It is dark midwinter and the aurora tonight is bright. The party are part of a network of lodges that patrol the tiaga, keeping the aurora beasts from getting too close to civilization. A patrol has called for help—they were ambushed by an aurora beast and are in desperate need of aid. This is a mission that the party is trained for but the presence of a beast is always dangerous. This lodge is the closest, so this party will be heading out to find the injured patrol and get them to a clearing. With the weather windy and only a new moon, a helicopter can’t loiter and won’t be able to find the missing patrol through the thick trees. It will take 4 hours for the helicopter to come north to a forward post for a 20 minute deployment when called.
36 years ago, monsters from beyond started appearing in the taiga and tundras in the northern winters. They have been linked to the auroras but the true connection is unknown. Folk now abandon the north in winter and sets of lodges and watchtowers have been established to watch, survive, and perhaps hunt the beasts. The aurora beasts are alien in their style and shape. Generally four legged but with septadactyl limbs and more than four eyes. They are often mammalian in shape and range from 20 kg to 800 kg, with sizes up to 4 metres. Their fur is white with strange brightly coloured patterning that matches the colours of the auroras above them. The larger the beast, the more these patterns shimmer and shift.
The equipment available to the characters is akin to 1960s technology. The party are familiar with the forest around their lodge and know how to make their way through it. They also know that this snow-bound forest is hostile terrain in which it is very easy to get lost amongst the conifers. The forest is so dense that the safest way to travel is on foot.
This adventure is a depth crawl. At the start of each scene, roll on the table below to create the next scene. Add 1 to the party’s progress at the end of the scene. As the party progresses they head towards the last known coordinates of the lost patrol. When their progress reaches 5, in the next location they also find where the patrol was first ambushed. There is a wrecked watchtower and a ruined all terrain vehicle. There are faint signs of a trail but it is unclear who left it. When they roll 20 or higher on the Concern column, they find the surviving members of the lost patrol. They are huddled in a crater that is large enough for the helicopter to land in. But the aurora beast that attacked them has returned after stalking the rescue party here. It makes aggressive attacks but retreats into the forest whenever it is severely injured. After 5 minutes, it returns, its wounds healed by half.
| Dice Result | Forest and Snow – d20 | Normalcy – d20 | Corruption – d10 and add progress | Concern – d10 and add progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | An escarpment | Bird song | Lost ward stones | Hidden holes |
| 2 | A gully | Light snowfall | Compasses spin | Old corpse of a lost fellow |
| 3 | An iced pond | Animal tracks | Noises of beast | Not on map |
| 4 | Fallen trees | Cold campfire | brightness | Ice wight |
| 5 | Thick scrub | Human tracks | Frozen berries | Lost civilian |
| 6 | An isolated tree | Large herbivore | Bad air | Maddened animal |
| 7 | Snow drift | Owl | Snow free ferns | Movement amongst the trees |
| 8 | Old stone boundary wall | Radio chatter | Manic overgrowth | Minor beasts |
| 9 | Cottage ruins | Overgrowth | Radio distortions | Lurking darkness |
| 10 | Small ice cave | Distant weapons fire | Your own tracks, fleeing | Minor Beast tracks |
| 11 | Fresh snowfall | A lonely flare on the ground | A faint green glow | Deja vu |
| 12 | Frozen stream | Science station | A chunk bitten from a tree | Pitfall trap |
| 13 | Abandoned road | Religious totem | Weeping rocks | No radio |
| 14 | A well | Stone circle | Territorial mushrooms | Razer moss |
| 15 | A rough path | Old vehicle | A circle of bloody snow | Fanatic avian |
| 16 | A ridgeline | Very very quiet | A blistered carcass | Major Beast drive by |
| 17 | Gravel fall | Piles of pine cones | Steaming water | Off target artillery |
| 18 | Saplings in a gap | A fallen tree | Seared patterns on the trees | Distant beast watching you |
| 19 | Thick dense forest | A warning sign | Demonic runes | Snap blizzard |
| 20 | A clearing | A snow back | A pool of fetid slop | The Lost Patrol |
Image Credit – Pahalampi & Auroras vol. 2 by Juho Homli CC-BY-ND-2.0