35 - 2/13/25 : The Thaw | Epilogue

    Once feared as a demon from the lake, the Great Sizzan continued to swim the waters of the Mirrored Reservoir in concert with its many fishermen. It was known to sometimes rescue sailors and fishermen who had fallen overboard into the freezing waters below, saving them from otherwise certain death.       Three Streams remained settled for many decades after the winter, forging strong ties with its neighbor Mirlake. It saw a boom in population in the year 3448, as many refugees who had taken shelter there elected to stay instead of making their way to Helgafel.   The arrival of King Siegmar and his entourage at Three Streams became a legendary event passed down in the tales of ensuing generations. Three Streams would remain known as the place where the people of the Taiga first resisted the Broken Blade invasion.       Danneth continued to hold his position after the invasion and the Everlasting Rime, and was remembered fondly as a gifted leader who did his utmost to keep his people and the refugees safe within the walls of Three Streams. He disagreed with assessment due to his role in abiding the mob-rule sacrifices to La Saia, but with years and wisdom came the ability to eventually forgive himself.   To honor their deeds, Danneth petitioned his neighboring town to erect a trio of statues depicting the Lonesome Few in Mirlake; a motion that was accepted.   Indra had a hard time living with herself after the passing of the Eternal Winter, feeling guilt over the living sacrifices she allowed to happen as captain of Three Stream's militia. As the sun rose, she suffered a crisis of conscience, made worse by survivor's guilt and the trauma she had sustained during the Battle of Whiteridge.   Pushed to the brink, Indra nearly took her own life, but the timely intervention of Speaker Danneth saved her life. The two grew close as Danneth helped Indra return to a stable mental state, doing so with regular visits and the encouragement of journaling and seeking faith in the more forgiving of the gods.   The two would eventually overstep their formerly professional involvement and eventually marry. Indra returned to and retained her position as the militia captain of Three Streams, while Danneth remained Speaker until succeeded by their only son.       After La Saia was defeated, Nymetra did not relent in worshipping the Frostmaiden. She won few friends, as she maintained that those who perished in the Eternal Winter were weaklings that were culled by her goddesses' tests.   The Wet Trout's clientele rapidly diminished thanks to Nymetra's fading popularity. She was eventually driven out of town, but instead of heading south like many escapees of the Taiga, Nymetra instead decided to take an aimless path to the north. No word was ever received from her hence, and she was quickly forgotten.       The goliaths descended from their mountain homes to help the Ten-Towners rebuild as part of their debt to the Lonesome Few for saving their chieftain Ogolai.   They came into brief conflict with their old foes, the orcs of Storm's Call, but Thokgrim's diplomatic prowess saw an end to the clash. The two peoples would come to share the mountains they called home, supporting each other and coming to each other's aid in battle.       Ogolai challenged Thokgrim to one-on-one combat after her clan came into violent contact with his. She was defeated after a close duel, and her life was spared.The chieftain would eventually join Thokgrim in mending the rift between their peoples as they both aided their neighbors in rebuilding.   She participated in the battle of Aspencove with Thokgrim, and bonded with him through blood shared and shed in glorious battle. To symbolize their people's friendship, Ogolai became one of Thokgrim's several wives, but continued to serve in her capacity as a leader and warrior rather than that of a homebody.       Many explorers and young barbarians inspired by the tale of Oyaminartok saving Ragna's life tried to find the elusive werebear, but none who purposefully sought her were ever successful in tracking her down. Oyaminartok was only sighted in the forgotten, quiet corners of the Taiga, saving the brave and the worthy from otherwise undeserved fates.   Each year on the day of their birth, Ragna would find a piece of rock from the peaks of the Dragon's Teeth Mountains amongst their possessions, left by a mysterious and unseen visitor.       The orcish stronghold of Storm's Call prospered in the years following Thokgrim's victory and ascension as chieftain. The Stormcaller orcs remained in power well into the next century, as Thokgrim and his son Xunug led their people into a peaceful but proud existence in the frozen north.   The Anvil of Storms continued to produce miraculous works of forging, and its weapons were sought by adventurers far and wide who were brave enough to trek through the frozen wilds.       Thokgrim won region-wide fame by meeting Siegmar at the battle of Aspencove in 3449, where the barbarian king was finally slain for good. Although the deed was done through teamwork between Thokgrim and Ragna, the credit for slaying Siegmar is oft erroneously attributed to Thokgrim alone, whose thunderous displays of electric might captured many eyes and memories - more so than even his giant companion, it seemed.   Thokgrim took several wives and served as chieftain of Storm's Call until his final days. Despite his several lovers, he only fathered one son; Xunug, born late into Thokgrim's life.   Upon reaching his final years, Thokgrim ventured to the tallest peaks of the Dragon's Teeth mountains, where he conducted a grand ceremony to summon a great storm that consumed him and sent him to the side of Gromm the Thunderer in a blaze of fulgurous glory.   In many temples of the Thunderer, Thokgrim would be depicted in paintings and statues as one of Gromm's prophets for centuries to come, standing at the side of his god with maul in hand and victory in his eyes.       With the deaths of Lords Bellen and Beren Blackhammer, morale in the dwarven hall of Duhngrave severely plummeted. Relations between the Blackhammer clan and the rest of the Snowdrift Flatlands greatly diminished, with Lord Barador taking an antagonistic and isolationist stance against the surfacers whom he held responsible for the deaths of his kinsmen.   Duhngrave would eventually seal itself off from the rest of the Taiga, never speaking nor trading with any outsiders. In the wake of this, many of Duhngrave's dwarven residents departed its walls, seeking a less dour and defeatist lifestyle than what was promised by their grieving leader.   