Maxxor: As far as we know, they were a group that lived around Glacier Plains. A past explorer mentioned a brief encounter with these Frozen in his travel logs. However, our warriors there have found no evidence of a foreign civilization having lived in that area.
Cordac’s Guidebook: Hinya-Iha and the Last of the Frozen
The Frozen were never the type to have a leader like the other tribes of Perim. As individuals, they watched from high on their icy mountains as the world around them changed, while most of them were stuck in their old ways. They did as they pleased and kept to themselves in their secluded caves and lean-tos.
The closest thing they ever had to a leader was the one they called a Guide. One was appointed at the first Gathering on the highest peak in Glacial Plains. Among them all, the wisest was now responsible for settling petty arguments and land disputes, and not much else. They would live at the Peak and offer their advice to those who could be bothered to travel the distance (which deterred most fights before they began, as the journey was not an easy one.)
Irru-Tok, a creature made of glowing crags of ice, was the first Guide, dubbed such as he was believed to have lived at the Peak since the time when all of Perim began to thaw. When he no longer felt he could do his job soundly, or when his life was nearing an end, it was his duty to find the next wisest member of the Frozen and teach them to be the new Guide.
As the decades went by, fables began to surround the title. Some believed the Guide would be strong enough to move mountains, others believed the future Guide would glow like the moons at birth, and some thought you could simply march up Qilak Peak and demand the job yourself.
But it was as simple as one creature picking another.
Hinya-Iha's mother believed her daughter was picked by the stars to be the next Guide when she grew up.
Her childhood years, which were already hard enough to survive due to the terrible winters, also became riddled with nonstop lessons on diplomacy and physical feats far harder than she could endure. She grew to hate how her mother was grooming her, even if she was becoming one of the strongest and smartest creatures from Crystal Range. She left to find a secluded place to live as early in her life as she could to escape a future living on the coldest place in the world and dealing with other peoples' problems.
Despite all of Hinya-Iha's secrecy, one day the 3rd Guide, Kurtac, still found her. She begrudgingly left with Kurtac and was soon being announced as the 4th Guide.
She didn’t take to the job at first. There were days when she wanted to throw herself down the side of the mountain after listening to the stupid squabbles creatures brought to her, but there were eventually good days too. Days when she gave advice that her tribesmen truly took to heart and days where they thanked her and shared the food they had hunted on their journey. The days where she genuinely cared for her tribe grew in number and so did her desire to help them.
She grew older and the tribe, for the first time, grew closer.
Though nothing could change the Frozen’s natural affinity for independence, for the first time creatures of Glacier Plains were purposefully settling down nearer to one another. There were those, of course, who this lead to live even further away, but all around the tribe was more united than ever. Hinya-Iha never thought she would have grown up to see a day like this, or that she would have ever been mature enough to appreciate it.
One day, news reached the north that a war had started in Perim. Almost every Frozen had heard of the M’arrillian Invasion that had happened many years ago, a fight the creatures of ice were lucky to take no part in, but this one was different. It was a fight between the four great tribes, built on decades and centuries of disagreements; disagreements the Frozen had no part of. But as some Overworlders had been settling further northward in recent times, it was about to involve them.
The war raged on, the Frozen trying their best to not get involved until they had no other choice.
In the south, the Overworld’s King Zormax was killed in battle, and his son, Corgak, took his place. Corgak, young, inexperienced, and growing desperate for the fighting to end, sent a urgent letter to the leader of the Frozen, asking for assistance. Having more fighters on his side would surely tip the scales enough to end the war.
Hinya-Iha was hesitant. Her people were safe in the mountains and didn’t need to be inconvenienced or to be putting their lives on the line. Though, she thought, how long until the fighting came to them? Would it be better to help end it all before the white mountains were covered in blood? She would call for a Gathering, to see what the tribe would do.
Many of the tribe’s warriors said they would fight, much to Hinya-Iha’s surprise. The few Overworlders who had ventured into their territory in the past were kind, bringing food, offerings, and pleasantries from their capital. The kind peoples deserved a change to end their suffering. Hinya-Iha did not think it was the wisest of ideas, but she was not their king and could not order them to feel differently. And so the Frozen would fight.
Not all showed up though, on the day they would march south. Some of the wilder creatures remained in their frigid homes, denouncing the name Frozen, a tribe they assumed would be trooping to their deaths.
They would be right.
When they arrived, the warriors, sweltering in the heat of the badlands they were unaccustomed to, were almost immediately ushered to the front lines. They fought bravely and boldly, but knowing little of their enemies nor the region was their downfall. One by one, the Frozen fell.
Few members of the tribe stood on the battlefield when the war horns sounded an unusual tune in the distance. Hinya-Iha threw her great sword to the ground, struggling to catch her breathe against the scorching Underworlder before her, as the horns signal for a cease fire. It appeared Corgak’s treaty had won over the other tribal leaders and the fighting was called to an end, at the cost of the redistribution of lands and tribes giving some of their precious commodities to others.
A weeks time passed and things were seemingly going to return to normal.
The ceremony at the Lake Morn was beautiful. The Stronghold, built with a powerful combination of the elements, burned brightly. The fire reflected against the early morning fog and and warmed the the downtrodden faces of the hundred of creatures gathered across the shores. The four leaders stood together in a longboat floating in the center of the lake. Each gave a speech, proclaiming their sorrows and promises that a war of this magnitude would never befall Perim again.
No tribesmen stood beside Hinya-Iha at the Stronghold’s dedication. The only ones still living stood beside the Overworlders, deciding to stay behind. When the words were finished and the treaty signed, she collected her gear and began her trek back to Glacier Plains.
Even her echo didn’t call back to her when she returned.
She lived out the rest of her years at Qilak Peak, writing out as much of her tribe’s history as she could remember. Her journal was discovered one day by an explorer, a decedent of a member of the Frozen who had stayed behind in the Overworld territory. He brought the book to the Overworld Library, where it remains to this day.
Ooc: have you seen entities-of-posts? Their idea of the Dull and your idea of the Frozen mesh really well
ooc: huh, I actually haven’t thats really interesting. I’ll check them out. I always love seeing new entities especially when I have two two “original” entities. Obviously the frozen for @allendeller and The velocity for my lesser known blog @jael-pierre (haha shameless plug). I do think I will keep this in mind for later. Thanks a whole bunch.
