A Guide to the Frozen Gates
The Frozen Gates. Artwork by MetaphysicalMonsters.
Recommended Lore
A General Overview of the Frozen Gates
A forbidding wall of ice and snow-capped mountains, the Frozen Gates is the Realm’s far northern continent, located past Dutoria and the territory of the windwyrms. Only the very edges of the Gates are visible as fjords and small foothills, the rest entombed beneath ancient glaciers and centuries of ice and snow. No dragons or humans are known to live here, but before a dangerous calamity centuries ago rendered it uninhabitable, it was the home of the moonvipers.
The Frozen Gates are poorly mapped and most expeditions into them have been met with macabre and bizarre fates. Although the killing cold and dangerous glacial mountain terrain are a challenge, the true horror of the Gates lies in the wild, untamed magical forces that permeate every part of it. Peculiar monsters of living snow stalk the interior, strange gravitational anomalies have been recorded within the glacier-capped peaks, and those who are exposed to the atmosphere of the Gates will often come away with odd, magical mutations, which can be so severe as to be lethal in many cases. |
I: The Frozen Gates
This section of the setting guide provides general information on the Frozen Gates, its terrain, and hazards that characters may encounter during the Path of the Moon event.
Background art by MetaphysicalMonsters.
A forbidding wall of ice and snow-capped mountains, the Frozen Gates is the Realm’s far northern continent, located past Dutoria and the territory of the windwyrms. Only the very edges of the Gates are visible as fjords and small foothills, the rest entombed beneath ancient glaciers and centuries of ice and snow. No dragons or humans are known to live here, but before a dangerous calamity centuries ago rendered it uninhabitable, it was the home of the moonvipers.
The Frozen Gates are poorly mapped and most expeditions into them have been met with macabre and bizarre fates. Although the killing cold and dangerous glacial mountain terrain are a challenge, the true horror of the Gates lies in the wild, untamed magical forces that permeate every part of it. Peculiar monsters of living snow stalk the interior, strange gravitational anomalies have been recorded within the glacier-capped peaks, and those who are exposed to the atmosphere of the Gates will often come away with odd, magical mutations, which can be lethal in some cases. |
Proper equipment is essential to meet the challenges of the Frozen Gates. Artwork by Rubynium. |
Untamed Magic
While the potions supplied by Duchess Larensina Primrose protect expedition members on an individual level, this “wild magic” is still present in other ways. Flora and fauna are mutated and strange, possessing qualities that would be impossible elsewhere, in some areas gravity is weakened, and the weather can change on a dime; while the Gates are normally unbearably cold, the temperature can rise or plummet at random in small, shifting pockets.
Glacial Crevasses
One cannot travel far into the Frozen Gates without braving the surface of its immense glaciers. The Aurora Expedition’s path will require it to make such a journey, crossing over miles of ice on its path into the Gates.
Beyond the killing cold and strange magical anomalies that haunt the Frozen Gates even in summer, there lies another threat; ice crevasses. Formed by the immense pressure of ice on ice, these fissures in the glacier can descend deep into the glacier, trapping those who fall in with little hope of rescue. Worse yet, blowing snow can form thin layers of ice overtop, hiding the crevasse from view until an unwary soul steps on it. The Expedition’s guides are experienced and promise to guide the team safely across the ice fields, but the danger remains, especially for those who feel inclined to go off alone. |
Artwork by Rubynium. |
Ice Monsters
There appear to be fewer Ice Monsters in the Gates thus far; those the Aurora Expedition has encountered so far are solitary and small. Perhaps the unending sunlight of summer weakens them, or perhaps they have not yet recovered from those lost in the attack on Dutoria last winter.
The Shadow
There’s something else out there.
