Frozen Over: The Hallows Festival

As the first in our series on festivals and other special events in the Bay, we take a look at Hallows, which takes place at the juncture between the months of Little Tober and Great Tober.

What is Hallows about?

The primary purpose of the Hallows festival is to celebrate the end of the year’s successful harvest. Hallows is a time to thank Voland for the bounty of the season that will hopefully sustain everyone through the long winter. The festival can be seen as an analogue of Thanksgiving.

Because the start and end of seasons can vary from year to year, sometimes the harvest runs later than expected; when that happens Hallows is postponed until the work is done. What this means is that Little Tober continues, adding more days beyond the usual 25, until the harvest’s end, at which point Hallows day occurs. Days added to Little Tober are subtracted from Great Tober.

Though not directly related to the harvest, tales of horror abound during Hallows. Somewhat linking to the harvest, many of the stories include scarecrows come to life roaming the countryside. One particularly famous scarecrow is known as Mister Unlucky, who has a massive pumpkin for a head and is said to devour children in the night. The stories say that children can protect themselves from Mister Unlucky and the other scarecrows by saying a prayer to Voland and hanging a wreath in their windows on Hallows night.

What are normal Hallows activities?

On Hallows day, a special service is held outside of the kirkhall. A large bonfire is built up, but not immediately lit. Instead there is a ceremony where a pumpkin is placed among the wood by the Keeper as a symbolic sacrifice to Voland. Only once the sacrifice is in place is the bonfire set ablaze and the pumpkin is consumed by fire, symbolizing Voland’s acceptance of the gift.

After the ceremony the Keepers generally organize games and festivities for the children, while adults go about their business. One game involves the Keeper masquerading as Mister Unlucky and chasing the children, who must hide from the mad scarecrow or be gobbled up. This game is usually the last played, and concludes with the ringing of the kirkhall bell at sunset, signalling the dinner hour.

While some of the time without the children is spent preparing the evening meal, it is tradition among many for a couple to take the opportunity to share their bed. As a result, many children are conceived on Hallows, and there is a spike in births around the end of Great Solen and beginning of Little Greening.

What is eaten during Hallows?

The highlight of the festival is the evening feast. The term feast may be a bit misleading; the people of the bay in no way overeat as is common in real world Thanksgiving, but they do eat more than usual. Waterfowl is the traditional dish, usually duck among the commoners, while nobles and the wealthy eat goose. Some families may not be able to afford even a duck, and so they will often resort to other fowl such as chicken or squab.

Side dishes that you might find at the meal include potatoes, squash or pumpkin soup, and a variety of greens. Some households also bake a special cranberry bread for the occasion. The specifics of the food in any given table can vary wildly, just as in the real world.

Possible Adventure Hooks

The most obvious adventure hook relating to Hallows is Mister Unlucky. You can have your adventurers deal with disappearing children, and discover that the stories of living scarecrows are more than just stories. This adventure should probably conclude with a fight against Mister Unlucky himself, perhaps with a retinue of ghasts or scarecrows.

A more mundane threat to deal with during hallows might be bandits. Following the successful harvest, the freshly reaped food is nowhere to be found. The player characters may discover that varkers are behind the missing stores, or perhaps the culprits are closer to home, people living in their midst looking out only for themselves rather than the community.

If you want to bring the Blackwood Scions into your adventure, either of the above hooks could be adjusted to their aims. Mister Unlucky and his followers could be constructs created by the Scions to spread terror and undermine the Baron’s rule, or could even simply be Scions in disguise. For the missing food hook, the Scions could again be attempting to undermine the established authority, or they may be simply building up their own stores in preparation for something bigger.

Monday: The Hodekin Nation

Frozen Over: The Order & Divine Magic

Of the governments and organizations in the Bay, only one holds near-universal reverence and respect. The Order is the church of the people of the Bay, tending to their spiritual needs and attempting to bring the different races together.

Divine Magic

Magic related to the gods, primarily Voland (and Orich), is mostly the domain of the Order. Students are usually taught how to use the holy light to heal, but it is also possible to use divine power to strike your enemies.

Classes from 4th Edition D&D that would fall under the purview of the Order include: the cleric, paladin, invoker, runepriest, and to a lesser degree the monk and avenger. Being a monk might mean you have gone to the Silver Keep or an abbey, but have only just begun your training, or perhaps that you have chosen to focus your contemplation inward upon yourself rather than outward on the gods and the world at large. An avenger would most likely be an attendant of an abbey and has been schooled in the specific dogma of that institution rather than the Order.

Structure of the Order

Internally, the Order is divided into six sects, each serving a different portion of the population of the Bay. Each sect is indentified with a colour that also corresponds to the people or nation it primarily serves: red for the uruks, blue for the elben, green for the alfar, yellow for the humans, purple for the hodekin, and white for the yadekin. Leading the sects are the High Keepers, two for each, generally a man and a woman (though obviously this isn’t the case for the Purple and White Sects). A High Keeper is usually elected to the position by the other Keepers of their sect, and in turn the High Keepers elect the Deacon, who leads the Order as a whole.

The Silver Keep, in the human town of Dunstable, is the headquarters of the Order. It is the permanent home of the Deacon, and is also the primary residence of many High Keepers. Part of the Silver Keep is the priory where new Keepers are educated. Master Keepers from each sect teach their new inductees the ways of the Order.

In addition to the Silver Keep, there are a number of smaller abbeys scattered around the Bay that may teach slightly differing versions of the faith. While most of these are at least acknowledged by the Order as valid, the Blackwood Abbey on Perry Island is an exception. The Order has officially rescinded the membership of any Keeper, Brother, or Sister associated with Blackwood Abbey, but that does not prevent them from continuing to use their titles and preaching their own hateful form of the faith.

Joining the Order

The choice to enter the Order is not one to be taken lightly as it usually defines your life from that point onward. Generally, a prospective student would first attend personal lessons with his or her local Keeper learning the Libram, their holy text, in great detail. Going to the priory at the Silver Keep can only be done on the recommendation of a Keeper, so the Keeper teaching you the Libram decides when and if you are ready to take that next step.

