Dungeon of Niflheim

“No need for that no need, I’ll just take an available yurt, no need for special treatment.” Frost was almost sweating buckets; this woman was dangerous and very mischievous.

“Awwww and here I was getting my hopes up, oh well suit yourself youngling.” Callie smiled brightly before fetching a token from behind her with the number 7 on it. “Yurt number 7 holds four people, currently empty, costs 2 silvers a night.” She tilted her head to the side innocently as though she never teased Frost in the first place. Frost quickly took out two silvers and placed them in Callie’s outstretched hand and took the token before quickly stepping back. If he didn’t need more answers about the area he would have ran out at full speed toward the yurt and called it a night.

“Thank you, mother Callie,” he thanked her with a slight twitch in his lips.

“Hehehehe no problem young Frost.....now that that’s been settled what would you like to know about the area and the camps?” With ruddy red cheeks Callie asked with her usual smile. She loved teasing young men or rather boys in her eyes, handsome ones most of all.

“Cough cough,” Frost coughed to regain his focus, putting the teasing out his mind. “Can you tell then more about these camps in general like how many there are, who runs them, locations as well as work?”

“You want to start there...well ok. The external regions of the glacial mountains are split into 24 sections from Alpha to Omega with every one ideally having a camp like this one but so far there’s only 13 such camps in the external regions with Beta camp being the first and closest to the sapient lands. You’d have to travel to epsilon or zeta to find the next one. All these camps tend to be similar in size and structure, any larger would attract too many monsters so they are kept small, efficient and without walls. Using only the anti-monster fog to deter the hordes along with the natural environment such as the rock formation surrounding this camp.” Callie started her long explanation by receding into her comfy office chair.

“For who runs the camps that’s a little complicated, many groups are involved such as the Northrend empire, the native kingdoms, more powerful enclaves as well as the adventurer and merchant guilds. All give money, supplies or even personnel to run and establish these camps for those seeking shelter. They all saw a need to create such areas and willingly worked together and now the system is in full effect. A group known as the order of the ice shield was established to manage all these supplies and personnel. I, the dorm managers, and guards are all under their employment. These camps allow the adventuring and merchant trade to flourish even in the deeper parts of the glacial mountains, fully making up for their running and set up costs.” Callie took a deep breath before continuing but a brightness could be seen glowing in her eyes, she was proud of her words, of her work and that of the order of the ice shield.

“If you’re looking for work I suggest taking a glimpse at the notice board, we frequently post requirements for materials there as well as hunting quests plus other adventurers and merchants tend post stuff up as well but if you’re seeking employment/ work for the order of the ice shield itself then I could give you a recommendation after seeing your skills. We’re usually in need of guards, labourers, adventurers well pretty much anything really. Given the dangers of the environment our staff turnover is generally rather high.” Callie frowned as she remembered the many, many dead colleagues she’d outlived, quite a few were young and ambitious, having but a short life.

.....

“Haaaaaaaa.....well did that answer your questions?” Callie asked after sighing.

“Yes, thank you mother Callie.” He now knew far more about these camps as well as the ones behind them, learning more about the powerful organizations that were his neighbours was always a good idea. He wasn’t looking to be employed by the order of the ice shield as a guard or labourer, but it was good to know that it was an option, another source of work to embark on whenever he journeyed into the glacial mountains.

“I don’t plan on being employed by the order of the ice shield anytime soon, but I’ve got a fair amount of monster materials stored so I’ll take a look at the notice board, thank you.” Frost nodded in thanks.

“Oh, if that’s the case you might want to visit Ryan the manager of merchant vendors, he always has requests for materials, so much that not all of it can be posted on the board. If you mention me, he may even give you a good discount heheheh.”

“I’ll do that,” he wasn’t one to pass up a discount.

“Anything else?”

“I’d like to know a little about the surrounding sectors, the gamma sector in particular.”

“Hmmm the gamma sector, do you have a quest there?” Callie’s eyes opened up with interest.

“Yes, under the Furano adventurer guild I’ve been assigned to scout section 23 of the gamma sector for monster activity.”

“Ah that makes sense, the monster stampede is due after all.” Callie nodded in understanding, but her reaction was rather different from what Frost expected. Given the location of this camp and the low amount of guards it’d be quickly consumed by the horde, an anti-monster fog would do little to stay such a ravenous number of monsters. He had to admit he was rather perplexed, though the camp manager seemed busy no one was worried about this upcoming disaster. His confusion was evident on his face.

“You want to know why we are still here and why no one is panicking?” Callie noticed his confusion immediately, Frost nodded in response.

“Haaaaaaa to be honest we don’t exactly know why this is but the monster stampede that happens every few years only really affects those in the sapient lands, beyond the glacial mountains.” Callie scratched her temple as she explained. “Though there is an increased amount of monsters in the area and a fair bunch do attack the camps and nearby enclaves and villages its nothing compared to what Furano has to endure. It’s as though something attracts them south and they willing to ignore all else. Even to this day it’s a mystery to be solved, there’ll be more paperwork as well as adventurer traffic and a slight increase in the guards but not else. The camp will easily survive the stampede.” Her answer only caused Frost’s frown to deepen, he had no idea why such a thing would happen. From what he knew the stampede was caused by fighting in the inner regions forcing the weaker B-ranks and C-ranks into the external regions creating a fighting frenzy that would eventually become a starving horde seeking the lives of those in Furano and beyond. But this explanation proved that it wasn’t so simple almost as if it was orchestrated. A starving horde shouldn’t be able to ignore these camps and enclaves full of people with much weaker defences. Something else was a play here, he was sure of it...but of course he wouldn’t be the only one with such thoughts.

“Hasn’t anyone tried to find the cause?”

“Of course, they have but found nothing, the area in question is far too large to comb through everything plus not everywhere is hospitable enough for exploration. After several decades of fruitless endeavour, the Northrend army gave up, too costly to continue. Best to just prepare for it whenever it arrives. Since the native kingdoms weren’t effected, they didn’t bother to lend any aid, in fact weakening Northrend would be nothing but a boon to them. Now Northrend just reinforces Furano with their armies whenever the stampede is due.....but it does seem a little overdue.” Callie frowned slightly, she had a few friends in Furano and couldn’t help but worry a little.

“Anyway, enough about that, if you want to get to section 23 you’ll need to travel west from here, avoiding the crevasse of Ymir, that’ll get you into the gamma sector. Sector 23 is in the northwest but taking a straight shot there will be difficult, best to head south first and meander around the centre before heading up. There’s no camp in the gamma sector but further northwest there’s the epsilon sector and there’s a camp there where you can seek refuge.”

“Why should I avoid the centre?” Frost already roughly knew the best route thanks to his extensive map, but it lacked certain specific details.

“A large frozen lake covers the centre of the gamma sector and is home to a fair few water dwelling monsters. Even if you’re stronger than them once they crack the ice dropping you into their realm, you’re as good as dead. It’s even more dangerous if you’re alone given that no one could fish you out before they get hold of you.” Callie spoke with dead seriousness. Sometimes it wasn’t the strength of the monsters that was most dangerous but the environment you fought them in.