Eisigerwald

On the northern edge of the Dämmerung Empire lies the sparse province of Bergshadow. Perennially fertile fields and rich trading ports from the southern provinces are a distant story to most of the citizens here. The Bergmen are a hardy people living their lives in the shadow of the Pilleum Mountains and at the edges of the Eisigerwald, the forest at the top of the world. The farmers of Bergshadow spend their days in a life and death race with the seasons, but it is in the bounty of the land that the province's wealth truly lies.   From April to September, the great logging towns that dot the upland rivers harvest the ancient timbers of the Eisigerwald, floating the massive pines and oaks down the many tributaries to the great river Tauwetter and the capital, Nordhafen. Ranchers from the eastern steppe spend the summers grazing their herds in the cool and verdant hills alongside the local population of swine herds and dairy farmers. Traders travel north, both in small groups and great caravans to buy honey, pelts, timber and the great mineral resources of the mountains that sustain the northern cities. With them, they bring adventurers, travelers, restless nobles and aspiring artists. They bring food, exotic spices, circuses and musicians and all of the cultural gifts of an empire that spans half a continent and a dozen cultures. Most of all, they bring Magic. Sorcerers and wizards from the Five Colleges come to study the ancient ruins that dot the wilds of the province. Clerics and priests come to preach the word of the Eight, to cure the sick and to learn from the druids and runekeepers who make their homes in the forests and towns. When the sun shines, life is good. The people are happy and prosperous, and from their halls of stone, the mountain gods grants their boons.   But come the winter winds, the great herds move back east. The caravans retreat south leaving only the most foolhardy and desperate to attempt the trek to trade in the winter gloom. The people, too, make their way south and east to return to their homes, or hunker down in half-timber houses and wait for the sun to return. From the depths of the Eisigerwald come the winds, the mists, the frosts, and the snow. And just as the civilized towns of the Bergmen expanded during the summer, growing prosperous and happy off of the gifts of the forest, when the winter comes the Eisigerwald returns. In the past, it has been a cycle. The Bergmen have lived this life since time immemorial. When the winter wind comes, the loggers and miners pack their belongings and return to their cities. The timber mills and ore smelters are packed up and shipped down river to walled outposts where they will remain safe through the annual Reclamation. And then, with the first frosts, the old gods claim their price. The forest swallows whole the camps and villages erected over the harvesting season, replenishing the land. But with the trees come other things. Darker things. Beasts and predators from the darkest depths of the wood emerge to stalk the countryside, claiming, in their own way, the full toll from the populace. And then, with the spring thaw, they retreat. The beasts of the night return to their homes in the depths of the forest and the old gods settle down to hibernate through the summer heat, until the sun is once again distant and the time of the frosts returns. For more than a thousand years, this pact has stood, and the cycle has continued. But now, something has gone wrong. It is June in the year 1099, and the forest still grows....