A flicker of light and the fluttering of metallic wings half-glimpsed beyond the storm, a shadow at the edge of sight. Whatever it is, it doesn’t wish to be noticed, and all efforts to confront or corner the Expedition’s unwelcome follower have failed. It is far too small to be a human or dragon, and doesn’t resemble any of the wildlife known to inhabit the Gates. |
Artwork by Rubynium. |
Winged Comets
Frosted Three-Wing
Three-Wings are apex predators, striking from above and dragging their prey off to icy caves to eat in safety. They are highly territorial, living solitary lives outside of the breeding season.
Hibernal Righin
A mutated variety of Righin endemic to the Frozen Gates. Hibernal Righin are smaller than their mainland cousins, but no less deadly. Pure white in colour, these ambush predators blend in perfectly with the snow-swept landscape of the Frozen Gates.
While their natural camouflage is a formidable tool, Hibernal Righin seem to always appear in the midst of fierce blizzards. It is unknown whether they are capable of triggering these storms or simply possess an innate ability to tell when they are about to happen, but regardless one thing is true: when storms sweep across the Gates, one has more to worry about than the cold.
Wandering Peak
Wandering Peaks are docile unless threatened, though are deadly foes if antagonized. Many a predator of the Frozen Gates has met its end at the tip of a Wandering Peak’s horn. They are herbivorous and subsist upon the strange magical flora that manages to survive against all odds in the Frozen Gate’s inhospitable environment.
Frostbite Fungus
A species of fungus native to the Frozen Gates, with occasional dispersal spread into the Polar Province of Dutoria, Northern Ironbrook, and Northern Bitterpeak Barony, especially around Thunder Lake. Touching it directly can result in magically-induced, often deadly, hypothermia.
Read more about it here.
Snarling Pine
A Lost Home
The Northern Empire
Adeodatus’ descendants and the Perigee struggled for power over the next five years, with the Perigee coming out the victor. As their first act, the Perigee released the final of Adeodatus’ conquests, and turned their attention solely to the Land of Rivers.
Unwilling to admit defeat and accept the Perigee’s government, Adeodatus’ heirs fled to the north with a small group of loyalists, returning to the moonvipers’ original homeland of the Frozen Gates. They were never heard from again, and due to the nature of the Frozen Gates, are assumed to have died or worse.
The Ice Queen
While Xocrium reveres the Phoenix as their most esteemed god, there are other major figures that feature in their mythology.
The legendary Ice Queen is one such entity. Spoken of in many old texts but lacking much modern worship, she was said to have been the ‘sister’ to the Phoenix, an ice phoenix that represented cold and snow. She was said to have watched over the early Xocrian city-states in physical form, before one day vanishing north, past Dutoria’s shores. It is this legend that has made Xocrian scholars interested in the Aurora Expedition’s findings. Does an ancient goddess await the expedition in the Realm’s far north, or is the Ice Queen nothing more than an old legend? |
A banner depicting an ice phoenix. Artwork by J-Haskell. |
II: The Icy Outpost
This section of the setting guide provides information on the "Icy Outpost", a location in the Frozen Gates discovered during part II of Path of the Moon.
Background art by J-Haskell.
An ancient moonviper village carved into the mountainside. Its ancient streets and halls sit silent, but have not been undisturbed, for the remains of another camp sit before it. The Land of Rivers scholars accompanying the Aurora Expedition claim to recognize the emblems used in the camp, and say that this is likely the final resting place of Adeodatus’ children and the last loyalists of the Northern Empire.
The place has an overall unsettling feel, of empty corridors and houses, silent save for the winds. Many of the Aurora Expedition’s members report a feeling of being watched, or spotting strange shapes in the mountains… |
Table of ContentsClick the links below to quickly navigate to different sections. |
Numbered Points of Interest
Certain spots on the map have been marked as points of interest; see each corresponding number and name below for information on what that part of the Outpost is like!
Despite the macabre Path of the Dead not so far away, there are few bodies located in the camp itself. The remains that can be found here were buried following modern Land of Rivers practices in the nearby ice shelf; the names of those entombed within have long been worn away by the wind.
