The Bite of the Cold (Core Rules):
The Wet Cold: Being wet (from snowmelt, falling in water, etc.) imposes disadvantage on the saving throw.
Common Protective Gear:
@Frost-Ward Cloak: A staple for any traveler. This cloak is woven from the wool of the mountain-fleeced goat, then enchanted with a simple abjuration ritual. While worn, it grants advantage on the saving throws against extreme cold. A standard cloak costs 50 gp.
@Ever-Coal Charm: A small, rune-etched stone that emits a gentle, continuous warmth. It must be exposed to a fire for one hour each day to "rekindle" its magic. It will keep a single traveler's core warm, but is not enough to stave off exposure on its own. (25 gp).
Giants' Contribution @Giant's Hearthstone: A giant's presence can create microclimates. A giant's campfire is a bonfire the size of a Smallfolk village square, radiating heat for hundreds of feet. Settlements often cluster in the "sun-bowls" — vast, curved depressions in the mountainsides where giants sleep, absorbing and radiating geothermal warmth.
The Smallfolk and Giants of the Vale share a calendar defined by the sun's retreat and return.
The Sun-Dimming (Mid-Winter):
Significance: The longest night of the year. A time of quiet, reflection, and community.
Smallfolk Ritual: The "Lighting of the Hearth-Stones." Every family brings a heated stone from their home to the central square, creating a great, warm mosaic to defy the darkness. Stories are told and rations are shared.
Giant Ritual: Giants will often gather on the peaks and hum a deep, resonant "World-Song" together, a magical effort to bolster the sun and call it back from its slumber.
The Thaw-Fest (First Break of Spring):
Significance: The first trickle of meltwater is heard. A celebration of survival and renewal.
Shared Ritual: The "Breaking of the Ice-Dams." Giants use their strength to clear avalanche-prone slopes and river mouths, while Smallfolk scouts guide them to the most critical points. This is followed by a great feast.
The Offering: The first catch of fish from the newly flowing rivers is cooked and shared by all, with the largest portion respectfully given to the giants as thanks for their protection.
The Sun-Steading (Mid-Summer):
Significance: A celebration of light and plenty. Work is set aside.
Traditions: Giant children are told the "Tale of the Slumbering Frost," a story where they must be quiet so as not to wake the winter. Smallfolk communities hold games of agility and speed in the vast shadows of the celebrating giants.
These are not ordinary parrots. They are magically awakened creatures, their lineage tracing back to an ancient druid's bond with the World-Song.
Magical Origins & Training:
Inherent Scrying: Each Sky-Speak Parrot hatches with a natural, low-level connection to the World-Song. They are not just repeating words; they are understanding and conveying intent across the magical spectrum.
Bonding: A parrot is bonded at birth to a "Speaker," a dedicated handler. The bonding ritual involves a week of shared meditation, imprinting the Speaker's mental "frequency" onto the bird.
Training: They are trained to recognize not just individuals, but categories of information. A specific trill might mean "incoming weather," while a series of clicks means "market news." They learn to seek out the "loudest" (most important) news in the Song and bring it to their Speaker.
How They Fit into Society:
The Aviary-Citadel: The central communications hub is built into the side of a mountain, a structure shared by Smallfolk and Giants. Giant Speakers kneel at vast openings to receive messages from parrot flocks, while Smallfolk Speakers work from intricate perches and balconies nearby.
Cross-Scale Communication: This is their primary purpose. A Sky-Speak Parrot will land on a Giant's shoulder and deliver a Smallfolk chieftain's message with perfect clarity and tone. They are the living, feathered wires of the realm's communication network.
The News-Song: Each dawn and dusk, the lead Speakers of the Aviary-Citadel release the "News-Song"—a coordinated release of parrots to all major settlements, carrying updates on weather, trade, and threats. To see a flock of Sky-Speak Parrots on the horizon is to know that you are not alone in the vast, cold vale.
In the world before the Great Frost, gold was a metal like any other. After the Shattering of the Sun-Heart, it became something more: the physical residue of the world's leaking life-force.
The Warmth of Gold:
Gold is warm to the touch. This is not a subjective feeling, but a tangible, magical property. A gold coin left in a snowbank will melt a small circle around itself. This innate warmth is a fragment of the Sun-Heart's power, trapped within the metal's atomic structure.
Functional Magic: This property makes gold the single most important material for survival magic. It is a perfect conductor for warmth-preserving enchantments.
Frost-Ward Circuits: The gold filigree on armor and cloaks is not decoration. It is a functional circuit, channeling magic to create a personal ward against the cold. Without these golden pathways, Frost-Ward enchantments would be weak and short-lived.
The Price of Power: The more gold used in an item, the more powerful and long-lasting its heating enchantment can be. A giant's gold-inlaid greatsword is not just a symbol of status; it is a massive heat-sink that can keep its wielder warm for days in the deepest blizzard.
Cultural Significance: To wear gold is to wear a piece of the world's fading heart. It is the ultimate symbol of defiance against the Frost-Grasp.
The Gilded: The wealthy and powerful are literally called "The Gilded," for they can afford to sheath their homes and persons in enough gold to create tropical microclimates.
A Sacrificial Act: Melting down gold for enchantment is seen as a somber act. It is literally "spending the world's warmth." A kingdom might melt its golden statues not for currency, but to forge enough Frost-Ward amulets for its army to survive a campaign.
The leaking energy of the Sun-Heart does more than create gold; it acts as a massive, planetary-scale alchemical engine, growing precious stones and metals in a process known as "Geomantic Seeding."
How It Works:
The magical energy seeping from the core interacts with specific mineral deposits, acting as a catalyst for rapid, magical crystallization and metallic transmutation.
The Seed-Beds: These are locations where the leaking energy is most concentrated:
Geothermal Vents (Furnace-Hearts): The intense heat and magic grow the most fiery gems—rubies, fire opals, and garnets—which are valued for their ability to store thermal energy.
Glacial Ice: The immense pressure and slow, persistent magic of the Frost-Grasp itself creates gems of perfect clarity and coldness—diamonds and sapphires. These are prized for focusing magic and for their ability to withstand and manipulate cold.
Thunder Peaks: Mountains constantly struck by lightning (a side effect of the magical atmospheric turmoil) are where magical electrum and silver are "forged," imbued with properties conductive to storm and wind magic.
The Art of Gem-Husbandry:
The most advanced cultures, like the Ashen Crest Dynasty and the Ivarsson Smith-Clan, do not simply mine for jewels. They practice Gem-Husbandry.
Seed-Crystals: They place a "seed-crystal" of a desired gem into a magically active fissure or a specially constructed "growth-vat" powered by a Furnace-Heart.
Nutrient Slurry: They then feed the seed a slurry of crushed minerals and infused magic, which the crystal absorbs, growing layer by layer over months or years.
The Result: A "cultured" gem is often larger and more magically pure than a wild one, but some traditionalists believe wild gems, forged by the world's chaotic pain, hold a more potent and unpredictable power.
The Great Paradox:
This creates the central economic and philosophical paradox of the age: The very process that is killing the world—the bleeding of the Sun-Heart—is the only source of the materials needed to survive it. The world is spending its very soul to grant its children a few more generations of life. Every glittering jewel and every warm, golden amulet is a beautiful, tragic reminder of a dying world's final, desperate gift.