Lonely Man in the Ice
In the distant Age of Glory the Primordials lorded over Creation from their palaces in the Heavenly City of Yu-Shan. Creation was always touched by their presence or the discarded projects they have left behind once they grew bored with it. Not every thing crafted by the makers was inimical to human life nor did it make the job of the gods any harder to complete. The Lonely Man was one such discarded project of the an unknown Primordial that was left behind in the coldest reaches of the north.
In the fallen Second Age almost no one even knows of the existence of the Lonely Man but they all feel his presence. Each twang of regret, of loss and sorrow calls out to him. That cold touch is something every one has felt at one time. But he takes no joy in what Creation feels in those moments.
In the far north there is a great valley where the run off of great glaciers create a cold deep lake it is where the Lonely Man's "palace" is a ice capped island in the center of the lake. Some say it the ice came from the Lonely Mans tears as they froze in the cold air of the north. The entrance to his home is a large crack in the ice that leads into a grand gallery. Frozen into the ice are the greatest moments of sorrow and regret known to Creation. Beyond the gallery is the Hall of Tears and the Tapestries of the Fallen.
But the journey is not an easy one for the guests of the Lonely Man for they are forced to confront all the darkest moments of their lives as it is reflected in the ice. And glimpses of what could have been had they made other choices through out their life. The ice always shows the best outcome of all their choices to remind them of their own failures. In this way the Lonely Man is forced to watch as others lose all hope and become all but shaped ice filled with regret as their minds are locked inwards. These statues are taken to the Hall of Tears for the remainder of existence. No one has ever recovered from the creeping ice though if one could resolve all of their conflicting emotions they would reach a transcendent emotional state and break free of the ice.
Should one make it into the heart of the palace they find the Lonely Man sitting upon the throne of Reflected Emotion. He his roughly man shaped but 30 feet tall with long white hair and beard. His eyes are glacier blue and his breath comes out in frozen puffs of emotions left behind. He was long ago bound to the throne by ice he cannot break for it comes from the tears of emotions not resolved.
Most of those who know of him stay away for they are aware and afraid of his power and they do not want to end up as ice covered sculptures in his palace until time ends. For some his command of emotions is enough for them to tempt fate and brave the trek north and then the perils of his palace. For most they end up as a permanent part of the palace. Through out history some have withstood the emotional upheaval of the palace and spoke to him as they gained a powerful insight and understanding of emotion they could manipulate in others.
It was from him that the Solar Exalted crippled She Who Lives in Her Name with such emotion she withdrew from the war for decades. It was from him that the Sidereal could hope to employ in their effort to rid Creation of the corrupted Solar Exalted during the Great Uprising. And it are these moments and others that are frozen into the walls of the Palace. It torments him greatly that they used his power to cause so much sorrow. But he understands that is the only thing he can ever bring.
