Ice Vein (game)

The Game

Here you can find the last posts in this game.

Ice Vein is a concluded game that ran in the Wold from 2004 to 2008. It took place in a frozen land on the Southern Continent, one of the most remote places in the Wold.

The Story so far

This is how the story began

The drums, Thoom Boom, thoom boom pound in continuous rhythm rising to a cacophony no one in the party imagined possible before in such open ground.

Four individuals have stepped forward in thick white cloaks of Winter Wolf hide. Each wears a deadly Falx plainly at their side, a wicked reverse curved scimitar. The Villages shaman and high priest of Domi, a woman named Svanhvít steps forward to join the four figures and place a large copper kettle upside down at the feet of one of them. The drums thunder on Thoom, Boom, thoom, boom

Kayra steps up onto the upturned large Copper kettle pot, her steel shod war boots purposefully ring a clear long note and as she shifts her weight upon the kettle the note drags into the horizons echo. There is no mistake the ceremony has now truly begun. The throng pulls back slightly as those seven about to undergo the test find themselves very much the center of all eyes. Beneath the unwavering gaze of Kayra and against the backdrop of the great Monolith of Domi. The drums begin again in a slow methodical rhythm. Boom, rap, b-boom, rap, b-boom, rap

Kayra's voice rings out across the crowd. "The Longr Nott Ungmenni, the Long Night of Youth, is ended. Now gather to me my people and stand proud with each other. Stand tall, arm in arm, as one and look upon our future and bestow upon them your blessing!"

The crowd roars "Ás-Domi Skjöld Varr Ungmenni, Domi shield our Youth!"

The High Priestess Svanhvít calls out "And remember those who failed to return from this test and others!"

The crowd roars "Ás-Domi, Muna Ull'Heimdall! Ás-Domi, Muna Björn-Mundr! Ás-Domi, Muna Úlf-álfr! Ás-Domi, Muna Vé --björn! Ás-Domi, Muna Da'-fúss! Ás-Domi, Muna Herj --unn! Domi Rememeber the fallen!"

Kayra again calls out to the village over the low rhythmic beating of the ever present drums, the power her mere voice commands undeniable. "In ancient times, we were a desolate and troubled people. No more!, We are people of strength, of celebration and perseverance. As was set by the Pjód-björg Varr-uðr Varr-Grar-Storr-Amma!"

The crowd calls 'Hail Pjód-björg Varr-uðr Varr-Grar-Storr-Amma, People's Salvation, our beloved, our gray great grandmother!"

Kayra then continues, "This day our youth will begin the Raun-Aldr Eda Iss! The Test of Age and Ice! They will journey North towards Búrfell to find and retrieve the Red Flower of Kelda-Sigr!"

The village again calls out. "Spring's victory!"

"For 6 days these seven will be in the domain of Celsiun!"

The Crowd breaks in "Ás-Iss, Ás-Snjar!"

"May they return to us wiser and ready to begin your lives as adults!"

The drumming continues...Kayra steps down and Svanhvít steps upon the kettle to speak, her voice to commands an authority from all who hear, but she speaks soley to the seven gathered directly before her "It is time for the Umbud. The Preparation of your physical being and souls. Go now and gather that which you wish to take with you and return here when the shadow of Domi's hand touches the entrance to my tent." Svanhvít then steps down and walks down the line of the seven, stopping to place her thumb on each of their foreheads. She says a soft prayer in a tongue unfamiliar to all as she does so. The crowd waits for Svanhvít, Kayra and the other two, whose identities you could only guess at depart and they then too melt away leaving you standing alone in front of Domi's Monlith. The sun shining brightly in the azure sky, the shadow some two hours long before it reaches Svanhvít's Tent.

Ice Vein: Archives

The full past history of game posts can be found here

Characters

Player Characters

All those who have featured in this game.

• Bohdi Nackle, gnome Illusionist, played by Kup
• Nauthiz'Ull, human ranger played by Drew
• Frigg'Isa, human witch and twin sister of Nauthiz'Ull played by Lynn, for whom Lynn's Cafe is named.
• Garret Jax, human cleric of Domi played by Chris Jones
• Aiden, human ranger played by Paul Tar
• Skalti, human bard played by Joshua Caldwell

NPCs

• Kayra, Leader of Ice Peak.
• Svanhvít, Ice Peak high priestess.
• Ull'Heimdall, Ice Peak former Hunt leader and father of Nauthiz'Ull and Frigga'Isa,

Geography

Here you'll find links to all the locations and maps relevant to this game.

