A translucent blanket of white obscured the horizon, with loose threads forming small pockets of clear space, though they were few and far between. Adam’s half-elven sight could not see quite so far, though the giants seemed to fare better. The giants were born and raised within the north, the snowlands, and so their sight was used to seeing all the white. Their eyes often twitched and they would stop and speak with one another, short grunts in giant.

They had only travelled for a few hours, but Adam already felt isolated. He felt even more isolated than when he was with the party. He didn’t speak giant, and he hadn’t grown up learning their short phrases, so he kept to himself. He trailed behind every so often, too busy looking out at the expansive whiteness, before catching up. He noticed that one of the giants, a woman who wielded one of those large axes he had seen, kept near him.

She was tall, like any other giant, and was more muscular than most. Her entire body was filled with rune carvings and tattoos, though she was covered with a large cloak now. Adam wondered if she was assigned to him, or if she took it upon herself to remain near him. A shudder ran through his spine as he thought about whether or not she was like Entalia. He hoped to not look over his shoulder with her. He decided to stick close to the woman, that way he could keep tabs on her as well.

“I’m Adam,” Adam said to the woman.

“Kara,” the woman replied, her voice low and soft.

“What are they doing?” He asked, partly because he was curious, but also to gain some rapport with the woman he was going to be travelling with.

“They are scanning the snow,” she said. “Though you may be unable to see it, there are differences with the snow. Some snow is old, and so reflects how long it has been since there has been a storm. Other snow seems to be displaced from higher in the mountain, meaning there has been an avalanche. Some snow,” she pointed towards some snow in the distance, “is snow from magic.”

“Magic? What kind of magic?”

“Magic of the ice spirits,” she said, looking out into the distance. She pointed ahead, to a place Adam’s half-elven eyes couldn’t differentiate. “They summon the snow in order to keep healthy. Some try to keep their mana within themselves and then explode into the harsh snow storms we sometimes face.”

“They explode? Why would they want to do that?” Adam asked, surprised that spirits would want to potentially kill themselves for their greed.

“Some do it on purpose, to spite those who had wronged them. Others believe they can surpass their limitations, and so try to consume as much essence as they can, but often times explode. There are more reasons I’m sure, but these are the most common reasons.”

Adam nodded his head. These were the reasons which people often found to sabotage themselves. They would do it out of pride or spitefulness, the killers of most men. Adam wondered if he’d ever fall prey to it, only to realise how ridiculous the statement was. Of course he would.

“We will be following the mountain,” she said, pointing towards some more snow. The snow went upwards, reaching towards the sky, and Adam assumed it was the mountain. He looked aside to see the snow continued along fairly flat. At least there was something he could use as a landscape. The big snow instead of the flat snow. Perhaps he was beginning to learn the differences between the snows. Was he becoming more of a frost giant?

“Are the icewyrms found near the mountains?” Adam asked, looking up towards the snow heading up towards the heavens. He followed the snow until it melted with the sky. He wondered if Kara could see the differences between the sky and the snow on the mountain.

“They are,” she said. “Though we hope to find the wild icewyrms. They are worth more, and bring more prestige.”

“Is that what we’re aiming for? Prestige?”

“This is a challenge for Chief Joti. He and his brother, Chief Gutt, are aiming to find the greatest prize for the festival. It is an honour to claim the greatest prize.”

“I can only assume it is the case,” Adam replied. “I suppose I’ll do my best then…” Adam’s voice grew quiet as he looked around the serene white. It was as though he was in a ghost world, a world so different to his own. This snow was so different to the snow he had travelled through to get to Muten.

“Why did he pick me to come along?” Adam asked Kara, turning to look at the woman to see if she knew any insights on Joti’s thoughts.

“You are strong,” she replied back as though it was so simple. “He has heard of your capabilities, and he has spoken highly of what he has seen. The stronger the warriors sent out to an expedition, the lower the chance of death.”

“I can’t say that’s a bad plan,” Adam said, smiling to himself. He could become rather bashful whenever he was complimented so blatantly. “I’m very inexperienced though. It could cause the demise of our party.”

