Winter Elves

Winter Elves
Kind	Elves
Homeland	Velfald Regency (invading force)
GM canon
first cited: [heralds-a#3]

The Winter Elves are an elven people waging open war on the other elven domains of Aenarch and on the Velfald Regency, seeking conquest and power. ^{[heralds-b#3 · heralds-b#4]}

Overview

Rather than committing to open battle, the Winter Elves fight through raiding, propaganda, and the deliberate collapse of their enemies' legitimacy, and they hold the Grayhost region. ^{[heralds-a#3 · heralds-a#6]} Heralds of the Cycle, the party bound to the cosmic Cycle, stands opposed to their advance. ^{[heralds-b#3 · heralds-b#4]} Their power, combined with Bella Worthmore's magic, destabilized the magic of the Rosereach region and made the spread of the cloudkill curse permanent. ^{[heralds-a#17]}

History

The Winter Elves invaded Swanhall three to four years before the present campaign and took its Duke captive. ^{[heralds-b#178]} They invaded the Velfald Regency, and after Naevys Duskbloom's ritual broke their armies they retreated from the plains around Rosereach and have never entered Deadreach since. ^{[heralds-a#48 · heralds-a#51]} They were among the enemy forces attacking Rosereach's gates on the day Naevys chose to sacrifice the city to stop them. ^{[heralds-a#117 · heralds-a#118]} House Ursa supplies frontier command for the war: Caerwyn Ursa, commander of the west front, led a joint assault together with the north and east fronts that destroyed the forest of Grayhost County, where the Spring Elves had held their line; the Spring Elves lost the front and were reduced to small teams of harassment and sabotage raiding. ^{[heralds-b#40]}

Campaign fronts

At Iceverf, Winter Elf forces fight a guerrilla war along the duchy's border rather than massing in front of its walls, striking with raids and sabotage. ^{[heralds-b#148 · heralds-b#165 · heralds-b#170]} They also target Swanhall, Iceverf, and Timbermire, and combine ice magic with attacks staged across frozen lakes. ^{[heralds-b#178 · heralds-b#182 · heralds-b#183]} Their strategy calls for gathering allies opposed to the Empire's Iron Fist rule; Moonward and Timbermire are named as the only powers able to stop them. ^{[heralds-b#182]} To fully break the Regency's central power, they need to destroy the Regent's legitimacy. ^{[heralds-b#182]} In the west, they have attacked Moonward's and Rosereach's coasts with frost and ice magic. ^{[last-winter#751]} The Western Winter Forces struck the cliffs and shores held by Moonward soldiers and Imperial Legion troops; earlier assaults there used only arrow volleys and rappelling troops on the cliffs, without siege weapons, beasts, magic, or allied warbands, though they may use ships to land troops directly on the shores, which the Legion defends with soldiers and warlocks. ^{[last-winter#779]} As part of the war, they summon monsters from beyond. ^{[last-winter#728]}

Combat and tactics

Winter Elf units carry a +3 ambush bonus that falls by 1 every two rounds until it reaches zero, and a +2 bonus at night from their darkvision. ^{[heralds-b#96]} At Snowshield, they fought alongside Gnoll allies, using ambush, darkvision, and positioning to their advantage. ^{[heralds-b#94 · heralds-b#96]}

At Hollow Ridge, Winter Elf archers were stationed outside the settlement, in the trees and along the town's edge, while Gnoll ambushers struck from within; the account is unclear on whether the Gnolls in that fight also cut down the Winter Elf archers themselves. ^{[heralds-b#67]}

Needs a decision: Did the Gnoll ambushers at Hollow Ridge kill Winter Elf archers, or only the Count's men?^{[heralds-b#67]}

Covert operations

Winter Elf agents have moved against rival power centers inside Iceverf.

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

Related pages

• House Ursa — the noble house that supplies frontier commanders for the Winter Elf war effort
• Heralds of the Cycle — the party resisting the Winter Elves' advance
• Naevys Duskbloom — sacrificed Rosereach to break the Winter Elves' army
• Blackice — the secret society whose base a Winter Elf agent has infiltrated
• Gnoll — raiders who fight alongside Winter Elf forces
• Iceverf — city under an ongoing Winter Elf guerrilla campaign at its border
• Moonward — one of the two powers named as capable of stopping the Winter Elves
• Spring Elves — rival elven people broken at Grayhost by House Ursa's assault

Unconfirmed ideas

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