The Ice Wall
by Gordon McCormickSome of the other threads going just now got me to thinking, and I came up with this - it's just rambling ideas at the moment, nothing quite coherent!
Thousands of years ago the Beastmen came to the Traldar lands through many passes in the mountains. One in particular lead from the Nithian desert lands to the forested realm of the Hutaakans and Humans. But the Nithians fought the beastmen too, and when they had rid their lands of as many gnolls as they could find, a powerful wizards council brought down a mighty avalanche and destroyed the easy passway between the countries. Many beastmen died under the rocks, their spirits lingering still...
A small pass remained however, and it was to here that a Traladaran wizard, Talfris, arrived two hundred years ago to begin his experiments. The area had a natural magic about it, perhaps a remnant of the mighty spell that cut off Traldar from Nithia so many years before. It was also isolated, and what wizards doesn't want to build a tower far from civilisation where they can experiment free from mortal consequence!
Talfris was somewhat obsessed with cold related spells and magical creatures. He did many experiments on Frost Giants, so many in fact, that he ran out of test subjects! It was then that he conceived of his great plan. By using some of the remaining Nithian magics, and his own store of power, he created a massive barrier of ice across the remaining narrow pass. Imbued with magic it would transform creatures that came near it into frost based species that he could experiment with.
At this point Talfris decided to start his journey towards immortality. Unfortunately he encountered a powerful fire mage who lived under Ylaruam who was a little more powerful than Talfris had expected. He died and has not been heard from since.
But Talfris left a strange magical area beyond Castellan Keep. Those who journey there can discover wonders, but also succumb to horrors...
The Ice Wall - A huge glacier, faintly glowing with magic. White dragons are drawn here, but their magic is absorbed by the wall, leaving the dragons rather stupid and sometimes tameable. Dire Wolves who come to close are sometimes transformed into Ice Wolves (from B10). And humanoids who spend too much time near the wall lose their memories and wake up as Frost Giants...
Talfris' Tower - A spike of ice, many magical enchantments protect it, many magical secrets remain inside.
Ice Spiders - These giant spiders spin their webs to catch small rodents. Abandoned webs pick up ice and snow and the magic of the area turns these frozen lattices into solid non-melting works of art. The ice becomes as hard as metal and can be forged into magical frost-weapons.
Recently some Traladarans have discovered the ice spiders webs and head into the area to make their fortunes. Some go missing, and more frost giants always seem to be around the corner...