Ice Peak Village: One of three barbarian villages in Ice Vein. It is a small barbarian village nestled in the northwest hill area of Ice Vein. The hills protect the village from the winds that pick up now and then in Ice Vein and also provide the village with most of the goods it needs for everyday life. The village is lead by a matron named Karya. Surrounding the village is a well packed snow wall that the people of the village spent many years in making and always being expanded on to make better. The wall is in constant watch to keep repaired and is the village’s main protection from attack. The people use tent like houses, there made from wood poles with winter wolf pelts stitched together to make the walls. To keep these warm a small bowl like hole is made in the floor and a small fire is made in it to produce heat in the small tent. These are the only source of housing used in the village since they are much easier to repair then igloos or other types of shelters. Ice Peak Village worships Domi and no other god. The village worships Domi believing he gives them strength and the endurance to live in such harsh lands. Everyone in the village also is taught to atleast a small degree how to make weapons from the ice of their home (speak heads and such can be hard enough and sharp enough to pierce flesh.) Their worshipping goes as far as to on every full moon a festival is held where four trained dancers of the village dance around a large fire and Karya sings to Domi. This festival is held in honor of Domi and the protection given to the village from Domi. At the age of sixteen all members of the village are given the minimum amount of equipment needed to survive 3 days in the hills outside the city. If the person survives and comes back to the city alive on the 3rd day then the person was considered a adult. As a adult the members of the village are to protect the city with his/her life, hunt and any other duties a adult would do. Many years ago the village was presented with a strange statue that stood 2ft tall and made of ice that never melts. Karya and the other members of the Ice Peak Village seen this as a gift from Domi and took great care of it since they seen it as they were blessed. The statue given to the village as a gift from Domi was stolen by Twin Tusked Village and for many centuries both clans have been at war. The people of Icepeak Village believe that if they go without the statue for to long that Domi will turn his back on them, specially since the statue was a gift from Domi himself. The statue also is believed to bring luck and be a sign of power to which ever clan has it

Twin Tusk Village: One of the three barbarian villages of the area. Twin Tusk Village is made up mainly of orcs, half orcs and a few humans. Twin Tusk Village is mainly a war party and thrive on fighting and ruling. Twin Tusk Village is located in the southeast corner of Ice Vein and consists of a large grouping of rough made igloos. Twin Tusk Village has no defensive wall and the orcs, half-orcs and few humans of the village rely on brute force and strength of arm to defend their home. To die in battle is the single and greatest honor to all the members of the village. Twin Tusk Village is lead by a huge half-orc called Sorvas. The only coming of age rite in the village is simple, to survive. If a person in this village lived long enough to become a adult then they were quite simply a adult. Half orcs are the primary power in the village and rule over all the other races in the village. The males in the tribes mate usually outside of the clan or with suitable females that are captured after or during combat. Getting a mate is fairly simple, the surviving females after combat or captured during combat are used for mating purposes. There is no real marriages in the village but a simple law of ownership, each male brand their mate in some fashion to show she is owned. The brand can be anything from a burned in mark to cuts made in a design that will heal into a scar. Twin Tusk Village is based on the simple rule that men do the work and a woman was to keep her mouth shut and do the house and baby work. Any females caught escaping is punished as her owner decides, this can be ranked to a sever beating, dismemberment and even death. Twin Tusk Village hunts to get it’s food and other things it’s needs. Anything metal or otherwise that anyone might have among the village was stolen or taken after they killed someone. Twin Tusk is known to make a roaring bomb fire and dance and mainly fight around it every week atleast once. This tradition of the village is how battle leaders are decided since whoever is the strongest was the winner of the fighting contests they held. Twin Tusk Village has been at war with Ice Peak Village now for awhile since Sorvas had the statue that Ice Peak Village holds as a holy item stolen.

