Glacier's Hive

**Glacier's Hive**

CN Small Town (north)

Corruption +6; Crime +5; Economy -8; Law -6; Lore +2 (high wealth)/-2 (low wealth); Society -14 (high wealth)/-10 (low wealth

**Qualities** militarized, wealth disparity

**Danger** 40; **Disadvantages** anarchy, hunted

**Government** anarchy

**Population** 1,000 people (450 humans, 150 dwarves, 400 other)

**Notable NPCs**

**The Bloodthirsty Hive Empress** CE Female Hive Queen Barbarian 4

**Stout Hive Warriors** NE male unique Hive Warriors Barbarian 2/Fighter 2

**Ashirye, Leader of the Survivors** LG female dwarf paladin 3/ranger 2

**The Broken Lieutenant, Zicrun Xenscar** CN male insane (-4 Wisdom, Charisma, and saves vs fear effects) human fighter 3

**Marketplace**

**Base Value** 800 gp; **Purchase Limit** 4,000 gp; **Spellcasting** 4th

**Minor Items** 3d4; **Medium Items** 1d6; **Major Items** N/A

Within the Sea of Ice are various small islands that, for as long as
anyone can remember, have had difficulty settling on. However, around
three decades ago, a man and his various men of human and dwarven
warriors-with the hardy and brave dwarven paladin **Ashirye** being
the second in command-settled onto one island as a sanctuary for
devastated villages raided and destroyed by frost giant tribes.
Everything went well until a few dwarf miners ventured into an unknown
tunnel of the island's small mountain, and returned with unusual
illnesses that could not be cured. Within a few nights, the dwarves
screamed in unholy pain as small, horrific larvae clawed out of their
abdomens-and before anyone could stop them, the small beasts fled.

The leader immediately called for a lock-down, and his men were
tasked with finding and killing the small fiends. Ashirye, however,
stated that these were not fiends of any sort-despite their behavior,
anything she used to see what they were came up in vain. Regardless, she
 ventured forth with nearly a thousand different soldiers of both
dwarven and human kind-and within the dead of the night, they're
searches came up in vain as more innocent townspeople disappeared. A
soldier ended up finding the location of where the missing people
went-or rather, their bloated corpses with huge, gaping holes in their
abdomens. Before he could flee to warn the others, a huge beast-nearly
the size of an adult dragon-dragged him into her nest to be flesh for
her larvae. This mighty hive queen, only called **The Bloodthirsty Hive Empress**, sent a signal to her various hive warriors-including the **Stout Hive Warriors**, short limbed, slow but sturdy variations of the typical hive warrior (no thanks to their hosts being dwarves)-to attack.

Ashirye witnessed the slaughter, and to this day as she keeps the
remaining survivors in an underground, blocked off safe area, she still
has nightmares of the various men, women, and children either ripped to
shreds, eaten alive, or worse-dragged to be a new host for the queen's
eggs. Her leader was one of those unfortunate men-and now serving as her
 second in command is **Zicrun Xenscar**, the son of the ill fated
leader who found the island. He himself nearly became a host if it
weren't for Ashirye, but the various sights of men, women, and children
being either food or nests for the beasts has all but driven him to the
brink of insanity-the poor man is usually found in a corner or a
secluded room, giving soft mutterings about how the beasts will find
them, and how it would be better to end all of their lives now just to
prevent the queen from getting more supplies.

The town itself is in a state of ruin-various hive warriors and
larvae bicker and scatter across the streets, or incubate the eggs. The
queen has now expanded the entire island as her own nesting
grounds-every single area has some clutches of eggs sitting around
somewhere. All other forms of native life have either fled or perished
from the hive's insatiable hunger. Boats are nowhere to be found-any who
 tried to use them to escape were slaughtered mercilessly by the hive,
with a few being implanted with eggs. Thankfully (or unfortunately,
depending on who you talk to), these boats have only arrived on
uninhabited islands-and the hive are nowhere near smart enough to
navigate a boat. However, should an unwary ship land on the island for
any reason, there is a possibility they may stowaway on the boat and
spread throughout the north-and beyond.