Blackice

Blackice
Kind	Secret organization / criminal network
Leader	the Frostlord (identity unconfirmed)
Seat	Iceverf (underground)
Status	Purged; members held in custody
GM canon
first cited: [heralds-a#3]

Blackice is a secret organization that has worked the underworld beneath Iceverf for at least a century, presenting itself as the guardian of the city's ancient, frozen history against Imperial exploitation. ^{[heralds-a#3 · last-winter#134]}

Overview

Blackice frames its cause as protection: shielding Iceverf's antiquities and buried history from the Empire's reach, a mission it pursues through theft, kidnapping and assassination rather than open resistance. ^{[last-winter#134 · heralds-b#164]}

Publicly, Blackice has no single visible head. This appears to be by design — the organization is said to operate in cells specifically so that removing any one leader cannot bring it down. ^{[heralds-b#396 · heralds-b#397]}

A canon summary of the organization names a "Frostlord" as its leader, a figure otherwise shrouded in mystery. ^{[heralds-b#144]}

Within Blackice, loyalty to the organization is treated as more important than anything else. ^{[heralds-b#359]}

Blackice is also known to have infernal connections. ^{[heralds-b#370]}

Base and membership

Blackice's main base of operations is a hidden den beneath Iceverf, staffed with rogues, thieves, and specially trained arcane enforcers and tricksters. ^{[heralds-b#357 · heralds-b#358 · heralds-b#359]}

Blackice also controls Tito and the goblins living beneath the city, who act as enforcers and saboteurs on its behalf. ^{[heralds-b#241 · heralds-b#242]}

Fronts in the city

Investigators who go looking for Blackice's leadership tend to find three public faces instead of a single head: a funeral home, a trade broker, and a network of goblins beneath the city. ^{[heralds-b#434 · heralds-b#435]}

Players, stop here. What is hidden behind this point is game-master material. The full detail is on GM:Blackice.

History

Blackice was conceived to protect Iceverf's frozen history and treasures from the Empire, resorting to murder, kidnapping and theft for that purpose. ^{[last-winter#134 · last-winter#140]}

At least a century old and built in many layers, Blackice has sought to control Iceverf's ancient secrets and power. ^{[heralds-a#3]}

A Blackice courier ring running a letter-based smuggling system in the city was broken up after Faith and Magnus Arcanum raided its sewer connection and captured its agents. ^{[heralds-b#439 · heralds-b#444]}

As of the present day, Blackice has been purged: its captured members remain in custody and its resurgence is being actively prevented. ^{[heralds-a#3]}

In play

A skeleton that had been secretly watching in a disguised shape fled when it was noticed; cornered and unable to escape, it delivered a warning "on my master's behalf" urging restraint in dealings with Black Ice, then destroyed itself rather than be taken alive. ^{[heralds-b#446 · heralds-b#447]}

Related pages

• Iceverf — the city Blackice has worked from beneath for generations
• Godwin White — the name canon summaries attach to Blackice's leadership
• Crowcoin — a city underworld figure tied to Blackice's courier network
• Garrick Frostvale — a noble whose dealings brush against Blackice's affairs
• Funeral Home — one of Blackice's three public-facing fronts
• Trade Broker — Blackice's economic-pressure front
• Goblin Network — Blackice's physical, labor-facing front
• Winter Elves — a changeling of this people has infiltrated Blackice's base

Unconfirmed ideas

The source conversations contain proposals for Blackice that the campaign owner never confirmed. They are collected on Idea:Blackice so they cannot be mistaken for canon.