The Endless Winter of Mount Scaefyrn

Millennia ago, the mountain range of the Basilisk's Spine was the domain of giants. Their civilization was advanced enough to control the weather through a number of portals to different elemental planes. When heat was needed, the giants opened a portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire; when rain was crucial for the crops, they opened a portal to the Plane of Water. This was achieved using corresponding elemental gems.

The giants vanished; the reptilians who later took over the land paid little attention to the inhospitable mountain peaks where the weather machines were installed. Years passed, and when human settlers arrived, the ancient ruins, being well hidden and almost inaccessible, were left alone once again.

Five years ago, the fall of the mighty dragon Umbraxis created a power vacuum among the lesser dragons, the former subjects of Umbraxis. A white dragon called Zhaaryxa Vael (“White Shadow” in Common) seeks to extend her territory. She had long known about the weather machine atop Mount Scaefyrn, but lacked an elemental gem to open a portal to the Plane of Ice. A few weeks ago, her kobolds finally acquired one, and an expedition was sent to activate the portal.

The White Shadow's kobolds were not well-versed in ancient, crumbling arcane machinery made by a long-vanished race. The portal was swung open, and far too wide. The expedition members were frozen solid where they stood. The cold winds have since subsided somewhat, but the mountain still spews snow almost every day.

Zhaaryxa Vael did not ascend to her current position by being brash or impatient. She waits for word from her kobolds and circles over Scaefyrn’s slopes again and again. Fyrnhelm, the village at the foot of Scaefyrn, was already preparing for spring, but instead was struck by the harshest winter in its memory. The unusually heavy snowfall and prolonged cold coincided with increased sightings of the white dragon, and the villagers made the obvious connection. The White Shadow had not troubled the village much before, and local hunters knew how to avoid her territory.

Now, the village seeks experienced dragonslayers.