It is day 18 of month 2, 1042, at Runner Post on the Blue Shelf of Ivoire. Frida Brunn owns the only map to the Frozen Wreck, and she will sell it to the best offer at noon today.
Lucien Gaspard is a senior scholar at Current Lab. For two years he has sold the lab's helm research to the Iron Union. Six months ago the Union ship carrying his latest notes crashed on the Blue Shelf. That ship is the Frozen Wreck. Its strongbox holds the stolen notes and the Union's pay book, which lists every payment to Lucien by name.
Last month the lab's test pilot saw Lucien copying test notes. Lucien changed Evander Mott's safety notes in the lab book so the next test would fail. The pilot pushed the helm past its safe limit, the air bubble failed and he froze to death. After the crash, Lucien sent his copies of the test notes to the Union on a Compact freighter, with the address scraped off. The buyer never came, so the freighter brought the crate back to Hoarfrost Post. One page is the safety notes page with Evander's name crossed out and the changes in Lucien's hand.
Lucien has come to Runner Post in person with a hired hunter. He means to reach the wreck first and burn the pay book.
Frida Brunn keeps Runner Post. She wants the best price for her map and no more dead fools on the ice.
Lucien Gaspard wants the pay book burned and the leak blamed on Evander Mott.
A Syndicate buyer in a green coat, with two knifemen, wants the research to sell.
A Union agent who calls himself a fur buyer wants the research back for the Union.
A navy scout sergeant from the Dominion navy, with five marines, wants the wreck for the Dominion.
The player characters are the Skua crew, who fly the old trawler Skua. Liv Ostergaard is the chase pilot who flew beside the dead test pilot Nils Aaberg, Halvard Strom is a Grund ice miner with a heavy maul, Ambrose Finchley is the Cogling who built the test helm's air bubble wards, and Tomasz Rudnik is a Gorrin sled guide who can take the shape of a white wolf. The player runs one of them. The GM runs the other three as companions.
Evander Mott is the junior scholar at Current Lab who wrote the safety notes. Lucien means to blame him. He is at the lab on the Pale Lakes.
Leif Harnby is the dock master of Hearth Dock above Coldwell. He is new to Ivoire and came to Runner Post to sell rune engine parts to the sled teams.
Jessamy Pruett runs the mail room and landing sleds at Hoarfrost Post. She holds the unclaimed crate of Current Lab papers.
Stat blocks. Lucien's hunter uses the Syndicate Headhunter stat block. Lucien also hired a second headhunter and three trackers who use the Writ Hunter stat block. They camp on the ice outside the post and join him on the shelf. Lucien Gaspard fights from his character sheet. Count him as 450 XP. The Syndicate buyer's men use the Syndicate Headhunter, Syndicate Enforcer and Syndicate Knifeman stat blocks. The navy scouts use the Dominion Marine stat block and do not start fights. Budget for a crew of four level 8 characters is Low 4,000, Moderate 6,800 and High 8,400.
The bidding, 09:00 to 12:00. At Runner Post, Frida Brunn takes offers at her counter. The Syndicate buyer offers 300 Crowns. The Union agent offers 250. The navy sergeant offers 100 and a threat. Lucien's hunter offers 280 for a buyer he will not name. The two hunters arguing by the kennels are Lucien's hunter and a local trapper. A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check shows the trapper is trying to warn Frida. If asked, he says the hunter came with a scholar in a white fur coat who keeps to the back room. Ways in. Frida lets players copy the map for 50 Crowns and a share of any salvage with a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check. A DC 17 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check copies it in secret. Liv Ostergaard's shuttle or a landing sled flown over the mark finds the wreck's tail fin with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
The scholar in the back room. Lucien Gaspard drinks tea by the stove and says he is going to Farsight Observatory. Liv Ostergaard and Ambrose Finchley know him by sight from Current Lab, and he knows them. Seeing them makes him nervous. A DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check shows he is afraid of the wreck. A DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check on his sled finds two cans of lamp oil and a list of the wreck's cabins.