Without its best and brightest to sustain it, Duhngrave eventually faltered and was abandoned with the span of a generation.       When Duhngrave was finally abandoned, Barador silently departed, sealing his hall permanently before venturing to the South on an unknown quest. He carried with him the curse of the Traitor Prince, of which only legends remain.   Rumors of a sullen dwarf sporting medallions in his beard were heard in the vicinity of the Duchy of Westmarch decades later, though none connected them to the fallen hall in the frozen north.       With most of the Sunblight Clan slain by the Lonesome Few and the defenders of Whiteridge, Sunblight Fortress had little left to sustain it. Most of its deep trove of resources went towards constructing the chardalyn dragon, and with its destruction, much was lost.   The fortress was eventually abandoned, becoming infested with monsters over the decades. Few reasons to venture to its walls remained in the following decades.       With Xardorok's death, Grandolpha Muzgardt took control of what little was left of Sunblight Fortress, and sent Xardorok's sole surviving son into exile. She attempted to make the fortress into a stronghold, but it never became anything more than a far-flung trading outpost that depended on infrequent shipments from Gracklstugh to survive. She was all too happy to abandon it for other ventures.       The deadly caves winding beneath Hollowfaust that once provided passage to Ythryn continued to be infested with various monsters and roving undead, some of them escaping from the nearby Underdark passages or drawn to the cursed aura within the caves.   In their efforts to cleanse the foulness from the region surrounding Hollowfaust, the Tempered Blade Tribe came to use the Caves of Hunger as a sort of proving ground, where promising warriors could test their might while pursuing a good cause all the while. Although the way to Ythryn remains collapsed and impassible, it continues to emit a grim aura whe approached.       Having become the heart of the Giving Tree, Hathowyn never had to feel loneliness again for the rest of her days. She would greet the villagers that visited her happily, if only silently, for decades to come, and was cared for with great patience by Gleha.   Eventually, Hathowyn ceased to emerge from her tree, falling completely silent after decades of gentle existence among the people of the village. It is unknown if she remained within when Helgafel was sacked by the Red Hand of Doom and the Giving Tree was put to the torch - but many who were present that day saw that the tree took an unusually long time to completely burn down, as if resisting the flames to the very end.       The iron golem head discovered in the Caves of Hunger was eventually claimed and moved from its confines by Ragna and their impressive strength. The head was carried to and mounted within Nevara's spire, intended to greet Alith whenever she would make use of the structure as a spelljammer dock. While being carried away, the iron golem's eyes repeatedly blinked an indication of 'no'.       Forged into a wise and considerate leader through his time fighting the Everlasting Rime, Ragna wasted little time in bringing his dream of a successor tribe to the Broken Blade to fruition. The Tempered Blade arose from the ashes of war and memory, becoming a place for wanderers and outcasts from all walks of life. All were welcome, so long as they were willing to work for and support their fellow tribesfolk.   The people of the Taiga were understandably initially wary of the new barbarian tribe that began to stride the flatlands. However, this fear was greatly diminished by Ragna's influence and the positive contributions that the tribe immediately brought to the land, and soon the Tempered Blade were welcomed as friends and allies whenever they strode through the region that once held the Ten Towns.   While the Broken Blade, in its their ferocity and martial superiority, would go on to be remembered in the history books and in the bloody sagas, the Tempered Blade survived in a far more humble, meaningful sense - it continued to make its small corner of the world better, piece by piece, day by day, all whilst honoring the memory of the departed.       Outside of dedicated hunters and scouts, the former subjects of King Siegmar knew precious little about living off the land. They were raiders first, taking what they needed from those that could not stop them, settling only for feasting on the roving herds of elk and reindeer when times were hard. As the Jarl of Ferd, this dependency on warfare and pillaging was Valdís' first and greatest challenge.   Following Valdís' example, the tribe learned to adopt techniques of food conservation and preservation, bringing them sustenance and vigor on long nomadic journeys. The Jarl of Ferd also forged strong ties to the Wardens in White of Helgafel, who shared a similar philosophy to Valdís' view of nature and hunting. Valdís would go on to be a long-time companion and friend of Dahlia Kaltro, both considering the other to be the finest ranger to stalk the snowbanks.   Valdís would never marry nor bear any progeny, but her many students were like children to her. Guiding them and assuring the prosperity of the Tempered Blade became her greatest joy, as it gave meaning to the skills that had long been overlooked in the Broken Blade.   By the time Valdís retired and gave up her title as Jarl, she had already picked out a successor far in advance. She continued to travel with the tribe in her final years, imparting wisdom and guidance to hunters young and old. When she finally passed in peace, her funeral pyre was lit atop the peak of the Famrial Mountain, and its brilliant flames were spied by observors from miles away; one last act of guidance from the One-Eyed Huntress.       The Everlasting Rime shattered Sóley's rather naive view of the world and of the Broken Blade. Where she once saw a righteous band of song-worthy warriors marching to preserve their way of life, all she saw after the Battle of Whiteridge was bloodstained snow and funeral pyres gone cold. When her time to undertake her rite of passage in the Tempered Blade came about, it was with determination and unusual solemnity.   