The Village of the Banished

The ritual of banishment is carried out only in extremely rare cases and solely as punishment for truly cruel, inhuman crimes. No banishment has ever been revoked. Since the Frost People hold community in high regard and are convinced that no one can survive alone for long, it is generally assumed that all those banished have died relatively quickly. Perhaps some did not wait for death by cold or starvation and instead threw themselves off the cliffs into the sea or ended their lives by their own hand. Nyrian is a harsh land, and many creatures value meat. No dead Frost Person remains lying for long.   It is no surprise that there are numerous stories portraying the banished as figures of terror—serving as warnings, reminders, always with the aim of keeping awareness of the importance of community and the well-being of the people alive.   Even though no one can credibly report on a village of the banished, the rumor persists stubbornly within Frost People society. It is said that beyond the Ismurna, the great ice wall in the north, there exists a small village where all the banished are welcome and can lead a normal life.   Other versions speak of small, scattered groups who wage war against one another. Sometimes one group holds power, sometimes another. Peace and community exist there only temporarily, and even then, they seem fragile.   The stories are diverse, but rarely shaped by harmony. In one particularly grim variation, it is said that the banished are forced by the enraged ancestors to climb the Ismurna and enter an empty village. Not entirely empty, however—for there lie all the banished, dead in the houses they themselves built. Allegedly, the banished is compelled by the ancestors to construct a house without air supply, so that he dies within it and his soul remains trapped forever—unable to ever join the ancestors or be reborn.   It should be clear, however, that such a village in living form can hardly exist. Every few decades, a person is banished—this would mean that the banished would have to survive for centuries in order to bear offspring and build a society.   A village full of corpses, on the other hand—whether shaped by the workings of the ancestors or by the dark tales—seems entirely conceivable.