The great powers of the Feywild dance through time unburdened by its chains, leaving their marks in stories and histories. Little can be known for certain about the archfey. Some accounts say that the Maiden of the Moon was once an eladrin who rose to power through passion for the hunt. Others claim that she is a dream of the moon. Perhaps neither tale is the truth. Maybe both are. So it is with the Prince of Frost. It is foolish to seek fact in the Feywild, but one can find stories. And if one delves deeply into the mysteries of the Pale Prince, this is the tale one might find.
In a time now forgotten, no winter ever gripped the Feywild domain known now as the Vale of the Long Night. The region was a place of light and joy. As home to the Summer Queen’s eldest son, it reflected the Summer Court where the vale’s inhabitants spent most of their time. In that court, the children of summer passed the long days with song and celebration, basking in the bright beauty and the company of friends.
Three of the brightest lights of the court were the Daughters of Delight, scions of another eladrin domain connected to the Summer Court. Loveliest of the three was the Lady Sharaea. She had long been betrothed to the Sun Prince, eldest son of the Summer Queen. The prince, whose name is forgotten, loved Sharaea with all his heart, and for a time she loved him in return. However Sharaea grew disillusioned with the endless revelry of the court, and she began to spend her days in the mortal world of Eberron, seeking to make a difference. Her summer lover grew jealous, but his attempts to pull her back only drove her farther away. She found new love in the arms of Hayne Kasar, a brave and selfless warrior, and together they fought to defend the innocent and battle the forces of darkness.
Sharaea traveled at the side of her beloved. Their deeds and great love inspired songs, some of which survive to the present day. In Sharaea’s absence, the heart of the fey prince grew colder, and in time he demanded that his betrothed return to the court. He insisted that she honor her vow and be wed to him. When Sharaea refused, the prince swore to capture and marry her, even if he had to keep her a prisoner in his demesne. Sharaea knew she could not resist his power, and she feared for the safety of her mortal lover.
So it was that she and Hayne ventured to Letherna and made a deal with The Raven Queen. In exchange for a favor to the goddess of death in the future, their souls were drawn from their bodies and cast forward in time. One day they shall be reborn. It was Sharaea’s hope that the passage of time would soothe the jealous heart of the Sun Prince.
The name of the Sun Prince has been torn from the tales and taken from the tongues of mortals. Little is known of his life in the elder world. When he learned how he had been betrayed, how Sharaea was lost to him, his heart turned to ice. So powerful was his bitter sorrow that it spread a chill across the land, transforming his sun-dappled demesne into the Vale of the Long Night. The prince blamed the heroes of the mortal world for turning his beloved against him, and in the darkness of his heart’s winter, his thirst for vengeance grew. His cold heart drew to him the darkest fey and infected others. He sought others of his kind, and eventually he became the greatest among them.
Sharaea’s sisters, Velayn and Loralae were filled with despair at the loss of their sibling, and the Sun Prince captured them in their sister’s stead. His bitter power magnified their sorrow and bound them to his frozen heart. They wasted away, and soon the Daughters of Delight were no more. In their place were the Sisters of Lament, chill shades of the lovely females haunting the winter winds.
Their new master turned his back on the Summer Court. In his striving, he had become the Prince of Frost, also known as the Pale Prince, greatest of the Winter Court fey. Although not all the Winter Court follows his agenda, and in fact numerous members of the court oppose it, his power became secure. He then swore to take his wrath out on the mortal world until the day that he finds Sharaea and binds her to him once and for all.
The Prince of Frost knows it was The Raven Queen who helped Sharaea escape, and for this he might have held the goddess in contempt. Strange fate, however, has gained the Pale Prince a measure of respect in The Raven Queen's eyes. The prince is a harbinger of sorrow and deliverer of death, so he and The Raven Queen are alike in some ways. She watches him closely, wondering if he might make a fine exarch or even a consort. The prince takes secret delight in usurping some of The Raven Queen's power with his wintry might. If he knew of her admiration, would he turn his heart from its bitterness? If he did, would the Prince of Frost revert again to the Sun Prince?
A heart frozen by lost love drives the actions of the Prince of Frost. He knows that Sharaea’s soul is destined to be reborn into the mortal world, and he has sworn that he will find her when she returns. He will have his betrothed at his side, even if she is trapped in bonds of ice. As such, he has agents spread across the world searching for any sign that the Daughter of Delight has been reborn. Over the course of centuries, he has kidnapped princesses, sorceresses, and other females of great beauty and skill, hoping that he has found his beloved. However he has been disappointed every time. His victims remain in his court, blood and flesh preserved in ice.
As powerful as his possessiveness is, the prince is driven by a desire for revenge. He hates the mortal world for luring Sharaea from his side. More than that, he hates bold and brave folk who help those weaker than they are for no other reason than compassion. One such person stole Sharaea’s heart. Adventure and heroics drew Sharaea from the Feywild. Similar folk helped her escape her rightful fate and cast her soul into the future. The Prince of Frost hopes to find Hayne Kasar reborn, as well, and seeks to make him suffer for Sharaea’s loss.
While the prince waits for the cycle of rebirth, he soothes his frigid heart by sending his forces against mortal heroes, proving his superiority by besting them in games of wit, skill, and combat. In a broader scope, he enjoys sowing sorrow among mortals, especially when he can shatter the bonds of love. His fortress is made of frozen tears, and he likes little more than to turn the fires of passion to cold ashes.
While this sport gives the prince some small pleasure, at times the Prince of Frost has loftier goals. When his hunger for revenge burns bright in his frozen heart, he looks at the mortal world and considers what joy he might find in spreading his chill shadow across the sunlit valleys. If he claimed the world as his demesne, there would be no escape for Sharaea or her lover upon their return—and no mortal world to steal his lover away.
The Prince of Frost has countless agents and followers in the mortal world, and these servants have powers that vary broadly. They can be involved in any of the prince’s plots described below, or they can spread sorrow in the name of their dark master, harvesting tears for his frozen citadel. Depending on the nature of the Wintertouched, they can accomplish this through force—such as the slaughtering of loved ones, but leaving someone behind to mourn. It could be a subtle sport, wherein they manipulate events to tear apart a royal wedding or bond between allies.
The Prince of Frost despises mortals as a rule, but he particularly hates selfless champions who dedicate their lives to noble causes. He enjoys making fools of such heroes. Sometimes he works slowly and subtly, by striking at lovers and relatives and stripping away everything that brings joy to the heart of such a one. He hopes to show that even the noblest mortal can become cold and cruel if he or she suffers enough. Other times he might challenge a champion directly, appearing at a moment when his foe is in desperate need of aid that the Prince can offer. He offers this boon as his stakes in a contest of chance or skill. The price of failure is typically a term of service or imprisonment in the prince’s fortress, for the defeated hero or a loved one. The latter case allows the mortal to truly feel the pain of failure.
Over the course of thousands of years, the Prince of Frost has claimed numerous captives. Some are the victims of his sinister games. Others he kidnapped believing that they might be Sharaea or Hayne reborn. All are bound forever in the Fortress of Frozen Tears. Any one of these prisoners could have a vital role to play in the present day. Perhaps one of the prince’s victims knows a terrible secret that holds the key to defeating current foes. Maybe someone learns that one of his or her ancestors is trapped in the Vale of the Long Night. Whatever the reason, a quest to penetrate the Fortress of Frozen Tears and release one of the Prince’s captives is a challenging task. Success would surely earn the Prince’s ire.