Silverwick's Workshop
The Frost-Locked District is Silverwick's industrial heart—the northeastern quarter where craftspeople work, forges burn, mills grind, and the town's essential goods are made. This is the Craft Guild's domain, where the sound of hammers on anvils, the smell of woodsmoke and tanning leather, and constant production activity define daily life.
If The Hearthstone is where Silverwick gathers and The Iron Gate is where it defends, the Frost-Locked District is where Silverwick makes. Every tool, garment, preserved food, piece of furniture—if it requires skilled craft, it's likely produced here.
The district occupies the northeastern section, connected to The Hearthstone by the East Bridge. The name "Frost-Locked" reflects a peculiar characteristic: despite constant heat from forges, kilns, and workshops, the streets and buildings remain perpetually cold. Ice never fully melts even when forges burn hottest.
Some say it's the bedrock beneath—particularly cold stone. Others claim it's intentional—the founders chose this location because natural cold prevents workshop fires from spreading to the rest of town.
The contrast defines the district: blazing forges inside, frozen streets outside. Heat and cold in constant tension.
The Workshops
The Frost-Locked District is a maze of workshops, each dedicated to specific crafts.
Kaelen's Forge: The district's most prominent building. Smith Kaelen Ironhand's forge burns day and night, producing weapons for the Winterguard, tools for farmers, Red Iron specialty items, and everyday metalwork. The forge glows like a beacon after dark—orange light spilling from windows, illuminating the frozen street.
Kaelen lives above the forge with his apprentice Pip Ironhand (16, gangly, soot-stained, desperate to prove himself). The constant hammer rhythm is the district's heartbeat.
Miller Oren's Mill: At the district's southern edge, near river access. The large stone building houses grinding mechanisms powered by Oren's ice-liquification Glimmer—allowing year-round operation regardless of whether the river is frozen. The mill grinds grain from harvest into flour, operating constantly during winter.
Oren (38, broad-shouldered, perpetually flour-dusted) is quiet, reliable, and essential.
The Tannery: Where hides are processed into leather. The smell is distinctive—not pleasant, but necessary. The Tanner and his workers transform animal hides into leather for boots, clothing, armor, straps, and countless essentials.
The tannery sits on the district's eastern edge—downwind from residential areas. The work is cold, messy, and skilled.
The Carpenter's Workshop: Large open workspace where lumber is shaped into furniture, building repairs, tool handles, and structural components. The Carpenter employs several journeymen and apprentices—woodworking requires many hands.
The workshop smells of fresh-cut wood and sawdust. The sound is rhythmic sawing, hammering, occasional creative cursing when measurements don't align.
The Weaver's Hall: Where textiles are created. Multiple looms operate simultaneously, producing wool cloth, linen when available, rope, and specialized fabrics. The Weaver oversees a primarily female workforce—weaving being traditionally women's work, though not exclusively.
The hall is warmer than other workshops—bodies and looms generating heat. Also louder than expected—looms clacking, workers chatting, surprisingly social atmosphere.
The Brewery: Where Matron Bess's famous ales and ciders are created, along with other preserved beverages. The Brewer is secretive, protective of methods, but generous with samples.
Smaller Workshops: Scattered throughout—the Healer's preparation room, the Chandler's shop, the Potter's kiln, the Basket-weaver's stall, the Rope-maker's workspace, the Leather-worker's crafting area.
Each trade occupies its niche, contributing specialized products to Silverwick's survival.
The Atmosphere
The Frost-Locked District is loud, smoky, busy, and purposeful.
The Sounds: Hammer on anvil, saws cutting wood, looms clacking, mill wheels grinding, shouts of workers coordinating, apprentices being instructed, the crackle of forge fires, the hiss of steam from quenched metal.
The Smells: Woodsmoke, coal smoke, hot metal, tanning leather, fresh-cut lumber, baking bread, fermenting beer, grinding grain, the acrid smell of quenching, sweat, oil—the omnipresent scent of labor.
