The Frostmarch Expanse

“Where wind carves memory into stone, and spirit lingers with the snow.”

Geographic Overview

The Frostmarch Expanse lies in the heart of northern Ryokuzan, bridging the mystical heights of Veilrend to the east and the fortified frontier of Shinzoku Reach to the west. Its terrain is a harsh yet hauntingly beautiful blend of open tundra, dense snow-frosted forests, glacier-fed rivers, and lowland bogs. The landscape shifts with the seasons—whiteout winters, fleeting sun-hazed summers, and aurora-lit skies during the long autumns.

Historical Background

Mythic Age (~3000+ years ago): Frostmarch legends say the land was sculpted by a sky-born giant named Haemosan, whose breath became the cold winds and whose heart froze the rivers. Some of the tribes believe his spirit still slumbers in the earth, guiding those who respect the land.

The Totem Age (~2000 years ago): The earliest settled peoples—Lyrians, humans, Kray and Oni—developed unique animistic traditions tied to beasts, stars, and ancestral spirits. Oral traditions tell of the Thousand-Tusk Pact, a mythical agreement between the four peoples to share hunting grounds and protect sacred sites.

The Era of Broken Pacts (~1000 years ago): Internal wars over spirit lands, winter resources, and sacred beasts shattered the fragile harmony. Some tribes turned to forbidden Glyph-binding rituals to control weather and beasts. This era ended in catastrophe when the White Maelstrom (a magical aurora-storm) swept the region, freezing entire tribes in place and forever warping parts of the land.

Current Era: Since the Auroran Accord two centuries ago, most tribes returned to a peaceful, if tenuous, balance. Inter-tribal councils meet during solstices, but independence remains sacred. Outsiders are rare, and treated with cautious respect—or open hostility.

Cultural Influences & Core Themes

The cultures of Frostmarch draw heavily from ancient Korean values and aesthetics:

Emphasis on lineage, nature reverence, and ancestral spirits.

Shaman-priests wear ceremonial garments resembling hanbok robes trimmed with fur and bone.

Architecture uses curved stone walls, timber-framed yurts, and kudzu-draped totems, often built on stilts to avoid ground frost.

Music features haunting flutes and drums that mimic the wind’s cadence; dance rituals reenact aurora legends or beast hunts.

Combat often employs curved blades, polearms, and composite bows designed for use on snow-covered terrain.

Major Tribes of the Frostmarch

The Molguran Oni Clans

Known as the Fire Under Ice, these Oni live in subterranean fortress-holds beneath glacier shelves and rocky hills.

Masters of thermal stonework and glacial forging, they harness volcanic vents to create froststeel—metal that resists extreme cold and Glyphs that channel magical heat.

The clans are ruled by a Forge-King or Forge-Queen, guided by Dreamseers who read the future in ash and flame through intense meditation and tether control.

Famous Clans:

Clan Kaesul: The oldest lineage, known for blood-duels, fire tattoos, and forging blades said to sever spirits.

Clan Dorimak: Ice-breakers and wall-builders, they construct communal long-halls beneath the permafrost.

The Hraskari Lyrians

Arctic mammal-featured Lyrians—snow wolves, white foxes, musk oxen, and snow leopards.

Organized in roaming familial bands that follow migratory herds and spiritual landmarks.

Hold deep respect for aurora spirits, which they believe to be the whispers of gods watching from beyond the stars.

They build temporary spirit lodges marked with feathered totems and singing stones that resonate during high winds.

Prominent Tribes:

The Suwol: Snow leopard Lyrians famed for their agility and the Moonlit Stalk, a martial art performed under auroras.

The Baekdan: Elk-featured and spiritually devout, they serve as peace mediators and keepers of ancient winter prophecies.

The Kavreni Humans

Subarctic humans who live in ice-clad coastal villages and deep forest compounds.

Skilled in bonecraft, snow-weaving, and wind-scribing—a tradition where messages are inscribed on frozen leaves or driftwood and sent via the wind.

Ruled by Council of Elders, though each clan retains its own Spirit-Warder, a priest-mage who communes with land and beast spirits.

Notable Clans:

The Jinsori: Revered for their storm-callers, who can summon lightning and wind through dance.

The Myongrak: Keepers of aurora lore and claim descent from a celestial fox spirit.

