The Frostborne are a wide-ranging nomadic people that ranged across Ilela for thousands of years, currently living in the ice
flats northeast of the main continent, hence the name the southerners gave them, Frostborne.
The specifics of their history are
well guarded, and they are not always open to outsiders. They do reside within Ilela- but only within folk tales told to children of people that prey on those that wander too
far north. The reality of these individuals is shrouded in mystery,
where they came from, their practices, and their culture, but they have
adapted to the cold tundra and keep to themselves. To see one south of
the ice flats is incredibly rare, and the outlanders that wander north
to find them are typically never heard from again.
A unique outlier from the narratives woven about them is Viktos Kuovis, a Frostborne man who lives apart from his people. He hasn’t disclosed much about his past or his people, other than he was exiled, has lived long enough to remember magic pre-shattering, and he had a human lover for a brief time, as his lifespan is closer to an elf’s.
They average around 6-7 ft. tall and
have varying skin tones, from snow white, to dark grey, and many shades
of grey inbetween. The appear tangentially similar to elves with pointed
ears and features. They almost always have white
hair, and white or frost blue eyes. Many of them have tattoos in
intricate designs.
Civilization and Culture
They have little regard for gender,
and it is more fluid in their culture. There is the physical aspects of
gender, but in their native tongue they don't have gendered pronouns.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
They have a unique language called Arcanta which has both an older, more ancient tongue and writing
system, and a more modern, broken style. The more modern dialect are variants derived based upon which clan and location the individual resides, but the older forms of Arcanta are preserved through oral traditions and teachings.
Little is known about them to those outside of their communities and culture. What is known is that they have a deep understanding of
magic, and some of the southern Frostborne clans are more common among the southern continent, known as drow. The northernmost inhabitants are more elusive and
distrustful of outsiders. The most famous Frostborne was a drow that
had an encounter with the last King of Cadrin and later became his queen. She worked her whole life
to bolster acceptance of the drow, including some drow that
still lived within Cadrin and had never known anything of their northern
ancestors. Some Frostborne that reside in the ice
flats did not regard her fondly, and did not approve of how she "gave
herself over to southern traditions." The only got more elusive post-Shattering, and little remains known about them- or what happened to the Queen they shunned.
Frostborne most commonly follow
L'adovec and The 'worship of ice and death' they are commonly accused of is, more accurately, a
lesson taught early on to not fear what you don't know, to not fear
what could kill you. It is better to understand and respect it, to know
your limits and how to survive in harsh lands. There will always be
strife and difficulty, and L'adovec
claims that it is better to have the strength and wisdom to know how to
survive a storm and actively protect what is yours, rather than hunkering down
and praying that it passes you by.
The Chosen are very few and far between individuals who have undergone the pilgrimage to L'adovec's domain and passed his trial. Their
appearance is forever altered in the visage of their god, often bearing scales across their body and face that reflect the stars, and will start to grow a pair of elk-like antlers- reflective of the rare depictions of L'adovec's form.
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