OPERATION SNOW FORT
The Brief:
The Agents are contacted by their handler and tasked to travel to Greenland in order to investigate whether any signs of recent activity can be found above the ruins of Camp Century, an old US military base under the ice.
The Agents are to make preparations for the journey, travel to Pituffik Space Base and, posing as a team of American scientists, meet with a team from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish reconnaissance unit. The team will guide the Agents to Camp Century and provide shelter while there. The Agents should identify the source of any disturbances and eliminate any signs of the unnatural they come across.
Background:
In 1959, the US began construction of ‘Camp Century’ in western Greenland, a feasibility test of independent, nuclear-powered bases carved into the ice. It was abandoned six years later, citing the movement of the glaciers making the project unfeasible. Or so the official story goes.
In reality, whether by chance or design, the camp gained the attention of an unnatural being: A large, worm-like creature, carving tunnels beneath the ice. It lures sentient beings into this labyrinth with strange compulsions and dreams of eternal, still peace. The captures serve as sustenance, though whether this is strictly nutritious or rather psychic is an open question.
For the men at Camp Century, its presence began as strange dreams. Soon mysterious tunnels appeared in the ice and between a third and half of the stationed soldiers were lost wandering into them after feeling strangely compelled to do so. The project was deemed too dangerous to continue and shut down, any reference to its’ unnatural nature buried deep within top-secret archives. Now, Delta Green have flagged an attempt to access these files, prompting an investigation into the site itself.
Preparations
Their handler reminds the Agents that they need to prepare for three things: Survival in the arctic, ascertaining the nature of any disturbances and neutralizing any potential dangers.
Delta Green will foot the bill for relevant survival and military equipment, and provide moderate funds for acquiring scientific equipment.
Pituffik Space Base
Located in western Greenland, this military base houses some 150 US military personnel. Refer to its’ Wikipedia page for further information.
The Sirius Patrol
The Sirius Patrol consists of two men, Lars Beck Hansen and Theo Wilhelmsen, two sleds and 12 sled dogs. They bring a large ‘hot tent’ to stay in overnight, as well as field rations. Their main task is to guide the Agents to the base, but they are also there to overlook proceedings - this is why they have agreed to assist the mission, even though they normally only operate in northeastern Greenland.
The Journey
The Agents will depart by military plane to Pituffik a week after the briefing. The day after landing, they will meet the Sirius team there and finalize preparations for the trek to Camp Century. The Agents should decide whether to travel by snow-scooter or with native kalaalit sled teams. The journey over the ice takes three days and is uneventful. The party arrives at Camp Century three hours before nightfall.
Camp Century, Above
Following decades of accumulating snowfall, the remains of Camp Century is buried beneath approximately 30 meters/100 feet of ice. The area above is completely flat, featureless ice plains, so any disturbances should be easy to spot.
Such a disturbance is found upon arrival: four snow-scooters and two tents half-buried in the ice suggests that someone has camped here since the previous winter. Close by, a tunnel has been dug into the ice. The tunnel is 1 meter/3 feet wide, cylindrical and dug at a roughly 45 degree incline with crude ‘stairs’ made from steel clamps. The ‘staircase’ leads down all the way to the ruins of Camp Century.
Camp Century, Below
Camp Century consisted of a long central tunnel with lateral tunnels containing heated building units. Many years later, the tunnels have been warped by the movement of the ice, rather narrow crevasses. Newer tunnels have been dug where the central tunnel is unnavigable, and into some of the side-tunnels. Where they reach buildings, they are cut open. The ice softly creaks and groans. Each building unit is skewed and bent but otherwise navigable. The camp was left with all its’ furniture in place, though most has been displaced as the buildings warped.
Clues to be found:
- ① : An innocuous letter home from a stationed soldier - he jokes that “up here, there is a pretty girl behind every tree”
- ②: The entire room is painted in a intricate, spiraling design. Art: 30% or a successful check reveals that it has a head and a tail, and is in fact a long, worm-like creature.
