Erebus

Ages ago and for reasons now unknown, Mulcarn, God of Ice, defied the Compact and entered Erebus, bringing about an era of isolation and great famine as the land and seas froze over. Great empires and kingdoms disappeared practically overnight, unable to fight against the land itself. Only in tiny communities, in sheltered valleys and deep caverns, or in regions with hardy life did survivors remain, unable to contact each other.   It's been far, far too many generations now since the start of Mulcarn's reign, but change is coming. On the most freezing night of the prior year, followers of the Old Gods began to speak of revelations given to them of a great battle in which a human, Kylorin, slew the avatar of Mulcarn with his dying breath. The survivors of the Age of Ice now hope to see the great glacial flows retreat further and further each coming year, opening more and more land for the harvest, and for once-dormant empires and peoples to rise again.   In the ancient and crumbling city of Nivith, warrior-chief Flaneth Bloodbane ordered the creation of a scouting force to investigate the surrounding lands, gambling on their success to justify opening emergency food stockpiles. After a brutal year of training, four groups of four brave - or foolhardy - adventurers set out to rediscover the forgotten world, and bring crucial knowledge of the surrounding territories and surviving peoples back to help the people of Nivith.