The PFRPG Game Blog: June 2021

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Frostfell Vehicles

The King's Road is the only true road in the north. It's north-south path is maintained and well guarded in the North by Houses Reed, House Dustin, House Cerwyn, House Stark and House Umber. As well as protection from the Night's Watch. It passes near Moat Calin, Castle Cerwyn, Winterfell, and ends at the Wall at the base of Castle Black.

If one wishes to travel to other locations over the cold northern steppes, one utilizes a variety of sleds pulled by draft horses, ice sled wagons pulled by mastodons or sleek sailing ice ship if one wishes to travel swiftly. Travel off the King's Road comes with many dangers however including brigands, monsters and natural hazards, not to mention common conveyance malfunction.

Its just a sled.

Common Sled: Medium vehicle; Handle Animal +2; Spd drawn (clumsy); Overall hp 40 (hardness 5); Overall AC 4; Ram 3d6; Face 15 ft. by 5 ft.; Height 5 ft.; Crew 1; Weight 300 lb., Cargo 500 lbs; Cost 20 gp.

Drawn across ice or snow, the sled is an almost entirely exposed structure. Eight riding dogs can pull the sled over ice or packed snow at a speed of 40 feet (35 miles per day), even if it’s fully loaded. Untracked snow slows the speed by one-half, and deep snow cuts it to one-quarter.

Dwarven Warsled: Huge vehicle; Handle Animal +2; Spd drawn (poor); Overall hp 100 (hardness 7); Overall AC 3; Ram 6d6; Face 15 ft. by 10 ft.; Height 5 ft.; Crew 1 (plus 3 passengers); Weight 900 lb.; Cargo 700 lb.; Cost 400 gp.

Dwarves of House Umber use trained smilodons (armored polar cats) to pull massive sleds covered with makeshift armor and spikes. The driver and passengers aboard such a warsled gain cover behind a 2-inch barrier of steel and wood (hp 20, hardness 7). Two beasts abreast pull the sled at a speed of 35 feet. (30 miles per day)

Ice Sled-Wagon: Huge vehicle; Handle Animal –2; Spd drawn (poor); Overall hp 60 (hardness 5); Overall AC 3; Ram 4d6; Face 15 ft. by 10 ft.; Height 5 ft.; Crew 1; Weight 400 lb., Cargo 2 tons; Cost 35 gp.

A wagon is open-topped, so the driver and any passengers gain no cover. The most common creatures for the wagon are two heavy horses, which are strong enough to pull a fully loaded wagon at a speed of 35 feet. However, in frostfell regions, wagons may also be drawn by a single mastadon a speed of 40 feet.

An ice sled-wagon can also be equipped with a heavy catapult eliminating the cargo capacity or a light catapult leaving cargo space for ammunition.

Sailing Ice Ship

Sailing Ice Ship "The Snowpiercer": Colossal vehicle; Profession (sailor) +4; Spd ice wind × 30 ft. (average), snow wind × 20 ft. (poor); Overall AC –3; Section hp 50 (hardness 5); Section AC 3; Rigging 80 hp (hardness 0), AC 1; Ram 12d6; Face 80 ft. by 20 ft.; Height 10 ft. (draft 10 ft.); Crew 20; Cargo 150 tons (Spd wind × 15 ft. if 75 tons or more) about 20 - 25 mph; Cost 10,000 gp.

Used by the military forces of the Great Northern Houses or by glacial barbarian raiders, a sailing ice ship has runners that allow it to travel across fields of snow as well as sheets of ice. The deck has enough room for two light catapults or ballistae.

Winterfell to White Harbor: 340 miles. 2 days by Sailing Ice Ship.

Winterfell to Castle Black: 655 miles. 3 days 12 hours by Sailing Ice Ship.

White Harbor to Castle Black: 990 miles. 5 days by Sailing Ice Ship.

*Assumes 8 hours of travel per day.

Traveling via Weirwood roots to any other Weirwood location in the world takes 24 hours.

Morpheus Elixir, transport via dreams elixir transports individuals up to 1,000 miles after 8 hours of sleep.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The Last Candidate

Elsa Snow

Elsa Snow came from a long line of first-born witches and seers born under the moon, and throughout her life all Elsa desired was a daughter to pass on her ancestral powers and to love with all the emotion and passion Elsa believed she was capable of.