Each piece is imbued with memories of the region it once represented - its ancient name and appearance - and carved into imagery associated with the area. The piece believed to mark the location of the ‘icy outpost’ is carved into the shape of an albatross perched on a crescent moon, the memories within declaring that it was once called Ianua, a common stopping point for travellers and traders coming and going from the Gates.
The largest piece, located about a two-week’s journey away from Iuana, is an imposing sculpture of an Elder Drake, holding the sun in one talon and the moon in another. Touching it reveals that this is the location of Achori, the ancient moonviper capital… though the memories within are confusing, showing black stone houses and dense forests. Perhaps it was symbolic of something, or the influence of the Gates warped what was contained within?
Either way, there are many members of the Expedition who would be interested in taking a look at this…
There are four bodies here; judging by the state of their remains, they succumbed to hunger rather than violence. No other remains can be found in any of the rooms near theirs. The first has dark blue-grey scales and wears dozens of jewelry pieces with moon-shaped beads. The second is as white as the snow outside, faint red stripes behind their closed eyelids, and pale moon-markings dappling the edge of their wings. The third is a pale, shimmery golden colour, with visible bruising along their stomach and chest. And the last is silver-and-black, with dramatic scars that look to have been given by a large, taloned creature.
Though assigning identities to each body will no doubt be a matter of scholarly debate in the Land of Rivers, Amnis and Gloria think they can name each; the first is Princess Luna, the second Prince Umbra, the third Princess Clara, and the fourth Princess Ventus.
It is a comfortable house, with all the amenities needed for a comfortable life, but more surprising yet is the decor. On one wall, preserved by the cold after all these centuries, hangs the ancient banner of a Xocrian noble house. Other effects scattered throughout include scattered, delicate feathers that appear to be made of living ice, and all sorts of personal belongings that must have been left behind by the last occupant, clearly meaning that they expected to have time to return and collect their things.
On a creaking wooden writing desk sit a small collection of neatly arranged letters. The script is in an old version of Xocrian now only used for religious hymns, though the Xocrian priest Guy Allaire is eager to take a look at them and begin efforts at translation…
The expedition is unsure what the exact purpose of these were; memorials to the lost, or a reward for those who achieved greatness - though many of the memories contained within are of very mundane things indeed, of everyday moments or the feeling of a warm embrace by a friend.
Judging by their clothing and the emblems dyed onto cloth and etched into armour, they were part of the Northern Empire, a faction led by Adeodatus’ children that once ruled over part of northern Theavia. After the Perigee triumphed over them, they fled into the Frozen Gates to lick their wounds and never returned.
It seems like their final fate was to perish to the Frozen Gates… though something still doesn’t feel quite right. The old tales imply that a small army accompanied Adeodatus’ children into the far north... but there are only a few dozen remains spread out here amongst the snow. What happened to the rest of them?
A wide, deep crevasse south of the outpost. The fissure extends deep below the glacier, its bottom concealed by darkness. Be careful passing by its edge; there’s no telling what might be waiting for you within its depths, and very little chance of surviving such a fall without wings.
Falling ice makes strange noises echo back up to the surface… |
When it finally comes, it is not ice monsters, but something far more horrifying; twisted, strange dragons labelled “Moons-Cursed” by the riverlander members of the expedition. Twisted by the Frozen Gates’ influence, they are eyeless and many-limbed. Are they the descendants of the soldiers of the Northern Empire who did not succumb to the cold, and were instead twisted into something unnatural and hungry? Or were they what devoured them all?
Most of the Moons-Cursed resemble moonvipers on the surface, but with odd mutations and traits from other dragon species mixed in, and are wholly incapable of speech. They are extremely territorial, and do not appear pleased that the Aurora Expedition has lingered in their territory for so long.
Some of the ground-level chambers here show signs of having been briefly inhabited by the Northern Empire, though only junk and non-essential items can be found left behind.
The largest of the village’s buildings, a vast hall with many inner corridors. It is thought that this “Grand Hall” served as a town hall for the outpost, providing a large public space and facilities for their major governmental functions.
