if difficult to procure food supply in the lichens growing on the crevasse floor.
The town has grown in recent years, serving as a way station for merchant caravans, and with the discovery of copper deposits down below. And while tensions between the newcomers and the older inhabitants erupt in the occasional brawl, the influx of money has led to problems of its own.
And despite the recent growth, Whitewall is still a tiny frontier settlement. The infinite wastes of the glacier are visible no matter where one stands.
2d6 Town Encounters
| 2 | A wizard, his skin a deep blue, his robes in tatters, emerges from the wastes, screaming. He seems to understand the common tongue, but responds only in an ancient gnomish language no one understands. Can cast Astral Prison at will, and does so if anyone touches him. |
| 3 | A frost giant lumbers into town. He seems enraged and confused. Locals attempt to fend him off. A dire wolf stands on the ice some distance away, watching, a look on its face that communicates something like concern. |
| 4 | There is a sound of breaking glass and a child wearing rags for shoes, her arms full of cucumbers, comes running down the street. They’ve smashed Farrod’s greenhouse! she yells. The only source of fresh vegetables in town, Farrod charges an arm and a leg. PCs who investigate find locals and miners standing outside the greenhouse, staring at the smashed panes of glass and the extortionately priced produce inside which is rapidly freezing, unsure what to do. |
| 5 | A fight breaks out when drunken miners insult a band of herders who are in town to sell hides and reindeer meat. The miners are drunk and flailing; it looks like the fight is over before it begins, but then a miner pulls a knife. |
| 6 | A band of monks preaches the gospel of the Frozen Silence on a busy corner. A few of the townies seem genuinely interested, but most would prefer to not engage. |
| 7 | A small detachment of soldiers arrives in town, looking frostbitten and exhausted. They set up in the middle of town and inform anyone around that the town is now within the bounds of the Torian Hegemony. They are ignored, except by a growing number of local children who stand slack-jawed looking at their weapons and armour. |
| 8 | A traveling salesman drives a sled pulled by six tamed wolves. He does a brisk business in magic items and seal oil in the outports that dot the glacier. Some of his wares are cursed. |
| 9 | An urchin, holding a bucket of rusted hatchets tries to sell one to the party for a hundred gold pieces. When the party (presumably) points out that that’s far too much for a rusted hatchet, he whines: “but if I could sell just one!” He is not above throwing the hatchets at the party if they taunt him or are otherwise rude. |
| 10 | A barker insults passersby as he tries to get people into a tavern. A fight ensues when a band of miners, new in town and unfamiliar with his teasing, threaten to break his teeth. |
| 11 | A frost elf is looking for mercenaries to help steal treasure from a White Dragon’s lair he claims to have discovered in a nearby ice cave. |
| 12 | A white dragon circles high above. Some townsfolk run for cover. Others stand, transfixed, strange utterances slipping unbidden from their mouths. |