The Rite of the Frostmaiden was a positive influence on the young warrior, who found glory and learning in equal measure while on the journey. She took the position of the Jarl of Krig soon after, and dedicated herself wholly to the martial perfection of the tribe. There was one aspect of the Broken Blade that was not a lie; they were the finest warriors of the Taiga, and this was a tradition Sóley intended to enshrine in her teachings forever.   As a warleader and mentor, Sóley focused on emphasizing unusual combat styles and bringing out the existing qualities of her students, rather than only cultivating new ones that fit some sort of mold. Her own unorthodox style, the Steel Wind Three-Axe style, would be taught to her descendants, relatives, and many brave members of the Hall of Krig throughout the years.   It took some time for Sóley and Ragna's relationship to truly heal after the trauma that Siegmar's invasion brought upon the both of them. Once the barrier of tragedy was broken, however, the two were once again inseperable, and Sóley accompanied her sibling on many a trek to the unknown wilds. By the time of the Dark Sister Eclipse of 3517, Sóley remained the Jarl of Krig while in the midst of her venerable eighth decade - and she remained just as terrifying as the little firebrand she once was.       Holgi, Zilbo, and Snorp initially had trouble contributing to the Tempered Blade. They always insisted on acting together as a unit, often to the detriment of their collective coordination and agility. Yet instead of discouraging this odd approach to combat and life in general, the folk of the Tempered Blade recognized how deeply the trio relied on each other.   It was thus that Sóley of the Hall of Krig took the trio under her wing. No stranger to unconventional fighting styles, Sóley helped the kobolds work with, instead of against, their uncanny ability to remain astride each other in harried situations. Hew Mann became a perplexing, yet surprisingly deadly combatant, proving the old adage true; if you want something done right, send three kobolds stacked on top of one another in a trench coat to do it for you.       With the undercity of Ythryn fallen silent and deep into the earth, the old city above became just as mundane as any other. Under the direction of the necromancer Dzaan, Hollowfaust drew to it many scholars and arcane academics. With necromancy being widely reviled and even outright criminalized in much of the civilized world, these mages convened to create a place in which the magic of death itself could be put to more practical and constructive uses.   The City continues to stand in the far north, a beacon of opportunity for those wishing to delve into the secrets of undeath under watchful eyes. Although a shadow of the Hyperborean wizard's paradise that it once was in millennia past, the city once again thrummed with magic and sorcery - a sign of life in this place of death, at long last.       The very moment that he learned of the release of Hollowfaust from La Saia's great glacier, Dzaan embarked on a journey to the far north to explore the city that had long captured his fascination. The necromancer was critical in the city's recovery as he led the exploration, research, and resettlement efforts.   Dzaan and the colleagues that he attracted to his cause soon declared Hollowfaust reborn as an independent city-state, a place of necromancers, for necromancers. The wizards of Hollowfaust dedicated their necromantic works to ethical and practical practices, creating a curious culture that embraced both the joy of life and the inevitability of death.   As an archmage of Hollowfaust, Dzaan took on dozens of students and spread his dream of a necromancer's sanctuary. However, his ambition eventually caught up with him; in an effort to invent a reasonably moral method of attaining lichdom without indulging in vile practices like soul sacrifice and outright murder, Dzaan's spells went horribly awry. It took several weeks for the custodians to clean the dust particles that were once Dzaan from every inch of his office.   Even still, he remained fondly remembered by the people of new Hollowfaust; even if only through rose-tinted glasses that glossed over his arrogant and egotistical behavior.       Many were those who crossed paths with the Lonesome Few; some legends, some friends and some foes - and due to this crossing, their destinies were forever altered, sending ripples of fate and consequence far beyond the stars themselves.       Gleha remained within Helgafel, acting as a spiritual guide and a kind motherly figure to her people. Though many tried to name her mayor of the town, she refused each and every time, instead preferring to tend to the Giving Tree and to heal the ill.   Although she had claimed that she had long since made peace with her daughter Orizana's allegiance with the Frostmaiden and eventual death, many saw that Gleha cared for the Giving Tree in the same manner of making an apology to someone long since lost.   The old firbolg would eventually meet her end seventy years after the Everlasting Rime's conclusion, being slain by the Red Hand of Doom in the shade of her beloved tree. Yet she faced even this end with grace and conviction, content to return to the very earth that had sustained her for so long.       Eternally loyal to his queen, Gen'a'as returned to Tu'narath and immediately reported for duty while simultaneously submitting himself for punishment over allowing himself to be trapped in La Saia's domain.   To his eternal relief, Vlaakith spared the Kith'rak any such punishment, and even commended him for the slaying of a great and powerful elder brain in the confines of the Caves of Hunger. For his service, Vlaakith conferred the reward of ascension to Gen'a'as, who gratefully accepted.   In the wake of his ascension, Gen'a'as would become one with his queen - in a damningly literal sense - another loyal soldier consumed to sustain Vlaakith's unlife.       Although the loss of one of her 'daughters' was a detriment against Queen Vlaakith's plans, the truth of the matter is that it was but one of many crises that she had to face at all times in her role as a ruler. Thus, she did as she always had; she assigned the issue to worthy subordinates and turned her gaze to more pressing matters on the astral horizons.   Alith's departure and encounter with Dak'kon was just one of many seeds planted, one among a grove of attempts to end Vlaakith's tyranny and remove her from power. But would this fresh sapling grow to fruition? Or would it wither and die like so many others?       