The Province of FrostRight
The province of FrostRight was the last province to join the nation only five years ago in 243EM. Because the land is so distant and dangerous it has remained the least explored area (excluding the un-attached land to the west). But it isn’t simply the harsh, freezing climate and high altitudes that have prevented travelers from reaching what some consider to be the end of the world. It is actually the strict and ritualistic culture of the natives that has frightened more travelers away.
A naturally hearty group, the FrostRight natives have survived in the icy north for as long as anyone can guess. Only the past 5-600 years of the provinces history is known by outsiders leaving the rest of the culture’s age a mystery. And the only reason even this much is known is because outsiders have been a part of it. All past records and information from the province’s religions to wars have been and remain to this day, secure knowledge kept by natives only. Though nearly everything about the culture is a mystery, the events since outsiders regularly made expeditions there 5-600 years ago are known with some detail.
The FrostRight people have been secluded behind mountain ranges and encased in the icy Frostbite Range for perhaps the entire history of their civilization. But it was around 5-600years ago that the city of FrostRight and several smaller villages were marked for the first time on any non native map. Though the natives were aware of the outside world when the first known travelers made it to FrostRight, (an expedition of forty men) both sides were met with shock and awe.
Eager to explore the rest of the land to see what the end of the world held, the first expedition lead by a man by the name of Marley began after he gathered a notoriously tough and wild group willing to take the risk. The story of Marley’s expedition is one of legend. With no money or prospects, the man was able to assemble a huge crew, make his way to Bedrin where he and the others managed to secure abundant supplies (by everything from outright stealing to trickery and bartering) before anyone knew what they were planning. The outlaw bunch, pillaging and plundering as they went, managed to elude the law for some time even after their first expedition. It wasn’t until well after their eventual return that anyone could connect Marley’s men to the crimes committed before the group left (and that was due only to a forgotten journal by one of the men).
Hunting and gathering the few determined plants that live in the area has always been more than just survival for the people of FrostRight, it is sacred. Certain animals were and still are worshiped like gods and hunted only at certain times of the year for ceremonies and rituals. Clueless as to the sacred nature of the areas or animals, the Marley group hunted anything that moved once they finally passed into the freezing realm north of Seratov. Finding previously unknown animals now reported to be relatives of the ancient mammoths, the group had ample food and extra layers of skins for warmth. The expedition continued for some time before the group reached FrostRight, and then eventually turned south through the mountains, later returning to Bedrin (having lost fifteen men to the elements and animals).
A surge of explorers immediately set out for the end of the world after hearing of the Marley expedition’s successful return. What was at first awe and shock during the cultural mixing with the locals quickly turned to hostility when the native’s sacred animals were being wiped out by numberless careless travelers. To the natives, the Mey-Kook (mammoths to the foreigners) were hunted only during specific times of ritual. The natives used every part of the animal, from meat and fur to bones, teeth eyes and intestines–all for various parts of the ceremonies or survival. The travelers however, would slaughter the beasts, take what meat they could carry, and leave the carcasses to freeze in the snow or be pillaged by the few scavengers that live in the area.
Though the first expeditions started with a group from Bedrin and some travelers came even so far as Tru Dahn, it was Arodil’s second largest city at the very top of the provinces border, the city of Seratov, which became the expedition capital, a final outpost and place of refuge. Even now it is one of the few civilized areas that offers direct access into the frozen land.
When a traveler would appear at any FrostRight village or city during the influx of explorers, the native’s disposition quickly became as cold as the environment. It wasn’t until the first known mixed baby was born to a native woman by one of the travelers that hostilities exploded however. The baby was taken to a sacred stone site by a group of male priests where it was left to the elements in order to appease the angered god’s of the polluted bloodline. After that, every outsider was banned outright with no questions asked and any who broke the rule were immediately put to death.
After the natives declared the travelers to be devils that needed to be exterminated, explorers in the area were being killed or captured for sacrifice to the native’s god’s as fast as they traveled to the area. Despite this ever growing danger hundreds still made the expedition to the end of the world where the casualty rate for expeditions had reached well over 80%.
As explorers poured into the FrostRight Mountains an all out war between FrostRight and Seratov seemed inevitable. The explorers, once armed with diaries and research tools, were taking along swords, spears and bows instead.
It was eight years after the Marley expedition first explored the area when a group of 500 men and women set off with provision from Seratov, to the capitol city of FrostRight itself to put an end to the slaughter of the explorers. After a four week journey and a loss of 40 men and women to animals and the elements, the group arrived at what they called the icy gates of the city between the peaks–FrostRight. Since the first mixed baby was born and contact was forbidden, the great gates had remained closed, only opening to natives when the need was urgent. The group of 460 stopped at the gates and requested an audience with the ruler of the land. Not fearing the small group of 460, but the possibility of what might come, the Shaman and Priest of the FrostRight people, the spiritual and political leader who ruled from atop his fortress carved into the high peak behind the city, granted the request. However, only a group of five men were allowed in, the others were required to stay several kilometers away from the city and to touch nothing–death being the result of breaking the arrangement.
