The Glare of Winterlight
Chapter 1: Arrival In Ice
To the south I ventured. Below the wastelands of desert and old broken roads, looking out upon the Sea of Sorrows and across a small straight toward a island covered in white, I finally arrived at the place called Winterlight Island. Had it always this name, I do not know, but the totality of ice covered everything glinting the sun's light into a white frozen glare assured me the name was certainly a fitting one.
The path to town was empty, and snow covered shacks lines the way. I arrived at what looked to be, or used to be, a town square. Nearby I heard the familiar sound of an axe, and found a man laboring at chipping frozen logs into what scraps of firewood he could manage. Raemek was one of the only left in town. He told me of his wife and daughters in a house nearby. He desperately fought with his axe, and I put it in mind to find him a better implement if I could. The cold setting into my bones, I decided to pay his family a visit and learn what I could from these impossibly rugged individuals before setting out to explore on my own.
In Raemek's home I found his wife Phaeba. She was a lovely woman, an industrious seamstress whose home was filled with skillfully crafted garments and crafts. My fingers couldn't help rub the threadbare clothing I had one, and wondering if this woman could craft me something more appropriate for the harsh island's clime. She shared a sullen story of her daughter. The intrepid Olara had ventured out into the nearby forest seeking the firewood these people's lives critically depend on. Nearly a month ago.... She was gone. Raemek's brother had gone out to seek her, and him too - Gone. I rushed back to Raemek, aghast at his misfortuned and blurted out Olara, much to his dismay. He blamed himself for allowing her to search for wood outside the village proper. It was there that I intended to search first and foremost!
Before setting out, and with the confidence that these remaining islanders were friendly and perhaps actually in need of whatever help I could give, I decided to check a few more doors. I met a man named Javen DeKandro who was friendly to visitors and filled me in on all the woes of this troublesome time for the island.
The island was in fact not always in this condition. Only over the last he claimed had the winter blast left them snowbound. Perhaps this place was not always called Winterlight Island after all! Worse yet, the weather was not seemingly natural, in fact he blamed a sorceress! Inquiring more, he spoke of a palace appearing on the island, and a missing brother. His father had been Mayor, and set out with 2 hunters to break into that icy temple, yet only one returned. Alas, his father and another townswoman Syrena remain missing!
Clearly an evil hung over this tiny village on this remote island. Javen told me more of the two hunters Loben and Syrena and their wise departure from the island. I noted that Syrena's daughter Tanca still lived here, and put her on my list of peoples to gather more info from. Most others had gone, Tosok and Lilin I remember what Raemek and Phaeba had told me I mentioned Olara and he told me of Raemek's brother Marrin, and found that Javen shared their woes, and also that he had been holding the key to Marrin's smithy which he gave me gladly. I thanked him and headed outside.
Just outside across the town square I found Marrin's smithy, and the key clicked open the door. Inside I found an old forge that looked if fair enough condition, albeit long unused. Marrin's bedroom offered no hints on his whereabouts, though all his belongings sat in perfect order, his bedroom perfectly arranged, his belongings safely inside their wardrobes and locked chests. The man clearly did not pack up and leave in the night, I feared for him as his family did. I must assist these weary but steadfast people!
Back outside I knocked up and down the streets, and eventually found the home of Vozeb & Tanca, the daughter of the hunter Syrena that Javen had told me about. Vozeb confirmed Syrena had vanished after surviving whatever had taken place during the expedition into the ice palace that left so many families missing loved ones. Gone it seems without even telling her child her whereabouts, a sad state of affairs. A glimmer of hope remained however, as I was glad to hear of Tanca and Vozeb's love in this dire place warming at least their own hearts, if nothing else. Vozeb mentioned his intentions to marry Tanca, and I could see why. But a ring was needed, a ring of his mothers had gone missing, and I noted it down in my memory as I set back about exploring the frigid village.
Chapter 2: A gift for a finger, a forest, and a forge
The other homes were desolate, and I found only small bits and bobs of long forgotten families and long frozen homes. In one particular I managed to pull up a floorboard, and must have gotten carried away with my search of what I assumed was some long gone soul's hidden spot for precious items as was nearly dark and I had cluttered the room other miscellaneous items when my finger finally struck something, something small, and round, and silver!
Running back to speak with Vozeb, he was ecstatic, and it warmed my soul just a bit against this frozen landscape to bring him such joy. It ended up warming my feet too, as he rewarded me for my thorough search with a pair of snug winter boots, just perfect for my upcoming trek into the snow drifts beyond the village borders.
One task complete, I set out to see if there was anything I could scrounge up for Raemek to improve his wretched old pickaxe. In a house southward of the square I could see no signs of life, so I used my cunning, and perhaps a bit of brute force, to broach the door. Inside my 'search only yielded some old furniture. Seeing the current condition of the place, I decided it wouldn't be missed, and broke a chair for its wood. It wielded some burnable fodder and one stout leg that struck the gears turning in my mind. I pocketed these pieces and set back outside.
Coldweave Forest, as the townspeople named it, loomed to my west, and feeling rather confident I stepped into the trees, noting how much wood there was available but how much of it was frozen solid. Considering myself a rather skilled woodsman, I set about a search of the nearest fringes of the woods.
I quickly found myself ashamedly lost. The twists and turns of that trail had me stumbling through to what end I could not imagine. I made for northeast, which must be back towards the village, and found myself crawling through an icy tunnel straight into a den of creatures I can hardly describe. Frostcreepers I named them, for they were exactly both terms. I hacked them relentlessly, and explored their den. As usual, I made a thorough search and was rewarded with an odd pair of antlers and, most exiting, a perfectly usable smith's hammer! I peered into the deepest part of the den where I believe their leader to reside, but, fearing it was not a matter to partake in without assistance, I quietly made my way back to the confusion of the forest and its comparative safety.
Eventually, I made it back to the village. Completely exhausted, I decided to rest and continue my exploits tomorrow. In the morning everything appeared exactly the same as the day previous, and so I returned to the abandoned home to ransack another piece of furniture for two more pieces of kindling. I again searched the nearby forest, and did this until I had a sufficient bundle of five thawed pieces of kindling, along with the stout leg.
With the fresh perspective of a new day and the silver gleam of the smith's hammer in my back gnawing at the back of my mind I returned to Marrin's Smithy. I dropped the five pieces of kindling upon the floor at the forge, and set about to light fire in the pit. I grabbed the bellows and pushed and pull and pushed and pulled for what seemed an eternity until the fire was blazing hot as can be. With my hammer in hand and the broken table leg at the ready, I set about to forge something for my fried Raemek. While it wasn't the best outcome, the crudely forged axe I crafted was a certainly going to be an improvement to his near broken pickaxe. Inspecting my work, I was confident he would appreciate the effort and returned to Raemek with my gift.
He was overjoyed, and sent me to tell the news to Phaeba. She too was thrilled, and quickly put her own crafting skills to work to sew me something quite special, something she called the (Near) Bottomless Pouch of Blessings. Her blessings are indeed special, and contain a magic that usually requires scribing that I've never seen imbued in such a handicraft before. Wielding the item, I am transported to my home, as I am certainly sure Phabea wishes her own child Olara could be.
Chapter 3: A Missing Man
As I slept that night I pondered all that I had heard. Clearly my destination was through the Coldweave Forest and into this supposedly magical Ice Palace and the source of this deep freeze, where I was sure the missing townsfolk would be. I considered those who had gone before me, Javen's father, Syrena, Loben, and most recently Raemek's brother Marrin, whose forge I had used and now felt a kindred spirit with.
In my previous expedition I had found the den of the frostcreepers, and Marrin's hammer. Could he have met his fate at the hands of those beasts or their master, or had they somehow stolen the hammer. Putting faith in Marrin's ability I decided that his fate likely took him further than that region and set my sights on the farther reaches of the forest.
I set out at dawn, and worked my way deep into Coldweave Forest once more. Keeping the rising sun in the east I strode ever southward until I reached the end of the forest proper and came upon a great plain of ice, riddled with tunnels. Tunneling through the icy plains I had nearly become lost when suddenly I found myself stumbling into an enormous mountain spewing forth a half frozen waterfall. Truly a sight to behold, I felt my journey was not at its end quite yet and daringly looked onward toward the southeast, and lo and behold caught a glimpse of a cavern behind the waterfall.
My excitement was quickly met with dread however, and suddenly a beast was upon me. A lumbering, lumpy troll drooling icicles from its filthy pelt accosted me and I found myself fighting for my life. I attempted to flee and reconnoiter but could not as the beast was simply too large, and pulled me back again and again, his mace pummeling me at every angle. My usual sword would not hit him, but luckily I had an alternative blade that would. I slew him without regret, and took his mace for my own. I left the terrible beast's hulking corpse slumped to the snow in a pile of fur and blood.
I continued behind the waterfall and into the cavern beyond, clearly the troll's abode. Within I found a pile of muck and debris of many victims both animal and human. I set about a thorough dig and search. Amongst the fodder that I turned up was one shockingly perfect garnet, and quite to its contrary one bloated stomach. I swallowed hard and even conducted a search therein, and much to my delight, the disgusting diligence paid off. My excitement was quickly abated however, as I cleaned off the plain iron ring and discovered it to be engraved with the letter "M", a bit more of a search and I had in my hand a tiny silver key. My thoughts returned to the missing Marrin, the smith, and the locked bench in his bedroom. He had surely lost his mace in his encounter with the frostcreepers, and then lost his life itself here, by the mace of this bastard ice troll. Javen would be crushed.
Northward I hiked, determined to return to town and finally provide closure, albeit tragic, to those who missed him. Once again I crossed the tunnels of ice, dazed and lost, and finally entered back into the Coldweave Forest only to again find myself staggering in circles for what seemed like ages. Finally, after much effort, I reached the village.