The Wanderer

This huge hulking landmark in the depths of the Weald is hard to describe unless you've seen it. Is it a mountain? A massive fortress? A statue to some long forgotten deity? Few know. Even the pilgrims who are drawn across the Weald to reach this place don't understand why they are drawn here. It is a place of reverence, power, and majesty and you know that this author does not say that lightly.

— Malvrari's Manual of the Wilds, Volume 2, Chapter 2 - The Wanderer

The Wanderer is a large mountain sized structure at the southernmost tip of the continent of Austros and in the furthest regions of the area of icy wasteland known as the Weald. It is carved to look like a man sitting on a rock reaching down and picking something up from the ground. Pilgrims are drawn across this icy tundra to this forgotten place a few times a year for reasons they don't even understand. They spend some time worshiping and praying at the altar and then once their supplies are just enough to get them back across the Weald they return to more civilized country.

Approaching the Wanderer

As you crest the final hills through the Weald and see the Wanderer looming over everything, it very much looks like it might start moving at any second. While it looks like it was carved from a mountain, it has retained its features so well it is hard to believe that this mountain isn't alive anymore. The final few miles before you make it to the relative safety inside the Wanderer are the worst. The plains are open with no shrubbery or cover. It's just miles of howling winds and driving snow until you stand at the foot of the giant structure.

Inside The Wanderer

The Wanderer seems to be constructed mainly out of ice and snow, but oddly the walkways are roughened enough to feel like you are walking on stone. Once you get inside, the temperature is much higher than it is outside and very comfortable. There are ice sculptures and statues, some of a seemingly skeletal king on a throne. These are always weeping slightly like they are melting but never seem to actually melt. As you go deeper into the ice caverns it gets warmer until you get to what is obviously an altar room. It is plain, unadorned, and seems neglected. The pilgrims are convinced that the altar room is approximately at the "heart" of the Wanderer, but that sounds like romantic speculation.

History

This was, so the legend goes, once an avatar of the Frozen King, as well as his temple. Wanderers would come and try and find the moving citadel as it wandered across the ice of the Weald, and pay homage to the King as well as ask for favors. The blessings and favors usually came with a high price, but those willing to risk death crossing the Weald were usually willing to pay it. However, over time, humanity forgot about the Frozen King and turned to other gods. As his worship declined so the Wanderer wandered less and less. Now it is an empty shrine forgotten by time, although pilgrims are still drawn across the Weald and pay homage to the great and imposing structure even if they don't know why.

RUINED STRUCTURE
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Alternative Names

The Frozen King, Winter's Crown

Type

Shrine

Parent Location

The Weald

Owner

The Frozen King

Superstitions

They say if you truly believe and perform a pilgrimage to the Wanderer and ask for it's blessing that it will be given. They also say it is supposedly "alive" and if you stay still and quiet in the altar you can hear the faint beating of its heart.

Further Reading