The Frostlands of Boreas
Theme: Eternal Winter, Divine Isolation, Frozen Oaths
Gods: Boreas (North Wind), Khione (Snow Maiden), Hermes (Winter Messenger), the silent shade of Anemoi
Where it stands & how it’s formed
The Frostlands of Boreas stretch across Hellenara’s northernmost expanse — a realm where the sun’s warmth is a memory and the horizon is ruled by aurora and ice. Beyond the Skyreach Peaks and across the frigid valley of Narthion’s Pass lies a land forged by divine breath. Boreas, the North Wind, exhaled his eternal blizzard here to seal away the arrogance of mortals who once sought to bind the winds themselves.
Sheets of glacial glass and oceans locked in permafrost define the region’s boundaries. Frozen seas cradle shattered ships — masts protruding from the ice like spears of defeat. Beneath the surface, ancient leviathans dream in slow heartbeats, their bodies encased in transparent tombs. The air crackles with divine chill: whispers on the wind bear the voices of those who froze without forgiveness.
The Frostlands’ geography is a study in paradox — terrible beauty paired with silent cruelty. Ice cliffs rise like cathedral walls; caverns glisten with frozen tears of once-molten stone. Where Boreas’s fury softens, the frost plains roll into tundra, blanketed with snowflowers that only bloom under the aurora’s pulse. Here, travelers swear the lights are the souls of frostbitten heroes — dancing to Khione’s lullaby.
How it’s governed & who endures it
There is no unified kingdom here — only survival and reverence. The Frostlands recognize no crown but the wind’s howl. Small enclaves persist: hermits, frost dwarves, exiled monks, and wandering pilgrims who chase Boreas’s favor. They trade in warmth, stories, and remnants of the world below. Their villages, like Skjollheim and Fyrdhal, cling to geothermal vents and ancient shrines — remnants of the divine war that carved these lands.
Among the mortals, a sacred order still endures: The Boreal Covenant. Formed by priests of Khione and warriors blessed by Boreas, they preserve the “Balance of Stillness” — ensuring no firekind or southern conqueror disturbs the frozen order. Their armor is rimed steel, their eyes pale as frostfire, their creed unyielding: “Silence is purity, and the storm remembers.”
Travelers speak, too, of the Glacial Tribes, half-mythic descendants of mortals who consorted with frost spirits. They wield icesteel weapons and sing in forgotten tongues that can still call the blizzard’s wrath. To outsiders, they are both guides and executioners — depending on the offering.
The Divine Breath – Weather and Omens
Weather in the Frostlands is not meteorology — it is divinity. Boreas’s moods shift through the seasonless cold:
Calm of the Veil – When the aurora burns green-white, it is said Boreas walks the world unseen. Travel is safe.
Scream of the North – Blue winds lash the tundra; voices echo from nowhere. The dead seek warmth.
Khione’s Weeping – Snow falls in perfect crystals, and every reflection shows another world — the time between now and never.
Storms are acts of faith and punishment both. It is said that when mortals speak Boreas’s name in vain, the temperature falls tenfold until sound itself freezes.
Notable Locations & Points of Interest
Citadel of the Wind Lord
An ancient bastion half-buried in the Glacier of Aeon, its towers frozen in perpetual gale. Built by an empire long forgotten, the Citadel is now home to the Boreal Covenant and the high priests of Boreas.
Its great horn, the Keraunos Aeonis, is sounded once per century — and the wind that answers it shapes the next age of storms. The inner halls are said to contain Boreas’s chained avatar, a colossal figure of ice and air, dreaming of freedom.
Frozen Lake of Prophecy
At the Frostlands’ heart lies a mirror of perfect ice, said to have been Khione’s tear when her mortal lover perished. Pilgrims crawl across the frozen surface seeking visions — if they survive the cold long enough to see them.
The lake’s reflection doesn’t mimic the world above; instead, it shows a mortal’s truest failure. Beneath its surface drifts the Seer of the Deep Cold, an ancient spirit who answers questions in exchange for years of one’s life — each syllable a frostbitten bargain.
Khione’s Hollow
A cavern of silver frost deep within the spine of the world, where Khione herself is said to sleep. Her presence suffuses the air with crystallized serenity — but those who enter must remain silent, for even a whispered word shatters the divine calm.
Her priestesses dwell here, weaving tapestries of ice that depict both past and future, though none can read them twice without madness. Legends say the Avatar of Khione, a spirit of living snow, guards the sanctum from fire and ambition alike.
The Frostwaste Expanse
Beyond the Hollow lies a boundless sea of frost dunes. Here roam Remorhaz titans and Frost Wyrms, ancient predators that feed on divine heat. Beneath the ice slumbers the half-buried corpse of the Titan Glaukhos, whose still heart beats once each century — shaking the land with frozen thunder.
The Shard Forest
A crystalline woodland where every branch and leaf is carved from translucent ice. When the wind blows, it sings. Travelers hear their own names echoed back — sometimes followed by replies in voices not their own. The shards here are fragments of divine lightning, struck during Boreas’s war with the southern winds.
Peoples & Faiths
The Frostlanders are few, but each carries the cold like a mantle. Their faiths are practical — the Cult of Khione offers protection through abstinence and sacrifice, while Boreas’s devotees worship through endurance: fasting, silence, and exposure to the blizzard.
Hermes, too, is honored — not as the trickster, but as Hermes Anemos, the wind-guide who ferries lost souls across the tundra. Shrines to him mark safe paths through the storms; their candles burn with blue flame that never melts snow.
Beasts of burden are rare, replaced by storm elk, frost wolves, and ice drakes bred to survive the divine chill. Coins mean little here — warmth, firewood, and stories are the true currency.
Monsters & Mythic Beasts
The Frostlands teem with divine predators and ancient spirits:
Frost Giants rule the mountains as forgotten kings, tracing lineage to the bound Titans.
Winter Wolves serve as Boreas’s scouts — intelligent, cruel, and bound by oath.
White Dragons nest in ruined citadels, their hoards buried in glacial caverns.
Encounters here are less about survival and more about reverence. To kill without offering tribute risks waking the storm itself. Those who do are marked by frostburn halos, visible in their breath forevermore.
History & Legend
Long ago, the Frostlands were temperate — a cradle of invention and hubris. The Empire of Aeon harnessed the winds through devices called Aether Forges, stealing power from the Anemoi themselves. In retribution, Boreas shattered the sky, casting their cities into snow and silence. The Citadel of the Wind Lord is the last remnant of that age.
In the millennia since, mortals have tested the borders — each time repelled by the storm. Only once did the southern gods intervene: when Helios’s fire melted the edge of the Frostwaste, and Khione, enraged, froze even his light. To this day, no sun rises fully here; only twilight reigns, eternal and blue.
Some scholars whisper that deep beneath the Lake of Prophecy lies the Aeon Engine, a godheart machine still beating with forbidden wind. To awaken it would mean unbinding Boreas — or ending him.
Tone & Hooks
The Frostlands are not merely hostile — they are holy. Every step crunches on centuries of silence. Every breath risks divine notice. Heroes who come here do so not for gold, but for meaning — to test their endurance against gods of cold and solitude.
Common quests include:
Recovering the Tapestry of Khione, a prophecy frozen mid-weave.
Escorting a dying prophet to the Frozen Lake for his final vision.
Stopping a southern cult from reigniting the Aeon Engine.
Seeking an audience with Boreas himself — and surviving his breath.