Angajuk, safe beneath the waters of the Valrua, truly saw little difference between the Eternal Winter and the summers that followed it. Beholden to none, he continued to prowl the sea as he always had. As the Sapphire Isle grew silent following the Frostmaiden's first demise, he had even fewer reasons to make the journey to and fro.   Tales of a great white whale with a ship strapped to his back would continue to be shared among sailors of the Valura for decades to come, though none could claim to have ever spoken to it as the Lonesome Few did.       The battle against La Saia and escape from Ythryn reinvigorated the ancient dragon Arveiaturace, who had long since slowed down in her old age. With victory fresh in her mind, she became a common sight in the skies of the Taiga, bringing terror - but never any real harm - to any villager who laid eyes upon her.   Fourteen years after the Eternal Winter's conclusion, Arveiaturace suddenly disappeared. None know what became of her; however, the faithful of the reborn La Saia would soon begin to depict their goddess astride a great white dragon in their artistic renderings.       Brynjar became a prodigious herbalist and druid under Gleha's tutelage, and felt truly at home for the first time in many a year. However, as age began to creep into his bones, he felt as though his talents would be better put to use in a less peaceful, less fortunate environment, where people would truly need his healing abilities.   After the dryad Hathowyn finally fell silent, Brynjar planned to take a seed from the Giving Tree and depart from Helgafel to seek a new land in which to sow his own grove. He thanked Gleha for all she had done, and then prepared to make his way to the Tempered Blade's holdings to confer with Ragna on which places might require his druidic expertise.   These plans were interrupted, however, by the arrival of the Red Hand of Doom in the year 3517. With an overwhelming force bearing down upon his home with superior arms and raging fires, Brynjar took up his spear and rushed to the front lines to buy some time for the weak and infirm to escape.   On the once-peaceful snowfields of Helgafel, the gentle herbalist Brynjar met a warrior's death worthy of Valhalla.       Ivory grew fond of the Taiga after the Endless Winter was brought to a close, and with ferocious monsters becoming active once again, she found easy work for one of her talents.   Having desired to build her own chapter since her own party was wiped out by remorhaz, Ivory recruited a number of brigands and other desperate fighters to undergo the Hunter's Bane. With a small coterie of newly initiated Blood Hunters, Ivory founded the Frozen Chorus chapter, which came to dominate the monster hunting trade in the Taiga. She took a particular favor to her chosen apprentice, the red dragonborn Ashera Thrann.   The headquarters of the Frozen Chorus, a heavily fortified cave in the southern hills, would eventually become known as the Ivory Bastion in her honor. Ivory would remain the chapter master well into the years preceding the Dark Sister eclipse, bringing death to whatever the Taiga's residents paid her well enough to slay.       King Siegmar's indomitability in combat was an undeniable strength, but his defeat at Whiteridge soon revealed the flaw that accompanied it; Siegmar relied on war, strife, and conquest to unite his people under his rule, and cared little to govern elsewise. Seeing that refraining from making another push south would spell the end of his reign, Siegmar spent the whole of 3448 gathering his followers, subjugating smaller tribes of the far north, and forging weapons of war.   Once the Broken Blade's strength was restored, the warlord known as 'Groghmir' to the orcs resumed raids on the settlements of the Taiga as his army marched south to Aspencove. Many were the settlements that could not resist the charge of the barbarians, and many fled to the safety of Aspencove where they awaited their doom at Siegmar's hands.   Believing his return to glory to be within his grasp at long last, Siegmar laid siege to Aspencove with the full might of his forces. However, he encountered greater resistance than he dared hope for; the people of Aspencove were joined by the orcs of Storm's Call, the Goliaths of the Dragon's Teeth Mountains, and the barbarians of the newly founded Tempered Blade tribe.   Seeing his remaining children on the side of the defenders infuriated Siegmar, and he refused to turn tail and run when faced with a greater force than expected. The Broken Blade's last charge resulted in a terrible and bloody battle in which many brave and powerful warriors fell to their equals in battle.   King Siegmar found not victory at Aspencove, but death. In the center of the conflict, in a circle of blood and death, Siegmar clashed with his child Ragna and their ally, Thokgrim the Stormlord. Their battle was one for the ages, and in his last moments, Siegmar exemplified himself as a nearly peerless warrior, bringing his two opponents to the limits of their strength.   Yet this was not enough, and as he realized that his forces had been slain to the last man, Siegmar was at last felled by a combined strike from Ragna and Thokgrim. As his final act while he lay dying, Siegmar took Gungnir, the Broken Blade after which his barbarian empire was named, and shattered it in his grasp. In his words, there would be no Broken Blade without its king.   So was the Broken Blade finally, truly broken and buried. King Siegmar was burned upon a pyre in the tradition of his ancestors, and his ashes scattered at an unmarked, forgotten site. History would forget the great warrior whose blade knew few equals, and would only recall tales of the evil warlord whose armies were broken at the gates of Aspencove.       Although he had succeeded in permanently slaying his angelic brother Seraphiel, whose essence was near-totally subsumed by the chardalyn dragon, the fallen angel Mendrion could only look back on the Frostmaiden affair as a complete and total defeat. His master remained imprisoned, his chance to grasp true divinity taken from him, and they ended their conspiracy with more enemies than they had before.   It was thus that Mendrion embarked on what could very well be his final mission in the service of Levistus. Success meant a mere pardon for his previous failure, while defeat would spell a fate worse than total obliteration.   