Frostfell
The Frostfell, also known as the Realm of Ice and Snow, the Kingdom of Frost, and the Land of Eternal Winter, lies at the northern centre of the inner planes. It perplexes proponents of the Geographic Alignment theory, since it should be pulled by the forces of positivity, but is unquestionably hostile to nearly every form of known life.
Yet even in the unrelenting cold, an explorer can find life and even beauty. The icy mountains and snowfields may be extremely dangerous, but they are also unrivalled in their golden reflections of the rising and setting sun, and the entire landscape shimmering under a starry sky is a vision of frozen elegance.
Geography
The Frostfell is a large peninsula of ice, connected by ice sheets to the northern reaches of Primus. These ice sheets are flat except for shallow dunes of snow and wind-warped ice.
Its mountainous regions, which are solid ice, are mostly along the centre of this peninsula, but near-constant shifts in the ice create new ridges and crevasses all the time.
Ecosystem Cycles
Frozen in an endless winter (that never gets to Christmas), the Frostfell does not have seasonal patterns. Rather, its ecosystem varies mainly by environment.
The peaks of its mountains reach heights where the air is too thin for life even if there were earth to support it. At these altitudes, wind and ice elementals, as well as a few species of bird are the only local fauna. On the snowfields, unending winds limit visibility, pulling up clouds of powder. Many white dragons compete in these ideal hunting grounds. The ice sheets are similarly windy, streaked with deep crevasses. Those areas nearer to Primus even have patches of tundra, with earth and plant life.
The only sanctuary from the unrelenting winds can be found within the Frostfell; in the caverns of its ice mounts and the cracks of its crevasses.
Localized Phenomena
The Realm of Ice is home to many freezing perils unseen in even the frostiest regions of other Realms. Quickslush, which pulls victims down into cold suffocation, is a common hazard on its snowfields and shorelines. The snow and hail take various magical forms, theorized to be the effect of frozen magic absorbed by the ice, or the influence of the Unseelie Fey, who find the Frostfell's capacity to freeze endlessly fascinating.
There is also a rare, stable portal to the Abyssal layer known as Soulfreeze here.
Climate
The frostfell is constantly cold, without experiencing any perceptible season. Its weather patterns are dynamic, with clear skies being rarest and snow being extremely common. The fog which blows especially thickly on the westward side, thanks to the influence of Auria, is freezing, drawing moisture and heat from whatever it touches. Its blizzards are legendary.
More than the weather, which is universally cold and windy, though, the Frostfell climate is determined by biome. The most sheltered are the ice caves and crevasses, and the most humid are the ice floes which freckle its borders with Oceanus. The valleys of its mountain ranges are typically shrouded in various kinds of freezing fog, while its snow fields and ice sheets see more snow and wind-whipped blizzards. At the top of its mountains, the air is too thin for even Frostfell fauna, and these heights are haunted only by elementals.
Fauna & Flora
polar bears, Yeti, White Pudding, Ice Toads, Winter Wolves, White Dragons, and Frost Giants, as well as all manner of ice elemental and a good number of frosty fiends make up the more fearsome fauna. But tamer creatures, such as seals, reindeer, white foxes, lemmings, white hares, walruss, lynxes, caribou, and snowy geese can also be found.
Few fish survive the utter cold near the Frostfell's shores, but species from the Darkened Depths may survive closer to the surface than usual, benefiting from the familiar chill.
One might think the Frostfell could have no flora, having no earth or warmth to nourish it. But the Realms are not so simple. Many forms of plant life here have evolved to feed on other things - most commonly the blood of adventurers.
Natural Resources
Ice from the heart of the frostfell never melts, and is much saught-after by magicians and alchemists, as well as nonmagical folk who are tired of replenishing their ice-boxes.
Tourism
The Realm of unrelenting ice and cold makes a poor holiday getaway, but hardy adventurers still see the appeal. They say nothing ever melts in the frostfell; that even magic can remain frozen there forever. As a result it shares a similar reputation as the The Swamp of Oblivion, with adventurers questing after lost secrets, spells, and artifacts that may yet remain frozen deep within the ice.
Maps
-
Frostfell
A peninsula of ice and snow, the birthplace of cold and homeland of frost elementals, the Frostfell is a hostile environment that freezes everything it touches.
Alternative Name(s)
Para-Elemental Realm of Ice
Type
Glacier
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Inhabiting Species