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Lore: The Cold Lands
Posted: 15 Jun 2006 12:38 AM |
((The following is UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE. It is known to the inhabitants of the Cold Lands (though not really known in Gladden or M'Gok Tukar). It is also known to those who have a VERY STRONG reason to need to know it—such as Naruthians who often like to harass Helkris. Otherwise, it is not easy information for anyone else to come by, as Helkrisians and Cold Folk are not known for being open and talkative, and few scholars have bothered to research the Cold Lands.))
The brightest light can only shine from the deepest darkness,
The fiercest rage can only burn in the coldest heart.
From the greatest dangers come the greatest survivors:
The rigid laws of civilisation hide chaos,
And cities breed barbarians that hide behind smiling, polished masks:
Their lifespans are longer, but their lives shallower.
But the untamed wilderness hides a secret order,
And disordered nature brings forth lives with precise deliberation:
Permitting only a short lifespan, but each life serves a purpose.
Serves a purpose... or is destroyed:
The balance must be kept.
- Gwyneira Frost
Names
The wintry expanse of western Vives ruled over by Helkris is known by many names. Most commonly, these lands are collectively known as The Cold Lands. Other names include The Ice Queen's Realm, The Lands of Eternal Winter, and The Frozen Lands.
Icy Vale
When Midor established the colony of Gladden in the 4th Century SD in a valley shielded from the bitter cold that afflicted the rest of the frozen lands, an outpost was established in nearby Icy Vale both to accommodate those whose lives would not be dedicated to farming. Icy Vale was to stand as a last, lonely defence against that harsh, untamed environment. As such, the primary feature of Icy Vale is its barracks. Over the years, as Gladden and Icy Vale thrived and expanded, the vale became a sort of way-station for travellers passing through the Cold Lands.
Homesteads
The Gladden farmlands are strictly the territory of farmers, and Icy Vale itself is a small community where everyone serves a set purpose—and usually a militaristic one, at that. By necessity, few civilians live in Icy Vale. Instead, they tend to live solitary lives out beyond the safety of the town’s walls, and many isolated homesteads are scattered out on the wintry slopes of that frozen land.
The Cold Folk
In the same way as sailors oft worship gods renowned for storms and control of the sea, so do the inhabitants of the cold lands worship Helkris, acknowledging her power over them and praising her, to be spared her cold cruelty.
Residents of Icy Vale and its surrounds are sometimes referred to as the “cold folk”. Despite their pragmatic and stern natures, they are, paradoxically, superstitious to the point of being irrational. After all, to those who live within the confines of a city, the gods may as well be nonexistent. But to those who live their lives on the frontier bordering civilisation and the wilderness, the presence of the gods is a tangible thing.
Gladden and Icy Vale are not beholden to Midor in the way that Paws is. Their ties to that faraway city are distant. The god Midoran is a distant memory, although some of those families which date back to the first generation of Gladden settlers still stand devoutly by their god. No, a different deity reigns over the cold lands, one whose touch is felt by all who dwell in the vale.
Over the course of several generations the majority of the former Midorans—already devoutly religious to begin with—have transferred their zealous worship to the goddess Helkris. Yet they do not adore her in the way that they adored Midoran, for the Ice Queen would disapprove of such emotion. No, they are more superstitious and fearful than pious, with the exception being her worshippers.
Those who are devoted to Helkris do not make themselves publicly known, reasoning that they have nothing to prove and therefore no reason to publicly proclaim their faith and preach it. Indeed, Helkris’ priestesses never preach—after all, of what use is it to preach to the converted? The Ice Queen’s presence in the cold lands is felt by all; it requires no further affirmation. Even outside Helkris’ domain, her priestesses choose not to overtly identify themselves as her chosen, and instead allow their carefully arranged appearances and their equally careful and deliberate actions to mark them as the Ice Queen’s own. And if the ignorant warm folk are not perceptive enough to see them as such, well, they’re of no consequence anyway.