Every devil is far too ambitious to settle for being reduced to a mere lemure for failing to meet the expectations of their betters, and Mendrion was prideful even among his kin. With his wicked halberd in hand, Mendrion returned to the material world once more, seeking the omen of the black sun spoken of by his lord and master. Woe to those who stand in his way, for the devil now fights to forestall oblivion itself.       Little could be said of Levistus that was not known to his enemies. The archdevil was the very model of an unchanging being, eternally possessed by a cosmically unfathomable anger, shuttered in a tomb forged by his greatest enemy that hatred alone could not shatter.   The Eternal Rime was a loss for him, yes, but it was only one of a tapestry. To admit his final defeat would be to unmake Levistus' very nature. Thus did the archdevil sit, simmer, and plot - for what else was he to do, imprisoned as he was?   In nearly eighty years' time, the ice of Stygia began to creep up the waters of the River Styx, reaching the threshold of the first hell of Avernus. Yet another Stygian reckoning had come, with the Frozen Prince and his blinding malice at the helm.       True to their word, Tali remained in the Taiga and conducted half-hearted research for fourteen painfully short years. The true desire at the heart of their stay was to maintain a connection to Melfina so that she would never be alone, and Tali wished to be there for her when the end came. All the while, they remained in contact with Ragna, Alith, and Dahlia, leaning on their friendship in difficult times.   Under Gleha's tutelage, Tali learned to use her connection with the Shadowfell in harmony with nature, not in spite of it. Death was but a part of life, and in understanding this, Tali came to appreciate her shadar-kai half for the first time in all their years. At last, she achieved her lifelong dream to become a druid, deepening her connection to the natural world beyond mere words recorded in academic notes.   While fulfillment of this dream was a blessing, Tali's remaining time in the Taiga was marred somewhat by the tragedy inherent in Melfina's fate. The half-elf struggled with their affection for the frozen wizard, which they could not act on in earnest due to Melfina's incorporeal method of contact. Tali longed for a physical relationship that they had never acted to grasp while Melfina was still near, and could not bring themself to say the things they wanted to say until it was too late.   Upon Melfina's final vanishment, Tali had fulfilled her promise, and turned her path back home. Bidding Gleha and the others farewell, Tali ventured to the far south with Meifft, returning to her home city of Revelmoore. There she would finally join the Circle of the Old Faith as a proper druid, becoming a disciple of the mysterious Jeryth Phaulkon of Phaulkonmere. Meifft remained in her care, becoming a beloved facet of the Circle's gatherings and somewhat of an honorary member, who went on to befriend a kind bronze dragon that also lived in the city.   Tali's adoration and deep connection to the natural world, strengthened rather than burdened by a link to the Shadowfell, deeply impressed Jeryth. Given Phaulkon's incorporeal form as a demipower bound to her home in Phaulkonmere, Jeryth would eventually name Tali as the Circle's public representative. Overjoyed and humbled in equal measure, Tali gladly accepted this charge, and continued to hold this position well beyond the Dragon Heist of 3521.   Until their dying day, Tali carried on their person a small holy symbol of La Saia the Frostmaiden, worn firmly and closely over their heart.       The sun may have risen upon the Taiga once more, but Dahlia's hometown of Whiteridge was no more. With no family to speak of and no drive to become a barbarian despite her bond with Ragna, Dahlia had to find a new life for herself in the wake of summer's return.   After some silent internal debate, Dahlia decided to move with the refugees of Camp Daybreak to the site of their new home of Helgafel, protecting them and hunting for them as she went. When the town was officially founded and homes were built, the townsfolk asked Dahlia to stay and continue acting as a guide and huntress - an easy prospect for her to agree to.   Dahlia supported her newfound people the only way she knew; through hunting and acting as a guide, bringing in game and finding new resources hidden in the snowbanks. It was an interesting change of pace from negotiating with an ancient dragon and facing a goddess in mortal combat, but a welcome one for the earth-grounded huntress. Dahlia's prowess as a ranger would become a major factor in Helgafel's initial success.   She was soon joined by Oarus Masthew, former Speaker of lost Whiteridge and her childhood friend, who declined to return to politics after losing his home to the Broken Blade. Oarus similarly declined offers to join the orcs of Storm's Call, who admired his skill as a warrior shown at the Battle of Whiteridge. He wished for a simpler life, in which he simply helped people without bureaucracy and negotiations.   Thus did the half-orc take to the ranger's trade well, having known it to be his father's own line of work in times past. Dahlia and Oarus worked together long into the following year, helping to feed and support many people of Helgafel. As they laid the foundations for what would eventually become the Wardens in White, the pair discovered that they had become quite fond of each other. Such bonds were precious, especially to those who lost loved ones to La Saia's winter, and it took little hesitation for them to act on their feelings for one another..   Dahlia and Oarus became inseparable, and became pillars of Helgafel's community for their contributions to the burgeoning town. Often departing for extended treks into the deep wilderness, the duo were celebrated upon every return by the people joining their voices in singing "The Ranger's Return", a folk song often recited in their honor.   A short six months after Alith departed for the Rock of Bral, Dahlia found herself with child, and Oarus wasted no time proposing. Theirs was the grandest ceremony ever held in the small town's history, as they tenderly exchanged their vows in the shade of the Giving Tree under the officiation of Markham Southwell. The gathering was attended by many survivors of the Everlasting Rime, veterans of the Battle of Whiteridge, and the whole of the Lonesome Few - including Melfina, who appeared in her usual projected form to witness the whole affair.   