The Frostheart Concordance

Description

Adventure Summary

In the frozen wastes of the Thrainnok Expanse, an ancient artifact has been unearthed — the Frostheart Concordance, a crystalline orb forged by a lost frost giant civilization to commune with the sleeping white dragon Skathiss. The artifact now warps reality around it, causing localized blizzards, time skips, and haunting echoes of a forgotten age. A charismatic scholar named Elara Vinter seeks brave adventurers to help contain the artifact and prevent a catastrophic winter. But Elara is not what she seems — she is the last daughter of the frost giant kings, and the party’s quest-giver is the true architect of the coming cataclysm. This campaign runs 6 sessions of 4 hours each for a party of 4-5 characters advancing from 3rd to 7th level.

Background

Long before the current age, the frost giant kingdom of Thrymheim ruled the Thrainnok Expanse under Jarl Thrym the Winter-Bringer. Thrym forged a pact with the ancient white dragon Skathiss — the giants would offer tribute of gemstone and sacrifice, and Skathiss would keep the land locked in eternal winter. To solidify this bond, Thrym’s greatest runesmiths crafted the Frostheart Concordance, a fist-sized orb of glacial crystal that amplified the psychic connection between giant and dragon, allowing communion across miles of frozen wasteland.
The pact shattered when a coalition of bronze and silver dragons, allied with human and dwarven warriors, waged war on Thrymheim. Skathiss was driven deep beneath the ice, grievously wounded, and fell into a deathlike slumber. The frost giant civilization collapsed; their temples were buried under advancing glaciers. The Concordance was lost for three thousand years, and the land thawed into a harsh but survivable tundra. The memory of the frost giants faded into children’s tales.
Three months ago, a dwarven mining expedition led by Kael Stonebrow breached an ancient vault and recovered the Frostheart Concordance. Since then, strange phenomena have plagued the region: fishermen report seeing their own reflections age decades in a moment, travelers speak of walking for days only to find they have traveled backward in time, and a creeping unnatural cold has begun to seep into the soil. The dwarves abandoned the dig site, claiming it is haunted. Kael has locked himself in Frosthold’s temple, muttering about “the whisperer beneath the ice.” And unknown to anyone in Frosthold, the Concordance has drawn the attention of Ylva Thrymsdottir — the last living descendant of Jarl Thrym, who has walked the world in disguise for centuries under the name Elara Vinter — and she sees her chance at last.