Voidstate/IcehazeCourt
This is the background to my fae cataphract White Soul Huntsman
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The Icehaze Court
The Icehaze Court have lived in a symbiotic relationship with the people of the Frost Fells since the time of the Contagion when the Empress threw back the Fae host. While many fled into the wyld, there to be destroyed by the Unshaped who considered them tainted by form, a crafty few found a way to survive within Creation.
Foundations
In a hidden valley, deep within the Frost Fells, a group of six fleeing nobles found a demesne andformed it into a Freehold. They named their land Jotenheim and themselves the Icehaze Giants. Over the centuries that followed, the Icehaze Giants formed their freehold into an earthly paradise of living frost where they could live in safety from the ravages of form and logic.
Exploration
Despite their safety, or maybe due to it, the Giants soon became bored with isolation and began to explore the surrounding lands.
The first beings they encountered were mortals. Wild and proud, the people of the Frost Fells struggled daily against the cold, cruel world they inhabited. These hard struggles provided clouds of rich virtue to which the Giants soon became enamoured. And so, just a s a farmer loves his prize cattle full in the knowledge that without them his table will be bare, the Giant’s came to love the Fell Folk.
Next the Giants encountered Lunars, first among whom was He Who Waits. In their first battles, the Giants learnt to fear these bestial foes. But even in fear they found they could feed on the virtues that ruled the chosen of Luna. Love, respect and fear all combined to give the Giants a wary fascination for Luna’s children.
It also became apparent that other Fae travelled these lands. The Giants clashed with the forces of the Turret’s of the Ice Blossom. Both sought to feed from the Fell Folk but where the Knights of the Turret were hunters, the Giants were farmers, nurturing their charges. The Giants and Knights became bitter enemies, fighting wherever they met, and even now the Knights only travel the Frost Fells in force.
Ranging further, the Giants discovered the Tear Eater Tribes. These tribes, while vast, provided none of the sustenance the Fell Folk did. Their love of death and decay, their dreary lives and embrace of coming death made for meager meals. The Giants came to scorn the Tear Eaters.
Defence and Manipulation of the Fell Folk
Over time the Giants became the secret protectors of the Fell Folk, nurturing their society to best suit the Giants’ needs.
In that time the land was so cold that the Fell Folk huddled together for survival making it more difficult for the Giants to prey on them unnoticed. So Gormandin The Grey Soul Seer, travelled to the Deep Wyld and brought back two powerful Wyld Soreceries: the Muspelheim Progeny and the Ring of Nibelungen. The Muspelheim Token was laid upon the land. It caused the temperature to rise and the lands to become more welcoming. In response, the Fell Folk spread further apart, founding scattered holds across their lands. The Ring of Nibelungen was a ring of wooden beads and was given to the High Chieften of the Frost Fell Clans and caused him to become receptive to shaping attacks even in Creation. In this way he could be manipulated to rule as the Giants wished.
To protect themselves against the Lunars, Heimdall The Yellow Soul Piper, crafted the valkyries and einherjar to act as shieldbearers and wolf packs for his fellow Giants.
Meanwhile the remaining three of their number travelled on a quest to bring dread behemoths to guard their land.
Ragnar The Scarlet Soul Berserker brought back Fenris, The Wolf That Hunts The Sun.
Aegir The Silver Soul Shipwright brought back Jormungand, The World Serpent.
Baywulf The White Soul Huntsman returned with Grendel, The Ironflesh Boar.
Ripped from the essence of the terrible Unshaped, these behemoths prowl the edges of Jotenheim charged with destruction of all that is not mortal.
The last of the Giants, Freya The Copper Soul Shieldmaiden, set forth into the Frost Fells and built many Crystal Matrices, great towers of gossamer beauty that entranced all mortals who gazed upon them and acted as transportation for the Giants, allowing them to extend their reach far across the Frost Fells.
Bargaining With He Who Waits
Their last act was to approach He Who Waits. In return for swearing an oath never to feed directly on any man, woman or child born of the Frost Fells and to directly oppose all other fae who enter the land, He Who Waits promised to give the Giants safe passage throughout the Frost Fells and allow them to continue to control the High Chieftan.
To seal this bargain, Graces were forged for He Who Waits. Having graces allowed the elder to travel deep into the wyld. By they also provided the means for the Giants to control him, for the elder was addicted to the Wyld and the more he travelled into chaos the more he relied upon his graces. He Who Waits must keep his bargain because if his graces are broken not only will he be sent into Bedlam but will be denied his addiction.
The Present Day
The Giants are worried. Throughout history they have worked in the shadows to keep the Frost Fells safe. But now the threats are so powerful that they are concerned that wile will not suffice to protect their lands. Having drawn lots, Baywulf has been chosen to travel openly as the land’s guardian. Relying on the promises of He Who Waits and the behemoth Grendel, he seeks to defend the feeding grounds of his people so their idle life may continue for another thousand years. He plans to present himself at the crowning of the new High Chief and fight alongside the young lunars who already seek to fend of the many threats to the Frost Fells.
