Winterland Isles
You wake up in shock and start looking around. Human brutes are seated on the many chairs and tables which are mainly made out of old barrels. In a corner some gnarly old men are playing poker, while ignoring the barkeep spiting into a glass before he cleans it with a dusty rug.
"What is this place?" You ask while clenching teeth to the headache. To your big surprise a woman is seated infront of you. A large hood badly hides her elven features and the silken gray and gold checkered dress betrays her herritage even worse.
"Welcome to your average human port. Charming isn't it?" She smiles at you beneath the hood, but her eyes are covered in shadows. "Are you perhaps new to the Common Lands, or Arcathia itself?"
You may answer, you may not, still you can see the various people around have started to give you an icy look, the kind of look an unwanted outsider so often gets before they are found bloodied in the filthy streets.
A smirk form on the womans lips as the men rise up to surround you.
"An' whu are yu?" The largest and probably least intelligent of the men ask in a scornful tone. "Didn' fink ye rich nobel fellus came doun me parts, eh?"
Completely without subtlety the large man draws a knife behind his back while another man with slim waist approach the woman from behind and tries to sneak up a hand on her. What follows next happens in such rapid succession you can barely follow through.
Without even taking her gaze away from you, the woman elbows the large man in the belly. He drops the knife and in the sweep of the dress-arm the blade is now pinning down the intruding hand onto the table.
"Ye li'll..." The man swiftly shuts it as an ornate blunderbuss is shoved up so far his face he can praticaly smell the gunpowder.
The humans except the one with a stuck and bloody hand back away in silence as the female casualy takes a hold of your hand and pulls you up from the chair. "Come on, let's get away from these dreg-quarters."
You exit the rotten tavern into a street that carries a disturbing smell and sight of fish intenstines pouring along the pavements surrounding the wharf, local shacks and watered down buildings. You then look at the strange elven woman who keeps pulling you with towards a docked boat. Who is she and what town or city is this?
Asking the question loudly or no, she seems to read your mind. "This, my friend, is your how so original Diestrian disease ridden coastal town, but you are not here to see the darker parts of our lands, no no." She shakes her head with a laugh while boarding the small but clean steamdriven vessel. "We shall be going north, to a very different place so you may see true beauty, and I, shall be your guide."
Your first journey into Arcathia, or not. There is still no telling what adventures lie ahead, what will you see, experience. As the boat drifts away on the ocean and the sickening smell of the town changes to a sweet and fresh sea smell, you lean back and relax as the hours pass.
Geography
You wake up after quite some time to look upon the vast ocean, a sea seperating the North from the Southern Commonlands. There, close to the north coast on the eastern side, seven large and enchanting isles play host to a mighty civilization.
"You will be required to walk the Pure-Elven stairs once we reach docks, considering land stands a few meters above the surface. Why? Well, the isles are really a mountain-chain on the bottom of the blue. This causes the lands to be filled to the brim with caves, hills and springs of pure water. "
Considering the visit happens during the winter, you may see the tops of the hills heavily covered in snow with the surrounding waters frozen.
"Yeah, we are trapped within this harsh frontier so you may wish to climb the mountain's peak, the Winterland isles highest point, called Vîn." Your guide answers without you asking any questions, all while walk the steps.
You climb the mountain alongside your guide and look down. Protecting the sprawling city underneath from blizzards and other cold winds, the top of the mountain also gives a perfect view of the enthralling beauty the islands carry.
"Be wary not to stare as the shimmering crystals decend and sparkle in the lights from the city and villages, as you may go snowblind." The guide warns you, and rather, you take a look at the beautiful and romantic bridges and sprawling forests, covered in but a powderlike layer of snow.
Fauna & Flora
You suddenly feel your body heat up as your heart beats faster and faster. Have you fallen in love with the landscape? Maybe.
You can however tell that you are mysteriously drawn to the hooded guide and can barely help it. Then she pulls down the hood and reveals a more warm and colorful face than one of the isle's female inhabitant. Furthermore she looks almost exactly like a Snow-Elf, apart from the obvious more lifelike colours, she also bears horns on her head and carries red instead of blue wings.
A succubus, naturally. That explains how you were allowed to travel to the isle in the first place.