As for worship of other gods by those living within her domain, the Ice Queen could care less. She will tolerate the worship of those other, petty gods so long as none dare to worship her hated sisters—and woe betide those who dare to do so within her frozen realm...
Winter Barbarians
Long before Burand Whipsnade led his expedition into the mountains north of The Great Plains, the cold lands were populated by various roaming barbarian tribes. These disparate tribes seem to have only one thing in common, and that is a secret name they call themselves. Commonly, they are simply collectively called Frostfolk or Winter Barbarians.
It is from these folk that her worshippers are mainly derived, for they are adapted to the cold lands in the way that the former Midorans are not. To them, fire is hateful. The new cold folk confound them with their enclosed structures and warm homes. The Frostfolk tolerate the presence of the cold folk, who in turn ignore them.
The Crystal Cavern
Whereas the frozen statues that litter the Ice Queen's temple in Fangduin Forest serve as a warning to those who would incur her cold fury, the images frozen within the Crystal Cavern hold a different significance. Beautiful men and women are preserved eternally in crystal and ice, each one a living work of art—for living they are, though trapped in stasis.
These are the favoured of the goddess Helkris, and once a year, Frostfolk from all across the cold lands embark upon a pilgrimage to the Crystal Cavern to worship those whom the goddess has honoured with the gift of timeless life.
Legend has it that the frozen men are the ancestors of the Frostfolk, for although the ranks of the frozen women grow as time passes, the men have been there since time immemorial. As for the women, these are the priestesses of the goddess whom she has deemed worthy of ageless life. Rare indeed are the women who are blessed in this manner: the majority of these are legendary warrior-priests who have struck some momentous blow against the forces of the Sister of Flame or the Sister of Air. Women such as the priestess Vayelle.
The Ice Palace
Legend has it that the Sister of Flame once dared to transgress upon the Ice Queen's realm, and sought to claim the cold lands in much the same manner that she had wrenched Vilvayve's realm from her grasp and created the Kobai Desert.
But the Ice Queen is nothing if not patient, and where her sisters chose to scatter their influence hither and thither and have worshippers all 'round the world, she chose instead to concentrate her power in one small part of Vives. Naruth's forces were met with little resistance as they trekked through that frozen land, and in their arrogance thought that the Ice Queen was too weak to withstand them—or afraid to act against them. Deeper into the cold lands Helkris led them until finally, above a lake now known as Spirit Lake, the trap was sprung.
The details of the battle that ensued are known only to a select few, but it seems that the triumph of Helkris over Naruth resulted in the erection of the Ice Palace as a monument and a trophy, proclaiming the superiority of the Ice Queen's cold intellect over her sister's disorganised fury.
Tumata Valley
A sort of haven surrounded on all sides by jagged mountains and the most dangerous beasts known to the cold lands, this valley is home to a small and peaceful tribe of barbarians known as the Aecini.
The Aecini
The majority of barbarians that roam the cold lands are the savage Vyrka Helkrilas, also known as the frostfolk or winter barbarians. They are amongst Helkris’ many creations, and although they have the appearance of humans, they are something else altogether.
Still, there are a few barbarian tribes roaming around the cold lands that are not native to Helkris’ realm, and amongst them are the human Aecini. Tucked away in the Tumata Valley, a peaceful place out of odds with an otherwise hazardous area, the Aecini are a resourceful people and expert crafters. But although they are neutral and passive by nature, they are trained from an early age to fight as a matter of necessity. All Aecini, even their healers and crafters, are capable warriors.
Allegiances Between the Gods
Although the cold lands are undisputedly the domain of Helkris, she has permitted other gods to exert their influence when it suits her to do so.
The Dreamers
There are two things that all Aecini share in common: one is that all are warriors by necessity. The other is that all are talented in at least one craft.
Thus, those with the greatest imaginations and proclivity for crafting are also the most highly valued members of the Aecini society. Status is awarded to those who show the greatest creativity: their bards, druids and ovates are held in high regard. Such individuals are sometimes referred to as “Dreamers”, a title which has been bestowed even upon visitors to the valley, if they prove to be of an imaginative personality. |
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