Verdrode Koude

Claimant: Timmzorz

Overview

This land is ruled by the Kalar Rythor, an ancient lich-king. While much of the borders of Drovinia are highly contested, and often times not enforced. Rythor claims the ice covered mountain region that covers much of the southern base of D'Hennex. Much of the land is inhospitably cold, and one could walk for days without encountering civilization, there are in fact a number of permanent residents of the tundra, all of which are undead, as they are the only creatures that could survive in this desolate land. The thick cold air, and constantly below freezing temperatures allows many of the these undead to remain in states of near perfect preservation.

Inhabitants

Koel Reuzen

This is perhaps the strangest group of creatures that reside in the southern ice lands. A Koel Reuzen is the soul of a mage who dabbled in necromancy, but was unable to fully comprehend the art and was thus entrapped by his own magic. These creatures have no true body, and are very similar to a spectre, except that their form, instead of being totally ethereal, has a small amount of substance. This slight substance allows for the ice, and snow in the region to collect and harden around them. Giving them what appears to be a vaguely human form made up entirely of ice.

These creatures feed upon magic and they think of nothing else. Large groups of them will often find solace simply collecting at the base of Rythor's Tomb; basking in the powerful aura of necromantic magics that practically waft off of the Kalar, and his abode. Due to their nature, and Rythor's ˜gift these creatures have sworn their allegiance to him.

Skeletal Horde

This is the largest group of inhabitants in Verdrode Koude; they are the animated skeletons of Kalar Rythor, and are totally loyal to him. Various groups of these undead will walk aimlessly through the tundra, and about the mountains. While in other places there may be hundreds of lifeless skeletons covered in ice and snow.

Those that make up his skeletal horde, are considered by Rythor to be totally expendable. Unlike his more distinguished troops, these are raised without the presence of their body's original soul, and are thus totally mindless. All of these thousands of mechanical skeletons are commanded from the Hive Mind Nest which controls them without forcing Rythor to give them constant attention.

The King's Lost Armada

A very long time ago, during an age that has been lost to history, a great king sent out a massive fleet; over two hundred ships of the line, and nearly five hundred more smaller vessels. Their goal was to traverse the globe, and conquer everything. They never returned, in fact, after only a few months on the ocean they found their way to the southern ice cap. It was here that in the span of a single night, huge flows of magically enchanted ice trapped the ships. The entire fleet was held fast, never to sail again. Thousands of men, women, and children became entrapped in the frozen waste land. Needless to say, it didn't take long for them to die.

Over the span of hundreds of years this huge fleet slowly crept with the ice towards the center of the lands of Verdrode Koude. Rythor long ago took advantage of this opportunity to advance his army, and raised the souls of the entire fleet, even the women and children. The bodies of these raised souls are in a constant state of unrest, constantly repairing their ships and keeping them as perfectly preserved as possible. It appears very strange, a giant armada in the middle of a frozen waste land, undead swarming around the surprisingly well maintained ships.

The initial leader of this fleet, Rear Admiral Defarial Kraulen, retains his position to this very day. He is still very militaristic and demands that all the sailors and soldiers in his fleet remain within strict military order. He reports only to Kalar Rythor to whom he has sworn his allegiance.

Geography

The land is covered by tall mountains, glaciers and tundra.

Rythor's Tomb

The Kalar, long ago, transformed his once tomb into a giant stone keep, which was magically perched atop one of the highest mountains in the region. The tomb is totally covered in ice, both inside and out, so much so that many assume that it is made of ice. It is the residence of a powerful lich-king, it has many strange chambers, and is constantly in some state of magical flux.

Ice Necromental

These are Rythor's most powerful creation, the animated remains of the ice elementals that once ruled the land he now claims. While he has only five of these creatures in his vast army, they are by far his most powerful necraised creations. He keeps them as the initial guards to his Keep, nothing gets in or out unless they go through one of these awesome creatures.

Hive Mind Nest

Within Rythor's Tomb there is a massive basement that has been dug deep within the mountain that forms the tomb's foundation. Within these dungeons are large crystalline structures that are entirely made of magic. Each Hive Mind is about ten feet tall, and four feet in diameter at its widest point. They are extremely fragile, thus they are hidden. Each Hive Mind was individually crafted by Rythor himself and contains a less empowered magical clone of his consciousness. His massive collection of these powerful magical beings started hundreds of years ago when Rythor found his own mind being cluttered with the ramblings of the countless undead souls under his command. He created his first Hive Mind in order to ease the burden of controlling these undead, and has used them exclusively for the task ever since.

Ocean of the Dead

This is the name that Rythor has given to the land that houses The King's Lost Armada, it is relatively small, being only about twenty square miles, but it totally dominates the landscape. Near the center of the Verdrode Koude there is a perfectly flat parcel of tundra nestled between two mountains. At the very center of this area lies hundreds of sailing ships of old. The sails have long decayed, but have been replaced with a strange material that is blackened and constantly emitting a thin steam. Corpses in various state of decay, and frozenness walk around socializing and repairing their last surviving possessions: the ships.

Some of the larger ships have been outfitted with mechanical steam parts that Admiral Kraulen hopes to use to lift his once magnificent fleet from its icy tomb. Rythor while not very fond of this mechanical augmentation, preferring to use magic instead, has discouraged this experiment, but not forbidden it.