Some hallways and parts of exterior walls have been vandalized with small carvings and memories planted in odd places; some of these are from the ancient moonvipers, but most of these appear to have been added by denizens of the Northern Empire. Though one might expect the Expedition’s scholars to be dismayed by this, they are instead eager to record and study what these images and memories might have to say about the people that made them. Crawling down on either side of its stone roof (marker #2) are lifelike moonviper sculptures, many times bigger than the real thing. The base of this building is made of a vast expanse of black stone, with upper floors shaped from masses of ice. Within the Grand Hall are two points of interest; an old stone map in a large room on the ground floor (marker #3), and the remains of Adeodatus’ children (marker #4) in an icy upper chamber. |
Lack of maintenance and the effects of the Frozen Gates over the centuries has left the icy upper floors of the Grand Hall warped. Artwork by Rubynium. |
III: The Silent City
This section of the setting guide provides information on the ancient capital of the moonvipers, Achori, a location in the Frozen Gates discovered during part III of Path of the Moon.
Background art by MetaphysicalMonsters.
The ancient capital of the moonviper’s old civilization, Achori is a marvel unlike anything else in the Realm. Elder Drake building styles mix with that of the ancient moonvipers. The city was shaped from bedrock beneath thousands of tonnes of ice, by all rights it should be a barren, frigid wasteland of snow and harsh stone. But not so; Achori is awash with greenery and life, home to curtains of overgrown forests. The air here is pleasantly warm, heated by natural hot springs and warm runestones scattered throughout the city, and a cool breeze blows from the waterfall to the south-east.
It would almost be peaceful, if not for two things: the unnatural silence, and the weathered moonviper bones poking out of old masonry and mossy streets. The stillness here feels like more than just an absence of people - rather, it feels like one has stepped into the eye of a storm, and found quiet where there ought to be raging wind. The city seems to be wholly unaffected by the Frozen Gates’ magic… |
Table of ContentsClick the links below to quickly navigate to different sections. |
Numbered Points of Interest
Certain spots on the map have been marked as points of interest; see each corresponding number and name below for information on what that part of Achori is like!
If asked about it, Echo confirms the similarity, but cannot offer an explanation for why; perhaps, centuries ago, they carved them themself and forgot? Amnis only laughs, and tells the story of how he met his familiar trapped beneath the rubble of an ancient city - there is no way she has visited Achori, at least not since before the Night of the Red Moons.
A massive, glowing runestone located in the courtyard of the Sun Palace. It glows with blinding light, and while its heat is not as searing as that of the Realm’s distant sun, the warmth is overwhelming this close up.
More peculiar still, the brightness of the “false sun” shifts as the hours pass, mimicking the cycle of night and day. It is most brilliant at noon, but as the hours shift towards night, it fades and turns dark, leaving Achori in total blackness. |
The False Sun, its magic fuelled by ancient runes. Artwork by Rubynium. |
Within the temple itself, many of the molded-stone arches and pillars that gave it form have fallen, but the central dais remains guarded by both the moss-covered statue of a kindly-looking moonviper curling gently around the platform, and a gargantuan mosaic of an Elder Drake — presumed by the scholars of the party to be Queen Midas of Argyre, the golden resident of the Sun Palace — overwhelming the back wall, with a sun in one hand and a moon in the other. The dais itself is littered with the shards of ancient dragon eggs, seemingly crushed by some unknown force.
Scholars of the expedition familiar with Elder Drake-era ruins remark that these sort of features are common near their palaces and homes. The Realm’s old tyrants were prolific necromancers, and murdered hundreds to fuel profane rituals.
The memories embedded in the walls of the catacombs are not happy ones.
The first room inside of each House is a large lobby-like room, lined with sculpted busts depicting various seemingly celebrated members of the House. These sculptures are also imbued with memories that provide context for their inclusion in the hall – their identities, a brief background, and a selection of their most major achievements. Although some context is clearly absent, these memories appear to span an extensive history, perhaps as long as moonviper civilization has existed.