“If there is something which causes the demise of our party, you will have little to do with it. Four frost giants and a powerful being such as yourself? There are few things which we cannot defeat. Whatever kills us will have earned the right to.”

“Well…” Adam rubbed his forehead. “I don’t plan on dying.”

“Nor do I.”

Silence soon encompassed them, though that didn’t last long. As they continued their silent journey, Joti stopped them. He turned to look back to the group and then bowed his head knowingly before he began to chant. His words were low as he cast his magic.

Kara led Adam forward so they were closer to the party. As Joti's magic came into effect, like a tiger bouncing from the trees, snow shot towards the group. The howling wind picked up in an instant, though both were stopped by an invisible dome which had taken root around them.

Adam looked around in alarm, reaching down to the hilt of his blade. The cool wood reassured him, though he wasn't sure how he felt about reaching for his sword at the first signs of trouble. He caught the sight of the others, who didn't reach for their weapons. Instead they slowly trekked after Joti, who led the way forward with his low chanting.

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“What was that?” Adam asked as the wind and snow continued to whip at the invisible barrier like a beast unleashed. He could see the white of the snow and wind strike at the barrier repeatedly, though it did not break under the abuse.

“A storm has begun,” Kara said. “These kinds of storm appear often this far away from our cities.”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Adam said, thinking about their journey. They had walked fairly quickly, considering they were moving through heavy snow, and it had been only a few hours.

“That is the way of the north,” Kara replied simply. She spoke in such a matter of fact tone that he was taken aback. Was this something so obvious?

“Is it a natural phenomena?” Adam asked, keeping close with the other giants, his eyes darting around to see that the wind and snow had not yet let up against the barrier.

“In some way, yes.” Kara bowed her head. “Long ago the north was clear. It snowed, as it had for centuries, but something occurred to cause the spirits to leave the realm of our folk, and then become intertwined with other realms. Now they face in and out, and sometimes these storms appear. We aren’t certain they are connected, but they seem to be.”

“Sounds like they are, but what makes you unsure?”

“There are a few other theories we hold. Some say it is because of a forgotten betrayal, one which has not been carved on the bodies of giants since a time long forgotten.”

“That sounds awful,” Adam replied. “So there’s history that’s unforgotten?”

“Much of our history before a certain century. There are only rumours and myths, ones we pass on through our words rather than our runes.”

“Your runes, are they closer to words of law?”

“They are our runes, our words, those we wish to engrave by price of blood. Our runes are most important. When we accept a rune, they become us, forming our shape. When we, as a people, remove a rune, it is a time of sadness.”

“What happens when your remove a rune?”

“They become our words, spoken, but not carved. We renew our runes every generation, whenever the next heir of the family is decided, they choose, with the advice of their parents, which runes they should accept. They may choose to accept with some advice as well.”

“It seems like it’s a shared process. Is it a community thing?”

“It is. It does not effect yourself, but your children, and their children too. When we give up a rune, much is lost with it.” She frowned, the thought of it hurting her through her giant exterior.

‘These giants are human after all,’ Adam thought. The woman, whose body made him look like a child with her bulging muscles, seemed so much smaller within her thoughts.

They continued like this, travelling forward through the storm. They moved slower now, with Joti’s chanting cutting through the silence. The chanting giant no longer moved as quickly as he had, instead walking at half his usual pace. The white in the distance grew blurry, and the whipping snow and wind continued to assault them throughout the hours.

The giant with the large greatsword grunted something in their language, motioning his head forward. Adam followed their sight to see what they were pointing at.

Perception

D20 + 5 = 25 (20)

As his eyes saw through the snow, he caught the glimpse of something small and dark. As they approached, they found a large rock on the ground. It was dark, not black, but a dark grey like faded charcoal. Runes were carved deep into the stone, filled with some snow and ice, though there was a slot at the top. Joti walked over to it, humming as he grabbed his weapon and then slammed it into the snow, the runes on the rock glowing as the barrier extended and the chanting fell silent.

