Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

Return to the Ice Wallexpected to be ice-rimed on 8 Klarmont andat this stage the ice-rime is advancing at about1 mile per day; as the ice-rime reachesCastellan Keep the ice-rime will againaccelerate to 4 miles per day (for the next 10days, etc). Once word of the ice-rimingreaches the keep the news will quickly spreadaround Karameikos and eventually toSpecularum and erstwhile adventurers willcome to the area to investigate.Once the ice-riming nears Highforge Brandanalso starts to take notice and alerts anyfollowers in the community; he also starts hisown investigation as he has a nagging thoughtthat it might involve something which he didin the past. As he investigates he quickly findsthat his device might somehow be involved inthe current predicament. However, he alsorealises that something went awry and he isunwilling to get directly involved unless hehas to. As he continues his investigations hesends messages to his clerics in the area toalert them to specific details – namely thatthere is a device within a wall of ice which isinvolved with causing the predicament. Healso eventually alerts them to Talfris’ Tower.Once player characters arrive in the regionthey will hopefully do an aerialreconnaissance of the area and identify that itis expanding in a spherical manner from acentral point. Pinpointing that area will bringthe characters to the Wall and the nearbytower. Although the investigations at the Wallwill prove fruitless at this time, a furtherinvestigation of the tower will move thecharacters to the next step. If necessary,gnomes from Highforge could arrive at anytime to help the characters towards theTalfris' Tower, or the Wall itself if required.Talfris' Tower, being the retreat of a powerful,paranoid, magic-user still has a number ofmagical traps to be overcome, but onceinside, the protections against thepolymorphing and stupefying effects of theIce Box are also still in place and the towercan make a good base for the characters touse while they investigate the Wall. Thecharacters will have to go through the worksof Talfris, and piece together what helearned to try and work out a safe way toaccess the Ice Box and undo the ice-rime.It is only through the relocation,destruction, or reprogramming of the IceBox that the ice-rime will be stopped. Torelocate or destroy the Ice Box, it must firstbe reached through the Wall. The Ice Box islocated on a stone plinth about two feet offthe ground in the centre of the Wall. The DMis encouraged to be inventive in the amountof effort required to deal with the Ice Box.DEALING WITH THE ICEBOXReprogramming the Ice Box would besimplest method of dealing with it, as it doesnot require directly accessing it, although itcan only be done through thought controlwithin about 1 mile of the Ice Box. Thestudies of Talfris provide the greatestinsights on the techniques about how it canbe done. The more time which is spentstudying Talfris' papers will ultimately leadcharacters to a method to turn the Ice Boxoff, although if time is a factor thenreprogramming it - most efficiently byresetting the control temperature setting -would halt the ice-rime.If characters are not inclined, or do not thinkabout reprogramming the Ice Box then theyneed to access it so that they can relocate ordestroy it.165THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1