Frigid Death Deservéd
The Drostollorian northlands are perilous to those unprepared for the environment. Nightfrosts are a common experience past the break of the Drostol Mountains, where shortly after midnight, a terrible cold will roll over the land, like a wave of icy death. Temperatures can go from just below freezing to near instantly hypothermic temperatures in a matter of moments. As a port city, Drostollor has a great deal of maritime activities, and the nightfrosts can put abrupt stops to this, thus, icespears were created.
"No such thing should befoul the life of anyone, even mine. Yet, I've lived it. Lived it. I should not have. Vissicara wouldn't quite agree with my beating heart, I suppose." -Veris of Aleryn
The icespears are small oar-drawn ships attached to the front of larger longships that depart from the ports of Drostollor, and other small cities along the northern coasts of the Drostollorian country. They are manned almost entirely of slaves, or those otherwise deemed unworthy of life. Few that end up on these vessels are without sin, or some other major trouble that had lead there life to such a fate.
Icespears In Practice
The small vessels house generally anywhere from 20 to 40 men, with 2 to 3 to an oar depending on the vessel they'll be helping to tow. Sometimes the crews will have an individual leader, some will not, while others still may break down into subsquads of 10 or so, though the actual organiziation is up to the one in charge of the icespear itself.
Icespears lead the way for the ships heading into what is frequently the recently frozen seas in the aftereffect of a nightfrost, to break through enough that the ship can once again stride through the ocean unabated by ice. This doesn't always become the case, however.
Any challenge of the ice in front of the ship is up to the icespear to dispense of, and so while most of the crew needs to row the oars, several men will be on deck, breaking a way for the ship. No matter what it is, they have no real option, as the consequence for refusing to work as an icespearer is often a dunk in the frigid ocean, or at least a guarantee you'll be the one on deck, clawing ice from icebergs and invariably onto yourself.
Indeed, one of the largest concerns for those on deck is coming into ice shelves that need to be broken, with snowy birms that reach over the lip of the icespear. With the limited clothing provided icespearers, dampness, however light, can be a death sentence. One must break and claw at ice and snow using an icespear, an iron tool with a spearhead designed with the hooks and edges that could break ice sufficiently. The tools are made entirely of metal that they could have the weight to achieve their job if heavy blows are necessary, though some are larger than others. Some require two in order to pick up, often reserved for the sturdiest ice shelves.