If you are accepted into the priory, you journey to Dunstable and begin your real training. As a student, you are granted the title of Ember; you are recognized as a member of the Order, but you are not granted all the rights and responsibilities of a full Keeper. Ember training lasts for a minimum of three years, but can last longer if your teachers, the Master Keepers, do not deem you yet ready. Lessons taught include healing, defence, deeper understanding of the scripture, as well as lessons in how to counsel others in times of crisis.

When it is time for your full ordination, there is a ceremony performed on the first day of the new year, the day after Nighsend. Each Ember vows to remain devoted to the Order and to Voland (or Orich), to defend and protect the innocent from harm, and to use the holy power and their knowledge for the benefit of the people. Part of the vow of devotion to the Order and Voland (or Orich) is agreement not to marry or become romantically involved with others. In addition, a small sacrifice of blood is required of each Ember. The blood is mixed together with that of a rabbit and then used to mark a circle (the symbol of the Order) on the Embers’ foreheads. Finally, at the end of the ceremony, as each Ember is granted the title of Keeper, they are given a pendant of a silver circle, called an annulus, which serves as a reminder of their vows.

If you join an abbey instead of attending the priory at the Silver Keep, your experience may differ from the norm. Most who join abbeys do eventually attend the priory as well, but not all. Those who never attend the priory, but are still acknowledged by the Order, are granted the title of Brother or Sister. The vow of a Brother or Sister varies from abbey to abbey, and some may even allow marriage or romantic relationships. Non-Keepers, however, are never granted many of the rights of the Order, such as performing marriages, and also never receive an annulus, but may wear a silver ring on their right ring finger.

Friday: The Hallows Festival

Frozen Over: The Hodekin Race

What is a Hodech? What is a Yadech?

While the race as a whole is usually referred to as hodekin, an individual female is called a hodech. Males, in large part due the physical differences from females, are not afforded this term, and are instead referred to as yadekin; yadech individually. The two sexes do have some similarities, most notably their short stature compared to the other races, but also including their pointed ears (as one would expect on elves in other settings). Both sexes also share the same skin tone, a somewhat stony greyish hue, and they are well known for red hair.

The typical hodech is perhaps best described as sturdy. They are extremely well muscled even compared to males of other races, but despite this are somewhat slower because of their stubby legs. Hodekin are also well known for being busty. Although in their youth a hodech is clean-faced like any other female, once they reach menopause their bodies begin overproducing testosterone and most grow voluminous beards.

Though not tremendously strong, yadekin are very nimble and quick. A typical yadech is somewhat taller and more slender than a hodech, but still considerably shorter than a human. Males never, under any circumstances, grow facial hair and, because beards are seen as a sign of experience and wisdom, males are therefore seen as dim-witted but pretty.

What are Hodekin like?

The hodekin are, in a word, proud; but that pride manifests differently in the two sexes. Females are proud of their place in the family; they are the source of both children and wealth, and they are incredibly protective of their children. For a hodech, family is everything, and the success of her daughters is her success. For a male there is a sense of duty, they are far more protective of one another. A yadech is still fiercely loyal to his family, but cares more for his sons; the success of a son is seen as an affirmation of the worth of all yadekin. Males also take pride in the fact that while females are the ones to carry and give birth to children, that act is ultimately impossible without a male. Some yadekin are more reserved, and many hodekin prefer it that way, because it was a male’s interference that killed Voland, which is seen somewhat similarly to the original sin of Eve in our world.

Hodekin Society

For the most part hodekin society is fairly static; you are generally born to your station and never really move. There is a very small noble class made up of Dames and Digems, and to a lesser extent Ritters and Rittrems. Below that is a somewhat larger class of artisans and other skilled workers. At the bottom is the serf class, the farmers and miners and other similar labourers. Finally there is the priesthood, which stands somewhat to the side of the normal hierarchy; joining the Order is the only easy way to rise in social status, but Keepers often serve hodekin of a similar status as they were born.

Yadekin are mostly expected to do the housework and watch over the children, but during the growing season they join the workforce alongside the females. Males are rarely allowed to enter skilled professions as the view is that they exist simply to makes the lives of females easier. Because many medics are Keepers, male physicians do exist in small numbers. Historically males have not been allowed to serve in the military; more recently, out of necessity, they have been allowed to enter armed service, but only as crossbowmen.

Sexuality among hodekin is a point of interest. The two sexes are viewed as wholly separate animals, and as a result sexual relations with another of your own gender isn’t really viewed as sex at all. Everyone is expected to find a mate of the opposite gender, and adultery is harshly punished, but same-sex relations, not being viewed as sex, do not constitute adultery by hodekin social mores or laws. The exception to the expectation that all hodekin get married are Keepers, who are instead forbidden to marry or have sex, but like all hodekin can have sex within their own gender.

Hodekin Faith

The religious views of the hodekin depart a fair bit from the traditional teachings of the Order, but are nonetheless served and taught to hodekin by the Order of the Bay. The primary difference rests in the fact that in hodekin faith there are not two gods, but four, two female and two male. The females take the traditional names of Voland, Dame of Fire, and Bishal, Dame of Ice. The males, unique to hodekin faith, are Orich, Digem of Light and husband of Voland, and Yarem, Digem of Darkness and husband of Bishal.

The story is altered so that Bishal was not initially evil, but rather helped Voland to create the world. Yarem, however, was jealous of the way that fire could overcome ice, and light could overcome darkness. To right this perceived wrong, Yarem slowly convinced his wife to turn on Voland for fear of being destroyed. Voland fell dead, but her husband Orich used his light to heal her and watched over her with the first Keepers.

Each kirkhall is made up of two identical sets of rooms with separate entrances and no connecting doors between the two inside. Hodekin and yadekin are segregated for services, and are never allowed to enter the other sex’s half of the kirkhall. As a result of this division, the Order is the only realm in which males have as much power and prominence as females, even being allowed to hold higher ranking positions.

Wednesday: The Order

Frozen Over: The Barbarian Varkers

A number of outside forces threaten the security of the Bay, but by far the most well known of these are the ubiquitous varkers.

What is a Varker?

Varkers are a race of thinking beings, like humans and the other races of the Bay. However, unlike the races of the Bay varkers are generally uncivilized. Instead of living in organized towns and villages, varkers live in tiny groups, called bands, in the wilderness. Each band is part of a larger tribe that occupies a region.