The duo would live the rest of their lives in Helgafel, barring their frequent 'vacations' to the wilds in order to remain connected to the world around them. They became synonymous with the Wardens in White, and defended the fledgling town from threats great and small. It was a happy existence, and one Dahlia knew that she had fought tooth-and-nail for. She had been given a second chance during the Everlasting Rime, a chance that her father was not afforded, and she swore to never waste it.   The Kaltro children, as they grew and came of age, all eventually moved on from the Taiga to seek their fortunes and dreams elsewhere. Despite this, Dahlia and Oarus remained permanent fixtures, serving as keepers of past memories and gentle guides to the young. The pair would eventually pass from old age on the very same day, only a few short years before a hobgoblin army descended upon Helgafel, and thus never witnessed a Helgafel that knew anything but peace.   Dahlia and Oarus and were buried in the forests that had long since become their haven. Their lessons in both the ways of war and the wild continued to influence many rangers and wardens that followed in their footsteps. Shane, a future defender of Frostgale Taiga, would keep their traditions and teachings alive in their battles against the Red Hand of Doom - in this way, Dahlia Kaltro and her beloved continued to defend the land they called home even in memory, guiding the next generation just as the memory of her father Sephek had once guided her in her hour of greatest need.       Melanie's brief encounter with the Lonesome Few brought her into the company of many influential citizens in Helgafel, a town that welcomed her as if she were a treasured neighbor that had lived there for decades.   Together with Dannika Greysteel, Melanie was able to pursue meaning through academics in this remote corner of the world. Hardly glamorous or exciting (depending on who you ask), it was still a fine life to lead. The people of the Snowdrift Flatlands had been given their lives, and Melanie had been given a future, and it was one she intended to spend happily learning all there was to know about the land around her.   In moments of deep reflection, buried deep in her notes and journals, Melanie would often hear a gentle lullaby on the icy winds, lulling her softly to sleep. When she awoke, she would always find her notes to have been sifted through by practiced and caring hands, but with no evidence as to the perpetrator's identity whatsoever.   Another mystery to solve; and what a place in which to solve it!       But what of the heroes at the center of this tale? What journeys did they embark upon, what new lives did they lead, and what dreams did they pursue? They had come far, a disparate group of ragged survivors to slayers of gods and challengers of archdevils. No longer lonely, but with a bond forged among them stronger than adamantine, stretching far beyond the bounds of mere physical distance.   The Taiga was a distant place from the civilized world, one that few knew and even fewer dared to tread. Yet the land would always bear the mark of the passage of these three heroes, and those who followed in their wake. The planes themselves and the fates of those destined to die for one another would rumble quietly with their echoes, calling to mind their names for the rest of time.       As she began the process of reviving the tribe as the Tempered Blade, Ragna surprised many who knew her by not claiming leadership of the tribe's warriors, but instead establishing the Hall of Ise. She would emulate the Ice Giant Skalds, inspiring her comrades with the tales of their ancestors' heroics and downfalls both. While it took some time to break some of the habits of Ragna's orations, they eventually became an exceptional story teller, able to paint the tale in the minds of their listener while still retaining that voice that made his Ragna's stories their own. In this way, she brought new life to her title of Eternal Pyre, never forgetting the past, but helping herself and others to grow from it. As the tribe made the shift to more peaceful allies of the Taiga, this mentorship became all the more important, and Ragna was determined not to make the same mistakes of her father.   Where Ragna was once the example of everything Ten Towners feared of the barbarians, his time and experience across the Taiga and the Ten Towns had softened towards those he previously looked down on. As he had learned the value of skills outside of warmongering, he wished to bring that new perspective to the new Tempered Blade. Having seen from his allies that some problems could be solved without violence, Ragna had grown to use their newfound strength responsibly, taking the time to look at other options before drawing steel. But even as he moved forward, Ragna carried the loss of his many siblings and of Nevara and Minerva with him. The warrior once feared as the Burning Blood now focused his strengths to making the world one that would have welcomed those that would never see it.   To this end, Ragna often journeyed across the Taiga, saving travelers from its many dangers, as Oyaminartok had done for him so many years back. On these journeys, he would often come across those who had no place to call their own. Early on these lost souls were mostly surviving members of the Broken Blade, but also other folk who had lost everything, as well as those who fled north from what their lives had been. Ragna would usually help these people to one of the settlements in the Taiga, but would also offer the hand of the Tempered Blade, welcoming all those who would want to make a better life for themselves and provide for the tribe in turn. Where joining the Broken Blade was a cruel ultimatum with a blade at the throat, Ragna ensured that joining the Tempered Blade was a mercy given with an open hand.   Once Ragna and Thokgrim had slain Siegmar and removed the last remnants of the Broken Blades' age, Ragna found himself with more time to devote to his own life. During this time, she and Doluma grew closer, bonding over a shared upbringing with ambitious warlords and, more importantly, a love of good drink with good company. Eventually, the two started a relationship that led to the birth of Ragna's first descendant, Ysmir Ragnusson. However, while both cared for each other, they would have to contend with Ragna's frequent traveling and presumably much shorter lifespan. Both agreed to have the freedom to have multiple partners, but enjoyed the other's company when time and distance allowed. Ragna had several partners over the years, especially in the settlements and communities that he frequently traveled to. He had many descendants, all named for important people that Ragna had lost in his life, a trend that became something of tradition for members of the Hall of Ise.   