Adam looked around to see the barrier was still around them even though the giant wasn’t singing any longer. “Is that how that works?” he asked, looking to Joti.

Joti bowed his head. “We use the vein within the earth to channel the power of our spells,” he said, looking around the barrier before then dropping down to a knee in front of the rune. He grabbed onto a small rock, grunting something in giant, before he dropped the stone into his pack. Kara passed along another stone, in which Joti marked something onto it and then buried it beside the rune stone before praying quietly.

“We will rest here for the night,” Joti said. “We cannot continue our journey, it will be too dangerous to continue without a nearby runestone. Tomorrow we will travel to another, and then we will make our way further up the mountain to the runeforge.”

Adam’s ears twitched. “Did you say runeforge?” he asked, looking to the other giants quickly and then back to Joti.

“The runeforge is a safe area where we can rest and recuperate properly. The storms do not reach the area.”

“Right,” Adam said. “It sounds like it’s a forge.”

“It is a forge,” Joti said, nodding his head.

Adam thought about the forge, wondering what it would look like. “Are we going to use it?”

“Yes.”

Adam smiled to himself. A runeforge… what was a runeforge? He wanted to ask, but he had been asking questions the entire time, so he decided to keep silent. Instead he joined the giants to eat, grabbing onto a ration. It was like a thick biscuit, the size of his hand. The giant’s food was much bigger, obviously, and a little darker. The taste of his biscuit was extremely bland, and he looked down at it. “What is this?”

“Longbrett,” Joti replied as he bit into his own. His definitely seemed far more crunchy, whereas Adam’s was a little softer. “They last for months at a time.” He motioned with a hand to Adam’s. “Yours are made for a human’s tongue.”

“A human’s tongue? What’s the difference?”

“It’s not as hard as ice, and not so bland.”

Adam bit into his. “Not so bland?” All he could taste was the blandness. “Yours is more bland?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m glad you gave me this one.” Adam raised his longbrett and then bit into it again. “Are we going to be able to slay something to cook on the way?”

“We will try,” Joti replied.

“A frostwyrm,” the giant greatsword giant said.

“A frostwyrm? Is that different to an icewyrm?”

“Yes,” he said. “That’s why they have different names.” The giant shared a look with Joti.

“Gozzkei, leave him be,” Joti said. “The translation does not work so well, they have very few words for snow and such in their language.”

“How many words for snow do you have?” Adam asked.

“Two hundreds or so.”

“Excuse me?”

“Half as much for ice.”

“I don’t think we have two hundred words for anything,” Adam replied. “How do you-” A shudder ran through his body as he sat up straight and then looked out towards the snow in the distance. There, deep within the snow, he could see a pale blue light, a gentle glow.

“Ignore it,” Joti said.

“What is it?”

“An icewyrm.”

“Icewyrm?” Adam asked, staring at it. “That’s different to the frostwyrm, right?”

“Very,” Joti said.

“What’s the difference?”

“A frostwyrm is large, an icewyrm can eat a frostwyrm whole.”

“It’ll leave us be?”

“We will leave it be, and it will leave us be. It is the message in the wind and snow.”

“So it won’t attack us.”

“If it wanted to, it couldn’t.”

“Due to the barrier?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.”

“Alright…” Adam kept looking out into the distance.

“Do not look at it, it will still attack us.”

Adam’s head snapped back to Joti. “Alright,” he said, holding onto the wooden hilt of his longsword, not even realising he had grabbed it again. This time he didn’t feel as though he had made an awful decision.

“Could we beat it?” Adam whispered, a little apprehensive. They were on the snow, out in the open, next to a strange stone, and surrounded by a creature which could probably eat each of them whole, probably every single one of them together.

“Yes,” Joti said. “Return my blade to my father if I do not make it.”

“You think you’ll die?”

“At least one of us, and I would rather myself than any of you.”

“Why?”

“I am the leader,” Joti said, staring into Adam’s eyes.

“The burden of a leader…” Adam whispered.

“The burden of a leader.”