Auril, the Frostmaiden

header by yami-yami on artstation, portrait by tyler jacobson. owl illustration by betty jiang

Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs that my breath may come in. Work darknesses to hide the cursed sun so that the chill I bring may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all Faerûn fear me. ” — Auril's charge to her clergy

The embodiment of winter's cruelty and all its deadliest aspects, Lady Frostkiss has a heart of ice to match her lethally cold beauty, eternally preserved beneath a sheet of rime. As Talos, leader of the Gods of Fury, eroded her power over snow storms, The Cold Goddess made her season even more frigid to remind the people in the north who controlled the cold
Auril is known to take several distinct forms. The first is a furious figure of action known as The Frostmaiden, the most frequently seen avatar in all but south and east Faerun. The Frostmaiden often appears to those who are lost at the icy tundra or close to death's door by otherwise freezing. Her eyes glow with a warm flame, but her touch is icy cold. If one meets with her close enough to see that her skin is covered in icy crystals, it is already too late for them.
Auril's other form was the Icedawn, an impassive apparition of icy hauteur that silently glided through the air. The Icedawn wore an ornate crown and hooked, spurred armor of opaque and light blue ice.
In the late 15th century, Auril had another three new avatars; the Cold Crone appeared as a 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall, hunched bipedal creature with a snowy owl's head topped by a pair of curled ram's horns. She had cloven hooves, arms ending in sharp, black talons, and grayish-white wolf fur covering her from the neck down.

Auril is a member of the Deities of Fury, along with Malar, Umberlee, and Talos, and uses their combined destructive powers to inspire much reverent fear and tribute.Her relationship with Talos was said to be close and cordial, but this was no obstacle from his attempt to usurp her following and she preferred not to rely on him due to his habit of responding but then directing all glory to himself. Meanwhile she and Malar mutually hated each other. Umberlee was the only one she cooperated with to some degree of confidence, but eventually the wrathful sea goddess came to despise her enduring cold and the motionless sheets of ice her roiling seas were turned into, forming an alliance with the other Gods of Fury against the Frostmaiden. Following the Spellplague, Auril gained significant power by siphoning the faiths of Ulutiu, Aerdrie Faenya, and Gruumsh/Talos into her own. In addition to her classic portfolio of cold and winter, the Frostmaiden claimed dominion over wind and storms, bringing her into direct conflict with the ancient primordial power Akadi.
Auril and Chauntea were mortal enemies, constantly battling each other. Sune opposed Auril, as she blamed her for the destruction of much that was beautiful.Uthgar despised Auril because the Elk tribe abandoned him for her faith. Rellavar Danuvien, a minor elven god of cold, sought to interfere in the plans of Auril whenever he could.

Worship

Sacrifices and veneration are primarily performed for the Frostmaiden out of fear. In the North, Auril is a commonly worshiped and feared goddess and an integral part of northern cultures.
The most devout see her Everlasting Rime as a challenge that only the toughest and hardiest may come through to the other side, thus testing their faith.

Associations

Many associate owls of all kind to the Frostmaiden, as well as any large northern birds of prey.

Holy Days

• Midwinter (Night), Hammer 30 to Alturiak 1. This was the most holy night of the year for the clergy, a festival of ice-dancing that lasted all night. Druids were also known to pay respect to the Frostmaiden on this date.
• The Coming Storm and the Last Storm, informal but enthusiastically celebrated rituals where the priests gathered and called howling ice storms down on a region to mark the onset and end of winter.
• Auril's Blesstide, or Auril's Day, was a holiday (of sorts) held annually in the city of Waterdeep on the first day of new frost in the year. It was not so much a holiday as a way to seek to appease the Frostmaiden in hopes of a mild winter.
• Each new moon of the month in the towns of Icewind Dale have become known as sacrificial nights to ease the wrath of Auril and beg for the Everlasting Rime to finally come to an end.

We bow to she who wears the crown;
Let the world shiver with dread.
Clad in winter's whitest gown,
her snow enshrouds the dead.
Her fury sheds but frozen tears
as gray clouds issue forth.
Her wind across the wasteland shears,
bringing blizzards from the north.
Ice-kissed flowers caught mid-bloom,
beauty kept in all its grace.
Summer's gone to its silent tomb,
stilling in her cold embrace.
All the world in winter's white,
sheathed in sleet and ice.
Set upon never-ending night,
she conjures paradise.
Behold her everlasting rime,
see how it covers all;
Weep not for those she traps in time
behind her glacial wall.
Soverign of Summers Lost,
General of Winter's War;
Long live the Queen of Cold and Frost.
May she reign forevermore.

Written and recorded in 1489 by Basil Lucksmith, a bard
(The poem was not received kindly upon its first public reading, and the bard had to explain to the enraged audience that the worship to the Frostmaiden was merely hypothetical, not a personal belief)

Related Historical Events

• 1489
  Deadwinter Night