When word arrived that the Frostmaiden once again had physical form, Ragna was concerned about the safety of the Taiga. While he was sure it was not the same La Saia he had fought, and it was clear that the Eternal Winter was not beginning again, she acted with caution towards the reborn goddess. When the tribe's shamans confirmed that this La Saia didn't have the same harshness as Nevara, and was actively working against the cult of Levistus, Ragna was glad to accept La Saia worship back into the tribe. The Halls of Ise, in particular, were often worshippers of her, knowing well the story of the previous La Saia and the different ideals she had represented.   As the years continued to show in his human siblings, it became quickly apparent that Ragna was not aging at the rate of a normal human. Whether it was her chardalyn heart, his magically empowered blood, or the blessing of the giants was up for debate, but whatever the reason, it was clear that Ragna would be around for a long time. As the Eternal Winter became history, its sole remaining hero in the Taiga became folktale. The civilizations of the Taiga would often tell stories around the hearth of a giant who protected travelers, teaching them to survive and fighting the powerful creatures that dwelled in the ice.   About 50 years after the Eternal Winter, Ragna had to consider his place in the tribe. While he could have continued holding the title of Jarl of Ise, he had concerns of holding the title for overlong, fearing it might cause stagnation in the tribe. He passed the title of Jarl to his daughter, Nevara Ragnusdóttir, who had always been taken by her parent's stories, especially the sad tale of her namesake. As she took to the position, Ragna remained as councilor, both to her and the tribe as a whole.   Once it was clear that the tribe was growing well without his guidance, Ragna decided that it was once again time to broaden his horizons. For the first time in their life, Ragna left the Taiga, traveling south to greater world that she had only heard of in the tales of others. She would see this world for herself, and continue helping those along her path. Lloegyr could be a harsh land, but Ragna Alfsbur had the strength, and now the wisdom, to leave it better than they found it.       Into Realmspace did Alith's path of ascension rise, where time left no scars and possibilities outnumbered the very stars themselves. Her aim would be no less than the liberation of the githyanki people from Vlaakith's tyrannical reign, and she would have the timeless, astral infinity in which to pursue it.   Yet even though the unmeasurable forever stretched far beyond the visible bounds of her destiny, it seemed dwarfed by the enormity of those three short months in Frostgale Taiga. A critical moment of weakness, a desperate gamble that had cost the lives of her family among the stars was always going to alter the trajectory of her life from that point onward. Yet instead of falling to despair, Alithkav rose above the despair, above the portent set upon her by Vlaaktih, and above her own self-doubt.   She and her companions had slain a lesser deity. When that fact crossed her mind, Vlaakith did not seem so invincible.   Forever changed by her ordeal during the Everlasting Rime, Alith would take to the stars alongside her new comrades under the command of the legendary zerth Dak'kon, carrying with her the treasures both physical and mental she had uncovered in Lloegyr's frozen north. Far more powerful than any sword, more stout than any heavy plate was the steeled mind that she had cultivated, a willpower that had resisted the whims of an elder brain, the Frostmaiden, and even Vlaakith herself.   Alith settled into her work with the resistance; seventy years would pass in the blink of an eye as she and her compatriots put themselves to work in the ceaseless quest to erode Vlaakith's rule. Alith revisited the Taiga as often as she was able, always remaining as youthful as the day of the spelljammer crash while those around her began to grow old and gray. Her presence in these lands would grow somewhat distant, for their worlds and realities were irrevocably divergent, but never would the people of the Taiga forget their kind savior from beyond the stars.   Nor would they ever forget her delightful hamster, of course.   But the call of rebellion ever lingered on the cosmic winds. The people of Helgafel would watch their strange visitor depart one final time before the Red Hand of Doom descended upon them. They could only wait and pray that a new band of heroes would rise and rival the Lonesome Few in these dark times, for Alith was gone, deep into the Astral Plane.   For Alith faced her own gauntlet of darkness and strife amongst the stars. The time would soon come for a decisive strike against Vlaakith, once the stars aligned and the tides of fate saw fit to cross her path with that of those destined to shake the very planes.   Very soon, there would only be but one sky above the children of Gith.       The Everlasting Rime was but a step in Veszaltyrr's labyrinthine quest to remove the stain of the Spider Queen from the cosmos, but it was an important. Imbued with the souls siphoned from the Mythallar of Ythryn, the Heart of Cygnus was finally awakened to its full potential, granting the brass-handed sorcerer phenomenal axiomatic power. With the Heart in his hands, Veszaltyrr wielded the miracle of creation, with which he could fashion wonderworks of brass and clockwork. These new capabilities inspired him to give form to his favored servants, the clockwork angels; eerily 'perfect' winged humanoid figures comprised of metal and gears rather than flesh and bone.   Invention was not his end goal, however. Veszaltyrr foresaw his quest not as a single road, but a myriad of forked paths, and he knew that a foe such as Lolth would require him to explore many avenues of inquiry before bringing his challenge forth in earnest. Even though the Heart of Cygnus burned bright as an artifact of immense power, it alone would not be enough to challenge his hated adversary deep in her realm of the Demonweb Pits.   