Each year, the self-proclaimed “icicle fey” named Sinthia ventures to the small village of Frostbite to start the Icicle Festival, which begins on the last day of the year. She brings with her a large collection of icicles that contain all manner of treasures. The icicles are not clear, though, so you don’t know what is hidden within the ice until the spring thaw comes along. It takes her about a week to distribute, thoughtfully, her collection of icicles from her magical icicle cart to inhabitants of Frostbite. Only those who lived in this village for a year and a day may receive one of these icicles. Sinthia takes a day of rest and merriment before she begins distributing her gifts.

In return, the villagers send her back to her home with practical things, plus some unusual items that she requested the year before (the blood of a chimera, a medusa’s snake, and more).

This year, though, Sinthia hasn’t come down from the mountain yet. The villagers of Frostbite are worried, and they seek help in ascertaining what has happened. Do your hearty adventurers choose to take on this challenge?

What follows is a d12 table of what might have happened. You may pick one thing from it (or even more if you can spin a story around them) or roll:

1. The Fey Court is not pleased with Sinthia. She’s stealing from them to make her gifted icicles.
2. A dragon has Sinthia trapped in her lair. This dragon loves Sinthia’s little hoard—perfect for a young dragon!
3. Sinthia is the sacrifice needed to open a gate to a frost-filled plane.
4. Sinthia decided to head off to another location for reasons of her own. She left behind gifts for each of the villagers with a thank-you note, plus, curiously, gifts for anyone who ventured to her lair. The lair itself would make for a great base for any itinerant adventurers.
5. The icicle fey allied with a tribe of giants in the region, and this has led to all sorts of unexpected unpleasantness as she also gained their enemies. She’s currently away at the giant’s steading.
6. Sinthia is a statue in her own lair. A medusa has taken over.
7. The cupcake fey decided that this was the perfect place for her own lair and ousted Sinthia, who is on the verge of taking back the lair when the PCs come along. (Sinthia rolls her eyes every time she says “cupcake fey”—she does not care for that name, clearly.)
8. A super-intelligent yeti has taken Sinthia as a pet.
9. Sinthia accidentally fulfilled on a ritual to become a deity and is now ascending (and gaining her portfolio). She’s somewhat bewildered by this, too, but the frostcats that surround her now insist that this was prophesized centuries ago.
10. A gigantic snow globe within Sinthia’s lair holds her captive within it. How should one go about getting her out? Who did this? And why?
11. A fissure in the mountain leads down to a pit of fiery creatures, who erupted upward a few days ago and nearly melted poor Sinthia. She’s currently not far from her lair, under the snowpack and hoping that it heals her before the hordes of flame creatures venture forth to conquer the area.
12. She made a half-pony, half-monkey monster to please someone. It grew a bit bigger than she expected (think gargantuan), and it’s trying to eat her now.

When the adventurers have rescued the icicle fey, you may use the table that we’ll provide tomorrow to determine what their prizes are—for Sinthia will indeed grant each of the PCs their very own icicle gift!

Happy New Year’s Eve!