The Sights: Sparks flying from Kaelen's forge, sawdust drifting like snow, steam rising from quenching barrels, workers in leather aprons, apprentices running errands, carts hauling materials and finished goods, the glow of multiple fires creating warmth and light against frozen streets.
Despite the cold streets, the district feels warm—not temperature, but activity. Life concentrated, purposeful, productive.
The Layout
The district is organized pragmatically rather than aesthetically.
Workshop Clusters: Similar trades cluster together. Woodworkers near lumber storage. Metalworkers near the forge where they can share heat. Food processors near the mill.
The Frozen Streets: Despite interior heat, streets remain icy. Workers navigate carefully—ice is slippery, icicles hang from eaves, snow accumulates. But the cold serves a purpose: it prevents accidental fires from spreading.
Material Storage: Large communal warehouses store raw materials—lumber, ore, hides, grain, barrels of various substances. The Guild of Frost Authority controls some storage, but the Craft Guild manages material storage for production.
The Courtyard: A central open area where goods are displayed, traded, loaded onto carts. Less formal than The Hearthstone's Steaming Rows—more wholesale, bulk transactions.
Living Quarters: Many craftspeople live above or adjacent to their workshops. Convenient and practical.
The Workers
Masters: Skilled professionals who own workshops, take apprentices, serve on the Craft Guild Council. They're respected, relatively prosperous, carry significant political influence.
Journeymen: Skilled workers who've completed apprenticeships but haven't opened their own workshops. They work for wages and represent the backbone of Silverwick's productive capacity.
Apprentices: Young people learning trades. They live with their masters, work long hours, receive minimal pay but valuable skills. Pip Ironhand is typical—16 years old, exhausted, covered in soot, slowly learning through repetition.
Laborers: Unskilled workers who haul materials, maintain workshops, help with simple tasks. They're paid daily and hope to eventually apprentice into skilled trades.
The district operates on strict hierarchy based on skill. But there's also camaraderie—shared labor, shared exhaustion, shared pride in making things that keep Silverwick alive.
Economic Importance
The Frost-Locked District is Silverwick's economic engine:
Production: Nearly everything made in Silverwick originates here. The district transforms raw materials into usable goods—ore into tools, grain into flour, hides into leather, lumber into furniture.
Employment: Perhaps a quarter of Silverwick's population works in the district—directly employed in workshops or supporting the craft economy.
Trade Value: Goods produced here are Silverwick's primary trade items. Visiting merchants purchase Kaelen's Red Iron tools, quality textiles, preserved foods, well-crafted furniture—taking them to other settlements.
Craft Guild Power: The district's economic importance translates to political power. The Craft Guild can leverage production to negotiate with the Guild of Frost Authority and maintain autonomy.
Relationship with Other Factions
Guild of Frost Authority: Constant tension. The Authority wants to regulate production and control resources. The Craft Guild wants autonomy and minimal interference. They compromise constantly—the Authority provides raw materials and protection, the Craft Guild produces essential goods.
The Winterguard: Strong alliance. The Craft Guild produces weapons, armor, and equipment. The Winterguard protects the district and escorts trade caravans. Kaelen works closely with Captain Frost, prioritizing Winterguard orders.
Solstice Faithful: Functional relationship. The Craft Guild maintains the Chapel, provides goods for ceremonies. Father Solace provides spiritual services to craftspeople.
Ice-Singers Guild: Economic competitors regarding the washing monopoly, but the Craft Guild respects Ice-Singer skill. Some cooperation on projects requiring both craft work and ice manipulation.
Why It Matters
The Frost-Locked District proves that Silverwick survives not just through rationing and defense, but through production. Through skilled hands transforming materials into tools, food, clothing, shelter.
Every hammer blow in Kaelen's forge, every revolution of Oren's mill, every thread woven in the Weaver's Hall—these are acts of defiance against winter. We don't just endure. We make. We build. We create.
The district is loud, smoky, exhausting, and essential. Without it, Silverwick would have walls but no weapons, grain but no flour, hides but no leather.
The Frost-Locked District keeps Silverwick working. And in endless winter, work is survival.