I had barely slept a wink that night. My patients were all stable. But being the only surgeon on board meant that I was on call 24/7. It wasn’t much worse than a normal day back home in London. Except I had very little medicine, jury rigged surgical equipment, and a few assistant with no experience in A&E1. The first task of the morning was doing my rounds. Simon Leclerc’s frostwolf bitten leg showed no sign of infection. The other surviving wolf casualties were also stable. A nurse had debrided the dead skin the day before so the wounds were still looking raw. But as long as they were kept clean they would all make full recoveries. It’s the one benefit of frostbite from a real bite. The extremities most vulnerable to frostbite remain warm and reduces the risk of needing to amputate.

The older South African lady who had a stroke during the crash was in a much worse state. She wasn’t at risk of death. But a stroke needs treatment at a hospital as soon as possible to limit the extent of the brain damage. But as good an airliner’s medical kit is; it doesn’t contain the best medications available. We managed to obtain blood thinners from a few passengers with hypertension. But it was too little, too late. In an ideal world she’d be able to recover after months of rehabilitation. But it was clear we weren’t in an ideal world. At that point all we could do was assign an aid to keep her alive and hope for a miracle.

The other patients weren’t emergencies so the other physicians on board were taking care of them. Heart issues, diabetes, cancer. All tragedies but there was nothing we could do,

We were running out of bandages. Unlike certain urban myths claim; period products aren’t ideal for treating blood loss. They absorb it too quickly. The goal is to keep the blood in the body. Not soak it up for later disposal. Instead, boiled, ripped clothing would do in a pinch.

And then I was asked to wait on call as a group of brave men used themselves as bait to draw out the wolves. I wanted nothing to do with that madness. But someone needed to treat the survivors. So I was waiting with the other healthcare providers near an open door waiting to watch a slaughter. Someone had scavenged a pair of binoculars we were sharing between us.

The men went down the ropes started walking towards the wolves lounging near the treeline with their bats and clubs at the ready. They were making a lot of noise as they approached. Looking through the binoculars I saw the wolves perk up just as the men left the boundary of the plane. The second they went past the tip of the wing the wolves got up and started bounding forwards.

The wolves were moving slower than their first attack. They had grown more cautious. They waited until the men were halfway to the treeline before they charged. And then they blitzed so fast I couldn’t keep track of them with my binoculars. Two of the men got taken down before I knew what was happening. The rest turned tail and ran back towards the plane.

The girl from South Africa was standing with a group of youngsters on the wing. She aimed her bow towards the melee but her first arrow was too high. The second narrowly avoided hitting one of the men being savaged. She flinched and aimed at an unengaged wolf. That one struck home. Two more hit in quick succession.

The last shot caused the wolf to drop. I was surprised it happened so quickly. She was using one of those new-fangled bows with a pulley at each end making the draw weight higher. But her arrows were designed for competitive use, not hunting. So while each arrow would pack quite a punch; it wouldn’t cause much physical trauma. A lucky shot probably hit something vital.

But the wolves kept coming. Three more men got taken down by wolves. The rest just barely managed to reach the ropes and climb to safety. One man was pounced on as he was climbing up; but two arrows caused the wolf to let go before its victim was dragged down. I rushed forward to provide treatment. It was the same wound as before. An animal bite surrounded by severe frostbite.

As I was working I kept glancing outside the open door of the plane. At that point the children on the wing were tossing bottles filled with some sort of liquid. The bottles splashed as they broke but the animals barely seemed to notice. Another child used a hand pump taken from who knows where to pump more of that liquid into the air around the wolves. After about two minutes of the treatment the wolves started to retreat. The children moved back into the plane and the chemist I saw speaking to them in first class fired a flare at one of the wolves. The entire area lit up in a massive fireball. I’ve dealt with many emergencies in my decades in Accident and Emergency. I knew that these sorts of fireball explosions are flashier than the munitions used by the military. But it takes a perfect mix of fuel and air to create a really dangerous blast. And I wasn’t sure if this improvised technique would be very effective.

But after the smoke cleared the wolves looked halfway to the butcher’s yard. They were on the ground. The white frost coating their fur seemed to be gone and the grey underneath was scorched black. And they were barely moving.

At that point the surviving infantry started climbing down the ropes and went to town with their bats and clubs. It wasn’t much of a fight. Most of the wolves seemed dazed and only two tried to fight back. When the men returned to the plane, covered in splattered wolf blood and smelling of smoke, only three of them needed to be bandaged. And none of them had the frostbite injuries I had seen in previous cases.

Major Reynolds spoke up, “someone please call the vet. Meacham, are you up to collecting the bodies for an autopsy? We can compare them to the one Marshal Johnson killed. If these things are weak to fire damage it’s an advantage we can exploit. But we’re still not anywhere close to being out of the woods. If we keep losing people to a pack of wolves what are we going to do when a dragon shows up!”

“I want the cargo unloaded from the hold and sorted through by sundown tonight. Any of you with hunting or hiking experience raise your hands. I want two teams to scout either end of the valley. Try find sources of food, water and any sign of civilisation.

Keep as far away from threats as possible. And don’t be too aggressive with what looks harmless. It is perfectly possible a squirrel can shoot lightning from its arse.

And that’s when I started climbing down the ropes to see if any of the poor men who hadn’t made it up the ropes before the enfilade were still alive. In the excitement I don’t think anyone else realised.

I found one casualty with a pulse. “Somebody help me bring him up. He’s still alive.” I shouted. People scrambled after that. I managed to rescue a second; but a third had sustained too much bloodloss in the engagement. What a tragedy.

--

A&E or accident and emergency is a service provided in Britain by orders of doctors known as hospitals to treat minor wounds. Based on the evidence it can be concluded that a health potion or cleric would be more effective; but trauma surgeons are highly regardless of the fact that they use advanced butchery techniques instead of magic to treat wounds.

--

Appendix 1.c

Found among the records kept by Melissa Cooper.

Melissa’s GM notes

Doing statblocks for monsters is stupid with such a low sample size. But my only way of gathering data is through guestimates so this will have to do for now.

Frostwolves

Highly aggressive wolves coated in frost with a cold based bite attack. They hunt in packs and seem to kill more prey than they need to survive. Possibly they use their breath to freeze the bodies for a later date.

Level 1

Str: +2 Dex:+2 Con:+1 int: -4 wis: -2 cha:+0

HP: 30 AC:14 Speed: 40

Attacks

Claw 1d6+2 slashing

Bite 1d6 piercing + minor frostbite

Minor frostbite: DC 14 Fortitude save or lose 1 dex until condition heals.

Resistances: ???

Vulnerabilities: fire