The debates between the Shaman-Priest’s Councilors and the five emissaries were focused on outsider’s use of the lands in a few areas and only during certain times. The land north of Seratov was so foreign and so unique that many across Atla hoped the discoveries there would be the greatest in centuries (and indeed discovery of the Mey-Kook was a huge leap for science and biology). The five emissaries informed the Shaman Priest that, besides helping the rest of the world, the FrostRight people would have access to the latest technology and tools. The Shaman-Priest was not easily persuaded however, and cited the fact that his people had been living prosperously in such a dangerous land for millennia and that the outside world had nothing to offer them–a people already content and happy. The explorers, intent on gaining access to the land, then pleaded for the use of the lands claiming that if they had nothing to offer FrostRight, then FrostRight had much to offer the rest of the world and should be diplomatic and charitable.
To the surprise of the explorers and certainly the people of FrostRight, the Shaman Priest made a deal, offering the group a portion of the land just north of Lake Ice Bed. His rules were clear, stating that if any outsider was seen beyond the 250 square kilometer gift into FrostRight land, then they would be put to death. Further, no other arrangements would be made in the future and all communication with the rest of the world was to be severed. Last, the Shaman-Priest said that keeping the agreement was their responsibility, that any violations would be their fault.
For some time the agreement held, but many explorers continued to sneak throughout the land of FrostRight. It is likely that the small parties would have remained undetected almost indefinitely, however many continued to kill the native animals and leave their carcasses to freeze as evidence. For the next few hundred years, even after the uniting of Atla under the Provincial Council the relationship between FrostRight and the rest of Atla was strained at best.
With careful negotiations and strict rules on the part of the Grand Provincial Council, the city of FrostRight accepted the invitation to join the other provinces a short five years ago. The news of this came as a shock to the rest of Atla (and the natives of FrostRight) but was something most everyone had been hoping for.
Since FrostRight joined Atla the current capital city of FrostRight itself barely avoided a civil war. When the province joined the rest of Atla, almost all the native land was declared free land (free to Atlans). However, a small portion of the province in and around the city was still restricted and held the same penalty–death–for trespassing (other than the Council representatives). Threat of civil war began approximately five years ago when one of the daughters of the current Shaman-Priest, along with her husband, were hunting just outside of FrostRight city. The husband and wife were only a day away from the FrostRight gate in one of the few fertile plains when they happened upon a dying man, frostbitten and unable to move. The dying man said he wasn’t there to ruin their lands, but was looking for his son, a young, arrogant explorer who had been separated from a rogue adventure group that had intentionally wandered near the city of FrostRight. Following any leads he could, the man set off alone where he ran into trouble, eventually collapsing in a pine copse at a meadows edge. Though the FrostRight woman’s father was the Shaman-Priest, the two were not of the same mind regarding the treatment of outsiders and she considered her father too stubborn on the matter. Both she and her husband took the man back to FrostRight in secrecy and nursed him back to health.
Even with their best efforts, the couple couldn’t hide the man for long. News quickly spread that a foreigner was being held somewhere within the city and a bounty was placed on his head. Further, the Shaman-Priest exiled the couple, his own daughter and son in law, for harboring a foreigner. Before they were exiled however, the couple helped the man escape from the city, undetected by the Shaman-Priest’s search parties. When the couple returned to their house, an angry mob was waiting. Though their connection to the fugitive wasn’t yet proven, many were certain the Shaman Priests daughter and husband were harboring him. When the couple wouldn’t reply as to what they were doing, the mob threatened their lives if they didn’t leave with their young son immediately. Only given enough time in the city to gather their three year old son the couple entered their house and left behind something the rescued man wished for the rest of FrostRight to see. So at the end of a thousand spears, the family was forced out of the protective wall, claiming all the while that what they did was right and not every outsider meant to harm the land. After the family was exiled from FrostRight half the citizens were outraged by the act, and the other half felt allowing them to live was too kind. While the Shaman-Priest stood by his decision, many demanded the policy be changed. Tensions peaked when those against the Shaman-Priest’s rules began rioting. Luckily, and with the aid of the Provincial Dignitaries, the tensions cooled to their usual climate.
Because the city had already entered into a new age and change was inevitable, half the city was warming up to the idea of outsiders and the improvements they could bring.
To this day, reports coming from the Provincial dignitaries tell that, though they have softened after the initial climax in hostility, the debates continue amongst the natives of FrostRight as to the future of their lands and policies. Because news has been slow in coming, it is assumed that the debates have yet to change anything. However the latest reports from the Provincial Councilors say that things “are looking positive”. What that will eventually mean has yet to be seen.
Additionally, the Provincial Council has decided a railline will be built at least to Seratov and possibly farther north. If it does indeed go farther north (for research purposes it is said) it will not end as far north as FrostRight. Regardless of where it exactly ends, the proximity to FrostRight will only make the delicate situation between the Shaman-Priest and the rest of Atla more difficult. It is only a matter of time before the news (which has been carefully kept from FrostRight) reaches the Shaman Priest.
