Polaris, the Frozen World

Treatise With a Planet

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I have spent the last six years in connection with this font of power and believe myself to be the world’s foremost living expert on the subject. To anyone looking to follow in my wake, I offer this warning: Polaris never ceases. To take what is given is to forever be denied the touch of a summer sun or the comfort of your hearth.

Celestial Position

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Polaris is the ninth and farthest planet from the sun in the Sunrun System. The planet is a sentient conduit to the planes of ice, encircled by wide rings of frozen debris and stone. Polaris's orbit places it behind Nalorea, the solar system’s largest planet, obscuring its surface from the sun for most of its cycle. Polaris receives direct sunlight only twice per year for brief moments at two fixed points in its long orbit. A year on Polaris is approximately two and a half times longer than a Dromarian year.^*1   Polaris has six moons. Three are minor in scale and appear insignificant. Two are sizable, lifeless chunks of ice. The sixth is considerably larger, marked by a red patch along its trailing hemisphere that is either sand or sediment, though its exact nature remains unknown.   The Ancestors knew of Polaris's presence, providing records long before their arrival on Dromaria. Modern astronomers can observe the planet using telescopes, though it is rarely visible to the naked eye. It only appears in our night sky during the coldest depths of northern winters.

Dromaria & Polaris Ties

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Polaris’s evolutionary timeline remains unclear. Our earliest recorded texts speak of Tus'Alim and the Upiryrials banishing their exiles to the frozen wasteland, expecting them to perish. Most did. It is uncertain whether a stable portal once existed between the worlds, but Kamihikari Song Stones imply the possibility.   The most infamous of their exiles is Ignatius the Cold.^*2 Ignatius was banished for acts of barbarism and sent to Polaris at least two hundred years before the Ancestors arrived on Dromaria.^*3 He is believed to be the first creature of flesh and blood to survive Polaris’s touch and, in doing so, formed a pact with the entity.   Some time later, another Upiryrial was exiled for grotesque experimentation on his fellow people. The Aberrant Prince Ishkul joined Ignatius, and together they found a way to leave Polaris and arrived on Dromaria roughly three decades before the Ancestors. Ignatius and Ishkul established early bastions in the regions of Ebon and Thorn.^*4   Ignatius was the first Polaris warlock and sought to consume Dromaria. Together, he and Ishkul unleashed devastation. Ishkul created monstrous abominations, while Ignatius blanketed the world in an endless winter that marked the beginning of the Age of Horror. Dromaria suffered deeply. Most of the population died from the cold. Those who returned to the warmth of Kalatearman were hunted by Ishkul's relentless chimeras.   The Age of Horror ended when Lothor and the Crusaders of Illumination rose and allied with the dragons. They rode upon Ebon and shattered Ignatius. His death ended the long winter and restored the world to its natural state. To this day, Asir and Lothor are associated with Polaris and its appearances, remembered as those who melted the ice age. The continent of Ebon remains locked in a severe, extremist climate and is still populated by rogue elementals.   The northern half of Mortéglace bears the most visible and accessible scars of the great conflict. It was there that Ignatius was broken apart and his body sundered. Part of his soul remains bound to a break in the land, torn open by his fractured form. The canyon’s most infamous landmark, the Bridge of Ignatius, is locked in a perpetual ice storm because of this rift.   In the last three years,^*5 a new conduit to Polaris has been opened due to a ritual performed by the Prophet Stroud. That event marked a shift, and mortals are now experiencing dangerous temptations. Warlocks are drawing from the same frozen well that once ruined the world. Most who take the bargain do not survive long.

The Present Age

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Polaris is remembered in winter. Its name is cursed during blizzards, inscribed in prayers, and honored through seasonal rites. It lingers in stories told at the edge of firelight. Over time, understanding of Polaris has shifted into religious myth, forgetting the days when the world was frozen. In modern faiths, Polaris is seen as an inevitable foretold evil. Just as winter will always return, so shall the enemy of old. However, most people don't think of Polaris at all. It is nothing more than a distant planet, unseen in the night sky and of little concern.   What is important is that Polaris's influence never left Dromaria. Mortéglace will forever feel the effects of Ignatius’s corruption. The land shows clear signs of elemental damage and supernatural phenomena. Thanks to my team's research, the elemental gate sites are now being monitored by the Order of the Veil.^*6   While the dragons claim Ebon was always uninhabitable, during my one visit, it was far worse than anticipated. There is no land, just a sheet of ice the size of Leng and far deeper. Whether it was shaped by enduring pacts or some other enigmatic force, Ebon remains a region held in the voracious jaws of Polaris. I can feel the call there, wanting me to pass through.   Currently, our greatest danger is that Polaris gives freely to those who ask for it. Each act of magic pulled from these pacts increases its dominion. Mortals with an affinity for cold are commonly the first to hear the voice, though others may discover it through a variety of means. The learned understand Polaris for what it is: a powerful, magical celestial force, dangerously close to Dromaria.   The enemies that once ruled in Polaris's name remain as well. Ignatius could not be killed. He was split apart and divided, a desperate act meant to end his reign. One fragment of his soul is permanently affixed to a location in Mortéglace. Another is locked away safely in the Arcane Sacrarium. The third, I believe, is in the possession of a guild member of the Daring Dynamos, though I have not yet been able to identify the individual in their ledgers. I posit that Polaris could destroy the world once more if those pieces were ever brought together.   Because of Polaris, there is always danger to those who summon water or attempt to travel the elemental pathways. The untrained or the exceptionally unlucky risk touching forces they do not understand, or arriving somewhere they never intended. There is a good reason certain spells are considered illegal and placed under strict control. Those who seek to manipulate this force for personal ends risk drawing further trouble. I recommend the continued restriction of this knowledge^*7 and the active monitoring of Polaris-touched warlocks.