As the drowsy heat of summer gave way to autumn in the year 478 A.F.,
the season's change brought with it a cold and biting wind better
suited to the freezing temperatures of winter. One day, without warning,
an enormous whirling maelstrom of white snow spiralled into view above
central Sapience. The spiralling cyclone of snow expanded, sending great
white flurries down towards the earth. Muffled by the falling snow,
chilling howls resonated from within the blizzards.

Disturbing reports were soon circulating of ice demons, previously only
sighted in the frozen north, skulking within the blizzards and preying
upon all those they came across. Sightings of an ice demon known as
Kolyartus, the Blizzard, who appeared to be their leader, rose to
the forefront. This massive, vicious ice demon had been encountered
before in the minotaur settlement of Hriddan, imprisoned by the minotaur
tribe there, but how he had come to escape so far south and whence the
blizzards came remained a mystery. He wore an ice-blue circlet upon his
brow which appeared to protect him from harm.

Some time before, the House of the Sentinels of Nature had come into
possession of a weapon called the Spear of the Watcher, a living spear
grown from a seed. Wielding this Spear, the Sentinel named Agrias
relentlessly hunted Kolyartus through the blizzards. Meanwhile, a young
apprentice of Maklak, the ice wizard of the tundra, wandered central
Sapience in search of Kolyartus. To those who he came across, he
shamefully explained that he had been sent by Maklak to Hriddan to
capture Kolyartus, a circlet enchanted with ice magic by his master
entrusted to him to assist in his task. Kolyartus had tricked the
circlet from him, however, and subverting its power, escaped Hriddan
with his minions.

Chancing upon Agrias, the apprentice sensed the power in the Spear of
the Watcher and instructed Agrias in how it might be used to defeat
Kolyartus. Armed with this knowledge, Agrias was able to direct the
Spear's force at the circlet that protected Kolyartus, which melted away
to nothingness. The unnatural blizzards slowed, then ceased, bringing an
end to the ice demons' rampage.

After striking the circlet, however, the Spear of the Watcher had been
transformed into a glittering ice-spear. Suspicious of the
transformation, a party of Achaeans journeyed to Maklak's tower within
the tundra to question the ice wizard. Maklak seemed to be furious at
his apprentice's failure, and more so that his ice magic had passed from
the circlet to the Spear of the Watcher. Asserting that the Spear
rightfully belonged to him now that it contained the ice magic from his
circlet, Maklak demanded it be turned over to him. When the demand was
denied, his rage knew no bounds. The audience soon escalated into a
confrontation that left the overpowered but proud ice wizard dead,
leaving many questions unanswered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As central Sapience thawed, more trouble lay upon the horizon. Far to
the south, thick smoke filled the Aalen forest as leaping flames
threatened to consume the tall redwoods of the tsol'aa homeland. In
vain, allies of Nature fought to douse the blaze, only to discover small
pools of liquid fire reigniting the underbrush. Soon the lava was found
within the Vashnar mountains, the Dakhota hills, and the Svannah,
cutting a fiery path as far as the Northreach forest. Regular dousing
only delayed the devastation, as fires spread at an alarming rate from
the scorching lava.

Finally, hope was renewed as a cube of elemental ice temporarily cooled
the lava. Bombarding the lava with the base form of the element,
forestals breathed a collective sigh of relief as their efforts
succeeded in transforming the lava into blackened rocks. But who had
wrought these events in the first place? Adventurers pointed to the
tsol'aa Tsellias, found hiding in a barrow mound deep in the Northreach
forest. Far from his Aalen home, Tsellias fled those who pursued him,
falling quickly at the hands of a furious forestal, and recalling few
details upon his return from the Halls of Maya. A cooled pool of lava
remains outside his home, however, a hapless circumstance that has left
many wondering what exactly his involvement might have been.

Penned by My hand on the 25th of Daedalan, in the year 479 AF.