In appearance, varkers from different tribes can vary wildly. They tend to be shorter than humans, more on the size scale of hodekin, but some tribes are exceptions. Varkers, especially the local Redfeather tribe, are often described as rat-like in appearance, with elongated snouts and long hairless tails. Redfeather varkers are lightly furred across their whole bodies, and their fur ranges from bright oranges to deep rich auburns. In general you can think of a varker as being like an anthropomorphized rat, mouse, or other rodent.

You can treat Redfeather varkers as a baseline; some tribes tend to be taller than Redfeathers, others somewhat smaller; some have radically different hair colour; much more hair, or much less; some have no tails, or differently shaped tails; some are heavyset and bulky, others slender and lithe. Each tribe is different, and mixture between tribes happens fairly seldom.

What are Varkers like?

The primary thing to know about varkers is that they respect strength. A varker doesn’t fight you because he hates you, but rather either because he sees you as a threat that has to be put down, or because you have something he wants. For a varker strength is everything, and if you have the strength to take something from someone else, then you have earned the right to possess it. Varkers will generally decline negotiations, but they can be reasonable and a show of force will be respected and might lead them to back down.

In general, varkers want the same things as other races: they want to keep their family, band, and tribe protected and safe, and they want to provide for their own as well. Sometimes, if supplies are tight, providing for their own means taking what they need from someone else such as another tribe or the people of the Bay. The fact that needs to be remembered is that varkers are not any more evil that humans, they simply have a different worldview that is sometimes at odds with that of civilized people.

Varker Society

Each tribe is a distinct entity and a varker doesn’t usually show any more affinity for a member of a different tribe than he would for a human, uruk, or alfar. That said, there are rare occasions when tribes will work together if they all stand to gain from it, but these arrangements are always short-lived and usually end with one tribe betraying the other.

Leadership among varkers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, based on strength. A varker will declare himself Ri of the band, and gains the position if none oppose him. If he does face opposition, the matter is solved with simple combat. Nearly all disputes among varkers are solved in this manner; they do not usually fight to the death, instead the weaker individual usually concedes defeat and the stronger is considered the winner of the argument. While each band is led by a Ri, there is also a higher position called an Ardri who leads the tribe as a whole.

Using Varkers in Play

Many different monsters can be used to represent varkers, and you may want to represent different tribes with different races. The best race to use for the Redfeather varkers would be kobolds, as their abilities agree with the baseline rat-like nature. Other monsters that can be used for varkers include goblins, orcs, lizardfolk, gnolls, minotaurs. and anything else you might think appropriate. Don’t be afraid to re-skin more exotic creatures into varkers as well, especially for a champion, Ri, or Ardri.

Monday: The Hodekin Race

Frozen Over: Leadership

In Butter Bay, society is divided into five nations. The divisions are primarily along racial lines, but members of others races do live in nations not their own. While each nation ultimately has one overarching leader, the methods for selecting these leaders vary, generally reflecting the culture of that nation’s dominant race.

The Five Nations

Beginning with the simplest, we have the Hodekin nation. Hodekin society is very simple; females are superior to males, and one’s standing in society is everything. Social standing can very rarely be gained and is also rarely lost; it is something you are born into, not something you earn. As such, the hodekin are led by several Dames, whose position is hereditary and cannot be held by a male. Though all the Dames are technically equal, tradition places one ahead of the others; she is the Vidame of Audlem. The current Vidame is a harsh old crone named Morwyn Reysdal. Few now remember the time before Vidame Morwyn’s rule, but those who do know her mother was a kinder Vidame.

Similarly to the hodekin, a hereditary nobleman, the Baron, rules the humans. Ebraen Coel took power twelve years ago, but little has changed in the lives of his people since his father passed. Although the Baron also holds personal lordship over Mondegreen, Ebraen has delegated that rule to his son, Lord Alliver Coel. While some of the other towns in the Human nation are directly ruled by Lords as well, several instead have an elected Mayor. Unlike the hodekin, the Lords and Mayors are fully subject to the Baron’s will, but thankfully the effort of leading his people through the Freeze has not hardened Ebraen Coel’s heart and he is seen by most as a just ruler.

The idea of a hereditary position is unacceptable to the uruks. Instead they insist on holding elections for nearly every governmental position. The top job in the uruk nation is that of Governor, who does not rule so much as act out the will of the people. In uruk law it is not a difficult matter to remove a leader from office if enough of the populace choose to do so, but the current Governor, Stoll Raener, has had little reason to fear impeachment in his term in office, enjoying support both from the town Mayors and the citizenry. Entering his nation into the war was seen as a defence of uruk ideals of equality and justice.

Among the alfar, however, the only thing that gets you power is connections. The position of Alder, the leader of the Alfar nation, is neither elected nor inherited, but rather bestowed by the previous Alder. Each year, the Alder declares his or her current choice of successor should death arrive. As a result, ideals are best left behind if you want power. The Alfar nation is divided into three townships, with the Alder holding control over Benshaw and the other townships of Ringwood and Nefyn led by Onders. The Onders are selected in the same manner as the Alder, but are ultimately subordinate to the Alder. The current Alder is Dallick vo Nayer. Dallick, who comes from a well-connected family, gained his position only four years ago, just in time to start the War.

Finally, the leader of the Elben nation is the Graf. When a Graf dies or steps down, the Reeves of the elben villages each nominate a candidate for the position. The candidates are then subjected to a series of tests and trials, and candidates are eliminated until only one remains. Joral de Roen is a fairly young idealist who made a name for herself defending the Bay from varkers. The skills she learned in that time have served her well in the war, saving many lives and winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Wigby.

Other Organizations

The most prominent of the other organizations is the Order. Deacon Torren Hoster, a human, has held power for nearly as long as Vidame Morwyn, but their viewpoints have always differed. Since Hoster was elevated from High Keeper to Deacon he has remained devoted to the Order being a place for all races and genders to stand on equal ground in Voland’s eyes. Unfortunately, his insistence on neutrality leads some to blame him for the war, which in turn has somewhat tarnished the image of the Order.

The Kindred, a group who commune with the spirits of the world and teach primal magic, is led by the Seer. While the Kindred is made up of members of all races, it is traditional for the Seer to be an alfar. Olwen vo Nayer, uncle of Alder Dallick vo Nayer, has led the Kindred for two decades, which has contributed to the prominence of his family. He is opposed to the Academy from a philosophical standpoint, believing that the spirits can give all the knowledge that is needed for life. While his predecessor suggested that perhaps the Academy should have a Belltower seat, he has always been staunchly against it, in part because it would weaken his own vote.