Elsa eschewed the dark side of magic and witchery and never used her gifts to invade one's thoughts, cause fear, enthrall or otherwise rob a living creature of their free will. Instead she used her gifts to protect, inspire, guide and offer wisdom to those who sought it. To do otherwise invoked the dark side of elemental spirit magic and in her view was selfish and evil.

At a young age Elsa managed to attract the attention of a selfish young noble warrior from House Cerwyn at an annual skills competition. Elsa was reading tarot when the young noble noticed her. So enamored, the young couple were arranged later that year. The marriage and consummation came just before the Lord Cerwyn deployed to fight in a conflict to the south. The Lord Cerwyn did not return.

Early the next year, during the midpoint of the nine-year winter, Elsa gave birth to a child under a full moon phase and was devastated to learn of its sex- a male child. Records indicate the young lad was named Croll after his late father Crollister.

A Young Croll

The first five years of young Croll's life was in the care of his mother who sank deep into depression and paranoia. Stories say Elsa filled her home with talismans and silver mirrors as wards against dark folk and sentient shadows.

Years later in his adolescence, Croll rebelled against his overbearing and protective mother desiring to learn the ways of magic and broke the largest and oldest of Elsa's silver mirrors compromising the protections over House Cerwyn.

At that moment a dark sullen man wearing a dullish suit and thin black tie emerged from the deepest shadow of the chamber. Bare of boots or sandals the dark man stood on the broken mirror fragments of Elsa's protections.

The man from the shadows spoke eloquently in a planar language Croll was surprised to learn he could understand. In the shadow tongue, the suited man promised secrets his mother would just as soon keep hidden. Anxious to receive his birthright even at a young age, Croll accepted the sinister offer thereby awakening his sorcerous abilities and becoming enlightened of the Night Queen, the dark folk and spirit magic.

His mother, terrified at what her son had done, raced protectively toward Croll. The young Croll looked down at his reflection on the largest fragment of her protections- the old broken mirror. Reaching down for what would eventually become his magical wand and knew what he must do next.

The Dark Stalker

Over the span of forty years Croll used guile, diplomacy and deception magic to become the most powerful influencers in his House and install himself as Winterfell's Chamberlain and Administrator for the great House Stark. Here he was able to gain the trust of Sansa Stark who he identified at a young age as a powerful witch. More powerful than his own mother.

Sansa was a willing and eager apprentice, manipulative and deceptive like himself. She too was a spirit shard user. Together they kept each other sharp and were pivotal for the Night Queen's plans in the North.

The Chamberlain's Little Black Book: Croll's personal notebook of sorcery and darkness. As the Night Queen's plans reached fruition she desired a touchstone from each magic element destroyed. Her servants: witches and dark folk are to open four Shadow Touchstones thereby supernaturally extending the night by two hours each, and with the naturally reduction in natural daylight, eventually bringing about the Next Darkness- a second Long Night by Winter's Solstice.

Destroying Elemental Touchstones is adjacent to her primary objective, save for the Spirit Touchstone, but the Night Queen promised selected individuals immortality by taking the White. This privilege came with a responsibility; by becoming one of her vampire spawns it was his task to destroy the Earth Touchstone in Winterfell.

Using the second night attack on White Harbor by the Spectre as a distraction, the Chamberlain planned a flight on his dire raven to rendezvous with Meraxe's Revenge. His trip lasting five days.

Croll Cerwyn, the Chamberlain, of course never reached Meraxe's revenge or became a vampire. Instead he was banished from the air from his dire raven by Lobo and was eventually hunted down and neutralized by the Heroes on Seal Island.

On his person: House Cerwyn signet ring, Icicle Wand, Mundane robe (*magical: +5 to Stealth checks to blend into a crowd and disguise self 3x day, 4,250 gp), potion of +2 barkskin, 2 endure elements, protection from acid, cold, electricity, fire, good, lesser restoration, Ring of feather falling, alchemical solvent, 9 air shards, 4 earth shards, 4 fire shards, 6 water shards, 9 spirit shards.