The City of Aramoor

The first thing the City Watch saw from their walls and towers was the frost creeping over the forest and across the meadow that separated Aramoor from the dark forests that covered the Norkari Mountains. They murmured to themselves, aware that it had to be some dark and twisted magic that came from the White Mountain -- a mountain that had once been obscured in constant blizzards, too far to feel the cold, but was now crystal clear and glittering beneath the Spring Sun.

The frost crept over the walls, and there was nothing the soldiers could do to stop it. What could they do, truly? The frost crept over everything, every stone, every wheel. It froze the water of the river, thickening and thickening until it trapped boats in the harbor and caused panic to rise. The temperatures dropped. Children cried. Elders shook. The quick cold naturally caught immune systems by surprise, and people scrambled for their homes; for warm hearths and blankets and clothing to keep themselves warm.

Ice followed the frost, hardening, making it hard for fires to stay alight. A party went towards the woods to go to the Witch Upon the Mountain that surely must have done this, but great fae beasts emerged from the forest line, towering mastodons of white fur and tusks and spikes that sprouted from their body -- razorsharp and made of ice. 

The men fell back under their strength, their great trunks swinging men from left to right. They were able to minorly wound the beasts, but they couldn't stop them as they came towards the walls and the towers. The javelins they threw caused the beasts to scream in agony, iron making them steam, but it wasn't enough.

And as they crashed into the walls, the ice army came upon the city like a scourge. This army made of ice and snow were not effective as warriors, but the Frost Queen didn't need effective warriors. She needed numbers, and the numbers overwhelmed.

With the first wave of this ice warriors, a second wave then did come, of winter fae creatures that were far more skilled than the others. Terror reigned in Aramoor as snow and ice and frost covered every building and every person that stayed too still, that tried to hide in closets or cupboards.

Some remained living. Many, in fact, although they were mostly women and children and the elderly and they were herded into the main square while the last of the warrior-like men of Aramoor were hunted down in the city streets to be slain if they did not concede. A great gale swept over the city, making all turn their eyes and faces away who were of warm mortal blood, and there...

... in the center of the square...

Stood the beautiful, enchanting Frost Queen herself. Her starlight hair swayed down her back, a beautiful, sparkling crown within the tresses. Her gown was white and silver, made of ice and frost and snow and it was as enchanting as the rest of her. Indeed, it was hard to look away, and her red, red lips smiled at them.

"Do not be afraid," she said to them as she stepped forward, her long, long train trailing behind her and chiming quietly, like icicles caught on a wintry breeze. "I am here to protect you," the Frost Queen told the mortals that shivered beneath her swirling blue gaze. "I am here to nurture you, and mother you, and be your deserved and beloved Queen."

One by one, they fell to their knees -- willingly, or because they had been impaled with ice. The Frost Queen smiled as she walked through the courtyard at her domain, at the people that were now her own. But she felt it. She felt a small glimmer of resistance, and in a blur of snow, she swept herself up into the air, only to then...

... land in the alley way where the Lone Warrior still stood. She looked around at the carnage, and she gasped. "My children," she cried at the sight of the dead fae, their wounds still burning from the iron that he'd sliced through them, given his blade.

She could sense warm bodies beyond the door where the Lone Warrior stood guarding, and more of her fae creatures -- alive -- were at her back.

"You have courage," the Frost Queen said to the man... but ice grew, thick and razor sharp all around her as he opened her palms. "But not enough." The javelins went crashing through the air, and while the Lone Warrior was, indeed, a mighty warrior, she was an unstoppable sorceress of terrifying power.

She felt a thrill at the way the man so valiantly fended off most of the icicles with armor or draining prowess, but she felt even more of a thrill when two pierced into his body, making him sink to his knees.

Neia walked towards him, her hips swaying as she did so, her long starlight hair beautiful down her back. The vision of her was so at odds with the darkness that was in her soul, with the darkness that seemed to pulse from the ring she wore upon her finger.

"You killed my children," the Frost Queen said, "so I'll kill yours." She glanced over her shoulder to the fae creatures behind her. "Throw him in the river. I'd prefer not to have him as one of my decorations."

She stepped over his prone body, her long gown chiming with the ice crystals that moved as she did, and the doors to his home blasted open with a toss of her hand, an icy gale shattering the wood and iron that was supposed to keep his family safe. As the fae creatures clapped onto his arms and dragged him away, the last thing the Lone Warrior would hear were screams.

The screams of his wife and his daughter.

And then there was only the frigid ice of the river, carrying his presumed corpse far, far away from Aramoor and the Wintry Fortress it had now become.