Smashed Teeth Village: The last of the barbarian villages and just abit south of the lake in the plains. Smashed Teeth Village is made strictly of humans. Smashed Teeth Village is a small distance south and abit east of Zarnan City. Smashed Teeth Village consists of a lot of fur tents. The tents were given and helped setup by the gnomes from Zarnan City after Smashed Teeth Village signed a peace pact with Zarnan City. The village believes in more honor then anything and will honor a deal or pact blindly, thinking that to loose their honor is as bad as cowering before death. Out of all the villages Smashed Teeth Village is the only one with a signed pact of peace with Zarnan. Smashed Teeth Village thrives on its selling of fish and creatures it cetches from the lake they live so close to. It is a tradition that every third day that the people of Smashed Teeth Village offers small pieces of meat, various plants or herbs and various things that the animals of the lake can eat to the lake as a gift for it’s help in every day life. The people of the village believe that the lake is life itself since it provides them with water and food and some weapons since shells, teeth and bones of creatures from the lake can be used as weapons and for some armor purposes. The village really seems to believe in no god but does have a witch doctor type cleric who guides them. The leader of this village even over the witch doctor is Mekrenden. At the age of sixteen a member of the village must go to the witch doctor and spend a week learning from him before being considered a adult. The week spent is in learning fishing, and the use of certain herbs for poisons and injuries. Zarnan City: Zarnan City is thought of marvel and splendor and is west of the lake in the plains. The gnomes of the city have made giant igloos of ice and even made a wall around the city of pure ice. Every gnome in the city knows how to use magic and they use this to craft the walls and the igloos that make up their village. Zarnan City is amazing in the sense that the streets are made of ice that has been crafted to make walking on it easier and so you don’t slip and slide all over. The igloos are large and often have a window or two built into them which is sealed with a spell to keep the wind out u nless the gnome living in the house desires to let some air in. In the center of the city is a even larger igloo called “The Center”. The center is where Pitchen who rules over Zarnan City and the few other watchers of the city spend most of their time. The center has a special set up of special tubes that wands of light can plug into that will channel light throughout the city and released through various areas in the city to light the streets and the houses at nights. There are also other tubes in this area that fire wands can be plugged into to heat the city and keep the gnomes warm. The gnomes of Zarnan believe in comfort and are always seeking new magics or new ways to make their life easier. Lately Pitchen has been trying to put a teleporting device together to make travel and delivery of items easier but has had little luck. Pitchen is also the one who brought peace between Zarnan city and the Smashed Teeth Village. Zarnan City worships mainly magic itself but there is a temple of Flower located within the city since the gnomes love beauty and strive to make their city as beautiful as possible. Zarnan City has a few festivals it holds. It’s most noteable one is the day they signed the peace pact with Smashed Teeth Village. Other festivals consist of celebrating and practicing their magics and also a week long festival devoted to making rare and beautiful works of arts, specially using ice. Zarnan City has a large ice fountain sitting in the middle of the city that has been magically altered to actually look like flowing water. The gnomes of Zarnan City are considered adults as soon as they are old enough to cast their very first spell. Zarnan City is also the only place in Ice Vein with a sewer of any type. The sewer is located under the city and dug by people hired from Smashed Teeth Village, the sewers are vast and flow deep into the ice under the city. A delicacy of Zarnan City is called ice wine, is a special wine made with the ice near the lake in the center of the plains. The huge market area of the city deals in various goods, including stuff traded and bought outside of the city. The city trades mainly outside of Ice Vein for it’s various food and other goods such as metal items, clothing, animals, etc which is sold in the city and in return they trade and sell many of the magical items that are made in Zarnan City and the ice wine that is made exclusively in Ice Vein. The nobles of Zarnan life in a large district designed for them. This area has better made igloos and are much larger then the normal igloos of the other people of the city. The nobles, commoners and merchants of the city do not mingle much other then when they shop in the merchant section of the city. Other races do live and visit here do to the uniqueness of the land and life here. The main races that do decide to live in this city though are dwarves, halflings and some humans. Mainly those who live here are those who can survive easier in this very cold and frozen land. Primary barbarian visits are those from the Smashed Teeth Village who live near to the city. The guild area also has three temples, one devoted to Flower, another devoted to Domi and lastly one devoted to Alemi. The temple of Flower was a original temple in the city and ran by a gnome but the other two temples were set up by outsiders who moved into Zarnan City. At first the temples of Domi and Alemi had few worshippers but after many years the temples gained more followers from the gnomes and other people who moved into the city. The gnomes of the city did not mind other races moving into the city as long as they did not interrupt their research of magical items and also enjoy the new arts, specially since the gnomes of the city love art and art works and various other things the people brought to the city. In the market area are four different taverns (Twin Gold Cups Tavern, Golden Beacon Tavern, Jagged Dagger Tavern and Dancing Dwarves Tavern) and three Inns (Nightshade Veil Inn, The Silent Banshee Inn, Half Moon Inn). Government revolves around magic in all ways. People caught breaking a law are taken to be judged in a igloo with wands of truth set in it to detect lieing. This causes problems though do to other magics can be used to get around the wands of truth. Most law breakers are sentenced to time in jail or cleaning the city or doing other duties to help the city. Small other problems in the city is that the sewers sometimes need cleaned to keep smell down. Trading outside of Ice Vein gets cut do to raids by Twin Tusk Village barbarians. The center is ran strictly by nobles and no one else is ever allowed to go inside. Entrance is strictly forbidden and magic wards and traps are set up to make sure that the center is never entered by anyone but those who should be there