Appointed by the Board of Directors of the Academy, the elben Priam de Loskop is an accomplished arcanist and in his youth won a great number of competitions at the Academy. In his role as Headmaster he has been somewhat less successful. Though many view him as the best Headmaster since Tomin am Tollis, his political efforts have made little headway, in large part due to Seer Olwen’s opposition. Though shaken by the aggressive actions of the alfar and hodekin, he has thrown the support of the Academy behind the elben and uruk war effort.

The Belltower Council

Of the eight leaders discussed above, seven hold seats on the Belltower Council, all except the Headmaster of the Academy. Having its origins in the time of Barton Butter, the Belltower Council is made up of the leaders of the Bay and is intended to keep life during the Freeze running as smoothly as possible. Meetings are held every second year at the start of the winter. The Steward of the Dunstable Belltower, an ancient position that was once little more than a maintenance man for the tower, is hereditary. The current Steward is a sonnen (human-alfar half-blood) by the name of Ellim vo Vadrac. Though he has no official vote on the council, primarily calling and administrating the meetings, he also has the job of breaking stalemate votes. Because of his alfar heritage he is seen by some as being biased, a perception which has contributed to the current state of affairs.

Friday: The Threat of Varkers

Frozen Over: Calendar

After the Freeze began and it became clear that the world was changed, the leaders of the Bay decided to alter their calendar to reflect the new state of affairs. Part of this change involved numbering years relative to the start of the Freeze. The current year is the 147^th Year of the Freeze (YotF).

Months

Each year is divided into six pairs of two months. The two months share the same name, with the 25-day Little month preceding the 35-day Great month. The months of the year, in order, are as follows:

Month	Light & Dark on Festival Day	Season
Great Solen	12 hrs day/night	Spring
Little Greening	24 hours day 0 hours night	Summer
Great Greening		Summer
Little Tober	12 hours day 12 hours night	Autumn
Great Tober		Autumn
Little Yule	6 hours day 18 hours night	Winter
Great Yule		Winter
Little Fevrem	0 hours day 24 hours night	Winter
Great Fevrem		Winter
Little Noer	6 hours day 18 hours night	Winter
Great Noer		Winter
Little Solen	12 hrs day/night	Spring

The first month of the year is Great Solen, which begins with an even split between day and night at 12 hours each, but ends with over 18 hours of daylight. This trend continues in Little Greening which ends its length with the sun not setting at all. During Great Greening the balance begins to shift back in the other direction, and by the end of Little Tober there is once again an even division of daylight and darkness. The diminishment of daylight slows now, and by the end of Little Yule there is still 6 hours of light each day. The darkness takes full control between the Fevrems, then light begins to return again. Slowly, the light increases each month for the rest of the year until it has reached balance again at the end of Little Solen.

The seasons shift with the amount of daylight; the Solens are considered spring, the Greenings are summer, and the Tobers are fall. The six remaining months are all considered winter as the temperature drops considerably during that time. It should be noted, however, that despite being referred to as summer, the temperature during the Greenings rarely rises above 15°C/60°F and the average temperature is closer to 10°C/50°F. During the winter, the temperatures can fall as low as -40°C/-40°F but are often much closer to -20°C/-5°F and sometimes rise above 0°C/30°F.

Weeks

The calendar of the Bay does use weeks, but unlike our calendar their weeks are only six days long. Because each pair of months contains 60 days, those days are evenly divided into exactly 10 weeks and the full year contains exactly 60 weeks. The days of the week are as follows:

Mondey

Tirdey

Welsdey

Fardey

Saddey

Volands

Volands, the last day of the week, is the day of prayer when the people attend services at the kirkhall, but it is not otherwise considered a day of rest and work often resumes after services conclude.

Festival Days

For each pair of months, the transition between the Little month and the Great month is marked by a festival day. These festivals are not considered to be part of any month, instead standing on their own in the calendar.

The first festival, Summertide, takes place between the Greenings. It is a day of celebration and merriment, and many traditional games are played at specific hours of the nightless day. Though the original purpose of this festival is unknown, many view it as a moment to have fun and unwind between the work of planting and fostering food crops and the work of harvesting those same crops.

Between the Tobers is the festival of Hallows, a day to celebrate the harvest and thank Voland for the season’s bounty. A good harvest is essential to lasting through the long winter, and so the celebration of Hallows is sometimes delayed so that the work of harvesting can be completed before the frost comes.

Once the winter begins in the months of Yule, the dour day of Sorrows occurs. A mock funeral is held to commemorate the death of Voland, and the day is also used to remember family and friends who have passed. It is also the beginning of the coming of age ceremony for all those who have reached 12 years. For six months, the children are stripped of their name and treated as if they have died, having to fend for themselves.

Chand, the festival of lights, occurs in the Fevrems. It is the darkest time of the year, and so it is tradition to light candles and multicoloured lanterns everywhere. This is the only night that the nameless are acknowledged and spoken to.

In the months of Noer is the festival day of the same name. Noer, unlike the other days, is not celebrated with special meals and parties. Instead, it is a day of quiet contemplation when one remembers their life and thinks of their failures and successes. It is expected that you not work, eat, or sleep between the tolling of the bells.

Finally, the last festival is Nighsend. Nighsend, between Little Solen and Great Solen, is the last day of the year and so serves as the new year’s celebration. On Nighsend, the nameless become alive again, and can reclaim their names. Once their names are reclaimed, each receives a Saex knife and is considered to be an adult.

Wednesday: The Leaders of the Five Nations and Influential Groups

Frozen Over Intro: Recent Events

The tranquility of the life in the Bay has been interrupted more often in the century–and-a-half since the Freeze began than before, but those events are rarely more than momentary inconveniences. In the past, raids by varkers seeking resources or merrow seeking slaves happened rarely enough that people needed not always be on guard, and even the odd appearance of a ghast or blackham was swiftly dealt with. Still, in the past decade things have changed, and people no longer even have the illusion of safety and security. The primary contributor to this state is the war.

