Printable DM sheet — The Frozen Cistern

Read this to your players to start

The expedition's water source — a broad frozen cistern — is sealed under solid ice, with claw marks gouged near the far bank. Getting it open, and safe, is the whole job today.

Scenes (all session lengths — scene’s tag shows the shortest length it appears in)

1. Scene 1: The Sealed Cistern from Quick Quest on

   The trail levels into a shallow bowl of blue-white ice, and there it is — the frozen cistern, a broad frozen pool that's supposed to be the expedition's water for the whole climb. It's sealed under a foot of solid ice, and deep gouges — claw marks, unmistakably — crisscross the frozen surface near the far bank.

   Goal: Get the cistern open and safe to draw water from. — Study the claw marks for clues about what made them (Clever, Difficulty Number 12). / Just start working on breaking the ice and deal with whatever shows up.

   If the party read Chapter 1's ledger handout, a success here connects the dots — "claw marks, no attacks" matches exactly.

2. Scene 2: Windwhistle's Compass from Short Session on

   Half-buried in a snowbank at the cistern's edge, something catches the light — a dented brass compass, its glass cracked but its needle still lazily spinning. It doesn't point north. It points, insistently, toward the far side of the ice.

   Goal: Decide what to do with the compass — and whether to follow where it's pointing. — Follow the compass's pull across the ice (Brave, Difficulty Number 12) toward whatever it's insisting on. / Pocket it for Kestra and stick to the plan for now — the pull isn't going anywhere.

   This is Chapter 2's carried-item beat (sparkfield#75 continuity spec). Following the pull now leads the party to Torvind's story more gently; sticking to the plan means they discover it more abruptly at the climax. Both are fine — neither locks out content.

3. Scene 3: Torvind's Warning from One-Sitting Session on

   A deep, rattling roar rolls across the ice — Torvind, easily eight feet of shaggy white fur, rears up on the far bank, one arm held awkwardly close to its body. He doesn't charge. He watches the compass in your hand like he recognizes it.

   Goal: Figure out why Torvind is protecting this spot instead of just attacking. — Approach slowly, showing the compass openly (Kind, Difficulty Number 13) — Torvind lowers his guard. / Circle wide to see what he's guarding without confronting him directly (Clever, Difficulty Number 13).

   Torvind never attacks first unless the party does — he postures, he doesn't charge. Let the tension come from uncertainty, not real danger.

4. Scene 4: The Trapped Mate from Full Session on

   Past Torvind, beneath a thinner shelf of blue ice, another shape is visible — smaller, still, one paw pressed weakly against the ice from below. Torvind's mate has been trapped since the same storm that iced over the whole cistern.

   Goal: Free Torvind's trapped mate without collapsing the ice on everyone. — Carefully chip the ice free (Clever, Difficulty Number 13). / Force it with sheer strength, fast but riskier (Brave, Difficulty Number 14 — failure means 1 Heart Point lost catching yourselves, never worse).

   Freeing the mate here makes the climax below resolve automatically and warmly — a strong beat to spotlight a Clever or Brave hero.

5. Scene 5: The Cistern Opens from Quick Quest on

   With his mate free and breathing easy again, Torvind steps back from the cistern entirely, dragging one claw through the frost in what might, if you squint, be a bow. The water beneath the ice is yours now — and Kestra's old compass has stopped pulling, its needle finally settling, pointed calmly toward the summit trail ahead.

   Goal: Resolve things with Torvind and claim safe passage to the water — however the party handled the earlier beats. — If the mate was freed, this resolves automatically — Torvind allows the party through gratefully. / If the mate was never found, a Kind check (Difficulty Number 14) still talks Torvind down once he sees the party means no harm. / Fighting Torvind works too, but he flees rather than dies below 5 Heart Points, and the mate stays trapped — a harder ending than this chapter needs, but valid if that's the table's choice.

   The compass settling here is the campaign's mechanical signal that Chapter 3 is ready — no roll needed, just narrate it.

Player handout — show this to your table

Windwhistle's Compass, As You Found It

Dented brass, glass cracked but the needle still turning. Scratched into the underside of the casing, in careful old handwriting: "For K., so you always find your way back. — Grandmother." It hasn't pointed north in years — but it's never once been wrong about what its holder needed to find.

Monster stat blocks

Rewards

• Windwhistle's Old Compass, recovered and carried into Chapter 3.
• Safe, open water for the rest of the expedition.
• Torvind's gratitude — and, if his mate was freed, a lasting ally further up the mountain.

Tips for running this one

• Torvind should read as intimidating at first glance, sympathetic on closer look — the same "monster with a real reason" pattern as Grubnak/Emberwing/Mossback, deliberately consistent across the whole catalog.
• Don't let Torvind become a required fight — every approach in this chapter is written to work without one.
• The compass is the important prop to hand players physically if you print the handout — it pays off directly in Chapter 3.