With your mind at her mercy, you travel further through the woods and you can now see the strong oaks, beautiful pines and tall spruce trees narrowly grown to each others. Shadows from the leaves and twigs cover the mostly undisturbed frostblue grass. Still you can't help but keep moving.
Dragons soar above your head and rustle the canopy so that snow falls down onto you. It swiftly melts and leaves the water to pour into your shirt, it makes you shiver again, makes you feel weak as you suddenly stumble onto a moss covered rock and fall down onto the now grassless but cold and harsh dirt. You realize now, how vast the nature of the isles truly is.
The wind and wolves howl in your ears and the new colourful rowan trees and grand willows. Then natures song is pierced by something else, a harmony. Birds chirping and water pouring. You are now completly entranced and the succubus has to drag you further out into a small glen.
There, protected by the surrounding life, a small lake has survived the cold and the snow remains only on the hilltops. Bears play in the water while deer and elk stay firmly away from them to peacefully eat from leaves and bushes. Smaller critters can also be seen jumping around happily as you close in further and further to the lake.
You end up by a royal picknic rug filled with expensive bread, crackers, cheese, butter, meat and wine which somehow managed to remain warm. It makes you realize the cold is gone and you are warming up aswell.
"You may thank me later." The succubus says with a sneer and tone that makes the usual summer butterflies feel like they trapped in your stomach. You can't help but gasping for air at her beauty. While you do, a question exits your mouth, "what is this place?"
The succubus casually picks up a flower and puts it into her snowlike hair. "This, is the valley of eternal spring."
Natural Resources
You more or less forcefully dine with the woman. Meat from the local wildlife that pairs perfectly with the cheese and bread stolen from farms and fields is served on plates, carved from the trees. She pours Snowberry wine into silver grails that probably got stolen from a local temple, then her burning gaze meets your eyes.
"I hope you enjoy the visit, it's rare for my kin to have company here, or even a place to live. You see, at first, when they came from the sea and started to settle, we were thrilled to finally see other sentient beings and fellow Draghânid's at that.
They seemed compliant with our wishes. In return we took them to our homes within the caves. They saw the ores and riches painting the walls in beauty, causing their greed to waft our advances away. They left and returned with strange men and tools. Then they started removing parts of our walls like... some form of bad houseguest. We naturally had to nicely see them out, but soldiers came. They threw us out and those who resisted.
But, I shouldn't bore you with my story."
She takes a gulp of wine, looks down onto the ground and shakes her head before looking up again. "But now you are here so I can at least entertain you." The succubus starts to crawl over towards you. You may want to run away, or not, either way you can't as the mystical spell paralyses your brain. Then you hear it, a rustle in the bushes and you notice a shadow appearing by the woman's side.
A Snow-Elf grabs her by the neck and rips her off you. Soon she is on her knees with a steel rapier by her neck. The man, however, cares not even to look at her, instead his cold eyes look at you with a certain compassion.
"These lands are no habitat for your kin, Human." He says as the spell breaks. You find yourself rising up to face the situation ahead; the succubus crying for your compassion and the elf remaining firm and strict.
"Do not praise her story. Their kin are responsible for the dissapearance of severel men that worked on our stone quarries and those that returned were never the same." He looks up towards the darkening sky and the sweat on his brow start to freeze again. He swiftly dries it off and removes the rapier from the womans throat.
"Still, I honor my Warrior-King by not spilling blood on our homelands, without proper reason. Therefor I shall let this little incident slide, besides, our guest requires proper treatment. The warmth of our city and it's rich culture should suffice, yes? You will be safe and among few humans to ever visit."
The succubus slowly rises up in the background and watches you longingly. "O-or you can follow me." She says with a stuttering, not out of fear but rather relief that her artery is not shadowed by a razors edge. "I will teach and show you the other Draghânids and their habits. W-we could start with mine?"
The elf responds with an expression of disgust as he takes a steady step towards you and stretches out a hand. "There are far more intriguing finds to be done within our library, as we atleast know how to process and use our various trees. Now what do you say? Shall we go?"
A warm cave or a sprawling city. You feel the chill protuding your wet clothes. What will you choose, who will you follow?
Type
Island
Included Organizations
Owning Organization
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