Origins of the War

Some say that the war has been slowly brewing since the start of the Freeze, owing to Barton Butter revitalizing the people’s faith. One unforeseen consequence of this newfound faith was the conflict that it might bring. Each race has a somewhat different interpretation of belief in Voland. For the alfar and the elben that belief is somewhat more abstract than the other races; they believe that Voland and Bishal are not so much beings as personifications of ideals, ideals of thought. Simply put, the elben believe in reason, while the alfar believe in intuition.

To elaborate, the elben believe that the ideal and correct way to view the world is through the lens of reason and logic, and that decisions should never be made and actions never taken without careful consideration. For the elben Voland represents the supreme intelligence, a being that considered each step of his creation and foresaw the consequences of each decision; Bishal is little more than a wild beast who struck at the first sign of weakness.

On the other hand, the alfar believe that instinct and intuition are far more valuable than reason, allowing one to see the correct course of action in an instant. Agonizing over decisions and over-thinking details leads to nothing except indecision and self torment. They view Voland as a being who in his divide wisdom simply understood all; while Bishal was a scheming and calculating creature who spent long ages plotting against Voland.

These two opposing viewpoints seemed harmless enough at first, but tension grew over time. The event which many agree was the ultimate trigger of the war occurred at the Belltower meeting of 144 YotF. While the Kindred, an organization dominated by alfar, had possessed a Belltower seat for nearly a century, the Academy, an organization dominated by elben, did not. The Academy had petitioned for inclusion in the council for many years, and the matter, which had come to a vote twice before, was once again brought to the floor.

The elben, supported by the humans and uruks, voted in favour, while the alfar, supported by the hodekin and the Kindred, voted against with the Order choosing to remain neutral. The sonnen (human-alfar half-blood) Steward ruled that the Academy would not have a seat. Outraged by this result, the elben and uruk immediately left the meeting, declaring that they would not return until the decision was reversed.

In the months that followed, fights between elben-uruk and alfar-hodekin groups became increasingly common, culminating in a riot in Dunstable outside the Kindred’s lodge in the town. The Seer, leader of the Kindred, demanded that this threat be dealt with, but the human authorities were reluctant to anger the elben and uruk leadership. Ultimately, the Alder and Vidame decided to protect the Kindred themselves, which sparked a declaration of war by the Governor and Graf. A few skirmishes were fought before the spring, but the war did not begin in earnest until the harvest was complete the following autumn. In the three years since, the two sides have fought several major battles and a number of entrenched camps have been built. While healing magic means that fewer soldiers have died than one might expect, that fact has only served to make the deaths that have occurred sting all the more.

Before the War

Prior to the outset of the war, other matters were at the fore. In the late winter of 141 YotF a coordinated varker attack struck the Bay from several directions. Luckily, a hunting party that had ventured into the wilds west of the Friar’s Wall had a run-in with a varker scout and were able to bring a warning in time to rebuff the attack.

In response to increased aggressiveness by merrow in the past decade, Baron Ebraen Coel was organizing a push to secure more territory on the coast so that fishing and whaling vessels would be more secure venturing out into the sea. Construction of ships had already begun in Colvey, Cheslyn, and Wisbech when the crisis relating to the Academy turned violent. This mission was effectively cancelled by the war, with both sides using those ships in their war efforts.

Since the War Began

While the humans and the Order have thus far remained neutral, there are some who would like to change that. A religious group calling themselves the Blackwood Scions has risen in prominence advocating that the humans enter the war on the side of the alfar-hodekin alliance. Their base of operations, the Blackwood Abbey, was founded shortly after the onset of the Freeze by Palaster Sams, a Keeper who believed that the Freeze occurred because Bishal had returned to the world from Nifel through arcane magic. Because of their beliefs the Scions claim that the Academy is little more than a poorly disguised cult to Bishal and must be destroyed. There have been rumours in the last year that the Scions may be plotting to overthrow the Baron to achieve their goals.

The Baron, for his part, is focusing the resources of the human nation on protecting the Bay from merrow whose aggression seems to be ever-increasing. There have also been rumblings of renewed varker attacks, primarily related to the Redfeather varkers near the Riddelmere. One researcher has been warning that Koshac, the varker lich defeated by Barton Butter, is not gone for good and may rally the varkers against the Bay. Few among the citizenry, however, are paying much attention to these other threats with the war so close to home.

Monday: The Calendar used in the Bay

Frozen Over Intro: Geography

Physical Geography

The inhabited territory of the Bay consists of several jutting peninsulas separated by narrow fjord-like inlets. One of these peninsulas has been cut off from the mainland and now exists as a large island in the centre of the bay called Perry Island. A few smaller islands surround Perry, including Sholner, Usk, Doal, and the Mardons.

A large peninsula forms the northern flank of the 5 mile wide mouth of the Bay which opens up onto the sea. On this northern peninsula rest a few small mountains which close off the sea coast from the land on the Bay side. Mountains also mark the southern and north-western bounds of inhabited land; the south as gently rising hills, while the northwest is marked by a dramatic cliff face.

Quite a number of rivers flow into the Bay. Three rivers fall over the north-western cliff; the Cliffside, the Lipping, and finally the Torrent, which features a massive waterfall that crashes directly into the waters of the Bay at Tallfalls. In the west the Fairdon and Coney rivers mark the north and south bounds of the Ringwood, a forest around the town of the same name. The Silver River flows out of the southern hills, while the River Gar comes out of the north. The Canal flows to the Bay through an ancient obsidian faced canal from the Riddelmere which is filled by the mysterious Skarie River that flows up to the lake from the sea. Finally, the Wellwash is fed by an ancient pump that calls water from the depths of the earth.

Much of the land in the Bay has long since been converted to farmland, but other terrain also exists. In terms of forests there is the Ringwood in the west, the Roscoe forest in the southern hills, the Garwood in the north, as well as the Wachoer forest near the sea. When the Freeze began, Perry Island was a mix of farmland and scattered woods, but has since been forested with bamboo spawned from a small stand on Usk Island. Another bamboo wood has more recently been planted around Omstead. Some of the mountains near the ocean are simply too rocky to accommodate much plant life, as is some of the land near the cliff , and the sea coast. Finally, the Riddelmere Lake rests on a plateau that slopes into a wooded valley that reaches the coast, but this valley and the plateau are heavily occupied by varkers and so are not counted as part of the Bay.

