Dead Place and Winter Ruins

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 20:09:21 +1200


Emmanuel Ponette:

>my players plan to spend some times around dwarf knoll and the Dead Place. I
>found some info on Dwarf knoll in TotRM but I can find any information
>(what is it, who/what live there, the myths, the history, some rumors,...)
>about Dead Place and the Winter Ruin. Does anybody know where I can find some?

Dead Place

         In his fight with the Devil, the Storm Bull was thrown to
         the ground, nearly dead.  Eiritha stripped the earth of
         its power and gave it all to her lover.  With renewed
         strength he leapt up to continue the fight which he
         eventually won.

         The Dead Place is what remained, a region of flat,
         sun-baked terraces broken by steep gullies.  Only the
         hardiest of plants grow there, and they are mainly
         poisonous.  When the frequent flash floods bring
         water to the area it dries quickly, leaving a fine
         alkaline dust which hangs in the air.  Anyone entering,
         man or forced beast, must be provided with sufficient
         water and food to make the journey, which takes three
         to four times as long as normal, because of the hostile
         environment.

         The magical potency of the land has never regenerated,
         and the land consumes all power used within.  While in
         the Dead Place it is impossible to regain lost magic
         points, and even reusable Divine spells are permanently
         lost if cast here.
                         Drastic: Prax p9

         Father of Independents:  [...] was a victim of the War
         of the Gods, crippled to become a ferryman to the gods.
         He escaped but, returning to Prax, was captured and put
         to a similar task in the Dead Place, where he served
         with admirable ability.
                         Tales #15 p11

Winter Ruins

         In the Godtime, the Sun God's daughter once complained
         of being cold, so Genert took all the cold gods and
         imprisoned them in their palace.  There they remained
         during the Golden Age, and so the world was always
         warm.  One day, Trickster convinced Sun Daughter that
         she was too warm so she asked him to make her world
         perfect again.  The prison was eventually broken (some
         say with Thunder Bird's aid), and the winter gods aided
         their cousin Ragnaglar in ruining Tada's land.  Only one
         deity remained, the gentle White Princess, who stayed
         behind to help the mortals her father and brothers had
         harmed.

         The Winter Ruins are grand and magnificent, even in their
         broken state.  The stone is translucent white, which glares
         like ice when the sun's light reflects from it.  The ruins
         occupy the only place in the Dead Place where magic works,
         for the palace held up Storm Bull's shoulder, keeping it
         from touching the ground.  Like her kin, White Princess has
         left the old ruins, so now any spirit may be contacted here.
                         Drastic Prax p8

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