Before the Aurora Expedition, not much was known about how the ancient moonvipers governed themselves. Evidence collected from the outpost and Achori, as well as the Moon Palace itself, leads the expedition’s scholars to believe they were once ruled by a royal family and an Empress… At least, before the Elder Drakes came and took supreme power. Sculptures, mosaics, and memory stones around the palace suggest that the last Empress to govern was a black moonviper named “Snow’s Gleam Under the Sisters’ Gaze”.
Expedition members are expected to “sign out” of camp before departing to various parts of the city, taking a buddy with them and providing an expected time of return. That way, should something go wrong, their security knows where and when to begin their search.
The southernmost section of Achori, and the first part of the city the expedition was able to explore.
This city district primarily contains small to medium sized homes, and all the amenities one might need for a modest but comfortable daily life. The expedition’s scholars think it likely that Achori’s common people made their homes here. Aside from the houses of ancient moonvipers, the common district also contains the abandoned shells of restaurants, wells, schools, and public buildings of all kinds. One cannot go far before they find the overgrown remains of an old public garden, rare flowers cascading across the ground like spilt paint. The expedition has cordoned off a section of the Common District for their base camp (PoI #9) and reinforced it against the possibility of another attack. |
An Achori home. Artwork by Rubynium. |
Achori’s Forests
Achori is well north of the tree line. Only the barest grasses and lichens should be able to grow here - not shrubs or, Sisters forbid, trees! That the city is so warm and lush is a feat of magic unlike anything we’ve seen in the modern era.
— Gloria Ex Undis, head researcher from Nuova Cadere Against all odds, Achori is a city of lush forests and abundant life. The streets are overgrown with mosses and trees, and small songbirds flit from branch to branch. Even stranger still is that there seems to be no influence from the Frozen Gate’s magic here; the plants and animals that have made their homes in the city are simply normal. |
Achori River
Bitter Falls
A wall of water rushes down at the mouth of the Achori river, fed by melt from the glaciers above.
Though the water here is bitterly cold, and capable of numbing skin of contact, the Bitter Falls holds a strange sort of beauty. The echo of thousands of tonnes of water crashing into the river below can be heard across the city. It would be ill-advised to swim here; the icy temperatures are enough to send most into shock. |
Although little remains functional due to centuries of neglect and overgrowth, much of the architecture remains distinct. The buildings tend to be quite practical in design, many with memory stones in their doorways indicating their ownership or purpose, and ancient ruts down the largest roads remain from numerous carts that once carried all manner of craftwork.
Artwork is less prominent here than in the other districts, but turn enough corners and one can still find the residue of ancient graffiti – carved and sculpted pieces of wall in an alleyway, memory stones of small, precious moments; another piece of evidence that despite all of time’s changes, people really do stay the same.
The Sun District occupies the north-western section of Achori. The buildings here are noticeably larger and more ornate than that of the Craft and Common Districts, suggesting that the ancients who once called its streets home were of higher class than the rest of the citizens. Several palaces can be found here, including one on a high plateau overlooking the city.
Some ice monsters wander aimlessly between the houses here, as well as in the Craft and Moon Districts. Major landmarks in this city district are a palace with an artificial sun (PoI #3), a series of catacombs where those sacrificed by the Elder Drakes in necromantic rituals were entombed (PoI #5), a stone palace encased in ice (PoI #7), and lastly a residence for important visitors from abroad (PoI #8). |
Scattered moonviper bones can be found throughout Achori, disturbing the peace of the otherwise serene city. Artwork by Rubynium. |
Given the building’s size, luxury, and overall prominence, the scholar Amnis Compos Mentis believes with certainty that the Elder Drake who lived here was none other than Midas of Argyre; the last Queen of the Elder Drakes.