Social Geography

The territory of the Bay is subdivided into five nations, each inhabited by one of the principal races of the Bay.

In the eastern mountains near the coast, the hodekin make their home. Their capitol is the town of Audlem, where the great pump gives birth to the Wellwash. Their territory extends south through the Omstead bamboo forest and Wachoer woods to Alshap, and north past the Canal to the mine at Torlich.

Elben territory lies primarily on the north shore of the northern fork of the Bay. It begins at the Canal and extends through the Garwood to the cliff and Tallfalls. The elben nation also includes a small section on the south shore of the north fork which is primarily farmland. Their capitol is Garstang.

On the south shore of that same fork is the uruk nation. Their land is bounded by the cliff-face on most sides, leaving them little hope of expansion. The northern half of their land is rocky, while the southern half is made up of farmland, which includes their capitol of Rackholl.

Moving south from the uruks, we reach the alfar nation. The largest part of their territory lies on the western mainland, from the Cliffside River and the uruk nation, through the Ringwood, and down to the Silver River and the humans. The alfar also occupy the western half of Perry Island, all of Usk, Doal, and Sholner Islands, and a section of farmland on the eastern coast of the Bay adjacent to the hodekin. Their capitol is Benshaw on Perry Island.

The human nation is just as fragmented as the alfar. Their largest territory is on the southern mainland, from the Silver River to Butterwatch on the coast, with the town of Mondegreen centred in that stretch. In the north they control a section of the farmland next to the elben and uruk nations, and in the east a small section next to the hodekin and alfar lands. While Mondegreen is their capitol, Dunstable is their most populous town and the most populous in the Bay. Dunstable is located in the human territory that comprises the eastern half of Perry Island.

Friday: Recent Events

Frozen Over Intro: Religion

There is only one major religion in Frozen Over. While others may exist in other parts of the world, within the confines of the bay the Order of Voland stands alone.

Voland & Bishal

The Order teaches that there are two gods: the creator, Voland, and his nemesis, Bishal. Voland is associated with fire, light, and order, while Bishal is associated with ice, darkness, and chaos. Before the Freeze, many had ceased to believe in the gods and even within the Order itself there was uncertainty as to whether they still existed or had ever existed. However, for the truly devout that uncertainty doesn’t shake their belief in what the gods represent.

In the ancient texts, it is said that after Voland created the world with his fire, he created the thinking beings of the world. But in order to give them true life, a true soul, he had to give each person a small part of the holy flame, his soul. As a result of this action, the Order teaches that all peoples are one, that each individual is part of Voland. Charity is revered above all else, and the protection of innocents is highly honoured.

Bishal, on the other hand, is the demon who struck Voland down in his weakened state, having given so much of himself to his children. Trickery and deceit are considered vile actions, and theft is nearly as heinous a crime as murder. However, Voland is merciful, and even allowed Bishal to live, choosing rather to banish him to the frozen realm of Nifel. Likewise, thieves and murderers are banished rather than killed or imprisoned, though they face death if they return.

The relationship between Voland and Bishal represents the struggle of order to overcome chaos and light to overcome darkness. This struggle is central to the story of the Freeze, as well as the survival of the Bay, and the heroic sacrifice of Barton Butter. As a result of their ideals the people of the Bay defend order and honour at all costs, and uphold their laws with unwavering fervour.

The Order

In the Bay, the Order is led by the Deacon, who resides in Dunstable in the Silver Keep. The Deacon is a powerful figure in the politics of the Bay, reflecting the renewed devotion of the people since the Freeze began.

Individual priests of the Order are known as Keepers of the Flame, often simply shortened to Keeper. They receive their tutelage and ordination at the Silver Keep, which also serves as a seminary and reliquary. Most Keepers receive a post in a local kirkhall, similar to a church, and tend to the needs of the people, but some choose to serve in other ways, as medics for example. As being a Keeper entails tending to the needs of others and remaining utterly devoted to the Order, they are not allowed to marry or have relationships as doing so would distract from their mission.

While the Order is involved in the politics of Butter Bay, they strive to remain neutral in war. The current Deacon, Torren Hoster, believes that supporting either side would allow chaos and darkness a place in the Order. Picking sides would also serve to alienate the races of the opposing side and thus bias the Order and harm its position as the thread that links all people to Voland.

Holy Days

There are three religiously significant festivals celebrated by the people of the Bay. The first, Sorrows, takes the form of a funeral service to commemorate the death of Voland at the hands of Bishal. The seconds takes place in the darkest time of winter, when the sun does not rise at all, they celebrate Chand, in remembrance of the first Keepers who watched over Voland’s body and maintained its dormant flame. And finally, Nighsend is celebrated when the sun makes its triumphant return, just as Voland did in returning to life to banish Bishal from the worlds.

Symbols

The most common symbol for Voland is, unsurprisingly, a flame. However, the symbol for the Order is instead a simple circle. To the Keepers, the circle represents the bond that all thinking beings have with Voland and one another. It also symbolizes order standing firm against the chaos. Some Keepers will also tell that it represents the separation of the righteous residing in Muspel from the sinful and evil who are cast out of Voland’s love and forced to reside in Nifel with Bishal, though the Order does not officially condone this interpretation.

Other Beliefs

The Kindred teach people about the primal spirits and how nature should be revered. Likewise, the Academy teaches of arcane magic and how it can be turned to the service of people. Neither of these, however, should really be considered religious beliefs as they are not worshipped as gods. They are instead seen as forces that can be used in the service of either good or evil, and those who adhere to their teachings are also followers of Voland.

Wednesday: Geography

Frozen Over Intro: Races

Aside from humans, there are a number of other humanoid races that reside in the Bay. While they differ both in physical appearance and abilities, they all share approximately the same life span. Each of the five races (including humans) has a nation and government of its own, though different races often work together.

Humans

These are the most numerous people in Butter Bay. They are humans just as you know them, Most humans in the Bay have light skin, and while there are some dark skinned humans, skin colour is not considered any more relevant than hair or eye colour. The namesake of the Bay, Barton Butter, was a human and as a result humans are often looked to for aid in resolving disputes. The human nation is ruled over by the Baron from the town of Mondegreen.

