Frostbridge & Fossil Situation

This is a synopsis of a pretty major part of the old Everway campaign. Sadly, the players missed some opportunities and failed to prevent the war. Instead, they headed through the gate after the big villains.

GM Full Disclosure: Frostbridge & Fossil Situation

War A Brewing: Both nations are gearing up for war. On the surface, the Sons of Yimir would seam to have an advantage, being larger, more numerous, and more animated. However, don’t count the undead of Fossil completely out of the running. They are immune to cold and pain, after all, and while perhaps a bit fragile, it’s very hard to keep them down.

Cosmology: Queen Caution of Fossil did not enter the promised land 1200 years ago, as all the rest of her countrymen did. Her absence was noted by her husband, King Incontrovertible. So, working beyond the veil, he did craft a ritual to return himself to the land of the living. From here, he could work on a second ritual that would return her to life as well, that they might be together for all of eternity. He was uncertain where her soul had gone, it was not in any Hell he visited. And so it took him a hundred years to tweak the ritual to draw her forth from some unknown plane.

The Life Rose: 1200 years ago, Incontrovertible was a member of the robust Order Of The Eternal Rose. He remembers his land began to die in a most notable year: It was the year he inducted his wife Caution into the order. At a critical moment in battle with the moon dragon, he was distracted by the peril his wife was in, and did not prevent the beast from harming the Rose. He thereafter held himself responsible for the unknowable calamity of lethal lethargy that struck his land.

Since His Return: He has been working only on raising his wife, but the spillover effects of the magic have been raising many of his subjects. Some comeback with all their soul, but others are pale shadows of their former selves. He is certain that once Caution is with him again, he will be able to restore the soul and senses of all who have been raised as a side-effect.

Interrupting Visit: A Hawk-Masked Prince came from Legs-Of-Ra, and since that land had once (long ago) been an outpost of Fossil, Incontrovertible did extend an audience to this Princeling. He expected they would negotiate some truce or trade agreement, or that Legs-Of-Ra would offer tribute of some sort. Instead, the Hawk-Mask was stoicly quiet - rarely speaking, but when he did it was always statements evasive and cyclical. He seemed to want nothing other than Incontrovertible's time, which drew the ire of the great king. The King was seething with anger when finally the mask asked his first question... “How do you want to die, your Majesty?”

The Missing Headpiece: The Prince was driven from the Palace, and the King was too angry to return to his work for several days. When finally he did, he found that Caution’s headdress was missing. Without the specially prepared 1200-year-old item adorning her hair, she could not be raised.

What He Eventually Learned: The headdress is being used as a skirt pin by Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir, the heir to the Icy Throne of nearby Frostbridge. A state of war has been brewing ever since, and Incontrovertible has been whipping his army into shape. If he is able to retrieve the headdress, it will be a simple 8-month ritual to restore Caution to the living.