The Alpine Covenant

“The mountain does not care about your politics. The mountain does not care about your God. The mountain cares about the covenant. You swore an oath on the stone. The stone remembers.”

• Old saying of the Grindelwald shepherds

1. Setting Overview & Tone

High-Concept Pitch: The Swiss Confederation was born in the high Alps through a series of oaths sworn between mountain communities who chose mutual defense over feudal submission. The legendary Rütlischwur (Oath of Rütli, 1291) bound three cantons together on a meadow above Lake Lucerne. In this setting, that oath was not merely political—it was also sealed with the Alpine spirits. The Barbegazi, the Tatzelwurm, and the Wilden Mannli witnessed the oath and became its guarantors. In exchange for the mountain communities’ respect for the high places—leaving certain passes untraversed, certain peaks unclimbed, certain glaciers undisturbed—the Alpine spirits would protect the cantons from invasion.

Now the Habsburgs are marching with an army that outnumbers the Swiss ten to one. The old covenant is the cantons’ only supernatural advantage. But the covenant’s terms are strict, and the prices the mountain spirits demand are paid in human life: a child offered to the glacier every generation, a shepherd left on the pass during the winter storms, a village abandoned to the avalanche without rescue.

Sensory Pillars:

1. Sight: The overwhelming vertical scale of the Swiss Alps—granite walls rising thousands of feet straight up, glaciers pouring between peaks like frozen rivers of blue-white ice; Barbegazi emerging from a snow bank, small bearded figures with enormous frost-covered feet they use as snowshoes, their breath crystallizing into tiny ice sculptures; a Tatzelwurm slithering across a mountain pass, its front half cat-like with two clawed forelegs, its rear half a thick serpent tail, breath producing a visible cloud of poisonous mist.
2. Sound: The thunderous crack of a calving glacier, followed by the roar of an avalanche that sounds like the mountain screaming; the high, thin whistle of the Barbegazi calling to each other across valleys, audible only above 2,000 meters; the eerie, subsonic hum of wind through rock formations that the locals call “the mountain breathing”; cowbells echoing across alpine meadows in summer, each note crisp in the thin air.
3. Touch & Smell: The thin, sharp air of high altitude that burns the lungs and makes every breath an act of will; the comforting warmth of aged Gruyere cheese melted over bread in a mountain hut; the metallic scent of glacier melt-water; the vertiginous sensation of standing on a ridge so narrow that you can see two different valleys on either side.

The Core Tension: Independence vs. Sacrifice. The Alpine covenant protects the cantons, but its price is paid by the most vulnerable. The characters must decide whether the freedom the covenant provides justifies the suffering it demands, or whether true independence means finding a way to defend the cantons without sacrificing their own people.

2. Historical & Mythological Context

Swiss independence mythology centers on heroic oaths and community defense against overwhelming odds. William Tell, the Rütlischwur, and the battles of Morgarten (1315) and Sempach (1386) are foundational national stories about common people defeating aristocratic armies through courage, terrain knowledge, and collective will.

Swiss Alpine folklore is rich with unique beings. Barbegazi (from French barbe glacee, “frozen beard”) are small, benign ice dwarves who live in glaciers, warn of avalanches, and rescue buried travelers. Tatzelwurm are two-legged, cat-headed serpents reported throughout the Alps, believed to guard certain passes. Wilden Mannli (wild men) are large, hairy humanoid spirits of the highest peaks. Alpine dragons (Lindwurm) were widely reported in Swiss chronicles.

Note on Respectful Portrayal: Swiss Alpine folk traditions are living cultural elements of mountain communities. The founding mythology of the Swiss Confederation is treated with the respect due to any nation’s origin story.

3. Core Factions & Traditions

The Covenant Keepers (Eidgenossen des Berges)

Village elders who maintain the ancient pacts with Alpine spirits.

• Descriptor Examples:
  • “I know every term of every covenant my canton has sworn with the mountain spirits for three hundred years”
  • “The Barbegazi trust me because my family has left offerings at the glacier mouth every winter solstice since before the Rütlischwur”
  • “I carry the covenant stone—a piece of granite inscribed with oaths in a language older than German”

The Alpine Hunters (Gemsjäger)

Mountain hunters who navigate the highest passes and interact with the supernatural beings of the peaks.

• Descriptor Examples:
  • “I have crossed the Tatzelwurm’s pass seventeen times and paid the toll each time: one chamois, left at the summit cairn”
  • “I can read weather in the mountain’s mood. When the peak wears a cloud-cap, something is angry.”

The Barbegazi Alliance (Die Kleinen des Eises)

The ice dwarves themselves, who serve as avalanche wardens and glacier guardians.