Playing in 4th edition, you can just use Humans as they appear. If you wish, you can modify them by allowing players to choose two ability scores to gain a +2 bonus, rather than one.

Alfar

Also known as light elves, the alfar are a race that prefers to live in the woods and wilderness. They are light skinned in the extreme, and mostly have various degrees of blonde hair. Alfar eyes are universally green. Many alfar have a greater tolerance to the cold than humans, and so it is not uncommon for them to wear a great deal less cold weather clothing. Their love of the wilderness means that they tend to be primal classes. The alfar nation is ruled by the Alder from Benshaw on Perry Island.

Playing in 4th edition, you can simply use the Elf race to represent alfar. If you are modifying the races, allow your players to gain a +2 bonus to Wisdom as well as one other ability of their choice instead of the listed bonuses.

Elben

Elben are sometimes known as dark elves, and they mirror the alfar in many ways. Where alfar skin is pale, elben skin is dark, what we would consider black; while the alfar blonde hair is reflected as blacks and deep browns. Elben do share the pure green eyes of their alfar brothers, as well as their tolerance for cold. Elben favour the arcane arts and many of them attend the Academy to learn to and hone those skills. The elben nation is led by the Graf from Garstang.

Playing in 4th edition, you should use Eladrin to represent elben. If you are modifying the races, allow your players to gain a +2 bonus to Intelligence as well as one other ability of their choice instead of the listed bonuses.

Uruks

Possibly the least humanlike of the races in appearance, the uruks have grayish-green skin, pointed ears, and fearsome looking teeth. Somewhat taller than humans, uruks might be perceived as monstrous by some, but their devotion to honour and equality balance out their perhaps frightening appearance. Males and females participate equally in all aspects of life and, unlike the other races, their leader is elected. The uruk nation is led by the Governor from the town of Rackholl.

Playing in 4th edition, you can use Half-Orcs to represent uruks, although Goliaths would work as well.  If you are modifying the races, allow your players to gain a +2 bonus to Strength as well as one other ability of their choice instead of the listed bonuses.

Hodekin

In contrast to the egalitarian uruks, the hodekin are a people divided. Sometimes called dwarves, for their short stature, the similarities between males and females end there. While males are slight, slender, and graceful, females are stout and bulky. Males are considered subordinate to females in nearly all aspects of life and have had much difficulty entering predominantly female professions. The hodekin nation is ruled over by the female Vidame from the town of Audlem.

Playing in 4th edition, you should use Dwarves to represent female hodekin, and Halflings to represent male hodekin. If you are modifying the races, allow your players of female characters to gain a +2 bonus to Constitution as well as one other ability, and allow you players of male characters to gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity as well as one other ability.

Half-Bloods

Known collectively as half-bloods or haffers, these are any individuals whose parents were different races. Some mixes are more common than others and physical appearance varies depending on the specific mix.

Playing in 4th edition, you should use Half-Elves to represent half-bloods. Even if you are not modifying the other races, you should allow the player to alter the Dual Heritage feature to accommodate their specific parentage. If you are modifying all the races, allow your players to gain a +2 bonus to Charisma as well and one other ability score.

Other Races

While other races do exist in the world, they are generally hostile to the citizens of the Bay. As such they are considered non-playable. As the DM, however, you can always make exceptions to this rule. Perhaps a varker child was captured by people from the Bay and raised in civilization, or a band of survivors from elsewhere struggled through the wilds and found safety in the Bay, or a boat of exotic strangers arrived and made the Bay their home. It’s up to you, but if you choose to do so be sure to make it important to the story you are telling.

Monday: Religion

Frozen Over Intro: The Legend of Barton Butter, Part 2

Heartened by this turn of events, Barton and his companions set out to turn back Koshac’s thralls before they reached the Bay. They ventured into the frozen wilds and were set upon by wolves, and varkers, and shaldu, before finally discovering the horde. Knowing their foes numbers and nature, they returned to the Bay to plan a defence, warning towns and villages as they travelled, leading these refugees to a new home. But when they arrived, they found the worst had happened, the people of the Bay were taking up arms against one another.

Barton and his companions spoke once again to the Order and finally gained their support. In an effort to counter the evil that was gripping the people, agents of the Order appeared at every skirmish and battle and interposed themselves between the combatants, declaring that war could not be allowed to occur. All the while, Barton’s companions captured the leaders of the five peoples and brought them together at the Belltower in Dunstable. Barton showed them there what was coming, he brought a captured thrall to them and ordered them to make peace, or face the creature themselves.

With the five peoples joined in a holy vow to defend the Bay from darkness, the armies were united to make a stand in the west. Koshac’s forces had grown in number, and the army of the Bay was vastly outnumbered. Barton stood at their head with Baron, and the Alder, the Graf, and the Governor, and the Vidame and together they led the charge. Unfortunately, the battle was brutal and bloody, and they were forced to retreat.

Their numbers nearly halved, the army was disheartened when they regrouped at the Friar’s Wall. Many wished to return home and see their families once more before they met their fate, others began to bicker and blame one another. But Barton Butter would not have that; he would not allow them to fail now. He thought of Voland, the creator, the wielder of the holy flame, and he lit a torch to ward against the darkness.

Barton walked through the camp, and he sat with group after group, and with each he shared a prayer to Voland. It was not an appeal for strength in a time of desperation; rather it was a prayer of thankfulness for the life they had all been given, thankfulness for the holy flame that burned within each person, thankfulness to the being who would give of itself to aid others. As he left each group, he used his torch to light one for them before moving on. The army drew strength from this prayer, and this gesture, and eventually they all rose from their camps and stood at the ready and awaited the coming dark.

Finally, when night had just barely fallen, on the winter solstice of the second year of the Freeze, the thralls of Koshac appeared. But the army did not charge, they simply waited, torches in hand. And when the thralls drew closer, the army did not draw their weapons, they simply waited, torches in hand. And when the first thrall reached Barton Butter he wielded his torch as a club and set the creature aflame. As wave upon wave of thralls reached the army they were all set ablaze by the flame of the torches. Finally Koshac the Lich himself approached and wielded his dark magic and soldiers fell, but the others did not break, they simply stepped forward to replace their fallen comrades.