Thus did the Thief of Fates lay his foundations and traverse his many plotted courses, dedicating the following decades to refounding a circle of influence in the criminal underground of the city of Revelmoore. Although his gambit to claim the stolen fortune of Dagult Ambermantle in the Dragon Heist of 3518 ended in his own obliteration at the hands of the Mad Mage Halaster Blackcloak, even death could not stop Veszaltyrr for long. A cloned body, one of his many contingencies and hidden safeguards against defeat, inherited his consciousness and continued his crucial work.   Veszaltyrr's second project of engineering the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, one which foretold the coming of a warrior in white who would stand against the Spider Queen, saw far more satisfactory results. Vesper DeVir, one of his subordinates from the time of the Dragon Heist, would rise to prominence and fame as a chosen of the goddess Desna - revealed by the selfsame prophecy to be the estranged sister of Lolth, with whom she created the drow people long ago. Although Vesper's dedication was to the salvation of the drow rather than to directly slaying Lolth, Veszaltyrr had helped to fashion a potent weapon to be pointed at his ultimate nemesis.   Still, he was never one to let another do the work for him, and there were more forks in the road to travel. One could never hang too many blades over the neck of their enemy.   With his forces largely decimated by the culmination of the Heist, Veszaltyrr would need to regain power and support in order to undertake his newest and loftiest ambition. The sorcerer vanished into the planes, seeking ends unknown - and where he walked, a cold wind that carried a singing voice followed in his wake.   To see his dream won, he was prepared for everything to be lost. Veszaltyrr would gladly pay such a price - but he would never allow himself to stop and count the cost.       Divinity and individuality are incompatible concepts. A common misconception that mortals oft have of the gods is that they are beings ruled by very mortal compulsions and emotions, who feel mortal desires and despair. The inhabitants of the pantheon are more akin to concepts, forces of nature and exemplars of ideals than individual beings, though the line is quite blurry to the earthly eye.   And yet even the gods themselves defy their own rules at times, for the Everlasting Rime was born of a mortal woman turned divine, in her quest to save her mortal beloved. The Rime's very foundation was built from mortal longing and sorrow, and it was brought to a screeching halt by the mortal drive to survive against all odds. The Eternal Winter - a godly tragedy engineered by the divine hands of La Saia - was quite the mortal affair in the grand scheme of things.   Thus, when La Saia was destroyed and her essence molded by the dreams of a scholar lost beyond the pale, it was only natural that she would change drastically. She was still La Saia, the Frostmaiden. Still the song on the icy winds, who once froze over the Taiga and doomed its people to save one woman. Yet the influence of Melfina Eres was undeniable, easily seen by those with familiar eyes when La Saia re-emerged fourteen years following the Eternal Winter's ending.   This new Frostmaiden for a new age was one more passive and distant, one who preferred to watch and witness the beauty of the natural winter take shape. The gentle chwingas and frigid ice elementals became her favored denizens of places where snow and frost reigned. Her songs sung against the winter winds were no longer sorrowful laments, but dedications to the ephemeral beauty of the season. Rather than prolong the season in which she held authority, La Saia would respect its passing to spring, favoring the balance that was inherent in the natural progression of the year's divisions.   This is not to say that the biting edge that La Saia had been known for had disappeared, however. As soon as La Saia returned as a power in the cosmos, a shadow war began to be waged against the servants of the Archdevil Levistus. The two powers and their followers would remain eternal nemeses, as the two exemplars of ice and snow fought to claim total dominion over the winter season.   It was this La Saia that carried the Frostmaiden's legacy into the next century. She was a regionally-bound deity, a lesser power amongst the very forces of creation, but the effects of her Rime and her rebirth would be felt far beyond the Taiga that she claimed as her protectorate.   As the flames of the first hell of Avernus began to burn brighter than they had in eons, small veins of ice began to creep into Baator's blasted grounds - some of them a lustrous white, others a dull and cutting black. It was far from her snowy realm that she would challenge her hated infernal enemy, in this place of heat and blood. La Saia's advance, however, would be calm and calculated, accompanied by the faint ticking of a clock...       Most folk, if they were to learn the depth of the love shared by the two star-crossed Hyperborean archmages, would remark on the tragedy of it all; the depth of the loss they had suffered together, how they never reached the victory they sought, and how they were forced to pay the ultimate price on the behalf of men that had died long before they walked the earth.   The two archmages had crossed the very boundaries of mortality and divinity to keep their promise to see each other once more. They had fallen far, killed many, and defied the fates themselves, and now they faced the darkness of forever at the hands of an archdevil whom they had been sold to before they were even born, with no feasible means of escape.   But they faced this cruel eternity together. That small comfort was more than they had been given in centuries. By their mere presence, the desolate crucible devoid of all joy and hope that was Stygia was ever so faintly illuminated.   No matter how hard Levistus pushed, he could never douse the spark that Nevara and Minerva lit on the day they swore to destroy his great gift to Ythryn.   They would become proof that even the black ice of the fifth hell could be shaken but as for it to be shattered? Such was a quest to be undertaken by only the bravest of souls, willing to throw themselves into the chilling maw of hatred itself.   In time, perhaps such a journey will come to pass, where the songs of all the bards come true and the bonds of love and trust prevail over the unceasing evil of those who only exist to take.   But for now, merely being together was enough.  

---