• Descriptor Examples (for human intermediaries):
  • “The Barbegazi showed me the glacier tunnels that connect every valley in the Bernese Oberland”
  • “They speak in ice-crystal patterns. Each snowflake formation is a word.”

4. Unique Mechanic: Höhenkraft (Altitude Power)

Characters track a Höhenkraft Meter (1-6), which increases with altitude:

• 1-2 (Valley Floor): Fully human, fully grounded. +1d6 to Presence. No supernatural perception.
• 3-4 (Alpine Meadow): Can perceive Barbegazi, hear the mountain’s moods, and navigate passes that are invisible at lower altitudes. +1d6 to Finesse in mountain terrain. Risk: Mild altitude effects—headaches, breathlessness, vivid dreams.
• 5-6 (Summit): +1d6 to Force and Mind. Can commune with all Alpine spirits, survive extreme cold, and trigger controlled avalanches. Risk: The mountain is claiming you. Skin becomes stone-grey. Thoughts slow to geological timescales. At Höhenkraft 6, descending below the treeline requires a Presence roll or the character simply refuses to leave the peaks.

5. Character Archetypes

Archetype 1: The Covenant Elder of Grindelwald

• Concept: The oldest woman in the Grindelwald valley who remembers every term of the alpine covenants. She has paid the covenant’s prices—her firstborn was offered to the glacier forty years ago. She does not speak of this. She maintains the pacts because the alternative is annihilation.
• Quote: “You ask me if the covenant is just. I ask you if you prefer Habsburg chains. Justice is a luxury of the lowlands.”
• Approach Distribution: Force 1 | Finesse 1 | Mind 3 | Presence 3

Archetype 2: The Tatzelwurm Pass Hunter

• Concept: A chamois hunter who has crossed the most dangerous pass in the Alps so many times that the Tatzelwurm considers him a neighbor. He is the only person who knows the mountain route that could allow the Swiss militia to outflank the Habsburg army.
• Quote: “The Tatzelwurm wants one thing: respect. Walk through its pass quietly, leave an offering, and do not look it in the eye. Simple rules. Most people die because they cannot follow simple rules.”
• Approach Distribution: Force 2 | Finesse 4 | Mind 1 | Presence 1

Archetype 3: The Barbegazi-Speaker

• Concept: A young shepherd who fell into a crevasse as a child and was rescued by Barbegazi. She spent three days in the glacier tunnels and emerged speaking their ice-crystal language. She is the only human who can negotiate directly with the ice dwarves.
• Quote: “The Barbegazi are not cute. They are the glacier’s immune system. They are friendly until the glacier is threatened. Then they are an avalanche with intent.”
• Approach Distribution: Force 1 | Finesse 2 | Mind 2 | Presence 3

6. Condition Palette

Physical: Altitude Sickness, Avalanche Burial, Tatzelwurm Venom (paralytic), Glacier Frostbite, Stone Skin (Höhenkraft transformation). Social: Covenant Debt (you owe the mountain a price), Habsburg Spy Accusation, Barbegazi Distrust. Psychological: Vertigo Paralysis, Summit Addiction (compulsive need to climb higher), Covenant Guilt (you know what was sacrificed for your safety).

7. Starter Scenario: The Habsburg Army at the Pass

Framing: A Habsburg army of 5,000 is marching toward the Grindelwald valley. The Swiss militia has 500 fighters. The only advantage is the terrain—and the covenant. The Covenant Elder can invoke the Barbegazi to trigger a strategic avalanche on the Habsburg column, but the price is a human life offered to the glacier. The Pass Hunter knows a flanking route through the Tatzelwurm’s territory, but the Tatzelwurm demands a toll the Swiss cannot afford. The Barbegazi-Speaker can negotiate a lower price, but only if she enters the glacier tunnels alone.

Antagonist: Graf Leopold von Habsburg — A competent military commander who views the Swiss cantons as rebellious peasants. He is not evil but represents institutional power that cannot comprehend why farmers would choose death over submission. He can be defeated militarily through the covenant’s supernatural power or diplomatically if convinced that conquering the Alps is more trouble than it is worth.

8. Why This Setting Matters

Switzerland’s founding mythology is unique in Europe: a nation born not from a king’s conquest but from a community’s oath. The Alpine covenant extends this idea into the supernatural: even the mountains have agreements, and even freedom has a price. This setting asks whether the cost of independence—paid in the lives of the vulnerable—is acceptable, and whether there is a way to defend a community without sacrificing its members. It is the fundamental question of every democratic society, set against the most dramatic landscape on earth.