In the rural town of Mistvale, nestled along the Silverstone River in the Hinterlands, a group of friends gathered at the old wishing well one evening. The town was known for its tight-knit community, sheep's wool, goat's milk, cheese, and various tubers. Wallace, a giant of a man with blue painted markings and blonde hair, arrived first after a day of breaking up fights as the town's peacekeeper. Kellen, fresh from treating the difficult but generous Mrs. Mika, joined him shortly after, followed by Bolete, a rotund mushroom-man who had secretly borrowed ale from the Broken Lute tavern. The group was completed by Paul, a teenage goblin who tried his best to mask the smell of his day's work with the horses.

The friends decided to head to the Broken Lute tavern, a white clapboard building with bright red shutters owned by Fineous, a gnome. They arrived to find the traveling band Blink Dog 182 performing their signature song "What's My Mage Again" to increasingly hostile reviews. The performance was so poor that patrons began fleeing the establishment, especially when the band started their trademark disrobing routine. Wallace attempted to salvage the situation by paying the band to take a break, but events took a dramatic turn.

A mysterious figure arrived in a black coach pulled by a demonic elk with blood-stained antlers. The newcomer was Karakos, an infernis with burgundy skin, a scarred face, and a diamond-studded brass crown. He confronted Fineous about their shared past, accusing him of killing his brother and companions. The situation quickly escalated into violence, with Karakos commanding an army of small, harlequin-dressed imp minions that began terrorizing the tavern's remaining patrons.

The party fought bravely against the chaos. Bolete wielded a broken bottle with surprising effectiveness, while Kellen narrowly escaped being set ablaze. Wallace engaged Karakos directly in combat, though the infernis proved to be a formidable opponent. Paul defended patrons with a broom, and Kellen spotted his brother Mathis, a muscular sheep shearer, among the endangered customers. In a desperate move, Kellen attempted to grab Karakos's crown, believing it to be the source of his power.

The gambit proved catastrophic. When Kellen touched the crown, Karakos unleashed its full power, creating a wave of heat and fire that engulfed the tavern. In an instant, the party found themselves teleported to a freezing forest location, crashing through pine branches and landing in snow drifts. Wallace broke through tree branches, Paul landed headfirst in a snowdrift, and Kellen found himself trapped in a tree, all of them wounded and disoriented in their sudden, frigid surroundings.