Report of Torin Icewatch – The Surrender of the Golems

I, Torin Icewatch, write this report for the chronicles of our time. These are the words that were spoken, the demands that were made, and the decisions that were taken while the cold weighed on our shoulders and the snow covered the battlefield.  

The End of the War

I have seen our warriors fall. I have seen the golems march—precise, unstoppable, without exhaustion. I have heard the cries of the wounded, the breaking of bones under their grip, the last stand of our resistance.   Then they stopped. Why?   Our enemies were not exhausted. They had no reason to retreat. There was no signal, no recognizable pattern. They simply stopped—and that made it all the more threatening.   Then Veyos stepped forward. The battlefields lay silent under the darkness. The last fire flickered among the ruins. And we waited for judgment.  

The Demands of Veyos

His voice was clear, without weakness. No triumph, no anger. Just a statement.   “We surrender,” he declared.   I saw some of the warriors instinctively tighten their grip on their weapons. The word felt wrong—unnatural coming from his mouth. The golems had been invincible. Why surrender now?   But he continued speaking, and his words made us freeze.  

• The golems will withdraw—to a territory you must never cross.
• The border will be set at the ice boundary—where the world changes.
• No Frostborn may enter this zone. Ever.
• No golem will remain behind. All will leave. Without exception.
• Elynn Stormhand must come with us.
• There will be an outpost—empty, uninhabited, built at the border.
• Every 69 weeks, a Frostborn may come there. A golem may appear if there is something to communicate.

  Confusion spread through our ranks. This was not surrender as we knew it. It was a decision—one we did not understand. Why the border? Why Elynn? Why now? Why the outpost?   Our leader stepped forward, his face marked by battle. He looked around, saw the fallen, saw the ruined walls. Then he turned his gaze to Veyos.   “Why?” he asked. “Is this a trick? What are you planning now?”   Veyos answered without hesitation. “The conditions have changed.”   That was all. No further explanation. No hint of their intentions.   I looked into the faces of the warriors. Some were filled with wonder. Others with quiet relief. But no one objected.   We knew we had lost. We knew that any further attempt would mean seeing more of our brothers and sisters die. The golems had surpassed us in strength, speed, precision.   Our leader nodded slowly. “Then go.”   The Frostborn followed the golems to the ice boundary—the last point of their world, the edge where the cold ends. There, at that place, the border was set and sealed so that everyone would know where the golems had gone. No one may cross it.   The golems marched away, taking Elynn with them, their steps as precise and determined as before. No golem remained behind. Not one.   At the border, they did not stop. They did not turn. They moved into the land beyond the ice, which we could never truly enter.   A few weeks later, we received a report stating that the outpost had been built—empty, cold, untouched.  

• Every 69 weeks, a Frostborn may come.
• Perhaps a golem will appear.
• Perhaps there will be a message.
• Perhaps it will remain empty.

  This is the report of the surrender.   Torin Icewatch, Chronicler of the Last Battle.