Each hall and room is sized to comfortably fit at least one Elder Drake - creatures that could reach upwards of forty feet tall - giving the whole place a cavernous feel. Within are halls decorated with enchanted paintings and mosaics, solid-gold statues of Elder Drakes with a striking resemblance to the familiar Obscura, and all sorts of other treasures. Though a golden Elder Drake seems to be the most frequent motif in decor, the Sun Palace also features island vistas on its ceiling and walls, made to move using runic enchantments.
Some notable sights in the Sun Palace; the Elder Drake’s bedroom, fitted with gold decorations and bright blue curtains, and a vast obsidian mirror on one wall; a large chamber with attract and necromancy runes carved into the floor, increasing the potency of that dark art many times over; and lastly, a portrait of the golden Elder Drake with a familiar that looks exactly like Obscura.
Though the houses here are small, the Moon District seems to be an especially artistic portion of the city. Most walls are covered in intricate carvings, and there are a number of scattered courtyards with central sculptures of moonvipers in the middle. Each statue is unique, and thought to depict a real moonviper who once called Achori home. What status was required to earn this honour is unknown, but each statue has memories inlaid of their subject’s greatest achievement.
Some ice monsters wander aimlessly between the houses here, as well as in the Craft and Sun Districts.
On a high cliff overlooking the Moon District is an abandoned temple to the Moon Sisters (PoI #4).
Now, now. What would our ancestors have wanted to hide this badly? I must convince Markus to let us explore this place.
— Gloria Ex Undis, head researcher from Nuova Cadere A vast archway sits on the far northern end of Achori, leading into a dark tunnel. The doors that guarded the North Pass are cracked, cutting through illusion runes that would have once disguised the pass as nothing more than a wall of ice.
The pass leads an unknown distance north, its icy walls embedded with strange memories. Many of the expedition’s leaders are curious about what lies at the end of the pass - what would the ancient moonvipers, or Elder Drakes, wanted to hide this badly? Despite this interest, their security has cordoned it off for now - they hardly want a repeat incident of the attack at the outpost - though exploring the North Pass is a matter of intense discussion for the expedition’s scholars. |
Who can say what lies at the end of the North Pass? Artwork by J-Haskell. |
IV: The Northern Wellspring
This section of the setting guide provides information on the Northern Wellspring, a location in the Frozen Gates discovered during part IV of Path of the Moon.
The North Pass is a vast archway that sits on the far northern end of Achori, leading into a dark tunnel. The doors that once guarded this place are cracked and fallen, cutting through illusion runes that would have once disguised the opening as nothing more than a wall of ice.
After much discussion by the Aurora Expedition’s leadership, it is decided that they will make one final journey to the end of the North Pass. Once that is done, they will collect themselves and prepare for the long journey home. |
An hour passes. All at once, the walls begin to glow.
At first the expedition doesn’t know what it’s looking at. Dancing is the first to realize; “memories!” she calls. Memories, trapped in the ice and given image by whatever magical force tore through the Frozen Gates centuries ago.
As the expedition moves forward, these images shift, going from one still to another. Telling the story of what happened here, centuries ago. The memories caught within are dream-like and glowing, but slowly the travellers begin to understand…
Achori’s Path of Memories, as witnessed by Gloria Ex Undis
“...and then two ghostly figures appeared in the icy walls of the North Pass. One a night-black moonviper with glowing red eyes, the other a human woman, her feathered wings a pale shade of blue-and-violet. Both wear crowns, their heads bent towards each other, deep in discussion. No sound emerges from the walls, their voices lost forever to time.
They walk with us for what feels like hours, before they reach the end of the pass… which we have not yet seen. They share a look, their expressions hard. It is the same sort of expression I have seen on the faces of those who go to face the Xocrians, knowing very well they will most likely be slain.
The moonviper and human queen exit, side-by-side, and emerge into a vast chamber. The ghost-like quality of these images make it hard to see where they are, but I think I can see pillars carved into the shape of moonvipers. A massive, pale elder drake awaits them here - which does not look at all like the one depicted in the Sun Palace - with the small form of Echo at its side. Beyond its terrifying shape, the floor drops away like some sort of vast well. I cannot see the bottom of it, but something liquid shimmers from within.
