White Out

You're out sledding a long way from town with an experienced musher. There's only a few weeks before you move out of town and you're giving the dogs a good run. He tells you about another experienced musher, Michael, who has gone missing recently. Up ahead is a trapper's cabin and some tracks in the snow, which you go to check out. There's an eerie sound on the wind.

The tracks were definitely made by a dog sled, and recently. A dog emerges from the tree line barking – it's chewed through its harness. The dog runs along the trail and the musher says you should follow. Hurry!

The dog leads you to another sled with dogs still harnessed. The sled is well-stocked so whoever was mushing wouldn't have needed to stop to hunt. There are footprints leading away up the hill and it feels like you're being watched. You take some provisions from the sled and follow the prints, bringing along the dog that found you.

The prints lead to the old trapper cabin. The dog refuses to approach, lying down in the snow. You can't see anything obvious through the windows, but set off to explore the outside of the cabin just to be sure. The tracks only lead to the cabin, not away. More strange humming is carried on the air.

Well, either the person who made the prints is in the cabin or they flew away. Could it be Michael, the missing musher? When you enter the cabin it's clear it hasn't been used in a long time but the humming gets louder. You find a strange staircase and thankfully the lightbulb above it still works, even though there's no generator. You descend.

The staircase is far longer that you expected, but you finally reach the bottom where a fire is burning. The firelight is low, but there's a figure here that looks like Michael. The musher tries to wake him, but his eyes are open and he doesn't have a pulse. The musher notices other figures around the edge of the room – were they there before? Their gear is of varying styles, like they're from different times. When you both investigate, one of the figures crumbles like it's been there for decades. You begin to flee, but the musher is suddenly captivated by the fire and wants to stay. You insist you both leave and climb the stairs together.

These stairs go on forever, and something in the fire-lit room doesn't want you to leave. The musher keeps being tempted back but manages to tear himself away and you reach the top of the stairs. Was the fire lit before? It's so cosy and that voice is so lovely – maybe you should settle in for a while... The dog barking from outside breaks the trance and you both manage to haul yourselves outside.

You'll take Michael's sled back to town – he won't be needing it. You'll say you found no sign of him. There was something rotten in that cabin and the people in town will understand. Quick, get out of there.

You've made it back to town, thankfully. You deserve a good long rest and this town is so cosy. Maybe you should settle in for a while.