The Frostspine¶

Phoenix Sagas is set in the Frostspine, a remote frozen mountain range crowning Umbrath, the cold continent at the far north of the world called the Hearth. Eight havens hold the line: quiet Coldhollow; bustling Emberford on the southern river; old Runmede in the grain-lands below it; little Lanternwatch at the northern treeline; mereside Southmere at the far end of the barge run; Brinemoot, the skorl truce-market on the ice-coast; Thornfold, the crofter hamlet behind its blackthorn hedge on the western pass; and — behind a door that has not yet opened — Hammerdeep's West Hall, the dwarven mother-hold under the western spurs. Everything between and beyond them is hostile wilderness.

Why there is a wall of mountains at the top of the world, what is chained beneath it, and who the gods are belongs to the Lore section.

The world clock¶

The game runs a continuous clock — a full day cycles in roughly 96 real minutes — that drives time of day, season, and weather. Outdoor rooms reflect it as you play.

TIME   (WEATHER)    current hour, season, and outdoor conditions

The far-north setting means long, punishing seasons and strange light.

Live weather¶

Outdoor rooms display real-world weather, pulled from a live Fairbanks, Alaska data feed (Open-Meteo): temperature, wind, precipitation, and conditions. It is descriptive — it sets atmosphere rather than applying mechanical penalties — so outdoor rooms change with actual conditions when you LOOK.

The dragon¶

The Frostspine's sky has one permanent resident. From time to time — rarely, and on her own schedule — the last dragon crosses the range: a speck off the peaks that grows, passes overhead, and vanishes north again, the whole sighting playing out over about a minute in every outdoor room. What she does varies with the sky: she stoops on far crags, shears cornices loose, breathes watchfires along ridgelines at dusk, and on clear winter nights swims up through the aurora itself. In fog or a blizzard you may only hear her. Indoors, at most, a shadow crosses the shutters.

She cannot be fought, followed, or addressed; she is the world's weather in the oldest sense. Who she is, and how the old folk read her flights as omens, is on her lore page.

Sanctuary¶

Inside Coldhollow you cannot be attacked, and hostile creatures cannot follow you through the gate. You can rest, heal, train, and trade freely. The moment you cross the gate onto the Frostspine Trail, that protection ends. When a fight goes badly, run for town — pursuers stop at the gate. See Coldhollow.

The wilderness¶

Three roads leave Coldhollow, and the danger scales with the mileage:

West — the Frostspine Trail & Climb (levels 1–4): kobolds, shamans, and the warren chief. This is the usual starting ground and the source of most early treasure boxes. Off the climb's boulder field — and off the southern road's shelf edge — the Wether Fells (levels 3–8) now open a sheep-country loop between the two roads: drove walls, fell wolves, the Redshank reivers, and Bieldstead's hearth. Past the wolf den the road keeps going: the Sunstead Pass (levels 11–13) crosses to Thornfold, the ruin of Sunstead Abbey (13–16), the climbing pitches of the Sunstead Steps, and the Pale Steps glacier shelf (18–26) — real climbs, real falls, and at the end of the world Hammerdeep's postern, behind which wait the West Hall and the Underways (25–30). North off the shelf's Rimefield the High Shelves (26–32) climb into the glacier itself — the under-ice, the dark-elf margins, and the Western Door. And below the Underways, behind the Deep Road Gate, the Veins (31–36) wait for the gate's own opening day.
South — the Coldhollow Road to Emberford (levels 1–7): the icy trade road down to the river hub, and Emberford's own hunting grounds — mudflats, orchard, and the Reedmarsh, whose Heart holds the level-7 bog lurker. North of the Old Orchard the Hollowrun gorge (12–18) now climbs all the way to the Ore Road at the falls — the world's second north–south artery. Beyond Emberford's South Gate the river road runs on, ice-free and gentle, to Runmede (levels 1–4), then south off Runmede's docks to Southmere and the Deep Wold (levels 4–7 on the barge road, 10–16 in the wold) — and past the Mireback Sink's second arm, the causeway now reaches the Sunfall Shire and Millharrow (10–16), the deeper Thawlands' first walkable country.
North — the Ore Road to the Highreach (levels 8–15): the long climb past the worst ice in the world to Lanternwatch outpost, the Delvings, the Crags, and the Frozen Gallery — and behind the opened gates, the Deep Delvings (levels 16–25). At Hollowrun Falls a spray-slick stair now drops into the gorge (12–18), and behind Old Graven's tally room stands the graven door: the Wyrmshoulder (34–40), the game's new summit, the day that door opens.
East — the Emberrun Ferry (levels 5–9): from Emberford's wharf, a real scheduled boat crosses the river to the Wrackline, the Saltmeads, and the Tidewife's Grotto — past the old mooring stones the coast runs on to Brinemoot and the Skorl Floes (levels 8–12 on the wrack-coast, 13–18 out on the ice), and past the far pans the ice-bridge crosses to the Reaver Skerries and the Under-Floe (18–26): the skerry chain, Gravskarr Hold, and the green dark under the pack.

Regions¶

The Frostspine is divided into regions, one around each haven — Coldhollow (with the Frostspine Trail & Climb and the upper Coldhollow Road), Emberford (the lower road, the town, and its mudflats/orchard/marsh grounds), the Highreach (the upper Ore Road, Lanternwatch, and everything above it), Southmere (the barge road and the Deep Wold), Brinemoot (the wrack-coast and the floes), the Pale Steps (Thornfold, the abbey, and the shelf), and Hammerdeep (the West Hall and the Underways). An invisible barrier separates them:

Walking ignores it. The roads cross the seams freely in both directions.
Teleport-style travel respects it. A pet's escape flight (and any future fog- or transference-style magic) always resolves to a rest node within your current region — you cannot fog from Coldhollow's gates to the Highreach's hot spring.
The thought-net respects it. THINK reaches every open mind in your region; a mind in another region simply is not on your net (HELP THINK in game, or the command reference).
The dead respect it. You awaken at your region's resting place (below).

The seams fall roughly at the Shelf Edge/Treeline stretch of the Coldhollow Road and the Gorge Bridge on the Ore Road.

Respawn¶

When you die you wake at your region's resting place, at half your maximum HP and briefly shaken:

You fell in	You awaken at
Coldhollow's lands	The chapel (room 1021), Coldhollow
Emberford's lands	The Temple of the Dawnflame, Emberford
The Highreach	The Kettle hot spring, above Lanternwatch
The western pass & the Pale Steps	The Thornfold hearthhouse fire
Hammerdeep & the Underways	The Held Flame, in the Hearthhall

Room features¶

Outdoor and indoor rooms can carry special properties:

Feature	Effect
Recovery node / greater node	Enhanced HP/mana regeneration while present (Health & Wounds)
No-magic	Incantations fail here (Magic)
Hidden exit	Not listed by `LOOK`; must be discovered
One-way passage	Works from one side only
Doored exit	`[closed]`/`[locked]`; use `OPEN`/`UNLOCK`
Disposal object	A well, barrel, or midden that destroys items placed in it (intentional; labeled)