The city guard -- a lesser fae creature -- nodded his head and issued the command. The Fae creatures took off, slipping through the city streets, banging on doors, ushering the terrified people back into the square again where they shivered and shook. They needed warmth, and no one had advised the Frost Queen that mortals would need such a thing.

Standing in the square, with wolves and fae alike surrounding them, some prayed and some shivered. Surely this was the end? Surely they would die now. Ships were trapped in the bay, storefronts abandoned with the frost that had come. They had had winters, yes, but none like the one that currently blanketed the once thriving city of Aramoor.

The Fae, threatened by these New Wolves on the Block immediately dropped down into their own defensive positions, what little glamour they had around their forms slipping away to look like the true creatures they were. They bore their teeth and their claws, their glacial eyes glowing blue, hissing at the werewolves that surrounded them.

Screams arose from the people in the square. Was there to be yet another battle within Aramoor? Fenrir, only so recently blessed by the Frost Queen herself, seemed as a monster to them, the people there having never seen such beasts with such weaponry before. They could little tell the difference between fae and wolf as all of them seemed to come from this wintry nightmare that had come upon their citadel.

"Watch your tongue, dog," hissed the Captain of the City Guard, a particularly gruesome looking fae, "we have done exactly as our queen commanded."

Which was true, in essence. The Winter Fae -- they cared little for mortal beings, for their wants and their needs. Or perhaps, it wasn't so much that they didn't care as they didn't know. They lived without care or thought for the biting cold of winter, and although they could see that the humans were cold, they expected them to be competent enough to not-die. It simply did not occur to the fae to provide assistance to the helpless creatures, which was a product of ignorant negligence, not intentional.

Fenrir held the Captain in his gaze, completely unphased by his appearance.

"You would do well to show respect, I am here under the Frost Queen's orders to take command and turn these humans into warriors for her. So you can do as I ask or will I have the Frost Queen know that you were deliberately opposing her orders."

Fenrir was no fool, the Fae were arrogant bastards, and would take no threat from him seriously. A threat from their Queen however should convince them to cooperate. And if didn't...well then he would just have to beat some cooperation into them.

The Arctic Wolves lowered their weapons as the Fae Guard complied with the Alpha's orders. As the Fae got the fires and furs ready, the wolves moved throughout the people, shepherding them into groups so that they could ensure an even distribution of the populace around the fires and that as many as possible received the furs. Once everyone was in the groups, Fenrir would begin speaking, as his wolves moved through the crowds, selecting those that were able-bodied.

"Greetings, Citizens of Aramoor. I am Fenrir Skargard, Alpha of the Arctic Wolves and a representative of the Frost Queen. You all, as her people, are obliged to serve her in any way she sees fit. In this instance, she desires those of you who are able-bodied to join her army. My wolves and I will be training you to serve in such a capacity, but first, anyone who has any prior combat experience or training should step forward."

The people were divvied up by the wolves, the men less willing to work with the beastmen than the women, who were mostly too afraid to do much else. The men were sneering, although when the fae brought their heaps of wood to light fires, they seemed to flock to them. Snow was sprinkled on everyone's hair and shoulders, the bitter chill of the air biting at their noses and cheeks, turning them pink.

The fourteen year old boy came forward, and one man sneered at the way he groveled. He stepped forward, powerfully built, scarred, and by the way he moved, obviously a man that was used to war and combat. Why he did not fight until his last breath was not yet uncovered.

"What reason have we to do anything for the Frost Queen? She's invaded our homes and destroyed out city."

But the man wasn't saying no.... he just wanted incentive, it seemed. All the others seemed to be staring at Fenrir, wondering how he would react. Among those staring was the Captain of the Guard, no doubt eager to report to the Frost Queen he'd been threatened with if it seemed like Fenrir was making too many promises, or not handling his business very well.

The Alpha looked at the man appraisingly, wanting a reason to fight was a good sign. Even the Wolves did not fight just for the sake of it and he could not fault the man for asking. The boy's grovelling was disgusting though, and he addressed him first.

"Boy, stabbing someone in the back is different from combat." His tone was dismissive and he waved the boy away.

"And yet she spared you. Should the people of Aramoor cooperate, I will do my best to get the Frost Queen to return the City to its former status and allow things to progress as close as possible to the way they used to, just under new leadership. Should the city not cooperate...I am only here because the Queen asked me to train warriors, if the people do not cooperate then there are no warriors to train and no reason for me to be here. My wolves and I will then depart, leaving you in the hands of the Fae, who know not what mortal beings need. So it is up to you."

His tone was definite and he meant the words he said. If they refused to lift a finger he would begin to kill them, slowly expanding his definition of "able-bodied" until it included everyone, the sick, the old and the young.