Underwater Ruins of Lilliak: Little is know about these ancient ruins. It was once said that Lilliak was a small city of nothing but magic users who sought power and new magics. The ruler of the ancient city of Lilliak misused his powers of magic though and it is said that the gods cursed him and sunk the city to the bottom of the lake of Ice Vein. To this date the ruins are actually the cause of the water here being unnaturally warm and unfrozen. There is a strange set of stones that will lead to the Ruins of Lilliak called Stones of Altras. The seers of the various cities have made many comments and recordings in books and such that they have not heard the end of Lilliak City but the people of Ice Vein do not pay much attention to this since the city sunk so many years ago and nothing has happened yet. (Notes: Lilliak City was a small city of druids. The city consisted of ice buildings that the druids used their magic to harden and make even more stable. The city was actually ruled by a man named Lilliak who was crazed and wanted power. Lilliak’s craze for power grew to such a degree that he began to seek a way to become immortal so he could spend even past his life time gaining power. In his questing for a power to make him immortal Lilliak caused a imbalance in the ground of the lake bed and a explosion occurred that caused the small island that the city was on to sink to the bottom of the lake. The island and buildings of this city is still intact even at the bottom of the lake and some of the druids have even used their powers combined together to make a item that will allow them to live under water in their city. Lilliak died in the explosion and is buried on the island. The cities houses are still intact and reproduction in the city is highly limited. The single goal of those who live in the city is to still gain power and new magics. Untill the day comes that they think they are ready to be seen in Ice Vein the druids of Lillian City will remain underwater and hidden. The druids here are single minded and care little for anything else but the gain in power and also believe in one simple goal of reincarnating Lilliak.)

Stones of Altras: The Stones of Altras is a set of 8 standing stones that have the power to teleport someone to the Ruins of Lilliak, they stand just east of the lake located in the middle of the ice plains. In the middle of the stones is a small alter though where a object can be sat. Till the object that is missing is set here then the stones are rendered useless. The stones radiate a area of holy energy and will cause a calming effect to any good aligned creature nearing them. They will also give a uneasy feeling to those of evil alignments. The only barbarians to have seen the stones are the ones from Smashed Teeth Village who see the stones as holy stones and also think of them as protection of the lake, the other is Twin Tusk Village who no one from it can get to close to them without feeling uneasy. Twin Tusk Village sees the stones as evil and something to be weary of. People from Smashed Teeth Village has told some of the gnomes about the stones but of yet the gnomes from Zarnan City have not seen them since they are to busy working on their experiments of magic. The stones were made by a few good druids who escaped from Lilliak Village when it sank to the bottom of the lake. The druids constructed and used their magic to make the stones and a way to the city. After the magic stones were made the druids gave a single large plate of magical ice that has the words “The Path” on it which is written in high woldian to one of it’s members who left with it. Where the druid went is unsure and the other druids were said to went to Smashed Teeth Village. No one has ever used the stones to go to Lilliak City since the ice slab to activate it has been missing, although by the alter where the slab goes is more writing in high woldian saying, “beware of using these stones. The danger before you is great.

Ice Ant Hive: This is the home of the ice ants. The queen of the ants lives here and sends out the ants to build the Ice Spikes throughout the Ice Vein area. The Ice Spikes are actually made do to tunneling spots so the ants can travel the area easier underground and where there is less threat to them. The queen ice ant is very large and lives in a 8ft tall ice spike in the middle of 8 normal 4ft spikes. She nest deep inside of the central mound and hardly never comes out. The queen though is highly intelligent for a insect though and has a limited use of magic which allows it to speak.

Cave of Lorgas: The cave of Lorgas was discovered by a man named Lorgas Hoff, the cave is located at the southern edge of the Jagged Jaw Mountains. Lorgas Hoff as he explored the edge of Jagged Jaw Mountains found the cave completely by accident that lead into the mountains and decided to explore inside of the cave. He didn’t travel to far into the cave when he came upon a large city of albino elves. Lorgas was seen by the albino elves and barely made it out alive. Lorgas did his best to tell the people of Ice Vein about the albino elves but no one believed him since these elves had never been heard of before. (Note:The albino elves have a society very much like the society of the drow elves. Beyond the city that the albino elves have set up is a very long cave that ends in a opening into the Jagged Jaw Mountains. At this area is a place that is highly volcanic and not active but some lava can be found here and the sulfur in the air is thicker. It is in this area that a great wyrm red dragon calls home. The great wyrm red dragon ignores the albino elves since they do not come out in his area and bother him, nor do they try to rob or harm him. The dragon feeds on giants that venture into the area he lives in deep in the Jagged Jaw Mountains and also makes his treasure by attacking the stone and frost giants.)

DM Pages

Here are the DM Ice Vein Game Resources and the DM Ice Vein Geography Resources needed to run this game.