Frostblight

Frostblight is a magical affliction tied to the very land of Ysgard, present in the blood and breath of every native. To Ysgardians, it is harmless, like air, but to outsiders it is a slow and agonizing death. It spreads easily, clinging to clothes, skin, even magic itself, and once unleashed, it is nearly impossible to contain. No cure has ever been found, and no magical barrier has been able to fully stop it once it begins to spread.

Centuries ago, a handful of mages and kings tried to intervene in the still ongoing Great Giant War. What followed was catastrophe, known as The War of Endless Winter: burning cities, ruined bloodlines, and a scorched wasteland now protected by The Linewalkers. Since then, no one comes to Ysgard. Not because of cruelty, but because of fear. No dragonrider flies in. No ships land. No letters return.

Frostblight is more than a plague. It is a curse. Those who die from it are said not to stay dead. Unless their bodies are burned, they rise again with ice in their veins and lifeless frost-blue eyes. These undead, often called the The Hollow, move without speech or memory, drawn only to cold and the living warmth they seek to extinguish. Only fire halts them. Only ash ensures they do not rise again.

To many, Frostblight is the reason Ysgard must face its battles alone. One infected body loosed in the world could doom a city overnight. So the gates stay closed. The world watches from afar. And Ysgard burns its dead beneath a frozen sky.