Fimbulwinter Braincataclysm

...to toss around possible ideas for forthcoming Fimbulwinter sessions.

Beginnings

The show needs to begin somewhere. Some ideas follow: of course, we can always revisit with flashbacks if we open with something on in events.

• A symposium of the International Geographical Society, at which the expedition is proposed
• The arrival of the main zeppelin at McMurdo Sound, and the establishment of base camp
• The first sighting of the Mountains by an expedition foray
• the establishment of a camp at the base of the Mountains
• the first death of the expedition
• the first discovery of Something Very Weird

Season Arc Ideas

• There is a cult in the base. But how far does it extend?

Possible Act I Problems

• Something is discovered:
  • washed up on shore
  • frozen in the ice
  • came in the mail
  • fell out of the sky
• Possible "somethings": dead (human) body, elder artifact, meteor, mysterious equipment
• Someone is murdered or missing
• Meteorological problems: a blizzard, ice fog, bizarre warm period
• An entrance is discovered under the ice
• The airship explodes
• Nightmares plague all. There's sleepwalking
• Southern lights have a mysterious effect
• Strange radio transmissions are received
• Base is audited by an external adviser
• An NPC is accused of espionage
• The mail arrives
• Electrical generators fail
• Illness; maybe food poisoning
• Something has been stolen or missing
• A trial is held
• Wildlife attacks
• Some place is quarantined or forbidden

Random Stuff that Would be Cool

• I like the idea of calling the base camp Concordia (the name of a much later French/Italian Antarctic research station); it has the right tone of utopian internationalist-brotherhood which can then be horribly undermined.
• The Axis plan to use (eldritch forces) to shatter the Ross Ice Field, rendering navigation around the Cape of Good Hope impossible.
• An RPGnet thread about Arctic settings

Stuff That Could Change Due to the Pilot

• The most obvious thing that could change is the exact time of the setting; a few ideas:
  • Immediately post-WWI, for post-war trauma and new-world-order intriguing
  • Pre-WWI, but somewhat earlier so as to leave more wiggle room for alliance-building - perhaps in late 1903, shortly before the Entente Cordiale.
  • Late Victorian. Changes stuff very heavily.