04 Night's Watch.pdf - Chaos Bleeds

CHapter 3: beyond the WallWhile the Skirling Pass is long, winding, and confusing, it is still a commonroute. Free folk regularly use it to travel among the mountain valleysof the Frost Fangs so much so that some raiders have taken to ambushingtravelers on some of the more difficult stretches of the Pass. Shadowcatsand bears hunt lone free folk in the area, never having learned to fear man.For Warfare, movement along the Skirling Pass is considered SlowMovement instead of Very Slow Movement, which is normal formountains.ThennOne of the larger mountain valley networks of the Frost Fangs, theregion known as Thenn is arguably the most desirable territory northof the Wall. Blessed with a temperate climate, fertile soil, and mineralwealth, many free folk tribes look hungrily at the easy life that Thennpromises. Unfortunately for those tribes, Thenn is inhabited by thosewho call themselves the Thenns, a collection of tribes united under theleadership of the Magnar. Equipped with bronze weapons and a dedicationbordering on fanaticism, the Thenn tribes have thus far proved theequal of every attempt to unseat them.The valleys of Thenn are filled with grass, wildflowers, and boulders,except in those areas cleared away for cultivation. Fog clings to the valleyslate into the day, and most valleys only receive a limited amountof direct sunlight each day due to the high mountain walls surroundingthem. Most of the southern valleys are dominated by agriculture,while the northern valleys are home to most of the mines of Thenn.Crude roads connect the various regions of Thenn, most of which arelittle more than cart tracks. There are a half-dozen different obviousentrances to Thenn, all guarded by the bronze weapon-equipped warriorsof the Thenn tribes. Several more discreet ways into Thenn can befound by those willing to climb the mountains of the Frost Fangs, butsuch efforts are often as dangerous as fighting the Thenn tribes directly.The Thenn tribes suffer from attacks, both overt and covert year-round,and thus have become very vigilant in protecting their homeland, andextremely suspicious of any visitors with whom they are not familiar.Sitting near the center is the settlement of Thennheld, the home villageof the Thenn tribes. Dominated by the longhall of Magnar Styr, thissettlement serves as the seat of his power and is always protected by hismost skilled soldiers. Thennheld is also home to a number of smithies,producing the majority of the bronze weapons and armor used by theThenn tribes. Only the most trusted visitors are allowed into Thennheld,due to the vital role it plays in the defense of the vallyes of Thenn.For Warfare, Thennheld is considered a hall, and the terrain of Thennis considered hills.The DeadfieldsWhere the Haunted Forest ends and the vast polar expanse of the Landof Always Winter begins is a huge uneven field over which a handfulof barrows rise. According to the legends of the free folk, this field waswhere the Children of the Forest and the First Men gathered to fighttheir final battle against the Others. The free folk claim that this battlegained Bran the Builder enough time to construct the Wall, buying thesurvival of the lands to the South with the blood and destruction of theancient peoples. Some free folk still bitterly begrudge this unacknowledgedsacrifice against the people of Westeros.According to the stories of the Deadfields, the slaughter was sogreat that the bodies of the slain were not buried, with the field insteadbathed in oil and burnt in a single, giant pyre. Only a handful of theleaders of the free folk were buried in barrows, and these ancient heroesare said by some to not be dead but merely waiting until the Others’return. On that day they will awaken the army of the dead that waitsin the Deadfields, and give battle again to the ancient enemies of man.While this belief was common in the past, the recent encroachments ofthe Others have made such beliefs seem like wishful thinking.A large godswood is located on the northern edge of the HauntedForest, said to be a tribute from the Children of the Forest to those whogave their lives against the Others. For centuries it was considered aplace of power among the free folk. Those gifted in the greensight wereregularly drawn to it, but in recent years something has changed. Nowthere are rumors that the godswood has been cut down, but no oneknows by whom and no one who has dared to investigate has returned.The Frozen ShoreDominating the western shore of the Far North, the Frozen Shorereaches from the Gorge north along the western edge of the Frost Fangsall the way to the Land of Always Winter. Rocky and jagged throughout,the Frozen Shore is neither inviting nor hospitable. Riddled withfjords and jagged peninsulas, the Frozen Shore is a harsh place to live.While home to a wide variety of animal life, walruses, seals, and icebears being the most common, only a handful of tribes of the free folkmake their home on the Frozen Shore. The largest of these is the WalrusMen who hunt whales in the Bay of Ice.The Frozen Shore has little in the way of natural resources aside fromthe animal life in the region. The Bay of Ice can be extremely treacherousdue to its many ice floes, but it is home to whales, squids, and other aquaticcreatures. The Frozen Shore is ice-locked for nearly half the year, requiringthe inhabitants to ice-fish or travel to the edges of the ice formations tofind food. During these times of the year, the Frozen Shore becomes analmost featureless expanse of white with little difference between earth andsky. Many a free folk has been driven mad by this world of white, and theWalrus Men developed their ice goggles to prevent that from happening.During the winter, military units may move across the ice of theFrozen Shore as if it were snowy plains.The Land of Always WinterLocated far north of the Wall, beyond the Haunted Forest and the FrostFangs, lies the edge of the world. Called the Land of Always Winter bymost of the free folk, this barren polar expanse is little more than ice,permafrost, and stark white sky. Nothing lives there—plants, beasts, andbirds all have deemed the place too desolate. Once traveling to the edge ofthe Land of Always Winter was seen as a rite of passage among some freefolk tribes, but even they have stopped coming this far north. No one whohas traveled to the Land of Always Winter has returned in recent memory,and most assume the region has been overrun by the Others. So farno one is much interested in going to find out the truth of the situation.Moving across the Land of Always Winter counts as moving acrosstundra. Anyone in the Lands of Always Winter is continually exposedto extreme cold, risking frostbite and death accordingly.93