Wolves at dusk, 17:00. The lookout rings the bell. 8 Ice Wolves come over the north wall, where the snow has drifted high. They go for the kennels (3,600 XP, Low, budget 4,000). Frida fires her scattergun from the store door. Tomasz Rudnik can speak to the wolves and may turn some of them back. The pack leader watches from the ridge and calls the pack off when three wolves drop.
The storm, 18:00 to 12:00 on day 19. Nobody leaves the post. Travel in the storm takes a DC 16 Wisdom (Survival) check each hour, or a level of Exhaustion. Tomasz Rudnik knows the shelf best. At night Lucien's hunter tries to slip into Frida's store for the map. A DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check hears him.
The shelf, day 19. The wreck is 8 hours by dog sled across the Blue Shelf. Frida rents a sled team for 5 Crowns a day. If the Syndicate buyer did not get the map, he follows the winner. At the cracked ice below Wolf Ridge, 1 Syndicate Headhunter, 2 Syndicate Enforcer and 4 Syndicate Knifeman wait behind an ice ridge (3,600 XP, Low, budget 4,000). The buyer gives up when three of his men are down.
The Frozen Wreck, day 20, morning. The Frozen Wreck lies half buried with its tail fin up. Inside it is dark and frozen. Ambrose Finchley knows a Union engine at a glance. For anyone else, a DC 13 Intelligence check with Rune Tools or Tinker Tools shows it is a Union engine. The strongbox is in the captain's cabin under a fallen beam. A DC 16 Strength (Athletics) check or a crowbar frees it, and Halvard Strom is the one for the job. Thin ice in the cargo hold breaks under more than 300 pounds. A DC 14 Dexterity saving throw avoids a 10-foot fall and 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
The fire. Lucien Gaspard, his 2 Syndicate Headhunters and 3 Writ Hunters reach the wreck an hour after the players (7,150 XP, High, budget 8,400). If the players lost time in the storm, Lucien is there an hour before them. Lucien tries to pour oil on the strongbox and set it alight. Shown the crate page or the pay book, he offers 1,500 Crowns for silence. If both headhunters drop, he gives up and begs not to be handed to the navy. If the fight goes badly, the crew can bar the captain's cabin door and hold out for the navy at 14:00, if they can stand the cold.
The navy, day 20, 14:00. The navy sergeant and 5 Dominion Marines arrive from Farsight Observatory. They claim the wreck. A DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, with the pay book, gets them to take Lucien to Current Lab under guard and leave the players free. Without proof, they take everything and question Evander Mott as the leak.
Day 18, 12:00. The Syndicate buyer wins the map.
Day 18, 17:00. Wolves kill two sled dogs in the kennels.
Day 19. Lucien's hunter shoots the Syndicate buyer's lead dog on the shelf, and the buyer turns back.
Day 20, 10:00. Lucien burns the pay book inside the wreck.
Day 20, 14:00. The navy takes the stolen notes. Lucien tells them the crate at Hoarfrost Post proves Evander Mott was the leak.
Day 25. Evander Mott is arrested at Current Lab and sent to the Cold Cells.
Good. The pay book reaches the head of Current Lab or the navy. Lucien Gaspard is arrested for the leak and the pilot's death, and Evander Mott is cleared.
Mixed. Lucien is ruined but escapes off-world, or the research ends up in Syndicate hands.
Bad. The pay book burns, and Evander Mott takes the blame.
Frida Brunn pays 120 Crowns for any salvage from the wreck and buys wolf pelts at 9 Crowns each.
The head of Current Lab pays 300 Crowns to each player character who brings back the stolen notes.
The Union agent offers 450 Crowns for the notes instead. Taking it makes the navy an enemy.
The wreck's captain's cabin holds a Ring of Warmth and a Crystal Tester.
Frida becomes a friend and gives the players fair prices from now on.
Heroic Inspiration for saving the strongbox from the fire.
The Union's other buyer. The pay book shows the Union also paid someone at Highglass for star charts of the Dark Rim. Lambert Oakes in the Highglass library may know who.
The wolf pack. The pack leader of Wolf Ridge has learned that Runner Post keeps dogs. Frida pays double for her pelt.
The test helm. Current Lab wants a brave pilot to fly the next helm test, now that Evander Mott's safety notes are back in the book.