Barton Butter himself stepped forth and challenged Koshac, and the two battled. The Lich struck Barton with the cold of death, and Barton struck the Lich with the fire of life. Finally the Lich was set ablaze by Barton’s torch, but Koshac’s skeletal hand gripped Barton tight and the two burned together. In that moment, the battle turned, the thralls became aimless and mindless and the army surged forth and burned the undead beasts to the ground.

Barton Butter’s charred body was laid to rest in the Belltower in Dunstable, and the Bay named for the hero who had brought them all together. The faith of the people was rekindled, and they strove to work together to survive, as they did at the battle of the Friar’s Wall. Barton Butter is what made the Bay different, he is why the Bay survived, but with over a century past since his sacrifice, it is becoming less and less clear if his legacy will last.

Friday: Races

Frozen Over Intro: The Legend of Barton Butter, Part 1

You may ask what made the inhabitants of the Bay different from other people? What made them so special that they survive the hostile world of the Freeze while others starve, or fall on one another in madness? The answer is simple, nothing. There is nothing about the people of the Bay in general that sets them apart. But they did have one force acting in their favour, the presence of a man named Barton Butter.

Barton Butter was a simple man from the fishing village of Butterwatch, founded by his grandfather Hollis. He often served as a mediator of disputes, but rarely voiced any opinions himself. When the Freeze began, and tales of demonic shaldu and undead thralls arrived in the Bay, Barton was among those advocating calm rather than panic. Though private, he was quite pious, and believed that order had to be defended in the face of encroaching chaos.

The Freeze began slowly; for several years the weather was unseasonably cool, but no one thought much of it. The wild and barbaric varkers grew in numbers and boldness, raiding the countryside with increasing frequency. Year by year the spring came a little later, and the winter a little sooner, until one year the Freeze began in earnest. In the height of summer, before the harvest had even begun, a violent blizzard overtook the Bay. It was sudden and strange, and the few who still held tight to their religion prayed to Voland, but there was no reply.

Scattered bands of refugees came from further inland, telling of people who had begun to transform into hideous creatures with fur and horns that breathed waves of ice. Others told of the great city of Fairdon where the dead had risen and consumed everything in their path. Some spoke of turning the refugees away and others spoke of building a great fleet and fleeing across the sea, but with all the fear and uncertainly people began to argue as food grew scarce and tempers frayed. Worsening the situation, a prominent priest from Dunstable proclaimed that the dark god Bishal was claiming the earth in ice and that the final reckoning was upon them.

Through all this Barton Butter tried to do as he had done in the past, he tried to reason with his friends and neighbours, he tried to mediate disputes and organize a fair rationing of what food and supplies they had, but his voice was being drowned out by the cries of anger and panic. Then news came that the varker lich Koshac had grown tired of the ruins of Fairdon and had turned his attention to the Bay, and Barton saw that something had to be done. He tried to appeal to the Baron, but he would not listen. He appealed to the Vidame and the Graf, the Alder and the Governor, but they would not listen either. He appealed to the Deacon of the Order, and the Seer of the Kindred, and the Headmaster of the Academy, but wherever he went his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears

Barton was despondent. Talk and diplomacy and reason were all he knew and had gotten him nowhere, white the undead army of Koshac was bearing down upon them. But though the leaders had not listened, and the people of the Bay were falling into chaos, all was not lost. In his travels around the Bay, Barton had spoken to many people, and news of his appeals spread, and a small few had decided to take up his cause. And so, in a dim and dingy tavern in Dunstable, on the winter solstice of the first year of the Freeze, a small band of brave souls found Barton Butter, drowning his sorrows in mead.

Wednesday: Part 2

Frozen Over Intro: Six Things

Welcome to the first post of this role-playing campaign setting. In this blog I will be detailing the people, locations, monsters, and events of the Frozen Over setting. New posts will appear three times a week, each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and will hopefully continue to appear for a long while.

As the header indicates, this setting is being designed for use with 4^th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, but there is no reason it couldn’t easily be converted for use with other editions of D&D or even other role-playing game systems. The essence of the setting is ideas, ideas that will hopefully lead to interesting stories, characters, and games. In that same vein, although I will be giving a great deal of details on a variety of subjects, you can choose to use as much or as little of the information I provide here as you wish. All that I’m trying to do is help spur your imagination to greatness in a setting that I find quite interesting.

So, without any more rambling, I present you the six things that I think make the Frozen Over setting what it is.

1. The world is in an Ice Age.

For the last 150 years the world has been entrenched in an age of ice and snow known as the Freeze. It came quite unexpectedly, with no obvious cause or solution, and shattered continent spanning nations the world over. Winter also became a time of darkness; in the deepest months of winter the sun does not even show its face. There is a short summer, during which the sun doesn’t set, but it is not summer as we know it.

2. Survival is a struggle.

As a result of the Freeze, survival has become a constant struggle. The long winter and short summer mean that food is scarce, and conflict over resources is common. From the greatest empire to the smallest village people turned on their friends and neighbours in an effort to last just a little longer.

3. Known territory is restricted to the Bay.

In the barbarism and frozen wastes that arose after the Freeze there seems to be a lone beacon of hope: Butter Bay. The people of the Bay have managed to hold their small corner of civilization together, but little is known of the greater world.

4. Venturing beyond the Bay is extremely dangerous.

What is known of the lands outside the Bay is that savage and dangerous creatures dwell there. From the ubiquitous varkers, to the sinister aquatic merrow, to the mysterious frost-breathing shaldu, thinking beings from outside the bay are anything but friendly. If you venture beyond the Bay, you’re likely to starve or freeze to death, but only if you manage to survive long enough to do so.

5. Religion is a focus of life, but the gods may not exist.

The holy texts tell of a time when the creator spoke to his people, but if that time ever truly existed it is most certainly now over. Even so, faith has helped the citizens of Butter Bay survive their ordeal and the ancient rituals, which fell into disuse, have now been revived. Though the beliefs differ from race to race, faith is central to the lives of all.

6. There is an ongoing war in the Bay.

But while much strength has come of the survivors from their devotion to their faith, it has spawned some ill. A war has broken out that threatens to destroy the bastion of hope that is the Bay. Sides are being picked, alliances forged, and grudges built. The people of Butter Bay are facing their greatest challenge since the onset of the Freeze, and this time they may not be so lucky as to survive.

Monday: The Legend of Barton Butter