Introduction
As you enter the village something strikes you as weird ... unusual. It takes you a few moments, but then it becomes obvious. There are no children. Men and women move between the buildings on their errands but no mothers fuss over sweaters, and no fathers bark orders sending the young scurrying about their chores. Instead, eyes, sunken and red-rimmed from crying, follow your progress to The Golden Yukon, the large inn and common house at the village center.
When you step inside the warm fire immediately drives the chill from your bones. The bartender looks up from wiping down the bar surface, then leans over to say something to a well-dressed older man. A barmaid walking past you with a tray of drinks delivers a hurried greeting and nods you towards an open table which, you gratefully notice, is near the large fireplace.
The well dressed manm from the bar slaps a few coins down, picks up his mug, and makes his way to your table.
"Forgive my intrusion, " he begins. "I am Hansel, ealdeorman of this village. Your armor and weapons lead me to believe you are adventurers - and we have a sure need for such. Our children have been lured from our village by a foul golem. We have no fighters here - we are mere farmers and weavers. Can you aid us? I fear a terrible calamity shall befall the shire if our children cannot be saved by Yule."
What the Villagers Know
- The golem is made of ice and crystal, with eyes of glowing coal. It wears a scarf and an old top hat. It projects some strange pattern of lights which seem to have entranced the children.
- There is a hermit who lives just north of the village who might know more. The hut sits in a clearing close to where the children played in the woods.
- There is a lake north of the village - the hermit's hut sits near its shore. In the middle of the lake is a community of elves and gnomes - dispreputable folk (to the villagers at least) - who mine the ice and trade in furs. The ealdorman does not suspect them of creating the golem, but they may know who did.
- The villagers do no have much in the way of silver or gold with which to reward the party. The ealdorman promises to find something worthy of the heros - if they are successful, of course.
Rumors
Players may pick up rumors by listening in to conversations, talking to the bartender or shop keepers, or other interactions with the village. The exact rumor should be tailored for the speaker the PC is talking with.
- The creepy hermit on the north of town raises even creepier reindeer. There's something fey happening with those critters!
- Strange lights have been seen at the old necromancer's tower on the mountain. It's a sure bet some evil wizard is responsible.
- There used to be a yeti that roamed the wilderness around the lake. It wasn't eveil; on a few occassions people even said it helped - pulling a cart from a snow-drift concealed ditch, clearing a fallen tree from a trail, and so forth. The villagers called it Bumble, because only the clumsy seemed to run across it.
- A drunken shepherd claims he has seen reindeer flying - and fighting with some strange flying lizards near the mountain.
- A small-time hedge wizard named Hinkle was hired to run the village's school. He was a foul, ill-tempered man. Nobody was surprised when, after teaching only a few months, he packed up and walked away.
- A tanner well into his cups tells you he was almost picked up by some flying beast, but he was able to distract the creature by singing loudly, banging an accompaniment on his lute, and sticking out his tongue.