- ③ : The diary of an engineer. The later entries relate how he and the others suffered from vivid dreams of getting lost in labyrinthine though beautiful ice-caves. The very last entry mentions the appearance of “new, perfect tunnels”.
- ④ : In the chapel of the camp, the words “KINGDOM OF ICE” “KINGDOM OF LIGHT” and “DRAGON AWOKEN” is repeated hundreds of times, scrawled across a Bible and the wall behind the altar.
- ⑤: Tools and large drilling device, the one used to dig the newer tunnels, are discarded on the floor. Beyond a hole in the building-unit there is the entrance to an Ice Tunnel.
- ⑥: As the Agents turn away from the dead end, the groaning of the ice reaches a loud crescendo, and the ice around them lights up, as if illuminated by a powerful light from somewhere beneath them. A successful Alertness check reveals that the source of the light is moving beneath them.
Ice Tunnels
While the man-made tunnels are approximately a meter in diameter and clearly carved with tools, the tunnels here denoted “Ice Tunnels” are rather larger (3 meters/10 feet in diameter) and completely smooth, the ice around them clear like glass. They slope gently downward.
Any Agent faced with the tunnels must pass a POWx5 check or lose 1/1D6 Sanity as they struggle to contain the urge to wander downwards. Entering beyond the point where the tunnel entrance is visible behind them, the Agent(s) has entered The Kingdom of Ice. Any NPCs who come near a tunnel will enter and encourage the Agents to do the same.
The Kingdom of Ice
The tunnels continue seemingly forever and occasionally cross, constituting a veritable labyrinth. An Agent cannot find their way out except by completing a POWx5 check at -20%. On a failure, the Agent loses XD4 Sanity, where X is the amount of times they have failed the check. The Agent may re-try the check once per hour. Each time they fail, roll D6 (or choose) what they encounter:
| 1 | Nothing beyond the endlessly stretching tunnels |
| 2 | Men in 1960s US military garb, captured in the ice near the tunnel, perfectly preserved with blissful expressions on their faces. |
| 3 | Encased in the ice are kalaalit hunters in traditional sealskin garbs, perfectly preserved with peaceful faces. |
| 4 | A figure in a modern, black parka is kneeling on the path ahead. He is dead, frozen solid with a satisfied smile on his rime-covered lips. |
| 5 | Somewhere in the distance, a light akin to the one described in clue ⑥ |
| 6 | A massive, worm-like creature snaking its way through the ice nearby. Its colour and texture is like that of a maggot, at the front is a circular maw, and its diameter is the same as the tunnels. Its length is difficult to ascertain, but should probably be counted in football fields. It glows from inside with a pale, pulsating light. Through the ice, a wordless, melancholic song of eternal peace reverberates. D4/D10 Sanity loss. |
Disappearances
If the Agents go below ground, whoever is left above will disappear while they are down there. The Sirius rangers are tasked to stay above ground, but will join the Agents with any sort of invitation to do so. Any kalaalit sled-drivers will refuse to descend into the ruins. The sled dogs will violently refuse to go anywhere near the tunnel down.
Upon returning to the surface, dogs and humans alike are all gone. A successful Search reveals a faint set of (human) footprints leading to an Ice Tunnel a short distance away, descending into the ice like a well.
Returning Home
If the Agents travelled here on snow-scooters they can attempt the journey back to Pituffik, requiring a successful Navigation check (for the group) and Survival check (individually) for each day of travel to avoid getting lost or suffering the perils of the arctic.
If stranded at Camp Century, a search party arrives in 3+D6 days. Every few days the Agents must roll a survival Survival check to stay safe in the arctic, with each failure prompting a POWx5 roll not to retreat into the Ice Tunnels for safety, besides any other penalties. If they have run out of rations, this roll is at -20%.
Credits
Operation SNOW FORT was written by Troldkarl for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JQn5PksGP3gIN1tF2SSPTuszEZZe-5M208aaSKkeLCU/edit