Uttercold

The soul-freezing cold that freezes all life, warmth, and objects equally and without compare

Properties

Material Characteristics

Uttercold appears most commonly as a thick, swirling mist or fog, often a dense one that hangs thick in the air for potentially miles in swirling clusters dense enough to see from a distance. It can be found in solid form as Utterice, often as jagged and towering spires of ice that are only distinguishable from normal ice by the supernatural chill which hangs in the around such Utterice, and the soft blue-green glow which it emanates from within its very core.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Uttercold, much like its counterpart Hellfire, is supernaturally and unbelievably frigid...so much so that it can freeze and chill even that normally immune to cold. When one enters a cloud or Mist of Uttercold or touches solid Utterice, it is so completely cold that those afflicted often do not realize they are dying until it is too late, as the Uttercold chill snap-freezes their nerves first, rendering their sense of feeling dead as their skin is rendered cracked and frozen sheets of ice, their bones turn to ice and their blood stops flowing and hardens within their bodies...and within a scant couple of seconds from their initial point of exposure, they die and are frozen solid.
Uttercold is especially deadly to free-willed and sentient Undead who are not born of Uttercold, as while they are immune to its bone-chilling cold's damaging effect on their bodies, their souls rapidly begin to freeze and each second that they stay inside an Uttercold mist or in contact with Utterice is said to rapidly quicken the onset of The Soulshivers, eroding who they are, freezing their souls, and rendering them barbaric monsters bent on killing all living creatures.
Due to its extremely cold and brutal nature and how it is said to freeze one's soul and essence as well as it does their body, those slain by Uttercold invariably rise as "Uttercold Dead" shortly after their death, unique Undead offshoots that retain much of their former mind but possess frozen souls and chilled minds, twisted and strange echoes of their former selves that are always eerily loyal to the Uttercold which claimed them and its morose mother, Círzithara.

Geology & Geography

Uttercold is only found naturally within The Elemental Plane of Water as well as The Uttercold Nucleus, the extradimensional home of Círzithara as well as her Planar Prison, built for her by her mother and father, Sturgeon and Gregaia. More rarely, it can be found outside the bounds of her prison in rare Uttercold Nexuses, large swirling masses of Uttercold which occur when the boundaries between a given plane and Círzithara's prison, The Uttercold Nucleus, wear thin and some of it seeps into another plane...forming around an Uttercold Heart, a concentrated mass of Uttercold that beats morosely as if alive which dwells at the heart of every Nexus, these Nexuses are deadly and dangerous to all who pass them and are often closed by the faithful of Círzithara, who take the Uttercold Hearts to destroy the nexus.
Círzithara herself does not like to give out Uttercold to anyone, much less her faithful, and mourns all those who are unfortunate enough to die within it's clutches. She begrudgingly does give it out on occasion out of a morbidly and mildly evil desire to see it freeze the outside Planescape solid, preserving it as is forever and thus making sure that the beautiful things and creatures are kept so for all time...with the added benefit of making such a place frozen by Uttercold to be finally suitable for her to walk in and venture to, giving her a rare chance to leave her prison to see the outside world...a wish she longs for above all other.
Though the Spirit King of Water is capable of wielding and bestowing Uttercold, they rarely do - they long ago entered into an agreement with the Yema Goddess who gave birth to Uttercold and almost never bestows it upon their followers for reasons unknown.

Origin & Source

Uttercold eternally wafts from Círzithara herself, who was said to have been cursed from birth by some ancient ineffable force to spawn and generate the damnable Uttercold for all time...not even the likes of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon could rid her of this curse at the behest of her parents, Sturgeon and Gregaia...her tears, blood, and fluids of all kinds are said to be naught but Uttercold or Utterice, and she is said to be the sole source of all Uttercold within the Planescape, much like how Asmodeus, The Archfiend is the source for all Hellfire.

Life & Expiration

Uttercold, like its counterpart material Hellfire, never deteriorates or expires or melts unless it is brought in contact with its opposite, Hellfire.

History & Usage

Discovery

Uttercold was first discovered by mortals when Círzithara herself, once she came of age, reached out across Planar boundaries and made contact with the beings that would become her first followers, alerting them to its danger and giving them use of it so that they might prevent others from falling victim to its clutches.

Everyday use

By the faithful of Círzithara, Uttercold and Utterice is often used exclusively to form the holy shrines and statues to Círzithara herself, making incredibly lifelike depictions of their Morose Mother to give her eyes and ears across the Planescape, so that she might finally see the outside world she so longed for. Otherwise, it is used primarily as a tool of slaughter and death and tragedy, a thing which depresses Círzithara but delights some small, sadistic part of her that delights in seeing the suffering it wreaks on the outside world which she must avoid and never set foot in.
The followers of Yezhiha are only very rarely given access to this power, usually as a means to hunt down those who wield it for their own gain, or in times of great and dire need.

Distribution

Trade & Market

Uttercold can very rarely be found on sale by the most daring and foolhardy Undead merchants, but it rarely stays in stock for long as the merchants who dare to sell it either die or succumb to The Soulshivers. It is often found out in the world at large, instead of bought.

Storage

Uttercold can be stored in its solid form well enough, and it can be bottled as a cloud with extremely rare gear and tools, but doing so requires the utmost caution and the exact right tools to do so without threat of death or danger.

UC

Type

Elemental / Molecular

Value

Priceless.

Rarity

Rare outside The Uttercold Nucleus or the Plane of Water, but can be found in rare Nexuses on other planes where its power leaks between Planar Boundaries.

Odor

None

Taste

Cold

Color

Whitish-Blue

Melting / Freezing Point

Uttercold cannot be heated or boiled or made hot in any way by mortal or divine flames...only the blasphemous and unholy heat of Hellfire can match it and counter it.