(Scenario Seed) "Because, its there...."

[grinch]

INTRODUCTION: Following directly on from a previous adventure and with their TARDIS/Time Ship critically damaged, your PCs are forced to make an emergency landing in order to allow for some essential repairs. The Time: 2004. And the Place? Mount Everest. But while making repairs and trying their best not to succumb to the elements your PCs will soon discover that their presence has woken something up. Some great force which resides deep within the summit of the mountain and which wants them to leave.... 

THINGS TO DO: Make repairs to your Time Ship/TARDIS, braving the elements while avoiding succumbing to frostbite, hypothermia. Rescuing PCs who have become separated from one another. Fending off the Revenants, finally confronting 'The Thing in the Summit' 

ANTAGONISTS
* "THE THING IN THE SUMMIT": A force (for lack of a better term) which resides deep, deep within the summit of Mount Everest. It has lain dormant for centuries but the arrival of your PCs TARDIS has woken it up (which may suggest a possible origin) Despite it being confined to the mountain it is able to exert an influence over its environment, creating powerful snowstorms, triggering avalanches etc. Its most powerful weapon, however, is its ability to reanimate the many corpses scattered around Everest to serve as its eyes and ears. Although it is clearly sentient its level of intelligence is still unclear meaning that it is entirely possible it can be reasoned with.
* THE REVENANTS: The frozen corpses of those poor unfortunates who succumbed to the elements while traversing the mountain. Their bodies perfectly preserved by the cold, they have been reanimated by The Thing in the Summit to act as its personal soldiers. From a distance, their silhouettes might cause some observers to believe they are merely climbers scaling the mountain but that couldn't be further from the truth. They are predominately mindless, communicating only in snarls or broken words of the languages they once spoke. They track their prey mainly through body heat and are capable of enacting some rather advanced siege tactics which may suggest that parts of their mind have been preserved as well as their body. After catching their prey, they will either freeze them with their icy touch, beat them to death or simply throw them off the mountain. If The Thing in the Summit is defeated/killed/reasoned with, its influence on them will fade but they will not simply collapse where they stand but rather slowly make their way to where their bodies once lay. Returning to rest if you will.
* GEORGE MALLORY: An English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s but sadly perished before he could reach the summit. In 2004, his body (much like a lot of his predecessors) has been perfectly preserved by the cold and has been reanimated by The Thing in the Summit. Unlike his fellow Revenants, he appears to retain some sense of self and can communicate albeit in broken English. He also appears to share somewhat of a telepathic connection with The Thing in the Summit for some unknown reason. Possibly due to the fact that he may have been one of the first to die on the mountain. Allying with him may allow the PCs to gain an audience with The Thing in the Summit. 

VISUALS: A white abyss where every step could mean death. Should be as cold and claustrophobic as possible where they cannot even rely on their senses. 

FURTHER ADVENTURES
* Where did The Thing in the Summit come from? Is it alien/otherworldly? Or it could be native to Earth? In which case, is such a being limited to Everest or could members of the species exist on other mountains? And what would happen if they all wake up? 


NOTE: An idea which I came up with after listening to The Grey Man of the Mountain, partly inspired by At the Mountains of Madness and the realisation that Doctor Who has yet to do a story set on that most famous of mountains. Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome.