The Frozen Necropolis

The Frozen Necropolis

Overview

The Frozen Necropolis is a polar realm ruled by Aethelred, master of the Silent Chorus. Its purpose is simple: prevent decay, stop panic, and hold the line against forces that change too fast. The realm is cold, quiet, and controlled. Laws define how people work, how the dead are handled, and how public order is kept. The state uses stasis wards, silence fields, and disciplined process to manage risk. Outsiders see the Necropolis as harsh. People who live here see it as stable, because rules do not change without review, and emergencies are handled by trained teams.

The Land

The realm sits on a shelf of ice, rock plateaus, and sunless valleys. Cold winds are common. Whiteout storms can block sight for hours. The ground is crossed by ward pylons and guide lines that mark safe routes between cities, depots, and signal towers. Most settlements are built into stone ribs or cut down into the ice to reduce exposure. Public squares are covered, streets are narrow, and doors are heavy. Storage vaults keep food and materials under constant temperature with stasis seals. Grave terraces surround each city. They are quiet zones where the dead rest, and where licensed keepers manage retrieval for legal purposes.

Cities and Sites

  • Stillgate (Capital). Central administration, ritual courts, and the master stasis lattice. The Crown Hall holds Aethelred’s seat, the Choir registers, and the vault of sovereign rites.

  • Glassfall. Industrial city that makes frostglass, stasis plates, insulated pipe, and clear ice panels for inspection windows.

  • Quiet Reach. Port town at the edge of a permanent ice channel. Icebreak crews and silence-tug pilots keep the lane open. Cold-storage barges move goods here for transfer to other realms.

  • The Bone Scriptories. A complex of halls where Bone Scribes record rulings, copy safe rites, and engrave stasis designs onto plates and rods.

  • Pale Bastions. A chain of fortresses along the outer border. Each hosts a silence beacon, a ward battery, and a garrison of Pale Wardens with mixed living and undead units.

Ruler: Aethelred of the Silent Chorus

Aethelred governs by written doctrine and measured rites. He is methodical, precise, and consistent. He does not allow public speeches that stir crowds. He prefers small briefings, posted orders, and outcomes that can be tested. He believes fear spreads faster than fire, so he uses silence and stasis to hold time long enough to make careful choices. His officers must submit logs, test records, and after-action notes. Failures are studied. Repeat failures are not tolerated. He does not seek conquest. He seeks to prevent collapse.

Government and Law

The Necropolis is a centralized theocracy under civil procedure. The Silent Chorus writes doctrine, the civil service runs daily life, and the Ward Courts enforce law. All rulings must cite a doctrine clause and a prior case or a test result.

Core statutes:

  • No mass gathering without a silence lattice and a permit.

  • No corpse handling without license, record, and purpose.

  • No spell that causes heat, spread, or uncontrolled growth without a posted safety sheet and a firebreak plan.

  • Stasis, binding, silence, and warding are legal if licensed and logged.

  • Summoned heroes must register, declare powers, and accept a restraint protocol designed for their classification.

Punishment focuses on containment and return to service. Fines are common. Forced training is common. Binding service is used for serious harm, with clear end dates and reviews.

Orders and Offices

  • Silent Chorus. Ritual authority. Approves high-risk rites, sets doctrine, runs the realm-scale silence and stasis systems.

  • Pale Wardens. Military and civil defense corps. Guard fortresses, depots, and breach sites. Manage evacuations and curfews.

  • Bone Scribes. Record keepers and design engravers. Maintain legal copies of rites, rulings, and plans.

  • Frostwrights. Engineers who build pylons, plates, and silence beacons.

  • Cold Ledger Office. Tracks stores, rations, licenses, and replacement cycles for seals and plates.

  • Rite Auditors. Inspect workshops, temples, and clinics. Approve or shut down unsafe practices.

Society and Daily Life

Life is plain and highly organized. Work shifts are posted each week. Supply depots issue rations based on duty and family size. Public shelters are open during storms and during realm-breach alerts. Children learn to read signs, follow guide lines, and report seal faults. Families maintain a “safe list” of routes and shelters. Noise is low by design. Music is permitted at set times in insulated halls. Heat is rationed and monitored. There are no open flames in living quarters. Clothing is layered, marked with district tags, and repaired at public shops. People value reliability, clear speech, and shared labor.

Customs:

  • Households keep a Remembrance Ledger that lists births, bonds, service, and final rites.

  • Every house has a Silence Nail, a small plate set above the door that shows inspection marks and the date of the last shelter drill.

  • Meals are plain: preserved fish, root stews, nutrient loaves, and brine greens. Treats are rare and tied to service awards.

The Dead and the Law

The dead are not property, and they are not ignored. The law defines three statuses:

  1. Rest. The default. Bodies are kept in warded terraces with name, date, and cause. No use is permitted.

  2. Service by Consent. A person may sign consent in life to allow their body to serve a public task after death. Tasks include guard duty under strict binding, heavy labor under stasis flex rites, or emergency medicine training for Bone Scribes.

  3. Emergency Requisition. In crisis, the Ward Court may order limited retrieval to prevent mass loss of life. Orders must be specific and include end-of-service steps. Families are notified and may attend the release rite.

Abuse of the dead leads to severe penalties, including lifetime ban from all rites and permanent exile from city cores.

Magic: Stasis, Silence, and Control

The realm specializes in three pillars:

  • Stasis. Slow or stop change within a defined field. Uses: fresh storage, wound stabilization, quarantine, seal life-support for long travel, hold terrain during repairs.

  • Silence. Damp sound and panic spread. Uses: public order, precise surgery, noise control in workshops, riot prevention.

  • Control. Bind motion or effect within limits. Uses: safe handling of undead, sealing breaches, halting wild fire, and freezing cursed items for safe disposal.

All rites must include a materials list, steps, test ranges, cutoffs, and unwind procedures. All tools must carry a stamp from the Bone Scriptories.

Forbidden working types:

  • Unlogged summoning, demon pacts, and uncontrolled necromancy.

  • Heat-amplification or growth magic without firebreaks and red-line watches.

  • Mass memory erasure or coercion.

Licensed support magic:

  • Cold light.

  • Sterile air.

  • Frostglass shaping.

  • Pain-numbing songs performed by licensed Cantors inside silence halls.

Economy and Trade

The Necropolis exports things that store, protect, or keep: stasis plates, frostglass, sealed containers, insulated piping, silence beacons, and well-tested guard kits. It also sells legal rulings on containment and safety that other realms accept as expert guidance. Imports include grain, textiles, metals, tool oils, and medical herbs that do not grow in local conditions.

Trade rules:

  • All inbound goods pass cold-check and purity assay.

  • Contracts include end-of-life plans for devices with stasis cores.

  • No items that spread heat, rot, or riot.

  • Payment can include service credits for shared border projects.

Military and Civil Defense

The Pale Wardens field mixed cohorts:

  • Shield Lines. Heavy infantry with frostplate shields and clamp pikes.

  • Anchor Crews. Teams that plant ward stakes, deploy silence beacons, and set fast stasis nets.

  • Black Lanterns. Licensed necromancers who supervise consented service units and ensure cutoffs are enforced.

  • Signalers. Beacon runners, cold-light flaggers, and scry-relay operators.

Doctrine:

  • Hold ground.

  • Reduce spread.

  • Secure civilians.

  • Clear breaches in measured steps.

  • Retrieve bodies with respect and records.

Standard kit:

  • Frostplate armor with shock baffles.

  • Clamp pikes with rune collars.

  • Seal hammers, anchor stakes, and plate satchels.

  • Breath masks and ice claws.

  • Silence beads for squad commands.

Health and Clinics

Clinics use stasis to hold critical patients while surgeons work in clean silence. Infection rates are low. Amputations are rare but properly fitted with frostglass prosthetics that take standard parts. Public wards administer heat rations during deep cold alerts. Counselors help families with grief under clear steps: naming, record entry, service choice, and closing rites.

Education

Schools teach reading, numbers, map use, seal checks, first aid, and calm response. Older students learn a trade: Frostwright, Warden, Scribe, Cantor, or Civil Clerk. Tests measure skill, not speed. Records follow students into guilds. Apprenticeships are strict but fair, with posted hours, safety training, and relief time during heavy weather.

Summoned Heroes

Summoned heroes must register within seventy-two hours. The process includes an intake interview, power testing, hazard class, and assignment to a handler. The handler issues a Silence Token and a Stasis Cutoff Key matched to the hero’s risk profile. Heroes work in mixed teams with Wardens. They must announce actions, respect cordons, and accept post-mission debriefs. Refusal to comply leads to expulsion or binding if the risk is immediate.