The Yuhwa Clan (Human Tribe)

"Keepers of the Crystal Flame"

Overview:

The Yuhwa dwell in cliffside stone fortresses overlooking glacial passes in the eastern arm of Haemosan’s Spine. Known for their ceremonial fire-dance rituals, elegant court traditions, and resilience, they are a reclusive people with deep ancestral pride. Their tribe name comes from Lady Yuhwa, a legendary heroine said to have caught a falling star and forged it into a sacred torch to guide her people during the Age of Ice.

Key Features:

Inspired by the aristocratic scholar-warrior clans of ancient Korea (akin to yangban), but adapted to a shamanic, survivalist culture.

Mastery of crystal fire, a rare magical flame harvested from aurora-charged pyres that burns cold and wards off spirit-possessed frost.

Wear fur-lined silken robes dyed in aurora hues, decorated with flame-motif embroidery and star-shaped bone clasps.

Maintain genealogical fire-altars where every generation's ashes are merged with memory stones and burned in sacred ceremonies.

Protect ancient star-engraved tablets that foretell spiritual awakenings and celestial disasters.

The Gomjil Kinband (Lyrian Tribe)

"Children of the Winter Bear"

Overview:

These bear-featured arctic Lyrians are among the largest and physically strongest in the region. In contrast to their intimidating size, they are gentle philosophers, spiritual dancers, and Glyph-callers who dwell in ancient megalithic halls carved into cliffs and hills surrounding Haemosan’s Spine.

Key Features:

Inspired by ancient mountain hermits and geomancers (sanin) of Korean legend, known for their closeness to nature and spiritual solitude.

Believe themselves descended from a divine bear spirit who meditated in ice for a thousand years.

Their spiritual leaders are Stonecallers, who sing to the earth and carve massive runes that guide or warn future generations.

They observe a ritual called the Still Hunt, where young warriors must track a shadow-beast in complete silence for three days without violence.

Their architecture features carved guardian bears, vaulted stone roofs, and heated floors using volcanic steam chambers.

The Seonkran Delve (Kray Clan)

"The Forgers Beneath the Sleeping Sky-Giant"

Overview:

The Seonkran Kray reside in the deep caves and stone halls beneath Haemosan’s Spine, where they mine corbinite-imbued obsidian and glacier-forged steel. Fiercely traditional and insular, they view the mountain as a living deity and themselves as its stewards and voice.

Key Features:

Highly ritualized stoneworking and forging culture, blending Kray craftsmanship with geomantic rites and spirit appeasement.

Forge blades said to sing beneath the corbinite and armor that vibrates in response to incoming threats.

Their elders are Echo-Fathers and Echo-Mothers, Kray who claim to hear Haemosan’s heartbeat in the earth.

Practice stone-script prophecy—a sacred craft of carving messages left by ancestral Kray in spiral-lined halls beneath the mountain.

Fierce defenders of their sacred underground halls, but will trade rare metals, enchanted furnace-stones, and spiritual warding tools to the Yuhwa and Gomjil in exchange for aurora silk or bear-fat oils.

Sacred & Dangerous Locations

Haemosan's Spine

A ridge of jagged mountains said to be the frozen bones of the Sky-Giant Haemosan.

Home to frost dragons and ancestral grave-shrines carved into the cliffs.

Only the most daring shamans venture here during the Night of Falling Stars to speak with ancient spirits.

The Pale Mirror (Lake Naerim)

A massive frozen lake that reflects more than just physical forms—it shows the reflection of a person’s soul.

Used in vision quests, but also feared: some who look too long vanish into the ice.

The Whispering Thorns

A vast pine forest where the wind itself carries voices of the dead.

Bound spirits roam here in the form of ice wisps—harmless unless provoked.

Many tribal trials involve spending a night alone in the thorns.

The Emberglass Caverns

A network of obsidian tunnels where molten crystal veins glow beneath the ice.

The Molguran Oni mine here, protected by Glyphs bound into enchanted statues.

Threats & Mysteries

Aurora Wraiths: Phantom beasts of ice and starlight, believed to be born from spiritual imbalance. Harmless unless drawn by fear or grief.

Icebound Dead: Remnants of the White Maelstrom—perfectly preserved warriors locked in ice, some still animate under certain moons.

Wendrig Shades: Spirits of cannibals cursed to roam the land in bodies of ice and bark.

The Frozen Eye: A rumored construct of ancient origin that lies buried beneath the tundra—said to be a magical lens through which Haemosan once watched the stars.