‘That’s not me,’ the familiar cries, looking alarmed and distressed to see herself reflected. ‘Is it?’
No one answers. There is not one here that remembers.
The pair fight the Elder Drake, ice and lightning flying through the air. They work as a team, though seem to be trying to get past the Drake and at whatever thing of value it guards rather than kill it. The winged human changes form in a burst of pale light, taking on the appearance of an ice phoenix. It is then that Guy Allaire, a Xocrian priest accompanying the expedition, cries out, ‘It’s the Ice Queen! This must have been what happened to her!’
I am not sure if I can believe that we are witnessing the actions of a Goddess. But, perhaps, the figure the Xocrians knew as the ‘Ice Queen’ was, instead, a True Mage? The fables ascribe all kinds of fanciful powers to them. And this would not be the first time one confronted an Elder Drake.
The Ice Queen uses her magic, wisps of cold reaching into the bottom of the well. Panic grips her face. Something pale and glowing begins to bubble, erupt, from the pit the Elder Drake guarded. The merciless creature’s eyes go wide with fear. Even here, just witnessing it in the form of memory, I can feel it… A surge of energy, deep in the pit of my chest. Whatever it is the Ice Queen tampered with here, it was immensely powerful.
The black moonviper’s mouth opens in a silent scream. She staggers, affected by some unseen force, and her eyes glow like embers in the ice. Strange, faded shapes gather around her, human and moonviper and animal… the souls of those dead or dying in Achori?
She reaches out a taloned hand in desperation. The gathered souls of the city flow out of her and into the bubbling liquid, which now bursts outward and begins to pour across the ground. For a moment, all is still… and then the substance shoots skyward, its edges shimmering like an aurora.
Icy shapes begin to take form, leaping out from the light. Ice monsters? Before we can see anything more, the light intensifies, the walls taking on a solid glow. The walls of the North Pass have nothing left to tell us.”
Each tier of the stepwell is supported by carved columns, depicting moonvipers, hands cupped together, with some sort of liquid flowing between their talons. Scattered across the cracked floors are the remnants of the ancient battle witnessed in the North Pass; icy crystals and ash-darkened stones marked by long ago lightning strikes.
Aside from the craftsmanship of the stepwell, only two things are of immediate interest: a pair of now-familiar bodies… and a cold blue light shining from the bottom of the well.
The first is that of the black moonviper seen on the long walk through the North Pass. She wears a silver-and-moonstone crown, a red necklace not unlike those of the Riverlander and moonviper peoples today, and a thin veil covering her eyes. The stone on her necklace depicts a memory of snow gleaming under three full moons - her name, in ancient moonviper custom. Her corpse is perfectly preserved by the cold and wrapped with whorls of ice. They spiral out from her outstretched hand, facing the mouth of the well. The closer you look at them the more unnerving they appear; their twisted patterns form the tangled shape of hundreds of hands, wings, and faces of both dragons, animals, and humans. This leads straight to the cusp of the well, where it cuts off abruptly.
The second is that of the winged woman from the vision. She sits, back to a wall, face locked eternally in an expression of dismay and grief. Dark blood, long frozen solid, is pooled around the wounds that took her life. Blue-taloned hands are clasped to her sides, a last, failed effort to stop her own bleeding. Her feathered wings sit frozen-stiff on either side of her body, fading from vibrant blue to rich purple along their edges. The ancient journal found in her satchel confirms her identity: this is Heleanor, the author of the letters the expedition collected on their journey.
The other subject of note takes a moment to realize. A spray of ice has scattered up against the opposite wall, and as the expedition wanders closer, the smell of something almost… rotten bites at their noses. After a few moments, the source is discovered – half-buried in ice is the desiccated form of an Elder Drake, the one seen in the vision along the North Pass. It is a terrible sight to see, easily towering over even the tallest members of the expedition.
It appears to be nothing more than a corpse - until the expedition makes the mistake of disturbing it...