On The Creation of the Icespire
A report to the Lord Mayor of Irongate
by Relken Nashalla, 569 CY

In the 565th year of our Empire, on the 9th of Wealsun, the Lezt Lechtfeur was the site of a magical disaster of unknown origin. Over 120 people were at the beacon when this happened. None appears to have survived. In the aftermath of the disaster, most people renamed the Lezt Lechtfeur the name it bears today, Icespire.

The beacon stood upon a small promontory of land along the eastern part of Ahlissa’s northern coast. The beacon served to warn ships traveling along the coast of the dangerous rocks which lay offshore, and were the result of numerous shipwrecks until the beacon was completed in the 217th year of our Empire. The tower stood over 100 feet tall, it’s top containing the actual beacon itself, lit by a continual light spell. A small keep was attached to the tower in the 410th year of our Empire. This is where the majority of the inhabitants of the Lezt Lechtfeur resided. The imperial garrison here was mainly used to discourage piratical raids upon the area, and to deal with the occasional bandit raid.

A series of sea-caves were located along the southern side of the promontory, and were rumored to contain the tomb of either a powerful Suel or ancient Flan mage. The truth of the matter was never determined, as those few who braved the caves generally failed to return. During the construction of the keep, it is known that one of the caverns was breached during the construction of a level underneath the beacon. Several of the workers disappeared immediately afterwards, although the reason was never determined. The cavern was sealed off, and the disappearances stopped.

In the 561st year of our Empire, the mage Torvish Hachalm was assigned to Lezt Lechtfeur. It is known that he had an interest in the sea-caves beneath the promontory, and whatever their contents were. It is unknown what he discovered within the caverns below the beacon, but it is known that he apparently re-opened the sealed chamber, as several former soldiers from the garrison have asserted. It is believed that whatever he found, it was responsible for the destruction of the garrison and the current condition of the beacon.

Near the end of the month of Wealsun, the Herzog of Ahlissa sent a small force of soldiers (roughly 200 men) to investigate what happened to the beacon and it’s garrison. Only two returned, both of them madmen after encountering whatever currently laired within the beacon. Both men were extensively questioned, as best as could be, but little could be gained from their insane ranting about creatures of hideous cold, ice, and darkness. Both died within a year of their return from the accursed beacon.

The Herzog then commissioned a handful of diviners to determine what happened to the garrison there. The first, Aldara Nashalla, ended up as mad as the soldiers who managed to make it out of the beacon alive. She killed herself a week later, without having revealed anything new to the Herzog’s men. Travik von Estmesse, the second diviner, was found frozen to death after his attempt to learn more about the beacon. The third was Karl Zavnen. He had more success than the first two, and managed to record a small amount of information before his mind was wiped clean by whatever he saw. Later, he was able to recover, and is the only one of the diviners to have lived to see the next year. Devon Ishnaod and Lyrassa Veron were both reduced to madness, similar to Aldara Nashalla, and both killed themselves shortly thereafter (Lyrassa Veron by throwing herself from the battlements of Zelradton). Stephane du Chathold, the last of the diviners, and among the strongest, had the marrow within his bones frozen moments after he began his spells. Needless to say, he died.

The Herzog refused to waste any further lives on the mysteries of Icespire, and so it stands today, a gleaming spire of blue-white ice, gleaming in the sun. It’s deadly cold extends for several miles around the old beacon, and none dare approach it now. In the far north, where such cold is more commonplace, the chill would be dangerous. Here, in the southern reaches of the empire, it’s exceedingly deadly. Those who were foolish enough to venture too close to the spire have lost limbs to the deathly chill. Perhaps it is best that the cold is so deadly, for it keeps the foolish away from the old beacon, and away from the horrors within.


Also, see Karl Zavnen's Notes on Icespire and the Tale of Kaldak von Shargallen for more on the site known as Icespire.